Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 241 Brother Ji’s Ambition

Fang Chongyong and his party continued westward to Shanzhou City, where the Longyou Jiedushi was stationed. Soon they arrived at the county seat of Xiangwu County, Weizhou Prefecture, not far from the "site" of Luomenyi.Before they could enter the city, they saw a middle-aged man wearing a bright red official robe coming towards them.

This person is wearing a ben crown, red (same as red) clothes, a plain leather belt, and black leather shoes. He is dressed in typical public clothes.

Since Fang Chongyong was also wearing a red official robe, which was exactly the same as the other party's, he had to step out of the crowd to ask questions.

It is appropriate to keep a low profile, but there is no need to cover one's ears and steal the others.

"But Fang Yushi in person?"

The middle-aged man in front of him asked unusually politely.

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly, crossed his hands and saluted, "That's it. May I ask who you are..."

"This is Xue Shangtong, the governor of Weizhou, who has been waiting for Yushi Fang here for a long time. I am having a banquet at the government office, and I also ask Yushi Fang and his party to show their respect."

Xue Shangtong said warmly.

Fang Chongyong also smiled and nodded, crossed his hands and saluted: "Thank you, Governor Xue, for your kindness. Please lead the way."

Hearing this, Xue Shangtong breathed a sigh of relief and laughed loudly: "Hey, Fang Yushi is too polite. This way, please."

Xue Shangtong had no airs at all and was leading the way, which made Pei Xiu and others behind Fang Chongyong speechless.

Guan Chongsi recalled that he had been repeatedly rejected when visiting the dock in Chang'an, and that Fang Chongyong was always greeted wherever he went. He couldn't help but sigh that people are different from each other. Those who were born in the same year and had different fates would be more likely to die than others.

In fact, if it was an ordinary governor, Fang Chongyong would definitely have shied away a little, just made a haha ​​and got over it.After all, it’s important to be in a hurry. Going to other places for business is not a trip. If you waste time, big trouble will often happen!
As for the governor, there are more than 300 governors in more than 300 states in the Tang Dynasty. Who do you think is the oldest?

But Fang Chongyong cannot neglect this Xue Shangtong.The reason is that this person's surname is Xue, not that he is the governor.

Why do I say this? Because Xue Shangtong's family can be called the "provincial governor's family" and their background is very impressive.

Xue Shangtong's great-grandfather was Xue Shou, one of the eighteen bachelors of the Qin Palace who followed Li Erfeng to conquer the world.By the way, Xue Shou's father was Xue Daoheng, the minister of internal history of the Sui Dynasty. He was also famous and had a good family background.

Xue Shangtong's grandfather is also very remarkable. He was Xue Yuanchao, the prime minister and literary leader of the Tang Dynasty during the Li Zhi period of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty.Xue Yuanchao's aunt was Xue Jieyu, the concubine of Li Yuan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Xue Yuanchao married Li Shi, the daughter of Chao Wang Li Yuanji and the lord of Hejing County.Li gave birth to three sons, Xue Yao, Xue Yi, and Xue Jun, and Xue Shangtong was Xue Jun's heir.

Regardless of ability, this family background alone can scare people to death.

Let’s not talk about Xue Yuanchao’s other sons, let’s talk about Xue Jun’s family.

Not to mention, Xue Shangtong's father, Xue Jun, was the governor of Cizhou. Xue Shangtong's elder brother, Xue Xiantong, was the governor of Tongzhou. Xue Qitong was the governor of Cizhou. His younger brother, Xue Jitong, served as a secretary in Chang'an.

In other words, Xue Shangtong's four brothers are either governors or central officials, not to mention his cousins!

The names of Xue Yuanchao's grandchildren are all called "Xue Moutong", except for the character in the middle, which is very recognizable.Although Fang Chongyong did not know Xue Shangtong, a name like Xue Shangtong was already a "legend" in the official circles of the Tang Dynasty. It became a joke and spread everywhere. It was difficult not to be recognized because it was so recognisable.

As soon as he heard this name, Fang Chongyong knew that the governor in front of him was someone he would never offend for no reason!Unless the other party is blind and insists on provocation, then you should consider counterattack.

Now Xue Shangtong enthusiastically invites Fang Chongyong to a banquet at the Weizhou government office. Can he say no?
When the group arrived at the government office, Fang Chongyong saw several tables set up in the lobby of the government office. They were filled with local Weizhou delicacies, among which mutton and Hu pancakes were the main ones, with relatively few vegetarian dishes.

