The Great Wei Empire in the Warring States Period

Everyone turned their heads and saw a scholar dressed in rustic clothes. Although he was dressed like a stray dog, his expression seemed like an important official in charge of a country.

One person smiled and asked: "From what you said, it seems that you don't agree that Wei will decline. Who are you?"

"Yes, Wei will not decline. I am Gongsun Yan, a scholar of Wei." Gongsun Yan replied.

Another scholar in gorgeous black said: "So you are from Wei. Of course, who wants to see their country decline!"

Haha, the black scholar said again: "Since you said that Wei will not decline, what do you think?"

Gongsun Yan replied: "First, although Wei's military force has suffered a setback, its foundation has not been damaged. It only takes three years to train new Wei Wuzu and new troops; second, Wei has undergone two reforms and three innovations, which has never happened in other countries in the world. The first reform by Li Kui laid the foundation for Wei's strength and made Wei's treasury sufficient. It took only three short years to reclaim more than one million acres of wasteland, build water conservancy projects, liberate slaves, and make Wei a unified law. The strength of Wei began here; Wu Qi reformed military affairs, making Wei a powerful army in the world; the second reform by the prince of Wei implemented counties throughout the country, abolished corporal punishment, rectified laws, and reformed Wei The evils of Wu Zu greatly reduced the financial pressure of Wei State, and the land was nationalized and redistributed, which alleviated the problem of land disputes. In addition, the reclamation of remote areas was encouraged, and taxes were reduced, so that the evils of Wei State were eliminated one by one, and Wei State became stronger. Prime Minister Hui Shi made reforms, built water conservancy projects, implemented a twenty-tax system, encouraged commerce, nationalized the profits of salt and iron, and gave the profits of mountains, forests and rivers to the people. The people all praised him as "kind and benevolent". Si Tu Meng Ke and Sikou Shendao made reforms, reformed the administration of officials, set up slander trees, opened schools, severely punished corrupt officials, so that nobles dared not take advantage of their power to oppress others, officials dared not use their power for personal gain, and the people all praised him as "benevolent". How could Wei State decline with so many civil officials! "

The black-clothed scholar nodded silently, then stood up and saluted, saying: "I have offended you just now, please forgive me, sir. I am Gong Zhongchi, please come and talk with me."

"Good!" Gongsun Yan said generously.

The two sat at the same table, and Gong Zhongchi spoke first: "Since you can see the affairs of Wei State so thoroughly, I wonder what you think of the general situation in the world?"

Gongsun Yan replied: "I think the only country that can truly compete with Wei State for hegemony must be Qin State!"

"Why do you say that? Can't Qi State and Chu State do it?" Gong Zhongchi asked.

Gongsun Yan said with a smile: "Qi is strong because of its wise rulers and officials, while Chu is strong because of its vast territory and abundant resources. Qi's strength can only last for a while, but if it is not for its wise rulers, its country will surely decline! Although Chu is vast and rich, its rulers and ministers are incompetent. Only a wise ruler can save Chu from its decline."

"What about Qin?"

"Qin is a tiger and a wolf. It has been secretly reforming for more than ten years without revealing its true colors. Moreover, I heard that Qin's reforms are extremely harsh., but this reform is very suitable for Qin! The farming and warfare method plus the ferocity of the Qin people, once the reform is successful, it will become a great harm to the world! Few people can stop it. "Gongsun Yan said after taking a sip of wine.

Gong Zhongchi nodded and asked, "What do you think of Han?"

"Han's reform is about governance by art. The central idea of ​​governance by art is "granting officials according to their duties, holding officials accountable according to their names, holding the power of life and death, and testing the abilities of ministers." This reform is the same as Qi. If you meet a wise monarch, the country will be strong. If you meet a monarch who maintains the status quo or a foolish monarch, the country will decline." Gongsun Yan said without any ambiguity.

Gong Zhongchi disagreed, "But after more than ten years of reform, Han's strength has greatly increased, and it has surpassed Zhao. It encourages the reclamation of wasteland, trains new troops, implements the county system, suppresses the nobles, develops the advantages of weapons and armor, and vigorously develops handicrafts. Isn't Han strong? ”

“Not strong. Han is the smallest of the Three Jins, with a territory of only a thousand miles. Although it conquered Chen, it still cannot compare with Zhao. Zhao only needs to develop secretly for ten years to surpass Han. If Han wants to change the status quo, it can only start a war to annex the land of other countries!” Gongsun Yan said with a smile.

