After the Battle of Qianshi, the victorious Qi army, led by Bao Shuya, entered the State of Lu and approached Qufu. This made Duke Zhuang of Lu panic. However, to his surprise, the Qi army came not to attack Lu but to take hostages. Bao Shuya wrote a letter to Duke Zhuang of Lu, in which he hoped that the Duke of Lu would execute Prince Jiu and send Zhaohu and Guan Zhong back to Qi. Duke Zhuang of Lu had a false alarm and killed the young master Jiu without thinking much when faced with the Qi army approaching. Zhao suddenly heard about this and committed suicide. Guan Zhong was captured by Lu Zhuanggong and sent to Qi State.
In fact, Duke Zhuang of Lu was once again fooled by Qi. Bao Shuya and Guan Zhong had a close friendship, so how could they harm him? This idea was actually Bao Shuya's suggestion. When Duke Huan of Qi wanted to appoint him as prime minister, Bao Shuya resolutely refused on the grounds of lack of ability. He understood that only Guan Zhong, a man of great talent and strategizing, could assist Qi's talented man. Duke Huan achieved great success. So he suggested that Duke Huan of Qi worship Guan Zhong as his prime minister.
Originally, Duke Huan of Qi was still bitter about Guan Zhong's revenge, but after Bao Shuya's repeated recommendations, he also became interested in Guan Zhong's talents. He wanted to take revenge on Guan Zhong and took him back from the state of Lu. Guan Zhong was a very smart man, and he naturally understood Bao Shuya's painstaking efforts. After three days of fasting, bathing, and changing clothes, Duke Huan of Qi came to the post house and respectfully invited Guan Zhong to the palace to inquire about politics. Guan Zhong naturally followed the trend and decided to serve Duke Huan of Qi.
However, the young and energetic Duke Huan of Qi did not fully follow Guan Zhong's advice at first. Because the State of Lu had always been at odds with the State of Qi, and later supported Prince Jiu to succeed to the throne, Duke Huan of Qi hated the State of Lu deeply. Although he won the battle of Qianshi, Duke Huan of Qi was not satisfied with the results of his self-defense counterattack. So, despite Guan Zhong's repeated dissuasion, he launched a war against Lu the next year.
It should be said that the Lu State, which had just recovered from the Battle of Qianshi, was indeed no match for Qi State at this time. If it fails again, it is very likely that it will never recover and become a vassal of Qi. However, Cao GUI, a lower-level nobleman of the Lu State, changed all this. He knew that Duke Zhuang of Lu's military ability was not enough to lead the Lu State to victory, so he volunteered to join the war.
Cao GUI once had a very famous dialogue with Duke Zhuang of Lu, which was recorded in "Zuo Zhuan". The original text is as follows:
Asked: "Why fight?" The Duke said: "If you have enough food and clothing, you don't have to focus on it. You must divide people." He said to him: "The small benefits are not everywhere, and the people won't follow." The Duke said: "I don't dare to sacrifice jade and silk. Yes, it must be based on faith." He said to him, "If your faith is not perfect, you will be blessed by gods." The Duke said, "Even if you can't detect the prison of a small or big one, it must be based on love." He said to him, "Loyalty can be attributed to it. Fight. If you fight, please obey."
Cao GUI denied that Duke Zhuang of Lu relied on small favors to win people's hearts and prayed to gods and Buddhas for protection. Instead, he suggested that Duke Zhuang of Lu treat his subordinates fairly, fairly and openly. Only in this way can the morale of the whole army be boosted.
