Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Wu Qi, the Most Tragic Reformer

Speaking of the various reformers who instigated the process of feudalization in the early Warring States period, it is a list of heroes.These warriors who dared to attack the old slavery system grasped the pulse of Chinese social development with their fearless spirit and precise thinking, and contributed to the overall transformation of Chinese society at that time. On the road to feudal society in China, they In fact, it is the role of the engine. But the fate of these engines is tragic, and most of them end in tragedy. Even a country like Qin, which initiated top-down reforms, tasted huge sweetness from the reforms, and Shang Yang, who directed the reforms, eventually failed Can't escape the fate of death.They used their own deaths to become a supporter of the new era and a martyr of the old era, and if we say that the most generous and tragic figure among them may be the one who participated in the Wei State Reform, and later directed the Chu State Wu Qi who reformed.

If we talk about Wu Qi, maybe we can add another name: the first strange person of the Warring States Reformers. Compared with many reformers, Wu Qi is a very strange person. His strangeness lies in that he can do anything, whether it is literature or martial arts, he is the leader among the heroes at that time. But this leader had a bad reputation at first.Wu Qi is a native of Dingtao, Shandong Province. He was born in 440 BC. Dingtao belonged to the Wei state in the Warring States period at that time, and it was a small country the size of sesame seeds and mung beans.Wu Qi, who was born here, had good luck when he was a child. His family was a wealthy local family. According to historical records, "the family has a lot of money", he was also a new rich class at that time.It should be good to live a peaceful and stable life behind closed doors, but Wu Qi just made a strange choice. He doesn't like an ordinary life, and he wants to make contributions. If he wants to make achievements, he has to spend money everywhere.Wu Qi started to smash, first he went to Qufu, the capital of Lu State, and devoted himself to the Confucian school. He worshiped Zeng Shen, a famous Confucian scholar at that time, as his teacher, and later studied under Zixia, another famous scholar at that time.Most of the content of Confucianism is to advocate peace and oppose war, but Wu Qi is a very strange student. He never likes to stop, but he likes to fight. Moreover, he reads Confucianism, but he reads a new consciousness. Theories, I try to apply them to warfare, and I often like to discuss them with others.At this time, Wu Qi was not a popular person. He had a "criminal record" before joining Confucianism. In order to gain fame, Wu Qi spent money and gifts everywhere, which was not only useless, but also ruined all the family property left by his ancestors. Well, such a person, in the eyes of the people at the time, was naturally a well-known prodigal son, and rumors immediately arose.If it was someone else, just listen to it and forget it, but Wu Qi is not a person who forgets it. He immediately killed more than 30 neighbors who spoke ill of him. A life lawsuit was committed, and the hometown could not stay. Wu Qi said goodbye to his mother. He swore that he would never come back unless he turned out to be a human being, and that's how he came to the country of Lu.

At that time, Wu Qi's reputation was very bad, and he was always vindictive, and he liked to be serious with others. For example, when discussing problems in school, others would use their mouths, but he could beat people when he was anxious.This person who was not liked by most people was still appreciated by some people at that time.At this time, Tian Ju, a doctor in Qi State, was one. The officials of a big country have discernment after all. They saw that Wu Qi was not an ordinary person on the spot.Then he married his own daughter to him.Facts have proved that the first half of what Dr. Tian said is outrageously accurate, but the second half is outrageously wrong.

