Chapter 47: Overpowering Lü Buwei

  Lü Buwei was supposed to show off his erudite and talented side today, in order to win over Zhao Ji's favor. However, the appearance of Qin Yiren has made him further and further away from this goal, which makes him extremely displeased.

  He was well aware of Qin Yiren's affairs, and Qin Yiren was indeed a master of the guqin. If he were to show off his skills, he would have no chance. Once the two of them stuck together, heaven knows what would happen?

  Lü Buwei was about to stop her, but saw Zhao Ji laughing extremely happily, and ordered the maid to say: "Qin Zhong."

  The maid responded with a single word and floated away like a butterfly among flowers, leaving Lü Buwei to sigh in dismay.

  Qin Yiren was extremely pleased with Zhao Ji's reaction, and with a provocative raise of his chin, he smiled and asked: "Zhao Ji, why do you like Qin Zhong?"

  She was no longer called "young lady", but Zhao Ji instead, and their relationship suddenly became much closer.

  "I am Zhao Qinren." Zhao Ji replied crisply.

  "Are you a Zhaoqin person?" Qin Yiren was very surprised, his eyes wide with wonder, and he laughed loudly: "I really didn't expect that we would be from the same roots, nice to meet you!"

  "Hehe!" Zhao Ji responded with a sweet smile.

  Lü Buwei seethed with anger at the sight, wishing he could kick Qin Yiren flying and take his place.

  The Qin tribe was originally a nomadic people in the Longxi River Valley (now Qinghai-Tibet Plateau), and because this tribe was good at raising horses, they could raise fine steeds. The Zhou Tianzi ordered the Qin tribe to offer horses as tribute.

  Later generations, in order to vilify Qin Shi Huang, fabricated rumors based on this, saying that the ancestors of Qin Shi Huang were lowly horse breeders for the Zhou dynasty.

  In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, King You of Zhou "played with the beacons to amuse the vassals", which made heaven angry and people resentful. The Rongdi invaded the capital of Haojing, destroying the Western Zhou. At that time, the crown prince, later King Ping of Zhou, sought help everywhere, but was ignored by major vassal states like Jin and Qi. With no other choice, King Ping of Zhou came to the Qin tribe and asked for military aid.

  At that time, the leader of the Qin tribe, Duke Xiang of Qin, led an army of 50,000 into Guanzhong, greatly defeating the Rong and Di tribes, and recovering the capital of Zhou.

  Only the Zhou Gong palace had been destroyed by the Xianyun and Di, so King Ping of Zhou thought of the intact palaces in Luoyang and moved the capital to Luoyang, giving the old lands of Qifeng to the Qin tribe.

  The Qin tribe moved from the Longxi River Valley to Guanzhong, and during this migration, they were attacked by surrounding nomadic tribes, causing many of their people to scatter. Some drifted into the State of Yan, where they became known as "Northern Qin People", while others drifted into the State of Zhao, where they became known as "Zhao Qin People".

  In addition to the majority who entered Guanzhong, and those who stayed in the ancestral homeland of the Tianshui River valley, the Qin tribe is now divided into four parts.

  Whether it is the majority of people entering Guanzhong or the Qin people who stay in their hometown, Zhaoqin people, Yanqin people, they are all Qin ethnic groups and belong to the same root.

  This is another common ground, Qin Yi will certainly not miss such a good opportunity to get close, and smiled particularly kindly.

  "Hehe!" Zhao Ji laughed happily, after all, blood is thicker than water, they came from the same root, she was also delighted.

  "What a disaster!" Lü Buwei heard it in his ears, and he was furious. The more common topics Zhao Ji and the Qin stranger had, the more unfavorable they were to him. He turned his mind around, thinking secretly: "I must think of a way." As soon as his eyes rolled, he thought of a method and said: "Today, thanks to the presence of all the great talents, Lü Buwei will speak first on one topic."

  "Mr. Lü is very talented, I admire him."

  "Mr. Lü's insight has certainly opened our eyes."

  The scholar is a clever fellow, and he loudly praises Lü Buwei as if he were the most famous scholar in the world.

  Qin Yiren watched with a smile in his eyes, thinking to himself: "I came here today specifically for the debate. To make a name for myself, I must participate in the debate. Let's see what astonishing arguments you, Lü Buwei, have."

  Zhao Ji blinked her beautiful eyes and sized up Lü Buwei, feeling quite interested.

  Zhao Xiong and Zhao Lie also wanted to see what Lü Buwei had in mind, so they opened their eyes wide.

  Lü Buwei saw the reaction of everyone, was greatly encouraged, especially Zhao Ji's interest, which made him even more excited, and shouted: "People all say that merchants pursue profits, how wrong! Merchants take justice!"

  "What's gotten into the merchant?" A surprised murmur arose.

