After the military people left, Ying Zheng asked Zhao Gao to bring Lu Buwei. When it came to who was the best moneymaker in the Qin State, Lu Buwei was the first choice. As a former wealthy businessman, Lu Buwei was proficient in the art of merchants. Over the years, he The only way he could support such a large number of customers and servants was his own caravan.
After hearing Ying Zheng's idea of making money, Lu Buwei pondered for a moment and said
"The way of a merchant lies in circulation. Transporting salt from the East China Sea to the northwest, transporting new firewood from Chu to Yan, and transporting cheap goods from one place to another scarce place. These are the most ordinary merchants, but the real ones Most of the merchants earn money from the powerful and other merchants. The common people don’t have much money left in their hands. In addition to satisfying their daily livelihood, they basically won’t buy other things. Therefore, the powerful and other merchants are the most important merchants. The goal.
The most indispensable thing for the powerful and wealthy businessmen is money. What they want is nothing more than food, vanity, scarcity, lust, or fame. It is easy to get money from them, but it is also very difficult. Disaster. "
"What can Father Zhong and Teacher do?" Ying Zheng asked, looking at the two of them.
"If there is anything that is the easiest to make money, it is nothing more than salt and iron. However, the country cannot easily sell these two things, especially now that Qin is going to war with other countries, they are even more scarce." Lu Buwei said, doing business is inherently stagnant. , it is very difficult to become fat in one go through a mountain of steps.
"I have an idea, open a restaurant." Ziyou said looking at Ying Zheng and Lu Buwei.
"Restaurants? There are many restaurants in Xianyang, and most of them have been operating for a long time. I'm afraid it will be difficult to earn enough money to support the army in a short period of time." Ying Zheng said, if a restaurant wants to be famous, it must rely on fresh and delicious food and wine, or enough With a big reputation, it is often not easy for a newly opened wine shop to survive.
"Most of the well-known large restaurants in Xianyang are run by people sent from the court, so there is a big gap in service with the private businesses of ordinary people and merchants. However, due to legal restrictions, these private restaurants dare not expand, so the quality of large restaurants has deteriorated. It's very bad, and the powerful people don't like it. Although the service in a small place is good, the place is not noble enough, and the powerful people don't like it.
The king might as well let the young man run a luxurious restaurant, provide good services, and let these dignitaries and officials spend their money. The most important thing is to make this restaurant open and open to all seven countries, so that the rich and powerful in other countries can satisfy their needs. Our Qin country needs it. " Ziyou said.
Although the laws of the State of Qin have strict requirements for officials, they are still allowed to enter and leave wine shops. During this time, Li Si has begun to modify the laws of Qin. Some of the laws have been changed. Compared with the previous strictness, they have become relatively open-minded. .
"This is a good idea. Let some famous ministers or dignitaries eat and spend money in the restaurant, and then build up the reputation of the restaurant. Of course, even if the dignitaries are rich, they cannot go there every day. You can also build more floors in the restaurant to increase the reputation of the restaurant. The floors are divided into different levels according to the price of consumption. The higher the floor, the better the service. People who like to compare will naturally spend more money to go to higher floors." Lu Buwei said with bright eyes.
What do the rich and powerful like most? Of course, it is a matter of face and luxury, but the Qin State is simple and simple, especially the Qin kings in the past dynasties do not like this kind of extravagant behavior. Therefore, the powerful officials of the Qin State also create this simple behavior on the surface, but privately they also They will not treat themselves badly, and now that they have such a place for them to enjoy themselves, they will naturally spend money. As for whether they are worried that these ministers will become corrupt because of this, Lu Buwei thinks they will not make fun of their nine tribes, and now There is no shortage of officials in the Qin State, and the Confucian disciples brought here by Ziyou don't have to worry about this for the time being.
Qin's current level of reading and literacy is higher than before. This is all due to the Confucian disciples brought by Ziyou. Most of these disciples are at the grassroots level. Many of them are assistant positions and usually do not have many jobs. matter.
As a result, the gene of teaching and being a teacher in the Confucian disciples began to stir up, and one by one they started to open private schools, imitating Confucius at the time. They only collected two meat sticks or a little grain, and let the children of ordinary families enter the school to study, although it cannot be said that they taught them. What celebrities, but it also allowed them to get rid of their status as the head of Guizhou.
"As for the seven kingdoms, I'm afraid Qin won't be able to come forward. It's best to choose an agent from a hundred families." Ying Zheng said.
