readx;?readx; Chapter 655 The poor are only left with money

A breeze blew, the branches and leaves rattled, and under the mottled shadows of the trees, stood King Wucheng and the head of the dynasty. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Why did the prince do this?" After all, Guantao is Guantao, there is no hysteria or mourning, but he quickly recovered from the shock and asked in a deep voice: "You know that there is no market, and you still eat the goods of Qi and Chu on a large scale, and you must have a goal more valuable than 200 million taels." ”

"I'll correct you first, if it weren't for the damn 'Crusades', we wouldn't have lost so much." Qin Lei was very satisfied with Guan Tao's reaction, this is the bearing that a country Zaifu should have, so he smiled and said: "I am now also made it difficult to ride a tiger and cannot continue, so I am ready to start a war." Rubbing his hands regretfully, he said: "If it can be carried out for another five years, it is a matter of one sentence to make Qi Chu bow down and be a minister, so why spend so much effort." ”

"What specific article did the prince make?" Seeing that Qin Lei always talked about him left and right, Guan Tao was going crazy.

"When we fought against the Qi Kingdom, we found that for every 1,000 enemies we killed, we had to lose 800 ourselves. That battle of Makino made me see what it means to be 'man is not as good as heaven'. Only then did Lone completely believe in the book of war, go to the army to plot, then attack the enemy, then attack the army, and then attack the city. Qin Lei sighed lightly and said, "So eight years ago, I decided to try to weaken the opponent's combat effectiveness, and it is best to win without a fight, and at worst to establish an absolute advantage." ”

"What does this have to do with your big deal?" Guantao nodded and asked.

"Of course it's a big deal." Qin Lei gritted his teeth and smiled: "This matter has to start with the Eastern Tour six years ago......

Qin Lei said that from the first year to the second year of Tianyou, he toured all parts of the country, and in addition to inspecting the local civil affairs, he also had an important task, that is, to meet with the generals who led the troops and unify their understanding of strategic thinking with them.

Naturally, the generals asked him for battle, asking that after the national strength was restored, they would lead the army to attack Qi to take revenge, and then use the might of the army to deter the Chu State as a vassal. But Qin Lei didn't agree with such recklessness at all, and he said to the generals: "The hundred-legged insect dies but does not stiffen, after all, the Qi country is a big country, and if we fight with them, even if we can win, it will be a miserable victory." What's more, the State of Chu will never watch the State of Qi perish, what do you think are the chances of winning when Great Qin faces the attacks of the North and the South at the same time? ”

The generals were speechless by these words, and although they were entrusted, they also knew that the difficulty of fighting on two fronts was not as simple as one plus one equaling two, but a terrible multiplication.

The generals, who were anxious for revenge, had no choice but to ask the prince what his plan was. Qin Lei smiled: "There is a way, but if you say it, it won't work." You only need to train your soldiers and horses, and then you will know. The generals who couldn't figure it out had no choice but to suppress the curiosity in their hearts, train the troops honestly, and wait for the moment when they would see the difference.

Then Qin Lei secretly ordered Yin Ma Kui Ma Dagui of Luoyang Prefecture to start exporting an appropriate amount of grain to Qi State; At the same time, he also ordered Qin Ji, the king of Jianming County, to send merchants to Qi to buy various precious medicines such as deer antler velvet and musk, as for tea, silk, sugar and other consumer goods.

At that time, the Qin and Qi had just ended a major war, and the relationship between the two sides was very tense, except for the great welcome of the low-cost grain of the Qin State, the Qi people were not willing to do other business with the Qin people.

But this was not a difficult matter, and the merchants sent by Qin Ji threatened everywhere in the Qi State: 'These things are to be sold to the Western Regions through the Silk Road, not for Qin's own use. And opened one tael of high-grade 'flower deer antlers' two taels of gold, one tael of high-grade musk thirty taels of gold, as for the purchase price of other items, it was also five to ten times higher than the price of Qi at that time.

