In Xiqi City, Ji Fa, who had proclaimed himself King Wu of Zhou, was convening important ministers to discuss government affairs. Although Ji Fa was wearing a robe and crown and looked very energetic, his brows could not hide the worry.
Huang Feihu, the founding king of Wucheng, came out and said: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from the south. Eshun was defeated by Deng Jiugong and was seriously injured. Fortunately, his life was saved. He is now recuperating in Nanjun and reorganizing his army. Since the emperor's announcement to the world, all the princes in the south have
It seems to be extremely unstable and has the potential to besiege Nanjun. Eshun has too much to take care of himself at this time, and I am afraid it will be difficult to go north to attack the merchants in the short term."
Nangong Shi also reported: "Long Anji, the new general of Chentangguan, possesses special skills and has defeated the ghosts in several formations in a row. The commander-in-chief Li Jing is very cautious and does not advance rashly. Instead, he can't get out and can't capture it for a while. And the north
The princes of the land were ordered by the emperor to raise troops in turmoil and sent troops to the northern frontier. King Guifang was concerned about the territory in the rear and was forced to withdraw from Chentangguan."
Ji Fa frowned and asked, "How is Dong Bohou Jiang Huanchu doing now?"
San Yisheng said: "Although the Eastern Lu Army has the upper hand, the Eastern Qi Army cannot move out, and the two sides are still in a stalemate."
"A stalemate? I'm afraid Jiang Huanchu is still waiting and watching!" Ji Fa sneered, "This Dong Bohou is also cunning, and his attitude has always been unclear, which is intriguing."
Jiang Ziya, who was wearing a mask, said: "So what if we wait and see? When the king unified the west, south and north, Jiang Huanchu began to use troops against the Eastern Qi. Although it was the fight between the princes as an excuse and he did not express his objections, it was against the king after all.
A statement. Marquis Yueji of Qi is the emperor's beloved concubine, who is both public and private. With the emperor's current wisdom, he will never give up. Therefore, Jiang Huanchu is now riding a tiger and is in a dilemma. All he needs to do is to use means at the appropriate time to cut off his retreat.
Jiang Huanchu only has one way to fight against the Shang Dynasty, so why worry about not being used by the king?"
Ji Fa's face softened a little, and he nodded and said: "My father-in-law is right. Please plan carefully for things in the East. However, now that the emperor has come out of seclusion in meditation, he regrets his past, and he is completely different from before.
That memorandum refutes the six major crimes listed by the lonely king and accuses the lonely king of his faults. People in the three places are in a state of confusion at this time. I wonder if you have any good ideas?"
Both civil and military officials in the main hall were silent, and even Jiang Ziya fell into deep thought, because the "Essay against Rebellion" written by the emperor himself was so powerful - it powerfully refuted the "Essay on Rebellion" from various aspects such as righteousness, justice, virtue and so on.
"The Six Crimes of the Princes". Originally, it seemed that the six crimes committed by the emperor really chilled the world. But now it seems that these six crimes were forcibly added by Ji Fa to realize his ambitions. They cannot withstand scrutiny at all. What's worse is that
What is surprising is that many of the examples cited by the emperor were compared with Ji Fa's father Ji Chang. Ji Chang was known as a sage, respected by the world, and won the hearts of the people of Xiqi. Through this comparison, Ji Fa finally established the
The prestige has been reduced a lot invisibly, and the move of abolishing Daji's posthumous position and banishing her to the cold palace has moved the disaster eastward, making this "Revelation Against Rebellion" impeccable.
Ji Fa looked at the helpless civil and military ministers, and a surge of anger arose in his heart, and shouted: "Could it be that you are just watching helplessly as the lonely king is criticized by the world?"
Su Hu hesitated for a while, then stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, I have some concerns, I wonder if it is feasible?"
When Ji Fa heard that someone had come up with an idea, he quickly calmed down his anger and said, "It's okay for Su Hou to say so."
"The first major crime refuted by the emperor is that the people are the most important thing. This restoration of the old system in the west and north has won the hearts of the princes and officials. As for those stupid people, hard slaves, and lowly people, they have no fighting power.
, if it were normal times, he could use his king to show his virtuous reputation. Now that the situation is critical, the king does not need to spend his energy on these untouchables. If he goes back on his word, it will chill the hearts of the princes and ministers. There is a saying that goes well, become a king.
Defeat the invaders. Two tigers fight each other, and the winner comes first. Instead of just seeing each other on the battlefield, if the king's troops defeat the merchant army and ascend to the throne in one fell swoop, wouldn't the king have the final say in the affairs of the world?"
