Although the political and military reform of Qi under the auspices of Guan Zhong was vigorous, for any reform measures, it must first be guaranteed by sufficient financial support, and Qi Huan Gong did not understand this truth, he once asked Guan Zhong worriedly where the goods came from. Guan Zhong has long been confident about this, because he has long designed a set of economic reform plans for the unique natural conditions of Qi State.

Qi is located in the area of today's Jiaodong Peninsula, where there are many hills and forests, and there is a long coastline, although the development potential in agriculture is slightly inferior to that of the Central Plains, but it has the benefits of fishing and salt, and there are many mineral resources that can be developed; In addition, the extensive water and land transportation also facilitates the transportation and circulation of goods. As the description of the Jiaodong Peninsula in "Shangshu Yugong":

"Shengyi is both slight, Wei and Ziqi. The soil is white, and the seashore is widely reprimanded. The field is only up and down, and the Fu is in the middle. The tribute salt, the sea is wrong. Dai silk, fir tree, lead, pine, strange stones. Laiyi is a herd. Silk. Floating in Wen, reaching in Ji. ”

This slightly archaic text is talking about the geographical environment and characteristics of the Qi country. In order to make the most of these advantages, Guan Zhong established a national policy of prioritizing the development of handicrafts - it was not enough to attract merchants to the Qi country, but also to make them see that the land was profitable.

First of all, the mining and salt industries should be nationalized, and "the mountains should be sold for money, and the sea should be boiled for salt." Private mining may be allowed to mine iron and smelt salt and boil salt in the sea, but it must be monopolized by the government and no private sale is allowed. In this way, the salt and iron trade, which was originally in the hands of nobles and even merchants, was firmly in the hands of the state, fundamentally controlling the economic lifeline of the Qi country, and obtaining high profits through monopoly. Secondly, vigorously promote the local products of Qi country, "pass the fishing salt of Qi country in Donglai", "play well with leather coins, so that the people are in the four directions", and at the same time give merchants from all over the world to sit on Jia to reduce or reduce taxes. As the saying goes, "the world is bustling, all for profit", in the face of such a preferential policy and a rich product market, businessmen naturally moved, and soon crowded Linzi City, which was a grand scene that had never been seen before.

In order to attract a large number of merchants to the Qi State, Guan Zhong also came up with an unprecedented plan. Not long after Guan Zhongwei, the people of Linzi were surprised to find that a large number of houses were built on both sides of the most prosperous street in Linzi City, and every night, there were countless beautiful women dressed in fancy clothes patrolling them, they either leaned on the door to laugh, or chanted and sang, the whole street was brightly lit, almost sleepless all night, decorating a Linzi city with excitement. Therefore, the night market in Linzi City is very prosperous.

Confucius had not yet been born at that time, so there were no Taoist scholars with serious faces who came out and jumped to their feet to scold and scold immorality. While the people of Qi were surprised, they only felt that they were occasionally noisy. However, knowledgeable people soon discovered that since the opening of these official camps known as "Nulu", there were suddenly many outsiders who came to Linzi City, and they simply reached the point of rubbing shoulders and sweating into rain, and the treasury of Qi was gradually full. The country became rich and strong.

Guan Zhong is worthy of being an open-minded reformer, and he was able to think of a clever plan to increase financial revenue by opening a Fengyue place. According to the Qing Dynasty scholar Chu Renhou's notebook "The Sequel to Jian Gu": "Guan Zizhi Qi, put 700 women, and levy their night capital to fill the country, which is the beginning of the pollen money of the teaching workshop." Guan Zhong can be said to be the founder of this ancient industry, and in the later generations of Vashe Goulan, there are many people who worship the statue of Guan Zhong, and Guan Zhong has gradually evolved into the industry protector of the Qinglou brothel.

In fact, for Guan Zhong, the purpose of opening the Fengyue venue is not only to expand financial resources, but more importantly, it can attract a large number of outsiders, and with the flow of personnel, there will be economic exchanges. It is also more conducive to the development of Qi's economy. Guan Zhong, who used to be a businessman, attached great importance to the development of commerce, and he opened seven markets in Linzi, attracting merchants from all over the world, and used Fengyue places to make them forget to return.

