warring states careerist

Chapter 521

Sishang is in the south and Handan is in the north.

Not long after Ximen Shu left Yedi and went south to Sishang, the peasants and soldiers of Yedi finally assembled and marched to Zhaodi to fight for the supremacy of Marquis Wei.

At this time, Handan was not yet the capital of Zhao State, but it had already become one of the most prosperous cities in Zhao State.

In this city that was once denounced by those rebels as "farming is not as good as industry, industry is not as good as business, embroidery is not as good as relying on the city gate, and everyone is not ashamed to seek profit", this local woman "dresses beautifully, plays the harp, Dancing long sleeves, stepping on portable dancing shoes, teasing with eyes, seducing with heart, going out for thousands of miles, regardless of age, attracting men, and rushing for profit" is now also a place of depression like facing an enemy situation.

This is the foundation of the original Gong Zizhang and today's Marquis Zhao, and it is also the cornerstone for him to make Zhao Guo reform and become stronger.

This is the basis for Marquis Zhao to resist the interference of Wei State, raise military pay, food and weapons, and avoid those deep-rooted old nobles for future reforms.

With the help of the strength of the Mohist School, how strong the Handan City, which was rebuilt by employing Mohist technical talents, can only be known after the test of the flames of war. The front of the cross angle" these Mohists came up with the theory of defending the city.

The news that Wei Guo sent troops to aid Prince Chao had reached Handan, and had already reached Zhongmou.

Hu Feizi, who has been in Handan for many days, is now presiding over the Mohist activities near Handan.

As a high-ranking Mohist, Hu Feizi was very clear about his purpose in coming to Handan, and the letter from Sishang not long ago also made it very clear.

It is to "disrupt Jin and save Si", and Wei Guo must not ignore Zhao Guo's affairs, so Sishang can free up his hands to do many things that could not be done due to Wei Guo's possible interference.

Since the rise of the army in the son dynasty, the concubine son of Zhaohou when he was the son has come to visit Hu Feizi many times, hoping that the Mo family can help defend the city.

The art of defending the city was unparalleled in the Mo family.The combination of gunpowder, geometry and city defense was created by the Mohists. The construction of Handan City also hired talents from the Mohist side. Marquis Zhao hoped to use the power of the Mohism to defend Handan.

If Handan can't hold it, Zhaohou will lose his foundation.Zhaohou has lost his foundation, and some nobles who are still on the sidelines at this time are likely to take refuge in the Prince Dynasty, resulting in a series of chain reactions.

However, because he had just succeeded to the throne in the capital, there were too many things to do, and the funeral of the previous Marquis Zhao who died of illness also needed to be presided over by Gong Zizhang.It is impossible for the son Zhang to come to Handan, so he can only send his cronies, the concubine, to come forward.

When the concubine came here for the first time, the reason for his request was: when Zhaohou was the prince, he had always been on good terms with the Mohist school, and he also learned the Mohist's knowledge of Tianzhi, and the sonchao often slandered the Mohist family, so he asked the Mohist family to help Zhaohou .

Hu Feizi refused, saying, this is not a reason why the Mo family can help, please go back.

The second time, Zhong Shuzi’s reason was: Gong Zizhang had succeeded to the throne, and the rebellion caused the Chaos, so he asked the Mohists to help put down the rebellion.

Hu Feizi refused again, saying, this is not a reason why the Mo family can help, please go back.

If it is done four times, they will not let go.

Today is the fifth time, and this time, Zhong Shuzi finally changed his terminology, saying: "Praise the virtuous and serve, regardless of blood relationship, and select talented people to become officials, so that they can benefit and eliminate harm for all people. Rich and poor, rich and poor. To control chaos in safety and security; to destroy well fields and privately grant land, so that people can work with land, have food to feed themselves, and have clothes to shelter from the cold... This is what Zhao Hou wanted to do; but Gongzi Chao opposed it.The Marquis of Zhao wanted to benefit the people of Zhao State, and Gong Zichao wanted to harm the people of Zhao State, so he asked the Mohists for help.

