Wang Pu was very happy about Wu Qi's arrival, and immediately rewarded him with a house near the Huaiguo Palace, and asked Wu Qi how to govern the country.
Wu Qi asked, "May I ask what your Majesty's ambitions are?"
Wang Pu asked: "The world is full of strife, the Zhou Dynasty is weak, the princes are fighting against each other, and the people are displaced. I do not measure my virtue and strength. I want to calm the chaos in the world, but I am short-sighted. I only have peace for the Huai Kingdom, but my ambition has not given up. Do you think the plan will work out?"
Wu Qi paused slightly, then bowed to him: "Your Majesty has the ambition to take over the whole world, and he has the opportunity to control the heaven and the earth. I admire you and am willing to serve you as a dog and horse."
"Sir, please get up quickly!" Wang Pu quickly helped Wu Qi up, and then asked: "If we want to achieve this, sir, do you have any good ideas?"
Wu Qi replied: "Since the Zhou Dynasty moved eastward and the princes merged, the world has been in conflict for nearly three hundred years. The three families have been divided into Jin, and the Qi family has destroyed their fields, and the chaos has become more and more chaotic. Since the king has the ambition to conquer the world, he should be responsible for the heroes and the virtuous. If you are thirsty, if you can cross the Jinghuai River, make peace with Qin and Rong in the west, pacify Yiyue in the south, and tie up Yanzhao in the north, and cultivate political principles at home, and if there is a change in the world, then send out the army in the north of Huaihe to attack Qi."
"If Qi falls, the army from Jingzhou can go north to Wei and Han, and the other route can go from Qi to respond."
"If Han and Wei are defeated, they should occupy all the land in the Central Plains. If so, Yan, Zhao, and Qin can easily capture it. In this way, the world can be at peace."
Wang Pudao: "Good! Sir, your strategy won my heart!"
Wang Pu then worshiped Wu Qi as Shang Qing and became the Prime Minister of Huai State.
After Wu Qi became an official, he became familiar with the government affairs and systems of the Huai Kingdom. After half a month of reading a lot of Huai Kingdom's government orders, Wu Qi had a clearer understanding of the Huai Kingdom.
In the past, the Central Plains countries' impressions of the Huai Kingdom were that they were the remnants of the Yin Shang, barbarians, with sharp military armor, Legalist innovation, a smoky land, etc.
But after getting to know the Huai Kingdom, I realized that those impressions were too one-sided. The Huai Kingdom has a land of thousands of miles, a population of more than 7 million, fertile fields for thousands of miles, and 300,000 armored men. Its national power is so great that only the three Jins combined can rival it.
Moreover, although the reform implemented by the Huai State and the reform of the Wei State came from the same source, they were completely different. The Wei State's reforms advocated using the people's power to establish laws, abolishing the privileges of the nobility, selecting talents and promoting talents, and clarifying rewards and punishments.
The Huai Kingdom's reform rules are to live with the small people, and do not exhaust the people's strength in anything. They also strictly restrict the nobility, abolish their privileges, select talents, and clearly reward and punish them.
The Huaiguo government did not forcibly abolish the nobility's rights to fiefdoms and official positions, but it imposed strict restrictions. At the same time, the inspection censor system ensured that the Huaiguo officials were governed cleanly. More importantly, the Huaiguo system was constantly improving. This Wu Qi was amazed.
There have been wise kings in all dynasties, and the Huai Kingdom should be so prosperous.
Wei's reform cannot be said to be wrong. In fact, Wu Qi was very aware of the shortcomings of Wei's reform, but Wei's reform was inevitable. Wei is located in a land of four wars, with a small territory and enclaves. The surrounding countries are eyeing it. If this reform is not implemented, Wei will soon be annexed.
Li Kui's reform was to unleash 200% of Wei's potential, and then use this exploded potential to seize the land of Xihe. Immediately afterwards, Wu Qi used the land of Xihe to train Wei soldiers.
Then he conquered the east and west to open up the situation for Wei. If the Marquis of Wei was not suspicious of Wu Qi, he would continue to appoint him as a general. When the time comes to destroy Qin in the west, Wei will have room for strategic maneuver. The land of Western Qin can be the foundation of Wei's hegemony. By then, whether it is annexing Han and Zhao, attacking Chu in the south, or attacking Qi in the east, Wei will have the ability to unify the world. Jiye.
