“Food, clothing, shelter and transportation are the four things that all people in the world cannot live without. Only when these four things are solved can the world be truly prosperous.”
"Such prosperity is inseparable from capable officials who can select high-quality seeds for promotion, craftsmen who can modify farm tools to make them more efficient, skilled women who can spread advanced textile technology, and skilled craftsmen who can build beautiful houses, boats and carts. If not for this, how could Emperor Taizu hang the words 'food, clothing, housing and transportation' on the screen of Fengtian Hall when he first ascended the throne?"
"Back to transportation, the Qin Dynasty's railways once enabled the Qin Dynasty to deploy troops and supplies to all parts of the country at the fastest speed, and the Qin Straight Road is still a famous road in Shaanxi. And the reason why the world was able to establish counties instead of enfeoffment of princes at that time was not because of this convenient transportation, which gradually united the world and made it easier for government orders to be passed down from top to bottom?"
"This boat may seem like a small, insignificant toy, but just like any foreign invasion, the first thing to do is to ensure the route. How can we arbitrarily assume that those foreign countries won't be able to equip their own boats with wings like this one and fly across the seemingly insurmountable ocean? Just because they can't do it now doesn't mean they can't do it in the future!"
"A strong pass guarded by one man cannot completely block foreign enemies. There have been too many examples of strong passes being breached in history. A great river cannot completely stop the iron hooves of northern invaders, because a great river will also freeze over one day, and thousands of iron hooves will break through the ice. That kind of scene has happened more than once."
"Perhaps one day, giant steel ships will be able to sail in the vast ocean, and manned steel birds will be able to fly in the sky. A journey that used to take a month or even several months will only take one or two hours. If this technology is in the hands of our dynasty, we will naturally be invincible. But if it is in the hands of others, who knows if it will not be a huge threat?"
"A small country with few people may not seem worth mentioning at first glance, but looking at the globe and map just now, there is still a vast land in this world. If the king of a foreign country has the ambition to expand his territory, he should not limit himself to expanding his territory on land, but should also focus on overseas."
"Then use a high reward to motivate those drifters who can't find a livelihood in their own country, or those young men who can't make a name for themselves. Will some people take risks to make money and go out to sea to explore and find new continents? Once fertile land is discovered, a swarm of hornets armed to the extreme with strong ships and powerful guns will follow. Then, what about ten, twenty, or a hundred or eighty years?"
"Think about it, Jizi, a descendant of the Shang Dynasty, was able to establish a country in Korea and act as the ruler of a country. Although the country was stolen later, Goguryeo was once a major threat to the border of the Sui and Tang dynasties. Although those foreigners in the West are poor, once they are greedy and set their sights on the world, they will encroach on those uninhabited territories and desperately increase the population. What will be the result?"
"There had to be a war between the Han and the Xiongnu, and there had to be a war between the Tang and the Turks, because the universe cannot accommodate two great powers! The fact that the Song and the Khitan lived in peace for many years was not an exception, because both countries had lost their ambition to make progress, and eventually they were destroyed one after another, and their societies were gone! The rise and fall of a country is like sailing against the current. If you don't have power, you will either advance or retreat!"