In the past two days, Trump, who is a businessman, has fired cannons at the world, and the trade war has stirred up the countries into unrest. More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient East already had a wonderful merchant rule. This big businessman was Mr. Guan Zhong, who assisted Qi Huan Gong and achieved the first hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Guan Zhong is a businessman, when he was in his twenties, he met a good friend Bao Shuya, and at first the two of them partnered to do business, because Guan Zhong's family was poor and he contributed less, and Bao Shuya contributed more. The business is doing well, but some of his subordinates found that Guan Zhong used the money earned to pay off some of the debts he owed, and this money was spent before it was recorded in the account, and now the accountant is called sitting on the branch, taking public funds to pay off private debts, basically not far from corruption. What is even more infuriating is that when the dividend was distributed at the end of the year, Bao Shuya gave him half of the dividend, and he also accepted it without hesitation. This can spoil the popularity of Bao Shuya's subordinates, someone said to Bao Shuya, Guan Zhong has less capital, usually he spends a lot of money, and at the end of the year, he still shares the benefits equally with you, and the character is too poor to mix with him.
Bao Shuya rebuked his subordinates: "You are full of money and money in your heads, haven't you found guan Zhong's home very difficult?" He needs money more than I do, and I'm in business with him just to help him, and I'm willing to do that, and you won't talk about it again. It is said that Bao Shuya is not a fool, and he is willing to suffer this loss, mostly because he found that Guan Zhong is a big talent, and it is better to earn a small head by himself than to work alone.
Later, in order to commemorate the great friendship between Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya, there was an idiom called "Guan Bao Fenjin" as a metaphor for deep friendship, knowing each other, loving and killing each other, you love me.
(Pipe Bao Fenjin, based on emotion)
There is also a famous liquor brand: Fenjinting.
Not to mention the basic feelings of Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya, it is said that later Guan Zhong was appointed as the prime minister by the Duke of Qi Huan under the recommendation of Bao Shuya, becoming the first great politician in Chinese history who was born as a businessman. There are three tricks of his "merchant rule" that his predecessors did not have:
The first trick is to show off wealth and promote high consumption.
According to Guan Zhong's thought compilation of "Guan Zi", it can be called the earliest economic management work in China, and the famous saying that "the warehouse is solid and knows etiquette, and the clothing and food are sufficient and knows honor and disgrace" was first proposed by Guan Zhong. The most controversial article in "The Pipe" is called "Extravagance", which reads:
Qi Huangong asked Guan Zhong: "The situation in the world is changing, how to govern the country in accordance with the situation?" Guan Zhong replied: "The best way is to promote luxury consumption (extravagance). "This is the first time in Chinese history that a ruler has advocated luxury consumption. Guan Zhong himself was a hedonist, and when he was prime minister, he went out in a luxury car and horse, went home to drum and open the way, and enjoyed the standard of the monarch.
The place of Guan Zhongniu is that he not only dares to show off his rich ,—— many leaders in later generations advocate hard work and simplicity while eating, drinking and having fun in the deep palace. He also proved that this is the consumption of the country, the greatest man. Guan Zhong believes that eating, drinking and having fun is the basic desire of the people, and only by satisfying their desires and aspirations can the state drive the people. If we just let the common people wear animal skins and eat wild vegetables, how can we manage them? People who are not in a good mood do not do a good job. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage rich people to eat the best diet, listen to the best music, and even carve flowers on eggs and then cook them to eat, and carve and then chop fires on firewood. Do not block the opening of minerals, and do not stagnate the circulation of merchants. Let the rich spend extravagantly, thus driving the poor to employment. In this way, civilians can live without relying on relief, and all undertakings are excited and everyone has food to eat. This is not something that can be done by the efforts of the people alone, but requires the regulation of those in power (see The Pipe. Extravagance"). At a glance to modern people, isn't this Nyima the same set of Keynes? Well, Uncle Guan may have crossed over, in short, he advocated luxury not only out of personal hobbies, but based on a deep understanding of human nature and economy.
(Statue of Guan Zhong)
The second trick is to engage in monopoly and get money through state-owned monopolies.
