Chapter 551: Qi Wan and Lu Gao [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
"Owe...owe a country?"
The young lady from the Zhao family almost thought she was hallucinating.
The young scholar casually replied, "Yes."
He then turned to Qi Shan for confirmation, asking, "Is it true or not?"
Qi Shan: "..."
The young lady of the Zhao family was unaware of Qi Shan's background and could not connect it to national or family feuds. The young man, however, knew a little bit about it—he had heard that Mr. Jiang Sheng and Mr. Xun Zhen had an old feud with Qi Shan, and the three of them usually didn't even bother to glance at each other, disliking one another.
She boldly guessed that this young scholar, who claimed to be a distant relative of Mr. Qi Shan, was of the same nature as Mr. Jiang Sheng and Mr. Qi Shan.
"Could it be that the registrar destroyed your homeland?" The young man didn't know how to address the young scholar, and he couldn't tell whether he was friend or foe.
Young scholar: "Yes and no."
His calm demeanor emboldened the boy to press further: "Is it 'yes' or 'no'? So it's 'yes' or 'no'?"
What kind of answer is that?
The young scholar countered with a question to the boy: "Young man, have you heard of the three strategies: 'Qi silk and Lu finery,' 'Buying a deer to subdue Chu,' and 'Buying a fox to subdue Dai'?"
A blush of embarrassment rose on the boy's cheeks.
He shook his head: "This humble one is of limited knowledge and has never heard of it."
The young scholar did not deliberately make things difficult for her.
"According to the records of the Thief Star's Words, all three of these were written by one person named Guan Zhong, who truly achieved 'subduing the enemy without fighting.' Take 'Qi silk and Lu silk' as an example. It is said that there were once two neighboring countries, one called Qi and the other Lu. Both countries were skilled in weaving. Qi's products were called Qi silk, and Lu's products were called Lu silk. Guan Zhong advised the emperor to order that everyone in Qi, from the top down, should wear Lu silk, and the common people complied. Merchants in Lu saw that there was profit to be made and bought Lu silk to sell in Qi."
The boy seemed to be deep in thought upon hearing this.
Lady Zhao frowned upon hearing this and asked, "This man is quite strange. Since he is from Qi, why does he admire Lu silk? Won't his family's Qi silk business go bankrupt? The money is just flowing into Lu's hands. Aren't they afraid of enriching Lu's army?"
Why harm our own textile industry?
The young man said, "Whether or not to accept Lu silk is just a matter of issuing an order. If he can get everyone from high-ranking officials to commoners to wear Lu silk and abandon Qi silk, he can naturally issue another order to wear Qi silk and abandon Lu silk. Since it's a scheme, why would he give away benefits for nothing?"
The young lady of the Zhao family realized what was happening.
That's true.
The young scholar then revealed the second half of his plan.
"Thus, the State of Lu had abundant wealth without levying taxes on its people. Upon hearing this, the ruler ordered the common people under his rule to weave Lu silk. The plan proved effective, but Guan Zhong again advised the court to order the wearing of Qi silk, ban Lu silk, and cease trade with Lu. The common people of Lu suffered from hunger and thirst, unable to provide for their own needs. With their means of survival cut off, they could not even feed themselves, let alone pay taxes to the royal court..."
Zhao's young lady gasped upon hearing this.
"Is this an attack on a nation's grain supply?" On the surface, Qi seems to be the one who's being taken advantage of, but unexpectedly, the one who's being wronged is Lu itself...
"Why doesn't the ruler of Lu order all the common people in the state to grow grain? Even if they miss the planting season, as long as they grow grain, they will no longer be controlled by Qi, right?" The boy realized something as soon as he finished asking, "People can go three days without food, but grain cannot be harvested in three months..."
Grain takes time to mature.
This period of time was enough for the State of Lu to be slaughtered by the State of Qi.
"Sir, are the remaining two strategies—buying a deer to subdue Chu and buying a fox to subdue Dai—the same?" The boy was extremely curious about this "Guan Zhong." However, a glance at the story revealed that this kind of treacherous rhetoric was only of interest to scholars and literati.
The young scholar nodded: "Buying deer to subdue Chu means that men and women in Chu will abandon farming and go into the mountains to hunt deer; buying foxes to subdue Dai means that the common people of Dai will be busy making fox fur, weakening the country and allowing Lizhi in the north to take advantage of the situation, forcing Dai to surrender to Qi."
The boy understood something after listening.
"Did the Registrar Qi employ Guan Zhong's strategies for your homeland?"
The young scholar's face darkened slightly as he said, "He did make the suggestion, but it was seen through long ago. The royal court then turned the tables, trying to make the country Qi Yuanliang served bleed heavily. Who knew this fellow would pull off such a elaborate scheme? He used this to create momentum, spearheading the promotion, and merchants from neighboring countries, seeing the potential for profit, flocked to the country, imitating Qi Yuanliang's actions, signing contracts with their own merchants to advance the next year's flowers. If they couldn't deliver, they would have to pay ten times the amount, and the following year, the upstream floods would be released..."