After the banquet started, Fang Chongyong couldn't figure out what Xue Shangtong was planning, so he kept trying to get close to him, saying polite words without salt.

After drinking for three rounds, Xue Shangtong suddenly changed his attitude and asked calmly: "Did Fang Yushi come here to escape from Weizhou?"

"It can be no, it can be."

Fang Chongyong tapped the table with his index finger and said meaningfully.

After hearing this very obvious statement, Xue Shangtong pretended not to hear anything and still invited everyone to eat and drink.After the banquet was over, Xue Shangtong placed Fang Chongyong and his party in a post house outside Xiangwu County, and then invited Fang Chongyong to his private residence to "appreciate calligraphy and paintings."

……

In a side room in an elegant and quiet courtyard in Xiangwu County, seeing no one around, Xue Shangtong pulled Fang Chongyong's sleeves and begged in a low voice:

"Please help Fang Yushi give me a hand! I will thank you greatly in the future!"

For example, Xue Shangtong, who is 20 years older than Chongyong, doesn't care about his own face at all.

"How can I save a life?"

Fang Chongyong asked with curiosity on his face. He still didn't understand what Xue Shangtong wanted to do.It seems that the Xue family doesn’t need someone from elsewhere to save it, right?
"Since Tianbao, people in Weizhou have fled a lot, and large local households have abandoned their farmland and turned to grazing. Now since a certain person took over as the governor of Weizhou, the household registration of people in the state has dropped from more than 2 households to less than [-] households.

If the court pickets up, this place is too messy and I really can’t afford it! "

Xue Shangtong said with tears in his eyes.

Why was it a trap to be a governor? Why did people in the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty try to avoid being released as governors? It was because there were too many inexplicable traps!
In the Tang Dynasty, except for the Gyeonggi area and those super-standard "fus", the other states were nothing more than upper, middle and lower classes.During the Kaiyuan period, there were 190 upper states, 29 middle states, and 180 nine lower states, including Sifu, Liuxiong, Shiwang, and Shiqian.

Those with a household registration of less than [-] are in Xiazhou, and there is no lower limit.

Therefore, Weizhou has always been a well-deserved lower state.

But in fact, what Xiazhou said is that the imperial court was lazy and did not subdivide it.This situation is the same as having 60 points and 59 points below the passing line of 0 points.

If we really want to break it down, there is the kind of Xiazhou that is just on the border with Zhongzhou, with a population of over [-]; there is also the kind of "Xiaxiazhou" with only a few thousand registered households, which is less than the population of a county in Shangzhou!
And this division of "upper, middle and lower" is not static.With the migration of the population, Zhongzhou may become Xiazhou, and Xiazhou may become Zhongzhou or even Shangzhou.Every time the Tang government conducted a household census, it would change.

The number of household registrations in a state is an important "hard standard" for the assessment of governors.If during someone's term of office, there are no wars or disasters, and the number of household registrations not only does not increase, but becomes less and less, then can this governor still be in a good position?

The officials responsible for the assessment are not blind!
The question raised by Xue Shangtong was a "population mobility" issue that could not be raised openly since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. It was also an "unspeakable secret" that could trap ordinary people to death.

Based on what he saw and heard on the road, Fang Chongyong understood it, but he still pretended to be confused and asked, "Why did Governor Xue say this?"

"Since the Han Dynasty, all strong soldiers have come from Longyou. The four counties of Longyou have provided a large number of soldiers to the country.

However, since the imperial court changed its name to Long March Athletes, the family members have all moved to the border town.Naturally, Weizhou was not immune. A large number of registered permanent residents migrated to Lanzhou, Hezhou, Linzhou, Shanzhou and other places in the west with the Long Marchers to work in the fields.

The imperial court could not replace the lost household registrations in Weizhou, and no people were willing to come to Weizhou to open up wasteland.

Nowadays, fewer and fewer people in Weizhou are willing to farm, and the imperial court is still opening pastures for grazing, and the entire Weizhou is about to become a pasture.

It is obvious that if so many people are not needed for grazing, the household registration will be reduced. "

Xue Shangtong deserves to be from a "official family". He speaks the truth clearly and clearly explains the difficulties he faces in one sentence.

Originally, the Weizhou area had less flat land and more mountainous land, and was a "farming as well as grazing" area. However, the local terrain made it easier for grazing. Only the government that wanted to achieve political achievements would encourage farming.

If the local population is large, then "sloping fields" must be opened on the hillside. This kind of field is the predecessor of terraced fields, and the farming efficiency is far less than terraced fields.It’s not that there is no flat land, it’s just that the plain area here in Weizhou is less than 10%.

