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There have been many reforms in Chinese history.

From Shang Yang of Qin to Wang Anshi later, they all achieved prosperity for the people and strength for the country through reform.

However, many reformers did not have a good ending.

The reason is simple: the reform affects many vested interests.

The outcome of a reform is usually either that the reformers do not have a good end, or that the provisions of the reform are eventually repealed.

However, Li Kui's reform was an exception.

Not only was the reform successful, but Li Kui himself also had a good end.

To some extent, Li Kui's reforms can be said to be the ancestor of the reforms in the Warring States Period.

As the earliest reform in the early Warring States Period, Shang Yang's subsequent reforms were all carried out on the basis of its basic framework.

The Wei Reform presided over by Li Kui was the earliest reform in Chinese history.

Through reforms, Wei became the first vassal state to become powerful in the early Warring States period.

The "Book of Laws" compiled by Li Kui from laws and regulations of various countries is the first systematic written code of law in Chinese history.

"Reform for survival was the main theme during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period."

"In that era when many heroes were fighting for supremacy, which country was good at reform?"

"Which country can quickly become rich and powerful and join the ranks of hegemons?"

"This is how Guan Zhong helped Duke Huan of Qi become the leader of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period."

"During the Warring States Period, competition among countries became more intense."

"The Wei State, which was derived from the division of Jin by the Three Families, was initially just a small and insignificant state among them."

"But the new monarch, Wei Wenhou, implemented reforms by appointing one person, which quickly transformed Wei into a powerful country and dominated it for a hundred years."

"And the reform pioneer who was highly valued by Wei Wenhou was Li Kui, a reformer who was revered as the founder of the Legalists by later generations."

"Unlike Shang Yang, the representative of the Qin State's reform, who had a tragic ending, Li Kui not only succeeded in his reform, but also had a good ending, which was a very rare thing at the time."

"Li Kui was born in Anyi, the capital of the Wei clan, in 454 BC."

"The State of Wei had not yet been established, so Li Kui was still a citizen of Jin."

"There is little record in history books about how Li Kui spent his youth."

"We only know that Li Kui was a student of Confucius' disciple Zixia and that he learned a lot from Confucianism, but his thoughts and ideas were actually inspired by the spirit of Legalism."

"Li Kui's talent was revealed when he served as the governor of Shangdi."

"Shangdi belongs to the Hexi region, adjacent to the border of Qin, and the people have suffered from frequent harassment by the Qin army."

"For Li Kui, he had no soldiers and no money. It was harder than climbing to heaven to defeat the fierce Qin army."

"But maintaining local stability is the unshirkable responsibility of local governors."

"After careful consideration, Li Kui came up with this solution."

"Li Kui began to transform civilians into soldiers by issuing a strange decree."

"The decree stipulates that all civil lawsuits."

"Whenever the case is unclear and cannot be adjudicated, the winner will be decided by archery competition."

"When ordinary people heard this, they were confused, but they couldn't do anything about it. No matter how much they complained, they had to face reality."

Li Si: Li Kui is the undisputed founder of the reform. He helped the State of Wei dominate for a hundred years, and his ending was much better than that of Shang Yang.

Li Kui made such a big fuss during the reform process that he offended many aristocrats.

However, he was able to avoid the fate of other reform pioneers such as Shang Yang, and finally had a good beginning and a good end.

After comprehensive analysis, he believes that the reasons are nothing more than several points.

First, the supporter of Li Kui’s reform was Wei Wenhou, who was known for his benevolence.

Wei Wenhou always had unwavering trust in Li Kui and constantly strengthened Li Kui's determination to carry out reforms.

At the same time, Wei Wenhou was a rare long-lived person. He lived to be 76 years old and reigned for more than 50 years.

Throughout such a long period of time, Wei Wenhou, who stood behind Li Kui, never fell.

This not only helped Li Kui successfully complete his mission of reform, but also allowed him to successfully survive the dangerous period when he was most likely to be liquidated by his enemies.

Second, Wei Wenhou was not only good at governing the country, but also good at educating children.

After Wei Wenhou died, the throne was inherited by the equally wise Wei Wuhou.

