"What's the second way?" Hu Hai asked.
Ji Heng closed his eyes slightly, with a deep look in his eyes, and said clearly and slowly: "Robbing money."
"Robbing..." Hu Hai's eyes widened in disbelief and said, "Ji Heng, are you really right? Stealing money?"
"This can't be...at least it shouldn't be."
Hu Hai choked on his words.
Fusu also frowned slightly, somewhat confused about the situation.
Ji Heng chuckled lightly, with a calm expression. He glanced at the wine bottle from the corner of his eyes and said calmly: "It is indeed a 'money robbery', but it is just a robbery of money from merchants."
"Merchant?"
Fusu frowned even more tightly and said in a serious voice, "Isn't this possible?"
"The business tax of Great Qin is very heavy, and the tax is more than half."
"Two-thirds of the profits made by merchants have already been taken. If we try to steal money from merchants, we may not be able to get much."
"I'm afraid this won't work either."
Ji Heng said coldly: "Is it really not possible?"
Fusu thought for a while and shook his head firmly: "No, the commercial tax has reached its extreme level now. If it is levied again, I am afraid that all the merchants in the world will flee. Although Da Qin imposes heavy taxes on merchants, it still needs merchants to transport some goods. .”
"This is absolutely unacceptable."
"I think it's okay." Ji Hengyun said calmly.
Fusu was stunned.
He thought about it carefully, and finally shook his head, wondering: "Why is this?"
"Do we have to drain the lake to catch fish?"
"If we do this, even the merchants will choose to betray the court."
"This is not a good thing for Da Qin."
Ji Heng leaned forward and poured out a copper baron with some difficulty, and then said, "Does Feng Ruo Yuqing know?"
"Of course I know that." Fusu nodded.
"Where are the Shu Zhuo family, Cheng Zheng family, Wan Kong family, and Cao Bing family?" Ji Heng asked again.
Fusu nodded again.
Ji Heng put the copper jue on the tip of his nose, took a deep breath, sniffed the fragrant wine, and said with a curve at the corner of his mouth: "They are wealthy merchants from Da Qin. Wushiluo is in the business of selling cattle and sheep. Ba Qing They deal in cinnabar, and the Shu Zhuo family, Cheng Zheng family, Wan Kong family, and Cao Bing family are known as the four 'iron kings' of the Qin Dynasty."
"Do they have money?"
Fusu looked slightly strange and said hesitantly: "Yes, and he is as rich as any other, even richer than a prince."
"Didn't they pay heavy taxes?" Ji Heng looked at Fusu.
Fusu vaguely realized what Ji Heng wanted to say, and said bravely: "I'll hand it over."
"Yes." Ji Heng sighed softly, drank the wine in Tongjue, and said indifferently: "These wealthy merchants have paid more than half of the wealth, but they can still be rich. Their money Where are you from?"
"Business..." Fusu had cold sweat on his forehead.
Ji Heng looked away and sneered: "Do you understand now?"
"The business tax in Great Qin is indeed very heavy, but merchants are still profitable, and they make a lot of money."
"Businessmen are really only interested in profit."
"But the reason why the 'Feng Luo Yuqing' and the 'Four Iron Kings' and other wealthy people are so rich is actually related to the Qin government."
"Does Da Qin take business lightly?"
"light!"
"Since the beginning of Shang Yang's reform, the Qin Dynasty has almost reduced the status of merchants to slaves. Although merchants are called merchants, they are undoubtedly slaves. Whether it is imposing corvees or raising taxes, they will be considered first. Since the First Emperor came to the throne, he has also been Practicing 'hard-working skills' and 'honoring farmers and eradicating the disadvantages'."
"But did Qin suppress Shang?"
"No!"
"There is one piece of Shang Jun's reform."
"Those who are in dire straits and become extremely poor will think that they have failed."
"The meaning of this law is very simple: merchants who are not doing well in business or are on the verge of bankruptcy, as well as middle- and lower-class traders and small craftsmen who have returned to poverty due to doing business on their own, will all be confiscated as official slaves."
"This law prohibits small traders who make small profits."
"And those big businessmen with lots of money and power will not be confiscated as official slaves."
"So doing business in Daqin will only have two results."
“Either make it bigger and stronger.”
"Or be punished as an official slave."
"Once a merchant becomes bigger and stronger and becomes a financially strong businessman, not only will their business activities not be banned, but they will also be encouraged by the court."
"This is why Da Qin has banned the private sale of 'salt and iron' and other items, but there are still a large number of merchants selling 'salt and iron' in the world. On the one hand, Da Qin's own productivity is not enough, and merchants need to supplement it to meet social needs. On the one hand, merchants can provide Daqin with generous tax revenue."
"The Great Qin banned only middle- and lower-class traders."
"It's not an upper-class businessman!"
“The lack of competition from small traders in the market is undoubtedly very beneficial to big businessmen.”
"It will also increase the market share of large merchants."
"So under the policies of the Qin Dynasty, it was a win-win situation for big merchants and the court. The court encouraged big businessmen with strong financial resources to take over industries such as salt and iron, thereby receiving a large amount of heavy taxes. And with the support of the court, the merchants quickly occupied local shares. And then monopolize commercial operations in a region."
"This is also why, even if they are taxed with a tax of more than half, big merchants can still become rich."
Fusu frowned.
He knows this.
However, Ji Heng's intentions were somewhat unclear.
He asked: "The mining and production of salt, iron, cinnabar and other commerce require a lot of human and financial support. The imperial court prohibited small traders from participating and encouraged big merchants to participate, thereby mobilizing the enthusiasm of merchants and thereby collecting large amounts of taxes."
"Is there something wrong with this?"
Ji Heng said calmly: "No problem."
"But don't you think merchants make too much?"
"and......"
"Does the world really need big businessmen?"
Fusu was startled.
He suddenly raised his head and looked at Ji Heng who was drinking wine, with a look of horror in his eyes.
At first he thought Ji Heng wanted to increase taxes.
Unexpectedly, Ji Heng's idea was even crazier, and he clearly wanted to ban merchants.
For a while.
Fusu was so shocked that he couldn't speak.
Seeing the horrified look on Fusu's face, Ji Heng shook his head secretly and said in a deep voice: "Don't think too much, I just said it casually, but in my opinion, it is indeed necessary for merchants to exist, but big merchants may not .”
"What you should be thinking about right now is competing with businessmen for profit!"
"Compete with merchants for profit." Fusu whispered, frowning in thought.
See this.
Ji Heng shook his head in disappointment.
Fusu knows too little about business.
He rubbed his forehead, slowly closed his eyes, and said calmly: "That's it for today."
"I mentioned Guan Zhong's reforms before."
"Guan Zhong valued business."
"Some of his views are enlightening. Although they are not necessarily suitable for the Qin Dynasty, through the content of Guan Zhong's reforms, you can have a preliminary understanding of business, and it will not be too difficult to understand."
Ji Heng yawned.
He also turned over and turned his back to the two of them, unwilling to talk to them anymore.
Fusu's face darkened.
He also knew that his performance was very poor this time.
The last time he heard Ji Heng talking about "Guan Zhong's Reform", he didn't take it to heart and didn't read it at all. Now when asked about business related matters, his eyes darkened and he didn't know how to respond.
He knows too little about world affairs!
