Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 492: Changes outside Chu
"Your country has conscripted so many civilians to conquer Yizhou, which has no hostility to it. The King of Chu has always loved his people like his own children . I imagine... the cost must have been very heavy, right?" Qin Mi tried tirelessly to find out some information.
And now the target of the inquiry is the official who is welcoming him in Xiling.
It was none other than Ni Heng, the sweet-mouthed and sweet-talking woman!
"Lord Qin, be careful with your words... You love the people like your own children? If an official from Chu were to boast like this and I heard it, I would definitely impeach him in the court. Even a Grand Secretary would not be able to bear the blame." Ni Heng glanced at him and said in a tone that looked down on him.
Qin Mi was immediately furious when he heard this - what did I say? Didn't I praise your King of Chu for "loving the people like his own children"? How come even the Grand Secretary of the Palace couldn't afford to offend him... Why didn't you just say you were going to kill me?
"My king once said that the most important thing for an official is the spirit of service! My king's 'killing one man is like killing my father' is so admirable. Whoever dares to say 'love the people like his own sons' should be punished for disrespect.
Oh, yes, if it is an uncivilized place where the master treats the people as pigs and dogs, it is not bad for the subordinates to boast of "loving the people like their own children", after all, they treat their master's livestock as their own children. "Ni Heng said in a very Yin-Yang spirit.
Qin Mi was so angry that he almost choked on his breath, but he just couldn't refute it. Firstly, Bai Tu's move was too much of an exaggeration and uncomfortable, and could not be criticized morally. Secondly... the situation was stronger than the person, and Ni Heng directly talked about the foundation of the Chu State. How dare he refute it?
If he really refutes it based on principle, I'm afraid the State of Chu will just kick him out.
Of course, even if Bai Tu did mention the spirit of service, with thousands of years of inertia here, how could he suddenly be blamed for saying "love the people like one's own children"?
The only one who would use this kind of thing to argue is actually Ni Heng...
However, it is true that core senior officials, as well as some middle- and grassroots officials who are developing or want to progress, will consciously avoid expressions such as "loving the people like their own children", "common people", and "common people". Words such as "common man", "villain", and "mob" have become derogatory terms and must never appear in official statements or be spoken in official occasions.
Ni Heng did fight...
Half a year ago, Lu Kang mentioned "herdsmen", not the people who herd sheep, but the "herdsmen" in "Guan Zi·Shepherds" - comparing the people to the targets of herding, which means managing the people.
After all, Lu Kang was old, and sometimes he didn't think quickly before speaking. He blurted out this word at the court meeting, and was caught by Ni Heng and scolded...
Bai Tu was afraid that Lu Kang would get angry and something bad would happen, so he stopped Ni Heng.
However... Lu Kang calmed down, apologized to Bai Tu and other ministers in the court, and fined himself three months' salary.
Lu Kanggui was a Grand Secretary of the Palace, but he was like this. He set an example for all officials and also made Ni Heng's reputation even more notorious... No, it was even higher!
Lu Jun hated Ni Heng so much because he had damaged his father's reputation that he even wanted to find someone to put him in a sack. However, he was instead taught a lesson by his father Lu Kang.
In Lao Lu's words: "If you weren't such a rebellious son, I wouldn't have to set this example!"
Poor Lu Jun is already middle-aged, and he feels wronged by what he has said, but he doesn't know why...
Lu Kang saw things clearly. He had already reached his current position and cared less about his personal reputation. No matter how much it damaged his reputation, he was still a founding father of the State of Chu, and his temple was built below the white map, no lower than the top three. He would have to be listed in a separate article when the history of Chu was written!
On the contrary, I took the initiative to apologize, which was in line with the king's wishes and set an example for the king. In the future... a hundred years after I am gone, the king will also remember Lu's kindness.
After all, Lu Jun...
From now on, we will have to rely on "favors"!
This was indeed the case. Bai Tu accepted Lu Kang's apology, but in the next two months, he found various reasons to reward Lu Kang and Lu Jun continuously.
Bai Tu also understood that inner concepts cannot be changed overnight. If they can be changed, they must be changed in a more comfortable direction.
For example, Bai Tu traveled through time for ten years, and he became more and more accepting of the setting that he was nobler than others...
It was precisely because he was aware of this change that Bai Tu tried his best to restrain his outward expression.
It is the most difficult to restrain a restless mind, but "controlling your mouth" is the first step and a good start.
Ni Heng is now really confident when facing Qin Mi - I, Ni Heng, am the man who made the Grand Secretary of the Palace apologize in public!
"The King of Chu will be glorious forever. I am grateful for your advice." Qin Mi said with a bow after taking a few deep breaths.
Ni Heng was not afraid of making him angry.
After all, it was the king who asked him to come and receive the envoy from Yizhou...
Who in the court doesn't know who I am, Ni Heng? (Proud face)
Are you asking me to be the host and expecting me to treat you well?
"Well, I heard that the Marquis of Shu treated the people in Yizhou harshly. The people of Yizhou even became blind at night due to lack of meat. It is really sad! The Marquis of Shu should learn more." Ni Heng responded with a front nasal sound and said contemptuously.
Qin Mi began to take deep breaths again, but at the same time she dared not refute anymore.
