In early April, the emperor of Fengxiang Prefecture ordered that Guo Ziyi, who held important military and state affairs in Pingzhang, held many positions and had great achievements in hard work. In order to share his worries, the imperial court removed Guo Ziyi from his concurrent post of Hexi Jiedu Envoy, and reassigned Hexi Jiedushi Envoy to Hexi Jiedu Envoy.
He killed Prime Minister Fang Guan.
Although Fang Guanpingzhang's title was not revoked, the appointment of Jiedushi outside the prime minister's office was tantamount to being dismissed from the prime ministership.
But compared to resigning directly, this is a more dignified exit.
Emperor Li Heng was somewhat tolerant of Fang Guan, a veteran who persuaded the emperor to abdicate. Temporarily retaining his title of Pingzhang could be regarded as giving Fang Guan a little sweet spot. If he could perform well as the governor of Hexi Province,
It might be possible to return to the center of the imperial court as prime minister.
The most paradoxical thing is that the area under the jurisdiction of the Hexi Jiedushi is mainly Longyou Road, and the imperial court has just appointed Li Yan, King of Jianning, as the general manager of Longyou Road to control the military affairs of Longyou Road.
Now he turned around and appointed Fang Guan, who had been prime minister, as Hexi Jiedushi. In other words, there were two top leaders in Longyou Dao.
Obviously, everyone from the emperor to the officials remained silent about such a strange decision. The officials from the East Palace faction smiled. King Jianning moved far away to Longyou and had half withdrawn from the struggle for the throne. Now the emperor sent Fang Guan to
Hexi served as the military governor and was obviously also suppressing King Jianning.
Fang Guan was able to leave the center safely, which was a decent way out. He made way for the new prime minister, and many ministers praised him for his high moral integrity.
However, at the imperial meeting the day before Fang Guan left Fengxiang Mansion, Fang Guan, who had not participated for a long time, insisted on participating and presented a national policy of changing horses into mulberries in front of the emperor.
This national policy is very simple. It is to replant the abandoned imperial horse farms in the area from Jiuquan to Wuwei with mulberry trees, raise silkworms and spin silk, and then sell them to merchants in the Western Regions.
Secretary Superintendent Li Mi objected on the spot: "The racecourse in Liangzhou, Suzhou, is an important source of horses for the Tang Dynasty. If the horses are changed to mulberry, how will the war horses needed for the front line be supplied?"
Fang Guan, who had been prepared for a long time, immediately said: "Now the horse administration in Suzhou and Liangzhou has long been corrupted. The states and counties in the Hexi Corridor are buying war horses from the Uighurs to supply the frontline war. This matter is not a secret. As long as the horses are dealt with
Anyone who knows anything about politics knows this."
"Instead of abandoning the horse farm, it is better to turn it into a mulberry field. Then the court can use the money from selling silk, or directly exchange the silk with the Uighurs for war horses."
At this time, Li Mi was also greatly surprised. Fang Guan was a man of great ambition and talent, and did not have the talent of a prime minister. However, he was able to talk eloquently this time, and he was obviously fully prepared.
Then Li Mi said: "If you want to build a horse farm in Liangzhou, Suzhou, you need to buy mulberry seedlings. The imperial court and the Hexi Jiedushi Mansion have already been unable to make ends meet. Who can come up with this money?"
Unexpectedly, Fang Guan was also prepared this time. He said, "Don't worry about Mi Gong. Hexi Jiedushi can guarantee the people with credit, buy mulberry seedlings first, and then pay back the money for the mulberry seedlings after they are made into silk. If the people
If you can't give it, then the Hexi Jiedu envoy's office will give it."
Li Mi asked again: "If the racecourse is changed to a mulberry field, will this field be a grant field or an official field of the imperial court?"
Li Mi's question is the most critical question.
The mines and horse farms of the Tang Dynasty were directly owned by the imperial court, and they did not participate in the granting of local land, nor could they be given to distinguished officials as permanent land.
But once the racecourse is converted into a mulberry field, it becomes a private farm that can be granted land, and it is not subject to the control of the court.
