warring states careerist

Chapter 526 Zhao Weizhi Zhao

Zhao Hou hurriedly explained: "Do you think I am angry because of these interest rates? Not really."

"Have you ever seen a river burst its embankment? When the autumn water is pouring, if there is a gap like an ant cave in the embankment on both sides of the river, then this gap will expand as the river washes away, eventually leading to a breach."

"Now, these demands of the people are nothing more than interest, but this is like an ant cave on a river embankment. It looks small. However, as time goes by, it will grow bigger and bigger until the embankment bursts."

"I'm angry about the possible consequences of the cave on the river bank. Do you think I'm just angry at that little ant cave?"

Gong Zhonglian sighed, "Your Majesty, times have changed."

"All the people seek profit, know how to seek profit, and dare to seek profit. The embankment in the hearts of the people has been dug, but it is just a small ant cave in the performance outside of the heart."

"You can't stop it anymore."

"In the past, when Gun controlled the water, he blocked it but did not drain it, so that the river overflowed and the whole world suffered from it. Yao ordered Huozheng Zhurong to kill him in Yushan."

"His son, Dayu, is better at blocking than sparse. After 20 years of fighting floods in the world, he was promoted as the son of heaven, and Emperor Shun gave way to Dayu. There is a legacy, and it will be built for thousands of years."

"Now, what you want to block is the desire of all the people in the world to seek profit. Is this possible? I just told you that there are four kinds of strategies in the world. Do you have to choose the lowest strategy? ?"

"I've already advised you that you can't achieve the same meaning and benefit from the upper and lower levels, so please make transactions between the upper and lower levels, and the desire of the lower level to seek the upper level, so that you can protect the foundation of the Zhao family!"

"Times have changed...Your Majesty, look at this world, it is no longer what it used to be. If you still can't understand, even if I die, how can you feel at ease?"

In the letters that Gong Zhonglian saw, there were requests from peasants, craftsmen, and merchants.

In addition to these actual requirements for material interests, there are also some political demands. Because of the public opinion controlled and instigated by the Mohists, the fire is well grasped and hidden deeply. It seems that it may not be unacceptable, but behind the scenes traps——as Zhao Hou said, it is the ant caves on the river embankment, which seem small, but will expand day by day.

Common peasants demanded land, workers demanded equal rights and reduced taxes, and businessmen demanded profits. All these were actual material interests.

A man of hundreds of craftsmen is willing to provide enough leather armor, weapons, and equipment, but Zhao Hou needs money to buy them. He firmly opposes the direct collection of excess military taxes without the consent of the people.

The businessman is willing to provide enough money to support Gongzizhang's position, but the money will not be given directly to Gongzizhang, but will be traded through the Mohist as an intermediary, with the Mohist as a guarantee.

What the Mohists want is the right to monopolize the grassland trade in the north of Gaoliu in the future, and the interest on the money provided by the merchants can be used as shares in the monopoly trade on the northern grassland in the future.

Everyone is taking advantage of the fire to rob, from the Mohist family to the merchants, and then to the peasants, they all started to "loot while taking advantage of the fire" under the organization of the Mohist family.

Zhao Hou's anger is anger, but once he wakes up from anger, he is very clear about his current situation.

Without food, money, and armored weapons, it would be difficult for him to win this battle for position.

The current army is no longer what it used to be. It is no longer hundreds of sergeants and corporals, who take their own chariots and soldiers to participate in the battle. The victory or defeat of the chariot determines the outcome of the battle.Not to mention that dozens of elite chariots put into battle like the Battle of Chengpu and the Battle of Liangtang can determine the outcome of one of the three armies.

The intensity and scale of the war are much higher than those of a hundred years ago.

The advent of gunpowder, stirrups, and disciplined formations led to the rise of civilian infantry, stirrups of wealthy yeomanry to replace chariots, and artillery to replace archers.

Pull up a team of tens of thousands of people as before, bring hundreds of chariots and thousands of elite soldiers, and want to dominate the outcome of the battle... The Battle of Lishui, the Battle of Daliang, and the Battle of Heyuan The battle has already given a shocking answer.

