Chapter 82: Equal Sales of Goods
After the domestic war was basically over, Qingji did not end Wu's external expansion.
Qingji ordered the Grand Marshal Sun Ping to be the chief general, secretly dispatched troops and transported a large amount of food and fodder to Zhenzi in order to conceal his tracks and attack Chu by surprise.
At the same time, Qingji appointed Sun Wu as the general, led 8,000 soldiers, mixed with civilians and strong women, falsely claimed that there were 30,000 soldiers and horses, and with great fanfare, marched southward to attack Yue, aiming to recover the lost territories of Wuyuan, Li, Yu'er and Xing!
This overt and covert military action made it impossible to discern Qingji's true intentions.
Qingji also spread the word that he would lead an army in person to attack the Kingdom of Yue soon!
This made everyone think that Qingji was determined to regain the lost territory in the south of Wu, otherwise why would he personally lead the expedition to the south?
…
Zide Hall.
Qingji is meeting Fan Li.
At this time, Fan Li was still a young man of only 24 years old, with a heroic appearance. Although he was dressed simply, his every move could not conceal the elegance emanating from his heart!
Qingji admired Fan Li very much.
After all, Fan Li is a rare all-round talent in history.
He was a politician, military strategist, tactician, economist and Taoist scholar in the late Spring and Autumn Period, as well as the prime minister and general of the State of Yue.
Those who can be given the title of "Master" are all great masters of their generation, that is, talented people who are proficient in a certain field. Fan Li's series of titles shows how versatile he is.
It is worth mentioning that Fan Li was also an early Chinese business theorist and one of the pioneers of Chu studies. He was honored by later generations as the "Saint of Business" and one of the Five Saints of Nanyang!
Qingji vaguely remembered that in history, Fan Li fled to the State of Yue with Wen Zhong because he was dissatisfied with the dark political system of the State of Chu at that time and the fact that non-nobles were not allowed to enter officialdom. He was later appointed as a senior official and prime minister to assist King Gou Jian of Yue.
He helped Gou Jian to revive the Kingdom of Yue, destroy the Kingdom of Wu, avenge the humiliation of Kuaiji, achieve hegemony, and was named general!
After achieving success and fame, Fan Li retired from the industry, changed his name to Chiyi Zipi, and traveled among the Seventy-Two Peaks.
During this period, Fan Li became a wealthy man through business three times, distributed his wealth three times, and then settled in Taoqiu, Song State, and called himself "Tao Zhu Gong".
In later generations, Fan Li was worthy of being enshrined in the Temple of King Wucheng of the Tang Dynasty, and was posthumously named one of the sixty-four famous generals of ancient and modern times (the sixty-four generals of the Temple of King Wucheng). During the Song Dynasty, Fan Li was also worthy of being enshrined in the Temple of Martial Arts!
Such great talent is extremely rare throughout history. How could Qingji not entrust him with important tasks?
"Sir, I want to enrich my country and strengthen my army. How can you teach me?"
After a round of greetings, Qingji went straight to the point and asked Fan Li questions, wanting to test the latter's depth.
Qingji knew that Fan Li was a famous talent in history with great talent, but how could he know how talented Fan Li was now?
Knowledge always increases with experience. Fan Li, who is still young, cannot reach that level yet.
But Qingji didn't mind, he just wanted to test Fan Li's ability!
"Since Your Majesty has spoken of enriching the country and strengthening the army, then I would like to ask you, if the country is not rich, how can the army be strong?"
Fan Li replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "In terms of the sharpness of armor and weapons, looking at the countries in the world, not to mention that there is no country that can compete with Wu, but Wu's weapons are truly first-class in the world, and no small country dares to follow."
"Only in terms of national strength, Wu was far inferior to Jin, Qi, and Chu, and was even slightly inferior to Song, Wei, and Lu."
Fan Li told a fact!
A very cruel fact!
In terms of national strength, the State of Wu did not reach the level of a first-class country, but it was definitely a military power!