Upstream small countries release floodwaters, causing problems for downstream small countries...
This is considered basic.
There are policies from above, and countermeasures from below.
The downstream small country naturally guarded against the upstream sixth country playing this trick. Apart from farmland that could not be moved, the common people within its territory lived in high places, and even the buildings were stilt houses. This was to minimize the damage caused by the flood, and some even benefited from it - the flood discharge brought silt deposits from upstream, so the farmland did not need to be specially fertilized, resulting in bumper harvests for several years in a row.
The young scholar's homeland was highly dependent on imported grain, and local granaries had at least two years' worth of reserves. Upstream flood discharge wouldn't put them in the same passive position as the states of Lu, Chu, and Dai. They didn't even care whether the sixth state upstream discharged floodwaters or not.
result--
The flood's target wasn't grain, but flowers! It killed all the flowers ordered for the following year, leaving them undeliverable and bankrupting countless merchants. These merchants were often backed by powerful families and nobles, and some were even members of the royal family in disguise. Seeing this, neighboring countries, naturally resentful of the losses, seized the opportunity to attack and kick him while he was down. Thus, his homeland was destroyed.
juvenile:"……"
Zhao's young lady: "..."
The young man, having sorted things out, stammered, "Then, then, this can be considered a normal exchange, so why do you say that Registrar Qi owes you..."
The young scholar's expression clearly said, "I don't want to talk about it."
What else could it be?
Because he impulsively saved Qi Yuanliang.
This guy pretended to be gentle, harmless, and treated him like a close friend, even planning to introduce him to his friends. But then this guy turned around and ruined him, turning him from a wealthy man into abject poverty overnight.
juvenile:"……"
Zhao's young lady: "..."
This enmity is indeed very deep.
But they didn't understand—
When the two met, apart from the initial hostage situation where they were a bit angry, they got along fairly well the rest of the time.
They're more like friends than enemies.
Little did they know, there was another layer of truth to this matter.
That tiny country, though seemingly adorned with flowers, is far from clean. Its royal family is a den of iniquity, the dirtiest place on earth! Nobles and ministers indulge in debauchery, leaving their offspring everywhere. This young man is the product of a single night of pleasure, and his mother already has a husband. His birth mother and adoptive father see him as a thorn in their side, but they have no choice but to spare his life because of his birth father's status.
He suffered cold treatment from childhood.
And the biological father?
Ha! In his desperate attempt to protect himself, he begged neighboring countries for mercy, yet as their ruler, he agreed to a series of absurd conditions, one of which was to reduce the area of arable land in his own country and buy grain from neighboring countries at exorbitant prices. Commoners could only buy grain to fill their stomachs, and those who couldn't afford it starved to death. Countless people suffered from hunger, and cries of despair filled the land... Beneath the glittering facade lay a rotten, foul-smelling shell.
The young scholar had the heart to save the country but no way to do so. He repeatedly advised his father, but was rebuked and beaten in court.
Even as he was dragged away, he didn't forget to loudly question others.
[Does Your Majesty know how many people have starved to death over the years? All these measures are tantamount to adding fuel to the fire, Your Majesty—]
The other party's indifference chilled him to the bone.
[We are but commoners, insignificant as ants.]
Neighboring countries have risen and fallen several times, but this tiny nation has stood strong for decades, indirectly proving that the policies adopted by the royal family were correct. And this mere scholar dares to point fingers at us, shouting about speaking up for the people!
Overestimating your abilities!
Therefore, when the young scholar was demoted and, by chance, saved Qi Yuanliang, he saw through the other party's scheme and did not stop him. A crazy idea even sprouted in his mind—if the country is about to cease to exist, it's better to destroy it; without destruction, there can be no construction; destruction precedes construction!
only--
The country was destroyed, but what about the prosperous and peaceful era promised by Qi Yuanliang? This scoundrel killed his lord and then just packed his bags and ran away!
ㄟ(≧◇≦)ㄏ
Tomorrow is my anomaly scan, and I'll be exactly 30 weeks along. I guess I'll be full term in another 7 or 8 weeks?
Finally, I'm free to unload and be liberated! Waaaaah!
PS: To this day, food remains the lifeblood of a nation, and Guo Jia has done an exceptionally good job in this regard. ┭┮﹏┭┮
P.S.: I was bored these past few days and read some selections of Guan Zhong's works. I only realized how amazing Guan Zhong was!
PPPS: I'm practically bald from all the effort to arrange Qi Busan's various feuds... Tang Mei will appear in the next chapter, and to make the characters more grounded, there will be a few bizarre cases involving ordinary people _(:з」∠)_ The inspiration came from chatting with my mom a few days ago. In short, feudal superstition is unacceptable. But in the ancient environment, it's truly a killer.
(End of this chapter)
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