Chapter 50: Strategic Contraction (Part II)
Uncle Acne's suggestion sounded more favorable, but Uncle Acne also understood that it was really difficult to change Wei Zhen's thinking.
Just as Uncle Acne thought, Wei Zhen was proud in his bones, and he set out at the age of fifteen, and he did not taste defeat before encountering Luyang Niu Qi catching up with Han Hou and Zhao Hou at the same time and had no choice but to withdraw his army.
He inherited the Wei State, which was the most like the overlord in the world at that time, when the sun was in the sky, the Zhao State was subjugated, the Korean State was respectful, the Chu State lost the Great Liang, the Prince Ding was divided, and the Qi Guotian clan was surging under the internal turmoil of the Qi Dynasty.
Loved by his father since he was a child, as a son, no one can compete for the position of heir, and he has not experienced the cruel internal struggle of the nobles, nor has he experienced the cruel internal struggle of their parents and grandparents when they were the secretary of the Jin State.
Wei Zhen is such a person, born in the wrong era, he should be the prince of the Spring and Autumn Period, the monarch, the real noble, but he inherited a Wei State from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States and the more chaotic and earth-shaking tide of the times.
Back then, Tian Zifang warned Wei Zheng that the era of the aristocracy was over, and if he didn't grasp the power of those lowly scholars, the Wei State would decay in this world of great controversy, but did Wei Zheng listen to this?
If you can't change your thinking, you can't let Wei Guoguo get into this world of great controversy.
Uncle Gong hoped that Wei Zheng would let go of the pride of the true aristocracy, learn to endure, and learn to endure temporary defeats for future victory.
Pride has become a weakness of Wei Zhen.
Comprehensive strategic contraction, for Gong Shuxuan, is to consider the future of Wei from the perspective of the prime minister.
From Wei Zhen's point of view, this is not the case.
When he succeeded to the throne, what was the Wei State like?
He is now strategically shrinking, how do the people of the world evaluate it?
Everyone will compare, everyone will say, during the time of Wenhou, Wei was the hegemon, Zhao Han surrendered, the Chu people were defeated, and there was no opponent in the world.
In less than 20 years, Wei even gave up the jurisprudence of Zhongshan, and did not even interfere with the Song State, the symbol of Wei's hegemony.
Uncle Gong looked at Wei Zheng.
Wei Zhen pondered for a long time, sighed and said, "Could it be that Song State affairs don't care?" β
Uncle Gong said with a sneer, "Huimeng, Mo, no troops." Protesting on the lips, but not moving in the hands, he will ally with Chu Han and take the opportunity to swallow Zheng. β
"We have to make a move that we are about to interfere in the Song State, so that the energy of the Chu people is focused on the Song State, and the energy of Sishang is also focused on the Song State."
"However, we signed a secret treaty with the Koreans to divide the land of Zheng State, and took advantage of the opportunity of the alliance to blitz Zheng State."
"Before Chu and Si come up and have no time to react, annex Zheng State and create an established fact."
The logic of Uncle Gong's acne strategy, to sum up, is actually very interesting.
That is, we opposed the intervention of the Mohists in the Song State, so we, the Wei State, and Korea carved up the Zheng State together.
The timing chosen by Uncle Gong is also extremely favorable, because Zheng Guo not only involves Wei Han, but also Chu State.
Yuguan, an important border pass in the north of Chu State, is less than thirty or fifty miles away from Zheng Guohuayang, which can be regarded as the flank of Yuguan, which is also the reason why Chu State does not allow Wei Han to dominate Zheng State.
Yuguan is an important way out for the Chu State to face the Central Plains, especially under the premise that the Song State continues to be neutral, it is impossible to recapture the Great Liang without Yuguan, and the Chu State cannot gain a foothold in the Central Plains if it does not recapture the Great Liang.
Now that the coup d'Γ©tat of the Song State, Wei, Chu and Han must react, and Sishang has attracted the attention of the princes of the world this time.
As soon as the Qi-Mo War ended five years ago, Sishang had become a force to be reckoned with among the princes, and with the spread of radical public opinion in Sishang, it had become a place where the princes had to be vigilant.
