How to Cultivate a Ten-Thousand-Mile Empire for the Young Emperor Qin?

Chapter 118: October Sugar Osmanthus

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Zhu Xiang was once again shocked by the freedom of Lin Zhi, the direct descendant of Laozi and Zhuangzi.

This is probably the highest realm of Taoists mentioned in Zhuangzi's "Xiaoyaoyou".

Lin Zhi can already be regarded as a Taoist sage.

After chatting with Lin Zhi about the new land tax for a while, Zhu Xiang felt much better.

He prepared some vegetarian cold dishes and took them to reconcile with Xunzi who was working overtime.

Xunzi snorted coldly and accepted the food sent by Zhu Xiang, but still did not speak to Zhu Xiang.

Zhu Xiang heard that the dark circles under his eyes had faded a lot the next day after Xunzi accepted the food he sent, and he breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Xunzi wasn't angry, it would be fine.

Lin Zhi was in charge of the land tax, and Xunzi was in charge of the ritual system. Although Zhu Xiang had been busy with these two matters for a while, he was no longer in charge of them.

He finally focused all his energy on thinking about the trade war.

When the osmanthus flowers were fragrant, Zhu Xiang picked them, made half of them into osmanthus perfume and gave them to Xue Ji, and made the other half into candied osmanthus to be used as the ingredient for future desserts.

He finally finished writing the proposal to be submitted to the King of Qin.

The plan that Zhu Xiang had been thinking about for a long time ended up being very simple. He asked Lu Buwei to contact his wealthy merchant connections and power to do cotton and linen textile business and purchase cotton and linen raw materials from other countries.

At the same time, Qin sold grain to Chu.

Qin could not sell much grain to Chu, but as long as it could reduce one percent of the grain in the Chu market, the trade war would be won.

Anyone who has studied economics knows that if one percent of food is reduced from the market, the price of food will not rise by one percent. Instead, it will rise until one percent of the people are starved to death.

At this time, the Qin army on the south bank of the Yangtze River could easily obtain a large number of people by spreading the news that they were helping the Chu people to cross the river illegally.

The current dilemma of Southern Qin is that it lacks people to develop the land. With the high-quality rice and wheat seeds provided by Zhu Xiang for rotation, plus grains such as pumpkin and potato, and traditional millet and beans, as long as the land in Southern Qin is developed, it can provide a large amount of grain to Qin, and also sell a large amount of grain to Chu.

Zhu Xiang would place Qin's textile factories in Southern Qin, purchase textile raw materials from Southern Qin from Chu, and sell grain to Chu.

After the cotton and linen cloth was woven, the cloth became currency and could be used to continue purchasing things from the State of Chu.

Zhu Xiang would buy all the specialties of Chu except grain, and then sell them to the six countries to buy grain.

In this way, the Chu people would shift their energy to other industries in order to make money. The Qin State would purchase food from the six states on their behalf to fill the food gap.

The feudal lords of Chu were powerful, and the king's orders could not be directly passed down to the grassroots. Even if someone in the court saw the drawbacks, it would be difficult for the king of Chu to reverse what was happening on the land and force the people to grow grain.

"Even if some sober nobles discovered this, they would be powerless to prevent everyone from being blinded by interests. Moreover, for most nobles, as long as they have enough food, it is very cost-effective to starve some common people and slaves to death in exchange for more money." Zhu Xiang said, "Besides, our cotton cloth is a novelty, they will definitely like it very much."

Qin Wangzhu looked at the document presented by Zhu Xiang and said, "Are you still planning to let them 'steal' the cotton seeds? Why not just sell them directly?"

Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "If we take the initiative to sell the new and exotic cotton seeds, they will probably think that the Qin people are cheating. They will think that the cotton seeds they steal back are foolproof and can be planted."

Qin Wangzhu laughed: "Then we have to let Li Mu accompany the Chu people to put on a good show."

Zhu Xiang said: "We can just let the Qin soldiers or the servants of the rich merchants perform. Why does Li Mu need to do it himself?"

Qin Wangzhu said: "When the price of cotton cloth goes up, they will definitely change the land they grow grain to grow cotton. Alas, merchants are profit-driven, so Qin should prohibit merchants more strictly."

Zhu Xiang was speechless. This cut was too strong.

"Business can increase national taxes and adjust the imbalance of domestic resources. Some places are not suitable for farming. If people don't do business, they will starve to death and the country will not be able to collect taxes." Zhu Xiang said, "For example, the southern hills are not suitable for farming, but they are suitable for overseas trade. There is little rain in the west, and rash reclamation will cause the desert to expand. People can only graze and do business. Many small countries in the Western Regions rely on business to exist."

Qin Wangzhu said: "Are there any countries that rely on commerce to survive? If we cut off their food supply, won't they surrender?"

Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "That's true. But generally these small countries are isolated from the big countries. It's not worthwhile to forcibly seize their land. It's better to let them manage that piece of land and provide assistance for the trade routes between the big countries. Small countries also have their own ways to survive."

Qin Wangzhu thought of some small countries that still exist today, and said with emotion: "There are many wisdoms in small countries that I need to learn. Zhu Xiang, do you disagree with Qin's complete ban on business?"

Zhu Xiang said: "Agriculture is the foundation of a country, and food is the primary need of the people. Ensuring agricultural planting is the top priority. But standardized business is also a way to ensure agricultural production."

Zhu Xiang sorted out his thoughts and continued, "For example, the soil and water in one place is more suitable for growing cotton and linen, while the soil and water in another place is more suitable for growing grain. If they are in the same country, they can be grown separately and connected through commerce. This can also avoid local separatism."

