A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 50 Contemporary Dayu, the sorrow of a small country
The ninth year of King Chuzhuang and the one hundred and sixty-sixth year of Bai Kingdom

Chu State, I am thinking. A middle-aged man dressed like Dayu, with a raincoat on his back, straw shoes on his feet, and a bamboo stick in his hand, was standing in Shihe, surveying the terrain on both sides of the river.

"The terrain here is very flat, irrigated by rivers, and has lush vegetation. It is a good place for reclamation!"

"Uncle Sun, you are wrong! The terrain here is indeed flat, but the hydrological conditions are not good, and there are frequent floods every year. If we open up farmland and plant it in spring, all the seedlings will be gone when the flood season comes!"

Sun Shuao looked at the fellow scholars and said with a smile: "What's so difficult about this? The hydrological conditions are not good, just make them better!"

"Change? Are you a god? How to change?"

"Do you know why there are thousands of acres of fertile land and such a big river in the Central Plains, but there are so few floods?"

"That's because Dayu subdued Dahe!"

"Then we can't subdue this small river of history?"

"this···"

"I have decided to gather the people when I get back. I will turn the thousand acres of wasteland between Shihe and Quanhe into thousands of acres of fertile farmland!"

The scholar looked at Sun Shuao with firm eyes. Although he was a little disbelieving, he still respected Sun Shuao's ambition and gave him a heavy bow to show his respect.

Soon, Sun Shuao returned to Qisiyi, summoned a large number of Chinese and savages, and said:

"Everyone, my country of Chu is located in the south. It is not only invaded by barbarians but also miasma. It is through the efforts of our ancestors that we have gained such a vast territory and opened up thousands of acres of fertile land. Are we going to stop here? ?

Are we being fooled by the achievements our ancestors have created for us? Even if you don’t think about yourself, please think about your children and grandchildren! There are more and more people. If we don’t cultivate new fields, where will your descendants cultivate it?
Today, I discovered that there is a large area of ​​wasteland between Shihe and Quanhe. That is our future! Some people say that there are frequent disasters there and it is impossible to cultivate fertile land. But I already have a way to make Shihe and Quanhe irrigate the fertile fields between them obediently without causing an outbreak.

But although I have a way, my strength alone is not enough to complete this grand project. Therefore, I ask you to contribute your own strength to open up wasteland and obtain good farmland for the sake of future generations. "

After Sun Shuao's preaching, combined with Sun Shuao's past virtues, most Chinese and savages believed in him, so a mighty engineering army headed for Shihe, preparing to subdue the violent Shihe.

Soon, after Sun Shuao's preliminary exploration and the hard work he came up with, Sun Shuao led people to dig a stone mouth on the east bank of Shihe River and divert water to the north, which was called Qinghe River; he also dug a canal on the east bank of the lower reaches of Shihe River to divert water to the east. , called Kan River.

In this way, these two water diversion canals are used to irrigate the land between Shihe River and Quanhe River. The land between Shihe and Quanhe became fertile farmland.

At this time, the Ling Yin of Chu State was Ruao'o. Someone slandered King Zhuang of Chu and framed the Ruo Ao family. The Ruo Ao family was afraid of being killed, so they decided to strike first and planned to attack King Zhuang in turn. However, King Zhuang learned the news in advance, attacked and destroyed Ruo Ao. The whole family.

King Zhuang of Chu also appointed Yu Qiu as his commander.

The fifteenth year of King Chuzhuang and the one hundred and seventy-second year of Bai Kingdom

Because Zheng had formed an alliance with Chu, the Jin State led a coalition of princes to attack the Zheng State. Seeing that the coalition forces were strong, but the Chu army was still late, Zheng Gong had no choice but to express his willingness to sever the alliance with the Chu State and instead rely on the Jin State. Jin agreed and then withdrew its troops.

King Chuzhuang heard about the betrayal of Zheng State, so he led his army to attack Zheng State. Jin State sent Shihui to lead Jin army to rescue Zheng State. Chu army and Jin army faced off at Yingbei.

