Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 585 No Money No Talk
Li E still brought the news back, even though it was bad news.

The Jiedushi of Fengxiang was unwilling to send troops. To be precise, the Jiedushi's attitude was okay, but the soldiers seemed to be too excited to go on a long expedition.

This is a bit tricky and more troublesome than I thought.

Because this problem cannot be solved by bribing a general.

Yan Zhenqing was caught in a dilemma for a while.

However, almost at the same time, the Minister of Revenue Diwu Qi brought Yan Zhenqing a mixed message: in Chang'an City, some royal family members began to sell grain at high prices!

This is good news.

At the same time, there was also bad news: a minister wrote a letter to the court, asking it to send troops to Luoyang to open up the canal transportation route and lift the blockade of the Yellow River by the three cities of Heyang! At one time, many people responded, and the momentum was quite huge.

In the past, no one knew when the water transport channel would be opened, so the wealthy families in Chang'an did not dare to sell the grain in the granaries in their mansions.

These people are afraid that after selling the grain, if something unexpected happens, they may not have enough grain for next year.

Therefore, although the grain prices in Chang'an were sky-high, it was impossible to buy them through normal trading methods. In other words, anyone who wanted to get grain had to use connections.

But now, the rumor that the imperial army was preparing to attack Luoyang was leaked by no one, but all the officials in the court actually believed it!
Once the grain transport is smooth, the grain from Jiangnan and Lianghuai can be transported to Chang'an, and there will be no shortage of grain. A sharp drop in grain prices is inevitable.

Instead of throwing away all the old grain from previous years, it would be better to lower the price and make a profit. In this way, they could buy up a large number of shops and industries in Chang'an City, and recruit more slaves and tenants.

This is not a bad thing for Yan Zhenqing. High-priced grain is better than no grain.

However, the real trouble is that now all the officials in Chang'an are very angry and are demanding that the government army capture Luoyang as soon as possible, open up the water transport nodes, and stop being controlled by others.

So the pressure began to be transmitted to Yan Zhenqing.

"Prince Yan, we can't delay sending troops to Luoyang any longer."

Diwu Qi said worriedly.

The blockage of the canal had a huge impact on the economy, causing a recession in all industries. As the Minister of Revenue, he felt worse than anyone else. It was easy to understand where he sat.

Li Mi was not in the council hall. Only Yan Zhenqing was discussing the issue of sending troops with Diwu Qi.

"That's what I meant, but now it's not a question of whether to send troops or not, but the court is in a difficult situation and can't afford the money."

Yan Zhenqing smiled bitterly.

Where did the money go?

A large part of it was used to purchase grain from the public to meet the needs of Chang'an.

Otherwise, there would be starving people everywhere in Chang'an City!
Also, during the last bloody battle with Huangfu Weiming's bandits in Huayin, the imperial court rewarded the meritorious soldiers.

Although it has not been paid in full, it is still a large sum of money.

Having lost a large area of ​​rule, they lost most of their tax revenue, so the finances were naturally stretched. Now they had to send troops, so where to get the money from was a very serious problem.

"Konghe Army, are they unwilling to contribute to the country? Didn't they previously..."

Diwu Qi was a little confused. When Fang Youde was leading the army, the Konghe Army was very obedient and followed orders. Why can't the imperial court control them now?

If it is useful, use it as much as possible, and use it to the utmost, this is the habitual view of those in power, but they don't care what the people who are executing it think.

“There may be some hidden story behind this, but I can’t really explain it.

But if we don’t give them rewards, they won’t set out, so there shouldn’t be any objections.”

It is said that Yan Zhenqing's brows were wrinkled into the shape of the Chinese character "川", and it is obvious that he was worried about state affairs.

Precisely because Li Heng was an emperor who did not care about affairs, Yan Zhenqing firmly believed that he was just a person pushed to the front by the bureaucrats and aristocratic families to maintain stability.

There is no such thing as "imperial will" to protect oneself.

Now sending troops is the collective will of the bureaucracy, and some powerful people are even opening warehouses to sell grain at high prices for profit. If the canal transportation cannot be opened, then these people will probably be in a very passive position in the next few years due to lack of food.

It will be hard to say who will be held accountable by then.

They could not defeat the evil Li Baochen, but it was easy to deal with Yan Zhenqing.

In this regard, Yan Zhenqing had been thinking in his mind what price to offer Li Jiaqing.

After all, with the Konghe Army taking action, this battle is basically a sure win.

"Why don't we use the old method? We first order some bonds and give them to the soldiers of the Control Crane Army. When they return victorious, the court will naturally have money. Then we can let them use the bonds to exchange for silk or grain from the court."

Diwu Qi provided an "idea that is not an idea", which can be simply put as writing an IOU.

Similar things happened many times when Brother Ji was still alive, so this cannot be said to be the "first" of Diwu Qi.

