In the second year of mourning for the king of Chu (400 BC), the allied forces of Sanjin defeated Chu Shi in Qiu Cheng (southwest of Juye County, Shandong Province). The intention of Sanjin was to weaken Chu's right wing in order to relieve the threat of his left wing.
In the ninth year of King Chu's funeral (393 BC), the State of Chu attacked South Korea and seized Sogdian (now southwest of Dengfeng County, Henan Province).
In the 11th year of King Chu's funeral (39 1 BC), the allied forces of Sanjin made a comeback for revenge and defeated Chu's division in Daliang (now northwest of Kaifeng, Henan) and Guan Yu (now northeast of Xinzheng, Henan). Chu not only lost these two important strategic places, but also was taken away by Wei, which made Chu unable to cope, so he had to "be lenient with Qin" and ask Qin for help. Qin sent troops to capture six cities in South Korea, and Sanjin turned to deal with Qin, reducing the pressure on Chu. Sanjin saw Qin Chu united and turned to draw Qi. Since then, the contradiction between Sanjin and Chu has become more acute and complicated, posing a very serious threat to Chu. There are also some doubts in Mourning for the King: How could Wei let a wizard like Wu Qi go? At the banquet hosted by Wu Qi, Wang Moning raised such a question: "The general has made so much contribution to Wei Jun, how can Wei be willing to give up the general?" Wu Qi said, "With all due respect, if I am alive and trusted by my ministers, how can I abandon Wei?" . Now that the marquis of Wu has succeeded to the throne, I listened to the rumors of my brother, who has no place to stand, so I came to see the king. "
The mourning king was beaming and said, "Great, great, very welcome!" Mourning the king's mouth, he wondered, is this true or false from Wuqi? I wanted to appoint him as Lingyin immediately. I am afraid that Wuqi may be insincere, and I am afraid that all ministers will not accept him. He thought for a moment and said to Wu Qi, "I heard that you are the prefect of Wei's Xihe River, and you manage it very well. Now that the magistrate in this place is old, he should retire. Could you please be a prefect there first and set an example for other places? " Wuqi readily agreed. The bereaved king really hopes that he can set an example, so that other places can follow suit; On the other hand, it also shows that Wuqi is loyal to himself, so it can be reused to govern Chu.
After Wu went to Wan, he was familiar with his experience in managing Xihe River, and some of his experiences could even be copied intact. Wuqi began his reform in Wandi. First of all, he rectified Wandi's official management, reused and promoted honest and capable people, eliminated mediocre and incompetent people and cracked down on corrupt officials. At the same time, the policy of land to the tiller will be implemented, and land reclamation will be rewarded, agricultural production will be developed, the national treasury will be enriched, and the salary of Emperor Wan will be sufficient. In addition, rural grass-roots organizations are linked with military organizations, so that farmers of a certain age can engage in agricultural labor during busy farming hours and conduct military training in their leisure time, which is convenient for going to the front line in wartime. Through the governance of Wuqi, Wandi has taken on a new look, not only the people live and work in peace and contentment, but also the soldiers have plenty of food and clothing. At the same time, Wu Qi conducted many social surveys and gained a deep understanding of many situations in Chu State. So the mourning king appointed Wu Qi as Lingyin, implemented the reform, and announced in court: Lingyin's order is my order, and anyone who dares to disobey it will be killed without forgiveness! Wu Qi was very grateful for the kindness of losing the king and decided to show his talents and serve the State of Chu. So after taking office, he began to make drastic reforms.
First of all, we should reduce big noble's privileges and enact explicit laws to limit the power of ministers. For example, the promulgation of the "order to reduce the order" means that the order is reduced or exempted. The rank is a title, and the salary is a salary, which is the salary of an official. Obviously, this is aimed at ministers and monarchs, that is, demoting titles, taking over territory and reducing people. According to different objects, there are different specific methods such as "loss", "receipt" and "leveling". For example, people who occupy a dominant position in governments and departments at all levels and do nothing are laid off, which is what the history books say is "incompetent, useless and unhurried officials." Take it back, it is what the history books say, "seal the gentleman Sun III and accept his title." In other words, the title and territory of the monarch are only valid for his own generation, his son's generation and his grandson's generation, and will be taken back by the fourth generation of countries, and can no longer be enjoyed for generations as in the past. "Ping" is aimed at senior officials who are still in office, which is recorded in the history books: Record, which not only limits their income, but also clearly stipulates their rewards, and limits their rights and interests not too much. Naturally, they cannot collect money without merit and let them take it for granted.