This also reminded him that Yizhou was no match for Chu.
Yan Yan had already analyzed the reasons why the Jiangzhou army had no ability to fight back in the previous Battle of Yingou Mountain, and even applied to the Marquis of Shu to increase military spending.
However, because Liu Zhang himself had limited control over Yizhou, he was still constrained even though he knew that this move was related to the success or failure of the Shu army.
In fact, the elite troops of Wei State, as well as the armies of Qi Marquis and Zheng Marquis, have already paid attention to this aspect, especially Wei State. The Wuhuan and Xianbei in the north have plenty of cattle and sheep. Just looting one or two tribes can yield tens of millions of cattle and sheep. Even if it is not enough to drive down the price of meat among the people like Chu State, the army still has no shortage of meat!
The Duke of Qi also vigorously developed fisheries in Xuzhou and Qingzhou, following the example of the State of Chu in developing the sea...
This also shows that after the Chu State gradually became stronger, the aristocratic families "imported" manpower everywhere, which brought about a chain reaction that is hard to say whether it is an "advantage" or a "disadvantage"!
Although most of the people under the rule of various princes were "Han people" in a broad sense and there were regional cultural differences among them, they shared the same language and ethnicity after all, and had Chuxue as the core unifying force, so it was still very easy to completely absorb them. At least compared with the increase in population, it was worthwhile to add some burden to the Ministry of Rites.
However, to a certain extent, this also served the purpose of "showing off wealth" to the wealthy families in other regions.
You have to know that for the "aristocratic families", what they care about most are land and population. Normally, they will not sell land and long-serving populations on a large scale, unless... they give too much!
As for the wealthy families with weak foundations who value strength more than inheritance, it goes without saying that - except for the State of Chu, the wealth of several generations of wealthy families in other regions has been easily surpassed by the upstarts of the State of Chu in the past few years, especially in the last two or three years.
What’s even more frightening is that once the goods start to circulate, they are basically divided up.
Although it is still the mainstream for local lords to actively import "Chu goods", some "knowledgeable people" have gradually discovered... Is our wealth shrinking?
And we are even begging the State of Chu to reduce our wealth?
While various Chu State's military equipment, salt, sugar, brocade, grain and other materials were flowing into their side, their gold, silver, copper, iron and even population were being lost at a faster rate.
For a while, the princes from all over the country cannot get over this, but sooner or later they will realize it - it is not a question of whether Chu should collect taxes or not, but whether we should collect taxes from Chu!
More importantly, as Chu's manpower became more and more valuable, aristocratic families from all over the country also felt the "wealth" of Chu. They racked their brains to understand that a "pariah" should not be worth so much if he was broken into bones and refined into oil!
Not only the wealthy families in other regions, but even the common people were accepting this - the new elites in the Chu workshops began to actively spread the word that "life in Chu is good, really good, life in Chu is great, really great". The means included but were not limited to spreading "Chu Divine Dramas" and "Chu Divine Songs".
Originally, the Ministry of Rites did secretly support a group of performance teams that performed in the countryside outside the State of Chu. However, now... more performance teams and opera troupes have appeared that the upstarts have taken the initiative to support with money.
Just to attract population migration - directly "bring" the foreign civilians who voluntarily come to Chu State, which can save a lot of money for the local wealthy families!
However, these "shows of wealth" are also "exposure to wealth".
The more unbalanced the local aristocratic families are, the smaller the obstacles other princes will face in "following Chu's reforms". Sooner or later, the local gentry will force them to "follow Chu's reforms"!
Of course, "innovating like Chu" is not something that can be done just by saying it will be effective. Not to mention the technical support required, even Chu is struggling with its own labor costs...
Moreover, even if the labor costs of those lagging behind Chu are not as high as those of Chu, some of them will be driven up. The increased labor costs will then bring huge constraints on their development. After all, no matter how expensive the labor costs in Chu are, at least Chu is rich. This is also the inertia of the strong getting stronger.
When Qin Mi and Ni Heng went to Jiangling together, and then continued along the river from Jiangling to Wuchang and Jinling, they did not give up observing the situation of the Chu State along the way, and tried their best to find out useful information during the conversation.
During this period, Qin Mi also doubted whether Ni Heng came to greet him or to anger him to death.
If it was the latter, Qin Mi would rather the Chu State sent people to cook him...
Although Ni Heng was a great Yin-Yang master (big fog), he was not a man without a secret. He did not reveal any secrets to him. If he really had to say something, it would be 70% true and 30% false.
However, Ni Heng did tell the After all, such things would be easy to judge in the future as they were all basic information about the State of Chu.
Even countries like Wei and Qi should have found out about it long ago.
However, Qin Mi's first reaction was disbelief - this was much higher than when there were no boats and trackers!
If Yizhou Prefecture were to do it, it wouldn't require such a huge expense...
Apart from other things, according to the labor cost standard of the Chu State, an ordinary laborer, if he worked on a water conservancy project in Wudang County for five years, doing all the hard work and enduring all the hardships, could return to his hometown five years later and at least become a wealthy man who could buy several sets of new satin clothes a year, eat delicious food every day, and send his children to school.
Of course, such "rich families" could afford servants in other places, but in Chu, not only could they not buy them, they couldn't even afford to hire them...
