Chapter 218: The Significance of the Thirteen Paths
“It’s not just the smithy that’s out of control.”
Zhang Liang took a white chess piece from the chess pot in front of Lu Buwei and held it between his index and ring fingers.
Bang~
There was a clear and loud sound of a piece falling.
He pressed the white piece with his ring finger, and under the gaze of Lü Buwei's shrunken pupils, he said, "And the people of Han."
There are countless blacksmith shops in Han, and pig iron is continuously poured in every day. This is because the many iron mines controlled by the Han family rotate day and night.
The Lu's Chamber of Commerce had already consumed all the pig iron left by the Han family. Now the blacksmith shop produces freshly mined pig iron every day, with no surplus.
The pig iron stockpiled by the Lu Chamber of Commerce is equivalent to Korea's accumulation over 200 years, which is an astronomical figure that is unimaginable.
This much pig iron would be enough to sustain the Qin State, a war-mongering country with the most serious military equipment consumption, for twenty years.
After discussion, the Han family concluded that the Lu's Chamber of Commerce should be full soon, and it would not take too long to collect ten times the amount of iron.
Devoured by greed, the Handi family sent all of their servants to join the iron mining army, increasing the pig iron production rate by more than three times in a short period of time.
That's not enough.
I don’t know when the Lu Chamber of Commerce will stop purchasing pig iron from the Handi family.
In order to reap the benefits of the tenfold increase in the price of iron, they offered much higher commissions than before to hire the people to mine iron for them.
Compared with ten times the price of iron, this commission is nothing, and this deal is not difficult to calculate.
The remuneration for iron mining increased significantly, which directly destroyed the Korean professional ecosystem.
Planting the land for a month and selling meat for a month is not as good as mining iron for two days, so people naturally choose to mine iron.
As long as Lü Buwei stops collecting ten times as much iron, there will never be a limit on the number of people employed by the Han noble families to mine iron.
Now all industries in Korea were in ruins, and almost all the people there were employed to mine iron. Farmers left their farm tools, hunters left their hunting gear, and everyone picked up hoes to dig for iron in the iron mines.
Even the brothels that never had a low period had few customers. Business was so bad that those girls who used to only be able to sing and crouch down wanted to try their luck at the iron mines.
"There is a severe drought in Korea this year. The people are relying on their reserves from previous years. If it weren't for the accident, they should have barely survived this year. Now, because of you, I am employed by the family to mine.
"The daily physical exertion has increased, and the food consumption has increased dramatically. The food reserves will definitely not allow them to survive this year. Once they have eaten up the food at home, they will have to buy food.
"When the time comes, they will find that the price of food has quietly increased tenfold and they cannot afford it. People cannot live without food for a day. Under the choice of life and death, chaos will break out in Korea."
Bang~
Bang~
Bang~
"color!"
Lu Buwei clapped his hands three times, his face full of disbelief and surprise, looking at Zhang Liang.
"I now admire your vision even more. You have only met me once, but you have already called you a 'wise man'. Your ability in judging people is as good as that of a horse expert."
Zhang Liang's breathing became irregular for a moment.
You don't praise me for my intelligence, but you praise Ying Chengjiao for his ability to judge people? What do you think?
Lu Buwei picked up the tea placed in front of him, took a sip, and suppressed the shock in his heart.
"You have made me lose this step. It is your turn to leave now."
After swallowing the tea, he tapped the corner of the chessboard with his index finger, looked at Zhang Liang who picked up a black piece and chuckled, "One more thing, if this piece falls on the corner, there is no need to move it. The trade routes around Han have been blocked by me. Before you and I win in Han, no grain from the outside world can reach us."
Zhang Liang was shocked and stared at Lu Buwei carefully, as if trying to judge whether Lu Buwei was bluffing or telling the truth.
After a while.
"Liang doesn't believe it."
He said word by word.
"Then you can make a move and see if I can eat you."
Lu Buwei said with a smile.
Up to now, the results of the game have not exceeded Zhang Liang's expectations.
He was very happy to see Zhang Liang make a wrong judgment.
"Sir, aren't you curious? How did Liang know what you wanted to do without any business?"
"Not curious."
Lu Buwei shook his head.
"You have either read the History of Qi and Guanzi, or you have heard others say that Guanzi conquered Lu with clothes and Chu with deer."
If he couldn't guess this little thing, he would be embarrassed to stay in Chang'an Jun's mansion.
Zhang Liang said: "The custom of the people in Nanliang, Lu State, is to weave silk. Guanzi wants Duke Huan of Qi to take the lead in wearing silk clothes, and he also orders the ministers to wear silk clothes uniformly, and also prohibits Qi State from weaving silk clothes.
"Duke Huan of Qi followed suit, and so did the ministers of Qi. The people of Qi saw that the ruler and his ministers all wore silk clothes, so they also wore silk clothes. Qi did not have silk clothes, so if it wanted to get them, it could only buy them from Liang in the south of Lu.
