warring states careerist

Chapter 829 Strategic Misjudgment

The king of Chu didn't care about these trivial titles. He was already used to them. Many sayings in the Mohist system were incompatible with things from the old era. After listening to them for 20 years, he was used to them.

As for the fact that the Mohists said that they wanted to resolve the enmity between Zheng and Han with the principle of "combined love and non-aggression to eliminate soldiers"; at the same time, they said that they would send people to "rectify the armament", which did not sound contradictory to the king of Chu.

Others don't know it, but the King of Chu knows it.

When Mozi stopped Chu from attacking Song Dynasty, he also used the truth to persuade others with the "righteousness of universal love and non-aggression". Of course, this truth also included the war game with Gongshuban and the [-] Mohists stationed in Shangqiu. That makes this "truth" convincing.

Later, the battle of Qilu was similar to Qihou and Niuzi who persuaded with the truth.

If you don't organize your armaments and have no defensive power, you are not qualified to talk about non-attack and love.

Only those who have the ability to fight back after being beaten are eligible for equality, and then talk about universal love and peace, which the Mohists have always advocated.

Having achieved this step, the king of Chu really believed in the Mohist's intention of eliminating soldiers and not attacking. He thought to himself: Bian Zhishi is indeed cunning, but after all the Mohist still has morals, and he is a giant, so he must not violate this righteousness.

This kind of trust stems from Zheng Guo's position.

As far as the Mohists are concerned, Zheng Guo is still one Wei Han away from Song Guo. It is impossible for them to become a vassal and sphere of influence of the Mohists. They can only participate in Zheng Guo's defense for the sake of righteousness.

This point is recognized by the Chu State. It is impossible for the Mohists to form an alliance with Wei and Han. This is not only due to moral disputes, but also historical and geographical factors.

If Zheng Guo and Song Guo can really achieve complete neutrality, it will actually be beneficial to Chu State.

When Wei and Chu go to war, Chu State does not have to worry about Wei State copying flanks: the Mohists value righteousness over life, keep their promises, and say that ensuring absolute independence means ensuring absolute independence.

If Chu State is on the offensive, this must not be allowed, but since it is on the defensive, is there anything more important and beneficial than the absolute safety of the flanks?

In order to verify this point, the King of Chu asked again: "As Shizi said, is it a violation of neutrality if you don't know how to borrow a way?"

The Mohist envoy said with a smile: "The story of throwing oneself up, doesn't it start from borrowing a way?"

The King of Chu laughed loudly when he heard the words, nodded and said, "So, it can be called good."

Of course, this allusion that came from hand in hand has an ironic meaning, but when it is interpreted in a diplomatic situation, it also has a non-ironic meaning.

In the past, Wen Zizhou humiliated the Duke of Song during the Song-Chu alliance, and then King Zhuang of Chu could not find an excuse for war and sent Wen Zizhou to borrow the road from the Song State without negotiation. King Zhuang of Chu was overjoyed when he heard the news, and the emotions of the later Kaiser when he heard that Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated can be interpreted, so he threw himself together, and the four words of excitement that finally found an excuse for war were vividly displayed.

By the way, the idiom "cannibalism and cooking bones" was left to describe the horror of the siege, until the Anshi Rebellion Zhang Suiyang once again interpreted these four cruel words in Shangqiu.

But saying it at this time can remove those ironic meanings, and it can be understood as "angry" throwing hands, not excited throwing hands.

Since neutrality means that even crossing the road is considered an invasion, it is easy to say, this is definitely a good thing for Chu.

Zheng State is a buffer state that Chu State cannot give up, but it has nothing to do with the Mohist School.

Of course, the king of Chu understood that there is no such thing as a free cake in the world.

The Mohists needed to pay a price for the state of Zheng to protect the independence of the state of Zheng, and this price was that the state of Song was independent and other countries could not interfere.

Zheng is the core interest area where Chu turned from offense to defense; Song is the core interest area where Chu turned from defense to offense; the national policy of strategic contraction determines that Chu can abandon Song and focus on Zheng.

