Several osmanthus trees are planted in the courtyard of Li Linfu's house in Pingkangfang. In autumn, the garden is filled with the fragrance of osmanthus flowers. It is already early spring, and the osmanthus branches are sprouting and green.

It was time for a bath at noon that day, and Li Linfu had nothing to do and was walking in the yard, feeling the breath of spring.

"Right Prime Minister, a letter from Luoyang."

The servant handed Li Linfu a letter he had just received.

Waving his hand gently, the servant quietly retreated. Li Linfu opened the letter with a smile. He had already guessed what Zheng Shuqing would say.

Generally speaking, it is nothing more than "help".

Even if he is one of his own, he has to suppress him. Li Linfu is a person who is very particular about finesse and means, and he also guards against and suppresses Zheng Shuqing.

There is no solution to the Hanjiacang matter. However, the national strategic reserve granary cannot be left empty. There is only one way to cure the symptoms and cure the problem, and that is to build a canal between Chang'an and Luoyang.

In this case, a steady stream of grain-carrying ships can be transported from Biankou Road to Chang'an by water, and then the problem of Hanjiacang will be like prickly heat after autumn, which will be cured without treatment.

Other than that, there is no solution. It is precisely because he knew there was no solution that Li Linfu asked Zheng Shuqing to take over this errand. He waited for the other party to call for help, then fished him out, and finally pushed his political opponents one by one.

Get the official position of managing Hanjia Cang.

It only takes a few months to deal with one person, but it will take at least three years to build the canal. A conservative estimate is that we can deal with more than a dozen political enemies of the court!

As he was thinking about it, he opened the letter. After reading the first few lines, Li Linfu's hand holding the letter shook and he almost dropped the letter to the ground.

"Meet Qianfa? It's interesting."

Li Linfu pondered for a moment and continued to read.

Zheng Shuqing's method is complicated at times, and requires the central level of the Tang Dynasty to amend the law. But at the same time, it is extremely simple. To put it more clearly, it is to use credit instead of currency and transfer payments.

This concept is not new now, but it was really popularized in the middle and late Tang Dynasty after the Anshi Rebellion. Because the Jiedushi envoys were plucking their feathers, and the merchants were carrying money and silk across the border, just like unprotected babies.

The golden rice bowl dangles in front of the robbers.

Therefore, long-distance large-scale transactions often use the "credit currency" method. It is not uncommon to issue a bill at the starting point A and get the money at the end point B, eliminating the intermediate circulation process. This situation is not uncommon.

In this letter, Zheng Shuqing asked Sinong Temple to open a new department to handle the write-off of accounts. Once a transaction is completed, a sum of money will be given. In this way, there is no need to request money from the court.

Li Linfu thought about it for a while and found that this method was so good that he couldn't even think of a flaw!

This is definitely a brilliant idea that can only be thought up by someone who is familiar with business operations, but it is obvious that Zheng Shuqing is not this material.

"That's all."

Li Linfu sighed. What a trap, Zheng Shuqing had filled it up like this. It was too late to replace the opponent now. He could only try Zheng Shuqing's method first, and then decide what to do next.

.

After being slightly depressed, he cheered up again. Because in addition to the government affairs of Hanjiacang that could deceive people, there were actually many other problems that could deceive people in the Central Committee of the Tang Dynasty.

For example, the Fu Bing Ban is now in name only. Last year, 35 people were supposed to attend the Fu Bing Ban in Longyou, but only 6 actually showed up. The others were excused for various reasons.

The Nanya Forbidden Army, composed of the Fubingbanshang, was in decline due to the collapse of the Fubing system. The number of soldiers shrank again and again, resulting in the Forbidden Army becoming a private reserve for the Beiya Forbidden Army, which mainly recruited soldiers.

In order to ensure the normal operation of the border town, it is a general trend to transform the government soldiers into recruiting soldiers. However, the interests involved here are so great that no one can control the situation!

Li Linfu felt that it seemed good to use the government affairs of replacing government soldiers with recruiting soldiers to kill political opponents.

"Here come, prepare the car, I am going to the palace."

Li Linfu ordered his servants.

…

Fang Chongyong and his party first went to Guanglufang on the west side of Zhuque Street. This is where Chang'an officials gathered when they went to the west. It was also here that documents for customs clearance along the way were processed.

Then the carriage went out of Kaiyuanmen in the west and headed west, passing by Linfu Station. Here it changed horses without changing carriages, and continued westward.

"The white dragon horse, with its hooves facing west, carries Tang Sanzang and follows his three disciples. He goes to the west to learn the scriptures on the main road, which covers tens of thousands of miles."

In the smooth carriage, Fang Chongyong was humming children's songs, feeling very happy.

He finally left Chang'an, where he felt uncomfortable for a moment. He felt like he was being assimilated by the city all the time, turning into one of those "elegant" and "fashionable" Wuling youths.

Traveling is different.

I have to say that in Datang, if you are an official, especially a powerful or well-backed official, then traveling will not be an uncomfortable thing. The inns along the road will take good care of you. Let

You have the mood and energy to enjoy the scenery.

