Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 21 Wrapped with a hundred thousand guan, riding a crane to Chang'an

A Duan raised two cormorants named Dahei and Xiaohei, and they often fished with cormorants raised by other Liao people.But every time, his two cormorants can return smoothly, find their own owners, and don't eat the fish that other people feed him.

Just like two puppies, they are very close to their owners.

In this not-too-cold winter, Fang Chongyong saw Aduan's cormorants fishing together with the cormorants raised by other Liao people. Several cormorants actually cooperated to pick up a large fish weighing dozens of kilograms.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Fang Chongyong wouldn't have believed that a group of waterfowl raised by different people could actually use military tactics to cooperate in hunting.

"Why put a ring around the neck of the black ghost?"

Fang Chongyong and his party stood on the river embankment, and he asked Aduan with great interest.

"Big fish, don't eat, eat small fish."

A Duan made some gestures and explained.

Cormorants have rings or ropes around their necks, so they cannot fully open their mouths to eat those big fish.But because the ring is still relatively loose, small fish can be swallowed.

The beauty of this design is that it neither kills the cormorant's enthusiasm for fishing nor makes it a pet.In other words, if cormorants want to survive, they must catch fish, big ones, and small ones.

In addition, the relationship between the owner and the cormorant is similar to that of a pet, and the relationship is also very close.Cormorants can come back by themselves even if they fly out, and they will not find the wrong place.

"You can only eat small fish but not big ones. No matter how you look at it, it looks like a black-hearted boss is yelling that labor is glorious."

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but sigh.

Cormorants fishing reminded him of those loyal ministers and generals under Li Longji. Aren't they "cormorants" who didn't have wings and couldn't fish in the water?

Now that Fang Chongyong has been idle, the first batch of Red Lotus Spring has been delivered, which caused a sensation in Chang'an as expected. Once it was launched, it was sold out in just a few days.What Fang Chongyong didn't expect was that the rich and powerful didn't buy wine by the bucket, not to mention that brothels and brothels were also big consumers of alcohol.

Pingkangfang, where Li Linfu is located, purchased several hundred buckets!Almost one-third of the first batch of Red Lotus Spring!

The second batch of Honglianchun not only did not reduce the price, but because of the lack of stock, the price of each bucket increased by ten guan.Fang Chongyong really doesn't understand why these rich and powerful people in Chang'an are so rich. They simply have no restraint when it comes to luxury consumption. It can be described as spending money like running water!
The ex-factory price is 3 yuan, but the volume is only two liters, so what is it?Does Fang Chongyong count the never-ending 82 Lafite in his previous life?
At this price, it is still sold in short supply!It's just off the charts!
Thinking of these things, Fang Chongyong felt a strong sense of absurdity.

The extravagance and lust of the ruling class, and the so-called "Chang'an scenery" series of basic necessities, make people feel that this country is cooking in flames and is not far away from collapse.

In fact, what Fang Chongyong didn't know was that the reason why the rich and powerful were called powerful and powerful was because they not only had power, but also could easily use their power to make money, and they also had industries to back them up.

They not only buy luxury goods, but also sell luxury goods. A lot of money is circulated in their own circle. The so-called "deficiency" is imagined by people who don't know the inside story.

What Fang Chongyong thought was spending money like water was actually just his daily behavior.If you really regard these people as mindless losers, you would be looking down upon them.

"What's so good about black ghost fishing? If you want to eat fish, there are plenty of them in this governor's courtyard. You can find whatever you want."

Zheng Shuqing's voice came from behind. There was someone holding an umbrella next to the governor, looking grand.

The second batch of Honglianchun has not yet been delivered, but Zheng Shuqing has already begun to tremble, because Wang Yuanbao was very generous and directly made up the advance payment, a total of 15 yuan, excluding the cost and the [-] yuan given to Li Longji. Guan, there are still ten thousand Guan left.

Wang Defu said that the money was stored in the Wang's Di store in Chang'an (the prototype of a bank that accepted deposits and made loan sharks). If Zheng Shuqing wanted it, he could send someone to collect it at any time.Fang Chongyong and Zheng Shuqing split the score three to seven.

Fang Chongyong got three thousand strings, he is already considered a little rich man.

Although this is of no use, a rich man without power to protect himself is just a fat sheep in the eyes of the powerful.

Zheng Shuqing caught the "legal" seven thousand coins and completed the tasks assigned by Li Longji. He felt that his waist was much thicker than before.

"Hasn't the envoy's transfer order come yet?"

Fang Chongyong looked at the river and asked.

From the beginning of autumn to the beginning of the next spring, it is the peak season for cormorant fishing. Now you can see this kind of osprey fishing in groups everywhere on the river. Fishermen can even judge where the cormorants are circling. There are more fish.

