warring states careerist

Chapter 158 Yu Sheng's old law Sishui Qing ([-])

Winter has not yet passed, but Pei County is terribly hot.

Before the arrival of the New Year, the Mohists fulfilled their original promises. Those farmers who completed their share of tasks ahead of schedule went around the six townships in red and green, attracting many people from Pei County to watch.

I don't know how many girls' voices have been hoarse, and how many village girls' hearts have been touched. The "heroes" under a brand-new value system have received all the spiritual rewards they deserve.

Before going back, the inkmen also fulfilled their material rewards, and dozens of brand new cast iron ironware returned to their home together with the glorious people.

The ironware they took back was naturally annealed and cold.

But the iron utensils they took back seemed to be still red hot, scalding the already different pool in Pei County to countless boils.

Those things that once existed in the Prophecy of Paradise, in fact, the people of Pei County have seen many.

However, like ironware, which seems to be all basic, closely related to farming, and without it, there will be no important things in the life of farmers in the Promised Land, but it is the first time that a large number of them have entered the village community.

After Mo Zhe was busy with his second conscription, it seemed that everything was on the right track for the time being, and he was not as busy as he was in the past few months.

In the largest room in Peiguo Township, Gong Zaozhu was holding a few pieces of ironware that had just been completed, talking to a group of Mohists.

The established iron smelting furnace has achieved normal operation, the annealing method and the iron standard method have ensured a steady supply of iron equipment, and the quality after inspection is also considered acceptable.

After he finished speaking, everyone looked at him. As the head of the Xuanyi Department, the importance of the Xuanyi Department gradually became apparent. The public's emotions were closely related to the actions of the Xuanyi Department.

"The second batch of conscripts are in high spirits. After all, it's not that we don't give money, and the money we give can also buy ironware."

"Casting, mold making, and smelting still require more manpower. We need to gather some of them as soon as possible in every giant city. These people must do one thing for a long time, so that they can become more proficient and do it well." Can be faster."

After thinking about it for a while, he said some secret and dark truths.

"Why do we have to recruit people from other places? After the local farmers have iron tools, they will reclaim the land and grow food. It is impossible for them to be willing to become iron smelters. Give more money, and we can't do it yet."

"Use local people, the money is less, and they don't want to do it. It's not good to force it. Pei County is the cave of the Mohists. Don't waste the hearts of the people here. Besides, if it is really urgent There is nothing we can do if we take the iron tools and hide in the mountains and forests."

"Those people who use those big cities to 'assist farming' for others, first of all, they don't have land, second, they are also workers, and third, even if they don't want to work and want to run here, they are not familiar with the surrounding area."

"It's not that the money we give is not enough. The money we give is already extremely high for hiring elsewhere. But compared with the life of farmers in Peixian County, it is still worse after all. Three years ago, we could use the same money to hire Local farmers, they will come happily; but now, we use the same money to recruit local farmers, they may not be willing."

"It's still the same thing, this kind of thing is not worth draining the people's trust in us. Our Propaganda Department has done our best, and it's easy to get this trust. We must not waste it."

This is the most troublesome problem right now. With the development of Peixian County, a large number of wasteland reclamation and co-cultivation groups organized by the Mohists have caused the number of local refugees to drop sharply, and the local labor force has also expected higher commissions.

The group of people that the Mohists will rely on in the future should be industrial and commercial people and the citizen class that gradually formed and increased with the agricultural revolution.

But now, it is still the self-cultivators who have to rely on, and it is not yet possible to abandon their support to fully represent the urban citizen class.

Therefore, the Mohists have not collected excessive taxes for the time being, and there have been no floods or droughts in the past few years, and the farmers' lives are quite good.

Fortunately, the Mohists look at the whole world, not just a land, so the policy of recruiting refugees and those with little land in the cities as craftsmen can still be maintained.

Mozi agrees with Shi's point of view. Although what he said later is very straightforward and ugly, it is just a fact, and it is also a criterion that Mohists who believe in the unity of profit and righteousness must abide by.

After considering what to say, Mozi asked Gongzao Zhudao again: "Over the iron smelting furnace, how are the iron tools for digging tunnels and canals that we use to defend the city prepared?"

Gong Zaozhu took out a piece of paper, and knew that the Mohists were about to gather some Mohist backbones and volunteers from Peixian County to go to Shangqiu. After careful calculation, he said: "If the city is defended, it should be enough, so that some copper can be saved. weapon."

Mozi asked again: "The kind of weapon that Shi said is made of iron on the outside and filled with gunpowder inside. Are the iron shells ready enough?"

Gongzao Zhu hummed, he was only in charge of iron smelting, and didn't care about gunpowder, and said, "That kind of casing is also being produced, and it doesn't need to be annealed. It's not slow. It has accumulated a lot."

Everyone present is qualified to know these secrets, so these things are not hidden.

The volunteers in Pei County have already started propaganda and mobilization, explaining clearly why they are fighting: it is very simple, in exchange for Duke Song's recognition of Pei County's semi-autonomous status, because the Mohists have not yet been able to directly turn their faces and refuse to recognize the entire aristocratic system.

While tossing the furnace iron in Pei County, he was also paying close attention to the situation in the world.

This time the Chu people sent troops to the north to fight for hegemony, which is what Shi originally knew, and if it was not this year or next year, the current King of Chu would be assassinated, and the Chu State would fall into civil strife over inheritance rights.