It is self-evident which people will be allocated the fields on the flat ground.

If the local population is small, then this is a nomadic area, and it is easy to graze cattle and sheep on the hillside.However, the herding economy cannot support such a large population. What will happen to the large number of people?Are they working hard to open up wasteland, or are they looking for a living elsewhere?

Weizhou has both economic models, which complement each other. At a certain stage, one model is dominant.

With more people and less land, we can cultivate sloping fields in the mountains and grow wheat and beans.But reclaiming these mountains requires a lot of labor, and the results are slow.If there are more and better choices, local people would rather migrate and seek life elsewhere.

The transformation of a government soldier into a military recruiter completely changed the economic ecology of Weizhou.Their household registrations have all moved to border towns, and the barren hillside land in their hands has been bought by local tycoons. These tycoons can turn farming into nomadism, but life for other small households will be difficult.

In addition, the imperial court also opened a ranch here to provide the palace with cattle, horses, and sheep, which squeezed the space for homesteaders to become herdsmen.It would be strange if the local household registration did not escape. It is better to be a weaver in Chang'an than to farm in Weizhou!

In this case, there is no question of good or bad.Whether it's good or bad depends on who it is for.If you don’t talk about the object and only talk about the good and bad, you will often get the wrong answer.

Local interests must be subordinated to the overall interests of the country. Whether the changes in Weizhou are a good thing or a bad thing for Datang is another matter, but for Xue Shangtong it is definitely a bad thing!
Fang Chongyong also understands very well that if a large amount of mineral deposits are discovered here in the future, then Weizhou will be a mining economic system, and nothing can be grown, and everything will be based on mining.The country is the largest, followed by localities, and finally individuals.

So now the question is, if the imperial court checks the household registration in Weizhou and finds that there are thousands of households fewer under Xue Shangtong's tenure, will they think it is caused by Xue Shangtong's "tyranny"?
At the very least, a person with "bad governance" cannot escape.

A family of officials like Xue Shangtong and others are already the conscience of the industry if they do not extort money from the people. How could they tolerate falling into the trap without doing anything harmful?
It is inevitable that they will find a way out of the trap.

Fang Chongyong suddenly realized that Xue Shangtong came here for his position of supervising the censor!Fang Chongyong brought his staff with him on this trip, which made Xue Shangtong think that Fang Yanei was going to hold the governor's memorial flag in Weizhou!

In fact, Fang Chongyong was just passing by. If Xue Shangtong didn't come out to greet him, he might not even enter Weizhou City!

"A certain society wrote a letter to inform the court officials about the situation in Weizhou. Zheng Shuqing, the chief censor, still has some friendship with me. But whether the people in the censorship station will listen to me or not, there is no guarantee that I will."

Originally, I was only passing through Weizhou this time, and eventually I was going to Shanzhou to recruit troops. "

Fang Chongyong said to Xue Shangtong in a deep voice, his attitude couldn't help but be a little more reserved.

"So it is."

Xue Shangtong nodded slightly, feeling relieved but feeling quite regretful at the same time.

The good news is: Although Fang Chongyong and his party are supervisory censors, they are not here to investigate him, and they have no hostility towards him.

The bad news is: someone will come to check him out in the future, but now it's just safe for now.

"Then please leave it to Fang Yushi. If Fang Yushi has any errands in Shanzhou, someone will definitely help."

Xue Shangtong said to Fang Zhongyong, crossing his hands and saluting.

"To be honest, I really want to ask Governor Xue for something."

Fang Chongyong put away his smile, supported Xue Shangtong and said seriously.

"Censor Fang, please speak."

Xue Shangtong saluted and asked.

"It's like this. I want to buy some sheepskins from Governor Xue. The quantity is a bit large."

Fang Chongyong said a little embarrassed.

"Sheepskin? How much do you want?"

Xue Shangtong asked in confusion, "There aren't many other things in Weizhou, but sheepskin can be said to be as much as you want."

Fang Chongyong stretched out a finger and made a "1" gesture.

"One hundred?

This is easy to say. I will send these one hundred sheepskins directly to the governor. "

Xue Shangtong said boldly.

"No, it's ten thousand! A certain person made military uniforms for the soldiers of Silver Spear Filial Festival."

Fang Chongyong smiled.

"Ten thousand pieces. It's not difficult to get, but the quantity is a bit too much."

After saying this, Xue Shangtong was silent.

