After Zhu Xiang said this, the smile on Chunshen Jun's face faded.
He looked straight into Zhu Xiang's eyes, trying to see into the heart of this world-famous sage.
Anyone who hears of Zhu Xiang's reputation will be curious whether Zhu Xiang is really a true gentleman as the rumors say, or whether he is just overrated by the world.
The scholars of the six states all hoped that Zhu Xiang's reputation was exaggerated. Otherwise, how could one explain Zhu Xiang's full support for the most tyrannical King Qin? Wasn't this aiding and abetting the tyrant
Huang Xie felt deceived when he heard Lin Zhi's words that Zhu Xiang was ignored by the King of Qin. But when he returned to his residence and thought about it, he found many loopholes.
In the few years after Zhu Xiang entered Qin, King Zhaoxiang of Qin's style of doing things was completely different from before.
Although King Zhaoxiang of Qin had caused headaches for the six kingdoms, he was just a predictable ruler.
Huang Xie once lived in Qin State with the King of Chu, who was a hostage in Qin State for a full ten years, and thought he knew Qin State and the King of Qin very well.
The Qin State and its King were indeed powerful, but they were not too far away from the other six states. When the other six states were strong, their rulers were about the same as the King of Qin.
But after Zhu Xiang entered Qin, the volatile Qin State suddenly became quiet, which made Huang Xie feel frightened.
Being quiet doesn't mean that Qin has lost its danger, but it has become more dangerous. Everyone knows that wild animals are accumulating strength when they are quiet.
Qin State behaved uncharacteristically, and there must be a reason behind it.
What other reason could there be besides Zhu Xiang's entry into Qin? It must be that Zhu Xiang influenced the King of Qin's decision.
Judging from this result, Zhu Xiang was by no means unpopular in Qin. Although he was not in the court, he was able to participate in Qin's state affairs.
When the news of Qin's increased production came, Huang Xie began to persuade the King of Chu to take advantage of the opportunity when Qin calmed down and unite with other countries to attack Qin.
I heard that when Zhu Xiang was in Zhao State, he was able to double the output of common people's farmland. How stupid was the King of Zhao to turn a blind eye to it
If the yield of the common people's fields across the country doubles, how much more tax can the country collect? How many more people can it feed? How many more soldiers can it train and how much more food can it store
The King of Qin conquered so much territory in the six kingdoms before, but no one thought that he could unify the six kingdoms. This is just like the Chu Kingdom destroyed more than a hundred small countries, and the Central Plains and Qin Kingdom did not take the Chu Kingdom seriously.
The land that the King of Qin swallowed up now will be spit out immediately as soon as the situation becomes unstable. This has been the case for all countries for hundreds of years.
However, Cai Ze's cooperation in defending the Shangdang Highlands and repelling the not-so-famous small battles that harassed Wei and Han made Huang Xie see something different.
When they heard that Cai Ze was defending the city, the common people in Shangdang Highlands, which had just been annexed by Qin, spontaneously helped the Qin soldiers. Even though such help would not be counted as military merit, it was a dangerous thing for the common people without any benefit.
When Qin attacked Shangdang, the people of Shangdang fled to Zhao with their families. It has only been a few years
Even when cities in the heart of the country were attacked, the common people would pay taxes to whoever won. Huang Xie had never seen ordinary people in any country die for their country.
Apart from soldiers, only scholars of high moral character would die for their country. Common people are like livestock, which do not care which owner they belong to.
This incomprehensible thing made Huang Xie feel fear, and it was like a seed planted in Huang Xie's heart.
After Li Mu occupied Southern Chu, this seed began to take root and sprout.
Huang Xie was the most radical nobleman in Chu. When Qin occupied southern Chu, even though the king of Chu and the great nobles did not take any action, Huang Xie sent people within his power.
Even if he could not recapture Southern Chu in one fell swoop, he would create trouble for Qin to occupy Southern Chu.
Huang Xie thought this would be easy.
The Chu State occupied the southern Chu land for so many years but failed to subdue the old country's descendants. With just a little provocation, the old country's descendants and the barbarians in the southern Chu land will definitely rebel. The Chu people who stayed in the southern Chu land must want to return to the Chu State.
However, the reality went against his will. All of Huang Xie's provocative tactics fell on deaf ears, and the ripples were not even as big as the original waves of the sea.
The people he sent reported that the reason for the failure was the arrival of Duke Zhu Xiang.
Duke Xiang of Zhu first sent people to verify the local people's fields, and then, based on the fields already occupied by the common people, he evenly distributed the uncultivated wild land and the fields confiscated from the nobles to the local people.
After they had the land, neither the Chu people, the survivors nor the migrated Qin people were willing to cause trouble. They even reported them to the Qin soldiers for receiving rewards, causing them to suffer heavy losses.