At that time, the state of Qi was in a period of hardship after a serious overdraft of national strength, not only the common people were poor and in urgent need of food to survive the famine, but even the big families and wealthy merchants also suffered heavy losses and were eager to recover, so they had no resistance to the high-priced purchases of Qin merchants at all.

After someone took the lead, the people of Qi actively traded with the Qin people, and sure enough, it was cash on delivery, and Tong Su was not bullied, which made the whole country of Qi quite excited.

Of course, this kind of transaction attracted the attention of the Qi court, but after heated discussions in the Manchu Dynasty, they did not find anything bad for the country...... For the Qi court, which is heavily in debt and short of money, this is simply a great benefit, too good to be better!

In order to turn losses into profits and make huge profits, the monarchs and ministers of Qi unanimously decided to take out the treasures in the treasury and the inner treasury and sell them for money! After all these years of accumulation, there are hundreds of catties of musk in the inner curry alone, how much silver should this be exchanged for.

Of course, for the sake of prudence, the emperor still accepted Baishenggong's suggestion and issued an order to strictly restrict the export of military materials such as copper, iron, cowhides, etc., but fortunately, the people of Qin did not accept this for the time being.

The enthusiastic transaction continued until the next year, and the Qi State sold almost all the domestic inventory to the Qin State, but the price was scarcity and scarce, and it went up vigorously, and by April of the third year of Tianyou, one or two musks had risen to seventy taels of gold; Deer antler velvet has also reached the point of exchanging one tael for six taels of gold. It's jaw-dropping, and it's crazy crazy!

When the common people see one or two deer antler velvets, they can make the middle and upper families live comfortably for a few months, and one or two musks can live a few years. Where can I farm again? So they put down their farm tools, made hunting tools, and went to the deep mountains and old forests, grasslands and barren valleys to catch musk deer and deer. The officers were also red-eyed, and they stopped the training of the troops, and ordered their subordinates to change their weapons into hunting equipment, and carried out hunting in an organized and disciplined manner...... The efficiency is far greater than that of the average citizen.

But that doesn't mean everyone gets rich overnight, and even if you catch a musk deer or a deer, don't be too happy, because neither deer antler nor musk is so easy to get. For example, musk, this thing is isolated from the sachets of male musk deer, and in order to get one or two pure musk ketones, nearly a thousand male musk deer must be killed. In addition, the common people do not know the male and female, and often kill the female musk deer who does not have a sachet. You can imagine how rare it is...... Although the situation of deer antler velvet is better, not as rare as musk, but the price difference between these two things is there, and in order to make the same amount of money, the number of sika deer and red deer killed is even far greater than that of musk deer.

For a time, the land of Qi became a hell for the two beautiful creatures of deer and musk deer, only in three years and one year, hundreds of thousands of musk deer were killed, and the number of sika deer and red deer killed reached a million!

While the people of Qi have made a lot of money, these beautiful creatures have also been bleeding like rivers and are almost extinct, but no one will feel sorry for them......

And the most intelligent family, while going up the mountain into the forest to get a piece of the pie, also realized that according to such a method, the number of domestic deer and musk deer will soon drop sharply, how to continue to make money at that time? How else is it said that the big family is far-sighted? People are prepared for danger at home!

This is difficult for the smart big families, they see the crops in the field stubble after stubble, the pigs and sheep in the family generation after generation, children and grandchildren, endless, and finally suddenly realized, since we can raise pigs and cattle, why can't we raise deer and musk deer? They opened up pastures one after another, and ordered musk deer and deer to be bred and fed.

When the high-ranking officers of the army saw that this was a good idea, they all stopped hunting, caught these two animals, and fed them on the pasture of the barracks.

Seeing that the powerful ones have set up breeding farms, the ordinary people are not idle...... Although they don't have the ability to raise these things on a large scale, they can grow mulberry trees, tea trees, sugar cane, etc., etc., and everything is much more cost-effective than farming!

