Daqin Engineering Corps

And once the people go out to work in the city, it will be very difficult to restrain them.

There is no city wall outside the city, and there is a large area for doing farm work, especially in the Dongting area, where there are water nets and dense forests everywhere.

Chapter 281 Reform

Xiang Yan didn't know much about political affairs, so he suggested:

"Your Majesty, why don't we take the relatives of the people as hostages, and punish the relatives if the people escape!"

Chu Wangqi only asked a question:

"Can my household registration be completed?"

"Besides, this method may be used to manage the city. How can the people living outside the city stop it?"

Xiang Yan is speechless after saying this.

Due to its national conditions, the household registration registration in Chu State was very chaotic, especially after many new laborers moved in during the war. At this time, even if Xiang Yan wanted to implement the method of "taking relatives as pledges", it was impossible.

After a pause, Xiang Yan could only ask:

"Then, in your Majesty's opinion..."

Chu Wangqi frowned and replied:

"For the current plan, the only way is to reform like Qin."

You must know that King Qi of Chu was a prime minister in Qin State, so of course he knows how to deal with this problem:

Faced with Qin's superior system, neighboring countries such as Zhao, Wei, and Han must either reform like Qin or wait for population loss and eventually perish.

The reason why the state of Chu was less affected was that the border with the state of Qin was extremely inconvenient for transportation in the Bashu area in the northwest, so the system of the state of Chu has been maintained until now.

But as the saying goes, "born in sorrow and died in peace".

It is precisely because Chu State is far away from Qin State that there is no reform crisis, so despite its vast territory and large population, it is like a mess because of no reform.

At this time, the crisis finally came, and the Qin army was in Huaibei.

Without Shen Bing's leaflet propaganda campaign, Chu State might still have a few months of buffer time... The communication is lagging behind and the news spreads slowly, and the scope is not large and it is easy to block.

However, as soon as Shen Bing's propaganda offensive came out, this absolute institutional advantage was immediately manifested and intensified its internal contradictions.

As a result, if Chu State wants to prevent population loss, it must adopt the same system as Qin State. In this way, Qin State’s system is no longer attractive to Chu people... Both sides are the same, and of course no one wants to leave their hometown.

however……

Xiang Yan said hesitantly:

"My lord, if we change the law, we will take back the fiefdoms of all clans."

"Will all the races be willing?"

Chu Wangqi also considered this point.

To be precise, it is not to take back the fiefdoms of various ethnic groups.

The fiefdoms of each ethnic group still belong to each ethnic group... just like Qin, except that each ethnic group no longer has the management rights of the people, and the management rights are all collected and concentrated in the hands of King Qi of Chu.

Will all ethnic groups be convinced again?

After thinking about it, Chu Wangqi replied:

"If the law doesn't change, the state of Chu will perish, so how can we enfeoff the land?"

"Call all ethnic groups to come to the court to discuss reform together."

Xiang Yan responded, and sent someone to issue Chu Wangqi's order.

But even though Xiang Yan did this, he didn't have any hope in his heart, because he knew what kind of people these Chu nobles were.

A few days later, all ethnic groups sent envoys to Dongting.

The Zhao family came from Zhaoxie, an old official, the Qu family came from Qu Wei, and the Jing family came from Jingtao, all of whom were able to speak for each other.

Seeing this, Yan made up his mind a little.

Because this shows that all ethnic groups attach great importance to this matter. After all, it is they who are facing greater difficulties at this time, not Chu Wangqi, so they are also eager to find a solution.

In addition, there are small clans such as the Dou family and the Ban family, and the people who come here are more uniform than when the king of Chu called the court meeting.

I don't know whether it is Chu Wangqi's prestige or because of the situation.

All the people gathered together to pay respects to the King of Chu, which was quite impressive.

Chu Wangqi nodded in satisfaction, motioned everyone to get up, and said:

"You should know why this court meeting is held."

"The army of the Qin State suppressed the border and used notices to confuse the people of our Great Chu. Now that the people are going north one after another, I don't know what countermeasures you have?"

This is Chu Wangqi's wrist.

In fact, Chu Wang Qida knew from the very beginning, and even decided what to do, but he would not just say what you want to do... This shows that Chu Wang Qi is headstrong and does not respect the opinions of the nobles.

As soon as the topic was brought up, all the nobles felt the same way.

After a discussion, Zhaoxie clasped his hands and replied:

"Your Majesty, I suggest building a line of defense in the north and patrolling with cavalry."

"Use this to intercept the people who went north to surrender to Qin, and if they are caught, they will be severely punished."

"After a long time, the people dare not escape anymore."

When everyone heard the words, they echoed.

