Qianyi.
Shen Zhuliang was wearing a helmet and armor, with one hand on the hilt of his sword. He couldn't help but frowned as he watched the Chu soldiers slowly walk into the gate of the camp!
The Chu army soldiers who came from all over the place to join the group were mostly old soldiers with pale faces, thin bodies, and gray hair on their temples. What was even more outrageous was that few of them wore armor, and their clothes were tattered. The weapons in their hands were of various kinds and almost rusted.
What's worse, some people even came to reinforce Qianyi carrying only hoes!
Fighting with soldiers like this is just courting death, isn't it?
Shen Zhuliang had a headache.
"Such soldiers are simply not fit for a fight. Are we, the great Chu State, going to be reduced to sending all the old and weak to the battlefield just because we lost 80,000 soldiers in Wu?"
Shen Zhuliang's expression flickered, and he was very indignant.
The deputy general on the side smiled bitterly and said, "General, just be content."
"The government has indeed issued a conscription order to the feudal lords in various places, but only a few have actually responded. The feudal lords are selfish and unwilling to send out young and strong men to fight against the Wu barbarians. These old and weak are just used to make up the numbers!"
“That’s ridiculous!”
Shen Zhuliang gnashed his teeth in hatred and said, "The great Chu State is unable to deal with a mere Wu State because it supports these feudal lords and nobles who are good-for-nothings."
"Now, they actually dare to disobey the government's conscription order. Won't they split the land and rebel in the future?"
Hearing this, the deputy general sighed and said, "General, what you said is true. On the way here, I heard that rebellions broke out in Luo, Yong, Jiao and other places one after another, and the feudal lords of these places actually restored their old countries."
"Yingdu is busy dispatching troops to suppress the rebellion. The order given to us is to hold on to Qianyi and resist the Wu army."
"Is there such a thing?"
Shen Zhuliang couldn't help but laugh.
This is undoubtedly the worst situation for the State of Chu !
As the saying goes, before you can resist foreign aggression, you must first stabilize the country.
The Wu army attacking Chu is no longer a concern and can be stopped. However, the rebellions in various places are urgent issues for the Chu State and must be resolved immediately!
Otherwise, if we are not careful, the State of Chu might be dragged into the quagmire of civil war and unable to extricate itself!
However, this is probably impossible, because during the early expansion wars of the Chu State, rebellions or civil unrest of varying scales broke out from time to time in the country, but they were all quickly suppressed by the Chu army.
However, this time the State of Chu was still facing the threat of the Wu army, so it could not be careless.
"well!"
Shen Zhuliang couldn't help but sigh.
He knew that the only choice for the State of Chu now was to make peace with the State of Wu and then concentrate its superior forces to suppress the rebellion in the country!
…
Wudu, the Hall for Recruiting Talents.
While the State of Chu was busy suppressing internal strife and resisting invasions from the States of Yun and Tang, Qing Ji, who was sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai, focused his main energy on governing the country and maintaining peace.
At this moment, Qingji was sitting on the steps of the Zhaoxian Hall, looking across the huge courtyard at the group of scholars who were concentrating on writing policy essays!
Since the issuance of the edict to seek talents, scholars from all over the world have flocked to Wu.
Especially after Qingji spent a huge sum of gold to buy bones, appointed Gan Jiang, who was a swordsmith, as the chief engineer and rewarded him with a thousand gold, scholars all over the world started a trend of rushing to Wu!
By now, there are more than 800 scholars entering Wu, but Qingji still does not know their specific talents.
Therefore, Qingji planned to hold a policy discussion conference to test the talents of the scholars.
As for the topics of the policy essays, they are nothing more than state governance, military affairs and diplomatic relations. In short, they are based on the areas that the scholars are good at, and anyone who excels can be entrusted with important tasks.
Qingji requires that everyone should be able to use their talents and things to their full potential!
And Qingji basically used all of this first batch of scholars who entered Wu.
Soon, some scholars handed over bamboo slips to the officials on the side for review.
Some scholars were still writing furiously, while Qingji picked out a few bamboo slips to review himself.
In the process of reviewing, Qingji could easily see that most of the essays written by the scholars could be summarized in three words:
Fake!
big!
null!
There was not much innovation in the ideas of governing the country and maintaining peace, and they were generally based on the experience of predecessors, such as implementing benevolent policies, reducing taxes and levies, hanging orphans to ask about their parents, and advocating the restoration of Zhou rituals.
This is the truth, but how to implement it?
This kind of discussion made it impossible for Qingji to understand the true talents and knowledge of the scholars.
Of course, they must all be literate and are more than qualified .
As for how much talent he has, no one knows!
After all the scholars had handed in their essays, Qingji stood at the front of the steps, looked around, and said in a loud voice: "My friends, I have read a few of your essays."
"They are all good strategies for governing the country! However, I think they are still insufficient."
"Wu is different from the Central Plains states of Jin, Qi, Lu, Song, and Wei. Wu is located in the southeast corner, where people eat rice and fish, and have a tough and brave character. That's why it is different!"
"The so-called governance of a country should be determined according to the national conditions, not just benevolent, light taxation, and emphasis on courtesy and virtue!"
After a pause, Qingji looked at the confused scholars at the bottom of the stairs and said, "I believe that you two or three of you are indeed talented and knowledgeable, but I still don't know what official position you will be awarded according to your talent and knowledge."
"I must ensure that everyone has his or her place! I would like you to travel around Wu, visit the towns and villages, conduct field investigations, and write another policy paper based on the customs and people of Wu."
"You have three months to apply for positions. You can either recommend yourself or be recommended by others. After three months, you can take up your positions according to your abilities."
Upon hearing this, the scholars below the steps could not help but whisper to each other.
Suddenly, a scholar showed a dissatisfied look on his face and shouted: "King Wu, what does this mean?"
"Scholars like us have come all the way from the Central Plains to Wu, all for the purpose of seeking official titles and titles. Now that we have written our essays, it is clear that we have learned a lot, but the King of Wu has sent you two or three to the countryside. Isn't this misleading us and deceiving us?"
"That's right! We scholars have traveled thousands of miles to Wu despite the dangers and hardships, not to be banished to a remote place by the King of Wu!"
"Is the King of Wu trying to tease us?"
"King Wu, please give me an explanation!"
The crowd is excited!
The scholars were obviously not satisfied that Qingji had them demoted to the counties and towns, where they suffered in vain.
After all, who doesn't know that the territory of Wu State is covered with swamps and woodlands, and that jackals, tigers and leopards often appear there?
If you are not careful, you may lose your life and even be eaten by wild beasts!
Seeing this, Qingji's face darkened, and he waved his hand in an unquestionable tone, saying: "That's all I have to say!"
"For those who are willing to go to the various towns and villages of Wu State to explore the local customs and people, their food, clothing, housing and transportation will all be provided by the government. If there are those who are unwilling, I will also give them ten gold coins as travel expenses and send them back home with a carriage and horses!"
Hearing this, all the scholars present fell silent.
The decision made by Qingji was definitely not a joke!
The scholars had no choice but to go to the countryside or return home.
Fortunately , Qingji was still kind. Any scholar who chose to return home would be given a carriage and ten taels of gold by the State of Wu!
But, how could a group of arrogant scholars be interested in mere carriages, horses and gold?
So, not surprisingly, none of the more than 800 scholars were willing to leave.
It was only because their ambitions had not been fulfilled and before they got a satisfactory official position, the scholars did not want to run back in disgrace and be ridiculed!