At this time, Wu Qi's life finally got better. Tian Ju was a person who did good deeds to the end, not only gave him his daughter, but also gave him a large dowry, enough for him to settle down in the State of Lu.However, the good times didn't last long, and Wu Qi soon offended his teacher Zeng Shen who taught him Confucianism.At that time, Wu Qi's mother died. According to the Confucian rules, when the mother passed away, the children should go home to attend the funeral and observe filial piety. At this time, Wu Qi was preoccupied with his future, so he just stomped his feet—don't go!This is a hornet's nest. Confucian filial piety is the basic rule of life for Confucian disciples. Anyone who dares to violate it will be treasonous. As a result, Zeng Shen was furious and immediately expelled Wu Qi from the school.Wu Qi didn't care, anyway, he wasn't interested in Confucianism, so he didn't have to stay here, so he simply studied military tactics.As it turns out, he is indeed a smart character.He has never been on a battlefield except that he likes to be brave and fierce. He is a layman to war, but with a few military books and his own understanding of Confucianism, he mixed these thoughts and created his own. own military theory.At this time, Wu Qi often participated in various debates in the local academy of the State of Lu, and his reputation was getting bigger and bigger. At that time, Qi State, which worshiped and believed in Confucianism, was very despised by others. If he was despised by others, he would have no chance to stand out. At that time, Wu Qi mainly relied on his father-in-law's family for his daily life, otherwise he would have been drinking the northwest wind. .

Wu Qi's first opportunity in life appeared in 410 BC.That year, Qi State aggressively attacked Lu State. At this time, the gap in military strength between Qi and Lu was unprecedentedly large. Generally, as long as Qi State attacked, Lu State would only be beaten.But the state of Lu didn't want to be beaten, and if it wanted not to be beaten, it had to resist, and if it wanted to resist, it needed generals, and there were no one. At this time, Lu Mugong, the king of the state of Lu, thought of Wu Qi.Although he has never fought in a war, he is well-known after all. People on Earth know that he studies the art of war, and he speaks clearly and logically. Besides, there is really no other suitable candidate in the country.But the problem is, his wife is from Qi State, and she is also a girl from the Tian family who is in power in Qi State. This relationship is too delicate. What if he sells my army...

When the news reached Wu Qi's ears, Wu Qi's reaction was simple.What's the matter, isn't it because you are afraid of my betrayal, don't you believe me? I killed my wife, so you should believe me.On the one hand, he had waited for many years for the opportunity to make contributions, and on the other was his hard-working, beautiful and gentle wife. Without batting an eyelid, Wu Qi made a choice: kill!The bloody head told Lu Mugong that I even killed my wife, so you should believe me. What else is there to say, although Lu Mugong, who advocates Confucianism, is trembling with fright, but he is the one who can do it, let's fight! At the age of 30, Wu Qi got the power to lead the army to fight for the first time.At this time, Wu Qi and the Lu army who took over were in a mess.At that time, the army of Lu State was defeated by Qi State several times, and they were almost frightened by the people of Qi State.Wu Qi had a solution. He first made a big rectification in the army, strictly enforced discipline, and stayed with the soldiers on the march, eating and lodging, and won their support.And he also has the ability to speak. After studying Confucianism for so many years, he has developed a good eloquence, and he can speak eloquently. A few words can make the troops scream, and the Lu army screamed for the first time.Wu Qi can not only talk, but also cheat.He deliberately pretended to negotiate with Qi.Then he worked with the Qi army, and he repeatedly showed weakness in front of the Qi army. The Qi people were fooled. At that time, the Qi army really thought that Wu Qi was here to negotiate.This is what Wu Qi wanted. Seeing the chance of the people of Qi being undefended, Wu Qi launched a counterattack. The whole army made a surprise attack, and he rushed to the front. The ground was red-eyed, and defeated the Qi people for the first time. After studying the art of war for many years, Wu Chuchu fought beautifully in the first battle when he was a fledgling.

The battle was fought beautifully, but Wu Qi's image became even worse.The State of Lu itself is a country that advocates Confucian morality and etiquette. Wu Qi was originally a murderer, and he was a traitor. official.At this time, the people of Lu State completely ignored Wu Qi's great contribution to defeating Qi State and saving the country. After going down, he was dismissed by Lu Mugong shortly after the war.When God closed the door of Lu State for him, he opened another door for him - Wei State.At this time, Wei Wenhou, who is in power in the Wei State, is determined to reform his laws and seek strength, recruiting talents everywhere, and welcomes all kinds of talents.Wu Qi immediately felt that there was new hope in his life, so he simply left the state of Lu and defected to the state of Wei.