This seems to be a way. The common people thought that there was a way of life in the north, so they cut off their way of life, so they had no choice but to stay in Chu and let the nobles exploit it.

But Chu Wangqi shook his head and said:

"Since the Huaihe defense line was occupied by the Qin army, our army has not had a complete defense line in the north."

"At this time, when our army's supplies are in short supply, how can we build a line of defense hundreds of miles in the north?"

"If it was built in a hurry just to prevent the common people, how could the Qin army sit back and watch?"

"Not to mention the Qin army and the Shenwu army... how can we use the cavalry to prevent the people from going north?"

When Chu Wangqi said this, the nobles fell silent.

Zhaoxie's statement is indeed too idealistic.

Where can we find manpower, material resources, and financial resources to build a defense line?

Another more serious problem is the garrison.

This is not to say that the Chu army is short of troops. In fact, if the Chu army unites the troops of all ethnic groups and recruits more at this time, it can still make up the number of 40... This is also twice the strength of the Qin army.

The problem is that after Xiang Yan was defeated several times before, who would dare to go out of the city to fight the Qin army?

In particular, Zhaoxie also mentioned using the cavalry army... Isn't that the fish and meat of the Shenwu Army?

After a moment of silence, Qu Wei suggested:

"I thought that we could send troops out of the city to supervise the people's farming..."

Before he finished speaking, he was opposed by others.

Doo said:

"We have been sending troops out of the city to supervise."

"However, soldiers are not as good as ordinary people."

"Often they are still there when they go out of the city, and many of them are missing when they return to the city."

Ben was even more anxious:

"If one is not careful, the soldiers will kill all the people, and very few can escape back to the city..."

"If the unruly people make trouble, they will be braver than the sky!"

Everyone commented one after another.

King Qi of Chu saw that the time was almost up, so he winked at Xiang Yan.

Xiang Yan understood, and went out to worship:

"Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Chu Wangqi said "oh", and asked knowingly:

"What's your opinion, General?"

Xiang Yan replied:

"I believe that the reason why the common people are vying to surrender to Qin is because the Qin system is better than the Chu system."

"The many strategies discussed before are just treating the symptoms, not the root cause."

"If you want the people to give up their desire to go north and surrender to Qin, I think there is only reform."

Chu Wangqi pretended to know this just now, took a breath and said:

"Reform? This matter is causing trouble..."

Xiang Yan interrupted King Qi of Chu and said:

"Your Majesty, if the law is not changed, the land of Chu will be useless for the people in a short time."

"Even soldiers will flee to Qin, and it will be too late for regret!"

Chapter 282 Tax Rate

Chu Wangqi tried his best to sing and drink with Xiang Yan, in fact, he wanted to take the opportunity to take the power of the nobles as his own.

Although taking the management of the people to the center does not mean taking back the army.

But it is conceivable that labor, taxation, and military resources all come from the common people. If the common people are lost, the nobles and the army are actually castles in the air, and it is only a matter of time before various powers are returned to the central government.

But who are the nobles of Chu State!

Chu Wangqi would have thought of this, how could the treacherous nobles not have thought of it?

As soon as Xiang Yan finished speaking, the hall fell silent. All the nobles looked at me and I looked at you. Although it was tacit understanding, they all understood Chu Wangqi's intentions.

King Qi of Chu saw that the nobleman didn't talk to him, so he pushed forward:

"What do you think the general proposes?"

"We can collect taxes and grains like the Qin State. Although it is a little less, it can solve the worry of the loss of people."

"As the saying goes, 'Brothers fight against the wall, and defend against their insults'."

"At present, the army of the Qin army is suppressing the situation. If we don't change the law and join forces to fight against Qin, I'm afraid..."

There is no need for Chu King Qi to say more about the latter. Of course, it is difficult to resist the attack of the Qin army with such a dispersed force of the Chu State.

From an objective point of view, Chu Wangqi's words are indeed reasonable.

The Qin army only has more than 40 soldiers, while the Chu army has [-] soldiers.

Although the quality of the Chu army is not as good as that of the Qin army, it is not enough to subjugate the country with twice the strength.

So the biggest problem here is disunity.

But since ancient times, "disunity" has not been able to be resolved as Chu Wangqi hoped, with a few words and a little external pressure.

Almost all "disunity" needs war, blood and repression to resolve.

The reason is simple, nobles have their own interests, and they represent a family rather than themselves.

For example, the Zhao clan that Zhaoxie wanted to consider had to be agreed by everyone in the Zhao clan.

The same is true for Qu Wei and Jing Taurus.

In other words, these people who participated in the meeting did not even have the right to speak, and they had to go back to discuss with the tribe.

Therefore, Chu Wangqi's "reform" is simple to say, but it needs tens of thousands of people to agree.