When Ji Fa heard this, he couldn't help but nod. In his opinion, the people were indeed as Su Hu said. In times of peace, they could still use some benevolent policies to gain a reputation for loving the people. But now is an extraordinary period, but it is different.
"Appeasement". At that time, Ji Fa, in the interest of the princes of Qi, had restored the old slave system in the northwest. Although there was considerable public resentment, the princes praised each other, and many even expressed their undying loyalty to the Western Zhou Dynasty. If the emperor chose
The one he wanted was "people", so he chose "shi". In other words, from the very beginning, when Ji Fa wanted to rebel, he could only choose the path of "shi" because the emperor was so popular with the people.
After all, even his dead father Ji Chang is not as good as the Emperor.
Jiang Ziya also nodded secretly at the side: There is indeed no turning back at this time. Even if Ji Fa revokes the old system and regains the support of the people, his popularity will not be comparable to that of the emperor. Instead, he will lose the support of the princes and nobles, which is definitely not worth the gain.
Ji Fa praised: "Su Hou's words are reasonable! But the appeal has a great influence. Su Hou can have some countermeasures."
"The only plan for now is to insist that the old ancestral system in the first crime cannot be abolished, unite the power of the princes and nobles, and surround the great merchants. The king has conquered the north and south, and his three major deeds have made the world famous. And this time the emperor's message is in the article
, there is an accusation that the king is in contact with the alien tribe of Guifang. I think this article is detrimental to the king's wisdom, so I should refute it with all my strength." Su Hu said, gritting his teeth and prostrating: "If there are still objections, the king only needs to take this crime down.
If you shirk it from me, you will be safe."
Ji Fa looked at Su Hu with a slightly different look. He quickly went down to help Su Hu up personally: "Su Hou treats Gu Gu with such sincerity, how can Gu Gu trap Su Hou and ignore him? What Su Hou said before is reasonable.
The last one should be treated as a joke, and you must never make such remarks in the future. All the dear friends present here, like Su Hou, are the arms of the lonely king. The lonely king can swear to never leave and share the wealth!"
This greatly aroused the enthusiasm of the ministers, and they all bowed down and saluted: "Your Majesty, your grace is great!"
This affectation made the depressing atmosphere a lot more lively. Ji Fa gave Su Hu an extremely satisfied look. Su Hu understood the idea and returned to his original position. He was secretly glad that Feng Chong, a wise man, was by his side and came up with a good plan.
.This move is called "play hard to get". It not only shows his ability and loyalty, but also blocks Ji Fazhen's way of using him as a scapegoat. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
Jiang Ziya said: "Suhou's loyalty can be learned from heaven and earth. That last sentence reminded the old minister that the king can blame the ghost side's affairs on Chong Heihu, and there will be no evidence to prove it, and then he will make a big show of the three major deeds in Pingbei.
, It is highlighted that the king used De to level the ghost side. As for what Su Hou said before, it is also very reasonable. Our army is now different from what it used to be, and its combat power is outstanding. If the combat power shown by the Shang army when fighting against the ghost side is
Comparing with the equipment, he is by no means an opponent of our army. Those crimes have been repaid, but after all, there is suspicion of disloyalty in the attack on the enemy. Now we are looking for an opportunity to seize the opportunity to legitimately unite the princes of the world to attack the emperor.
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Ji Fa seemed to think of the "secret weapons" of the army, and then looked at Jiang Ziya, who had an extraordinary background, and his confidence suddenly swelled: "What the prime minister said makes sense, so we will act in accordance with what the prime minister told us. We are holding back for now while stabilizing the West."
, the princes of the two northern regions are waiting for the opportunity."
Just when Ji Fa was pacifying the interior of the north and the south, news came from Chaoge that the emperor had conferred the title of Concubine Rui, Shang Qingjun, as the empress of the Shang Dynasty. The old prime minister Shang Rong, who had lived in seclusion for many years, was also invited to come out and was named the Grand Master.
The three prime ministers, Jizi and Meibo, worked together to assist the government. Shang Rong was a veteran of the three dynasties. He was once known as the right-hand man of the great merchants together with Wen Taishi. His prestige was even higher than that of Bigan. Many important officials in the court were
Although his "disciple" Shang Rong was old, he still accepted the emperor's invitation to come back without hesitation when he heard that the country was in trouble. The news of his coming back also made everyone in Chaoge feel excited.
Shang Rong's daughter and new queen, Shang Qingjun, has the reputation of being the most talented woman of the great merchants. It is said that Shang Qingjun was extremely intelligent and did not love jewels and treasures in his life, but only loved three things.
