According to Master Zhao's father, the Crane Guanzi is a native of Chu and is known as the "Crane Guanzi" because of his preference for decorating the hair crown with the feathers of the Crane, a bird that resembles a young chicken.

As for the real name, it is unknown.

When Meng Zhong returned to Lord Zhao for successfully subduing the 500 soldiers, Gu Guanzi was telling Lord Zhao about his idea of governing the country.

Probably listening with relish, Master Zhao did not ask Meng Zhong for the first time, but asked Meng Zhong to sit in the seat and listen to the proposition of the Crane Guanzi with him.

Since he is also a disciple of Taoism, he naturally takes the Taoist idea of "wu wei" as the core, that is, let the country establish order in a "natural" way, and (the monarch) should not do anything superfluous.

What does it mean to "establish order in a natural way"?

That is, obedience to the "principles of heaven".

For example, "slash-and-burn" did not teach people (kinds) to do that before this, it was people (kinds) who understood and used it on their own, simply put, that is, the inevitable process of civilization development, it will not change because of the will of individual people - while people develop civilization, there will inevitably be a stage of slash-and-burn cultivation to get rid of the old custom of drinking blood.

The same is true for nations.

From the initial tribe, to the later clan, to the multi-clan country, and then to today's countries, its itinerary and development actually have an inevitable trend.

People should not be ahead of their time, nor should they be conservative, and they should follow the trend of civilization development and follow the trend, which is also the Taoist idea of "going with the flow".

Regarding this matter, Que Guanzi gave an example of the Legalist thought.

The law has always existed in ancient times, but the law at that time was imperfect, to put it bluntly, all the monarchs and nobles had the final say, and I said that if you break the law, you will break the law, and the vulnerable groups have no power to resist. It was not until Prime Minister Zheng Guo's "sub-production" cast the "Criminal Ding" and promulgated the national law to the public that the law was gradually perfected and known to the world.

After that, the law has largely become a shackle to the powerful group.

So let's ask, since the emergence of the "law" is to restrain the royal family, the princes, and the aristocracy, why do the royal family and nobles of Zheng State want to implement it?

Quite simply, because the previous unfair "law" was strongly resisted by the relatively disadvantaged groups, that is, the new landlords and aristocrats, and the old and new aristocratic classes had a strong conflict because of the conflict of interests, which caused turmoil in the country, forcing the children to cast criminal tripods, make the "law" public, and alleviate class contradictions.

Therefore, the perfection and openness of the law is also an inevitable development of civilization, and the Legalist thought born from it will also inevitably appear.

And what Que Guanzi wants to warn Master Zhao is not to resist the emergence of "new things" like the old nobles who once resisted Zheng Guo's "punishment ding", but to accept it open-mindedly, because the emergence of many "new things" is inevitable (the development of civilization), and it will not end or disappear because of the obstruction of individual people.

When Que Guanzi told this story, Meng Zhong was also listening carefully.

However, since he was also a Taoist disciple and had heard similar remarks from his teacher Zhuangzi, what he said did not seem to be very new to him—after all, this was the Taoist idea of "going with the flow".

The only thing that feels novel is that he redefines "Wu Wei", he adds Legalist thought to the Taoist idea of governing the country by Wu Wei, and defines "Wu Wei" as "rule by law and law" and "rule by law system", that is, first formulate a good legal order, and then realize "rule by doing nothing".

For example, Que Guanzi believes that the country's new policy system should be strictly regulated, and the Wu (5) family should be the army and the army chief should be appointed; Shi (10) Wu Weili, set up a division; Four miles are flat, and the length of the flat is set; Shibian is a township, and a township division is set up; Wuxiang is a county, and a county is set up; The ten counties are counties, and they are guarded by doctors and doctors.

On this basis, Wu Chang, Li Si, Bian Chang, Xiang Shi, to the county doctor, and then to Zhu Guo (general) and Ling Yin (state minister), are responsible for reporting adultery, promoting virtue, teaching, and issuing orders step by step, and report to the top according to the regulations, and the monarch also issues orders step by step.

The Crane Guanzi called this the "Tianqu Sun Technique", which can make "those who do good can be lifted, and those who are evil can be punished".

It has to be said that although the state system of Que Guanzi has the influence of the Chu state system to a certain extent, it is stricter than the Qi law in the period of Qi Huan Gong and Guan Zhong, and more specific than the law of Shang Ying's rule of Qin, transforming the Taoist "law and heaven and earth thought" into "rule by the law system".

Even if it is a dream of China, it has benefited a lot.

"Meng Zhong, what do you think?" Master Zhao asked Meng Zhongdao with a smile.

Meng Zhong thought for a moment and replied: "The 'legal system' mentioned by Que Guanzi is understood below to mean that the country forms a benign order......

"Order?" Hearing this, Crane Guanzi's eyes lit up, and he praised with a smile: "This word is used well. ”

Indeed, the legal system he advocated is actually to enable the country to form a set of benign and sustainable development order, and on this basis, the monarch can achieve "rule by inaction".