Wei Wenhou had heard about Wu Qi for a long time. At this time, Wu Qi was already a well-known figure on the battlefield of the Warring States Period because of his victory in the Qi State War.However, Wei Wenhou still had deep doubts about Wu Qi's character. He asked Prime Minister Rick what kind of person Wu Qi was. The military strategist Sima Rangju is not his opponent." Just this sentence made Wei Wenhou make up his mind: use people to use their strengths, use them! When Wu Qi was in Wei State, it was the period when Wei State made great fanfare, adopted Li Kui's reform, and started the period of Wei State's feudalization process.In this era of great change, Wei Guoying gathered together, including Li Kui, the most outstanding reformer at that time, and Ximen Bao, the best local official in the Warring States Period at this time. The main reason is that Wu Qi's role at this time is only one - fighting.

At this time, Wei State was in the period of reform and strengthening, but the environment it faced was also very dangerous.Although Qin State in the northwest was economically backward at this time, its army was powerful; Chu State in the south was also a big country that could raise millions of troops; Qi State in the east was the wealthiest country among all the countries at that time.Before the Jin Kingdom was partitioned, with the dominant status of the Jin Kingdom as one country, there were still victories against these three countries. Now the split Wei Kingdom is facing a very difficult situation.The time when Wu arrived in the state of Wei was 409 BC. Just 2 months after he was used by Wei Wenhou, he immediately gave Wei Wenhou a generous gift-Xihe.

The so-called Xihe refers to the area west of the Yellow River today, including a large area of ​​territory such as Chengxian County in Shaanxi. During the Warring States Period, this was the dividing line between the Qin State and the Wei State.If Qin State gets the entire Xihe River, it means that the passage to the east will be opened, and they will be able to enter the Central Plains without hindrance; and if Wei State gets the Xihe River, it will be able to control the initiative in the war against Qin State and kill Qin State. Pressed dead in Hangu Pass.This canine-toothed war happened before the three families divided into Jin Dynasty. During the time of Wei Hengzi, there was a war with Qin State for Xihe. In the time of Wei Wenhou, this place became a battleground for military strategists.For many years, the two sides have been attacking and defending each other, and both wanted to occupy an extra inch of land, but no one could move an inch, forming a temporary balance on the battlefield in the west of Wei State at this time, and at this time, the person who broke the balance came—Wu Qi.

After Wu Qi took office, after a short preparation, he launched the Eastern Expedition against Qin.In 409 BC, Wu Qi first seized Dali, the important town of Xihe in Qin State at that time, and then cast the city to guard it.He continued to work hard and captured five border towns one after another. He was very strategic in his attacks, basically advancing step by step. After conquering a city, he immediately defended it with heavy troops. After he gained a firm foothold, he continued to march into the next city, just like this. , Watertight, and gradually advanced to the entire Xihe area.During this process, Qin State organized counterattacks many times, but they were all repulsed by Wu Qi. By 408 BC, Wu Qi had already occupied Heyang, Huaxian and other areas of Qin State, and the entire Xihe River was included in Wu Qi's pocket.It is worth mentioning that in the battle to regain Xihe, Wei Wenhou gave Wu Qi a maximum of 80,000 soldiers and horses, while the number of soldiers and horses from the Qin State on the opposite side reached 200,000 at one time. Winning streak is indeed not easy. The acquisition of the Xihe area was of great significance in the wars between the princes in the early Warring States period. The Qin Empire's road to the east was completely blocked. For many years after that, they had to adopt a passive defensive policy against the Wei State, and at the same time began to learn from the Wei State. , actively seeking reform.For Wei Wenhou at this time, when the Wei State obtained Xihe, it also obtained the local thousands of miles of fertile fields, a large population, and precious strategic locations. Of course, such an important site must be guarded by reliable people, except for Wu Qi. , there is no one else. In 408 BC, Wei Wenhou established Xihe County, and Wu Qi was appointed as the governor of Xihe County. This was a very important event in his military career.From then on, Wu Qi began to use Xihe as his base, and began his performances on