Huang Xie asked angrily: "The Qin people are cunning, how can they believe that the Qin people will really give them land?!"
The subordinate replied: "Because it was Duke Xiang of Zhu who distributed the land to them."
Huang Xie was very confused.
No matter how famous Zhu Xianggong is, it won't spread to Southern Chu, right? How could people in Southern Chu know Zhu Xianggong? How could they trust Zhu Xianggong
The subordinate couldn't explain the reason. He only knew that the people of Southern Chu were full of praise for Zhu Xianggong, as if they knew him very well, as if they had met him before.
Huang Xie was even more confused. As one of the four most famous princes in Chu, he was only famous among scholars. If you ask common people who were not from his fiefdom who Chunshen Jun was, most of them would be confused.
Let alone Chunshen Jun, those ignorant common people may not even know who the King of Chu is. They only know that this is the State of Chu and the one who rules them is the King of Chu.
He naturally didn't know that the common people of Southern Chu did not know who Zhu Xiang was. But when Zhu Xiang cut down mountains and destroyed temples, and walked in the fields to personally guide them in farming, the reputation of "Duke Zhu Xiang" spread.
Many farmers in Southern Chu actually saw Zhu Xiang with their own eyes and even talked to him.
Zhu Xiang's words now made the tree of fear in Huang Xie's heart, which was growing taller because of the difficulty in understanding, even taller. Anxiety burned Huang Xie's heart, making him a little breathless.
He looked straight at Zhu Xiang, as if he was looking at a monster in human skin.
Even if he is a great sage, if he goes too far beyond common sense, he is a monster.
"Duke Zhu Xiang, your farming skills are indeed very useful." Fear made Huang Xie's voice sharp, as if he was questioning, "But I always thought that your skills were to make the national treasury more abundant."
Zhu Xiang looked at Huang Xie's expression and put away the smile on his face.
Li Mu once captured a spy sent by Chunshen Jun to disrupt Southern Qin. Judging from the letters seized, the spy attributed the failure of his mission to "Duke Zhu Xiang".
When Lin Zhi was sent as an envoy to Chu, he specially collected information about the views of the Chu nobles on him. Chunshen Jun Huang Xie paid special attention to "Duke Zhu Xiang" and mentioned to the King of Chu that "Duke Zhu Xiang had the ability to confuse the people, and the fact that the common people of Shangdang and Southern Chu spontaneously helped the Qin army was related to Duke Zhu Xiang."
In addition, the State of Chu attached great importance to ghosts and gods, and he had cut down mountains and destroyed temples, so rumors spread among the scholars of the State of Chu that he was a "ghost or god."
However, they generally do not say that they are ghosts or gods, but "monsters".
After hearing Lin Zhi say this, Zhu Xiang was stunned for a long time.
Then, he smiled at Lin Zhi and said, "The Chu people are right. I am indeed a monster."
Lin Zhi thought he was joking. Zhu Xiang was not joking.
Abnormal things are called monsters. Isn't a monster a monster? He is a monster in this era.
After hearing Lin Zhi's plan and seeing Huang Xie's test of him, Zhu Xiang thought of this matter.
Maybe he could use this to his advantage.
"Farming can produce more food, which can not only fill the national treasury, but also fill people's stomachs." Zhu Xiang said, "I know what you did when you sent people to the land of Southern Chu. You must be wondering why the Chu people didn't help you. What's there to be confused about? They believed that I could keep them from starving to death, so they were willing to become Qin people."
A trace of embarrassment appeared on Huang Xie's face.
He didn't expect Zhu Xiang to reveal his thoughts so directly. He had never encountered such a situation in his many years of fighting with nobles.
Even when confronting the most powerful advisers, they would use indirect and roundabout methods to argue, but Zhu Xiang was like a rough man, asking and answering questions directly without caring about his face at all.
Is it because Zhu Xiang was originally a rough person and a commoner
"Lord Chunshen, I know what you are thinking. When nobles fight, most of them will not speak their minds directly. You are thinking that I don't look like a noble at all, but a commoner." Zhu Xiang laughed, "But Lord Chunshen, isn't this my advantage? Who farms for the country? Who does corvée for the country? Who fights for the country? It's the commoners."
Huang Xie asked, "Duke Zhu Xiang, why are you telling me this?"
He totally couldn't understand why Zhu Xiang said these words.
The fear of the unknown in his heart increased even more.
"You can think of it as showing off." Zhu Xiang refilled the tea for himself and Huang Xie. "I am showing off my talent and the honor I received in Qin."
Huang Xie was even more confused: "Why are you showing off to me? Is Duke Zhu Xiang a vain person?"
