Master Kong Zhongni

Chapter 87
Waking up from sleep again, Zai Yu rolled up the quilt on his body, enjoying the sunshine from the window.

It has to be said that the living conditions in the Jin Guoguan post are much better than his old poor in Qufu.

The quilts are brand new, and the food at the posthouse is also very delicious, so there is no need to wake up early just to occupy a seat at the school.

Jai Yu closed his eyes, self-reflected with happiness on his face, "I'm really lazy..."

Yesterday's dream is still very fulfilling.

After discussing the various strategies recorded in "Guanzi" with Zigong last night, he suddenly became interested in the man who stood behind Duke Huan of Qi, the ruler of the Spring and Autumn Period.

Therefore, last night, he made a special effort to research Guan Zhong's life story.

It's okay if you don't look at it, Zaiyu looked at it and immediately found out that Guan Zhong was good.

Later generations have very different opinions on Guan Zhong.

Some people think that he is a representative of the Legalists, some people think that he is the pioneer of ancient Chinese political economy, and some people think that Guan Zhong has the thought of loving the people.

But Jae Yu didn't care about these comments.

Because in his Zaizi's view, Guan Zhong is also a character with a flexible moral bottom line.

To put it bluntly, Guan Zhong only looks at the effect when doing things.

Regardless of whether it is the upper three roads or the lower nine streams, as long as it can make Qi rich and powerful, then no matter what means, Guan Zhong will use it.

For example, the Master appreciates two things about Guan Zhong the most.

One is to help small countries such as Xingguo and Weiguo to resist the invasion of barbarians and Didi, so that their communities can continue, so that the Xia in the Central Plains will not be invaded by the left coat, and they can continue to understand civilization and manners decently.

The other is to stop unjust wars between countries and maintain the stability of the world order.As long as there are those who do not pay tribute to the emperor of Zhou on time, Guan Zhong will attack them until those countries that do not accept the education bow their heads and admit their mistakes.

Before he had studied Guan Zhong carefully, Zai Yu really thought that Guan Zhong did this out of the consideration of promoting kingly education.

But after studying "Guanzi" carefully, he quickly discovered his blind spots.

Guan Zhong tried his best to help Qi Huan dominate the hegemony and presided over the alliance of princes many times. In fact, it was not an act of slapping his face to make a fat man, but a practical interest consideration.

After Duke Huan of Qi took over the hegemony, the national treasury soon became urgent due to successive years of wars.

So Huan Gong hinted to Guan Zhong: I want to go to worship the emperor, but I don't have the travel expenses, can you help me solve it?
Duke Huan's question was so serious, Guan Zhong's answer was also stern.

He said: Please order the princes to build a city in the shade, so that craftsmen from all countries will gather here.Afterwards, you order them to carve the stone walls.One foot is priced at [-] renminbi, eight inches for [-] yuan, seven inches for [-] yuan, stone jade for [-] yuan, and stone yuan for [-] yuan.

After the stone wall was carved, Guan Zhong ran to the emperor of Zhou and said: "Qihou wants to lead the princes to pay homage to the ancestral temple of the ancestors of the ancestors and watch the rituals in the Zhou court."Please issue an order that all the princes of the world who come to worship must present stone walls as gifts, and those who do not bring stone walls are not allowed to enter the court.

At this time, the Emperor Zhou was no longer as powerful as before, and many countries did not take the Zhou royal family seriously.

At this time, the emperor heard that Duke Huan of Qi actually wanted to bring people to worship, and was even willing to offer gifts. Naturally, he was full of joy, and immediately agreed to Guan Zhong's request.

After Zhou Tianzi issued the order, the princes of the world could only bring carloads of gold, pearls and jade, grain, colored silk, cloth and other items to Qi State in exchange for stone walls.

Of course, the world is so big that it is impossible for all countries to pay for stone walls.

For those countries that did not come to buy the stone wall, Duke Huan of Qi was naturally furious. He first accused these countries from the moral point of view of "refusing to obey the kingly way, and simply not paying attention to the emperor, what is the difference between them and Yidi".

After that, the banner of "respecting the king and fighting the barbarians" was raised, calling on the princes of the world to physically impose iron fist sanctions on these countries from Zhou Li.

Urge them to bow their heads to the emperor of Zhou to admit their mistakes obediently, and pay the designated tribute 'Shibi' of the Zhou royal family on time.

In this way, the Qi State relied on the money it earned from selling the stone walls, and did not collect taxes in the country for eight years.

When Jae Yu read this passage in the library, he couldn't help sighing.

Cao Cao's coercion of the emperor to make the princes, it turned out that it was all left over from Guanzi's play!
but……

Since Guan Zhong is able to hold the emperor of Zhou as a banner, can I do the same?

With Zhou Tianzi, Guan Zhong can lead the army to block the door of the princes of the world, shouting: "Open the door, free trade!"

