Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 669 Take action when it’s time to take action

In the study of the Bianzhou government office, Liu Zhongyi, kneeling on a cushion, felt an inexplicable pressure as if his knees were pierced by needles.

The man in front of him, Fang Qing, looked at him with a deep gaze, calm and profound, serious but not overbearing.

Liu Zhongyi found himself like a rabbit being scrutinized by a tiger, not daring to move. His waist was bent, and he didn't dare to raise his head and chest to look directly at the other party.

"Don't be nervous, I don't eat people.

Someone, give him some wine."

Fang Chongyong casually ordered, and Dacongming brought a jar of wine and ran to pour a glass for Liu Zhongyi. Fang Chongyong didn't say he wanted to drink, so Dacongming was very tactful and didn't pour it.

Seeing that Liu Zhongyi didn't drink, Fang Zhongyong suddenly realized, "It's not good to have wine without food. Go to the government kitchen and get a few more cold dishes."

Da Congming came over panting, bringing a plate of jerky, a plate of pickles and some Hu cakes.

Liu Zhongyi was not polite this time. He was really hungry. He ate a piece of bread he brought with him on the way from Luoyang to Bianzhou. In order to avoid any unexpected problems, Liu Zhongyi just hurried on his way. The hardship during this period was really hard to describe.

Fang Zhongyong did not urge him, but just watched Liu Zhongyi eat and drink. Yan Zhuang wanted to speak a few times, but he raised his hand to stop him.

The food and wine were swept away like a whirlwind, and Liu Zhongyi wiped the corners of his mouth with his sleeves. I have to say, this meal is really delicious.

It's not that he has never eaten good food, but when people are hungry, everything tastes sweet. Liu Zhongyi will remember the hardship he has endured this time, and he will definitely stand out in the future!

He wants to be the boss!

"Your Majesty, Guanzhong is now without a ruler. There is fierce fighting within the pseudo-court, and there are many different policies. Li Baochen seeks the truth and does not care about government affairs. Wei Jian has a long hand and is in charge of many things. He gradually develops conflicts with Li Shiyu, and the two sides gradually become enemies.

Although Li Wan was once a prince, he had no foundation and no wings. There were many royal family members in Chang'an who wanted to be the real emperor. These people were not the descendants of Li Longji, and they were not the same as Wei Jian and others.

In such a chaotic situation, you can take action. Does the government have no intention of Chang'an?"

Liu Zhongyi asked tentatively.

"There's no need to repeat these clichés. They're meaningless."

Fang Zhongyong waved his hand, seemingly not very interested.

He had already experienced how powerful the Tianlong people in Guanzhong were. Did he need Liu Zhongyi to remind him?
The current situation in Guanzhong, to put it bluntly, is that the Tianlong people are raising Gu, and who knows what kind of monster they will raise. Of course, Guanzhong is a small area, and the land has been severely damaged, so it is really hard to say that it is rich. The monster raised will be strange, but it is not strong.

Moreover, although Li Wan was the emperor, it did not mean that his branch, that is, all of Ji Ge’s descendants, were natural candidates for the emperor.

Not to mention becoming an emperor.

Li Wan's political decrees were controlled by the Council of State, and his situation was similar to that of Li Lin. The only difference was that there was also the Li clan in Chang'an, which was also a force that could not be ignored.

In the power game among several parties, Li Baochen's descendants had little say and could not control the gradual chaos of the political situation. Apart from being able to control most of the military, they basically had no say in government affairs.

Fang Zhongyong was very clear about the basic situation in Guanzhong. What he wanted to know were the "details" that outsiders could not grasp.

"Your Majesty, as long as we exert a little effort, it will be natural for Guanzhong to send troops to Luoyang to attack An Shouzhong.

Once the two sides start fighting, the government can reap the benefits.

The only thing we are not sure about now is when those people in Guanzhong will take action and what excuse they will find to do so.”

Liu Zhongyi spoke cautiously, staring at Fang Zhongyong's face as he spoke, observing the changes in his expression. He spoke slowly and cautiously, as if each word came out of his mouth one by one.

“It’s a bit interesting, but you can’t rush this matter. Being impatient will only make things worse.

How about this. You can rest in the posthouse in Bianzhou first. I see you are tired from the journey, so it is not a bad thing to take a breath and rest for a few days.

After I have discussed this with the other gentlemen, I will discuss this matter with you in detail. What do you think?"

Fang Chongyong had a smile on his face. He was neither angry nor swearing, but he emanated an irresistible majesty.

Liu Zhongyi did not dare to act rashly, so he had to agree reluctantly. Zhang Guangsheng led him out of the government office and went to the post house outside Kaifeng City, and sent people to "protect" him closely.

