Duke Qi Huan (also known as Xiaobai) can lead the country of Qi from a turbulent country to a gorgeous turn to the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period, the princes of Jiuhe, and the world, in addition to his own mind about the world and the pattern is big enough, that is, he is willing to be the "chairman" at the same time, delegating power to his general manager - Guan Zhong (Guanzi), completely disregardingShoot hooksSuspicion before.
If I ask you a question, who is the first phase of China through the ages?I guess many people will answer:Zhuge Liang
Due to the popularity of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", there must be a lot of people who agree with Zhuge Liang, and when Zhuge Liang was not out of the mountain, he often compared himself to Guan Zhong and Le Yi (see "Longzhong Pair"). But those who understand the history of the Spring and Autumn Period should be more respectedGuan Zhong, he is not only proficientTaoism, Confucianism, and even morePioneer of Legalism
At the same time, so is Guan ZhongThe originator of economy, the ancestor of business, the ancestor of business warfare, the first person of mercantilism, the ancestor of management, the teacher of saints, and the first minister in the world
In addition to management talents, why do people respect Guan Zhong so much?Economic, business talents？After reading this article, you will understand why we say that Guan Zhong is a real economic titan and genius. Guan Zhong understood 2,000 years ago that the essence of economics is to study the increase and decrease of wealth, and in ancient times, land was almost the only wealth**.
Of course, this tradition is still there, and land finance is still the main income of a large number of local governmentsPhase-to-ground declineEmerged. 「Phase-to-ground declineIt is a distribution system that can greatly increase the enthusiasm of peasant households, and it was designed by Guan Zhong for Qi HuangongOne of the plans to enrich the country and strengthen the army and dominate the world
The specifics are not complicated, there are only two things:
Article 1:After all the arable land is recounted, it is divided equally according to the labor force.
Prior to this, the vassal states of Zhou Tianxia practiced the Jingtian system, what is the Jingtian system?We should all have learned in history class: in the Spring and Autumn Period, roads and channels crisscrossed the land, dividing the land into squares, shaped like the character "well", so it was called "well field".
The well field belonged to the king of Zhou and was allocated to the common people. The lord was not allowed to buy, sell, or transfer the well fields, and at the same time had to pay a certain amount of tribute. 
The lord forced the common people to cultivate the well fields collectively, and the public land in the middle was cultivated first, and the surrounding private land was cultivated later.
Because of the distinction between public and private, the degree of importance attached to it by rural households is naturally very different. Cultivators work intensively on private land, and of course they get by on public land.
It seems that for thousands of years, people's hearts and human nature have not changed
When the harvest of the public fields decreased, of course the lords did not do it, so they continued to increase the area of the public fields. As the amount of public land to be cultivated increases, the farmers will completely rot and begin to move in large numbers, that is, abandon the land and flee.
The Book of Poetry "National Style, Qi Feng, Futian" wrote:There is no field, and Wei Wei is arrogant. There are no people who are far away, and they are worried. No field is a field, and there is no field. There are no thoughts, and they are tired。The gist of it is: a large number of fields are uncultivated, and the wild grasses grow tall and vigorous, depicting the real situation in the fields of Qi State.
And Guan Zhong knows it very wellDisadvantages of the Ida system, so he waved his hand:It doesn't matter if it's you or me, it's all everyone's。There is no longer a distinction between public and private, but all land is distributed to farmers. And that's what's not a bit like?Hahaha
Article 2: Dynamic tax collection.
Because of factors such as the quality of the land, the distance and the proximity of the land, coupled with the drought and flood in the year, the tax burden will be unreasonable, and some laborers will go bankrupt and flee due to the excessive tax burden, and even carry out rebellion. So Guan Zhong launched itDynamic tax collectionpolicy. The good land tax rate is higher, the bad land tax rate is lower, and a little more grain is collected during the harvest period, and a few percent less is taken if the harvest is not good. These two simple policies solved the problem of low labor productivity in the Spring and Autumn period of pure farming. Guan Zhong's".Phase-to-ground decline"Received".so that the people will not moveThe effect is to make the tax burden more reasonable, greatly enhance the peasants' enthusiasm for production, and enable taxpayers to produce with peace of mind, thus conducive to the development of agricultural production and ensuring the tax revenue of the ruling class.
The book "Pipe" is recorded:Therefore, when I go to bed at night and get up early, fathers, sons and brothers do not forget their merits, and they are tireless, and the people are not afraid of hard work. It can be seen that the attitude of workers towards labor has taken a 180-degree turn, and they no longer work and do not exert their effortsBecause the distribution is more reasonable, more work and more rewards, relatively fair.
Therefore, the annual grain harvest of Qi has increased significantly, and there is no negative growth. 
It can be said that Guan Zhong completed this transformation without much effort and achieved a win-win situation, which is really high!
