Dahan first prince

Chapter 157 Plagiarism?It's called mother-daughter connection!
Hearing that Liu Ying categorically gave the conclusion that "the food is the most important weapon of the country, it cannot be called Jia Ren's palm", even if he has dabbled in the affairs of the world, Lu Zhi couldn't help but change his face a little.

How important food is, in fact, Liu Ying does not need to go into details at all. There are nearly 2000 million Han people in the world today. If there is no brain hole, it is impossible not to understand the importance of food.

Regardless of the fact that today's Han Dynasty originated from the feudal farming civilization of the cold weapon era, how much it valued the strategic significance of food, a little light is enough to explain everything.

——As for any individual, he has to eat whole grains!
Whether it is a farmer who makes a living by farming the land, or a merchant who makes a fortune by trading;

No matter the soldiers and generals walking in the army, or the officials holding wat in the temple.

In the entire Han Dynasty, regardless of high or low, high or low, rich or poor, everyone has one thing in common in an absolute sense.

Everyone, you have to eat.

It can even be said that most of the behaviors of people from all walks of life, from all classes, and from all groups in the world are just for food.

——It goes without saying that farmers plant land, they must want to harvest crops for food;
——A businessman, although he does not farm the land, the money he earns is ultimately for better food;

——A soldier, from the righteousness of the family and the country, is to defend the country, but from a personal point of view, it is still for food.

As for officials, let alone.

——Nowadays, the salaries of officials, from Xiao He, the prime minister who eats thousands of stones, down to the small officials with hundreds of stones in local counties and townships, and even "no rank" whose salary is less than a hundred stones, are without exception paid food!

Putting aside those scenes of "for the country and the people" and "pointing out the country", it is no exaggeration to say: In this era, being an official is just to eat the emperor's food!

In addition, the most intuitive benefits brought by the noble status of the clan princes and noble relatives in the Kanto region are also the taxation of their respective fiefdoms.

After all, it is still food.

In a sense, it can even be said that in this era, the pursuit of most people can be classified as food in the end.

When people and officials have food, they can fill their stomachs;
The princes and kings have food, but those who are useless can drink and eat meat and eat wildly, and those who are a little bit good can build a fief well and leave a rich piece of land for future generations;

When the court has food, it can throw off its arms. Internally, it can develop water conservancy and infrastructure; externally, it can conquer dissidents from all sides.

Combining all the above, what Liu Ying said is indeed correct.

Grain, indeed, can be called a "heavy weapon of the country", and it really cannot be held in the hands of businessmen who are despised as "the last industry".

But after thinking about this point, there was not much joy in Lu Zhi's expression, on the contrary, there was a little melancholy in an instant.

"What Ying'er said is true."

"—The food is indeed the most important weapon of our Han family!"

After saying a word with a little seriousness, Lu Zhi looked sideways at Liu Ying helplessly.

"I know, my son, apart from food, what else can be called 'the important weapon of the country'?"

Asked softly, seeing Liu Ying lowered her head in thought, Lu Zhi just smiled wryly to herself.

"Salt, iron, copper, cloth!"

"Salt and cloth, like grain, are indispensable to all people in the world."

"As for copper and iron, they are important to the military and the country; copper is also a currency system, which is related to the livelihood of thousands of money in the world!"

After saying these words with a serious face, he smiled lovingly at Lu Zhi and looked at Liu Ying.

"Ying'er thinks, how do these four compare with rice?"

Hearing this question, Liu Ying only thought about it for a while, then nodded with a serious expression.

"Salt, cloth, and food are all related to people's food and clothing, and should be equally important!"

"As for copper and iron, although they are inedible to fill the stomach and cover the body with clothing, they are military affairs, and they are more important than salt, cloth, and grain!"

Hearing Liu Ying's answer, Lu Zhi just nodded his head, and asked again: "Listening to what my son said just now, I seem to be desperate for merchants' goods and grains, so Shaofu specializes in rice and grains."

"Since salt, cloth, copper and iron are all as heavy as grain, my son thinks that these four should be monopolized by the Shaofu?"

"And my son thought: In the past, Yin Shang, Ji Zhou, and even the countries of the Spring and Autumn Period, why didn't they ban merchants and goods because of the importance of grain, salt, cloth, copper, and iron?"

Hearing the old lady's repeated questions, Liu Ying also fell into a brief thought.

Grain, salt, cloth, copper, iron and other "heavy weapons of the country", in the words of later generations, are actually strategic resources.

Among them, iron can be regarded as a "new thing" that has only appeared in the past few decades; in the previous Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, the only metal with strategic significance was actually copper.

Whether it is the production of weapons and equipment such as swords, halberds, spears, spears, and arrow feathers, or the casting of coins, copper is inseparable.

As for salt and cloth, let alone, they are hard currencies comparable to gold at any time.

