42: Chapter 42 The Qin Empire's rise and fall were both due to Shang Yang.

"Fuehrer, if you wish to develop agriculture well so that every commoner of the Great Qin Empire has food to eat and can eat their fill, you cannot stay in the Forging Workshop all day, obsessed with mechanical objects."

"You should always prioritize the development of agriculture!"

Feng Quji spent so much breath explaining things in simple terms just to make Zhao Fusu understand the principle: when gold thrives, grain dies; when grain thrives, gold dies.

If Zhao Fusu wanted to work on agriculture, he had to stop messing around with those mechanical objects.

There is a saying that those below follow the example of those above. As the true Emperor of the Great Qin Empire, if Zhao Fusu was obsessed with making gadgets, he would inevitably lead a large number of people astray, and the Great Qin Empire would be unable to focus on agricultural production.

When Zhao Fusu wanted to abolish corvée labor and provide the laborers with three full meals a day, Feng Quji only had some reservations.

He didn't oppose it too strongly.

But it was unacceptable for Zhao Fusu to be obsessed with making gadgets.

This would shake the very foundation of the nation!

The strength of industry and commerce would inevitably drain the lifeblood of agriculture!

"When gold thrives, grain dies; when grain thrives, gold dies!"

Lord Shang's words vividly expressed that one cannot have both agriculture and industry/commerce at the same time.

"I understand,"

Zhao Fusu nodded.

After listening carefully to Feng Quji's long discourse, Zhao Fusu finally understood Feng Quji's concerns.

In short, one farmer might only be able to support three people. Therefore, farmers could not engage in commerce or industry.

Zhao Fusu sighed with emotion.

This was also the reason why the East had led the West for thousands of years, yet the Industrial Revolution failed to happen in the East.

The power of imperial authority in the East was too strong.

Under the imperial policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, both commerce and industry were suppressed.

The sprouts of capitalism clearly appeared earliest in the Ming Dynasty, but they were snuffed out by imperial power.

Zhao Fusu was well aware of the constraints imperial power placed on an industrial revolution.

This was why the first thing he did after seizing military power and launching a coup was to place constraints on imperial authority.

To have an industrial revolution, the old political system of imperial power had to be discarded in favor of a new, advanced social system.

With the Great Qin Empire as the leader, parts of the economy would be opened up to give the empire new vitality.

Social systems are not inherently good or bad, only suitable or unsuitable.

Zhao Fusu knew very well that the Dragon people were better suited for this set of systems.

After all, this was something they had verified through nearly a hundred years of repeated exploration.

He just needed to copy the answers.

Feng Quji continued, "Before the conquest of the six states, an ordinary local granary in our Qin State could store ten thousand dan of grain."

"In Xianyang, we could even store a hundred thousand dan in a single pile!"

"This was the confidence that allowed our Qin State to maintain hundreds of thousands of troops year-round and fight wars abroad!"

Feng Quji's tone was full of pride.

Zhao Fusu could tell that the reason the Qin State could conquer the six states was simply that they had more food.

In terms of grain consumption, other countries could not outlast them.

Otherwise, during the standoff between Qin and Zhao at Changping, if the Zhao State had more food than Qin, the Zhao army wouldn't have been in such a hurry to launch a decisive battle.

If they had held their fortresses, the Qin Army still wouldn't have been able to break into Zhao territory.

Once the Qin State ran out of food, the Qin Army would have naturally retreated.

Zhao Fusu was curious about why the Qin State had so much grain.

Of course, what he was most curious about was why, with so much grain, the prices were still ridiculously high.

He just let the corvée laborers eat their fill, and it was as if the Great Qin Empire was about to collapse.

This left Zhao Fusu very puzzled.

Feng Quji said, "When our Qin State conquered the six states, we exhausted all our stored grain."

"In recent years, we've also been hit by earthquakes and natural disasters, resulting in poor harvests."

"We don't have much grain, so the price of grain naturally kept rising."

