Chapter 388 Wanli's Job

At the end of September, Li Qing'an's two thousand troops arrived at Ayan City, the capital of Yuezhi Kingdom. Yuezhi Kingdom was called the Tang people, and the locals called the Tochari Kingdom. After the Battle of Tochari a few months ago, Ayan City became the commanding headquarters of the Tang army.

The Tang cavalry team drove slowly on the business road to Ayan City, looking quite silent. It was ten miles away from Ayan City, with low hills on both sides and dense jungles.

Li Qing'an was riding on the horse. He was looking up at several goshawks hovering in the air. He had raised a falcon when he was in Jinman County, but after he moved to the Broken Leaf, his eagle did not follow him and stayed in Tianshan. Perhaps it was an eagle's memory of his hometown.

Li Qing'an smiled and his eyes fell on the city of A'ang in the distance. This was the first time he had stepped into the hinterland of Tochar. He was going to rush back to Anxi to deal with the Hexi crisis, but when he arrived at Shi Khan, he received news from Anxi that the Hexi crisis had already fallen into the ground. Anxi lost Gansu and Suzhou and 20,000 troops. It should be said that the result was better than his expectations. He thought he could only save Shazhou and had no hope to save the army, but in the end, with the efforts of Anxi's subordinates, he finally saved half of his troops.

"Hmph! He took me Hexi, did he think he would just let it go?"

Li Qingan did not avoid setbacks. He had already written a letter to take responsibility for the Hexi Incident on his shoulders. As the head coach, he should not personally investigate the place where Xinde is so far away, which led to a power gap in Anxi. This was his mistake in tactical arrangements. He should have asked Li Guangbi to go to Nan to investigate Xinde, and he himself fought Tocharo.

Secondly, he underestimated Li Yu's vigilance against him. He also knew that he and Li Yu would break apart sooner or later, but he did not expect that the break between them would come so quickly. He was careless. He did not expect that otherwise he would have arranged the defense of Hexi in advance before the southern expedition.

However, there is one thing that Li Qingan couldn't figure out why Li Yu suddenly attacked Hexi. Logically, he was surrounded by enemies and attacked his apparent ally before an opponent was dealt with. This is a political low-power. Judging from what he knew, Li Yu should not make such a low-level mistake, not to mention that he had Li Mi around him, and this time Li Mi did not even dissuade him, which shows that there is a reason why Li Yu had to do it on himself.

So what is the reason? This made Li Qingan puzzled.

"General, General Li is here!" The shouts of a personal soldier interrupted Li Qing'an's thoughts.

I saw a team of cavalry running from afar. The leader was Li Guangbi, the general of Tochar. After a moment, Li Guangbi rushed forward. He turned over and dismounted and half knelt down to salute Li Qing'an. "Last general Li Guangbi met the general!"

Li Qingan quickly dismounted, helped him up, and smiled and said, "This battle in Tochar is thanks to Brother Guangbi."

Li Guangbi quickly said modestly: "Weizhi was just a lucky victory. If the Hezhong Army had not suppressed the Khurashan Dashi Army's eastern aid, it is not known that who will win this war. We must first ask for credit for the Hezhong Army."

Li Qing'an nodded, "I will consider the merits of the Hezhong Army, but Brother Guangbi is so humble, which is indeed admirable."

"I dare not! I dare not! The general has spoken."

At this time, Li Guangbi pointed to a fat middle-aged Tochar man next to him and said, "This is Luo Xian, the new king of Yuezhi Kingdom. When he heard that the general came, he came to pay his respects."

Luo Xian knelt down quickly and kowtowed to Li Qing'an respectfully, "Yue Shi Nu Luo first pays homage to His Highness Zhao!"

Li Guangbi introduced again: "King Luoxian was originally a general of Tochar and led 30,000 troops to surrender to the Tang army. Since the old king was dead, I temporarily made him the new king and asked the general to approve it."

