In the absence of major changes, a country's income and expenditure will not fluctuate much. If the expenditure is more here, it will be less elsewhere.
Although Wei's income increased a lot last year, it still cost money to build roads and launch wars, and the landlords had no surplus food.
Lu Zhonglian smiled. Since he opened his mouth, he could certainly make Wei Guo afford it.
"Wei can exchange the gap." Lu Zhonglian imitated Zhao Kuo and picked up the wine glass, put it to his mouth and took a sip.
During the Warring States Period, the alcoholic content of wine was not very high. Both civil servants and generals liked to drink it in one gulp instead of just taking a small sip like Zhao Kuo. However, Lu Zhonglian thought it was very stylish and decided to drink like this in the future.
"Impossible." Zhang Yan immediately refused without King Wei opening his mouth.
Apart from Yanchi, Honggou was another rooster that laid golden eggs in the Wei Kingdom. Maritime transport had not yet developed in these years, so merchants traveling from south to north had to go through Honggou.
Tolls, commercial taxes, expenses along the way, broken ships had to be repaired, and they could even provide jobs. For cargo ships pulling heavy objects, trackers from Wei State were hired to pull the ships.
In addition, there are some hidden gray incomes. In the entire Wei State, there is no official who has not benefited from the gap.
Especially since last year, business in the Central Plains has been booming and changing with each passing day. Although this year was greatly affected by the implementation of new weights and measures by Zhao State, it has recovered in the second half of the year and is booming again. Otherwise, Wei State would not have the confidence to launch this war.
.
If the King of Wei agrees to give Chagou to Zhao, he will offend the entire Wei bureaucracy.
In comparison, Hangou, another grand canal, is far behind.
The Chasm connects the most prosperous Central Plains area at that time, and the Hangou connects the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River. After Wu Yue was destroyed, Chu State's focus has never been placed here. Although it is not a wilderness, it cannot be called a prosperous place.
"Sir, don't worry. Our Zhao State only needs jurisdiction over Honggou, which means sending people to collect taxes. And it only takes ten years. After ten years, Honggou will be returned to the Wei State. The Wei State should know the capabilities of our Zhao State, foreign minister.
It is no exaggeration to say that in ten years, Honggou's tax revenue will at least quadruple, but in the hands of Wei, it will never be able to reach this level."
"It seems that the Wei State has lost ten years of tax revenue, but in the long run, it is actually a profit. If the gap is returned to the Wei State, it will be able to make up for the ten years of losses in a few years. At the same time, it will gain an additional fifty thousand in vain.
A war horse. That is to say, our two countries, Zhao and Wei, are as close as one family and do not distinguish each other. If it were other countries, the foreign minister would never say this. And... Wei Guo should know that Zhao Guo also made this decision for his own reasons.
Risky..." Lu Zhonglian said.
If the State of Zhao is always stronger than the State of Wei, the State of Wei will have no choice but to open the gap in the next ten years. But if one day, the State of Wei becomes more powerful than the State of Zhao, it will inevitably find a reason and even directly attack the State of Zhao.
Divide jurisdiction is taken back.
Commitments have no binding force between the two countries; only strength is binding.
Everyone in the Wei Kingdom did not refute. No one would say such a thing openly, but they all knew it secretly.
Everyone has no objection to Lu Zhonglian’s statement that Honggou’s tax revenue will at least quadruple in ten years. According to the current development speed, in the hands of Zhao State, it will only be more, not less.
Ten years later, when Wei State took it back, it would indeed take less than a few years to make up for the losses of the past ten years.
As for the war? I have never heard that the war affects businessmen's money. It will only make more money.
But everyone still felt that something was wrong, but they couldn't explain it. After thinking about it carefully, they felt that what Lu Zhonglian said made sense.
However, King Wei still did not agree. The reason was very simple. Giving up the chasm to Zhao had offended too many officials. He was well aware of the gray income of these officials and allowed it within a certain range.
If the water is clear, there will be no fish, and no officialdom will be clean.
If Chaoguan is handed over to Zhao Guo for ten years, these officials will definitely be dissatisfied with him if they have one less money bag.
Although it would not happen like what happened hundreds of years ago when the people of the country expelled the king, he couldn't afford to lose anything.
"I think we should discuss this matter further. How about we, Wei State, give Zhao State a reply in a few days?" Fan Zuo said. He didn't know if he drank too much. He always felt that he was not clear-headed. He even spilled wine on the ground.
I didn't even notice it on my clothes.
"The foreign minister would like to ask the King of Wei, besides the chasm, what else can the Wei State offer? Money and grain? Cities? Copper and iron? Or...population?" Zhang Yan asked.
King Wei looked at the familiar scene, swallowed his saliva, and instantly felt that the wine in his hand was no longer fragrant: "We, the Kingdom of Wei... can buy less."
"How much does Wei intend to buy?" Lu Zhonglian asked.
"Thirty thousand, no, twenty thousand." King Wei looked around and hesitated.
Lu Zhonglian smiled slightly. If his calculations were not too far off, Wei would not be able to afford even 10,000 war horses by the end of this year.
War is a waste of money, and if you win, you can say that you can make up for the losses, and you may still make a lot of money. But Wei Guo fought for several months, not only did not gain anything, but also lost troops and generals. Where did the money and food come from?
"If the State of Wei can spend so much money, our State of Zhao can hand over the war horses to the State of Wei next month. After the autumn harvest, the State of Wei can train the cavalry. Foreign ministers are here to congratulate the King of Wei." Lu Zhonglian said with cupped hands.
"...We, the State of Wei, cannot afford so much money for the time being. I wonder...if we can get it on credit first...or we, the State of Wei, can buy it later."
The young man, Wei Yang, glared at Zhang Yan and others fiercely. These people did not care about money and had no idea of Wei's current difficulties. Just building roads and making farm tools cost a lot of money, not to mention war.
"Sir, you are joking. How can you get credit for such a thing? As for it, it will be feasible after a while, but... Chu State asked me to buy war horses from Zhao State last year. South Korea and Qi State also want to buy war horses. If Wei State waits for a while,
Time, then I, the State of Zhao, can only sell it to them first. By then...if the war horses are sold out, the foreign ministers will have no choice." Lu Zhonglian said.
What business is best to do, monopoly business.
Now the State of Zhao is saying that it is the same, and all countries that want to train cavalry can only buy horses from the State of Zhao.
As for the Qin State, people passing in and out of Hangu Pass must undergo strict inspections. Without the consent of the Qin State, not even a single horse can escape. Although the Zhao State's control is strict, occasionally a small number of horses still enter the Central Plains.
There is no way, Qin's terrain advantage is too good.
In fact, although Qin did not sell horses to Han, Wei, and Chu, it always wanted to sell them to Qi. The problem was that there was still Han and Wei between the two countries, so they could not send them across. The horses were robbed directly when they arrived in South Korea, which was completely to support the enemy.