This stretch of early Qing history is enough to make one sigh. Some literati wrote Nandu Ji to disparage Gong Dingzi, yet the very man they mocked was still working tirelessly for the prospects of these Jiangnan scholars in the final moments of his life. Huang Wu, hoping to win the Manchus' approval, became more Manchu than the Manchus themselves. But the Qing emperor was no fool: you were valued only while you were useful. Once you weren't, nobody cared whether you lived or died, and you might not even be able to protect your ancestors' graves. Sun Kewang, a peasant army leader, learned the art of factional strife in the Hongguang regime and made a style of tearing into rivals. He mastered the art of extending his neck to be chopped off by foreigners if only he could disgust his own servants to the utmost. From Dorgon’s regency to the Council of Princes and Ministers, Shunzhi struggled to push through new policies while constrained by the old powers. In the end, his family was torn apart and he was left battered and bruised. From regent to the centralization of imperial power, Aobai only wanted to be an upright and loyal minister, yet strayed further and further on the road to growing power, eventually branded the most shameful traitor of his life. All people are pieces on a chessboard. The one holding the pieces dangles bait before them and watches the ministers fight like dogs, so imperial power can reign supreme. Scheming and fighting for power, right and wrong, black and white: who can truly tell them apart? Is the one moving the pieces not a piece as well?
In truth, all struggles in the open and in secret eventually come to nothing, sinking beneath the tides like sand. What the world fails to see is that what is precious is the innate kindness and sincerity of human nature, and the grace and steadfastness refined by time; it is the gentle composure to still see, even in adversity, "flowers blooming and falling in the courtyard, clouds gathering and scattering beyond the sky."
The author must be sick!!!!!!