Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 263 Problems caused by development can only be solved by development

After Fang Chongyong came to Lanzhou, he decided not to leave for the time being. Taking advantage of the opportunity to reorganize the Tianwei Army, he selected a large number of warriors from these Longyou elites, and got more than 300 people, all of whom were as good as ten.

Fang Chongyong divided the three hundred people into three teams, which were managed by He Changqi, Guan Chongsi and Wang Nannan respectively, and the rest followed as personal soldiers.

He remained motionless for several days, with no intention of leaving Lanzhou.

Now even Wang Zhongsi can't stand it anymore!

If Fang Chongyong refused to leave, he, the new governor of Longyou, would be too embarrassed to lead his troops back to Shanzhou.

So Wang Zhongsi came to ask in person when Fang Chongyong could go to Liangzhou to take up his post.

After all, it would be beneficial to everyone if the chaos in Hexi is resolved as soon as possible.

Fang Chongyong's answer was very straightforward: If you ask someone to deal with the aftermath, you must have the attitude of asking others! Now I am the boss, and those bastards in Liangzhou are all grandsons!

When I was in Shazhou, Hexi for four years, did I get an extra dime from these bastards?

If something goes wrong now, I will think of his office, why did I go there earlier!

Fang Chongyong has already made a plan: if Liangzhou doesn't send someone to invite him this time, then he will write to Ji Ge and ask the court to re-divide the Jiedushi defense zone and move the Hexi Jiedushi's headquarters to Lanzhou! I will work in Lanzhou from now on!

Let’s see if those turtle grandsons in Liangzhou send anyone to invite this great god like him!

Regarding Fang Chongyong's tough stance, Wang Zhongsi felt helpless and didn't know how to persuade him, but he had to go to Shanzhou to take office and could not delay any longer.

So Wang Zhongsi had no choice but to leave Lanzhou with the officer corps and a thousand elites of the Hedong Army, leaving Li Guangbi to command the Tianwei Army to train in Lanzhou and recruit 10,000 troops. At the same time, Ge Shuhan was appointed as the deputy military envoy.

This made Ge Shuhan very unhappy, but he was helpless.

If there is no impressive record, if the central court and the emperor do not see any extraordinary ability in a certain general, then climbing up the ranks will have to rely on interpersonal relationships.

Although Ge Shuhan didn't know what Li Guangbi was specifically capable of, he did know that he was Wang Zhongsi's most loyal confidant, almost like his adopted son.

This is enough.

As long as Wang Zhongsi serves as the governor of Longyou for a day, Li Guangbi's career in the army will not have any trouble.

As expected, Fang Chongyong could still sit still, but the people on the other side of Hexi could no longer sit still!

Ten days later, an "uninvited guest" came to Lanzhou and visited Fang Chongyong. He also presented the deed of a high-rise mansion in Wuwei City, as well as the land deed of hundreds of hectares of farmland near the Macheng River outside the city.

Fang Chongyong, who felt that he had been fully "respected", opened the door to welcome visitors and introduced the visitors to the government office study to discuss important matters in secret.

……

"Last General An Chongzhang, deputy military envoy of the Chishui Army, see Fang Jieshuai..."

This middle-aged man who was nearly forty years old wanted to introduce himself again, but Fang Chongyong waved his hand and said: "You are the son of the An family. There is no need to say more. Sit down."

Fang Chongyong pointed to the cushion beside the table and said.

In Liangzhou, the An family was a big local family and also had influence in the court. Although the An clan is not a one-handed force in Liangzhou, it is at least a presence that people cannot underestimate.

However, even if this is the case, the person who can be called "gongzi" by Fang Chongyong must not be an ordinary An family.

In fact, the An Chongzhang in front of him is a direct descendant of the An family who participated in the politics of the Tang Dynasty with the four towns in Hexi as "gifts".

Specifically, he is the great-grandson of An Xinggui, one of the "Ten Great Meritorious Officials" during the Wude Period.

In the early years of Wude in the Tang Dynasty, An Xinggui, a local powerful man in Liangzhou, used his family's power to participate in the operation to eliminate Li Gui, the king of Liang, and successfully got on board.

Later, he was worshiped as the general of Shangzhu Kingdom, Youwuhou, and Rongguo Gong. The family guarded Liangzhou for generations. Later, they defeated the Turkic army in Liangzhou and served as General You Xiaowei and Duke of Liang.

The Chishui Army was his direct descendant back then.

And the An Chongzhang in front of him is An Xinggui's great-grandson.

If anyone else from the An family came to Lanzhou, Fang Chongyong might not take it seriously.

But An Chongzhang's identity was different. The relationship between his family and the Tang Dynasty clan was "ancestrally passed down" from the Wude period. Many of his family members were serving as civil servants in Chang'an, which could be regarded as opening up the "green link" between local powerful people and the central government. aisle".

Fang Chongyong had to give him this face.

"You are so polite, come and see what gifts I have brought."

Fang Chongyong patted the stack of house deeds on the desk and said warmly.

Hearing this, An Zhongzhang was speechless. He could only cross his hands and salute, and said exactly as his father An Zhongjing had told him:

"Fang Jieshuai, the scale of the Hexi caravan has become smaller and smaller, and all kinds of chaos are emerging one after another.

