Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 919 North and Anchors
"Write a letter to Pei Guan and tell him to watch Yang Yue and stop messing around." Inside the Qingfeng Hall, Shao Shude put his feet on the table and flipped through the military newspapers one by one.

In mid-to-early May, the pastures on the prairie north of Yinshan Mountain turn green.The four prefectures of Feng, Sheng, Shen, and Rou began to prepare supplies. A large group of cavalry set off from Lingzhou in advance and gathered in Shengzhou. They would raise horsepower and escort them to Rouzhou after the supplies were ready.

In the first ten days of June, the pastures are growing well and are already very dense.

Yang Yue obeyed Shao Shude's order and ordered the Xinquan Army to stay in Rouzhou, Feng and Linzhou troops to move to Canzhou, and the rest of the brigade, including Feixiong, Heidao, and Jindao, marched eastward with [-] troops and began to sweep the Yanbei grassland—— The leopard cavalry has been expanded to [-] cavalry, and Tingzi Mazhi, [-] people will be added, and another [-] auxiliary soldiers will be recruited to complete the establishment.

Because they did not undertake the combat mission against Hedong, this time they only recruited more than [-] horsemen from the Yinshan tribes. They are currently escorting follow-up supplies, grain and grass, driving cattle and sheep, and heading to the Rouzhou grassland.

The scale of the battle is small, but the troop composition is very lean.Excluding a large number of Qingqi who were weak in combat, all of them were professional warriors who practiced horse fighting, riding and archery all the year round. With enough horses, they could already play a gallop.

Recently, Shao Shude is considering expanding the number of the Heidi and Jindao armies, that is, increasing the number of each army to 2 soldiers.

The personnel are divided into three parts: "Phase II" Liang Jun dispatched [-] troops, Lingzhou Academy dispatched [-] recruits, Guanbei and Helong recruited [-] Fan Han athletes, plus Tingzibuzhi [-], just enough for two Wan——One thing to say, the recruit training of Lingzhou Academy and Shanzhou Academy is very strict, and it takes five years to count as "graduation". Usually, while training, at the same time suppressing the local area as a "continuing army", this soldier is really not very " new".

The Flying Dragon Army will also maintain a staffing of 2 people, but we have to think again about how the shortfall will come about.There are no new recruits available this year, and the surrendered soldiers can no longer be added to the Flying Dragon Army.After much deliberation, probably only 5000 infantry who could ride horses were drawn from each old army to make up for the Flying Dragon Army, and then [-] soldiers were drawn from Liang Jun's surrendered troops to be scattered into each old army.

Shao Shude's reorganized imperial army, in the preliminary plan, has six infantry troops, totaling 18 people; six cavalry troops, totaling 9 people; plus several independent troops.

At present, it seems that the six infantry may not be able to fight. This will be discussed in the future, whether to increase the number.

There is no suspense about the six cavalry: Iron Cavalry, Silver Spear, Difficulty, Flying Dragon, Golden Sword, and Heizhen.

The Leopard Cavalry will be renamed the Flying Bear Army and exist as an independent force.

Yinan Zhi will also exist as an independent army, with a scale of about a thousand people, no more than two thousand at most, and it will be mainly the children of nobles and generals.

The third independent unit is even more special. It is a unit composed of military officers who are training in the martial arts hall. The scale is very small, generally speaking, it will not exceed a hundred people. You can be promoted after completing your studies.

Several palace officials were sorting out the documents, files, pens, inks, papers and inkstones.

Mrs. Du spread out the pen and paper, and began to write a letter, while Mrs. Pei opened the wooden box, ready to use the seal.

The candidates for internal officials have been determined, and Princess Zhe Fangai has given a list, basically continuing the old system of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

The four regular and first-rank internal officials are: Noble Concubine Zhao Yu, Shu Concubine Feng Xuan, De Concubine Ye Lilingji, and Xian Concubine Zhuge.Obviously, they all have sons.

The fourth concubine is the queen's helper, "helping the queen to discuss women's etiquette inside, and to rule everything."

In addition to the four concubines, there are also nine concubines, namely: Zhaoyi Xiaofeng, Zhaorong Meizang, Zhaoyuan Weicai, Xiuyi Pei, Xiurong Chen, Xiuyuan Xiao, Chongyi Du, Chong Rong Wei's and Chong Yuan's are Zhang Hui, and all nine of them are of the second rank.

One queen, four concubines and nine concubines, fourteen women, seven wives.Two of them were the women of Emperor Tang, one was obtained legally and the other was obtained illegally.

There are nine Jieyu members of the third grade, and they have not yet assembled, only Jiang and Chu.

As for the beauties of the fourth rank (four people), the talented people of the fifth rank (five people), the treasure forest of the sixth rank (27 people), the imperial daughters of the seventh rank (27 people), and the females of the eighth rank (27 people), they are completely vacant. After the founding of the country, it slowly filled up.

