Zhaoyue: "Ming Fadu, the country is rich and strong from the five tyrants to the current seven heroes, and change is the road that must be taken." The three kingdoms of Han, Zhao, and Wei were all strong for a while, especially Wei, and Wei Wenhou taught Bu Zixia, Tian Zifang, and Duan Ganmu, and reused Li Kui, Le Yang, Ximen Leopard, Wu Qi and others to implement economic and political reforms, and once became the most powerful country at that time. Later, due to the failure of the reform to the end, coupled with the unfavorable terrain and frequent wars, it gradually weakened under the continuous attacks of Qin. Zhao Guo used Gongzhong Lian as the prime minister when Zhao Liehou was born, and took the scholar from "Zhongzhu as the teacher, Xun Xin as the lieutenant, Xu Yue as the internal history, and implemented the law change, with benevolence and righteousness, and about the royal road"; "Selecting and training talents, appointing officials to enable them"; "Use money sparingly, and measure merit."

Zhang Yi also analyzed the current form of Han: Han also experienced the reform of the law, "In the eighth year of Han Zhaohou, Shen did not harm Han, cultivated the art and practiced the Tao, ruled the country, and the princes did not come to invade." In a word, Sanjin began to become strong after reform and reform. Zhao was isolated in the north, suffered less from war, and devoted himself to opening up the territory of the northeast. Qi Yin has a long history and high culture, and has always maintained the status of a great country in the East. In recent decades, the emerging forces represented by the Tian clan have developed rapidly, controlling the political, economic, and military power of the Qi State, making the Qi State gradually stronger.

Zhaoyue continued to tell the history of the beginning of the Warring States period: after the Tian clan replaced Qi, in 386 BC Tian He was officially listed as a prince, and the power of Qi was second only to Qin and Chu. These new powers are all coveting the Chu State. Qin is located in the northwest, originally very backward, known as the horse thief.

From the first year of Qin Xiao's reign (361 B.C.), due to the requirements of economic development at that time, the influence of the progressive socio-economic and cultural influence of the Central Plains countries, and his own far-sighted vision, he ordered to seek talents. In 359 B.C., Shang Ying was appointed to change the law, reward the development of agricultural production, and vigorously promote the spirit of brave fighting. The great changes in politics and economy have promoted the rapid growth of social productive forces, and in the past ten years, the people of Qin have been happy, the road has not been forgotten, there are no thieves in the mountains, the family has given people enough, the people have the courage to attack, they are afraid of private fighting, and the countryside is under great control. After the fruitful reform of Xiaogong, King Huiwen was able to continue to develop on the basis of the previous monarch's reform of the law. In this way, Qin, which was rich in the country and strong in the army, and determined to expand, became the biggest threat to the six countries.

Qin not only has strong soldiers and enough food. Look at the other six countries, whose monarchs are far-sighted and calculating. According to the predetermined plan, they first attacked Wei with all their might. Wei suffered repeated defeats, lost 700 miles of Hexi, and was forced to move the capital to Daliang (now Kaifeng, Henan), and since then, the country has declined greatly, and the hegemony has been ceded to Qi on the coast of the East China Sea. At this point, the Qin State had opened a gap with the Three Jins. Qi is far away from Qin, and it will not directly hinder Qin's path to the east. Since then, Qin has opened a channel in attacking Han and Zhao. Wei, Han, and Zhao were destroyed, and Qin used all his strength to deal with Qi and Chu, in a vain attempt to swallow ......"

Qu Yuan: "In the 11th century BC, King Zhao of Zhou, Xing Shi went south and attacked Chu in a big way, but he was defeated and died. At the beginning of the 9th century B.C., Xiongqu, the king of Chu, further expanded his territory on a large scale, and established himself to fight against the Zhou Dynasty in the north. In the 8th century BC, King Wen of Chu, the son of King Wu of Chu, moved his capital to Ying. Successively attacked Shen and Cai, destroyed Deng and Xi, and concurrently established the thirty-nine countries, and the small countries and small countries in Lingjiang and Han were all afraid of it. Faced with this reality, Zhou Tianzi had no choice but to give him flesh along the river, so that Chu "Zhen'er Yiyue Rebellion in the south did not invade China".

