novelSusiti Chapter 172 Saint-Level Political Summoning
Chapter 172 Saint-Level Political Summoning
"Ding! Summoning the number one expert, Han Fei, the ruler of the country by law, with 80 in leadership, 66 in martial prowess, 94 in intelligence, and 103 in politics."
Han Fei, later respectfully referred to as "Han Feizi" or "Han Zi," was a major representative and synthesizer of the Legalist school of thought.
Han Fei studied under Xunzi, a representative figure of the Confucian school, but his ideas differed from Xunzi's, and he did not inherit Confucian thought.
He "enjoyed the study of legalism and political science" and "returned to the Huang-Lao school of thought," inheriting and developing Legalist ideas, thus becoming the greatest synthesizer of Legalism in the late Warring States period.
Han Fei, as a prince of the state of Han, repeatedly submitted memorials to the king, hoping that the king would work hard to govern the country, but the king ignored them and never adopted their advice.
This caused him great grief and disappointment, so he wrote many books to expound his ideas on the rule of law. After reading them, the Qin Emperor praised them highly and admired them greatly.
In order to meet Han Fei, he ordered an attack on the state of Han.
The King of Han was forced to send Han Fei as an envoy to the State of Qin. However, Han Fei was not trusted or given important positions in Qin. He was later imprisoned by Li Si and died in prison not long after.
Han Fei elevated Legalist thought to the level of cosmology, thus forming a complete theoretical system.
He authored articles such as "Gufen" (Solitary Indignation), "Wudu" (Five Vermin), "Neichushuo" (Inner Sayings), "Waichushuo" (Outer Sayings), "Shuolin" (Sayings of the Forest), and "Shuonan" (Sayings of Difficulty). Later generations collected and compiled his works into the book "Han Feizi".
The Legalist school of thought founded by Han Fei provided the theoretical basis for the birth of China's first unified, autocratic, and centralized state.
After Han Fei's death, his Legalist ideas were highly valued by King Ying Zheng of Qin and regarded as the essential principles of governing the Qin state, helping Qin to become rich and powerful, and ultimately unify the six states.
"Ding! Second summoner: Wu Qi, the strategist and second greatest military strategist, with 104 leadership, 85 martial prowess, 96 intelligence, and 101 politics."
What the hell!
Boss!
A military strategist of unparalleled military and political prowess?
In the long history of ancient China, Wu Qi, the second sage of military strategy, shines like a brilliant star, illuminating the chaotic Warring States period with his extraordinary military talent and far-reaching political influence.
Moreover, Wu Qi was not only an outstanding military commander, but also a visionary politician. His life story and achievements are still praised by later generations.
Wu Qi, born in the State of Wei during the Warring States period, was one of the most important representatives of the military strategist school.
He lived in an era of warring states and frequent wars, a social context that provided him with a broad stage to showcase his talents.
Wu Qi studied Confucianism under Zeng Shen in his early years, but later abandoned Confucianism to study military strategy.
Initially, while serving in the State of Lu, he was ordered to command the Lu army to defeat the State of Qi.
He then went to the State of Wei and was highly valued by Marquis Wen of Wei.
He commanded the Wei army to repeatedly defeat the Qin state, occupy the Hexi region, and became the first governor of Xihe Commandery. At the same time, he reformed the military system, created the Wei Wuzu (Wei elite infantry), and "fought seventy-six major battles with the feudal lords, winning sixty-four of them."
During the Battle of Yin Jin, Wu Qi achieved a great victory with fewer troops, defeating 50 Qin soldiers.
The reason why the Qin state later carried out reforms to become stronger was because it had been bullied terribly by the Wei state and had been forced into a corner.
If we don't retaliate soon, we might very well be annexed by the State of Wei.
Later, Wu Qi, due to Wei Wuhou's suspicion, switched allegiance to the State of Chu. He was initially appointed as the governor of Wan, and a year later, he was appointed as the prime minister by King Dao of Chu. He carried out reforms to crack down on and restrict the power of the old aristocracy and strengthen the army.
His ideas and concepts on reform also indirectly influenced the Shang Yang reforms in the Qin state.
Through sweeping reforms, the state of Chu was successfully strengthened in a short period of time, leading to a powerful state where it "pacified the Baiyue in the south, annexed Chen and Cai in the north, repelled the three Jin states, and attacked Qin in the west," and once defeated the state of Wei, with its horses drinking water in the Yellow River.
Wu Qi served in the states of Lu, Wei, and Chu. He was well-versed in the philosophies of the military, legalism, and Confucianism, and achieved great success in both domestic affairs and military matters. He was often referred to as "Sun Wu" alongside Sun Tzu.
