Many countries in history have been established by power, and without strong power, the country will eventually be annexed or disintegrated from within.
It is true that some countries are in a corner of the country, and they cannot be affected by some powerful countries, of course, they can establish their own countries, remain neutral for a long time, and they can survive. This is the case with some small countries in northern Europe, which have no strong military strength, and if the regime does not have a strong regime, but can survive until now, mainly because the region is too remote, neutral, does not participate in too many wars, or is dependent on the powerful country, it can survive. The same was true of the Shu and Wu kingdoms during the Three Kingdoms period of China. The State of Shu could rely on the difficulties of the Shu Dao to be partial to safety; the State of Wu could also survive by relying on the natural dangers of the Yangtze River. The two countries had been in a long confrontation with the State of Wei for fifty years. There was also the Southern Song Dynasty, which was partial to Jiangnan, but did not want to forge ahead, and was eventually destroyed by the Mongols. As long as most countries occupy the Central Plains, they have the characteristics of power, and to continue this characteristic, even if the emperor changes generation after generation, the change of dynasty cannot relax the control of power.
In the era of cold weapons, there will be a certain gap in productivity between countries, and there will also be a certain gap in population, land, etc. Powerful states bully the weak, and they join forces. In the Warring States period, the combination of vertical and horizontal is an example, one country and other countries engaged in alliances, to support each other, so as not to be annexed by powerful countries. However, in the face of interests, many countries betrayed their faith, resulting in the princely states being broken by the powerful Qin state. That is to say, although some weak countries can form alliances and monarchs can intermarry with each other, in the face of war, they are not all single-minded and cooperative, but for the sake of interests, they can change their positions, betray each other, and even turn the spearhead and meet each other. Although there are not many differences in weapons and there are no weapons of mass destruction, the large number of people, the abundance of troops, and the vastness of land have their own unique advantages, which can allow monarchs to engage in war and annex some countries that are weaker than their own countries, so as to strengthen their own strength.
To realize the great unification of the world, it is necessary to develop the economy, encourage fertility, and enhance the combat effectiveness of the army. However, many monarchs mostly "understand" life, believing that life should be happy in time, and cannot fight and kill all day. Therefore, they want to sound dogs and horses, sing night and night, and loot the people's fat and people's ointment for one person's use. In this way, power is not used externally, but instead in internal exploitation and repression. Then, if the power of power is consumed internally, it will become very weak externally, and even unable to take care of it at all. This was the case with many regimes in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, mostly because the kings were busy exploiting and enjoying themselves after the founding of the country, but they did not think of making progress, ignored the political environment surrounded by strong enemies, and soon perished. The Northern Song Dynasty continued to follow the old path, and in the period of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, the same was true, the power plundered internally, and the expropriation of Huashi Gang for many years caused uprisings such as Fang La and Song Jiang, and the powerful also engaged in suppression, consuming troops, and did not care about the rise of the Jin people at all. It wasn't until Emperor Huizong of Song and Emperor Qinzong of Song were abducted by the Jin that they did not know how to reflect. If compared with the power politics of the Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin during the founding period of the country, they are considered to be losers.
In ancient times, there was not much benevolence between countries, only the difference between conquering and being conquered. Confucius traveled around the world, and almost no monarch accepted his ideas. Because the monarch wants land, not benevolence. Powerful countries will fight wars, provided that some small countries do not obey, do not pay tribute, do not become vassal states, and must rely on force to make them obedient. The borders of countries are set there, and the strongest countries have the final say, while the weaker countries do not have much say. The King of Qin and the King of Zhao met and wanted to make friends with the King of Zhao. The King of Qin wanted to play tricks to make King Zhao play the piano, and it was also recorded in the annals of history; if the zhao state minister Lin Xiangru wanted the King of Qin to strike, and if the King of Qin did not do it, Lin Xiangru would threaten with his life, and the King of Qin had to strike the qin, and it was also recorded in the annals of history. At that time, Qin Qiang and Zhao were weak, and Lin Xiangru had no choice but to make such a move. And the Zhao state has always been the fat meat in the mouth of the Qin state, and it is inevitable that it will be swallowed up by the Qin state. After the qin state realized the great unification, it used the ideology of the Legalists to rule the world, as long as there was a crime, it was necessary to implement severe punishments, as long as there was turmoil, it would send troops to suppress it, and it was also necessary to attack the surrounding minority regimes, so that the strength of the whole country was devoted to building the Great Wall, and the Lishan Mausoleum and the Afang Palace were also built, which consumed too much financial resources, so that when Chen Sheng and Wu Guang revolted, the suppressed troops were not as good as before, and they had to arm some prisoners to deal with them.
The power must be supported by the economy, the country's financial strength is strong, the development of force, the absorption of the wise men, the monarch is wise, it will gain long-term peace and stability, or constantly expand the territory, and the financial resources are consumed too much, the monarch only knows that he enjoys, regardless of the people's life and death, but also often fights wars, suppresses internally, and is weak and weak externally, and will face the danger of national subjugation. At that time, when powerful countries invaded, where the borders between countries were, it was still up to the powerful countries to decide. Several emperors in history were frightened and had to bow down to their subjects and become puppet emperors.
When there is a peasant uprising and a turmoil in the country, the powerful state will carry out suppression. The emperor did not allow the peasant rebels to establish themselves as kings, nor did he allow bandits and robbers to stand on their own mountains and claim hegemony. The emperor told them to obey and be obedient and honestly pay taxes. Compared with bandits and robbers, the peasant rebel army gave the emperor more headaches. The emperor must first mobilize troops to suppress the peasant uprising, and then eliminate the bandits and robbers, or collect the peasant rebel army and let them eliminate the bandits and robbers. Even, the emperor did not care about bandits and robbers at all, because he consumed too many troops and financial resources, but in the end he gained more than he lost. As for the peasant uprising, there is still no mercy, it must be destroyed, or if it cannot be eliminated, it will be eliminated. After being wiped out, another powerful state was established.
By now, many countries have nuclear weapons, and deterrence is greater than the power used. However, the powerful countries will not give up, they will still redraw their borders and spheres of influence by various means, bully the weak, and of course, there is no shortage of alliances. These means have been used for a long time, and most of them have relied on them to build strong states and alliances. No matter how well countries talk between countries, even if the royal family intermarries, whether they communicate with each other or not, it is impossible to have a long-term friendship. In response, there are no eternal friends, no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. The powerful countries want to redistribute interests and dominate the world, and people have to guard against it, but also strive to develop the economy, reform the political system, and make their countries strong.