In this battle, the Chu army was defeated. King Chuzhuang had no choice but to withdraw from the army, while the Jin army stayed in Zheng to help Zheng defend.

Yu Qiu was already very old when he was appointed Ling Yin, so he was about to resign that year. King Chuzhuang failed to persuade him to stay many times, so he had to ask him: "Yu Qing, since you have decided to leave, how can I do it?" I won’t try to retain you anymore, but the position of Ling Yin cannot be left vacant. Who do you think can take your place?”

Yu Qiu said: "There was a man in Qisi, his name was Sun Shuao. It is said that he had the talents of Dayu. During his period in Qisi, he managed the overflowing Shi River and turned the land between Shi River and Quan River into a thousand acres. Fertile land, if you have such talents, what are you waiting for if you don’t use them?

I heard that during the Bailixi period, he proposed five steps to achieve hegemony, of which appointing talents was the first step, and Sun Shuao was just the talent the emperor needed to achieve hegemony! The old story of Baili Xi must not be repeated and other countries got it! "

After hearing this, King Zhuang of Chu immediately appointed Sun Shuao as his commander. Because Sun Shuao was always wise and talented, the people of Chu State trusted him very much. Sun Shuao was appointed as the magistrate of Chu State, and all the officials and people of the country came to congratulate him.

At this time, there was an old man standing silently outside the door, holding a cute little boy in his hand. I saw this old man with a piece of linen wrapped around his forehead. His face was resolute, and the outline of his face could vaguely show that he was quite handsome when he was young. He was dressed in washed starched white clothes, only a piece of jade around his waist looked unusual. . The children's clothes are also similar. Although the clothes are old, they are very clean.

When most of the people were almost gone, the old man held a bamboo stick and led the child slowly into Sun Shuao's house. As he entered, he shouted loudly: "Unknown person, come to pay your respects."

In an instant, the guests who had not finished leaving all looked at him in surprise, and some even yelled at the old man. Sun Shuao also saw it, but the old man didn't look like an ordinary person. So he arranged his clothes and hat, went out to meet him, and said to the old man:

"The King of Chu didn't understand that I had no talent, so he appointed me as a high-ranking official like Ling Yin. People came to congratulate me, but you were the only one who came to mourn me. Do you have something to teach me?"

The old man said: "There is something to say. I have traveled to various countries and met many nobles and common people. Some people become proud of others when they become high officials, and then the people leave them. Some people have high positions and monopolize power. In the end, the king will hate him and even get rid of him; some people have generous salaries but are not satisfied, and in the end, disaster will be added to him and his reputation will be ruined."

Sun Shuao bowed twice to the old man and said, "I sincerely accept your advice and would like to hear your other opinions."

The old man said: "The higher the status, the more humble the attitude; the greater the official position, the more careful and prudent you have to do; the salary is already very generous, so you should not ask for extra money. If you strictly abide by these three rules, you will not only be able to If Chu is governed well, it can still preserve itself."

Sun Shuao replied: "You are very right, I will remember them firmly!" Then he asked the old man his name. The old man turned around and walked out. A voice came: "A commoner's ear!"

Sun Shuao bowed respectfully three times to the figures of the old man and the boy.

"Third Grandfather, why should we help people from other countries!"

The old man looked at the child and said with a smile: "Have you seen those people in the farmland?"

"Yes, got it!"

"Have you seen those people in the city?"

"I see!"

"Have you seen the people who helped us along the way?"

"I see!"

"How does their life compare with that of the Bai country?"

"Although some of them live well and some live badly, none of them are as good as Bai Guo."

"So do you think they are the same person?"

"It's the same! They all have one head, two hands, and two feet, hey! It's the same as me."

"Yes! They are all the same, they are all common people. This is why we want to help Sun Shuao. He has the opportunity to make these common people's lives better."

"Then why don't we help ourselves?"

"Haha, how many people are there in our family? The world is so big! Not to mention there are people who specialize in sabotage! Okay, let's continue on our way!"