After Liu Zhongyi left, Yan Zhuang asked in confusion, "Sir, why were you so cold to Liu Zhongyi just now? Is it because there is no room for maneuver in this matter and it is not worth paying attention to?"

He felt very strange, because even a fool could see that if Liu Zhongyi was used well, he would be like a nail between Guanzhong and An Shouzhong.

Completely split the two sides.

“No, Liu Zhongyi is an important person, but he has evil intentions, and I don’t intend to use him for my own benefit.

This person can only be used to alienate An Shouzhong from the Guanzhong court. He will be useless after this, so there is no need to care too much about him.

People like this all fear power but not virtue.

I was too enthusiastic towards him, which would only arouse his suspicion. The only way was to keep him in a lukewarm state, waiting for the right time, or for him to kneel down and be my dog.

Now, Liu Zhongyi still thinks highly of himself, so we need to teach him a lesson."

Fang Zhongyong explained coldly.

"What if, what if Liu Zhongyi runs away?"

Yan Zhuang still didn't understand the key here.

He was a little anxious. If this operation went well, the army would be able to enter Guanzhong quickly. How could it collapse because of a small detail?
Of course, there are many variables and the final outcome is unpredictable.

"If he runs away, then so be it. It's him who suffers, not me.

If you are not greedy, you will not fall into traps. I am not worried about being played around by him. It is the same with or without him, that’s all.”

Fang Zhongyong said nonchalantly.

Hearing this, Yan Zhuang thought about it and found that he was still not generous enough. Fortunately, he was not Fang Zhongyong. If he was, he would probably be shaking with excitement at this time.

Fang Chongyong is different. He is as steady as an old dog and doesn't care about Guanzhong at all.

In fact, even without Liu Zhongyi, Fang Zhongyong didn't feel that there was any loss. It was nothing more than a little more time. The political foundation in Guanzhong was unstable, and chaos was only a matter of time.

Opportunities will always come as long as you are willing to wait.

"The officials are right."

Yan Zhuang nodded.

"But we still need to prepare as soon as possible. Let's see what surprises Li Qiyun will bring us after he comes back."

Fang Chongyong sighed and said.

If a fight breaks out in Luoyang, it will affect the situation of the world. However, it is too early to talk about unifying the world now.

If we just occupy the land without integrating it and carrying out political reforms, then in the end, we will just go back to the old ways and may even be worse than the Song Dynasty.

Fang Chongyong was not in a hurry at all. He even felt that the current progress was a bit too fast and the territory had not yet been well managed.

……

"Buy salt with a ticket! Buy salt with a ticket! Don't queue up at the government-run salt shop without a ticket!" A policeman shouted in front of the government-run salt shop with a very bad attitude. But the number of people queuing up continued to increase, and no one stopped queuing because of the policeman's bad attitude.

Fang Chongyong, wearing a linen shirt and a futou, watched people queuing up to buy salt, trying to understand the details of the court's salt policy.

The government-run salt shop was not located in Kaifeng County, or even in the imperial city. Instead, it was next to the canal ferry, where people came and went, and transportation was very convenient.

There is no need to say much about the fact that the official salt that is subject to purchase restrictions is very cheap, but the number of people buying salt seems to be a little beyond imagination.

"Let me ask you, how much salt does a family of five consume in a month?"

Fang Zhongyong asked Da Congming beside him.

"When I return to the government, I will probably need to eat 17 kilograms of salt."

Da Congming answered with his arms folded and bowed.

Is this a lot?
The answer is not only a lot, but an outrageous amount.

But this was in the Tang Dynasty, when ordinary people had to engage in very intense physical labor, and their bodies lost a lot of salt, which had to be replenished.

Otherwise, I won’t have the energy to work in the fields.

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If we also count the salt needed to pickle the pickles, the amount will be even higher. Farmers not only eat the pickles themselves, but also sell them as commodities.

Therefore, the influence of the ancient salt administration, although seemingly ordinary, was actually at the level of a nuclear bomb.

"Sir, many people have gone to the government to complain, saying that people from other states also come here to buy salt, and the ferry also issues them receipts. This is not right. Only people from this state should be allowed to buy low-priced salt."

Dacongming suggested cautiously.

The so-called "outer states" do not refer to other areas outside Bianzhou, but to other areas that the Bianzhou court could not govern.

Such as Guanzhong, Hebei, etc.

These places all had heavy salt taxes, and many people even walked for several days to come to Bianzhou to buy cheap salt. Of course, these people basically took a boat, and only the canal ferry in Bianzhou could issue "tickets". Only with tickets could you buy cheap salt.

When he first discovered this problem, Fang Zhongyong waved his hand and said: Since there is a purchase limit, then treat everyone equally. As long as they buy food for themselves, they will be accepted, regardless of whether they are within or outside the jurisdiction.

