I will not be king in the Spring and Autumn Period

Chapter 226 Chapter 254 Chapter 255

"Historical Records" records that the New Year's Day in the Xia Dynasty was the first day of the first month, the New Year's Day in the Yin and Shang Dynasties was the first day of the December month, and the New Year's Day in the Zhou Dynasty was the first day of the November month.

In "The Book of Songs · Bin Feng · July", there are also records about the activities of worshiping gods and ancestors at the beginning and end of the year: on the second day, the ice was cut and rushed, and on the third day, it was held in Lingyin.On the fourth day, the fleas sacrificed lambs and leeks.Suppressing frost in September, washing field in October.When friends drink wine, they say to kill the lamb.When he entered the Bigong Hall, he was called Bisigong, and his life was boundless.

That is to say, in the Spring and Autumn Period, the end of October is already the end of the year, which can be called the New Year's Day.

The New Year's Day in Chu State is around December, not the end of October or the beginning of November.

This is due to the particularity of the Chu land. After all, living in a barbarian land, apart from the necessary planting, the biggest activity of the Chu people is hunting.

So hunting those fat game in winter is obviously Chumin's greatest pleasure.

And the winter in Chudi naturally comes later than the winter in the Central Plains countries, so the new year festival in Chudi is naturally much later than the New Year festivals in the Central Plains countries.

In addition, Chu people never liked to be the same as other countries in the Central Plains, and they wanted to be independent and unconventional in everything. Therefore, since King Wu of Chu became queen, the time of Chu's annual festival has always been set around December.

Closer to home, Li Ran won the victory over Wu this time, and also won the heads of Wu Wang Zhu Fan, and the time when the teacher returned to the court happened to coincide with Chu's New Year's Day. For the Chu king, it was a bit more festive .

Therefore, the king of Chu personally worked in the suburbs and ordered people to hold a banquet in Zhanghua Palace to reward the three armies.

According to Wu Ju's victory report, Li Ran and Sun Wuli should be the first to win the victory over Wu.

After all, there was information about the front line, and Wu Ju passed it back verbatim, so what the king of Chu did and said to Li Ran and Sun Wu on the front line was all clear.

Therefore, from his posture of personally welcoming Li Ran and Sun Wu back, it is not difficult to see that he attaches great importance to these two people.

After all, as the monarch of a country, he came to the suburbs to work in person for two foreigners who were not even courtiers. This kind of courtesy was definitely the first time in history.

But it's not over yet.

At the banquet at Zhang Huatai, the king of Chu asked all the officials to sit with him, and forcibly staged a scene of "Duke Zhou vomits and feeds, and the world returns to his heart" for them.

"Masters, this is the first lamp of my widow. I respect those sons and daughters of our Chu country who died in battle. They used their lives to defend the land of my Chu country and the dignity of my Xiong Chu!"

After saying that, the king of Chu raised the lamp and wiped it out in front of the stage.

When the ministers heard the sound, they immediately nodded and raised their glasses one after another, respecting the distance, and following his example, they waved the wine out together.

Li Ran and Sun Wu are no exception. After all, they respect the dead, which is considered polite.

Afterwards, the waiter at the side hurriedly added another cup of wine to King Chu Xiongwei, and then King Chu raised the cup again, and shouted loudly:
"This second lamp, I respect all the ministers here for your help, so that our country of Chu will prosper and win a great victory over Wu Man!"

After the king of Chu spoke, he drank the wine again in one gulp.

"Thank you king!"

At this time, those senior officials who were standing by the table but did not actually do anything were flattered for a moment, and hurriedly raised their cups to join in and drink.

"As for the third one, I must respect Mr. Ziming and Changqing. They are two great men, one literary and one military. They are unparalleled heroes in the world! It is really a great fortune for me to get it now! "

To say that Wang Ziwei was able to become the king of Chu, apart from the particularity of the Chu state itself, the personal wisdom of Xiongwei, the king of Chu, is naturally indispensable.

Why did he respect the soldiers who died in battle first, then these useless officials, and finally Li Ran and Sun Wu?

This is of course not without reason.

Why is Chu State so powerful?
Of course, it must be attributed to the strong national power of the Chu State, and the strong national power is reflected in the army of the Chu State.

And in the army, what is the first?

Nature is human.The army does not fall from the sky or grow from the ground, but is composed of living people.

