People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Nearly a thousand people gathered around. Even Zhao Jia hadn't expected that a simple horse race would attract so many people.

Yan Fei sat upright on the wooden table representing the Yin-Yang School, with Da Siming and Shao Siming standing solemnly behind her, constantly on guard against the Mohist masters lurking around.

Cao Ze nodded slightly to Yan Fei.

Yan Fei responded with a smile.

The two tacitly avoided exchanging many words.

"Boom-"

With the sound of gongs and drums, Zhao Jia's guards roared, "Silence!"

Zhao Jialu straightened her clothes and stepped forward, saying, "I didn't expect so many people to come today."

"Without enduring the bitter cold, how can the plum blossom exude its fragrant aroma?"

"Mr. Cao Ze's words just now have deeply moved me."

"Mr. Cao Ze also said that those who accomplish great things in ancient times not only possessed extraordinary talent, but also unwavering determination."

"In ancient times, when Yu was controlling the floods, he dug the Dragon Gate and opened up the Yellow River to let it flow into the sea. This is the story."

"In the past, King Goujian of Yue was a man of great perseverance. Heaven did not fail him. He endured hardship and humiliation, and with three thousand Yue soldiers, he conquered Wu. This is the story."

"Recently, I hope that all of you will follow the example of our ancestors."

"I do not seek extraordinary talent, but only wish that a fine sword can be forged through tempering and honing!"

Zhao Jia, full of enthusiasm, recounted what he had copied from Cao Ze. Seeing the passionate crowd of disciples at the Hundred Schools Forum, Zhao Jia felt it was necessary to specifically consult Cao Ze on the art of rhetoric.

Cao Ze looked at the disciples and students of the Hundred Schools below, each more excited than the last, and couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Good heavens, his oratory skills are almost on par with those of an art student who failed the college entrance exam. If he were to raise his arms and give a shout, Zhao Yan would be scared to death on his sickbed.

Guo Kai was both shocked and solemn.

I never expected Zhao Jia to have such eloquence. Could it be that he was influenced by Cao Ze?

However, after his initial shock, Guo Kai suddenly smiled.

If I briefly recount what happened here to King Zhao, perhaps adding a few embellishments, would it make King Zhao completely wary of the Crown Prince?

Having a large following is not a good thing.

After giving his speech, Zhao Jia gave up his position.

He said to Cao Ze, "Sir, have you come today to say something grand?"

Cao Zelang smiled and said, "As the Crown Prince thinks, I do have something to say to you all."

Crown Prince Jia knelt beside Fu Nian, cupped his hands, and said, "I wonder if what you wish to say is a discussion on the righteous army to defeat Qin, or on strengthening the country?"

Cao Ze succinctly stated: "A powerful nation!"

"Jia, I'm all ears."

Zhao Jia took the lead and sat upright, and the scene was completely silent.

Cao Ze walked to the center of the Lecture Room.

Looking at the nearly one thousand heads below, he showed no stage fright whatsoever.

Anyone who is surrounded by hundreds of people every day will get used to such a scene.

"What I am going to talk about this time is the feudal system and the centralization of power, as well as the impact and role of productivity on these two systems."

A few simple words left everyone, whether they understood them or not, stunned.

Gongsun Long stroked his white goat beard, and everyone knew that Zhou had enfeoffed eight hundred vassal lords.

Having traveled in Qin for several years, he also knew that Qin's level of centralization far exceeded that of other states, which was one of the reasons why Qin was able to become the strongest state.

But the productivity that Cao Ze mentioned later completely baffled him.

Not only was Gongsun Long unable to understand the situation, but basically everyone present, to be honest, could understand the concepts of enfeoffment and centralization to some extent, but they were completely clueless about productivity.

Zhao Jia was excited. He was no longer afraid of Cao Ze's cryptic remarks, but rather that Cao Ze and the others before him were talking about well-known strategies for strengthening the country.

Cao Ze smiled faintly and said, "I don't need to say more about the enfeoffment system of the Zhou Dynasty, which granted eight hundred vassal states. Perhaps everyone here knows more about it than I do."

"Today, I will first focus on explaining what centralization is, how to centralize power, and the advantages and disadvantages of centralization."

After Cao Ze finished speaking, he felt very emotional and grateful for the bunch of messy papers he had to deal with when he was in college.

Although I didn't learn much, I did grasp some basic academic writing skills, enough to fool these ancient scholars.

Cao Ze slowly began to talk about the centralized system that has been present for most of history, and incidentally interspersed the similarities and differences between monarchical autocracy and centralized system.

This presentation, packed with practical information, completely stunned everyone.

The centralization of power that Cao Ze mentioned is something that almost all countries are doing now.

Especially for the State of Chu, which was caught in the crossfire of the Qu, Jing, Zhao and other families, the first major problem for almost every new king of Chu was how to appease these three families and take power back into the king's hands.

