Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 87 Talking about Qin
Before Ximen Bao went to Hexi to take up his post, He Bo saw him off.

It’s just that it’s hard to feel as relaxed as I was more than ten years ago.

Because of the river, He Bo couldn't cross, and his magic power that he could do whatever he wanted was also difficult to play a big role -

It is possible to add it to paper to make it difficult to decay and the ink difficult to fade.

But if you want to protect people from danger and disaster, and make them immune to water, fire, swords and knives, that would be a bit difficult.

Besides, Ximen Bao was in a hurry and couldn't wait long.

Although the technology to build furnaces and smelt iron is now available, He Bo does not have the time to make iron armor and steel helmets.

So in the end, he just made a set of vine armor and blessed it with magic power to make it tougher and more difficult to break.

However, once it reaches the other side of the river, without He Bo's continued investment, the magic power on the vine armor will continue to be consumed, and the loss will be even greater if it encounters the blow of war.

A little longer.
More wars.
This so-called God-given thing will lose its effectiveness.

"I am ashamed."

He Bo and Ximen Bao couldn't help but say to him while they were waiting for the boat on the shore.

"I used to think that I was a ghost or a god. Although I wouldn't say I was omnipotent, many things in the world were no problem for me."

"As a result, first of all, there has been no news from Gongzi Chao since his long journey, and then you also want to go to the place west of the river, but I can't do anything about it."

Ximen Bao smiled and twirled his beard, "The fact that the river god of Zhangshui came all the way to Sushui to see me off is a rare favor from the world."

"I am only grateful in my heart, how dare I let the ghosts and gods worry about me?"

He Bo said frankly, "You old man, I'm really worried that you'll die in Hexi!"

Ximen Bao laughed out loud, "Will ghosts and gods also worry about the life and death of mortals?"

“Ghosts and gods may not, but friends will.”

He Bo reminded him, "You'd better wear armor all the time."

Ximen Bao said, "I know, thank you very much."

Then he and his wife boarded the boat and traveled from one end of the river to the other.

The Yellow River, which seems to be a natural barrier to mortals, can still be crossed by boat.

But He Bo couldn't get over it no matter what.

He could only watch Ximen Bao go away.

Only when the boat was no longer visible did He Bo put his hands behind his back and walk slowly along the bank of the Sushui River.

He also came to relax.

Gongzi Lian, who was under surveillance and had a little freedom only on the shore outside the city, came again. Seeing He Bo who was not very happy, he asked, "Why are you unhappy?"

He Bo said, "My friend is gone."

Gong Zilian was silent for a moment, then said, "My condolences."

"…He's gone, not dead."

He Bo glanced at him and vaguely remembered that he had once told this conversation to someone else.

He suddenly asked Gongzi Lian, "What kind of country is Qin?"

Hearing this question,

Gongzi Lian immediately stood up, "It's a very miserable country."

"But I don't think the Qin State is that miserable."

He Bo thought about the current situation in the world and the situation in Qin.

Qin's "weakness" was relative to its neighboring countries.

The Wei State, which dominated the world, was located to the east of the Qin State, and the Chu State, which had the largest territory, was located to the south of the Qin State. Whoever was in that corner would be looked weak.

How weak! The Emperor of Zhou was still hiding in Luoyi, silently weeping as he watched the world in chaos!
I don’t see anyone who has nothing to do and cares about the emperor!

The banner of "respecting the king and expelling the barbarians" was no longer raised, and the life of the Zhou emperor became more and more difficult.

The reason why the Qin State was called "barbaric" was because it was located in a remote area and had long been separated from the Central Plains. Even the custom of human sacrifice was still popular.

The country's national strength was not enough to intimidate its neighbors, and its culture was still very focused on business etiquette, so it was natural that it would be laughed at by the princes of the Central Plains.

