Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 375 The fox is sad when the rabbit dies
"Jie Shuai, these women are really the ladies of the Stone Kingdom, well, they used to be.

They were all sold to human traffickers by Gao Xianzhi and brought here all the way.

Those human traffickers are really just human traffickers. "

After some investigation and interrogation, Feng Changqing told Fang Chongyong the ins and outs of the matter in great detail.

"Are you sure? They are not spies sent by Abu Muslim? Are they not operating here to collect military intelligence on the Tang Army, disguised as slave traders?"

Fang Chongyong asked in disbelief.

Hearing this, Feng Changqing really didn't know what to say. Is this Western Region Economic Ambassador too paranoid, or does he always judge others by his own judgment, thinking that others can do what he can do?
Feng Changqing said in a very certain tone:
"Jie Shuai, you are really not a spy. We have almost tortured people to death. If there really was a cannibal spy, he would have confessed long ago.

With so many people, not everyone can withstand interrogation, right?

Now no one admits that they were beaten to death, and they all insist that Gao Xianzhi sold these ladies to them, just ten pieces of silk for each woman.

They are really just slave traders. There are too many people like this in the Western Region. "

"Sit down and tell me what you have to say slowly."

"Urgent?"

Zhang Tongru said with a solemn expression, which made Fang Chongyong feel strange.

Zhang Tongru was not polite and drank the water in the cup in one breath. Then he breathed a sigh of relief and regained some energy.

Fang Chongyong put away the smile on his face and said seriously.

It seems that it is really hard to travel a long way.

Fang Chongyong pointed to the position opposite him.

Zhang Tongru slapped his head and was so anxious all the way. He actually missed the background of this matter. No wonder Fang Chongyong was confused.

"Jie Shuai, these slave traders must be dealt with naturally, but what should we do with those noble ladies of the Stone Kingdom?"

Then the Right Prime Minister sent his son-in-law, Yang Qixuan, who had been promoted to Minister of Household Affairs, to Liangzhou to supervise the reform of Jiaozi.

Feng Changqing asked in a low voice. He was sure that the resourceful Western Region Economic and Strategic Ambassador in front of him should know what he was asking.

"what?

"Commander Jie, something big happened. Yang Qixuan, the son-in-law of the right prime minister, was assassinated!"

Previously, the issuance rights of Jiaozi in Luoyang, Henan, had been directly controlled by the imperial court, using the method of printing banknotes in Chang'an and issuing Henan Jiaozi in Luoyang.

Its purpose is to take over the distribution rights of Hexi Jiaozi.

As a result, when Yang Qixuan's team was crossing the Wulan Bridge, which was one step away from Liangzhou, the bridge suddenly collapsed. Everyone in the team fell into the Yellow River. After the bodies were found, no one survived and they all drowned.

The Right Prime Minister wanted to adopt a similar model in Hexi.

"Well, so be it."

"The general admires him for his integrity and integrity. However, since the expedition, many people in the army have made military achievements.

If the idea of ​​rewarding beauties during marches and battles is opened, in the future those Qiu Ba down there will spend all their time away from their business and go around hunting for women. If they are caught, they say they are slaves and ask for rewards. Is this okay in the long run?

Fang Jie Shuai was fighting on the front line, and it was impossible to know what was happening in Chang'an and Liangzhou.

"It's okay if you think so. Military discipline cannot be broken. If it is broken, the officers and soldiers will not be restrained."

Fang Chongyong didn't want to cause "secondary harm", but this was obviously not the answer Feng Changqing expected.

Feng Changqing suggested calmly. He considered it entirely from Fang Chongyong's perspective. Now those Qiu Ba people were clamoring for women to vent their anger. Rewarding noble ladies from the Shi Kingdom to those who had meritorious service would boost morale.

Soon, Zhang Tongru was brought into the handsome tent. As soon as they met, Fang Chongyong saw An Lushan's former staff member. His clothes were as tattered as a beggar's, but he could still see the style of his official robes. His hair was messy and his face was dark and dirty, but there were no signs of being beaten.

Feng Changqing quickly poured a glass of water for Zhang Tongru.

"Send them to Bagua City and place them properly."

It would be better to reward these noble ladies of the Stone Kingdom to those who have made meritorious deeds to calm the morale of the army. After a long campaign, the soldiers all wanted to have their wives to warm their beds. This is human nature. "

Fang Chongyong was stunned. He couldn't figure out what Zhang Tongru, who was supposed to be on errands in Yizhou and supervising the transshipment of grain and grass, came to the front line to do everything he had planned every step of the way. He was fully prepared in every logistic link!
"Let him in."

Fang Chongyong waved his hand with some disinterest.

"The Right Prime Minister ordered the sealing of Jiao Zixing run by the Hexi Inspection Institute, dismissed Yan Zhuang and Cen Shen and drove them back to Liangzhou, and re-appointed the officials of the Inspection Institute.

