The next day, Fang Chongyong summoned the envoys of the Chishui Army and the Dadou Army who lived nearby and asked them to come to Liangzhou for a meeting. Also attending the meeting were representatives of large local businesses in Liangzhou. Everyone had serious expressions on their faces, and they were worried.
Fang Chongyong said that he would issue "Jiaozi" to replace silk and circulate it in the five states of Hexi. This matter sounds very simple, but in fact, there are many mandatory requirements for implementation, and local powerful forces must also work hard to cooperate.
First of all, these powerful people must take a large part of the silk in the warehouse and hand it over to Hexi Jiedu Mansion in exchange for a certain amount of Jiaozi. This is not "buying shares", but the bank's daily business operations, similar to saving money.
In other words, they took the lead in making deposits to show support for the policy and objectively reduced the circulation of silk in the market, creating conditions for Jiaozi to gradually replace silk.
Secondly, in exchange for benefits, these people must also spend large amounts of money to buy shares in Jiaozi's bank. The principal of this part of the money can never be recovered. It can only get a little "dividend" every year and cannot interfere with the operation of Jiaozipu.
As for the transfer of equity, that is not an issue that the court and Jiedushi should worry about.
Finally, in daily life, they, who are powerful in these places, need to take the lead in using Jiaozi so that "gadgets" made of paper can be circulated on a wider scale.
However, after thinking about it for a few days, many people came to their senses.
These local powerful people paid real money, but got a pile of "paper".
Hexi Jiedushi seems to have proposed a new wealth operation model and new ways to make money.
But in fact... the government is just a white wolf with nothing to show for it!
Many of them realize that the so-called "Jiaozi" is a kind of "bond". It's like the bank owed them money and wrote an anonymous note. Then they only transferred the bank's debts to each other during daily transactions.
When you need to use silk or other items, you can take this "IOU" and go to the bank to exchange the physical items, which is equivalent to repaying the debt to the bank!
What can I say about this thing...it always feels amazing!
This Hexi Jiedushi is really a genius who makes money!
Everyone in the lobby vaguely felt that the idea proposed by Fang Chongyong should not be underestimated, but the debate in their respective families was also fierce, and it was difficult to make a decision for a while.
I came here today to have a look.
"Everyone, the Commander-in-Chief of this section has decided to change the residence of the Hexi Jiedu Envoy from Liangzhou to Shazhou, and has already written a memorial to the imperial court.
Here is the draft of the memorial. You all can read it and circulate it to each other. If there are no opinions, the general will send it to the saint, and the saint will make a decision. "
It was okay that Fang Chongyong didn't speak, but as soon as he spoke, everyone present was shocked!
"Commander Jiedushi, you must not do this! It is an important town in the northwest of Liangzhou and the capital of Liangzhou planned by the imperial court. Wouldn't it be ridiculous to change the station of Jiedushi to Shazhou instead of Liangzhou!"
As soon as An Chongzhang heard Fang Chongyong's "suggestion", he stood up to refute it without even looking at the draft memorial in the other party's hand.
"Yes, Commander-in-Chief, please think twice. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Dingkou of Liangzhou. The population of Shazhou has been slightly larger in recent years, but it cannot exceed 100,000.
If the Hexi Jiedu Mansion was not located in Liangzhou, where else could it go? "
The military envoy of Dadou Army, a large local family in Liangzhou, settled in Liangzhou after naturalization in the early Tang Dynasty, Qibi Ning, who was born in the Qibi tribe of the Chile tribe, suggested cautiously.
He doesn't have much interest in things like opening a bank and issuing Jiaozi. He neither approves nor opposes it, so he just goes with the flow. But the station of the Hexi Jiedushi cannot leave Liangzhou!
The seriousness of this matter far exceeds anything like Jiaozi, and it must not be joked about!
"You guys can talk after you read it."
Fang Chongyong waved his hand gently and said, sitting on the main seat in the lobby motionless. Yan Zhuang took the draft in his hand, sent it to An Chongzhang, and then stepped aside.
At first, he was a little dismissive of Fang Chongyong's "nonsense", but after reading the entire memorial, An Chongzhang realized that Fang Chongyong was not fooling around, and what he said in it was actually reasonable and convincing.
