Countries fought with each other, all wanting to strengthen their national strength and achieve breakthroughs, but the war between Zhao and Yan did not benefit them. Yan lost its city, lost its wise prime minister, and small-scale rebellions occurred in Liaodong.
, Jiang Qu's three-year Anliao policy was completely destroyed. Many ministers of Yan State also chose to leave. King Yan's behavior of beating Jiang Qu made them very angry.
Such a rude king was obviously not worthy of their service. King Yan believed that all this was Jiang Qu's fault, and secretly sent warriors to kill Jiang Qu.
The warrior who went to kill him could not bear to hurt him, so he escorted him to escape from the Yan Kingdom and committed suicide.
He drove him to the state of Qi, and no one saw him again.
Some people said that they had seen him holding a hoe and following the people to farm. Others said that they had seen him weaving straw mats for others to make a living. In any case, no one saw the prime minister again, which made Zhao
The king felt very sorry. King Zhao was very grateful to King Yan. King Yan's attack allowed King Zhao to successfully focus the attention of Zhao people on Yan and inspired the people of Zhao by defeating Yan.
There are not many good people like this left.
Qi State's intervention in this war did not bring them any benefits. The queen's condition was instead caused by chaos in Qi State's temples and unreasonable government orders. King Qi was indecisive and had no opinion of his own on anything. He was used to it.
In order to obey his mother's arrangements, King Jian of Qi panicked after her mother could no longer advise him. He even stopped going to see his ministers and stayed with his mother all day long.
Some Confucian scholars praised his behavior and believed that there was no more filial king in the world than King Qi.
However, Xunzi severely reprimanded King Qi for this behavior. Xunzi believed that King Qi governed the country carefully and lived up to his mother's high expectations. This is true filial piety. He stayed with his mother all day long and neglected government affairs. He only hoped that his mother would soon
After getting better, he helps himself with government affairs. This is a very selfish person and is definitely not a filial son. Xunzi even told Zhao Zheng: Never learn such selfish filial piety. True filial piety is to fulfill the best wishes of your parents.
Qi's original prosperity suddenly disappeared.
In the Kingdom of Wei, the King of Wei still could not find the most suitable and talented successor. This made the King of Wei lament: Why are all the talented people in the world not in the Kingdom of Wei? The Kong Bin he sent to invite was just a few years ago.
A few months later, he sold it to King Zhao. And all the policies Kong Bin had implemented in Wei were abolished by King Wei, including Duan Qianzi and other incompetent villains, as well as those who were no longer willing to advise King Wei.
, was summoned to the temple again.
The King of Wei was very disappointed with Kong Bin, thinking that his talent was not worthy of his fame, and he still did not make Wei strong and prosperous.
King Zhao was still very happy. After he invited Kong Bin, he immediately held a banquet to entertain Kong Bin, and used Kong Bin as a disguise to replace Li Mu. Li Mu continued to be sent to Yunzhong to guard the frontier. King Zhao several times
Asked Kong Bin for advice on the policy of governing the country, Kong Bin told King Zhao very firmly: "In less than twenty years, the world will belong to Qin. If you don't have the courage to reform, you can't make Zhao strong in a short time.
Get up, Zhao will definitely perish in your hands."
When the ministers heard what Kong Bin said, they were very angry, but King Zhao happily asked: "I heard that Qin is a cruel country, and the king never governs the country with morality and etiquette. Please tell me what should be done.
How to resist him?" After Kong Bin inspected Zhao State, he just came up with a plan. Different from the plan in Wei State, the plan he came up with was to ask Zhao State to build granaries in various places to store grain in various places and prepare them for disasters.
It can help the people at times, prevent people from starving to death during wars, and allow soldiers to fight with peace of mind.
Among the countries, probably only Zhao has achieved some results.
As for the Chu State, it was still busy with internal strife. Huang Xie took away a large amount of land from the nobles and distributed it to the people, turning farm laborers into farmers. He also extended the advanced farming technology of the Central Plains to remote areas of the Chu State, mainly engaged in business
The land in the south increases the grain production of the Chu State. Encourage the people to have children, liberate the slaves and retainers of the nobles, and move the wild people from the mountains to increase the population of the Chu State.
