Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 565: Different People Have Different Worries
Appoint subordinates, plan future layout, discuss the details of maritime trade with Daqinmao, etc. After a busy day, Fang Zhongyong felt overwhelmed.

After nightfall, he stayed alone in a guest room in the Dengzhou government office, thinking about the pros and cons of supporting Prince Yong Li Lin to ascend the throne.

The candlelight flickered, and Fang Zhongyong's shadow was reflected on the wall, fluttering in the wind.

There are many benefits to supporting Li Lin to take the throne. The biggest one is "backdoor listing", which greatly reduces risks.

Li Tang founded the country for 150 years, leaving behind the mythical stories of Zhenguan Reign and Kaiyuan Prosperity. Whether it is the powerful or the common people, they all have the fantasy that the Tang Dynasty can return to its peak. If someone stood up and proclaimed himself emperor at this time, the consequences would be serious.

It is easy to be targeted by various gods.

Even Fang Chongyong himself has always built up his own persona as a "loyal minister" and has never mentioned anything like becoming emperor.

With Li Lin's umbrella, you can stand firm in the rain.

But what is the price of this?

In fact, as for the future path, whether it is to learn from Cao Cao or Zhao Kuangyin, Fang Chongyong has already shown the way.

Although the routine is tacky, it is definitely easy to use and highly practical.

But this cannot solve the problem in Fang Zhongyong's mind.

He wasn't worried about whether he could win in the end.

You will definitely win, but it is hard to say whether the final result will be the "win" you want.

Sometimes emperors and generals seem to have won, but in fact they are just puppets pushed to the front by the aristocratic families.

Although he seems to be in power, the foundation of the country has been hollowed out.

Fang Zhongyong believed that the decline of the prosperous Tang Dynasty was inevitable. If we exclude factors such as Ji Ge's reckless behavior and the stupid decisions of officials and princes, the prosperous Tang Dynasty might have lasted for another ten years.

Afterwards, the dissolution will surely begin from the bottom up, and this process will be slow and steady.

However, the real problems faced by the prosperous Tang Dynasty were not completely solved from the middle Tang Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty and even the Republic of China.

This is a problem that smart people can't do, and ordinary people can't even see it.

Fang Chongyong felt very lonely. There was no one around him to discuss things with, and no one would understand what he said.

Chinese society before the heyday of the Tang Dynasty was a typical agricultural society, where everything revolved around agriculture. For agriculture, arable land was readily available, and population was everything.

Using grain as the statistical standard, when a country formulates policies, it is easy to calculate how many people there are in the country, how much output there is, and how much tax is needed to maintain the superstructure.

Agricultural tax is everything.

In other words, agricultural output per unit population is the foundation of a country, while handicrafts and even industry and commerce are subsidiary industries, which can be focused on and small-scale industries can be ignored.

Moreover, the governance cost of an agricultural society is very low, population mobility is not strong, and everyone is a "property owner."

Because even if the field someone is tilling belongs to someone else, he is still firmly tied to the land.

But in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the situation changed. Long-term peace and accumulation of wealth allowed the commodity economy to develop greatly, to the point where the rulers could no longer ignore it.

In short, the overall level of society has a surplus of food, which can support relatively large-scale industry and commerce. Without agriculture, there will be no stability; without industry, there will be no prosperity; without commerce, there will be no prosperity. This is a critical period for the upward development of society.

At this time, the method of calculating economic output using the model of agricultural society is no longer effective. The state cannot solve the emerging commodity economy problems by collecting agricultural taxes.

Whether in terms of currency or taxation, the Tang Dynasty had seriously lagged behind the changes in its economic model.

For example: If the silk woven in Luoyang city is of high quality, one piece of cloth could be exchanged for a cow or a few stones of grain.

The people who weave them are all "proletarians" who are not tied to the fields, and there is no way to measure how much rice they produce.

Because the price system had become seriously distorted at this time, the government had lost control of these economic phenomena.

Can’t even understand it correctly!

How should these handicraft workshops be guided, how should taxes be collected, how should they be managed, and how should the relationship between these handicrafts and "side businesses" such as commerce and farming be balanced?

A piece of high-quality cloth and enough food to feed an ordinary family for a year are equivalent in commodity trading, but are they really equivalent from the perspective of national governance?
How should the country adjust the relationship?
Urbanization has caused a huge increase in governance costs, and the number of officials has expanded rapidly as a result.

However, the backwardness of taxation has shifted almost all of the increased burden onto the agricultural population. Even without land annexation, society will continue to decline step by step, but the progress will be slower.

These issues are interconnected, complex, and deeply hidden.

Fang Chongyong remembered that in his previous life, the country had abolished agricultural taxes. In the Tang Dynasty, rent, labor service and tax had been completely abolished.

If people in this world knew that the agricultural tax had been abolished, they would simply not be able to imagine what kind of world that would be.

This is the difference in development models, which is like jumping from two dimensions to three dimensions. It is completely different. It is not a matter of doubling or increasing the amount. If the thinking changes, the governance method must also change.

