Chapter 64 Chapter Thirteen

King Zhao Wuling succeeded to the throne in 326 BC, which was the year when Qin State held the La Festival in Longmen.He was less than twenty years old at the time, and he did two things first after taking the stage. The first thing is to humbly ask Fei Yi, an important official left behind by his father Zhao Suhou, and increase Fei Yi's salary. The second thing is that the elderly over 80 years old in China are paid monthly pensions. When King Zhao Wuling came to the throne, Qin State was already strong. King Qin Hui appointed Zhang Yi as his prime minister and used continuous tactics to continuously erode the land of the countries in the Central Plains. The Three Jins were the first to bear the brunt.

King Wuling of Zhao knew that relying solely on the strength of the State of Zhao would not be able to compete with the State of Qin.In order to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the three Jins must unite to resist Qin's invasion. For this purpose, he joined the Prime Minister of the Five Kingdoms organized by Gongsun Yan in 323 BC, and Zhao Guo became the last country to be crowned king in the Three Jin Dynasties. In 318 BC, Gongsun Yan organized the Five Kingdoms to attack Qin, and King Wuling of Zhao actively participated.However, due to the fact that the various countries have their own ideas, only the troops of the three Jins actually attacked the Qin State in the end.The state of Qin sent Chili out of the pass to meet them, defeating the allied forces of the Three Jin Dynasties, and the state of Qi took advantage of the fire to loot, causing the state of Zhao to suffer huge losses.In a rage, King Wuling of Zhao declared: "I am not a king in name only!" So he removed the title of king and made his subjects call himself king.

This move has the meaning of drawing a clear line with the Hezong movement. Indeed, Zhao Guo basically did not participate in the several confrontations between Hezong and Lianheng since then.Even so, Qin State still did not let Zhao State go.In 313 BC, the Qin army attacked Zhao, captured Lincheng, and captured Zhao Zhuang, the general of Zhao.This battle was known as the "Battle of Zhaozhuang" in history. The Qin army beheaded many people. Millions of the people of the Three Jin Dynasties were killed..." It shows that Zhao Guo suffered heavy losses. Zhao's threat does not only come from Qin and Qi.

Zhao State is adjacent to Donghu in the northeast, Xiongnu in the north, and Linhu and Loufan in the northwest. These are nomadic ethnic minorities. They are brave and good at fighting, and they come and go like the wind. They often attack the border areas of Zhao State and burn down their houses. , Looting the people, causing great troubles to Zhao Guo.There is also a Zhongshan, whether it is big or small, it is almost "embedded" in the hinterland of Zhao State, becoming a state within a state of Zhao State, which makes Zhao Wuling King eat well and sleep well. How can Zhao Guo become stronger?

In the first month of 307 BC, King Wuling of Zhao summoned Fei Yi to discuss major affairs in the world, and they talked for five days and nights.Then King Wuling of Zhao personally led his troops to attack Zhongshan, all the way to the house (place name).Then he inspected Daidi again, from the infinite (place name) in the north to the Yellow River in the west, and returned to Handan after a tour. He called all the ministers together for a retreat, the theme of the meeting was: how to build Zhao into a military power? He said at the meeting: "In the past, our ancestors followed the trend and expanded their power to the south. They also built the Great Wall along the Zhang River and the Fu River, captured Guo Lang and Lin Yi, and defeated Lin Hu in Riandi, but they did not succeed. Now We have Yan in the north, Qi in the east, Linhu, Loufan, and Qin in the west, Wei and Han in the south, and Zhongshan in the middle. If there is no strong army, we may perish at any time. What do you think? In my opinion, only One way is to learn the art of horseback riding and archery from the Hu people. However, the toga and large sleeves we wear in the Central Plains are very cumbersome, I want to start with the clothes first, so that the Zhao people will change to the short Hu clothes from now on.”