Resources may be fixed, but the charm of economics is to use a deep analysis of the laws of things and human nature to transform the same resources into as much wealth as possible. For this reason, we should praise Guan Zhong Guan Zhong knows a truth:The wealth of the strong is in the hands of the people, and the wealth of the weak is in the king's box。After Guan Zhong became the prime minister of Qi, he not only distributed the public land to the cultivators, but also abolished many taxes.
Because of the direct collection of taxes from the people, the people will have a strong resistance mentality, resulting in high tax collection costs, which is not conducive to unity and stability. It would be best if the price of certain necessities could be controlled, and the taxes could be hidden in them, so that people could pay happily without realizing it.
As a result, Guan Zhong launched a creative oneGuanshan Haipolicy, ieSalt and iron monopoly system。During the Spring and Autumn Period, the two commodities of salt and iron could not be produced anywhere, and "salt" was a necessity for the people's life. Previously, most of the income from the private operation of salt and iron was privately owned, and the government did not have much income.
Guan Zhong was keenly aware of this, so he firmly controlled the two industries of salt and iron in the hands of the state, so he did not worry that the country had no income, which should be the earliestState-runNature of it. So much so that during the Han Dynasty, Sang Hongyang also put forward the [salt and iron theory] that the government was good at.
Guanshan HaiIt should be the earliest and most famous monopoly policy in history, and it is the policy of Guan Zhong to judge the situation and solve the country's financial problems, which can be said to have created a precedent for China's economic monopoly policy and influenced China's history for thousands of years. But there is still a big difference between thinking about it and making it, because although the salt and iron franchise is very good, there are two problems:
OneBreaking the existing pattern of distribution of interests will certainly meet with fierce opposition from vested interests.
When salt and iron were nationalized and operated, the original practitioners gathered people to make trouble, and at worst rebelled and rebelled, endangering the security of the country.
IIOnce the salt and iron are publicized, then it will cause the problem of low efficiency, and then the people who boil salt and make iron will start to be superficial, and they will not work hard, a cup of tea, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper, oh There were no newspapers at that time, what should I do?That's it for nowMarketizationPhew!
The policies formulated by Guan Zhong are:Civil system, official revenue, official transportation, official sales。That is, the government only sells it, regardless of the production and manufacturing links, which means that everyone can boil salt and make iron, but you can't sell it privately, it can only be unified by the governmentAcquisition, transportationand then sell it to the populace. In this way, all are happy, the producers of salt and iron do not worry about selling, the income is guaranteed, and they are market behavior, independent competition, efficiency and quality will be guaranteed.
After the implementation of Guan Zhong's salt monopoly policy, it not only increased the huge financial revenue for the country, but also stimulated people's enthusiasm for boiling salt and promoted the development of the salt industry in Qi. WhenThe ban on Yamazawa has been liftedAt that time, people boiling salt came one after another, and there were so many people that it was like going to market for a market.
Qi is rich in sea salt resources (the capital of Qi is Linzi, which is now Zibo, Shandong, last year's popular Zibo barbecue is this, understand why Zibo is so civilized, there is a history), as long as you are willing to boil salt, you can produce it in large quantities. The specific practice in iron is as follows:Private mining and smelting are allowed, and the government and private are divided, "the weight of the weight, the calculation of the win, the people get seven, and the king gets the three".
That is, iron is used as a raw material, and the government is given 30% of it according to its weight to offset the tax;The finished iron products were purchased by the government, and 30% of the profits went to the government. All iron tools are sold by government-run institutions, compiled according to household registration, and given to peasant households. The selling price is appropriately increased at the time of sale to collect taxes. 
Guan Zhong still has".Boost consumption"And".Boost consumptionThe policy was at least 2,000 years ahead of its time.
Under Guan Zhong's rule, the state of Qi reached a fairly wealthy level, but the people still lived in the "".Diligence and thrift". Guan Zhong thinks:Thrift hurts things, and extravagance hurts goods
This means that excessive frugality hinders the development of production, and extravagance wastes all kinds of money. So at this time, Guan Zhong began to be in "".Boost consumption"And" liftConsumption"Make a fuss, after all, consumption is".The national economy is the first driving force
The government encourages consumption:
For example, the wealthy are encouraged to hold big ceremonies, and the more exquisite the clothing, food, housing and transportation, the better.
Another example is to make a dish, which can be completed by one person, but to make this dish exquisite, it may take three people to complete, so that employment opportunities are increased, the rich eat happily, and the commoners earn happily. At the national level, Guan Zhong proposedSorry for the yearIn times of poor harvest and famine, the imperial court should carry out large-scale projects such as building fortifications and pavilions to stimulate employment, and even if necessary, you can ask one person to build a wall, and then ask one person to tear down the wall, or one person to build a road, and another person to tear down the road, that is, there is work to do repeatedly.
Do you know what the "troika" of our country's current economic policy is?Investment,** and consumption. 
Speaking of which, Guan Zhong has already implemented two investment and consumption more than 2,000 years ago, and the other "** is there any?".Of course there is, more on that later.
It can be said that Guan Zhong is ancient".KeynesOr, rather, KeynesStealing teachersOur ancestors are in charge. Therefore, don't blindly worship Western culture and economy, these are probably played by our ancestors.
