The Nanzhang coup ended dramatically: when Huang Zhiting's three-pronged army encircled Vientiane City, Huang Yinglei and Biajue in Vientiane City never received support from any other force except for summoning more than 10,000 veterans.
More than 10,000 veterans were gathered, but they were short of weapons and armor, and there was no military rations in the city. They relied on the little rations brought by Huang Yinglei's wolf soldiers to survive.
Seeing that he was about to catch a turtle in a urn, Huang Yinglei was so anxious that his mouth was bubbling. Although he didn't know how Sister A was going to advance this time, he thought the troops that would be needed to encircle and suppress him would not be too weak, and his backhand... was not sure if it would be useful?
Of course Huang Yinglei had a back-up plan, otherwise no matter how audacious he was, he would not have dared to cause trouble among hundreds of thousands of security troops. However, his back-up plan was not to launch some surprise troops to resist with force, but to use emotion and reason.
He immediately went north with Princess Biajue after learning the news that Nuojiao Gumeng became a monk. However, in addition, he also sent a close associate to deliver a letter to his father Huang Chengzu. Although Huang Chengzu was anxious and angry after receiving the letter, he still sent a fast horse to contact Huang Zhiting and set off for Wanxiang City in person.
When the three armies surrounded Wanxiang City, Huang Chengzu's messenger arrived just in time and delivered the letter to Huang Zhiting.
No one knew the content of the letter except Huang Zhiting herself. The generals only saw the lady's face as sinking as water, sitting on the commander's seat in silence for a long time. It took a long time before she spoke, asking all the ministries to surround her without attacking.
Three days later, Annan Shannan garrison envoy Huang Chengzu rushed outside Wanxiang City and asked to see the deputy capital commander.
After all, he was his biological father and had no combat mission. Huang Zhiting met him alone without anyone else present. As she expected, Huang Chengzu came here to plead for his eldest son.
There is no other reason. He only said that although Huang Yinglei did not ask for permission in advance, since Nuo Jiao Gumeng abdicated as a monk, only Princess Bijue has the power to regent in Nanzhang Kingdom. Now that the couple is in a hurry to come to Vientiane, they also Maybe he was just worried about chaos in Nanzhang - after all, a country cannot live without a king for a day.
So according to Huang Chengzu's idea, although Huang Yinglei was reckless, he could just give him a light punishment. Why did he cause tens of thousands of troops to conquer him? Do you, as the elder sister, still want to convict your younger brother of treason?
In Huang Zhiting's letter to Gao Pragmatic, she did not mention how she responded to her father at that time. She only said, "I have been studying with my husband since then. Although I didn't get much, I also know that the master said: 'She is upright and does not do what she is told to do; His body is not upright, even if he refuses to obey orders. 'So he dare not protect each other personally.
Thinking that his old father was coming from afar, he couldn't bear to see his son face to face, so he allowed him to send a message to the city, urging Huang Yinglei to tie himself up and dedicate himself to the city. "
When Huang Yinglei saw his father's message, he thought he was safe and happily planned to surrender in Kaicheng. Biya Jue asked: "Since we knew that we were going to surrender, why did we come here in such a hurry? It would be better to write to my sister earlier to explain that as long as I get her permission, wouldn't this regent be justifiable? I would have saved myself from being in vain like today." Lose face."
Huang Yinglei shook his head and said: "The princess only knows one thing but not the other. I have been at odds with Huang Zhiting for many years. If I contact you rashly for this, I'm afraid she will make trouble and refuse to agree. Humph, she took charge of Siming at the age of thirteen. She has always been stubborn, and even if her father persuades her, she may not be willing to listen. So am I asking for trouble?
But I captured Wanxiang City by killing first and then telling the story, and things were different. She is bound to come to conquer, but my father will not bear to see me die, and he will not allow Huang Zhiting to kill my brother and sister. In all likelihood, he will force her to die.
Huang Zhiting has always been a hypocrite. Seeing her father like this, she will not bear the reputation of disobedience, so she can only forgive me. At that time, since her father is here in person, you and I will take the position of regent... She will probably only be able to hold her nose and accept it. "
After some explanations, Huang Yinglei and his wife went to the city, but they did not do anything to apologize. They just opened the city normally, pretending to welcome their father and sister.
Huang Chengzu breathed a sigh of relief, but Huang Zhiting always kept her face covered with frost. When Huang Yinglei and his wife came forward, Huang Chengzu was about to say something to lighten the atmosphere, but Huang Zhiting waved his hand coldly and said: "Left and right, come with me to capture Huang Yinglei, and please ask Her Royal Highness the Princess to move to Dingnan to rest."
Huang Yinglei's expression changed drastically, he stood up straight suddenly, and shouted: "Huang Zhiting, you..." Unfortunately, before he could finish his words, Huang Hu and several trusted wolf soldiers came forward and covered his mouth. The wolf soldiers behind Huang Yinglei didn't know whether to save the person or not, and subconsciously looked towards Huang Zhiting.
Huang Zhiting sat on the horse, raised her head slightly, and shouted condescendingly: "Kneel down!"
