Wang Sunsheng has always been the most hard-core main fighting faction in many counties of Chu country. He sends Zixi a letter of invitation to fight almost every month. Today, he is uncharacteristically and turned to the peace, which surprised everyone present.

Sima Ziqi couldn't help but ask: "Bai Gong, didn't you say before that you wanted to destroy Chen Quicai and win the terrain for the state of Chu?"

"Da Sima, this moment, that moment."

Wang Sunsheng said with some regret: "Two years ago, the State of Zhao had just ended the war with the State of Wu, and the State of Qi was still on the side, and the troops were exhausted and the people were exhausted. If the State of Chu raided Huaishang, the State of Zhao would be unable to cope. But now The state of Qi has been divided into three parts, and the princes of the Central Plains have to submit to Zhao Wuchun's lewd power. If the state of Chu and Zhao contend for Chen and Cai, apart from Qin and Zheng, who are uncertain whether they will oppose Zhao, there are no allies who can. To share the pressure of Zhao's 100,000 teachers for Chu."

He analyzed that Zhao Wuxi liked the truth to be true, and the truth was false. Zhao Guo's involvement in Chen Cai, in fact, did not really want to go south and compete with Chu for southern hegemony. The real purpose is to distract the State of Chu and prolong the melee between Chu, Wu and Yue. If the State of Chu is caught in Zhao Wuxi's tactic and blindly competes for Chen Cai, it will actually make the State of Wu recover, who has only one breath left. Once again, the situation in which Jin and Wu attacked the state of Chu was reproduced.

"It's better not to fight if you can't fight. The plan for now is to give up the state of Cai, be content with acquiring several towns in the southern part of the state of Chen, and concentrate on uniting the state of Yue to destroy the state of Wu. As long as the state of Wu is destroyed, there will be no more troubles, and the state of Chu will hold the halberd. Two hundred thousand, Fangcheng, Huaihan, and Dabie are still solid."

Le Yin Zhongjian asked, "Then, what if the Zhao army really went south when Chu attacked Wu?"

"I'm afraid Zhao Guo doesn't have the energy."

Wang Sunsheng explained that the state of Zhao seems to be very prosperous now, but it is actually very tired. In the past ten years, there has been almost every year without war. The consumption of food, soldiers and horses has been too great, and the government treasury has long been unable to bear it. It is said that Zhao Hou even had to borrow money from wealthy merchants and landlords in Yecheng to send troops. The old debt had not been repaid, so he borrowed another bond for the attack on Qi.

"With Zhao Hou's stable character, he should rest for a few years, save food, and then go to war again. At most, a small number of troops will be sent to Chen Cai to station. Chu Guoming does not want to send troops, just send someone to contact the doctor who is close to Chu. Let them spread rumors that are unfavorable to Zhao Jun, wait for an opportunistic coup, and the turbulent Chen Cai will be enough to become a burden to Zhao in the south, and Chu will ally with Yue to destroy Wu in one fell swoop!"

As expected of a person who had been a retainer in the Zhao family for many years, Wang Sunsheng could be said to be the person who knew Zhao Wuxi the most in Chu. It becomes very clear!

"Good, great good! Just act according to Duke Bai's policy!"

Zixi is very happy. In his eyes, Wang Sunsheng is like a bird's egg that was picked up. He was hatched and grown up, and he used his wings to protect him. Leng Touqing, who shouted and killed, has grown into a mature county magistrate.

Zixi and his younger brother Ziqi are not too young, and they will be old in a few years. Their sons are young and have no prestige. , Wang and Sunsheng, so Zixi wanted to hand over the burden to them.

Ye Gong was very stable, he was very relieved, but the only thing he could not worry about was whether Bai Gong was competent. But after today's incident, a stone fell in Zixi's heart, and he became more and more appreciative of Wang Sunsheng. After the court meeting, he directly let the two go to his mansion for a feast, as if he had already regarded them as the successors of Ling Yin and Sima. .

Although Ling Yin Zixi has always been simple, but the feast of hospitality is not bad, with good rice and yellow rice. The stewed turtle soup, the roasted lamb leg, the vinegar-smoothed swan meat, and the fried geese and pigeons dipped in fresh sugar cane syrup have a unique southern taste.

Halfway through the banquet, the dancers and musicians came up to perform the dance. After singing "Shering the River" and then "Cai Ling", Zixi listened to it for a while, smiled disapprovingly, and waved their hands to let them go down.

He also said to Ye Gong and Bai Gong: "The best music in Yingdu is the sound of Zhong Ziqi, the son of Le Yin and Ji Mi. Although he is only a weak man, he has inherited the music of Chu for hundreds of years. Essence, at the banquet some time ago, I played a song "Yang Ah" for the king, which shocked all four. After listening to that wonderful sound, and then listening to other music, I felt that I couldn't hear it."

"Sheng is a vulgar person who doesn't understand music."

Zixi was old and babbled, but Bai Gongsheng couldn't sit still. He didn't pick up Zixi's topic, but stood up, clasped his fists and said, "I haven't seen my uncle for several years, and Sheng doesn't have any skills to offer, so he said A story, let’s talk about it for fun…”

...

"There was a man in Anhui who accidentally dropped his sword into the water while crossing the river in a boat. He carved a mark with a knife on the boat and said: 'This is where my sword fell into the water.' When the boat stopped, the man walked along the Mark jumped into the river to look for the sword, but couldn't find it anywhere..."