Therefore, Xiong Wei is the king of Chu, what will he rely on if he wants to expand the territory in the future?Isn't it these "people"?Therefore, it is only natural to put them first.

Then, the ones who respected the most were those in the hall, who seemed to have played no role in the battle with Wu Guo.

Why should we honor them?

Because the king of Chu is also a mortal after all, even if he has three heads and six arms, it is impossible for him to handle all the affairs of the whole country in an orderly manner.

Therefore, of course the king of Chu has to rely on them.

As for him putting Li Ran and Sun Wu last, the deep meaning is self-evident.

On the one hand, it is natural to show the highest respect and courtesy, but on the other hand?
What is "the widow is lucky enough to get it"?
Obviously, this is the wording of "swapping concepts" in public.

It goes without saying that this is a rigid bondage: Li Ran is now our minister of Chu!

And you, Li Ran, since you are in the state of Chu at this moment, how can you not be regarded as "a few people get it"?
It can be seen from this that the King of Chu is also a master at playing with words. The order of words and sentences are all meticulous to the bone marrow.

As for Li Ran, he certainly couldn't dismantle the King of Chu at this time. After all, people praise you to the sky, and you slap him backhand, which is indeed against human nature.

However, Li Ran also understood in his heart that the reason why the King of Chu did this was simply to win people's hearts.

"At the beginning of my ascension to the throne, I had the great help of two sages, and the two of them made this extraordinary achievement. It's really my luck, I'm so lucky!"

"What kind of reward do you two want? Just ask for it, and I will definitely give you everything!"

Of course, it is definitely not enough to just praise verbally, and there must be practical actions.

Li Ran and Sun Wu looked at each other, and Sun Wu shook his head knowingly, but did not speak.

Li Ran understood, got up and said:

"Returning to Your Majesty, I and Sun Wu went out with Doctor Wu Ju to fight against the enemy this time. It's a blessing that I didn't drag him down. How dare I ask the King for a reward again? Both my minister and Sun Wu deserve it!"

Of course Li Ran didn't want the King of Chu to give him a reward, after all, he was short of manpower, and it would be even more difficult to explain in the future.

But who would have thought that the King of Chu immediately waved his hand when he heard the sound:
"Hehe, Mister is too modest, what is the point of this?!"

"Mr. has made such great contributions to our country of Chu. How can I not reward you? Since Mr. is unwilling to speak, I will decide on my own..."

"In this way, since Mr. Zheng's heart is attached to Zheng, the widow will reward Mr. Ye Yi at the junction of Chu and Zheng, and let Mr. Ye be the county magistrate of Ye Yi. How about it?"

As soon as these words came out, the entire hall was suddenly silent.

Even Wu Ju, who had been mentally prepared for a long time, couldn't help being shocked at this moment, with disbelief written all over his face.

Ye Yi's county magistrate?
Doesn't this make Li Ran an existence equivalent to a prince?
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Chapter 255

Due to the different systems of the Chu State, the county magistrates of the Chu State have much greater power than the magistrates of the Central Plains countries.

To put it simply, when the king of Chu asked Li Ran to go to Yeyi to serve as the county magistrate, he enfeoffed Yeyi and the land to which it belonged to Li Ran.

And Li Ran's actions in Yeyi are not subject to the control of the King of Chu, and he can arbitrate all matters within his jurisdiction.

Does this sound familiar?

Yes.

This unique "county magistrate" in Chu State actually has so much power that it is almost equivalent to the highest official in charge of the party.

However, this "county public" system is completely different from the enfeoffment system of the Zhou royal family.

The difference is that the king of Chu has the right to directly appoint and dismiss the so-called "county magistrate".

It is not like the Zhou royal family, once the country is closed, the country will no longer be under the control of the Zhou royal family, but it will become a hereditary position and be passed down from generation to generation.

Perhaps it is because the Chu people have learned the lessons of the gradual decline of the Zhou royal family, or the Chu people just want to be different from the "Zhou royal family" in every way.In short, under the blessing of this system, Chu State naturally embarked on a path of relative centralization. (Of course, only in the spring and autumn period)

Is this very similar to the "prefecture and county system" that has established the institutional structure of China for thousands of years in the future?
Yes, so if we want to say when was the earliest "prefecture and county system" in China?Many people may first think of Qin.But actually?In the final analysis, Qin State was nothing more than a "Wen Chaogong".And the object of his plagiarism is the present state of Chu, which is hundreds of years earlier than him.