Sheepskin was very common. Although Fang Zhongyong wanted a lot of it, it was only relatively speaking.There are hundreds of thousands of sheep raised in Weizhou, both public and private. It is not difficult to get [-] sheep skins. After all, it is just a business if the other party pays!

If you don't give money, there's nothing we can do about it.

"Okay, but it will take some time. I can't do it in these two days."

"It's okay, I'm just using it to recruit troops, and I'm not in a hurry today."

Fang Zhongyong nodded and said.

His request was very ordinary, because sheepskin was originally a material for making winter military uniforms.As the military envoy of the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army, it was extremely common for him to raise this question to Xue Shangtong.

"Uh, but Yushi Fang needs to be considerate. Weizhou doesn't have many registered households, and there are no workshops for cleaning sheepskins. So when the time comes, those sheepskins won't be dehaired, and you will have to send someone to deal with them."

Xue Shangtong looked embarrassed and spoke.

"It's easy to talk about, these are small things."

Fang Chongyong laughed.

……

Shanzhou, Shanzhou City, in the study room of Longyou Jiedushi Mansion.

Du Hope, the governor of Longyou, was reading a top-secret letter sent by the eunuch of the palace sent by Li Longji, and he felt like he was about to faint.

Because it was so important, the letter did not go through the post station system from Chang'an to Longyou, but was delivered directly by the eunuchs in the palace.

And the confidentiality was extremely high. Even Fang Youde didn't know about it, let alone Fang Chongyong.

In the letter, Li Longji told Du Hope an incident that had a great impact on the situation in the northwest border town!This matter has not spread yet, but sooner or later everyone will know it.

A few days ago, a major military coup occurred within Tubo, and even Zampu, who had been in power for decades, was killed!
Tubo's Zanpu Chide Zuzan was killed by Sun Poru's chief Lang Meise and Mo Dongzebu during a horse race in Azobecha under the jurisdiction of Sun Poru in the Subi region. Immediately after, Supi, the vassal state of Tubo, that is, Sun Poru launched an attack. Revolted and declared independence from Tubo.

At the critical moment, Enlan Dazalugong, the general of the Imperial Guard who served as a guard in the Supi area of ​​Tubo, led the Imperial Guard directly under Tubo's Xin Zangpu Trisong Detsen and annihilated them with lightning speed. Rebellious Party in Subi District.Sun Boru's chief ministers, Lang Meise and Mo Dongzebu, were crowned heads, and the rebellion was extinguished.

Su Pi's Sun Poru started a fuss, but he only opened the champagne for half the time, and finally lost it all!

But this wave is not over yet!

The Subi area is different from other parts of Tubo. Not only does it have the largest territory, but its original tribes that have not been invaded by Tubo have considerable independence and retain their own king, King Supi.

King Subi had great appeal in the Subi area, but the management of Sun Boru was under the control of Lord Ru. In other words, King Subi could not take action directly, nor could he use the resources of the Subi area to fight against the Tubo people.

The king of Supi, Mi Lingzan, had long been extremely dissatisfied with Tibet for abusing the wealth and soldiers in the Supi area, so he wanted to take advantage of the turmoil in the Supi area to do something.

He also knew that he could not defeat the Tubo Forbidden Army with his own strength, so he wanted to lead his troops to defect to the Tang Dynasty, and then use the power of the Tang Dynasty border army to skin him.

So King Subi sent a letter to Li Longji, agreeing that in the near future, he would take his direct descendants from Chahan City on the edge of Qinghai Lake via Shibao City, and then from Shibao City to Shancheng, a key node on the Longyou border. (Xining City).

At that time, there will inevitably be a large Tibetan army chasing their tribe, so Ji Ge asked Du Hope, the military governor of Longyou, to send troops to meet Meilingzan.

It is a must and there is no room for negotiation!

Because of the civil strife in the Subi District, Tubo was about to transfer the conflicts to the outside world, so it would definitely take this opportunity to integrate the resources of the Subi District.Brother Ji thought that now was a good opportunity to beat the Tibetan sap while he was sick and could kill him!

Now or never.

Ji Ge's tone in the letter was very stern. He was giving orders and requests, not suggestions.Du Hope has no doubt that if this matter goes wrong, Brother Ji will definitely destroy his Du family lineage!
The kind where the body is hung on the top of Chang'an City for public display.

But when will Subi King Mu Lingzan come?
For the sake of confidentiality, I didn’t say anything!
Du Hope fell into distress and felt as if his head was going to explode.

(End of this chapter)