It helped Wei Wenhou to continue his hegemony and achieve a smooth transition of the Wei regime.

Wei Wuhou and Wei Wenhou had similar perceptions. They were extremely grateful to Li Kui, who had made great contributions to the prosperity of the State of Wei and was already in his sixties. Of course, they would not settle accounts with him.

Third, as the product of the division of Jin by the three families, Wei State was a newly established country.

The biggest feature is that the accumulation of the aristocratic group is very limited, and a large vested interest group has not yet been formed.

Therefore, Li Kui's reforms did not cause too much harm to these people.

At the same time, these nobles were also afraid of the punishment measures in the "Book of Law" and did not dare to take the risk of challenging the law.

Fourth, Li Kui’s reforms were based on benefiting the people and had a broad mass base.

For example, measures such as reducing or exempting taxes and land rents when encountering natural disasters created conditions for the people to work with peace of mind, and therefore received strong support from the people.

Fifth, Li Kui was not that radical in his conduct and actions.

From the beginning to the end, Li Kui relied heavily on the support of Wei Wenhou, and paid more attention to using human power to promote reform.

Instead of doing what Shang Yang did, he made full use of the system to deepen reform and implemented reform measures into specific, operational and enforceable laws and regulations.

Therefore, the degree to which Li Kui aroused hatred was certainly not comparable to that of Shang Yang.

In short, Li Kui is not only intelligent, but also practical in his work.

He is not too ambitious and not overbearing, and he has very good luck.

This allowed Li Kui to achieve great success and leave his name in history while also ensuring the safety of himself and his family.

"In order to avoid being bullied by people with good archery skills, everyone became archery fanatics and practiced their skills at home every day."

“Not to oppress others, but to avoid being the unlucky one when problems arise.”

"After a while, every one of the people became an expert archer."

"The rule that relies on archery skills to determine victory or defeat is becoming increasingly outdated."

"But when the Qin soldiers come to attack again, the common people can show their skills."

"The Qin people were forced to retreat in disgrace by using arrows, and the frequent attacks on the border were thus successfully resolved."

"It was only at this time that the common people understood Li Kui's good intentions."

"It turns out that this officer has other intentions than drinking."

"Although the incident of turning a case into a military exercise was not a big deal, it fully demonstrated Li Kui's intelligence and wisdom."

"During his many years as a local official, there were many examples like this where Li Kui took reasonable measures to solve specific problems according to the time and place."

"Because of this, he was valued by Wei Wenhou, the founding monarch of the Wei State."

"In 403 BC, the Spring and Autumn superpower Jin was divided up by three of the four noble families of Jin: Han, Zhao, and Wei."

"From then on, it became three states, which is known in history as the Three Families Dividing Jin."

"From this moment on, Wei Wenhou, who was well-known in history for his virtue, stepped onto the political stage."

"Wei Wenhou not only had lofty ambitions and a strong determination to make progress, but also had the invincible courage to break through tradition."

"After becoming the king of Wei, Duke Wen of Wei exerted his power from within the state of Wei."

"Recruit a large number of talented people, rather than relying solely on the power of the monarch to govern the country."

"Among the talented team recruited by Wei Wenhou was Confucius' disciple Zixia, who was later appointed as the state teacher by Wei Wenhou."

"Wu Qi, who helped Wei become a military power, was promoted to general."

"Li Kui and others who have extraordinary management abilities were appointed as prime ministers."

"We have to admit that the key factor for Wei to gradually develop into the strongest country in the Warring States Period was the fulfillment of its duties by talented people."

Shang Yang: The main reason why Li Kui could become the founder of the Legalists was that he persuaded Wei Wenhou and gained his strong support.

In the early Warring States period, reform was like a hot spot.

Whichever prince can take the lead in standing at the forefront will stand out in the chaos.

To put it simply, reform means making major changes to the country's laws and systems, ultimately making the country prosperous and strong.

The reason why Wei was the first to carry out reforms was that Wei Wenhou's talent policy attracted a large number of talents, thus gaining the first-mover advantage in reforms.

