Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1623
On the Lantern Festival, Shao Shude didn't go out to put on a show, but stayed in the palace and had a family reunion.

Empress Zheshi was all smiles and prepared the snacks herself.

The 12-year-old daughter Shao Zhen was making tea.

Erlang and Shilang sat beside Shao Shude, listening to the teachings—well, the old ten was actually listening.

"In the past two years you have supervised the country, you have generally governed by doing nothing, and only focused on a few things." Shao Shude commented one by one with his fingers.

"The first one is to repair and expand Baping City for Liulang, and arrange [-] government soldiers in place. Send strong men to Dali, send civilian households to Kunzhou and Yaozhou, and relocate Quzhou, Yizhou, Lizhou, and Tonghai. To Liaodong."

In fact, it is about Yunnan.

Yunnan is generally calm, but just like when the Bohai Sea was wiped out, small-scale turmoil is inevitable-even now there are turmoil, such as the riots caused by the counting of Mohe people's household registration, but it is indeed coming to an end.

The turmoil in Yunnan mainly came from Quzhou and Tonghai Dudufu.

The former is because the imperial court set up Zhengzhou and took action against the local chiefs, so it has not stopped for several years.In the beginning, various miscellaneous soldiers and horses were the main force, together with a part of the imperial army. Under the command of Li Tangbin, the killing was extremely prosperous.

Later, it was replaced by the Shengjie Army and the left and right hatchbacks, together with a part of the Forbidden Army, under the command of King Yan to suppress, massacre, and emigrate.

Now Quzhou is calm on the surface, and no one dares to turn against it. In fact, the bigger reason is that people died and left, and the vacated land was given to immigrants from the Central Plains. The comparison of the situation has changed, and there is no such soil.

The Governor's Mansion of Tonghai was already calm, but King Yan has been cleaning up the thorns for the long-term stability of his fiefdom in the future. He either killed or moved away. The vacated land was also reserved for immigrants from the Central Plains. It is estimated that it will take a few years to completely stabilize.

"Generally speaking, you still care about Liulang very much. Grandpa is very pleased." Shao Shude said: "From the 14th year of Jianji, more than [-] households from the Central Plains have immigrated in three years, and the three counties of Jianshui, Tonghai, and Jiangchuan Mostly in the Han area, Wenfu and Baping counties have also greatly improved. Liulang wrote to me, repeatedly praising you as an elder brother, very good, very good."

These five places are all counties under the jurisdiction of Tonghai Dudufu.

Among them, Wenfu County is the original Nanzhao Wenfu Prefecture, and later Yuxi.

Baping County is the old nest built by Shao Liulang. It is located in Baping City in the northeast of Gejiu in later generations, a place with a relatively cool climate.

These five counties have now compiled more than [-] households, and the results are not small.Next, I will continue to clean up some thorny tribes, try to expand my basic plate, and finally stay calm.

According to Lao Liu's idea, his fiefdom will eventually be a joint rule model of county-level real-controlled territory + submission to native officials and tribes.In this regard, Shao Shude basically agreed.

Tonghai Governor's Mansion, Yinsheng Town, and the southern part of Old Yongchang Town will all be given to him.

From the current point of view, he mainly develops the area in the northern part of the fief near Kunming.It can be understood that the climate here is relatively mild and the agricultural conditions are good, so it can accommodate many immigrants from the Central Plains as its basic base.

Only when the basic market is stable and the capital is available, can we talk about controlling the tribes in the south.

"Liulang is my younger brother, as it should be," said the prince.

The queen heard it from the side, and she exchanged a glance with Shao Shude, with a smile on her face.

The husband and wife only have such a few children, each of whom is a sweetheart, and of course they would like to see their brothers get along in harmony.

"Next, I will take over the affairs in this area." Shao Shude said: "Liu Lang, please transfer the victory of the Czech army and the Shu soldiers to the east to seek the barbarians. What do you think?"

Shao Chengjie knew what his father meant by asking this question.

The Shengjie Army is a force he single-handedly pulled together.At that time, Li Maozhen in Shuzhong had 10,000+ troops.Later, tens of thousands of old and weak were eliminated, and only the strong and strong were kept.

