Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 445: Sand Addition

In the imperial study of the Qinzhengwu Building, Ji Ge handed the "evidence" to the right prime minister Zheng Shuqing with a sullen look on his face.

"My dear, I ask you, what is this?"

Brother Ji pointed at the inferior copper coins in Zheng Shuqing's hand and asked, his face already filled with gloom, on the verge of an explosion.

"Your Majesty, this is Kaiyuan Tongbao."

Zheng Shuqing secretly groaned in his heart and said it with gritted teeth.

"I know this is Kaiyuan Tongbao. I am asking why, when the country is clearly not minting coins anymore, there are more and more copper coins on the market in Chang'an since this year?"

Brother Ji questioned Zheng Shuqing, and then took out a "same type" inferior coin from his sleeve. Not only was the edge rough, but it was also much thinner than the normal Kaiyuan Tongbao.

This is obviously inferior money minted privately by the people.

As Chang'an Jiaozi was defeated, the newly issued Guanzhong Jiaozi quickly depreciated. The Hexi Jiaozi, which maintained its value, was generally used for large-scale transactions with the Western Regions and was not available to ordinary people.

As a result, an obvious "monetary vacuum" appeared among the people of Chang'an.

Ordinary people could not use silk for daily transactions, as it was difficult to divide and would depreciate sharply after being divided. They did not want to be exploited by the Guanzhong Jiaozi, and there was no suitable alternative.

As a result, the old private minting began to become popular. After all, no matter how "fake" the private minting was, it was still "more real" than the Jiaozi, which was made of waste paper.

Liu Yan was right in "patching" Jiaozi, but he greatly underestimated the "bad money driving out good money" effect of the powerful in Chang'an. The reissued copper coins were far less than the normal demand in the market.

Therefore, this part of the demand was filled by the wealthy and powerful people in Chang'an.

The market is like power, it does not allow for vacuums. If you do not fill the gaps, others will naturally fill them.

"Your Excellency, I will find a solution right away."

Zheng Shuqing was so anxious that he was sweating profusely and bowed to Brother Ji.

If he is allowed to be an official, he will be very capable.

But if you ask him to actually do something practical, he won't do that.

Dealing with the problem of privately minting copper coins was a difficult problem in the feudal era. There are many lessons learned from our predecessors, but the old methods cannot solve new problems.

Difficult tasks can only be done by smart and capable people with great effort. Zheng Shuqing obviously does not have the ability, let alone the intention!
He just wants to get by and do nothing, just like following the rules of Xiao and Cao, thinking that the world will be at peace if he does nothing.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this for now."

Brother Ji waved his hand tiredly, missing Li Linfu in his heart. If Li Linfu were still alive, he wouldn't have to worry about such chores.

Of course, this does not mean that Li Linfu can handle similar problems very well. But he can suppress the problem and prevent it from expanding into a crisis and causing trouble to Brother Ji.

From this perspective, Li Linfu was absolutely qualified as the right prime minister. At least, he did a great job in "sharing the emperor's worries". Other prime ministers were far inferior to him.

"The private minting of copper coins is not urgent in the next day or two."

Brother Ji was silent for a moment, then he looked at Zheng Shuqing and asked in a deep voice, "What do you think of An Sishun's rebellion?"

"Your Majesty, in matters of treason, we must kill the wrong person and never let him go. An Sishun is suspected of colluding with the prince. Even if there is suspicion, he can no longer be an official."

Zheng Shuqing answered cautiously.

Sure enough, Brother Ji nodded slightly without commenting, but the gloom on his face eased a lot.

"Let the Right Prime Minister handle this matter. Remove all official positions from An Sishun and give him the empty title of Left Prime Minister. Let him stay in Chang'an and not go anywhere."

Brother Ji said nonchalantly that he had decided the life path of a senior official in a border town with such a casual manner.

He felt that Zheng Shuqing was still a little rough in his work. Although he was loyal, his ability was not enough. An Sishun must not be killed. If he was killed, the trend of the border army commanders framing each other would inevitably intensify.

In Ji Ge's opinion, no matter how good the border army commander is in fighting or how noisy he is, he is still his watchdog.

He could arrange these guard dogs at will or even fool them, but he could never let these dogs lead him around.

The priorities cannot be reversed.

Just give An Sishun a nominal position and let him stay in Chang'an. This is called "leaving him idle". If the country needs people in the future, he can be used.

"Your Majesty is wise, I will do it now."

Zheng Shuqing said respectfully, crossing his arms and bowing.