the battlefield.The biggest difference between Wu Qi's military thinking and other military thinking is that Wu Qi put forward the idea of ​​military construction. In his military philosophy, command in battle is important, but the key to victory or defeat is preparation and economic situation.Therefore, in terms of army building, Wu Qi took measures to develop water conservancy and store military rations, and at the same time streamline the army under his command.He compiled the "Warriots" composed of elite soldiers. In the early Warring States period, the soldiers were an infantry regiment with super terrifying combat effectiveness. All Wei soldiers who were selected into the soldiers could pull a 20-stone crossbow, and Elite soldiers with high endurance running ability, all Wei soldiers who can be selected as soldiers will not only be exempted from taxes for the whole family, but will also be given generous state compensation.Therefore, in the Wei army at that time, being selected as a soldier as a soldier not only means that the living conditions of this family can be greatly changed from then on, but also means a kind of supreme honor.From then on, the soldiers of the Wei State Army began to practice hard to kill the enemy, staged inspirational stories of soldiers assaulting, and everyone worked hard to become a soldier.At the same time, Wu Qi attached great importance to production on the border. For many years, he adopted a reclamation policy, ordering soldiers to fight as soldiers and return as farmers, and actively develop production locally.So within a few years after he took office, the local area of ​​Xihe had abundant storage and a prosperous economy. Such a situation naturally made the Qin State envious, and the loss of Xihe was not reconciled to the Qin people, so after Wu Qi took office as the governor of Xihe, the Qin Empire frequently mobilized heavy troops, intending to seize Xihe in one fell swoop.At this time, the State of Wei seldom adopted an active attack strategy in the Xihe area. At that time, most of the heavy troops of the State of Wei were concentrated on the eastern front and were used to fight against the State of Qi and the State of Chu. Therefore, Wu Qi basically received no support from the central government.Xihe faced enormous war pressure, but Wu Qi was not afraid. He guarded Xihe for 27 years. During these 27 years, he and the Qin Empire in the northwest experienced a total of 96 battles, 76 of which were victorious. , the remaining 20 games were tied, which can be said to be the real "undefeated general".Among them, the Qin Empire spared no expense on several occasions and mobilized the whole country to conquer the Xihe area. Especially in 389 BC, the famous Yin-Jin battle took place in history.This year, the Qin State mobilized 500,000 troops across the country to station troops in Yinjin, Shanxi, and planned to advance eastward in one fell swoop and take the entire Hexi area. .Over the years, he has already taken various measures in the local area, such as setting up a military merit reward system to encourage soldiers to kill the enemy, and after each war, a large-scale celebration will be held to honor the victims of the war, so every time there is When the war broke out, most of the local Wei army in Xihe regarded fighting as a kind of honor. Many people even didn't even have time to wear armor, so they hurriedly asked to join the battlefield.Therefore, although there are many people in the state of Qin, in the eyes of the people in the state of Wei, who are eager to fight, they are nothing more than a plate of fat. Wu Qi knew that it was not easy to eat this piece of fat. In order to ensure victory in the first battle, Wu Qi did a lot of work. First of all, he grasped the weakness of the Qin army, which was large in number, but the deployment of the army was scattered, and it was easy to defeat them individually. He decided to concentrate The superior force fights the war of annihilation.Secondly, the soldiers who participated in the battle this time, except for a few veterans, most of them are recruits who have never made military achievements. Although these people have little combat experience, they are eager to make contributions and have an extremely strong desire to fight. Wu Qi himself set an example and led the army himself Rush to the front line.He even issued an order that cavalrymen must take good care of their horses, and chariot soldiers must take good care of their chariots. If after the battle it is found that the cavalry has lost its horses and the chariot soldiers have lost their chariots, it will be regarded as an establishment. Military exploits are also not commended.It makes sense to do so. Qin has many soldiers, while Wei soldiers have limited combat experience. