Three, open source
1. If Li Siyuan wants to solve the imminent economic problems in a short period of time, it is not enough to rely on light corvee and small taxation and reduction of fiscal expenditures. These are long-term means, or long-term investments, which are slow to produce results and cannot quench the immediate thirst. . And those who have no family property can only make a little quick money, which is neither long-lasting nor quenching their thirst.
There was only one way for the new court to quickly overcome the economic difficulties: the loot from the former Shu.
Li Siyuan really wants to thank Li Cunxu. If it hadn't been for the timely blood transfusion from Shu, Li Siyuan's court would have been short-lived, and there would never have been a "prosperous era of Mingzong".
After conquering Shu, Li Jiqi and Guo Chongtao acted as conquerors and forced "military expenses" from the people of Shu. The pressure was so tight that many lives were lost. A total of five million guans were collected, and after rewarding the troops, there were still more than 2 million guans left. Coupled with the original savings in the Shu warehouse, it is a considerable fortune. The property has not yet had time to be transported.
This is connected to a node in the previous article: Ren Wan, who had returned from Shu, was appointed as prime minister, and he was replaced by Douluge as the "three divisions" and put in charge of the empire's finances.
Ren Wan returned from Shu, and of course he knew that Shu was a piggy bank and a cash machine. He understood Li Siyuan's good intentions, so he sent Zhao Jiliang as the chairman of the Shu's Money and Grain Transportation Management Committee (the transfer envoy of the Sanchuan Capital). His main job was to transport the wealth of the Shu to Luoyang. Solve the urgent needs of Li Siyuan's court.
After Zhao Jiliang arrived in Chengdu, he felt great hostility from Meng Zhixiang, the military governor of Xichuan, because at this time, Meng Zhixiang already had the ambition to separatize Shu and dominate, as will be detailed later. Zhao Jiliang had no choice but to make the maximum concession. He was only ordered to move the money and grain in the warehouse, but did not dare to ask for other money and grain collected from the campaign. He did not even dare to mention his appointment as the general person in charge of finance and transportation.
Zhao Jiliang finally lived up to his trust, arriving in Chengdu at the end of October and transporting one billion gold and silver silk and satin back to Luoyang at the end of December. Historical records say "one billion gold and silk" without specifying the unit. It was this life-saving money that allowed Li Siyuan's court to survive the most difficult period.
Later, Li Siyuan carried money and food from Shu more than once and provided blood transfusions to Luoyang, which intensified the turmoil in Shu and gave birth to a new separatist regime - Later Shu, which is a story later.
2. Zhang Jian temporarily stayed in Chang'an. When Li Jiji returned eastward, he cut off the pontoon bridge and successfully forced Li Jiji to death. He then received Li Siyuan's edict to kill the eunuch. Previously, the eunuch Xiang Yansi had ordered Li Cunxu to kill Wang Zongyan's family and take Wang Zongyan's treasures as his own. At this critical moment, Xiang Yansi "disappeared", and Zhang Jian took away Wang Zongyan's family's gold and silver treasures and all his concubines. .
There is no record of the specific amount of this property. Historical records only say that "Yan Zhizhi pretended to be a prostitute and was owned by Jian", and after receiving this windfall, Zhang Jian became the richest man in the local area, "accumulating tens of thousands of platinum." .
Now, Zhang Jian was afraid that the matter would be exposed, so he took the initiative to donate, firstly 72 of Li Jiji's playing horses, and then two of Wang Zongyan's rhinoceros belts and jade belts, and 150 famous horses.
But the rest of the wealth was still misappropriated by him. Later, he secretly sold these treasures and made a profit of more than 100,000 yuan. It is simply astonishingly rich.
Zhang Jian's elder brother was Zhang Jun, the general of the Later Liang Dynasty. Zhang Jun was also on the list of conquering Shu. Zhang Jun was left behind in Chang'an. Before going out with the army, he asked his younger brother Zhang Jian to temporarily stay in Chang'an on his behalf.