The first is a Zihao pen used for writing; the second is snow-gloss paper, which I heard Empress Shang once praised in a poem: "Bright as white as frost and snow"; and the third is exquisite, beautiful, high-quality and inexpensive Western pottery handicrafts
The cost of these three things is not high, and even common people can afford to use them. Especially paper and pen, which are representatives of knowledge and fully demonstrate the connotation and character of the Queen.
The purple hair pen is made from a small part of the black needlepoint hair on the back of a mountain rabbit as the main raw material. The hair is long and sharp, which is suitable for writing and durable. There are many high-end workshops in large merchants that specialize in purple hair pens.
.There is an indispensable raw material for making snow-gloss paper, which is a kind of snow hemp unique to the North. The paper made of it is as delicate and smooth as white as snow, so it is known as "snow-gloss". And Xitao is exactly
A kind of handicraft unique to the West, it is also quite famous in the world.
Shang Qingjun was gentle, beautiful, virtuous, and versatile. After being canonized as queen, although she was deeply favored by the emperor, she always advised the emperor to put political affairs first. Therefore, the officials respected the new queen very much, and the emperor deposed Daji and established Shang Qing.
You are also full of praise for your actions.
The emperor doted on Empress Shang, loved her house as much as she loved her, and also fell in love with the three things that Shang Qingjun liked. He always used purple hair pens and snow-gloss paper to write, and even sent someone to decorate a room specifically to hold Western pottery.
The palace of handicrafts pleases the Queen of Shang.
This matter gradually spread, from ministers and nobles to common people, they followed suit one after another. Many people did not use these things at all, but used them to collect and show off. For a time, everyone regarded having these three "treasures" as their own.
Rong, has become a popular trend. And the value of these three things has also risen again and again. The Zihao pen is a local specialty of Dashang, so it is just a waste of money, while the materials for making snow-gloss paper must be snow hemp and Western pottery.
"Imported" from the West and North. The urgent market demand has also made the originally inconspicuous Xuemang and Xitao suddenly become in short supply.
Fugui Trading Company, the largest firm of Dashang, has always been foresighted. As early as the beginning of the popularity of Sanwu, branches in the west and north began to purchase Xuema and Xitao in large quantities and sell them to Dashang.
Although Dashang was in a state of hostility with the two places, they did not explicitly prohibit merchants from entering. The prices of Xuema and Xitao transported from the two places to Dashang were frighteningly high, often dozens or even hundreds of times higher.
Seeing that the profits were so huge, merchants in the West and North also began to imitate the wealthy merchants and continuously sold two items to the territory directly under the jurisdiction of Dashang. As expected, they received generous returns.
For a time, both items were in short supply.
Slave owners and common people in the northwest saw that snow hemp and Western pottery were profitable, and they began to grow hemp and make pottery in droves, setting off a production boom. Snow hemp has a short growth cycle and is easy to plant and harvest. At high prices,
Instigated by the government, people gave up their original grain cultivation and replaced it with snow hemp. Similarly, the practice of digging soil to make pottery became popular in the West, and fewer and fewer people grew grain.
In a short period of time, the merchants made huge profits, and also created tax revenue for the Western Zhou Dynasty that far exceeded previous years. Ji Fa was actively preparing for war and consumed a lot of funds. These tax revenues were undoubtedly the best supplement.
I was very happy at the moment, not only did I not stop it, but I allowed this high-profit production.
The only one who felt something was wrong was Jiang Ziya, who once advised Ji Fa not to abandon agriculture. But at this time, including Ji Fa, the nobles and officials in the northwest and the northwest were all making a lot of money, and even the common people were making a lot of money.
With small fortunes and obvious interests in front of you, who would listen?
Ji Fa could not be persuaded, and he also issued orders to reward and punish those who did not grow food. However, these people below were the ones who got the windfall, and this kind of encouragement fell on deaf ears. All slave owners, large and small, were obedient and secretly growing food.
Behind the scenes, they were making pottery and growing hemp, and some were even willing to pay the fine for not growing grain in order to make a lot of money. Ji Fa also turned a blind eye to this kind of behavior - he could take advantage of the empress's personal preferences
, to continuously earn money from the merchants to replenish their own army, why not?
Just when Ji Fa and even the people in the Western Zhou Dynasty were beaming with joy, Zhang Zixing was also covering his mouth and snickering. Because everything was going smoothly according to his plan, the mountain rabbit breeding boom in Dashang had long been suppressed.
Gradually, the land was under control, and farming was vigorously rewarded. On the surface, wealthy merchants in various places were vigorously selling snow hemp and Xitao, but secretly they were quietly hoarding food.
The only thing Zhang Zixing has to do now is to wait patiently for the autumn harvest, and then reveal his trump card in one fell swoop. The power generated by then will probably be no less than the energy of a super nuclear bomb.