Uncle Gong's meaning is to use Wei, Chu and Han diplomacy to discuss Song State affairs, and quickly blitz Zheng Guo with South Korea and divide Zheng Guo's territory, so that Chu State is powerless even if it wants to interfere.
Zheng Guo's affairs must be resolved, and if it is not resolved, the relationship between Wei and Han will be very awkward. Moreover, Sishang began to infiltrate Zheng State, which also made Wei extremely uneasy.
Wei Zhen felt that this matter was a little ...... Injustice, if you consider this from the perspective of a true nobleman, is actually very bad. Zheng Guo is not guilty, and he pays tribute every year, so it is not too unrighteous to attack this, after all, it is not too unjust.
But taking advantage of the opportunity of the alliance to blitz Zheng Guo is inevitably a bit too unjust.
But Uncle Gong's acne is the words of the country, and Wei Zhen doesn't understand the weakness of Wei at this time.
After thinking about it, he said, "In this way, once the Koreans come, they need to talk to the Koreans in secret." In the meaning of Xiangbang, then you have to speak out against Sishang's intervention in the Song Kingdom? β
Uncle Gong said, "No, one cannot win the hearts of the nobles, and the other is not easy for Chu people to interfere in Zheng Guo's affairs." β
"With 30,000 troops and 30,000 Koreans, within half a month, Zheng can be killed, and it costs very little money and food."
"If Zheng dies, he will divide the land in half and gain hundreds of thousands of people."
"In the south, you can go to Yingshui, surround the Fencheng of Chu from the flank, cut off Yuguan, and directly insert Anling, Deng, Shangcai and other places."
"Second, because the threat of Sishang is greater, the state of Chu cannot go to war with us, so as not to sit on Sishang and enjoy the benefits of fishermen."
"The three Chu people must guard against us and Sishang, and it is necessary to station large armies in Yuguan, Shangcai and other places, which can exhaust the national strength of the Chu people."
"Fourth, it can make Zhao Guo worried, thinking that Wei and Han will form an alliance and take the initiative to contact us, so that we can grasp the initiative in diplomacy."
Of course, there is another reason that once Zheng Guo's land is obtained, the nobles of Zheng State can lose it, and some of those lands can be directly governed by the royal power, and the other part can also be used as a fief for Gong Shu.
Uncle Gong knew the depths and knew that Xihe's martial arts system was the foundation of the Wei State, so even if he wanted a fief, it was impossible for him to get his own fief from those places in Xihe that had been reformed.
His power and power stemmed from the strength of the Wei State, which he was quite sober.
In addition, Uncle Acne has another layer of purpose.
The current situation of Wei is actually very unfavorable, and it is divided into two places: Hexi and Hedong.
Gong Shuxuan hoped that the Xihe region would be able to resist the Qin state, which was gradually beginning to become stronger, and that it would be impossible for the Central Plains region to continue to maintain hegemony.
If you want to use the power of Hedong to maintain the interests of Wei, you must need allies.
And in order to win over allies, it is necessary to discard some unnecessary burdens.
Including Zhongshan, which has been lost and only has legal principles left; Including Zheng Guo, who wanted to contain Han Chu in the era of the hegemon, it could be exchanged as an interest.
Put down your body and recognize yourself, this is what Uncle Acne has always wanted to tell Wei Zheng.
He and Wei squeezed Wu Qi away, and he forced Le Yang to death in order to prove that if Wu Qi rebelled in Wei sooner or later, he was not a person who only knew about infighting but did not know how to seek the country.
After carving up Zheng State with Korea, the only vassal state of Wei State is Wei State, and this can continue to be wooed.
Moreover, when Heze met the alliance, the Mo family actually harbored evil intentions, and the Zhao State itself had two cities in the north of the country, which were Dunqiu where Cao Cao was the commander in later generations.
If the Mo family was really in line with the idea of killing soldiers in the world, Dunqiu, Gangping and several enclaves inserted by the Zhao State into the Central Plains could have advocated exchanging enclaves with the Wei State.
It's not that the Mo family's force at that time could force all countries to accept, but the Mo family didn't mention it at all in the Heze Alliance.
Uncle Acne understood at that time that with Sishang's long-sleeved and good dancing performance over the years and his grasp of the situation in the world, it was impossible not to know that that kind of enclave was likely to cause war, which was obviously harboring evil intentions.
