novelraw Chapter 130
Chapter 130
When Wei Shen returned to the mansion, Wang Xiao hurried over and said, "Your Highness, the business in Qin State is in trouble. Qin State collects eight out of ten commercial taxes. The Qin merchants who do business with us have gone bankrupt one after another, and our power in Qin State has been seriously weakened."
After hearing this, Wei Shen said, "Then we will directly participate in Qin State's business, directly purchase land, and raise the price of goods. The nobles in Qin State basically like to buy fine salt and wine, and the common people in Qin State also need to buy coarse salt. Since he has raised the tax, then we will raise the price!"
"Yes!" Wang Xiao replied.
Wei Shen said again, "I may not be at home this month, you can help me take care of the business."
"Yes." Wang Xiao agreed.
Daliang Camp
A group of strong soldiers were running, some soldiers were practicing military formations, and Pang Juan was checking the training of the soldiers on the side. These soldiers are not ordinary soldiers, but the most elite soldiers of Wei State - Wei Wuzu. Each Wei Wuzu is selected from thousands of people, and the cost of training one Wei Wuzu is higher than the cost of training ten ordinary soldiers.
A centurion came over and said to Pang Juan: "General, the Crown Prince is here!"
When Pang Juan heard that Wei Shen was coming, he hurried to the camp gate to greet Wei Shen. Wei Shen got off the carriage, and Pang Juan walked up to him and bowed, saying: "Greetings, Crown Prince!"
Wei Shen smiled and said: "General Pang, there is no need to be polite. This time I am here to see General Geng Ying. It is a good opportunity to see how the Wei Wuzu are trained?"
Wei Shen and Pang Juan walked into the camp together. Inside the camp, the soldiers were training vigorously. There were sounds of fencing, long halberds stabbing, and crossbows. Wei Shen glanced and said: "Well, yes, these Wei Wuzu trained after the second reform are obviously much more elite than the previous Wei Wuzu."
Pang Juan said on the side: "That's right. Although there were 100,000 Wei Wuzu in the past, they were completely inferior to the current 50,000. , the 50,000 Wei Wu soldiers now are no less than the Wei Wu soldiers trained by Wu Qi back then. ”
Wei Shen nodded and said, “Indeed, but this Wu soldier is still missing one thing.”
Pang Juan asked, “What is missing?”
Wei Shen replied, “Defeat. Back then, Wu Qi trained his soldiers first to fight defeat. Although the soldiers were familiar with the formation, they did not know how to turn defeat into victory after the defeat. When Wu Qi trained his soldiers, the soldiers were not arrogant when they won, and not impatient when they lost. They could always turn defeat into victory in times of crisis. This is because the soldiers knew in advance how to deal with those defeats, so they could deal with them calmly!”
Pang Juan bowed and said, “After listening to the words of His Royal Highness, it is better than reading for ten years. I will definitely train the soldiers in this direction in the future!”
Then the two inspected the camp and came to a shooting range. A man who looked like a general was teaching the soldiers on the side archery. The general bent his bow and shot an arrow, and shot a straight arrow into the red heart of the target a hundred steps away.
Wei Shen praised after seeing this: "Great archery skills!"
The general turned around and saw that it was Wei Shen and Pang Juan, and hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, saying: "I am Gengying, and I am honored to meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the General!”
Wei Shen smiled and said, “I heard that the general’s archery is the best in Daliang. Today I saw that it is true!”
Geng Ying said, “I can’t say he is the best, but he has practiced a lot.”
Wei Shen asked, “I will go to Qin tomorrow. I wonder what the general thinks of Qin?”
Geng Ying thought for a while and replied, “Although Qin is poor, its character is high. I think Qin may be a strong enemy of Wei. Qin people are fearless in battle and very difficult to deal with. Moreover, Qin has secretly trained 100,000 new troops. It won’t be long before Qin will attack Wei!”
Wei Shen nodded and said, “See you tomorrow!”
…………
The next morning
Wei Shen, Foreign Minister Gongsun Yue, and Geng Ying drove a carriage to Qin.
Along the way, Wei Shen felt bored and asked, “Mr. Gongsun, you are the Foreign Minister. What do you think of Qin’s reform? ”
Gongsun Yue thought for a while and said: "According to the investigation of Qin by the spies, the first thing Qin did in the past few years was to suppress the nobles; the second was to abolish the well-field system, allow private fields and distribute land to people, and allow land trading; the third was to increase business taxes and suppress merchants. Only the three major nobles of Meng, Xi and Bai were left to run the business in Xingguo; the fourth was to train new troops; the fifth was to build a new capital, which seemed to be called Xianyang; the sixth was the military rank system, which is what I know. ”
Wei Shen murmured: "It seems that there is not much difference between the reforms of Li Kui and Wu Qi."