“Then according to your opinion, where should Han expand to?” Gong Zhongchi asked.

Just when they were about to answer, a scholar ran over and said to the two of them: “You two, there is a debate in the hall, discussing policies. This time, the Qi-Song coalition and the Wei-Han coalition, let’s go and take a look.”

Gong Zhongchi said with a smile: “Why don’t we go and take a look first?”

“Okay!”

In the hall

“I bet Qi will win, 100 gold!”

“Qi’s approach is a big defeat of Wei, and I also bet Qi will win, 300 gold! ”

“I also bet on Qi’s victory, a cart of rhinoceros skins!”

“Bet on Qi’s victory, kill 30,000 Wei soldiers, 500 gold!”

“I bet on Wei’s victory!”

Everyone looked at the voice, and saw Gongsun Yan striding forward and taking out the only money he had and saying, “I bet on Wei’s victory! Five gold!”

“Sir, I see you are also very poor. You should know that if you lose, you will have to starve!” A scholar kindly advised.

Gongsun Yan still said, “I bet on Wei’s victory!”

“Then where is Wei’s victory? "One person asked.

Gongsun Yan said: "The Wei-Han coalition army is based on Jin. The command methods of the two countries are the same, and the communication between the generals of the two countries will be relatively relaxed. However, the Qi-Song coalition army is not like this. The command methods of Qi and Song are completely different. In addition, Qi and Song still have some hatred, so it is difficult to dispatch. Moreover, this time it is a frontal battle, and the army of Qi cannot be compared with any of the armies of the Three Jins. The reason why Qi was able to win before was mainly due to proper strategy, but this time it is different. This time it is completely based on the strength of the army! Qi will lose!"

"What you said makes some sense, but don't cry if you lose later!"

…………

Wei State led the army with Sima Wutong as the main general and Shi Ju as the deputy general60,000 joined the Han army at Yuguan. The coalition army totaled 110,000, and the Wei army's main general Wu Tong served as the commander of the coalition army.

Wu Tong said to the generals: "Everyone, the Qi-Song coalition attacked Xiangling, Xiangling is in danger, I wonder if you have any good ideas?"

Shi Ju responded: "General, I think we can also use Wei to save Zhao. In order to attack my Wei State, the Qi-Song coalition sent 40,000 troops, which is probably all the troops that Song can take out. Xiangling is not far from the Song capital Shangqiu. We can send a detachment to make a detour to attack Shangqiu. In this way, the Song army will definitely be in chaos. Even if Qi forces the Song army to stay, the coordination problem of both sides will be even more chaotic."

"General Shi Ju is right. General Shi Ju, I will give you 10,000 people to attack the Song capital Shangqiu, and I will personally lead the coalition army to fight a decisive battle with the Qi-Song coalition army!" Wu Tong ordered.

Wu Tong then said: "We will also make a feint to the east and attack the west in this battle. Our army will go to Xiangling. The Qi-Song coalition will definitely cross the Jishui River to fight a decisive battle with our army to prevent being attacked from both sides. In this way, if the Xiangling soldiers want to take the opportunity to sneak attack the Qi-Song coalition, they must cross the Jishui River. I plan to use the Wei army to resist the Qi-Song coalition in the front. The Qi-Song coalition is not in harmony. In order to preserve its strength, the Qi army will definitely lead the Song army. The Qi army will follow behind. The Han army will be divided into two places. One place will make a big noise and pretend to be the main force, cross the Honggou, and then go north along the Honggou to cross the Jishui River, so that the Qi-Song coalition will mistakenly think that we want to We attacked from the left side, but we actually went west along Daliang, and then quickly went south to Guiling City, and took the opportunity to attack the Qi-Song coalition from behind! We first defeated the Qi army, so that the Song army would be in chaos without fighting!"

Bao Yuan asked, "In that case, we can't defeat the Qi army so quickly by attacking from behind."

"This is the decoy I just sent, making the Qi army think that we were going to cross the Jishui River and attack the left side of the Qi army, but in fact we were coming from another opposite direction. This is a roundabout attack!" Wu Tong explained.

Wu Tong immediately gave the order: "General Bao Yuan, you have led 40,000 Han troops to leave today. You send another 10,000 troops to act as a decoy to make the Qi army confused about our thinking. I will personally lead the remaining troops to confront the Qi-Song coalition head-on! General Shi Ju, you also leave today and lead 10,000 troops to attack the Song capital Shangqiu. I will lead the army again in two days."

"Yes!"

…………