The day after the banquet, the Marquis of Qi hosted Fan Li for a private banquet. The Marquis of Qi had a good impression of Fan Li. Fan Li was personable and handsome, coupled with his rich language skills, which made the Marquis of Qi very happy.
"What does Fan Qing think of our country, Qi?"
"The state of Qi is prosperous. Linzi is crowded with people, and merchants are in great numbers. The state has never been so prosperous." Hearing Fan Li's praise, the Marquis of Qi was very happy.
"It's just..." Fan Li hesitated.
"Just what?" Qi Hou asked very cooperatively.
Fan Li said directly: "It's just that I see that under this prosperity, the office is in danger of extinction."
The Marquis of Qi was stunned for a moment and then laughed and said, "Fan Qing is exaggerating. The Guqi State has a land of thousands of miles, a population of several million, a hundred thousand armor, and a strong national power. How can there be a crisis of destruction?"
"Among the other countries, only Jin, Chu and Huai can compare with Gu Qi!"
"Now that the Huai State has sent envoys to make peace, the six ministers of the Jin State are fighting for power and fighting among themselves, and the Chu State is also busy with internal affairs, and tens of thousands of troops can be gathered near Linzi alone. How can Fan Qing think that the Qi State is in danger of subjugation?"
"Is Fan Qing coming here just to sow discord between my Qi family and the Qing clan?"
After hearing what the Marquis of Qi said, Fan Li did not feel embarrassed because of his false threats. Instead, he said softly: "Marquis of Qi, you are right. Qi has a land thousands of miles away, a hundred and twenty cities, and a hundred thousand armor. It is second to none among the states. A big country. At present, no country can destroy Qi."
"But if the state of Qi is strong, will the royal family also be strong? Does the Marquis of Qi think that the current state of Zhou is more powerful than the state of Zhou hundreds of years ago?"
"Is the Zhou family in Bangzhou still as powerful as it was a hundred years ago?"
"The Zhou Dynasty was so powerful in the past. When the emperor was angry, the princes were trembling with fear. So what happens now?"
"Foreign ministers remember that more than a hundred years ago, the Emperor of Zhou fled and even had to rely on the power of the princes to move eastward to form Zhou. At that time, the Zhou Dynasty divided the world. Did he know that the Zhou Dynasty would decline to this point? The situation in Qi today, How similar is it to Bang Zhou back then?"
Fan Li's words made the high-spirited Qi Hou freeze instantly.
However, the Marquis of Qi did not admit defeat and continued: "The decline of the Zhou Dynasty is because the princes are getting stronger and stronger day by day. How can Qi's ministers compare with the princes?"
Although the Qi State now has thousands of miles of land, many of these lands are in the hands of the public families and officials. There is not much land actually controlled by the public office. Although he didn't want to admit it, after several generations of internal strife in the office, the power of Qi's office had weakened a lot.
"If the Marquis of Qi really feels this way, then he should just pretend that the foreign minister didn't say anything." Fan Li said with a smile.
Just pretend you didn't say anything? You've already said it all, how can you still pretend you haven't said it yet?
Qi Hou's expression changed several times, then he sat upright, saluted Fan Li and asked, "What does Fan Qing know?"
Fan Li said: "Yesterday at the banquet, foreign ministers heard that many people at the banquet praised Dr. Tian, saying that he was unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness and that he was like a sage from ancient times."
"The foreign minister was very curious, so he made some inquiries, and found out some clues."
"Foreign ministers heard that Dr. Tian was in charge of tax collection, but he took this opportunity to do favors to the princes and people of the country. He lent them with big buckets, and when the people returned them, he used small buckets."
"If Dr. Tian is using his own grain, it is natural to borrow grain to collect grain. But he is using the country's grain to harm the country's interests and increase his own reputation. Is this reasonable?"
"This is stealing your reputation as the Marquis of Qi. He, a minister and official, wants to steal the reputation of a monarch. What is he doing?"
"The foreign minister doesn't believe it, you don't understand what this is going to do!"
In just a few words, Qi Hou immediately understood. He had also heard about begging in the fields before: big buckets to release grain and small buckets to collect grains, but he wanted to bring some benefits to the clan and the people, so he didn't say much. . Now it seems that this is completely stealing his reputation.
Qi Hou's face was gloomy, and he was obviously suspicious of Tian.
"Fan Qing's words were so shocking that I could see the sun through the clouds. Without Qing's words, I would have been kept in the dark.
Without knowing it! "The Marquis of Qi saluted Fan Li again.
"I don't dare to be a gift from the Marquis of Qi." Fan Li said quickly.
Qi Hou asked respectfully: "Since Fan Qing has seen through Tian's conspiracy, is there any way to deal with it?"
Fan Li smiled and said, "The foreign minister is just an envoy from the Huai Kingdom. This is the internal affairs of Qi. If the foreign minister gets involved, he may be trying to sow discord between the Qi State Office and the Qing clan. Please forgive me, Marquis of Qi!"
The Marquis of Qi's face turned red, and he quickly said to please Fan Qing: "Don't be upset, Fan Qing. I just made a mistake and I apologize to you. I need to ask Fan Qing to speak frankly this time."
Seeing the Marquis of Qi acting like this, Fan Li resigned and said immediately: "Marquis of Qi, as a monarch, it is not difficult for you to deal with him."
"You directly issued an edict to remove them, and then you inspected the warehouses. The warehouses were insufficient in goods. You only issued a warning but did not take action. At the same time, you issued an edict again. The people of the country borrowed grain to tide over the famine, and only needed to provide the grain the following year. Just make up the amount and no interest will be charged.”
"When the people are in poverty, they often borrow money to survive. Many noble families take this opportunity to lend money to the people and earn high interest rates. You, Marquis of Qi, can lend seeds to the people during this period and wait for the autumn harvest. return."
"If you can do these two things well, how can the people not be grateful? With such prestige, when your Majesty goes to punish the field beggars, the people will definitely support you. When the time comes, you will directly deprive him of his status and order other ministers to It can't kill you with just a flip of your palm!"
The Marquis of Qi's eyes brightened when he heard this, and he was very excited: "Fan Qing is really a great talent, I will just do what you say!"
"Qi Hou, the strategy mentioned by Gu needs to be paid attention to the person who implements it. If the person who implements it is greedy or perfunctory, this strategy will not only fail to bring benefits to the people, but will become a strategy that preys on the people."
"How could this be?" Qi Hou was stunned.
"What if someone forces people who are not allowed to borrow money to borrow money? Or what if someone borrows a large amount from the treasury and then lends the food and property to others to make a profit?" Fan Li said.
After hearing the explanation, Qi Hou understood and immediately said seriously: "I understand!"
Fan Li stayed in Qi for two months. Qi and Huai once again swore an alliance to have good relations and not to attack each other. After that, Fan Li left Qi.
"Xiang Fan, do you think the Marquis of Qi can do what you said?" asked the deputy envoy next to him.
"You don't need to follow the instructions completely. As long as you complete eight achievements, it is already very good. If Qihou can really do it, then his control over Qiguo Chaotang will be easy for him to deal with the Tian family!" Fan Li said.
"It's a pity that if you want to achieve this level, it would be possible with the help of a great talent like Guan Zhong. There will definitely be civil strife in the Qi State this time, but as long as the Marquis of Qi wins, this threat will be eliminated."
