Of course, this is true to a certain extent.
Two countries with the same or similar national strength, one country can only exert 50% to 60%, and at most 780% of its combat power, while the other country can maintain 50% for a long time. With a combat power output of over ninety, the results are naturally self-evident.
But the question is, what if one of the countries is twice as powerful as the other country? Obviously, under such circumstances, even if this country can only sustain 50% of its combat power, it is still better than another country's 90% output.
And once this country breaks out a little bit, it will reach a height that is difficult for another country to reach.
Obviously, this is what Zhao Kuo is doing.
Although the system described by Zhao Kuo and the rules implemented by Zhao Guo today are far from capitalism, they are still systems that have experienced the baptism of the feudal dynasty for thousands of years. It can be said to be a peak of feudalism (of course, compared to The extreme of feudalism in the Qing Dynasty is still a bit far away).
Such a system is undoubtedly more advanced in today's society and can better promote the development of productivity.
Undoubtedly, the Qin State's farming and warfare system was indeed able to tie all the Qin people into the chariot of conquest, but similarly, such a system also greatly restricted the development of productivity.
Productivity is often a concrete manifestation of a country's national strength.
However, the promotion of productivity often requires unconscious or even counter-conscious inventions.
Just like the invention of the electric light, candles were obviously bright enough, but the exploration of tungsten filaments required thousands of trials and errors. Therefore, such inventions and discoveries were almost impossible to achieve in the Qin State, which was famous for its efficiency.
From bronze to iron, this is the limit of Qin's system.
Further development will require a more advanced system, such as the system currently implemented in Zhao State.
It can be said that Zhao Kuo and his current Zhao State are on a completely different and higher dimension than Qin State.
As the saying goes, "summer insects cannot speak of ice."
Similarly, even if Zhao Kuo told Qin that his Zhao State was now implementing a more advanced national policy, the ruling class of Qin, including the King of Qin and Prime Minister Fan Sui, were destined not to believe it.
In fact, even the people of Qin State would not believe that the people of Zhao State would live better than them.
Perhaps, only when Qin's territory is completely incorporated into Zhao, will the people of Qin know how miserable their lives were.
Perhaps only when Zhao's army entered the capital of Xianyang, King Qin would know that there is no perfect system in the world, only a system that is constantly updated and developed in line with the continuous progress of productivity.
This is true for the tribal system born in the Stone Age, the slavery system born in the Bronze Age, and the Qin State's "farming war" system (a semi-slave and semi-feudal system) born in the Iron Age.
Nowadays, with the vigorous development of the iron smelting industry, the national power of various countries has also increased significantly. Qin's farming and war system may still have certain advantages over other small countries, but Zhao has already moved ahead of Qin.
Having said so much, in fact, in one sentence, the times have limited the vision of people like King Qin and Fan Sui, and their limited vision ultimately forced them to misjudge the future of Qin and Zhao.
And such misjudgment eventually led to the deviation of Qin's national policy.
Thousands of years of experience have finally given Zhao Kuo an absolute advantage.
Liberal arts are never useless, whether in modern times or in time.
The song "If you don't see me, the army of Han Dynasty will end, and the weak crown will tie the prisoner and ask for a long tassel", which attracted many young talents to "abandon my old pen, and use my war chest";
The "cries" of "cannibalism" have awakened so many "wandering" Chinese men in so many midnights;
If literature is just a cry for social development, then politics, economics and even history, including legalists, Confucians, political strategists, etc. in history, are all looking for ways to save the world.
Not to mention the east wind of Marxism-Leninism...
How did it happen
Is the outstanding knowledge now just a pile of old papers in the corner?
Even if you want to time travel, what you want to bring with you is the knowledge of mathematics, physics and chemistry. Even if you are slightly more liberal arts, it is just the so-called "Three Hundred Tang Poems". Being a "Poetry Immortal" is considered a top liberal arts time travel.
Of course, this is not unrelated to my country’s century-old trauma.
In 1840, the Japanese War, let us remember the strength of the British ships and artillery;
In 1931, the Japanese invasion made all Chinese people remember the lesson of "if you fall behind, you will be beaten";
In 1950, the United States clamored, making Chinese people desire nuclear weapons for the first time;
In 2001, the Wang Hai incident made all Chinese people feel the importance of weapons;
In 2003, Yugoslavia made China understand what "a weak country has no diplomacy" means;
In 2019, the technological blockade has made all Chinese people suffocate.
A century of pain has led the Chinese people to pursue a path of seeking innovation and change through science and technology. The yearning for Neo-Confucianism and the hope for engineering have been deeply rooted in the blood of the Chinese people. "Learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well, and travel around the world." The concept of "no fear in the world" is deeply rooted in everyone's mind.
The best academic talent must be in science, and the strongest genius must be in engineering.
Coupled with the poison of Soviet reportage, articles about "abandoning wives and children" for work are still rampant, and the exaggeration technique of stamping hundreds of millions of chapters a year is still abused.
People seem to have forgotten the ironclad and upright spirit of "articles are written together to suit the occasion, songs and poems are written together to suit the occasion";
People seem to only remember the poison of the "eight-legged essay" in the Ming and Qing dynasties, but have forgotten the "Contact of a Hundred Schools of Thought" in the pre-Qin Dynasty, the splendid poetry of the Tang and Song Dynasties, and the satire of the Yuan and Ming dynasties in criticizing the current ills.
Of course, China can lose a singer "Jiang Ying", but it cannot lose a physicist "Qian Xuesen".
However, China is also indispensable for Marxism-Leninism, Maute, and...
