warring states careerist

Chapter 656 New Strategy (VII)

When it comes to economic issues, it will inevitably lead to a lot of speculation. Some people stood up and asked, "What if Tian Shan gets money from the nobles? In that case, the peasants, businessmen, and businessmen may not be able to see through it. Instead, they think that Tian Shanxu is a wise king. .”

Several people nodded, and said solemnly: "There is a big problem with what you said."

"From the Will of Heaven, labor is the means to create wealth."

"Nobles don't crop, don't weave, don't spin, where does the wealth come from? The king grabs wealth from the nobles, and what he finally grabs is not from the peasants, businessmen, and businessmen?"

"Now there is a piece of land, and the monarch asks the nobles to collect the farm tax, so who will the nobles get the money from? The nobles originally asked the peasants to collect [-] yuan, but now the monarch asks for [-] yuan. Do you think the nobles still ask the common peasants? Twenty qian to the king and ten qian? Or directly ask the peasants to collect thirty qian and give the king ten qian and keep twenty for himself? Maybe even ask the common peasants to collect forty qian?"

The person who spoke has always known that Shi attaches great importance to some issues of principle. He knows that he has said something wrong, and he also knows that he has not considered this point, so he hastily admitted his mistake.

Before the death of Mozi, when he started to sort out Mohism’s speeches and form a system, the most important volume for the world is "The Wealth of Nations" or "Fu Guo", because for the "righteousness" of the world, this book The article is a call to war against the nobles, a call to prove that the nobles are moths, peasants and businessmen who get something for nothing, and it is reasonable to overthrow them.

Since the wealth comes from the peasants, businessmen and not the nobles themselves, taking money from the nobles is equivalent to taking money from the common peasants, businessmen and commerce.

Nobles do not work, where does wealth come from?Since we want to get wealth, we must always get it from where it is, rather than making it out of thin air.

If there is no Sishang Mohism, the lives of the nobles are actually very easy, and the common people take it for granted.

But now the Mohists have done so many things and made so much publicity, which makes the public have a comparison.

Shi has always said that when there is light in the darkness, it is the time when people are most willing to pursue the light.On the contrary, under the boundless dark night, the darkest midnight, people often take it for granted.

Qi State is too close to Sishang, and the close Sishang Mohists can cut off any reform path of Qi State, and force Qi Guotian's idea of ​​making the country rich and powerful into the opposite direction.

In fact, Gao Sunzi was convinced by most of it in his heart, but he was still worried, so he said: "You can't rely on the stupidity of the enemy. Qi State is rich with the profit of fish and salt, and Qidi also has a school in the name of Guanzi, who also participated in our In arguing with Yang Zhu, Lie Yukou and others, the state of Qi is not worthless."

As soon as he mentioned this, Shi Renjun couldn't help saying: "Guanzi School, most of them are talented people, but they can't be applied to this era, nor can they be applied to the current state of Qi."

"For example, a piece of gold, you can't say that it is not very good, but now you are in the desert, gold and a piece of wheat cake, which would you choose? Does it mean that if you choose wheat cake, you can say that gold is like wheat cake? ?”

"The essence of Guanzi School lies in Guanshanhai."

"That sounds great, but there's a problem."

"Guan Shanhai can enrich the treasury, but the premise is that Guan Shanhai can live in officials. This is why I said that we want to withdraw troops from Qi, but we have to sign a peace treaty."

"The premise of Guan Shanhai and "Luxury" is that Qi State is closed. Only Guan Shanhai can sell the ironware of Qi State, only Guan Shanhai can sell the salt of Qi State, and the nobles and wealthy households of Qi State cannot buy goods from other places. Unemployed refugees in Qi State cannot go to other places to make a living, and Qi State can control any industrial and commercial mines operating outside Guanshanhai."

"Can the Qi State do it? He can't do it, so what about Guan Shanhai?"

"Qi State wants to rely on Guan Shanhai to enrich the treasury. It is not impossible. We must first defeat us and not allow the goods and ironware from Sishang to enter Qi territory, or impose heavy taxes."