The Qi and Lu armies set up a battlefield in Changshao (now northeast of Qufu, Shandong). According to the fighting methods of the Spring and Autumn Period, both sides first beat drums to stimulate morale, and then sent out troops to fight. Qi State took the lead in beating drums and launched an attack, relying on its large numbers of people. Lu Zhuangzheng planned to beat the drum to fight, but Cao GUI stopped him. Seeing that the Lu army refused to fight, the Qi army had to beat the drum again, but Cao GUI still ignored him. Just when the Qi army was beating the third drum, the Lu army suddenly heard the drum sound. The two armies fought, and the Qi army was killed and defeated. In this war, Cao Guo attacked later and defeated the Qi army that was stronger than himself by using the principle of "one big move, then another, and then three times, all will be exhausted". Later generations called it the "Battle of the Long Spoon". This was also a famous example in Chinese military history of the weak defeating the strong.
The Lu State was originally declining under the suppression of Qi State, but the Battle of Changshao revived the Lu State's power. Stimulated by this battle, the State of Lu took advantage of the situation to attack the State of Song in an attempt to once again improve the status and reputation of the State of Lu. This gave Duke Huan of Qi another opportunity to attack Lu. Originally, the failure of the Battle of Changshao did not make Duke Huan of Qi give up, so he once again united with the Song State, which was at odds with the Lu State, to jointly attack the Qi State.
Duke Zhuang of Lu originally planned to hold on, but Prince Yan thought he could divide and conquer and defeat them one by one. Compared with the state of Qi, which had a well-organized military and stronger combat power, the Song army was full of flaws. You can defeat the Song army first, and the Qi army will naturally retreat. Duke Zhuang of Lu did not follow Gongzi Yan's suggestion, but the latter did not intend to follow the order. In order to increase his momentum, Prince Yan covered his horses with tiger skins and secretly led his army out of the south gate to attack the Song army. After learning about it, Duke Zhuang of Lu also led the main force to respond. As expected, the Song army was no match for the Lu army that had built up morale, and was severely defeated by the Lu army in Chengqiu. Seeing this situation, Qi had no choice but to retreat. The next year, in order to take revenge, the Song State once again raised troops to attack Lu. Unfortunately, with the help of Qi State, the Song State could not defeat the Lu State. Now that it sent troops alone, it was naturally no match for it. The two armies fought in Fengdi. The Lu state formed a formation first and launched an attack before the Song army had completed its formation, defeating the Song army again.
The Song State was involved in the dispute between Qi and Lu for no reason, and lost consecutive battles, which also triggered another civil strife in the Song State. It turned out that during the Battle of Chengqiu, the fierce general Nangong Changwan of the Song State was shot by Lu Zhuanggong with a golden servant girl's arrow and captured alive. He was later released and returned to the country after repeated requests from the Song State. When welcoming Nangong Changwan, Song Mingong said casually: Because Nangong became a prisoner of the Lu State, he would no longer respect Nangong in the future. This was originally an unintentional joke, but unexpectedly it cost Song Mingong his life.
Nangong Changwan was humiliated by the Lu State, and he was already resentful. Being ridiculed by the king, he naturally held a grudge and decided to rebel. In the first year of King Xi of Zhou Dynasty (682 BC), Chang Wan of Nangong launched a rebellion. He first killed Duke Ming of Song Dynasty in Mengze, and then killed Dazai Hua Du near the East Palace, and established Gongzi You as the king. The princes of Song State fled to Cao State one after another, and quickly organized an army to try to repel Nangong Changwan. Uncle Xiao Daxin and other members of the clan borrowed troops from Cao and returned to the Song Dynasty. They first killed Nangong Niu, a member of Nangong Changwan's clan, and then entered the capital and killed Gongzi You, and appointed Gongzi Yu as his successor, who had fled to Bo. The king is Duke Huan of Song Dynasty. Nangong Changwan and another of his men fled in panic to Chen and Wei. The State of Song immediately negotiated with Chen and Wei, hoping to send these two people back. Weiguo wanted to protect Menghuo at first, but after the persuasion of doctor Shi Qizi, he still handed over Menghuo. Seduced by the financial gifts promised by the Song Dynasty, Chen Guo was happy to be a favor, so he got Nangong Changwan drunk, wrapped him in cowhide and sent him back to the Song Dynasty. Eventually both men were executed.
