Shuli got off the carriage and glanced at a roof on the side as if unintentionally, and then walked into [Ruotiao Building].
Wangshu Pavilion
After setting up the well, she quickly rushed here.
On the desk in front of her was a pot of freshly brewed hot tea, but she had no time to drink tea now and was looking at the thick letter in her hand seriously.
Beside the teapot, there were two unopened letters neatly placed.
Old Zhaotou sent news from Chu State:
The civil war in Chu State evolved from the public clan and the royal family to a dispute between the Chu king and the local nobles to regain their power.
The [Xiang Clan], which had been victorious in successive battles at the beginning, now faced the strength of several noble groups and began to feel overwhelmed.
But the King of Chu didn't know what was going on. He seemed determined to take back the land and power scattered in the hands of the nobles and change the autonomy of the feudal nobles to a complete county system.
Although the county system was widely implemented during the Qin Dynasty's Shang Yang Reform period, the country that first established the county system was an unexpected answer - Chu State.
Although the county system of Chu State at this time was very different from that of later generations, it still had the title of a county in its name.
As the State of Chu that destroyed the most countries, it destroyed 54 countries in total.
Therefore, the expansion of territory required more effective governance methods to strengthen the central royal family's centralized control over local areas, so the county system came into being in response to the need.
When it comes to selecting county officials, Chu State has two main methods: the first is to directly select local nobles as the highest officials, and the second is to send members of the Chu State's clan to govern.
With the development of time and the strengthening of Chu State's power, the latter method gradually became the mainstream, that is, allowing members of the Chu State's clan to serve as the highest local officials.
Moreover, although the counties of Chu State were only a local administrative agency in name, they were actually equivalent to a country.
Therefore, under such circumstances, these clan members who went to places undoubtedly became prince-like existences in the local area, enjoying quite independent military and political power in the fiefdom, which had a certain impact on the power of the Chu royal family.
If the Chu royal family is strong enough, it can still have certain control over these places and achieve its reputation as a powerful country.
But if the Chu royal family falls into decline, then these local forces will fight among themselves in order to expand their own interests, and eventually develop into large-scale civil strife.
Just like now, except that the dynamite barrel was ignited by the King of Chu himself, and then the scattered sparks ignited the surrounding dry grass.
But equally, the King of Chu's too hasty methods aroused the dissatisfaction of many nobles, who were worried that one day the King of Chu would swing the butcher's knife at them.
So they decided to strike first and join forces with other nobles to resist the King of Chu's army.
There are those who resist the King of Chu, and on the contrary, there are those who help the King of Chu.
Those who chose to help the King of Chu were either martial nobles who valued the power of the army more than their fiefdoms; or they were down-and-out nobles who wanted to invest in the King of Chu and regain the glory of their ancestors.
But in the final analysis, no matter which one they are, their ultimate goal is for their own interests.
However, after King Chu detonated the explosive barrel, the intensity of the fire was beyond King Chu's expectation, and the situation began to gradually exceed his control.
Although the royal family has currently taken back many fiefdoms and powers from the hands of old nobles, it has aroused more dissatisfaction because of this.
Old Zhaotou asked Shuli about the [Business Alliance]’s next journey in Chu:
He continues to move between the two forces, paying no attention to them, and only doing the business in hand.
It is better to choose to bet on both sides secretly, and then add firewood to the fire to make the fire stronger.
Or choose one of the parties to support them, and finally earn greater benefits, or even political power.
Old Zhaotou is more inclined to choose the second option first.
Because the principle of the [Business Alliance] from the very beginning is not to intervene in power disputes in other countries, but to just be a law-abiding businessman, do business with everyone, and make a lot of money together.
Therefore, the third option was first excluded by Old Zhaotou, and he could not mess with this rule.
Compared with the first and second options, perhaps the first option is to be more honest and responsible.
But if you are too honest, you will make less money.
They are businessmen, not good people.
If you can make more money without touching your sensitive nerves, then why not choose to do it.
Therefore, Lao Zhaotou is more inclined to make the fire of Chu Kingdom stronger, add more firewood, and burn it longer.
It's just Shuli's idea that represents the final decision, so currently the [Business Alliance] in Chu State still maintains its previous model.
That is, neither stop nor participate, you fight your side and I earn mine.
The purpose of Lao Zhaotou's letter was to let Shuli make a choice as soon as possible.
Although the King of Chu and the aristocratic group have not started fighting again for the time being and have relatively entered a truce period, both sides have begun to prepare for the next war.
Both sides have been issuing a steady stream of ordnance orders to the [Commercial Alliance], resulting in the [Commercial Alliance]'s current inventory and existing manufacturing speed being far from enough to deliver the orders.
Therefore, Old Zhaotou asked Shuli if he could use Shuli's identity in the Qin State to purchase a batch of armors and weapons. It didn't need to be very good, even leather armor or rattan armor would do.
Regarding this matter, Shuli will write to Ying Zheng and seek his opinion.
If he agrees, he will send someone to communicate with the people in the [Business Alliance] and give a reasonable price.
If you don't agree, forget it and refund part of the order deposit to both parties.
The reason why Old Zhaotou wrote to Shuli at this time is simply because the two sides of the Chu State have now entered a truce period, which is more conducive for the [Business Alliance] to intervene.
But Shuli always felt that it was a bit strange that the King of Chu suddenly attacked all the nobles.
Her intuition told her that it was not as simple as taking back power.
After King Hui of Chu arbitrarily created kings and turned the aristocrats' powerful local power into a system, the aristocratic politics within the Chu State had almost entered an irreversible bad situation.
Therefore, every king of Chu knew very well that it was absolutely impossible to use strong methods to deal with the nobles.
In order to stabilize his rule and take back local power, each king of Chu used various methods to target people in various policy arrangements or even directly kill people with a knife.
What's more, the reason that triggered the civil war in Chu in the first place was that the three major families believed that Chu King Han's bloodline was not orthodox, and Shu Li asked the [Business Alliance] to stir up some trouble.
Is this evolution of the meaning of war too abrupt?
So after thinking about it, Shuli burned the letter she had written.
And since both sides are now planning the next war, they should wait until the outcome of the war is known before making plans.
What's more, this is all a civil war in Chu, and they [Business Alliance] will make a lot of money from it without suffering any losses.
At most, it's just a mistake in intuition and a missed opportunity. For such a huge [Business Alliance], it's nothing.
According to what Yan Chunjun said, King Yan seemed to be planning some gift to please Ying Zheng in order to limit the war pressure brought by Zhao State to them.