It's just that, back then, the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, so naturally someone would be willing to pay for the IOU. But now that the country is in ruins, I'm afraid this trick won't work, right?

Yan Zhenqing was a little hesitant, but looking at Diwu Qi's expression, he knew that there was really no other way.

Diwu Qi is the one in charge of money. If he says there is no money, then he really has no money!

"This month and next month, the salaries of all officials will not be paid. Instead, they will be sent to Fengxiang Prefecture as military expenses. For the rest, we will issue bonds."

Yan Zhenqing sighed deeply and decided to go to the Konghe Army camp in person today to persuade Li Jiaqing to be patient for the time being.

"We have now begun to implement the salt monopoly law. Once this law is rolled out, everything will be fine. Opening up the canal transportation nodes is the top priority."

Diwu Qi bowed deeply to Yan Zhenqing and tried to persuade him.

If Guanzhong did not rely on external imports of materials, it would not be able to maintain the "Great Chang'an" that had been in operation since the Sui Dynasty.

Chang'an belongs to the people of Chang'an, the people of Guanzhong, and even more so to the people of the world. If the people of the world were gone, Chang'an would no longer be Chang'an.

Yan Zhenqing and Diwu Qi both understood this truth, but even though they understood it, human power is limited and there was nothing they could do.

"I understand. I will go to Fengxiang Prefecture now."

Yan Zhenqing greeted Diwu Qi, then called his entourage and left the imperial city together.

……

There are times in history when heroes create the times.

But more often than not, the situation is stronger than the people.

Fang Zhongyong handed over the letter written by Wei Jian to Li Lin, which was a hint to the prince: I still have a choice, but you don't. What will happen next is up to you.

I don't know if it was because his daughter-in-law Yuwen was "forced to divorce" that Li Lin was hit hard. Or maybe it was Wei Jian's letter of recruitment that really made him panic.

Now the prince finally put aside all his pride and came to the study in the Bianzhou government office where Fang Chongyong was.

Marshal Fang Jie also put on a humble attitude, greeted Li Lin at the gate of the government office, and invited Li Lin into the study to sit down.

After serving a pot of fine wine, Fang Zhongyong looked at Li Lin and asked with a smile, "Your Highness, why did you come to my humble yamen during your busy schedule? I wonder why?"

He was asking knowingly.

Li Lin did not hesitate and directly took out the letter written by Wei Jian to Fang Chongyong from his arms, and then slowly pushed it in front of the person concerned.

"I wonder what Fang Jieshuai intended to do by handing this letter to Wei Zichun. When Wei Zichun handed it to me, I was also confused."

Li Lin asked in a deep voice. He still lacked a bit of sophistication to ask directly. Fang Zhongyong secretly laughed. If the person in front of him was Zheng Shuqing, he would have to go around in circles at least a hundred times before asking the question in a roundabout way.

The fact that Li Lin was willing to come to the government office to meet him showed that he had indeed made some progress recently, but compared to those cunning bureaucrats, he was still too green.

"The world is in such a mess right now, and I think there are three people who are guilty of the most serious crimes.

One is the perverse actions of the previous emperor. There are too many to list. Your Highness should know this.

The second was Huangfu Weiming, Wei Jian and others, who were still harboring evil intentions and took the lead in establishing Li Wan as emperor and separatist regime in Hebei.

The third is the crown prince Li Heng, who killed his father and the emperor, setting an example for the people of the world. As a result, there are rebels everywhere.

Huangfu Weiming died, Wei Jian lost his support, and Li Wan became a puppet. It can be said that they all brought this upon themselves and could not blame anyone else.

Wei Jian actually had the nerve to write a letter to persuade me to join him and pledge my loyalty to the traitor Li Wan. This is really outrageous."

Fang Zhongyong slammed the table fiercely and said indignantly.

These words contained a lot of information. Gao Shang, the strategist, was not there, and Wei Zichun, who had rich administrative experience, was not there either. Li Lin tried hard to digest the deep meaning of the other party's words. The more he thought about it, the more wonderful it felt.

Fang Zhongyong seemed to be just complaining, but in fact he had said everything he needed to say. If others couldn't understand him, it only meant that his level was too low and he was not worthy of being at the table.

Li Lin had some insights for a moment.

What Fang Chongyong said was indeed true. The chaos in the world was closely related to Ji Ge's perverse deeds, Huangfu Weiming's rebellion, and Li Heng's patricide and patricide.

But these are not the key points. The most important thing is that Fang Chongyong made clear his position, that is: he would not be loyal to the deceased Ji Ge, nor would he collude with the Hebei rebels, and he would not work for the current emperor who killed his father and his king.

Did Fang Chongyong just say that he would swear allegiance to Li Lin until death?
I don’t think you said that?

But if we exclude the above-mentioned “wrong options”, aren’t the remaining options just there?
After hearing these words, Li Lin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It seems that Fang Chongyong will not do such a thing as switching to Li Wan.

He gave Wei Jian's letter to Wei Zichun, probably to warn himself.

