Chapter 22 Chapter 21 Can't eat hot tofu in a hurry

Varu's failure made Duke Huan of Qi's feverish brain begin to calm down.He realized that if he wanted to dominate the princes, it would not happen overnight. He had to manage his own country well first. So Huan Gong humbly asked Guan Zhong: "How do you say that the country can be governed well?" Guan Zhong said: "Governing the country depends on the etiquette and laws established by the ancient kings, but it must be modified according to different situations. Our ancestor Taigong is a typical example of changing etiquette according to customs. Qi is located on the coast of the East Sea, and the land is not as fertile as the Central Plains. This is a big problem. But we also have advantages. Although the grain production is small, we have the benefit of fishing and salt. Especially when diverting seawater to dry salt by the sea, it is almost the same as picking up salt for nothing. Salt is the same food that no one can live without. Therefore, the most urgent task is to stabilize the domestic situation, so that scholars, farmers, businessmen, and businessmen can secure their positions, and they are not allowed to change their identities at will. In this way, everyone can produce with peace of mind and increase the wealth of our country.”

Duke Huan of Qi thought about it, so he said to Guan Zhong: "Father Zhong, I have entrusted the country to you. You just throw your arms around and do whatever you want. I will support you. If anyone refuses to accept you, You let him come to me." In this way, with the full support of Duke Huan of Qi, Guan Zhong started a drastic reform. In terms of administration, Guan Zhong divided the country into 21 townships, of which 6 townships were specialized in industry and commerce, exchanged goods with foreign countries, exchanged fish, salt and other items produced in Qi State with other countries, and exchanged them for the grain needed by Qi State.These 6 townships do not need to perform military service so that they can engage in business with peace of mind.The other 15 townships are called "Scholar Farmers' Townships". They do farming in normal times and conduct military training during the slack season. When there is war, they are organized as an army.And in this way, it will not attract the attention of other big countries and avoid an arms race with them.

For the "wild" outside the capital, formalized management is also carried out.Divide the vast "wild" land into five parts, called "five genus", and set up five genus doctors, each of whom manages a stall.In this way, the "wild" is also included in the national management system, ensuring that the farmers in the wild can continuously and stably provide grain taxation to the country. In terms of military affairs, the 15 villages of scholars and peasants were organized according to the military establishment.Take five houses as one track, and set up a track leader for management; ten tracks for one mile, and set up a division for management; four miles for a company, and set up a company commander; ten companies for a township, and set up a township benefactor .Correspondingly, if each family produces one soldier, then five soldiers form a team in one track; fifty soldiers in one mile form a small army; two hundred soldiers in one company form a pawn; Send out two thousand soldiers to form a brigade.Every five townships can send 10,000 soldiers to form an army.

There are 15 townships of scholars and peasants in Qi State, which can form three armies.Duke Huan of Qi personally led an army, and Guozi and Gaozi (as mentioned above, Guo and Gao are two big families in Qi) each led an army, and the standing army of Qi reached 30,000. At that time, the level of productivity was relatively low, and 30,000 people was already a very large number.Zhou Tianzi only had an army of more than 30,000 people.But to fight, it is not enough just to have the number of people, these people must be equipped with weapons.Guan Zhong came up with a way, which is to let the criminals use weapons to atone for their crimes.For example, if a person commits a relatively serious crime, let him hand over a set of armor made of rhinoceros leather (rhinoceros leather is very tough, and rhinoceros leather armor is the best in leather armor. Rhinoceros is a common animal in ancient my country. Of course, now I can only go to the zoo to see it).If the crime is relatively minor, then just surrender a shield.For some petty crimes, metals (mainly copper at that time) and arrows could be used to atone.

At that time, crimes and punishments were very inhumane. For example, most countries had "corporal punishment", which was the punishment of cutting off human limbs and organs.Guan Zhong allowed the prisoners to pay weapons to atone for their crimes, so that these inhuman punishments could be avoided.For a person, instead of missing arms and legs, it is better to spend some money to buy a weapon and hand it over, so as not to be disabled.In this way, the country's ammunition depot will be full soon without increasing military expenditures, which is really a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.However, this kind of system obviously cannot be generalized. Doesn't this mean encouraging rich people to commit crimes?

Guan Zhong also proposed a series of measures such as rewarding meritorious deeds and punishing crimes, improving social atmosphere, etc., and Duke Huan of Qi followed them one by one without discounting at all.Even some ministers came to report to Duke Huan of Qi, and Duke Huan said: "I don't care, go to Zhongfu." Some people saw that Guan Zhong was so trusted by the king, and they couldn't help being jealous, so they said sourly: "You can go to Zhong Fu for everything. Everyone thought that there is no king in Qi, only Zhong Fu." Qi Huangong was not angry when he heard about it. , Instead, he said: "Father Zhong is in charge of everything, and I am happy to be at ease."

