Chen Zaixing smiled slightly: "Wu Maungji, it is true that Shunhua Company has obtained huge benefits from the kingdom, and will also obtain greater benefits. But Shunhua Company is not the only one who has benefited. The royal family owns a large amount of equity in the company, and every year You can get a direct income of nearly 300,000 taels of silver from the company's dividends. If you take into account other aspects of cooperation with Shunhua Company, the royal family will benefit even more. You should know that without these incomes, it is impossible to build a new army. , Without the new army, can your ongoing modernization reform be successful? Those nobles and monks who were forced to sell their land have already launched a rebellion!" After hearing what Chen Zaixing said, Maung Ji couldn't help but feel dumb. He knew in his heart what Chen Zaixing had just done. Everything said is true. Facing the tide of modernization at the end of the 19th century, patriarchal countries like Myanmar often fall into a dilemma: if they want to catch up with the world's trend and carry out modernization reforms, they must introduce advanced foreign culture, Advanced technology and a large amount of capital, but this will destroy the country's original social structure and national culture, cause a large amount of wealth to flow out, disintegrate the original society, and rapidly intensify internal conflicts, eventually leading to the disintegration and semi-colonization of the country; And if they do not carry out this kind of reform, although they can temporarily maintain the independence of their own country and nation, as time goes by, the gap in national strength with those first-mover countries will become wider and wider, and in the end they will still be used violently. Open the country and fall into an even more embarrassing situation. Therefore, in this era of late-developing patriarchal legal countries, the intellectual elites have generally fallen into a painful state similar to schizophrenia. The old path for thousands of years has no longer worked. Some people believe that we should return to the "beautiful world". "past", seeking a development path that was completely different from that of the Western powers at that time; others believed that we should thoroughly learn from the Western powers and quickly enhance our own national strength. Anyone and anything that stood in the way of this path should be ruthlessly destroyed. But more people are in between the two groups. They want to learn the development methods of Western powers and maintain their country's leading position. But I also want not to damage everything that is old and familiar. Maung Kee is one of them. Intellectually he understands that everything Chen Zaixing said is right, but emotionally he cannot accept everything Chen Zaixing does. This was also the reason why he felt extremely painful. Chen Zaixing looked at the silent Maung Ji with pity, patted him on the shoulder gently, and whispered: "Wu Maung Ji, I know you can't make such an important decision all at once. You can go back and take your time." Consider my proposal. But please pay attention to your own safety. Mandalay will become very unsafe in the future. I don't want people like you to die in vain. You have to know that only with you! Only those who stand by me will have a future in this country!" Maang Ji did not speak. He looked up at Chen Zaixing for a while, nodded, stood up and walked out. Chen Zaixing made a gesture, and two Sikh guards came forward. escorted him out. Chen Zaixing was sitting alone on the horse. Suddenly, he turned around and asked, "Simba, do you think what I did is right?" "Sir!" Simba glanced at Chen Zaixing in surprise and answered in a rich voice. : "I think you shouldn't ask this question to someone like me. It's history and future generations who should judge whether what you did is right or not. People like me who are of the same era as you can't answer it!" "Haha!" Chen Zaixing suddenly laughed when he heard Simba's answer: "Simba, you are really a strange guy, but you are right. People like me don't need to be responsible to anyone. The only person who needs to be responsible is History: When I came to this country, there were only elephants and wooden boats, and it was full of miasma-filled forests and wilderness. By the time I left, this fertile land would be covered with railroads and rivers everywhere. Everyone is interested in steamships, the factories produce snow-white cloth, the land is well cultivated, the mines provide treasures that have been hidden for thousands of years, and the army equipped with iron-clad ships and rifles and heavy artillery protects the country. Prove that I am right, and future generations will also prove that I am right! " "My lord, I am very happy to see you get back on your feet! I know what losing Her Majesty the Princess means to you, but your fate is no longer just that. Your destiny is the destiny of millions of people. Please remember this at all times! " "You are right, Simba. I will kill these worms within twenty days. Sweep it all away, and then start building the Yunnan-Myanmar Railway. We have wasted too much time!" Five days later, it happened to be the Kasaya Presentation Festival. According to Burmese custom, on this day, faithful men and women should