The previous tax-free policy at various passes can no longer be implemented.

The caravans from the Western Region, that is, west of Shule Town (Kashgar, Xinjiang), no longer come to Shazhou for some reason.

In short... Hexi needs you to take charge of the overall situation quickly. "

An Chongzhang spoke very implicitly, and the actual situation was much messier than what he described.

To be specific, the trade routes in the Western Regions are in disarray, with no one coordinating them, and no appropriate response can be given. Various forces, including the provincial governors and government offices in the Hexi Corridor, Hu merchants from the Western Regions, local powerful Han people, settlements near the Hu people's cities, and the Tang Dynasty's border troops, etc., all acted independently without coordination.

There are already fewer and fewer things, and everyone wants to get more for themselves. It is not surprising that trade routes are becoming more and more difficult to maintain.

"Why don't the merchants from the Western Regions west of Congling come here now?"

Fang Chongyong asked in confusion. This question had been pressing in his mind for a long time.

On the surface, it seems that the "trade blockade" carried out by the big merchants in the Western Regions can indeed gain the upper hand in a short period of time. However, judging from the actual demand and historical experience, the trade blockade is a seven-wound punch that hurts others and ourselves, and cannot be maintained for a long time.

The demand for trade along the Silk Road is too great to be stopped by laws and rules alone.

Therefore, in addition to the bankruptcy of the "Ponzi scheme", there must be deeper reasons for the current situation.

"The general doesn't know about this. We can only find a way to find out after Fang Jieshuai takes charge of Liangzhou."

An Chongzhang said somewhat helplessly.

"After a while, Shuai Shuai will also move his family to Wuwei City to live permanently and deal with this matter thoroughly. He will stay in Liangzhou for a long time.

I believe you have no objections and can you trust the sincerity of this handsome guy? "

Fang Chongyong asked with a smile on his face.

Hearing this, An Chongzhang was overjoyed and quickly nodded his thanks and saluted.

"You will go back first and inform others of the Commander-in-Chief's intentions. He said that in a few days, he will lead troops to Liangzhou.

Anyway, such a long time has passed, it’s not more than a day or two, right? "

Fang Chongyong said slowly.

"Jie Shuai, a certain father gave a death order, telling the last general to follow Fang Jie Shuai back to Liangzhou.

If Jieshuai doesn't go to Liangzhou, there's no need to go back. "

An Chongzhang looked troubled, and risked offending Fang Chongyong, so he spoke bravely.

"Forget it, I will arrange a place for you in Lanzhou City, so you can live here for the time being."

Fang Chongyong sighed softly, knowing that he couldn't get rid of the piece of brown candy in front of him. An Chongzhang still came out to ask for help in his late forties because the situation on the Hexi Commercial Road was already very pessimistic.

Otherwise, he wouldn't want to come to Lanzhou to see other people's faces. "Then... the general will not bother Fang Jieshuai anymore."

An Chongzhang bowed cautiously, and then carefully exited the study, not daring to take any chances.

After he left, Fang Chongyong took a deep breath and sighed silently.

He spread out a large piece of paper and planned to write a memorial to Brother Ji. After thinking for a long time, he didn't know how to write it. Just like many cancers in his previous life could not be cured, he could not solve the fundamental problems of the Tang Dynasty now.

No matter when, problems caused by development can only be solved by development!

The systemic contradictions of the Tang Dynasty can also only be solved by continuous development.

The limit that any crooked move can achieve is to delay the explosion of the bomb, buying time for possible subsequent reforms. This objective law is still applicable even in the era of advanced technology in Fang Chongyong's previous life.

No matter how people play, or how many tricks they play. Neither money nor food can be conjured out of thin air. No matter how you look at it, it is just a game of passing flowers by beating drums, and whoever falls on it will be unlucky.

The method Fang Chongyong thought of before was actually equivalent to "exchanging space for time". The operation method was very complicated, but the principle was extremely simple.

The central financial problem of the Tang Dynasty was the "insufficient liquidity" that he had repeatedly mentioned in his previous life, commonly known as the government's lack of money.

In fact, the total amount of wealth in the Tang Dynasty was still very large, but the distribution was extremely uneven. In particular, many powerful people and local powerful people can be said to be fat-headed and wealthy.

However, these wealth and silks were tightly held by the powerful and did not participate in social circulation. The court, or those in power, also need to use some unconventional means to collect all the money from the powerful, and then allocate it from the central finance, so as to delay the outbreak of social crisis.

To put it bluntly, this is a way of life that makes up for the shortcomings but overdoes the losses. The state steps in to kill the pigs and uses the money obtained by the powerful through plunder and plundering for national construction in the form of government finance.

Either build canals or roads, or use it as military expenses.

According to Fang Chongyong's idea: to push up the price of luxury goods through artificial means and let the powerful people in Chang'an follow suit, the first step of the plan was completed.

At this time, the state should step in as a backstage to release these luxury goods and exchange the silk and copper coins in the hands of the powerful into luxury goods with inflated prices, thereby alleviating the money shortage of the central government.