Before attacking central Guizhou, further rectification was carried out, some of the unsuitable soldiers were reorganized into state soldiers, and the remaining [-] elite soldiers were reorganized into the left and right hatchbacks of the Shengjie Army.

The victory of the Jie army participated in the whole process of destroying central Guizhou and pacifying Yunnan.

After the fall of Changhe, they suppressed the rebellion in Yunnan.

A while ago, 5000 elite soldiers were transferred to Shule to serve as town soldiers, and there are still about [-] soldiers left.

This army is actually a bit of fighting power.After all, after playing for so many years, no matter how bad it is, he has practiced well, and he is very familiar with the terrain and climate of the Southwest.

The imperial court will abolish other miscellaneous soldiers and horses, but the Shengjie army is really reluctant, because they are very distinctive and very useful in the southwest mountainous area.

The relationship between this army and Shao Chengjie is very deep, and the backbone of the initial formation of the army came from his immediate relatives from Congma - many of them were already middle and upper-level officers.

"The Shengjie army is the master of the imperial court's economic system, and the father is the master." Shao Chengjie said very simply.

"Okay." Shao Shude nodded, and then said: "The second thing is that you ordered logging and shipbuilding in Quanzhou to enrich the Annan Trading Company. Thoughtless."

Annan Trading Company was established in the middle of the previous year and officially opened at the beginning of last year.But after one year, the report card handed over was a huge loss, and I owed a lot of debt.

The main reason is that Shao Chengjie ordered the Ministry of Households to lend money to the Annan Trading Company, allowing them to buy a piece of land in Quanzhou, build a special wharf, and at the same time build a wood drying kiln, and hired many people to cut wood, dry wood, and build ships.

In a word, the investment is too large, and the work is a bit fierce.

In stark contrast, Bohai Commercial Co., Ltd. continued to develop steadily.

In the first year of Shao Shude's expedition, he made a profit of 6.9 yuan and a dividend of 3 yuan.

It has been established for 15 years, with a profit of 7.5 yuan and a dividend of 3 yuan.

In the first year of Tongguang, because two whales were caught in the previous year, part of the profit was reflected in this year, so it obtained the unprecedented highest profit of 9.8 yuan and a dividend of 4 yuan.

From the tenth year of Jianji to the first year of Tongguang, the cumulative profit in seven years was 45.4 yuan, and the dividend was more than 15 yuan.

This kind of performance is worthy of the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, and also worthy of investors.

This trading company has now grown into a business that spans all parts of Liaodong, employing thousands of employees—including temporarily hired Huangzhuang boy soldiers, excluding seasonal Mohe workers in seafood processing workshops—providing a large number of products and a network of connections extending in all directions. , A large organization with good information.

To put it bluntly, the leaders of the Bohai clan and Mohe in Liaodong knew what shit they were going to do as soon as they lifted their buttocks.

The magic of money is unimaginable.

Many heads of the Mohe clan dared to betray another clan separated by a mountain ridge for profit, so if anyone rebelled, the imperial court would catch them all.

Let's put it this way, if from now on, the imperial court stops cleaning up the Mohe tribe and no longer compels the registration of households, Qimin, Liaodong will enter a peaceful and prosperous age in its original place, and there will be no more rebellions.

Its agents—regional agents, are in charge of purchasing special products in a certain place—the Bohai Trading Company that goes deep into the counties and towns of Liaodong. They have such great energy. They are the shadow government on the land of Liaodong, playing an unparalleled role.

"Grandfather, the money invested will be paid back sooner or later. With the Bohai Commercial Company in front, no one believes that the Annan Commercial Society is losing money." Shao Chengjie said.

Queen Zhe brought a plate of pastries, placed them between the father and son, and said, "Mother told you a long time ago that even if you find a way to subsidize the first year, you must turn the account into a profit. The civil and military dynasties of the dynasty have long been overwhelmed by Bohai's appetite." The trading company has been suspended, and the Annan Trading Company was established so vigorously, but in the first year it owed a lot of debts, Erlang, you are too hasty."