After this civil strife, the Song Dynasty weakened again and was unable to compete with surrounding countries. At the same time, Duke Huan of Qi also realized that Qi's current national strength was still unable to dominate the princes, so he turned his attention to the country and began the reform of the political and economic system under the auspices of Guan Zhong.
The battle with Lu State did not gain any advantage, which was undoubtedly a blow to Duke Huan of Qi at the beginning of his reign. But Duke Huan of Qi was worthy of being a wise king. He did not shrink from the temporary setbacks. Instead, he wisely realized that if Qi State, which had just recovered from civil strife, wanted to strive for hegemony, it still had to start with internal affairs. So he appointed Guan Zhong as his minister and launched a comprehensive reform in Qi.
With the eastward migration of King Ping and the decline in the status of the Zhou royal family, the patriarchal system has in fact collapsed, so the household registration management system with the patriarchal system as the core also needs corresponding reforms. During the Spring and Autumn Period, each vassal state was divided into guo (within the capital) and ye (outside the capital). Guan Zhong divided the area within the capital into 21 townships, respectively for workers, merchants and scholars. Among them, there were 3 Gong Township, 3 Shang Township, and 15 Scholar Townships. The Scholar Townships were managed by Duke Huan of Qi and two nobles, Gaozi and Guozi, who were responsible for the five townships. . There are Lian (200 homes), Li (50 homes), and Rail (5 homes) in the countryside (2,000 homes).
The subordinate relationships are as follows: five families are rails, ten rails are li, four li are companies, and ten companies are townships, which are managed by the rail chief, li division chief, company commander, and township goodman (or township doctor) respectively. The areas outside the capital are divided into 5 genuses (districts), which are the residences of farmers. There are counties (9,000 families), townships (3,000 families), villages (300 families), and towns (30 families) under the genus (9,000 families). The subordination relationship is: 30 families are called towns, and the chief is called Yi Yousi; 10 towns are pawns, and the chief is called pawn commander; 10 pawns are townships, and the chief is called township commander, 3 townships are counties, and the chief is called county commander, and 10 counties are subordinates. The chief officers are called Dafu and Zhengchang, and are directly managed by the five officials of the imperial court.
The system implemented by Guan Zhong was called the "Shen Guo Wu Bi" system. It abolished the aristocratic fiefdoms under the feudal system and replaced it with a system similar to the county and county systems of later generations. Not only is it a basic structure for daily administrative management, which is conducive to personnel management and tax collection, it is also directly integrated with the military service system and plays an important role in Qi's war for hegemony. Since the "Shen Guo Wu Bi" system uses a hierarchical management system of track, li, company, and township, it can easily be transformed into a military establishment in wartime.
According to Guan Zhong's design, among the twenty-one townships under the capital, in addition to the six industrial and commercial townships, there were fifteen scholar townships. Each family has a strong man to join the army, so five families in a line will have five soldiers; and so on, fifty families in a li will have fifty soldiers; two hundred families in a company will have two hundred soldiers; and two families in a township will have 200 soldiers. One thousand households can produce 2,000 soldiers. Ten thousand households in the Five Townships can produce 10,000 soldiers. The 10,000 soldiers can be organized into one army. There are 30,000 households in the Fifteen Soldiers Township, so there are 30,000 soldiers in total. They can be organized into three In the Gejun, the track commanders, lisi, company commanders, and villagers who serve as chief administrators in peacetime become military commanders in wartime, responsible for commanding the soldiers summoned in the region. Duke Huan, Guozi, and Gaozi of Qi command an army respectively. .
In addition, Guan Zhong also improved the source of soldiers. During the Spring and Autumn Period, mercenaries who were engaged in war as a profession had not yet appeared in later generations. Compulsory military service was generally implemented in various countries. In other words, ordinary people who lived and worked in peace and contentment on weekdays suddenly transformed into soldiers who charged into battle during war. This is what is called When you enter, you become a people, when you leave, you become a soldier, and Qi is no exception. Based on this situation, Guan Zhong decided to make the "shi" class the main source of Qi's army.