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the soldiers are restricted from meaningless combat by military orders and concentrate their forces to destroy the enemy.After the battle started, each of the Wei army fought bravely with one against a hundred. As a result, the Qin army's 500,000 army collapsed across the board, and the 50,000 Wei army covered up and killed all the way, killing the Qin army's corpses all over the field.In the history of the Warring States Period, this was one of the worst defeats suffered by the Qin army. The reason why Wu Qi was able to win every battle is fundamentally due to his unique military thinking.Wu Qi’s military thinking, or can be paraphrased in a sentence "we will not do business that loses money", in his military thinking, what he cares most about is the meaning of war. He believes that if a country superstitiously believes in force and relies on war for a long time to expand its power, Then the final result is playing with fire and self-immolation.In Wu Qi's eyes, if a country wants to launch a war, it must ensure that it maximizes the country's benefits while reducing national losses. Therefore, before each war starts, the country must figure out how important the war will be. What good is the country.Moreover, Wu Qi also believes that the key to a country's military success or failure lies in the support of its national power, and in the support of national power, the reserve of the border areas is the most important. If a country wants to become a military power, it must develop the border economy , Reserve a large amount of supplies.These ideas of Wu Qi are of great significance even for modern warfare.Wu Qi is not only good at summarizing, but also good at practice. He takes the initiative to rush to the forefront of every military operation. He is very concerned about the diet and daily life of the soldiers under his command. prestige.What's more worth mentioning is that Wu Qi bought people's hearts among the local soldiers. Wu Qi caressed the soldiers very much, and it even happened that he sucked the sores for the sick soldiers.At that time, the soldier's mother cried bitterly when she learned about this, because she knew that her son, who was grateful for Wu Qi's great kindness, would probably fight bravely in the next war, and the possibility of sacrifice would be very high. The 27 years when Wu Qi guarded Xihe was the golden 27 years of Wei State after Wei Wenhou's reform. In these 27 years, Wei State held Qin State firmly in the west, beat Chu State in the south, and swept the Seven Kingdoms in the east. They also belonged to the three Jin countries. Zhao Guo and South Korea also worshiped at the feet of Wei Guo.And Wu Qi, who guarded Xihe, also became the northwest barrier of this mighty state of Wu, but Wu Qi was not satisfied with being a barrier. has passed away, and Wu Qi himself is also very hard-working. In addition to defeating Qin State many times, he has also boldly advanced many times.As a famous general, he does not advocate launching wars rashly. Even when Wei Wuhou inspected Xihe and praised the great rivers and mountains of Wei State, he not only refused to make peace, but said a very classic sentence: "The safety of the country is not in danger if it is in virtue." That is to say, when launching a war, the country must be cautious. The strength of the country depends on "virtue" rather than danger. From these thoughts, it can be found that although he is already the most outstanding military general in the Warring States period at this time, he has made countless achievements. Wu Qi is fundamentally a Confucian scholar. In the politics of Wei State, there has always been a tradition of "becoming a general and becoming a minister". In addition, Wu Qi's "former father-in-law" Tian Ju also predicted that Wu Qi would be a general and become a minister. Now that the general has come true, Wu Qi began to look forward to "being a minister". up.At this time, the opportunity also came. The prime minister Xike who had recommended Wu Qi to Wei Wenhou passed away, and there was a vacuum in the position of Wei Guo's prime minister. According to Wu Qi's idea, he guarded Xihe for 27 years, and he had a lot of hard work. Even if he should be ranked, he should be ranked, but Wei Wuhou didn't think so. In the end, it was Shang Wen who was far inferior to him in Wu Qi's eyes.This Shang Wen was an aristocrat of the Wei State at that time. In Wu Qi's view, he only became the prime minister through nepotism, until the two had a conversation.When Wu Qi returned to Beijing, he asked Shang Wen aggressively, first asking if you are better than me in leading troops to fight?Asked again, are you better than me in governing the place?Let the soldiers support