Someone must be asking, the big guys hunt for hunting, and the trees for planting trees. What do you eat if you don't farm? What do you pay for the land rent?

Speaking of which, the people of Qi are about to collapse, they will be very proud and relieved to tell you, worrying, there are Qin people farming for us! Who let the great Qin State have a bumper harvest of grain every year, but there are neither deer nor musk deer, not even tea trees, mulberry trees, and sugar cane?

Therefore, in the Qin-Qi trade, the Qin State could only exchange 10,000 catties of grain for one or two musks from the other party, which was really a loss...... Therefore, according to the current price of grain, the people of Qi only need to take out a small part of their income to meet their daily needs, and even pay rent and pay grain to buy directly, anyway, it is much more cost-effective than growing it themselves.

It's really God's eyes, it's obvious that the people of Qin are in control of the business, but the money has been earned by the people of Qi. The poor people of Qin must be wiping their saliva while asking themselves why they are so unlucky?

But the people of Qi didn't save money at the beginning, because whether it is captive musk deer or mulberry tea, it requires a high upfront investment, and it takes a year or two from preparation to output. If you want to scale, three or five years is necessary. During this time, I could only watch the rising prices and wipe my saliva while pinching my fingers to count the days.

At this time, the people of Chu State, who had been drooling for a long time, also joined, and they said, we also have these things, and they are more and better than those of Qi State, do you want to?

In fact, Qin Lei really didn't want it, but as soon as he refused, he would wear a gang, so he had to slap his swollen face and become fat, beat his teeth and swallow it in his stomach, and agreed to open an acquisition point in Jingzhou Mansion to buy musk, deer antler, silk, tea, and sugar from the Chu people...... But it is consoling that with the accession of the Chu people, the Qi can no longer monopolize all exports, and thus loses its pricing power. The prices of these precious items have also dropped a little...... The price of musk in the third year of Tianyou fell to forty taels of gold, and the price of deer antler velvet also reached four taels of gold, a drop of nearly half.

Therefore, Qin Lei's plan was quite smooth four years ago before Tianyou...... Those things are really valuable in the Western Regions, although the purchase price is already terrifyingly high, but basically every time they don't lose money, and even have a slight surplus.

It wasn't until the fifth year of Tianyou's reign that the ranch manors of Qi began to grow into a climate, and the output of musk deer antler velvet and other valuables increased significantly. At the same time, the West began the 'Crusades', and the two sales channels that Qin Ji had built with great difficulty were all interrupted...... Under the guidance of this kind of thinking, the people of the Qin State did not dare to press the price too hard, and still bought musk at the price of thirty taels of gold, and deer antler velvet at the price of two taels of gold, and as for the price of tea and silk, it was not lower than the original purchase price.

In addition, starting the following year, the breeding farms and plantations widely set up by Southern Chu following the example of Qi also began to be mass-produced, and Qin Lei's silver taels, which seemed to never be spent, flowed to the sea like the water of the Yellow River from the sky, never to return.

What a crazy time it is, as long as you can produce those things, you can exchange them for several times more gold, where is this production of deer antler musk, is it simply the production of real gold!

The military and civilian gentry of the two countries are completely out of control, they no longer care about how the grain is grown, and they are no longer engaged in the business of 'making gold', and the people in the feedlot go all out to breed, give birth, feed, and harvest; The people of Mulberry Garden went all out to plant mulberry, raise silkworms, and weave; The people in the tea garden go all out to plant, pick and fry tea; The people of the sugar cane plantation are planting, harvesting, pressing, and collecting with all their might!

For the first time in the history of both countries, everyone is fully committed to one thing.

The mountains of gold and silver in the treasury blocked the mouths of all opponents, yes, what can't be bought with money? So to be rich is to be strong......

The price of this huge illusion that a fool can also make a lot of money is that in just two and a half years, there was a huge loss of 200 million taels of silver in Qin Lei's 'war fund account', which is exactly equivalent to the total treasury income of Qin in the past two and a half years, according to Qin Lei...... That's an astronomical amount!

