My brother Ying Zheng, who dares to kill me?.

Chapter 800: Boiling frog hunting! Wherever the king's sword points, my army will follow!
Why did the former State of Qi seek alliance with all the other countries but none of them agreed?

A very important reason is that King Min of Qi, Tian Di, once proclaimed himself the Eastern Emperor when Qi was the most powerful country in the world, and launched a war against the Zhou royal family. He even proclaimed himself the Son of Heaven, and ordered many princes to call themselves ministers of Qi, clearly showing his determination to replace Zhou!

The five kingdoms in the world were still unwilling to form an alliance with Qi even though they knew that Qin was growing rapidly. Some of them even attacked Qi at the same time as they attacked Qin. This was because the five kingdoms were afraid of Qi's revival and King Min of Qi's ambition to replace Zhou!

But now, will Dai and Yan still be unwilling to form a close alliance with Qi for this reason?
Although Qi State had shouted the slogan of unifying the world more than 50 years ago, Qi State no longer has the strength to unify the world. On the contrary, the progress of Qin State's unification of the world has far surpassed that of Qi State at that time!
The biggest obstacle to the alliance between Dai, Yan and Qi disappeared as Qin no longer concealed its intentions.

Once Dai, Yan and Qi form an alliance, the consequences will be unimaginable!
Ying Zheng could no longer say that Lu Buwei's words were alarmist.

With a heavy heart, Ying Zheng stood up and bowed, saying sincerely: "Please teach me, Marquis Wenxin!"

Lu Buwei sighed in his heart.

You want me to teach you?

I'm also so fucking confused!

He originally thought that most of Qi's ministers were in favor of peace.

However, the information given by Ying Chengjiao made Lu Buwei discover Lu Zha, the hidden advocate of war. So far, there were three senior officials in Qi who advocated war!
Apart from these three great doctors, Lu Buwei still didn't know how many pro-war factions were hiding among the crowd in Qi State!

Lu Buwei couldn't help but shook his head and said, "Five years! Just five years!"

"The strategy of our Great Qin to make friends with distant countries and attack nearby ones has completely failed. Looking around the world, we find that we are enemies everywhere!"

"My lord!"

Lu Buwei sighed, causing Ying Chengjiao's face to blush.

After sighing, Lu Buwei cupped his hands and said, "Let's not talk about the past, let's just talk about the present."

"The strategy of making friends with distant countries and attacking nearby ones can no longer be applied to our Great Qin's diplomatic relations."

"I advise you to bribe Qi Xiang Hou Sheng and other ministers who are in favor of peace with Qi."

"I don't ask for these Qi officials to be used by my Great Qin, I only ask for them to have enough money to buy people's hearts and develop and grow stronger."

Rather than bribing Qi's ministers, Lu Buwei's strategy was more about supporting Qi's anti-war forces.

After all, there are only a few people who are willing to betray their king for money, but there are countless people who are willing to use the money given by others to implement their own ideas!
Ying Zheng said without hesitation: "This is what it should be!"

Lü Buwei remonstrated: "Secondly, I advise the Grain Administration to purchase Qi's cloth at a high price and accept all offers!"

Wei Zhuang frowned slightly and asked, "Does Lord Wenxin want to implement Guanzi's strategy to weaken Lu?"

In the past, Guan Zhong disrupted the internal economy of Lu State by purchasing Lu's silk cloth at high prices, causing no one in Lu to farm and everyone to weave silk cloth.

A year later, Qi stopped purchasing silk cloth from Lu and significantly increased the export price of grain.

But at that time, most of the farmland in Lu had been abandoned, and the autumn grain was very scarce, so the country had to wait to buy grain from Qi to survive.

The State of Lu had no choice but to purchase grain from the State of Qi at a high price, and eventually signed an unequal treaty, causing the country's national strength to collapse overnight!
However, Lu Buwei shook his head and said, "Guan Zi's strategy to weaken Lu is best understood by the people of Qi and Lu."