The development direction in the feudal era was land privatization. The state could not collect much tax from the farmland, and could only find ways to passively obtain taxes from industry and commerce.

Under the commodity economy model, farming is also a business with a rate of return, which requires state regulation.

Because industry and commerce are also based on private land ownership, they are also privatized. These people are now the rich and powerful in the Tang Dynasty, and they will be landlords and gentry in the future. They still try to control the economic lifeline.

If the referee of a game also leaves the game, then there is no chance for others to win.

Finally, only a few key materials such as salt, iron, and tea were controlled by the state to a limited extent, and these profits were ceded to the state by the powerful gentry. After all, the army was needed to protect their lives and property!
Even so, the rich and powerful and those who have changed their skin will still hollow out the country, enjoy the dividends of economic development, avoid the cost of economic development, and pass the cost on to the grassroots people and the state machinery.

Whether it was the Song Dynasty where the buying and selling system was rampant, the Yuan Dynasty that changed its policies every day, the Ming Dynasty that was financially bankrupt, or the Qing Dynasty that had an extremely rigid and stable system, in the end, the country's financial bankruptcy came first, followed by national overthrow, and ultimately could not escape the fate of a change of dynasties.

The salt tax in the late Qing Dynasty totaled 2400 million taels, accounting for about 12% of the country's total fiscal revenue, which was the lowest proportion in the Qing Dynasty. It was precisely because the government could not collect commercial taxes that it abnormally used salt taxes as a breakthrough point to transfer other taxes to it.

This is actually a crooked trick that has to be adopted because the problems of commodity economy cannot be solved.

Fang Zhongyong rubbed his temples. He knew that he was walking on a predetermined path. This feeling was similar to watching himself die in a few years, and even the way of death was determined.

It's all boring as far as you can see.

Of course, Xuanwu Town is not even a regional government now, and everything is based on military supplies as the top priority, so naturally there is no such problem. If you want to conquer the country right away, you just need to be quick, and don't consider other things for the time being.

"Ugh!"

Fang Zhongyong sighed and smiled bitterly.

He knew that his involvement in maritime trade was like turning on a cheat, allowing him to control the sword of the commodity economy model in advance. He could train more soldiers, build more supplies, equip better armor and weapons, and raise more war horses than others.

How could we lose before the backlash comes?

"General, Dacongming wants to see you."

He Changqi's voice was heard outside the door.

Great wisdom?
Fang Chongyong was stunned, then he remembered that it was the "hostage" of Daqinmao.

"come in."

Fang Chongyong shouted.

Soon, a handsome young man walked in. Fang Zhongyong looked at him for a moment and found that this man really lived up to his original name of "handsome".

At least he is much better than his father Daqinmao.

Come to think of it, Daqinmao was once the king's son and the designated heir. His queen couldn't be ugly anyway, so the next generation wouldn't be too embarrassing in appearance.

"What do you want to see me for?"

Fang Zhongyong asked calmly, his lazy sitting posture concealing a majesty that could not be looked directly at.

Da Congming's heart trembled suddenly, and he was a little flustered. He immediately knelt on the ground and said, "I send Princess Zhenhui to serve the master in bed."

Dacongming's tone was as if he was treating himself as a slave.

Fang Zhongyong said nothing and waved his hand gently.

Da Congming slowly left the bedroom, and then a thin young girl in a white skirt came in and sat on the bed without saying a word. Fang Zhongyong glanced at her and ignored her. He had a lot of things in his mind and had no idea of ​​this or that.

The Hebei rebels were badly damaged, and Li Baochen's ambition was aroused, so he might send troops to Luoyang.

Shi Siming of Hedong will definitely retreat back to Hebei and may cause trouble in Youzhou.

The descendants of Jige served as Jiedushi in Shannan East Road, Huainan Road, and Jiangnan Road. Although there were no famous generals or strong armies, there was no shortage of money.

Will they also take advantage of the chaos?

After Li Heng killed Ji Ge, would he be murdered by the royal family in Chang'an? Would something unexpected happen?

Has the turmoil in Tubo been quelled? The eastward advance of the Chishui Army will cause a vacuum in the defense of Liangzhou. Although the Moli Army and the Doulu Army did not enter Guanzhong, they could only retreat to Shazhou.

As for Shu, the Jiannan Jiedushi has always been relatively low-key. What is the attitude of the officials in Shu?
Fang Zhongyong tapped the table with his index finger, and deduced the possible development of the situation in his mind. He could clearly feel that with Ji Ge being killed by Li Heng, the totem of the Tang Dynasty had been stained by this dirty blood, and the world began to fall apart.

This process may be repeated, but the general trend is irreversible.

If he supported Li Lin to take the throne, he would be embarking on a path of no return and would never be able to turn back.

Fang Zhongyong thought about it over and over again, but still couldn't feel at ease.

"Ah Lang, why don't you go to bed so late?"

I don't know how long it took, but a clear and shy woman's voice came from the other side of the bed.

