The matter of Huiyi has been going on since the late Tang Dynasty. At that time, the central government was in financial difficulty, so the governors of each vassal town sent their own soldiers and horses to engage in trade.
In the early Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizu released his military power with a glass of wine, but he was also tolerant to his subordinates and used the strategy of returning to Yi to win over the generals. When Li Hanchao guarded Guannan to resist the Khitan, he not only returned trade, but also conducted private business. Not only that, they also forced usury among the people.
When Emperor Taizu found out, he not only refused to punish him, but also said to him, "Why didn't you tell me that you were short of money? Go get it from the common people."
Then Emperor Taizu not only rewarded Li Hanchao with money, but also granted him exemption from taxation.
By the time Emperor Taizong began to use culture to control military affairs, restrict the rights of generals, and prohibit border generals from returning trade.
But after the repeated defeats in the war against Xia during the Qingli period, the court began to relax its attitude toward Huiyi.
Fan Zhongyan was guarding Qingzhou, so he returned to Yi and got 20,000 yuan, which he used as an official envoy for the army. Fan Zhongyan allowed the Yi money to be used as public money for the army, but many generals took the Yi money back to line their own pockets.
Now Zhang Yue and Li Xian are sitting in the elegant room of the warehouse talking about things. It is similar to the large client room of a bank, like the VIP room. The living room is beautifully decorated, and there are beautiful maids serving tea.
You don't need to look at this to know that it is Cai Jing's handiwork. He always likes to make his office extremely luxurious.
Li Xian said: "There are three harms in returning to Yi. One is that the generals abuse the imperial soldiers to do business and exploit the soldiers to satisfy their own desires. If the desire is hard to satisfy, the soldiers only know how to do business in the long run, and do not take training in martial arts as their own business, but neglect the battle. Generals Then use money to manage the top and bottom, form cliques for personal gain, and corrupt military discipline."
"The second evil is that the generals, armed with the power of the imperial court, use their power to bully others during the trade. They buy and sell by force, even going as far as the government. There have always been trades, and it is common for them to drive and force traders."
"Many of the salt, tea, wine, etc. produced during the Three Harms trade were sold exclusively by the government, causing the court to lose a lot of revenue. At the same time, when the army returned to the trade, local officials did not dare to interfere. They often evaded taxes, not only competing with the people for profits. , and also compete with the imperial court for profit. These three harms must be eliminated."
Zhang Yue nodded slowly.
The generals of the Song Dynasty treated their soldiers like servants. For example, many wine shops, pharmacies, pawnshops, inns, etc. were run by the army.
As far as Qinfeng Road is concerned, Qinlong's bamboo and wood are a treasure. Generals such as Zhang Yongde, Zhao Yanpu, Qi Tingxun, etc. like to openly let soldiers transport them to Bianjing for sale under the banner of "for military use."
The soldiers of the Song Dynasty also had many artistic talents. Zhao Wei once said that the Shaanxi Forbidden Army had craftsmen, musicians, embroidery, calligraphy and painting, and they were all clever and clever.
But having said that, the economic and strategic envoys and appeasement envoys of the Song Dynasty at that time secretly allowed their subordinates to return to the trade.
Zhang Yue heard what Li Xian said and knew that these three evils were not his own pain.
The first harm is to reduce the combat effectiveness of the army, the second harm is to destroy the commodity economy, and the third harm is to reduce tax revenue.
If the combat effectiveness is reduced, they will not be able to defeat Xixia and Qingtang. The commodity economy is not circulating, and it is impossible to conduct business on our own. At the same time, the income of Yisi in Xihe City has also dropped significantly due to the existence of trade.
This is indeed the truth.
Zhang Yue said: "My usage is to minimize its name and respect its power, and ignore its details and strive for its greatness."
Hearing this, Li Xian knew what Zhang Yue meant. Elite soldiers and generals from all over Shaanxi were willing to follow Zhang Yue to Xihe and fight with all their strength. To be honest, was it because you, Zhang Lang, are so talented? I'm not asking you to be generous, willing to give rewards, and not stingy with fame.
