The Great Wei Empire in the Warring States Period

After listening to Mencius's lecture, Mencius said:"You students will have a debate tonight. I hope you will come and participate!" Everyone said:"Yes, sir!"

Wei Shen said to Wang Xiaodao:"I want to watch one tonight. After watching this debate, you should go back to the inn first!""Yes, young master," Wang Xiao said.

Wei Shen walked slowly in the Li De Hall and walked into a side room. He heard four students arguing in the room. Wei Shen eavesdropped outside the door and heard them discussing their country.

In the room, a student said:"Everyone, the most powerful country in the world today is only the State of Wei. Now the State of Wei is thirsty for talents, and it has undergone a second change. Its national strength is strong. I think it will be the most powerful country in the future. The country that hopes to dominate the world will be Wei."

Another student said:"Brother Gongsun, I think you are wrong. My father once said that the only countries that dominate the world are Qi and Qin. Qi has fish. The benefit of salt means that the national power must be stronger than other countries, and Qin has a very high fighting spirit and is known for its great talents and strategies, so Qin and Qi can hope to dominate the world!"

The student named Gongsun added:"Sun Brother, what you said is wrong, because Wei Guoguang has 150,000 elite soldiers, and there are several famous generals in the river, including Gongshu Cuo, Pang Cong, Pang Mao, Duan Qianpeng, and their prime minister Gongshu Cuo is also a civil and military expert. Talent, there is still a wise man Wu Tong in the country, why can't Wei dominate the world!"

Another student said:"Brother Sun, what Brother Gongsun said is absolutely true. Now Wei's national power has undergone a second change. It has only been two years. Over time, the strength has begun to far exceed that of other countries. As far as I know, the food stored in Wei Guoguang's central government is enough to feed an army of 400,000 for ten years. With such a strong reserve force and such sharp elite soldiers, why can't all the countries in the world surrender? Wei!"

The student surnamed Sun added:"Although Wei's national power is strong, as long as we, Qi State, join forces with Qin State to suppress Wei State, Wei State will definitely develop extremely slowly, and will definitely be conquered by our two countries. Defeat!"

The student named Gongsun said again:"Brother Sun, what you said is not right at all. Now, Wei has united the power of the three Jins. You also know that during the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin dominated the world with the power of one country. For hundreds of years, even the powerful state of Chu could only bow to the state of Jin. Now that the three Jins have joined forces, who can compete with them in the world?"

The student surnamed Sun added:"The three Jins unite, but they have their own The interests are only involved. As long as you send a eloquent person to lobby, the three Jins will be broken up. The three Jins are not worth mentioning. As long as the Wei State, the leader of the three Jins, is defeated, the other two countries will be just a bunch of bereaved dogs. That's all!"

When the other two students heard that the student named Sun was so arrogant, they stood up and snorted, then threw away their hands and left!

After going out, he happened to see Wei Shen eavesdropping. At this time, Wei Shen felt very embarrassed. The two people saw that Wei Shen was also wearing the appearance of a scholar. When they were about to speak, Wei Shen held up his hands and said,"I just heard you two As you said, Wei is the most powerful country in the world. Do you two want to go to Wei?" The two students did not blame Wei Shen for eavesdropping, but also handed over their hands and said,"We two really want to serve in Wei, because Only Wei can hope to dominate the world!" Wei Shen said:"You two, why don't you take a step to speak." Both of them agreed!

In a side room, Wei Shen asked:"I'm Wei Ming, do you know the last names of these two brothers?" The two saw that Wei Shen was probably under fifteen, so they thought they should call him brother Wei Shen, after all, they were older than him! A student in purple clothes said:"I am Gongsun Fa, a native of Lu. He once studied Confucianism under Gong Yixiu, the Prime Minister of Lu. He also studied at Jixia Palace School for two years. Now he is studying French. The way of the family!"

Another student in civilian clothes said:"I am from the Yan State in Xiashi City. I came to Jixia Academy to study the art of war. I have been studying here for five years. I feel that I have mastered the art of war. I plan to go to the Wei State to find a job. The position of general!"

