Back to the Warring States Period as Zhao Kuo

Zhao Kuo actually doesn't know much about Su Qin.

More are from various books and records, as well as some words and phrases of Su Li, Su Dai and others.

So when Su Li took the initiative to talk about this elder brother who had passed away for many years, Zhao Kuo was of course very interested.

Su Li said to Zhao Kuo: "Speaking of which, my elder brother actually wanted to unify the world, but his unification may not be the same as your lord's unification.

In my elder brother's opinion, he should gather all the vassal states together and merge them into a new state.

This new country has a new supreme king, and the princes under it can still continue to rule their own country, but the supreme king of this new country must make decisions in terms of foreign diplomacy and military affairs. "

When Zhao Kuo heard it, he was a little hard to understand at first, but he immediately came back to his senses.

This is actually a federal state in the Western system.

A federal country is a country composed of a number of states. These states are actually equivalent to individual princes. The governor can freely exercise his administrative power and does not accept the intervention and command of the highest leader. Not from the top leadership, but from the state itself.

This kind of system has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that since the top leader cannot be involved in the actual affairs of the state, each state can rule by itself, which is relatively stable.

But there are also disadvantages. The disadvantage is that in this way, the whole country is actually relatively scattered, and internal friction is very serious.

When a federal country is strong, its national strength can withstand the internal friction of the country, which is equivalent to having only advantages and no disadvantages.

But once the country begins to decline, its national strength can no longer withstand the country's internal friction, and this kind of internal friction will make the country enter the decline path more quickly.

In comparison, the unified system in the history of China usually means that the monarch has the highest power, and the local power is relatively weak.

The advantage of the unified system is that there are relatively few internal conflicts in the country, and it can also mobilize the power of the whole country to make some big projects and projects that amaze the whole world.

However, because the power of the unified system is too concentrated on the monarch, when a fatuous monarch appears, the damage to the country will be extremely serious.

There is no perfect thing in the world, and of course there cannot be a perfect system.

Any system has its pros and cons. The key is not the system itself, but how to bring out the country's system and maximize its strengths and avoid its weaknesses. This is the topic that the rulers of the country should really study. .

From this perspective, it is undoubtedly very commendable that Su Qin was able to propose the national concept of a federal system in such an early period of time in China.

Su Qin did try this kind of system in history. He once became the prime minister of 5 eastern countries, which means that part of the power of these 5 countries was handed over to Su Qin.

It's a pity that due to various factors, Su Qin's attempt failed in the end.

Thinking of this, Zhao Kuo also expressed emotion: "Su Qin really deserves to be one of the most outstanding diplomatic strategists in the past century. It is indeed admirable."

What makes Zhao Kuo a little regretful is that Su Qin cannot be used by him. Otherwise, Zhao Kuo believes that he can make Su Qin shine brighter than in history.

At this time, a fast horse suddenly came in front of Zhao Kuo, and a piece of information from the capital of Chu State was sent along with the fast horse.

After Zhao Kuo saw the content of this information, he couldn't help laughing.

"Do these Chu people still want to give me a blow?"

Zhao Kuo's expression was quite relaxed, obviously he didn't take this matter too seriously.

On the other hand, Su Li was quite upset after hearing this content: "These Chu people really don't know what to do. It's clear that our Zhao country came here for peace this time, but they want to provoke and find trouble."

Zhao Kuo smiled, and said quite calmly: "Although Chu State has been in decline for many years, everyone in this country thinks that they are still the powerful Nantian Ba. Accept the fact that they have completely declined.

It is true that Chu State is a country with a lot of historical background and tradition, and it has been strong in history for many years, but their current feeling of unwillingness to admit history can only be said to be a bit of an ostrich mentality. "

Su Li said, "Then what should we do now?