As a result, you can ban Huiyi. What will happen to the morale of the army?
What is first and what is second? What is the main contradiction and what is the secondary contradiction?
Therefore, to be small in name and high in power, to be small in detail and to be big in power, this is the only way to manage affairs for those who coordinate the overall situation since ancient times.
Li Xian felt that it was indeed a good idea to grasp the 'forbidden trade', but he didn't understand what Zhang Yue was thinking, and he couldn't rush to add it to it. How did the previous free agent Wang Zhongzheng fall out with Zhang Yue, and then fell into despair? Li Xian must be wary of being sent away.
Li Xianxian followed Zhang Yue's words and said: "What the commander-in-chief said is absolutely true. This starts with the outline, and the details can be explained by the cause. It is also a heroic method."
Zhang Yue was very satisfied when he heard Li Xian's words. That's what a good partner is.
Bad partners like Wang Zhongzheng and others, including Tong Guanna, forced Liu Fa to fight and led to the annihilation of the entire army.
Zhang Yue said: "However, the three evils mentioned by Zifan are indeed true. The return of Yi here is also a taboo in the heart of the Holy One."
Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty was far more suspicious of military generals than civil servants. Emperor Taizong, who pioneered the method of "controlling military affairs with civil society", did not allow military generals to return to the country in the name of not being allowed to compete with the people for profit. However, in the final analysis, he was still worried about the infiltration of border generals into Hui. Easy to make it more powerful.
Getting rid of the disadvantages of vassal towns in the Tang Dynasty and preventing them from happening again was what every Song Dynasty emperor was thinking about.
Therefore, Zhang Yue could make the emperor happy by setting an example in Xihe by prohibiting return transactions.
When Li Xian heard Zhang Yue's words, he didn't understand what he meant and said: "Not only is your Majesty happy, but the two governments are also happy."
The military trade has weakened the government's fiscal revenue. If this matter can be accomplished, even Wang Anshi will greatly praise Zhang Yue for his ability in doing things.
Whether it’s reform or just success, the first thing to consider is, who will support you? Who would argue against themselves? Who is the enemy? Who is a friend?
If you understand this matter, it will be half done.
As for Li Xian's desire to promote this matter and to claim credit from the emperor, this is what Wang Zhongzheng and Li Xian are most concerned about. The same is true for Tong Guan who forced Liu Fa to fight.
As for Zhang Yue, what he considered was not only to satisfy the emperor and Wang Anshi, but also to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army.
The short-term effect of banning trade transactions would be that the generals and soldiers would definitely become emotional. Will this affect his plan to capture the entire Hehuang next year and force Dong Felt to surrender?
There is a saying that even the emperor cannot do it, let alone himself. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain profits to support the army, compensate for the army's unrequited losses, continue to care for the soldiers, and maintain the morale of the army, but where does this money come from?
It is good to have both, that is the "fine" skill, but if the level is not enough, then stick to one of them, this is the so-called fine skill.
The pros and cons must be carefully considered in advance.
Zhang Yue nodded and said, "Brother Zifan, you and I need to discuss this matter carefully."
After hearing Zhang Yue's words, Li Xian couldn't help but said with great joy: "Our family follows the commander-in-chief's lead."
Zhang Yue smiled and said to Cai Jing on the side: "Immediately ask Commander Cai Cao to come to Xizhou to discuss anything."
As a transshipment envoy, Cai Yanqing traveled all over Qinfeng Road and is now in Hezhou.
As the transfer envoy, Cai Yanqing was directly responsible to the Third Division and the Second Prefecture, so he did not have to deal with Li Xian like Zhang Yue, so he did not come to greet Li Xian this time.
Not only did Cai Yanqing not have to worry about offending Li Xian, he could also gain a good name among the scholar-bureaucrats.
Now the ban on Huiyi must be supported by Cai Yanqing. At the same time, he is also Wang Anshi's confidant in Qinfeng Road. He can represent the opinions of the second government to a certain extent.
At the same time, in order to express his attitude, Zhang Yue also wrote a letter to Wang Anshi to obtain his support on this matter.