In fact, Brother Ji has already made up his mind about the two things mentioned above. The key is the last one, which he has not brought up yet. He mainly wants to see whether Zheng Shuqing, as the right prime minister, can discuss important matters with him.

"Who do you think would be a good successor to the Hedong Jiedushi?

Some people recommended Fang Guozhong to serve concurrently as the governor of Hedong, while others recommended Tian Chengsi, the military commander of the Lulong Army.

Both of them are young and strong, and can lead troops to fight. Who do you think is more suitable?"

Brother Ji asked with a slight frown.

"Your Majesty, I have a history with Fang Guozhong, should I avoid him?"

Zheng Shuqing asked very humbly. In fact, he knew that this was "correct nonsense", but the effect was very different between him saying it out loud and pretending not to know and deliberately not mentioning it.

Sure enough, Brother Ji waved his hand in an impatient manner and said, "I don't avoid relatives when promoting talents. Don't I know how Fang Guozhong is?"

"Your Majesty, Tian Chengsi's family is not in Chang'an. If he were to do anything wrong in the border town, it would be difficult to get rid of him.

Fang Guozhong's family is all in Lantian County, just beside the capital. If he does anything wrong, Your Majesty can order me to lead the team and arrest his family.

As to which of the two is more suitable, the sage must have weighed the pros and cons in his mind, and I dare not speculate rashly."

Zheng Shuqing bowed and said.

He seemed to have said a lot of useless nonsense, but in fact he said everything that needed to be said.

"The Right Prime Minister has a point."

Brother Ji nodded slightly. Zheng Shuqing's words really touched his heart.

In the history of the Tang Dynasty, before the An-Shi Rebellion, there was a low-key, unknown and highly suspected group: the Han Chinese military families in the border towns.

The children of these people's families have long served as mid-level officers in the border army, and the highest position is military envoy. Their connections and networks are all in the border towns, and they have no say in the court, so they have to rely on the Jiedushi or the marching general who was airdropped to the border town.

Such as Xin Yunjing, Wu Zhiyi, Yuanmen Erlong, An Zhongzhang from Hexi, and Tian Chengsi from Hebei mentioned now.

They are all representatives of these people and have extensive connections in the local area.

In order to suppress these people, the imperial court successively introduced surrendered Hu generals and their families.

Use the method of adding sand to balance each other!
With the cooperation of senior military officers airdropped from the central government, the situation can be easily controlled.

In the past, when there were government soldiers, the advantages of the Han military families in the border towns were not that obvious, because the soldiers came from all over the country, not from the local area.

Now that we have changed to a conscription system, the requirements for mid- and low-level officers have also become higher. It is more of a competition mechanism of "the more capable, the more work, and the more capable will be promoted."

While the combat effectiveness of the border troops was greatly improved, it also gave the children of Han military generals from aristocratic families in the border towns the opportunity to excel.

No matter what, these people in the local area are more capable of fighting than the people in Guanzhong.

Let’s not talk about the abilities of Fang Chongyong and Tian Chengsi, but just talk about their backgrounds and current situations. Fang Chongyong is a “central airborne official” with roots in Chang’an. Tian Chengsi is from a military family in Hebei, with roots in Youzhou.

After this comparison, the answer is obvious.

"During the expedition to the Western Regions, Fang Guozhong coordinated the three towns of Hexi, Anxi and Beiting, and built a city in the Ili River Valley. Afterwards, he returned power to the court, which shows his loyalty.

Now that the Huihe have rebelled, Hetao is in a time of turmoil, and letting Fang Guozhong take charge of the overall situation is indeed a prudent and prudent strategy."

Brother Ji said with a smile.

Of course, what he said was only the superficial reason. In fact, he was vaguely wary of Huangfu Weiming's recent behavior.

It is hard to say whether Tian Chengsi is Huangfu Weiming's confidant, but he is from Hebei, so we have to be careful.

Huangfu Weiming was an official in the capital, and his family was all in Chang'an. His sister was a royal concubine and had given birth to a prince.

This is also one of the reasons why Ji Ge believes that he will not rebel.

But if they don't rebel against the Tang Dynasty, then they won't rebel against him as the emperor? Brother Ji thinks the former is unlikely, but the latter is very likely!
In the Tang Dynasty, supporting the prince as the crown prince was itself a "glorious tradition" passed down from the Taizong era.

No matter whether they were civil officials or military generals, they were extremely indifferent to who would become the emperor. After all, there was already Taizong's "excellent example", so there was no shortage of imitators.

As long as the country's name is not changed and their power and status are not affected, it will not matter which prince comes to the throne.