After hearing this, Lord Ye was thoughtful, but Zixi didn't think too much. He laughed and said, "This man is stupid. The boat has already moved, but the sword can't. If you ask for a sword like this, wouldn't you be confused?"

"That's right." Bai Gongsheng also said: "She also laughed at this man at the time, but he couldn't laugh when he thought about it carefully, because today's state of Chu is like this fool, carving a boat for a sword!"

"Zixi's smile froze: "Sheng, what do you mean by that? "

"The State of Zhao swept the north and dominated the Central Plains. The general trend of the world, driven by Zhao Wuxi's single hand, was surging forward like a torrent that never stopped. The princes of the world are like ships swept away by this torrent, and the state of Chu is among them. But the people of Chu still live in the glory of the past, thinking that after the sword fell, a mark was engraved on the boat, and when the boat docked, they could get it back by jumping off, but they did not know that the times had changed, and then follow the previous mark to find The sword is absolutely impossible to find!"

After Bai Gongsheng explained the meaning of this fable, he bowed down and said: "So if the state of Chu does not change, it will definitely be eliminated by the world. Don't say that the hegemony of King Zhuang was revived, I'm afraid that even the government will not be able to keep it!"

"Change..." Zixi was silent for a long time.

Zixi is the man who carved a boat and asked for a sword in the fable of Wang Sunsheng. His character is conservative and hesitant, so during the 20 years as Ling Yin, Chu's national policy has always been to restore the past, rather than to introduce new ones.

Ten years of healing wounds, ten years of restoring the power of the people, restoring the order that was torn to pieces, letting the old clans return to their places, and letting the heroic people serve as county magistrates to shield the royal family, the former situation of Chu State, Finally recovered seventy or eighty percent.

However, the northern expedition of King Zhao of Chu was blocked, but the people of Chu country woke up from their dream of a great country.

They were stunned to find that twenty years later, the neighbors in the north had become so unfamiliar. The Chu people loved the artifacts produced by Zhao, but they did not know how to do it. The weapons produced by Zhao were so powerful that the craftsmen of Chu were dumbfounded. .

The feudal lords also began to abandon the feudal etiquette that the Chu State still regarded as Guiyu, and began to merge and merge, and created a behemoth that dominates the north: the State of Zhao.

The strength of the Zhao state has become a heavy persecution for the nations, and Wang Sunsheng, the defector of the Zhao family, has never forgotten his fears and worries about Zhao.

He said in a hurried tone: "Uncle, today's world is a world of great competition. The fortune of the country is like a boat against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat. Just relying on the old oars is not enough. You must make a brand new sail for the big ship of Chu! Chu! The country must reform, in order to avoid collapse and division like Qi."

"I know, it's just..."

Zixi sighed.

There is no shortage of changes in the state of Chu. Since Xiongqu, he has dared to break through the old ritual system, challenged Zhou Shi, and brazenly became king. After that, the state of Chu established the Lingyin and Sima systems, which were very different from those in the Central Plains, and also created the county system, and the county government (similar to Fengjun) took the place of governance. After that, King Zhuangshi of Chu also carried out large-scale changes to the system of Chu State, and thus became hegemony.

But changes are not always successful, and there are also failed changes, and that is King Ling of Chu...

At that time, King Ling of Chu felt that there were too many vassals in the state of Chu, so he outright destroyed Chen and Cai, and moved the rest of the small states into the hinterland.

However, his reform failed, and the defeat was a mess. The internal affairs of Chu State became a mess since then. In the end, King Ping I of Chu could not recover, and it also laid a hidden danger for Wu Jun to enter Ying.

Therefore, Zixi is a little afraid of reform. If he can stop, he will definitely not move forward, and even take a few steps back cautiously, and even if he wants to reform, he does not know how to start.

However, Wang Sunyu, who had been on an envoy to the north, also worriedly told Zixi that one day, this kind of change would break through the geographical restrictions and come to Chu State, but when and who proposed it, it is unknown.

Zixi now knows that the first person who proposed the reform was Wang Sunsheng, who was influenced by the two different cultures of Chu and Zhao at the same time.

Can Wang Sunsheng in front of him rely on it and become his help?

Thinking like this~lightnovelpub.net~, his eyes glanced at Ye Gong and Shen Zhuliang.

"Zi Gao, what do you think?"

Ye Gong did not hesitate, and said succinctly: "As Bai Gong said, the state of Chu is indeed unable to remain unchanged. The state of Zhao is too pressing, and the princes are eager to find a way out. , Qin State has begun to imitate Zhao State's reforms, one has successfully revived, and the other has stabilized its position, while the Chen family of Qi State, who is still walking the old road, has fallen. The country reforms the law, but we must hear whether Mr. Bai has specific measures."

After speaking, he sat back, leaving Zixi to weigh the pros and cons. Wang Sunsheng glanced at Duke Ye gratefully, and sure enough, it was worthwhile to communicate with Duke Ye before coming.

After thinking for a long time, the conservative old Ling Yin finally took the first step tremblingly.

"Sheng, let's talk about it, how should the state of Chu reform?"

Wang Sunsheng was overjoyed, and said again: "I also ask my uncle not to blame. The boy thinks that the troubles of the Chu state lie in the fact that there are too many clansmen and the county magistrate is too important!"

PS: Chapter 2 is at night