In the early days of the Chinese internet, there was a kind of person who was repeatedly ridiculed and misunderstood, yet managed to 'survive' time and again in history and reality.
They are not smart, at least they don't seem smart;
They are not smooth, and even a bit silly;
They are not good at scheming, often choosing to 'suffer losses' when they should be shrewd.
Later, people gave them a name: silly fortune.
1. Silly fortune is not silly, it's 'unwilling to live by the optimal solution.'
If you have read the works of Dang Nian Mingyue (About the Ming Dynasty), you will find a very hidden yet repeatedly appearing perspective:
History is not won by the smartest people.
Zhu Yuanzhang is not the one with the most exquisite strategies,
Zhu Di is not the morally perfect one,
Even many who survived to the end were not the choices with the 'highest winning rates' at the time.
Their common characteristic is:
Not following the theoretical optimal solution, but taking a path that can be completed.
This is precisely the first characteristic of 'blessed fools'.
Being a blessed fool is not an IQ issue, but a refusal to compress one's life into an algorithmic problem.
He is not good at weighing each gain and loss, and will not make maximum profit decisions at each node.
So bystanders will say:
'You are being too foolish.'
'If only you had been tougher at that time.'
'If only you had seen reality a little earlier, you wouldn't be like this.'
But history tells us:
It is precisely those who do not calculate everything at every step that avoid the fatal blow.
Two, what the author wrote was actually about 'blessed fool types'.
Many people think that (The Events of the Ming Dynasty) is a light read, a joke, a historical stand-up show.
But those who truly understand will find that the author’s real preference was not for the peak strategists, but for those who seemed 'out of place'.
For example:
Yu Qian
Hai Rui
Wang Shouren (Wang Yangming)
Even some failed officials and marginalized people.
They all have a common point:
In a highly utilitarian and structurally corrupt system, they insist on a choice that is almost 'foolish'.
They may not win in the present,
But they have become the 'only thing that can still be believed in' in the hearts of later generations.
The author was not naive.
He is very clear that these people have a 'low success rate',
Even many people are destined to fail.
But he still writes about them because:
If even these 'fools' don't write, history will only be left with the autobiographies of the winners.
Three, being a blessed fool is the 'survivor bias' after being filtered by reality.
'Blessed fool' itself carries a sarcastic meaning.
It seems to say:
Look, he is so foolish, yet he still has a bit of luck.
But the problem is:
Why can 'foolish' people live to the end instead?
The answer is very cruel—
Because they do not stand at the center of the storm.
When clever people engage in crazy games, leverage, rhythm, and position grabbing,
The 'blessed fools' often do these things:
Take a step back
Take a little less
Getting off the stage a little later.
Not gambling on a situation where 'it's win or die'.
This is not noble,
But rather a kind of almost instinctive survival wisdom.
When the author wrote about the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, he actually repeatedly demonstrated one thing:
What truly drags people down is not stupidity, but being overly clever.
Four, the true cost of being a blessed fool: they bear 'a lifetime of being mocked'.
Here is a truth that is rarely mentioned:
The fortune of being a blessed fool must be exchanged for a lifetime of 'being looked down upon'.
They are never the protagonists in the moment.
Clever people rise faster.
Those who can calculate have more resources.
Those who understand the rules stand higher.
And the 'blessed fools' often:
Considered 'unambitious'
Used as 'negative teaching material',
Used to educate children 'never be like him'.
Until many years later, the environment collapsed, and the cycle reversed,
People suddenly realize:
Oh, he is still there.
The reason the author was able to write that kind of 'historical warmth',
It is precisely because he is not writing at the winner's celebration.
But rather stand beside the ruins and see who can still stand.
Five, today's blessed fools may be right beside you.
If 'blessed fools' were placed back in today's context, their form is actually very clear:
Not chasing every opportunity,
Not betting one's life on a single windfall.
Not selling long-term safety for short-term victories.
Not taking structural risks for 'seeming clever'.
They appear slow in the cryptocurrency world,
Appearing dull in the workplace,
They appear out of place in the public opinion arena.
But just as the author repeatedly reminds us:
History does not reward the smartest people,
But rather rewarding those who did not make fatal choices at the wrong time.
Six, so who is a blessed fool?
Blessed fools are not a specific person.
He is a type of person.
He could be a minor official in the Ming Dynasty,
Possibly an ordinary person in contemporary society,
It could also be that moment when you chose to be conservative, to exit, to not gamble at a critical juncture.
When you refuse a choice that seems 'very smart',
When you choose to stand firm while the whole world is rushing,
When you are mocked for having 'no courage'—
You have already entered the sequence of 'blessed fools'.
When the author writes history,
In fact, it is leaving a place for such people.
It is not about letting them win,
But rather to ensure they are not completely erased from history.
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