Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 117

In the late autumn of this year, Li Longji suddenly went to Hanjiacang in Luoyang on a micro-service tour, and checked the grain storage there.

After gaining an in-depth understanding of the operation process of the "seeing money method", Ji Ge said to Gao Lishi with emotion: "Zheng Shuqing is too talented to be the governor of Qizhou."

According to the customs of Tang Dynasty officialdom, the position of governor is very interesting.Going to certain big states to take up posts is definitely a promotion, such as Liangzhou, Yangzhou, Shuzhou, etc.This is the same even if he is transferred from the center.

Going to certain "lower states" usually means demotion, such as Yazhou, Gaozhou, etc.

In some states, it is only a temporary position, and most of it will not last long.For example, the position of governor of Qizhou has a strong transitional nature.Officials who serve as the governor of Qizhou are likely to be promoted or demoted in a short period of time.

But what Lao Zheng encountered this time was obviously not demotion.

After returning to the palace, Li Longji wrote an imperial edict himself, calling Zheng Shuqing the governor of Yangzhou.He also wrote a letter to Zheng Shuqing in private, asking the other party to be responsible for supervising the production of silk and silk in Yangzhou and increasing production.

Please be sure to cooperate with the transshipment envoy to transport as much silk as you can to Chang'an!
If this matter is handled well, he can be transferred back to Chang'an Center to serve.

After finishing this matter, Li Longji took Yang Yuhuan on a boat along the canals of Luoyang, so happy!

Afterwards, he accompanied Yang Yuhuan to the house of Yang Xuangui, the other party's third uncle.

This time Yang Yuhuan returned to Luoyang to visit Yang Xuangui, who was like his adoptive father, mainly to fulfill his filial piety and to offer gifts for his fiftieth birthday.

Yang Xuangui is not an ordinary person either. He is a famous Liyuan musician since the Kaiyuan period. He has studied the sounds of various countries in the Western Regions.

With this relationship, Brother Ji personally accompanied Yang Yuhuan on the tour in a micro-clothes. After all, Yang Xuangui is also an old acquaintance.

This time, Yang Yuhuan's sisters and Yang Xuangui's family also celebrated Yang Xuangui's birthday together.This year Yang Xuangui's [-]th birthday was very grand, and there were many guests.And Li Longji's visit can be said to have given him enough face.

The emperor condescended to come here because Yang Xuangui was once the master of Liyuan!It's not because of Yang Yuhuan at all!

The two of them came together and just met by chance!

That's what everyone in the Yang family is saying!

At the birthday banquet, Yang Yuhuan's eldest sister, third sister, and eighth sister were all equally beautiful and each had their own merits, which dazzled Li Longji.

However, Ji Ge is respected as an emperor, and he didn't reveal his relationship with Yang Yuhuan, so he didn't show anything out of the ordinary at the birthday banquet.

He didn't even have time to talk to the Yang sisters, so he hurried back to Chang'an with Yang Yuhuan.

As soon as he arrived in Chang'an, Li Longji immediately summoned Chen Xuanli, and the two had a secret conversation in the main building of Qinzhengwu, but they didn't know what was going on.

And Gao Lishi was sent to Changle Station in the east of Chang'an, where he received Lei Haiqing, the "Flower and Bird Envoy" who returned from Jiangnan and was exhausted all the way.

Lei Haiqing is the actual manager of the Liyuan, and his relationship with Li Longji is very close and even private. The two used to study music theory together.Therefore, Brother Ji gave him a glorious and arduous task.

That is to help the saint go to Jiangnan to find women!As for what he wanted to do with the woman, Brother Ji didn't say, he believed Lei Haiqing would understand.

For this reason, Brother Ji specially invented the official position of "Flower and Bird Envoy"!
It can be seen from this that Brother Ji has high hopes for Lei Haiqing!
One Yang Yuhuan can only satisfy Brother Ji's current appetite, but the thoughts of the saint are unpredictable. Who knows if there will be a second "Yang Yuhuan" in the future?

It's never a bad thing to be prepared.

However, when Gao Lishi saw the so-called "beauty" Lei Haiqing found, he was disappointed!
"Mr. Marshal (Lei Haiqing's nickname in Liyuan), you have messed up your errand!"

Gao Lishi said sadly.

