warring states careerist

Chapter 447
Wu Qi was feeling the possible changes in the world, but he didn't know that the land under his feet was already somewhat different from the original history.

Originally, after passing Maling, which would make Wei decline in one fell swoop in the next few decades, from Linqiu to Jishui, they are all the cities of Wei State.

In the last battle between Qi and Lu a few years ago, the State of Lu was also defeated and begged for peace and ceded a large amount of land in the west, allowing the power of the State of Qi to extend to Taoqiu.

However, in the last battle of Qifalu a few years ago, the Mohists took the lead in intervening, and finally defeated the Qi army in the last battle, which prompted Lu to join the non-aggressive alliance, defending the western territory of Lu, and making the Mohists die. Between Song, Taoqiu and Wei and Qi, there is still a hundred miles of land in Lu as a buffer.

Not long after passing Linqiu, it is still in the state of Lu at this time, and the customs here are completely different from those in the north of Dahe.

The ethos of "farming is not as good as industry, industry is not as good as business, and embroidery is not as good as leaning on the city gate" that I once felt in Handan is even more serious.

Further forward is Taoqiu, known as "the middle of the world". At this time, this is one of the most prosperous cities in the Central Plains. The Yellow River has not been diverted. The spread of the word has made this place a place of wealth.

Taoqiu, like Yangzhou in later generations, is a city that prospered because of the canal. Tao Zhugong once prospered here, and Yi Dun once became rich here. The business atmosphere here is the best in the world.

In the past, Fu Chai fought for hegemony, and in order to enter the Central Plains, he dug Heshui. This is a canal with great strategic vision. After the excavation was completed relying on bones, stone tools and bronze tools, Taoqiu became the center of world commerce in one fell swoop.

Heshui connects Heze with abundant aquatic plants and abundant fish and shrimps, Jishui which passes through Sanjin and Yellow River, connects Surabaya which goes to Pengcheng, and connects with Huaihe River and Yangtze River through Hangou.

With the advantages of water transportation, this is the center connecting the Yellow River and Yangtze River and many plain areas such as Si, Ji, and Huai. Its wealth is naturally known.

In particular, the Mohists took the lead in launching agricultural technology reforms in Sishang, which made the prosperity here ten times what it was 20 years ago.

Wu Qi had always heard that Taoqiu was rich, but before he arrived at Taoqiu, he saw the splendor and couldn't help but marvel at the Mohist's ability to govern.

When he got close to Taoqiu, he could see a huge fortress like Handan. Standing tall, Wu Qi looked at this Taoqiu city like a general, thinking that it would be difficult to capture such a city without huge cannons.

In the past few years, a lot of news has spread, for example, the tactics of digging trenches and using gunpowder to blow up the walls of Tengcheng without injury by the Mohists have long been carefully studied by famous generals in the world.

Naturally, Wu Qi has also studied it, otherwise he would not have broken the city with gunpowder in the Great Liang Battle that shocked Jingchu back then.

But after studying it, he also knew that the use of this tactic required a lot of artillery cover from the attacking side, otherwise there would be no chance to get close to the city wall.The number of cannons has already begun to determine whether the siege can be won. If there are not enough copper cannons, big cities like Taoqiu and Handan will inevitably become purgatory for the attacking party.

After approaching Taoqiu City, Wu Qi made a rough calculation. If he wanted to break through Taoqiu, he might not be able to gather the number of artillery pieces of Wei State.

In the past few years, cannon-casting technology has become a technological innovation that all countries are rushing to seize. The copper smelters in various countries have basically changed their careers. Wei Guo also began to cast its own copper cannons. However, the gunpowder technology has not been solved. It can only be obtained from the Mohist side with " Mining, building canals, benefiting the people" and other reasons to buy.

Fortunately, the Mo family has been surprisingly generous in the past few years, as long as they have money and a good reason, they can buy it. This also makes countries have no super motivation to carefully consider the ratio of gunpowder.

Thirty miles northwest of Taoqiu, there was another huge military camp with the Mohist flag flying there, and Wu Qi had already noticed it when he passed by.

He has been in the capital of Wei for the past few years, and he is in the vortex of political struggle within the country of Wei. Although he often reads books and newspapers of the Mohist school, learns geometry and nine numbers, etc., he doesn't know what Sishang looks like.

Looking at the majestic Taoqiu City, Wu Qi asked the person who was talking with him in the car: "Taoqiu belongs to the Song Dynasty, and the Mohists garrisoned here? I looked at the military camp along the Heze in the northwest. The garrison was less than ten thousand, and the Mohists found a volunteer army." how many?"

The tall man has been searching hard for information about the Sishang Mohist school. He was also from the same sect 20 years ago. Only when he was in the same sect did he know the power contained in the Mohist family. It is also the place where Qin Guochang used to learn experience.

So he said: "Your Majesty is good at governing the army, and the Mohist third infantry division and Tao Qiuyi division are stationed in that camp."

Military divisions are all military units that are common at this time, but the number of people varies from country to country, but the base system is all five bases, with five brigades as divisions.

The weekly system uses 500 people as teachers, and a brigade of 2000 people.The Qi system uses [-] people as brigades, and Qi has no division establishment. Since the Qi Huan era, five brigades have been used as an army, with an army of [-].