Food, money, weapons and leather armor, all of these have become indispensable for increasingly fierce and cruel wars, and can even determine the basis for victory or defeat.

Therefore, the public can persuade the Mohists to "take advantage of the fire and rob".

However, the Mohist’s taking advantage of the fire has a stronger background and background:

There is no Mohist in Handan City, so Marquis Zhao dare not gamble on whether Ximen Bao and Zhao nobles can defend against the siege.

If Gaoliu's Mohist volunteers in the northern border guard against the more backward Hu people in the grassland, they can participate in the struggle between the sons of the Zhao country, they can quickly control the Daijun, attack the city, and disintegrate the rebellious noble forces of the Zhao country.

With these two confidences, Hu Feizi was able to sit high in Handan, let the concubine go five times in a row, and finally was forced to agree to the conditions of the Mo family before agreeing to help defend the city.

But now, Gaoliu's soldiers... nominally belong to Zhao State, but under the Mohist military system, it is impossible for Gaoliu's soldiers to go south if the Mohist's people don't nod.On this point, Marquis Zhao is very clear that the Mohists cannot speak the truth, and when it comes to the control of the army, the representatives, committee members, etc. that the Mohists infiltrated in the army, even if General Qu of Gaoliu was killed, the soldiers of Gaoliu Zhao Hou Ye still couldn't adjust.

Zhao Hou didn't complain too much just because he couldn't adjust it. Under the feudal system, the land that Zhao Hou can control seems to be the entire Zhao country, but in fact it is Jinyang, Handan, Zhongmu and other directly-administered lands. the city.

It's not just Gao Liu who doesn't move, but also other places. Otherwise, why would Gongzi Chao rebel?
What Zhao Hou is thinking now is that once he agrees to these things of the people, it is tantamount to breaking the rules.

The Mohist school had the Mohist rules, and today the princes of the world have the current rules. These two rules are completely different.

It is the Mohism's rule to return the food and horses borrowed from the people. ,
The horses that take away the people's grain do not need to be returned, this is the rule of the princes of the world today.

Once this rule is broken, will there be any unpredictable consequences in the future?Will it expand as quickly as a levee break, from the appeal of material interests to political appeal?
It's not that Gong Zhonglian doesn't understand Zhao Hou's worry, but he has his own considerations, so he said again: "Your Majesty, let me say that you need to change your policy constantly. I thought you understood now, but You don't seem to understand right now."

"You can't use the meaning of the Mohists. It will cause chaos in the world and make the world rude and reform the rules."

"Soldiers of Wei and Han, you have to be on guard. Once the young master ascends to power, he will cut off Handan to bribe Wei, and you can only choose to flee."

"Now, do you want to worry about the righteousness of the Mohists 20 years from now? Or should you be worried that the soldiers of Wei and Han will support Gongzi Dynasty and expel you?"

"Now that the morality of the Mohist school is spread to the world, and the Emperor Zhou has not spoken out against it, are you going to be the first person in the world to oppose it? If you object, maybe Wei Jian will immediately express his support, and the king of Chu will drink to celebrate that day .Do you think the current Mohism is still the Mohism with only a thousand soldiers serving in the army?"

"The times have changed now. You still use Jinyang's policy to defend Handan, which is untenable. You still want to use the ceremony of King Wu and Duke Zhou to annex the world, which is impossible!"

"I tell you again and again, if you want to annex the world, you must be the ruler of Zhaomin, not Zhaoshi."

"Do you know why I didn't care when I got the news that Wei and Han sent troops; Zhongshan rebelled against Wei, I didn't care; I didn't care when the son raised troops in the dynasty? Why did I drag on the things you said today? Did you come to persuade you?"

Zhao Hou shook his head and said, "I thought you felt that this was just like Jinyang back then. Even though it seemed that the army was overwhelmed and threatened, it would eventually clear up..."

Gong Zhonglian smiled and shook his head, "No."