The people of the Song Dynasty valued culture over martial arts. They were invaded by the Jin and Liao Dynasties and destroyed by the Mongols, so they should not be taken away.
However, if Mongolia cultivates martial arts but does not cultivate literature, its ambition is extremely short-lived. What would it be better to do?
As a time traveler, understanding the laws of social operation, being able to use the rules, and then becoming rules and changing the rules is far more important than being able to master the salt-making process or the iron-smelting process.
This group of time-travelers seems to have forgotten that only a more advanced system can breed the liberation of ideas and the development of productivity. And only the emancipation of the mind and the development of productive forces are the best ways to promote national strength.
Of course, making salt can bring huge profits, but in the feudal system where salt and iron were monopolized, making salt was a capital crime!
Even if you finally get a salt guide, do you want to use your own salt-making skills to bring down the price of salt?
That's a fool's dream!
In the face of huge interests, countless sharp claws will reach out to you until you are torn to pieces. Everything will return to its original starting point.
Even if you are the emperor! If you don't have enough political wisdom, just trying to change the world with one or two inventions is just a fool's errand!
Wang Mang is the best case.
From the stars celebrating the moon to the betrayal of relatives and friends, all it takes is an edict.
Fortunately, Zhao Kuo seems to have grasped the pulse of the times.
As Fan Sui finished speaking, King Qin, who was sitting on the main seat, finally nodded silently after thinking deeply.
Although King Qin did not directly agree to Fan Sui's proposal, he was actually persuaded by Fan Sui in his heart.
Of course, the ministers of Qin State present also nodded in agreement with Fan Sui's suggestion, including General Wang Lu.
Yes, from the very beginning, Wang Lu planned to advise the King of Qin to let go of the war with Zhao State and instead go to other countries to expand territory. Comparing the speed of annexing various countries with Zhao State, it was obviously better than the chance of winning directly with Zhao State. much higher.
However, pointing out the problem is already an unusual task for a general like Wang Lu. It would really be too much to suggest a solution to the problem to King Qin.
Not only will he be jealous of the King of Qin, but he will also be resented by the Prime Minister Fan Sui.
In this way, it is obviously the best allocation for Wang Lu, the general on the front line, to discover the problem, and then for the prime minister at the rear to solve the problem.
"How to implement this plan?" King Qin then continued to ask Fan Sui.
"Wei Chen believes that in order to implement this strategy, the most important thing is to let King Zhao understand what we are doing." Fan Sui then continued: "Therefore, Wei Chen suggested that we start with one civil and one military, and tell King Zhao that I, the Qin Dynasty, want to What to do."
"Tell me more about it." King Qin continued to ask impatiently.
"The writer sent envoys to make peace with the State of Zhao. Although they are not in alliance with each other, they do not want to attack." Fan Sui tilted his head slightly, looked at General Wang Lu beside him, and said slowly: "As for the warriors, they have to choose one. We must attack in a direction that does not touch the core interests of Zhao State in order to achieve a tacit understanding with Zhao State. However, the choice of this direction depends on General Lao Wanglu."
Obviously, Fan Sui was reciprocating the favor.
Wang Hao set up such a big stage for Fan Sui, and of course Fan Sui had to play an important role in return for Wang Hao.
When King Qin saw this, he naturally looked at Wang Lu, his eager eyes seemed to say: "Wang Qing, what do you think?"
"Go back to my king, the Prime Minister." Wang Lu thought for a while, and then said after a while: "Judging from the current situation, there are only three ways for Da Qin to expand its territory eastward.
First, attacking Shangdang from Hedong, directly attacking Zhao State, and without the support of Hanoi, the chance of victory is low, so naturally it cannot be done;
Second, leave Yiyang and then attack the Zhou Dynasty. Judging from the battle of Luocheng, Zhao naturally does not want our country to get involved in the Zhou Dynasty;
The third is to leave Yanying and attack Chu State again. Maybe it's the only way.
However, even third place is still difficult. "
"What do you say?" King Qin asked immediately.
"First of all, Chu State has a favorable geographical location. After passing Yanying, there are many ditches and ditches, which makes it difficult for our Qin army to advance. Secondly, now that Zhao and Chu are on good terms, if I send a large army to attack Chu State, Zhao State may not stand aside." Wang Wang He said helplessly.
The King of Qin was speechless when he heard this. After saying this, it seemed that the Qin State could not attack anywhere!
This is how to do?
Involuntarily, King Qin looked at Fan Sui on the side again.
When Fan Sui heard this, he laughed, then slightly bowed his hand to the King of Qin, and then said: "The general is overly concerned. In Wei Chen's view, of the three ways to go east, except that the first one is not advisable to attack Zhao Tu directly, the other two All are possible.”
"Oh?" King Qin was slightly startled. Obviously, what Wang Lu said just now made sense to him, but he didn't know how Fan Sui could solve it.
"Let's talk about the Zhao-Chu alliance first." Fan Sui smiled lightly and said, "May I ask the general, is there an alliance directly under the in-laws of the Zhao-Chu alliance?"
"Not yet." Wang Hao replied simply.
"Is there any huge common interest?" Fan Sui continued.
"Resist Qin?" Wang Lu continued to answer.
"Zhao will not benefit from resisting Qin, so how can we talk about common interests?" Fan Sui then asked.
"That's unknown." Wang Hao shook his head helplessly.
"There is no alliance of in-laws and no common interests, so how can this alliance be unbreakable?" Fan Sui said with a smile, "What's more, how can King Zhao have no hatred for Chu's important territory?"
Hearing this, Wang Hao frowned and nodded.
Seeing that Wang Lu had been convinced, Fan Sui immediately cupped his fists and continued to say to King Qin: "My king..."
