back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 358
Seeing Xu Chongguang's leaving back, Lu Chengqi felt a little lucky.If there is not such a "loyal minister", I am afraid that he himself will be exhausted.It's just that Lu Chengqi didn't know that such a "loyal minister" also had his own little thoughts.However, Xu Chongguang's public heart is more important than selfish ones. Even so, it also makes this old man Xu look like a loyal minister.

Lu Chengqi sighed in his heart, then turned to look at the inaccurate map.Not long ago, according to the news from the Supervision Department's undercover agents, Shengjuzhen's hatred towards the Liao Kingdom had been successfully provoked, and wars were raging on the northeast border of the Liao Kingdom.

But the Liao Kingdom was caught off guard, and was robbed of a lot of property, cattle, sheep, and even women by the birth girl.Emperor Yelu Hongji of the Liao Kingdom was furious when he heard the news, and dispatched an elite army to prepare for a large army to suppress the border.Unexpectedly, some tribes who had always been oppressed by the Khitan people also took advantage of this opportunity to break away from the control of the Liao Kingdom.

Now the situation of the Liao Kingdom is very bad. Originally, the tribes in the northwest were rebellious and impermanent, and now the Jurchen rebellion has been added, and foreign troubles continue to consume the national strength of the Liao Kingdom.Coupled with the grasslands of the Little Ice Age, Liao's production was not abundant, and there were many internal conflicts, so that Emperor Yelu Hongji of Liao was very troubled.Originally, he could be regarded as an accomplished emperor, and he also suppressed Dashun Emperor Yuanshou in the early stage, and beat Dashun so much that he dared not even take a step at the border.Until now, whenever the border people of Dashun saw the Khitans, they were so frightened that they ran to the big cities.

It's a pity that the Liao Kingdom is now wary of rats and dare not attack Caogu again.Not for anything else, just for discussion.In fact, in the eyes of Yelu Hongji, the three-year non-aggression pact signed with Dashun is like a scrap of paper.If it weren't for the mutual discussion, the Khitan people who lacked supplies for the winter would definitely continue to invade the south on a large scale.In the face of survival, all treaties are nothing but floating clouds.

After opening the trading market, the Khitan people were surprised to find that in their tribe, worthless horses, cattle, sheep, wool, and hunting furs could be sold at "sky-high prices".There is no profiteering, no business, these businessmen who go to the border to sell, how can they lose money?It's just that the price they offered was already sky-high for the Khitan people.

In the past, the Liao Kingdom and Dashun had no trade, and if the Khitans wanted to obtain living materials, they had to be plundered by the army, and then distributed to each Khitan.Except for the Khitan nobles, the rest of the Khitans received just enough supplies to survive.Therefore, there have been many riots in Liao Kingdom.It's just that under the cover of the Northwest tribes and the Jurchen tribe, these riots seemed a little insignificant.

Now Dashun has opened a negotiating field on the border between Liao and Dashun according to the signed treaty. The Khitan herdsmen who heard the news either traded with Dashun copper coins or bartered things. The materials that go down will appear extraordinarily enthusiastic and tame.After seeing the slavishness of the Khitan people, these merchants who were not treacherous and not businessmen were greatly moved: "The heaven and the earth are not benevolent, and all things are treated as dogs; the sages are not benevolent, and the common people are treated as dogs..."

Lu Chengqi received a secret report from the Supervision Department, and after looking at it comprehensively, he knew that it was already somewhat impossible for Dashun and the Liao Kingdom to start another war.As long as the dispute persists and the Khitan people can obtain daily necessities and survive the winters every year, it is impossible for the Liao Kingdom to attack Dashun in order to maintain the status quo.It's just that after Dashun becomes stronger, whether he will attack the Liao Kingdom is another matter.

Lu Chengqi slightly recalled what was said in a forum in later generations, that the Chinese nation lacked blood and lacked interest in expanding its territory.And one of the God's replies is still fresh in Lu Chengqi's memory: "Do you think that China is a small piece of the Yellow River Basin, and it has expanded to such a large territory? It's just that the ancients took up all the land that could be cultivated, so there is no land. Desire to open up new territories, close the door and beat yourself up..."

Although this remark is a bit rough, it does not deviate from the truth in general.It is certain that the Chinese people's covetousness for land is not lower than that of any other nation.As for why the rulers refused to open up territories, this is a question of historical limitations.In the official history, many officials did not like to expand the territory, so they used their own will to jointly write a letter to obstruct the emperor's desire to expand the territory.The excuses used are nothing more than the use of swords to harm the peace of heaven, the land occupied is not worth the loss, the saints oppose unjust wars, and so on.But to put it bluntly, the official and gentry classes are just afraid that after expanding their territory, they will be sent to become officials in poor mountains and bad waters.These local officials have only been in office for three to five years, how can they really do things for the people?If I laid the foundation and picked peaches for the next generation, but I didn't get any benefits, it would be selfless!Except for a very small number of honest and upright officials with noble sentiments who would do this, how could those officials who want to honor their ancestors and get promoted and make a fortune be like saints, who only benefit others and have no self-interest?
Lu Chengqi has seen bureaucracy before, so he doesn't trust these unfettered officials at all.That's why he established the Supervision Department for this purpose.

When Lu Chengqi set his eyes on the border of Youyun, he also understood it in his heart.Over time, in order to maximize profits, these merchants will definitely press down the purchase price again and again.The merchant class is to exploit the people at the bottom to obtain the maximum benefit, which is eternal.But the role of businessmen cannot be denied.When looking at the problem, we must divide it into two, we must see the advanced nature of the merchant class, and we must also see the selfishness of the merchant class.

When the Khitan people can't accept the price offered by the merchants, then it will be time for the Liao Kingdom and Dashun to restart their blades.The development of history also proves this point.The only thing Lu Chengqi can do is to ask Zhou Zhiruo, who is in charge of Huangzhuang, to give him a fair price as much as possible.Only in this way, Huangzhuang's profit will be reduced.After all, this Huangzhuang is like a state-owned enterprise. Although the income is not good, it always loses money.But without state-owned enterprises, the economy cannot be controlled and will slip into the abyss on its own.

Although Lu Chengqi is not familiar with history, he can feel that the current Liao Kingdom seems to be in decline.In the official history, it was also during the reign of Yelu Hongji that the Liao Kingdom began to turn from prosperity to decline.But the current Yelu Hongji is quite promising.It was just a coincidence that he met Lu Chengqi, a more powerful emperor than him, so the weakness of the Liao Kingdom was inevitable.Not to mention, Lu Chengqi had already secretly dispatched a supervisory department to sow discord between Jurchen and Khitan.

Looking at the map, Lu Chengqi seemed to have seen the sight of Jurchens and Khitans riding and shooting at each other on the vast grassland, thousands of horses galloping, charging into battle.Lu Chengqi likes to be able to weaken the opponent's strength in the dark.As long as the Liao Kingdom is stabilized and Dashun is given ten years, Lu Chengqi is confident that he will take Dashun's territory to the grassland!
The corner of Lu Chengqi's mouth curved into a sneer, this plan had already been made in his heart.However, in order to realize this plan, we must first develop commerce and industry.Only by strengthening one's own strength can one be qualified to conquer the grassland.

(End of this chapter)