Although the two were not close personal friends, they were still acquaintances, and there was no need for Gao Lishi to put on Lei Haiqing's shoes.

It was really the "beauty" that the other party found, so he could only "please" it by himself, without even considering whether Brother Ji would like it.

When Gao Lishi saw the woman Lei Haiqing had chosen, he felt that it was completely impossible for Brother Ji to like her!

On the contrary, the women who appeared at Yang Xuangui's birthday banquet in Luoyang before, that is, Yang Yuhuan's sisters, I'm afraid that Brother Ji is very interested and this matter is not over yet.

The four young women in front of him are beautiful, but they can't arouse Ji Ge's excitement at all.

It's like bragging how good a certain wine is in front of a person who doesn't drink at all, and that person will be completely indifferent.The way to solve the problem is to prescribe the right medicine, not to grab the eyebrows and beards.

Especially when giving a woman to an emperor, if the other party doesn't like it at first sight, will he care about it later?Brother Ji is not a puppet emperor!

"These are all recognized beauties in Yangzhou, and a certain one found it after searching for a long time with the cheek. Are they really not in the eyes of saints?"

Lei Haiqing asked suspiciously.Although this errand was embarrassing and against his inner wishes, Lei Haiqing put his heart and effort into finding a girl for Brother Ji!

He had been in Liyuan for more than ten years, and he thought he understood Brother Ji's preferences relatively well. Why did Gao Lishi say no when they met?
"Don't guess about the saint's private matter. You don't have to leave it to me. Just stop here and don't mention it in the future. Let them go back wherever they come from. Just send someone back to their place of origin. .”

Gao Lishi sighed.

Now that the saint is not too young, it is really embarrassing to still engage in these Yingying Yanyans.

When he was young, Gao Lishi often discussed Fangzhongshu with Li Longji, so he had a deep understanding of Ji's preferences in this area.

There are too many beauties in the world, and the saint's energy is limited, so he can only ignore the details and focus on the mainstream.

Now the matter of Yang Yuhuan has become a turmoil, and anyone caught on Chang'an Avenue will know that the sage picks up ashes.

Gao Lishi recalled that at Yang Xuangui's birthday party, Li Longji looked at the three Yang sisters with hungry eyes, and felt that it would be better not to let Lei Haiqing get into trouble.

The palace is deep and deep, how many people can escape unscathed after entering?It's better to let them go their separate ways, and it would be better to have one less thing to do than one more thing to do.

"This will trouble General Gao."

Lei Haiqing crossed his hands and saluted, bowed deeply and said.

"You're welcome, I'll go back and resume my duties right now. After finishing the matter, you should go back to Liyuan as soon as possible."

Gao Lishi said meaningfully, turned around and left.

……

Sitting weakly on the bed, Fang Chongyong enjoyed Anaye's attentive service.The pair of small hands kneaded on his shoulders, all the way to the wrists and palms, sore and refreshing, extremely comfortable.

"are you asleep?"

Seeing Fang Chongyong drooping his eyelids, Anaye asked softly.

"I'm already asleep, keep going and don't stop."

Fang Chongyong responded angrily.

"It is normal for a capable person to be squeezed out by others. Don't worry, Mr. Lang, everything will be fine."

Anaye comforted him kindly, and even a fool can see that Fang Chongyong went to the government office to hold a "regular meeting" today, and he was in a bad mood when he came back.

"Ugh!"

Fang Chongyong sighed, if someone really tried to challenge him, it would be easy to handle!

Randomly find a few dead ghosts, and then hand them over to the Hexi Jiedu Mansion, and say that these local officials interfere with my work, blah blah blah.

Then you can talk about conditions and reasons with Xiao Jiong.Fang Chongyong is now eager for a thorn to jump out and slap him in the face.

Then show the solid background of Fang Ya Nei's "hands and eyes reaching the sky"!

Isn't the matter half done?However, the customs and customs here in Hexi are quite special.Fang Chongyong imagined that this method would not be of much use.

The five states in the Hexi Corridor are all oasis economies, with very little precipitation throughout the year, and they all rely on the rivers formed by the snow in the Qilian Mountains to maintain their livelihoods!
Without water, there would be no agriculture and humans would not be able to survive. Protecting water sources is the first priority for survival here.