King Chu knew what the Mo family wanted, so he had to bargain where the Mo family wanted the most.

"One more thing."

"The main reason for the alliance between Wei, Chu and Han this time is that your Mohists have violated the principle of non-aggression and brought the cloud of war to the Central Plains."

"If the Song Kingdom is truly neutral, the Mohists will withdraw their troops. This is not enough to show the Mohist's non-aggressive righteousness."

"The Mohists have the name of punishing injustice, does the non-offensive alliance include punishing injustice?"

The Mohist envoy solemnly said: "Zheng Jun and Song Jun are not Mohists. You can persuade them to do righteousness, but you can't make them obey the discipline and must do righteousness according to Mohism's requirements."

The king of Chu nodded, understanding in his heart.

The meaning of this conversation, that is to say: If one day, your Mohists attack other countries...Of course, your Mohists have many reasons for attacking other countries. There are many excuses such as punishing injustice.So, when you punish unrighteousness, what's the matter with Song's neutrality?

Sending troops is one aspect.

When the Mo family took the initiative to attack, they borrowed the road from the Song Dynasty. Does it mean that they violated the neutrality of non-attack and elimination soldiers?

This must be asked clearly.

Since the troubled times of the Spring and Autumn Period, covenants have been broken everywhere, and everyone is used to it.

But there is one point, the Mohist’s legal principles do not come from the emperor, but from their morality, so if the Mohist openly stated that the Mohist would not borrow a way from the Song Dynasty, then according to the experience so far, the Mohist really would not borrow a way.

This is a matter of morality, and it is not important to the princes anymore. Anyway, the face has been torn. At the funeral of Emperor Zhou, the princes could yell at the envoy of the emperor, "Your mother is also a maidservant", but morality is very important to the Mohist school.

Since the Mohist envoy said that Song Jun and Zheng Jun were not Mohists, and the non-aggressive alliance is not the unjust alliance, the Mohist meaning is equivalent to telling the king of Chu: Even if we go to war, we will not go to Song Dynasty.

The King of Chu got the answer he wanted, and he praised: "It is said that there are many gentlemen in the Song Dynasty. There is Song Xiang's legacy, but I think Qinzi is a real gentleman."

It was a strategy to lure the enemy to go deep into the Qi State, but after all, the Mohists kept the meaning of "non-aggressive alliance" and did not choose to enter Lu to fight. In terms of reputation, they have accumulated enough foundation.

If the state of Song was not borrowed, the chances of Mo Chu going to war would be much smaller. The King of Chu never considered the possibility of the Mo family re-enacting the strategy of Wu Zixu and Sun Wuzi.

Because the external environment does not allow.

Wu Zixu's conspiracy back then was very risky, not counting the external environment, even the situation back then was extremely dangerous.

Sun Wu's conspiracy is that the elite troops will break through the three passes and attack Jianghan regardless of the rear of Chu State.

Because the main force of the Chu State was still there at that time, if it directly cut off the retreat of the Wu army, it would not be a trick of the ages, but a catch in a urn.

What's more, even if the conspiracy was successful and they smuggled through the three passes, then Haolong's father Ye Gong suggested a big outflank, attacking back and forth, and completely wiped out Wu Zixu.

However, at that time, the state of Chu was divided into fiefdoms, the nobles fought for power, and the military strength belonged to each noble. It was really "fighting for work and robbing merits like the wind, and outflanking Xu Rulin. Burning, killing, looting and aggression were like fire, and the friendly army was in trouble like a mountain." .

At that time when Shen Yinshu was outflanking the disciples, Zichang thought to himself, if you succeeded in outflanking the disciples, wouldn't the credit be yours?So regardless of the strategy, without waiting for the right army, he fought for his work and took credit. He sent off the main force of Chu State in waves, and killed the outflanking friendly army by the way.