He smiled and said, "I know Chunshen Jun wants to kill me by sowing discord, but maybe killing a virtuous person will make Chunshen Jun hesitate. I will help Chunshen Jun dispel his hesitation."
Huang Xie was getting more and more frightened: "Why is this happening?"
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "If you want to weaken it, you must strengthen it; if you want to abolish it, you must lift it up. I want to see how much power Chu can mobilize in Qin so that I can eliminate it in one fell swoop."
Huang Xie said: "You want to use yourself as bait? But you have already told me this, why would I do it?"
Zhu Xiang pushed Huang Xie's teacup in front of him and chuckled, "So I'm showing off my usefulness to Qin. Chunshen Jun, after Qin has me, it can get as much land as it can conquer. Not only that, the Fourth Prince only asked the scholars to come to him, but I can ask the common people to come to me."
He took a sip of tea, held the cup in both hands and said, "They will become farmers who till the land for Qin, and soldiers who fight for Qin. Crown Prince Zichu is my best friend, and Prince Zheng is my nephew. I do not seek power and do not enter the court, I do not have retainers and do not make friends with court officials, so they will never be afraid of me."
"Shang Jun was able to punish the prince's teacher, Gongzi Qian. If you can fabricate a solid accusation, even the prince Zichu and Gongzi Zheng will not be able to protect me." Zhu Xiang said with a smile, "You don't have much time left to kill me. After returning to Chendu, talk to the king of Chu about this matter."
Huang Xie took a deep breath and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.
Zhu Xiang first seemed like an immortal on earth, then a cheerful scholar, and now his true colors are revealed. His personality changes so quickly that it was so strange that Huang Xie was terrified.
Huang Xie was able to rise to the position of one of the Four Princes of the Warring States Period from an ordinary scholar, and he was able to send the Crown Prince of Chu, who had been imprisoned by Qin for ten years, back to Chu, and stayed behind to die in place of the Crown Prince of Chu, and successfully persuaded Fan Ju to persuade the King of Qin to send him back to Chu. He was certainly a very talented person.
But Zhu Xiang was so weird, so weird that he didn't know how to deal with him.
Even if Zhu Xiang told Huang Xie his motive, he still couldn't understand why Zhu Xiang did this. What made Zhu Xiang risk his own life to make him do this
Just to expose the secret hand that Chu State had left in the Qin State's court
This is not a big deal, right? Even if the hidden hand left by Chu State is still there, it cannot influence the decision of the King of Qin, otherwise Chu State, including the old capital and the old secondary capital, would not have lost a large area of land.
Besides, isn’t Zhu Xiang afraid of getting into trouble
No matter how famous he was, the king would not necessarily care about this when killing people. Otherwise, there would be no three good men buried alive in Qin State, and no three good men from Zhao State would enter Qin State.
As Zhu Xiang said, now his amulet is only the crown prince of Qin. A crown prince is useless, he can be made a hostage if he wants to, and he can be abolished if he wants to.
The crown prince of King Zhaoxiang of Qin died as a hostage in the State of Wei; his master was also detained in the State of Qin for ten years when he was the crown prince and almost missed the throne.
The current King of Qin has more than twenty sons, and all of them want to kill Crown Prince Zichu.
"It seems that Lord Chunshen can't drink this cup of tea." Zhu Xiang picked up the tea and made a gesture of invitation.
At that time, there was no saying of "serving tea to see guests off", but Huang Xie understood what Zhu Xiang meant.
Zhu Xiang waved his hand, and the servants behind him brought out a lacquer box containing tea leaves and the newly developed ceramic teapot and cups and presented them to Huang Xie.
He personally sent Huang Xie to the pond, smiling as if he had become friends with Huang Xie.
After Huang Xie left, the servants behind Zhu Xiang, one pulled off his fake beard, one pulled off his fake eyebrows, and one pulled off his fake hair.
Lin Zhi asked in confusion: "Why did you scare him?"
Zichu rubbed his eyebrows and said, "This glue makes my face hurt."
Cai Ze sighed to the sky, with an expression that said, "Who am I and where am I? Why should I put down my heavy official duties and accompany them to do stupid things?"
"Lin Zhi, the trade agreement you signed is intended to be the grain trade war I told you about before, right?" Zhu Xiang put his hands behind his back and looked at the lake.
Lin Zhi pretended to be dumb: "Ah? What did you say?"
Zhu Xiang stared at the lake and said calmly, "Xia Tong, go and provoke your brothers. Regardless of whether the Chu people take action or not, give them the feeling that someone among them is targeting me. The Chu people are independent and use their own strategies to sow discord. They only look at the results and will not delve into who did it."