Then I can also use the name of the Son of Heaven to lead a group of Confucian scholars armed to the teeth to smash the anti-theft doors of various countries, and give them a sentence: "Open the door, benevolence, righteousness and morality!"

There is nothing to criticize about this move, either legally or logically.

Guan Zhong used this method to benefit the state of Qi, and the master still praised him as a great benevolent man.

I use this method to promote benevolence, righteousness and morality, but the master should not be stuck on my side like a nail?
Absolutely!

That's it, I have to walk on two legs in the future!
One leg is used to support the progressive Qing doctor family like the Zhao family, and the other leg is used to kick the ass of the stubborn Qing doctor family like the Fan family and the Zhongxing family!

It's not that I, Zaizi, don't give you a chance. If you give you a chance, you have to seize it!

Zaiyu was thinking about the grand ideal of building a country of gentlemen, when suddenly, the door of his room was pulled open.

Zi Gong, with two dark circles under his eyes, rushed in, plopped and knelt on Jai Yu's quilt, almost crushing him to death.

"Son! I've realized it!"

Zaiyu's stomach was hurting from Zigong's knee, and he sucked in his breath.

"What did you realize?"

Zigong took out the "Guanzi" that he was about to rummage through, and pointed to the paragraph above with excitement.

"My thinking about doing business in the past is still too backward! I used to only know how to buy low and sell high, but I forgot what is the most important commodity. Guan Zhong is really a genius!"

"So, what did you realize?"

Zigong excitedly pointed to the passages in "Guanzi", talking about his own understanding.

"Look, Guan Zhong has repeatedly launched trade wars against other countries, and the commodities he uses are food!
Why use food?This is because it is not fatal for people to buy less clothes and burn less firewood, but it is absolutely impossible to not eat food.

Therefore, if you want to use business to defeat other countries like Guan Zhong, you must first ensure that your country can be self-sufficient in food production.

In addition, in the process of Duke Huan of Qi's dominance of the world, the role played by Qi's salt industry is also very important.

If a person does not eat salt for a long time, he will be weak, and he will not be able to raise his strength whether it is farming or fighting.

All people in the world must eat salt, but there are not many places in the world that produce salt.

Sea salt is produced by the seaside of Qi State, and lake salt is produced by Xiechi in Jin State.

All countries in the world must import salt from these two places.

However, the production cost of sea salt is lower than that of lake salt, and the quality is better than that of lake salt.

Therefore, in terms of trade, Qiyan has an advantage over Jinyan.

So Guan Zhong took advantage of this to prohibit the private drying of sea salt, and also took the opportunity to control the production of sea salt, thereby increasing the price of salt.

Countries with good relations with Qi can normally get a sufficient supply of salt.

Countries with bad relations with Qi will reduce their salt supply.

In this way, Guan Zhong controlled the surrounding countries without a single soldier, forcing them to obey the orders of Qi.

Do you think I'm right? "

After hearing Zigong's words, Zaiyu was taken aback for a moment, and then suddenly smiled.

"Zigong! You have given me a new way of thinking."

"What idea?"

Zigong looked bewildered, he still didn't know what kind of changes his words would bring to the future world situation.

Other countries have to eat grain and salt, so they have to bow to Qi.

The noble families like the Six Ministers of the Jin State have tried their best to stabilize their status, so they sometimes have to bow their heads to the people and use some concessions in exchange for the support of the people, and then use these populations to expand their military power and protect themselves.

After all, their purpose is to expand the military.

That being the case, after I gather a certain amount of strength, can I use some advanced weapons to make them bow to benevolence and morality?
When they refused to accept Qi, Guan Zhong imposed a salt embargo on them.

If you don't accept benevolence, righteousness and morality, then I will impose an arms embargo on you!

Perhaps it is also possible to refer to the thoughts of Mohism and set up a stronghold in Lu State to gather those poor people.

When farming is busy, I take them to plow the land together.

During the slack season, they were taught to read and write.

If you encounter a country that does not obey the etiquette and music, lead these people out of the Lu country and give them an iron fist trial from the New Zhou Ritual!
Zai Yu stroked his hair, looked at the morning sun outside the window, couldn't help grinning.

"Hahaha!!!"

He's laughing, he's laughing wildly!

Zigong was quite frightened by him, and quickly stretched out his hand and shook it in front of Jaiyu: "My son, what's wrong with you? Have you gone mad again?"

Zai Yu slapped his hand away: "You just went crazy! I just laughed with joy."

Zigong heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the words: "It's good that you are not insane. Tonight, the Marquis of Jin will hold a banquet in honor of our envoys from Lu Kingdom. Recklessly."

"All six ministers will come?" Zai Yu rolled his eyes: "Then I have to observe these important people carefully."

　An author can pretend to have everything, but he cannot pretend to have recommendation tickets and monthly tickets.

　　——Excerpt from "Zaiyu's Diary"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)