The internal affairs of Qi State are well organized under the careful management of Guan Zhong.The village of peasants and peasants trains when the farming season is not in violation, and soon has a strong combat effectiveness. Of course, the soldiers at that time were also easy to train, and they did not need to master any high-tech weapons. Probably as long as they could stand in line and obey orders , It's almost enough to be able to wield a weapon.As for the arsenal, it has become full because criminals continue to use weapons to pay for their crimes.Merchants transported the special products of Qi to other countries, reaped huge profits, and exchanged some strategic resources needed by Qi.

In less than two years, the Qi State became rich and strong, and its strength increased greatly.While governing the country, Qi kept a low profile externally and did not engage in wars with major powers.However, Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong were not soft on small countries. There is a small country called Tan Guo, which is near today's Jinan City, Shandong Province.When Duke Huan of Qi was still his son Xiaobai, he passed by Tan Guo when he was fleeing.According to the rules, Tan Guo should entertain Xiaobai with the etiquette of a foreign prince.But Tan Zi (Tan Guo is a viscount, so the king calls him Tan Zi) thinks that Xiao Bai is just a down-and-out son, so why should he entertain him so attentively?Anyway, just send it away.

From ancient times to the present, there are many such short-sighted people who look down on others when they see that they are not successful for a while.People like this often suffer a lot in the end, and this Tan Zi is the same. The problem is that Xiaobai was unsuccessful back then, so it's fine if you look down on him.But after Xiaobai has ascended the throne and become the monarch, you don't take the time to repair the relationship, but you insist on supporting him there, it would be very unwise.This is the case with Tan Zi. In a big country like Qi, when the new king came to the throne, he neither came to court nor sent anyone to give a congratulatory speech, as if he didn't take Qi Huan seriously.As a small country with nothing to rely on, isn't it courting death by doing this?It would be really strange if Duke Huan of Qi didn't say anything.

In the winter of 684 BC, the State of Qi attacked the State of Tan and broke through the capital of the State of Tan in one fell swoop.The self-righteous Tan Zi was driven away and had nowhere to hide, so he had to go to the state of Ju, which has an alliance relationship.As a result, a vassal state on the territory of the Great Zhou disappeared like this. Perhaps it was because the country of Tan was too small, and the destruction of the country this time did not arouse the reaction of other princes.Not only did no one sympathize with them, but some people gloated and thought that Tan Guo deserved what he deserved.It seems that the diplomacy of small countries is really an art, especially when facing big countries.Tan Guo is definitely a negative teaching material.