There was nothing wrong with it, and Fang Chongyong didn't bother to chat with Zheng Shuqing.

"The transfer order hasn't come yet. I don't know if I can make it in time for next year's Lantern Festival."

Zheng Shuqing sighed and waved his hand lightly, signaling his followers to back down.

"A Duan, follow Lai Que and take Da Hei and Xiao Hei back."

Fang Chongyong confessed to A Duan beside him.

Ah Duan nodded, and shouted towards the river, two cormorants rushed over quickly, Ah Duan led them, carrying fish baskets on their backs, and Fang Lai Que headed towards Fucheng.

After all the idlers had left, Zheng Shuqing came over and asked in a low voice: "The job of Du Zhilang in the imperial court is very difficult, but if it is done well, you will be the prime minister if you walk a few steps forward. Zhilang, how should I manage my money?"

Zheng Shuqing asked humbly for advice.

Fang Chongyong snorted twice, and replied out of boredom, "Your Majesty, I'm still a child, so let's forget about such important national affairs."

Also manage money!It's not like selling funds!

Fang Chongyong deeply despised Zheng Shuqing's hypocrisy in his heart.

"To tell you the truth, the imperial court's finances are in very bad shape right now. If I don't make any achievements as Du Zhilang, if something goes wrong in the future, I will definitely be thrown out as a scapegoat. I'm afraid there will never be a day of recovery. ”

Zheng Shuqing suddenly lowered his voice and said solemnly.

Fang Chongyong looked at Zheng Shuqing suspiciously, and asked, "How about financial management?"

Zheng Shuqing began to tell Fang Chongyong what was going on with the financial management of the Tang Dynasty.

The concept of financial management has actually existed since the period of Sang Hongyang in the Western Han Dynasty.However, Sang Hongyang's method was a bit simple and crude, and it left a bad reputation in history books. Moreover, with the changes of the times, the concept of imperial financial management has become broader and deeper, which cannot be explained in a few words.

The annual taxation of the imperial court is a fixed amount, more or less, and it is impossible to expand infinitely.How to use the money and how to use it well is actually a great knowledge.

We cannot simply use the words "exploitation and oppression" to summarize the past without investigating its connotation and details.

The imperial court's tax revenue actually mainly included: grain, cloth (including silk), local specialties, copper coins, etc.How they come from, how they are composed, how they are used, how they are distributed, and how they are transported are all big questions that require the overall management of financial officials at the center of the imperial court.

For example, if the Lingnan tax, cloth, grain and copper coins are transferred to Chang'an, then the shipping fee may far exceed the tax itself, so how should this part be collected and how should it be used?

Therefore, Tang Ting's tax collection is far from being as simple as simply transporting all the country's tax revenue to Chang'an, and then distributing it according to needs.

After explaining this concept, Fang Chongyong did not dare to deal with it perfunctorily anymore, so he asked seriously: "What is the problem?"

"Actually, Datang's money is not enough. There is a lot of shortage, so much that you dare not think about it, I dare not say."

Zheng Shuqing's face was solemn, without any hint of joking.

Financial revenue collapsed during the first year of Kaiyuan?

Fang Chongyong was taken aback for a moment, he didn't understand what Zheng Shuqing wanted to say, so it's supposed to be too late now, right?
"Many of the costs of water transportation are obtained from the local government's usurious loans, which are operated with interest. The source of the capital is the land owned by the government, the so-called public land, and the public money accumulated for many years. With the benefits coming, the local government has already been overwhelmed.”

Zheng Shuqing said with a sigh, he explained to Fang Chongyong the ins and outs of the public money and the public land.

In order to save government expenses, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian came up with a method of "paying officials in the capital and the various states to the public servants at the same time, and returning the money to generate profits for public use."It stipulates that a certain amount of office funds, the so-called public money, be issued to governments at all levels as capital, which is used for turnover and interest, and the interest earned is used as office expenses.

It can be understood that the government has deposits and gives them to businessmen to operate, and the interest earned is used to pay officials.Although the Sui Dynasty did not exist for many years, this system was still fully used by Li Yuan, the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

It has been implemented since the reign of Wude. At first, it was only in big cities such as Chang'an. Later, it became larger and more effective.

In the past, he also made great contributions to the rule of Zhenguan.

By the Kaiyuan period, the use of public funds for interest had become an indispensable and biggest booster to subsidize fiscal expenditures.

