Chapter 302: I am your right arm, and you are my treasure
"One catty in Qi is equal to one catty and two ounces in Chu, and one catty in Chu is equal to nine ounces in Zhao. Your Majesty has unified the world, and the whole world belongs to Qin. Such discrepancies should be eliminated. Now that we have unified, we should unify for eternity. Jiang Shang petitions Your Majesty to unify the weights and measures!"
Lu Buwei, who was good at state affairs and even better at business, asked loudly. The old man who had traveled all over the country for business was very familiar with the weights in different places.
The differences in measurement, weight and scale not only affect the independence of previous countries, just like the writing, roads and customs, but also affect the economic development between different regions.
"Sir, you don't forget your roots."
The First Emperor learned from the spies what happened in Han and was aware of the existence of the Lu Chamber of Commerce.
They thought that Lu Buwei gave advice because he wanted to make money by doing business, just like Ying Chengjiao did to develop external wealth.
From the surface, the biggest beneficiaries of this incident are businessmen, so he said this with profound meaning.
The officials who were unaware of Lü Buwei's true identity would not think of things from a business perspective like the First Emperor. The first thing they thought of was their own interests.
They looked at Lu Buwei with even more hostility, and someone in the area where the aristocratic families were sitting immediately stood up to refute.
The person who stood up was not a minor noble, but Wei Zhang, the patriarch of the Wei family. This thin middle-aged man had just scolded Li Si for being a mere scholar, and it seemed that he was the main driving force behind Li Si's loss of the position of Chief Justice.
"On the battlefield, those who rush in recklessly to gain merit are likely to be ambushed, and instead of killing the enemy, they themselves die on the spot. The same is true for state affairs, which cannot be accomplished overnight. What the prime minister said is pertinent, but it should not be implemented now, but can be done three years later."
Compared with his scolding of Li Si, Wei Zhang, who was not clear about Lu Buwei's background, spoke very politely this time.
There is no fool who can reach this position. Even though Wei Zhang hates Lu Buwei to the core, he does not want to rashly make an unknown powerful enemy before they become formally hostile.
However, Lu Buwei did not think so. He came to the court not to make friends, nor to be like the Marquis Wenxin who had great power in Qin and led the Qin civil officials decades ago.
This time he came back to reform!
The old man will always remember what Ying Chengjiao said to him in the room last night.
"Reform is not about entertaining guests, writing articles, painting or embroidering. It cannot be so elegant, so leisurely, so refined, so gentle, courteous, frugal and modest. Reform is an uprising, a violent action by one class to overthrow another class."
Recalling the young King of Qin's warning last night, the tyranny that was so similar to that of the previous king made Lu Buwei's originally serious old face smile unconsciously.
He faced Wei Zhang, and the smile that came from the heart on his face made Wei Zhang immediately smile back and nod slightly.
[This Jiang Shang can still communicate. ]
The First Emperor, who still had some prejudice against Lu Buwei, did not want to follow Lu Buwei's wishes in everything and did not want to give Lu Buwei any benefits, so he nodded at the thin Wei Zhang.
"Laozi once said: Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. Wei Zhang's words are similar to Laozi's. This matter should be put aside for the time being."
The ministers breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was okay, Jiang Shang still had some humanity after all.
At that moment, Lu Buwei, with a warm smile on his face, shook his head firmly.
"No, this should be done immediately."
Wei Zhang's face darkened.
The ministers' faces darkened.
[This person is determined to kill us! This person deserves death! ]
Wang Wan shook his head slowly inwardly.
[Chang'an Jun lost his sense of proportion, so Lu Buwei also lost his sense of proportion. Even if you really want to do something , you have to think carefully. ]
Li Si closed his eyes to hide the flashing light.
[Go forward without hesitation, leaving no room for retreat. Is this what I should do in the future? Is this the only way to win the favor of the Lord, Your Majesty? ]
"Will it be implemented in three years? Will you let me get three more years of state treasury money? You are more calculating than the merchants!"
Merchants in this era were synonymous with lowliness, their origins were lowly, and their status was higher than slaves but lower than commoners.
Even if Qin had a merchant prime minister, it could not change the reality that merchants had a low status.
Lu Buwei compared the ministers with businessmen, and the ministers felt greatly insulted. Some busybodies even jumped up and wanted to let Lu Buwei see whether Qin Jian was effective or not.
If it were not for the fact that one was not allowed to bring weapons into the palace, dozens of Qin swords would have been slashing towards Lu Buwei by now.
When the First Emperor heard Lü Buwei's blunt words and saw his ministers' intense reactions, he suppressed the hatred that was as thin as a hair in his heart.
He said in a deep voice: "What do you mean?"
"Salaries and taxes."
Lu Buwei was the first to utter two words.
The First Emperor, who was confused just now, suddenly understood. He looked at the noisy ministers below with undisguised anger in his eyes.
【You actually wanted to deceive me! 】
All the ministers restrained their behavior, as if they were afraid of the power of the First Emperor. They sat back in their seats with confused expressions on their faces, wondering why the Majesty was angry again , and cursed Lu Buwei in their hearts for being a bad son.
The salaries and taxes of the Qin State were paid in the form of grain, and the grain was measured by weight. For example, the highest salary in the Qin State was 2,000 shi, and the shi was a unit of weight.
In fact, this was true for almost all countries throughout the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. This is because in ancient times when productivity was insufficient, grain was the most reliable hard currency.
"I don't know how much this person's salary is, but I think that someone who can enter the court and dare to speak like this should have an annual salary of no less than 2,000 dan. Your Majesty is in Xianyang, and the 2,000 dan given to this person is the Qin 2,000 dan, and there is no objection.
"Within Hangu Pass, the Qin standard will be followed, and there will be no problem with salaries and taxes. But what about other places? If Zhao collects 50,000 dan of grain, should it be based on the Qin standard or the Zhao standard? When paying salaries to officials in Chu, should it be based on the Qin standard or the Chu standard?
"If the measurement, weight and scale are not unified as soon as possible, I dare to assert that the officials in the court will manipulate the salaries and taxes. One dan of Chu is equivalent to one and a half dan of Qin. If Chu collects 50,000 dan of grain, the local people will collect it according to Chu's measurement and pay it according to Qin's measurement.
"Your Majesty will receive 50,000 dan of Qin, and you will receive 25,000 dan of Qin. Zhao's dan is less than Qin's dan, and one dan of Qin is equal to one and a half dan of Zhao. If there are 1,000 Qin officials in Zhao, and each of them should receive 200 dan of Qin's salary, then the total salary will be 200,000 dan.
"After leaving Hangu Pass, only 200,000 dan of Zhao's salary will remain, and each Qin official in Zhao territory will only receive 200 dan of Zhao. There will be 100,000 dan of Zhao left in Hangu Pass, in the granaries of your families. Your Majesty, do you think this matter should be delayed?"
Lu Buwei's words were like a switch that controlled the expressions of his ministers. The more he spoke and the greater the amplitude of the switch, the darker the faces of his ministers became.
What Lu Buwei said was only the crudest and most reasonable way to make money. In actual operation, the ministers would do much better than what Lu Buwei said.
But the essence of the matter remains unchanged, which is to make money by taking advantage of the differences in degree, quantity and weight in accordance with Qin law.
"I am your right-hand man, and you are your treasury. "
The First Emperor was furious and looked at Wei Zhang, who stepped forward first, with cold eyes.
"Wei Zhang was demoted five ranks."