In order to be able to grasp foreign intelligence information in a timely manner, Guan Zhong also made full use of the advantages of businessmen traveling from country to country, selected 80 businessmen who were good at communication and glib, and asked them to go to various countries to lobby.At the same time, gold and silver treasures were used to make friends with important figures from various countries in order to obtain foreign intelligence.Facts have proved that the effect of monetary diplomacy is very satisfactory. Seeing that his country is getting stronger and stronger, Duke Huan of Qi also has a sense of accomplishment.With the increase of resources at hand, Xiaobai's enthusiasm for dominating the princes has been shown again and again.However, with the lessons learned from his failure in Lu State, Xiaobai has also become much better. He has to ask Guan Zhong about everything before he dares to do it. So whenever Xiaobai had a whim, he asked Guan Zhong: "Father Zhong, do you think the day for me to dominate the Central Plains has come?" But Guan Zhong said every time: "The time is not yet ripe, you have to wait patiently, Monarch." Xiaobai is in a hurry, the time is always missing, when will this time arrive? To Duke Huan's surprise, two seemingly irreconcilable things turned out to be perfect opportunities for him to seek hegemony.Of these two events, one is the civil strife in the Song Dynasty, and the other is the new emperor's ascension to the throne.So what do these two things have to do with Duke Huan of Qi's hegemony?Let us first look at the beginning and end of these two things.In 684 BC, Song State lost to Lu State in Chengqiu.In the next year, in the summer of 683 BC, Song State launched a war against Lu State for revenge. In terms of strength, Song Guo and Lu Guo are equally matched, and no one is better than the other.The armies of the two countries met at Qi, and the Song State, in accordance with the tradition of military etiquette, prepared to fight head-on with the Lu State.However, the State of Lu launched an attack while the Song army was not in shape, so the State of Lu was defeated. It is estimated that Song State was very unconvinced by the defeat. This is obviously because Lu State did not play cards according to the rules.Fortunately, Lu State is still known as the inheritor of the Zhou Rites, so how come it doesn't even understand the principle of "formation before fighting (set up the formation first and then fight)"?Isn't this the same as kicking when you are boxing, does it count if you win? In fact, the people of the Song Dynasty may have overlooked such a truth: on the battlefield of life and death, the most important rule is to destroy the enemy and preserve oneself.Song Guo is undoubtedly a bit rigid on this issue, and we will see this rigidity again in later chapters. Of course, Lu State, as a "state of etiquette", has begun to use this method to fight wars, which also shows to a certain extent that the "ritual collapse and music destruction" in the Spring and Autumn Period has really formed a trend. It is also very interesting to talk about the relationship between countries in the Spring and Autumn Period. For example, this time, the Song State and the Lu State had just finished the battle, and in the autumn of this year, a great flood occurred in the Song State.Duke Zhuang of Lu hurriedly sent someone to Song State to greet him: "God sent a disaster to Song State. The heavy rain flooded the crops. I come to express condolences to you, Monarch." Song Mingong thanked and said: "It's because I disrespected God, so God punished me. Trouble your country's monarch, I really can't bear it." You see, the two sides just fought a big fight, and now they are showing mutual concern and love for each other, which is really incredible.According to the thinking of later generations, it would be considered benevolent and righteous for the State of Lu not to take advantage of this opportunity to beat the State of Song.The relationship between countries in the Spring and Autumn Period often reflects this characteristic: Sometimes, perhaps because of a small matter, two countries will fight each other.But fights are fast, and reconciliation is fast.Just like our good buddies fight now, after the fight, after drinking, all the unhappiness will disappear. Let's not talk about the relationship between Lu and Song, just talk about Song's country.In the Battle of Chengqiu between Song and Lu, Duke Zhuang of Lu shot Nangong Changwan, a doctor of the Song Dynasty, with an arrow.Nangong Changwan was originally one of the best warriors in the Song Dynasty, but no matter how brave he was, he could not withstand long-distance precision strikes, so he fell off the chariot and was captured by the Lu army. After the war ended, the State of Lu sent all the captives back to the State of Song, including Nangong Changwan. "Zuo Zhuan" records that when Song Mingong saw Nangong Changwan coming back, he joked with Nangong Changwan: "You were so brave before, that was my idol. Now that you have returned from defeat, you have a place in my heart." But it has plummeted, and I will not respect you in the future." The author believes that Song Mingong may not have any malicious intentions when he said such words, but the actual effect is far from being a joke, and it seems to be laughing at Nangong Changwan's uselessness.Also, as the saying goes, if you curse at someone, you don't expose your shortcomings, and when you hit someone, you don't slap them in the face.It's not very kind of Song Mingong to expose Nangong Changwan's shortcomings.At that time, people were more bloody. Would Nangong Zhang Wanneng be willing to suffer such an insult? Sima Qian also didn't think it was a joke, so in "Historical Records" it was written that Song Mingong and Nangong Changwan had a quarrel, and in a fit of anger, he revealed this bad thing about Nangong Changwan. Anyway, no matter what the actual situation is, there is no dispute that Song Mingong's words brought him a fatal disaster.In the autumn of 682 BC, Nangong Changwan killed Song Mingong because of such a sentence.When Song Mingong was killed, he also killed Dazai Hua Fudu.We talked about Hua Fudu's killing of Confucius' ancestor Kong Fujia and the killing of Song Shanggong.That happened in 710 BC. Counting it, Father Hua had been in power in the Song Dynasty for 29 years, and now he was killed by