Zhaoyue: In the 7th century B.C., King Chuzhuang merged the kingdom of 26 and opened up 3,000 li of land, becoming one of the five tyrants of the Spring and Autumn Period. Since the Warring States Period, Chu has successively destroyed Cai, Shu, Ju and other countries, to the time of King Chu Wei, it is already a powerful country in the world, "five thousand miles of place, with a million armor, thousands of cars, ten thousand horses, Su Zhi ten years, the world can not be also."

In short, from the Western Zhou Dynasty through the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, Chu successively annexed nearly 70 countries in the Yangtze River and Huai River basins, and its territory was almost equivalent to the sum of the other six countries, making it the country with the largest territory, the strongest armament, and the largest population among the seven countries. The reason why Chu's external expansion was so successful was not only because of the strong material foundation in the country, but also because of the political clarity of the Ming monarchs in previous dynasties.

There is a history secretary Chu Zhuang Wang Zhishi said: "Merchants, peasants, and workers are not defeated in their business, and they are not treacherous when they take the land...... His king's actions are also, the inner surname is selected from the family, and the outer surname is selected from the return. The act is not destructive, the reward is not lost, the old have benefits, and the brigade has charity. A gentleman and a villain, things have uniforms, noble and respectful, cheap and authoritative, and etiquette is not rebellious. Morality, execution, political success, time, obedience, etiquette, what an enemy! ”

In fact, Zhaoyue has learned about the history of Chu in modern times, and the king of Chu Zhuang has been the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period, but he can't inherit his strategy of governing the world.

The glorious history of the State of Chu was told by Qu Yuan. Then he continued to explain his point of view, which was also something that Qu Yuan pursued all his life in the next few decades.

Qu Yuan: "In order to accomplish the great cause of reunification, we must make the country rich and the army strong, and in order to achieve this goal, we must also implement law changes under the current specific historical conditions. Whether the law is changed or not, and whether the law is completely changed or not, determines the fate of the vassal states. For the state of Chu, which has a vast territory, abundant products, and a solid national foundation, but the country has rapidly tended to decline from its peak due to the corruption of the ruling group and the backwardness of production relations, it is particularly important to change the law, which is the key to the survival and development of the country and the nation."

Zhang Yi: "Ming Jun has long recognized the importance of changing the law, and the monarch and ministers have a strong concept of the rule of law, as far back as the Spring and Autumn Period King Chu Cheng (671 BC - 626 BC) and Chu Zhuang King (613 BC - 590 BC), the story of abiding by the law and advocating the system is also historical.

Then Zhang Yi listed the story of King Chu Cheng. Someone in the same clan of King Chu Cheng's Ling Yin Ziwen had violated the law of the country, and the "Tingli" in charge of justice knew that the prisoner was Ling Yin's own family, so he let him go. When Ziwen heard about this, he brought the court manager to criticize him severely, saying that he was "unreasonable and unfair" in doing so, and declared with great righteousness: "I hold the handle of a country, and I live with my private news, not righteousness, if I die!" And he personally took this of his people to the court and said, "If it is not a punishment, I will die!" Ting Li had no choice but to deal with the prisoner in accordance with the law. When King Chu Cheng heard that Yin Ziwen was so selfless, righteous and selfless, and enforced the law like a mountain, he couldn't even mention his shoes, so he hurriedly ran to Ziwen's house to review and said: "I am still young, I use people improperly, and I have the will to go against Yin's orders." So he dismissed the official of Tingli, and from then on he trusted Ziwen even more. When the people heard about this, they said: "If there is an order for Yin to be like this, what is Chu worried about!" ””

(The difference between Qu Yuan and Zhang Yi here is only temporary, but when they meet again, they are their own masters, and their current friends have never wanted to become natural enemies later)