Author Mu Jin Bai Yi personally recommends: I hope you enjoy the story of "I Summon Famous Generals of All History in Another World" on Cola Novels.
During the reign of Emperor Suzong of Tang, he became one of the Ten Philosophers of the Temple of Martial Arts.
In his critique of the early Legalists, Guo Moruo said, "If Wu Qi's hegemony had succeeded in the State of Chu, the credit for unifying China might not have necessarily fallen into the hands of the Qin people."
This demonstrates the ruthlessness of this military strategist.
At that time, the Qin state was not yet the behemoth it would become, nor did it have a formidable army.
So, Wu Qi pinned him to the ground and gave him a good beating.
The person was completely stunned by the beating.
"Ding! Summoning the third character, Qin Dynasty Prime Minister Li Si, Command 65, Martial Prowess 73, Intelligence 97, Politics 101."
In his early years, Li Si studied the art of rulership under Xun Qing. Later, he served in the Qin state and persuaded King Ying Zheng of Qin to destroy the feudal lords, establish an empire, and unify the world. He also sent strategists with gold and jade to persuade the feudal lords and sow discord between the rulers and ministers of the six states.
When Ying Zheng ordered the expulsion of guests from the six states, Li Si, who was then a guest minister, was also among those expelled.
Li Si submitted a memorial entitled "Memorial Against Expelling Foreign Guests," and King Ying Zheng of Qin immediately rescinded the order to expel foreign guests. Li Si was reinstated to his original position and later promoted to Minister of Justice.
After Qin unified the six states, Li Si participated in presiding over the discussion and determination of the emperor's title and related ritual systems.
He insisted on replacing the feudal system with the prefecture-county system, and formulated laws to standardize cart tracks, writing, and weights and measures. He also suggested banning private schools, burning books, and enacting corresponding laws.
Although later, Li Si participated in the conspiracy of Zhao Gao and Hu Hai, and forged an imperial edict to establish Hu Hai as emperor.
It lowered his profile considerably.
Later, in order to seize power, Zhao Gao falsely accused Li Si and his son of colluding with Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, and Li Si was eventually forced to confess.
He was cut in half at the waist in the marketplace of Xianyang, and his entire family was exterminated.
They've gotten their just desserts.
However, this does not negate his outstanding abilities.
He assisted Qin Shi Huang in unifying the country and strongly advocated for the implementation of the prefecture-county system and the abolition of the enfeoffment system.
There's absolutely no problem with their abilities.
It deserves the attribute of Saint-level Politics.
"Ding! Summoning the fourth person, Li Kui, the founder of Legalism, with a command stat of 83, martial prowess of unparalleled excellence, intelligence of 96, and politics of 102."
Li Kui lived during the time of Marquis Wen and Marquis Wu of Wei. He studied under Zeng Shen, a disciple of Zixia, and served as the Chancellor of Zhongshan and the Governor of Shangdi.
He frequently clashed with the Qin people, and Huan Tan appointed him as a tutor to Marquis Wen of Wei. Later, he was highly valued by Marquis Wen of Wei and presided over reforms.
Politically, Li Kui advocated selecting virtuous and capable officials and rewarding merit while punishing wrongdoing.
He strongly advocated abolishing the privileges of hereditary nobles, and that "those who work hard should be rewarded and those who perform meritorious service should be paid, those who are capable should be employed and rewards should be given, and punishments should be appropriate."
Economically, Li Kui mainly implemented the "maximizing land productivity" and "equalization of land purchase prices" policies, uniformly allocating farmland to farmers and urging them to work diligently to increase production.
Later, Li Kui, having misjudged and caused the death of innocent people, chose to write his will and commit suicide to uphold the law.
Li Kui once referred to those who received salaries without merit as "licentious people" and called for "taking away the salaries of licentious people to attract scholars from all directions." This was the first challenge to the corrupt and backward hereditary system in Chinese history.
This led to the expulsion of a group of privileged individuals who were useless and harmful to the country from the political stage. Some people from ordinary landlord classes were able to enter the political arena due to their military achievements or talents, paving the way for the feudal system to replace slavery in the future.
The reforms significantly weakened Wei's hereditary system of official positions and stipends, leading to an improvement in the political situation.
Li Kui's most outstanding contribution to the history of Chinese rule of law was his creation of the first representative written legal code in China, the "Fa Jing" (Legal Canon), which affirmed and protected the reforms in legal form and solidified the feudal legal rights of the time.
This caused a great stir in other countries at the time, triggering the first nationwide reform in Chinese history and paving the way for the transition from slavery to feudalism.
Later famous reforms such as those of Shang Yang and Wu Qi were all influenced by Li Kui's reforms.