Late Tang

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Time has entered the Meiyue in a blink of an eye, and the Jianghuai River Basin is rainy and rainy.

Although Chang'an, far away in Guanzhong, was not affected by the plum rain, in fact, his mood at this time was also shrouded in the continuous rain.The grass thief Huang Chao blatantly proclaimed himself emperor in Luoyang, and the attack on Tongguan has never stopped. The capital of the Tang Dynasty is in danger, but at this time, the vassals and towns all over the world have begun to attack each other regardless of the safety of the court and the emperor.

Khitan attacked Xi and Yinshan Tatars, causing the two cavalry of Xi and Tatars who had been called to aid to return outside the Great Wall.

At the same time, Li Jing, the King of Qin, who had been placed with high hopes by Li Zhang, had already approached the Bianhe River and was about to hit Luoyang, but suddenly turned his troops back.Withdrew from the five prefectures of Cao, Song, Yun, Pu, and Hua, and a memorial came up, saying that please hand it over to Yu Jing, Kang Chenghui, and Xin Xun to move the town.

After Li Jing occupied the territories of the Taining Army and other states, instead of attacking the Huangchao rebels for the imperial court, he went south to attack the Probation Army.

Li Xuan in the Daming Palace was so angry that he almost vomited blood when he heard the news. He could not refuse Li Jing now. He named Li Jing the King of Qin and granted him the seal of the Marshal Tiger Talisman. He placed high hopes on him, but Li Jing Now not only has the tribute to the imperial court been cut off, but he has also seized the opportunity to swallow up the towns of Yichang and Taining, and now he is going to swallow up the town of Ganhua.

Gao Pian from Huainan did not support Huang Chao, but now he suddenly dared to attack Li Jing. Zhou Bao, who was already in his 60s, had a yellow sparrow behind him, and took advantage of Gao Pian to deal with Li Jing. , I was caught off guard when I hit Gao Pian.

Zhou Bao was not as happy as he came, Liu Hanhong from the east of Zhejiang sent troops to the west of Zhejiang again, and fought with Zhou Bao.

......

What the **** is going on?

Li Xuan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, couldn't understand it and felt angry.The capital was attacked by rebels, and the imperial court was worried and anxious, but at this time, the towns did not care about the imperial court's life and death, and they were enjoying themselves while attacking each other.

"Are there any candidates for mediation?"

In the Hall of Yanying, Li Xuan haggarded a lot. He glanced at the ministers in the hall who had obviously haggarded a lot during this time and asked.

Flying Dragon Envoy Yang Fuguang said: "Your Majesty Qi Zuo, I would like to go to Jianghuai to mediate the conflicts between the towns."

The important ministers in the city of Chang'an were beaten to death among the towns, but now Huang Chao sharpened his sword and pointed at Chang'an fiercely, beating Chang'an violently.Although right now because Li Jing went straight into the Central Plains, Huang Chao had to gather heavy troops in the east of Luoyang to defend Li Jing.But now Li Jing has given up Cao Song and other five states to Yu Yu and others, obviously not wanting to fight Huang Chao.Maybe Huang Chao will transfer heavy troops to the west to attack Tongguan again next time. It's hard to say whether Tongguan can be defended based on those arrogant and strategic troops in Tongguan.Once Tongguan is lost, Chang'an cannot be defended. We are all grasshoppers on the same rope, and no one can escape.

Therefore, the most urgent thing is to need a capable person to go to Jianghuai to mediate the conflicts between Li Jing, Gao Pian, Zhou Bao, Shi Pu, Liu Hanhong and other towns, and let them send troops to deal with Huang Chao.

This job is not a good job, whether it is Tian Lingzi or Lu Xie, basically no one is willing to go.Now that Yang Fuguang is willing to go, everyone is naturally relieved.Immediately, the matter was confirmed in this way, and Yang Fuguang was appointed as the mediator to mediate.

