Prime Minister

This trip from Bianjing to Northwest is different from the previous one.

The last time Zhang Yue was just a general judge in Qinzhou, but now Zhang Yue has been ordered by the emperor to go to Shaanxi as the appeasement envoy of the Xihe Road Economic Strategy.

Arbitrary at the moment, officials can be rewarded and dismissed by themselves, and generals below the rank can be killed first and then played. This kind of power is only a fake festival.

In addition to the dispatch of the Xihe Road Economic Envoy and the Chief of the Military and Horse Capital, Zhang Yue also added the Deputy Chief of the Military and Horse Capital of Qinfeng Road, and the post of Commander of the Ritianwu Four Chambers.

The deputy chief of the capital of Qinfeng Road is second only to Zhang Shen, the chief of Qinfeng Road's military and horse capital, in Qinfeng Road's economic strategy and appeasement envoy.

In other words, Zhang Yue can not only dispatch the soldiers and horses of Xihe Road, but also dispatch the soldiers and horses of Qinfeng Road next door.

The Commander of the Four Sides of Pengri and Tianwu is nominally the highest officer of the Tianwu Army of the Upper Fourth Army, but he is feared by the court and is now a vain post.

It was the commander of the left wing or the right wing who held the real power of the Japanese Wuwei Army.

But no matter how empty his post was, he was also one of the Eight Commanders of the Forbidden Army. At the same time, there were three Japanese cavalry commanders who followed Zhang Yue to the northwest.

These three commanders are extraordinary as the Imperial Guards, not because they are capable of fighting or how elite their troops are, but because they represent the Son of Heaven's pro-army.

Cai Ting said: "If Zhang Longtu can win, there is nothing to worry about. If not, ten Cai Ting will be useless."

Cai Jing thought for a while and said, "Could it be that the commander-in-chief wants to subdue Xiyi with salt money?"

On the day of resigning from Beijing, Zhang Yue, his shogunate and the three commanding guards left the city gate and said goodbye to Cai Ting, Li Xian and Zhang Zhi who came to see him off.

At that time, others thought that Cai Ting was not willing to patrol the border because he was comfortable in the position of deputy envoy of the Privy Council, or that he was afraid that his famous name would be ruined in the Xihe River. I agreed.

Zhang Yue had no feelings for Cai Ting at first, because he didn't have a good relationship with his son, but he heard that one of the candidates to go to Xihe was recommended by the imperial meeting that day, one was himself, and the other was Cai Ting.

Although the Ping Japanese army was used as a forbidden army, it used to guard the capital and was not usually sent to station in other places. This time, it made an exception and went out with Zhang Yue.

"Prince Master, take care!"

Cai Jingdao: "However, the proceeds from the salt solution will go to the Yongxing Army's transfer envoy, and we are now Qin Feng's transfer envoy. If it was easy to coordinate in the past, it may be difficult to divide them into two sides now."

Zhang Yue nodded and said, "Of course."

Although he has obtained a stable income, he has lost the freedom of being at home everywhere.

However, this military position in name also has a deterrent effect on the generals in charge of the Imperial Army stationed on Xihe Road and Qinfeng Road.

Cai Bian was startled and said, "I heard that the commander-in-chief opened many salt wells in the northwest."

The so-called alienation means that money is just a tool for people, but in the end people become his slaves.

Another thing is money. If I pay a hundred Wen, I can get a stranger to work for me for a day. This is also arrangement.

"Take care of yourself!"

"It's money!"

For example, if you are an official and I am a citizen, an official can use power to control the people to do things.

Cai Jing's eyes flashed when he heard this, and he obviously grasped something from it.

Take farming for example. I used to hunt around, but one day I found that farming can give me a stable harvest.So people gave up the precarious life of hunting, and stayed on one-third of an acre of land for the rest of their lives, never going anywhere.

The two bowed to each other.

This time, the journey to the northwest was very tight, which can be described as a starry night. Zhang Yue rushed to the northwest from Bianjing, first passing through Luoyang, and then from Luoyang to Yongxing Mansion through Tongguan.

