After the Battle of Qianshi, the victorious Qi army, led by Bao Shuya, entered the state of Lu and approached Qufu. This alarmed Duke Zhuang of Lu. However, to his surprise, the Qi army came not to attack. Instead of destroying the state of Lu, they asked for hostages. Bao Shuya wrote a letter to Duke Zhuang of Lu, in which he hoped that the state of Lu would execute Prince Jiu and send Zhaohu and Guan Zhong back to the state of Qi. The falsely alarmed Duke Zhuang of Lu faced Qi. When the army was approaching, they killed Prince Jiu without thinking too much. Zhaohu heard about this and committed suicide as well. Guan Zhong was captured by Duke Zhuang of Lu and was escorted to the state of Qi.

In fact, Duke Zhuang of Lu was once again tricked by the State of Qi. Bao Shuya and Guan Zhong had an irreversible friendship, so how could he harm him? This idea was actually Bao Shuya's suggestion. When Duke Huan of Qi planned to make him the prime minister, Bao Shuya resolutely He declined on the grounds of lack of ability. He understood that only Guan Zhong, a man of vast knowledge and strategizing, could assist Duke Huan of Qi to achieve hegemony. So he suggested that Duke Huan of Qi worship Guan Zhong as prime minister.

Originally, Duke Huan of Qi was still bitter about Guan Zhong's revenge, but after Bao Shuya's repeated recommendations, he also became interested in Guan Zhong's talents. He wanted to take revenge on Guan Zhong and took him back from the state of Lu. Guan Zhong was a very smart man, and he naturally understood Bao Shuya's painstaking efforts. After three days of fasting, bathing, and changing clothes, Duke Huan of Qi came to the posthouse in person and respectfully invited Guan Zhong to the palace to inquire about politics. Guan Zhong naturally Following the tide, he decided to serve Duke Huan of Qi.

However, the young and energetic Duke Huan of Qi did not fully listen to Guan Zhong's advice at first. Since the state of Lu had always been at odds with the state of Qi, and later supported Prince Jiu's succession, Duke Huan of Qi hated the state of Lu. Although during the reign of Qi, Duke Huan of Qi hated the state of Lu deeply. He won the battle, but Duke Huan of Qi was not satisfied with the results of self-defense and counterattack. So, despite Guan Zhong's repeated dissuasion, he launched a war against Lu the next year.

It should be said that the State of Lu, which had just recovered from the Battle of Qianshi, was indeed no match for the State of Qi at this time. If it failed again, it would most likely never recover and become a vassal of the State of Qi. However, a lower-level nobleman of the State of Lu Cao GUI changed all this. He knew that Lu Zhuanggong's military ability was not enough to command Lu to win, so he volunteered to join the war.

Cao GUI once had a very famous dialogue with Duke Zhuang of Lu, which was recorded in "Zuo Zhuan". The original text is as follows:

Asked: "Why fight?" The Duke said: "The food and clothing are safe. If you don't dare to specialize, you must divide the people." He said to him: "The small benefits are not universal, and the people will not follow." The Duke said: "I don't dare to sacrifice jade and silk. Yes, it must be based on faith." He said to him: "If your faith is not perfect, you will be blessed by gods." The Duke said: "Even if you can't detect the prison of a small or big one, it must be based on love." He said to him: "Loyalty can be attributed to it. Fight. If you fight, please obey."

Cao GUI denied that Duke Zhuang of Lu relied on small favors to win people's hearts and prayed to gods and Buddhas for protection. Instead, he suggested that Duke Zhuang of Lu treat his subordinates fairly, fairly, and openly. Only in this way can the morale of the entire army be boosted.