Fang Guan said: "Of course, the racecourse is given to the people as a mulberry field, but as mentioned before, the mulberry fields need to be planted with mulberry seedlings, so we must strictly select people who are capable of farming and then grant them mulberry fields."
Li Mi immediately said to Emperor Li Heng: "Sage, I am opposed to the policy of converting horses into mulberry trees! It is easy to grant the court's horse farms, but it will be difficult to get them back from the people in the future! The horses in Hexi are related to the court's century-old horse administration, so we must not
Move gently!"
Now Li Heng was a little hesitant. When Fang Guan secretly approached him, Li Heng still felt that the national policy of changing horses into mulberry trees was a great idea.
The imperial court revitalized the abandoned racecourse, and the people got the best mulberry fields. This was a way to get the best of both worlds, and it could also increase taxes in Hexi.
But now that Li Mi said this, Li Heng hesitated again.
Fang Guan immediately said: "Sage, I am willing to issue a military order. After changing the horses to mulberry, Hexi will supply a lot of war horses to the court! It can also be increased by 20%! If you cannot do it, your majesty, please chop off Fang Guan's head!"
After hearing what Fang Guan said, the emperor immediately said: "Changing horses into mulberries is the best of both worlds. Fang Aiqing should take charge of this national policy!"
The next day, the emperor personally gave Fang Guan the double festivals and double banners of the Hexi Jiedushi envoy, and then gave the Jiedushi envoy's seal to Fang Guan, ordering him to take charge of the civil affairs and military affairs of the Hexi provinces.
Fang Guan took Dou Shen, the newly appointed magistrate of the Hexi Jiedushi Envoy, and the officials he had just recruited to the Hexi Jiedushi Envoy, and went north to Liangzhou to take up their posts.
However, a young official who was the former Hexi Jiedu Envoy resigned and left the Jiedu Envoy's Mansion before Fang Guan took office.
The name of Yang Yan, the secretary in charge of the Jiedushi government, was awarded by the imperial court for his filial piety for three generations.
At a young age, Yang Yan had quick thinking and gorgeous diction. At a young age, he was recruited to the Jiedushi Mansion in Hexi Province as Secretary-General, responsible for drafting documents for the Jiedushi Mansion.
Traveling with Yang Yan was a friend he had just met.
This scholar is slightly older than Yang Yan, and he also looks polite.
His name is Liu Yan, and he is a famous child prodigy.
When Liu Yan was just eight years old, Emperor Li Longji consecrated Mount Tai, and Liu Yan presented a silk festival to the emperor as a representative of the people.
Emperor Li Longji heard about Liu Yan's magical deeds, and deliberately asked his favorite concubine Yang Yuhuan to "dress up like a turban" and dress up properly.
The emperor looked at Liu Yan and asked, "Zhengzi, how many characters is it?"
Liu Yan replied: "Every word in the world is correct, but the word Peng is not correct."
This sentence is a pun, which not only expresses the structural characteristics of the character "Peng", but also profoundly points out the disadvantages of collusion between cronies.
Liu Yan quickly became famous all over the world by admonishing the emperor with his words. However, Liu Yan was not willing to serve as an official and still studied in his hometown.
An Lushan rebelled, and at the end of the first year of De Yuan, Liu Yan received an invitation from Wu Qi and recruited him to assist Wu Qi in handling Jianghuai salt and iron affairs.
Originally, Liu Yan was ready to take the call, but he encountered the rebellion of King Yong Li Lin. Under the turmoil in Jianghuai, Liu Yan was unwilling to serve in Jianghuai, so he left for Lingwu.
But he didn't expect that when he arrived at Lingwu, Yujia had already gone to Fengxiang Mansion.
Liu Yan thought for a while, saw the border scenery of Lingwu, thought of Wang Zhihuan's "Liangzhou Ci", and decided to continue to visit Anxi.
Liu Yan continued to travel westward and met Yang Yan, who was also famous as a young man in Liangzhou. The two hit it off and talked happily.
Yang Yan resigned on the spot and decided to go out to Yumen Pass with Liu Yan to see the scenery outside the Great Wall.
