The wounds of war need to be healed.
At that time, Gao Pian regained Jiaozhi and was granted the title of Jinghai Jiedushi. He vigorously managed the Jiaozhi area, hired craftsmen to dig out coastal reefs, and dredged water transportation from Annan (now Hanoi, Vietnam) to Yongzhou (now Nanning City, Guangxi) and Guangzhou, ensuring that The safety of grain transportation. The outer city was rebuilt, laying the foundation for Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam today. So when Vietnam separated from the Central Plains Dynasty and became independent, its early monarchs also revered Gao Pian as "King Gao", and Gao Pian became the ancestor of Vietnam.
Now that Gao Pian is serving as the governor of Xichuan and has driven away the Nanzhao invading army, he naturally wants to continue to manage the Xichuan area.
However, his performance in Xichuan was not so glamorous.
Gao Pian was very superstitious about witchcraft and liked to pretend to be gods and ghosts. Before each battle, he would hold various weird prayer rituals in the military camp, such as burning paper figures and horses, and throwing beans into the night sky (the legendary ability to summon wind and rain, and throwing beans into the sky). Soldiers) Wait, tell the soldiers that we are blessed by the gods, and that we have heavenly soldiers and generals secretly helping us.
In fact, many generals will take advantage of the soldiers' superstition of ghosts and gods to give some psychological hints before fighting to strengthen everyone's belief that they will win.
However, most generals "used", while Gao Pian was "used". Gao Pian is not fooling everyone. He really believes in these evil ways. He is very devout in his belief in ghosts and gods. This also paved the way for his tragic ending in the future.
When chasing Nanzhao's army, Gao Pian used these tricks in the army to pretend to be gods and ghosts. The local officers and soldiers were puzzled by this. So Gao Pian explained to them, saying: "The soldiers of Bashu are timid and cowardly, and it is difficult for them to take on important tasks. I am asking the Nine Heavens Xuannv for help and sending the heavenly soldiers as vanguards."
Some subordinates told him that the attitudes and remarks that discriminated against Shu soldiers deeply hurt the self-esteem of those brave Shu soldiers.
Gao Pianhu stared at him, "Brave Shu soldiers? If they are brave, how can they mobilize me?"
Gao Pian was arrogant and arrogant, not only towards Nanzhao, but also towards his own people.
After he was born into a famous family, he had a halo of victory on his head, and with the imperial mountain at his back, he looked down upon all the heroes and looked down upon the world. His current role is as a builder of Xichuan, but he is obsessed with the role of liberator, and even once regarded himself as a conqueror. Many of his actions have caused considerable controversy.
For example, he, who did not understand finance, brought the Xichuan region's economy to the brink of collapse.
He ordered that "Zu Mo Qian" must be used in commercial transactions.
"Moqian" is also called "hundred coins", which is one hundred coins (copper or iron coins), and ten "hundred coins" is "zumo", which is one thousand coins. "Zumo Qian" has different names in different historical periods. The most familiar ones are "Yi Diao" and "Yi Guan".
At that time, "duanmo money" was mostly used in private transactions, that is, less than one thousand yuan was used as one thousand yuan.
At first glance, it seems to be a commercial fraud, but it is not. This is a high degree of wisdom of ancient Chinese people, and it perfectly solves a financial problem.
Gao Pian is obviously a novice in the financial field. Below we will do a simple analysis to help him recognize his mistakes.
In fact, the reason for the emergence of "Duan Mo Qian" is very simple, that is, there is insufficient circulating currency in the market. With the prosperity and development of the economy, there is a lack of enough currency in the market to match the rapid development of the economy. Note that it is not a lack of purchasing power, but a lack of circulating currency. This is what we now know as "money shortage" and deflation.
"Money shortage" is not a new concept in modern finance. As early as the Northern Song Dynasty, ministers had already called this problem "money shortage" in their letters to the emperor:
"Money is hard to come by, grain and silk are cheap, and people are in distress. This is called money shortage."
It is the same concept as the current "money shortage".
This has been an eternal problem that has troubled mankind since ancient times. The high wisdom of the ancient Chinese was perfect in solving this problem: creating virtual currency.
The popular concepts of "blockchain" and "virtual currency" are all speculation, and the Chinese have applied them as early as the Han Dynasty.
The specific method is also very simple, that is, everyone agrees to recognize "Duan Mo Qian" and jointly stipulates a ratio. For example, "eighty is a hundred", using eighty cents as one hundred cents, creating twenty cents of circulating currency out of thin air. If twenty coins are not enough, then create thirty coins, that is, "seventy becomes one hundred."
