Rule the world with the nobles
Establish a hierarchical and strict country.
Thinking about it this way, this is indeed a serious Zhou ritual.
Isn’t the content of Zhou Rites the world of the emperor, princes, ministers, officials, scholars, and people of the country?
"Establishing a noble assembly, all major national affairs will be decided by the noble assembly? Doesn't this mean reducing the power of the monarch and increasing the power of the nobles? The nobles will definitely not object to such a reform." The head of the Zhao family said directly.
However, would Chu Hou be willing to do this?
Feeling the doubts of the head of the Zhao family, Chu Hou clapped his hands. After a few breaths, Wang Jujun, his junior brother Zhu and another junior brother Zeng appeared in front of several people.
"Reform is about redistributing a country's interests, and the image is about dividing the pie."
"In the past, the Chu State's pie was mainly divided between the Chu princes and the nobles. At that time, the nobles' fiefdoms belonged to the nobles, and the places directly under the jurisdiction of other monarchs belonged to the Chu princes. Theoretically, the two sides did not interfere with each other, but this was just a theory .”
Specifically, in Wang Jujun's opinion, if non-interference can be achieved, then the Chu State will not be able to exert only 30% of its tenth level strength, and the remaining 70% will be fought within.
"However, in fact, the nobles are always thinking about encroaching on the interests of the areas directly under the jurisdiction of the Chu State. Most of the officials in the Chu State are held by nobles. The nobles will naturally think about how to poach the Chu State and strengthen themselves."
"Similarly, if Chu State wants to develop, it must centralize power. In order to better centralize power and strengthen the authority of the central government, the Marquis of Chu has always had a suppressive attitude towards local governments and feudal lords."
"This makes the two sides distrust each other and be wary of each other. Whatever they want to do, they must first exchange interests. Only after the exchange behind the scenes is over can all the changes in the front end occur."
Therefore, the Chu State in the past was large but not strong.
The area is indeed very large, the largest in the world. The entire Central Plains countries together may have an area similar to that of Chu.
The paper strength is also very strong, but most of it is used for internal consumption.
"Now that Yingdu has been conquered, Fengjun and Chuhou have a common goal. At least before driving away the Wu army, there is a possibility of sincere unity."
"For a long time, some people have suggested that the Marquis of Chu should cut down the feudal vassal and directly deal with the feudal lord." As he said this, Wang Jujun looked at the Marquis of Chu.
Chu Hou nodded slightly: "Yes, Wei's reforms can be seen with his own eyes."
"In the past fifty years, I will check the changes in the twenty counties every day."
"How the twenty counties have become stronger little by little, Gu Ye knows it well."
"The reforms of Han, Zhao, Wei, and many countries, including Qin, were actually Li Kui-style reforms."
"The contents of these reforms are also very similar. The core idea is to centralize power, increase the strength and authority of the central government, and weaken and suppress local governments."
"The specific strategy is the three axes."
"First, suppress the small and medium-sized nobles, deprive the hereditary nobles of their fiefdoms, and at least deprive the hereditary nobles of their management rights over those under their rule. You can share taxes with them, and you can allow them to retain some privileges and troops, but the land and population must be handed over .”
In history, Gongzi Si went too far. Many nobles of the Wei family were tortured to death by Gongzi Si. He also kept giving gifts to talented people from the royal family to win over talented people.
"Second, we attach great importance to agriculture, which is exactly the same as Yancheng."
"They copied and bought Yancheng's fine seeds. They bought and copied Yancheng's agricultural equipment and magical instruments. They learned and copied Yancheng's large-scale planting methods."
"Third, it goes without saying that we attach great importance to the military."
How can we not pay attention to the reform of the military?
In Chu Hou's view, the reforms in most countries are just the same. Even the reforms of Shang Yang of the Qin State were only more thorough squeezes, squeezing out all the forces that could be squeezed as much as possible to enhance the national power of the Qin State and the strength of the army.
As for farming and warfare, most countries, as long as they are not fatuous, encourage agriculture and attach great importance to the military.
However, the degree of emphasis is different.
Few countries attach as much importance to it as Qin does.
"So, in the past, Gu Ye often thought about whether Chu State should also reform like the three clans of Han, Zhao and Wei."
Hearing this, Wang Jujun shook his head slightly: "The national conditions are different, so the reforms cannot be completely copied."
"The three clans of Han, Zhao and Wei are originally the great lords of the Jin Kingdom. The land occupied by the nobles in their territory is not too much."
"The number of lands occupied by various feudal lords within the territory of the Han family accounts for about 20% of the entire Han family, 25% for the Wei family, and 23% for the Zhao family."
"With the strength of the three clans of Han, Zhao and Wei, it is easy to crush the feudal lords in the country. As long as the lords still have choices, they will not rebel."
"As for the Chu State, the large and small feudal lords in the country occupy up to 60% of the Chu State's land. However, because they are too scattered and not united, the Chu State has always had the final say."
Otherwise, things would have turned upside down long ago.
"Although not many of these feudal lords are loyal to the Marquis of Chu, most of them are loyal to the Chu State."