The most famous among this group of talents is Zixia, a famous disciple of Confucius and one of the Ten Philosophers of Confucius.

Wei Wenhou studied Confucianism under Zixia, but Zixia did not play much role in Wei Wenhou's subsequent reforms.

But another disciple of Zixia became the core figure of the reform, namely Li Kui, the founder of the reform.

Although Li Kui studied Confucianism, he actually followed the Legalist approach.

Li Kui served as a local official on the northwest border of Wei State adjacent to Qin State. Later, he was appreciated by Wei Wenhou because of his many battles with the Qin army.

Secondly, because of Zixia's relationship, Wei Wenhou learned about Li Kui's Legalist thoughts.

It is said that Li Kui's reform began with a conversation in which Wei Wenhou asked Li Kui how to govern the country well.

Li Kui believed that in order to govern the country well, those who worked should be rewarded.

Reward those who have made contributions and employ talented people.

Those who deserve rewards must be rewarded, and those who deserve punishment must be punished.

Wei Wenhou can be said to be a wise ruler in the early Warring States Period. He not only clearly distinguished between rewards and punishments, but also appointed capable people.

But I still wonder why the people of Wei are still complaining about me.

Li Kui answered straightforwardly, because there are still people in the country who indulge in wealth and luxury.

The nobles did nothing but rely on the merits of their ancestors.

Not only did he hold a high position, but he also squandered state money.

Therefore, if we want the country to have long-term stability, we should cancel the high salaries of the nobles and use the money saved to recruit talents.

Li Kui's words pierced the cancer of Wei State, and Wei Wenhou was enlightened.

The two hit it off immediately, and Li Kui's reform was put on the agenda.

Any reform would harm the interests of the vested interests. Li Kui proposed the slogan of selecting the virtuous and appointing the capable, and clearly distinguishing rewards and punishments, which obviously offended the nobles of Wei. However, Li Kui was backed by Wei Wenhou, and no matter how much the nobles hated Li Kui, they could only remain silent.

The reason why Wei Wenhou supported Li Kui so much was because the core of the Legalist doctrine was to strengthen the power of the monarch.

The Legalists attached great importance to law and regarded it as the foundation of the country.

In the turbulent context of the Warring States Period, Li Kui wanted to establish a strong monarch, which was of course what Wei Wenhou liked most.

Wei Wenhou knew that if he sat back and watched the rights of the nobles.

It will create a privileged class, which will pose a great threat to its own rule.

In the end, the situation of the three families dividing Jin will be repeated.

Wei Wenhou was able to judge the situation and strongly supported Li Kui's reforms.

This was an important reason why Li Kui was the first to catch the reform trend in the early Warring States Period and achieved good results.

After receiving strong support from Wei Wenhou, Li Kui immediately put full steam ahead and set sail at the forefront of the reform.

"Soon after becoming prime minister, Li Kui discussed with Wei Wenhou the basic strategies for governing the country."

"Li Kui believed that the most important thing in governing a country was to appoint talented people and to reward and punish them correctly according to their performance of duties."

"Wei Wenhou wondered why his rewards and punishments were always appropriate, but the people did not support him?"

"Li Kui bluntly pointed out that it was because there were some noble children who got what they wanted without any effort."

"These people enjoy generous salaries based on their ancestors' merits but have made no contribution to the country. It would be better to use their salaries to recruit talents from all walks of life."

"I have to admire Li Kui's views, which are very forward-looking, and Wei Wenhou also praised Li Kui's views."

"With the support of Wei Wenhou, Li Kui served as the commander-in-chief of Wei's reform."

"It carried out a profound and comprehensive reform of Wei's politics, economy, and military, and opened the prelude to the Warring States Reform Movement."

"Li Kui's reforms mainly included political system, rule of law, and economy."

"In terms of political system reform, Li Kui resolutely abolished the hereditary aristocracy system that had been in place for more than a thousand years since the Shang and Zhou dynasties."

"They used the salaries of these people who had earned money without doing anything to recruit talented people and establish a complete feudal bureaucratic system."

“Help the emerging landlord class to enter the country’s ruling institutions and then rise to become the ruling class.”