Nangong Changwan. After Song Mingong was killed, Nangong Chang Wan made his son Ziyou the king, and Ziyou was Song Mingong's cousin. In order to preserve the fruits of his coup, Nangong Changwan eradicated dissidents everywhere.Gongzi Yushuo, the younger brother of Song Mingong, fled to Bo (now north of Shangqiu City, Henan Province), and the other princes fled to Xiaodi (now Xiaoxian County, Anhui Province).Xiao Di's doctor is called Xiao Shu Da Xin, and he is a loyal minister.In order to quell the civil strife, he contacted the descendants of several generations of monarchs of the Song Dynasty, and borrowed an army from the Cao State to attack Nangong Changwan. Nangong Chang Wankong has brute strength, but he is brave and foolhardy.It is very difficult to win a war by relying on the courage of the flesh alone.Under Uncle Xiao Daxin's onslaught, the Nangong family's army quickly retreated.Nangong Niu, the younger brother of Nangong Changwan, was killed, as was Ziyou, the son who had just become the king.Uncle Xiao Daxin and others made the son Yu said that he was the king of the country, which was Duke Huan of Song Dynasty.Nangong Changwan fled to Chen State. To say that this Nangong Zhangwan is really a warrior, when he fled, he found a car and pulled his mother to run with him, but he couldn't find the horse driving the cart.So Nangong Changwan pulled the car and ran by himself, and arrived in Chen State in just one day.Some people calculated that it was more than 200 miles from Song State to Chen State.It seems that the ancestors of modern rickshaws can be counted from here. After Song Huangong came to the throne, he asked Chen Guo to extradite Nangong Changwan back to his country.This kind of regicide villain is basically unpopular in any country, and Song State also bribed Chen State's ruling doctor, so the only thing waiting for Nangong Changwan is the fate of death. However, Chief Nangong is extremely powerful and brave, so he is not easy to catch.Chen Guoren invited him to drink, and at the banquet, a group of beautiful women toasted him frequently.Nangong Changwan really deserved to be the representative of well-developed limbs and simple mind, and soon got drunk.Chen Guoren wrapped him in rhinoceros hide and sent him back to Song State.We have said that rhinoceros leather is the strongest and toughest leather. Nangong Changwan was wrapped in rhinoceros leather to prevent him from breaking free and escaping. When Nangong Changwan was sent to Song State, his hands and feet had already been freed from the rhinoceros hide that wrapped him, which shows its great strength. The Song people imprisoned him.醢 refers to chopping people into meat sauce and then marinating them.Legend has it that Boyi Kao, the eldest son of King Wen of Zhou, was imprisoned by King Zhou of Shang.It is also a barbaric custom. Gongzi Yu said that although he ascended the throne of the monarch, he was not recognized by other princes, especially without the recognition of Zhou Tianzi, it was still an illegal regime. In recent years, Qi State and Song State have caused great disturbances in which the monarch was killed one after another. Why didn't the emperor of Zhou pay attention to what he was doing? The answer is simple, busy handover.In the year of civil turmoil in the Song Dynasty, the nominal co-lord of the world, King Zhouzhuang (King Zhouzhuang was the son of King Zhouhuan) collapsed.The death of the emperor is called "Beng", the death of the princes is called "Xu", and the death of scholar-bureaucrats is called "Bulu".Later emperors died, and they were all called "Jiabeng", which came from here. The Son of Heaven was collapsed back to the sky, so another Son of Heaven had to be established.The son of King Zhouzhuang succeeded to the throne as King Xi of Zhou (in "Historical Records" and other historical books, it is called "King Li of Zhou", and the words "Li" and "Xi" seem to be used interchangeably). When the new emperor ascends the throne, the princes of the world will act as if nothing happened, so what should they do and what should they do? They don't care what you say.How many days have passed since King Zhou Xi came to the throne, and no princes have come to mourn the late king, and no one has come to congratulate him. King Zhou Xi was so depressed, he thought to himself, has our Zhou family really reached the point where grandma doesn't love me and uncle doesn't love me?The civil strife in the Song Dynasty and the new emperor's ascension to the throne, these two seemingly unrelated events, became related when they reached Guan Zhong's ears.Guan Zhong happily entered the palace, found Duke Huan of Qi, and said to him: "My lord, it is a great joy, your chance to dominate the Central Plains has finally come!" Four words, immediately jumped up for joy, and said: "Father Zhong, tell me quickly, what is the opportunity." Guan Zhong pointed his fingers and said: "This one is the death of King Zhouzhuang, and the new emperor has just ascended the throne; two However, the civil strife in the Song Dynasty has just subsided, and the status of the new emperor has not been recognized!" As soon as he said this, Duke Huan of Qi couldn't wait to interrupt Guan Zhong: "What kind of opportunity is this? These two things What does it have to do with me?" Guan Zhong said: "This is a good time for you to gain prestige and establish hegemony. To be the overlord, we don't just have to have a large army and fight whoever we want. Now the world is chaotic, the emperor has no prestige, and the princes are not united. Barbarians come to invade the Central Plains from time to time. So we use the slogan of "respect the king and fight the barbarians" to unite the princes of the Central Plains and jointly deal with the barbarians outside. This will easily be recognized by the princes of the world. And the new emperor ascends the throne, it is our dedication Good time. We can ask the emperor to grant us full power to deal with the status of the monarch of the Song Dynasty. In this way, we will have the capital to command the world." Duke Huan of Qi thought about it, so it was reasonable.Then hurry up and send someone to Luoyi to have an audience with the emperor.It is estimated that when the co-lord of the world ascended the throne, few princes answered him, and he is lonely now.If we send someone over there, we must not make him happy! Duke Huan of Qi's road to hegemony began here.