In the absence of major changes, a country's income and expenditure will not fluctuate much. If the expenditure is more here, it will be less elsewhere.
Although Wei's income increased a lot last year, it still cost money to build roads and launch wars, and the landlords had no surplus food.
Lu Zhonglian smiled. Since he opened his mouth, he could certainly make Wei Guo afford it.
"Wei can exchange the gap." Lu Zhonglian imitated Zhao Kuo and picked up the wine glass, put it to his mouth and took a sip.
During the Warring States Period, the alcohol content of wine was not very high. Both civil servants and generals liked to drink it in one gulp instead of just taking a small sip like Zhao Kuo. However, Lu Zhonglian thought it was very stylish and decided to drink like this in the future.
"Impossible." Zhang Yan immediately refused without King Wei having to say anything.
Apart from Yanchi, Honggou was another rooster that laid golden eggs in Wei State. Maritime transport had not yet developed these days, so merchants traveling from south to north had to go through Honggou.
Tolls, commercial taxes, expenses along the way, broken ships have to be repaired, and they can even provide jobs. For cargo ships pulling heavy objects, trackers from Wei State are hired to pull the ships.
In addition, there are some hidden gray incomes. In the entire Wei State, no official has benefited from the gap.
Especially since last year, business in Central China has been booming and changing with each passing day. Although this year was greatly affected by Zhao's implementation of new weights and measures, it recovered in the second half of the year and flourished again. Otherwise, Wei would not have the confidence to launch this war.
If the King of Wei agrees to give Chagou to Zhao, he will offend the entire Wei bureaucracy.
In comparison, Hangou, another grand canal, is far behind.
The Chasm connects the most prosperous Central Plains area at that time, and the Hangou connects the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River. After Wu Yue was destroyed, Chu State's focus has never been here. Although it is not a wilderness, it cannot be called a prosperous place.
"Sir, don't worry. Our Zhao State only needs jurisdiction over Honggou, which means sending people to collect taxes. And it only takes ten years. After ten years, Honggou will be returned to the Wei State. The Wei State should know the capabilities of our Zhao State, foreign minister. It is no exaggeration to say that in ten years, Honggou’s tax revenue will at least quadruple, but in the hands of Wei, it will never be able to reach this level.”
"It seems that the Wei State has lost ten years of tax revenue, but in the long run, it is actually a profit. If the gap is returned to the Wei State, it will be able to make up for the ten years of losses in a few years. At the same time, it will get an extra fifty thousand in vain. A war horse. That is to say, our two countries, Zhao and Wei, are as close as one family and do not distinguish each other. If it were other countries, the foreign minister would never say this. And... Wei Guo should know that Zhao Guo also made this decision for his own reasons. Risky..." Lu Zhonglian said.
If Zhao is always stronger than Wei, Wei will have no choice but to open the gap honestly in the next ten years. But if one day, the Wei State becomes more powerful than the Zhao State, it will definitely find a reason, and even directly attack the Zhao State and take back the jurisdiction of the Chasm.
Commitments have no binding force between the two countries; only strength is binding.
Everyone in the Wei Kingdom did not refute. No one would say this kind of thing openly, but they all knew it secretly.
Everyone has no objection to Lu Zhonglian’s statement that Honggou’s tax revenue will at least quadruple in ten years. According to the current development rate, in the hands of Zhao Guo, it will only be more, not less.
Ten years later, when Wei took it back, it would indeed take less than a few years to make up for the losses of the past ten years.
As for the war? I have never heard that war affects businessmen making money, and they will only make more.
But everyone still felt that something was wrong, but they couldn't explain it. After thinking about it carefully, they felt that what Lu Zhonglian said made sense.
However, King Wei still did not agree. The reason was very simple. Too many officials were offended by giving up the chasm to Zhao. He was well aware of the gray income of these officials and allowed it within a certain range.
If the water is clear, there will be no fish, and no officialdom will be clean.
If Chaoguan is handed over to Zhao Guo for ten years, these officials will definitely be dissatisfied with him if they have one less money bag.
Although it would not happen like the countrymen expelled the emperor hundreds of years ago, he couldn't afford to lose anything.
"I think we should discuss this matter further. How about we, Wei State, give Zhao State a reply in a few days?" Fan Zuo said. He didn't know if he drank too much. He always felt that he was not clear-headed. Even the wine was spilled on the floor. I didn't even notice it on my clothes.
"The foreign minister would like to ask the King of Wei, besides the chasm, what else can the Wei State offer? Money and food? Cities? Copper and iron? Or...population?" Zhang Yan asked.
King Wei looked at the familiar scene, swallowed his saliva, and instantly felt that the wine in his hand was no longer fragrant: "We, the Kingdom of Wei... can buy less."
"How much does Wei Guo intend to buy?" Lu Zhonglian asked.
"Thirty thousand, no, twenty thousand." King Wei looked around and hesitated.
Lu Zhonglian smiled slightly. If his calculations were not too far off, Wei would not be able to afford even 10,000 war horses before the end of this year.
War is all about burning money. If you win, it's better to say that you can make up for the losses and maybe make a lot of money. But Wei Guo fought for several months, not only did he not get anything, but he also lost troops and generals. Where did the money and food come from?
"If the State of Wei can spend so much money, our State of Zhao can hand over the war horses to the State of Wei next month. After the autumn harvest, the State of Wei can train the cavalry. Foreign ministers are here to congratulate the King of Wei." Lu Zhonglian said with his hand.
"...We, the State of Wei, cannot afford so much money for the time being. I wonder...if we can get it on credit first...or we, the State of Wei, can buy it later."
Wei Yang, the young master, glared at Zhang Yan and others. These people didn't care about money and had no idea about the current difficulties of Wei State. Just building roads and making farm tools cost a lot of money, not to mention war.
"Sir, you are joking. How can you get credit for such a thing? As for it, it will be feasible in a while, but... Chu State asked me to buy war horses from Zhao State last year. South Korea and Qi State also want to buy war horses. If Wei State waits for a while, Time, then I, the State of Zhao, can only sell them to them first. By then...if the war horses are sold out, the foreign ministers will have no choice." Lu Zhonglian said.
What business is best to do, monopoly business.
Now the State of Zhao is saying that it is the same. All countries that want to train cavalry can only buy horses from the State of Zhao.
As for the Qin State, people passing in and out of Hangu Pass must undergo strict inspections. Without the consent of the Qin State, not even a horse can be allowed to escape. Although the Zhao State is strict, a small number of horses still enter the Central Plains occasionally.
There is no way, Qin's terrain advantages are too good.
In fact, although Qin did not sell horses to Han, Wei and Chu, it always wanted to sell them to Qi. The problem was that there was still Han and Wei between the two countries, so they could not send them across. The horses were robbed directly when they arrived in South Korea, which was completely to support the enemy.