"Okay." Zichu rubbed his eyebrows, "What does this have to do with the trade war you mentioned?"
Zhu Xiang asked, "Do you remember Guanzi's plan at Hengshan?"
Zichu frowned in thought.
Cai Ze said: "Hengshan is good at forging swords. Guanzi sent people to buy Hengshan swords at high prices. Seeing this, other countries went to Hengshan to buy Hengshan swords. The price of Hengshan swords skyrocketed, and the people of Hengshan gave up their fields to forge swords. Guanzi also bought grain from other countries at high prices, so that all the grain of other countries went to Qi. Before the summer harvest, the stored grain was almost eaten up, and the new grain was not yet ripe. Qi suddenly sent troops to Hengshan, which had no weapons and no food."
Zichu also thought: "Although Hengshan is rich, all the grain from other countries was sold to Qi, so they surrendered as a whole country."
Zhu Xiang said: "This is a trade war. Qin's grain production has increased, but the population will not increase rapidly, so there will be a backlog of old grain. Chu is independent and the king of Chu cannot directly control the people. Qin sells old grain to Chu at a low price, exports cotton to Chu for planting, and buys cotton cloth and mulberry at a high price. In a few years, Chu's land will be planted with mulberry, hemp and cotton."
Seeing that he couldn't play dumb, Lin Zhi frowned and said, "Then Qin banned the sale of grain to Chu. The grain price of Chu would probably skyrocket by more than ten times. Li Mu could easily send troops to the north. Zhu Xiang, you want to scare Chu and make them focus on you and ignore the trade war launched by Qin."
Zhu Xiang whispered, "Yeah." Lin Zhi pretended to be angry and said, "You... didn't you say this plan was vicious? I have already taken this matter, don't you trust me?"
Zhu Xiang sighed and turned to look at his friend: "This plan was proposed by me. Since you used it, I must be responsible for it. Only if it succeeds quickly can it end as soon as possible, and the people of Chu will suffer the least harm. No one understands food security better than me, and I am the most suitable person to lead this plan."
Lin Zhi squatted down with his head in his hands, looking frustrated and swearing.
Cai Ze sighed, squatted down, and patted Lin Zhi on the shoulder: "You underestimate Zhu Xiang's sharpness."
Zichu was still confused and didn't know what was going on. He wanted to ask but was afraid of appearing stupid.
Stop sighing and groaning. Who can help me solve my confusion
Seeing Zichu trying to suppress his anxiety, Zhu Xiang coughed dryly and took the initiative to explain: "Although this strategy may quickly take down the most difficult Chu State, the lack of food will cause great harm to the civilians. Lin Zhi wanted to take it on secretly and didn't tell me."
Zichu wondered, "If you don't like this plan, why did you say it out loud?"
Zhu Xiang said seriously: "First of all, I was drunk at the time. You know, I can't keep my mouth shut when I'm drunk."
Zichu: “…” He knows it, he knows it too well. Otherwise, how would he know that Zhu Xiang is a great sage
"Secondly..." Zhu Xiang paused, "If we unify quickly, fewer people will die."
Zichu's heart sank, and then he kicked Lin Zhi on the butt, knocking him to the ground.
What are you trying to do by yourself! If you want to hide it from Zhu Xiang, you should discuss it with us! See, it didn’t hide it. Zhu Xiang has such a strong sense of responsibility that he jumped in by himself!
idiot!
Lin Zhi, who thought he could do it, got up and continued to squat with his head in his hands, crying: "I won't live anymore!"
Zhu Xiang: "Hey, hey, it's not that serious, is it? Is it that serious? As the Lord of Changping of Qin, isn't it normal for me to use a trick against Chu?"
Lin Zhi: "Wuwuwu, I won't live any longer!"
Zichu: "Don't live anymore!"
Cai Ze: "Reflect on yourself."
Zhu Xiang was speechless: "What are you doing? It's just a trade war. Do you think I'm so fragile that I have to cry under the quilt for a few days even if I use a trick?"
Lin Zhi: "Don't cry, I was wrong, I will keep it a secret from you next time!"
Zichu: "Don't you know how fragile you are?"
Cai Ze: "Zhu Xiang, relax."
Zhu Xiang followed Lin Zhi and squatted down with their heads in their hands: "I am embarrassed by your overprotection! I am really not that fragile! I am not familiar with the Chu people! I am not that kind."
Lin Zhi: “I don’t believe it.”
Zichu: “Heh.”
Cai Ze: "Don't worry, it's okay. I will ask you to issue an edict to invite the people of Chu to Qin to farm. When the people of Chu see that they are running out of food, they will come to Qin."
Zhu Xiang: “…Thank you.”
Okay, he admitted this vulnerability.
(End of this chapter)