In addition to the lack of water, there is also the risk of war here. The Turks are to the north and the Tibet is to the south. The Hexi Corridor may be flanked at any time in the middle. It can be said that it is attacked from both sides.

Even putting these aside, states have varying degrees of land desertification and salinization problems.In addition, various ethnic groups live together here, and they have to cooperate and exclude each other. The situation is complicated.

Similar conditions will inevitably form a local government with a tight internal group and a certain degree of democratic mechanism.

In the oasis area, where people will die if they lack water, thousands of people can die just by building dams on rivers.If everyone does not unite under such conditions, sooner or later this area will become a no man's land due to internal fighting!
Facing the harsh living environment, people have to lower their noble heads and choose to formulate rules and strictly abide by them.

Compared with other places in the Tang Dynasty, local officials in the Hexi Corridor were relatively diligent, loving, and well-behaved.

The real pressure does not come from internal friction, but from the imperial court, from the covetousness of the Tubo people, and from the supply of the Hexi Corridor to the states in the Western Regions.

Today Fang Chongyong called local administrative officials, such as Sima, Chang Shi, Liu Cao Junjun, etc., to discuss the matter of the autumn defense order, and then he was poured with ice water!
The local officials have already calculated the "solution" and the money and food needed to solve these problems, and directly put the account books in front of Fang Chongyong for "review"!
As long as he signs it and stamps his own governor's seal, the official document can be sent out directly!

It’s not very demanding!As long as you have money!
However, the average household in Ganzhou has to collect ten guan worth of goods. If the tax does not come up, or if there is a civil uprising, they, the local officials, will have nothing to do.

Of course, generally speaking, there are many channels for the government to make money.For example, there are many so-called "free warehouses" set up in Ganzhou.On weekdays, there are also specialized personnel to operate, relying on "lending" to make profits.If all the grain borrowed is recovered in one go, the tax can be reduced.

There is more than one method like this, but one thing is certain: no matter what the reason is, the wool comes from the sheep. In short, if you want to ask the people for money, you can't escape.

Even for these suggestions, someone wrote a booklet and handed it over to Fang Chongyong.

Seeing this group of local officials who are so diligent and distressing, Fang Chongyong feels that it is difficult to be a local official!Too cheating!

This group of people are both helpers and "opponents". They have done everything they can before someone from the other side comes, and they are just waiting for someone to take the blame!
But can you say that these people are all bad people?

That's not true, everyone is just trying to protect themselves.Whoever took the lead in this matter offended the people of Ganzhou to death, how can they hang around here in the future?

Theoretically speaking, Fang Chongyong's job is to "make the decision", as long as he signs and stamps it.But the problem is, if the autumn defense order is really implemented, something big will definitely happen in Ganzhou!
"Otherwise, Lang Jun should find a way to return to Chang'an. Why should the son of Jiedushi suffer this anger?"

Anaye complained with a dissatisfied face.

"It's really long hair but short knowledge!"

Fang Chongyong scolded in a low voice.

Seemingly feeling that his words were a bit harsh, he added:
"Wear some plain clothes tomorrow, and follow me to wander around the city of Zhangye. Let's visit those military households who can't change their defenses and go home because of the imperial military order."

"Oh."

Anaye responded noncommittally, not understanding what Fang Chongyong was thinking.

Does he really think that by saying nice things to others, those local people with strong folk customs will obediently pay the taxes required by the court?
"You said before that you can speak the languages ​​of Turkic, Sogdian, and Tiele tribes, are you bragging to me?"

Fang Chongyong asked abruptly.

"Is it difficult?"

Anaye asked in confusion. At that time, she just said it casually, because it didn't seem to be a big deal in Liangzhou.She grew up in Liangzhou, where Turks and Sogdians can be seen everywhere. If you can't even understand the words of those people and can't communicate with them, how can you open a medical clinic?

Fang Zhongyong, who is extremely poor in foreign languages, said awkwardly: "It's not difficult to be stumped... It's just time-consuming. You can teach me when you have a chance in the future."

Early the next morning, Fang Chongyong took Anaye and A Duan to visit the residence of a military household in Ganzhou city.

The head of this household is surnamed Li, and his family lives in Zhangye City. Two of them served in the Chishui Army. There are dozens of acres of paddy fields on the right bank of Heishui, and the family background is very good.