Hu Feizi said at the beginning: Kindness can help.However, the defense of Handan depends on the strength of the people. Please announce this to the people, and Handan can only be defended.

The concubine then retreated with joy, and Hu Feizi passed on the order of the Mohists to recruit Mohists from Zhao to serve the Mohism, except those who were defending the grasslands in Gaoliu, gathered in Handan.

Among them, a Mozi asked Hu Feizi, asking: "The words of the princes and nobles cannot be trusted. In the past, Mozi wanted to eliminate the soldiers in the Central Plains, and the Chu people were weak, so he made an alliance. Once Han Hou and Zhao Hou died, Chu would abandon the alliance. .”

"Today's incident in Handan, son Zhang is in danger, so he agreed. Could it be that this is believable? There is no way to restrain the king in Zhaodi, so if he repents in the future, there is no way to punish and restrain him. Still, the law comes from the king, and one word is the law."

"If you don't make laws and make an appointment with the monarch, the righteousness and the people as the gods, I personally think that in terms of morality, the son Zhang and the son dynasty, if they use the metaphor of war, they will be filled with enthusiasm, and the swords will be received. When walking, stop after a hundred steps, or stop after fifty steps, there is no difference between fifty steps and a hundred steps."

There is no shortage of such radical figures within the Mohist School. They either want to formulate laws to restrain the king, or let the people participate in politics.

This kind of thinking is undoubtedly correct, and what is said is also true, but for the Mohists, the civil strife in Zhao State and Wei Zhao's turning against him are necessary at this time.

This is just like the giants inside the Mohist want to grasp the righteousness, just like the event that the Mohism was completely destroyed in Yangcheng in the original history, Xu Ruo raised his own doubts. Reason persuaded Xu Ruo, so Xu Ruo asked to die first.

The Mohists have righteousness, the will of heaven, and rules on top of their heads, and they follow the principle of "what is right above must be true; what is wrong must be wrong. If there is a fault at the top, it will be admonished, and if there is good below, it will be recommended." democratic centralism.

The essence of this is that Mohists need to understand "righteousness", so that they can have their own judgments and rules to measure, and thus elect giants to realize harm.

It is not an absolute "monarchy". What is said above must be obeyed below.

What the above says must conform to the rules, the will of heaven, and the righteousness, and then the following can decide whether they can respect it, otherwise they will boycott it collectively.

At this time, Hu Feizi had to answer what the radical Mohist said, so he said: "You are right, but the example you gave is not appropriate. If you use it as a metaphor for war, it is a sound of drums and flutes. All are called, there is a difference between someone advancing fifty paces and someone standing still."

"In the case of Zhao Guo, if Gong Zizhang can really implement such a policy, wouldn't the people of Zhao Guo be able to benefit? If so, how can it be said that this is fifty steps backward compared to the present? You are just with Considering the relationship between the monarch, his subjects and the people in the meaning of the Mohist school, he came to the idea of ​​retreating fifty steps."

"But at this time, our Mohist school has no ability to make Zhao country implement that kind of politics, and the people of Zhao country have not fully awakened and have the intention to implement that kind of politics. In this case, shouldn't we compare it with the present?"

"If you want to make a comparison, it must be relative. You must choose the relative thing."

"For example, if a cripple runs a race with a man who has lost a leg, you say that he is not as fast as Lie Yukou, who is good at running. The same speed, because they are not as fast as Lie Yukou, so they run the same speed, is that right?"

The Mohist woke up and knew that he had made a mistake in the logical debate, so he bowed his head and said, "You are right. But all of this is based on the inference that Gongzi Zhang said and did it, and really did it. If Why won't he do it?"

Hu Feizi nodded, indicating that this possibility was not ruled out.