Of course, the Qin State would not stop its progress. Although the Qin State did not expand externally during this period, it did not stop in terms of domestic affairs. First, in the Bashu area, the governor Li Bing took his son to visit
After observing the water veins and adapting measures to local conditions, Dujiangyan was built based on the previous work, dividing the raging Minjiang River into two internal and external branches, turning harm into benefit, and having the two major functions of flood collection and irrigation.
After the completion of the water conservancy project, he dug shoals, dredged waterways, built Wenjing River, Baimu River, Luoshui, Mianshui and other irrigation and navigation projects, repaired cable bridges, opened salt wells and other measures, making the Bashu region become a
It became wealthy and strengthened its connection with the Central Plains. The prosperity of Bashu gave Qin a stable rear granary, which could support Qin in launching larger-scale wars.
Good things come in pairs. After Li Bing completed a major project in Shu County, the King of Qin ordered him to come to Xianyang to receive the reward.
Zhao Kuo also saw this sage who had been worshiped by the people of Bashu. Li Bing was very tall, but extremely thin and dark. He looked like an old farmer in Xianyang City. He didn't speak much. From his appearance,
He seemed a bit honest and honest, and he was very polite to others. He came to visit Zhao Kuo, but it was because of the "Ma Fu Shu" that Zhao Kuo invited him into the courtyard and had a sheep slaughtered to entertain him.
"Wu Chengjun doesn't have to be like this." Li Bing was a little surprised when faced with Zhao Kuo's unusual enthusiasm. He was just a local governor. In terms of title, he was just the right guard, far inferior to Wu Chengjun. He didn't know why Wu Chengjun treated him so much.
Such respect. Zhao Kuo shook his head and said seriously: "I heard: As a general, if he defeats the enemy with elite soldiers, future generations will praise his bravery."
"As a prime minister, if a person manages the country and allows the people to live a good life, future generations will praise his wisdom."
"And people like you, who run water conservancy projects, have benefited a region for thousands of years. Future generations will definitely worship you and thank you for your kindness. I really hope there are a few more people like you in the world."
"You are exaggerating. The canals I built can benefit the people of a county for a hundred years, and your "Ma Fu Shu" can benefit the people of the whole world for a thousand years. I have never seen anyone like you.
, I often stay up all night reading your works, which have benefited me a lot. The policies you mentioned in the book, your examination method, one whip method, and farmland method. I have never heard of anyone who can come up with such a method.
There are many things I would like to ask you about."
Zhao Kuo smiled bitterly. He didn't propose these policies. He just talked about all the reforms he knew, from the light corvee and low taxes in the Han Dynasty to the later political, economic and military reforms.
He wrote down all the reforms he could think of. If it weren't for Han Fei, he wouldn't have been able to form a complete theory because it was too confusing.
It was Han Fei who combined his usual words and deeds with the policies he thought of to form a policy system that is barely visible. Although it is full of loopholes and inappropriate, if it is not burned in the future, there should still be some hope.
It works. China's feudal dynasty was a process of continuous strengthening of monarchy, which reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
And Zhao Kuo's horse service book can be said to be timeless in any dynasty. When the war is over, people will be surprised to find that this light corvee and meager tax are suitable for the people to rest today. When the powerful and powerful come together, they will
I found that the powerful people who migrated to this place and the policy to curb their development are quite suitable for today. When the aristocratic families are in trouble, they will find that the imperial examination system can still be used. Zhao Kuo thought like this, and he didn't know what he thought of. Suddenly he would be playing in the courtyard.
Zhao Zheng called over.
It's rare that Xunzi and Gongsun Long will travel around the Qin Kingdom today. Zhao Zheng has a holiday. Seeing his father calling him, he reluctantly walked in front of him and met the dark-faced official. Li Bing smiled.
Zhao Kuo looked at him and said: "This is your son? He is much younger than my son." Zhao Kuo said to Zhao Zheng seriously: "Books are very useful things and should not be burned.
."
"Father? I didn't burn the book!!!" Zhao Zheng widened his eyes in confusion and said aggrievedly.
"I know, and I won't do it again."
"Um"
"Okay, let's go play."
Zhao Zheng then jumped away and left.
Li Bing also didn't understand why Wu Chengjun called his son over while he was chatting with him, gave him some inexplicable instructions, and then let him leave. Li Bing also asked about some advanced systems, including the system of migrating powerful men once proposed by Zhao Kuo.