and swear to serve, are you better than me?Asked three times, Shang Wen was very good-tempered, and kept saying "I'm not as good as you", Wu Qi understood, and immediately yelled, then why do you want to be a prime minister?Shang Wen only answered one sentence: Now that the king is young and the common people are panic-stricken, you said whether you are suitable to be the Prime Minister or me. Just this sentence made the murderous Wu Qi dumb immediately. After thinking for a long time, he said that you are more suitable.This made it impossible for Wu Qi to be prime minister in Wei, not because he didn't have the ability, but because he was too good. As a king, he didn't dare to control such a good person.Therefore, the mature and honest Shangwen became Wei Wuhou's first choice. The prime minister couldn't do it, so Wu Qi worked hard and prepared to continue guarding the frontier for Wei, but at this time he couldn't keep the frontier either.A few years later, Shang Wen passed away. At this time, the successor of the prime minister was the male uncle seat. This person was suspicious and narrow-minded, and he was very afraid of Wu Qi's military exploits.This person's background is not simple, he is the son-in-law of Wei State, and his wife is Princess Shang of Wei State.After becoming the prime minister, he racked his brains to get rid of Wu Qi, who was a threat to his position as prime minister. A retainer gave him an idea to engage in a very troublesome serial scheme.Pretend to tell Wei Wuhou that Wu Qi may be rebellious, and suggest that Wei Wuhou test him out by pretending to betroth the princess to him. If Wu Qi is not rebellious, then he may happily accept the marriage. If he is rebellious, He would definitely refuse the marriage.At the same time, the male uncle pulled his wife to play a double reed in front of Wu Qi, and let his wife beat him desperately. Wu Qi, who has a stubborn personality, would definitely not accept such a shrew. The crime is crushed.Wu Qi never imagined that he, who had spent his whole life playing tricks in military strategists, would be tricked like this. The whole process of the matter was in the plan of the male uncle, and Wu Qi was really "cooperative". After seeing the "tragic" scene after marrying the princess, he was determined not to marry the princess.This hurt Wei Wuhou's self-esteem, he was so angry that he walked away on the spot, and Wu Qi, who had a fairly keen sense of politics, ran away without saying a word. In this way, Wu Qi, who had made great military exploits in the state of Wei, just quit. Of course, with Wu Qi's personality, if he quit the arena like this, it would not be Wu Qi.In 383 BC, he found a new job - the state of Chu. When Wu arrived in the state of Chu, it happened to be the time when King Mourning of Chu was in power, and the state of Chu at this time happened to be in a very delicate period. Although the state of Chu has always been a big country, the state of Chu in the early Warring States period was once weak. Especially when the countries in the Central Plains were carrying out feudal reforms, the progress of the state of Chu was very slow. The main reason was the overall economy of the state of Chu. The level is far from the Central Plains.In the state of Chu, the landlord faction and the new aristocratic forces are also rare, and they have no ability to fight against the slave-owner aristocratic class of officials.After the establishment of the Three Kingdoms of Han, Zhao and Wei, they became the great enemy of Chu State, especially the powerful Wei State, launched wars against Chu State many times, and defeated Chu State many times in a row.Under such a situation, King Mourning of Chu, who wanted to make a difference, had to follow the example of the Central Plains Dynasty and strive to become stronger.Therefore, Wu Qi, who arrived at this time, can be said to be the most in-demand talent in Chu State at that time. After Wu Qi came up, King Chu Mourning first asked him to serve as the guard of the northern garden of Chu State, and he was still doing war in his old profession.After Wu Qi took office, as always, he continued to implement An Bian's prudent strategic policy. At this time, his main opponent became the "old boss" Wei Guo.Under Wu Qi's command, the Chu army, which had been defeated by Wei many times before, was proud this time. They defeated Wei, South Korea, and Zhao's coalition forces many times, temporarily curbing Wei's southward momentum.But Chu Mourning King knew that doing so would only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. The stronger Wei State would regard Chu State as an important target for annexation. Here I want to talk about Wu Qi's boss, King Chu Mourning. At that time, he was also a well-known British