Diligence in Farming and War to Accumulate National Strength
（12）
After Meng Jin observed the army, King Wu understood the attitudes of the marquises and knew that he had a powerful army that could destroy the enemy. He was very satisfied with himself. He attributed these achievements to his father's lifelong efforts and Lu Shang's great assistance. He felt that there were still some aspects of his troops that needed to be further improved to increase their combat effectiveness, but this was no longer the main problem. The problem that followed was to wait and see, waiting for the favorable opportunity to attack the east. He focused his attention on exerting diplomatic means on the Shang Capital and urging the internal changes of the Shang Dynasty as soon as possible. He still assigned Hou Ban to carry out frequent diplomatic activities in Shangdu.
In the blink of an eye, a year had passed. The news sent back from Shangdu was more and more exciting. King Zhou of Shang indulged in drinking and indulged in Daji, often seeking pleasure day and night. Recently, King Zhou of Shang had become even more indifferent to the government, and his temperament had become even more headstrong. He was increasingly disgusted with the advice of his officials.
Martial Kings often received news from Hou Ban. He couldn't just sit back and watch the natural development of the situation. He had to actively work hard to make the opportunity come as soon as possible. He had clearly instructed Hou Ban to do everything possible to drive a wedge between the monarch and his subjects in Shang City and the relationship between the Shang clan and relatives.
Another day passed. The glow of dusk began to fade, and the clouds on the horizon gradually turned lead gray. They were shyly preparing to hide in the slowly falling night.
King Wu walked out of the palace gate and stood on the steps, looking east. Through the east gate, the main road extended out of sight. Every time he looked, King Wu's mood would always be caught in a strong contradiction between unease and hope. Today, he had been busy for the whole day, dealing with some daily state affairs. Then, he summoned the ministers to summarize the farming activities of this spring and discuss a few large-scale national constructions for the slack time after the spring plowing. He also made some preparations for the conditions and other pressing issues at hand. Before the sun set, the relatives and ministers left. He and Zhou Gongdan re-examined these plans and measures so that they could finally be implemented. Among the few brothers, only Zhou Gongdan was smart and wise, talented and knowledgeable, open-minded and steady, and experienced in handling affairs. King Wu consciously called this brother of his to his side to discuss some major national issues, so that Duke Dan of Zhou could participate in the decision-making of national affairs as soon as possible. Father Shang had once said that Duke of Zhou could become a true pillar of the country. This further strengthened King Wu's treatment of Duke Dan of Zhou. King Wu stood there, his thoughts flying to the distant east. The tiredness from a busy day of government affairs was obvious on his face.
Hu Sheng saw that King Wu was staring at the east for a long time and did not dare to disturb him at first. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, he had no choice but to walk to King Wu's side and remind him in a low voice,""Martial King, the sky is getting dark."
"Oh." King Wu suddenly came to his senses and said as usual,""We'll go back now. Go to the harem and call Stepmother Wang first.”
"The Queen Mother has already gone back earlier. She just sent someone to urge you to go back as soon as possible. She is waiting for you to have a meal together.”
"You see, I was so busy that I forgot. The Queen has already gone back, so we should go back too. There were a lot of things to do today, so he couldn't drag it out!”
As King Wu spoke, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and called out to Zhou Gongdan, who had just walked out of the palace gate." Fourth Brother, we should go back."”
Zhou Gongdan looked up at the sky and said,"It's getting dark. We should go back.”He walked to the Martial King's side and suggested,""Big brother, you should move to the palace to live. It will be more convenient to do things and take care of your life.”
"Moving into the new palace is a big deal." Martial King began to walk down the steps. As he walked, he said,""It has to be decided by the court. The rules and principles set by his father when he was alive could not be changed casually. But I'm in favor of moving in earlier. However, the old officials had a particularly strong reaction. They said that their father's business was not completed, so they moved to the palace against his father's wishes. When we built this palace, Father had two goals. One was to numb King Zhou of Shang, and the other was to encourage us to strive for this magnificent cause. Meng Jin came back from observing the soldiers. I think times have changed. We can't always hold the old view. We should look at new problems with new eyes. For the convenience of discussing state affairs, I suggest moving the office here. Now that there were so many people, it was really not good to discuss matters in that dark old hall. It was really narrow and crowded. Because of this, Teacher San Yisheng is still unhappy and always gives me a hard time.”As the Martial King spoke, he had already arrived at the bottom of the steps and was about to board the carriage that had been waiting for him. Hu Sheng had already put down the board.