"However, Qi State can't beat us now. If he wants to beat us, he must have money to arm and train soldiers. However, he has no official position, but he has money. If he can't get money, he can't arm soldiers and organize soldiers." Train the soldiers. If you can't arm the soldiers and train the soldiers, you won't be able to defeat us..."

He talked about this endless loop several times in a row, and at the end, he stretched out his hand and gestured for a circle: "This is an endless loop in the art of knowledge, and he can't solve it.

Regarding Qi's situation, he actually understands it better than others, because he has learned such a painful history in his previous life, and there is only one solution to this history.

The Guanshanhai policy can indeed make the treasury sufficient, but the premise is that countries cannot interfere, the economies of each country are in a closed internal cycle, and the existence of the Sishang Mohists and the gradual development of large-scale cross-regional and cross-border commodity exchanges are excluded.

It's not that he didn't think about the possibility of Qi's reform and prosperity, but he racked his brains, and he still couldn't think of any possibility of Qi's becoming stronger in Sishang.

No tax, allowing the Mohists to set up salt and mining in Qi, the two nooses, Qi cannot break free, because Qi does not have a strong enough budding industrial and commercial bourgeoisie as the main force to break free; benefit the world" to be the vanguard of a political party that believes in but plans a bourgeois revolution.

In the end, Shi felt that once the two shackles of the Mo family were put on, Qi would inevitably be filled with anger. Not only would it not be strong, but internal conflicts would become more serious.

In any case, the southwestern area of ​​Qilu would not be occupied. It would seriously irritate the princes of the world, and would also restrict the entire focus of the Mohists to the southwestern area of ​​Qilu, making it difficult to complete the entire southward strategy layout.

Grandson Gao approved of the general strategy of going south, and his only worry was that this time would give Qi a chance to grow stronger. After all, it seemed that the Mohists helped clear up many conflicts within Qi.

Grandson Gao has stopped talking, and bowed his head to think about what Shi said.

Someone got up and said: "So, Qi has no future anyway? Can the art of knowing know all the possibilities?"

For the future, the Mohists have always tended to be "knowable" and "inferable".

This is not a change brought about by Shi, Shi is just a revisionist of Mohism, and when he first joined Mohism, it was because Mohism had a huge room for transformation and a complete set of internal logic systems.

In the past, some people said that the destiny is unknowable, some people said that the destiny is mysterious and unknowable, and some people said that the people who knew the destiny when King Wu defeated Zhou died with the demise of Yin and Shang. Then got seriously ill...

Back then Peng Sheng asked Mozi, what did you say about the art of knowing the will of heaven, is it possible to know the future?Things in the future cannot be known by your art of speaking knowledge.

Mozi asked rhetorically, if your parents are about to die, if you can drive back within a day, they will be able to live.Now it is a hundred miles away, a horse, a cow, do you think your parents are dead or alive?Your parents are dead and alive now, but life and death depend on your choice. How can you say that the future cannot be known?

The Mohists pay special attention to "inference", because Mozi believes that "if the words are enough to carry out the action, keep it; if it is not enough to carry it out, don't keep it. If it is not enough to carry it out, but keep it constant, it's talking too much."

In other words, for any idea, if you can do it, you can promote it, and if you can’t do it, but you can promote it, that is nonsense.This is used to criticize Confucian scholars, because Mozi thinks that what Confucian scholars say sounds good, but it is not practical and impossible to do, so no matter how reasonable it sounds, it is nonsense.

After these things were corrected, Mohists attached great importance to logical reasoning, and history itself has logic to be found. This is the historical view established by Mohism, which led to more mysterious "history" and "politics". Sometimes it is also possible to reason and know the macro direction of the future.

The current situation in the world after the end of the Qi-Mo war requires a reasoning, a deduction, so as to determine the next step of the Mohism.

Shi's previous inferences were all saying that the Qi State could not become strong again. This was to persuade Gao Sunzi to support his seemingly more moderate and capitulationist withdrawal method, and to appease the radical young people in Sishang.