And it’s all free! There are people licking you along the way! The service is attentive!

"Lang Jun, isn't Chang'an very nice? Why should we leave?"

Fang Laique, who was sitting next to him, asked.

"The world in Chang'an is too small."

Fang Chongyong sighed and continued: "And there is a kind of false prosperity, which I don't like."

Fang Laique nodded in understanding.

"It doesn't matter if you go elsewhere, as long as you tell me the name of Alang Youzhou Jiedushi, you can get things without paying."

Fang Laique added another sentence.

A vein popped out on Fang Chongyong's forehead, he knocked Fang Laique's head and said: "The people of Hexi are fierce and fierce. When the time comes when your legs are broken, don't run in front of me and shout for help!"

"oh."

Fang Laique responded, not knowing what he was thinking.

At this moment, Fang Dafu, who was driving the car, shouted to Fang Zhongyong at the top of his lungs: "Maweiyi is ahead of us, do you want to spend the night here tonight?"

Maweiyi!

"We'll spend the night here tonight."

Fang Chongyong was stunned for a moment, and then shouted to Fang Dafu who was driving the car.

The carriage stopped, and Fang Chongyong got out of the car and observed Mawei Station. It was just an ordinary inn, far inferior to Hanyin Station in Xiangyang.

"The colorful clothes shocked Tai Canghuang, and the king who concealed his face lost his claim. The Qixi Festival alliance promise cannot be forgotten, Qian Niu wants to scold Li Sanlang."

Fang Chongyong looked at the mediocre Maweiyi and sighed with emotion.

"Lang Jun, does the Li Sanlang you just mentioned refer to the current saint?"

Fang Laique asked curiously.

"Shut up and get out of here!"

Fang Dafu pulled Fang Laique aside and pulled him aside.

"Mr. Lang, the journey is long. Should we hire an escort?"

Fang Dafu lowered his head, leaned into Fang Chongyong's ear and asked.

"No, not asking for an escort means you don't have much money and status. It's actually safer."

Fang Chongyong said in a deep voice.

There is a journey of 1,600 miles from Liangzhou to Chang'an, and they have just started.

According to the seventh record of "Tongdian", the traffic roads of the Tang Dynasty during the Kaiyuan period were: "To the Song Dynasty and Bian in the east, to Qizhou in the west... to the south... to the north... to Shuchuan (Sichuan) in the west, Liangfu (Wuwei, Gansu)

"

The transportation road from Chang'an to the northwest, passing through Yuanzhou and reaching Liangzhou, was the most important post road in the Tang Dynasty. This road ran from Chang'an to Jingzhou, then from Jingzhou to Pingliang, and then passed Longshan Pass to Yuanzhou.

Cross the Muxia Pass to Huizhou, turn northwest to Huining Pass, cross the Yellow River from Huiningjin, and then pass through Wulan Pass to Liangzhou.

The route is very mature and has been developed since the Han Dynasty. There were occasional changes during the period, and it was finally fixed in the Tang Dynasty. The journey is generally safe, and there are government-run inns and private "shops" along the way to accommodate people coming and going.

supply.

The only guard in their group was Aduan, who looked a bit shabby indeed. Cui Qianyou had already followed Wang Zhongsi to the Chishui Army in Hexi, so he was not with Fang Chongyong and the others.

A group of people entered Mawei Post. As soon as the post guards heard about Fang Chongyong's official position, they quickly received him warmly. They were all used to seeing big shots.

If a person has a very powerful official position and a high vacuous position, then there is no doubt that this person is a high-ranking official in the court, and his entourage often numbers dozens or even hundreds of people. Facing this kind of noble person,

Of course the postman must kneel down and lick him!

And when a person only has a high fictitious position but no actual position, you have to be careful, as it is easy to get noticed.

Generally speaking, such people have high status. They have no actual positions, just because the court has no suitable errands for them, and they often have very few entourages around them.

After the mid-Tang Dynasty, when the central government of the Tang Dynasty dispatched local officials, there were more than one situation where "the actual duties were not enough, and the false posts were filled up", which is enough to show that false posts are not completely "virtual".

If someone neglects someone who has such a "high status", they will take revenge in the future, and it is really just a matter of one sentence to set up a postman.

"Can I write a poem about this Mawei Station?"

Fang Chongyong asked curiously.

"Look what you said, when Princess Jincheng married into Tubo, Zhang said that Xianggong Zhang left a poem in Mawei Post. That's what's hanging on the wall."

The postman pointed to a large pile of wooden boards hanging on the wooden wall in the lobby of the post station. The one placed in the most conspicuous position was the poem written by the former prime minister Zhang Shuo.

Poetry is a cultural product of the Tang Dynasty. Every prestigious place is proud to have a wall to hang poems on. Poets in the Tang Dynasty also competed to leave their own calligraphy on this "poetry wall".

"Qinghai made peace with Japan, and when Huangxing came out and descended. The prince of Rong was the son-in-law, and the uncle of Han was kind to his family.
To be continued...