"I see!"

Li Qing'an smiled and helped him up, "Your Highness the King asked him to raise his army and surrender to the Tang Dynasty. This is enough to show your sincerity. Then from now on, I officially agree to you as the new king of Yuezhi Kingdom."

Luo Xian hurriedly thanked him, but he couldn't help crying again: "His Royal Highness of the King of Zhao, Yuezhi was originally a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. After the Great Food expanded eastward, the Tocharian countries repeatedly sought help from the Tang Dynasty. However, the heavenly soldiers did not arrive, and Tocharian could not resist the Great Food, so he had to surrender. Now the army of the Celestial Empire has entered Tocharia and returned us to freedom. We are willing to pay taxes and labor for the people of the Tang Dynasty, and we only beg His Royal Highness of Zhao to keep us in our hometown and not let us leave our hometown."

Li Qing'an glanced at Li Guangbi, and Li Guangbi pointed to the north. Only then did he realize that according to his initial order, the resistance nationwide moved to Bosishan as a mining property. Then Yuezhi, Gao Fu, Wang Ting and other Tocharian countries could not escape and would all have to move away.

Although this is unrealistic, how could millions of Tocharis people move away? There must be chaos. Li Guangbi has not implemented it for the time being, but he has no right to cancel it. Only when Li Qing'an comes can he cancel the order.

Li Qingan did not reply directly, and he said to Luo Xian lightly: "I will discuss this with General Li Guangbi on this matter, you can avoid it first!"

"yes!"

Luo Xian hurriedly bowed and retreated.

Li Qing'an waited for him to go away and then said to Li Guangbi: "There is always a constraint on Anxi. Although it is unrealistic for the whole people to move to mines, Tochar must give me a miner."

Li Guangbi had already considered a mature plan, and he hurriedly said: "General, you might as well use the method of serving labor. Like the Central Plains, Tocharian men must serve labor for two months a year to let them go to mining. At the same time, they can extend the time of service to offset taxes. I have investigated specifically that Tocharians are willing to use labor to offset taxes."

Li Qingan thought for a while, then nodded and responded: "This method is feasible. If a system can be formed, the people who have resolved the Soviet Union can also be released and the labor service system will be implemented."

After solving this major event, Li Guangbi felt relieved and smiled: "The General has worked hard all the way, please follow the Beizhi to the city to rest."

"I'm really tired, I want to have a good sleep."

The two of them were talking and laughing and heading into the city. On the way, Li Qing'an asked, "Is there any movement on Khurashan?"

"So far, there is no movement, but I guess the cannibals will never give up. In half a year, they will inevitably launch a large-scale expedition."

"Why is it half a year?" Li Qingan asked with a smile.

"The Cannibals are quite familiar with us. Without half a year of preparation, they will not easily fight eastward, but once they prepare for half a year, their counterattack will inevitably be the end of the army. General, we must also start preparing to avoid being caught off guard."

"You're right. The Great Cannibal will never give up. I'm here to prepare for the Great Cannibal."

Speaking of this, Li Qing'an changed the topic and said with a smile: "Have you heard about the Hexi incident?"

"I just learned that the imperial court took advantage of the opportunity that the general was not in Anxi to attack Hexi. He seized the opportunity very well. However, I believed that losing Gan and Suzhou states may not be a bad thing."

"Oh? Tell me, where is the good thing?"

"At least let us know about the two rebels in advance, and the general has another talent."

"I agree with your point of view. If the land is lost, it can be taken back, but talents are not encountered at all times. Wu Yong made me feel relieved. This person can indeed be reused, but the matter in Hexi is not over. When I solve the problem of the great cannibals, I will make them unable to eat and take it away. I will return it to me as much as I take it away."

At this time, Li Guangbi suddenly remembered something and said with a smile: "When it comes to talents, I remember something. A scholar named Liu said he came from Chang'an to surrender to you, and traveled thousands of miles to find you, but he fell ill in Ayan City. This person is really crazy, but he has some knowledge."