The Churen county public group has also begun to recruit local garrison troops. This time, it is not only to question the Song people, but more importantly, to send a signal to Zheng, Song, and Wei: don't get too close to the three Jins.

Zheng Bo had a blood feud with the Marquis of Han, and Zheng Bo was related by marriage to the King of Chu.The State of Wei is hidden in the north of the State of Song, and the State of Song is the one that can be beaten after thinking about it.

Originally, defending the city and stopping unjust wars was an important creed of the Mohist. Although Shi did not accept it, since he became a Mohist, he must obey the order.

It is not difficult to defend the city, but the difficulty is how to achieve the goal that Mo Zhe wants through this defense.

For two purposes.

One is the semi-autonomous status of Peixian County. Song Gong can only have nominal sovereignty, but governance, taxation, and policies are all independent, so as to ensure Song Gong's status and defense obligations in case of being attacked by the Three Jins and Chu.

The other is that Mozi hopes to use the gunpowder and other new weapons that Shi has produced to stage a defensive battle that shocks the world, so that Mozi's ability to interfere in the internal affairs of great powers will be improved.

When Qi and Lu were at war, Mozi persuaded Qihou to retreat by virtue of his strong ability to defend the city, which indirectly caused Wu Qi to go from Lu to Wei.

Mozi hoped that this time he would be better at stopping Chu from attacking Song. It has been too long since persuading the king of Chu more than 30 years ago. Many kings in the world seem to have forgotten the horror of Mo's technique of defending the city. This time, Mozi hopes to do good to the world. Kingdom of War is a clear lesson.

If it was in the past, it might just be defending the city, as long as it can be defended.

But now, new weapons, iron tools, etc., are equivalent to directly abolishing seven of the twelve siege techniques.

The most threatening ant-attached siege will be easier to crack in front of gunpowder weapons.

The new weapon is an iron can filled with gunpowder, with a fuse on the outside, which is ignited and thrown down from the city wall.

The effect may not be good for field battles, but it is very effective for defending the city.

Throwing this thing in the field requires the strength of Gong Zaoye, so as not to blow up himself and break the opposing army formation.

In the battle of defending the city, as long as you can throw it a little farther, stand on the high city wall of Shangqiu and throw it down, the effect will be obvious.

Originally, after the gunpowder was produced, Mo Zhe thought about using stone as the shell, and also thought about using bronze.

But bronze is too expensive, especially since this kind of gunpowder weapon is completely disposable. If you throw out one, the surplus grain of several self-cultivating farmers in Pei County may be gone for a year.

Now that there is cast iron, it is natural to think of using cast iron casing, which can at least be much cheaper.

As for how to defend it at that time, it depends on the specific situation.

Mozi believed that the "upper defense" in defending the city is to go out of the city to fight the enemy in the field, and to win the field battle does not need to defend the city.

But the military strength of the Song State, not to mention the Chu State, might not even be able to defeat the county garrison troops of the Chu State's Shenxi Division.

These ideas are well understood, and they are all clear, since Mo Zi wants to make the gunpowder weapon appear in the battle for the first time in this battle, then he must fully cooperate.

After pondering for a while, I asked, "Sir, although I am not proficient in the art of defending the city, since the Chu people know that Mr. is still alive, I am afraid they may not choose to attack by force. If the Chu people choose to besiege rather than attack, how long can Shangqiu last?"

Mozi stretched out his hands, compared them and said with a wry smile, "Ten months? Don't those carnivores in Shangqiu know that the Chu people are coming? It's just that each has its own constraints and plans, and they haven't prepared yet."

"The people of Chu didn't destroy the Song Dynasty, and they didn't cut off the city. They just let the Song Dynasty hire Chu. This kind of thing...some people don't want it, and some people want it. It's hard to get together."

Shi thought about it for a while and said, "Chu people may last ten months at most."

Mozi shook his head and said, "You're right, but you're not right either. The people of Chu have delayed planting in the siege of the city in October, but the same is true for Shangqiu. After eating the stored grain, Shangqiu will definitely be hungry next year. How can the princes and nobles provide food?" Relief?"

"In the end, more than [-] people were left with famine. There have been wars outside the city, and next year's planting will also be a problem. So we can keep it for ten months, but we can't think about keeping it for ten months."

Shiza felt a little taste, and he didn't know if his thinking was right. He didn't know the specific military deployment for the time being, and asked again: "Now the news from Shangqiu, the Mohist went back to defend the city, I am afraid that someone Will you object?"

Hearing this, Mozi laughed and said, "It's useless to oppose. Whether it is Sicheng or the other six ministers, Huang, Le, Zi and other clans of Song State, it is impossible to directly oppose Mozi and cause our resentment."

"What can they do? Send someone to assassinate me? Not to mention whether they can find an assassin who can get close to me, so what if they kill me? Qin Huali is still there, even if Qin Huali is not here, he will defend the city There are so many Mohists, can they still kill Mohism?"

"Besides, once the assassin is exposed and Mo Zhe is furious, who would dare to bear it?"

"Whether they object... It's useless, and I dare not really come forward to object. When the most important thing is to defend the city, give us some obstacles. At that time, in order to benefit the world, we will have to kill some people. I want to go back to defend the city , Song Guild will give me the Tiger Talisman, Mo Zhe's law of defending the city, if they dare to violate it, they will be killed."

(End of this chapter)