The Great Wei Empire in the Warring States Period

When everyone heard about the reform, some ministers couldn't help but feel afraid. One minister stood up and said:"Your Majesty, after Li Kui's reform, our country of Wei has become rich and strong and its people are strong. There is no need for any more reforms."

After hearing this, the Marquis of Wei did not Talking, and leaning on the throne, watching quietly. Wei Shen stood up and said:"Father, now the strength of Qi and Chu has been continuously increasing. Qi has the advantage of fish and salt, rich people, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers; Chu has a radius of thousands of miles and claims to have millions of troops. If we, Wei, don't If we carry out reforms, we may be surpassed by Qi and Chu!"

Wei Hou asked his uncle Cui:"Prime Minister, how are the two countries, Qi and Chu, doing recently?"

"Your Majesty, according to detailed reports, the State of Qi has recently trained 100,000 martial arts warriors. The State of Chu has recently ordered to vigorously reclaim wasteland and ordered that the newly reclaimed land will not be taxed for two years. The State of Chu, on the advice of Grand Sima Jingshe, , trained 200,000 elite troops, and Jingshe had full authority to lead the troops, supervise the construction of ships, and build a large navy."Gongshu Cuo said.

Wei Hou asked Pang Juan again:"General Pang, how do you think we should deal with Chu and Qi? Pang Juan stood up and said,"Your Majesty, today our country in Wei should be carrying out reforms. Only reforms can make the country stronger.""

After hearing this, the Marquis of Wei fell into deep thought. Duan Qianpeng also stood up and said:"Your Majesty, if our country of Wei wants to become stronger today, the only way is to reform."The Marquis of Wei waved his hand and said:"His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince is responsible for the second reform of Wei State. General Pang Juan and Prime Minister Gong Shucuo will assist the Crown Prince in carrying out the reform."

"Your Majesty is Holy Ming."The uncle Cui bowed down and said. The ministers also said:"Your Majesty is wise."Wei Shen said again:"Father, I think that although Wei State unites the three Jins, it is more important to unite with Chu State, and Chu State will help us suppress Qi State."

"Okay, just follow the prince's words."The Marquis of Wei said. Gongshu Cuo said:"Your Majesty, I have a favor to ask you. I hope your Majesty can agree.""What's the matter? Prime Minister, please tell me."Marquis Wei asked."Your Majesty, I am old. I will recommend someone for the position of Prime Minister in the future. This person is ten times as talented as me. He is Wei Yang. Your Majesty must make him the Prime Minister. If you don't want to He must be killed."Gongshu Cuo said.

After listening, Wei Hou said:"You said Wei Yang, prime minister, please rest assured, if he can manage Yueyang County well, I will definitely make him a county guard. This prime minister is still far behind. Wei Shen immediately said:"

Father, Wei Yang is indeed a great talent. I hope that if my father, Wei Yang, can manage Yueyang well, please appoint him as prime minister. If my father does not intend to appoint him as prime minister, please kill this person.""Marquis Wei waved his hand and said,"Okay, don't talk anymore."——Retreat from the court.

In the prime minister's house

, Gongshu Cuo walked into the house and asked the housekeeper,"Where is Wei Yang?""Prime Minister, Wei Yang is reading in the study. Do you want me to call him over?" the housekeeper asked. Gongshu Cuo waved his hand and said,"No need, I'll go find him myself." In the study, a man in his thirties was reading a book. The book he was reading was the"Dharma Sutra" written by Li Kui. When he was enjoying the meal, Gongshu Cuo pushed in the door and said:"Martial Arts, I am reading Li Kui's"Dharma Sutra" again.》"

When Wei Yang saw that it was Gongshu Cuo who had arrived, he stood up and saluted:"Teacher." Gongshu Cuo looked at the young man and then at the bamboo slips he had just finished writing on the desk, and said,"Wei Yang, you are writing What?"

Wei Yang said:"Teacher, one day after the Battle of Shaoliang, I went to Shaoliang and found that the battle was too tragic. Especially when I saw the dead Qin soldiers, I found that their stomachs There is grass in the middle, and they are simply more brave than our Wei soldiers. The Qin people eat grass, and the Qin people are to be feared."