"That's the reason." Shao Shude said: "When you fought wars in the past, you just wanted to eat the enemy with one bite. It's too worrying. This problem needs to be corrected. But it's really not a big deal. Grandpa just clicks, you just need to pay attention. In terms of other things, you did a good job, you didn't worry too much, and there were no disturbances in the middle school, and your ability to control the situation is still good."

"Now I want to talk about the third thing. Are you planning to send troops to conquer Shi Wei before you serve as a teacher for your father?"

"Yes." Shao Chengjie nodded and said, "Some Shiwei tribes colluded with Abaoji and repeatedly plundered Liaodong, which has become a disaster. My son intends to recruit soldiers from Jin, Liaodong Prefecture, and Beiya Fan to attack Shiwei."

"Why did you give up?" Shao Shude asked.

"Because grandpa is already a class teacher, my son thought it would be better to keep quiet, so he gave up."

"How many troops do you plan to use?"

"Deploy 2 to [-] forbidden troops, bring more horses, and then deploy another [-] soldiers from the Liaodong government and [-] soldiers from the Beiya government. If you don't fight now, it will be more troublesome in the future."

Shao Shude nodded slightly.

Tens of thousands of troops are really trivial to Daxia.

Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, there have been wars in the Central Plains, especially Zhu Quanzhong, Li Keyong and others, who fought every year. Which time was the scale less than 5?

Thinking back to the middle period of the dynasty, not to mention fighting every year, even fighting every few years, the finances can't stand it, and even empty the treasury. What went wrong?Is it because the people's ability to endure hardships and stand hard work is poor, or is it due to other reasons?
The only exception is probably the Tang Dynasty. From the founding of the country to the Tianbao period, wars were fought on four fronts. The farthest front was more than 1 miles away from Chang'an, and the economy was still at its peak...

Shao Shude also figured out the mystery, the core is who will bear the cost?

"Your thinking is correct as a whole." Shao Shude sorted out his thoughts and said, "If you don't fight now, it will be more troublesome in the future. But there is one thing wrong. It doesn't take so many soldiers to fight Abaoji and Shiwei. Thirty thousand elite soldiers are enough Well, Khitan and Shiwei are different from us, they have to graze and do farm work, so they don’t have much time to fight in a year. But we are all professional warriors, so we can play with them all the time from the beginning to the end of the year.”

"Deploy 1 imperial cavalry and [-] cavalry and infantry. Then recruit Qing cavalry from various tribes. This one will send out three hundred, and that one will send out five hundred. It will not hurt them at all, but if they are gathered together, [-] people will come. With this Thirty thousand soldiers were herding horses in Liaodong, collecting information, and killing them whenever they had the opportunity, and if they came a few more times, they couldn't take it anymore, and they either left or surrendered."

"Grandpa didn't bother to talk to them before. But since they are looking for death, no one can blame them. Next year—" Having said that, Shao Shude paused, and said: "As a prince, he should also be familiar with all the states in the country. This year You inspect the Hebei and Liaodong Dao, and the Shiwei and other ministries, let's solve it together."

"My son complies with the order." Shao Chengjie replied with a slightly joyful expression.

"Now let's talk about the fourth thing—" Shao Shude went on to say, "You ordered a new pond to be built in Wanye Corridor, why?"

He mentioned the ship lock at Fangchengkou, which is the key point of the Xianghan Canal.

At Fangchengkou, there are rivers navigable in front and behind, but it is only a short distance from Fangchengkou.

In history, Zhao Er tried twice, but failed. The closest one was only a few meters away.

Shao Shude didn't bother with that, and directly built a ship lock and used the canal on the top of the mountain to pass through.

It was indeed successful, but now there is a problem: there is not enough water in the dry season, and it cannot be navigated all year round.

This place itself is based on upstream water storage, flows into the closed gate, slowly raises the boat, connects it to the river channel in the Wanye Corridor, and makes it cross the Fangchengkou - it was called Doumen and Ship Lock in ancient China, and it was called in the West. It is called "Mountaintop Canal", as the name suggests, how to make a boat turn over a mountain.