However, such ridicule only exists within the circle of the Zhuxia. The neighboring Ba, Shu, Yiqiu, and even Baidi, who are still pursuing the cause of restoring their nation, cannot even enter this circle and are directly expelled from the Zhuxia.

now,

Didn't Qin's frenzied attack on Wei bring defeat to the high and mighty Duke of Wei?

"I can only attract others' attention and achieve some victory by going crazy. Isn't this miserable?"

"Moreover, Qin is located in a remote area in the west. It can only continue to grow by advancing eastward. As a result, Wei Wenhou took away Hexi from Qin, set up passes, and arranged generals to guard them. If Qin had not gone crazy, it would have been trapped in the west!"

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the dominant State of Jin was to the east of the State of Qin, blocking Qin's way to the east, which drove Duke Mu crazy.

Now a hundred years have passed, and the State of Jin has been divided into three parts. The east of Qin has been replaced by the dominant State of Wei, which has also occupied the land west of the Yellow River.

Some things seem to have changed.

And it seems like it has never changed.

Wouldn’t the Qin State feel desperate?
Even people will struggle when they are dying, let alone a country that has existed since the Spring and Autumn Period?
He Bo thought about it and nodded, "You are right."

Although I was worried that my friends would be harmed by Qin,

But speaking objectively, He Bo felt that what Gongzi Lian said did make sense.

The area west of the Qin State was a mystery to people of that time.

And in terms of geography and climate, the further west you go, the more difficult it becomes.

Where is the good land?

Where is the broad plain?

Where is the abundant population?

For the Qin State,
East!

All in the East!
So the Qin State desperately shouted the slogan:
"East out!"

"East out!"

"But it is very difficult to cure a mad person, let alone a country?" He Bo added.

Gongzi Lian also pondered over this.

He has been thinking about this question ever since he saw the hope of returning to Qin.

Just as He Bo once told him, over the past few decades, Ying Ren and his son had done a very good job and prevented the Qin ancestral temple from being abandoned and collapsed.

just,

Such preservation is nothing but a temporary solution. They only know how to waste manpower and financial resources to fight against Wei State and achieve certain results in a short period of time, but what will happen next?

The man was beaten to death.

The money is gone.

The land west of the Yellow River was lost and recovered, and then lost again.
The old Qin people are still huddled in the corner of the country, licking their wounds with a bitter face, and continuing to look longingly at the unreachable East.

not to mention,
There were some remnants of Shang rituals in the Qin State.
Now that things have gone mad, it will be difficult to bring the country back to normal and dress it up as if it were steeped in Zhou rituals.

If he really returned to Qin and took charge of state affairs, could he do this?
What if he made the wrong choice and caused the Qin State to collapse earlier?

The fear in Gongzi Lian's heart suppressed the depression of being supervised by the Marquis of Wei.

Then, he heard He Bo muttering quietly, "…We still need to change the law!"

So the prince asked, "How can Qin State reform so that it can return to normal and even become stronger?"

"I'm not sure." He Bo told him, "The man who could make Qin powerful might still be playing in the mud in the corner!"

"But when I saw you commenting on the State of Chu, what you said made a lot of sense."

"Now you and I are friends. If I have any questions, can't you answer them for me?"

He Bo snorted, "You throw a stone at me when we meet, so you still count as my friend?"

"Then give me back the jade pendant!"

Gongzi Lian also turned ruthless and stretched out his hand to ask for the gift that had been given to him before.

He Bo had already stuffed it into the pile of wedding gifts for Liu He and his wife, so how could he take it out?
So he had no choice but to accept Gongzi Lian's coercion.

But before he spoke, he made a statement:
"My wisdom is not very profound. I can only use the experience summarized by others to analyze with you the things that should be paid attention to in governing a country."

The young master patted his chest and said, "Okay! Let's do it!"

"Now treat me as the king of Qin and tell me what to pay attention to!"

So He Bo asked him, "To govern a country, you need population and land. Does Qin manage the people in the countryside? Do you know their number? Do you measure the land in the country? Do you know how many farmlands there are?"

Gong Zilian shook his head.

