"Mr. Zhong?"
Fusu whispered a few times to remember the name.
His falcon continued to dig on the ground while asking: "Mr. Ji, what do I need to prepare for you?"
"A bag of sand? A bag of salt?"
Ji Heng took a sip of wine, glanced at Fusu with a strange expression, shook his head, and said with a smile: "There is no need to prepare these things. What merchants are proficient in is the way of doing business."
"Just mention it a little bit and they'll understand."
Hear the words.
Fusu's expression froze.
Then he figured out the reason. The reason why Ji Heng spoke so thoroughly that day was just because he and Hu Hai didn't understand business, so he explained it in such detail. But just because they didn't understand, it didn't mean that the merchants didn't understand.
That's the guy where merchants eat.
How could they not think clearly?
"It's Fusu who is worrying too much." Fusu smiled bitterly.
Ji Heng withdrew his gaze, held the wine bottle to his chest, thought about it in his mind, and said slowly: "You said earlier that you had found all the information on the merchants. Is there any collusion between bribery and businessmen?"
Fusu thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes."
"It's quite a lot."
"Almost every merchant has had financial dealings with officials."
Ji Heng sneered and said, "Then things will be easier to handle. According to the information found, we will arrest them one by one and bring all these corrupt and bribery officials to justice."
Fusu was stunned and looked puzzled.
He knows that these officials are unforgivable and will definitely be investigated and punished, but aren't they dealing with salt and iron now? Why did he suddenly become a punishment official?
Fusu hesitated and said: "Mr. Ji, shouldn't we resolve the salt and iron issue first? If we rashly attack corrupt officials, we might be discovered by merchants. Isn't this just trying to alert the enemy?"
"Snatching the snake?" Ji Heng sneered and said disdainfully: "Snakes can run away, but can merchants run away?"
"No." Fusu Lisuo replied.
"Since you can't, just go ahead and do it." A cold look flashed in Ji Heng's eyes, and he said nonchalantly: "The merchants have lived too comfortably these years, and it's time to make them nervous. The tighter the merchants' strings become, the more they It will be more beneficial for us to have further discussions.”
"in addition."
"Officials don't want to arrest them all in one go."
"Slow down a little bit."
"Leave a few small fish and shrimps and let them secretly leak the situation of the officials to these merchants, so that these merchants will become impatient first."
"at the same time."
"While the officials are being arrested, go and control all the salt ponds, salt wells, and iron mines in Guanzhong. They are only allowed in and out, and no one is allowed to send messages. We will wait for news from Xianyang."
Fusu's heart moved slightly.
He vaguely guessed Ji Heng's thoughts.
Ji Heng deliberately wanted to make the merchants feel anxious and panicked.
The merchant family has a great business, and the family's foundation is all in Guanzhong. Even if they want to run away, there is no place to run, and even if they can run away, where is the money? What about their inheritance?
Merchants pursue profits.
Are they willing to leave empty-handed?
And the court kept watching, and the merchants could only wait anxiously.
Fusu bowed and said, "Fusu understands. I'll send someone to take care of it when I get back later."
"Nothing can go wrong."
Seeing Fusu put down his falcon, Ji Heng frowned and said displeasedly: "Just hoe the ground, there is no need to do these vain rituals, it has no meaning."
Fusu looked embarrassed.
He didn't want to hoe the ground at all, and he had no interest in it. The height of the hoe was only a dozen inches, but when used to hoe the ground, he had to bend his waist very low. He really couldn't bear it.
My back is tired.
Ji Heng ignored it and continued: "Besides, let's check the conflicts between these big salt merchants and iron kings in Guanzhong and other merchants in the past. Now, in Guanzhong, salt and iron are controlled by four or five families. At that time, with It’s impossible for these businessmen to compete with people disappearing for no reason.”
"Find these people as soon as possible."
"And bring it back to Xianyang."
Hear the words.
Fusu frowned.
He has read the information of major merchants and knows some of them.
Most of the merchants who failed to compete with the current salt merchants and iron merchants in the past are serving in Lishan, and most of them have become prisoners. Some have received kun'kun' punishment, some have received torture, and some have received 銓( 1) Punishment, and some were tattooed.
Is it really appropriate to bring these people back to Xianyang?
and
What use could these prisoners have?
He was confused.
Fusu finally asked, "Mr. Ji, why is this? Most of these Jia people have become prisoners and have suffered physical punishment. What's the point of bringing them back now?"
Ji Heng glanced at Fusu indifferently and said indifferently: "It's meaningless, the main thing is to intimidate."
"Since you have discovered the collusion between officials and businessmen, you should know that merchants can't afford it early without profit. How can they give money to officials in vain?"
Fusu was stunned.
Then a flash of enlightenment emerged.
See this.
Ji Heng chuckled and said, "Do you understand now?"
"These merchants in Guanzhong have monopolized the salt and iron in Guanzhong in just ten years. Do you really think that this can be achieved by starting from scratch?"
"The secret officials are the root!"
Fusu's heart trembled.
He just had a one-sided and superficial understanding of some things, but it was not that he didn't know right from wrong. Ji Heng said it so clearly, how could he really not understand it?