Therefore, what Cao Ze said and did was simply to clarify the concepts of the enfeoffment and centralization systems, so that more people could understand what the centralized system of government was.

For the most outstanding disciples and students among these various schools of thought, understanding the explanations wasn't too difficult.

In particular, the county system invented by the State of Chu, which Cao Ze cited as an example, is known to almost everyone.

Just like the Zhao state today, which is also implementing the prefecture-county system.

For example, during the reign of King Wuling of Zhao, the conquered territories of Dai, Yunzhong, and Yanmen were established as prefectures and counties, directly under the jurisdiction of the King of Zhao.

One of the biggest obstacles to the implementation of the prefecture-county system in the State of Zhao was the limited number of prefectures and counties that could be directly established.

There are too many old nobles in the country, and too many fiefdoms. If the county system, which is beneficial to the royal family, is forcibly implemented, these old nobles will really dare to turn their guns back on the Zhao royal family.

The reason why the three places of Dai, Yunzhong, and Yanmen were successfully established as prefectures and counties was because King Wuling of Zhao personally conquered them; otherwise, it would have been virtually impossible.

Among these people, if one were to say who was most moved by Cao Ze's theory of centralized power, it would undoubtedly be Crown Prince Jia.

He once discussed politics with Li Mu and Pang Nuan day and night for several days. If they wanted to emulate the powerful Zhao state of Qin, they first had to eliminate the old nobles who were the biggest obstacle.

The Qin state was able to achieve this because of the leadership of Duke Xiao, Shang Yang. In particular, Shang Yang's martyrdom allowed the Qin state to operate its massive war machine without any further obstacles.

Looking at the composed Cao Ze, Zhao Jia wondered if he could become his Shang Yang and bring about reforms to the Zhao state.

Cao Ze spoke for an hour, explaining the concept of centralized power clearly.

As for the most crucial questions such as how to operate and implement them, Cao Ze glossed over them in a few words.

He simply said, "These things still need some time to be finalized."

He wouldn't be stupid enough to take everything out.

Not only would it arouse suspicion, it could also very likely lead to murder.

As for bringing up the concept of a centralized system, that's irrelevant.

This is just like physics; everyone knows the theorems and formulas, but whether or not you can build a nuclear bomb is another matter entirely.

Yanfei, who had been listening attentively, parted her lips slightly and asked with curiosity, "Then what is productivity? And what is its relationship with enfeoffment and centralization of power?"

She had never seen Cao Ze in his commanding and assertive manner.

But after seeing it today, the admiration and wonder in her eyes almost reached the heavens.

Seeing is better than hearing.

I wonder how charming and lovable Cao Ze was before she came to Handan.

Looking at the stunningly beautiful Yan Fei, Cao Ze smiled and said, "That's a good question. Let me explain."

Chapter 143 Taking too big a step can easily lead to trouble.

Not far away, Ya Fei Xue Nu and Li Ji, standing by the window of a pavilion, saw Cao Ze speaking with great enthusiasm and gazed into the distance, somewhat lost in thought.

When Ya Fei saw Cao Ze and Yan Fei chatting and laughing together, she felt a sense of unease.

This is abnormal, very abnormal.

It is said that Dongjun of the Yin-Yang School has always been aloof and arrogant, never showing any courtesy to anyone.

But Cao Ze was treated differently.

She admitted that it was probably because Cao Ze was very talented, but her intuition told her that there was a problem, definitely a problem.

Cao Ze, standing in the center of the Hundred Schools Forum, cleared his throat.

Before explaining the relationship between them, please allow me to explain productivity.

"To explain productivity, one needs to know what the mode of production and relations of production are."

Cao Ze's speech, consisting of just three simple terms, once again left everyone bewildered.

They couldn't discern any special meaning from the literal meaning of the words.

Cao Ze sighed inwardly, realizing that knowledge two thousand years ahead of its time could not be casually revealed.

Otherwise, it could easily create a situation reminiscent of playing the lute to a cow or burning the lute to cook a crane.

These seemingly simple things are actually extremely complex.

Fortunately, he didn't intend to go into detail.

Things that are superficial are not too difficult to understand.

However, Cao Ze did not expect that in the process of discussing productive forces, modes of production, and relations of production, he would also have to explain the means of production, objects of labor, and everything else that needed to be explained.

In order to avoid overreaching and causing serious problems.

Cao Ze decisively chose to focus on explaining what productivity is, as well as its role and importance.

Even so, the hundreds of disciples present were completely bewildered and had a great headache.

Fortunately, someone was on the scene taking notes, so I can savor the experience later.

After Cao Ze finished talking about productivity, he prepared to rest for a while and then leave.

Unexpectedly, one of the disciples below started a commotion and insisted that he continue telling the fifty-sixth chapter of "Journey to the West".

Cao Ze had almost forgotten where he was in the story, and the thought that he still had to tell it forty-four more times made him want to burst into tears.

I really want to bring Jingni, who stays at home taking care of the kids, over to help him tell the story.