Otherwise, we might as well let the army from Handan go south and come to the border to frighten these Chu people, and let them know how much they are. "

Zhao Kuo thought for a while, and said with a smile: "This is indeed a good idea, I will write a letter back to Handan later, and see if the king can let Xu Li move some of his troops to Daliang City. "

The distance between Daliang City and Chencheng, the capital of Chu State, was relatively close. Once Xu Li led his troops to Daliang City, it would definitely be a very great psychological pressure for the people of Chu State.

Su Li nodded yes, and asked again: "Does the lord need the minister to do anything else?"

In Su Li's mind, the people of Chu State must be in big trouble this time, after all, Zhao Kuo's style has never liked to suffer.

But what surprised Su Li was that Zhao Kuo waved his hand very casually and said: "There is no need to do other things, we just need to watch the people of Chu quietly, and when the time comes, they will serve us. A pot of any kind of big meal will do.”

For Zhao Kuo, he has never paid attention to the people of Chu State. After all, the current rulers of Chu State are actually the chief culprit for the decline of Chu State.

The three major families have always been equivalent to three parasites. Many feudal nobles represented by them are parasitic in the torso of Chu State, constantly sucking the blood of Chu State. There is no way to truly become the number one in the world.

Although the Chu kings of all dynasties have tried various methods to weaken these fiefdom nobles, they have never been able to do so.

Taking the current state of Chu as an example, Chunshen Jun Huang Xie has been the Ling Yin of the state of Chu for so many years, and he can only suppress these nobles, but cannot completely ban them.

Even after so many years of struggle, Lord Chunshen himself was assimilated by these Chu nobles, and now Lord Chunshen has the most fiefs among all the nobles in Chu.

The problem of Chu State is a system problem in the true sense. If the system cannot be changed, anyone can only tinker with it. After all, it is impossible to change the fate against the sky.

This is why it is not a coincidence that Qin and Zhao were able to compete for the hegemony of the Warring States Seven Hegemons in the last period of time in history, but because the systems of these two countries were indeed the most advanced at the time and most suitable for the war of hegemony of.

Facing such a state of Chu, Zhao Kuo had no fear in his heart.

If the Chu people want to engage in any conspiracy, then let them come anyway. Could it be that Zhao Kuo will lie to them?

In terms of pretending to face, Zhao Kuo definitely has his own self-confidence. This kind of self-confidence is so strong that it can be said that there are few people in the world.

A few days later, Chen Cheng arrived.

Looking at Chen Cheng, who was almost the same as a few years ago, Zhao Kuo shook his head lightly, then got out of the carriage, and greeted Chun Shenjun who was already waiting here with a smile. Say hello.

"Mr. Chunshen, I haven't seen you for many years."

After hearing Zhao Kuo's words, Chun Shenjun was actually a little embarrassed.

After all, the two of them had actually faced each other on the battlefield once in the past two years, but the ending was obviously very bad for Chun Shenjun and the Chu people.

But in any case, it is a diplomatic occasion after all, Chunshen Jun can only temporarily suppress these thoughts in his heart, and smiled at Zhao Kuo: "Wu Xinjun can come, we are very happy in the Chu Kingdom , Your Majesty has already hosted a banquet in the palace, please come with me.”

When Chunshen Jun spoke, he was actually a little uneasy, because he knew that on the surface, the Chu people welcomed Zhao Kuo very much, but in fact, Jingyang's disarming power had been in full swing for a long time.

How will things develop?

At least at this moment, Mr. Chunshen felt that he could only pray for God's blessing.

I hope Wu Xinjun won't be slapped too badly this time.

Chapter 981

Looking at Chunshen Jun with a vaguely anxious expression in front of him, Zhao Kuo also felt a little funny.

In a sense, Chun Shenjun is indeed a very rare person in this era.

He is old-fashioned and abides by the aristocratic demeanor that no one has long followed. Even if he is hostile to him, he often prefers to be open and aboveboard rather than stabbing others in the back.

It's a pity that when the times have evolved to the point where intrigue is prevalent, an honest person like Chun Shenjun, although indeed an advantage, becomes a bigger disadvantage at some point.