After hearing this, Gongshu Cuo was furious and said:"Wei Yang, the battle of Shaoliang was a great victory for our Wei state. In the battle, Wei State annihilated 200,000 Qin troops, but Wei State suffered less than 10,000 casualties. How can you say that Qin people are fearful? If Qin people are fearful, then why was Qin State defeated by Wei State and lost half of it? In the land of Guanzhong, Qin is a weak country!!"

When Wei Yang heard that Gongshu Cuo was angry, he said quickly:"Teacher, it's Yang's fault, and the teacher is the one to blame." After suppressing his anger, Gongshu Cuo said,"Wei Yang Yang, haven't you always wanted to be an official? I have found a good position for you as a teacher. Magistrate of Yueyang County, as long as you can govern Yueyang well, you will have a seat in the court."

Wei Yang was very happy after hearing this, He quickly bowed down and said,"Thank you very much for your mentor's recommendation.""Okay, in a few months, we will go to Yueyang. Yang Yang, you have to remember that you are still young and have a bright future. Tomorrow you go to the Prince's Mansion and meet His Royal Highness Wei Shen. After establishing a good relationship with him, I This position may be yours.

After hearing this, Wei Yang said:"How dare Yang Yang take the position of his mentor?""Uncle Cuo smiled and said:"Wei Yang, remember, if you want to achieve great things, you must let those in high places know who you are and your talents.""Listening to the words of the teacher and listening to the teacher's words is better than ten years of reading." Wei Yang said.

In the prince's palace,

Wei Shen was discussing with Pang Juan how to change the military system. Wei Shen said:"General Pang, I plan to lay off some Wei soldiers. What do you think?

Pang Juan said:"Your Highness, you can't. Wei Wuzu is the sharpest sword in our country. How can we cut him off?" Wei Shen said:"General Pang, I plan to set up two armies, one with 50,000 soldiers from Wei Wu, and one with 50,000 from Huben troops. This way there will be competition." Only the Wei soldiers and the Huben army can become stronger, so some Wei soldiers must be laid off. After hearing this , Pang

Juan felt that there was some truth and said:"Your Highness, I think the cost of Wei Wuzu is too high. I plan to reduce the cost of Wei Wuzu. For example, their family is no longer exempt from tax.""

Wei Shen felt that it made sense after hearing this, because this Wei Wu soldier cost too much money. He not only had to support this soldier, but also his whole family. The money spent on him in a year would be as much as one or two gold, or one hundred thousand. A person needs one hundred thousand taels of gold a year, and if he adds his family, it will be even more.

Wei Shen thought for a while and asked,"What good plan does General Pang have?" Pang Juan replied:"First, the family of Wei Wuzu has to pay taxes, but the tax paid is less and only one-tenth. The second is to reduce the annuity given to Wei Wuzu's family every year. The third is that Wei Wuzu's personnel It was cut to 50,000. The fourth was to reduce the treatment of Wei soldiers and required them to exchange military exploits for money."

Wei Shen nodded after hearing this. He said:"General Pang, this is our military title system. If a soldier wants to receive rewards, he must pass military merits, and the more military merits, the higher the title. Moreover, this military title system does not provide fiefdom, but only money."Then Wei Shen showed the document to Pang Juan, and after reading it he shouted:"Great, the military title system can strengthen the combat effectiveness of our army. As the saying goes, there must be brave men under heavy rewards."

Wei Shen then said:"General Pang, I plan to reorganize the new army into the Huben Army. My plan for the future army is as follows. First, there will be 30,000 county soldiers in each county. Second, we will establish a field system and send troops to the army. One hundred thousand troops were responsible for garrisoning. These troops were called garrison soldiers. They went to Guanzhong County and Hanoi County to garrison respectively. This can solve our military's military needs and reduce our military's financial pressure. The third is to organize the Forbidden Army in the capital into the Yulin Army. Now the Forbidden Army in the capital has become a decoration for the ceremonial guard. Therefore, we need to retrain the Forbidden Army and train it into an elite division. After training, it will be called The Yulin Army is divided into two armies, the North and the South, with 20,000 troops each. Fourth, except for necessary patrols and guards, the remaining county soldiers from each county can return home to work in January, June, July, and October of the year. ,ThatIt's time to return to the county camps for military training. Fifth, each county must recruit county soldiers. Each county's county soldiers only need to train for one month a year, and they can stay at home the rest of the time. Each county's county soldiers can only retain one thousand people. General Pang, what do you think? Pang Juan listened carefully all the time, and after listening he said:"Your Highness, these five strategies, coupled with my changes to the military soldiers of Wei and the military title system, will definitely make our Wei army stronger."