"Even if the Qin Dynasty raises the price of cloth ten or a hundred times, the Qi government will never allow all the people to weave cloth. They will definitely leave enough manpower for farming."

"The strategy of weakening Lu in the past is not as effective as that of weakening Qi today!"

Using the strategy devised by the prime minister of Qi to deal with Qi?
Isn't this just showing off one's knowledge in front of an expert?
Wei Zhuang asked in confusion: "If that's the case, what does this strategy of Marquis Wenxin mean?"

Ying Chengjiao thought for a moment and said, "Does Marquis Wenxin intend to bribe the people and powerful people of Qi?"

Lu Buwei was obviously a little surprised: "Why does Lord Chang'an say that?"

Ying Chengjiao said as he pondered: "My Great Qin purchased Qi's cloth at a high price. It looks like a trade between Qin and Qi."

"But in reality, it is impossible for our Great Qin to go deep into the people of Qi to purchase cloth. We can only purchase it from Qi merchants. Although the people of Qi can benefit from it, it is only a small profit."

"The current King of Qi has very little control over Qi, and I'm afraid not much of the proceeds from this transaction will flow into the Qi treasury."

"The ones who stand to gain the most from this deal are the powerful people of Qi and the scholars and officials of Qi who secretly control the merchants of Qi!"

"At that time, the people of Qi, the powerful and the scholars, might be grateful for the generosity of our Great Qin, or they might sneer at our Great Qin's lack of wisdom."

"But no matter what their attitude towards our Great Qin is, they have been tied to the ship of interests by our Great Qin."

"As long as the wealth they earn through trade exceeds the wealth they can earn through war, no matter what they think of our Great Qin, they will unconsciously support peace between Qin and Qi, so as not to cut off the source of wealth!"

Giving money, treasures and women is just the simplest and lowest-level way of bribery.

The more common form of bribery is the long-lasting, highly concealed, and deceptive "boiling frog in warm water" style of "hunting".

A more solid buy-out is the community of interests that is formed seemingly inadvertently.

When a community of interests is formed, even if the bribed person despises the briber, he will still spontaneously protect the briber in order to safeguard his own interests!
In Ying Chengjiao's view, Lu Buwei's strategy was to use interests to tie the people and powerful people of Qi to the chariot of Qin!

Who would want to fight a war when you can make money while eating sashimi and singing songs?

Lü Buwei stroked his beard with satisfaction and smiled: "What Lord Chang'an said is exactly what I mean!"

"Changan Jun is indeed good at lobbying!"

Ying Chengjiao cupped his hands and sighed, "If it weren't for Marquis Wenxin's advice on this strategy, I would never have thought that this strategy could divide the central and local governments of Qi."

"This strategy will certainly cost our Great Qin a lot of money, but it will help our Great Qin gain a lot of support." "When our Great Qin takes control of Qi, these people will provide our Great Qin with many more conveniences."

"I think this strategy of Marquis Wenxin is very good!"

Lu Buwei shook his head and said, "This strategy is effective, but it is just a temporary solution."

Seeing Ying Chengjiao chatting directly with Lu Buwei, Han Cang finally couldn't help but stepped out and bowed, saying: "Marquis Wenxin's strategy can indeed hinder Qi's attack on our Great Qin."

"Of course, my Great Qin is exhausted!"

"Although Chang'an Jun has made a lot of money for my Great Qin by destroying other countries several times, my Great Qin has more places to spend money!"

"If this policy is implemented, it will inevitably cause delays in the internal affairs of the Qin Empire."

"I think that preventing Qi from attacking our Great Qin is important, but strengthening our Great Qin itself is even more important!"

Lü Buwei glanced at Han Cang and did not directly answer Han Cang's question. Instead, he turned to Ying Zheng and bowed again, saying, "Third, Qi should congratulate you with generous gifts for this fertile land blessing."

"I advise you to have the messenger from Qi tell King Jian of Qi that he should give a gift of one million dan of grain as a gift!"

Han Cang's eyes lit up and he immediately fell silent.