The premise of showing off wealth is to have money, where does the money come from, and Guan Zhong's money can be said to be rich in imagination. Everyone knows that collecting taxes is hated by the people, and Guan Zhong's idea is that I do not directly collect taxes from others, but instead jam the people's just needs and get money from the monopoly. This is called "taking from the invisible, so that people are not angry." For example, everyone has to eat salt every day, and the country of Qi is on the verge of the sea and is rich in salt. He first set his sights on salt in the sea and nationalized the salt industry. The salt business was changed from private to state-run, and the interests were firmly held in the hands of the state. To this end, Guan Zhong specially calculated an account for Huan Gong: there are one million people in our country of Qi, and each of them eats salt every day. According to this estimate, you can earn more than two million dollars in a day, and it is sixty million dollars in a month. What is the concept of sixty million dollars? It is equivalent to the sum of the monthly incomes of the two great powers in the Spring and Autumn Period. That is to say, the salt tax collected by one country of Qi can get rid of two big countries. Monopolizing salt and iron, China's state-owned monopoly business lasted for more than two thousand years and almost became the economic guarantee of the centralized system of successive dynasties. As the saying goes, full of warmth and lust. After eating and drinking, it is inevitable that there will be some other ideas, so Guan Zhong created the Spring and Autumn Period, and the qi name Guan Zhong first created the female Lu, that is, the Qinglou or X Courtyard in the later life. Warring States Policy? The Eastern Zhou Ce (東周策) contains: Guan Zi Zhi qi, once placed "female Lu seven hundred" to support military supplies.
(Qi Currency)
As a politician, Guan Zhong, implemented the "state-run large X-court" system, with four purposes: First, to increase the government's fiscal revenue through taxation. The second is to alleviate and reconcile social contradictions and solve the needs of grassroots bare sticks, which is conducive to social stability. The third is to attract foreign talents. At that time, the princes competed for dominance, in order to dominate the world, they had to recruit talents, but most of these talents were debauched and freedom-loving people, who loved women and alcohol, so the opening of the state-run X courtyard became a means of attracting them. The fourth is for Qi Huan's entertainment. Qi Huangong was lustful, and the wives and concubines in the palace were tired of playing, and they still had to come out to seek excitement. "Han Feizi Wai Chu said that the upper right" said: "Huan Gong's Uncle Ye, internal affairs belong to Uncle Bao, foreign affairs belong to Guan Zhong, was sent to the imperial woman, day trip to the city", Guan Zhong's creation of the X Courtyard also has a good component of investing in The Huan Gong. But the most important purpose is to increase fiscal revenue.
Guan Zhong's invention was quickly emulated by other countries, and it was a big boom. Even in many later Qinglou, Guan Zhong was worshipped as the "grandmaster" and set up an incense burner for him in order to prosper his business. This may be something that Guan Zhong never dreamed of.
The third trick is to like to fight a trade war.
The ancients said that there was no righteous war in the Spring and Autumn. At that time, fighting wars was commonplace, and Guan Zhong liked to use economic means to accomplish goals that could not be achieved by military means.
For example, one day The Duke of Qi Huan said to Guan Zhong: "Old Guan, the State of Lu and the State of Liang rely on our State of Qi, just like the weeds on the edge of the field." Now I want to clean them up, how to use soldiers? Guan Zhong said slowly, "Great King, it is not good to use force, and the people of Lu and Liang have always been engaged in weaving silk (a kind of silk fabric). You will take the lead in wearing clothes made of tassels, and ask your close subjects to wear them, and the people will follow suit. You also ordered that the State of Qi was not allowed to weave silk, and it must be imported from the two countries of Lu and Liang. In this way, the two kingdoms of Luliang will abandon agriculture and go to weaving. Qi Huangong suddenly realized, and then began to dig a pit for Lu Liang's two kingdoms. Guan Zhong said to the merchants of Lu and Liang, "You sell me a thousand horses, and I will give you three hundred catties of gold; you will sell ten thousand horses, and you will give three thousand catties." When the monarchs of Lu and Liang heard this news, they asked their people to weave silk. Such a good money-making business, not to do is a fool! More than a year later, Guan Zhong sent people to Lu and Liang to inquire. It was found that the two countries of Luliang had been fully woven, and agriculture had been abandoned for a long time. Guan Zhong smiled and said to Duke Huan, "You can take lu and liang." Huan Gong said, "How should I operate it?" Guan Zhong replied, "You should change your clothes and ask the people of the whole country to stop wearing silk." It is also necessary to close the checkpoint and cut off all economic exchanges with Lu and Liang. Qi Huangong immediately implemented Guan Zhong's method. Ten months later, Guan Zhong sent someone to investigate, and by this time the two countries had already suffered a full-scale famine, let alone pay taxes. The monarchs of the two countries ordered the people to stop weaving and farming, but the grain could not be produced in a short period of time, and the people of Lu and Liang cost thousands of dollars per stone to buy grain, and the price of grain in the Qi country was only ten dollars per stone. Two years later, six-tenths of lu and liang's people defected to the state of Qi. Three years later, the monarchs of Lu and Liang also obeyed the State of Qi.