If the State of Qin were to come forward to open it in other countries, I am afraid it would be regarded as an intermediary institution. Ying Zheng prefers Confucianism because it has enough disciples, they are all literate, and they are reliable, but Confucianism does not like this kind of businessmen. His behavior was disdainful, and for a moment Ying Zheng didn't know who to let him come.
Lu Buwei and Ziyou thought about it for a while, but no one thought of a suitable one. Ziyou said
"You can let people in the net take care of it in the name of Confucianism. There are no talents who are good at business in Confucianism."
"Will Confucianists agree?" Ying Zheng asked.
"Confucianism only values righteousness over profit, but it doesn't mean it doesn't care about profit at all. It gives part of the share to Xiaoshengxian Village, and it's not for Confucian disciples to run the restaurant, so there is nothing to worry about." Ziyou said, not only does Confucianism not pay attention to the affairs of merchants, Everyone in the world is the same, and Confucianism is not looking down on merchants. Confucianism believes that merchants are an important tool for the circulation of goods, and believes that merchants need to be placed in the right place. What they oppose is the greed of merchants and the behavior of focusing on profit over justice.
"This matter bothers the teacher. Please discuss it with the Confucian family." Ying Zheng said.
"Leave this matter to me and I will be responsible for it," Ziyou said.
"It's not enough to rely on restaurants alone. Your Majesty can ask the young master to set up a caravan specifically for the royal family, and let them do business for the royal family to make money." Lu Buwei said, there are also officials doing business, and he is an example, but most people They all look down on and can't play with merchants, and most of them are various shops run by the government to make money. A small part of the profit belongs to the young government, and most of it goes to the court's finances.
If the young master had his own caravan, it would be able to support the royal family's finances to a great extent.
Ying Zheng fell into deep thought after listening to Lu Buwei's words. The royal caravan sounded like an insult to the majesty of the royal family, but in fact, he had no money and could not afford to support an army with such dignity. Ying Zheng could already imagine what he would do if he announced the opening of the royal caravan. , how many dignitaries and officials will report that this is competing for interests with the people, Ying Zheng expressed his concerns.
After hearing what Ying Zheng said, Zi You smiled disdainfully.
"What is there to compete with the people for profit? There are only a few common people in the world who can be worthy of merchants. The so-called competition with the people for profit is just a loss of their interests. With the royal caravan, they have an extremely powerful competitor, so they It is for their own benefit that they shout something to compete with the people. If they dare to shout this slogan, I will let them know what the power of the people is."
"Please also ask Father Zhong and Teacher to come up with a charter." Ying Zheng said.
Ziyou and Lu Buwei agreed and left. Lu Buwei whispered on the way
"Mr. Ziyou, the current Qin State still needs Qin Fa to maintain a strong enough combat effectiveness. Are some ideas too early?"
Of course Ziyou knew what Lu Buwei was talking about. He was referring to some laxities in the Qin Law revised by Li Si, and the relaxation of civil restrictions that Ziyou had proposed in a memorial. It was more about some policy issues, which made Lu Buwei think it was It’s not that the steps are too big. In the past, Qin was a strict Legalist country. Now Ziyou hopes to integrate Taoist inaction among the people and Confucian benevolence and unity in politics.
The latter was okay. For the Qin State, it could strengthen the power of the king and correct the bad governance left over from the past, so Lu Buwei allowed it. The inaction of the former was to loosen some restrictions among the people and reduce the control of the court over the people. Lu Buwei feels that this is too far for the current Qin State. This should be what Fusu should do after the world is unified and the world is completely stable, not now.
"No need to say more, Marquis Wenxin, I naturally understand these things. What I propose is not now, but I hope that after the world is unified, the people of the six countries will not go through the process of Qin's reforms, nor will it take a long time to adapt to Qin's laws. , so I hope that we will not adopt too strict policies towards them, but gradually, it does not mean that we should let go of civil restrictions now, Qin still needs enough power to unify the world." Ziyou said.
Lu Buwei nodded. He naturally knew Ziyou's true thoughts, but some people didn't understand.
The policy proposed by Ziyou was in the stage of governance and cultivation after the unification of the world, not now. However, some officials did not think so. They thought that the king would definitely agree to the policy proposed by Ziyou, so they thought of taking advantage of it by taking the first step. Not asking for credit, but fortunately Lu Buwei is still there, with enough sense and prestige to suppress these, so that Qin's chariot will not overturn.
"Please worry about this, Marquis Wenxin," Ziyou said, saluting Lu Buwei.
Every old man in the family is like a treasure. Lu Buwei is now the keystone of the Qin State. What Ziyou, Li Si and some young people are now proposing are attempts, and it is inevitable that there will be extreme and big steps. At this time, Lu Buwei needs to step forward as a conservative to pull them back.