As for the ability to grow high-quality rice in Ganzhou, Fang Chongyong did not expect it.He originally thought that the "black rice" eaten at the banquet was just a special offering, just like the red lotus rice from Kuizhou.However, from the known situation, it seems that rice cultivation on both sides of the Black River is very common.

As for why the paddy fields were not occupied by local powerful men, Fang Chongyong guessed that someone in this family was a soldier, and the rabbit was biting someone in a hurry, but the gain was not worth the loss.It is not too late to wait until everyone in the family has died in the battle before taking action, or it may be taboo for some other reason.

After looking through the local household registration books, I realized that land annexation here is far less intense than in places like Chang'an and Luoyang.For areas with frequent wars, real estate such as land does not have such transcendent appeal.

Fang Zhongyong thought it would be difficult to enter this family's house, but when he came outside the gate of the other's courtyard, he found that the gates of the courtyard were all open, and there were still people queuing up outside the gate!
Although the style of their robes is not much different from that of the Han people in the Central Plains, the size of the robes is tighter, and they are generally equipped with bearded hats, belts, and black leather boots.

Black leather boots, also known as black leather Liuhe boots, are the most representative boots in the Western Regions.These boots are made of six pieces of leather stitched together, because the leather has been dyed black before stitching, hence the name black leather boots.

There are only a few people wearing cloth shoes.

These people were carrying bulging cloth bags in their hands, and they had no idea what was inside.

Fang Zhongyong pretended to be at the end of the line, but soon, several people stopped them.

"You guys are not from our Qushe, so what are you doing in the queue? Do you want to rub against Wang Er's mother's stone mill?"

One of the strong men glared at Fang Chongyong and asked in a bad tone.

As if to stir up a hornet's nest, those who were queuing up gathered around Fang Chongyong and the others after hearing the news.

"Qushe?"

Fang Chongyong heard a novel term.

"Don't get me wrong, I am the newly appointed governor of Ganzhou."

Fang Chongyong straightened his body and spoke righteously.

It's okay not to say, when I heard this, a burst of laughter broke out in the crowd!
"If you, a slutty brat, becomes the governor, then we will all be handsome, hahahahaha!"

A certain strong man laughed loudly and pointed at Fang Chongyong, laughing so hard that he almost burst into tears.

Fang Chongyong looked at himself in casual clothes and sighed helplessly.

This is the disadvantage of not wearing official robes.

"Do you know this thing?"

Fang Chongyong took out the iron plate hanging from his waist that read "Captain Guo Yi", showed it and shook it, and the laughter in the crowd stopped abruptly!

More than [-]% of the males here in Hexi have served in the army. If you haven't seen the badge of "Captain Guo Yi", it will be a hell.There may be people who pretend to be the governor of Ganzhou, but there is no one who dares to pretend to be Captain Guoyi!

Because this is a "certificate of honor" issued by the imperial court, although you can't participate in government affairs or military affairs, you can prove your "extraordinary status"!
The crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed and made way for Fang Chongyong, as if Fang Chongyong was a plague god.

Fang Ya Nei pointed to the person who laughed the most and said, "You lead the way! The rest of the people enter the yard, and no one is allowed to leave!"

At this moment, Fang Chongyong's arrogance is exposed, making people dare not question his orders!

When everyone walked into the yard, they saw a stout middle-aged woman whipping the little donkey grinding the mill.The donkey had a very stubborn temper and refused to leave. She was so anxious that she cursed her mother.

Seeing a group of people from Qushe coming into the yard behind Fang Chongyong, she quickly wiped her hands and stepped forward and asked, "I am the second wife of the king. What are you doing here?"

"I am the newly appointed governor of Ganzhou. I have come to Zhangye to walk around the city and observe the people's sentiments."

With a smile on Fang Chongyong's face, he saw that the fake smiles on everyone's faces collapsed, and the second lady Wang begged with a bitter face: "The last male in the family is only ten years old, and the others are old people, so there is no need Is it time to play?"

Ok?
There seems to be something wrong with this situation.

Fang Chongyong muttered in his heart, but said calmly on his face: "Let's talk in the main room. This is not the place to talk."

(End of this chapter)