Chapter 34: Rejection
"Could it be that, Your Majesty, this might be because the nobles and gentry in various places deliberately concealed the population and did not report it?"
Sun Wu expressed his guess.
Qingji nodded and said, "There are also such reasons. As a human being, everyone has selfish desires. It is impossible for us to be as selfless and impartial as Jizi!"
"Because of the war, the people's flight, and the hiding of the population by the scholars and officials in various places, these are all the reasons why the population growth rate of our Great Wu is slow."
"The State of Wu wants to dominate the world, but it is beyond human power!"
"Population is the foundation of a country. Weapons, food, taxes, land, etc. are all provided by people."
"Therefore, I believe that abolishing slavery and accepting the exiled barbarians as commoners is the top priority for our Great Wu!"
"hiss!"
Sun Wu couldn't help but take a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, if this is the case, I am afraid that there are treacherous people in the court, and the ministers and officials will try their best to stop them. How will Your Majesty deal with it then?"
"If I want to implement a new policy, I must have the courage to cut off my own arm! I dare to do it, can you do it?"
Qingji glanced at Sun Wu.
The latter immediately straightened his face and bowed, saying: "I will follow the king till death, and serve him till death!"
"However, I think that Your Majesty should not rush into abolishing slavery and taking in the barbarians."
"I know."
Qingji nodded slightly and said, "We should take our time with this matter! However, I must implement the new policy in Wu."
"Changqing, I trust you. As the saying goes, if you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools!"
"What is the most important weapon of the country? It is weapons!"
"The soldiers and chariots of our Wu Kingdom are not inferior to those of other countries in any aspect. However, I want to build an elite army that is far superior to those of other countries, an elite army that is invincible and can win every battle!"
"Elite division?"
Sun Wu was quite curious.
The so-called elite army is made up of elite soldiers!
But nowadays, no country in the world has the concept of "special forces".
Most of their elite troops are gathered together during wartime and have strong individual combat capabilities!
However, such elite troops are just elite troops and a powerful force. In Qingji's opinion, they are far from being called an elite force.
The prototype of special forces, the prototype of what could truly be called an elite force, was in the Warring States Period when wars were more frequent.
Qin had its Iron Eagle Warriors, Qi had its martial arts warriors, Wei had its warriors, Chu had its talented warriors, Han had its strong warriors...Each of the seven major powers in the Warring States Period had its own strongest army!
"That's right. I only need 800 men for this elite division. You can select the strongest from among the tens of thousands of soldiers of Wu to join this army."
Qingji said solemnly: "I call this army the 'Entrapment Camp'. Its soldiers should be equipped with refined armor that cannot be cut by ordinary swords or pierced by ordinary spears. They should obey orders and be equipped with strong bows and crossbows. Everyone should dare to fight and fight to the death!"
The idea of this Xianzhen Camp was taken by Qingji from the special forces "Xianzhen Camp" in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
It is said that the entire Xianzhen Camp had only more than 700 people, all of them were brave and good at fighting, well-equipped, and every attack they made was successful!
Qingji hoped that Sun Wu, who was known as the military saint, could build his ideal special forces.
"Breaking the enemy's formation, breaking the enemy's formation. Your Majesty, in that case, the breaking enemy's formation that Your Majesty ordered me to form should be composed of infantrymen equipped with heavy armor, all of whom are good at charging into battle?"
Sun Wu asked tentatively.
"good."
The Xianzhen Camp in history was indeed a group of heavy infantry!
Little did he know that the idea proposed by Qingji now made Sun Wu feel very troubled.
This is because in the current war, the main force is still the chariot soldiers. Letting a group of elite infantry, even those wearing heavy armor, rush forward is undoubtedly courting death!
But, this was the king's order from Qingji, how could Sun Wu dare to disobey ?
"Your Majesty, are you setting up the Xianzhen Camp to fight against Chu and Yue?"
This was the only explanation Sun Wu could come up with.
This is because there was a lack of war horses in the south. Wu, Chu and Yue were all southern countries, with far more infantry than chariot soldiers. Sometimes the real main force of combat was infantry, not chariots!
However, Qingji just smiled calmly and said: "If possible, I hope that Xianzhen Camp can become an elite army that is famous all over the world and feared by all nations!"
"promise!"
Sun Wu agreed immediately.
"Your Majesty, I have something to say, but I don't know if I should say it or not."
"But it's okay."
"Your Majesty, if you want to implement the new policy for the State of Wu, you cannot do it without the help of many capable and wise men. Please forgive me for speaking frankly, but there are many ministers and officials in the court and the people of Wu who are just sitting there doing nothing, and there is a shortage of talents. I am afraid that the new policy will be difficult to implement!"
The truth hurts!
Sun Wu's words resonated with Qingji.
The State of Wu was located in a remote area and unlike the State of Chu and other Central Plains states, it did not have a large number of talented people.
Under such circumstances, Qingji wanted to implement reforms in the State of Wu and promote new policies. Not only did he face a lot of resistance, but he also did not have many talented people under his command!
It is true that a good cook cannot cook without rice!
This can be seen from the fact that before Qingji, when he sent envoys to various countries, there was a shortage of envoys.
"Changqing, this is exactly what I am worried about."
Qingji shook his head and said, "There are few talented people in Wu. However, Wu has none, but other countries do!"
"Therefore, I want to issue a decree to recruit talented people from all over the world to Wu."
"I will build a golden platform on Gusu Mountain , so that people with lofty ideals from all over the world can realize their ambitions in Wu!"
An order to seek talents?
Golden stage?
Sun Wu had never heard of such things, but he knew in his heart that this was a method used by Qingji to recruit talents.
The new policies implemented by Qingji in the State of Wu are definitely no less than the reforms of Guan Zhong in the State of Qi in the past!
…
Just when Qingji was ambitious and preparing to seek talents, the delegation led by the junior official Bo Yu had already sailed eastward, changed course to the south, and entered the State of Yue.
It has been very difficult for Bo Yan and others along the way!
This was because the southern part of Wu was still controlled by the rebellious Helu and was impassable.
Even if Bo Yu dared to cross such an area, he would be caught by Helu's soldiers and would never return!
Therefore, under such circumstances, Bo Yu had to take the risk of crossing the boat and heading south to enter Kuaiji to make an envoy to Yue.
Kuaiji was the capital of the State of Yue. The city was much smaller than Wudu, and its prosperity was incomparable!
If Kuaiji City were placed in the Central Plains, it would probably not even be considered a first-class city.
Even so, there are quite a few people living here!
When Bo Hun was sent to Yue, he thought he could meet the King of Yue as soon as possible. However, he did not expect that for two consecutive days, he could not even see the King of Yue, Yunchang, and was turned away!
This made Bo Yan very puzzled.
