Chapter 200

【Act IV: Creating Internal Administration and Sending Military Orders, Soldiers Hidden Among the People】

With money, there must be knives to protect it.

Guan Zhong created a strange military system: "Creating internal administration and sending military orders."

He divided the capital and its suburbs into twenty-one "townships," fifteen of which were "scholar townships" (soldier source townships).

Five families made one "gui," with a gui leader;

Ten gui made a "li," with a li official;

Four li made a "lian," with a lian leader;

Ten lian made a "township," with a liangren (township leader).

At the same time, it was stipulated: five families produced one squad (5 people), the gui leader was the squad leader;

Ten gui produced one small rong (50 people), the li official was the team leader;

Four li produced one platoon (200 people), the lian leader was the platoon leader;

Ten lian produced one brigade (2000 people), the township liangren was the brigade commander;

Five townships produced one army (10000 people), the five township commanders were the army generals.

In peacetime, these gui, li, lian, and townships were administrative units, organizing production, maintaining public order, and conducting military training.

During the farming off-season, the fields and threshing grounds were training grounds; farmers held sharpened wooden sticks as spears, advancing and retreating according to the drumbeats.

Once there was war, orders were passed down layer by layer, and these administrative units instantly turned into military units, bringing their own dry rations and weapons, gathering at designated locations; a well-organized and well-trained army could be pulled out within a few days.

And it did not delay farming time.

Everyone was a soldier, soldiers and people were one.

The army Guan Zhong built was not just an army, but a super agricultural society that could switch to war mode at any time.

【Act V: Respecting the King and Expelling the Barbarians, Pulling the Biggest Tiger Skin】

Knives were had, money was sufficient, but a "name" was missing.

At that time, although the Zhou Son of Heaven had become a display piece, the brand was still worth some money.

Guan Zhong raised the banner of "Respecting the King and Expelling the Barbarians."

Simply put: We, the Qi State, respect the Zhou Son of Heaven (giving some symbolic tribute, shouting slogans), and then in the name of the Son of Heaven, summon the feudal lords to beat up those barbarian tribes (such as Shanrong, Baidi) that invaded the Central Plains.

This banner was too wonderful.

First, it was politically correct; no one dared to openly oppose "respecting the king" and "protecting the Huaxia civilization."

Second, there was a realistic need; the Di people in the north and the Chu barbarians in the south were indeed making everyone uneasy, and the small feudal lords were eager for the Qi State to take the lead in organizing joint defense.

Finally, the Qi State gained the profit; with the help of this big flag, it naturally became the leader of the feudal lords, issuing orders, mobilizing materials, and even if it looked at someone displeased, it could punish them "in the name of the Son of Heaven."

The scene shows the "Alliance at Kuiqiu," Duke Huan of Qi sitting high above, Guan Zhong standing by, and the feudal lords of various countries bowing below to listen to orders.

What Duke Huan said was actually what Guan Zhong taught; the alliance agreement was actually the rules of the Qi State.

Holding a big stick (strong army) in one hand and a money bag (rich country) in the other, and wearing the tiger skin of the Zhou Son of Heaven on his head, the feudal lords wouldn't even agree if they didn't want to be the hegemon.

【Act VI: The Strategy of Hengshan and the Strategy of Lutai, Fighting is Not as Good as Fighting Economically】

What made later generations feel the most chilling about Guan Zhong was not how many soldiers he trained, but that he could destroy a country without using soldiers.

The heavenly screen focused on two examples:

1. The Strategy of Hengshan: Hengshan State (a small country), specialized in making weapons, sharp and durable.

Guan Zhong sent merchants to buy Hengshan weapons at a high price, ten times the market price.

The monarch and officials of Hengshan State were crazy with joy; this was faster than farming!

Men, women, old, and young in the whole country threw down their hoes and all ran to cast swords and make spears.

At the same time, Guan Zhong secretly sent people to Yan and Zhao to buy grain at a high price.

Hengshan State saw that the price of grain in neighboring countries had also risen, and felt even more at ease, thinking that making weapons to sell for money and then using the money to buy grain was cost-effective!

The whole country was hot and busy hitting iron for a year.

In the spring of the second year, Guan Zhong suddenly ordered:

Close all border checkpoints with Hengshan State; not a grain of food, an inch of cloth, or a copper coin was allowed to pass.

At the same time, Yan and Zhao also closed their borders because their grain had been bought up and their own reserves were insufficient.

Hengshan State was dumbfounded.

