The land of Feng Ho, the royal palace.

Since Ji Lie carried out some reforms, Ji Lie has obtained a lot of money, but the price of this money is the poverty of the people. Although Ji Lie also oppressed many Wangji nobles, the Wangji nobles soon extended this exploitation to the Chinese people, and eventually the Chinese people became more and more poor.

On the other side, Ji Lie ordered that the people who slandered him should be killed directly. He deliberately set up an organization to carry out this order, and as the order was given, more and more people were killed, and gradually the people stopped talking.

Among Wang Ji, there were few pedestrians on the street, and after the two sides met, most of them only made eye gestures and stopped talking, and no one dared to talk about the government and the Son of Heaven from then on.

After Ji Lie found out, he was very happy, and proudly called Mu Gongdao: "You see that no one dares to speak ill of me now!" ”

Zhao Mu Gong closed his eyes in despair and stopped talking, he knew that no matter how much he said, he could not change the decision of the Son of Heaven.

After Ji Lie obtained a large amount of money, he rebuilt the palace, and the army also began to conquer Rongdi. For a time, Wang Ji's army was at its peak, and he swept away the weakness of the previous generations of Wang Ji, although Ji Lie's military level was good, but he had a problem that most of the emperors had, and he was so happy.

Therefore, when his strength was strong, Ji Lie began to mercenary for many years, constantly fighting with Rong Di and Yi people.

Ji Yeol was very happy about this situation. However, the continuous use of troops has led to a shortage of Wang Ji's finances, and there is no money among the Chinese people who have been squeezed several times.

In order to maintain the six armies of the Son of Heaven, the tax can only be increased again, but the tax in Wang Ji is already very high, so Ji Lie thought of another idea - to sell the official beard.

Of course, the official mantle can't be too obvious, otherwise the reputation is not good, and the thing is a little hidden. Of course, at this time, there was no extra land in Wangji to divide the feuds, so these titles were not mined.

However, even so, many nobles made purchases, and then obtained a large amount of money to maintain the construction of the palace and the six armies of the Son of Heaven.

Ji Lie was so happy with his achievements, built a palace, and used troops against barbarians all year round, so even Zhou Tianzi was still not satisfied.

Ji Lie, who wanted to find money, heard that the Rongyi Office was an expert in making money, so he got close to Rongyi Gong. After Rong Yigong became Ji Lie's favorite retainer, he began to help him prepare funds.

......

After more than 100 years of development, the state of Chu has become a great power in the south. Because he has always been looked down upon by the princes of the Central Plains, he was already the king when he was King Zhou Yi.

The state of Chu claimed to be the king without authorization, this practice was completely in the face of Bang Zhou, during the reign of King Yi of Zhou, Wang Ji was weakened, and he conquered the barbarians several times and was not victorious. Zhou Tianzi's prestige has fallen to the bottom, so the state of Chu dares to usurp the king.

After Ji Lie inherited the throne, he wanted to find trouble with the Chu State, but after he inherited the throne, there were many Yidi in Bangzhou. Ji Lie could only deal with the state of Chu after dealing with these Yidi first.

After Ji Lie conquered Yidi and became famous, after defeating all the Yidi near Wangji, Ji Lie began to prepare to deal with the Chu State. With thousands of miles of land and millions of people, Chu is a top power.

Relying on Wang Ji's strength alone was not an opponent of the Chu State, so Ji Lie ordered the Five Kingdoms of Hanshui to prepare to conquer the Chu State. The Five Kingdoms of Hanshui had frequent friction with the State of Chu, and this time they received the edict of the Son of Heaven and immediately agreed, preparing to join forces to crusade against the State of Chu.

Xiong Qu, the king of Chu, heard that Zhou Tianzi had come to conquest, and he was terrified. In these years, Ji Lie has been fighting in the east and west, and his reputation is great. If it is not comparable to the previous generation of King Yi, now the commander of the five countries of Hanshui is united, I am afraid that he will not be able to fight, and the whole country's troops will be hoarded in Hanshui.

Thirty-three years of the king.

Zhou Tianzi personally led a large army to fight with the Chu army in Hanshui.

The two sides fought in March, and the battle lasted until July, the weather was hot and sultry, the corpses were rotten, and epidemics were rampant in the army. Chu Jun Xiongqu went to the king and withdrew from the north of the Han River, and the two sides were dismissed.