Among the more than 100 women of the emperor, apart from the queen, there are only two kinds of concubines and concubines who really have status.Jieyu, beauties, Cainu and so on are no different from female officials, they all have to work, at least in theory.

According to the "Book of Rites", starting from the Zhou Dynasty, "in ancient times, the emperor established six palaces, three wives, nine concubines, 27 world wives, and 81 royal wives".

Theoretically speaking, all the women in the emperor's harem, except the queen, have jobs and are government officials.

For example, the beauty "leads the female officials to practice sacrifices and the affairs of the guests", and the talented "hands down the Yan bed, arranges the silk, and dedicates the merits of the year."

But in actual operation, their main job content is to sleep with the emperor, which is also the focus of the assessment, although many of them have never been blessed by the emperor in their entire lives.

"Your Highness, it's finished." Mrs. Du handed over the letter.

After the founding of the country, she was about to become a concubine, and she was in a good mood after all the hard work.However, there is still a little regret in my heart.

Born in the Jingzhao Du family, graceful and talented, she is still an innocent daughter, no matter when she is the best candidate for the emperor, she is qualified to be a queen, I didn't expect that even the fourth concubine didn't make it, it would be a lie to say that she is not disappointed .

"Is it appropriate to fight Khitan now?" After Shao Shude read it, he handed it to Mrs. Pei to use the seal, and then asked Mrs. Du.

"Inappropriate." Du said without hesitation: "Although the Khitan was defeated by the Jin army last year, they took a lot of people abducted. Overall, they still made money. They eat their marrow and taste, and this year they will definitely continue to eat away at Linyu Pass. Unless Li Keyong mobilizes a large army to go north, or simply abandons the city, pastures, and farmland outside the pass, this trouble will never be eliminated. The Khitan people can contain the Jin people for me."

"It seems that it is right to restrain Yang Yue. Continue to sweep Yanbei and subdue all the tribes. You can't use fire to extract chestnuts for Li Ke." Shao Shude nodded in agreement.

The Khitan people are indeed a big trouble.

He will continue to harass your garrisons outside the pass, and there are still many thieves in your army. It is not a problem to mobilize 10,000+ people.You can mobilize a large army to help, of course you can defeat the Khitan, but it can delay the war in the Central Plains.No matter, these strongholds outside the customs will be lost sooner or later, and the Khitan people will gradually graze outside the Linyu customs, slowly approaching the Central Plains.

As the saying goes, one step back, one step back.

Before Li Keju and Li Kuangwei became Yan commanders, Youzhou basically did not participate in the war in the Central Plains, so it was able to firmly guard the twelve garrisons outside the pass. He often went to Tubo territory to catch raw people, and went to the Dangxiang pasture to "collect" cattle, sheep and horses, so that the emperor had to choose "clean and honest frontier generals".

However, since Li Keju was ordered by the court to encircle and suppress Li Guochang, Li Keyong and his son, Youzhou Town participated in the Central Plains war more and more frequently, and lost a large number of elite soldiers and generals.

In history, the brothers Li Kuangwei and Li Kuangchou lost at least tens of thousands of elite soldiers in the hands of Li Keyong, and Liu Rengong was beaten violently by Zhu Wen again, causing heavy losses.After such a toss, not only the soldiers and horses of the Twelve Guards in Guanbei were transferred south one after another, even the guards of Linyu Pass were almost exhausted. In the Central Plains, since then, they have been unable to deal with the Khitan, and the land outside the pass has been lost, and the Linyu Pass is useless. It was not until the three decisive battles in Hebei in the later Tang Dynasty that the Khitan people were terrified, and the old land of Yingzhou was taken back for a time. There is another feudal town rebellion...

"It stands to reason that the Khitan people should go south now, so we can see Li Keyong's response." Shao Shude said: "Once the Jin army makes a big move, then my pressure will be lightened and I can do a lot of things."

Whether it is to invest in the battlefields of Ziqing and Yanzhou, take the opportunity to settle Hezhong, or attack Weibo, there are many choices.

"Okay, let's have a rest." Shao Shude withdrew his foot, put it close to Du's ear, and said in a low voice, "You come to bed tonight, I miss your peach petals very much."

Working in the back office recently, Shao Shude has made three women's bellies big.Both Zhang Hui and Chu's pregnancy should be due to their contribution before returning to Ruzhou. Princess Zhe's was also pregnant, and the semi-monopoly of milk sources is indeed effective.

******
"This is a silver dollar ticket." Shao Shude held a 1200-yuan face value note issued by the liquidation bank and recovered for tax deduction, and explained to his third son Mianren and fourth son Guancheng: "A silver dollar is worth one and a half copper coins. That's [-] texts."

The institution that issued the silver bills has been changed from the military envoy to the liquidation bank, and the liquidation bank will also be attached to the Shaofu as an official official institution.