Not only the countries that produce luxury goods are played by Guan Zhong, but also those who produce high-end weapons. Hengshan country is rich in weapons, the benefit of swords, the world is unparalleled. Guan Zhong had long been planning to tame the Hengshan Kingdom, but if he wanted to attack the Hengshan Kingdom by force, it would definitely take a lot of effort. Therefore, Guan Zhong also played with trade means, and a year before the start of the army, he sent people to Hengshan Country to buy weapons at a low price; ten months later, Yan, Dai, Qin and other countries saw the State of Qi purchasing weapons, fearing that they were targeting them, and all went to Hengshan Country to buy weapons together. Seeing that all countries were vying to buy China's weapons, the whole hengshan country gave up agriculture and turned to iron. A year later, the Qi people stopped buying weapons, but turned to buy grain, and the price of grain in the Zhao state was fifteen yuan per stone, but the Qi state was bought at fifty dollars per stone. All countries, including the Hengshan State, were transporting grain to the State of Qi, and at the moment when the nations were cheering for their prosperity, the State of Qi suddenly closed the checkpoints and ended the purchase of food and grain and weapons of the Hengshan State. And before the summer harvest, he announced that he would collect troops from Hengshan State. At this time, the Hengshan state had no grain to use, its weapons were almost sold out, and it could not buy food in other countries, and the essence of defeat on the two battlefields of economy and military had to be surrendered by the whole country.
It is not enough to play tricks, and the strength of the big country is strong, and it is not something you can block by controlling the grain. Therefore, Guan Zhong grasped the trade war and the promotion of universal values together and occupied the moral high ground. To make money, you also have to set up a torii arch. This moral high ground is the honor of the king,
In the spring of 656 BC, the northern allies of Lu, Song, Chen, Wei, Zheng, and Cao, led by the State of Qi, marched south with great fanfare against the first major power in the south: the State of Chu. At that time, the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces was Qi Huangong, and the chief of the general staff was Guan Zhong, the minister of State of Qi. Looking at this situation, Chu Guo felt a little weak in his heart, and sent emissaries to the allied camp to explain. The emissary of the State of Chu asked, "The two countries where the State of Chu and the State of Qi are not in harmony with each other, and those who have no resentment or hatred, why should they beat me?" Comrade Guan Zhong righteously and sternly said: "The reason why the State of Qi is crusading against the State of Chu is because the ancestor Jiang Taigong, who was once authorized by the Duke of Zhao to the State of Qi, has the right to conquer the princes for the safety of Zhou Tianzi." You Chu kingdoms have maliciously seized their own country's specialty materials, white thatch, causing shortages of unique raw materials, plotting to sabotage the ritual of worshiping gods, and making it impossible to filter the wine every time the ceremony is held. If you offend the ancestral gods, do you dare to say that you are innocent? Later, under international mediation, especially considering that the strength of the Chu state was also relatively strong, there was no war between the north and the south, and the signing of a peace treaty between Qi and Chu was over, and King Cheng of Chu said that he would pay tribute to thatch on time. However, the war raised the value of the white thatch. Everyone knows that if you don't turn in the thatch on time, the State of Qi has the right to destroy you on behalf of Zhou Tianzi.
