Rebirth of Wu Ba Spring and Autumn

Chapter 124 Implementation of County System
Qingji knew that if the normal procedure was followed, the officials headed by Shen Xi and Bei Li would definitely go up and impeach Ji Ran, Fan Li and others, and there would be a lot of verbal and verbal attacks and a waste of time.

Therefore, Qingji could only cut straight to the point and ask the ministers to hold a court debate.

"Your Majesty, I think that the new law cannot be implemented, at least not fully implemented!"

Shang Dafu Shenxi was the first to stand up and said loudly: "As for the ten new laws, there are five ministers who oppose them. First, promote commerce; second, implement the county system; third, implement the flat purchase law; Specialize in salt and iron; fifth, encourage Chinese people to consume!"

"My minister believes that the state of Wu should not place more emphasis on business than agriculture. The matter of agriculture and mulberry is the foundation of the country and cannot be shaken!"

"Wu Guo's great prosperity of commerce, is it not to abandon the basics and chase after the last? If everyone abandons the cultivated land, does not keep their own business, and turns to business instead, I can't imagine that ten years later, the fields will be barren, and the people of the country will seek profit and avoid harm. Is the country of Wu worthy of a battle?"

"What if the treasury's money is piled up like a mountain?"

"color!"

Li and other doctors couldn't help but yelled in agreement, echoing Shen Xi.

What Shen Xi said is indeed well-founded and thought-provoking!

It is well known that merchants pursue profit.

If the common people go to do business, who will plow the fields and produce food for the country, or produce other things?
So what if the national treasury is full?
The Song Dynasty was as rich as the Song Dynasty in history, but wasn't it reduced to the point where it was hammered and forced to give old coins to sue for peace?

As the saying goes, born in sorrow, die in peace!

When the war comes, it is really shameful to let a group of merchants who are greedy for life and fear of death go to the battlefield to resist foreign enemies.

Moreover, a country with most of its fields barren may not be able to sustain a protracted war, and it will eventually collapse without a fight!
"What the doctor said is great!"

Fan Li, the governor of Su Nei, held a wat in his hand, and retorted: "In the new law, there has never been a policy of great commercial prosperity!"

"The new law only encourages merchants to hoard goods and lower tariffs, catering to merchants from all over the world to do business in Wu! This policy is for the benefit of the state of Wu, so why bother to chase after the end?"

Qingji never thought of making a big business.

After all, the prosperity of commerce has both advantages and disadvantages. In this world of great strife, the advantages of great commerce ultimately outweigh the disadvantages.

But for now, the state of Wu is running a deficit, and the savings of several generations of kings of Wu state have been almost completely consumed by Qing Ji!
The state of Wu urgently needs a large amount of income, and it is really helpless to encourage merchants from various countries to enter Wu to do business.

"Let's not mention Daxing Commercial. Why does the new law advocate the county system?"

Shen Xi was rather dissatisfied and said: "Wu inherited the Zhou system, with counties, cities, capitals, and townships, but it is reasonable to implement the county system in an all-round way and not allow us, who enjoy fiefs and towns, to interfere in local government affairs?"

"Exactly!"

The ministers and officials in the court immediately expressed their support for Shen Xi.

The senior official was told to Qingji on the stage: "My lord, since the Great Zhou divided the world, the princes Zong Zhou, Qing Zong Junhou, doctor Zongqing, Shi Zong doctor!"

"I have heard that virtue is used in government, for example, Beichen, which lives in its place and is surrounded by stars. There are three things that the emperor judges, one is that virtue is not suitable for his position, the other is that merit is not suitable for his salary, and the third is that he is not suitable for his official position. These three books are the source of chaos!"

"The ministers have virtue, merit, and ability in the country, so they enjoy the right to entrust the land and eat the city."

"Nowadays, most of the magistrates appointed by the king are scholars from all over the world. What virtue and ability do they have, so that the ministers will respect them?"