Fang Chongyong directly gave an irrefutable reason for the reason why Jiedushi Yamen "moved": he wanted to expedition to the Western Regions!
Or it can be put more simply: Hexi has a heavy army stationed in it, and there is no war. It is too idle, and it is just consuming the country's food and grass. He feels deeply uneasy.
According to the current strategic situation, major disarmament in Hexi is inevitable! Otherwise, it will be a waste of the country's money and food.
However, once the army is disarmed, the northwest defense will inevitably be weakened. As the saying goes, raising an army for a thousand days and using it for a while cannot wait until you want to use troops and then remember that all the soldiers and horses in Hexi have been laid off.
Therefore, Fang Chongyong suggested in the memorial that the headquarters of Jiedufu in Hexi should be moved to Shazhou, which is only one step away from the Western Regions, and that 20,000 elite troops from the Chishui Army in Liangzhou should be deployed to the west of Congling!
And who are we going to fight west of Congling?
The answer is Big and Little Bolu! That is the Kashmir region where Fang Chongyong lived in his previous life.
In the eleventh year of Kaiyuan, King Xiaobolu accepted the canonization of the Tang Dynasty and became a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.
But after that, King Xiaobolu was forced to marry the Tubo princess and fell in love with Tubo. Affected by this, more than 20 neighboring countries all turned to Tubo.
The Tang army attacked several times, but all failed due to the tight defense of the Tubo people. They were disgusted.
From a national moral point of view, Xiao Bolu was treacherous, and the Tang Dynasty sent troops because of its reputation.
Cleaning up Xiao Bolu is to establish prestige for the Western Region countries west of Congling and the various Hu merchant teams active on the Western Region trade routes.
Anyone who offends a strong man will be punished no matter how far away he is! Xiao Bolu was treacherous back then, and now he is destroying the country to show the power of the Tang Dynasty!
Is it necessary to go on an expedition?
Everyone present did not know this, but they guessed that the now-elderly emperor would definitely consider this move very necessary!
Datang is currently in a brief period of peace with Tubo, and there is no quarrel between them. So if the Tang Dynasty teaches a young man like Xiao Bolu, will Tubo help or not?
Hard to say.
Because this is not a key area operated by the Tubo people, if the Tang army made a quick victory and the Tubo people realized that it was too late to enter and there was no profit to be made, they might not take action.
But no matter what, even if the Tubo people send troops to "help", they will definitely feel very uncomfortable if they are stabbed in the back by the Tang army!
They must transfer the imperial guards belonging to Zanpu from Supi District and go to the Congling area to supervise the battle.
Does this reduce the strategic pressure on the Longyou Tang Army? Of course, yes, surround Wei and save Zhao.
Everyone present was thinking, if we ignore the fact that the army is running thousands of miles away, the risk is uncontrollable. Fang Chongyong's stab in the back was so wonderful!
As for the lack of military strength in Liangzhou, it is not a problem at all. Because now the road from Liangzhou to Guanzhong is very smooth, much smoother than the road from Guanzhong to Longyou.
In an emergency, it would be convenient for the Forbidden Army in Guanzhong to support Liangzhou.
From this perspective, it is very appropriate to move the Hexi Jiedushi Yamen to Shazhou. This represents the direction of Datang's strategy in the Western Regions. The easternmost starting point of the Western Region is Dunhuang County, Shazhou. Again, the establishment of Jiedushi was closely related to the military strategy of the Tang Dynasty. It did not mean that the station was located wherever there was wealth.
If this memorial is handed over, it is likely to have two completely different consequences.
If the emperor of Chang'an wanted to manage the northwest conservatively, then a major disarmament under the control of the Hexi Jiedushi would be inevitable. After all, Mobei is relatively peaceful now. The Tiele tribes, including the Uighurs, check and balance each other, and the Tang Dynasty dominates.
The establishment of the Hexi Jiedu Envoy was originally to block the cooperation between Mobei and Tubo and ensure smooth roads in the Western Regions.
Now that the border areas are stabilized, disarmament should be logical. Even if there is no disarmament, there is a high possibility that part of the Hexi frontier army will be mobilized to the defense area of Longyou Jiedu Envoy.
If it really comes to that point, the local wealthy households in Hexi and the Qiu Ba people in the border towns will definitely be in bad luck. It doesn't matter whether the Hexi Jiedu envoy is relocated or not.
