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There has never been a dynasty in which the war to unify the country was won by the monarch personally leading the troops, because China is too huge and it cannot be resolved by one person or one war.
As a monarch, if you focus on a war, you will inevitably lose sight of the big picture and find it difficult to see the overall situation.
To unify the country, there must be a group of capable and battle-hardened generals who are responsible for specific battles under the command of the monarch. Only in this way can the monarch solve a series of problems encountered from a strategic perspective.
The so-called famous generals in the world were all tempered in wars. Take the generals under Zhu Yuanzhang for example. Most of them were peasants at first, but they all became famous generals after being tempered in a series of wars. Famous generals like Zhao Kuo are not worth having.
Now, Qin Mu gradually delegated the power of commanding operations to his generals. He even handed over the siege of Anqing City to Liu Meng, and rarely intervened in the specific battlefield command.
The fighting outside the city was in full swing, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. However, Qin Mu still resisted the urge to interfere with Liu Meng's command.
Meng Ke of Jiangdong carried huge piles of silver to the front of the two armies and induced the Green Camp soldiers under Tulai to surrender. This made Qin Mu very touched.
From this incident, what Qin Mu saw was definitely not just the successful use of silver to induce dozens of Green Camp soldiers to surrender, what he saw was the huge power of interests.
It can turn enemies into obedient subordinates, turn chaste women into whores, turn high-ranking officials into puppets, and even make wild ghosts help grind the mill.
Qin Mu had only been in charge of Huguang and Jiangxi for two years. Why did so many people support him when he declared himself king? Because these people were vested interest groups.
He distributed the land to benefit the lower class people and the soldiers.
He built state and county schools, expanded the number of students he could recruit, and provided financial support to benefit the scholars.
He supports industry and commerce, and makes merchants and craftsmen profit;
As for the officials from various places, most of them were temporarily appointed by Qin Mu, and they were the biggest beneficiary group.
Therefore, when Qin Mu became king, these people all supported him. Even if he did not have a reputation for righteousness, these people would definitely support him.
For most people, their own interests are the greater good.
Therefore, while the righteousness and reputation are important, they can convince others and prevent them from being criticized; but the distribution of benefits is more important, as it can convince people and make them willing to follow you.
From this, Qin Mu thought a lot. Why was Qin able to defeat the six kingdoms and unify the world during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period? If you answer that it was because of Qin Shihuang's great talent and strategy, then you only saw the surface.
The Qin State was able to unify the world because it had laid a solid foundation since Shang Yang's reform. With such a foundation, if someone else became emperor, as long as he didn't make any stupid mistakes, he would be able to unify the world sooner or later.
Shang Yang's reforms completely abolished the old hereditary aristocracy system and established a new centralized system. He promoted the county system to strengthen central power and attached importance to agricultural production, which made Qin a prosperous country with "every family having enough food and clothing".
At the same time, his reform of the military merit system made the people ashamed of fighting in private and proud of making military achievements for the country. The country's combat effectiveness continued to increase, and the Qin State, which was rich and powerful, became the most powerful country in the late Warring States period and dominated the world.
In a nutshell, Shang Yang's reforms ensured the balance of interests of the majority of people in Qin to the greatest extent possible.
Therefore, the brave Qin army dares to fight to the death. The army that dares to fight to the death is often the army that can kill others in battle.
Now, the reason why Qin Mu's army has strong combat effectiveness, in addition to strict training, is that Qin Mu has maximized the interests of every soldier.
However, in the past, when the army was few and the territory was limited, Qin Mu could raise money from Jiangnan to ensure the interests of the military and civilians under his jurisdiction. Now, as the war continues to advance and the territory continues to expand, the number of soldiers needed is gradually increasing. It is no longer possible to ensure the interests of the military and civilians under his jurisdiction by raising money as before.
"Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers born of different species?" "Open the gates to welcome the rebel king, and when the rebel king comes, we will not pay taxes." These seemingly empty slogans actually played a huge role. The reason is that these slogans are actually a promise of redistribution of benefits.
The introduction of these slogans made many people see the possibility of profit, so many people turned to those who shouted these slogans.
Qin Mu also had his own slogan, which was to drive out the Tartars and restore our dignity.
But this slogan is more of a traditional cultural thing. Its theoretical basis is: Our body and hair are given by our parents, and we should not damage them. This is the beginning of filial piety.