However, Zhao Kuo did not reveal these thoughts in his mind, he just pretended nothing had happened, chatting and laughing with Chunshen Jun along the way, and came to the Chu Palace.

Here Zhao Kuo met the King of Chu without any accident.

The spirit of the king of Chu seemed to be quite good. He accepted the letter of the state of Zhao written by Zhao Kuo handwritten by Zhao Kuo, and then started a family life with Zhao Kuo very affectionately.

"Mr. Wu Xin, I heard that you recently gave birth to a son. It seems that your future career is also expected to be inherited."

Up to now, Zhao Kuo's three women have given birth to 8 children for him, and the son and daughter are exactly halfway.

Zhao Kuo also smiled when he heard the words, and said to King Chu: "Thank you for your concern, my lord. Frankly speaking, in this era, I think the population of our Chinese princes is still too small. If every family can give birth to 8 or 10 children, That couldn't be better."

What Zhao Kuo said was really not a joke, because the total population of the Qin Dynasty recorded in the history of later generations was more than 3000 million. It seems that the current population of the Huaxia people is obviously far from enough.

At least one more 0 must be added, from more than 3000 million to 3 million, then Zhao Kuo will be satisfied with this number.

Of course, the King of Chu didn't know these thoughts in Zhao Kuo's mind. He couldn't help laughing after hearing Zhao Kuo's words: "Of course it is easy to have a child, but the key problem is that he may not be able to keep the child born." You have to live."

What the King of Chu said is indeed true. Because the medical technology of this era is quite backward, it is said that after birth, the probability of a newborn dying due to various factors or diseases is very high.

In fact, it wasn't until human society entered modern times that the infant mortality rate was completely controlled to a single-digit probability, which is less than 10.

You must know that pregnancy is a very long process. When a baby born after October is conceived dies soon, this blow is very heavy for any family.

Zhao Kuo nodded, and said in full agreement: "To tell the truth, the foreign minister feels that this is indeed a problem worthy of our solution. Now our country of Zhao actually has some medical plans. The foreign minister There is also a book here, if the king is interested, he can read it."

Speaking of which, Zhao Kuo immediately took out a book from his arms and handed it to King Chu.

The King of Chu took Zhao Kuo's book with some doubts, and found that on the cover of the book were the precautions for women during pregnancy and postpartum care.

The King of Chu said to Zhao Kuo with some dumbfounding: "Mr. Wu Xin, I have always heard that you are the most capable person in war. I didn't expect you to understand these matters now?"

At this time, Jing Jing, who was on the side, couldn't wait to speak and interjected: "It's really interesting that a dignified man pays attention to these trivial matters related to women."

Jingyang's words sounded normal, but the irony inside was still very obvious.

Since Jingyang himself was the most core minister of Chu State, it is needless to say his connections in Chu State, so there was a burst of muffled laughter in the hall immediately.

Zhao Kuo also glanced at Jingyang, it seems that Jingyang really couldn't hold back the anger in his heart, even though he couldn't wait for the banquet to start, he had already fired at Zhao Kuo.

But Zhao Kuo felt that Jingyang didn't see the situation clearly.

If it is about eloquence, Zhao Kuo is not bragging, let alone these Chu people, even if they bring the best debaters in the world to Zhao Kuo, is Zhao Kuo afraid?

Zhao Kuo said with a smile, "Da Sima's words are wrong, women are indispensable to this society.

If there is no birth of women, how did everyone here get here?

Could it be that everyone just fell out of the cracks in the rocks out of thin air?

As for the benefits of population, I don’t think I need to say more. The reason why a big country can always form a crushing situation against a small country is because the big country has a larger population and more sufficient human resources, whether it is farming or war. In all aspects, can they snowball by virtue of their numerical advantages, and finally occupy the real national strength advantage?

So this book seems to be for the purpose of having children, but it is actually for the purpose of increasing the population of each country and making the country stronger.