"In terms of legal reform, Li Kui absorbed the experience of other countries through summarization."

"In light of the specific conditions of the State of Wei, a unified law, the Law Code, was formulated to safeguard the interests of the emerging landlords."

"The Law Code broke the rule that officials could not be punished, and stipulated that even nobles who broke the law would be punished by law."

"For acts such as theft, robbery, wounding, and murder that affect people's lives, the Law Code clearly defines the crimes and stipulates basic principles for the application of the law, such as lenient and severe punishments."

"It has enabled the State of Wei to implement a legal system that has laws to abide by, laws must be followed, law enforcement must be strict, and violations must be punished, eliminating worries for the people's stable lives."

"In terms of economic reform, we want to fully tap the enthusiasm of the people to cultivate the land."

"Li Kui issued an edict abolishing the well-field system and began to recognize private ownership of land."

"This reform set a precedent for recognizing private ownership of land during the Warring States Period."

“It is of epoch-making significance and has far-reaching impact.”

Ying Zheng: It can be said that "The Book of Law" is the holy book in the hearts of the Legalists, and it is also the ancestor of Chinese legal thought.

Although Li Kui was the founder of Legalism, he had Confucian blood in his bones.

Punishment is only a means. Protecting and caring for the people is the way to make a country strong.

The laws in the Spring and Autumn Period became a tool to protect the nobility and oppress the people.

The core idea of ​​the law during the Spring and Autumn Period was that punishment should not be imposed on officials, and courtesy should not be extended to common people.

The ministers at that time were all nobles who owned land and soldiers. Whenever they became dissatisfied with the monarch, they would rebel and kill the monarch.

Li Kui's "Law Book" made great progress in punishing nobles.

For example, if the prime minister or a general accepted bribes, all the people around them would be killed, causing the officials of the Wei State at that time to live in fear every day.

Li Kui's "Book of Law" not only upholds fairness and justice, but also protects the rights and interests of the people, which is absolutely impossible to appear in the laws of the Spring and Autumn Period.

The people's expectation is simple, that is, to live in peace and safety. The safety of their lives and property is what they care about most.

In criminal law, the infringement on the private property of the people is called theft, and the personal injury to the people is called robbery.

Only when the people feel safe and can work hard can the country be stable and prosperous.

The punishment for bad people in the "Book of Law" is quite strict.

For example, if a murderer committed a crime, not only would his house be confiscated, but his wife would also be made a slave.

For those who steal, their feet will be cut off.

If anyone climbs over the city wall without permission, the person will be beheaded if it is just one person, and the entire family will be exterminated if there are more than ten people.

Anyone who engages in illegal gatherings for more than five days may be executed immediately.

The reason why Li Kui punished these people so cruelly was to maintain the stability of the State of Wei.

The Wei State at that time wanted to establish a strong centralized state and must not return to the situation of rebellion and chaos every other day as in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Only when the monarch is strong will the domestic rebellious forces dare not act rashly and the people can live in peace.

If a monarch wants to practice kingly way, his first task is to punish thieves.

The unity of Confucianism and Legalism is the highest realm of Li Kui's Legalist thought, and Li Kui achieved it.

Li Kui greatly increased the strength of the State of Wei through reforms, and sounded the first clarion call for reforms.

Seeing the rapid rise of Wei, the other vassal states followed suit, and the Legalists became the mainstream of the entire Warring States period.

"At the same time, Li Kui was clearly aware that Wei was located in the Central Plains."

"The territory is small, but the population is large. The most urgent issue to be solved is the problem of people having enough food to eat."

"After all, only when material resources are sufficient can a country conquer foreign countries and expand its territory."

"But the land area is so small, and there is no new technology or new seeds."

“How can we increase food production and achieve a qualitative leap in agricultural development?”

"Li Kui is not an agricultural expert, and he did not start from the planting technology, but he considered the utilization rate of the land."

"Li Kui calculated that the State of Wei had a total of 90,000 hectares of land."

"Besides the mountains, swamps, and houses, there are still 60,000 hectares of farmland available for planting."

"If the people work hard in farming, the yield per mu can be increased by about three dou."