The Qi and Lu armies set up a battlefield in Changshao (now northeast of Qufu, Shandong Province). According to the combat methods of the Spring and Autumn Period, both sides first beat drums to stimulate morale, and then sent out troops to fight. Qi State, relying on its large number of people, took the lead in beating drums and launched an attack. Attack. Lu Zhuangzheng planned to beat the drum to fight, but Cao GUI stopped him. Seeing that the Lu army refused to fight, the Qi army had to beat the drum again, but Cao GUI still ignored him. When the Qi army beat the third drum, the Lu army suddenly The drums were beating loudly, and the two armies fought, but the Qi army was actually killed and defeated. In this battle, Cao GUI took advantage of the principle of "one big move, then another, and three times" to defeat the Qi army that was stronger than himself. Later generations called it the "Battle of the Long Spoon", which was also a famous example in Chinese military history of the weak defeating the strong.

The Lu State was originally declining under the suppression of the Qi State, but the Battle of Changshao revived the Lu State's power. Stimulated by this battle, the Lu State took advantage of the situation to attack the Song State in an attempt to once again improve the status and reputation of the Lu State.

.This gave Duke Huan of Qi another opportunity to attack the State of Lu. The original failure in the Battle of Changshao did not make Duke Huan of Qi give up, so he once again united with the State of Song, which was at odds with the State of Lu, to jointly attack the State of Qi.

Duke Zhuang of Lu originally planned to hold on, but Prince Yan thought that he could divide and conquer them one by one. Compared with the Qi State, which had a well-organized military and stronger combat power, the Song Army was full of flaws. If the Song Army could be defeated first, the Qi Army would naturally follow suit.

Withdrew the troops. Duke Zhuang of Lu did not follow the advice of Prince Yan, but the latter did not intend to obey the order. In order to increase his momentum, Prince Yan covered his horses with tiger skins and secretly led his army out of the city from the south gate to attack the Song army. Lu Zhuang

When the public learned about it, he also responded

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The main force then responded. As expected, the Song army was no match for the Lu army that had built up morale, and was severely defeated by the Lu army at Chengqiu. Seeing this, Qi had no choice but to retreat. The next year, in order to take revenge, Song once again raised troops to attack Lu.

It is a pity that Song State, with the help of Qi State, cannot defeat Lu State. Now that it sends troops alone, it is naturally not an opponent. The two armies fought in Fengdi. Lu State formed a formation first and launched an attack before the Song army completed its formation.

, defeated the Song army again.

The Song State was involved in the dispute between Qi and Lu for no reason, and lost consecutive battles, which also triggered another civil strife in the Song State. It turned out that in the Battle of Chengqiu, the Song State's fierce general Nangong Changwan was killed by Duke Zhuang of Lu.

He was shot with an arrow by Jin Pugu and captured alive. Later, he was released and returned to the country after repeated requests from the Song Dynasty. When greeting Chang Wan of Nangong, Song Mingong casually said: Because Nangong has become a prisoner of Lu, he will no longer be a prisoner of Lu.

I will respect Nangong again. This was originally an unintentional joke, but unexpectedly it cost Song Mingong his life.

Nangong Changwan was humiliated by the Lu State, and he was originally resentful. Being ridiculed by the king, he naturally held a grudge, so he decided to rebel. In the first year of King Xi of Zhou Dynasty (682 BC), Nangong Changwan launched a rebellion and first killed the Song Dynasty in Mengze.

Min Gong also killed Dazai Huadu near the East Palace and made his son You the king. The princes of Song State fled to Cao State one after another and quickly organized an army to try to repel Nangong Chang Wan. Uncle Xiao Daxin and Duke Min

The other tribesmen in the room borrowed troops from Cao State and fought back to the Song State. They first killed Nangong Niu, a member of Nangong Changwan's tribe, and then entered the capital and killed Gongzi You.

Nangong Changwan and another member of his men, Menghuo, fled in a hurry to Chen and Wei. The Song Dynasty immediately negotiated with Chen and Wei, hoping to send the two men back. At first, Wei wanted to protect Menghuo, but under the guidance of the doctor Shi Qizi

After Chen Guo's persuasion, he handed over Meng Huo. Chen Guo, tempted by the financial gift promised by Song State, was also happy to be a favor, so he got Nangong Changwan drunk, wrapped him in cowhide and sent him back to Song State. Finally, he was sent to Song State.