The losses on both sides in this battle were not small. And because of the successive wars, Wang Ji's finances have deteriorated. In order to improve the economy and increase income, Ji Lie appointed Rong Yi Gong as the secretary and entrusted him with important tasks.

After Rong Yigong took office, Wang Ji's finances were full of holes. Therefore, Rong Yi Gong wrote Ji Lie to implement the 'patent' of the mountains, forests, rivers and rivers, and took back the mountains and rivers to the Son of Heaven, prohibiting the Chinese people from entering the mountains and forests to hunt and collect wood, and not allowing civilians to fish. Among them, the material is at the disposal of the Son of Heaven.

The people of Wangji were deeply oppressed by Ji Lie's reforms, and their lives were difficult, and the mountains, forests, rivers and rivers were closed, which can be said to be cut off from life. On the other hand, Wangji's laws were strict, and the people did not dare to speak, so their resentment became more and more serious.

At the same time, the nobles and ministers were also forcibly expropriated a large amount of goods, and at the same time, Ji Lie's sale of officials led to the proliferation of officials and lords, and the status of the nobility was affected. The nobles who had supported him also began to drift away.

Summoned Mu Gong to advise him several times, but Ji Lie didn't listen at all, so he stopped talking.

It was night, in a remote house, several middle-aged people were sitting silently opposite each other.

"Shi Gong, Wang Ji's oppression is getting worse and worse, and the loss of goods is fine, but the Son of Heaven wants to completely change the tradition of 'Shiwei Shishi', which is cutting off our roots!"

"Yes, we have been the prince of Zhou Tianzi for generations, how can the son of heaven be so kind!"

"Selling the official beard, as long as you pay the money, you can get the title, so what is it for our ancestors to overcome obstacles and fight bloodily? Just a few goods, you can get a knighthood! Is this what Mingjun did? ”

"Competing with the people for profit, selling official positions, torture to stop slander, appointing villains, building a palace, the people of Wangji are unbearable to oppress, Zhuqing, now that it is time for life and death, do you still hesitate?"

"Yes, now that even Duke Mu and Duke Zhou have been deposed, and there is no one to speak up for us! How long do you think you can endure it? ”

For a while, the crowd was excited.

If you really think that these nobles are worried about the country and the people, it is a big mistake, they oppose the abolition of the 'world as a secretary'. If the 'world is the secretary' is really abolished, then they will completely become ordinary people. This is also what they fear the most.

Shi Gong was silent for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "The king believes in villains, sells official beards, competes with the people for profit, tortures and stops slander, the foundation of Bang Zhou is unstable, and for the sake of the country, we have to do it!" ”

"The people are poor, even fishing, hunting and wood-picking are prohibited, and there is a lot of resentment, there must be a riot, and the princes can go back and prepare in advance."

The nobles turned their heads to look at each other, their eyes moving slightly, and then they left the place and returned to the places by tacitly.

In the thirty-seventh year of the king, the state government was tyrannical, and the people could not be oppressed, so they attacked it and besieged the palace.

The nobles were frightened, the prince fled into the house of the prince, and the people of the country surrounded the mansion. Zhao Gong replaced the crown prince with his son, and the prince was spared. After calling Mu Gong and Zhou Dinggong to regent, known as the republic, fourteen years, King Li collapsed.

......

The King of Zhou Li recorded in the "Historical Records" is an out-and-out tyrant, but the interesting thing is that if King Li is just a tyrant, then why can he reign for 37 years? In fact, we have seen different accounts in some other history books. King Li of Zhou defeated Yi Di, who was ravaging Wangji, conquered the barbarians of the Quartet, and forced the king of Chu to go to the king's title, and from these aspects, he was a very accomplished monarch.

In fact, from the beginning of the succession to the throne, King Zhou Li was a reformer who faced the "accumulation of difficulties in returning", and he reformed the political, economic, military, and legal aspects of Bang Zhou, but he was facing a powerful old aristocratic class.

His reforms touched the interests of a large number of nobles, so that the nobles were dissatisfied, but they oppressed the countrymen, and finally even the nobles opposed him. On the whole, he was a failed reformer, while his contemporary, Ram Jie, was a successful reformer, but even if he failed, his lessons were useful for future generations of reformers. -- "Chinese History: The Two Sides of History"