"When I heard the news that Young Master Chao raised troops and Wei and Han sent troops, what I thought was that the Emperor of Heaven protected the Zhao family, and the Zhao Kingdom will rise in your hands!"

Zhao Hou thought for a while, and said: "What you are talking about, is it about the "Four Years of Zhaogong"? It is said that the difficulties of neighboring countries should not be feared. It may be difficult to consolidate the country and expand its territory; or it is difficult to lose the country. , lost its defense."

"The so-called, how difficult it is to rejuvenate the country?"

Gong Zhonglianxi said: "Your superior wisdom is exactly the meaning of rejuvenating the country through adversity."

"The son dynasty rebelled, and most of the nobles belonged to the son dynasty. The fiefdoms of these nobles belong to the state of Zhao, but can you rule them?"

Zhao Hou shook his head, and Gong Zhonglian said again: "But if you defeat them, you send people who are not nobles such as Wei Ye's Ximen Bao and Xihe's Wu Qi as officials to govern, and you give them money as salary, and let them carry out your orders. Will, collect the taxes there and transfer them to the treasury of the capital. Then, the land there is under your jurisdiction.”

"What you have now is Handan, Zhongmu, Jinyang and other places. However, once the chaos of the Prince Dynasty subsides, you will have the entire danger of the Taihang and the power of the Daijun. At that time, the soldiers you can recruit, Grain, taxes collected, and cloth are ten times and a hundred times as much as they are now."

"When power is concentrated in the monarch, there must be changes."

"Wei Likui's reform, with the wisdom of Marquis Wen, Wu Qi, Tian Zifang, Duan Ganmu, Ximen Bao, Beimen Kezhi's sages, like stars twinkling, began to implement it."

"Qin Shengchuo reformed and invited Wu Qi, who occupied the West River, to join Qin. The nobles were uneasy, and internal chaos in Qin was imminent."

"The king of Chu reformed the law, invited Mohists to train the new army, Cheng Yanying, and even Qu Yijiu's defection, the prince will win another seven cities..."

"It seems that Qin and Chu are weak, but once the reform is completed, they will have the power no less than that of Wen Hou and Wei. Therefore, in the past, it was said that the difficulties of neighboring countries should not be feared. It may be difficult to consolidate the country. Open up its territory; or it is hard to lose its country and lose its defense.”

"This is exactly what makes a nation prosperous through adversity."

"Now Zhao Guo seems to have internal and external troubles, but these internal and external troubles are all concentrated in one place. As long as they are handled properly, it will be the time for Zhao Guo to reform!"

"At that time, you will have military power, weaken the nobles of the son's dynasty, and take back their fiefs, so what can stop you?"

"If the laws are not changed, the Zhao family's foundation cannot be preserved. You think that Qin and Chu are in chaos, but after the chaos they are reforming. Once they succeed, then why should the Zhao family compete with them for the world?"

"Now, the nobles have already opposed you a lot. You still don't consider yourself the protector of the common people at this time. What are you waiting for? Waiting for those ambitious people, those who are good at instigating the Mohists, to be the protectors of the common people? "

"Now is the time for you to rely on Handan, Zhongmou, scholars, common peasants, and businessmen to fight against nobles and old clans. You should be the king of the people of Zhao, not the marquis of the Zhao family."

"The land is distributed to the people, and the people pay taxes to the state. Whose state is the state? Isn't it yours?"

"Now, you are using the heart of a lord to be the king of a country. The lord cares whether the people in his fief give money to himself or the state, but why do you still consider this as a lord? You are the country! The country is You! Do Zhaohou with the heart of a king, can this be done well?"

"Now there is an opportunity for you to be the king of Zhao, but you choose to be the king of Handan. It's like someone gave you a piece of gold and a stone, and you chose the stone. You can't be a good monarch yet what."

"The difference between a monarch and a feudal monarch, please think carefully. Now your body has become the Marquis of Zhao, but your heart is still the Lord of Handan."

(End of this chapter)