lord.He was originally propelled to power in a coup d'état, and then worked hard to reverse the situation of the weakening power of the monarchs of the Chu Kingdom since the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the national power of the Chu Kingdom was booming.However, during the development to the north, the state of Chu encountered obstacles from the state of Wei. The state of Chu launched wars against the state of Wei many times, but was defeated by the state of Wei. , and Wu Qi, who had participated in Li Kui's reform and had outstanding military exploits, became his first choice for carrying out the reform. Like other countries, Chu State also has conservative forces that resist the reform. The difference is that the Chu State Reform was the most difficult of all reforms during the Warring States Period.For example, during the reform period of Shang Yang, although the old nobles of Qin State were equally powerful, the organization of Qin State itself was very simple, and the authority from top to bottom could be easily promoted. The situation of Chu State at this time was that of the old nobles The forces are intertwined and the ground is firmly established. The king of Chu often said nothing.When the "wind" of the reform was released, it immediately aroused opposition from the old nobles, especially the powerful Qu and Huang clans among the old nobles of Chu. They thought that if King Chu Mourning easily reformed, he would be sorry for his ancestors and be rebellious. , and Wu Qi was called a "disaster" by them.After the national reform in the Central Plains, the tragic fate of the traditional aristocratic class has never been seen by the nobles of Chu State, and they have heard enough. How can this scene be allowed to repeat itself in Chu State. But Wu Qi was a person who didn't know how to be afraid since he was a child. When he was fighting in Wei State, he was not afraid of 50,000 against 500,000, let alone dealing with a few small obstacles now.Just like using soldiers, Wu Qi is a person who has never fought unprepared wars. He knows that every country has its own characteristics when carrying out reforms, and it is impossible to copy them mechanically. After some planning, Wu Qi came up with his reforms The bill, a plan that is very different from the reform of the Central Plains countries. Wu Qi's reform plan mainly includes the following provisions: First, the hereditary aristocratic system will be abolished. All nobles who have been passed down for more than three generations will be abolished. From then on, descendants can no longer inherit titles; For those of the older generation, all privileges and salaries will be cancelled, and they will be relocated to remote counties and counties, and given land to support themselves, all their original land will be confiscated by the state.The second is to rectify the political organization, that is, to streamline the organization. The entire organization must abolish redundant officials, select cadres, and improve administrative efficiency.The third is to unify the speech. The whole country cannot have any speech against the reform, otherwise it will be punished with a felony.The fourth article has the most far-reaching influence on the state of Chu. Drawing on his own experience in founding military soldiers in the state of Wei, Wu Qi also established a unique military force in the state of Chu—Li Jiabing. The policy is the same as that in Wei State. It is also an elite national army that is selected and directly controlled by the state. With such a tiger division, the strength of Chu State will be greatly enhanced. The content of Wu Qi's reform indeed touched the vital points of Chu at this time.The main problem that Chu State faced during this period was that the slavery system was too powerful, especially the Battle of Baiyue that lasted throughout Chu State.As a result of these wars, the Chu State harvested a large number of slaves every time, which became the private property of the slave owners and nobles. Under such circumstances, the feudalization of land was far inferior to that in the Central Plains.Judging from Wu Qi's specific reform measures, Wu Qi's measures at this time were mainly to deprive the old aristocrats of their power, and the methods were extremely cruel. You guys, now you have to send them to remote places to work.As a result of this, not only a large amount of land was recovered, a large number of slaves were released, the labor force of the society was increased, and the strength of the nobles was hit hard. To rectify political institutions is to improve the efficiency of governance in name, but in fact, it is to strengthen the authority of the monarch and unify the country's speech in order to clear the obstacles of