Secondly, rectify the official management, that is, the "knowing the law and judging the order" contained in the history books. Starting with streamlining the organization and eliminating redundant staff, Wuqi cut off many unnecessary official posts, and then cracked down on the unhealthy trend, that is, "it is the custom of Chu to stop private invitation", that is, to block and put an end to private invitation (bribery) and change the bad customs of Chu; Prohibit the formation of political parties for personal gain and encourage officials to abide by the law; Oppose harming national interests for personal gain, and stop traitors from covering up the loyalty of loyal subjects with slanderers; Advocate and encourage "righteousness" without sacrificing personal fame and fortune. At the same time, some talents were promoted and used, which greatly improved the administrative efficiency of state organs.
Third, actively develop remote areas. Wuqi moved the nobles who recovered their titles to a vast and empty land, that is, moved them to a sparsely populated place, especially in the south of Chu. In this way, not only a large amount of newly cultivated land was reclaimed, but also the grain of Chu State was increased. These nobles lost their salaries, and some of them became self-reliant workers from parasites. Moreover, the land they once occupied was returned to the country (the king) and leased to landless farmers. In this way, it not only increases national income, but also eases class contradictions.
Fourth, reform the military system, "in Qiang Bing". While carrying out political and economic reforms, Wuqi suggested that mourning the king "make every effort to benefit the world", that is, build a strong army, which is of course more in line with mourning the king's mind. Wu Qi suggested that the recovered salary and the money saved by the reduction of officials should be used to raise troops and expand armaments. Mourning Wang also admired Wu Qi's foresight and extraordinary talent, so he entrusted him with full authority to rectify and train the army. Before Wu rose to the position of Chu, he wrote Sun Tzu's Art of War, or Wuqi for short. In Wei, he practiced according to his own art of war and achieved remarkable results. Now he has practiced it again, and made many supplements in combination with the actual situation: first, he recruited soldiers from all over the country, selected young and strong men, formed teams according to their bodies and specialties, and was good at using five weapons (ge, spear, halberd and halberd). The second step is to carry out strict training, including individual skills training, formation training, formation training and contact sign training. He also pays special attention to cultivating the backbone. "One person learns and teaches ten people; Ten people learn, teach hundreds of people ... ten thousand people learn and teach into the three armed forces. " In this way, the quality of the whole army has been rapidly improved. In addition to repeated strict drills, it also emphasizes strict discipline, clear rewards and punishments, and resolute obedience to all actions. There is a story in the history book. On one occasion, Wuqi led troops to fight against the Qin people, and the two armies had not yet fought. A foot soldier couldn't help killing the enemy. Without waiting for orders from his superiors, he bravely rushed forward and killed two enemies. Wuqi ordered the soldiers to be beheaded! The military attache came to persuade: "This foot soldier is very brave and talented. Why did the general kill him? " Wu Qi said: "Although he is brave, he disobeys orders and violates military discipline. He should be beheaded!" Military officials have nothing to say. This is that punishment should be "unrelenting" and accurate and timely. Wuqi emphasized both heavy punishment and heavy reward. His general merits are divided into "first class merit" and "second class merit", and different awards are given according to different military merits. Those who have made great contributions to the opposition should not only be promoted, but also be rewarded to their families and children, which not only makes the individual who has made meritorious service for the country to kill the enemy feel honored, but also makes his family feel honored. It was really not easy to think about this more than two thousand years ago. Wuqi deserves to be a great strategist.
At the same time, Wuqi also strongly rewarded the ploughing war. The history books say: "People who are forbidden to visit are people who intensively cultivate", that is to say, people are forbidden to leave farming and trade, and people are encouraged to work hard to cultivate and store food, which not only solves the problem of food supply for the army, but also achieves the goal of soldiers having enough to eat. But also improved the lives of soldiers and their families and relieved the worries of foot soldiers.
Wuqi also banned strategists from lobbying in Chu to make the whole country feel more at ease and do a good job in production. After the funeral of the king was arranged, Xiong Cang, the son of the king of Chu, succeeded to the throne as Su, the king of Chu. Those guys who killed Wuqi not only crowned each other to celebrate, but also came to Wang Su to show their achievements. At first, they didn't show their emotions. They just said, "Wu Qi deserves to die, but you killed Jing, so you should be rewarded.". Who else? " As soon as these fools heard that there was a reward, they came to take credit one by one. Su Wang asked Xin Lingjun to write down all their names, leaving no one missing, and then told them to go back and wait for the reward. Just as these powerful people were dreaming of being rewarded, King Su issued an order that Xin Lingyin should arrest them all and punish them according to law. Because according to the law of Chu, anyone who touches the king's body with a weapon will be put to death, and the crime will affect the three families. Except for one person who escaped, more than 70 people fell into the net. The fief of Yangcheng Jun was also confiscated. These are exactly what Wu Qi expected, so the author of "Lu's Spring and Autumn Period and Your Death" thinks this is "Wu Qi's wisdom".