Immediately after that, Guan Zhong used thatch to help Zhou Tianzi solve financial problems. Zun Wang Yi was a universal value promoted by the Duke of Qi Huan, but the practical problem was: although Zhou Tianzi had the title of Heavenly Son, his strength was not good, his wealth was insufficient, and any order to expropriate from various countries was not allowed to respond to the princes. Everyone loves to owe Zhou Tianzi's dues, real money and silver, and it will not be paid by the State of Qi for the brotherly countries, right? It is not cost-effective to always mobilize troops to fight wars to collect debts for the Son of Heaven. Huan Gong asked, "Is there a way to solve this problem?" Guan Zhong told him: "Between the Yangtze River and the Huai River, there is a special kind of thatch called 'Jing Mao'. Please make Zhou Tianzi send someone to seal and guard the surrounding area of the Jingmao production area. After a while, the Son of Heaven will sacrifice the heavens at Mount Taishan and sacrifice the land at Liang Father Mountain. It is possible to order the princes of the world: "All those who follow the Son of Heaven to sacrifice the heavens at Mount Taishan and to the land of Liang Father's Mountain must carry a bundle of jingmao as a mat for sacrifice." Those who do not follow the order shall not follow the instructions. In other words, princes who do not get the elite will be expelled from the world. So the princes of the world rushed to buy gold carrying gold. The price of Jacques's jingmao has risen tenfold, and a bundle can be sold for 100 gold. This hype thatch, Zhou Tianzi did not want to take the princes for seven years, and the State of Qi himself did not pay a penny, and realized the honor of the king.
Qi Huangong saw the success of helping Zhou Tianzi hype thatch, and said to Guan Zhong, "When will we fish like this?" Guan Zhong replied, "We have a special stone wall in the yin of the State of Qi, and ask the king to order the construction of a city in the yin, a three-story city wall, and nine city gates, and enclose all the stone wall production areas." Then the jade smiths were sent to carve the stone wall, and the price of one foot was ten thousand dollars, and the eight inches were eight dry. After Shi Bi was completed, Guan Zhong went west to see Tianzi and said, "The king of our country wants to lead the princes to worship the ancestral king Zong temple and observe the ceremony in the Zhou Chamber, please issue an order, requiring all the princes of the world who come to worship and observe the ceremony, they must bring a bow and a yinli stone bi." Those who do not have a bow stone wall are not allowed to enter the dynasty. Zhou Tianzi's mouth was soft, and as soon as he agreed, he issued an order to all parts of the world. All the princes of the world carried gold and pearls to the State of Qi to buy stone walls. The stone walls of the State of Qi thus circulated under the heavens, and the property of the world belonged to the State of Qi. The Government of the State of Qi had gold in its hands and immediately engaged in tax cuts, which were tax-free for 8 years.
For such a businessman who likes to show off his wealth, engage in monopolies, and fight trade wars, people's evaluation at that time was not low. Under the administration of Guan Zhong, the State of Qi engaged in "micro-decentralization and macro-control" with both hands, on the one hand, to attract investment and reduce the burden of industrial and commercial taxes, on the other hand, to implement the salt and iron monopoly, to protect fiscal revenues, and finally to become the first hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period by virtue of economic strength rather than military strength, ordering the princes to jointly respect Zhou Tianzi and resist the barbarian invasion (Zun Wang Zhiyi), especially the capital of the State of Qi, Linzi, was even more prosperous, and the people and families were busy playing the piano, fighting cocks and walking dogs, playing chess and kicking football, cars on the street, and crowding people, "raising curtains and sweating into rain." The family is full of people and high ambitions. ", can be called the world's most prosperous and rich city at that time (Warring States Policy. Zize"). Although Confucius did not approve of Guan Zhong's own high-profile consumption, he still praised: If Guan Zhong did not revitalize the Qi state and support the royal family, we would all become barbarians (Wei Guan Zhong, Wu Qi was sent to the left). Even two thousand years later, scholars were discussing: If the State of Qi unified the world, what would happen to China in the future?
(Restoration map of Linzi, the capital of the State of Qi)
Unfortunately, history cannot assume that the commercial empire established by Guan Zhong cannot be defeated by the military empire created by Shang Martin. In the eyes of the rulers of the Great Qin Empire, there is only the word "farming and war", everyone is a screw in the war machine, the high consumption of civilians is waste, and the "people of industry and commerce" are even more moths of the country (Han Feizi. Five Beetles"). In the Empire, consumption depended first and foremost on rank, not on financial resources, and the ranks of merchants, peasants, merchants, and merchants were clear, and if you were a merchant, sorry, there was no way to ride, ride, or wear silk, and no amount of money would work. The set of merchants ruling the country has finally drifted away.