The Great Wei Empire in the Warring States Period

Wei's Foreign Minister Gongsun Yue strode into the court of Chu and bowed, saying, "Greetings, King Chu."

Xiong Shang asked with a smile, "Wei's envoy, what brings you all the way to Chu?"

"I'm here to present a letter of credence, hoping to form a permanent alliance with Chu." Gongsun Yue said respectfully.

Xiong Shang chuckled, "Permanent alliance? That's what King Wei meant."

"That's exactly what my king meant. I came here to present two pieces of jade and a Jedi horse to King Chu."

"Thank you King Wei for your kindness. I'm also willing to form a permanent alliance with Wei. How is King Wei doing recently?" Xiong Shang asked.

Gongsun Yue replied: "My king is in very good health. He often drives a chariot to hunt. His body is still strong."

"As rumored, the way of keeping healthy of King Wei is unmatched by the monarchs of other countries. I wonder how King Wei keeps healthy?" Xiong Shang asked again.

Gongsun Yue did not think too much and answered directly: "My king keeps healthy according to the Taoist teachings, that is, do what you want to do. In order to keep healthy, my king also leaves military and political affairs to the prime minister and the prince. Therefore, he is very free every day, fishing, playing chess or taking a walk with the queen."

"According to the meaning of the Wei envoy, King Wei does not care about political affairs?" Xiong Shang laughed.

"It seems so."

After the envoys from Wei State left, Xiong Shang said to the ministers around him: "The King of Wei is really stupid. He doesn't manage state affairs for the sake of health preservation. How can his health be as important as state affairs! If he doesn't manage the government, even if he lives long, it will be in vain if the country declines!"

"Your Majesty is wise."

After the court

In the inner palace, Xiong Shang actually cut the roasted meat with a short sword and ate it with his hands. Ling Yin Duo Jiao saw this Rongdi eating method as soon as he came in, and hurriedly advised: "Your Majesty, how can you cut the meat with a sword and eat it with your hands like a Rongdi?"

"I heard that the warriors of Qin State put the meat on the shield, cut the meat with a sword, and eat it with their hands. It's really refreshing to eat like this!" Xiong Shang laughed.

Duo Jiao still felt uncomfortable and said, "Your Majesty, our Chu State is the Central Plains State, you can't do this!"

"Ling Yin, come and eat too. Although it seems unrefined, isn't that how heroes eat!"

"Yes."

Duo Jiao picked up the chopsticks and found that the meat on the plate was not cut squarely, so he reminded the attendant beside him, "Why is the meat not cut squarely?"

"Don't worry about it, just take it and eat it. This is what I ordered. After all, it takes too much time and is too fancy to cut the meat like that. It's better to just throw the meat into the pot and cook it and eat it directly!" Xiong Shang grabbed a piece of meat and ate it in his hand.

Duo Jiao could only laugh and say, "Your Majesty is such a generous person!"

Xiong Shang asked, "Ling Yin, didn't you just attend the morning court? What's the matter?"

"Your Majesty, do you want to take action against Feng Jun and the three clans of Zhao, Jing, and Qu?"

"Yes! I will take action against them in the future! Don't you know that? You should know that these feudal lords sometimes do not obey the king's orders. The wealth of the Zhao, Jing and Qu tribes even exceeds that of the country. What are we waiting for if we don't suppress them!" Xiong Shang put down the meat in his hand and said sharply.

"It is a good thing that the king wants to make Chu strong, but the 64 feudal lords of Chu have a force of 200,000! The private soldiers of the Zhao, Jing and Qu tribes are nearly 300,000! Although Chu has a million people, the king has only about 200,000 soldiers. If the king is forced in the future, they may rebel! This time, the king appointed some declining nobles as generals in the first court session. Although this is a good thing, it is already provoking their bottom line! So the king has to take it slowly."

"Then please teach me, Ling Yin."

"King, we can consume the soldiers in the hands of those nobles through war." Duo Jiao said in a low voice.

"How to do it?"

"We can motivate these nobles to fight by rewarding them. The king only needs to promise these noble lords that the land they conquer can be distributed to them, but they have to send troops to attack. In this way, these noble lords will be blinded in order to get more land, and their soldiers will be consumed by our enemies!"

"This is a good plan! What else does Ling Yin want to do?" Xiong Shang asked.

"Your Majesty, if you want to appoint some wise people to serve as ministers in the court, it is better to temporarily appoint them as county magistrates. When they have achievements, these wise men can be transferred to the court. There is no worry about not being able to replace the incompetent ministers in the court! This way, there is an excuse to appoint these wise men to serve in the court, and there is also an excuse to replace those incompetent ministers!"

"Okay! Ling Yin will do the matter of recruiting talents quietly, and never alarm these noble lords!" Xiong Shang ordered.

“Yes!”

Report～～“The Grand Marshal wants to see you!”

“Please come in, Grand Marshal!”

Zhaoyang came in and bowed, “Greetings, Your Majesty!”

“What is Grand Marshal’s business?” Xiong Shang asked with a smile.

Zhaoyang looked around and saw that he was surrounded by the king's close ministers. He whispered: "Your Majesty, this reform is indeed very good. Do you want to take action against the nobles in the future?"

"No! How could I take action against the nobles! This is nonsense! The nobles are the descendants of the capable ministers of the former kings of Chu. They are all the meritorious ministers of my Chu. How can I touch the nobles! This will mess up my ancestral law of Chu!"

"Your Majesty, if you want to touch the nobles, it's not impossible, but you must remember that you are worried that they will counterattack! This time, the king appointed three declining nobles as generals. I also know that these three people are very talented, but the king must have an excuse. These three people must have some achievements! So the king is too hasty." Zhaoyang persuaded.

"Then what should we do according to the words of the Grand Sima?"

"Your Majesty, use military merits! The king can send troops to attackCai State, so these three people will have military merits! "

Xiong Shang smiled and said: "It's up to the Grand Marshal to attack Cai State. Now they are responsible for helping me train the new army, which is also a merit! Grand Marshal, don't worry."

Then he continued: "Grand Marshal, you are my loyal minister, what do you think of Wei State?"

"Your Majesty, although Wei State is strong, its military has shown a trend of decline. Wei State's good generals were almost killed and wounded in the Battle of Guiling. I heard that Wei State's Sima Wu Tong died of illness not long ago! Now there are almost many vacancies in the ranks of Wei State's military generals. It's easy to get thousands of troops but hard to get a general! Only Pang Juan, Long Jia and Wei Cuo are left in Wei State to support Wei State's military! Now Wei State has not yet determined who to choose as generals!" Zhaoyang said.

"Great! Isn't this my Chu State's opportunity! Grand Marshal, how about attacking Wei State now?"

"No! Your Majesty, the country is not completely stable yet, there are still some villains doing things in secret, your Majesty needs to centralize power first! "

"Yes, that's right, Grand Marshal, you will lead 200,000 soldiers, how about Zihua as your deputy?"

"Yes, sir!"

……………

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