It is no exaggeration to say: Even if one day, copper coins and even gold are worthless, salt and cloth cannot be worthless!

As for food, its nature is similar to that of salt and cloth, but after all, it can be obtained relatively easily through farming. Compared with salt that needs to be marinated and cloth that needs to be woven, the scarcity is relatively not so high.

Thinking of this, Liu Ying made a few words and expressed her guess.

"Both copper and iron are taken from mountain mines, and they are natural things that cannot be controlled by man."

"Although salt and cloth can be made by humans, the process is very complicated, and it is more difficult to obtain than grain and rice."

"And these five, why have they never been franchised..."

"Maybe Yin, Shang, and Ji Zhou didn't think about this, and the countries of the Spring and Autumn Period were all narrow and weak, unable to do it?"

Seeing Liu Ying expressing her guess with a little uncertainty, Lu Zhi only smiled and nodded, then shook his head slightly.

"Of course, that's not the case."

"The countries of the Spring and Autumn Period who do not specialize in these five are indeed small and powerful, and there is nothing to think of it."

"However, Yin Shang and Ji Zhou didn't think of franchisees."

"As for the two of them, even if you are rich and own China, you can't afford to specialize in it..."

After saying these words with a little exclamation, Lu Zhi let out a long and leisurely sigh.

"In the evening, Guan Zhong relied on the profit of fishing and salt, Duke Zuohuan and nine princes, it can be regarded as the swan song of historians."

"Even though Guan Zhongzhi is a virtuous person, he only makes profits from fishing and salt, and then uses the profits to strengthen the country and enrich the people, and he dares not do 'special salt'."

"My son thought, why is this?"

"But Guan Zhong doesn't know, if all the salt in the world comes from Qi, can Qi be stronger than the union of all nations?"

"Or Duke Huan and the nine princes of Kuang, whose power is too powerful to overwhelm the nations, Xu Qiyan specializes in salt?"

Hearing this, Liu Ying finally shook her head blankly, and gave Lv Zhi a slight bow.

"My son is dull, and I still hope that my mother will explain my doubts..."

Seeing Liu Ying put on a posture of listening attentively, Lu Zhi finally took a deep breath, and gave his own answer to this topic that was slightly suspected of being an emperor.

"One of them: people."

"If in the past, Guan Zhong wanted to specialize in salt, and wanted Qi's salt to be used by the world, it would be feasible to make Qi's people fully masters of brine and salt."

"However, if this is the case, the people of Qi don't care about farming or military formation, but only know how to sell salt to other countries. What do the people of Qi eat for food?"

"Where are the elite warriors who protect the state of Qi?"

"There is no grain and rice for food, and elites fight each other. How can the nations of the world not be envious of the profit of special salt, and raise troops to plunder it?"

As he spoke, he saw Lu Zhi lovingly touching Liu Ying's head.

"It's the same for my Han family."

"If you want to specialize in salt, you should have hundreds of thousands of brine salt craftsmen, and the power of the Shaofu can be used by the world; but the Shaofu can't just know about brine salt, but not make weapons and arrow feathers?"

Speaking of this, Lu Zhi sighed again, and looked outside the hall.

"The other two: profit."

"As the saying goes, the prosperity of the world is all for profit; the world is full of hustle and bustle, all for profit."

"Whether it's salt, cloth, grain, rice, copper or iron, if you specialize in it, the benefits are huge and huge!"

"Such a huge profit, if it is monopolized by the court, can Aneng not be envied by others, eat for selfishness, or even destroy things?"

"Let's talk about the monopoly of grain and rice, but the price of grain has plummeted, and the people of Guanzhong should run around to celebrate, and the grain merchant Mi Jia has no choice but to swallow his anger."

"However, Hou Guixun, who contributed to the taxation of the state, can An Neng sit back and watch the price of rice plummet?"

As he said that, he saw Lu Zhi nod his head slightly sullenly: "Even today, the princes and nobles are aware of the general situation and take into account the overall situation, but there is also no lack of vegetarian meals for corpses, and they will sue the dandies among them!"

"My son specializes in grain and rice, this generation, I am afraid that I will gossip around your majesty day and night, saying that my son should not stand!"

As he was talking, Lu Zhi seemed to be thinking of something, or someone, and he gritted his teeth faintly.

After a while, when Liu Ying's face became a little embarrassed, she sighed Lu Zhi as if nothing had happened, and continued: "Furthermore, the greater the profit of the franchise, the greater the money and food needed at the beginning."

"Just to say this time, my son wants to get rid of the world's goods and grains, so I ordered the Shaofu to specialize in rice and grains."

"——If it works, the price of grain in Guanzhong will no longer be in a turmoil; the Shaofu can also rely on this to make a fortune and make the country rich and strong."