"If you ask what you get for 200 million taels, I'll tell you now." After telling the ins and outs of the matter to Guan Tao, Qin Lei lowered his voice and said: "In exchange, ninety percent of the cultivated land of the Qi State has been changed to pasture plantations, although the Chu State has a vast territory and still retains a large amount of cultivated land, it has been barren for a long time, don't think about a good harvest in a few years!" ”

"Grain ......" Guan Tao finally understood, and said with a dry mouth: "They got gold and silver, and we have a monopoly on grain!" ”

"Yes!" Qin Lei patted Guan Tao's shoulder vigorously and said in a low voice: "As long as I give the order to prohibit a grain from flowing out of the country, what do you say about the Qi Congress?" What will happen to the state of Chu? ”.

The lesson is that there are many ways to achieve a certain goal. The smartest thing is to win without spending a single soldier.

"The Qi State will run out of food, and the Chu State will also have a large shortage of food, and it will be too busy to take care of itself." Pavilion Tao's eyes were shining.

"Yes, as long as we cut off the food supply, within a month, the country of Qi will fall into a food shortage, soaring food prices, and a depreciation of gold and silver; In less than a quarter, a large number of poor people will be completely cut off from cooking, and they will have to take risks and rob the rich; In less than half a year, the Qi ** team will also lose its combat effectiveness due to lack of food. Qin Lei smiled and said, "As for the Chu State, as you said, although it is not as dangerous as the Qi State, the support that can be given to the Qi State is also extremely limited...... At least food is out of the question. ”

"The prince is so bold and good!" After a long aftertaste, Guan Tao Peicai's five-body cast a mouthful: "Your purpose is to destroy the enemy's national strength, and you hide the real plan under the gorgeous appearance, and the two are harmonious and unified, without a little rejection. He paused and said with a smile: "Actually, the reason is very simple, if you hunt deer and raise silkworms, you will not farm, if you don't farm, there will be no food, and if you don't have grain and grass, the army will lose its combat effectiveness." This is like a clever woman who is difficult to cook without rice, no matter how powerful Zhao Wuyi is, he can't compete with my Great Qin's army! ”

Shaking out the secret that had been hidden in his heart for many years, Qin Lei was also very happy, laughing and said, "Sometimes I have to admire myself. Saying that, he patted the pavilion Tao and said: "Go back quickly, an hour has passed unconsciously." ”

Guan Tao realized that the sun was obviously westerly, scratched his head and said, "Send the prince first, and then I'll go back." ”

Qin Lei shook his head and smiled: "No need, whoever of us is with whom, we will be polite, but it would be too rude for you, the groom, not to go back...... Have a nice day. With that, he got into the carriage and drove out slowly.

Guan Tao watched the carriage leave, but when he saw that he hadn't gone far, the prince poked his head out of the window and beckoned to him.

Guan Tao thought that he had something to order, so he hurriedly ran over and said, "What does the prince command?" ”

"Two things." Qin Lei smiled and stretched out two fingers and said, "First, you'd better go and change your clothes first, see that you are dirty, not like a groom, but like a dung beetle." Guan Tao looked down and saw that it was indeed the case. But he was sitting and kneeling on the ground just now, and the dress on his body was dirty, so he just smiled and nodded: "My subordinates are too disadvantageous, so I will change them when I go back." ”

"Very good, second question." Qin Lei curled up a finger and asked, "Are you really still a virgin?" As he spoke, he looked at Guantao with a scrutinizing face, as if he was judging whether there was really a forty-year-old virgin in this world.

Guan Tao listened to the guards on the side eat and laughed, and his old face suddenly turned into a big red cloth, and he said indignantly: "The prince is still worried about how to make up the hole of 200 million taels." ”

"Don't worry, the Lone King already has a countermeasure." Qin Lei smiled and said, "What about you?" ”

"You don't have to worry about it, anyway, it's not after tonight." Guantao replied in a sullen voice.