"Guan Zi said to the merchants of Nanliang in Lu: 'If you bring 1,000 rolls of silk to Qi, I will reward you 300 gold. If you bring 10,000 rolls of silk, I will reward you 30 gold for every 10 rolls of silk.'"
"When the feudal lord of Nanliang in Lu heard the news, he asked the people of Nanliang to stop farming and start weaving silk. A year later, Guanzi ordered Duke Huan of Qi to stop wearing silk clothes and blockaded Lu, not allowing grain to enter Lu.
"If the superiors set an example, the subordinates will follow suit. If the king does not wear silk clothes, then the people of Qi will not wear them either. The people of Lu and Nanliang had hundreds of thousands of silks stored up but could not sell them. They spent a year weaving silk but did not farm. A famine broke out in Nanliang.
"The feudal lord of Lu State and Nanliang ordered the people to stop spinning and weaving and to engage in farming instead. However, grain is not something that can be grown quickly. The people of Lu State and Nanliang had to spend thousands of coins per pot to buy grain.
"The price of grain in Qi was ten coins per cauldron, and the people of Southern Liang all abandoned Lu and went to Qi in order to survive. Southern Liang became increasingly impoverished, and the feudal lords of Lu and Southern Liang saw this and submitted to Qi."
Lü Buwei listened to Zhang Liang's story patiently and said, "There are very few people in the world who can understand the businessmen's words. You are right to know that Guan Zhong used clothing to control Lu."
Zhang Liang said, "Chu is rich in deer. Guanzi spent a lot of money to buy deer from Chu and asked all Chu people to stop farming and take hunting tools to buy deer in the mountains. A year later, Chu had a lot of money but was short of food. Guanzi stopped buying deer and asked other countries not to send food to Chu. Chu suffered from a great famine and became a vassal of Qi."
The black piece in his hand did not fall on the chessboard. He stared at the newly placed white piece on the board, representing famine in Korea and chaos among the people.
"The reason why Guanzi was able to succeed in his two commercial wars was that Qi was the most powerful country in the world. He wanted to blockade Lu and Chu, and no one in the world dared to disobey his orders. I don't believe that your Lu's Chamber of Commerce can cut off the food supply to Han like Qi did."
Our Han land is located in a place surrounded by enemies. It was not in a good condition during wars, but it is in a good condition now. It has well-developed transportation with Zhao, Wei, Qin and Qi.
You, Lu Buwei, are not Duke Huan of Qi, and your Lu Chamber of Commerce is not the State of Qi. On what basis can you cut off the food supply in my Han land?
Duke Huan of Qi was one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period and was also the king served by Guan Zhong.
When he was alive, Qi was the most powerful country in the world.
Therefore, Qi wanted to target Lu and Chu, and did not want other countries to send grain to Lu and Chu, so other countries would not dare to disobey.
Lü Buwei stroked his beard and said, "I have money. I will intercept all the grains sent to Han. If one stone of grain in Han costs one gold coin, I will buy ten gold coins for one stone. Power is not the only thing that can bring strength in the world. Money also has power. This principle is not found in Guanzi, but in Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals. If you follow me back to Qin, I will give you a copy so that you can learn about business warfare well."
Zhang Liang's breathing frequency was disrupted again, and it took him three breaths to calm down. He was a little shocked.
What an unreasonable style, what a rogue way of playing, businessmen are so despicable!
"Have you figured out where to put this move?" Lu Buwei urged softly.
It’s no use for you to see through what I want to do, you still can’t break the impasse.
"Watching Guanzi's two business wars, my conscience learned a truth."
Lu Buwei frowned.
He did not feel any negative emotions such as frustration or loss from Zhang Liang.
Zhang Liang was just as calm as when he first came in, with an attitude that everything was under control.
At this time, he really disliked Zhang Liang like this.
Bang~
The black piece fell to the ground, hitting the latest white piece that had fallen, and landed in the center of the chessboard.
"All business wars end with food. Without external aid, we have to seek help from within. When you entered Korea and collected three times as much iron, the Zhang family began to stockpile food and asked all the other noble families to stockpile food in preparation for you. Now the food in the hands of the noble families in Korea is enough to wait for the new food supply next year. This game of chess should be won by me."
It doesn’t matter if we can’t transport food from outside, we have food in Korea.
As long as there is enough food, there will be no chaos in Han and it will remain under the control of the Han aristocratic families.
Zhang Liang was not good at business warfare, but he grasped the core of business warfare of that era - food.
Lu Buwei was in a daze for a long time without saying a word, just staring at the black spot that Zhang Liang had just dropped.
Zhang Liang did not interrupt. For him, the end of this game of chess was the real beginning.
He called Lu Buwei not just to review the confrontation between the two in Han, but to win over Lu Buwei to fight against Qin.
Lü Buwei had launched the Qinian Palace Rebellion and rebelled against the Qin State once, so he should naturally be a member of the anti-Qin group.
