Spring and Autumn I Am King

ps: Chapter 2 is at night

"Just say hello to the little nephew if you have something, how dare you let your uncle come to the door?"

Bai Gongsheng was discussing reform with his staff, but when he heard that Zhong Jian came to visit, he immediately greeted him.

The state of Chu is located in Jianghan. In this era, rhinos and elephants can still run along the banks of Yunmengze. Even in the cold winter and the twelfth lunar month, it does not appear to be particularly cold, and the spring breeze comes early this year, so Bai Gong’s clothes are not thick, and he is afraid of cold. Afraid of the cold, Zhong Jian, who wrapped himself tightly, formed a sharp contrast.

Looking at the high-spirited Duke Bai, Zhong Jian sighed that he couldn't accept his old age. Hua Fa had already happened. , He smiled and said: "Bai Gong is in charge of the state affairs for the king and Ling Yin. In his busy schedule, how can an old servant of Le Yin be able to greet him?"

This remark implies criticism of Duke Bai. Although the state of Chu created a rebellion against the Zhou family in the early years, calling itself a barbarian and proclaiming himself a king, he was more active in learning and imitating the Zhou system than any of the Central Plains princes. At this moment, still In paying attention to the set of respecting relatives, he also respects the elderly very much. After Bai Gongsheng became Zuo Yin, he did not visit the elders of the royal family in Yingdu first, but hurriedly began to implement the new law, which was extremely rude.

Bai Gong pretended not to hear it, and nodded to his nominal cousin Zhong Ziqi. After inviting the father and son into the mansion, he greeted his aunt, Ji Mi. Is she okay?

Ji Mi is the youngest daughter of King Ping of Chu, and the younger sister of Prince Jian and King Zhao of Chu. She was also the most beautiful woman in the southern country back then, but now she is over fifty years old, but her body is not as good as a year.

After the routine greeting, there was an awkward silence in the warm hall with charcoal fires. Zhong Jian and Wang Sunsheng were conservative and radical, and it would be strange if they were speculative. In the end, Zhong Ziqi broke the silence and talked about today. What I saw, Bai Gongsheng "relocated wood and established a letter".

"So, Duke Bai's new law is imperative?"

Bai Gongsheng immediately corrected his statement: "Ziqi, this is not my new law, but a new law of the state of Chu, which both the king and Ling Yin agreed to try in Yingdu."

Originally, after Bai Gongsheng entered Yingdu last year and approached the power center, he was hesitant to implement the new law. Because he understands that as long as the system is changed, there will inevitably be resistance and opposition. If this makes the Chu State turn against the old and the old and cause chaos, it may give Zhao Wuxi from the north an opportunity to go south.

However, I don't know what happened. Maybe it was as his advisor Gao She had deduced. The water overflowed. Zhao Wuxi was too arrogant and overconfident in his own strength and prestige. Korea, and gradually moved the soldiers and ships from the south to the north, in a posture of great war.

This can help Bai Gongsheng a lot, the pressure on Huainan is relieved, and he can also take this opportunity to seize the reform, and strive to complete the transformation of the Chu State and completely control the power before Zhao Wuxi finishes this battle that is destined to be costly. , so as to lead the state of Chu to compete with the state of Zhao...

The king of Chu, Xiong Zhang, was only in his teens and had not yet been in power. The real rulers of the Chu state were Ling Yin Zixi and Sima Ziqi. Well, it is said that he is a bird's egg with wings under his own feathers, and he is regarded as the successor of Ling Yin of the Chu State.

So Bai Gongsheng used this to persuade Yin Zixi to support him.

When Zixi moved the capital to Yuancheng in his early years, he also "revamped the system" and carried out limited reforms, but when he was old, he became conservative due to the situation.

On the one hand, it is because of his trust in Baigongsheng. In the past six years, Baigong's transformation in Huainan had a remarkable effect, twisting the East into a single rope, strengthening the army and enriching the people, expanding the land for hundreds of miles, and helping the Yue Kingdom to be destroyed. Wu State. From this, it can be seen that the reform he wants to implement is no longer empty talk, but can be put into practice, transplanted in Yingdu, and extended to the entire state of Chu.

On the other hand, it was also because the pressure from Zhao State suddenly eased, which gave the State of Chu the opportunity to cure its own ills--In recent years, because the scholars of the State of Chu did not have a way to rank in the country, there were many people who went north to join the State of Zhao. , And the people of Chu in Danyang were also tempted by the more reasonable taxation from Zhao State, and there were not a lot of people in the whole family or even the whole family. The domestic aristocrats were extravagant and satisfied with the status quo. In the future, Zhao Chu will have a battle. How can such a state of Chu compete with Qiang Zhao?

How could Zixi not know about the above-mentioned abuses? He hasn't had a good life for a few years. Once he closes his eyes, the house that he barely covered will immediately be full of loopholes. If something goes wrong, Zixi, as Ling Yin, can stop it immediately.

So after months of preparation, and at the same time confirming that Zhao's military mobilization was not a temporary fraud, Zuo Yin Bai Gongsheng finally began to issue a decree, taking the first step towards the deep water area of ​​reform.

Because it was made by Yin Zixi, Zhong Jian was not good at saying that he could not change the law, but he just said euphemistically: "I heard that those who are good at governing the country focus on not making the system easier. You know, there are no hundredfold benefits. If you don't have ten times the effect, you can't replace the old utensils. There is no fault in imitating the successful method, and there will be no deviation in following the old rituals. This is what politicians should do. Too aggressive?"

"Compared to the northern state of Zhao, it is not radical at all."