Now the question raised by that person, I don’t want to get entangled in the matter of Qi State anymore, so I followed the person’s words: "Whether Qi State has a future depends on what is Qi State?"

"If the State of Qi is Tian's private property, then as I said, the State of Qi has no future, or the State of Tian has no future."

"But the Qi State is not one person. A person has only one idea, but the Qi State is composed of thousands of Qi people. If the people of Qi State are the sovereign, your question is whether the people of Qi State have a future?"

"Of course there are, why not? After they awakened, they overthrew the nobles and the Tian family. Everyone is equal under the emperor of heaven, and they develop production. How can there be no future if they learn the will of heaven?"

"So far, we are against the Tian family and nobles, but not against the people of Qi. This must be clearly distinguished. In some public occasions in the future, we must also pay attention to this."

"As for what policy the Tian family will adopt in the future, it will be known and inferred in the future. But no matter what he does, as long as we can grasp a few points when Qi Qi signs the peace treaty, then the Tian family and the noble state of Qi will be able to There's no chance of turning around."

"Now that I've finished speaking, who has any different opinions about Qi's general plan?"

After finishing speaking, Shi took a look at Gao Sunzi first, Gao Sunzi nodded silently for a while and said, "I have no objection."

Gao Sunzi was still immersed in the debate just now, and was still pondering various inferences suitable for Qi. At least there was no loophole for now, and the few things he was worried about seemed to be resolved.

To benefit the world, the world is broad, there must be a sequence, Gao Sunzi is worried about whether those Qi people in Wenshui and Jishui who have already benefited from the benefits of the Mohist family will suffer a second time after the Mohist withdrawal from Qi ; and whether the Tian family and the nobles will make Qi a powerful enemy in the north of Sishang because the Mohist family helped them clear up some internal conflicts.

At least for now, it sounds like Shi has made his statement.

Since he said that it is impossible to ignore the people of Wenshui and Jishui, he has conformed to the morality of the Mohists, and there is no essential difference with Gao Sunzi.

Now that he has analyzed the internal contradictions of the Tian family in Qi State, although new contradictions have emerged, Gao Sunzi has no worries about the prosperity of Qi State in the north. The trust and habits of my life were developed under 20 years of ups and downs, not because of some kind of personal trust.

Appropriate means that after analyzing the various possibilities of Qi’s becoming stronger, and then excluding the possibility of Tian Yan becoming a "mohist", the remaining strengthening may only need to add a few clauses in the peace agreement to completely lock it. It is not impossible to respond to all changes with the same.

The difference between the two people is only to go north for a quick victory, a chance to settle the Central Plains and then seek four sides?
It is better to continue the original strategy of the Mohists, first to go south and then to go north, and to solve the problems in the south first under the premise of maintaining Huaibei and Sishang, which can be the starting point for training cavalry and attacking the Central Plains.

The appropriate method is more gentle, and under the current situation, Gao Sunzi is sure that he can only oppose but cannot get widespread support.

Shi also stated at the beginning of the chapter that he would not attack the country but benefit the world, which made Gao Sunzi not completely opposed to Shi.

Grandson Gao also understands the current internal situation of the Mohist school, and also understands Mozi's evaluation of him back then and why he can't be a Mohist giant. After expressing his attitude, he also turned to support.

After the tone was set, a general plan for an alignment and treaty based on this tone was born amidst discussions.

Excluding the content that has been set, the only variable is that the Mo family wants to get Jucheng.

Because of the background of Yue’s southward migration, Langya actually belonged to the Mohist family. Jucheng, as the eastern end of Qi’s Great Wall defense line, and as the nail behind Qi’s possible threat to the Mohist side, must be pulled out.

Jucheng is close to Langya, and it is not in the west where the countries are intertwined. After obtaining it, the countries will neither be overly stimulated, nor will there be a situation where there is a need to guard against Wei Hanqi at any time.

Moreover, Jucheng is in hand, which is equivalent to another situation like Feidi. The Mohists can choose to defend in Surabaya and launch an attack on Linzi in Jucheng. invincible position.