As ministers, if what we are thinking about is not to make this country stronger, but to think about weird things all day long, to make things difficult for others, to engage in political struggles, this is the real downfall. the lower level.

Being an official also needs to have the structure of being an official. If you only think about your own power, you are an idiot.

Only by being an official for the country and the people is a truly good official and can truly leave a name in history! "

After Zhao Kuo said these words, everyone in the hall suddenly became silent, and even the king of Chu couldn't help being moved.

After a while, a burst of applause suddenly sounded.

While applauding, the King of Chu said very seriously: "I have always wondered why the State of Zhao is stronger than our State of Chu, and the State of Zhao is still growing stronger.

But after hearing what Wu Xinjun said today, the widow seemed to understand.

The reason why Zhao State is strong is precisely because there are officials like Wu Xinjun who are tirelessly serving Zhao State. Unlike our Chu State, some people only think about fighting for power and profit all day long, but they never put the interests of the country and the people on the line. in the 1st place.

Wu Xinjun, I would like to thank you for giving this book to the people of the country, and thank you for teaching me this lesson! "

The king of Chu was really moved at this time. He really didn't expect that Zhao Kuo, who thought he was just a reckless man and an executioner on the battlefield, could say such a statement that implied great power in governing the country. Reasonable words.

This kind of contrast had a very strong impact on the King of Chu, and made the King of Chu instantly detach from the original hatred and disdain for Zhao Kuo, and suddenly turned into admiration and understanding.

At this moment, the king of Chu even felt a little regretful. If Zhao Kuo was not from Zhao but from Chu, and if Zhao Kuo was sitting in the position of Ling Yin of Chu today, what kind of earth-shaking changes would happen to Chu? Woolen cloth?

But Chu Wang also knew that there should be no way to make up for this regret, at least in a short period of time.

Hearing the King of Chu's praise to Zhao Kuo, Jingyang's expression was quite ugly.

What made Jingyang's face even more ugly was still behind. After the King of Chu applauded, other ministers of Chu State also started to applaud one after another.

Chun Shenjun couldn't help expressing emotion: "Wu Xinjun, I have always underestimated you, and today I know that you are not only a general who can fight on the battlefield, but also a person who can govern the country." A well-organized minister.

Frankly speaking, the old man is really ashamed of himself. "

Zhao Kuo laughed, and said to Chunshenjun, "Chunshenjun is too modest.

Let me put it this way, of all the people in this hall today, except for the king, the only one I can look up to is Chun Shenjun. "

Zhao Kuo's words were like a bomb in the hall instantly, and everyone's hearts exploded.

The meaning couldn't be more obvious, that is to say, except for Lord Chunshen, all the ministers in the Chu Kingdom are useless.

Jingyang's face can be said to be completely gloomy and can't be more gloomy, and the ugly can't be more ugly, because Jingyang knows that Zhao Kuo's words are all aimed at Jingyang.

But Zhao Kuo's eloquence is here, and Jingyang really can't refute it at all.

The King of Chu also came to his senses at this time, after all, this is the territory of the Chu State, and Jingyang is also a courtier of the King of Chu, it would never be possible for Zhao Kuo, a foreign envoy, to blatantly suppress Jingyang in the territory of the Chu State, right?

So the king of Chu immediately stood up and started to smooth things over.

"Okay, okay, don't go on talking anymore, I'm a little hungry now, Mr. Wu Xin, let me go to the banquet with the widow."

According to common sense, the banquet should actually be held in the main hall, but today, out of some special considerations, the king of Chu specially set up this welcome banquet on a high platform in the palace of Chu.

This high platform is a viewing platform. Looking around from this high platform, most of the buildings in the Chu Palace can be seen clearly.

In this banquet, King Chu is the host, Zhao Kuo is the guest of honor, and the ministers of Chu State are responsible for accompanying.

At this time, we can see how much the state of Chu respects Zhao Kuo and the state of Zhao. All kinds of famous dishes are brought up like flowing water, and the fragrance of fine wine from the state of Chu is wafting in the air.