"The Kingdom of Chu is a superior state, and the King of Chu is the hope of the princes. How could he break the contract so lightly?" Zheng Du "questioned" Deng Zhi after entertaining him at the banquet.
The question was naturally about the Chu army's failure to evacuate according to the agreed time.
It's just... we had already hosted a banquet, so this "questioning" seemed very weak.
What shocked Deng Zhi even more was actually sitting on his knees - he had been sitting on a chair in Chu for several years. Whether in formal occasions or in private, it was almost impossible to see him sitting on his knees anymore. He had long been used to it, and suddenly he knelt and sat up again. It was really...
Some legs are numb!
Deng Zhi moved his posture in a subtle way and said calmly: "It's not that Chu broke the contract, but we have sufficient evidence to show that Shu hired pirates to plunder slaves and invaded Chu's overseas territories.
They repeatedly invaded and even attacked our navy of Chu."
Deng Zhi didn't even blink when he spoke, just as the people of Chu had vowed that Liu Zhang would first pacify Hanzhong and then destroy Jingchu.
"This is absolutely not the case! Our lord is also a benevolent and righteous person, how could he act like this? What's more, the pirates are all from Wei, and they are separated from me by mountains and rivers in Yizhou. How can they trade slaves here? This is obviously what the Wei State said!" Zheng
Du completely refused to acknowledge it and pointed his finger at Wei.
Liu Zhang, who was on the side, had long been told to leave it to Zheng Du to deal with it first. At this time, he did not speak, but pretended to be enigmatic and sat in the first place, occasionally looking at Zhang Song on the other side.
"Oh? So the Lord of Shu has finally decided to abolish the system of slavery and prostitution?" Deng Zhi said in surprise.
Zheng Du was stunned when he heard this, and said to himself: You are too good at climbing on the pole. I just said that my master has no reason to instruct others to "catcher slaves". How come he wants to abolish slavery and sell himself?
There are so many noble families in Xichuan, which family doesn't have countless renouncements?
although……
They cannot be regarded as "slaves", and even most farmers may never see their masters show their fangs through contracts throughout their lives. However, the system of slavery, or the habit of raising livestock and hiding households, is deeply embedded in the blood of the gentry.
of.
In essence, this is not only for exploitation, but also to compete with the "imperial court" for people.
After all, if a noble family has an anonymous household, Cheng Ji's household registration will have one less person. From then on, they only need to pay tribute to the nobles and do not need to pay taxes to the court. Even over time, they only know that there is a master's family and not a court.
When Chu State wanted to abolish the life contract, how many ups and downs did it go through and how much preparation was made?
It is best to proceed step by step and with a sufficiently large profit margin to "rush" out this bad habit.
The biggest difference between the Chu State's ten-year contract and the previous household registration was that for individuals, it reduced slavery, but for the court, it truly included every Chu citizen in the household registration.
It's not that after being hired, to the court, it is equivalent to not having this person...
But now that it is suddenly raised here by the Lord of Shu, is it because he is afraid that the Lord of Shu will not die quickly enough?
The Chu State only took advantage of the trend to "compete" with profits, rather than fully developing the productivity to this point. The Chu State's system has always been slightly ahead of the productivity.
For example, the Wei State now wants to learn from the Chu State in terms of technology, but it is still rampant in prostitution. Not only does it enslave foreigners, but most of the craftsmen in the workshops are "hidden households" of the gentry - the Chu State's workshop system, technology
, was promoted by the imperial court, and naturally took the opportunity to replace the benefits of anonymity and completely sealed it with the "Laws of Chu". However, the workshops and technology of the Wei State were learned from the Chu State, and they would not use them in vain.
"Hidden account".
As for the Kingdom of Shu...
After all, King Cao Cao of Wei had the ability to suppress the nobles. If Liu Zhang, the Marquis of Shu, dared to do so, civil strife would break out in Yizhou in minutes.
What? Even if Chu comes, we can no longer have an anonymous household?
That means following the King of Chu has a better future than following Liu Zhang!
If Bai Tu really lets go and is willing to give the Yizhou gentry no less privileges than they have now, I am afraid that they can’t wait to invite the Chu army in, not just one family or two families...
Zheng Du just moved his mouth, but before he could say anything, Deng Zhi continued: "If the prince of Shu really has such righteousness, the King of Chu and all his colleagues in Chu will be happy. From now on, Shu will be one of the brothers of Chu."
The country is willing to trade even warships... or even give them as gifts!" Deng Zhi looked like he was a great leader and was very open-minded.
Theoretically, these feudal lords who were granted Jiuxi can also be regarded as having their own princely states, such as the Yan Kingdom.
It's just that the other princes who assisted the Han Dynasty will not shine in their own "states", but it is not a problem to talk about the Shu Kingdom.
After hearing Deng Zhi's words, Zheng Du's face became angry - What do we need a warship for? To sail in a mountain stream?
"Ahem, Master Deng has misunderstood. The existence of servants in Xichuan has its own reason..."
"So the Marquis of Shu really hopes to have more slaves?" Hearing this, Deng Zhi immediately looked suspicious.
Zheng Du also saw that Deng Zhi was completely messing around, so he no longer passively begged for mercy, but raised his eyes and said: "I, the Marquis of Shu, have never done such a thing. If the Chu State really wants to punish him with this, attack
Conquer the Han Dynasty
Clan relatives, our Shuhou Mansion will never sit still and wait for death. Considering the dangerous terrain of Xichuan and the bad mountains and rivers, if we make up our minds to move the people into the city and build strong walls to clear the wilderness, how many years and how much food and grass will the Chu State prepare to use to attack Yizhou?