Zhu Xiang originally wanted to talk about the benefits of business in invigorating the national economy, but it was difficult to explain it clearly to the King of Qin who didn't know much about economics, so Zhu Xiang picked out the point that the King of Qin was most interested in.

Business can solve some of the problems.

The reason why separatism is easy nowadays is that the self-sufficient small peasant economy can form a closed economic circle. If we connect the businesses in different places, reduce the closed nature of the small peasant economy, and connect farming, textiles, small handicrafts and business, exchanges between different places will be strengthened. Not only will it be possible to find the simple way to prevent separatism that Zhu Xiang mentioned, but it will also promote cultural and human exchanges that were originally from all over the country.

For the monarchs of feudal dynasties, they would rather tie the peasants to the ground and let them be busy with farming so that they would not have the mind to rebel.

However, the carrying capacity of the land is limited, and there will always be a large number of idle laborers. Industry and commerce can bring these idle laborers together.

"A strong country should give equal importance to agriculture and industry and commerce. According to different stages, the proportion of industry and commerce should be adjusted on the premise of ensuring agricultural production." Zhu Xiang said embarrassedly, "I can't say how to adjust it specifically. I only know a general idea."

He is just a professor of agronomy. Although he can talk a few words about economics, it is only at the level of bragging to his friends. He would not be able to do it if he were asked to govern the country.

Qin Wangzhu was listening with great interest. After Zhu Xiang smiled awkwardly, he couldn't help but hold his forehead and said, "What's the difference between what you said about giving equal importance to agriculture and commerce and not saying it? What I want to hear is the specific measures!"

Zhu Xiang said, "But I really don't know. There are so many capable people in the court, they must be able to come up with it. But that was after Qin unified the world. Before unification, farming and warfare must have been the main focus, otherwise there would not be enough troops. Giving equal importance to industry and commerce must have been something that would be considered only after the world stopped fighting, the people had a rest and recuperation, and the granaries were full."

Qin Wangzhu asked: "But before that, we can't just ban business, right?"

Zhu Xiang nodded: "Leave a gap so that it will be easier to open later. Besides, Zheng'er is waiting to go out to sea and earn money from other countries after he manages this land well."

Qin Wangzhu was helpless: "What did you instill in Zheng'er? Why is he, a young master Qin, always thinking about money?"

Zhu Xiang was surprised: "Your Majesty, don't you feel short of money now? As a monarch, you need money to do everything. The more you want to achieve great achievements, the more money you need."

Qin Wangzhu: “…” After hearing what Zhu Xiang said, it seemed to be true.

He was persuaded by Zhu Xiang and no longer stopped Zhu Xiang from instilling the idea of making a lot of money into Ying Xiaozheng.

However, Qin Wangzhu still needs to consider whether to impose strict restrictions on business.

Zhu Xiang whispered, "Your Majesty, even if you forbid it, there will be many people doing business. They will just change from paying taxes to Qin to smuggling and not paying taxes to Qin. Human nature is evil, and even harsh punishments cannot stop them from pursuing profits."

Qin Wangzhu looked strange: "From what you said, it seems like you are Xunzi's disciple. Have you made Xunzi unhappy recently?"

How did even the King of Qin know about this? Zhu Xiang immediately replied, "My thoughts are not completely consistent with Confucianism. I have combined the strengths of various schools of thought. Xunzi disagreed with me during the debate, so we argued for a while. When Xunzi realized that he could not change me, he calmed down."

Qin Wangzhu was speechless. Are you sure you want to calm down, not get angrier

But he also knew that Zhu Xiang was not a pure Confucian, but his teacher happened to be Xunzi. So it was normal that Zhu Xiang and Xunzi had different ideas.

King Qin Zhu did not ask what the differences were between Zhu Xiang and Xunzi's thoughts, because he already knew enough differences.

Seeing that Zhu Xiang looked indifferent, King Qin Zhu knew that this quarrel was not a big deal and stopped caring about it.

He summoned Lu Buwei and made him Zhu Xiang's subordinate, directly following Zhu Xiang's orders to prepare for this trade war.

In order to paralyze the State of Chu even more, King Zhu of Qin would stage a drama with Lu Buwei in the court, allowing Lu Buwei to be "slandered and dismissed from office" by officials who criticized the power of Crown Prince Zichu, so that Lu Buwei could return to his old business as a wealthy merchant.

Lu Buwei was very excited.

Did he finally have the chance to spend every day with Duke Zhu Xiang

What does dismissal mean? It is a necessary cost. As long as he stays with Duke Zhu Xiang, he will have plenty of opportunities to make back his money with interest!

"You have nothing to do in Xianyang, so take Zheng'er with you to the south. Zheng'er will learn more in the south than if he stayed in Xianyang." Qin Wangzhu said, "Take Xue Ji with you as well. She is indispensable for the establishment of the textile workshop."

Zhu Xiang said excitedly: "Yes!"

He can take Xue to see the sea and eat seafood!

"Marquis Ying and Lord Wu'an should also be taken care of by their respective descendants." Qin Wangzhu said, "They must miss their families very much."

King Zhu of Qin knew that King Zhaoxiang of Qin placed Yinghou and Wu'an Jun next to Zhu Xiang not only because Zhu Xiang was really good at taking care of people, but also to monitor these two important officials who had a great influence on the court and allow them to play the role of King Qin's staff after they retired.

Although Fan Ju and Bai Qi lived well in Zhu Xiang's villa, they always said that it was better than living with their children and grandchildren. But how could they really not want to live with their family, enjoy their grandchildren, and live out their old age

Now it's time to let them have a good rest.

Zhu Xiang bowed: "Your Majesty is wise and wise!"

(End of this chapter)