The widespread circulation of this "virtual currency" benefits from official recognition. The government endorses it and also recognizes and uses "Duanmo Qian" in taxation, salary distribution and other aspects.
For example, during the reign of Muzong of the Tang Dynasty, it was stipulated that 920 Wen should be used as one thousand Wen. During the reign of Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty, it was clearly stipulated that for any bulk commodity transaction exceeding 5,000 yuan, only half of the payment could be made in cash, and the other half could be replaced by pieces of silk. Administrative intervention was used to force the promotion of "short road money".
"Duanmo Qian" has become a legal "virtual currency", which effectively alleviates the problem of "money shortage" and also alleviates the financial problem of deflation to a certain extent.
"Duan Mo Qian" was simple, easy to implement and effective, so it was still used until the early Republic of China. Because metal currency (such as copper) has innate limitations on metal production, there is an unbreakable ceiling in circulation, and it also has shortcomings such as inconvenience to carry in practical applications.
It was not until the widespread use of banknotes that "Duan Mo Qian" officially withdrew from the stage of history.
It is a pity that the ancient Chinese did not refine financial issues and did not regard finance as a separate knowledge. Finance rarely has a place in the collection of classics and history.
And Gao Pian is even less likely to understand the profound truth. He only knows that four is four, ten is ten, fourteen is fourteen, and forty is forty. A thousand coins is a thousand coins, and eight hundred coins is eight hundred coins. How can eight hundred coins be used as a thousand coins? Want to deceive people? There is no door! Change it for me!
Gao Pian was not the first to abolish "Duanmo money". As early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Emperor Wu of Liang issued an edict to abolish "Duanmo money" and stipulated that "Zumo money" must be used. The result was counterproductive. People hid money one after another, which further tightened market liquidity and created a sharp shortage of money. So much so that later on, people used 35 Wen as 100 Wen, which was even shorter than before.
History has provided Gao Pian with a lesson. Intervening in the market using crude administrative measures that are contrary to objective trends will only worsen the market situation.
However, Gao Pian still made the same mistake and collapsed the Xichuan region's economy overnight.
In today's terms, Xichuan's stock market, bond market, futures market, foreign exchange market... all collapsed, triggering systemic financial risks overnight, artificially causing deflation, and Xichuan's economy returned to prehistoric civilization.
During the Great Depression in Xichuan, the people's basic livelihood was difficult to guarantee and people were in distress. "Money was scarce, millet and silk were as cheap as dirt, and tea and salt were not marketable."
Gao Pian once again adopted a high-pressure policy of severe punishment and law, in an attempt to continue to use administrative means to force the economy back on track, which was whimsical and cruel.
The economic crisis has made the people of Bashu full of complaints.
There is also a historical issue in the local area: during the last Nanzhao invasion (870), the former Luzhou governor Yang Qingfu recruited death squads to resist Nanzhao. Anyone who joined the death squads would be promoted under special circumstances and given corresponding treatment. Only then did a group of warriors be recruited to defend Chengdu desperately, and finally won the battle to defend Chengdu.
After Gao Pian took office, he confiscated the letters of appointment of the death squads and canceled their position benefits. The reason is that finances are tight and the treasury is empty.
They risked their lives and narrowly escaped death in exchange for the treatment they received. This was a promise made by the court officials, and it represented the government and was legal.
Let me ask Gao Pian, if the death squads are needed again in the future, who will listen to your promise?
Gao Pian's reasoning is simple, "That's what Yang Qingfu promised you, not me. You go ask him for money. I don't want to be a receiver and I don't acknowledge this debt."
The Suicide Squad was furious. We've been fooled!
So the local army also began to resent Gao Pian.
Next, Gao Pian has a third move:
He ordered the roster of officials within the jurisdiction of Xichuan to be obtained, and painstakingly scrutinized the stacks of personnel files. Anyone who was promoted from "official" to "official" would be dismissed.
Officials are official national civil servants who have passed the imperial examination; officials are temporary workers with no special requirements such as academic qualifications. Normally, officials cannot become officials.
However, due to the special situation of Xichuan, which was frequently invaded by Nanzhao, some officials were promoted to officials under unusual circumstances during the war. The transformation of the front line of fire is a legacy of history and a special situation in a specific historical period. The imperial court also recognized it.
However, Gao Pian refused to admit any of them and dismissed them all. "Temporary workers are temporary workers. If they are not working, they are not working. Four is four, ten is ten..."
The local people were dissatisfied with him, the local army was dissatisfied with him, and the local officials were also dissatisfied with him.
It can be said that Gao Pian, who airborne to Xichuan not long ago, has lost his foundation in Xichuan.
The danger is approaching step by step, but Gao Pian has no idea.