The Qin people were wild and belligerent. It was difficult to control them, and previous monarchs had never considered this even a little.

After all, it was a war, and all they had to do was arrest people on the spot, without even distinguishing between domestic and foreign troops. Naturally, they were too lazy to manage them in detail.

As for the land, most of it is controlled by nobles. If you go to check it from above, it will be like a drop in the ocean, with no news coming back.

He Bo said, "You can't even tell how much land you have and how much you own, how can you still want to do anything?"

Gong Zilian asked quickly, "If we count all the people, what can we do?"

"Now that we have people, are we still worried about having nothing to do?"

"If you know your financial situation, you can plan to do the corresponding things without worrying about consuming too much and being unable to sustain, or having too little manpower to start with."

"But those people may not necessarily agree with the king's words!"

"Then make them obey!"

He Bo recalled the exam key points he had learned in school when he was still a human being, waved his hand and said, "Abolish the well-field system, open up fields, establish counties, reward farming and weaving... Aren't you afraid that people won't obey?"

"The Qin people, the Wei people, the Chu people, they are all human beings, why are those from other countries so docile, while those from Qin are so crazy?"

"Isn't it just that the meat-eaters went crazy and whipped their own people, forcing them to go crazy together?"

"If you behave like a normal person, others will naturally return to normal."

Gongzi Lian then stood up and bowed to He Bo, "Thank you for your advice!"

He revealed his identity and formally extended an invitation to He Bo:
"In fact, I am a prince from Qin who fled to Wei. If I ever return to Qin, I will definitely ask you to assist me!"

When He Bo paid special attention to the Qin State, he had already guessed about his identity.

So when Gongzi Lian introduced himself, he was not surprised, nor did he distance himself from him because of Ximen Bao's incident.

But He Bo still refused, "No!"

He just blurted out a summary from a history book of later generations. He didn't really have any profound knowledge, so how could he accomplish anything big that changed the face of a country?

Besides, He Bo is not a human being, but just a willful ghost.

He doesn't care about many things.

He only cares about the people and things he likes.

"If you feel that what I just said has given you some inspiration, then I just want to ask you to do one thing for me."

He Bo told Gongzi Lian, "I have a friend who has gone to a faraway land west of Qin State, and I have no news of him now."

"If you can return to Qin and take power, can you send someone to find out about him?"

Although Prince Lian came to exile from Wei State, this also shows that he had a certain status in Qin State.

Otherwise, how could he be qualified to be excluded?
But at the moment, he obviously has no chance to return to Qin, and Ximen Bao’s matter cannot be entrusted to him, so He Bo can only trouble him to look for Gongzi Chao.

Gongzi Chao is so young, and he is surrounded by powerful Mohist disciples. He should still be alive now, right?
"can!"

Gongzi Lian pointed to the Su River and swore, "If I ever return to Qin and take charge of state affairs, I will definitely send people to the west to look for your old friend."

Anyway, we are just sending a team out to find people, not to fight, so the consumption will not be very great.

Gongzi Lian still dared to make this promise.

"But, are you really unwilling to assist me?"

Gongzi Lian was still a little reluctant.

He always felt that the other party should know more, but just didn't want to talk about it.

"No, I will rarely appear in Anyi in the future."

The person He Bo was waiting to "scare him" outside Anyi City had already left, so there was naturally no need for him to continue wandering around.

The water system of Sushui is also simple.
He Bo can fill up the progress bar by taking a nap in the water.

As for showing up here to attract others' offerings to him?

That's also unnecessary.

At present, many places have built temples to worship He Bo and mountain gods, and He Bo is not short of incense from Anyi alone.

What's more, this place is the capital of Wei, and the Marquis of Wei is here. Since the ghosts and gods don't like this monarch, they naturally don't bother to pay attention to this city.

"Goodbye."

He Bo waved to Gongzi Lian, then walked farther and farther along the river bank.

　〒_〒 has been squeezed dry

　　
　
(End of this chapter)