Both of them were executed.

After this civil strife, the Song State weakened again and was unable to compete with the surrounding countries. At the same time, Qi Huangong also realized that Qi State's current national strength was still unable to dominate the princes, so he turned his attention to the country and started under the auspices of Guan Zhong

Reform of the political and economic system.

The battle with the Lu State did not gain any advantage, which was undoubtedly a blow to Duke Huan of Qi at the beginning of his reign. However, Duke Huan of Qi was worthy of being a wise king. He did not shrink back because of the temporary setback, but wisely realized that for the

Qi State, which had recovered from civil strife, had to start from internal affairs if it wanted to strive for hegemony. So he appointed Guan Zhong as his minister and launched a comprehensive reform in Qi State.

With the migration of King Ping eastward and the decline of the status of the Zhou royal family, the patriarchal system has in fact collapsed, so the household registration management system with the patriarchal system as the core also needs corresponding reforms. During the Spring and Autumn Period, each vassal state had a state (within the capital), and the wild

(outside the capital). Guan Zhong divided the area within the capital into 21 townships, which were for workers, merchants and scholars. Among them, there were 3 Gong townships, 3 merchant townships, and 15 scholar townships. The scholar townships were composed of Duke Huan of Qi, Gao Zi, and Guo Zi.

Each of the two noble families was in charge of five townships. There were lian (200 houses), li (50 houses), and rail (5 houses) under the township (2,000 houses).

The subordinate relationship is: five families are rails, ten rails are li, four li are companies, and ten companies are townships, which are managed by rail chiefs, li division chiefs, company commanders, and township good people (or township officials) respectively. Areas outside the capital are 5

The genus (district) is the residence of farmers. Under the genus (9000 families), there are counties (9000 families), townships (3000 families), villages (300 families), and towns (30 families). The subordinate relationship is: 30 families are town,

The chief officer is called Yi Yousi; 10 Yips are called pawns, and the chief officer is called Pushi Shuai; 10 pawns are townships, and the chief officer is called Township Marshal; 3 townships are counties, and the chief officer is called County Marshal; 10 counties are vassals, and the chief officers are called gendafu and genzhengchang.

It was directly managed by the five imperial officials.

The system promoted by Guan Zhong is called the "Shen Guo Wu Bi" system. It abolished the aristocratic fiefdoms under the feudal system and replaced it with a system similar to the county system in later generations. It is not only a daily administrative management

The basic structure is conducive to personnel management and tax collection. It is also directly integrated with the military service system and plays an important role in Qi's war for hegemony. Because the "Shen Guo Wu Bi" system uses the terms track, li, company, and township

This hierarchical management system can easily be transformed into a military establishment during wartime.

According to Guan Zhong's design, among the twenty-one townships under the capital, in addition to the six industrial and commercial townships, there are also fifteen scholar townships. Each family has a strong man to join the army.

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One household has five soldiers; and so on, fifty households in one li have fifty soldiers; two hundred households in one company have two hundred soldiers; two thousand households in one township have two thousand soldiers, and one in five villages has

Ten thousand households can produce 10,000 soldiers, and 10,000 soldiers can be organized into one army. If there are 30,000 households in the Fifteen Soldiers Township, there will be a total of 30,000 soldiers, which can be organized into three armies. In peacetime, the track commander, who is the chief executive,

Si, company commanders, and Xiang Liangren became military commanders in wartime and were responsible for commanding the soldiers gathered in their respective areas. Duke Huan, Guozi, and Gaozi of Qi commanded an army respectively.

In addition, Guan Zhong also improved the source of soldiers. During the Spring and Autumn Period, mercenaries who were engaged in war as a profession had not yet appeared in later generations. Compulsory military service was generally implemented in various countries. In other words, ordinary people who lived and worked in peace and contentment on weekdays were transformed during war.

