Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 130 Three Strategies to Govern Qi
The small town of Linzi, the Palace of the King of Qi.

Han Xin was looking at the man in front of him with great interest. The man was in his 30s. Well, this man is still one of the death row prisoners waiting to be executed at Caishikou, but now, he seems to be Han Xin's guest.

There is only one reason why Han Xin pardoned the death row prisoner and invited him into the palace for a long talk.

Because this man who called himself Lou Jing, a death row prisoner, offered three strategies to Han Xin. Of course, the two didn't have a deep discussion at Caishikou, but Han Xin felt that what the death row prisoner said seemed to be quite reasonable, so he immediately Lou Jing was pardoned and sent to invite him into the Qi Palace in the small town.

"Sir, please take a seat." Han Xin raised his hand in silence.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Lou Jing bowed to Han Xin, and then sat down on the seat at Han Xin's lower right.

Han Xin smiled slightly, and said again: "Sir, now can you tell me about your three strategies to cure Qi?"

"Of course." Lou Jing nodded happily, "The so-called three strategies for governing Qi, the most urgent thing is to disperse troops in the wild. The population of Qi is only more than two million, but the king has 30 soldiers under his command. The total number of soldiers in the county is no less than 40, and if there are many soldiers and few people, the country's power will decline, so the most urgent task is to disperse the troops in the wild, so as to preserve the strength of the people and the country."

Han Dao said, "There are still Xiang Chu's remnants in Xue County in the south. If I scattered my troops in the wild, and Xiang Chu's remnants led troops to attack Qi, what should I do?"

Lou Jing said: "Of course your majesty can't disperse all the armored soldiers. Your majesty's ability to use troops is unmatched in ancient and modern times. I think that Qi only needs to keep a elite army of about 5 soldiers, which is enough to protect itself! When the whole land is in the future After the population increases and the country is strong, the king only needs to write an edict, and a million soldiers can be obtained at his fingertips! In this way, we can imitate the strong Qin and sweep the world!"

Han Xin waved his hand. He was not very interested in what Lou Jing said about imitating Qiang Qin and sweeping the world, but he also admitted that looking at the world today, no one can use soldiers better than Han Xin. Holding an army of 40 is indeed a bit of a waste. It is almost enough to keep [-] elites, at most [-]!
"Okay." Han Xin said again, "Then what is the second strategy, sir?"

Lou Jing said: "The second strategy is to move the powerful families from the counties to fill Linzi!"

Han Xin's heart suddenly moved slightly. Although his political sensitivity is poor, he is not a complete idiot.

In fact, starting from the Spring and Autumn Period of the Nations, the powerful families of various countries have become a powerful force. Until the troubled times at the end of Qin Dynasty, when Chen Sheng and Wu Guang launched a rebellion in Daze Township, the power of the powerful families was especially exerted to the extreme. Uncles and nephews, such as Zhang Er and Chen Yu, are all outstanding figures from powerful families in various places.

For powerful aristocratic families in various places, those in power generally adopt the strategy of wooing and suppressing them.

The reason is very simple, there are only a few positions of power and resources, and it is impossible for every powerful family to share the benefits, so the ruler can only choose some of the powerful families to be allies, and the rest of the powerful families can also be allies. It cannot be slaughtered for no reason, so it can only be guarded day and night, but this is really not a problem.

Therefore, if the powerful families from all counties and counties can be gathered in Linzi City, things will be simpler.

First, after these powerful families leave, their influence on the counties and counties will be greatly weakened, and the decrees of the county chiefs and county magistrates will be easily implemented; second, after these powerful families move to Linzi, Han Xin will be able to enforce them. Effective control, because Linzi is the capital of Qi State, in Linzi, Han Xin's ability to control is the strongest.

In fact, Lou Jing's policy of filling Linzi with powerful and powerful families is indeed very poisonous.

Historically, after Liu Bang ruled the world, it was precisely because he listened to Lou Jing’s suggestion that he forced the 10,000+ powerful families in Kanto to move to Guanzhong, which completely changed the pattern of the world. In the words of later generations, these 10,000+ powerful families can be said to be The political elites at that time, almost all kinds of talents came from these powerful families.

The direct result of Liu Bang's doing so was that when Yingbo, Peng Yue, Lu Wan, and Zang Tu rebelled, they suddenly discovered that no one was available under their own rule. , the final result of the rebellion of the kings is self-evident, and they were all easily extinguished by Liu Bang.

However, due to the appearance of Xiang Zhuang, a traverser, history has reached a turning point.

Originally, Liu Bang had already ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor at this time, and Lou Jing would be pardoned and dispatched to Xianyang as a soldier, and then recommended to Liu Bang by his fellow countrymen, but now, Lou Jing was rescued by Han Xin before he was beheaded. He also seized the fleeting opportunity to offer three strategies to Han Xin.

"Well, this strategy is feasible." Han Xin nodded, and said, "What about the third strategy?"

Lou Jing breathed a sigh of relief, and said again: "The third strategy to govern Qi is to reward farming!"