Of course, the chances of this happening are slim.
Because based on so many years of experience, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty Li Longji was an emperor who loved great achievements. It can be seen from his continuous reinforcement of troops to the northwest that he was not willing to suffer any losses in the fight against the Tubo people!
Besides, controlling the Western Region and expanding the territory of the Tang Dynasty to thousands of miles away was the direction that the Tang Dynasty had been pursuing for several generations since the founding of the country. The disarmament in Hexi not only risks strategic loss of control, but Qiu Ba, who was laid off, is also prone to causing trouble and causing instability in border towns.
Therefore, Brother Ji, who is in charge of Chang'an, is more likely to agree to Fang Chongyong's plan and let him take some of Hexi's elite troops to the Western Regions!
Under this premise, a trivial matter such as relocating the Jiedushi envoy's residence is not worth mentioning. It is done as conveniently as possible. Brother Ji only cares about the results!
Xiaobolu controlled the main route for Tibet to attack the four towns of Anxi. It can be called the gateway to the Western Regions and is now indirectly controlled by the Tibetans. Everyone present thought about it a little, and they all felt that the new Hexi Jiedushi Fang Chongyong sitting on the main seat had really figured out the thoughts of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
The emperor didn't care how many people died in the border army, but he cared about whether the border was secure and where the boundaries of the empire were.
The border troops of the Tang Dynasty did not raise idle men. Now that there is no war in Hexi, Fang Chongyong proposes an expedition to Congling. Who dares to stand up and oppose it?
Are you really not afraid that Brother Ji will abolish the establishment?
Since the Kaiyuan Dynasty, the Northwest Frontier Army has not only been upgraded from "Shouchuo" to "Army", but also has its "Army" downgraded to "Shoujue", or even had its designation revoked directly.
The establishment of the border army is definitely not something that can only be expanded but cannot be reduced. It is even more common for the entire frontier army to be transferred.
On the contrary, changes in the Tang army's deployment often occurred due to changes in strategy.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Fang Chongyong said meaningfully: "Everyone, let's run all the way to Congling. Wherever our Hexi frontier army goes, this kind of Jiaozi will be issued. Use this thin piece of paper to exchange for returning to the Western Regions Isn’t it nice to have all kinds of rare goods?”
After hearing this, everyone in the hall, whether it was the military envoy or the powerful local representatives of Liangzhou, suddenly realized.
When promoting the use of Jiaozi in Liangzhou, of course you cannot put a knife on the necks of local people. The local wealthy and powerful people have to take the lead in using it, and then cooperate with the government's written instructions to detect lawlessness.
But in the Western Region, the rules are different.
If anyone doesn't use it, Tang Jun will let them use the knife! It is equivalent to looting wealth, but the method is much more sophisticated than directly robbing!
After all, this can be considered a kind of "IOU", and credit is much better than an IOU!
Those rich people and Hu merchants from the countries in the Western Regions can still freely exchange silk and silk when they come to the five states in Hexi with Jiaozi. It’s not really impossible to exchange!
Jiaozi is easy to carry and saves shipping costs on the road! From this point of view, there is absolutely no benefit at all!
"Fang Jieshuai, moving the Jiedushi Yamen is actually unnecessary.
As for the Congling strategy mentioned by Jieshuai, it is quite interesting. The last general thought that he could summon all the generals in the Chishui Army to discuss and select 10,000 elite troops to prepare for emergencies. "
An Chongzhang crossed his hands and saluted Fang Chongyong.
"Yes, yes, we will discuss the Jiaozi matter with our families when we go back. This bank that exchanges Jiaozi must be opened."
"Yes, yes, we have been operating in Hexi for many years, and our family still has some extravagant wealth, so let's just let it go."
Everyone agreed in unison.
They naturally understand that most of the expenses required for the army's expedition come from the inventory in the bank's treasury, which is part of the silk exchanged with exchanges!
If the money is used to fight the war, then it's no big deal if the meat is still in the pot after it's rotten.
Even if they don't engage in Jiaozi, according to Datang's method of play, they will probably still levy grain from large local households in Hexi, and the result will be no different.