At this moment, a soldier hurriedly walked into the military tent, came over and whispered: "Commander Jie, Zhang Tongru asked to see you, saying that there is something urgent."

"Jie Shuai, is this a way to look at plum blossoms and quench thirst?"

Fang Chongyong chuckled.

It is the proper intention to reward captured beauties to meritorious soldiers, and this was how everyone used to do it. But there should be no sexual misconduct in the army. This is the principle.

Oh oh oh, I forgot to mention it because of my humble position. "

Li Linfu's son-in-law was assassinated. What does it have to do with me, the ambassador of the Western Regions Economic Strategy?
Fang Chongyong was speechless. He had never touched Li Linfu's daughter, right? If Li Linfu's son-in-law dies, then he dies!
"and then?"

If the Qiu Ba people are only thinking about playing with women, then they will not be able to exert their full strength on the battlefield.

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and said.

"That's very good. Let those Qiu Ba who have military exploits select these young ladies and settle the matter first. But good things should be done after returning from victory. Send these noble ladies of the Stone Kingdom back to Bagua City first. You can do this in person. manage."

Fang Chongyong asked helplessly.

Later, An Chongzhang, the deputy military envoy of the Chishui Army in Liangzhou, sent people to Yizhou to find the humble position and asked the commander how to deal with the matter.

I guessed that Yang Qixuan was killed by someone from the An family, and they did it very cleverly.

The collapse of Chang'an Jiaozi is imminent. Although the imperial court has not yet introduced measures to reform Jiaozi, it is now making intensive arrangements.

Many things require Commander Jie to go to Liangzhou personally to deal with them. "

Zhang Tongru finished speaking in one breath and felt that his body could hardly support it. Seeing him in such a state, Feng Changqing poured him another glass of water, and at the same time couldn't help but glance at Fang Chongyong.

This Western Region Economic and Strategic Ambassador is not as simple as he seems.

"Has the government deteriorated to this extent?"

Fang Chongyong had a puzzled look on his face, Li Linfu looked too ugly when he was eating, and he wanted to eat for free!
Take back the right to print money and open two small accounts to share the pressure and serve as a firewall. Is this considered the reform is completed?

I have to say, Li Linfu's idea is quite beautiful.

Li Linfu is like this, helping Brother Ji to achieve path dependence. He doesn't want to use his brain to make drastic reforms in everything, he just wants to use old stalls to repair things.

"Oh, that's not enough, the court doesn't have any other options.

Liu Yan, who succeeded Yang Qixuan as the Minister of Household Affairs, proposed to use the salt from all over the Tang Dynasty as collateral to issue Xinjiaozi. Starting from this autumn, the imperial court began to collect salt taxes from salt merchants and further reduced the proportion of rents.

The humble understanding is to impose a salt tax and issue Xinjiaozi guaranteed by the salt tax to maintain the value of salt.

But the saint did not approve this memorial. The saint believed that the people should not bear the salt tax. The Right Prime Minister also thinks it is too radical and inappropriate. "Zhang Tongru said with some confusion.

Liu Yan's reforms were radical. Wouldn't it be radical to take back the distribution rights of Hexi Jiaozi?

Zhang Tongru could not understand the logic of the right prime minister.

It has to be said that Liu Yan still has a few brushes. Even if Zhang Tongru is not very proficient in this, he knows that this trick is absolutely useful!
First, linking taxes to salt will help expand the number of tax payers. No matter whether you live in a fertile land or not, you still need to eat salt.

Secondly, this cleverly solves the problem of insufficient "collateral" in Jiaozi, and even directly links taxation, salt, and Jiaozi.

Finally, and most importantly, it did not destroy the current pattern of coexistence and division of Jiaozi in Datang.

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and said: "There are still capable people in the court, but the saint has the concerns of the saint, and the right prime minister also has the concerns of the right prime minister. It is impossible for them to agree to such a reform."

Renting is the "ancestral law", and the powerful and powerful rely on the bugs in it to implement land annexation. If the imperial court's strategy of changing the salt tax and combining it with Jiaozi would naturally be greatly weakened or even abolished.

Although this method cannot prevent the powerful and powerful from continuing to annex land, it can greatly increase their cost of annexing land.

It's damned if Liu Yan's policy can be implemented now. This has already touched the cake of the powerful.

Brother Ji is old and has no energy to compete with these disgusting powerful people who are flying around like bed bugs.

Wouldn't it be good to live a few more years, maintain the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and continue to live in obscurity?
I'm afraid Li Linfu has the same idea, thinking that as long as he controls the distribution rights of Hexi Jiaozi, why bother with a series of policy changes like Liu Yan did?
After all the hard work, he is still a right-wing prime minister and cannot be promoted. Brother Ji wants to throw away his car to save his handsomeness after all the trouble.

Fang Chongyong put himself in Li Linfu's shoes and figured out that if he were Li Linfu, he probably wouldn't be able to do anything anymore. He would be the one who entered the "Lingyan Pavilion" for whatever reason.