Yu Cong got up and played: "Qi Zuo Your Majesty, Cui Shangshu of Tongguan issued a letter to the imperial court asking for military pay, food and grass, and rewards for the guards, a total of 200 million guan. The Ministry of Accounts will give it."

There is no such good thing in the world that you want the horse to run and also want the horse not to eat grass.Now the safety of Guanzhong is entrusted to Tongguan. At present, Tongguan has gathered several troops from Luoyang, Yicheng, Heyang, Taining, Shanguo, Tongzhou, and Shence Army, and the total number has reached [-]. .But with so many soldiers and horses gathered together, the food and salary are not a small number, especially in the current situation, where they confront the bandits every day and fight every now and then, so rewards before and after the battle are indispensable.

Without a reward, no one is willing to work hard, even if Cui Anqian, Du Ke, Zhang Zimian, Qi Kerang and others put their best efforts into it, it is not a long-term solution.

But it's not that the Ministry of Households doesn't give it, it's that it has no money to pay.Li Wei, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, was among the prime ministers, and he knew very well about the family background of the imperial court. How could there be so much money at present.The imperial court has no money, but the emperor still has a lot of money in the internal treasury. The money donated from various places, as well as the money for the emperor's newspaper, salt, tea and iron are all included in the emperor's internal treasury.It's just that the money is in the hands of Tian Lingzi, and he, the prime minister and secretary of the household department, can't get it out.

Li Wei mentioned a few times to spend the emergency from the emperor's internal treasury first, but Tian Lingzi didn't take a cent out of it.

Today, Li Wei took the opportunity to propose a temporary payment to the inner treasury again, and Tian Lingzi immediately jumped out and said, "Li Xiangguo is in charge of the court's finances, so does he only know how to make decisions from the emperor's inner treasury?"

Li Wei's beard trembled angrily, "Since this is the case, the old man will resign from His Majesty and beg for the bones to return to his hometown for retirement."

Hearing that Li Wei was going to pick someone up, Li Xuan was extremely angry, but on the surface he had to try to persuade him to stay.

"Li Xiangguo, I heard that Li Jing earned more than [-] million yuan from Daxingtai last year. I think Li Jing's income is far more than that of the imperial court in a land of only [-] or [-] states. Does Li Xiangguo know the specific situation?"

Li Jing's annual income is more than 5000 million guan. It can be said that after the news came out, the world was shocked. No one thought that Li Jing's income from a single town actually exceeded that of the imperial court.Although I later found out that the more than 5000 million yuan, of which more than 3000 million yuan was the income of Li Jing's private workshop and caravan, the income of Daxingtai was only about [-] million yuan, of which it was mainly industrial and commercial tax, and the real land tax Only a few million taxes.But no matter what, Li Jing's ability to earn so much money still made the world envious and jealous. Even Li Yan couldn't calm down for a long time after hearing this.Especially now that Li Jing has completely cut off his confession to the court, he feels more and more difficult to have no money.

As the Minister of the Household Department, Li Wei naturally knew the income of Daxingtai in Northeast China last year, and also knew where the money came from.But the situation over there cannot be replicated by the imperial court.

He explained it carefully, but Li Xuan was not satisfied.

"Since Li Jing can issue banknotes, the imperial court can also issue banknotes. In addition, I think the imperial court can also issue the bonds issued by Li Jing."

Li Xuan also knew that at this moment, the court could not be stingy, and had to reward the officers and ministers, but where did the money come from?He did have some money in his own internal treasury, but the money was spent by Gong Yan. Besides, couldn't the emperor keep some private money?

I heard that Li Jing issued banknotes, replaced copper coins with paper, minted gold coins and silver coins to solve the problem of copper coin shortage, and issued bonds to borrow money from the rich.I heard that there are even rich people who have directly purchased tens of millions of bonds, which moved Li Xuan's heart. Right now, the imperial court is in urgent need of money. In the financial crisis, you can even use this money to recruit another 5000 soldiers and horses.