She has been in charge of the main branch of the Huang family for more than ten years. These wolf soldiers were her subordinates more than a year ago. Now that she is giving orders, who dares to resist? All of them subconsciously felt their legs go weak. Without any time to think, they all fell to their knees and bowed their heads to the ground. No one dared to raise their heads.
Huang Chengzu was also extremely surprised. He stretched out his hand to pull Huang Zhiting's horse rein and persuaded: "Zhiting..."
Huang Zhiting said coldly: "In front of the army formation, please guard Shannan and summon the official of this capital. Don't lose sight of the rules."
Huang Chengzu's face turned green and white, and finally he laughed angrily: "Okay, okay, what a good Huang Dutong, what a good Mrs. Gao!"
He gritted his teeth and said bitterly: "Mrs. Gao is going to betray the Huang family and his son today and commit a crime of rebellion? Very good. Huang Chengzu's head is here. If you want it, just take it!"
Huang Zhiting felt a pain in her heart and staggered on her horse. But she quickly stabilized her body, just closed her eyes hard, and ordered word for word: "Huang Zhenshou is still drunk, help him down to rest, don't neglect."
Huang Chengzu said sternly: "What a joke, I'm sober! If you want to kill my son, kill him in front of me!"
"What are you doing standing there in a daze? Take him down!" Huang Zhiting suddenly opened her eyes and gave another stern order. Although the soldiers on the left and right were so frightened that their hands and feet were numb, they did not dare to delay at all. They rushed forward in a hurry, pulled Huang Chengzu off his horse, stabilized him, and "helped" him away.
Huang Chengzu was the nominal head of their family. Although he had not asked about general affairs for many years, these wolf soldiers did not dare to be cruel, so he could still curse. Fortunately, Huang Hu saw that the situation was not good, so he took out a piece of satin and sealed Huang Yinglei's mouth, and then handed it over to his subordinates to watch. He hurried over and covered Huang Chengzu's mouth, begging for mercy: "My lord, please forgive me."
Huang Chengzu was struggling and glaring at him angrily. Huang Hu turned his head and pretended not to see him. He used skillful force on his hands and quickly pulled him away.
At this time, Princess Biajue was also "invited". She was not silenced. She just glanced at Huang Yinglei absently, then looked at Huang Zhiting, and suddenly said: "Sister, really want to kill him?"
Huang Zhiting glanced at her, her eyes softened slightly, and she sighed softly: "This is beyond my control."
After the statement, Huang Zhiting told Gao Pangshi in the letter that she dismissed Huang Yinglei from his post in the name of "mobilizing troops without being called up" and escorted him to Dingnancheng to wait for the verdict. It was also discovered that Princess Bijue was pregnant, so she was brought back to Dingnan together, but the two of them were not allowed to see each other, and Princess Bijue was placed under house arrest alone.
Although the King of Nanzhang became a monk, under Huang Zhiting's suggestion, the Beijing Advisory Group issued a decree on behalf of Nuo Jiao Gumeng, ordering the advisory group to take charge of state affairs in the name of the king. The king will always care about state affairs, but will only do so when he deems it necessary. Intervene proactively.
In other words, the political power of Nanzhang has been completely controlled by Jinghua, so much so that the king's becoming a monk does not affect the administrative operation of the country at all.
However, at this time, Gao Pragmatic did not immediately reply to Huang Zhiting, nor did he immediately express his position on these measures. During this time, he was discussing the Ming Dynasty currency issue with Liu Xin.
Although China's currency was produced very early, it can be traced back to the three generations of ancient times. However, the monetary system consisting of two or more stable currencies was established during the Qin and Han Empires.
The currency of the Qin Dynasty found in historical records was divided into two grades. Gold was the upper currency, marked with yi; copper coins were the lower currency, which were "half a tael" of money as heavy as its inscription. In fact, as early as the period of King Jing of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (524 BC), Shan Qi proposed the theory of the mother-child power of currency and opposed King Jing's casting of large coins.
What he meant by currency weight actually refers to the different price ratios of currencies to commodities, rather than the weight itself. Therefore, Shanqi's theory can be said to be China's first ideological theory that attempted to construct a light and heavy currency system. It laid the premise for the formation of the monetary system in the traditional Chinese society period, that is, a stable monetary system is composed of two types of currencies: light and heavy.
The currency in the pre-Qin period was unable to form a unified and complete monetary system due to its obvious independence and separatist nature. However, the monetary system formed during the Qin and Han Dynasties was relatively stable and maintained for hundreds of years.
However, two major changes also occurred during this period. First, Wang Mang's Tuogu restructuring led to chaos in the monetary system; second, the changes in the main and auxiliary currencies at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Gold withdrew from the monetary system, and the monetary structure began to lose an important link. The main currency began to be borne by physical currency.
The reason for this change is generally believed by later generations to be caused by the low ebb of the development of the commodity economy. The deeper reasons behind it are also being explored. This change in the monetary structure also heralded the collapse of the gold and copper monetary system during the Qin and Han Dynasties. The "first peak" of China's commodity economy has also begun to decline.