"If the people are passive and lazy, the yield per mu will be reduced by three dou."

"That is to say, whether the land is fully utilized or not can make a difference of 1.8 million koku."

"In order to maximize the benefits of land, Li Kui came up with the trick of 'making the most of the land'."

"First, you can't plant a single crop in the land. You have to plant a mixture of grains."

"The main goal is to make preparations for both natural and man-made disasters."

"Second, trees cannot be planted in the fields to prevent their leaves from blocking the sunlight needed for crop growth."

"Third, the government must really play its role and quickly organize the people to harvest crops when bad weather occurs."

"We should prevent ordinary people from letting their crops rot in the fields due to their limited personal strength, which would cause huge waste."

"Fourth, we must not waste any arable land. We should plant land suitable for farming and plant vegetables and fruits on land not suitable for farming."

"At the same time, we will vigorously develop the sideline business of breeding and do everything possible to increase farmers' income."

"In addition to making full use of the land, Li Kui also proposed the method of equal purchase and sale of rice."

"That is, in years of good harvest, the government would buy grain from the people at a fair price to prevent merchants from lowering prices, which would cause grain prices to drop and hurt farmers."

"In years of poor harvest, the government will sell the grain reserves at a fair price."

"Prevent merchants from taking advantage of the situation to raise prices and cause famine."

"Through these methods, Wei's agricultural production developed rapidly and became the foundation of Wei's national strength."

"Wei's national strength is also increasing rapidly. In just a few years, a new trend of becoming rich and strong has emerged."

"It successfully entered the ranks of the Seven Kingdoms of the Warring States Period, laying a solid foundation for its subsequent dominance for a hundred years."

"These reform measures of Li Kui were later brought to Qin by Shang Yang intact."

"Helping Qin become the most powerful country during the Warring States period is a great contribution."

Liu Che: Li Kui successfully solved the three problems of Wei Wenhou, making Wei's national strength extremely strong.

Any reform will involve economic reform. Wei Wenhou once asked Li Kui three soul-searching questions about economic reform.

How can we expand the wealth of the country? How can we establish rules for dividing the wealth? How can we punish those who do not follow the rules?

In Li Kui's view, Wei State must focus on agriculture, and increasing grain production is the right way.

In order to increase grain production, Li Kui proposed for the first time that the people must be protected in order to stabilize the grassroots of Wei State, and grain and manpower would also come in droves.

In order to solve this problem, Li Kui promulgated the policy of making full use of the land and the peaceful purchase of grain.

The so-called making full use of the land means making the land produce to the maximum extent and increasing the yield per mu through intensive farming.

The so-called "pingliang method" means that the government purchases grain from farmers and sells it during famine to stabilize grain prices.

Li Kui solved the first problem raised by Wei Wenhou by making full use of the land and implementing a fair grain purchase system.

As his wealth grew, Wei Wenhou had to solve his second problem: how to divide the wealth.

The core of Legalism is to strengthen the power of the monarch and to monopolize power.

In the State of Wei, only the king had the final say, and the situation of the nobles rebelling like in the Spring and Autumn Period could never happen again, so the person who distributed the wealth had to be the king.

Therefore, Li Kui’s approach was very simple, which was to completely abolish the system of hereditary aristocracy and hereditary salaries.

If you want to acquire wealth, you must rely on your strength, not your birth.

Li Kui's move completely overturned the governing philosophy of the Spring and Autumn Period. From then on, the policy of selecting people based on their talents was widely implemented in the State of Wei and even in the entire Warring States period.

But after all, some people were dissatisfied with Li Kui's wealth distribution rules. This was Wei Wenhou's third problem: how to punish these people.

So, Li Kui compiled a book called "Law Book" to punish these people.

The "Book of Law" is the first systematic legal code in Chinese history and was not created improvisationally.

Rather, it was a summary of Li Kui's experience combining the governing experience of his predecessors with his own, and it is incomparably advanced.

With the help of the "Law Book", Li Kui perfectly solved the three problems of Wei Wenhou and made the strength of Wei State advance by leaps and bounds. (End of this chapter)