After the ship lock is lifted every time, the water must be released.If you put it a few more times, the water stored in the upstream will not be enough, which is very painful.

Reminiscent of the incident that the downstream river embankment was washed away when the ship lock was released, this incident almost became Shao Shude's heart disease.

"Water is not enough, so we built three more ponds, then conscripted masters, dug ditches to connect them to Doumen, and filled them with water when needed," Shao Chengjie said.

"Sure enough." Shao Shude sighed: "Try it, with more water, more boats can pass."

"Now let's talk about the sea." Shao Shude glanced at Shiro, who was listening with gusto, smiled, and said, "The branch of the Huaihai Road's Observation Department reported that more and more people are going to sea, and they are buying strong bows. A powerful crossbow, plundering people as slaves, and selling them everywhere, how do you think this matter should be dealt with?"

When Shao Chengjie heard this, he immediately said: "Maybe people from the Bohai Trading Company can come forward and talk to those captains in private. If they dare to rob merchant ships or the people of Daxia, the imperial court will dig them out."

Maritime merchants or pirates, is it easy to manage?

It seems to be difficult to manage, but it is actually very easy to manage.

After all, they are going to go ashore, and there are families on the shore.The purpose of their plundering at sea is always to seek money.After earning money, he will return to shore and become a rich man.

As long as the court is well-informed, arresting them will not be a problem.

Those who really cannot be caught have umbrellas.

"Do you think these people going to sea will benefit the country?" Shao Shude asked.

"These people are both merchants and thieves. They seem to have a bad reputation, but last year they caught two whales, seals, sea lions, walruses, sea otters, and fur dogs. Even the chopsticks my father used to eat cakes were made of walrus ivory." Shao Chengjie said: "As long as they sell goods to the Bohai Trading Company and pay taxes to Shiboshi, I don't think it's a big problem. I dare say that eight out of ten are pirates, and two are planning to become pirates. "

"Haha!" Shao Shude laughed.

Maritime merchants and pirates are indeed two sides of the same coin.There is no kingly law in the sea, and you can't restrain anyone. When the greedy heart comes up, you dare to do anything.

To put it bluntly, as long as the corpses are destroyed, they even dare to snatch the boats of the Bohai Trading Company.It's just that the years of development are short, and they haven't gathered into a large force yet, and the ships of the Bohai Trading Company are operating in groups, so they dare not snatch them.

European pirates in history, there were officially licensed privateers, and there were pirates who even robbed their own people without a bottom line, but is it necessary to ban the sea because of this?no need.

This is a waste of food because of choking, because it is completely possible to send Ping Navy ships to escort and eliminate threats.

Of course, if some officials were changed, they would have to send additional naval escorts and the cost would increase. In order to save trouble, they might directly prohibit civilians from going to sea.

"These maritime merchants still need to be managed. However, it's best not to let the government come forward. You can find a way, make a report, and let me have a look." Shao Shude said.

"I heard that among the sea merchants, there is a man named 'Wang Heizi', who is brave, fierce, and violent. Many people are afraid of him. However, this man is also greedy for fame and fortune. The court may send the gang to do the dirty work." The people who want to come forward, secretly buy this person, support him to grow, and restrain those lawless people a little bit." Shao Chengjie said.

"Huh?" Shao Shude asked curiously, "This doesn't look like your style, who taught you?"

"This is the strategy proposed by Liang Zhen a few months ago." Shao Chengjie said honestly.

"It's a talent." Shao Shude said, "Write a good report."

"it is good."

"Now let's talk about the slang tribe in the west of Lingnan..."

The father and son talked for most of the day.

Except for meals, Shao Shude basically asked questions and his son answered, sorting out the more important things in the past two years one by one, and it was not over until the evening.

After the talk, Shao Shude had a feeling: his son could still listen to the opinions of outsiders, at least he was not a self-willed person, and he would invite people he thought were "experts" to advise him on areas he didn't know much about before making a final decision.

It is almost enough to match him with a few good prime ministers.

(End of this chapter)