"color."
Lu Buwei praised lightly.
"You are stronger than your great-grandfather Zhang Kaidi and your great-grandfather Zhang Ping. If I were the prime minister of Qin ten years ago, I would have been defeated by you and surrendered."
There was no joy in Zhang Liang's eyes at being praised, and his pretty face, which had been somewhat relaxed, became tense again.
"Sir, your implication is that this game of chess is not over yet."
"good."
"Liang doesn't think that sir has any more children to lose."
"Then give it a try."
The two looked at each other, neither giving in.
Zhang Liang said in a deep voice: "Sir, your last move is to fall on the paper I am holding?"
Lü Buwei frowned and said, "I am old and don't have time to speculate with you. Let's be clear."
"Didn't the paper Liang had was given to him on purpose? There aren't so many coincidences in this world."
Lu Buwei stared into Zhang Liang's eyes and saw determination, affirmation and determination in them.
Not cheating me.
This kid really guessed it.
But how was this guessed?
Scientists are the most cautious and will never leave any clues.
Lu Buwei said nothing. The solemn expression on his face was like a deep pool with no bottom to be seen.
"Although I don't know what you meant, I have already burned the green paper you left me that day. None of the paper I use now is green."
If it is not green paper, then it is not made entirely from bamboo using the manufacturing method left by scientists.
Zhang Liang asked the old craftsman to use the principle of making green paper, replace the objects, and make paper with tree bark and other materials.
"Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know?" Lu Buwei said in a deep voice.
He no longer dared to underestimate the young man in front of him.
Zhang Liang sighed softly.
"I have some guesses, but I'm not sure. Sir, you have a master of handwriting imitation. Sir, do you want to imitate Zhang Liang's handwriting and write it on green paper, and then pass it to the hands of major families? At a critical moment, this can really determine the outcome of the situation."
How could there be someone in this world who is so young and so smart as a demon...
"If I hadn't kept everything to myself and never told anyone, I would have considered the person who knew about it to be your accomplice. Yes, that's exactly what I thought."
Zhang Liang smiled.
Tap tap
He tapped the chessboard twice.
"Sir, do you want to continue playing chess? Are there any more moves?"
Lu Buwei lowered his head, and Zhang Liang could only see the lower half of his face, with the corners of his mouth raised.
Speechless chuckle.
The corners of his mouth widened a little.
"hehe."
Chuckling.
The corners of his mouth were fully stretched.
“Hahahahahahahahahahaha!”
Lu Buwei raised his head and laughed, as if he had received a great joyful event, as if it was he, Lu Buwei, who had won the chess game today, and not Zhang Liang who was sitting in front of him!
Zhang Liang did not interrupt Lu Buwei's laughter. He looked at Lu Buwei without a smile, as if he was mad and laughed wildly.
He didn't understand why Lu Buwei was laughing.
Nothing escaped his calculation.
Every step of the confrontation between Han and Di was within his expectations.
Why, how can you, Lu Buwei, still laugh?
After a long time, Lu Buwei stopped laughing.
"Sir, please make your move," said Zhang Liang.
Lu Buwei said nothing, but placed his hand on the bottom of the chessboard and lifted it up with force.
Crash~
The black and white pieces first scattered on the ground, jumping and running around.
Bang!
The chessboard fell to the ground with a slightly dull sound.
Zhang Liang had already stood up and dodged when the chessboard was overturned. He looked at Lu Buwei who overturned the chessboard.
"Sir, if the chessboard can be overturned, can the land of Korea be overturned as well?"
You can overturn the chessboard, but can you overturn the Korean land?
You lost this game of chess!
"Your chessboard is too small. The piece I want to move cannot fit on it."
With a smile still on his face, Lu Buwei slowly stood up.
"When I played chess with Your Majesty, I played 19 moves."
"Nineteen?"
Zhang Liang's face darkened as he glanced at the chessboard with the back facing upwards and thirteen horizontal and vertical lines on the front.
"Liang has never heard of nineteen moves."
During the Qin Dynasty, Go was played with thirteen lines.
As time passed, the number of Go lines kept increasing, fifteen, seventeen.
It was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty that the game of Go with 19 vertical and horizontal lines appeared and has continued to this day.
It is estimated that the highest difficulty of Go should be at the 29th move. Before the 29th move, as the number of vertical and horizontal moves increases, the number of variables increases and the difficulty increases.
"This was invented by your Majesty. Naturally, you have never played it before." As he spoke, Lu Buwei's smile suddenly became even more intense.
"You can play with the Lord when you enter the palace. Although he has created 19 vertical and horizontal moves, he can only win against the prince of Qin and the princesses. He has never won against me and others."
Zhang Liang didn't want to play chess. Thirteen or nineteen moves were meaningless to him.
The key to the problem is that Lu Buwei turned over thirteen chessboards and wanted to play nineteen games with him. What did he want to show?