Li Lin felt relieved.

However, he suddenly thought of a problem that he had not noticed before. It made his back feel a little cold. Even Fang Zhongyong and his Silver Spear Filial Piety Army had never made him feel so terrified.

Li Lin suddenly remembered that Wei Zichun seemed to be from the Jingzhao Wei family. He didn't know which branch he belonged to, but he was sure that he must be a prominent figure in one of the branches of the Wei family.

After all, Wei Zichun was also an old bureaucrat who had been serving in Beijing since the Kaiyuan period, and his resume was no worse than that of Wei Jian's younger brother Wei Lan.

When Wei Zichun saw Wei Jian trying to win over Fang Zhongyong, would he have any inappropriate thoughts? For example, secretly colluding with him or something like that?

Or if Fang Zhongyong gave the letter to Wei Zichun, would the latter have gone through an extremely intense inner struggle before reluctantly handing the letter to him?
Would Wei Zichun think that supporting Li Wan would be more convenient?

Things related to the aristocratic family... are really hard to talk about.

The Jingzhao Wei family is really too powerful.

Seeing the changing expressions on Li Lin's face, Fang Chongyong guessed that the other party might have begun to doubt Wei Zichun's position.

So he added fuel to the fire and said:

"I originally wanted to send someone to deliver this letter to Chenliu County, but Wei Zichun happened to be there at the time. He volunteered to deliver the letter, and he was the head of your highness's staff, so I let him deliver the letter.

Is there something wrong? "

Of course it’s inappropriate!
It's no big deal if an ordinary person takes this letter, but if Wei's people take Wei Jian's letter, it will be a big problem!

Li Lin's expression changed slightly, but he just waved his hand gently and said nothing more.

No matter how big the problem was, he would never tell Fang Zhongyong about it.

"I came to Kaifeng County today to thank Marshal Fang for his understanding of justice and his ability to put the country first."

Li Lin bent down, and the other party, Chong Yong, saluted with his hands crossed.

This level of flattery seemed extremely clumsy, but in front of a treacherous person like Fang Zhongyong, it seemed somehow cute in a different way.

"Your Highness, please don't embarrass me."

Fang Chongyong quickly helped Li Lin up.

He took out a sketch of the palace from under the paperweight and spread it out on the table for Li Lin to see.

"Your Highness, please look, this is the rough sketch of the imperial palace in Bianliang City. The palace wall is five miles long and four miles wide, divided into two layers: the outer palace wall and the inner palace wall."

Li Lin carefully looked at the palace sketch on the table and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Seeing his expression of joy that was difficult to conceal, Fang Zhongyong suddenly remembered what a famous person once said:
In life, there are three bowls of noodles that are the most difficult to eat.

The first is the face, the second is the feelings, and the third is the scene.

The style that an emperor should have is the scene. It seems unnecessary, but it is indispensable.

What is the unique style of the emperor?
There are many things like that, such as the groups of concubines in the harem, the elite soldiers kneeling on the ground and swearing allegiance as far as the eye can see, and the countless treasuries piled up like mountains.

However, these people or things are never as great as the magnificent palace. It just stands there, showing the majesty of the emperor at all times.

Even if the emperor leaves the capital and settles somewhere, there will be a corresponding "temporary palace".

This is the scene of the emperor.

What Li Lin lacks most now is a palace and a capital to demonstrate his nobility.

Otherwise, how can you command the four directions?
"What do you think, Your Highness? Before the autumn harvest next year, the palace will be completed on the bank of the canal.

The construction of the new capital Bianliang will also be put on the agenda.

Your Highness can ascend the throne first and live in the palace while waiting for the capital to be completed.

As for the future, it would be great if I could enter Chang'an. If I can't, I can just wait patiently."

Fang Chongyong clasped his fists and bowed to Li Lin.

"Good! Very good!"

Li Lin suddenly felt that the matter of his second son's wife being taken away didn't seem to be a big deal.

Compared with the palace and the capital, a mere woman is nothing.

He secretly thanked his lucky stars that he didn't say anything harsh at the beginning, otherwise, the spit he spat out would now become a thorn under his butt.

Li Lin grasped Fang Zhongyong's hand and said excitedly: "With the help of General Fang Jie, I will definitely be able to rule the world."

As the saying goes, "It is easy to change the country but difficult to change one's nature." Li Lin is a person who can't keep calm when he is happy. He may be able to control his mind in difficult situations, but once he sees a bright future, he will inevitably get carried away.

He hasn't even ascended the throne yet, but he's already thinking about ruling the world.

Fang Chongyong secretly laughed in his heart.

Li Lin, ah Li Lin, you didn't conquer this country, so how can you possibly sit on it securely in the end?
He clasped his fists respectfully and said to Li Lin: "Your Highness, please rest assured and recuperate in Chenliu County. When the palace is completed, Your Highness can move in."

(End of this chapter)