This is a fuss about the word "filial piety" in Chinese tradition, but it does not actually involve the issue of actual distribution of benefits.
From the incident in which Meng Ke carried silver to lure the enemy to surrender, Qin Mu felt that it was not enough to just raise the slogan of "expel the Tartars and restore our clothes and hats", because such a slogan could also be raised by the King of Tang and the King of Lu.
It is necessary to formulate a complete set of targeted policies like Shang Yang did, to ensure that the Qin State grows stronger step by step and gain the support of more people.
To Qin Mu, this matter is more important than the current war. The current war can be handed over to his generals, but he must personally participate in the planning of the improvement of the system, otherwise it will be difficult to ensure the balance of interest distribution in the formulated system.
Qin Mu asked Li Shi to call Sima An and Gu Junen to discuss the matter in a small circle first, so as not to affect the current war.
Solving such a major issue will not be a matter of one or two days. It requires sufficient patience, repeated discussions, and step-by-step improvements.
Sima An and Gu Junen had not arrived yet, when a red shadow flashed outside the big tent, and Lady Hong rushed in first. Seeing Qin Mu "staring blankly" with his head tilted, the rouge horse immediately showed a look of contempt.
"The fighting is going on outside, but you are so relaxed, like nothing happened, sitting here with your head tilted and drooling..."
"Am I drooling?" Qin Mu quickly wiped the corner of his mouth, "Where is the saliva? How dare you slander me..."
Seeing that he really wiped the corner of his mouth, Lady Hong couldn't help but let out a few sweet laughs. Then she straightened her expression and continued to accuse him, "You don't care about the life and death of your soldiers. Is there any commander like you..."
Qin Mu waved his hand to interrupt her and said, "Don't be unreasonable. There will always be casualties in war. Even if I hug the bodies of every soldier and cry bitterly, I can't bring them back to life. Did you lead soldiers in battle before without casualties?"
"Do you still have any humanity left? How can you say such things?"
"Hush! We are family. I am only saying this to you. Come, come, have some tea to cool you down." Qin Mu stood up and pulled her. Hong Niangzi shook his hand away and said, "Who says you are family?" She took out the teapot and poured...
"Be careful, it's hot!" Qin Mu shouted, raised his hand and slapped the teapot away. With a snap, the pieces flew everywhere, and the boiling hot tea splashed all over the floor, still emitting hot steam.
"King Qin, are you okay?" Niu Wanshan rushed in from outside the tent. Seeing Hong Niang's flushed face, he immediately retreated without even giving Qin Mu a chance to explain.
"Sometimes war is like drinking tea. If you are too impatient, you will get burned. I am not going out to avoid affecting Liu Meng's command of the battle. The world is too big to be fought by me alone. I must give my generals room to perform. Do you understand?"
Hongniang wanted to say something more, but she couldn't find the words to say, and she felt a little embarrassed standing in the middle of the big tent.
There was no more tea to drink, so Qin Mu sat back in front of his handsome desk, took out an apple and waved it at her: "Here, it's for you."
When Hongniang stepped forward, Qin Mu nonchalantly put the apple into his mouth and took a small bite before handing it to her. Looking at the bitten apple, Hongniang didn't know whether to take it or not, and was very angry.
"Eat it. I just saved you. Can't you take this bite as your way of thanking me?" Qin Mu smiled and raised the apple again.
Hongniang took it angrily and suddenly drew her sword, which scared Qin Mu.
But she threw the apple into the air, then drew her knife as fast as lightning, and the knife light danced around the falling apple. When she caught the apple in her hand again, not only the apple skin had been peeled off, but even the place where Qin Mu had bitten it had been flattened.
Pah! This time, someone was drooling and staring at him.
Hongniang was very proud. She put away the knife and put the peeled apple into her mouth.
At this time, Sima An and Gu Jun'en both arrived. Fortunately, Hong Niang blocked them and they did not see the embarrassing scene of the great King Qin drooling.
He waved his sleeves and said righteously, "Hurry up and clean up the broken pieces of the teapot. I have something to discuss with Sima Xueshi and Gu Shilang."
The smug matchmaker instantly turned into a little maid sweeping the floor.
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ps: It's the last day of April. I know that most people are going to support the masters. It's more difficult for a kid like me to get tickets at this time. Anyway, I will continue to update three times today. I will try my best to at least be worthy of those brothers who helped me in my time of need.
Finally, he shouted weakly twice: Beg me!
Please!
.(To be continued..)
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