Eh? There's another person here!
Fang Zhongyong was so absorbed in his thoughts that he forgot that Da Zhenhui had been in the room for a long time. The poor young girl didn't dare to move or speak, and just sat there for a long time.

Fang Zhongyong suddenly felt sorry for this woman.

It's like a piece of merchandise being sent here and there, with no control over what happens. It's like stepping on a banana peel, you just slide wherever it takes you.

Thinking of this, he suddenly became a little bored.

I took a look at Princess Zhenhui. She had a pretty face, but with an indescribable fragility. She was slender, but her posture was straight. She sat on the bed with her legs together, her waist straight.

Showing a well-educated appearance.

This was in stark contrast to the lazy posture Anaye usually had when sitting in the bedroom.

Women of this royal family probably had "female officials" to teach them various etiquette from a young age. The postures of standing, sitting, and eating were all required to be very strict, without any laxity.

The embodiment of "etiquette" is the extension of the Chinese scholar-official cultural circle. The Bohai Kingdom, which was deeply sinicized, naturally learned this "etiquette" to the fullest.

Princess Zhenhui was taught from a young age that her every word and action represented the dignity of the royal family of Bohai State.

"Don't you feel tired?"

Fang Zhongyong looked at Da Zhenhui and asked.

He just didn't believe that a woman would not feel tired after sitting so straight for an hour.

But Dae Jung-hye just shook her head, bit her lip and said nothing.

Fang Chongyong felt a surge of sympathy. It seemed... quite boring to have fun with this woman who was like a commodity tonight and play with her body.

"Ah Lang, don't you want me to sleep with you now?"

Dae Jung-hye asked in an inaudible voice.

"Didn't your father say that you would follow me from now on and not go anywhere else, right?"

Fang Chongyong asked casually.

Dae Jung-hye seemed to relax a little and nodded slightly.

"Just sleep here. If anyone asks, just say you've already slept with him."

Fang Zhongyong lay on the bed and let Da Zhenhui sleep next to him.

This young lady from Bohai State grew up in the deep palace, had little contact with men, and didn't know how to serve men in bed. She lay helplessly beside Fang Zhongyong, wanting to do something, but not knowing what to do.

"If I kick you out, your father will think you have offended me in some way."

"Or maybe he would think that the agreement between us is no longer valid, and he would inevitably feel resentful."

“So you may seem to be living a life of luxury, but in reality you are not in control of your own affairs; and I may seem to be in power, but in reality I am also not in control of my own affairs.

I don’t want to have any fun with you right now.”

Fang Zhongyong turned to Da Zhenhui, looked into her eyes and said.

In Fang Chongyong's opinion, there are two kinds of pleasure in sex.

The first is to receive a woman's wholehearted service, which also includes the touching of the soul.

The second type is a blasphemy that comes from a position of superior power, where women become objects controlled by those in power.

It is a kind of psychologically twisted, yet irresistible pleasure, such as when rioting soldiers humiliate noble ladies from aristocratic families.

Dae Jeong-hye obviously does not belong to either of these two categories.

"Ah Lang, you...are a good person."

Dae Jung-hye whispered, her cheeks flushed, and she looked a little embarrassed.

It was obvious that she was not mentally prepared to undress tonight and was forced by Daqinmao to come here to sleep with him.

For an inexperienced woman, there is a huge difference between being forcibly stripped of clothes by a man and taking off clothes willingly.

Hearing this, Fang Zhongyong was too tired to complain.

Damn, you were given the nice guy card. When it's your turn to sleep with me someday, you'll cry.

Fang Zhongyong cursed inwardly.

There was no conversation that night, and the two soon fell asleep with their own thoughts.

Early the next morning, Da Zhenhui obediently dressed Fang Zhongyong. Her eyes flickered a little and she smiled secretly from time to time.

Fang Chongyong suddenly found that she looked quite cute when she smiled.

Just as he had put on his clothes, Che Guangqian's anxious voice came from outside the door.

The other party knocked on the door and shouted, "General, Prince Yong has arrived at Penglai Port. He is at the port and is unwilling to come to the government office. It seems that he is waiting for you to come and pick him up."

"Tell them to wait for an hour, and then tell them that I am ill. Anyone who dares to enter the government office will be killed without mercy."

Fang Chongyong shouted at the door and lay back on the bed.

Da Zhenhui looked at Fang Chongyong with surprise as he lied so blatantly, not knowing what to say.

"Women serve men at home, while men have to socialize outside, understand? What just happened is called socializing."

Fang Zhongyong pointed in the direction of the door and said to Da Zhenhui.

"Well, my father used to socialize a lot."

Dae Jung-hye nodded as if she understood.

Yes, what old coin doesn’t socialize?
Fang Chongyong secretly sighed in his heart.

Although he had a lot of good cards in his hand, good cards also need to be played by experts. First, he would give Li Lin a warning, let the prince recognize his situation, and then sit down and talk with Fang.

(End of this chapter)