Gongsun Yue said again: "There is still a little difference. The reforms of Li Kui and Wu Qi did not suppress merchants too much, while the reforms of Qin tried their best to suppress merchants, and the laws formulated by Qin were very strict. If one person broke the law, the whole family would be punished. Not only his wife and children would be arrested, but also all his neighbors would be arrested! ”
Geng Ying was shocked when he heard this and said, “Even if he was convicted, at most his family would be convicted, not even his neighbors, and the whole village would be sentenced together with him, which is a bit too much.”
Gongsun Yue said, “Indeed, Qin’s convict law really involves too many people. If we calculate it according to Qin’s annual practice, if one person in a village breaks the law, at least half of the people will go to jail with him. How can there be so many prisons to hold prisoners!”
Wei Shen joked, “I guess every village in Qin should be equipped with a prison.”
Gongsun Yue said, “And Qin’s military rank system also has some problems. For example, a hundred-man team cut off a total of ten heads, but 20 of the hundred-man team died in battle, and the hundred-man team had to pay ten heads, which directly offset those military merits. ”
Geng Ying said after hearing this: "This is a bit too much. In frontal combat, most of the time, 1,000 enemies are killed and 800 of the soldiers are injured. If it is commanded by an excellent general, the casualties are not large, but according to that ratio, ordinary soldiers do not have much military merit. ”
Wei Shen smiled and said: "Since Qin's military rank system has problems, then we will beat them and make their army doubt their lives."
………
Guanzhong County
Wei Shen and others came to the county town of Guanzhong CountyGaoling, the county governor Gongsun Fa and the county lieutenant Meng Wu were at the city gate to welcome them.
After Wei Shen and others came down, Gongsun Fa and Meng Wu bowed and said: "Meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the Foreign Minister, and General Geng Ying."
Wei Shen said: "We are tired from the travels for several days. We will rest here for one night and set off tomorrow. Send another 1,000 soldiers to escort us."
"Yes!" Gongsun Fa replied.
The next morning
Wei Shen and others went to Xianyang, the new capital of Qin, escorted by a thousand soldiers.
Entering the territory of Qin, the surrounding environment changed instantly. There were no scholars on the road, and there were few merchants. There were only Qin people who were still numbly farming in the fields. These people did not dare to speak when they met.
Passing a village, every household ignored each other, fearing that someone would break the law. After passing many places, it was found that Qin people were farming.
When they arrived at Xianyang City, Wei Shen and others came to the post station. The minister in charge of the post station saluted and said, "This minister greets the envoys of Wei."
Gongsun Yue also saluted and said, "Wei Foreign Minister Gongsun Yue greets the doctor. This minister is here to ask to see the Duke of Qin. Please inform him."
The minister of Qin bowed and said, "This minister will inform you immediately. Please wait here."
……
Qin Court
After listening to the report of the minister in charge of the post station, Qin Gong Ying Quliang said, "Everyone, the envoys of Wei are here. Tell me, what are they doing in Qin?"
Prime Minister Wei Yang stood up and said, "I think Wei is here to test my Qin this time."
Ying Quliang asked, "To test my Qin?"
Wei Yang replied, "That's right. I think Wei will definitely start a war after two years of recuperation. I estimate that Wei will The State of Wei may attack the State of Wei or the State of Song. The envoys of the State of Wei came to test the State of Qin and find out the results of the training of the new army of the State of Qin, so as to prepare for the sneak attack of the State of Qin! It is also to appease the State of Qin. It is possible that the State of Wei wants to form an alliance with the State of Qin. "
After hearing this, Ying Quliang said: "Prime Minister, since the State of Wei wants to attack the Central Plains countries, can the State of Qin sneak attack him?"
Wei Yang shook his head and said: "No, the State of Wei is powerful. If the State of Wei is only facing small countries such as the State of Wei and the State of Song, the State of Qin must not sneak attack. However, if the big countries such as the State of Qi and the State of Zhao intervene, the State of Qin can also take advantage of the danger to regain the lost land!"
Ying Quliang thought for a while and said: "Okay, but I don't plan to send the envoy of the State of Wei today. Let him come to see me tomorrow."
………
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