Chapter 599: The so-called meritocracy

Style: Historical Author: Writing online articles is too difficultWords: 2125Update Time: 24/01/18 06:48:33
Although the defenders who lost their general still had the numerical advantage, they were no longer a match for Zhao Jun.

Bao Luan rushed at the front, swinging his sword constantly, like a tiger charging into the flock of sheep, constantly harvesting the lives of the Qin army.

Li Si also joined the battle. Although his strength was not as good as that of Luan Luan, he still had inner energy and was a bit stronger than most soldiers.

Countless torches have been lit in Yique Pass, illuminating the city brighter than daytime, and dense Qin troops are surrounding them from all sides.

"Puff puff!"

Zhao Jun pulled the trigger, and the crossbow arrows flew out one after another. The cold arrows pierced the chest of Qin Jun. Qin Jun fell down row after row like wheat.

The only one who didn't join the battle was Shao Dao. Although he had no relationship with these Qin soldiers and didn't even know them personally, they were all Qin people after all, so he still felt a little reluctant to take action.

Bao Luan and Li Si did not force him. They were in a good mood. Yique had already been taken down, and the rest were trivial matters.

Seeing that the enemy was invincible, the remaining Qin troops abandoned Yique and fled south, but were quickly chased and killed by Bao Luan and Li Si.

"General Baoluan, please go south to Yichuan immediately to check whether Yichuan has been occupied by the Qin army. If Yichuan has been occupied by the Qin army, come back and tell me immediately. If Yichuan is still in Korean hands, ask the Yichuan County magistrate to summon civilians and transport some grain and grass Arrive at Yique and send someone to inform the King of Han and the Prime Minister. Although it is already dark and it is raining heavily, we really don’t have time. Please do your best, General." Li Si said quickly.

Yichuan is also located downstream of Yishui, but to the south of Yique, it is the largest city in the Yishui basin, and even Yique cannot compare with it.

Yique is just a pass, while Yichuan City is the real city.

If Yichuan is still in the hands of South Korea, the Three Jins who captured Yique can almost be said to be safe. As long as South Korea delivers grain and grass, the three Jins' 20,000-strong army can retreat from Yique until Qin.

If Yichuan has been captured by the Qin army, the three Jin Dynasties will have no choice but to find a way to capture Yichuan or bypass it.

But this time must be fast, because Sanjin does not have much food and grass, and every day is used less.

"It's already come to this point, so why not work hard?" Bao Luan said with a smile.

Li Si was not doing it for himself, but for everyone. If it weren't for Li Si, the Three Jin Dynasties would not be where they are today, and they would have been trapped in the royal city by the Qin army.

"Remaining brothers, clean the battlefield, pile up the corpses and burn them. Leave two hundred people to defend the city with me, and the remaining three hundred people will boil some ginger water and food, and rest immediately after eating." Li Si ordered road.

When he was in the royal city, Zhao Jun could often eat meat, especially the dried salted fish delivered directly from the port through the river. He couldn't finish it, and even the Western Zhou defenders were able to mix it with fish meat.

Since leaving the royal city, Zhao Jun's food has plummeted. Not to mention meat, there is not even anything hot to eat.

Only when I capture Yique can I dare to light a fire.

"Join the army, you have been fighting for a day, you should go and rest." Li Hao, a centurion of the Zhao army, came over, sat next to Li Si, and said with a smile.

"Didn't you also fight for a day?" Li Si asked back.

"We are all rough people, which is different from joining the army. Although joining the army is with us now, we brothers all believe that after joining the army, we will become high-ranking officials. The most we can do in our lives will be captains of thousands." Li Hao said .

"What's the difference? They were both born to parents. I have one nose and two eyes. Do I, Li Si, have an extra mouth than you? Do you think I'm from a noble family?" Li Si looked at this man from five hundred years ago. of a family.

"Isn't it?" Li Hao said. He always thought that Li Si was from a noble family.

Although from the late Spring and Autumn Period until the Warring States Period, a large number of nobles were knocked off their altars, causing the knowledge and culture that had previously been monopolized by the upper class to move downwards, which in turn triggered the rise of the scholar-bureaucrat class.

Countries have gradually become meritocratic from the world of nobles and nobles.

But in the final analysis, those so-called poor families are still from noble families, several generations up, and many of them are

Not inferior to the Zhao family, Han family, and Wei family.

After all, if there was no extremely brilliant peak era, how could it possibly leave a brilliant mark in the history of China?

Moreover, these so-called poor families who were selected by meritocracy are only a handful.

The majority in each country is still the nobility.

The Qin State told the world that regardless of their origins, they were only qualified for their talents. Shang Yang, Zhang Yi, Fan Ju and others were all from poor families, but they all ascended to the position of prime minister and took charge of the power of the Qin State.

But what they won't say is that these are the only people from poor families.

The vast majority of the remaining people are nobles.

The poor family has no roots and foundation, and it is impossible for people without amazing talents to break through the shackles of the nobility. And how many talented and beautiful people can there be in one era?

As for the common people from poor families, let alone them.

The State of Zhao also claims to be a meritocracy, but in the entire court, among all the ministers, only Cai Ze and Mo Feng came from poor families, and Ben was from a commoner.

And is it because of ability that Ben reaches his current position? There are some reasons, but the main reason is because of Zhao Kuo's trust in him.

To put it bluntly, for a monarch, the loyalty of his subordinates is far more important than their ability.

Otherwise, there would be no such saying as "When the birds are gone, the good bow is hidden; when the cunning rabbit dies, the lackeys are cooked."

Under the military merit system, Zhao State has opened up a visible road to promotion for the people of the country, but for most people, the end of this road can be seen, and the end is not far away.

Of course, everyone is already very satisfied. Although they cannot become nobles through the efforts of one generation, if every generation can work hard like this and climb a few steps up, then one day they will also become nobles.

But under the military merit system, there is always a group of people who are special. Just like the four nobles of Qin, they were still crowned kings without military merit.

The State of Zhao is not exempt from vulgarity.

When ordinary people were still risking their lives to kill the enemy and fight for the ownership of a head, Zhao Sheng's son, Wei Wuji's son, and Lin Xiangru's grandson were already in power, displaying their ambitions, or joining the army to realize their goals. own ideals.

Maybe they didn't have the relationship through their father or grandfather, but just relied on their own abilities to get to this point.

But as long as their father and grandfather are still high officials and important ministers of Zhao State, someone will open the door to them.

Officialdom is never about fighting and killing, but about human relations.

Li Si's age is destined to make it impossible for him to climb to this position through military merit. Otherwise, his name would have resounded throughout the Zhao army like Li Mu and Meng Wu.

Therefore, Li Hao naturally believed that Li Si was born into a noble family and came to the army to gain experience.