  Everyone knows that businessmen do not get up early without profit, pursuing benefits and being greedy for more. His argument was different from others, and the scholars were very curious. Someone asked aloud: "Sir, how do you explain this?"

  "Merchants have markets without cities, and can make the whole world's wealth and goods circulate." Lü Buwei began to elaborate on his topic, saying: "If we were to ban all merchants, would Handan still have its Zeze deer and millet? The hundred flavors and ten thousand delicacies, could they be gathered in a humble wine shop? This is the righteousness of benefiting the country's great righteousness!"

  "Good!" The scholars were there to make up the number, and even if Lü Buwei's topic was poor, they would still have called out "good". Not to mention that Lü Buwei's topic indeed had its own unique aspects.

  "Merchants also have a righteous duty to benefit the people!" Lü Buwei stretched out his right index finger and said in a loud, clear voice: "All merchants must hire servants, artisans, and carters. Their food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, as well as their families' livelihoods, all depend on merchants. Without merchants, the people's livelihoods would be twice as difficult."

  In modern terms, this means that businessmen can provide job opportunities and enable ordinary people to increase their income and live a better life.

  "This cunning merchant has quite a mind for political economics." Qin Yiren was quite astonished, absolutely not expecting that Lv Buwei this great cunning merchant, as early as two thousand years ago had such astonishing insights.

  This kind of understanding cannot be compared with modern economics, but this simple understanding appeared as early as two thousand years ago, which is rare and precious.

  "Good! Adopt!" The scholar cheered loudly for Jin, enthusiastically applauding.

  For a moment, the sound was as thunderous as a clap of thunder, and it was quite shocking.

  "We admit defeat." The scholars conceded very straightforwardly.

  "Hmm." Lü Buwei was quite pleased with himself, and with a slight raise of his chin to provoke the Qin stranger, he finally got to regain face after being suppressed by the Qin stranger for so long: "What do you think, sir?"

  "No need to force it." Yu Ji whispered a sentence in Qin Yiren's ear, reminding him not to be overly proud.

  Lü Buwei's argument is indeed beyond what ordinary people can achieve. Zhao Ji is worried about Qin Yiren, this is a kind intention.

  Lü Buwei watched with a scornful smile, thinking that Qin Yiren would not be able to refute him no matter what and would definitely be overpowered by him.

  "Nonsense!" However, just as Lü Buwei was feeling pleased with himself, the Qin stranger suddenly let out a loud and crude insult.

  "Shut up!" Lü Buwei's argument was indeed novel and superior, he was very pleased with himself, but was unexpectedly scolded by Qin Yi as being "not even worth a fart". He got angry, his eyes rolled back, and with a flash of anger, he shouted: "Qin Yi, do you dare to debate?"

  "What's wrong with that?" Qin Yiren smiled lightly and said, "What is the righteousness of merchants in benefiting the country? Merchants trade in goods, transporting them from one place to another, buying cheaply and selling dearly, making huge profits. Have merchants ever manufactured anything? Have they ever produced a single grain? Have they ever woven a single brocade?"

  "Good! Adopted!" Qin Yiren's words had barely fallen when a chorus of approval erupted.

  The evaluation of the Warring States period is divided into three levels. The first is not commented, which is the worst; the second is called good but not adopted, which is medium; and the third is called good and adopted, which is the best.

  Qin Yiren's argument is precisely the weakness of merchants. Merchants do not produce goods, but only transport them from one place to another and make a profit from the price difference, which is considered shameful by others.

  If it were in modern society, there would be many ways to refute it. However, this is the Warring States period, and from the perspective of ancient people, this is a true insight.

  Zhao Ji blinked her bright and charming eyes, staring at Qin Yiren, with sparkling lights in her eyes.

  Lü Buwei knew things were going badly, but there was nothing he could do, and all he could do was pretend to be unaware.

  "What benefit do merchants bring to the people?" Qin Yi retorted, "Merchants exploit and oppress laborers, artisans, and carters in a hundred ways. If they are not allowed to do so, they will be oppressed themselves. For the sake of their families, they dare not but allow you to exploit them."

  In modern society, the powerful and wealthy always have countless ways to deal with the weak wage earners, even under legal protection; in the Warring States period, there was no legal protection for the weak, and their oppression is shocking.

  "Good! Adopted!"

  "Good! Adopted!"

  The applause shook the earth, and the ground was trembling. Many of these scholars were from poor backgrounds, they deeply knew that Qin Yiren's words were reasonable, and they couldn't help but loudly cheer and applaud, without giving Lu Buwei any face.

  Listening to the thunderous applause, Lü Buwei's face was gloomy, his reputation as "erudite and talented" was completely gone.

  "Good! Adopt!" What made him even more displeased was that Zhao Ji actually patted Bai Yu's palm lightly and applauded loudly for Qin Yiren.