public opinion for the reform.The implementation of these few articles not only showed Wu Qi's deep scheming, but also exposed the loopholes in his reform. The implementation of Wu Qi's reform achieved immediate results at that time.In 381 B.C., Chu State, which had experienced the Reform Movement, once again sent troops to the north, and fought again with Wei State, the most powerful country in the north at that time.This time, the Chu army took out their new weapon - Li Jiabing. As a result, the newly formed Chu ace army defeated Wei with a devastating force.Chu's army pursued and killed them so hard that they went straight to the edge of the Yellow River. Wei's army repeated the collapse of the whole army during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, and a large number of soldiers drowned in the water.After the war, the people of Chu State drank horses from the Yellow River, and the northern countries were shocked. The Chu people who had turned the south of the Yangtze River upside down during the Spring and Autumn Period——returned! While waging war against the State of Wei, Wu Qi also presided over the most powerful Southern Expedition in the history of the State of Chu. This time, the State of Chu not only annexed the land of Baiyue in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but also went all the way south. It went deep into the Cangwu area of ​​Guangxi, and the territory of Chu State was able to continue to expand.This also made a good start for the unified Qin and Han empires to successively implement the ruling policy in the south. Wu Qi's reform at this time can be said to be very successful, but the problems of Wu Qi's reform have also expanded during this period. Speaking of Wu Qi's reform, it is not difficult to see that in this reform, Wu Qi not only had his own inventions and creations, but also learned from others.But the most terrible thing is that most of Wu Qi's reform measures focus on the central authority and the prosperity of the country and the army, but they do not touch the slavery economic system in which the old slave-owner nobles of Chu State lived.Therefore, it is doomed that the reform will not get the support of ordinary people.Even the landlord class, which is weak but has risen, has received very limited benefits.Compared with the more successful Shang Yang Reform, it is not difficult to see that most of the content Wu Qi adopted to block the way of speech and abolish redundant personnel was used in Shang Yang's Reform, but when Shang Yang promulgated it later, it was in the middle of the reform. The second stage is when the reform has won unprecedented support from the people of the whole country, but Wu Qi has already acted too hastily in doing so at this time.And the more important point is that the focus of Wu Qi's reform is still on "enriching the country and strengthening the army", and there are too few benefits for ordinary people in Chu State. This point determines Wu Qi's reform, and it has become a tragedy. In 381 BC, King Mourning of Chu, who had always supported Wu Qi, passed away. His death meant that Wu Qi's fate was inevitably coming to an end.On the day when Chu State held a memorial service, the old aristocrats who opposed the reform rebelled. This was another failure of Wu Qi’s reform. Although he established an army directly controlled by the central government, he did not take back the control of the old aristocracy over private armed forces. Rights, once changed, there will be serious consequences.The serious consequences this time were borne by Wu Qi himself. The soldiers of the opposition frantically chased and killed Wu Qi. Wu Qi hid in Tibet, and finally hid in the mourning hall of the King of Chu. broke in.Wu Qi saw the rebels bowing their bows and setting up arrows, and the densely packed crossbows shot at him. He simply threw himself on the dead King Chu Mourning. After killing the hedgehog, everyone shot vigorously, but the consequences were very serious.Because according to the laws of the state of Chu, whoever shoots the king is a rebellion, and shooting the body of the king is not acceptable. In this way, more than 70 slave owners and nobles were all punished by King Chu Su.At the price of his own life, Wu Qi dealt a heavy blow to Chu's conservative forces.The rise of the Chu State in the Warring States Period began from then on. After that, the Chu State passed through King Chu Su and King Chu Xuan, and the national power began to reinvigorate. Later, when the Wei State weakened and the Qin Dynasty was strengthened, the Chu State was at one time at Hangu Pass. Like Qi State, it became the only force among the princes of the Kanto that could resist Qin State.The foundation of all this was bought by Wu Qi at the price of his life.