Nowadays, conflicts between the State of Wei and your State have broken out frequently at sea, and the Marquis of Qi and the Marquis of Zheng are also on the verge of fighting. If Yizhou can hold back a hundred thousand troops of the Chu State, it will be considered a worthy death!" Zheng Du seemed very excited.
Look.
Zheng Du dared to break the jar because Zhang Song and Liu Zhang were present...
If Deng Zhi really refused to do this, Zhang Song would give Liu Zhang a wink, and then Liu Zhang would just scold Zheng Du and ask him to leave first, then he could change the subject.
As for the reason for the reprimand?
Just say that you don't want the people to suffer, and it also reflects the benevolence and righteousness of the Lord of Shu. It will be more beneficial to the reputation of the Lord of Shu if it spreads in the future.
Of course, the real reason is that the princes of Shu do not have that much binding force on Yizhou. After all... they are princes who have not completely transformed even the warlords!
Really throughout Xichuan, the army and the people are integrated, all with the goal of holding back the Chu State, even at the "price" of the people and nobles of Yizhou... I am afraid that some people will abandon Shu and surrender to Chu on the spot.
Even if you control a part of it temporarily, you will continue to have "distinctive thoughts" in the future.
If Liu Zhang surrendered to the Chu State, he would have at least a lifetime of peace, but if he died in civil strife, he would have to be buried in the Shu Hou Mansion...
In the history without the White Rabbit Effect, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang joined together, and in the final stage of conquering Xichuan, Zheng Du suggested to Liu Zhang to move the people on a large scale to places that were easy to defend and difficult to attack, and to burn all the granaries that could not be controlled from the outside.
, dragged it until Liu Bei couldn't hold it anymore, and naturally retreated...
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were also covered in cold sweat when they heard this move.
After all, let alone whether Liu Zhang can do it or not, if he wants to gamble, the Jingzhou Army may not be able to hold on first!
However, Liu Zhang did not dare to gamble at all, but surrendered directly.
Deng Zhi also saw Zheng Du's stern appearance and internal confusion. He did not look surprised or fearful like Zheng Du imagined the easy-to-fool young man. Instead, he calmly said to the Marquis of Shu: "The Marquis of Shu is a benevolent and righteous prince.
How could he act like this? If such an unjust act was really done, how could our great army of Chu spare food and grass..."
Zheng Du punched the air, while Liu Zhang looked at Zhang Song frequently, as if he wanted to know whether he wanted to speak.
But at this moment, Zhang Song spoke first: "The current enemy of Chu State is in the north and not in the west. What is the intention of King Chu of rashly sending troops to Xichuan again? Mr. Deng, can you tell me?"
Zhang Song also saw that the Chu State was still not prepared to destroy Shu, otherwise... if Liu Zhang were stronger, the Chu State would be trapped here with at least 30% of its troops. By then, the Chu State would be the one that all the princes in the world looked forward to - the one with evil intentions.
kind.
It's just that Zhang Song couldn't guess what Chu State was going to do without important information...
after all……
The Chu State just wanted to wait for another two or three years, wait until the time was right, and then "complete the victory in one battle" at sea, and in one fell swoop weakened the Wei State and shocked the north. Now... just to make people look less suspicious, they are taking Shu.
It was just a matter of venting anger - how could Zhang Song guess such a thing?
From the perspective of Zhang Song and the people of the world, the balance of the Bohai Sea that was originally completely on the Chu side is gradually tilting towards the Wei side, right?
Even the situation of the entire world is gradually moving towards the good of Wei, right?
Zhang Song suspects that several "masters" in the Han Dynasty are trying to induce Chu and Wei to fight directly...
After all, "everyone can see" now that the reason why the state of Chu is in some decline is mainly because it is separated from the state of Wei by the Han princes, and the direct conflicts with the state of Wei are in the waters closer to the state of Wei.
The aggressiveness shown by the Wei State even made the Han Dynasty no longer want to passively defend its vassal...
Because they did not understand Chu State, especially Chu State's layout in Yizhou and Danzhou, they still underestimated Chu State's national power too much.
It is no exaggeration to say that even if the Chu State did not have artillery and energy ships, and both sides really used the same warships, it would not be possible for them to lose to the Wei State...
After all, the sinking of a main ship by the Wei Navy was a serious injury. The sinking of a main ship by the Shijia family basically meant that they would withdraw from the competition for maritime interests. The sinking of a main ship by the Chu State... the casualties of the soldiers were tragic.
But from the perspective of battleships alone, this can be regarded as boosting domestic demand!
If an all-out war really breaks out, the Chu State can launch new warships all the time without destroying the ecology of any domestic workshops - the kind that can be sunk faster than they can in battle.
Even if the fleet is replaced by two, a year later it will be the Wei State that squeezes out a lot of people in the country and destroys their families, while the Chu State... is still happily completing new orders.
This is also a potential benefit after industrialization - war will not leave its "comfort zone" until it reaches a certain scale. Unlike agricultural civilization, as long as the knife is used, it will basically leave the comfort zone...
Unless the Wei State can attack the Chu State in one go, how can the Chu State, which has the highest production efficiency and also has the support of "the whole world", be able to hold off?
It is even difficult to force Chu State out of the comfort zone of "war losses are still within the range of stimulating domestic demand" and enter the stage where war damages national strength...
Unless, as Zhang Song thinks, 30% of the Chu State’s national power is really dragged down in Yizhou, then all the princes will definitely see the opportunity, causing the Chu State to fall into a bitter fighting state that overdrafts the national power! 1