The Mohist brigade system is between the Qi system and the Zhou system, with a brigade of five thousand.After obtaining the kingdoms of Sishang, the number of brigades alone was not enough, so the fifth brigade was used as the division, with 500 people in each division.

Sishang's situation is special, Wu Qi has also heard about it, and knows that there are "righteous masters" and "moh masters".For example, the army composed of several small countries in the non-offensive alliance is trained and organized by the Mohists. It is actually the same as the Mohist army, but it still belongs to each country in name and is called a volunteer.

The Moshi is completely the Mohist's own army. No matter in name or in actual control, this is an army that only obeys the orders of the Mohist group and has nothing to do with Song, Zou and other countries.

After the tall man finished speaking, he said again: "The commander of the third division is named Liuzhi. He is a disciple of Shi Shi. He made great contributions during the battle of Lushui. He was the representative of Mohists in the brigade at that time."

As soon as he mentioned this name, Wu Qi nodded with a smile and said: "I know this name. In the battle of Lushui that day, it was the journey led by this life that broke the left wing of the Yue people. The brigade captured Yi, king of Yue."

"The battle to help Lu was also instigated by the central army to defeat the central army of the Qi people. It is indeed talented. The representative of the Mo family in the army is like the Guo and Gao clans of the time of Qi Huan? He was ordered by the emperor to go out to fight. As the deputy commander-in-chief, the left division and the right division, assisting the Marquis of Qi, once there is a change in the Qi state, can you obey the order of the emperor and subdue Qi Jiang?"

The tall man thought for a while and said: "Yes... and no. The Mohist military system cannot be learned elsewhere. The representatives of the divisions all have the ability to lead the army, but they must understand what it means to benefit the world. If there is a move that is not good for the world, even the commander-in-chief cannot mobilize the army."

When Wu Qi heard the words "benefit the world" that he had heard all these years, he understood the meaning of the phrase "you can't learn it elsewhere". Judging whether it is righteous or not, and there are many systems, so that the handsome can't move lightly.

He understood that this was really impossible to learn, and thinking of Liuzhi, who had become famous in the past few years and was born as a pariah without even a surname, he nodded in praise and said: "The Mohist system is already stable. Although Mo Di passed away, there is no one for the time being." It’s like Confucian six-point danger.”

The tall man's eyesight was not as good as before, and he wondered, "Why did you say that?"

Wu Qi said with a smile: "Qinzi is the same age as Mozi, and he is already old. Nowadays, there are frequent coups in all countries in the world. The more there are patricides, the Song Dynasty has the calamity of losing the emperor, Zheng has the worries of Qimu, Zhao has the disputes between sons, In Qin, the nobles forced the emperor to commit suicide, and in Qi, the Tian clan replaced Qi..."

"At the time of the handover, since Liuzhi is the disciple of Kai Zhishi, he must be a confidant. He led the army but was not stationed in Pei County, but in Taoqiu, it can be seen that the internal stability of the Mohist school. If not, these years Shi can climb to a high place , Don’t you understand these principles?”

Hearing the words, the man bowed down, thinking that Wu Qi is a greedy and lustful man, he only knows how to lead troops to fight, govern the people, reform and seek strength, and he doesn't know about political struggles and conspiracies.In fact, it was a big mistake, and thinking of Wu Qi's thoughts that he didn't resent Uncle Zuo for being degraded a few days ago, he knew in his heart that this person could climb from a scholar to the status of a powerful man, I'm afraid it wasn't what people thought Stupid in politics.

Wu Qi just said something, then stopped mentioning the matter, and asked: "The city of Taoqiu is built like this, and it must be costly. Who paid for the construction? Taoqiu belongs to the Song Dynasty, so why does Taoqiu also exist?" Volunteer?"

The tall man knew about this and replied: "The third division of the Mohists is stationed here to guard against unjust wars between Qi and Wei. After the Battle of the Zui, the third division of the Mohists stationed here."

"The city of Taoqiu was completed three years ago. Half of the cost was paid by merchants in Taoqiu and hired local labor."

"This place pays a certain amount of tax and Song every year, and the rest is regarded as self-government. The training and organization of volunteers are all contributed by the Mohists, and the expenses are also provided by Taoqiu merchants."

Wu Qi had always had doubts about how many soldiers Sishang could raise. He also knew the money and manpower spent on building such a city wall, and he knew that the money spent by the volunteers of the Mohist school to equip the armaments was unimaginable in Xihe, so he couldn't help being shocked.

"A merchant pays? Merchants seek profit, and the merchants of this Taoqiu are willing to pay? Besides, the cost is so great that even a feudal lord of a town can't afford it. How rich is this Taoqiu? How about building a city wall?" , It takes a lot of manpower to form a division, so how can there be so many manpower? Everyone is out of work, and the logistics support is also innumerable..."

His experience in Xihe told him that to organize such a large army and build such a defensive city wall that was completely different from the previous ones, the money and manpower consumed were far beyond what a small town feudal lord could afford.

As early as in the capital of Wei, people often heard that Sishang was rich and prosperous, but he never thought that he hadn't arrived in Sishang yet, just being in Taoyi was enough to shock him.

This completely transcended his inherent impression from the era of feudal serf conscripts, and felt that this was simply impossible.

(End of this chapter)