In fact, this possibility is extremely high. Compared with the times, the ideas of Mohism are too radical, which is impossible for any monarch to fully accept.

It's just that some things of Mohism can indeed enrich the country and strengthen the army, so some monarchs have to cooperate with Mohism.

To make the country rich and the people strong is only the first step for the Mohists to benefit the world. The ultimate goal is to solve the problem of who belongs to the country in the "national wealth". This ultimate goal is impossible for the monarch to accept.

Hu Feizi knew this very well. As a high-level Mohist, as those who were persuaded in the meeting, he was very clear about the current situation and activities of the Mohist in Chu State, which stemmed from the fact that the Mohist high-level did not have the slightest trust in the princes and nobles.

In Zhaodi, in fact, although he was quite confident in his refusal before facing Gongzizhang's concubine, in fact, if no one came to ask in the end, Hu Feizi might have to take the initiative to find Zhaohou.

Without him, it originated from the Mohist's strategy of "disrupting Jin and saving Si".

What the Mohists want to do this time is not to "send charcoal in the snow", let alone "adding flowers to the cake", but to "take advantage of the fire".

This is for now.

As for the future, Zhao State is no better than Sishang, nor can it be compared with Fei State's situation, so it is impossible to achieve a popular revolution like Fei State in one step, which requires a long process to exert influence.

Every step is moving towards a set goal, and sometimes you can only take one step, but you can't stop taking it just because it's just one step.

Exactly, there is no way to reach a thousand miles without taking a few steps.

Marquis Zhao must also ask the Mohists now, because the situation this time is much more serious than in the original history. On the surface, it seems to be a dispute between the sons of Zhao, but in fact it involves the changes and conservatism under the waves of the times, centralization and conflicts. The battle of enfeoffment.

The spread of iron ware, ox farming and gunpowder began to disintegrate the foundation of the feudal system more violently.

The various theories of Mohism fueled the fire and aroused conflicts among nobles, scholars, monarchs, and common people.

The Mohist propaganda clearly pointed out the contradiction between the nobles and the monarch, so that these contents, which were originally untold secrets among the nobles, were spread all over the world, and it also made those who were "unexamined" only rely on their own class instincts to act. The nobles woke up and began to prepare to oppose the centralization of power and the monarchy, and a large-scale rebellion was in full swing.

Under the hype and propaganda, Zhao Hou was unable to get off the tiger; the extensive lectures and propaganda in the past ten years also made the common people gradually rise to become an important force, which can be regarded as a temptation to Zhao Hou.

In this situation, rebellions broke out everywhere, there were many nobles who were wary of Gongzizhang's superiority, and there were many officials who supported Gongzizhang's superiority, and the whole Zhao country was in chaos.

In Handan, the Mohist family took root like floating reeds on the river beach, and soon spread all over and were difficult to remove.It's not that Zhao Hou doesn't want to clear it, but that he doesn't have that ability.

Grassroots control, organizational ability, public opinion propaganda ability, talent cohesion, technological advancement, and the relationship of trust among farmers... Nothing is as good as the Mohism. Some grassroots matters are not controlled by Marquis Zhao. Can manage.

Furthermore, the Mohists have a close relationship with merchants, and Handan has the largest group of iron smelting workshops north of the Yellow River. , These are the strengths that Zhao Hou thinks he can use.

In Sishang’s letter to Hu Feizi, he clarified the situation in Zhao State, asked Hu Feizi to beware of radicalism, and could not let the Mohists in Zhao State abandon the righteousness of Mohism and become Mohists in Zhao State. The strategy is to reach some kind of covenant at the most difficult time for Marquis Zhao to prepare for future events.

This test is Hu Feizi's ability. To be neither left nor radical, but also to be neither right nor surrender, it is necessary to clearly grasp the direction: do not expand the contradiction between the people of Wei State and the people of Zhao State, but to Pointing the finger at the princes and nobles who started the war...

(End of this chapter)