warring states careerist

Chapter 303

Although on the surface, the morals of the Mohists themselves still have to abide by them, but in fact there is a lot of room for manipulation inside.

In the past, when the Chu State conquered Sui, there were some rhetoric.

"I am a barbarian. Today the princes are all rebellious, invading, or killing each other. I have a poor armor, and I want to observe China's politics."

In the final analysis, in the end, I still rely on the humble "bad armor" as my confidence.The Mohists dare not say that they can observe China's politics, but they still have the ability to intervene in the disputes of various countries.

If they only provided defense equipment, the Mohists themselves would not be criticized by the Sanjin side, and no one would take the opportunity to criticize the Mohist's ideas of non-offensive and so on.

The key to the instructions brought by Hu Feizi is how to make the princes look sideways again in the Luyang Luguan battle without deviating from the morality of Mohism itself, and become famous all over the world.

At least it must be done so that the Mohists can say "I have a bad armor, and I want to stop the war between the princes."

This point is suitable for the consistent performance of the Mohist school, and he is indeed the most suitable person: the so-called unity of words and deeds, he can always speak out the truth in line with the morality of the Mohist school, and can persuade others.

Furthermore, when Mozi traveled to Luyang, many of Mozi's direct disciples were acquainted with Duke Luyang.Among the selected Seven Enlightened Harms, all of them had some friendship with Duke Lu Yang, so it would be best for Shihe Meng Sheng, the two candidates for Seven Enlightened Harms who had no previous friendship with Lu Yang Gong, to come forward.

Now that we have met, it is convenient to go to Luyang with the Mohist who came here.Yingcheng is only a few days away from Luyang, so do more research along the way.

When he arrived in Luyang, the anxious Duke Luyang greeted him in person.

Although Shi is young, Duke Lu Yang does not dare to underestimate him. He has become famous in the past few years, and now is the time when he needs help.

First, He Shi and others reminisced about Mozi's visit to Luyang, and then asked Gong Zaoye and others about their current situation.

Duke Lu Yang knew that the Mohists would provide some of the weapons this time. He had only heard about the last battle of Shangqiu, but had never seen gunpowder in person.

Whenever one hears about it, there are always exaggerations. Although there is no such thing as a corruption of dozens of miles, the situation that night still caused a lot of shock among the nobles of the Chu Kingdom.

Seeing the weapons on the carriage brought by the Mohists, Duke Lu Yang wished to have a look first, but Shi did not agree. Instead, he asked first: "In the old days, Cao GUI asked Marquis Yu why he was fighting? Today Jin and Zheng will send troops soon. I also want to ask you, why fight?"

Duke Lu Yang sighed and said, "If you look at the hearts of the people, they don't have enough will to fight."

Shi said directly: "If you are not at peace with the country, you can't send troops. The Mohists need the people to want to defend the city. The giant once said that if you want to defend a city, either the people are willing to defend and repay their kindness, or the graves of the ancestors are all outside the city. The enemy burned and dug the graves of the ancestors."

"If Master Jin and Master Zheng don't excavate their ancestral graves and cause public outrage, and you think that the people are not motivated enough to fight, I'm afraid this battle will not be easy. Even though the Mohists provide the equipment for defending the city, they still need people to use it. What do you think? Can the people's hearts be attached?"

Duke Lu Yang shook his head, then analyzed the current situation again.

If this battle cannot be won, the worst-case scenario is that the coalition forces of Jin and Zheng break through the Great Wall defense line, and the prince will enter Chu.In this way, Duke Lu Yang, who is firmly on the side of Chu King Xiongyi, will inevitably be implicated, and it is possible to take back the fief.

Even if it is not possible to enter Chu, Luyang's geographical location is very important. Occupying Luyang can attack the Great Wall defense line at any time, so it is also possible that Jin people occupy Luyang, and the consequences are still the same.

So Shi Shi told Lu Yanggong that this battle can only be won but not defeated. No matter whether it is a big defeat or a small defeat, the entire family of Lu Yanggong will be implicated in the end.

Duke Lu Yang also understands that this is where his foundation lies, and Shi's analysis is clear and logical, so he can't help but not believe it.

Duke Lu Yang was not so confident in dealing with the coalition forces of Wei, Han and Zheng. Although he had courage, no matter how brave he was, he could not decide the outcome of a battle.

So he said: "So this time, I will ask the Mo family to help me defend the city. Back then, you giants lobbied me not to allow me to attack Zheng Guo, saying that I am a minister of the sky, and I have no right to interfere in other people's internal affairs. Now..."

Shi nodded and said: "That's right. If it weren't for this, the Mohists wouldn't have sent me here. However, in the end, we still have to fight the Jin division. If the public opinion doesn't have the will to fight, how can we fight?"

Duke Lu Yang saw that he was still struggling with this issue. Although he knew it was reasonable, he could only say: "I have heard the principles of the Mohist school from you giants. Benevolence is clear and bright, and politics is beneficial to the people. It's just that this kind of thing takes a long time. It can’t be done all at once.”

"Now even if the widow knows it's wrong, how can it be reversed?"

He was right to say that. Back then, Chu State was booming, and it was always on the offensive, and other countries did not dare to move lightly.