Pang Juan added:"I don't know what your Highness the Prince's plan is for governing the country. He must not only manage military affairs externally, but also cultivate civility and morality internally." Wei Shen took out a box of bamboo slips and said,"General Pang, this is what I think. Take a look for yourself.""

Pang Juan saw so many bamboo slips and said:"Your Highness, you must have some major policies and general outlines."After hearing this, Wei Shen said:"My new law is divided into three outlines and fourteen policies. The three outlines are the military outline, the national outline, and the legal outline. The military outline is what I have listed with you. The national outline is the main outline. There are fourteen policies under the national outline. The first is a comprehensive system of counties and counties. Our Wei State currently only has Xihe County, Hedong County, Hanoi County and Guanzhong County. I plan to set up a county in the territory of Wei State to the north of Xihe County, and one near Zhao State. The territory is set up in the East County, so that our Wei State can have a comprehensive system of counties and counties. The second is to nationalize the land, and the land cannot be bought and sold. The third is to abolish the hereditary aristocracy and abolish the poll tax, such as the military merit system and those who have contributed to our Wei State. The enfeoffed titles are not hereditary. Once they die, two-thirds of the land entrusted by the nobles such as the officials must be returned, leaving only one-third of the land. The fourth is to establish a school and recruit wise men from all over the world to come to Wei. The fifth is to grant land, and each household can get a hundred acres of land. The excess land in those places will be confiscated. The sixth is to collect grain, and the people can use the excess land at home. Grain is sold to the state, and the state is willing to pay more than the market price to purchase grain. The seventh is the salt and iron order, which is exclusively owned by the state. The eighth is the order to reward farming and weaving. Those with high land yields are exempted from all taxes this year. The ninth is to abolish the head tax. , there are only two types of taxes levied across the country, one is the field tax, which only collects three-tenths of the output per mu, and the other is the commercial tax, which collects one-tenth of the money earned by each businessman. All cities do not collect city tax, and the customs tax for merchants at national gateways is reduced by half, from the original six hundred gold to three hundred gold. Ten is an increase system. The nationwide increase system stipulates that wealth is less than fifty gold and more than ten gold. Households charge one-tenth of the tax, those with more than one hundred gold but less than one thousand gold receive three-tenths of tax, those with more than one thousand gold but less than ten thousand gold receive four-tenths of tax, and those with more than ten thousand gold charge one-half tax. Taxes are paid annually. The eleventh is the warehousing order. Each county in the country builds two granaries at its own expense. The twelfth is the fishing and hunting order. Hunting can only be done in August and September every year. Fishing can be done in May, June and July. The thirteenth is the archery order. The relationship between people in the country is Small frictions can be resolved through archery competitions. The fourteenth is the reform of government affairs. Each county has a county guard, a county lieutenant, a county warehouse magistrate, and a county bandit, who are respectively in charge of administration, military affairs, granary and finance, public security and criminal law. The three positions are There are various official positions to manage farming, weaving, city construction, etc. Each county has county magistrates, county captains, county warehouse magistrates, and county bandits to manage administration, military affairs, finance, and public security criminal laws respectively. The main outline of the law is to abolish corporal punishment and use light punishment to manage the people..

After hearing this, Pang Juan said:"These policies are very good, but why can't we buy and sell land?""Wei Shen replied:"If you think about it, some very wealthy people are buying land on a large scale, which will cause some ordinary people to lose their land. This will only make the richer people richer and the poorer people poorer.. Pang Juan understood and said immediately:"His Royal Highness is the one who sees the long term.""