"However, my son knows: If you want to specialize in the grain in Guanzhong, how many granaries, how many officials are needed, how many soldiers guarding the granaries, and the censors who supervise?"

"Today's mansions and treasuries may be responsible for the money, food and labor for the construction of granaries. In the future, they may be responsible for the salaries and military rations of warehouse officials and soldiers?"

After asking several more questions, Lu Zhi finally shook his head with hesitation, and patted the back of Liu Ying's hand lightly.

"The matter here, Ying'er, is indeed a bit meng..."

"In the future, always remember: make a decision before moving; if you are not sure, don't move."

"If the plan is not decided and you make the first move, regardless of success or failure, you will eventually fail because of people's gossip."

"Ok?"

Seeing the looming anticipation in the old woman's eyes, Liu Ying only smiled and nodded, but did not answer in a hurry.

After talking for a long time, I saw Liu Ying with a confident smile, stood up and bowed to Lu Zhi slightly.

"My son's uncle Sun Taifu taught: the great affairs of the country, only the soldiers and sacrifices."

"Also, "Shangshu·Hong Fan" said: Hong Fan's Eight Policies, one is food, and the other is goods."

"Since that's the case, maybe you can try to say: The only important thing for the people is food and goods?"

Hearing Liu Ying's words, Lu Zhi nodded thoughtfully, and immediately sullenly feigned anger.

"I said that 'Guan Zhong' gave advice, and my son regards "Hong Fan" as the right?"

"Since that's the case, I'll hear about it: Uncle Sun Taifu, what did you teach my son?"

When Liu Ying heard the words, she smiled coquettishly, and put all her views and plans in front of her old lady Lu Zhi.

"The important thing for the people is only food and goods, and food is the people's goods and food, which is the foundation of the people."

"Today, the father obeys the order of the heavens. There are tens of millions of people in the world, and the people's livelihood should be the most important thing; and food is the people's foundation, so it should be the most important thing for our Han family."

"In this way, the goods and sales of grain, and the rise and fall of grain prices must never be in the hands of merchants!"

With a resolute expression on her face, she said again that "businessmen must not completely dominate the price of grain", and Liu Ying quietly changed the subject.

"Nowadays, the price of grain in Guanzhong is about to skyrocket. It is an extraordinary time for my son to ban merchants from hoarding grain. I have no choice but to do an extraordinary move."

"My son also has no intention to wipe out Mi Jia, the grain merchant in the world, and the grain and goods of the Shaofu alone are in the market."

"Only today, the Guandong has been plagued by wars for many years, and the imperial treasury is empty. Mi Jia, a grain merchant in Guanzhong, pays taxes when he does not do farming, and pays taxes when he does not enter the household."

"There are also treacherous merchants such as the Changling Tian family who keep hundreds of slaves, and don't let them go to the Shaofu."

Speaking of this, Liu Ying swallowed a little nervously, looked at Lu Zhi's gaze, and also a little dodged.

"My son thinks that for the current plan, we should temporarily use Shaofu to specialize in grain and rice."

"In the future, when the turmoil in the Kanto region subsides and the emperor lives in Chang'an for a long time, I will draw up a "Tax Law" and publish it."

"In addition, in the grain market, Shaofu also sells grain all year round; and the price of rice sold by the surplus grain merchant Mijia is comparable to that in Shaofu."

"In this way, grain merchants will not be able to drive up grain prices by hoarding goods for surprises; and the "Tax Law" will take the benefits of merchants and use them for state affairs, so that this generation can be used for the state..."

Hearing Liu Ying's slightly apprehensive words, Lu Zhi nodded subconsciously.

After realizing the content of Liu Ying's words, Lu Zhi suddenly turned his head and looked at Liu Ying with a strange color in his eyes!

"My son really thinks that Mi Jia, a grain merchant, should be taxed as a businessman?"

Seeing Lu Zhi's reaction, Liu Ying could only calm down and raised her head with a smile on her face.

"Not only Mi Jia, a grain merchant, but all merchants in the world should pay taxes to the treasury."

"If not, farming in the fields, paying agricultural taxes without enough food, getting Jiali from business, making a family rich but useless to the country, wouldn't the imperial father's edict that "Jiaren are not allowed to wear silk or travel in carriages" be unified? Empty talk?"

Seeing Liu Ying's sincere expression: not only grain merchants, but all merchants should pay taxes, Lu Zhi's face finally showed a touch of sincere joy.

"What my son said is very important for governing the country!"

Unabashedly uttering a compliment, Lu Zhi waved his sleeves and got up from the soft couch.

"I, on behalf of His Majesty, agree to the grain and rice franchise!"

"My son can make great achievements, and even if there are obstacles, he can rely on his mother!"

Hearing this, Liu Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, and bowed her hands to her mother with a smile.

"Son, Empress Xie..."

(End of this chapter)