This is not a big deal, nor is it something they cannot accept.

For Huangfu Weiming, supporting the prince to succeed to the throne was not a rebellious act. As long as he succeeded, he would be a meritorious official, and there would be no political risk at all, let alone loss of reputation.

Therefore, Brother Ji is extremely wary of similar people and things.

The reason for not changing people is that no one in Huangfu Weiming's position can guarantee 100% loyalty! It is better to do business with the familiar than to do business with the new. Changing people may not be a good thing. Huangfu Weiming is still his "brother-in-law"!

In Ji Ge's opinion, he drew his sword and looked around, and he saw enemies everywhere. There was hardly a single person around him who could be trusted. Well, Gao Lishi could barely be considered one, but his ability was very average and he could only handle ordinary chores.

"Appoint Fang Guozhong as the ambassador of Hetao, who will also serve as the governor of Hedong. His current position as the governor of Shuofang will remain unchanged.

Tian Chengsi was transferred to Hedong to serve as the deputy envoy of Hedong Jiedushi and the military envoy of Datong Army, specializing in cooperating with Fang Guozhong to deal with the border disturbances by the Huihe people. "

Brother Ji sighed and said, feeling restless. In recent years, he has been worried about state affairs and has never stopped for a moment! Why won't you let him go?
"I will do it now."

Zheng Shuqing bowed to Brother Ji and turned to leave.

When he reached the door of the imperial study, Brother Ji suddenly called him.

"Saint, what else do you want me to do?"

Zheng Shuqing asked in a low voice.

“The private minting issue must be dealt with quickly and strictly without any delay.

If killing one person can stop the trend, then kill one person. If killing a hundred people can't stop it, then kill a thousand people to set an example.

I want to settle this matter before the Lantern Festival this year.

understand? "

Brother Ji said with a gloomy expression.

From his expression, it was hard to tell that he was discussing the things happening in Hedong with great interest.

"I understand, I understand. I will do it right away."

Zheng Shuqing's back was wet with cold sweat, and he quickly nodded and bowed to take his leave.

After leaving Xingqing Palace, he realized that he seemed to have walked through the gates of hell. Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger, especially an old and extremely suspicious tiger.

It is really not easy to be the right prime minister.

"How did Li Linfu survive as prime minister for so many years? Why did I feel like I couldn't continue as prime minister after only a few months?"

Zheng Shuqing asked back, muttering to himself.

……

Since the last time the Uighurs retreated in disgrace, the Hetao grassland has enjoyed temporary peace.

But it was clear that the situation would not remain so peaceful forever. Because the Uighur cavalry frequently appeared not only to the north of Feng'an City and across the Yellow River in Lingzhou, but also in the Zhenwu Army's defense zone, and even once infiltrated the interior of the Hetao grassland.

These were all discovered by the Tang army scouts. Just imagine how many there were that were not discovered.

In early winter, various sections of the Yellow River had frozen over. In some places, the ice was so solid that it was enough for large numbers of cavalry to gallop through on horseback.

Fang Chongyong had some understanding of what the Uighurs wanted to do and what they were waiting for.

The first two failures calmed the Uighurs’ heads, and they were wandering in the darkness, looking for opportunities to hunt!
However, before he could wait for the sudden attack from the Uighurs, Pugu Huai'en's "cousin" came to find Fang Chongyong first.

Abusi, the leader of the Tongluo tribe, who was from the same group as the Nine Tiele Clans, came to Lingzhou City in a mighty procession, bringing with him numerous gifts, dozens of carts loaded with gifts, and a thousand war horses, to pay his respects to Fang Chongyong.

The generosity of the gift made all the generals in Lingzhou City gasp in amazement.

Fang Chongyong remembered that in the history books of his previous life, this Abusi became famous by helping Geshu Han and participating in the Battle of Shibao City. After all, he and Geshu Han both had connections with the Turks, so they were naturally close to each other.

But in this life, Stone Castle was never lost! Naturally, there was no Battle of Stone Castle.

Moreover, Geshu Han did not get a good opportunity to rise to prominence, because there was no fierce battle involving the whole country, so there was no shortage of troops in Hexi and Longyou.

Therefore, after Abusi came to the Tang Dynasty, he had no chance to show his talents. He could only serve as the leader of a tribe near the city and herd cattle in Hetao peacefully. Over the years, he accumulated a lot of wealth.

But that's about it.

Anyway, the leader of the Tongluo tribe is now having a very unhappy career as an official and is looking for a way out everywhere.

