activa-t Chapter 543 The Name of the Attack on Chu 2
Chapter 543 The Name of the Attack on Chu 2
"Oh?" The King of Qin raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "How could the Chu people break their promise? Although Chu is currently in dire straits, as far as I know, they are relatively well-behaved in the economic zone and have not dared to openly provoke us. Could it be that Jia Yang has a good plan to make them expose their weakness?"
A glint of wisdom, far beyond her years, flashed in Ying Wuyou's eyes—a wisdom that revealed her understanding of human nature and the situation. She nodded slightly, confident and composed: "Father, the predicament of Chu is not merely superficial; it has reached the very core. Internally, there is a severe food shortage, and the southern campaign against the Baiyue has failed, resulting in heavy losses of soldiers and generals, leaving the nation unprecedentedly weak."
Currently, it barely survives by deceiving and exploiting the remaining nobles in Shu to supply grain, and by relying on the meager amount of grain sold at low prices in our economic zone. This is a fortress on the sand; it may still appear to have form, but its interior is already riddled with holes and could collapse at any moment. With just a little guidance, the pent-up contradictions within—between nobles and commoners, central government and local authorities, army and people—will erupt violently, forcing it to make an unwise move and bring about its own destruction. Father, please grant your son some time, and I will surely bring you, and Qin, a glorious and just cause for conquest of Chu!
The King of Qin gazed at his daughter, and the hall fell into that suffocating silence once more. Only the water clock ticked slowly and steadily, as if calmly weighing the immense power and far-reaching impact of the young princess's words. Finally, a resolute glint flashed in the King of Qin's deep eyes, and he softly hummed in agreement, granting his final tacit approval and authorization.
"Granted. I will see how Jiayang can secure this 'justification for attacking Chu' for me and for Great Qin. All personnel and resources can be allocated. I await your good news."
Upon returning to the princess's residence, after dismissing everyone around her, Ying Wuyou did not rush into action. Instead, she stood by the window, calmly sorting out her thoughts.
It is a consensus that the State of Chu is at its last gasp. But how to make this weary camel break under the last straw, and how to make it appear as if the State of Chu itself picked up the straw and put it on its back, requires extremely ingenious planning.
Given the severe food shortage in the State of Chu, a simple and crude approach of drastically raising the sugarcane purchase price again seemed illogical—starving farmers and ordinary people struggling on the brink of death were primarily concerned with survival, not profit. However, Chu's predicament provided her with more covert and precise room for maneuver.
She walked to the desk, spread out the fine white paper, picked up the specially made, lighter brush, dipped it in ink, and began to write. She was writing for two people, outlining the plans for both.
The first letter was to her elder brother Fusu, who was far away in the Baiyue region. In the letter, she first sincerely praised her brother's great achievements in uniting the Baiyue and defeating the Chu army, and affirmed the effectiveness of his benevolent rule in the Baiyue region.
Next, she analyzed the situation, pointing out that the defeat of the Chu army left the southern border defense forces depleted and morale low, presenting a good opportunity to continue applying pressure and consolidate the gains of the Baiyue alliance.
She suggested that Fusu could use pretexts such as "protecting trade routes from harassment by defeated Chu troops" and "settling old scores with the Chu army for past invasions" to direct the Baiyue alliance to conduct more frequent and deterrent armed patrols and small-scale, low-intensity military harassment against the southern border of Chu. The aim was not to conquer cities and territories, but to continuously bleed Chu dry, exacerbate military pressure and panic on its southern border, and tie down its already strained forces, making it difficult for Chu to attend to both ends.
This move is to continuously create external threats for the State of Chu, keeping it busy and unable to deal with its internal crisis.
The second letter was addressed to Xiao He, the Qin official in charge of the "Qin-Chu Economic Development Zone" on the border. Xiao He was meticulous, skilled in economics and civil administration, and possessed an extraordinary understanding of Ying Wuyou's intentions; he was carefully selected and placed in this crucial position. In this secret letter, Ying Wuyou's instructions were clear, specific, and interconnected:
I. Maintain sugarcane prices, limit purchases, and differentiate between social classes: Instead of adopting the past strategy of widespread and substantial price increases, maintain a relatively stable sugarcane purchase price that is still "profitable" for large-scale producers.
At the same time, they explicitly announced "selective acquisition" or "limited acquisition" to create a sense of scarcity and competition, implying that "it's not something you can sell just because you have money and sugarcane."
This move was designed to precisely target large estates and large farmers with close ties to the nobles and officials of Chu. These farmers often possessed stored grain or could obtain grain rations through noble channels. To maintain their comfortable lives and profits, they would use their power to continue or even expand sugarcane cultivation, crowding out valuable land and labor that could have been used for grain production. Ordinary farmers, under pressure to survive, were neither able nor willing to cultivate sugarcane; this policy had a relatively smaller impact on them, thus subtly creating a conflict of interest and potential contradictions between the upper and lower classes of Chu.
Second, tighten grain supply, create panic, and exacerbate conflicts: Under the pretext of "a large-scale inventory of the Guanzhong granaries is needed to prepare for war" and "the main canal leading to the economic zone needs to be repaired for several months due to summer floods", the sale of affordable grain to the Chu state in the economic zone was drastically reduced or even temporarily suspended.
At the same time, spies planted in Chu and pro-Qin Chu merchants in the economic zone were used to secretly spread panic-inducing messages: "The Chu court is corrupt and incompetent, and has completely offended Shu. The external grain supply channels have been completely cut off!" "Qin also needs to stockpile military rations. The cheap grain in the economic zone will soon be completely cut off. There will not be a single grain left!"
It was deliberately emphasized that in the past, this meager "favor" was only enjoyed by the people of Chu in the few counties near the economic zone, due to their geographical advantage. This plan aimed to intensify the conflicts between different regions of Chu, causing those inland people suffering from famine to feel intense jealousy, dissatisfaction, and resentment towards the border counties that could "get the moon first from the water tower," and towards the Chu court that was blocking information and unable to coordinate.
Third, guide public resentment, shape public opinion, and pinpoint the target: Fully utilize the information already gathered and Xiao He's operational abilities to widely disseminate this message among the people of Chu through various channels:
Even during years of famine, the top nobles of the Chu state continued to live extravagantly, filling their granaries with stale grain but refusing to sell it to the people at fair prices, and even taking the opportunity to hoard and speculate on it.
• It details how the Chu court broke its promises and mistreated the nobles of Shu, leading to the complete severing of external food aid.
• The key focus was on spreading the "insider information" that "the Chu government deliberately concealed the truth that there was still a small amount of Qin grain being sold in the border economic zone, just to ensure the supply for themselves and their trusted surrounding areas, leaving the vast inland people to fend for themselves."
The suffering, hunger, and anger of the people of Chu were precisely directed towards the corrupt and incompetent Chu aristocracy and the incompetent Chu court, rather than towards the Qin state.