The ancestor smiled slightly: "It's like the territory of Jin State, the Former Qin and the Former Yan were also fighting, right? Or the Northern Wei and the Later Qin Dynasty also fought, so you think this is too embarrassing. Just like the Russo-Japanese War in later generations, how can outsiders fight on their own territory?"

Liu Yu nodded: "What's the problem with thinking like this? I want to fight the Central Plains in the Northern Expedition, isn't it just to regain the lost country and rescue the people who are not as good as death in the war?"

The ancestor sneered: "The territory of this world is not constant, just like the land of Donghu and Liaodong, which was ceded to Japan by the Qing Dynasty. Although it was returned later, will the people in these places still recognize the Qing Dynasty and China as their own ruler?"

Liu Yu said seriously: "Of course, I would think that the Chinese in later generations are no longer as you imagined, without national and national identity as you think. Just like you cannot understand why the soldiers on the Zhiyuan will risk their lives to Shen Yoshino. Everyone has become more intelligent and knows that only a powerful country can protect themselves and let themselves and their families survive. Japan has brought only war and death. Under their rule, the people of the Northeast will force them to enlist in the army and become their tools for further war. Therefore, the people of the Northeast still regard themselves as Chinese, and for the next few decades, they have been constantly resisting Japan's invasion until victory."

The ancestor said coldly: "I don't want to discuss this with you now, just say, what is the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War? Also, after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, would the Qing Dynasty remain indifferent? Moreover, if the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 defeated the seemingly powerful skin of the Qing Dynasty, besides Japan, other great powers will take the opportunity to launch a new round of attacks on the Qing Dynasty."

Liu Yu nodded and sighed: "Yes, that past is unbearable to look back. After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Qing Dynasty had diplomatic difficulties and the people's hearts accumulated over decades were dispersed. After the war, the scholars and people in China attributed the reason for the defeat to the selfishness of the leaders of the regiments led by Li Hongzhang, the Minister of Beiyang, and the greed and stupidity of the empress dowager to embezzle military expenses for his birthday. Therefore, many knowledgeable people began to pin their hopes on the emperor, wanting to learn from Japan and use the support of the emperor to regain real power to complete the Meiji Restoration and New Reform Policy of the Qing Dynasty."

The ancestor curled his lips and said, "What you said about the empress dowager, as a woman, can always control the Qing Dynasty regime, why is this?"

Liu Yu said seriously: "This empress dowager, whose title is Cixi, comes from the Yehe tribe in Manchuria, Northeast China. Also called the Yehe tribe. This Yehe tribe was once a mortal enemy of the Aisin Gioro tribe that established the Qing Dynasty. During the process of the Aisin Gioro tribe unifying the Northeast, the Yehe tribe and the Aisin Gioro tribe were killed in the darkness and almost never died. If it weren't for the Aisin Gioro tribe, they had learned the benevolence and righteousness of the Han people, and they would not kill them like those of previous generations, I'm afraid that this Yehe tribe would be exterminated."

"But even so, before surrendering, the leader of the Yehe tribe made a secret curse, saying that even if there is only one woman left in the Yehe tribe, he would sooner or later revenge on the Aisin Jueluo family. This curse was finally fulfilled in the Yehenara family more than two hundred years later."

"Yehenara is a figure similar to Empress Lu, with strong political means. Her husband died early. After entering the palace, she controlled the inside and outside of the palace through a series of power-making techniques, and captured all the members of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty who opposed her. The use of the Han-born Ministers was also a wonderful move for her to check and balance the opposition forces among the Eight Banners. After these Egypt ministers quelled the rebellion, Empress Dowager Cixi cleverly formed a mutual restraint among several Egypt ministers, forcing them to disband the army established in the process of suppressing the rebellion one by one, so that their power would be more and more consolidated."

"When she ascended the throne of the empress dowager, the emperor was still very young and only a few years old, so she ruled the country from behind the curtain and became a practical ruler like Empress Lü. The emperor died early because of a strange disease when she became an adult. She found another puppet emperor in the royal family and continued to rule the country from behind and control real power, which made her become the actual controller of the Qing Dynasty for about fifty years."

"But after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the authority of Empress Dowager Cixi was challenged unprecedentedly. Later, the newly established Emperor Guangxu was already an adult, but he was unable to rule. At this time, a group of Han scholars and noble children began to plan to support Emperor Guangxu and force Empress Dowager Cixi to delegate power. In this way, a series of political propositions could be implemented in the hands of Emperor Guangxu. After all, the strength and effect of the Meiji Restoration in Japan are obvious to all. These gentry members of the Qing Dynasty still hoped to reform and strengthen under the rule of the Qing emperor."

"So these gentry formed a small group around Emperor Guangxu and began to reform and strengthen. However, Empress Dowager Cixi allowed them to do some minor reforms that would not hurt their muscles or affect her rule, but would never allow them to really challenge their own power. This reform movement failed in less than a hundred days. The leader of the reformists was executed, and Empress Dowager Cixi regained power and completely put Emperor Guangxu under house arrest, so that he would not let him contact the real power."

The ancestor sneered: "This Empress Dowager Cixi is not fighting alone. You have also said that she is proficient in power and plotting. For decades, from the leaders of the regiment training to the ministers in charge of the Eight Banners of the Manchus, she had already been hers. After moving this Empress Dowager Cixi, she moved the fundamental interests of these people. This reform was doomed to fail from the beginning. Poor Han people were full of passion, but they did not know that the reforms and reforms since ancient times were all based on the absolute support of the king for themselves. Even Shang Yang, if he had not fully supported Qin Xiaogong and helped him suppress those old nobles, it would have been a failure."

Liu Yu nodded and said, "Yes, the deaths of these reformists proved that the Qing Dynasty was beyond salvation at this time. Empress Dowager Cixi and the nobles and officials, including the high-ranking officials of the Han nationality, had become a community of interests. She would rather not defeat Japan, rather than defeat Western powers, and would rather cede land and pay compensation, lose power and humiliate the country than give up the power in her hands."
Chapter completed!