Gradually, the Qin court was divided into conservatives and radicals. The radicals were responsible for trying, while the conservatives were responsible for preventing Qin from overturning. Fortunately, they met Ying Zheng, a wise monarch with his own ideas, and Ying Zheng did not. Will support who opposes whom, mediate and make decisions that are beneficial to Qin. No matter which faction they are, as long as it is beneficial to Qin, Ying Zheng will agree to try.
"This is natural. I also hope that I can shine for Qin's great plan for the rest of my life." Lu Buwei said. He also understood what his mission was. He ensured that Qin did not overturn and at the same time used his own experience to teach and guide the newcomers. , in Lu Buwei's opinion, the newcomers in the Qin court are still too immature, including Ziyou, but this is normal, so they need old guys to continue to hold official positions, otherwise these old people don't want to fool around with their grandchildren, and live a life What about a happy old age?
Ziyou and Lu Buwei continued to walk outside, while discussing the recent major events of the Qin Kingdom and the previous wars between Han, Wei and Chu. As the two leaders of the young and strong faction and the old faction, communication between the two is very necessary. Instead of returning to their respective mansions, they came together to work in the main hall set up for the officials of the Prime Minister's Palace.
This main hall is called the Director's Hall. Ziyou imitated the later Tang Dynasty's Zhongshu Province and the Ming Dynasty's cabinet system. Ministers headed by Sangong work here. Generally speaking, there are very few people here. Most of them are Sangong and his subordinates. officials, Jiuqing has his own official residence.
The Sangong and his subordinate officials work here and are responsible for reviewing the memorials sent by the ministers. Most of them are young officials. This is to train these young people to exercise their ability to deal with a large number of memorials and affairs. They have been trained for several years. After their ability to handle government affairs is good, they can be transferred to other places to let them practice what they have learned, and then be deployed and rewarded based on their political performance.
These memorials will also be classified according to type. If it is an emergency, it will be handed over to Sangong as soon as possible or handed over to Ying Zheng by the chamberlain, so that Ying Zheng can make the decision. Normal memorials require Ying Zheng to nod and watch. It will be sent to Ying Zheng's palace, and some daily matters and greetings from local ministers will be replied by them. The writing will be written in a book and given to Zhao Gao, who will read it to Ying Zheng.
Seeing Lu Buwei and Ziyou walking in, everyone saluted them and then continued to process the memorials. Even the three-year-old Fusu was hugged here, lying in the pile of memorials, holding a memorial in style. He looked at it, but he didn't quite understand the specific meaning. Fusu was now enlightened and could recognize a lot of characters and write some.
When Fusu saw Lu Buwei coming over, he stood up and ran towards Lu Buwei with a smile. Lu Buwei also smiled and picked up Fusu. Others saw this scene and consciously plunged their heads into the memorial. Lu Buwei's behavior was actually beyond the limit. , but Ying Zheng didn't say anything, and they didn't dare to say anything, but they couldn't applaud, they could only pretend they didn't see it.
Ziyou didn't say much when he saw this. Fusu struggled to get out of Lu Buwei's arms and said to Ziyou:
"Meet the Master."
"Well, what words have you recognized recently?" Ziyou asked with a smile.
"Sir taught me Zhuangzi," Fusu said.
Ziyou was stunned, were all the ancients so fierce? I studied Zhuangzi at the age of three, but then I realized that there were no enlightening books for the ancients. Most of the teachings were based on the teacher's preferences and feelings, and the difficulty level came second.
After Ziyou chatted with Fusu for a few more words, he handed Fusu to Lu Buwei, sat aside and took out a blank piece of paper, and began to write the "Disciples' Rules", "Three Character Classic" and "Thousand Character Classic" based on his own memory. Of course, they are all castrated versions, and Zi You dare not write about some of the things that have not happened yet, especially the sentence in the "Three Character Classic" about the victory over the Qin family and the beginning of the annexation. In the second generation, Chu and Han fought.
The following ones are all written by choice. Of course, there are also additions made by Ziyou himself. For example, he wrote about his teacher Xunzi, which must be included in every article. The things that make up for the deletions have been revised and rhymed. It took a lot of Ziyou's attention, otherwise it would not have taken Ziyou so much time to just write three articles silently.
Everyone looked at what Ziyou was writing seriously. They were all very curious, but they didn't dare to disturb him. They could only endure their curiosity and wait for Ziyou to finish writing.
(End of chapter)