Fusu said: "I understand."
"Any more?"
Fusu looked at Ji Heng.
Ji Heng closed his eyes slightly, as if he was thinking about something. After being silent for a while, he slowly said: "In the end, maybe it was the confession that the officials summoned."
Fusu nodded.
He no longer asked why.
Since Ji Heng arranged this, he must have his own reasons.
Ji Heng lazily moved his body and lay down on the recliner relatively comfortably. He took a look and saw that there was still a small amount of uncultivated land. He said disdainfully: "If the capital of Guizhou was as ink-stained as you, I'm afraid it would have been hungry a long time ago." died."
Fusu looked slightly embarrassed.
He didn't know how to plow the land, and would not have moved at all if Ji Heng had not insisted on it. Now Ji Heng obviously wanted to finish the remaining small piece.
Although there was some resistance in my heart, I could only bite the bullet and continue hoeing.
Seeing that Fusu was working more diligently, Ji Heng nodded with satisfaction and lay leisurely on the chair, drinking some wine and basking in the sun, feeling very contented.
Less than a quarter of an hour.
Fusu could no longer straighten his back.
After the reclamation of that area was completed, he immediately threw the harpoon on the ground and went to the side in a state of embarrassment, supporting his waist with both hands.
There were drops of sweat on his cheeks.
"Are you tired?" Ji Heng asked.
"Tired." Fusu said without thinking. After speaking, he raised his arm and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. His hair and whiskers were now stuck together.
Ji Heng said calmly: "I think it's okay."
"You are currently cultivating only two feet in area, while the local people in Guizhou are cultivating dozens or hundreds of acres. Their hard work is far greater than yours."
"Along with this hard work, they also had to perform corvee service."
"In most years, when they can no longer maintain their own food and clothing, they have to pay a large amount of land rent and taxes."
"This is the living conditions of the people at the bottom right now."
Fusu was silent.
The hand wiping sweat quietly paused.
Ji Heng stood up slowly, held a rotten seedling in his hand, and said slowly: "Reading thousands of books is worse than traveling thousands of miles, and traveling thousands of miles is not as good as reading countless people. You were born in a noble family, and you will have good food and clothing. He has no worries about food and clothing, and all he sees every day are children of nobles, princes and ministers."
“But it’s not enough to only look at the top.”
"Just like this vegetable seedling."
“Looking from above, it’s still full of life, but what if you look down?”
"It has long been exhausted and weak."
"Today's Great Qin is just like this wild vegetable seedling. It looks impressive from above, but only from the top. In fact, the bottom has long since rotted out of shape."
"If the skin is gone, how will the hair be attached?"
Ji Heng went to a vegetable plot opened by Fusu, planted the obviously rotten vegetable seedling, and then covered it with soil a little.
thereafter.
Ji Heng planted other vegetable seedlings one after another.
Looking at the vegetable seedling that seemed to be about to fall at any moment, Fusu asked doubtfully: "Can this seedling survive?"
Ji Heng looked back and said expressionlessly: "I don't know, but as long as the root is not completely dead, there may be a chance of survival."
"But whether he can survive or not, we will know in a few days."
"If you are completely dead."
"The only thing you can do is to plant new ones."
"If the root is not dead, it can live." Fusu muttered softly.
After all the vegetable seedlings were planted, Ji Heng continued: "After everything is arranged, invite the merchants to the store that the merchants are familiar with."
"In the name of the eldest son."
Hearing Ji Heng's words, Fusu suddenly came back to his senses and asked doubtfully: "In my name?"
Ji Heng stood tall and said with a smile: "You are responsible for these things, naturally in your name, but before that, don't leak your identity easily."
"after all."
"As the eldest son of Great Qin, I always need to maintain a sense of mystery."
"By the way, the eldest son, you can also take a look at how much you are worth in the eyes of these big businessmen."
Hear the words.
Fusu looked strange and asked curiously: "Do they still want to bribe me?"
"Who knows?" Ji Heng chuckled: "In the eyes of merchants, wealth has always been the source of wealth."
Fusu couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He actually never thought about coming forward in person, but after hearing Ji Heng's words, he suddenly became interested. He really wanted to see if these merchants dared to offer him a price, and how much they would offer.
Ji Heng ignored Fusu.
He was using jiegao to draw water from the well.
This is called watering and fertilizing.
Ji Heng knew, however, that well water had no fertilizing effect, it was just watering. What really worked was the manure, and now Daqin's composting technology was quite mature.
But he doesn't have that condition.
Looking at Ji Heng's skillful movements, Fusu had a strange look in his eyes.
"Xunzi · Fu Guo": Covering the surface acres of the land, planting thorn grass in the valleys, and filling the fields with manure is a matter for farmers and common people.
Now Ji Heng seemed to have truly become a farmer.
There is no pretense whatsoever.
After watching for a while, Fusu showed admiration in his eyes, because Ji Heng was really working hard on growing vegetables without any perfunctory. He bowed to Ji Heng and slowly withdrew.
Ji Heng can indulge in the fields.
He can't.
He still has a lot to do.
(End of chapter)