Shaofu, in charge of Baigong skills, in charge of metallurgy department, in charge of various money supervisors, etc.In short, it is to train craftsmen in batches, master many technologies including weaving, dyeing and smelting, and at the same time make exquisite objects for the royal family, cast money, collect taxes from gold, silver, copper and iron mines in the world, and manufacture agricultural tools for farming institutions , weapons, making weights and measures standard instruments and so on.

Shaofu newly established the Banking Regulatory Commission, which did not exist in the previous generation, because gold and silver are not legal tender, and the clearing bank is an institution under the jurisdiction of the Banking Regulatory Commission, which is responsible for the settlement of silver dollar transactions during the centralized trading period of expositions and exhibitions in various cities and towns.

Take a look, there are too many places where mathematical talents are used, and it will be impossible not to increase training efforts.If it continues, Shao Shude suspects that this will become the subject with the most students in the new dynasty.

"Grandfather, I heard that the price of copper has risen. Hu merchants from the Western Regions have brought a lot of silver, and the silver is getting cheaper. Is this silver dollar worth [-] Wen?" asked the third son, Shao Mianren.

"You can notice the price comparison of gold, silver and copper. I am very pleased for my father." Shao Shude said happily: "The price is not static. In fact, the relationship between supply and demand determines the price of most things in the world, including gold, silver and copper. In addition, the price of gold, silver and copper Rise or fall is relative, I call it 'exchange rate', and the money used to mark the price I call it 'currency'. Tell me, how many currencies do I have?"

Mien Ren and Guan Cheng thought about it carefully, and said in unison: "Isn't it just Qianjuan?"

"Otherwise." Shao Shude said with a smile, "I have privately minted copper coins in various feudal towns. The weight and material of each penny are different. There are at least a dozen types, and dozens of types are possible. It is difficult for you. Distinguish how much copper is in a piece of money, and people often suffer. There are even more words about silk. Is Qinghe silk a currency? Is Banan liaobu a currency? Is Puzhou 絁 a currency? Is Zhou Sike a currency? There are hundreds of kinds of silk in Tang Dynasty, with different values, but they are all used as currency. How to estimate it? Thinking about it is a big headache.”

The two children were thoughtful.

"The wealthy merchants in Zhufang City now like to use silver dollars to price their products. After so many years of hard work, they have finally seen some results." Shao Shude sighed.

In fact, at the beginning of the centralized trading period in Fangshi, many large wholesalers were still used to marking prices with copper coins and silk, and then converting them into silver dollars for addition and subtraction transactions.But as said above, it's a hell of a hassle, and not everyone agrees on the value of a certain kind of silk.You said that the price of this kind of silk you marked is [-] yuan a piece, but I think it is only worth [-] yuan, so there is no dispute, what should I do?Is the business still going?
After more than ten years, everyone found that it seems more convenient to use silver dollars to denominate.The real silver dollar is placed on the altar, weighing eighteen baht, nine silver and one copper, with a constant value, and no one can be deceived.

It doesn't matter whether silver dollars are in circulation or not, even if it is a virtual or imaginary thing, as long as there is a standard to denominate it, that's fine.

Therefore, starting two or three years ago, during the period of centralized trading in various states, most of the commodities began to be denominated in silver dollars.

If there is a balance in the transaction process, you can choose to take the silver dollar bills for tax deduction in the future, or you can exchange them for real silver dollars.If a market does not have so many silver dollars, then I will give you horses and livestock—generally speaking, Lingxia Fang City, which has the most prosperous trade, is not in a state of huge trade deficit, because the price of war horses is rising steadily, and they can still be sold. Chiyan, in many cases, actually has a surplus, and generally does not need to pay a lot of silver dollars or silver dollar bills.

Changing the pricing unit of commodities to silver dollars can be said to be Shao Shude's greatest achievement in business.

Next, we need to continue to consolidate, let more people get used to this half-real and half-empty currency unit, and then slowly expand to the medium-scale transaction level.

To tell the truth, silver bills have actually helped a lot, because it has greatly reduced the demand for copper coins, alleviated the money shortage among the people, and invigorated the trade in rural areas and small markets, which is beneficial to everyone.

"Silver dollar is a unit of account that my father has worked so hard to promote. I have always cared for its credit." Shao Shude said: "My son, you must remember that credit is established with great difficulty, but it is only a moment to destroy it. Silver dollar bills are not allowed to be issued indiscriminately. It is urgent to issue as many silver dollar bills as there are silver dollars, and there must be something that can be exchanged. I call it an 'anchor' or a 'reserve'. Now if there is a bank Shanlai let me anchor, and I can transform the whole world, but unfortunately I don’t, so I can only play cautiously to the current level.”

Silver Mountain?Mianren and Guancheng are all stupid. How much wealth can a mountain made of silver get?
(End of this chapter)