"Jie Shuai, don't you have any objections? If Hexi Jiaozi is removed, the logistics of the Anxi Expeditionary Force will be disrupted!

When the imperial court prints money, everyone knows there is no bottom line! "

Zhang Tongru said anxiously.

"If the right prime minister doesn't give up, it will be him who dies next time, not his son-in-law.

The coach doesn’t need to do anything in this quarter.”

Fang Chongyong waved his hand and said.

He knew very well that as long as he did not nod, as long as the Anxi expeditionary force did not return to Liangzhou and was not controlled by the right minister, Li Linfu would not be able to do anything.

If you don't have soldiers and horses in hand, you can't regain the right to mint money. This is an iron rule.

Li Linfu's test this time should be just asking for directions. Li Linfu's plan was probably to create some noise first, then discuss the interests with the local forces in Liangzhou, and finally work out a charter acceptable to both parties.

After a little speculation, Fang Chongyong guessed Li Linfu's plan.

The Right Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty is not stupid either. What he didn't expect was that the reaction from Hexi would be so violent, unreasonable and unwilling to talk!

The habit of the Qiuba people is to kill people first and then talk about things.

Dead people can't speak anyway, so of course they do whatever they say. This group of people did not play any conspiracy with Li Linfu at all.

Don't ask, the question is just to see who has the bigger fist.

Seeing Fang Chongyong's calm and calm look, Zhang Tongru was dumbfounded.

After hearing the news, shouldn't Marshal Fang be furious and go back with his troops to serve the king?
Why is it still as if nothing happened?

"Jie Shuai, do you mean that you can just go back to your humble position?"

Zhang Tongru asked in disbelief.

"Let's do this. I'll edit a book and you can take it back to An Chongzhang. It's not a big deal, and the right minister will compromise."

Fang Chongyong asked Feng Changqing beside him to prepare pen and ink, and then wrote a letter in front of Zhang Tongru.

In the letter, he "persuaded" the people of Liangzhou An's family not to deliberately go against the imperial court. It is also said that the current policy of the imperial court is unstable, so you should not be too surprised. Any policy requires long-term practice and adjustment, so just wait patiently.

To sum it up in two words: Stay alive!

After the ink was dry, Feng Changqing helped envelope the book and handed it to Zhang Tongru. The latter didn't waste any time. He rested in the camp for a night, prepared dry food and water, and hit the road again to Liangzhou.

After Zhang Tongru left, Feng Changqing asked doubtfully: "Commander Jie, is it not good for the general to hear those secrets just now?"

"It doesn't matter. You are my confidant. Remember not to spread this matter. People will die."

Fang Chongyong patted Feng Changqing's shoulder and hinted calmly.

"I will understand, I will understand."

Feng Changqing's back was already wet with cold sweat. He felt as if he had just heard something extraordinary, so much so that he didn't dare to think about it at all.

The more I think about it, the more I feel that the Western Region Economic and Strategic Ambassador in front of me is not simple.

……

Li Linfu, the Right Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty, has been having a hard time lately.

He ordered people to dig a large pond at his home. To do this, he removed many trees, flowers and plants, and also destroyed the original layout of the house.

But Li Linfu doesn't care about such trivial matters. As long as Brother Ji needs it, he will do it.

The right prime minister of the Tang Dynasty was worried about another thing!

His plan against Hexi Jiaozi encountered a strong backlash from the border troops, and he even lost a son-in-law who served as the minister of household affairs!

If it weren't for Yang Qixuan's resignation, how could it be Liu Yan's turn to be the new Minister of Household Affairs?

"Right Prime Minister, these are the turtles that Nu Xun found all over the country, and they are all here."

A house slave, with a flattering smile on his face, pointed to the turtles of all sizes in the pond and said.

"Yes, Not Bad."

Li Linfu nodded slightly, very satisfied.

At this moment, a little turtle crawled out of the pool and bit Li Linfu's boots without letting go, which made the right minister of the Tang Dynasty quite angry!
"Don't be surprised, Prime Minister. This is an eagle-billed turtle, which is very aggressive. The golden-threaded turtle over there is relatively docile. There is also the smaller one, called the six-threaded tortoise. It is also very docile and does not bite."

The slave was so frightened that he was sweating profusely and threw the "ignorant" turtle at Li Linfu's feet into the pool.

"We will send these turtles to Xingqing Palace in a moment. Do you understand? Those who like to bite people must also be sent."

Li Linfu lectured with a straight face.

"I understand, I understand. Please rest assured, Prime Minister."

At this moment, the doorkeeper came to report: "Your right prime minister, Liu Yan, the Minister of Household Affairs, wants to see you."

"That's all, take him to the study and wait. The truth will be over soon."

Li Linfu shook his head helplessly.

Liu Yan had the ability to do things, but unfortunately he was not very good at being an official and his eyesight was too poor.

(End of this chapter)