Fourth, appease all parties
1. Inside the Later Tang Dynasty
The interior here can only be the places directly controlled by the Later Tang Dynasty, such as the vassals in the Yellow River Basin, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Shu areas. Although these places were theoretically subordinate to the Later Tang Dynasty, due to Li Siyuan's usurpation of power and the improper path to the throne, these vassal towns were either ready to aspire to the Central Plains, or they had evil intentions and tended to treason and surrender to the enemy.
In this regard, the weak Li Siyuan could only adopt a policy of compromise and appeasement and try his best to win over others in order to achieve a smooth transition of supreme power.
We only select a few representative ones, because these people will do something else in the future and have a greater impact on the current situation:
1.1 Heshuo
Li Siyuan was originally ordered to fight against the rebellion of Weizhou Zhao Zaili and Huangfu Hui, but was kidnapped by the Weizhou rebels and then returned to seize power. Therefore, Weizhou Zhao Zaili, Huangfuhui and others had a very subtle relationship with Li Siyuan.
After Li Siyuan proclaimed himself emperor, he immediately appointed Zhao Zaili as the military envoy of the Yicheng Army in Huazhou. Although he was given the title of military envoy, he was transferred to Huazhou instead of staying in his hometown in Weizhou.
Zhao Zaili refused to go to the town on the grounds that "military conditions were not favorable" and the rebels were unwilling to leave the revolutionary base.
So the imperial court tricked the Weizhou rebels by using high-ranking officials to disperse and disintegrate them: appointing Huangfu Hui as the governor of Chenzhou, appointing Zhao Jin (who was the main culprit of the rebellion with Huangfuhui) as the governor of Beizhou, and transferring Zhao Zaili as the governor of Cangzhou. Hao Junjiedushi. Another prince, Li Congrong, was sent to Weizhou and was escorted to his post by General Fan Yanguang.
Zhao Zaili subsequently moved the town many times, and successively held the Taining Army, Kuang Guo Army, Tianping Army, Zhongwu Army, Guining Army, Wuning Army, Guide Army, and Jinchang Army until the fall of the Later Jin Dynasty.
Huangfu Hui was a vicious and cruel man who was originally an ordinary soldier. He lost money in drunken gambling and launched a rebellion, which in turn facilitated Li Siyuan's seizure of power. His brutal character has been evident since the Beizhou Rebellion. According to records, he led his troops into people's homes and robbed them. Suddenly, on a whim, he asked the people, "What's your surname?"
The people replied: "The surname is Guo."
Huangfu Hui laughed "haha" and said, "I will destroy the country!" Then he killed the people and their families.
He went to another house and asked, "What's your last name?"
The people replied: "My surname is Wan."
Huangfu Hui was satisfied and said, "I have killed ten thousand families." He then killed his family.
In the Later Jin Dynasty, Huangfuhui visited Zhao Zaili's home and took the opportunity to blackmail him severely. Huangfuhui said to Zhao Zaili: "We started doing things together in Beizhou, and finally became a big deal in Weizhou. I have always been a small governor, but you are You have always been a governor, don't forget that I supported you in the first place, don't you feel grateful to repay me? Give me money, or I will kill you now!" Zhao Zaili was so frightened that he quickly took it. Give him a huge sum of money.
When the Later Jin Dynasty fell, Huangfu Hui fled to Huainan and defected to the Southern Tang Dynasty. When the Later Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty, he fought hard against Zhou Shizong Chai Rong and was seriously injured and captured. Zhou Shizong spoke kindly to him and gave him good medicine, a golden belt, and a pommel horse. In the end, Huangfuhui died of his injuries.
This is the end of two little people. They are small people, but they rewrote Chinese history. Beizhou Xiaobing loses money in gambling, and the butterfly effect is the prosperous Ming Dynasty. So cherish life and stay away from gambling.
Li Siyuan was extremely loyal to Zhao Zaili and Huangfu Huiren, and did not kill them all. Instead, they supported each other as military envoys and governors. This was Li Siyuan's effort to control the Heshuo area. It received a certain degree of positive feedback, but it also caused waves, as mentioned later.