As they spoke, the two got into a carriage on the side of the road, and three tough men rushed out from beside them to protect the two of them and go away.

Here, as soon as Sun Shuao took office, he would calm down the army and calm the people, eliminate troubles, promote profits, develop production, and enrich the people. He wrote a letter to King Chuzhuang about his country's governance strategy. King Chuzhuang was very happy after seeing it and expressed support for all his actions. No need to Have concerns.

After getting the endorsement of the King of Chu, Sun Shuao began to examine the system, establish military laws, pay tribute, and develop water conservancy. He inspected the drought and flood conditions in large areas of farmland south of the Huaihe River and east of the Pihe River. He also went up the Peishui River, climbed mountains and ridges, and personally surveyed the water sources from the Dabie Mountains.

Later, in the Huainan area, people were recruited to dig ditches and ditches, eliminate waterlogging in lowlands, and prevent drought in highlands. The rectangular area east of the Pihe River and the west of Wabu Lake was selected. Based on the terrain of high in the south and low in the north and the water flow controlled from the top to the bottom, the project was rationally arranged and a large-scale embankment was built. The area involved was 120 meters in circumference. Rich.

After the completion of the project, the water source of Longxue Mountain and Pihe River emerged, and the Pidong Plain of more than 1300 square kilometers was controlled below, which is known as irrigating tens of thousands of hectares of farmland. Because there was a white peony pavilion in the bei at that time, it was named "Shao Bei".

What is even more commendable is that Sun Shuao was very kind to the government, frugal in food and clothing, managed the country and the people, and worked hard to govern, especially the construction of Shaopi, where he tried his best and exhausted his family fortune.

The sixteenth year of King Chuzhuang and the one hundred and seventy-third year of Bai Kingdom

Spring:

The Chu State once again raised troops to attack the Zheng State, marched to Dongdi, and defeated the Jin army who stayed behind in the Zheng State. Upon seeing this, the Zheng State quickly formed an alliance with Chu in Chenling, expressing its intention to surrender to the Chu State.

After the Chu army retreated, Zheng Guo turned around and sued for peace with Jin State, saying: Forming an alliance with Chu State is a last resort, and as a prince surnamed Ji, he must support Jin State.

Summer:

Chu State attacked Chen State and killed Xia Zhengshu, a senior official of Chen State. Because Xia Zhengshu killed his own king, the king of Chu killed him.

After the Chu State conquered the Chen State, it planned to turn Chen into one of its own counties. All the ministers of the Chu State came to congratulate King Chuzhuang for this, but Uncle Shen, who had returned from a mission to the State of Qi, did not come to congratulate him. Instead, he looked unhappy.

King Chuzhuang asked him the reason, and Uncle Shen replied: "I heard that a man who was tending cattle accidentally trampled on other people's seedlings when he walked into other people's fields. The owner of the field took them away in order to make him compensate. Got his cow. I want to ask, is this right?

It is indeed wrong for a cowherd to walk into other people's fields and trample the seedlings, but for the owner of the field to take away other people's cows, isn't this even more outrageous?

Besides, Your Majesty, you led the princes to attack Chen State because of the civil strife in Chen State. You attacked Chen State under the banner of justice, but because you coveted the land of Chen State, you took it as your own and turned it into your own county. I think May I ask how you can command the world in the future? Which prince will listen to your orders? "

After hearing this, King Zhuang of Chu thought it was reasonable, so he restored the state of Chen and reestablished the monarch of the state of Chen.
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The only way for a small country to survive is to swing left and right. Since Duke Huan of Zheng, Zheng’s national power has continued to decline, so much so that it has been surpassed by other major powers. Zheng is also at the center of the Zhou Dynasty, making it a battlefield for great power competition. If Zheng’s geographical location was a little more remote, there would be opportunities. Like Wei Guo, surviving to the end has to be said to be the tragedy of Zheng Guo.

——"On the Importance of Geopolitics"

(End of this chapter)