"Prime Minister, what Shi Caiqing said is just a general strategy. I think a few key details should be done in order to better enhance the national strength of our great Han Dynasty."
Yang Qing felt that the strategy just proposed was still a bit broad, and some important details had not been touched upon. In fact, history is like this. Often an accidental change will lead to a very different direction. Yang Qing didn't know how much impact his arrival would have on the direction of subsequent history. He just hoped that he could help Zhuge Liang as much as possible to avoid the mistakes that had occurred in the original history. Perhaps when these mistakes no longer happen, the subsequent Northern Expedition may be greatly improved. It’s different. Of course, it was beyond his control how his little butterfly would mess up the history of this world. He just tried his best.
Seeing that Yang Qing still had ideas, Zhuge Liang became hopeful again and said happily: "Oh? Mingzhi still has some good ideas, please tell me quickly."
Yang Qing said: "Prime Minister. Qing believes that if you want to make a difference, you must first practice internal skills, that is, cultivate political affairs internally, and govern the Shu region to accumulate national strength."
"In addition, the wars launched in recent years have greatly depleted the people's strength and the people are extremely burdened. They are in urgent need of recuperation and restoration. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty strongly agrees with the prime minister's strategy of seclusion, farming and cultivating grains, and temporarily ignoring the rebellion in South China." Yang Qing sighed.
Zhuge Liang also sighed: "Yes, the people of Shu have sacrificed too much for the Han Dynasty in recent years, and now they really can't afford to use weapons."
"Therefore, the Qing Dynasty believed that during this period, the court should adopt the strategy of focusing on agriculture to consolidate the foundation and develop business to enrich the country." Yang Qing said: "Farming is the foundation of the country. As long as there is a large amount of grain in hand, no matter whether it is internal governance The use of troops abroad is inseparable from the premise of sufficient grain."
"How to develop agriculture?" Zhuge Liang asked seriously.
"The first step is to build water conservancy projects. With Du'an Weir as the core, we will build large and small water conservancy projects in various places. The Chengdu Plain is a fertile land thousands of miles away. As long as the water supply is constant, farming will be worry-free." Yang Qing said with a smile: "Secondly In order to increase food production, we need to improve farming methods and tools for intensive farming."
When Zhuge Liang heard this, his eyes brightened, and he said anxiously: "Is there any way to improve it?" Yang Qing nodded and said, there are many ways to improve it suitable for future generations. He introduced new agricultural tools such as turning carts and curved shaft plows, as well as tools suitable for dry land. Zhuge Liang briefly explained the plowing technology and paddy field plowing technology. Zhuge Liang was extremely intelligent and proficient in farming, so he quickly understood that Yang Qing’s method was extremely feasible. He was very happy and expressed his gratitude to Yang Qing. Qing’s next strategy is even more exciting.
"The last thing is to accumulate people. Everything depends on people, and farming and cultivating valleys requires a large number of people. However, Yizhou has experienced successive years of turmoil and wars since Emperor Ling. Many people have fled into the mountains and forests, and there are also powerful tyrants who plunder the people. As a guest and hiding their household registration, the number of people registered with the government dropped from five to six million to more than one million, and the population resources directly controlled by the state declined seriously. The Qing Dynasty speculated that the actual number of people in Shu today is about three million, so as long as the imperial court If you can restrain the tyrants and issue decrees such as granting land to the people, lending cattle, seeds, light corvee and small taxes, etc., you can attract the people to establish households, and the country's taxation, military strength, etc. will be greatly enhanced."
Yang Qing knew that the so-called national power was more directly controlled by the country, while powerful families, including the royal family, generally controlled other resources indirectly. In the feudal dynasty, the two were connected and supplementary, but in fact they were more antagonistic. After all, Clan, nobles, and powerful families control resources as private individuals mainly for their own arrogant and luxurious aristocratic life. In a sense, these people are poaching the corners of the court and sucking the blood of the country all the time. Therefore, an upward court can always control their blood-sucking ability by collecting taxes and other methods from these people. Once the court's ability declines, it will not be far from decline and destruction.
For example, at the end of the Ming Dynasty in later generations, as a country with a population of hundreds of millions, the wealth it created was so huge. Logically speaking, to deal with the Manchus outside the customs, you can say that you need money, people, and food, which means using national power to pile up the capital. It can kill the Qing Dynasty. However, the imperial court had no money. A large amount of wealth was seized by the nobles of the clan, powerful gentry, eunuchs and giant merchants. They used their expanding privileges for more than two hundred years to escape and transfer taxes. Most of the costs of the imperial court's rule were borne by farmers and handicraft industries. This group of people were already in poverty, so the more the Ming court increased taxes, the heavier the burden on the people, and the more people rebelled. In order to suppress the uprising, the court had to increase taxes, and the people couldn't bear it and rebelled again. It's so vicious. How could the circulation be invincible to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which was watching covetously outside the pass?