"Oh."

Zhao Fusu nodded.

He felt something wasn't quite right.

But he couldn't put his finger on it yet.

Feng Quji added, "The fact that our Great Qin's grain reserves can far exceed other countries is inseparable from Lord Shang's reforms."

Feng Quji's tone was respectful.

It was clear how much Feng Quji admired Shang Yang.

Shang Yang abolished the system of hereditary officialdom and salaries, implemented the military merit nobility system, promoted the county system, and encouraged farming and weaving, which allowed the Qin State's economy to develop and its army's combat effectiveness to continuously strengthen.

It was Shang Yang's reforms that laid a solid foundation for the Qin State's later unification of the six states.

Feng Quji also felt it was a pity how Shang Yang ended up.

He offended the interests of too many people, including not just the nobles, but also the commoners.

He could no longer stay in the Qin State.

Feng Quji couldn't help but glance at Zhao Fusu.

Zhao Fusu had also launched a reform in the Great Qin Empire.

But his reform hadn't really offended anyone's interests.

If anyone was offended, it was that unlucky fellow Hu Hai.

As for the others, aside from having their residences surrounded, they still held their original official positions.

"Indeed."

Li Si also highly approved of Shang Yang.

It was just a pity that Shang Yang was falsely accused of rebellion; to protect himself, he did indeed lead troops in revolt, which was why he was executed by being torn apart by chariots in the Qin State.

Although Shang Yang died, his reforms were inherited in full and became the fundamental reason for the Qin State's strength.

Li Si spoke up, "The fact that our Qin State's grain reserves can far surpass the six states is inseparable from Lord Shang's policies."

"Ensure merchants cannot buy grain, and farmers cannot sell grain. If farmers cannot sell grain, then even the lazy ones will be forced to work hard. If merchants cannot buy grain, they cannot increase their enjoyment in years of plenty. If they cannot increase enjoyment in years of plenty, they will find no great profit in years of famine. Without great profit, merchants will be fearful; if merchants are fearful, they will desire to farm."

"What does that mean!"

Zhao Fusu stared.

He was very annoyed that these ancients would spout Classical Chinese at the drop of a hat, leaving him in a fog of confusion.

Li Si's face twitched.

He had to speak in plain language when talking to this Fuehrer!

He explained, "Merchants are not allowed to sell grain, and farmers are not allowed to buy grain."

"Since farmers aren't allowed to buy grain, even lazy farmers will work hard and actively engage in agricultural production."

"Since merchants aren't allowed to sell grain, they can't make a profit from selling grain to increase their luxury in harvest years, and thus there is no thick profit to be made in years of famine."

"With no thick profit to be made, merchants will surely be afraid of doing business and will want to go into farming. When lazy farmers work hard at production and merchants also want to farm, then wasteland will surely be reclaimed."

"I see!"

Zhao Fusu understood.

He began to understand why the grain prices in the Great Qin Empire were so ridiculous.

It wasn't that merchants were hoarding grain and selling it at high prices.

It was the Empire that was hoarding grain and selling it at high prices.

The grain price was also intentionally raised by the Empire.

This reminded him of his past life, where a certain minister said that housing prices had to be kept high.

It was all about harvesting the common people.

He finally realized why he felt something was off when he heard Feng Quji say: We don't have much grain, so the price of grain naturally kept rising.

The problem was right here.

In the Great Qin Empire, grain could only be traded through the Empire.

Whether you were a merchant, a commoner, or a noble, buying or selling grain was illegal.

In this way, grain could be firmly held in the Empire's hands and would not flow to the six states.

This highly centralized planned economy for grain in the Great Qin Empire was a wartime economy, suitable for fighting wars but not for times of peace.

It suppressed the development of a commodity economy.

The reason grain prices remained high was that this wartime economy could not lower prices through market regulation.

One could only say that for the Great Qin Empire, success was due to Lord Shang, and failure was also due to Lord Shang.