The "public money" system was originally intended to save government expenditures and reduce the burden on the people, but why does it actually bother the people in the opposite direction?
This is because after the implementation of the public money system, the government lacked public funds to manage affairs, and the meager salary could not support honesty.However, some corrupt officials took advantage of the opportunity to use their power for personal gain, exploited the people, and used the method of "suppressing distribution" of forced apportionment to raise money to earn interest. The annual interest rate plus labor costs was as high as [-]%.

It even happened that "the deed of guarantee is falsely established, and the children and grandchildren inherit as debtors".The collusion between the government and the business behind the scenes has completely lost the principle of fairness in lending, and the common people are forced to accept extraordinary exploitation.

This is not simply a matter of corruption of local government personnel, but rather an "alternative approach" that local fiscal expenditures are unusable.

For example, the state capitals along the Datang Canal have to be responsible for the maintenance of water transportation for a long time.The manpower and material resources spent during this period were not all borne by the imperial center, and even most of them were borne by the local state capitals.

The taxes of the local state capitals are all paid to the central government, or they are listed in the financial system, which are all fixed payments.The canal maintenance fee allocated by the central government is not enough, and the local government can only "find another way."

The wool comes from the sheep, where will the crossed-out wealth come from?The answer is the interest on public money, in other words, it comes from the exploitation of local people by usury.These heavy burdens will not be recorded in the tax books of the Datang Center.

Parallel to this, there are also various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes.

If the interests in the hands of the people are seized by power, it is like a fierce fire attacking, and there will be fierce resistance.If it is seized by business, it will be like simmering slowly, urging it invisible.These are "unspeakable secrets" in the government.

Now Zheng Shuqing told Fang Chongyong calmly, which can be regarded as sincere.

Think about it, if the central government were to provide this money, Li Longji would have gone bankrupt and begged for food!
Of course, if something happens, you have to suffer the people. How can you suffer the emperor?
On the surface, the prosperity of the Kaiyuan era was as prosperous as burning oil, but in fact, it was full of dangers behind the scenes.What Zheng Shuqing said was just the tip of the iceberg.

If one has no long-term worries, there must be immediate worries. If Zheng Shuqing were to be Du Zhilang, outsiders might think that the wealth of the Tang Dynasty in the Kaiyuan period was as solid as a rock.

But Zheng Shuqing, as a client, could not deceive himself and think that he would be able to take advantage of the situation after being promoted.

If you are not careful, you will die!
"If you move the capital to Luoyang, there may be a way. Otherwise, how can such a yellow-mouthed kid like me solve it with a few words?"

Fang Chongyong sighed and said, Zheng Shuqing really thinks highly of him.

The situation of Datang is presented here, with both practical and historical factors.Of all the measures, only relocation was the least disruptive.However, even if Li Longji wanted to move the capital now, tens of thousands of powerful children in Chang'an City would not agree.

Sure enough, Zheng Shuqing lamented: "There is a mound of soil in the center of the Yellow River in Shanzhou, named 'Mishan'. It is all piled up after the overturning of water transport boats. The white rice is like pearls, but no one can get it. Helplessly looking at the rice Grain rots in the middle of the river.

Three out of ten rice grains transported to Chang'an were damaged. What could be done?

Move the capital?If the capital could be moved, the capital would have been moved long ago, why wait until now?It's better not to say anything. "

Originally, his heart was full of ambitions, but when he thought of these bad things, Zheng Shuqing immediately felt like he had eaten a cockroach in his stomach, which made him extremely nauseous.

However, it is impossible to move the capital, and the capital cannot be moved even after the Tang Dynasty perished!
Chang'an is the essence of Datang. Without Chang'an, there would be no Datang.

"Envoy, envoy! The imperial order has arrived! It has arrived!"

Zheng Shuqing's subordinate officials came in such a hurry that their official hats ran away and he was holding them in his hand.

"...Go to Kuizhou to be governor, and return to Beijing to report on your duties for later use."

After a lot of praise nonsense, Zheng Shuqing found the sentence he had been waiting for.

"I'm leaving Kuizhou."

Zheng Shuqing handed the transfer order to Fang Chongyong for inspection.

"Wrapping a hundred thousand guan in your waist, riding a crane to Chang'an, congratulations to your envoy."

Fang Chongyong bowed deeply to Zheng Shuqing and said.

"Do you want to study in the Imperial College? I can recommend you to enroll."

Zheng Shuqing said very solemnly.

Fang Chongyong thought about what he had to do when he went to Chang'an, and sighed helplessly: "We will talk about it later. Please send me to Chang'an first. My native place is also in Chang'an, so I need you to be my guarantee."

"That's fine." Zheng Shuqing nodded slightly. He had been away from Chang'an for several years, and he was going back again!

　I don’t need to say more about whether this book has connotations. Let’s support it.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)