In this way, the Yue Kingdom moved southward, making most of the northern Subei Plain under the control of the Mohists.Jucheng and Langya are the northern gates of the Subei Plain. As long as an army is stationed there, they can rely on the barrier of Yimeng Mountain to defend the essence of the land;

The strategic situation of the entire Mohist school has been greatly improved.

Later Yutai and Peifeng in the northwest went south to Xuzhou and Suzhou along Weishan Lake, which had not yet appeared at that time.

The Northeast is bounded by Ju County, Yimeng Mountain, and Linyi in later generations. It occupies most of the granary in the North Jiangsu Plain along the East China Sea, and goes south to Yancheng to control a part of the Hangou Canal. At this time, it was named Guangling, Yangzhou, and Haiyang. There is also enough power.

In the west, under the influence of Mohism, Song State, which has always balanced the power of the nobility, acts as a strategic buffer and can interfere with the conflict between Wei and Chu at any time.

In the south is the country of Yue, which has completely declined and is unlikely to become stronger again. When the time is right, it can go straight to Yangzhou along the canal built by Wu and Yue for hegemony, and drink horses from the Yangtze River.

In the north is the Qi State that was weakened by the Qi Mo World War I, especially after abandoning Qi Southwest but getting Jucheng, Qi State completely lost the courage to form an alliance with other countries to fight against the Mohist: apart from the internal instability, the Mohist After obtaining Jucheng, we can finally have two aligned strategic directions. The southwestern Shandong area went north or Jucheng Jimo took the back road, which made Qi dare not form alliances with other countries: if you dare to form an alliance, the first one to be beaten must be Qi country.

Vietnam moved south to preserve its strength.Anwen was instigated by the Mohists, and the nobles of the Wu state gradually became stronger through agricultural reforms, and the Chu state had just completely quelled the Wangziding Rebellion that lasted for nearly 20 years, so that the Yue state had to establish a good relationship with the Mohist schools, hoping that the Mohist schools could mediate The possible attack of Chu State.

The state of Wei and the Mohists had peace talks, and the Mohist schools did not take Chengyang, so that the state of Wei could always threaten the states of Lu, Song, and Qi, especially the extremely rich Southwest of Shandong and Taoyi at this time.

But Tao Yi will affect the whole body now: if Wei State does not form an alliance with Qi State, then there is only one way to attack the Mo family, and that is to go south by Heshui, or drag Song State into it and start a war against Song State.And to form an alliance with Qi State, Qi State will never agree.

In fact, giving up the southwestern region of Qi is to instigate the contradiction between Qi and Wei: if the Mohist occupies the southwestern part of Qi, then the Mohist will lie between Qi and Wei.But now leaving Chengyang to Wei State, not taking any land in Southwest Qi, leaving a weakened Qi State, and forming a Qin State that is eyeing Xihe, this will cause the relationship between Qi and Wei to decline sharply.The Mohists can stand in the middle, maintain a stable balance, and even be a deterrent.

The state of Chu in the southwest is extremely vast, sparsely populated, and has many monarchs. It is basically impossible for the king of Chu to use this victory to centralize power to launch a war against the Mohists.

Song State, as the buffer state of the Jin-Chu struggle for hegemony, is actually facing a tripartite balance, which makes Chu State even more afraid to disturb: the Mohist and Song State have an alliance, and Song State must send troops if Song State is attacked.Wei State and Chu State are both in this situation. They used to only need to consider the attitude of the other party, but now they have to consider the attitude of the third party, and they will be extremely afraid of the Mohist alliance with the other party.

Therefore, a stable balance after a great war will be achieved in the next few years. All countries are licking their wounds, and they can only watch the Mohism continue to expand in northern Jiangsu, but there is nothing they can do.

The Sishang Mo family has already survived the most dangerous time, and the overall turning point in the strategic situation has made it possible to completely abandon the slogan of "non-offensive", and can shout slogans that are even more frightening but helpless to the nobles.

The Sishang Mohism has finally gone through the stage of maintaining the center, making good neighbors, assisting to maintain the balance between Wei and Chu, and helping those who are weak.

(End of this chapter)