In order to cope with the increasing prosperity of the commodity economy, Guan Zhong also ordered the minting of coins. According to economic theory, before the advent of precious metal money, there was a period of bartering, followed by a general equivalent that could take all the exchanges. In the Qi Kingdom, since most of the Chinese people dealt with the sea, weaving nets to catch fish, and boiling the sea to dry salt, the demand for knives was quite extensive, so knives were once used as a general equivalent. The coins minted by Guan Zhong also mimicked the shape of a knife, and this is the knife coin that can still be seen today. Later, the shape of this knife coin was also adopted by Yan Zhao and other places, which shows the influence of Qi's prosperous commerce on other countries.

Of course, business is important, but more than 2,000 years ago, it was not able to fully support a country's economy. Only by developing a solid agricultural foundation and allowing the people to have food to eat, can the country be stable. With the use of iron farming tools, the well-field system has seriously hindered the development of productive forces, so it is necessary to carry out agricultural reform in response to the new situation.

Guan Zhong deeply realized this, and he had a famous saying that has been passed down through the ages: "Cang Liao knows etiquette and knows honor and disgrace when he has enough food and clothing." The meaning of this sentence is roughly similar to what later generations called "the economic base determines the superstructure".

In order to develop production, Guan Zhong simply abolished the well-field system, which had existed in name only, recognized the privatization of land, and allowed land to be bought and sold. This policy greatly encouraged the productive enthusiasm of the landowners - in the past, the land was cultivated for the country, but now the harvest is their own, so why not work? Moreover, the concentration of land resulting from the sale and purchase of land also facilitates the diffusion of new agricultural techniques – this is understandable, but under the well-field system, the land is divided into pieces, and it is difficult to turn around when a cow is allowed to enter, so how can it be possible to pull a plow to plow the land? With the abolition of the well-field system, there was an upsurge in agricultural production in the Qi State.

Of course, the fundamental purpose of promoting agricultural production is to increase tax revenue. In the days of the Ida system, taxes were paid through the unpaid labor of slaves and commoners on the public land, but once the Ida system was abolished, this method obviously did not work—the "public family" had neither money nor slaves. The government's control over the population has declined.

Guan Zhong proposed a corresponding solution: "Decline and decline in phase." "The meaning of this policy is that according to the geographical environment of the land and the amount of harvest, it is divided into three, six, nine and so on, such as flat land, hills, seashores, raw fields, mature fields, etc., and then taxes are levied separately according to the grades. This is in line with the situation after the privatization of land, and at the same time takes into account the emotions of producers as much as possible.

In order to protect the enthusiasm of agricultural production, Guan Zhong also put forward the idea of "no time to seize the people", that is, not to levy labor during the busy agricultural season; prohibit indiscriminate logging and overfishing and protect natural resources; It was forbidden for the nobles to rob the cattle and sheep of the commoners for sacrificial purposes and to protect the breeding of livestock. Through this series of measures, the personal control of the slave owners and aristocrats over the commoners and slaves was further relaxed, and the new socio-economic model was gradually fixed.

The comprehensive reforms carried out by Guan Zhong in Qi achieved immediate results, and in just a few years, Qi basically transformed from a slave economy and took an important and solid step towards a feudal economy. Next, the state of Qi will re-embark on the road of expansion and raise the banner of the overlord.

In the thirtieth year of Lu Zhuang Gong (664 BC), the old opponent Shan Rong, who had invaded Qi State, went south again, attacking the Central Plains, among which the Yan State in the north bore the brunt, a large area of the country fell to the enemy, and the national capital was also besieged.

At the beginning, in order to establish the hegemony of the Qi State, Guan Zhong persuaded the Duke of Qi Huan to play the banner of "respecting the king and fighting the Yi", changing the practice of Qin, Jin, Chu and other powerful countries dominating one side and doing their own thing, and respecting the emperor of Zhou, calling on all vassal states in the world to unite and jointly resist the attacks of Rong Di and other tribes, so that Qi could naturally become the leader of the alliance of various countries.