"What is his knowledge?"

"He said that the emperor must take action against Hexi. If you personally seek faith and do not stay in Anxi, it may be difficult to save the danger in Hexi."

Li Qingan was stunned and asked quickly: "Where is this person?"

"This person is in Ayan City. He has been recuperating for nearly a month and is about to recover from his illness. He said he wants to go to Xinde to find you again."

"Take this person to see me!"

After entering the city, Li Qing'an stayed in the Yuezhi Palace. After a while, Li Guangbi led a person to meet Li Qing'an.

Seeing that this person was about 34 or 35 years old, perhaps because of his first recovery from a serious illness, Li Qing'an looked very thin, and smiled and said, "I heard you are going to Xinde to find me?"

The man hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "Sir, please see the general of the Jiedushi!"

Li Qingan was stunned, "Are you an official?"

"The lower official was ordered by the Changping Administration of Xishi City, but he has resigned from his official position and traveled thousands of miles to Anxi to find the general of the Jiedushi."

Li Qing'an nodded, waved his hand and smiled, "Sir, please sit down!"

The scholar sat down sideways, and Li Qingan asked again: "Sir, your surname is yours?"

The literati then remembered that he had not signed up and said apologizing: "I am Liu's surname and his name are Yan, and his courtesy name is Shi'an. He is from Caozhou."

"Liu Yan?"

Li Qingan suddenly remembered that this person seemed to be a famous figure in the middle Tang Dynasty, and he was famous in history for his good financial management. However, many middle Tang celebrities no longer mean anything to Li Qingan. He was too lazy to find Du Fu, Wang Wei and others. The thought only flashed through his mind. He smiled and said, "I heard from General Li that sir, how could he know about Hexi in advance, why is this?"

Liu Yan had also heard about the change in Hexi, but he was still one step too late. His eyes couldn't help but feel a little sad, and he sighed and said, "In fact, the court is full of dangers and there are many external troubles. There are An Lushan's ambitions in the north, and there are Kings of Wu, King Jing, and King Shu who are in the inner world and are lying on the sword. People in the court think that An Lushan is the most important among all external troubles. The emperor should eliminate An Lushan first, but I think that the emperor must first attack the general and will definitely attack Hexi first."

This is the mystery that Li Qing'an thoughtless. He was immediately energetic and quickly ordered his left and right to say, "Come tea to sir!"

The personal soldiers from both sides served a cup of tea. Liu Yan picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea. He said slowly: "The General must be very strange. Why is the emperor eager to fight Hexi? In fact, it was caused by the Anxi Silver Yuan."

‘Anxi Silver Dollars?’ Li Qing'an was a little puzzled. He entered a large amount of silver dollars into the Central Plains. This should be a good thing. Just like a large amount of silver pouring in in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it can greatly increase wealth. How could it cause trouble? But he did not ask much and said, "Sir, please continue!"

"The key is that Zuozang has less than 300,000 coins of copper coins. Now the court is in a very difficult financial situation. Even I, a small official from the seventh rank, have owed my salary for two years. The taxes in wealthy places such as Jianghuai, Jingxiang, Bashu, Hebei and Hedong are not transported to Beijing. The emperor is almost crazy to raise money...."

"Wait!" Li Qing'an interrupted him and said strangely: "Didn't the imperial court have a Ministry of Works, will it be the supervisor? There are tens of thousands of officials and craftsmen in it. They can fire porcelain, make paper, and sell it to Anxi. I will give him real silver dollars. Isn't this money? How could he be at a loss?"

"The General is talking about the old things."