Immediately, one of them will go to the northwest and the other to the northeast, each shouldering the important task of national border defense.

Cai Ting bid farewell to himself today, and will go to Khitan in a few days.

Finally, Zhang Yuecai said: "Zhang is going to the northwest, and the east side is still being maintained."

Beliefs such as religion and common ideals can also dominate people to do things.

Cai Ting was recommended by Wang Anshi at the time, but Cai Ting insisted on Chen Feizhang, so the seven ministers unanimously voted for him.

As the commander of the four chambers, Zhang Yue nominally has the power of life and death over the three commanders of the accompanying Japanese army.But on the other hand, they are also the eyes and ears of the emperor to monitor Zhang Yue.

Zhang Yue sat on the carriage and looked at the passing scenery. The cavalry guards on the left and right were all focused on the battle in the northwest.

Now that the Yanzheng of Xihe Road is also incorporated, it can increase the value of salt banknotes in a short period of time. More importantly, the imperial court has transferred the right to print salt banknotes to the third department, so that it can better formulate monetary policy in the future.

Following Zhang Yue's suggestion the day before yesterday, the officials planned to send Cai Ting to patrol Hebei and Hedong to prevent the Khitan from suddenly invading the territory when the Song army attacked the northwest.

Zhang Yue said: "Neither accept nor sell. When I arrive in Yongxing tomorrow, you will release the news in the market, saying that any salt wells on Xihe Road will be settled in salt banknotes, just like Shaanxi's unsalted salt."

Cai Jing asked: "So the commander-in-chief is going to the northwest this time, is he going to collect salt money or sell salt money?"

In the past, when there was only one way to solve the salt bills, the imperial court issued less than 100 million salt bills a year, but issued 200 million salt bills, which led to inflation.

Cai Jing, after Cai Bian sat down, Zhang Yuehao drank a cup of tea and asked Cai Jing, "Have you been helping Xue Xiang take care of the transfer affairs in the Northwest all these years?"

Zhang Yue nodded slightly.

The most terrifying thing about money is that it alienates people.

"Originally, one seat was worth six guan, but in the Zhiping period, one seat was worth seven or eight guan. Before Prime Minister Han served as the Xuanfu envoy in the Northwest, he printed a batch of salt notes, and now the salt notes are worth less than five guan."

Zhang Yue said: "Not bad"

This changed Zhang Yue's view of Cai Ting.

Cai Jing replied: "Exactly, the production of salt ponds in Jieyan, Shaanxi has declined slightly in recent years, and now it is only 100 million seats, but the annual salt banknotes issued by Yunsi have reached nearly 200 million seats!"

Cai Jing and Cai Bian from the shogunate came to greet them, Zhang Yue washed his feet and said to them, "Yuan Chang, sit down, Yuan Du!"

After a day's driving, I only took a rest when I arrived at the post station.

There are three ways for people to dominate each other, one is power, one is belief, and the other is money.

Zhang Yue nodded and said: "I understand. The less depreciation of salt bills has nothing to do with the Exchange. Over the years, the Exchange has received a lot of salt bills in the market, otherwise the depreciation will be even more."

Zhang Yue and Cai Ting bowed to each other, both of them wanted to say something to each other, but held back for a long time.

Having said that, Zhang Yue asked Cai Jing and Cai Bian, "What do you think the salt money is?"

Zhang Yue said: "I have already coordinated this matter. In the future, the administration of salt banknote printing will be withdrawn from the third department instead of allocating places."

Money is risk-averse, so there is a saying that if you have a lot of money, those with hair are not counted, which is the risk of nomadism.

For example, in Hezhou, Xizhou, Zhang Yue paid three or four hundred dollars a bucket to collect grain, so he strongly encouraged the Tibetans to give up nomadic pastoralism and start reclamation and land reclamation.

In the final analysis, the difference in culture is the difference in economic methods.

Is it easy to assimilate the aboriginal people with farming culture?Or is it easy for the nomadic Tibetans to assimilate?The answer is obvious.

However, Zhang Yue monetized the salt banknotes, but he had deeper considerations in pacifying the Northwest.