Chapter 199

Fan Li's graceful back of "brushing off clothes and leaving after the matter is done, deeply hiding his body and name" had not yet faded from everyone's minds.

The scene above Xianyang changed abruptly.

If Fan Li's story was a freehand landscape painting, revealing the ease of a person's thoroughness.

Then what was unfolding on the golden list at this moment was a huge, precise, and rumbling national machine blueprint.

The air was no longer filled with the misty water of Lake Tai, but with the heat waves of furnace fires, the salty fishy smell of sea salt, the rust smell of copper coins,

And the heavy breathing of millions of people working and training according to a certain strict rhythm.

The background was the vast Qi land, facing the sea in the east and connecting to the Central Plains in the west.

In the scene, one could see the stove households drying salt, workshops smelting iron, fields in a well-pattern, goods piled like mountains in the market,

And soldiers training silently on the training ground, in strict rows.

【Fourth Place Among the Ten Great Strategists of History: Guan Zhong (Guan Yiwu)】

【Era: Early Spring and Autumn Period (Qi State)】

【Titles: Zhongfu, Designer of the First Hegemony of Spring and Autumn, Originator of Salt and Iron State Monopoly】

As the name was revealed, the light and shadow solidified.

This person looked... very "capable of managing things."

A square face, thick brows, his eyes were not the lazy brightness of Fan Li who saw through everything, but a heavy, focused look that could nail things down.

His clothes were not magnificent, but neat and crisp, his cuffs stained with a bit of ink, his finger joints thick, as if he often held bamboo slips or pens.

He was either standing in front of a huge sheepskin map filled with symbols and lines, deep in thought, his fingers moving slowly over it;

Or stopping an old farmer selling pottery jars in the market, asking about the harvest of beans this year and the price difference from previous years;

Or in the court, facing Duke Huan of Qi and the civil and military officials, his voice not high, but every word was like a chisel carving wood, banging loudly.

Seal script floated beside him, also revealing a sense of hardness:

"Don't play with the fake, only engage in the real."

"Enrich the country, strengthen the army, achieve hegemony—three steps, each step stepping on the eyes of money and the tips of knives."

"Guan Zhong..."

Ying Zheng sat up straight; the weight of this name here was much heavier than Fan Li's.

This was the true founding father of "hegemony over the world," a symbol of system and strength.

The breathing of Li Si, Wei Liao, and others also stopped; this was the top idol in their professional field.

The heavenly screen's voice rose.

This time there was not so much emotional expression; it was crisp and neat, like reporting on a major project,

Every sentence was dry goods, sparking when hitting the ground:

【Guan Zhong, courtesy name Yiwu. In the trade of strategists, he is an "engineering school."

Others ponder strange plans, he ponders systems;

Others think of the victory of one battle, he designs the strength of a hundred years.】

【He treats a country like a super workshop to manage.

How to get raw materials (population, land, resources),

How to lay out production lines (agriculture, handicrafts, commerce),

How to improve product quality (army, national strength),

How to pave sales channels (diplomacy, hegemony)—he has a whole set of processes and standards.

In his hands, strategy is no longer a flash of inspiration, but a "national operation manual" that can be copied and executed.】

【Act I: That Arrow, and the Mouth of Bao Shuya】

The scene flashes back, a bit embarrassed.

Guan Zhong followed Prince Jiu, on the way back to the Qi State to fight for the throne, intercepting Prince Xiaobai.

Guan Zhong drew his bow and shot an arrow, hitting Xiaobai's belt hook.

Xiaobai was also a ruthless person, biting his tongue and spitting blood on the spot, directly "dying" for Guan Zhong to see.

Guan Zhong thought he had succeeded, reported to Prince Jiu, and returned to the country slowly.

As a result, Xiaobai faked death and snatched the lead, becoming Duke Huan of Qi.

Duke Huan ascended the throne, and the first thing he did was to slaughter Guan Zhong to avenge that arrow.

The executioners were all ready.

At this time, a person rushed into the hall, rolling and crawling—it was Bao Shuya, Guan Zhong's iron brother, and also Duke Huan's childhood friend and important minister.

He fell to his knees with a thud, not pleading, but stating facts:

"If Your Lordship only wants to govern the Qi State well, with me, Old Bao, and a few old ministers, it is almost enough."