Lu Yang is the forward line of defense of the Great Wall. Unless Jin and Chu are going to fight a decisive battle to destroy the country, it is possible to get involved here. Otherwise, the general struggle for hegemony will happen between Song and Zheng.

Under such circumstances, Duke Lu Yang has no motivation for political reform at all. Mozi said a lot back then. Even if Duke Lu Yang thought it made sense, he could not do it, and he had no motivation to do it. At most, he did not attack the weak and chaotic. Zheng Guo.

Now that the war is imminent, seeing Shi still say something like "you can't form an army if you are not in peace with the country", you can't help feeling sullen in your heart, thinking that "peace with the country" can no longer be achieved at this time, so it is meaningless to talk about it up.

Seeing that Duke Lu Yang was a little impatient and not impatient, he said, "I have a strategy, which can survive the present and make the people willing to fight. It's just that it can only last for a while. It can be regarded as a cure for headaches and feet." The method. As for the follow-up, that’s another story.”

When Mr. Lu Yang heard this, he was overjoyed, and said in his heart that what I want is to get through the present, and as for the future... I will talk about it later.

After hastily asking for advice, he said, "Many morals of the Mohists are to benefit the people. I'm afraid you won't do it. However, there are also some strategies that can benevolent to the people, using kindness as goods, and letting the people use blood and fight Come to repay. This depends on whether you are willing to pay. "

"I think you must lend money?"

This is a no-brainer.

The coexistence of fiefdoms and counties ensures that Lu Yang is not only the local manager, but also the richest local family. Those farmers who are not tied to his fiefs will definitely need to borrow money from him when they cannot survive. money life.

As an old aristocrat, Duke Lu Yang would definitely not invest in any industry or commerce. In other words, without the technical support of the Mohists, large-scale industry and commerce have not developed. The best way to increase the value of money is to lend money.

The feudal monarchs of all countries lend loans, and the target of lending is not the serfs on their own fiefs, but the farmers outside the fiefs.

At this time, Feng Chen and Meng hadn't tried anything. Duke Lu Yang didn't understand what he meant, but he still replied: "Yes. I get interest every year to make money."

Shi said: "Since that's the case, you can use the interest to benefit the people and let them fight for you. This is a short-term method. Since the people have benefited, it can be regarded as our Mohism's rhetoric for the benefit of the people."

When Duke Lu Yang heard this, he felt dissatisfied immediately, shook his head and said, "It's the law between heaven and earth to repay a loan."

Shi nodded and said: "This is indeed the principle of heaven and earth. But you fought and were able to seal Luyang, but the people fought to gain nothing. This is not the reason they think. Since they can't benefit, why should they fight with you? "

"You give up the interest and sell it to the people as a kindness. The people can't repay it, so they can only repay it with blood. Isn't it your wealth that you keep in the end?"

"Lending a year, the interest is only [-]. The [-] money will be kind to the people, which can ensure that the people will have the fighting spirit this time."

Shi stretched out his little finger, indicating that this is the interest of the one hundred thousand yuan.

Then he clenched his whole hand into a fist and said, "This is your fiefdom, and it is the family temple for sacrifices that was granted back then."

"If you had to choose, would you choose to cut off your little finger and keep your fist? Or would you just cut off your fist?"

"This is the way I can think of for you. If you think this is not acceptable, please ask another wise man. We have sent these weapons as a transaction, and the follow-up will be sent slowly, but there will be no more one Word."

One sentence, please be clever, left Duke Lu Yang speechless.

He knew that the Jin-Zheng coalition forces were likely to attack Luyang this time. If they didn't attack and did as Shi said, they would lose a lot of money.

It is not a question of whether to pay or not, but that it is a natural obligation for the people to follow him to fight because of their feudal obligations. Now Shi thinks this obligation is unreasonable, and even needs to be traded with kindness, which makes Duke Lu Yang feel a little uncomfortable .

Zhao Guo opened the beginning of the military duke, which is equivalent to prying a hole in the Zhou ceremony: feudal obligations are not a matter of course. If it is a matter of course, then it is only necessary to educate the people, and there is no need to talk about the benefits gained from the war.

But after these years of development, the people have gradually awakened, and no one wants to fight without interests.

This is a kind of confrontation of ideas, not just a question of not being willing to part with the money.

However, Duke Lu Yang can't invite another Gao Ming now, because before he said these things, he had already made his words very clear.

Once the Jin-Zheng coalition forces win, no matter if they win a big victory or a small victory, Duke Luyang will have a hard time. The fief will either be occupied by Wei and Han, or be taken back by Prince Ding... When the time comes, Duke Luyang will not even have the strength to resist. No, domestic nobles will bite, and Wei Han in the north will also threaten.

It is basically hopeless to count on the help of the Fengjun county magistrate elsewhere.One part was decided to support the prince, and the other part was not easy to mobilize at all. It was impossible for the king of Chu to go out in person, because Ying was unstable and the troops needed to maintain military superiority to suppress nobles who might rebel.

Seeing the hesitation on Lu Yang's face, Shi said with a bit of sarcasm in his words, "If you usually have strict governance and strict rewards and punishments, why should I give you such a plan? Of course you know the battle of Shangqiu. In the end, the Mohist formed an alliance, but don't forget that something happened in Shangqiu city."

(End of this chapter)