"color!"

The officials present immediately applauded and cheered.

Beli only expressed one meaning - they refused to accept it!
"The doctor's words are wrong!"

Fan Li immediately retorted: "It is imperative for Wu to implement the county system in an all-round way!"

"Take the reform of Guan Zhong in the state of Qi as an example. In the past, Guan Zhong ruled Qi and divided Linzi, the capital of the state, into six industrial and commercial towns and fifteen scholar towns, a total of twenty-one towns."

"Fifteen Shixiang is the main source of soldiers for Qi."

"Duke Huan of Qi governs the five townships, and Shangqing Guozi and Gaozi each manage the five townships."

"Guan Zhong also divided state affairs into three divisions and formulated the system of three officials. There are three officials for officials, three clans for industry, three townships for commerce, three Yus for Chuanze industry, and three balances for mountain and forestry industries."

"Thirty families in the suburbs make up a town, and each town has a magistrate. Ten towns make up a pawn, and each pawn has a pawn division. Ten pawns make up a township, and each township has a township division. Three townships make up a county. A county has a county division. Ten counties form a genus, and each genus has a doctor."

"The Qi State has five genus and five officials. At the beginning of each year, the five genus officials will report the situation within the genus to Duke Huan of Qi and inspect their merits and demerits. Therefore, the huge Qi State can form a unified whole!"

After a pause, Fan Li turned his scrutinizing eyes to the beli again, and asked word by word: "Dare to ask the doctor, how long will it take for my country of Wu to mobilize [-] troops to gather in the capital of Wu?"

Hearing this, Li Li calculated silently, and then replied, "About...fifteen days?"

"Twenty days is not impossible!"

Fan Li asked loudly again: "Does the senior doctor know how long it will take for Qi to mobilize [-] troops to Linzi?"

"Ten days?"

Beli asked a question tentatively.

Fan Li just chuckled and said, "I'm afraid it will take five days!"

"hiss!"

Hearing this, all the officials, including the one who was left, couldn't help but gasp and were shocked.

Is the speed at which Qi State mobilizes troops and horses really so fast?
The officials were a little unbelievable, thinking that Fan Li was scaremongering.

"Of course, the speed of gathering troops in five days is that of Qi State in the past. It is not known how fast Qi State is gathering troops now, but it should not be less than ten days."

Fan Liyun smiled lightly.

In the past, Qi State, relying on such a strict division of administrative regions, indeed dispatched troops and generals at an extremely fast speed and with extremely high efficiency!
However, Qi State is not what it used to be.

Qi State, whose monarchy is declining and civil strife continues, obviously cannot pull up a large army in a short period of time.

"Governing the internal history of millet, the speed of gathering troops in Qi State is so fast, and my Wu State is indeed inferior. But how can you guarantee that after the implementation of the county system, the speed of Wu State's army gathering can be greatly improved?"

Unconvinced, Bei Li continued to argue with Fan Li.

Fan Li was not annoyed either, and said, "The state of Wu implements the county system, why can't we gather troops quickly?"

"Second and third sons, Fan Li dare to ask you, my state of Wu is slightly smaller than the state of Qi, but the territory is densely covered with water networks, with the advantages of boats and convenient transportation, why the speed of gathering troops is not as fast as that of Qi?"

"Fan Li secretly thought that it was due to the differences in local administrative systems!"

"When Qi State encounters a war, it will issue the monarch's conscription order to the subordinates, counties, townships, soldiers, and towns as soon as possible, and then the young and strong will rush to the battlefield from bottom to top."

"What about my country of Wu? Just like Jin, Chu and other countries, the counties, townships, and towns are not under the jurisdiction of each other, and the government orders cannot be passed on for a while, which is a waste of time!"

"As the saying goes, speed is the most important thing in the army, and the delay in the transmission of government orders for so long, isn't it harmful to the country and the people?"

(End of this chapter)