"But if Your Lordship wants to achieve hegemony over the world,"

Bao Shuya raised his head, his eyes wide, "you must use Guan Yiwu!"

Duke Huan laughed in anger: "He almost killed me!"

Bao Shuya began to count on his fingers, one by one, where he was not as good as Guan Zhong:

Loving the people with generosity, not as good;

Governing the country without losing authority, not as good;

Establishing rituals and righteousness that can be modeled by all directions, not as good;

Making the people go through fire and water, not as good... finally summarizing:

"Wherever Guan Yiwu is, that country will be strong."

"This man is a weapon of mass destruction; in someone else's hands, he is a disaster; in your hands, he is a divine weapon!"

Duke Huan was silent.

He looked outside the hall and thought for a long time.

The hatred of killing his brother, the grudge of the shot hook—in front of the four words "achieve hegemony over the world," it seemed... it could be put aside.

He waved his hand and withdrew the executioners.

Then, he held an extremely grand ceremony, personally going out of the city to receive Guan Zhong, who was still locked in a prisoner cart, respectfully welcoming him back, appointing him as Chancellor, and calling him "Zhongfu" (Second Father) in every sentence.

"Top-tier talent is worth the highest-spec interview (almost a death sentence) and induction ceremony (the sovereign greets him). Duke Huan's deal was worth it."

【Act II: Dividing Occupations and Settling, Lining Everyone Up Neatly】

Guan Zhong took office, and the first fire was directed at "people."

He engaged in "four people dividing occupations and settling": scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, each living in their own area, with professions passed down through generations.

The scene shows:

Farmers living in villages by the fields, getting up to work in the fields in the morning, returning home at sunset.

In their spare time, they ponder how to make the rice grow two more ears, and children touch hoes and plows from a young age.

Artisans concentrated around official workshops, clanging and banging, passed down from father to son, uncle bringing nephew, the craft practiced in a closed small circle, making it easy to keep secrets.

Merchants gathered in the market streets, ears pricked to listen to news from all directions—where lacquer was cheap, where silk was about to run out—abacuses clicking loudly.

Scholars (low-level nobles and warriors) lived near the village schools, reading books, practicing archery, discussing national affairs, ready to be supplemented into the bureaucracy or army at any time.

Guan Zhong's theory was very simple:

Let the blacksmiths focus on blacksmithing, the farmers focus on farming, the merchants focus on inquiring about market conditions, and the soldiers focus on practicing killing.

Don't mix them up; once mixed, everything is in chaos.

The Qi society was like being divided and categorized by an invisible hand, lined up neatly, and efficiency immediately went up.

Professionalization is the first step to improving national production capacity; Guan Zhong had already figured it out more than two thousand years ago.

【Act III: Taxing Land According to Fertility and State Monopoly on Salt and Iron, Where Does the Money Come From?】

People were lined up, and next was "land" and "money."

Guan Zhong engaged in "taxing land according to fertility," dividing land into grades based on fertility, distance, and water/drought conditions, collecting different taxes.

Good land paid more, bad land paid less, and those who left land barren were fined.

Farmers had enthusiasm, and more people started reclaiming wasteland.

But the real big head was "Guan Shanhai"—state monopoly on salt and iron.

Qi State relied on the sea, having plenty of salt; there were also iron mines in the mountains.

Guan Zhong ordered: Salt pools and iron mines could be mined by the people, but the salt and iron refined had to be sold entirely to the state, with the state uniformly purchasing, transporting, and selling them.

Scene close-up:

By the sea, strong laborers poured seawater into salt fields, drying it into salt in the sun, a white expanse.

Official clerks held standard measures, purchasing according to quantity, paying the stove households wages.

The mountain of sea salt was loaded onto official ships, transported along the river to the inland salt-deficient Liang, Zhao, Lu, Wei... merchants from those countries had long been waiting at the border with gold and grain.

The price of salt was several times higher than in the Qi State.

Ironware was the same; farm tools and weapons were all in high demand.

The Qi State's treasury was like a floodgate opened, money and grain surging in.

Guan Zhong once said to Duke Huan of Qi: "As long as we hold tight to salt and iron, it is equivalent to pinching the money bags and lifeblood of the feudal lords under heaven."

"Monopoly is the most profitable and safest business in the world."

Guan Zhong was simply the originator of state-owned enterprise monopoly.