Weapons were piled like mountains, but the stomach was empty.

The whole country was in famine, and the people were so hungry they couldn't lift the new swords and spears, and the army collapsed.

The Qi State didn't spend a single soldier, sending troops to "receive," and the monarch of Hengshan State held the national seal, kneeling by the roadside to surrender.

Let you hit iron with the whole country, and then be hungry, let's see what strength you have to swing the hammer?

2. The Strategy of Lutai (Subduing Lu and Liang with Thick Silk)

The people of Lu and Liang states were good at weaving a kind of thick silk called "Ti."

Guan Zhong had Duke Huan of Qi and the ministers of Qi wear clothes made of Ti, and ordered to encourage the people to wear Ti, while prohibiting Qi from weaving Ti itself, entirely importing it from Lu and Liang at a high price.

The monarchs of Lu and Liang saw it as a windfall!

They ordered the whole country to abandon farming and weave Ti, and grain entirely relied on buying from Qi.

A year later, Guan Zhong had Duke Huan of Qi suddenly change back to silk clothes, ordering the whole country to prohibit wearing Ti clothes, while closing the borders with Lu and Liang.

The Ti of Lu and Liang piled up like mountains, rotting in the warehouse, but the grain source was cut off, the price of grain soared, and people starved to death everywhere.

The two countries had to send people to beg the Qi State to buy grain in a low voice.

Guan Zhong sat at the negotiating table and said slowly: "Grain, yes. Take the city to exchange."

The two countries had no choice but to cede land to seek peace.

Let you weave cloth with the whole country, and then be hungry naked, let's see what you have to wear Ti silk?

This is economic warfare.

Without shedding a drop of blood, without spending a single soldier, using money and trade, he could drain the foundation of a country, making it collapse without fighting.

Guan Zhong played this to the realm of art.

【Act VII: Nine Alliances of Feudal Lords, Unifying the World, and Confucius's Like】

Under this combo punch of "enriching the country—strengthening the army—respecting the king—economic strike," the Qi State grew stronger like a snowball.

Duke Huan of Qi, under Guan Zhong's assistance, successively held nine alliances of feudal lords (such as Kuiqiu, Youling, etc.), established alliance agreements, rescued small countries that were invaded, struck feudal lords who didn't listen, and resisted the Rong and Di.

Truly achieving "nine alliances of feudal lords, unifying the world," becoming the first undisputed hegemon of the Spring and Autumn period.

The feudal lords respected the king on the surface, but actually looked at the face of the Qi State.

Even Confucius, who was arrogant later, had to be convinced when talking about Guan Zhong, saying a truth: "If not for Guan Zhong, we would probably be wearing our hair loose and clothes opening to the left like barbarians."

(If not for Guan Zhong, we would probably all be wearing our hair loose and wearing the clothes of barbarians with the opening on the left.)

This statement carried immense weight, affirming Guan Zhong's great merit in maintaining the Huaxia civilization community and resisting foreign insults.

Being able to make the Confucius Sage put aside the pickiness of "ritual and music" and admit that you preserved the bottom line of civilization—this merit is worth ten thousand bloody battles.

【Act VIII: Dying Words on the Sickbed and the Twilight of Hegemony】

In 645 BC, Guan Zhong was seriously ill and couldn't make it.

Duke Huan of Qi ran to the sickbed, held his old partner's hand, and asked: "After Zhongfu, who can be Chancellor?"

Guan Zhong commented on the important ministers in the court one by one:

Xi Peng, Bao Shuya, Bin Xuwu, Ning Qi... believing that each had their strengths and weaknesses, but none were great talents who could take charge of the overall situation and continue the hegemony.

Finally, he gasped and reminded Duke Huan: "Yiya (who cooked his son to offer soup), Kaifang (who betrayed his parents to serve the lord), Shudiao (who castrated himself to enter the palace)—these three people are not ministers, they are disasters; you must drive them away and keep them far away."

Duke Huan agreed at the time.

But after Guan Zhong died, he grew old, his ears grew soft, and he felt that these three people served him comfortably, so he summoned them all back.

As a result, he became muddled in his later years, was monopolized by these three people, and was finally imprisoned in the palace, starved to death, his corpse rotting and maggot-ridden, with no one to collect it.

The Qi hegemony also declined rapidly.

The founder is unique, the system can be inherited, but that "great talent" who can take charge of the overall situation and see through the opportunities is hard to find.

Once Guan Zhong died, the engine of the Qi hegemony stalled.