"This is still feudal thinking, a hero-based view of history," Jing Hongtu criticized. "The will of those great figures is not the decisive factor in history. The real determinant of history, you see, is people. Common people, I mean. If life were good for everyone, who would want to go to war? But not everyone can live well, can they? Where there is social conflict, there is dissatisfaction. If too many people are living poorly, this dissatisfaction will gather and grow."
"Some ambitious individuals may be able to manipulate this 'dissatisfaction' towards certain goals, sparking wars to achieve personal or group interests. However, they cannot create this discontent out of thin air. It only exists where there is economic stagnation, where people cannot imagine a 'bright future'."