As soon as this remark came out, the officials were in an uproar. Since ancient times, the people of the Central Plains have had a kind of pride, that is, they think that they are one level higher than the surrounding ethnic minorities.This high level is not only reflected in politics, economy and technology, but also in culture.Simply put, the Central Plains people consider themselves educated, while the so-called "Siyi" are uneducated.Confucius once said, "It is not as good as having a monarch in Yidi is not as good as having no monarch in China", which means that even if there are people in Yidi, it is not as good as no one in China. This is because the quality of people is too far apart.

The reason why people in the Central Plains are well-educated is that they were educated by the rites and music of the ancient kings and sages, and they know the etiquette, righteousness, honesty and shame.The Siyi did not enjoy this kind of education, so they were also called the outsiders.When it comes to learning, Siyi has always learned from the Central Plains, and I have never heard of the Central Plains learning from the Siyi.Asking the Central Plains people to wear Hu people's clothes is like asking the Qing Dynasty people to cut their braids and wear foreign clothes, which is completely unreasonable.

At that time, someone muttered in the hall: "We don't learn from the barbarians! It's too embarrassing, what will the princes of the world think of us? What will the ancestors and ancestors think of us?" "That's all for riding and archery, but you also need to wear a Hu suit. Isn't that a complete Hufu? Does that conform to the national conditions of our Zhao country?" "We will never take the evil path of riding and shooting in Hu suits!" It was as if a pot had exploded in the hall.Fei Yi stood next to King Zhao Wuling and said loudly: "Please be quiet and listen to the Lord's instructions." It was hard for the officials to calm down.

This is also what King Zhao Wuling expected.He said to the ministers: "I know it is difficult for you to accept, but I want to tell you that as a minister of the country, you must show good morals when you are frustrated, and when you are in power, you must do things that are beneficial to the monarch and the people." , This is the duty of a courtier! Now Zhao Guo is surrounded by strong enemies and dangers are everywhere. If you want to break through the encirclement, you must take extraordinary actions. People will also be ridiculed by foolish people. Now I want to train the people of the whole country with Hufu cavalry and archery, cultivate their martial spirit, and build an invincible cavalry, which will definitely be opposed by the people of the country. In this way, I will not change my mind, because only in this way can Zhao Guo have a way out, and can gain a foothold and survive in this world where the weak prey on the strong."

After the meeting was over, King Zhao Wuling left Fei Yi behind and said, "What do you think about this matter? The ministers can't make sense, so how can it be implemented throughout the country?" Fei Yi said: "Since you have made up your mind, you don't need to worry about what others say. But if you can convince your uncle and son to succeed first, things will be much easier." Prince Cheng is the younger brother of Zhao Suhou and enjoys high prestige in the Zhao royal family.If you can do the work of Tongzicheng, you can basically eliminate the voices of opposition in the royal family.King Zhao Wuling first sent the doctor Wang Yu (xie) to the son Cheng's mansion to convey his meaning——

