The corners of Ke Fuji's mouth twitched violently twice. The Lord Wei in front of him was truly a "modest gentleman"!
"Master Wei, what you said is wrong. How can you compare the Imperial Preceptor to those playboys in the big families? The Imperial Preceptor is much more capable than those playboys."
"Let's not talk about anything else. Just the means of making money is unmatched by any other dandy family. Otherwise, His Majesty wouldn't rely so heavily on the Imperial Preceptor."
Wei Yong also agreed with this point. The playboys in big families all spent money, but Lu Chen accumulated a lot of wealth in a short period of time. The gap between the two was really too big.
Seeing Wei Yong nod slightly, Ke Fuji spoke again, "Let's not talk about anything else. Just look at this library he built. I believe the Imperial Master's original intention was to spread the knowledge of his school and to provide a good place for scholars to study. Just look at those simple tables of scholars in the hall on the first floor and you will know what kind of attraction this place has for them."
"But it would be even better if we could make a little money while doing good deeds, so the box on the second floor came into being."
"How did the Imperial Master put it? This is called maintaining a balance between income and expenditure. It can be considered a good deed done by those of us who are willing to spend money for the poor scholars of the world."
"I've discovered that the Imperial Master always has this ability. He can do something beautifully and at the same time make money. Even when you know he's making money, you can't even feel the slightest bit of resentment towards him."
Wei Yong took a sip of tea and said that there was no need to praise him anymore. The high-intensity output today was indeed too powerful.
"He does have the ability to make money. Just look at the commercial street he created. But it's just a side business after all, so there's no need to talk about it openly."
Wei Yong felt that since he was the Imperial Censor and Ke Fuji was the Minister of Rites, shouldn't they discuss some state affairs when they sat together?
It's really a disgrace to their status to always be obsessed with money.
Ke Fuji smiled nonchalantly and said, "If it were before, I would have thought it was unrefined to talk about money all the time. But ever since I met the Imperial Master, ever since I realized that our Great Qi court is short of money and needs it for everything, and that without it, nothing can be done, I realized that talking about money is truly necessary."
"That commercial street of his is no small avenue. As a Royal Censor, you probably don't know how much money this commercial street brings to the Imperial Master every day, and you don't know how much the wealthy people in the world flock to this place."
"Furthermore, this place is no longer simply a place for business. It also involves a lot of exchanges of interests. Of course, this is all legal and compliant, and the court's laws definitely have no influence on it."
"Even at the level of national diplomatic relations, the commercial street plays a very important role. As the Minister of Rites, I know that foreign envoys from the Honglu Temple have submitted many petitions, hoping that we can open up more places. Some nobles from their countries also want to visit our capital."
"I heard that the business between the Imperial Master and the Xixia people has been fully developed. The caravans are running rampant in Xixia land. In the past, even our spies could not enter the place, but now the caravans can swagger through it. I heard that the Xixia nobles are flocking to buy our products. This has invisibly raised our national strength by several levels."
Ke Fuji was the Minister of Rites. He did have channels to learn about these things, and what he said was convincing.
Wei Yong didn't expect that Lu Chen's seemingly playful plan would bring such immeasurable impact.
He suddenly remembered what Lu Chen had once talked about with him about "cultural influence" and "cultural invasion". When the entire upper ruling class becomes closer to Chinese culture, the lifeblood of this country will be in the hands of China.
Thinking of this, Wei Yong suddenly spoke up, "Letting foreign nations know that we are the Celestial Empire and that we have many good things will certainly elevate our country's standing in their hearts, but I'm afraid that the barbarians will be stubborn and unwilling to learn from their past, disrespecting the teachings of the sages and only thinking about plunder and killing."
"If they really think we have too many good things, will they march south to plunder us?"
Ke Fuji waved his hand and said, "This is a military matter. Lord Wei, don't worry about it. Besides, we can't stop promoting our own culture just because we're worried about the invasion of barbarians."
Wei Yong thought for a moment and said, "How is the wool-for-food plan proposed by Lu Chen going?"
Ke Fuji stroked his beard and smiled, "This matter is progressing steadily. The first batch of wool-for-food exchange has been completed. The Xixia leaders have been very cooperative with our requests. You didn't see their expressions when they actually received the food. Their faces were filled with disbelief, and they looked at us as if we were idiots. It was very unpleasant."
"Hahaha, if I hadn't seen the wool spun by the new machines, I would have thought that all the civil and military officials of our Great Qi were fools. How could anyone exchange precious grain for inedible wool?"
Ke Fuji took a sip from his teacup and said, "Yes, this shows how meticulous the Imperial Master's mind is. He is very strategic and thinks three steps ahead. Everything he does is interconnected, and not a single step is superfluous."
"I heard that the nobles in Western Xia have begun to expand their livestock breeding. This will inevitably encroach on Western Xia's limited arable land. Over time, the entire Western Xia's culture and food security will become dependent on our Great Qi. At that time, they will truly become our vassal states, and even the most loyal ones."
At this point, the two adults were speechless. What the Confucianists had been pursuing for so many years was actually achieved so easily by a little Taoist priest. Doesn't this make them, the Confucian scholars, seem useless?
"What is the attitude of the entire Xixia court towards our country? How many people have a favorable impression of it now?" Wei Yong said solemnly.
Ke Fuji's expression was filled with emotion as he spoke, "Based on the intelligence we currently have, the number of nobles who favor us now accounts for at least one-third of the total nobility, and fortunately, this number is rapidly increasing."
"Let me put it this way. The Imperial Master's caravan is much more useful than an army. Wherever the caravan passes, the great nobles of Western Xia will quickly become our supporters. Some time ago, someone in the Western Xia court proposed to invade our border, but the plan was rejected by some nobles!"
"I heard that the King of Xixia was very angry about this incident, but it was eventually dropped! Because of this incident, Your Majesty seemed to have eaten two extra bowls of rice that night."
Wei Yong nodded and said, "No wonder Your Majesty has been in such a good mood recently. It seems that the King of Xixia will be the one who will have a headache in the future."
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