The state of Zhao has Dunqiu, so it may go south, invade the Central Plains, and attack the forbidden state of Wei.
Zhao Wei can no longer fight with each other, and even the most basic trust is gone, and Uncle Gong hopes to use this opportunity to suppress the idea of Zhao Guo going south, and lead the disaster to Zhongshan, which has just recovered.
In the past, Wei interfered in the civil war of Zhao's succession, which was not big or small, but the hatred was not irreparable.
But if a major war breaks out between Wei and Zhao because of Zhao's strategy of going south to the Central Plains, then the relationship between Wei and Zhao will be completely ruined.
The incense of the Three Jin Dynasty was still there at this time after all, but the incense alone was not enough to form an alliance with the Three Jin Dynasty, so he could only choose the strategy of pulling Han to pressure Zhao and causing trouble to the east.
Under the threat of Qin, it was no longer possible to sustain a protracted war by relying only on the strength of the Hedong Central Plains, and the era when Wei did not need allies, but only needed to make disobedient allies, was gone.
The domineering spirit of the Wenhou era that looked down on the world no longer has the strength to support it, and if you still want to continue to maintain the shell of hegemony, it is to kill yourself.
The affairs of the Song State sound extremely terrifying, shaking the foundation of the rule, but if you really want to fight, what kind of price does the Wei State need to pay?
Sishang has been mobilized, and public opinion is clamoring, claiming to kill the last ink for the sake of morality and covenant.
Such words have been said, tens of thousands of people have begun to mobilize and assemble, and Uncle Gong really doesn't want to start a war with Sishang at this time.
In such a war, Wei may completely decline, once defeated, the gunpowder of the national rebellion will immediately burn to the land of Wei, he does not dare to take risks, and Wei does not have the capital to take risks.
Uncle Gong knew that Wei Zhen had now been shaken, but it would take time to really make a decision and make changes.
After a long silence, Wei Zhen smiled bitterly and said, "In this way, I will bear the name of shame." With the idea of Xiangbang, it is a long-term plan for the country, but the rise of the country's fortunes will be in my children and grandchildren. What I have to bear is the ridicule of the world. β
Uncle acne said: "May the king take the Sheji Sect Temple as the priority." In the past, Gou Jian tried his courage and destroyed Wu in a war, and he was also the overlord. β
Wei Zhen smiled bitterly and said, "Xiangbang's words...... Poor. If Gou Jian couldn't destroy Wu back then, wouldn't he be ridiculed by the world for just trying to survive? β
Uncle Gong persuaded him: "Haven't you heard the sarcasm of the foolish prince of the Imperial Kou moving mountains? Children and grandchildren are endless, how can it not be done? Since Wei has been Wei, it has only been decades, but can the ancestors who were in Jin Weiqing more than a hundred years ago laugh at them for not being princes and despise them? β
"If the monarch chooses to go to war with Sishang, the nobles of the world will be praised, saying that the monarch has benevolence and righteousness, Kuang Li Law, but the problem is ...... The Wei State must have suffered heavy losses, and Qin Zhao will benefit, will Qin Zhao have the contribution of the world to the Wei people and sacrifice to the monarch to eradicate the heresy of equality of the Mo family? β
"Not only can't, but I'm afraid that you will be ridiculed, saying that you have spent all your strength and don't know how to advance or retreat, so that Qin Zhao will gain the world."
"The gentleman also knows about Song Xianggong, and with his actions, he is also a true gentleman."
"But how many are there in the world that praise him? Or are there many people who mock him? β
"A gentleman may sacrifice his life for the abolition of equality; As a monarch, if you think so, you are afraid that you are not a hero, but will attract the ridicule of others. β
"The monarch must understand that the righteousness of a gentleman is to bind and rule the people, not to be observed by the monarch himself. Song Xianggong didn't understand this truth, but as a monarch, he had to abide by the morality that should be observed by the gentlemen of his subordinates, so he was ridiculed. β
"The king needs to understand that etiquette is just a tool, and the difference between the noble and the low is just a tool, and those who die for making weapons are only slaves, but it is impossible to be the person who uses these tools."