Then again, because of the post of "county magistrate", its position is actually equivalent to the lord of a country.

Therefore, it can be seen from this that the king of Chu has really spent his blood this time.

After all, at this moment, there are not a few senior officials sitting in this Zhanghuatai, but there are only a handful of them who can be named "County Duke".

As a foreign minister, Li Ran was not even a real minister of Chu, but he had already received such a reward from the King of Chu.Wasn't King Xiongwei of Chu's intention of respecting etiquette not obvious enough?

Rao Li Ran himself, after hearing such a "generous" reward from the King of Chu, couldn't help being startled, and didn't recover for a while.

He really didn't expect that the king of Chu would be so generous.Either you don't make a move, or if you make a move, you will reward a country!

"gentlemen?"

"What do you think sir?"

King Chu still looked at Li Ran with a bright smile on his face, and asked expectantly.

And all the dignitaries present here saw that the King of Chu was so generous, so they were envious and jealous!
After all, this reward is unprecedented!Even Wu Ju, as the number one favorite of King Xiongwei of Chu, couldn't even imagine it!

But now that the King of Chu has directly sealed Li Ran, a minister of a foreign country in their eyes, how could they not be jealous?

Rao, this group of people are all at the level of old foxes, but seeing the king of Chu rewarding him so much at this moment, envy can't help showing on their faces.

But what they didn't know was that Li Ran at this moment, after calming down a little, immediately woke up.

On his forehead, a black crow could not help but pass by.

"I've told you ten thousand times, I don't want to stay in Chu State, let alone be an official in Chu State!"

"Deaf, right? Just drive the ducks to the shelves, right?!"

"What kind of kindness is this! This is clearly forcing me to go to Liangshan? This guy is treating me as Lu Junyi!"

Li Ran has seen shameless people before, but he has never seen such shameless people.If you want to put it in the novel, Song Jiang plays hooligans to Lu Junyi like that, it's just a novelist's words, how can there be such a play in reality? !
And Li Ran really told a grandpa to eat Coptis chinensis at this time—what a pity!
In fact, how could he not know these wishful thinking of King Chu?

Once he accepted this gift, it would be difficult if he didn't want to admit it anymore.

Not only that, but his political career as a member of that week has come to an end.

Because, once he became the county magistrate of the Chu State, it meant that Li Ran was directly ordered by the King of Chu.

In this way, why is he still talking about peace between the North and the South, and peace in the world?

The countries of the Central Plains in the north are afraid that they can't help but blow him to ashes!

But what if he doesn't accept it?You can rest assured that the king of Chu has already left behind.If Li Ran insisted on refusing to award the reward, the King of Chu only needs to announce the news when the time comes.

This can immediately be turned into another play, which is used to promote the example of "the king of Chu treats the wise with courtesy".At that time, not only the countries in the Central Plains will bear their grudges, but even Chu State will not give him a good face.

As the saying goes, "block people's way of making money and kill their parents".You, Li Ran, are all in such a posture all of a sudden, aren't you just embarrassing the people who come later?
Remember Jie Zitui back then?How did Jie Zitui be framed by gangsters and burned alive on the mountain?

Isn't it the disaster caused by "flaunting yourself as a high-spirited person"?
Ruthless!

It's really ruthless!

"When you become the king of a country, you don't study state affairs, but you actually study the art of war!"

"Sun Wu hasn't written "Sun Tzu's Art of War" yet, who did you learn this trick from?"

Li Ran felt depressed, and at this moment he seemed to be pushed to the edge of a cliff.

There are crematoriums on both sides, how to choose?
Just when he was in a dilemma, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in his mind, and he inadvertently thought of another famous and important figure in the history of China.

That's right, isn't his current "being in Chuying and caring about Zhou" very different from Guan Yunchang who was trapped in Xiapi back then?
"Hey, no matter, since Master Guan can seal the gold hanging seal in the future, why can't I, Li Ran?"

"It's a big deal. From now on, just hang the seal in the county government office, pat your ass and leave."

After thinking about it, Li Ran felt that this was a way, after all, he really had no other way at the moment.