What did Keynes do?
In the thirties of the 20th century, the United States fell into an economic crisis and the Great Depression broke out. Roosevelt adopted Keynes's ideas, encouraging business mergers, building public works, lending heavily to banks, and setting prices to support agricultural products. This series of measures saved the US economy, which was on the verge of collapse.
Therefore, this set of theories is called "".KeynesianismorKeynesian economics”。Guan Zhong's measures to stimulate domestic demand, another is that it is said that he established the first in the history of China".Green Building
Chinese Qi Yu records: "Qi hasFemale LuSeven hundred, levy the capital of its night union, and use it through the country. Among them, "Nulu" refers to the place where women live in a concentrated manner, which was originally a happy place set up by the Duke of Qi Huan in the palace, and then gradually evolved into an officially operated green building. Guan Zhong opened an officially run Qinglou in Linzi, the capital of Qi State, to protect the women of Qinglou and to tax them, and the taxes collected were used as military expenses, also for the purpose of enriching the country and strengthening the army.
At that time, the nobles and wealthy people of various vassal states came to Zizi, the world's largest "entertainment city", to consume, and the liveliness was comparable to the Zibo barbecue after 2000. The metaphor is a bit inappropriate, forgive me
It can be said that Guan Zhong's economic national policy in the Spring and Autumn Period was more than 2,000 years ahead of modern economics, and Keynes was the younger brother. At the same time, it is mated onCurrency controland autonomy(The troika is all together), so that the economic strength of Qi at that time far exceeded that of other vassal states, and it was the top of the developed countries, so that Qi could destroy a country with economic leverage without bloodshed, which can also be called the earliest".Currency wars
The most typical example is the [Hengshan Strategy]:
With the increasing strength of Qi State, Qi Huan Gong Xiaobai's desire to dominate is also becoming stronger. In the first stop of the hegemony, Qi Huan Gong wanted to attack the rich Lu country, of course, the Lu country was relatively close, and he attacked from afar. And there is one between Qi and LuHengshan country, so if you want to fight the Lu Kingdom, you must first kill the Hengshan Kingdom.
At the timeHengshan countryRich in weapons, the weapons produced have the reputation of "Hengshan sword, unparalleled in the world", far ahead, far ahead, far ahead. Therefore, although the army of Hengshan Country is not strong, it is also difficult to really fight, maybe1,000 wounded and 800 self-inflicted
Such an uneconomical thing, economist Guan Zhong definitely did not do it, so he formulated".Currency warsstratagem. 
The specific way is to first send someone to buy Hengshan weapons, and at the same time raise the price. Other vassal states such as Yan, Zhao, Lu, and Liang looked at it, what is Qi doing here?With a rhythm?You can't start a war, do you?I'll go, you buy it, I'll buy it.
So these vassal states began to compete to buy weapons from Hengshan, and even the Qin State, which was far away in the barren land in the northwest, also joined the ranks of buying weapons, only buying expensive ones, not buying the right ones The monarch of Hengshan Kingdom was confused, people sat at home, and money came from all directions. As a result, the price of weapons was greatly raised, but the vassal states did not buy up, not down, and the higher the price, the more they bought.
The monarch of Hengshan Kingdom looked at it, isn't this just a stupid person and a lot of money?So he ordered the whole country to stop all agricultural activities, and the whole people worked in three shifts to produce weapons overnight. This lasted for a year, and a year later, Guan Zhong implemented the second step of his plan: to send people to Zhao to buy grain at a price more than three times higher than the market price.
Same recipe, same taste.
The plot of the Hengshan Kingdom repeated itself again, and the vassal states, including the Hengshan Kingdom, sold their grain reserves to the Qi State. Just when the countries were counting the money and cramping, the Qi State suddenly announced the closure of the checkpoint and completely stopped the purchase of food and weapons.
Next, the soldiers of the Qi State pressed the Hengshan Kingdom, and this time the monarch of the Hengshan Kingdom was really confused. 
During the Spring and Autumn Period, fighting a war was to fight grain, but Hengshan Country had no more grain in stock, so he hurriedly went to Zhao State to buy it, and found outThe landlord's family also had no surplus food, Zhao Guo's grain was also sold out. As a result, it can be imagined that the Hengshan Kingdom surrendered and became a county of the Qi State.
Since then, under the governance of Guan Zhong, it only took 7 years for the State of Qi to become the overlord at that time!Both Legalists, Guan Zhong and Shang Ying are diametrically opposed in terms of strategy.
Guan Zhong asserted:People-oriented, rich for the people；But Shang Ying thinks:The way to govern the country is to lay the weak people, which in turn gave rise to the infamousThe Five Techniques of Harnessing the People。Guan Zhong's thoughts are not outdated in the present.
Therefore, Guan Zhong is called by later generations:Economist, philosopher, politician, military strategist, essayist, representative of Legalism in the Spring and Autumn Period
Salute to the sages!Guan Zhong