present cassocks to the monks. To show their respect for Buddha. Since the entire country in Myanmar believes in Buddhism, this festival is actually not just a festival for Buddhists, but a national festival. On this day, the Privy Council will also adjourn as usual, and all the nobles and kings will go to the temples to worship the Buddha and give large amounts of alms to the monks. That day Diok got up as usual.Early in the morning, as usual, he had breakfast in the dining room while reading various reports that had just been delivered. As a counselor of the Privy Council and the largest spy chief in the kingdom, his time was very tight, which made him almost no longer have a personal life. A historian who despised him very much described this figure who played a very important role in the history of Myanmar at the end of the nineteenth century in his work: "Although Mr. Diok did not have real talent and vision, I had to Admitting that he was a man of astonishing energy and astonishing self-control, the man who for a long time actually held the highest power in the kingdom lived an almost ascetic life, and he regarded himself as Everything - time, health, money, security, etc. are invested in the pursuit of unlimited power. This manipulative conspirator is always spying on this, buying that, and asking this for his life. The Sersites (a character in Homer's epic poem in ancient Greece who was hunchbacked and loquacious, referring to Diok's despicableness), was loyal to others and then betrayed him as soon as he turned around. ) destroyed several masters and dozens of friends in this pursuit that was doomed to fail. When he finally reached the end of his destiny, he continued to do his old job - playing conspiracy again. , It¡¯s a pity that this time the web of conspiracy entangled his own body and trapped him in the quagmire!¡± ¡°Master! Wu Wenche¡¯s servant is waiting for you outside, and his master sent him to bring you a letter!¡± The servant's announcement interrupted Diok's meal. Wenche was a moderate nobleman who was quite powerful in Ren'anqiang in the south. He was one of the people Diok had always attracted, but this person faced Diok. Oak has always been quite cautious in wooing him, and it wasn't until Luo Lin's death that his attitude became a little looser. Diok felt excited when he suddenly sent a servant this time - it seemed that his hard work had finally paid off. "Take him to the study!" Diok picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth, straightened his clothes, and walked to his study. When he walked into the study, the servant was already waiting inside. He knelt down and saluted Diok in a reserved manner, took out a letter from his arms and presented it with both hands, and whispered: "Your distinguished master, I The owner asked me to forward this letter to you!" Diok took the letter and opened it. An intriguing smile appeared on his face. The content of the letter was simple - Wenche invited him to come together tomorrow. Going to a certain monastery to make alms to monks is a very normal behavior for most Burmese people on this day. The Kasaya Presentation Festival has now become an activity for family and friends to travel together. But there are many things that the two can discuss during this process - the Wenche family has donated a large amount of real estate and slaves to this temple for several generations, so this temple is a pretty good place for secret talks. "Is there anything else your master wants you to bring over?" Diok asked as he carefully put the letter back into the envelope. "No, the master just asked me to say hello to you on his behalf!" "Well, when you go back, please tell your master that I am very happy to be invited by him and I am looking forward to meeting you tomorrow!" "Yes, distinguished master! "Take him out, give him a silver shield from the counting house, and ask him to buy himself a drink on the way back!" "Thank you very much for your generosity!" The servant knelt down again. Diok waved his hand reservedly. After everyone left their room, he walked to the kerosene lamp, opened the lampshade, and put the letter to the fire. As the flames burned, the white letter paper quickly curled into gray and black, and then a tongue of flame jumped on the letter paper. When there was only a small piece of letter paper left next to Diok's finger, he threw the corner of the letter paper to In the charcoal stove nearby. Early the next morning, Diok left home on horseback with two attendants. Although the subsequent meeting was very ordinary, his years of work habits still allowed him to minimize the possibility of being discovered by others. When he arrived at the temple, it was already past nine o'clock in the morning. Wenche's butler was standing at the door looking around. When he saw Diok arriving, he immediately came up to him and held the reins of the other man. With a trembling accent, he said: "Master Diok, my master is waiting for you in the wing in the backyard!" Diok looked at the middle-aged man with some pity. It was obvious that his master trusted him and had already told him part of the inside story. , and this butler may not be worthy of his master's trust. Diok smiled and patted the other party on the shoulder: "Feed my horse more hay, and the water the horse drinks from should be warmer!"