It must be admitted that the previous Taoist idea of "ruling by doing nothing" was too profound, so that even monarchs like Lord Zhao sometimes couldn't figure it out, but the proposition of the crown was easy to understand, so that Lord Zhao understood: Oh, as long as it is implemented according to this system, "rule by doing nothing" can be realized.

After expounding on the above ideas, Meng Zhong nodded and said, "I think it's feasible in the next place." ”

Hearing this, the crane stroked his beard and smiled silently.

Both of them are Taoist disciples, and Meng Zhong was able to accept his ideas so quickly, which shows that Meng Zhong is very clear about the essence of "ruling by doing nothing" - that is, "doing nothing" is an affirmation of "doing something".

Subsequently, Crane Guanzi once again recounted his "Heavenly Song Sun Technique".

The counties and counties involved in the "Tianqu Rishu" actually appeared very early, such as the "Dai County" and "Yanmen County" of Zhao State.

However, the county system at this time, let's call it the "old county system", was different from the system proposed by the Crane Guanzi.

In the old county system, the county and the county are equal, and the county is the collective name of the city and the city: the city refers to a simple city, and the largest city in the world is only two miles away, which is not very large, and was first used for the royal family and nobles to live; The eup, on the other hand, is a prosperous gathering place built around the city, including the dwellings of the countrymen and commoners, as well as all the facilities such as markets and fields.

Within the scope of non-royal cities and national capitals, the city and the eup, and then include the surrounding area that the city can radiate, which is called "county".

Therefore, in modern times, the status of the county order is very high, because he is the representative of the monarch to govern the land.

In the old county system, counties were set up in prosperous places and "counties" in remote places and borders, and the original purpose of the establishment of counties was to protect the land and protect the country from foreign enemies.

Take Zhao as an example, after Zhao successively conquered Daidi, Yanmen, and Zhongshan, they all set up counties in the local area and appointed county guards to guard them.

Since there are counties, there will be no more counties within this range.

For example, within the scope of Dai County, "Dong Anyang", that is, the current fiefdom of Gongzi Zhang, it will be called "Dong Anyang City" and "Dong Anyang Eup", but there will be no such thing as "Dong Anyang County".

And Que Guanzi believes that there are drawbacks to this system.

He gave an example of if Zhongmu was attacked by Wei.

Zhongmu was on the south side of the Zhao state, bordering the Wei state, and there was a large area of land in the area, and the Zhao and Wei states were bitten into each other - like the Taiji fish.

Zhao's Zhongmu can danger the hinterland of Wei, and Wei also has a city called "Anyang", which can threaten the hinterland of Zhao, and Zhao and Wei use these two cities to contain each other.

The trouble is that if Wei attacks Zhongmu, Zhao will not be able to take the "Handan-Zhongmu" route to support, because the two are blocked by the Wei city of Anyang, and Zhao's army must bypass Anyang to the west in order to support Zhongmu - this is also the reason why the two armies under the command of Zhao Cheng and Li Dui, the king of Anping, have been stationed in the area of Zhongmu for many years.

In the narration of Que Guanzi, if Zhongmu was attacked by Wei, in the absence of Zhao Cheng and Li Dui's two garrisons, Zhongmu County Commander would ask for help from the national capital Handan as soon as possible, and then Handan would send troops to Zhongmu.

However, sending troops to guard a county seat alone will increase the burden on the county, and it is better to divide several counties into one county, the county is dedicated to governing the economy, and the county is responsible for protecting several counties under its jurisdiction, in other words, gathering financial and material resources from several counties to support a county soldier, so that the county army can exist for a long time without adding additional burdens to the state.

As for in peacetime, as Que Guanzi said before, Wu Chang, Lisi, Bian Chang, Township Teacher, etc., are responsible for treachery, promoting virtue, teaching, and issuing orders, so that the king's power can be concentrated, and the hard work of the monarch can be shared.

More importantly, as long as this system is followed, the state can form a good order in order to eventually achieve the rule of inaction.

After listening to the proposition told by the Crane Guanzi, Master Zhao pondered for a long time, and finally sighed with a wry smile and said, "It would be good if Mr. had raised this matter with me earlier......

Indeed, because one of the reasons why Zhao's father passed the throne to his second son Zhao He three years ago was because the national government that he was responsible for every day as a monarch was too heavy, and he had to formulate strategies for the counties, counties, and towns across the country, which would greatly hinder Zhao's father's attack on Zhongshan.

However, the county system described by the Crane Guanzi can greatly reduce the burden on the monarch.

It is a pity that at this time, Master Zhao has passed on to Zhao Wang He, if Yu Guanzi told Master Zhao about this proposition before this, although there is no guarantee that Master Zhao will not pass on the throne to Zhao He again, but it will also make him hesitate more.

It's just a pity that it's too late.

No, it's not too late!

As long as Zhao He is abolished, the royal power is regained!

He, Zhao Yong, was able to use this set of statecraft to make Zhao State stronger, even if it was Qin and Qi, they could not compete.