My life skills in Daming Liver - Chapter 652

c642 national determinism

Su Ze’s attitude towards the Siamese envoy was not very enthusiastic.

In the cabinet, the cabinet ministers were listening to Shen Guanyi’s introduction to the situation in Southeast Asia.

Among the many affairs arising in the southeast, the matter named “diplomacy” by the Grand Governor has become increasingly valued by the upper echelons of the southeast government.

However, among all tasks, diplomacy is the most difficult to cultivate talents on a large scale.

The reason is also very simple. There are countless famous ministers and generals in history, but there are only a few diplomats.

From Zhang Qian to Su Wu, Fu Jiezi and Ban Chao, there are really too few ministers who can be regarded as diplomats in the future.

Not many officials even know anything about overseas affairs.

Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty originally established a tribute system during his voyages to the West. However, the Ming Dynasty was no longer able to maintain this tribute system, and even caused decades of Japanese rebellion because of the Japanese countries’ competition for tribute.

Southeast’s diplomatic work can be said to be starting from scratch, and Shen Guanyin is the founder of this system.

Therefore, none of the ministers looked down upon Shen Yiguan, the young chief minister of the Pingren Department, because the Grand Governor rated Shen Yiguan as a prime minister, that is, a talent who can be promoted to the future prime minister.

Moreover, the Grand Governor also intends to send all capable young officials to foreign countries for training. It is obvious that this is treating diplomatic work as a necessary training process for upgrading senior officials.

Shen Guanyin faced a group of big guys and said calmly:

“My lords, if you ask why the characters of Siamese and Burmese are so different, then you have to talk about the origin of Siamese.”

“Actually, the Siamese people were also the southwestern barbarians who were squeezed out from our Central Plains. They call themselves the Tai people. In fact, they are the Dai people who also exist in our southwestern region today.”

“Whether they are the Tai people or the Dai people, they were squeezed into Southeast Asia because of the strength of the Han civilization in the Central Plains. If I use a metaphor, these Tai people are like the Khitans who were driven to Central Asia during the Song Dynasty.”

“When the Jin Kingdom was strong, it destroyed the Liao Kingdom, and the remaining Khitans entered Central Asia. Soon these strong Khitans brought with them the culture they learned when they were competing in the Central Plains. They themselves were very capable of fighting, so they were conquered by Central Asia. Employed by the monarchs, they became small subordinate countries.”

“But these Khitans soon annexed the small countries in the Western Regions that absorbed them. Yelu Dashi established the Western Liao Dynasty and ruled Central Asia for a long time.”

“The one that absorbed these Thai people was the Khmer Empire.”

“Historically, the Khmer was very powerful. The Thai people learned the Khmer system and ensured their fight as ‘barbarians’. After the Khmer gradually became corrupted and degenerated, the Thai people absorbed some of the heritage of the Khmer Empire. Founded what is now Siam.”

Everyone is a person who has read poetry and books. Using Yelu Dashi’s Xiliao as an example, everyone immediately understood that these Siamese people were losers in the competition in the Gu farming field in the Central Plains!

There are actually many such examples. For example, Annan is like this. Although the country is not very big, and it is often divided internally, it often suppresses Southeast Asia and makes it breathless.

The Mughal Empire, which is now prospering in Central Asia, is ruled by descendants of Turkic Mongols. Both Turks and Mongols are exiles who failed in the competition for the meat grinding grounds of the Central Plains.

The military system of the Mughal Empire, the Meng’an Muke system, was also founded by the Khitans of the Jin Kingdom during the Song Dynasty in the Central Plains. It was also learned by the Turks and spread to Central Asia, becoming the basic military system of the Mughal Empire.

Shen Guanyi said again:

“Siam is a very current-minded country.”

“When the Khmer was strong, they provided soldiers and food to the Khmer in exchange for the Khmer’s asylum.”

“Once Tianzhu in the west becomes strong, they will immediately go to pay tribute and ask these princes of Tianzhu for marriage.”

“They even bowed their heads to their arch-rival Myanmar and paid tribute as a vassal. The same was true for Annan.”

“When Zheng He went to the Western Seas in the early Ming Dynasty, Siam was also one of the first countries to submit and pay tribute.”

“In my opinion, this should be a national issue of the Tai people. The Tai people are good at surviving in the cracks and know how to deal with powerful countries.”

At this time, Shen Shixing frowned and said:

“Siam is so flexible, why is Myanmar, which is adjacent to Siam, so warlike?”

Everyone looked at Shen Yiguan, “National Determinism”. This is a book Shen Yiguan has recently summarized his experience abroad and written to describe the national characters of various countries.

Obviously Shen Shixing had read this book, so he asked Shen Yiguan.

Among the four major countries in Southeast Asia, Annan has become a southeastern province. Khmer was the first to surrender, and even gave up the right to appoint his future ruler to Southeast Asia.

Siam also sent an envoy immediately, with a very respectful attitude.

Only Myanmar.

First, he took in the remnants of the Luchuan regime who were causing trouble in the southwest, and continued to fan the flames of trouble in the southwest.

The Burmese also provoked Annan and took advantage of the civil strife in Annan to invade and occupy much of Annan’s territory.

They also persecuted the Khmer very much, kidnapped the men of the Khmer royal family, and wanted to install a Khmer king to control the Khmer.

They also did not deal with the Siamese, and wars often broke out between the two countries.

The country of Myanmar is often at war on all sides, and there are endless internal battles. The Bamar people and other ethnic groups in the country often kill each other. It can be said that they are warlike to the extreme.

Everyone nodded slightly. If we use ethnic determinism, how can we explain such huge differences in the foreign policies of the neighboring countries of Siam and Myanmar?

Shen Guangyuan said calmly:

“It is precisely because of ethnic determinism that the two countries are so different.”

“As I said before, the Siamese are the Thai people who moved out from the southwest. The Burmese are also eliminated from the competition in the Central Plains, but they are the Burmese who moved south from Tibet.”

“Siam and Burma are similar, but their languages ​​and writing are completely different, and their cultures are also very different.”

“Actually, the Siamese and the Shan people in Myanmar are of the same ethnic group. They are actually Thai people.”

“The language of Myanmar is closer to the Sino-Tibetan language and is a different language family from the Siamese.”

“Culturally, Thai people are more widely distributed in Southeast Asia. They actively absorb Khmer culture and integrate with Khmer culture. There are many Siamese-speaking ethnic groups in Southeast Asia.”

“Myanmar sticks to its own language and is unwilling to absorb and integrate, so it always treats the surrounding countries with a conqueror’s attitude and never absorbs other people’s civilizations.”

“The result is that Myanmar is surrounded by enemies, and the Burmese people must use force to thrive. The main ethnic groups in the country are inferior and arrogant. They often suspect that other ethnic groups in the country will rebel, and even the Shan people who cooperated in the past will be massacred.”

“Siam, on the other hand, is flexible and does not hesitate to surrender to powerful countries. It rarely goes to war with other countries for reasons other than profit.”

Xu Wei nodded repeatedly and asked:

“Having said all that, how do Shen Xingren recommend treating the Siamese envoy?”