Many people in the central government opposed it, but Fang Zhongyong overcame all objections and refused to give in.

"You, don't listen to the noise of those merchants. They think that they can't sell salt to outsiders. If they can't make money, they will lose money. They think that the government is blocking their way to wealth."

Fang Chongyong sneered.

The price-limited salt cannot guarantee that the salt needs of a family will be met. The insufficient part must be bought from private salt merchants. In fact, Fang Zhongyong still left a way for these merchants to survive, but he just didn't let the salt merchants manipulate the salt price.

However, in Bianzhou, because there is cheap and limited official salt, even private salt is much cheaper than salt from other states.

Fang Zhongyong’s idea is not to focus on the small profits, but to make the cake bigger first.

Only when the economic environment improves can it attract more people to settle down and work. How can we drive people out just because of a bag of salt?

Letting people from other states buy the low-priced official salt from Bianzhou is no loss in any case. Even if the demand for salt of the people in those places is met, the governors who govern them will not be able to collect salt tax!

You don't have to strengthen yourself, but the enemy must be weakened.

For example, the high salt tax in Hebei now was introduced by Shi Siming for the purpose of war, in order to raise military funds to capture Pinglu Town occupied by Shi Chaoyi.

The Changlu Salt Field in Cangzhou could clearly supply salt to the whole of Hebei Province, but Shi Siming simply stopped the shipment.

The result was that people in Cangzhou could not eat cheap local salt. Instead, they crossed the Yellow River to buy cheap salt from Dengzhou on the other side of the river, which ultimately resulted in a lose-lose situation.

Shi Siming could not collect salt tax, and the locals did not eat local salt.

It's a mess.

Faced with this dilemma, Shi Siming knew that Fang Zhongyong had set him up, but he had no way to deal with it. He couldn't just kill everyone who crossed the river to buy cheap salt, could he?

This is the power of social governance. Many wars are not fought with knives or guns, and there are many cases of killing without bloodshed.

Da Congming had no idea about all these twists and turns, nor did he understand how much evil Fang Zhongyong was thinking, so he could only nod woodenly.

Just as Fang Zhongyong was observing with great interest how the various shops in Bianzhou operated, Yan Zhuang hurried over and said in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, Li Qiyun is back, and with him is An Shouzhong's deputy general Li Tingwang."

Eh?
An Shouzhong actually sent people to Bianzhou?
You are very sincere. It seems that the situation of this general is very critical.

Fang Zhongyong nodded slightly and said, "Let's go to Kaifeng Prefecture. There will be some fun!"

"That's right. Liu Zhongyi is here, and Li Tingwang is here too. It would be very interesting if the two sides met."

Yan Zhuang chuckled, as if he had already foreseen what kind of scene would happen after the two parties met.

Fang Chongyong looked at the bustling "commercial street" with roads and people coming and going, and felt more confident.

In recent years, the commercial development of Bianzhou has reached a considerable scale, and the population has also shown explosive growth. It is completely in a state of being rebuilt and ready to soar into the sky.

It's also time to expand the territory to the surrounding areas.

Bianzhou faces the threat of Luoyang to the west, without even a buffer zone. If Luoyang can be captured, it would be good even if it becomes a battlefield.

Even though Bianzhou is developing very well now, once a war breaks out here, it will become a ruin in one day.

Everything is ruined.

Fang Chongyong also understood that if he had the chance this time, he would definitely make a move in Luoyang.

Get started when it's time to get started!
When the group returned to the lobby of Kaifeng Prefecture, they saw a burly man in armor sitting at a table in the lobby, looking somewhat at a loss. Li Qiyun, on the other hand, looked calm and composed, not panicking at all.

"Look at what you did!"

As soon as they met, Fang Chongyong scolded Li Qiyun, "Since a distinguished guest has arrived, how can you bring him to the government hall? People who don't know would think that I am here to interrogate a prisoner! Is this how I treat guests?"

Seeing Fang Zhongyong's angry face, Li Qiyun quickly apologized, "Don't blame me, sir. It was my negligence."

"General Li, the Zhuangyuan Building in Bianzhou, where the champions drank, overlooks the canal.

I am hosting you today, please don’t leave unless you are drunk, please!”

Fang Chongyong laughed out loud, and without waiting for Li Tingwang to speak, he held his hands as if they were old friends who had not seen each other for a long time.

"Then I'd rather be respectful than obey."

Li Tingwang was flattered. He didn't expect Fang Qing, a big shot, to be so enthusiastic towards him. All the worries he had on the road were thrown out of his mind.

While no one was paying attention, Li Qiyun winked at Fang Zhongyong, and he walked over and said in a low voice: "Big things can be accomplished."

After hearing this, Fang Chongyong came to his senses, nodded, pretended not to hear, and continued to chat with Li Tingwang.

(End of this chapter)