Taibo, the ancestor of the State of Wu, fled to the land of Jingman, overcame all difficulties and lived on rice and fish for six hundred years. Although it has been vigorously developed by successive kings of the State of Wu, the land of Wu has gradually prospered and there is a lot of fertile land.
However, Wu's national strength was still inferior to some Central Plains countries!
For example, the territory of Song State was less than one-third of that of Wu State, but it had rich land, a large population, and developed commerce!
In terms of the foundation for hegemony, Song was superior to Wu.
Fan Li changed the subject and said, "So, Your Majesty wants to enrich the country and strengthen the army, and dominate the world. I think Your Majesty should stop foreign wars as soon as possible, rest and recuperate with the people, encourage agriculture and sericulture, and accumulate national strength."
"What should I do?"
"Your Majesty, you should know one thing. If the price of grain is too low, it will hurt the farmers. If the farmers suffer, they will not work hard to produce, and the fields will go to waste!"
Fan Li said slowly: "If the price of grain is too high, it will hurt the merchants. If the merchants are hurt, the grain will be difficult to circulate. If no one engages in business, where will the money and taxes for the country come from?"
"Take Wu as an example. If the price of grain is as low as 20, it will hurt farmers. If the price of grain is as high as 90, it will hurt merchants. If the price of grain is limited to no less than 30 and no more than 80, it will benefit both farmers and merchants!"
"If we can sell goods equally, wouldn't it be beneficial to the country?"
"good!"
Upon hearing Fan Li's good strategy for governing the country, Qingji could not help but nod slightly, expressing his agreement.
Cheap grain prices hurt the people, and expensive grain prices hurt the farmers. Fan Li's strategy for governing the country is to benefit both farmers and the farmers themselves!
That is, by adjusting prices within a certain range, both farmers and consumers can benefit.
This will not only promote agricultural development, but also be beneficial to the development of industry and commerce, so that all areas of Wu's economy can develop in a coordinated manner.
Secondly, Fan Li clearly put forward the role of commodity prices in production and circulation, especially the role of properly handling the relationship between grain prices and other commodity prices in production and circulation.
He tried to promote production and circulation by adjusting prices, all through economic means rather than administrative orders!
This is also worthy of recognition.
"Why is the price of rice sold at a fair price?"
Qingji asked.
"Your Majesty, this requires that in years of good harvest, the government purchases and stores grain, and in years of poor harvest, when there is a shortage of grain, the government sells the grain at a fair price. This is the only way to stabilize the prices of grain and other commodities. This is what is called equalizing the prices of all commodities."
Fan Li's answer was so logical and reasonable that Qingji was impressed.
He suddenly remembered that Li Kui's implementation of the equal-price policy during the Warring States Period and the establishment of the Changping Warehouse in the Han Dynasty seemed to have been modeled after Fan Li!
The importance of equal prices for goods is self-evident.
The most important thing is to be moderate, not too angry or impetuous, but it is indeed beneficial to the people and the country. Moreover, such a national policy will not infringe too much on the interests of the nobles, and can greatly enhance the credibility of the national government, allowing the national strength of Wu to rise unknowingly!
Qingji has already seen this.
Afterwards, Qingji and Fan Li talked in Zide Hall for a whole day and night without sleep or food.
Basically, they were discussing how to govern the State of Wu after the war.
Fan Li always came up with new ways of governing the country, which convinced people!
But Qingji did not intend to entrust Fan Li with important tasks immediately.
"Sir, I want to appoint you as the Senior Official and Military Advisor, and have you accompany the Grand Marshal to lead the army to attack Chu. Are you willing?"
"Your Majesty, I will obey your orders!"
Fan Li knelt down immediately without any sign of displeasure on his face.
After all, Fan Li could see that Qingji was indeed a monarch who was eager to seek talents and had great talents and strategies!
Qingji asked Fan Li to join Sun Ping in attacking Chu just to increase Fan Li's personal achievements so that he could be better entrusted with important tasks, nothing more.
Qingji smiled and said, "Fan Li, you should encourage yourself. If you can make achievements in this war against Chu, I will confer you the title of one of the Nine Ministers!"
"Thank you, my king!"