Liu Yan smiled bitterly and said, "Now there are some officials and craftsmen in the military weapon supervision, there are no other craftsmen. They all make their own lives. Even if there are officials and craftsmen, it is useless to have no money to buy raw materials. Originally, the local government had a little inventory of silk and other light goods, but they had already been sold out by Yang Guozhong, and the money they received had been squandered by the late emperor. I often go to Zuozang and Guanzhong, and all the official warehouses in Guanzhong are empty. Now in the Tang Dynasty, the people are rich and poor. These people are not ordinary people, but powerful people, wealthy and wealthy families. It is rumored that the Lady of Guo has a wealth of no less than ten million yuan. The court is so poor that the powerful people are rich and rich. The emperor asks for money to recruit soldiers and horses, but has no money in his hands. What should I do?"

"Don't that Supreme Emperor has a grudge against the Yang family? If the Yang family is killed, will the money come in?" Li Qingan said a little disdainful.

"It's not that simple. The emperor's Concubine Cui is the daughter of Mrs. Han, and Yang Guozhong, the right prime minister, is here. The emperor dares not easily touch these powerful people. If it really starts, he will give the vassal kings a verbal politician. They will join forces to send troops, with large troops outside, colluding with the powerful and powerful inside, and even organizing civil strife in Zhuang Ding. The imperial court has insufficient troops, so how can we deal with it?"

"So he just took action against me, but what does this have to do with my Anxi Silver Dollar?"

"The general doesn't know that Di Wuqi, the doctor of the Duzhi, is my friend. He privately revealed to me that the emperor obtained a batch of silver ingots from the inner treasury of the late emperor, about 300,000 kilograms. The emperor planned to issue silver coins, with a silver content of 2,800,000 silver coins per monies, and 50 coins were used to exchange copper coins in various places. It is strictly forbidden to cast silver coins in private. This is actually a disguised issuance of large coins, so that millions of coins can be quickly obtained to recruit soldiers. This is the quickest way to deal with the crisis in front of you. But it is the large number of Anxi silver dollars that makes the new money law impossible to implement."

Li Qingan understood roughly, and smiled and said, "I gave his silver ingots to the late emperor. But I still have a little doubt. Does my Anxi silver dollar have such great influence?"

“The impact is quite big!”

Liu Yan sighed and said, "I am the order of Changping Administration. How could I not know the importance of Anxi Silver Dollars? At the beginning, Anxi Silver Dollars were mainly collected and not circulated. But later, more and more appeared in various places and began to circulate in large quantities. Now it has become the first coin of the Tang Dynasty. It is its existence. In the past, the silver coins minted by the previous emperor were originally worth 100 yuan, but now it is only worth 5 yuan on the market. Most shops are unwilling to collect them. As for the inferior minted by other people, they are minted by the silver coins.

The money is even less concerned, and Chang'an people don't buy rice. In this case, how can the money that is 50 cents can be issued? Forced exchange of copper coins will only cause chaos in the world, so the emperor must block the inflow of Anxi silver dollars. Once the source of Anxi silver dollars is blocked, the new money will quickly expel Anxi silver dollars from the market. Does the general understand? This is called the bad money expelling good coins. Only by controlling Hexi can the Anxi silver dollars be blocked."

"What a frog in the well!"

Li Qingan sneered and said, "The world is so big. Does he think he can block my silver dollars by taking Hexi? I ​​can borrow Tubo, Uighurs, and even go to sea from Punjab to Guangzhou. Can he block it? From his words and deeds in the Eastern Palace, I thought he would be a people-oriented emperor. It seems that he will still be a bird of a feather after he ascended the throne. He dared not touch the powerful and powerful, but only dared to attack the weak people."

Liu Yan sighed softly and said, "I thought so too. I had high hopes for him, but less than half a year after he ascended the throne, he wanted to issue big money in disguise and plunder the wealth of weak people, which disappointed me so I abandoned my humble official and came to Anxi to serve the general."

After saying that, Liu Yan stood up and bowed to the ground, "My minister Liu Yan is willing to serve His Highness King Zhao, and begs His Highness to include it."
Chapter completed!