Zhou Gongdan followed closely behind and boarded the carriage, saying,""But Father Shang supports your idea. He thought that his father built the palace to confuse King Zhou of Shang and create the illusion of entertainment, wine, sex, and singing and dancing. He was afraid that living in the palace would weaken his spirit and spirit of hard work, so he stipulated that he would still live in the old house before the great cause was completed. Father Shang also said that things were different now. In the new palace, in order to carry out his father's cause, ambitious people would feel guilty. They would work hard and strive to complete his father's will as soon as possible.”
"Different people have different opinions on the same question.”King Wu said with emotion," Especially when it comes to state affairs, everyone has a different understanding of them from different perspectives. This can easily lead to differences in opinions. If not handled properly, it would affect the development of the country. Teacher San's view was correct, but it was too pedantic. Although Father Shang's opinion was right, using guilt to encourage ambition, but if one did not pay attention, it was easy to fall into comfort and not be able to pull out. Isn't King Zhou of Shang like this?"
"Living in the old house, looking at the new palace, trying to get in. Her career was still developing slowly and painfully, which made her anxious and annoyed. To move into the new palace, he was afraid of losing the will to work hard to complete his career. This was really a pair of conflicting questions that couldn't be decided at once.”King Wu added. He looked back at the palace and saw the steps in front of him quietly stacking up and rising. There were many steps, and climbing up was also very tiring. As he thought about it, the carriage started to move.
The carriage went around the palace and turned onto the main road back to his old residence. The main road went straight through the capital from east to west. King Wu and the Duke of Zhou looked back at the palace, only to see the majestic back of the palace standing upright in the twilight. A stretch of houses behind the palace came into view. These were the courtyards behind the main hall. Now, the main hall had become a meeting place. After King Wu returned from Mengjin, he insisted on moving here despite the differences in opinions. The courtyard had been used as a national workshop during the period of King Wen, where young women were selected for collective training. Usually, they would spin hemp and weave cloth in the workshop to provide for the national expenses. Under the guidance of Jiang Yi, the stepmother of the king, these women worked diligently and orderly. But the royal family still lived in the old house. The entire Zhou Country was working hard for prosperity.
King Wu's thoughts shifted from the palace to his father's career, and then to the news of Shangdu. He calculated that it had only been eight days since the last time he had sent the news. It felt like he had waited for a year. The closer he got to the final stage, the more nervous he became. Although he was full of confidence, he could not help but feel uneasy.
They were about to reach their old residence. The sound of horse hooves could be heard from behind. The Martial King turned around to look. They saw a carriage rushing up from the night sky.
"Is there any news?" The Duke of Zhou was also guessing with concern as he glanced at the stern-looking King Wu. The Duke of Zhou patted the coachman, and the coachman stopped the carriage.
When the people in the carriages caught up to them, they saw the Martial King standing in the carriage in front of them and hurriedly stopped the horses. The four galloping horses were suddenly reined in by the bridle, and their front hooves were raised. They neighed with their heads tilted and stood, but the inertia pushed the cart forward, causing the crossbars of the front shaft to hit the horses 'buttocks. The horses screamed even more fiercely, and their front hooves kicked twice in the air before they fell to the ground. After a while, the two cars finally stopped together.
"Martial King, the Marquis sent me back.”As the person spoke, he quickly jumped off the carriage and walked over to the Martial King who had just alighted. He bowed.
"Oh, Song Li, you've worked hard. Did you bring any news?" King Wu returned the greeting and asked excitedly. Then, he looked at the carriage with only the coachman and Song Li. He was surprised that there were no armored soldiers or servants following him. He asked with concern,"What? Are you alone?”
"Ah, it's too late." Song Li's young face was covered with fatigue. His eyes were weak, but he forced himself to be energetic and said,"Martial King, my lord suddenly heard that King Zhou of Shang had sent an envoy to patrol the Zhou Country. When I asked, that envoy had already set off for the west five days ago. My lord was afraid that you would not be vigilant, so he made preparations in advance and immediately ordered me to rush back to report. The two of us took turns to rest, and three horses died of exhaustion along the way. These four horses were changed at the outpost.”As he spoke, Song Li used his hands to brush his hair to get rid of the tiredness of closing his eyes. He turned around and pointed at the coachman. His hand stopped in mid-air and he was stunned.
The Duke of Zhou came up and said,"He's sleepy."”He saw the coachman sitting on the seat with his head lowered, holding the reins in his arms. His head was trembling slightly, and there was a uniform snoring sound.
King Wu said,"You've worked too hard. Go back and rest."”
"Wait a minute." "There's one more important matter. My lord has instructed me to prepare three thousand gold coins and send it over." The Marquis said,'King Zhou of Shang closed his inner palace even more and was on Deer Terrace, indulging in wine and women. Fei Zhong monopolized power. King Zhou did not listen to the advice of many loyal officials and even punished a few ministers. Now the court is confused between loyalty and treachery, which is beneficial to our activities. Now, he urgently needed to spend a lot of money to help King Zhou of Shang and to recruit Shang ministers. The Marquis is urgently waiting for the money. It's good that we can rush back as soon as possible. We'll rush back tomorrow morning. If a Martial King could gather 3,000 Gold.”