The period from the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the middle of the Tang Dynasty was a relatively chaotic period in China's monetary history. Wang Shengduo calls it an era of "decline and regression". From the perspective of the monetary system, this period can be described as abnormal.
During this turbulent period of more than 300 years, although it played a relatively important role in Chinese history, the monetary system went on an extremely unstable path.
First of all, the types of currency are filled with real objects such as grain and cloth; secondly, the currency system is also in chaos, such as the prevalence of big money and bad currency, and many names for currency culture. Historical records state that "it does not sink in water, but breaks easily"; finally, there are constant changes in the currency system. In 221 AD, the Wei State during the Three Kingdoms period issued a decree to officially stop the five-baht currency and "enable the people to use grain and silk as currency."
The replacement of metal currency by physical currency is undoubtedly a historical retrogression. Although the status of copper coins was restored during the later turbulent historical period, it has always played a role in sporadic and private transactions. The monetary system composed of grain, silk and copper coins was also unstable. According to historical records, iron coins also began to be minted during this period during the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang. Even the use of gold and silver was recorded, which shows the instability of the monetary system. .
The currency of the Sui and Tang Dynasties tended to be stable with the development of the economy. The Sui Dynasty resumed the use of five-baht coins, and in the early Tang Dynasty, copper coins marked with year names entered the stage of history, and Brother Kong Fang also entered its heyday.
Mr. Li Gu once demonstrated that even in a period of high economic development in the Tang Dynasty, it was an era of "both money and silk". According to historical records, in the 22nd year of Kaiyuan of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (AD 734): "From now on, horses are traded at Zhuangzhaikou, and silk, damask, Luo, silk weft, etc. are first used. The market price of the rest reaches more than one thousand, and the money is also Use both items, and those who violate this will be punished."
This clearly stipulates that silk fabrics such as silk fabrics are mainly used for large-scale transactions, and it can be seen that the main currency is physical currency such as silk fabrics. But from the perspective of the monetary system, physical currency replacing metal currency cannot make up for the lack of monetary system structure since the Eastern Han Dynasty. This lack, in turn, has significant political, economic and social consequences.
The "money shortage" that occurred in the Tang Dynasty is an obvious example, and it became even more serious in the Song Dynasty. There are many discussions about "money shortage". Gao pragmatically knows that the "money shortage" is mainly caused by the lack of copper coins in circulation, but the reasons are complicated.
Later scholars pointed out: "The change in the government's tax policy cannot but be said to be the direct cause of the 'money shortage', but its deeper reason lies in the particularity of the development of the commodity currency economy in feudal society.
That is, in the process of circulation and concentration of commodity currency redistribution, a large amount of currency was stored by landlords, officials and merchants. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the economy developed rapidly and the so-called 'Tang and Song social changes' occurred."
Gao Pragmatic basically agrees with this view, that is, since the middle of the Tang Dynasty, highly valuable land began to enter the commodity market, coupled with the circulation of bulk items such as silk, tea, salt, and iron. Obviously, the use of physical currency is difficult to meet this demand, and the casting of copper coins is not only in short supply, but also the value of this currency is not large. Therefore, the "money shortage" is not difficult to understand.
From the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms to the early Song Dynasty, copper coins were the main currency, and the monetary system composed of iron, lead, tin and other base metals was difficult to adapt to the growing commodity economy. Therefore, the emergence of paper money was no accident.
Although the direct reason for the emergence of Jiaozi was the inconvenience of iron money transactions, from the perspective of stabilizing the monetary system, even without the addition of banknotes, more valuable currency forms would emerge.
From this perspective, paper money and base metal currency together constitute a new monetary system. Although the Yuan Dynasty used a pure paper currency structure, the structure of the monetary system until the mid-Ming Dynasty was composed of paper currency and base metal money.
Of course, since the beginning of paper money, all dynasties have been troubled by currency problems or currency crises of this currency. Someone once pointed out that it was precisely because of the uncontrolled issuance of paper money that the Zhao and Song Dynasties were ruined.
The currency crisis in the Jin and Yuan dynasties led to the collapse of the economy, and paper currency was also to blame. It is estimated that during the Southern Song Dynasty's more than 160 years of rule, the inflation rate reached 3.4 billion times. During the Golden Kingdom, the price of silver and banknotes also increased 60 million times. During the Yuan Dynasty, the price of rice at the end of the Yuan Dynasty increased 60,000 to 70,000 times compared to the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty.
The reason, although more complicated, is that the imperfect banknote issuance system and management due to military pressure and the unique power mechanism of traditional society, coupled with the lack of sufficient reserves for the banknotes themselves, led to serious currency depreciation, which may be extremely important reasons. .
Gao Wuchen's current thinking is that the opening up of the Ming Dynasty in the past two decades, coupled with the rise of Jinghua and the addition of Xungui Capital, have actually caused silver, the precious metal, to begin to gather more at the top of the ruling class. In other words...it seems that new banknotes under the silver standard can be considered.
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