Hearing this, Chu Hou was also speechless.
The other family heads were all looking up at the sky or down at the ground.
Wang Jujun said he didn't care about the crowd's reaction. It was originally a relationship of mutual use. As long as Chu State successfully reformed, it could help him practice what he had learned and become a real person.
At that time, even if you run away directly, the trip will not be considered a loss.
"So, it doesn't matter to the princes that the princes of Chu have changed over the past dynasties. If Yingdu hadn't been defeated this time, the princes wouldn't have been so sincere in uniting with the princes of Chu."
"Now is a good opportunity, the most suitable time for reform."
"The title of king is the foundation of Chu State and cannot be touched."
"However, if Chu State does not reform, Chu State will only become weaker and weaker in the future."
"So, next, the Marquis of Chu should share the world with the Fengjun."
"For example, forming a noble assembly and directly transferring part of the power to the noble assembly. The feudal princes will definitely like this kind of reform."
"On the other hand, you can directly ask the feudal lords to transfer their titles."
"Require the feudal lords to give up their current fiefdoms and develop new fiefdoms."
"As long as the nobles are willing to give up their fiefdoms and open up new fiefdoms further south, on the one hand, they can increase the area of their fiefdoms. Originally one county will be given to two counties in the future. Moreover, there is no need to give up right away. You can give up while developing."
"By transferring the title, centralization of power can be achieved indirectly. The land within the territory can be completely unified and completely obey the orders of the Marquis of Chu."
"In addition, if power is delegated to the nobles through the noble assembly, then the nobles will have to give up their positions as local governors and county magistrates."
“These locations can be used to attract talent.”
"Think about it from another angle. The nobles have strong blood and strong strength. If they are properly utilized, this is an extremely powerful force."
"After regaining the capital of Ying in the future, the Marquis of Chu can build a noble academy. Nobles from all over the country, especially those who reach a certain level, must go to the noble academy to receive training."
"In addition, from now on, 10% of the country's finances will be dedicated to cultivating and training nobles, and will be allocated to noble conferences across the country."
"In the future, every county or even every county will have a noble assembly."
"The orders of county magistrates, governors and even the princes of Chu must also be implemented with the consent of the noble assembly."
"But at the same time, only nobles who have passed the assessment can succeed the nobles."
"Those bastards who have been trained but cannot inherit the title can join the army, fight for Chu, and become new nobles."
"The core of this reform is the exchange of interests."
"The Marquis of Chu recognized the strength of the feudal lords and actually shared the power with the lords. How to share it depends on the internal settings of the noble assembly."
"For example, the Marquis of Chu could stipulate that only those with a fiefdom of one county or above can join the central noble assembly."
"However, these nobles only have the right to vote, not the right to propose, and each of them only has one vote."
"And for a noble who is willing to transfer a county to the land, his family will have two votes for the next thousand years."
"There is only one core idea. The greater the contribution you make to Chu State and the stronger you are, the louder your voice will be in the noble assembly and the more votes you will get."
“Ultimately, for a policy to pass, it must have more votes in favor than against.”
"And once the noble assembly passes it, whoever dares to continue to oppose it will be against the entire Chu State."
"In this way, the rules of Chu State in the future will become: you can oppose a certain decree, and you can lobby other people crazy to oppose the decree before it is issued. However, when a certain decree is issued, To oppose this decree after it has been fully approved by the noble assembly is to go against the entire Chu Kingdom’s nobles.”
Such people will not live long!
“The core of this reform is to centralize power through decentralization.”
The Marquis of Chu transferred some power to the noble assembly, and the nobles overall became more patriotic and more willing to contribute to the country.
Because now the most powerful person in Chu State is no longer the Marquis of Chu, but the Assembly of Nobles.
And in the noble meeting, there are all nobles.
In a sense, this reform is equivalent to a direct recognition: the Marquis of Chu is no longer the most powerful in Chu State, nor is it the strongest in Chu State. The master of Chu State has changed from the Marquis of Chu to the nobles of Chu State.
After the reform, the Marquis of Chu became more like a great steward.
The assembly of nobles completed the centralization of power and enhanced the national power of the Chu State. The princes of Chu and the nobles no longer thought about killing each other every day like in the past, and internal friction was greatly reduced.
"In addition to the noble assembly, Chu State should establish a complete noble promotion system. This promotion system must be made public and become the foundation of Chu State."
"This system must be strictly implemented. Any mistakes, beheadings, and crimes committed, including the recovery of the territory, must be strictly implemented in accordance with the laws in this system."
"Similarly, what kind of meritorious service can be promoted to a noble must also be specified in detail."
"In addition, in addition to transferring the fiefdom, you can also learn from Yancheng and redeem it. You don't have to pay money to redeem the fiefdom. You can also give exercises, permissions, and voting rights in the noble assembly, as long as it can be discussed. "
"In the future, this noble promotion system and the noble assembly will become the two most important aspects of Chu State. As long as these two systems remain unchanged, Chu State will be able to firmly unite the current nobles and future nobles."
"If the reform is successful..."
(End of chapter)