So, half pushed and half hit, he had no choice but to go forward and thank the king of Chu for his reward.

The King of Chu was also very happy to see that Li Ran had accepted his reward.He directly stepped forward and grabbed Li Ran's hand, led Li Ran to the center of the hall, and solemnly looked at the ministers of His Highness and shouted:
"Everyone, from today onwards, Mr. Ziming will be the county magistrate of Yedi, Chu State!"

"Very good! Very good! Continue to play music, continue to dance! Today, the widow will have a good drink with all the ministers and workers!"

Making Li Ran the county magistrate of the state of Chu is obviously the second step for the King of Chu to recruit Li Ran.

As long as Li Ran becomes a high-ranking official of Chu State, is the day when Li Ran will serve Chu State willingly?
When the king of Chu thought that Li Ran could really be subdued in a short time, he felt excited. It was a hundred times more comfortable than him getting ten concubines with bowed waists.

But what he didn't know was that the second step he took would also be his last step in recruiting Li Ran.

……

The next day, Li Ran woke up from his drunkenness, his head was aching, and it was not until he drank a lot of tea that he slowly came back to his senses.

At this time, the county government's clothes and seals sent by the King of Chu have already been prepared in the house, as well as Ye Yi's corresponding book slips, all of which are ready.

"Since you have picked up the Yeyi county magistrate, you should send someone there immediately."

The King of Chu only sent an eunuch, and urged Li Ran to send someone to take over Ye Yi as soon as possible.

Of course Li Ran also knew that he was going to send someone to take over Ye Yi, so he had to call Sun Wu immediately.

At this moment, besides Sun Wu, who else can take over Ye Yi by his side?
When Sun Wu heard that Li Ran wanted to take over Ye Yi by himself, he was immediately taken aback. At first he thought Li Ran was joking.

But after listening to what Li Ran said, only then did he realize that what Li Ran said was true.

"If Brother Wei takes office in person, there will be no room for maneuver with the countries of the Central Plains in the future. Brother Wei, Zheng Guo, and Doctor Zichan are completely on opposite sides."

"Changqing has followed me for many days and knows the inside story of Zheng Guo. Letting you take over Ye Yi will not only maintain the harmony with Zheng Guo, but also stabilize the king of Chu's desire to go north."

"Well, sir is right. This may be the reason why the King of Chu awarded Ye Yi! In fact, it is also to show that he has no intention of going north, so that sir can stay in Chu with peace of mind."

"Not only that, but if the situation becomes more uncertain in the future, you and I will leave at that time without any hindrance."

It turned out that the reason why Li Ran was rewarded, and the reason why the King of Chu was certain that Li Ran would be rewarded, was the mystery of Ye Yi's geographical location.

Yeyi is the most important city between Zheng and Chu.Li Ran being sealed here is equivalent to getting a ticket to return to Zheng Guo at any time.

On the other hand, it also expresses that he, the King of Chu, has absolutely no desire to go north and compete for supremacy.At least, as long as Li Ran was in Chu State for one day, that would be the case.

Therefore, it is obviously appropriate for Sun Wu to take over Ye Yi for him.

"But sir, Wu has never had..."

"Hehe, Changqing doesn't need to worry too much. You only need to remember four words when you are in charge of one party, that is - governing for the people."

Sun Wuyuan himself was a leader of Li, and he had no experience in running a party.

But in this era, the big difference from later generations is that anyone in charge of one side can play out different strategic characteristics according to different geographical conditions.

It's like Zheng Guo emphasized business and trade, Lu State emphasized ethics, Jin State emphasized integration, Song State emphasized ghosts and gods, and so on.

As the saying goes, "one kind of rice feeds a hundred kinds of people", each place actually has its own unique style.

Therefore, it is obvious that if one wants to govern the common people well, one of the fundamental prerequisites that cannot be avoided is - people-oriented.

Apparently, Li Ran believes that as one party's governing, it only needs to be able to "put people first", follow the local folk customs and characteristics, and moderately develop according to local conditions. This can be regarded as "Great Rule".

Therefore, although Sun Wu has no experience in running a party, it is precisely because of his "inexperience", so if he can only rely on the heart of "governing for the people", Li Ran also firmly believes that Sun Wu is completely competent.

"No, Wu Dingdang will always remember the teacher's teachings."

(End of this chapter)