Li Wei turned pale when he heard the emperor's request.As a national planner, although he is not completely clear about Li Jing's banknotes and bonds, he has some understanding. He knows that issuing banknotes is not simply replacing copper with paper. Issuing banknotes is not about printing as much as you want. Instead, there must be reserves.This reserve is also the principal. No matter whether grain is used as the principal or copper coins or silk are used as the principal, there is a ratio between the capital and the circulation and must not exceed it.Otherwise, the banknote system may eventually collapse, and the final result will be disastrous.

As for the issuance of bonds, the imperial court may have some advantages over Li Jing, such as being able to offer some lords or orders, and posthumous honorary titles to the ancestors, but the imperial court's credit is not necessarily stronger than Li Jing's.

It was just his explanation, but it did not satisfy the emperor, Tian Lingzi and others.

Although it is said that issuing banknotes indiscriminately cannot really solve financial problems, it can only quench thirst by drinking poison, but the emperor and others don't seem to care.What they need is a sum of money immediately, and the sum of money cannot be at least 5000 to [-] million.

Huang Chao has occupied Luoyang and the surrounding areas, the water transportation has been cut off, and the prices in Guanzhong are now rising steadily. The price of rice has even reached [-] yuan for a bucket of rice, and [-] yuan for a catty of rice.In other words, you have to carry [-] catties of copper coins to exchange for a catty of rice, which can be seen.

Although the current increase in rice prices is due to hoarding, and people have snapped up a lot of rice at home, there is no famine for a while, but if things go on like this, Guanzhong will lose the grain transshipment from Guandong, and even if Huang Chao does not enter the pass, Chang'an will not stay for long.

The soldiers in Tongguan need rewards and food, and the troops in other towns also need rewards. In addition to food, grass and military equipment, all of these need money.

"Li Xiangguo, the Ministry of Households will prepare immediately. Within one month, no, within half a month, I require the Ministry of Accounts to issue at least 5000 million banknotes. In addition, 3000 million bonds must be issued. To raise 8000 million yuan, this money will not only be given to Tongguan and In addition to the salary and rewards of the Guanzhong Shence Army, it will also be used to recruit and form a new army of 10 people."

Li Wei opened his mouth, but in the end he had no choice but to accept the order.

When issuing 5000 million banknotes, Li Wei sighed inwardly. At present, the household department does not even have 100 million banknotes, so issuing 5000 million banknotes is tantamount to issuing money without money.As for the 3000 million bonds, he didn't know who to buy them.

Yanying's duet ended soon, and all the officials left. Li Xuan sat on the dragon chair and sighed.

Tian Lingzi quietly returned to the main hall, walked up to Li Xuan and said softly, "Your Majesty, Li Jing's behavior has already shown that this person is unreliable."

"Li Jing is unreliable, Gao Pian is unreliable, Zhou Bao is also unreliable, Liu Hanhong is even more unreliable, and Li Ke's one-eyed wolf is also unreliable. Who else can I rely on in this world?" Li Yan shouted impatiently.

"Your Majesty, for the immediate plan, Your Majesty made a plan early on. Chang'an is not a place to stay for a long time. For the sake of His Majesty's safety, the old minister suggests that His Majesty go to Chengdu. The land of abundance in Chengdu is not only safe, but also rich in Chengdu. The supply of money and food is convenient, and there are places such as Bashu Mountain South and other places to supply." .”

Li Xuan was a little bit pained, a little bit reluctant, a little bit unwilling, "Chang'an really can't be guarded?"

"Son of a thousand gold, don't sit down." Tian Lingzi persuaded slowly, "Right now, Huang Chao has gained a firm foothold in Luoyang, which is extremely unfavorable to the situation in Chang'an. What's more, Huang Chao cut off the water transportation and cut off the supply, so it is not a place to guard for a long time. "

Li Xuan was uncertain, he hesitated for a long time, and finally heaved a long sigh, "Come on, Father Lao has the full power to prepare for Xingshu." (To be continued.)