According to the reform ideas of Li Kui, Wei Wenhou and Wu Qi, they should first unite the three Jins to block Qi and Chu, and then annex the land west of Hexi and attack Qin.
Only by annexing Qin would the Wei State have room for strategic maneuvering, and at the same time, Li Kui's reforms could continue to be implemented. Otherwise, the original land of Wei alone would not be able to support the continuous expansion of Wei soldiers.
Wei's reforms are extremely aggressive and aggressive, and the newly emerging interest classes will continue to push Wei forward, launch wars, and obtain land wealth.
After acquiring the land, develop Wei soldiers again, and then continue the campaign to acquire the land. This forms a cycle. If this cycle can remain stable, Wei's strength will be like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger.
Originally, this plan had been implemented very well during the period of Wei Wenhou. If Wei Wenhou had lived another ten years, after the Wei State annexed the Qin State, the Wei State would really soar into the sky.
It is a pity that Wei Wenhou died, and his son Wei Ji did not seriously implement Wei's line, and drove away Wu Qi, the most critical person in the Wei system.
Without Wu Qi, Wei's attempt to annex Qin would be basically a dream.
Next, the State of Wei will fall into conflict with the State of Qin, and the two sides will compete for the land west of Hexi in the next few decades.
Wei is in the midst of four wars. If Wei is smart, he can continue to unite the three Jins while now, instead of competing with Qi, Chuhuai and other countries in the Central Plains. He may even give up some benefits to Zhao and then destroy them while the country is at its peak. When the Qin Kingdom was lost, just looking at the Marquis of Wei, he seemed to be the kind of master who was very happy with his achievements and would never suffer any losses if he could take advantage. How could he give up his benefits to the Zhao Kingdom?
This Marquis of Wei inherited the military talent of Marquis Wen, but he only passed the test in politics.
Wei's reforms are very strong. As long as it annexes Qin, Wei will have a future. But if it fails, it will be a complete failure, and there will be no possibility of turning around.
The reason for the reform and restructuring of the Wei State was because the Wei State had congenital flaws. As long as it failed several times in a row, it would basically collapse.
In contrast, the reforms of the Huai Kingdom were more moderate. The reforms of the Huai Kingdom were mainly to suppress the growth of the nobles and powerful men. The growth of nobles, officials, and powerful men will squeeze the living space of ordinary people. The rulers of the Huai Kingdom in all dynasties knew very well that the common people were the cornerstone of the country.
The common people pay taxes, perform corvee service, recruit soldiers, and contribute to the country. It is precisely because of these thousands of common people that the Huai State has such a strong national power.
If those nobles were allowed to become powerful, they would hide their population, hide their fields, and turn the common people into their tenants, servants, etc. These people do not have to perform corvee service, pay taxes, or perform military service. This is equivalent to poaching the country's corners to strengthen themselves.
But you said that by killing all these nobles and powerful men, wouldn't this ensure that the interests of the common people are not infringed?
Such an approach will only cause chaos in the country. These people are needed for the governance of the country. Wang Pu cannot directly manage tens of millions of people by himself. He can only promote talented people to manage on his behalf.
What's more, if all these nobles and powerful people are eliminated, it will block the upward path of the people at the bottom, which will only cause greater chaos.
He has to use these people.
Wu Qi spent half a month to figure out the Huai Kingdom's system, and he keenly found the core of the Huai Kingdom's reforms.
——
Wu Zi asked: "What is your ambition?"
Duke Huai said: "Put an end to chaos and chaos in the world!"
Wu Zi paid his respects and said: "Your Majesty has the ambition to take over the whole world, and he has the opportunity to control the heaven and the earth. I am willing to do the work of dogs and horses."
Huaigong said: "Do you think the plan will be settled?"
Wu Zi said: When you are in charge of heroes, you are thirsty for talents. If you can cross the Jinghuai River, make peace with Qinrong in the west, pacify Yiyue in the south, and tie up Yanzhao in the north. If you cultivate political principles internally and the world changes, then send out the army in the north of the Huaihe River. To the Qi State. If Qi falls, the army from Jingzhou can go north to Wei and Han, and the other route can go from Qi to respond. If Han and Wei are defeated, they should occupy all the land in the Central Plains. If this is the case, Yan, Zhao and Qin will have it at their fingertips. In this way, the world can be at peace.
Huaigong said: "Good!" ——"Historical Records·Huai Family·Huai Wucheng Gong Biography"
(End of chapter)
