Why did the barbaric country of Yidi rise so quickly and unify the six countries? Why did the kings of the past dynasties make the people obey their orders, but they could only last two or three hundred years? The source of all answers lies in a "forbidden book", which is " Shang Junshu ".
This book has always been a textbook for the palace education of princes, and only kings of the past dynasties can read it.
"Book of Shang Jun", also known as " Shang Zi", is a compilation of the writings of Shang Yang, a representative figure of Legalism during the Warring States Period and his later scholars. It brings together Shang Yang's thoughts on governing the country.
has less than 30,000 words in total and 18 chapters in total, but it explains every detail of the monarch's methods of governing the country, including tactics of warfare, entreaties, weak people, rewards and punishments, and covers various fields such as politics, military, civil affairs, law, and imperial power.
In 361 BC, in response to Qin Xiaogong 's call to "strengthen Qin with strange plans", Shang Yang came to Qin State . At this time, the State of Qin was far less prominent than the State of Yan and the State of Qi. In terms of territory, it was on the western border. It was not as rich as the State of Qi or as vast as the State of Chu. In terms of development, it was even less powerful than the State of Wei, so it was despised by all the vassal states.
The reason why the Qin State was able to become the final winner during the Warring States Period was largely due to Shang Yang. Without his reforms, it would have been difficult for Qin to stand out.
Because Qin Xiaogong was very utilitarian and warlike. Therefore, after Shang Yang entered Qin, his first two meetings with Qin Xiaogong were not appreciated. The first time Shang Yang talked about the way of the three emperors in ancient times and told Qin Xiaogong how to be a wise and wise king; the second time he talked about the way of and the five emperors , showing that while cultivating morality, we should also pay attention to the construction of the country's rule of law.
It was not until the third time that Qin Xiaogong became interested in this Weiguo man. This time Shang Yang was talking about the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, which is to combine benevolence and justice with the construction of the rule of law. At the time of Si Jian Xiaogong, Shang Yang only discussed the art of governing the country and controlling the people by "riching the country and strengthening the army". The two talked for three days and three nights.
It can be seen from this that Qin Xiaogong is not interested in the "Tao" that requires long-term practice to complete the governance of the country. What he needs is a shortcut to enrich the country and strengthen the army in the short term. Therefore, the several conversations between Shang Yang and Qin Xiaogong were just tests of each other. Shang Yang, who was good at guessing the emperor's mind, believed that his theory was in Qin Xiaogong's wish.
And Qin Xiaogong really wanted the skills of governing the country and controlling the people. So how did the techniques in "The Book of Shang Jun" set off a bloody storm in the Qin Dynasty?
One of the contents of Shang Yang's reform to strengthen the army was to abolish the Shiqing Shilu system and confer titles based on military merit. In the "Nineteenth Chapter of the Territory" of "Shang Jun Shu", there is a description of Qin's soldier reward policy.
uses the number of heads as the standard for rewards and punishments. If the generals and commanders cannot take the enemy's head during a battle,
will be beheaded. If you behead thirty-three enemies, you will be promoted to one level. If the army captures 8,000 enemy heads during a siege, or kills more than 2,000 enemies in a melee, generals at all levels can be promoted to one rank.
After the implementation of this system, the Qin soldiers were not afraid of death and wanted to change the fate of themselves and their families through military exploits. The morale of the Qin army was high, and it had already overwhelmed the enemy in terms of momentum, thus achieving the goal of strengthening the army.
Yumin's next ruling skills were even more insidious. "Shang Jun Shu" advocated the emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce, and advocated the prohibition of grain trade and other commercial trade. It even recommended the abolition of hotels that provided accommodation for travelers. In this way, the people will be tied to the land, unable to absorb knowledge, and will eventually become the king's production tool.
Weakening the people means "using the weak to defeat the strong, using evil to control the good, and practicing gangster politics." Only by unifying the people's thinking and depriving individuals of their property will the people become attached to the country. The five techniques of controlling the people mentioned in
are Yimin technique, Weaken people technique, Wearing people technique, Humiliating people technique, and Poor people technique. instills unified thoughts into the people, restricts them ideologically, weakens the people's strength, and prevents them from having the ability to resist. While people are struggling to make a living, they have no time to think about other things.
Let them fight with each other for internal friction, and don't let them have too much wealth. The so-called " uses the strong to attack the strong, the weak, the strong will survive. Use the weak to attack the weak (strong), strong, and the strong will go" is another brilliance of Shang Yang. If you use strong people to eliminate other strong people, then the remaining people will still be strong people, and the country will be weak; if you use weak people to eliminate strong people, and the remaining people will be weak people, then things will be easier, and the country will be strong. As long as strong people exist, the country will be weak. Only when weak people exist can a country be strong and victorious.
In other words, if the current Qin State's national power wants to achieve a "qualitative" change in a short period of time, the number of powerful people must be reduced. In order to stifle those "powerful people", ruthless gangsters must be used as leaders, and intimidation and deception must be used to the extreme. In this way, the strong people will have to swallow their anger and dare not speak out. Then the world will be in order and the country will be strong.
Although Shang Yang's reforms allowed Qin to rise strongly, it had the capital to compete with the six countries for the world. But this also made the people of the six countries not want to defect to Qin after the defeat.
In "Shang Jun Shu·Lai Min Chapter", a Qin minister believed that Qin's law was so severe that the people of the six countries could not adapt to it. People of Qin They all know that it is difficult to be a Qin person, and the relevant officials are unwilling to grant tax-free benefits to immigrants from Han and Wei, so this scares away more people from the six countries.
Without the new cheap labor force from the six countries, the Qin army would not be able to supply troops and food. Although Qin became more and more powerful in the war, the actual effect was that the people of the six countries became less and less afraid to enter Qin. As a result, the gap between the large number of people and the small amount of land in Qin is widening day by day. Without enough Qin people to cultivate the land, it will be impossible to convert the newly conquered land into national wealth. Even after the people of the Six Kingdoms surrendered to Qin, they could get tax-free treatment within three generations. But after three generations, like other Qin people, they fell into a new cycle of suffering.
Although "The Book of Shang Jun" is of great significance to the Qin State, no one from the princes and nobles to the common people has benefited from this reform.
Shang Yang was appreciated by the monarch, but lost the hearts of the people, so he ended up with a broken car and no people to avenge him. Although the Qin Dynasty died after unifying the six kingdoms, this set of techniques of controlling the people and governing the country was inherited by the monarchs of all ancient dynasties and became their means of managing government affairs.
The reason why "Shang Jun Shu" is a banned book is not only because the methods in it are too extreme, but also because it is more like a quick manual for monarchs. But anyone with a certain level of strength is likely to create a powerful "Qin State" again after obtaining this book.
Therefore, subsequent rulers basically would not let this book appear among the people. Since ancient times, when dynasties change, the one who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. Governing the country relies on putting the interests of the people first. Although blind opportunism can easily conquer the world, it is not suitable for governing the country.