After this pause, Lou Jing said again: "Your Majesty should follow the example of the old Qin Dynasty and set up [-] ranks of titles to reward farming. If the farmers under his rule pay more corn to the treasury, they can get titles. In this way, within a few years, Qi The treasury of the country will be filled, and the grain and millet will become mountains, and if the king wants to fight at this time, he will no longer have to worry about the lack of food and supplies."

"Okay, this strategy is great!" This strategy scratched Han Xin's itching spot. Not long ago, in response to the Han Dynasty's edict to march south to Huaisi, Han Xin was fed up with the embarrassment of lack of food and fodder. There is enough food and fodder, but every time the food is given, Han Xin wants to collect food from Qi several times, but Qi has no food to collect.

At that moment, Han Xin said again: "Sir, I want to appoint you as Prime Minister to assist Wang Ling in governing Qi. I don't know what you want?"

Lou Jing hurriedly got up, cupped his hands and bowed, solemnly said: "Jing... I wish to do the work of dogs and horses."

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When Lou Jing presented Han Xin with three strategies for governing Qi, Kuai Che entered Luyi alone in white clothes.

Luyi was the feudal state of Xiang Yu in his early years, and also the hometown of the Confucian master Confucius. After Xiang Yu was defeated in Gaixia and killed himself in Wujiang, Xiang Tuo, the governor of Xue County in the Western Chu Kingdom, did not give up resistance. Instead, he gathered thousands of remnants to defend Luyi. Since Xue Jun had not yet been assigned to Qi State at this time, it was difficult for Han Xin to deal with Xiang Tuo.

As for Liu Bang, he is still busy dealing with Xiang Zhuang until now, and he has no time to deal with Xiang Tuo.

Therefore, Xiang Tuo's life in Lu County was fairly comfortable, except for the one big defeat at Guan Ying's men when the army of Qi State went south, he basically didn't fight any battles afterwards.

However, two days ago, Luyi finally ushered in Huainan Wang Yingbu's army.

According to Kuaiche's plan, Xuejun, a de facto unowned land, will be Yingbo's first goal, and Luyi will be the starting point for Kuaiche to join forces and strategize.

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Lu Yi, the prefect's mansion.

Xiang Tuo looked at Kuai Che coldly, and said in a deep voice, "Kuai Che? Why did the traitor Yingbo send you into the city? Want to be a lobbyist to persuade the general to surrender Chu to Han? Tell you, that is wishful thinking!"

Kuai Che shook his sleeves, and said calmly: "The general's words are wrong. My king is not a subject of the king of Han. Therefore, the general's offering Xue County to my king is not surrendering to the Han."

"The same thing." Xiang Tuo said coldly, "This general will not surrender to the Han, let alone the traitor Yingbu!"

Xiang Tuo's reaction was already in Kuai Che's expectation, and Kuai Che smiled lightly and said calmly: "Since the general insists on not surrendering, then I won't force it anymore."

"In that case, sir, please come back now?" Xiang Tuo got up and chased away the guests.

"Is the general in a hurry? I haven't finished my next sentence." Kuai Che shook his head and smiled, and said, "Although the general is unwilling to serve my king, it's okay for you and me to try to cooperate, right? "

"Cooperation? What do you mean?" Xiang Tuo, as one of the few generals in the Xiang clan who can stand alone, has a bit of strategy, and he already knows that Xiang Zhuang is now carrying a number of A small number of elite soldiers are fighting in Liang, Qi, and Zhao. It is precisely because of the existence of Xiangzhuang's elite soldiers that Xue County and Kuaiji County have not completely fallen.

Kuai Che said: "The general is also a sensible person, let me open the skylight and speak plainly, Lu Yi and Xue Jun, my king is bound to win, the general and your thousands of plays now have only two ways to go, or to join forces. My family's king, or my family's king, give way to a way out, you go back to Jiangdong."

Xiang Tuo said awe-inspiringly, "What if the general refuses to agree?"

"Then we can only go to war." Kuai Che sighed, and said again, "But general, I'm sorry to say that your three thousand remnant soldiers are absolutely incomparable with General Xiangzhuang's five thousand elite soldiers. If my king decides to If you attack the city, within three days, the city of Lu will be destroyed, and the general and the three thousand tribes will have to die with the city of Lu."

"Xiang Zhuang?" Xiang Tuo's expression changed slightly, and he said solemnly, "Have you seen him? Where is he now?"

Kuai Che shook his head and said: "I have never met the general, but I know that the five thousand elite of the general have entered Sanchuan County and captured Luoyang, and this has been several days ago. As for Now, maybe the general has already broken through the Hangu Pass and entered the pass."

"What did you say?" Xiang Tuo said suddenly, "The general entered the pass?!"

"This is just my guess, but it's likely to be true." Kuai Che said after a pause, "So, the general should not think about himself, but should think more about the state of Chu. Although the general entered Guanzhong , but after all, there are few soldiers. Once Liu Bang returns to Guanzhong to save himself, the general can only continue to move in. Maybe he will fight back to Jiangdong in the future. Why doesn’t the general return to Jiangdong as soon as possible while there is still room for maneuver, and defend the state of Chu? What about the final foundation?"

Xiang Tuo remained silent, but he was making quick calculations in his heart.

(End of this chapter)