The day after the banquet, Qi Hou had a private banquet for Fan Li, and Qi Hou had a good impression of Fan Li. Fan Li is personable, handsome, and rich in language skills, Qi Hou is very happy.

"What does Fan Qing think of my Qi Kingdom?"

"The country of Qi is rich, Linzi is shoulder to shoulder, the flow of people is like weaving, the merchants are like a tide, and there is no such prosperity in Bangzhou." Hearing Fan Li's admiration, Qi Hou 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 the office under this prosperity is in danger of extinction."

Qi Hou was slightly stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "Fan Qing is alarmist, the country of Lonely Qi has a land of thousands of miles, a population of several million, 100,000 armor, and the national strength is at its peak, how can there be a danger of extinction?"

"Among the nations, only Jin Chuhuai can be compared to the Lonely Qi Kingdom!"

"Now that the Huai State has sent envoys to make friends, the six secretaries of the Jin State are fighting for power, and the Chu State is also busy with internal affairs, and tens of thousands of troops can be gathered just near Linzi, how does Fan Qing think that the Qi State is in danger of losing the country?"

"Fan Qing is not here to provoke the relationship between my Qi State Office and the Qing clan!"

Hearing Qi Hou's words, Fan Li was not embarrassed to be debunked because of false words, but said softly: "Qi Hou, what you said is right, Qi has thousands of miles, one hundred and twenty cities, and one hundred thousand armor, which is the leading big country in Bang Zhou. At present, no country can destroy the Qi country."

"But if the country of Qi is strong, is the office also strong? Does Qi Hou think that the current Bang Zhou is stronger than the Bang Zhou hundreds of years ago?"

"Is the Zhou Chamber of Nabang Zhou still as strong as it was a hundred years ago?"

"How strong was the Zhou Chamber in the past, the Son of Heaven was angry, and the princes trembled, but now what is it?"

"The foreign minister remembered that more than a hundred years ago, Zhou Tianzi fled, and even had to rely on the power of the princes to move east to become Zhou. Back then, Bang Zhou divided the world, did you ever know that the Zhou family would decay to this point? How similar is the situation in the Qi country today to that of 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 family is the growing strength of the princes, how can the secretaries of the Qi State 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 princes and ministers. There isn't much land in the office. Although he didn't want to admit it, after several generations of chaos in the office, the power of the Qi State Office had weakened a lot.

"If the Marquis of Qi really thinks so, then he will be a foreign minister and have nothing to say." Fan Li smiled.

Just say nothing? You've said it all, how can you still pretend you didn't say it!

Qi Hou's face changed several times, then he sat upright, bowed to Fan Li and asked, "What does Fan Qing know?"

Fan Li said: "Yesterday's banquet, the ministers heard that there were many people praising Dr. Tian at the banquet, saying that he was unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness, and had the style of an ancient sage."

"The minister was very curious, so he inquired, and only then did he discover some clues."

"The minister heard that Dr. Tian was in control of the collection of taxes, but he took this opportunity to show favor to the people of the clan and the country. He lent it with a big bucket, but when the people returned, he used a small bucket."

"If Dr. Tian uses his own food, it is naturally benevolent and righteous to borrow grain to collect grain, but he uses the country's grain to harm the interests of the country and increase his own reputation, is this reasonable?"

"This is stealing your reputation as the Marquis of Qi, and he is a scholar who wants to steal the reputation of the monarch, what is this going to do?"

"The minister doesn't believe it, you don't understand what this is about!"

In just a few words, Qi Hou immediately understood, and he had heard that Tian Qi Dadou released grain and Xiaodou collected grain, but he thought about giving some benefits to the clan and the people, so he didn't say anything. Now it seems that this is a complete steal of his reputation.

Qi Hou's face was gloomy, obviously suspicious of the Tian family.

"Fan Qing's words are deafening, making Lone like seeing the sun through the clouds, if there is no Qing's words, Lone is probably still in the dark

without knowing it!" Qi Hou bowed to Fan Li again.

"Don't dare to be a gift to the Marquis of Qi." Fan Li hurriedly said.

Qi Hou asked respectfully, "Since Fan Qing has seen through the Tian clan's conspiracy, I don't know if there is a way to deal with it?"

Fan Li smiled and said: "The foreign minister is just the envoy of the Huai State, this is the internal affairs of Qi, if the foreign minister participates in it, I am afraid that it will provoke the relationship between the Qi State Office and the Qing family, and ask the Marquis of Qi to forgive me!"

Qi Hou's face turned red, and then he hurriedly flattered: "Fan Qing, don't be annoyed, just now I lost my words, and I apologized to Qing, and I need to ask Fan Qing to speak up this time."

Seeing Qi Hou like this, Fan Li also accepted it when he saw it, and immediately said, "Qi Hou, as a monarch, it is not difficult for you to dispose of it."

"You directly issued an edict, transferred him out, and then checked the warehouse, the warehouse was short of goods, only a warning, but not a move. At the same time, you will issue another edict, and the people of the country will borrow grain to survive the famine, and they will only need to make up the grain in the second year, and no interest will be charged."

"When the people are not receiving money, there are many loans to get by, and the Qingshi clan has taken this opportunity to borrow from the people and seek high interest, Qi Hou can lend seeds to the people during this period, and return them together when the autumn harvest comes."

"If these two things can be done well, how can the people not be grateful to Dade? With such prestige, when the time comes, the king will punish the beggars, and the people will definitely support you. When the time comes, you will directly take away his identity and order the other ministers to attack and kill him, but you will not be able to turn it over!"

Qi Hou's eyes were full of excitement when he heard this: "Fan Qing is really talented, Gu will do what Qing said!"

"Qi Hou, the strategy that Gu said needs to pay attention to the person who executes, if the person who executes is greedy or perfunctory, this plan will not only not bring benefits to the people, but will become a strategy for the people."

"How so?" Qi Hou was stunned.

"What if someone forcibly makes a people who are not allowed to borrow, forcibly borrow? Or is there a man who borrows a great amount from the treasury and then lends his grain and goods to others and makes a profit from it?" Fan Li said.

After hearing the explanation, Qi Hou understood, and immediately said, "Lone understands!"

Fan Li stayed in Qi for two months, and Qi and Huai swore an oath again, agreeing that the two countries would be friendly and not attack each other. After that, Fan Li left the Qi country.

"Fan Xiang, do you think Qi Hou can do what you say?" The deputy envoy next to him asked.

"You don't need to do it completely, as long as you complete the Eight Achievements, it's already very good, if Qi Hou can really do it, then his control over the Qi Kingdom Imperial Hall will be easy to deal with the Tian Clan!" Fan Li said.

"It's a pity that if you want to achieve this level, it is possible to have a great talent like Guan Zhong to help. This time, the Qi State is definitely going to have a civil strife, but as long as the Qi Hou wins, this threat will be removed."