Migrating powerful people is a method commonly adopted in the Western Han Dynasty. At that time, local powerful people came together to occupy a large amount of land and oppressed the local people.
Of course, there are no tyrants in the Qin State. They are all soldiers with noble titles. They exchanged military achievements for land and retainers. But they dare not say that they bully the people and annex the land. This is a serious crime in the Qin State.
, let alone soldiers with third- and fourth-level titles, even Yinghou cannot do this. But Li Bing said: "If there is one king in the world, there is no war, and those former meritorious soldiers lose their way to continue to obtain land, then
They will definitely obtain farmland through illegal means as you said."
Unexpectedly, Li Bing was quite far-sighted. He talked to Zhao Kuo about his views on the post-war world. Many of his ideas coincided with Zhao Kuo's and were even consistent with history. What Li Bing was most worried about was
The demise of Qin State. Qin State is a country built on war. If one day, the war really ends, then where will this country go?
The two of them were chatting when Zheng Guo hurriedly walked in. He had heard the name Li Bing many times from Zhao Kuo's mouth. After coming to Qin State, he also heard this name from others.
Now I heard that this man came to Xianyang. Zheng Guo quickly looked for him. He searched many places but could not find him. Finally, he heard that he was here with Zhao Kuo, so he hurried over.
Zhao Kuo hurriedly introduced Zheng Guo to Li Bing. When the two great engineers met, both sides were a little excited.
The two held hands and sat down to talk about water conservancy projects. Li Bing was talking about the canal that Zheng Guo wanted to build, thinking that this move would benefit Guanzhong for thousands of years, while Zheng Guo was praising Li Bing's Dujiangyan, thinking that no one could do it.
Beyond that, when the two met, the conversation turned into professional terms. Zhao Kuo sat aside and had no way to blend in. He couldn't understand what the two were talking about.
Zheng Guo talked about his plan. He even brought the plan. Zheng Guo and he spread the plan on the ground. Regardless of etiquette, they knelt on the ground, squeezed together, took out their fingers and touched the soil.
Painting, Zhao Kuo could see that they were working on design drawings. Zhao Kuo did not dare to disturb them. He could only watch the drawings they drew. The two of them sometimes quarreled, sometimes laughed, and sometimes got angry. They were not at all what a great engineer should do.
Somewhat
Zhao Kuo quietly stood up and left. As soon as he walked into the inner room, he saw Zhao Zheng looking at the two people in the distance with a blank expression. Zhao Zheng raised his head and asked: "Father, what are they doing?"
What?" Zhao Kuo lowered his voice and said: "They are discussing to build many water canals in the Qin State." Zhao Zheng suddenly realized, nodded, and asked: "What's the use of this?"
“It’s good for irrigation and preventing floods, it’s very useful!”
"Government, building water conservancy is a matter that will last for a long time. This must be paid attention to. But the problem is that it also depends on the impact on the current generation. We cannot say that we will continue to squeeze the current people for the sake of future benefits. This is not acceptable.
, on the basis of not causing serious consequences and not harming the people, it is very good to build useful channels and turn the ferocious water into something that is beneficial to agriculture and mulberry trees and the people."
"Of course you have to respect such people. Except for evil people, everyone is worthy of respect."
"I know, Mr. Gongsun told me: There is no forever noble person, no forever humble person. If you despise those humble people based on your current nobility, you will one day become a humble person and suffer the same fate.
treatment.”
Zhao Kuo rubbed Zhao Zheng's head happily, "That's good."
Zhao Zheng raised his head and smiled proudly at his father. Now, under the influence of Xunzi and others, he seems a little too mature, and only when facing family members like Zhao Kuo, he will show his childishness.
On one side, Zhao Zheng was about to say something when he suddenly looked ahead and shouted: "Father! No! They are fighting!!" Zhao Kuo immediately looked ahead and saw the two of them staring at each other angrily.
Goring against each other like angry bulls.
Zhao Kuo quickly stepped forward and separated the two.
After questioning, I learned that the two had a quarrel because of different ideas.
Zheng Guo was a thorough engineer. He would not calculate the amount of people and material resources consumed when doing projects, nor would he care about how many people's normal lives would be affected by such a construction project. But Li Bing was different. Li Bing was a local official and was involved in construction projects.
During the process, he will consider these. His starting point is to benefit the local people, and will not let the project affect farming and mulberry trees, nor affect the normal life of the people.