However, Brother Ji did not help fill the financial gap during this window period. Instead, he used the money he obtained to build the Huaqing Palace, reward his cronies, and maintain the huge expenses of the royal family as a whole.

For example, the daily expenses of the 60,000 palace maids and a large group of eunuchs.

It was as if the money was conjured out of thin air, without any cost at all.

Moreover, one of the side effects of Fang Chongyong's move is that the powerful will join in the smuggling of luxury goods on the trade route by "buying shares". They are not only buyers but also shareholders. These people participate in and promote the trend at the same time, which is quite a bit like "helping the tiger".

But as time goes by, most of the money these people get from smuggling channels will come from their own people, which is the so-called "eat for themselves." Therefore, they must constantly attract new people to join the team, otherwise the game of passing flowers by drumming and passing flowers will not continue.

The groups that join the group range from businessmen from the Western Regions to brothers, which is very broad.

Originally, this process took many years to complete, but Brother Ji's greed and disorderly behavior, as well as the greed of Chang'an's powerful people, invisibly accelerated the process. After the madness, the rich and powerful were left with a lot of expensive luxury goods from the Western Regions that were extremely expensive, had no market, no one cared about them, and were useless!

So what about things from the Western Regions, things that cannot be eaten or worn and used to hold a ball? Who would buy an Egyptian gold mask worth thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars to wear for themselves?

At this point, the dual-track price system is inevitable, as is the price reduction of luxury goods and the prosperity of the second-hand market. Therefore, it is not surprising that the price monopoly collapses.

In later generations, similar items with inflated prices can be orchids and tulips, tea, jewelry, or even Bitcoins that are invisible and intangible and have no effect at all!

Ponzi scheme, beat the drum and spread the flowers, the flowers are similar every year, but the people are different every year.

The inherent fraud techniques that have been passed down since ancient times have faced all kinds of greedy and "smart" players from all over the world.

It has been tried and true again and again!

Qian Chongyong set up a game, let Brother Ji take the throne, and opened a pig-killing plate.

The question now is: there are no more pigs to kill, is the next step to kill?

The answer is yes.

If the conflict cannot be resolved, it must be transferred. Otherwise, retribution will come back to the person in charge.

Thinking of this, Fang Chongyong wrote on the paper:

"...

The problem in Hexi was caused by people's lack of attachment to the west of Congling and the defection of Bolu and Tubo. Or it was caused by the political turmoil in Persia.

Wei Chen suggested suspending the special supply of valuables from the Western Regions, and then rectifying the trade routes and restraining merchants after the war was settled.

Once the canal is built, water can be diverted continuously. The humble minister has no family assets and is unable to worship the saint. He can only stabilize Hexi.

Wei Chen believes that it is best to plan the affairs in the Western Regions in three steps.

first step:

Stabilize the hearts of the people in Hexi, restore customs duties and local commercial taxes, and clean up bad debts.

The second step:

......"

Even if it offends Brother Ji, many truths must be told clearly to this emperor who loves success.

No one can save this Ponzi scheme, we can only cut off its tail to survive.

After writing the memorial, Fang Chongyong called Cen Shen over, handed him the sealed memorial and said:

"Judge Cen made a hard trip to Chang'an and must personally hand over this secret document to Gao Lishi.

The stakes are too high to make any mistakes. "

Fang Chongyong said solemnly.

"Why is Commander-in-Chief so worried? I'm going to Chang'an now."

Cen Shen crossed his arms and saluted.

Fang Chongyong waved his hands feebly and said:

"I'm not in a hurry these two days. By the way, you have served in the Anxi Protectorate. Do you know anyone you know? Can you help me find out about the countries in the Western Regions west of Congling, and those places further away? Did something happen in the past two years?"

"This is easy to handle. Just write a letter to Qiuci Town. It only takes a month to reply to Liangzhou."

Cen Shen said nonchalantly.

"Well, just be careful on the road."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly. He always felt that something had happened in the Western Region, otherwise the Ponzi scheme would not have become so filthy that it could no longer be used.

After Cen Shen left, Fang Chongyong lay on the couch in the study like a dead fish, staring blankly at the oil lamp on the table.

He wondered in his mind: I wonder if Brother Ji will choose to walk out of his "sweet dream" after reading his memorial, or will he fall into a new "sweet dream" and continue to sink?

Most likely it’s the latter!

At this moment, the study door was pushed open, and Pei Xiu sneaked in quietly like a thief, with a tangled look on his face that was different from his usual carefree look.

"what happened?"

Fang Chongyong asked doubtfully.

"Alang, I haven't had my period for a long time. Today I quietly checked with the medical officer in the city and they said I'm pregnant."

Pei Xiu said with a troubled expression.

She originally didn't want children, but she didn't know if it was because she had sex so frequently that she finally fell into the trap.

I don’t know when he got it, but Fang Chongyong’s child didn’t run away.

"Give birth! I will raise you!"

Fang Chongyong put his arm around Pei Xiu's shoulders and said.

"Really?"

Pei Xiu was overjoyed, and her hanging heart finally fell.

"of course it's true."

(End of this chapter)