"Ah, so urgent. Aren't you going to rest for a few days?”The Duke of Zhou interjected in shock.
"No, my body is fine. I can take it. This bit of tiredness was nothing. However, the matter of the Martial King Marquis was more important. When the Marquis sent us off, he repeatedly reminded us to hurry up and send the daughter.”This time, Song Li rubbed his eyelids." King Wu, please prepare the gold coins quickly.”
"How about this?" King Wu said with concern,"You guys go back and rest first." As for the gold, I'll send someone else to deliver it quickly. It won't delay anything.”
"No, Martial King, we can't do this. Let us send them over. I know of a shortcut that can save five to six days of time. It was because of this that the Marquis sent me back. Otherwise, Yu Sheng would have come back." Song Li hurriedly explained and raised his voice.
The coachman was shocked by the noise here and hurriedly jumped out of the car to run over. He helped to plead,"Martial King, Duke of Zhou, let us send them over. This shortcut is not easy to take, and only we are familiar with it. We will do good things."
"You guys are too tired." The Duke of Zhou added.
"It doesn't matter. We'll rest at night and recover our strength. He had been traveling through the night these past few days. Otherwise, he would not be so tired.”"We'll definitely send it back as soon as possible," Song Li insisted.”
"Alright, I'll listen to you." King Wu compromised because of their perseverance and determination. He agreed to their request and said,""Go back and rest first. I'll go prepare it and send it over tomorrow morning. Don't worry about the carriage. I'll get people to prepare it well. I'll arrange for you along with dry rations. You can rest for the night.”King Wu was moved and patted this person's shoulder with concern. He then patted that person's shoulder and called Hu Sheng over." Send them back to rest. We'll handle the rest."”He pushed Song Li and the other man into the car. Hu Sheng had already taken the reins and sat in the driver's seat.
King Wu watched them leave before turning back to Zhou Gongdan and saying,""I didn't expect King Zhou of Shang to send an envoy and keep the news a secret. It seems that there's a reason for this. We have to be more careful." He waved his hand to signal the Duke of Zhou to get on the carriage." Let's go back to the palace to prepare the money."”
Zhou Gonghao calculated as he got into the car and sat in the driver's seat to drive the car personally. When the carriage started moving, he turned around and said to King Wu,""The palace only has two thousand gold. If this wasn't enough, he would have to think of another way to raise another 1,000 Gold.”
"Is there any other way?" King Wu asked worriedly. If it really doesn't work, I'll go to the officials 'houses to collect them first. If it wasn't enough, he would ask Father Shang and use the money he was currently spending on weapons to make up for it in the future.”
"That won't do. The military supplies have already been ordered.”The Duke of Zhou said.
"Saving an emergency is the most important thing. Buying a house with a large sum of money is as important as using military tactics. I'm in a hurry to spend money. No matter what, we must gather 3,000 Gold tonight.”
The carriage turned around and rushed back the way it came. The earth was shrouded in darkness.
Early the next morning, King Wu was helping his servants load the 3,500 gold taels that he had painstakingly collected last night into a carriage when Song Li arrived. King Wu said to Song Li,"Tell the Marquis that if he needs gold coins, come back and get them." In order to complete the mission, he had to pay a high price. Here's 3,500 Gold. Take it all with you. In addition, bring two carriages of guards and be careful on the way.”The Martial King waved his hand at the two chariots parked behind him, and the leader ran over. King Wu instructed Song Li,"I'll ask Hu Sheng to escort the gold coins with you."”"Escort Song Li and the others. You have to take care of each other on the way." Send this gold to the Marquis as soon as possible.”
"Yes." Hu Sheng turned around and bowed to Song Li. Hu Sheng was already in his forties, so he should be Song Li's elder brother. The two of them smiled at each other and bowed to King Wu at the same time. Then, they got into their respective carriages separately.
Song Li looked at the gold coins in the carriage. It was filled with three big bags, and there was also a lot of dry food and water bottles. "Thank you for your concern, King Wu. You've made such thorough preparations," Song Li said to King Wu in the carriage. However, it increased the burden. There's no need to bring so much food."
King Wu quickly stopped Song Li, who was about to move the things, and said,""Bring them all along. You must maintain your energy and strength on the way. Last night, I sent a fast horse to inform the outpost to prepare a replacement horse for you. Don't worry, just hurry on. Be careful on the road."
"Yes." " Yes," Song Li agreed, touched." We'll definitely complete the mission successfully.”
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