"Well, if that's the case, then the commander-in-chief of this section will remove this clause, so there is no need to move the envoy's headquarters for the time being.
As for the expedition to the Western Regions, don't you all object? "
Fang Chongyong asked with a smile.
"We all obey the commander's orders!"
Everyone present said in unison.
"Well, let's all disperse. The commander has to write a memorial this time, so I won't see you off because of official business."
Fang Chongyong stood up, turned around and left, leaving only a large number of people in the Yamen lobby, all with thoughtful expressions. No one knew what the others were thinking.
They vaguely felt that the wave of the times seemed to be rushing towards them, and if they did not take action, they would surely die on the beach.
…
"Jie Shuai, this move of yours is really great!"
In the study room, Yan Zhuang couldn't help but give Fang Zhongyong a thumbs up. He was really convinced. The Qiu Ba gang in Hexi were controlled to death by Fang Chongyong!
Relocating the headquarters of the Hexi Jiedu Envoy was nothing more than a false shot and loud shouting. In fact, even if it was relocated, it would not solve any practical problems at all.
What Fang Chongyong really knows about the Hexi border army lies in the phrase "border towns do not support idlers".
The country’s border defense policy is also constantly being adjusted. The advance and contraction of the army all depend on the situation encountered.
Bai Juyi once wrote a poem: Anxi is usually thousands of miles away, but today the border is in Fengxiang.
That's the case.
Hexi is a battleground for military strategists and has always been an important border defense town. This is indeed true.
However, due to the abundant military virtue of the Tang Dynasty, it obtained a large strategic buffer zone, so Hexi became the rear area, just to guard against the Tibetan troops.
For such a light strategic mission, it is unjustifiable to have 70,000 to 80,000 elite Tang troops gathered.
In the history of Fang Chongyong's previous life, the Hexi frontier army during the Tianbao period was actually constantly mobilized to the Longyou area to participate in the battle. On the contrary, the five Hexi states were extremely peaceful, and there was no war at all.
The Achilles' heel of the Tang Dynasty's border troops was that if they did not look for trouble, and if the border towns were really stable, there would be no need for the Long March athletes, and they would inevitably be decimated.
This is one of the fundamental differences between recruiting soldiers and government soldiers. The establishment of government soldiers is flexible. They can go home and farm when they are no longer needed, but recruiting soldiers is obviously different.
Either he was cut off from the establishment, or he was transferred to the bitter cold land of Longyou to compete with the Tubo people, or he went on an expedition to the Western Regions.
Fang Chongyong felt that the generals of the Hexi Frontier Army knew exactly what to choose.
"They are all useless. Without the method of Jiaozi, it is impossible for the saint to agree to the expedition to Congling.
After you go to Chang'an, remember to bribe Gao Lishi a lot. Of course, remember to send it to me.
After the Jiaozi seal is completed, someone will send someone to Hexi Jinzouyuan to determine which officials should be bribed. You will act accordingly. "
Fang Chongyong waved his hands calmly and said.
This trick is just like the U.S. dollar cycle. If the banknotes are not released, it will not work and it will only cause a lot of inflation. Especially merchants from the Western Regions and court dignitaries, they will be the main force using Jiaozi.
Without abundant martial virtue and the courage to kill them no matter how far away they are, these cunning Hu merchants cannot be suppressed!
Without attractive benefits, it would not be able to attract the powerful people in Chang'an to support Jiaozi.
And with Jiaozi and the exchange Jiaozi Bank, Brother Ji no longer looked down on the so-called smuggling in the Western Regions.
Fang Chongyong feels that no matter what business he does, nothing can come as fast as printing money! Since you want to relieve Hexi, let's just play a big one!
As for what Brother Ji will do next, that is beyond his control. Even without Jiaozi, the powerful would not be lenient in plundering wealth. With or without Jiaozi, it would not fundamentally change the situation of Datang.
This is like a kitchen knife that is supposed to be used for cutting vegetables, but it can also kill people. Jiaozi was originally used to revitalize the economy, but it could also be used to plunder wealth.
The weapon itself is innocent, only the person who uses it is guilty.
Can people really suppress their inner greed?
Thinking of this, Fang Chongyong said to Yan Zhuang with a solemn expression: "When doing business well, don't think about other things, and don't do things you shouldn't do."
(End of chapter)
