A Millennium Aristocratic Family Starting from the Shang Dynasty

Chapter 148 Fan Li's Conspiracy
On the second day after the banquet, Marquis Qi had a private banquet with Fan Li, and Marquis Qi had a good impression of Fan Li.Fan Li is personable, handsome, coupled with rich language skills, Qi Hou is very happy.

"What does Fan Qing think of my Qi country?"

"The state of Qi is rich and prosperous, Linzi is packed shoulder to shoulder, the flow of people is like weaving, and the merchants are like a tide. There has never been such a prosperous country." Hearing Fan Li's praise, Qihou was very happy.

"Just." Fan Li hesitated for a moment.

"Just what?" Qi Hou asked very cooperatively.

Fan Li said directly: "It's just that I see that the public office under the prosperity is in danger of extinction."

Qi Hou was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said: "Fan Qing's alarmist words are overheard. Guqi has a land of thousands of miles, with a population of several million, with hundreds of thousands of armored troops. The national power is at its peak. How can there be a crisis of extinction?"

"Among all the nations, only Jin, Chuhuai and Guqi can be compared!"

"Now that the Huai State has sent envoys to make friends, the Jin State's six princes are fighting for power, and the Chu State is also busy with internal affairs, and tens of thousands of troops can be assembled just near Linzi. How does Fan Qing think that the Qi State is in danger of subjugation?"

"Isn't Fan Qing here to provoke the relationship between my Duke of Qi and the Qing family?"

Hearing Qihou's words, Fan Li was not embarrassed to be exposed because of false threats, but said softly: "Qihou, what you said is right, Qi has a land of thousands of miles, a hundred and twenty cities, and a hundred thousand armour. Great country. At present, no country can destroy Qi."

"But if Qi is strong, is the government also strong? Qihou thinks that Bang Zhou is stronger now than it was hundreds of years ago?"

"Is Bang Zhou's Zhou family still as powerful as it was a hundred years ago?"

"How powerful the Zhou family used to be. When the emperor was angry, the princes were trembling. What about now?"

"Foreign ministers remember that more than a hundred years ago, the emperor of Zhou fled, and even had to rely on the power of the princes to move eastward to become Zhou. Back then, when the state and Zhou were divided into the world, did they know that the Zhou family would decline to this point? Today's situation in Qi, How similar is it to Bang Zhou back then?"

Fan Li's words froze the upright Marquis Qi instantly.

But Qihou did not admit defeat, and continued: "The decline of the Zhou Dynasty is because the princes are getting stronger and stronger. How can Qi's officials compare with the princes?"

Although the Qi State now has thousands of miles of land, many of these lands are in the hands of the princes and officials.On the contrary, there is not much land that is really in the hands of the office.Although he didn't want to admit it, after several generations of turmoil in the office, the power of the Qi State office has weakened a lot.

"If Marquis Qi really thinks so, then he will be a foreign minister and say nothing." Fan Li said with a smile.

Just pretend you didn't say anything?You've already said it all, how can you pretend you didn't say it!

Qihou's face changed several times, and then he sat upright, bowed to Fan Li and asked, "What does Fan Qing know?"

Fan Li said: "At the banquet yesterday, the ministers heard that many people at the banquet praised Dr. Tian, ​​saying that he is unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness, and has the style of an ancient sage."

"The foreign minister was very curious, so he inquired about it, and found out some clues."

"Foreign ministers heard that Dr. Tian is in charge of tax collection, but he took this opportunity to show kindness to the public and the people of the country. He borrowed it with a big bucket, and when the people returned it, he used a small bucket."

"If Doctor Tian used his own family's grain, it would be righteous to borrow grain to collect grain, but he used the country's grain to harm the interests of the country and increase his own reputation. Is this reasonable?"

"This is stealing your reputation as Marquis of Qi. He is a scholar-bureaucrat who wants to steal the reputation of the monarch. What is he trying to do?"

"The foreign minister doesn't believe it, you don't understand what this is going to do!"

In just a few words, Qihou immediately understood. He had also heard that the big beggars released grain and the small buckets collected grain before, but he didn't say much because he wanted to benefit the public and the common people. .Now it seems that this is completely stealing his reputation.

Qihou's face was gloomy, obviously he had become suspicious of Tian.

"Fan Qing's words are so deafening that I feel like seeing the sun through the clouds. If there is no Qing's words, I am afraid that I will still be kept in the dark without knowing it!" Qi Hou bowed his hands to Fan Li again.

"Don't dare to be a gift from the Marquis of Qi." Fan Li said hastily.

Qi Hou asked respectfully: "Since Fan Qing has seen through Tian's conspiracy, is there any way to deal with it?"

Fan Li smiled and said: "The foreign ministers are only the envoys of the Huai Kingdom, and this is Qi's internal affairs. If the foreign ministers get involved, they may provoke the relationship between Qi's official family and the Qing clan. Please forgive me, Marquis of Qi!"

Qi Hou's face turned red, and he hurriedly said: "Fan Qing, don't be annoyed, just now I was lonely, and I will apologize to Qing, this time I need to ask Fan Qing to speak out."

Seeing how Qihou was like this, Fan Li accepted it as soon as he saw it, and immediately said: "Qihou, as a monarch, it is not difficult for you to deal with him."

"You directly issue an edict to transfer them away, and then check the warehouses. The warehouses are short of goods, so you only warn, but don't do anything. At the same time, you issue an edict that the people of the country borrow grain to survive the famine, and only need to sell the grain in the next year. Just fill it up, and no interest will be charged.”

"When the common people are in short supply, there are many people who borrow money to survive. Most of the nobles and nobles take advantage of this opportunity to borrow money from the common people to obtain high interest. You can lend seeds to the common people during this period, and wait for the autumn harvest. return."

"If you can do these two things well, how can the people not be grateful to Dade? With such prestige, when the time comes to punish Tian Qi, the people will definitely support you. At that time, you will directly deprive him of his identity and order other officials to general Its attack and kill can only be done with the flip of a palm!"

Qi Hou was very excited when he heard that, "Fan Qing is really a great talent, so I will do what you say!"

"Qihou, the strategy I mentioned requires attention to the person who implements it. If the person who executes it is greedy or perfunctory, this strategy will not bring benefits to the people, but will become a strategy for the people."

"How could this be?" Qi Hou was taken aback.

"What if someone forcibly borrows money from people who are not allowed to borrow money? Or someone borrows a large amount from the national treasury, and then lends food and goods to others to make a profit?" Fan Li said.

After hearing the explanation, Qi Hou understood, and immediately said seriously: "I understand!"

Fan Li stayed in Qi State for two months, and Qi State and Huai State made an oath again, agreeing that the two countries will have good relations and not attack each other.After that, Fan Li left Qi.

"Fan Xiang, do you think Marquis Qi can do what you say?" asked the deputy envoy next to him.

"You don't need to follow it completely, as long as you complete eight achievements, it's already pretty good. If Marquis Qi can really do it, then it's easy for the Tian family to control Qi Guochaotang!" Fan Li said.

"It's a pity that if you want to achieve this level, it is possible if you have Guan Zhong's great talent to help. This time, Qi State will definitely have a civil strife, but as long as Qihou wins, this threat will be removed."

(End of this chapter)