Wu Palace.
Outside the magnificent palace.
Countless Imperial Guards lined up on both sides, kneeling on one knee, with white strips of cloth tied to the standing halberds, fluttering in the wind.
All civil and military officials even had their heads wrapped in white cloth, kneeling on the ground, with their hands on the side of their heads and their buttocks raised high.
The entire palace was deserted.
Directly in front, Wu Xiangzheng unfolded King Wu's edict and read it in public:
"I was appointed by the late king. In the thirty-first year of my reign, I was involved in military and state affairs. I was not tired of my hard work and did not dare to take it easy. However, I was afraid of the poor life and could not inherit the greatness of my ancestors. How can I be worthy of it... "
"Even at the beginning of the summer, I became sick from overwork and felt that my time had come, and I was afraid that I would not be able to bear the burden of meeting the ministers..."
"Prince Shao has a gentle nature, possesses virtues and talents, is smart and wise, and is lonely. He has always been entrusted with the heir. His mother Wang, with the respect of Kunyi, is kind and obedient, elegant and virtuous, so she should be honored as the Queen Mother... …”
"In view of the changes in the world, what happens after you are alone, mourning clothes should be changed by the sun and the moon, and the system of mountains and mausoleums should be frugal, respond to rewards from the armies, and take punishments from the heirs..."
"Officials outside the country should stop at their own place to express their condolences. They are not allowed to leave the administrative office without authorization. They will serve for three days and then be removed. All the towns guarding the border are engaged in gold and silver..."
This edict was written very well by the old King Wu.
First of all, he explained how he was diligent and self-denial when he was in power, for fear of betraying the legacy of the late king. He also explained the reasons for his illness.
Then mention the successor, describe your character, give some praise, and so on.
Then he said that due to the general trend of the world, funerals did not need to be so complicated, state, county and local officials did not need to return to the capital, and the border guards still had to be on standby.
It also mentioned the requirement that mourning clothes should be replaced by the sun and the moon.
You must know that when the monarch died at that time, the prince was in mourning, and it would take a long time before he could officially ascend the throne.
And this method of changing the day to the month means counting one day as a month, which often means ascending the throne in front of the coffin.
It can be seen from this that the old King Wu is relatively enlightened. After all, these are not prosperous times, but troubled times. The sooner Prince Wu takes charge, the sooner the country will be stable.
After reading the edict, Prime Minister Wu was already in tears. After all, after assisting King Wu for so many years, how could there be no feelings between the monarch and his ministers.
The ministers kneeling below, whether they had tears or not, raised their sleeves and wiped the tears from their eyes, and the whole place was filled with sobs.
Prince Wu knelt at the front, bursting into tears and wailing loudly.
After putting away the edict, Wu Xiang pulled him up and consoled him sadly: "Your Highness, the king has left, please show your condolences..."
"Prime Minister..." Prince Wu wiped away his tears and said with red eyes, "I also ask you to preside over the funeral rites for my father."
"Of course, of course." Wu Lianlian nodded.
The next step is to send away the body of the old King Wu and bury it in the Tomb of King Wu.
The majestic horn sounded, and Zhuang Su's coffin was carried out. Prince Wu also threw himself on the coffin, crying bitterly again, shouting in a sad voice: "Father..."
The old king of Wu arranged his funeral arrangements very well. In compliance with his imperial edict, all civil and military officials mourned for only three days and put state affairs first.
In addition to Yan Sui, those who came to express their condolences were of course Ling Envoy and Chu Envoy. Everyone was just going through the motions and being polite.
Then, as soon as the tragedy was over, Prince Wu inherited the throne.
According to the imperial edict, the ministers naturally had nothing to say, and Prime Minister Wu also returned all the royal power when he was assisting the government to Prince Wu.
The new king of Wu succeeded to the throne, which is obviously different from the old king of Wu. The previous kings often looked forward and backward, weighing the pros and cons, but the new king was in his prime and had a young and competitive heart.
In the court meeting hall, King Shao of Wu was wearing royal robes, a royal crown on his head, and nine strings of jade beads on his forehead, sitting on the throne.
After all the ministers knelt down, he first glanced around, then fixed his gaze on Wu Xiang, and asked straight to the point:
"Prime Minister, since the attack on Qin, how many soldiers have our country recruited to form a regular army?"
"Go back to your Majesty, about 200,000, of which 120,000 are new troops recruited in recent years." Wu Xiang returned.
"Yes, two hundred thousand." Wu Wangshao nodded, with a gleam in his eyes, "Continue to order the conscription, and notify all counties and counties that all men in the family who are over fifteen years old must serve in the army. "
"This..." Wu Xiang hesitated and said slightly worriedly: "But if this happens, I am worried that it will cause a large number of people to flee."
"It doesn't matter." Wu Wangshao said directly: "Conscription into the army is a national decree and cannot be resisted or questioned!"
"But Your Majesty, our country has attacked Qin several times and its national strength has declined greatly. With today's government, it may be difficult to support hundreds of thousands of troops. The expenditure on military supplies, food, grass and weapons is not trivial." Wu Xiang said truthfully.
As a result, King Shao of Wu raised his voice and said: "The prime minister should know that strengthening our country of Wu is my lifelong ambition! How can an army of 200,000 fight for hegemony in the world?"
The young King Wu has great ambitions, but a country's army cannot be as strong as the number of people it forces. This involves not only political factors, but also national and financial resources.
Even if you are given one million people, there are still one million mouths, and they all need to be paid as soldiers, and they all need to undergo military training and be equipped with armaments.
Everyone knows that fighting is a waste of money!
Wu State has suffered a lot of defeats in the past few years. It is not just the loss of elite troops. Every defeat is a loss and weakening of national power.
Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Wu also hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Wu today should take the natural dangers of the Yangtze River as its main priority and seek to become rich and powerful. Watch the times and wait for changes. There should be no expansion for the time being."
Hearing this, Wu Wangshao glanced at him and chuckled: "Old Prime Minister, there is no need to worry or get excited. I am not saying that we will expand now, but that we want to expand and become stronger."
"Ah, I understand." Wu Xiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, bowed his hands and said, "If your Majesty has this intention, he will not lose the ambition of the previous kings."
"Okay." Wu Wangshao waved his hand and said, "Now it's time to talk about Wu Jun's new coach."
When the allied forces entered the Qin Dynasty, they were cut off by the Xuan army. The Wu army attempted to attack Tongguan, but Su Yi set up an ambush in the mountains and launched a counter-annihilation campaign. As a result, Huangfu Ye's water supply was completely exhausted, and the entire army died of cold and starvation. A generation of famous generals also died. The corpse was left in a foreign land, and to this day, the commander-in-chief of the Wu army is still vacant.
But there is a reason for this.
Because at that time the old King Wu heard the bad news and was bedridden due to physical illness, so the prince supervised the country.
The ministers of the State of Wu have been admonishing the veteran general Pei Zong, but Prince Wu pays more attention to Huangfu Yuqi, the eldest son of Huangfu Ye, among the young talents.