Even if it was Wu Zixu and Sun Wuzi back then, if they won this battle, they would still be terrified. If Shen Yinshu's ideas were followed, the main force of the Wu army would be suffocated to death in the Jianghan Plain, and the country of Wu would surely perish.

But now, although the state of Chu still has many monarchs, at least the King of Chu still has an elite standing army, and Chen Cai's direct administration can easily go south to outflank the rear; the division of Shenxi is still the main field army of the state of Chu; The capital of the country was moved to the south, and the state of Chu also built the defense of the capital during the honeymoon period of Chu and Mo. This made the king of Chu very confident in the interior: although the field battle cannot be won, he can choose to delay until the troops are assembled and surrounded.

The external environment is even more different. At that time, Chu State was too aggressive, it was the attacking side, and it regarded itself as a barbarian. It competed with Zhu Xia to force out a second Zhaoling alliance in which both Jin and Qi participated. Wu Jin was in the honeymoon period again. The main force of Chu State was fighting against Jin State, which made Wu State enter in one fell swoop.

This is why the king of Chu never worried that the Mo family would repeat Sun Wuzi's conspiracy: Can the Mo family and the state of Wei form an alliance?Does Wei Guo dare to form an alliance with the Mohists?At that time, Song State was still small and powerful, and it was a tributary state of Jin State. Now the Mohist family is in Sishang, and Wei Han may be stabbed in the back at any time.

In this way, the non-offensive alliance actually included most of the three thousand kingdoms except Shuxiong. Wei, as a vassal state of Wei, would not participate. Song, Lu, and Zheng would all participate.

Without excuses, the King of Chu could easily judge the future strategic direction of the Mohists: go north, not south.

First, the southwestern region of Qi is fertile soil, with a large population, rich land, and richness. Moreover, the Mohist school had a strong foundation in the southwestern region of Qi after World War I.

Second, the Mohists have been going north to North Korea and Yan, and there are rumors that they went to sea to find "Fusang Island" across the sea from Juli.

Thirdly, the power of the Three Jins is still strong, and the Mohist school still has a branch in Gaoliuyun, and there is one of the Mohist's Seven Enlightened Hazards sitting there.

Fourth, the Mohists needed horses. After the appearance of stirrups, the Mohist cavalry were elite, and the dense swamps and rivers in the south were not suitable for the cavalry to exert their advantages.

Fifth, Sishang needs more horses and cattle. Zhongshan was established by the Mohists, and the trade between the two sides has been continuous. Link the northern horse production area with Sishang to prevent being cut off by the princes.

Sixth, to attack Chu, it is likely to be stabbed in the back by Wei Han.

Seventh, if the strategy of going north is successful, then the entire North China Plain and the plain east of the Taihang Mountains will basically be owned by the Mohists.To defend the princes against the danger of the Taihang Mountains, then the Mohist hegemony can be achieved.

Eighth, Mo Qin has the common enemy of Wei and Han, and the northward strategy can use the power of the Qin people to disperse the pressure of Wei, making it easier.

Ninth, after the Qi-Mo War, the Mohists had a broad foundation in Qi State, and ceded Jucheng, Qi State realized the possibility of two-line attack...

All these made the King of Chu make the judgment that the Mo family will go north instead of going south, so this time the non-aggressive military meeting will easily make the King of Chu think that the Mohists are preparing for the strategy of going north: going north to guard against the rear , the Song State must be grasped in the hands as a buffer.

Based on this judgment, this time the elimination of the army will be of great benefit to the Chu State. Abandoning the Song Dynasty and maintaining the independence of the Zheng State, even if we can get what we need from the Mohists, and we can divert the trouble from the north, so that the Chu State can have a more favorable external environment to complete the reform. .

The King of Chu thought to himself, the Mohists were able to defeat Yue in the battle of Daliang City and Qi in the battle of Zhao Chengquan in the past, why can't I trouble the north today and complete the reform when the relationship between Wei, Han, Qi, and Zhao Mo is tense?

(End of this chapter)