Bai Gongsheng said: "The four major drawbacks of the Chu state are too heavy a monarch, too many clans, unfair rewards and punishments, and the prevalence of arrogance. My nephew said it six years ago, and my uncle must also hate it. Today's new law is for the sake of In response to the above-mentioned abuses, these decrees were implemented in Huainan, and the effect is remarkable. In this way, the Chu State will have more than enough talents and continue to be inadequate, sharpen its armor and soldiers, and compete with Zhao State!"

"With Zhao Zhengxiong?"

Zhong Jian disagreed and said: "Bai Gong, governing a big country is different from governing a single place after all, not to mention the old man has heard a saying that soldiers are murderous weapons, and contenders are against virtue. Previously, Duke Bai practiced this method in Huainan because Wu State is Chu State. The enemy must not be destroyed. Now that the state of Wu has been destroyed, the state of Chu and the state of Yue divide Wu's land equally and live in harmony. Even in the state of Zhao in the north, as long as the state of Chu is diligent in cultivating government affairs and acting diligently for the rulers, don't think about going again. If you are fighting for hegemony in the Central Plains, you must be able to live in peace with each other, so why are you fighting against it everywhere and causing trouble for the state of Chu?"

He was criticizing Duke Bai. Zhao Chu could have lived in harmony with each other. If Duke Bai was against Zhao everywhere, he was afraid that it would lead to war.

Bai Gongsheng laughed dumbly: "Uncle, uncle, do you still think that it is a world of fighting for hegemony? Times have changed, Zhao State has long pursued not the so-called hegemony, but the annexation of feudal lords and turned into prefectures and counties. Besides, the state of Chu Who knows Zhao Wuxi better than me? What is his ambition? The whole world!"

Bai Gongsheng got up, waved his wide sleeves, and said excitedly: "In Zhao Wuxi's eyes, Chu State is no different from Lu, Wei, and Zhongshan, and it is also a piece of plump meat. As long as the enemies in the north are cleared, he will Go south with all his strength. Don't take advantage of his confusion to invade North Korea, let the State of Chu gather strength and arm himself with more minions, I am afraid that in less than ten years, he will be swallowed by Zhao Wuxi! Captured, my uncle carried his aunt behind his back and went into exile in Yunmengze with the king, I'm afraid I don't want my son to experience it too!"

"You! The brat is arrogant! Conspiracy is against virtue, and it is easy to use weapons. As Ye Gong said, you are not saving Chu, but harming Chu!"

Zhong Jian couldn't say anything about Duke Bai, so he stood up angrily, and he didn't talk for a while. The old-fashioned and the innovators were destined to be unable to coexist. He took his son away angrily.

Looking at their backs, Duke Bai sighed.

The reason why he is determined to reform is because, as an embarrassed foreign prince, Duke Bai has been unable to integrate into the aristocratic circle of Chu State for a long time. Even if he forcibly relied on military exploits and the support of Ling Yin Zixi, he ranked Zuo Yin and became Ling Yin's successor, but the royal circle of the king's sons and grandsons still rejected him very much. Bai Gong felt that even if he followed the rules, he could only Being able to be a Ling Yin who was overridden by the nobles, he would even be ousted by his political opponent Ye Gong. Rather than this, it is better to use the name of implementing the new law to change the system of Chu State and make himself a veritable ruler!

On the other hand, as he said before, the mighty Zhao Kingdom has always been a sharp sword hanging over his head...

However, most of the nobles of the Chu state, as well as Zhong Jian, lived twenty or thirty years ago! They have never been to Zhao State or Yecheng, and they have long been unaware of the earth-shaking changes in the Central Plains and the general trend that is rolling in, but Duke Bai is clear.

Gao She said respectfully behind him: "Master, after the implementation of the new law, there will be countless opponents like Le Yin..."

"The foolish is darker than the success, the wise sees the unseen. The most virtuous person is not in harmony with the common, and the great success is not in the public..."

Bai Gongsheng smiled confidently: "It's just a group of dead bones in the tomb, don't worry about them, these people are destined to be swept into the Han River and the river by me, and washed away!"

...

In January, Duke Bai relocated to Mu Lixin and presided over the implementation of the new law. On the basis of the ancient code of Chu State, "The Code of Chicken Times", he issued the "Order of Grass Reclamation", "Order of Junjue", "Order of Jinxian" and "Order of Determining Fractions". The Counting Order, etc. The above decrees strive to reward agriculture to enrich the country, reward military merit to strengthen its soldiers, equalize the merit and rank to equalize its wealth, and unify governance to rectify its territory~www.wuxiaspot.com~ change customs and customs to gather its people. Thus, the state of Chu became stronger and changed the status quo of being large and weak...

Bai Gongsheng hoped that after the implementation of the new law, it would be as immediate as Huainan. However, things did not go as smoothly as he imagined. Except for some literati and warriors who were suffering from no way of making progress, most people took a wait-and-see attitude. The aristocrats even scoffed at the new law. They dared not directly disobey it, but they were always slow to implement it.

This is still the case in Yingdu, not to mention in the outside world. For a time, the counties in the Jianghan Plain resisted the new law one after another.

For example, in the "Counting the People's Order", Duke Bai set an example and provided the detailed numbers of household registration, taxes, and military charges in the Huainan area. This trick originally wanted to take retreat as an advance, set an example, and leave others speechless. Unexpectedly, the county magistrates who are used to making decisions on their own in the fief, all regard the new law as an empty letter, and even some magistrates directly refuse to implement the new law. Beaten and expelled!

"The new law could not be implemented smoothly, all because the upper class resisted and violated it!" The nobles in Yingdu were watching his jokes, so Duke Bai was furious and decided to use the methods he used in Huainan to kill chickens and show monkeys, and take good care of these rotten ones. The powerful, his eyes were aimed at the Duke Yun Dou family...