Yao Jia frowned and said, "Qi has been giving us millions of dan of grain in recent years."

"Even if Qi is prosperous, its grain reserves may be less than 40%. Taking out another million dan of grain will definitely affect the operation of Qi."

"And now that the King of Qi has openly expressed his willingness to die for his country, I don't think Qi will be willing to give us Great Qin so much food and fodder again!"

Even Yao Jia felt that Lu Buwei's strategy was a bit too much.

Qi, which was once the richest state in the world, has been almost plundered by Ying Chengjiao in recent years. Does he want to continue to plunder it?

Even if you want to fleece the sheep, you can't just catch it and fleece it to death!

Lü Buwei turned his gaze to Ying Chengjiao again and asked with a smile: "Chang'an Jun, can you put on your armor again and fight for my king?!"

If you say I want to fight for the Qin Dynasty, I just want to go fishing.

But what if you say you want to fight for Ying Zheng?

Then I have to roll up my sleeves!
Ying Chengjiao immediately stood up and said without hesitation: "Wherever your majesty's sword points, my troops will follow!"

Lü Buwei clapped his hands and laughed, "What a great Lord Chang'an!"

"In this case, would Lord Chang'an dare to lead 200,000 troops to march east to Tancheng?"

Ying Chengjiao smiled and said, "You don't need to ask me whether I dare or not."

"Just tell me when to go to war!"

I am so arrogant that I even dare to confront Wu'an Jun Li Mu!

As long as the enemy in this battle is not Li Mu, why would I be afraid!

Even if the enemy general in this battle is Li Mu, as long as I tie up Wang Jian and go to the battle together, I will not be afraid!
Lü Buwei said in a broken voice, "The King of Qi refused to give us a million dan of grain and fodder to celebrate the day when Great Qin was born."

"That's when Lord Chang'an leads his army to war!"

Ying Chengjiao nodded in understanding, then looked at Ying Zheng and said in a deep voice: "As soon as the king gives the order, I will set out immediately!"

Looking at Ying Chengjiao's unwavering gaze, and recalling the countless scars and wounds that had not yet healed all over his body, Ying Zheng's eyes were slightly sparkling, but his voice was extremely decisive: "Chang'an Jun's injuries have not healed, and he must not fight again!"

Wei Liao cried out in despair: "Marquis Wenxin, don't be impulsive!"

"My Great Qin no longer has the strength to fight!"

Wei Zhuang also bowed his hands repeatedly with a bitter look on his face: "Marquis Wenxin has been away from the court for a long time, I am afraid he does not know the difficulties of governing officials in our Great Qin."

"Even if we can win this battle, we will not be able to manage Qi, and it will cause chaos!"

Wei Liao and other Qin officials thought that with Lu Buwei's return to the court, they would have one more chain to hold Ying Chengjiao back.

As a result, Lu Buwei has not officially returned to the court yet, and he wants to let Ying Chengjiao go out for a walk again?
Daqin really can’t bear it anymore!
Lu Buwei smiled softly: "Everyone knows that the Qin State is incapable of governing Qi, and the King of Qi probably also knows that the Qin State is incapable of governing Qi."

"But, does Qi dare to gamble?"

"Now that Zhao has just perished and Dai has just been established, its main force has already headed north to attack the Xiongnu."

"Yan State has just suffered a great defeat. The Crown Prince of Yan committed suicide not long ago. The King of Yan even personally carried a thorny stick to offer sacrifices. Yan State is currently experiencing a period of unstable royal power and turmoil among the people."

"Dai and Yan will certainly form an alliance with Qi in the future, but they will definitely not send troops to help Qi at this moment!"

Lü Buwei raised his voice, his tone tinged with madness: "Does the King of Qi dare to bet that the Qin Empire will not risk attacking Qi?"

"Does the King of Qi dare to bet that Dai and Yan will come to Qi's aid?"

"Does the King of Qi dare to bet that the Lord of Chang'an of the Great Qin will strictly follow the King's orders?!"

(End of this chapter)