Now, after Guan Zhong's careful governance, the national strength of Qi is great, and the neighboring vassal states such as Lu, Song, Wei, and Zheng also have a good relationship with Qi, and Qi is in a time when it is prosperous and stable internally and its external prestige is rising. Now that he has received Yan Guo's request for help, Qi Huangong, who prides himself on "respecting the king" and is full of self-confidence, will naturally not refuse people thousands of miles away. So he decided to personally lead the army to go out, not only to rescue the Yan State from hanging upside down, but also to avenge the revenge of the year, and to prevent the Yan State from being destroyed, and the Qi State was cold.

At this time, Shan Rong had entered the Yan Kingdom for more than three months, burning and looting all the way, and a large number of children and jade silks were coerced, and greed had been satisfied to a certain extent, and many soldiers were addicted to seeking pleasure and fun, and could no longer raise the spirit of risking death to kill the enemy. Hearing that the Duke of Qi Huan led a large army to come, the Shanrong army did not dare to fight, so they packed up the spoils and fled.

Seeing Shanrong fleeing, Duke Qi Huan summoned Guan Zhong to ask about the plan, Guan Zhong said: "Shanrong retreats without a fight, his strength is not damaged, and it is very easy to make a comeback." I heard that the leader of the Shanjung was brutal and murderous, and the tribes coerced by him had already rebelled, and now the Shanjung army is unstable and unaligned, if the two countries of Qi and Yan pursue together, they will definitely be able to smash their lair and annihilate their main force, so as to prevent future troubles and ensure the peace of the north. "That is, the so-called weeds must be cut to the roots.

When Duke Qi Huan heard this, he felt that it was reasonable, and found Duke Yanzhuang to discuss the matter, and the two hit it off, and contacted the neighboring country Wuzhongguo, who also had enmity with Shanjung, and led the troops to pursue the Shanjung army together. At this time, the Shanjung soldiers were returning with a full load, happily preparing to go home with the spoils of war to enjoy, without the slightest will to fight, who knew that they were chased by the rank and tail of the Qi Yan Alliance, so they had to rush to meet the battle. The Shanjung army, which had no intention of fighting, collapsed at the first touch, leaving behind a lot of property and people. Duke Qi Huan ordered the captured Shanrong people to be treated kindly, and asked them that the Shanrong army had fled to the country of Guzhu (in present-day Chaoyang, Liaoning). So it was decided to continue the pursuit, destroy the Lone Bamboo Country, and completely stabilize the north.

At this time, the leader of Shanrong had already led the remnants to flee to the country of Guzhu, and offered the property he had captured from the country of Yan to the lord of the country of Guzhu in exchange for the assistance of the country of Guzhu. The lord of the Lone Bamboo Kingdom accepted the property, and sent the general Huang Hua to lead the army to support the Shanrong army, waiting for the Qiyan coalition army to fight together. Unexpectedly, the Qiyan coalition army was unstoppable, and after a fierce battle, the combination of Shan Rong and the Lone Bamboo Army could not resist it.

Seeing that the situation was not good, in order to redeem the merits, Huang Hua decided to make a trick and lead the Qiyan coalition army into the Lost Valley in the vast desert, where there was no water source, and the road was difficult to distinguish, and it was difficult for people without a guide to get out, so it was called "Lost Valley". The Qi Yan coalition army has just arrived, and they don't know the depths, if they really enter the Lost Valley, they will definitely die of hunger and thirst inside, and then Huanghua will be able to win without spending a single soldier.

In order to show his sincerity and not make Duke Qi Huan suspicious, Huang Hua killed the lord of Shanrong who had come to take refuge with a lot of money, and took his head to see Duke Qi Huan. Huang Hua made up a set of lies in front of Qi Huan that the Monarch of Guzhu had led his troops to flee to find rescuers, and that he was willing to surrender to Duke Qi Huan, and said that he led the Qi Yan coalition army to pursue the Monarch of Guzhu to get rid of future troubles.