Therefore, the more real idea in Yang Qing's heart is not to suppress the powerful but to attack the powerful. It is just that it is inconvenient to say so deeply when meeting Zhuge Liang for the first time. Of course, in the feudal dynasty, if a powerful family attacked too hard, it would be possible to shake the foundation of rule. After all, this was still the era of the Three Kingdoms' struggle for hegemony. If they were forced to join Wei and Wu, it would be counterproductive.
Therefore, there are generally two ways to solve this problem. One is to make the cake bigger, so that the powerful families will not always focus on the people of Shu. As long as they win the battle with Wei and Wu, they will make a profit. Then the wealthy families will do their best to support the Han Dynasty. The second is to divide the cake well. This is mainly to follow the practices of the ancestors of the Han Dynasty and continuously protect and strengthen the peasants, and strictly prohibit the wealthy families from infringing on the interests of the common people. Only leaders with superb political capabilities and an efficient government can effectively grasp this degree, and this was exactly the case for the Shu Han court during the Zhuge Liang period. Therefore, Yang Qing decided to slowly discuss this important matter with Zhuge Liang, who admired the rule of the Han Dynasty.
Seeing Zhuge Liang nod his head in approval, he continued: "Commercial trade can exchange goods all over the world, and it is actually the way to enrich the country and benefit the people. In the past, Guan Zhong used the art of trade and trade, and Qi became strong and hegemonic. Therefore, if we want to strengthen our country, we, a great Han, must do something I’m very happy with this article.”
Zhuge Liang studied quite a lot. In addition to the normal Confucian classics, he was also particularly proficient in the studies of Lao Zhuang and Guan Han. He once personally copied books such as "Shenzi", "Hanfeizi", "Guanzi" and "Six Tao" for the emperor Liu Chan. He also compared himself to Guan Zhong and Le Yi, which shows that Zhuge Liang highly respected Guan Zhong, so Zhuge Liang also attached great importance to the role of commerce and had his own ideas on the cultivation of goods. He saw that Yang Qing also understood the benefits of a large-scale commodity farming to enrich the country and benefit the people. At this moment, he was even more looking forward to Yang Qing's brilliant plan.
"Does Mingzhi have any clever ideas for promoting business?"
Yang Qing smiled and replied: "The Prime Minister is an expert in this field, and Qing is just doing his own thing. Regardless of internal or external business wars, if the court wants to win, the key is to have more of the goods necessary for others, so that others can ask for help. I have more, and I ask others for less, so that I can be invincible. And this lifeline, salt and iron, needless to say, the early Han Dynasty made the country rich by specializing in it, and there are still a large number of commodities in Yizhou, Wei and Wu What other places need is silk brocade from Sichuan. As long as it is produced in large quantities, it will be sold as far as Wei and Wu and even more remote places, so Yizhou will be rich."
Yang Qing stopped to take a sip of tea, and then said: "By the way, Prime Minister, there is another thing that will attract people to buy it, especially Hu people."
"What?" Zhuge Liang asked puzzled.
"That's it." Yang Qing pointed to the tea cup on the desk.
"Tea?"
"Exactly." Yang Qing said: "Of course it is not the boiled tea soup now, but tea made through special techniques such as steaming and frying. This kind of tea only needs to be brewed with water and does not require other ingredients. Add, leaving only the fragrance."
"I remembered it." Zhuge Liang suddenly said: "Yesterday, when my wife came back, she told me about the method of making tea you mentioned. She was very complimentary. It was just because she was not at home yesterday that she had no time to make it."
"After the Qing Dynasty returns, I will make more tea leaves to taste with the prime minister."
Zhuge Liang nodded and asked: "I can foresee that this tea will be highly praised by the world, especially the wealthy, but how can the barbarians need it on a large scale?"
Yang Qingdao: "Hu people eat meat all the year round, and their stomachs are naturally greasy and unbearable, and they even get sick from it. However, as Qing said, tea can detoxify and eliminate diseases, relieve greasiness, and eliminate fat. Once the Hu people get it, they will never be able to do without it." This thing. In this way, the imperial court can make tea for the barbarians and exchange it for the war horses of the barbarians, making a huge profit."
"Wonderful." Zhuge Liang praised, and then he thought further. He would definitely deal with the Qiang Hu during the Northern Expedition. Once he was lured and controlled with tea, he could subdue the Qiang Hu for his own use.
Zhuge Liang was pleasantly surprised by all the strategies presented by Yang Qing today. The two of them talked about farming and business, and then from business to military matters. One was extremely wise and talented, the other was knowledgeable and had fantastic ideas. The two chatted more and more happily and unknowingly more than two hours had passed. During this period, many officials from the Prime Minister's Mansion came to see them, but they were blocked by the soldiers guarding outside the door. Until it was dark, Chang Shi Wanglian came in and said that it was time for dinner, so why not eat first. Although Zhuge Liang felt that he still had more to say, he still couldn't let Yang Qing go hungry, so he had to order people to put food on the table and invite Wang Lian to join him for dinner.