When Wei Shen heard this, he was very happy because this Gongsun Fa turned out to be a student of Gong Yixiu, the famous prime minister of Lu State. You must know that this Gong Yixiu trained countless great talents, and almost all his disciples came from him. One of them is a talented person in the world, while the other is a city guard and will be a general of the Yan Kingdom in the future. When Sun Bin captured him during the Battle of Qi and Yan, Sun Bin thought that he was a talented person, so he only persuaded him to surrender without killing him! Unexpectedly, I found two talents right out of the gate.

Gongsun Fa said,"My dear brother, I wonder which country you are from?" Wei Shen said,"I am from the Wei State. I once studied under the Prime Minister of the Wei State, Gongshu Cuo." After hearing this, the city official said,"I heard that this Wei The Prime Minister of the country is a great talent in both civil and military affairs, but I heard that he is a bit greedy for money!"

Wei Shen thought to himself: Indeed, this Gongshu Cuo is indeed greedy for money. For his own benefit, he can ignore the country, so why the decline of Wei State is related to this Uncle Gong has a certain relationship! But recently, because Wei Shen himself has been working hard to serve the country and the people, it seems that Gongshu Cuo is also working hard to serve the country and the people!

Wei Shen said:"I wonder what you two think of all the countries in the world?"

Gongsun Fa said:"I look at the world of Wei. If you want to dominate the world, you must destroy a country, because Wei is in the midst of four wars. If you want to dominate the world, you must destroy a country. To get rid of this place of four wars, a country must be destroyed, and the country that should be destroyed most is the Qin State to the west. As long as the Qin State is destroyed, no country will be the opponent of the Wei State, and this Qi State is greedy Small profits will make a lot of money just for a little bit of land. If you don't have a long-term vision, you won't achieve anything great. Although Qin has the ambition to dominate, it is very poor in the country. If someone wants to change the law for Qin, Qin will definitely It will be strong, so we have to guard against Qin's ambitions. I think Wei's biggest enemy is not Qi, but Qin in the west!" After hearing this, Wei Shen felt that what Gongsun Fa said was very reasonable.

Shi Bao then said:"I am only good at the art of war. I think our Wei State not only needs strong infantry, but also cavalry. Brother Wei Mingxian, do you know how powerful the cavalry is? I am from the Yan State and often deal with Lin Hu. Those The Linhu people are riding horses, and our Yan army cannot catch up and can only be beaten passively, so I think the future cavalry will become the sharpest swords on the battlefield! In the future, chariots will definitely be gradually eliminated." Wei. After Shen listened to what Shi Bei said, it could be seen from his words that he should be a general!

Wei Shen decided not to hide his identity anymore and said to the two of them:"Brothers, I actually have another identity. But I need you to help me keep it secret!" When the two heard that Wei Shen had another identity , then asked:"Brother, what other identities do you have? Don't worry, the two of us will never say it. If we say it, there will be five thunders from heaven!" Wei Shen also knew that these two people would definitely keep the secret and whispered:"Actually, I am Wei Shen, the crown prince of Wei!"

He took out a small jade pendant from his waist, which represented the identity of the Wei royal family. When the two of them heard this, it turned out to be the Crown Prince of Wei who quickly saluted and said,"I have met His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Wei Shen smiled and said,"Brother, you don't have to salute me. Now that we are outside, the three of us are brothers." Health asked again:"Who was the person who was arguing with you just now?" Gongsun

Fa replied:"Xian brother, the person who was arguing with us just now is Sun Sheng, the son of Sun Bin!" It's just relying on his father's reputation!"

When Wei Shen heard that it was Sun Sheng, he thought to himself: I didn't expect to meet Sun Bin's son here. Maybe he would also meet the king of Qi! Wei Shen said again:"Two brothers, tonight How about we just have a debate?"We also have the same intention!""The two people said.

At night, the Renhe Hall was already brightly lit, like daylight!

There were hundreds of students sitting in the hall debating. Sitting above them were Mencius and Qin Huali. These two people represented Confucianism. , the two most famous schools of Mohism in the world, the two acted as supervisors to prevent quarrels during debates, and they also answered questions for students of various schools of thought!