Qi Huan was very happy to see that Huanghua had brought the head of the lord of Shanrong and that the enemy had been eliminated, so he believed Huanghua's words and led the army to continue north. Who knew that after entering the desert, one accidentally, Huanghua's troops disappeared without a trace, leaving only the Qi Yan coalition army in the misty valley to turn around without knowing the direction, Qi Huan Gong then knew that he had won the plan, and the soldiers were also very frightened when they learned that they were lost in the desert, and the army's heart was greatly shaken.

At this critical moment, Guan Zhong remembered that most of the old horses knew the way, so he suggested that Qi Huan Gong choose a few old horses that Wuzhong had obtained from Shan Rong and put them in front of the army to lead the way. At this time, the army was almost in a desperate situation, and Qi Huan Gong couldn't think of any better way, so he followed Guan Zhong's advice and let the army march behind the selected old horses, and soon after they walked out of the valley.

Later, Qi Huan Gong followed Xi Peng's advice and found a water source according to the growth habits of ants. After resting, the Qiyan coalition army waved its army to take revenge on the Guzhu Kingdom like a wolf, and soon broke through the defenders of the Guzhu Kingdom and the remnants of Shanjung, destroyed the Shanjung and the Guzhu Kingdom, and eliminated the threat of Shanjung to the Central Plains.

The victory was not easy to come by, but the Duke of Qi Huan did not take the fruits of the victory as his own, but gave all the territories originally occupied by the Shanrong and Guzhu Kingdoms to the Duke of Yanzhuang. Yan Zhuang Gong thought that if it weren't for the Duke of Qi Huan to bring troops to help, Yan Guo would probably have died at this moment, and now Yan Guo, who had suffered from military disasters, would not be able to give too many precious gifts to thank Qi Guo, and he would not be able to accept the land that Qi troops fought desperately for.

Duke Qi Huan personally led the army to rescue the Yan State, and also pursued for thousands of miles, and vowed not to give up without destroying the mountains, originally in order to raise the banner of "respecting the king and conquering the country" and establishing the prestige of the Qi State among the vassal states, and naturally he was unwilling to bear a stingy reputation for some wild lands. What's more, the Qi State does not border the territory of Shanrong and Guzhu, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, when the transportation is very inconvenient, it is difficult to control such a distant territory, and after a long time, it will naturally be annexed by the Yan State.

So Duke Qi Huan said to Duke Yanzhuang: "Our country is far away from here, even if you accept it, it is beyond the reach of the whip, you and I are courtiers who guard the territory for the Son of Zhou, please take the Son of Heaven as the priority, guard the border, and keep the Central Plains from invasion." Seeing that Duke Qi Huan raised the banner of Zhou Tianzi and understood Duke Qi Huan's intentions, Duke Yanzhuang no longer shirked and accepted it.

Duke Qi Huan's trip wiped out the Guzhu Kingdom, expelled the forces of Shanjung, and rescued the Yan State from the crisis of national destruction. Duke Yanzhuang was very grateful for Qi Guo's righteous act, so he personally saw off Duke Qi Huan, and was reluctant to part for a long time. It was not until he entered Changlu (now north of Cangzhou, Hebei) in the territory of Qi that he reluctantly separated.

According to the regulations of Zhou Li, without the order of Zhou Tianzi, the princes could not leave the country, and although it was voluntary for the Duke of Qi Huan to enter the Qi realm, it was also a great faux pas for the Duke of Qi Huan. In order to show the great power demeanor of Qi State, and also to buy people's hearts, Qi Huan Gong immediately ordered to draw a ditch as a boundary on the spot, and all the fifty miles of land that Yan Zhuang Gong walked through belonged to Yan State.

In those days, fame was more important in the end.

Rescuing the Yan country and chasing Shanrong is "Zaoyi", drawing a ditch as the boundary, and giving land to Yan is "respecting the king", and the Duke of Qi Huan played very clever with this trick of respecting the king. Since then, Yan has become a more loyal neighbor of Qi than its allies, and Duke Huan of Qi has also become more and more prestigious among the princes, and has a faint tendency to be a hegemon.