"I'm going to court in a Hu suit tomorrow, and I want to see you wearing a Hu suit, Uncle. You should obey the suzerain's orders at home, and listen to the monarch's orders in court. This is the rule set by the previous king. If uncle doesn't wear it, I am afraid that there will be a lot of discussion among the people of the world, see our Zhao country's jokes. Changing to wear Hufu is not for the comfort and pampering of life, but for cultivating the martial spirit of the people in the country and enhancing the military strength of the Zhao country. Uncle, please support me." Young Master Cheng said frightenedly: "I have been ill for a long time, and I have not been able to come in to greet the king. I am very rude. I have heard about the fact that the king wants to wear Hu clothes. Now that the king has sent you to tell me, I will Boldly say a word—the Central Plains is a place that the Westerners regard as a model, but you want to deviate from the customs of the Central Plains and wear the exotic clothes of the Westerners, isn’t that the reverse?” Seeing that Wang Fu was not speculative, he didn't dare to say more, so he went back and reported to King Wuling of Zhao.King Zhao Wuling said: "Uncle is sick, I should go see him." King Zhao Wuling personally came to the son Cheng's mansion, it was already late at night.After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the uncle and nephew retreated from the crowd and had a long talk. King Zhao Wuling said: "The so-called clothes and etiquette are all designed to make people more convenient. It is the habit of the people in Wuyue area to cut off hair tattoos and bare arms. The main reason is that the local climate is humid and there are many lakes, so it is easy to work in this way. If the people there were to wear loose robes like us, not only would it be inconvenient to move, but they would also feel awkward.” Young Master Cheng said: "You are right, the country of Zhao cannot be like Wuyue, so our ancestors designed clothes according to local characteristics, why do you want to change now?" King Zhao Wuling said: "When people's thinking changes, the country's policies must be adjusted; when the objective situation changes, etiquette should also change accordingly. All countries in the Central Plains pay attention to etiquette and righteousness, but there are still great differences in customs and education in various places, and there are still great differences between them. It is not completely set according to the principles originally established by the former kings. The same is true of etiquette. Qin State is different from San Jin, and Zhao State is different from Wei State. Therefore, the sages believe that as long as it is beneficial to the country, they can boldly change and adopt new methods. You don't have to stick to the ways of the previous kings." The meaning of Zhao Lingwang is very simple. There are never any unchanging rules. Don’t think that insisting on wearing traditional clothes means that you have not betrayed your ancestors. In fact, you have betrayed your ancestors long ago!After hearing this, Young Master Cheng was dumbfounded, not knowing how to refute. King Zhao Wuling said again: "The more closed-minded, the more weird rules; the more crooked people are, the more they like to make excuses and boast. Don't deny things that you don't understand. This is a fair and tolerant attitude. I know , What my uncle talked about was sticking to the customs, but I was talking about controlling the customs. The state of Zhao is sandwiched between the states of Qin and Qi, and its strategic position is very unfavorable. There are Donghu, Linhu and Lou Fan who are constantly invading. It is necessary to carry out drastic military reforms. Only by building a strong cavalry can we deal with increasingly complicated situations." Young Master Cheng has obviously been persuaded, but he still insisted: "I'm afraid that if you do this, it will attract discussions from all over the world and discredit Master Jian and Master Xiang!" Master Jian is Zhao Jianzi, also known as Zhao Yang; Master Xiang is Zhao Xiangzi, also known as Zhao Wuxie.Since the three families were divided into Jin Dynasty, Zhao Guo has always respected Zhao Yang, Zhao Wuxie and his son as the founders of the country.King Zhao Wuling saw that Young Master Cheng moved out Master Jian and Lord Xiang to suppress him, he smiled slightly, and said: "In those days, Lord Jian chose Master Xiang as his successor because Lord Xiang had a long-term vision and was able to annex the land of Rong, destroy the country of Dai, and drive away the country. Run to Donghu, open up territory for the Zhao family. What I have to do now is to inherit the will of the Lord Xiang, drive out the Hulu for the Zhao country, and consolidate the border defense. How can I discredit the ancestors? Even if my uncle doesn’t remember so far Let’s remember the disastrous defeat we suffered in the Battle of Zhaozhuang!” Hearing the battle of Zhaozhuang, Young Master Cheng trembled all over, unable to calm down.He did not refute King Zhao Wuling any more, but prostrated himself on the ground, and said in a convincing manner: "The old minister is stupid, and he doesn't understand your lofty aspirations, so it's really a crime to make irresponsible remarks." Early the next morning, both Young Master Cheng and Fei Yi went to the court in Hu suits. The civil and military officers of the Manchu court saw it and knew that this matter was imperative, and no one dared to raise any objections.King Zhao Wuling then ordered the whole country to change to wear Hu clothes, and recruited horsemen and archers to expand the cavalry. This year, Gan Mao of the Qin State had just captured Yiyang.