In fact, there were many tribes like his that had surrendered to the Tang Dynasty all over the border, from Hexi to Shuofang and then to Hebei, and their number was too numerous to count.

Some of them became prominent, and their leaders served as officers in the Tang army. Some were unknown, and they obeyed the orders of the Tang Dynasty every year, sending as many people as they were paid, and the pensions for those killed in battle were calculated separately.

Abusi is just one of the stronger ones among them. If he serves as an officer in the Shuofang Army, he will be the next Pugu Huai'en. But because there is already Pugu Huai'en in the Shuofang Army, the situation Abusi is facing now is a bit embarrassing.

After all, the "Great Uighurs", including Pugu Huai'en, were the "anti-Turkic faction" within the Tiele tribe.

Abusi was a Turkic official who was directly appointed as Yehu by the Turks and belonged to the "pro-Turkic faction".

Not to mention helping each other, it was already polite of them not to fight over new or old grudges.

Therefore, the intricate relationships between these grassland tribes are really not something that ordinary people can figure out.

The people are still the same group, but the titles they bear may have changed several times.

That afternoon, in the study of the Shuofang Jiedushi Yamen in Lingzhou City, Fang Zhongyong warmly held Abusi's hands and said with emotion:
"Hey, Brother Li, you are here now. Why are you so polite and bring so many gifts? Today is worse than tomorrow. We are so close today. How about we become brothers? You are a little older, so you can be the elder brother and I can be the younger brother. How about that?"

"How dare we, lowly people like us, call ourselves brothers and sisters of the military commander?"

Albus said with a flattered look on his face, but he was secretly guessing in his heart.

The governor of this border town of the Tang Dynasty has a completely different style of dealing with people.

An Sishun looked very businesslike, but Fang Jieshuai was very passionate and had no airs at all.

"Eh? What are you talking about, you lowly person!

You and I are brothers, and we care about the Tang Dynasty and the people in the border towns, regardless of their status.

You and I have agreed to be brothers, so when your tribe is in Shuofang, we will not be suspected by the people in the border towns. Is this a private matter between you and me?
Brother, please don't refuse!"

Fang Chongyong said seriously.

"Then, then I am really out of my league, out of my league."

Albus breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your troops are grazing in the Qingshui River area of ​​Hequ. This commander will give your troops a separate number, called the Qingshui Army. It will not be included in the military account books, and you can control the troops yourself. How do you think?
As for the sworn brotherhood, it is not convenient now during this busy time. We can hold the ceremony in public after this busy period is over."

Fang Chongyong was very generous and directly gave Abusi a border army number.

Now he doesn't have to worry about the most worrying thing. He came here just to ask how to get into the Shuofang Army!

Albusi clasped his fists and saluted with excitement, saying: "This general will obey the orders of the commander-in-chief! I will fight whoever the commander-in-chief tells me to fight!"

A number, even if the Tang Dynasty gives nothing else, is a treatment that ordinary tribes near the city dare not even think of.

This means that someone already has an official identity, and even if he is a dog, he is a free-range domestic dog, and no longer a poor creature that competes with wild dogs for food.

"You should go back to Hequ first and prepare for battle. Someone from a certain association will deliver the relevant letter of appointment in the next two days.

The Shuofang Army is short of horses. Please keep the horses you sent. I appreciate your kindness.

You can take the gifts back for your own use, as raising military equipment also requires money."

Fang Zhongyong patted Abusi on the shoulder and said.

"General! General! Alas!

That An Sishun is a piece of shit, he said a lot of bad things about you!
I didn't expect that Marshal Jie is such a generous and righteous person! "

Albus burst into tears, deeply moved.

"Things in the border towns are treacherous and unclear. Only by being honest can we avoid misunderstandings.

Go back, I will definitely help you with the organization of the Qingshui Army."

Fang Chongyong comforted Abusidao.

The latter thanked him happily and left.

After he left, the recorder Feng Changqing asked in a low voice: "General, are you too kind to this Abusi?"

"It's not okay to let others work hard for you and then put on airs.

We have already reached a deadlock with the Uighurs, and we must unite with anyone we can to jointly deal with the Uighur cavalry.

Isn’t the Tongluo tribe a very good ally?
If you don't unite with the Tongluo tribe, the Huihe people will buy them off. If you show disdain to Abusi, won't that make your relatives sad and your enemies happy?"

Fang Chongyong picked up a palm-leaf fan on the table and handed it to Feng Changqing. On it were written the words "united front" in plain and honest handwriting.

(End of this chapter)