Wei Shen discovered that there was no Legalist school, and only after asking the people on the side did he know, It turned out that the Legalist school had not yet been fully formed at this time. Suddenly he thought that the Legalist school was not fully established until after Shang Yang's reform.

Just when he didn't know where to sit, Gongsunfa pulled him to sit with a group of them. Behind each group of people there was a sign with the name of each country written on it, and the sign behind him said exactly It is the state of Wei.

Wei Shen asked:"Brother, why are there no signs of various schools of thought, but signs of various countries?"

Gongsunfa explained:"This Jixia Academy was actually not built many years ago, so the academy type There are only three schools of thought among the hundred schools of thought, namely Mohism, Confucianism and Military School. There are not so many schools at all, so they hang the signs of each country. If someone supports a country, he will sit under the sign of that country."After Wei Shen understood, he saw Shi Fu sitting behind him, and the two of them saluted each other!

Mencius, who was sitting above, said:"Now let's start the debate. The topic of the debate is, among all the countries in the world, who has the ability to become the overlord of the world?" I saw a group of people from Qi State, and one person stood up and said,"I think the most promising person in the world to dominate the world." The country that dominates the world should be Qi, because Qi has the advantage of fishing and salt, plus the civil servants Tian Li and Zou Ji, the military commanders Tian Shou, Tian Pan, Tian Ji, and the military commander Sun Bin. Today Qi is already full of talents. Which country in the world can be rivaled?"

Among the group of people standing in Wei State, one person stood up and said:"That student, what you said is unreasonable. I think the country in the world that is most capable of dominating the world is Wei State. , the current Wei State has gone through two reforms, and its national strength is very strong. There are many talents in the country, including Gong Shucuo, Pang Cong, Pang Mao, Duan Qianpeng in literature, Pang Juan, Wei Si, Gongzi Yan in military affairs, and Wu Tong in military affairs. The talents of Wei State are also full of talents, and their strength is much stronger than that of Qi State, so I think the country with the most ability to dominate the world is Wei State!" At this time, a man standing in the group of people from Qi State stood up and said When Wei Shen saw that the man was Sun Bin's son Sun Sheng, Sun Sheng stood up and said:"I think the most capable country in the world to dominate the world is Qi. First of all, Qi has no worries and doesn't have to worry about enemy countries sneaking up on Qi from the rear. Secondly, Qi State has the advantage of fishing and salt, and thirdly Qi State has the danger of the Great Wall. On the other hand, Wei State is in a place of four wars. Once the relationship with neighboring countries is not good, it will be attacked from all directions, and Wei State His territory in the east has no dangerous place to defend and is very easy to be attacked by other countries, so I think the country most capable of dominating the world is Qi!"

Gongsunfa next to Wei Shen stood up and said:"Everyone, I think the most powerful country should be The country that dominates the world is Wei. Although Wei is in the land of the Four Wars, as long as it unites South Korea and Zhao, it can attack Qin in the west, suppress Qi in the east, and resist Chu in the south. Moreover, Wei is not without a way to resolve the Four Wars. To solve the problem of land, you only need to destroy one of the four countries. The current Wei State is very powerful. It is very simple for him to destroy a country. Therefore, I think the country that should dominate the world is Wei!"

I saw the students below were discussing one after another. A scholar asked the two teachers above:"Two gentlemen, I wonder who is right and who is wrong in what they said?"

Mencius smiled and said:"Everyone has their own reasons. It doesn't matter who is right or wrong. This debate mainly allows you to see the situation in the world clearly!"

Qin Huali said:"Wei is the strongest among all the countries in the world, followed by Chu and Qi. Ranked third, the strength of other countries is about the same. However, our Mohist family values ​​​​universal love and non-aggression, and does not approve of Wei’s invasion of the world everywhere! Big countries bully small countries, strong countries bully weak countries, and the world is in chaos. It started from King You. I really hope the world There is no war!"

The debate almost lasted for more than two hours. Finally, Mencius said:"It's getting very late. The debate ends here. Everyone, please go home!" After being rude, everyone retreated. And Wei Shen also benefited a lot from this debate. He already understood the future development direction of Wei! Wei will annex the world under his leadership!