When people think of "scholars", they often think of Confucian scholars and scholars who are powerless and can only write and write. In fact, that happened a long time ago. The "scholars" of the Spring and Autumn Period are far from this image. If you must look for As a reference, they are closer to the "knights" of the Middle Ages in Western Europe. Scholars in the Spring and Autumn Period needed to master six arts, namely etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and numeracy. In other words, a standard "scholar" should be able to bring peace to the world with his pen and to be able to mount a horse to determine the world in martial arts. Therefore, compared with the agricultural, industrial, business and other classes, their quality is relatively higher.
As a result, the personal quality of the Qi army has been greatly improved, and its combat effectiveness has skyrocketed; not only that, the military system is closely connected with the daily administrative structure and can be seamlessly switched at any time, which makes the army's organization more standardized and greatly improved. The military's combat efficiency also reduces the burden on the people.
In addition, in order to improve the actual combat capabilities of the army, Guan Zhong also designed an effective training method: stipulating that the army should go out hunting every season. On the one hand, the soldiers were familiar with combat skills, and on the other hand, they also eliminated harmful animals and maintained The role of policing. In addition, Guan Zhong also required that people in the scholar's hometown should not move around at will, and that "the same blessings should be shared in sacrifices, and the same sympathy in death and mourning", and love each other from generation to generation. In this way, soldiers can "live together happily and die together" out of personal friendship. "We share the same sorrow, the same code of conduct, and the same strength in battle." Even if we fight at night, we can distinguish ourselves from the enemy by their voices, and if we fight in the day, we can identify them by just seeing their appearance.
Of course, in addition to improving the combat effectiveness of the army, a strong army also requires advanced weapons. The iron smelting technology that emerged during the Spring and Autumn Period was of great significance to agricultural tools and weapons. However, how can we quickly concentrate iron raw materials? Guan Zhong came up with a way to "lenient punishment and atonement": he announced that Qi's criminals could offset their punishment by paying weapons, armor and even ores. If you commit a serious crime, you can atone with money and items of the same value as a chariot and halberd; if you commit a misdemeanor, you can use money and items of the same value as the chariot and halberd as atonement; and if you commit a minor crime, you can use copper and iron as atonement. This system not only solved the source of armaments, but also expanded national fiscal revenue, eased domestic conflicts, and achieved twice the result with half the effort.
In addition to these reforms, Guan Zhong also made some modifications to the old talent selection system that determined official positions based on blood. As a child of a declining aristocratic family, Guan Zhong naturally knew that the long-standing selection system of heroes based on family status had long been out of step with the times. The change.
First of all, he selflessly recommended the "Five Heroes" to Duke Huan of Qi: Xi Peng, who was polite and eloquent, Ning Yue, who was familiar with farming, Wang Yucheng's father, who was brave and good at fighting, Bin Xuwu, who was honest and upright, and Dongguo Ya, who was outspoken. He held important positions in Qi State. Later, a brand-new election system was formulated, which stipulated that all talents would be recommended by the township chiefs and subordinate officials, evaluated by important officials of the imperial court, and examined by Duke Huan himself, which was called the "three selections." If local officials conceal and suppress talents, they will be punished with "shielding talents" and "shielding talents."
Not only that, Guan Zhong also suggested that Duke Huan of Qi vigorously recruit talents from other countries and send eighty "tourists", carrying a lot of gold and silver property, wearing silks and satins, driving BMWs and fragrant cars, touring around the world, and immediately inviting them to the hermits when they saw them. Return to Qi. For a time, Qi State was full of talents and guests.
Through political and military reforms, Qi State already has a relatively advanced political system and a highly effective army. However, to maintain the operation of the state machinery, it also needs to rely on strong economic strength. Therefore, Guan Zhong also carried out economic reforms. carried out a series of reforms.
