Rebirth of the Viking King

Chapter 497 16 Legalism comes to power

There are a large number of outstanding representatives of the Legalist school.

Guan Zhong, Shang Yang, Han Fei, Shen Buhai, Li Si, all of these shining names in history have contributed to this great school.

The Legalist mentor's philosophy of governing the country can be summed up in four words-enriching the country and strengthening the army.

Use all your strength and use all means to enrich the country and strengthen the army!

The successors of the Legalist thought have summarized several rules through managing the country, which have been widely used by all countries in the East Continent after being passed down for thousands of years.

1. For managing the people, a set of mature and reliable laws is much more reliable than words such as "kindness", "etiquette", "tolerance", and "fraternity".

All people obey the law unconditionally!

Under the law, scholars, farmers, merchants, and businessmen are all equal.

When in doubt, deal with it strictly.

Use the butcher knife and severe punishment to intimidate everyone, so that ordinary people will subconsciously tremble when they mention the law, as if they see a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.

In this way, the country will be stable.

2. They assume that "human nature is evil" and regard "Confucian rituals" as dregs.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, the countries in Donglu were upright and dignified countries of etiquette. The Donglu nobles at that time were not the nouveau riche of today. Their wealth was not simply reflected in the knives and coins in their hands, but everyone had the "aristocratic spirit".

Its outstanding representative "Duke Xiang of Song" was recorded in another volume of the Legalists, "Han Feizi".

In 638 BC, Song State and Chu State fought. Song State formed a battle formation beside the river "Hongshui". The Chu army needed to cross Hongshui to fight.

The counselor said to Duke Xiang of Song that the Chu army had more people and better equipment than us. We should attack them immediately when they crossed the river to prevent them from connecting with the first line.

In this way, the Chu army will be defeated.

However, Duke Xiang of Song said, "No, this does not conform to the 'rules of war'!"

"A gentleman says that you cannot attack an injured enemy, you cannot capture an old man with white hair and beard, you cannot take advantage of an enemy in danger, you cannot add insult to injury when an enemy is in trouble, and you cannot attack an enemy who is not prepared."

(A gentleman does not seriously injure or capture an enemy with two hairs. In ancient times, the army did not block narrow passes. Although I am the remnant of a fallen country, I will not form a line without drums.)

"The Chu army is crossing the river now. If our army launches an attack at this time, it is not in accordance with benevolence and righteousness!"

"We must wait until all the Chu army crosses the river and forms a formation before we can attack."

As a result, after all the Chu army crossed the river, the Song army was crushed without exception.

Duke Xiang of Song was defeated and injured, and died the following year due to a recurrence of his old illness.

This classic case, known as the "Battle of Hongshui", was highly praised by Confucian mentors. Whenever Confucian scholars lamented that "people's hearts are no longer the same as before", Duke Xiang of Song is often the first name that appears in their minds.

This name is a perfect aristocratic name in the eyes of Confucian scholars, and it cannot be tarnished in the slightest.

The disciples of the Legalists were the first to declare war on "rituals and laws". Han Feizi believed that Duke Xiang of Song, who was praised by Confucian teachers, had "justice like a fool".

Similar stupid things were everywhere in the Spring and Autumn Period.

The battle between Prince Cheng of Song and Hua Bao of Han recorded in "Zuo Zhuan·Zhao Gong 21" was even more jaw-dropping. In front of the two armies, Prince Cheng and Hua Bao, one bow each, went out to duel.

Hua Bao bent his bow and shot at Prince Cheng, but missed the target.

Hua Bao was agile and shot the bow again. However, at this moment, Prince Cheng shouted disdainfully: "Not shooting again is despicable!"

It means that the two people in the duel should shoot one arrow each. After you shoot me, it's my turn to shoot you.

You don't follow the rules, it's too despicable!

Hearing this, Hua Bao honestly put down his bow and arrow, and was shot to death by Prince Cheng.

The compiler of "Zuo Zhuan", the great Confucian Zuo Qiuming, not only did not laugh at his stupidity, but affirmed Hua Bao's dignity as a warrior.

The Legalist school sneered at this.

Sacrificing tens of thousands of soldiers for the sake of a good reputation, and then burying all the citizens of the country, this behavior is the greatest crime and should not be regarded as a model of etiquette at all.

The opponents fighting each other on the battlefield are not engaging in a fair and just competitive sport, but seeking survival for hundreds of thousands of people behind them.

The leaders of both sides should win by any means. On the battlefield, with the least cost, to the greatest extent to eliminate the enemy's living forces, this is a famous general worthy of singing.

It can be imagined. This is a kind of "treasonous" thought in the eyes of Confucian mentors.

3. In the eyes of Legalist mentors, people = livestock.

The Confucian school believes that the monarch should "love the people" and "respect the people" so that the people can support the monarch's rule from the bottom of their hearts. The so-called "Heaven sees what the people see, and Heaven hears what the people hear"

The people are satisfied, and the monarch can continue to do it.

However, the Legalist school completely denies this.

Shang Yang, the compiler of Shangjunshu, believed that people who do not understand politics want to "win the hearts of the people". If you can govern with the support of the people, all the managers in the world should be great good people.

The profession of "politician" should not exist at all.

The people are all ignorant and malicious.

They need to be instigated and used by politicians, and some people need to be driven to experience suffering and torture. Sacrifice the happiness of this generation to obtain long-term stability of the country.

Even after winning the war, the key to governing the country is still "weak people" and "victory people." Attack the people and weaken the power of the people. Only by making the people ignorant and poor will they lose all their right to choose.

A group of people with no brains, no knowledge, or even the ability to think, and who are penniless will simply not be able to survive independently if they lose the support of the country.

When the country wants them to join the army, they can only join the army.

The country needs them to cultivate farmland, and they have no choice but to walk into the barren mountains.

Only by suppressing the people in this way will they become closely attached to the king and form a strong symbiotic relationship.

The entire country will become a huge production and construction corps.

Efficient, ruthless and brutal.

**

It is conceivable that in the peaceful and prosperous times such as the "Kaiyuan Rule", the status of Confucianism was supreme. They created a powerful and perfect country that was enough to shock aliens from any country.

However, the transition from prosperity to decline is an objective law of material existence.

When peaceful life is disrupted and the world returns to war. Monarchs need to use power politics to quickly transform the entire country from a decadent state into a well-oiled war machine.

For this reason, the Legalist school began to rapidly replace all Confucian scholars.

By the time Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty ascended the throne in the Yuanhe period (AD 805), Legalist disciples had begun to achieve initial results in transforming the country. Emperors Daizong and Dezong failed to "cut down the vassals" as they wished. At this time, under the interference of power politics, It's already starting to pay off.

The frequent rise of Legalist disciples brought prosperity to the entire school.

At this time, even the "Legal Assassin" who had long been hidden under the light of the "Taoist Sword Cultivator" began to wander from the shadows to the center of the stage.