They became soldiers who charged into battle. This is what is called serving the people when they go in and serving as soldiers when they go out. Qi is no exception. Based on this situation, Guan Zhong decided to make the "scholar" class the main source of Qi's army.

When people think of "scholars", they often think of Confucian scholars and scholars who are powerless and can only dance and write. In fact, that happened a long time later. The "scholars" of the Spring and Autumn Period are far from this image. If you must look for

As a reference, they are closer to the "knights" of the Western European Middle Ages. Scholars in the Spring and Autumn Period needed to master six arts, namely etiquette, music, archery, chastity, calligraphy, and numeracy. In other words, a standard "scholar" should master literary skills.

They can bring peace to the world with their pens, and they can use their horses to control the world with force. Therefore, compared with the agricultural, industrial, business and other classes, their quality is relatively higher.

As a result, the personal quality of the Qi army has been greatly improved, and its combat effectiveness has skyrocketed; not only that, the military system is closely connected with the daily administrative structure, and can be seamlessly switched at any time, which makes the army's organization more standardized and greatly improved.

It also improves the combat efficiency of the military and reduces the burden on the people.

In addition, in order to improve the actual combat capabilities of the army, Guan Zhong also designed an effective training method: stipulating that the army should go out hunting every season.

The role of public security. In addition, Guan Zhong also required that people in the scholar's hometown should not move around at will, and that "the same blessings should be offered to sacrifices, and the same sympathy should be paid to the dead and mourning."

"We rejoice together, we mourn together in death, we maintain the same principles, and we are strong in battle." Even if we fight at night, we can distinguish ourselves from the enemy by their sounds, and when we fight in the day, we can identify ourselves by just seeing their appearance.

Of course, in addition to improving the combat effectiveness of the army, a strong army also requires advanced weapons. The iron smelting technology that emerged during the Spring and Autumn Period was of great significance to agricultural tools and weapons. But how can we quickly concentrate iron raw materials? Guan Zhong figured out

He came up with a method of "lenient punishment and atonement": he announced that criminals in Qi could offset their punishment by paying weapons, armor and even ores. If they committed a serious crime, they could use armor and a halberd to atone for their crimes; if they committed a misdemeanor, they could use a halberd.

Money of equivalent value can be used to atone for crimes; minor crimes can be atonement with copper and iron. This system not only solved the source of armaments, but also expanded national fiscal revenue, eased domestic conflicts, and achieved twice the result with half the effort.

In addition to these reforms, Guan Zhong also made some modifications to the old talent selection system that determined official positions based on blood. As a child of a declining aristocratic family, Guan Zhong naturally knew that the long-standing selection system of heroes based on family status had long been out of step with the times.

changes.

First of all, he selflessly recommended the "Five Heroes" to Duke Huan of Qi: Xi Peng, who was polite and eloquent, Ning Yue, who was familiar with farming, Wang Yucheng, who was brave and good at fighting, Bin Xuwu, who was honest and upright, and Dongguo Ya, who was outspoken.

He assumed important positions in the State of Qi. Later, a new election system was formulated, which stipulated that all talents would be recommended by the township chiefs and subordinate officials, evaluated by important officials of the imperial court, and questioned by Duke Huan himself, which was called the "three selections". Local officials

If talents are hidden and suppressed, they will be punished with the crime of "shielding talents" and "shielding talents".

Not only that, Guan Zhong also suggested that Duke Huan of Qi vigorously recruit talents from other countries and send out eighty "tourists", carrying a lot of gold and silver property, wearing silk and satin, driving BMWs and fragrant cars, traveling around, and immediately inviting them to the hermits when they saw them.

Returning to the State of Qi. For a time, the State of Qi was full of talented people and crowded with guests.

Through political and military reforms, Qi already has a relatively advanced political system and a highly effective army. However, to maintain the operation of the state machine, it also needs to rely on strong economic strength. Therefore, Guan Zhong also carried out economic reforms.

carried out a series of reforms.
Chapter completed!