Yang Yan and Liu Yan, who had just left Yumen Pass, heard big news from the caravan.
Li Yan, King of Jianning, is going to hold a big debate in Shazhou City to discuss whether the mountainous pastures should be controlled by the government or left to the common people.
Yang Yan and Liu Yan were both interested in the art of wealth. This debate aroused their interest, so they decided to go to Shazhou City.
Yang Yan and Liu Yan got on a strange carriage. The wheels of this carriage were luxuriously made of iron. Sitting in the carriage was not bumpy at all, and the speed was much faster than ordinary carriages.
The coachman sat on the top of the carriage, and three horses pulled the carriage. The speed was almost the same as riding a horse, but it was not as hard as riding a horse.
The wooden carriage can not only withstand wind and sand, but people sitting in the carriage can chat with each other, making the originally arduous and boring trip much more comfortable.
They heard that this kind of carriage was invented by the craftsmen of King Jianning. Both Yang Yan and Liu Yan were amazed. If this kind of carriage can be promoted throughout the country, long-distance travel will no longer be a difficult thing.
"Yang Sanlang, I didn't expect that outside the Yumen Pass, it would be more prosperous than inside the pass." Yang Yan ranked third in the clan, so people close to him called him Yang Sanlang.
Yang Yan looked through the window at the continuous caravans on the official road and said, "Yeah, I didn't expect such a scenery outside the pass."
Going west from Yumen Pass, this is the territory controlled by King Jianning, and a large number of merchants are heading to Guazhou City in groups.
Liu Yan developed supernatural powers at the age of seven, read a lot of books, and had a good understanding of mountains and rivers geography.
Liu Yan said in confusion: "There are no specialties in Guazhou City. Why do so many businessmen go to Guazhou?"
Yang Yan was also surprised. He could understand the prosperity of Shazhou, but Guazhou was just a capital city in Xiazhou, so why did so many businessmen go there?
However, Liu Yan and Yang Yan's doubts were soon answered. When the carriage entered the Dashui Gorge, they saw huge chimneys emitting white smoke, and the sound of hammering iron was heard everywhere.
The carriage stopped at the rest area near Dashui Gorge. Yang Yan and Liu Yan got off the carriage and looked at the iron factories that had gathered into a small town not far away, showing expressions of horror.
Liu Yan has also traveled to many places. He praised: "I have only seen so many blacksmith workshops in Nanyang. I never expected that there are such prosperous blacksmith workshops outside Heguan!"
Yang Yan was also shocked and said: "Nanyang has been an important iron smelting town since the Han Dynasty. Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty relied on Nanyang iron to restore the Eastern Han Dynasty. The iron factory in Guazhou is actually larger than Nanyang. How did King Jianning do it?
of?"
In the rest area, villagers provided hot water, and some villagers came to the service to sell delicious lunch boxes.
Yang Yan and Liu Yan asked about the smell of the bento boxes, and they were almost greedy. Yang Yan immediately called a kid selling bento boxes and bought two bento boxes.
Liu Yan was older than Yang Yan, but although he became famous at a young age, he never became an official. Naturally, he was not as rich as Yang Yan, who had served as the secretary of the Jiedu Envoy.
Yang Yan basically paid for the expenses along the way, which made Liu Yan feel a little ashamed.
Yang Yan didn't care at all. He handed the lunch box to Liu Yan and said, "Liu Lang, I didn't expect that this small Guazhou would have such interesting places."
Liu Yan secretly decided that if he became rich in the future, he would definitely repay Yang Yan.
He nodded and said, "It seems that His Royal Highness Prince Jianning is running a good business."
The next morning, the merchants in the rest area began to set up stalls. Yang Yan and Liu Yan decided to rest for half a day to see what the quality of Guazhou's ironware was and why nearby merchants flocked to it.
When they saw the strong and durable Guazhou ironware, the price of which was even lower than that of the ironware in Guan Nei, both of them were a little shocked.
They heard a businessman say: "Nowadays, businessmen from Guan Nei will come to Guazhou to buy ironware. I'm afraid the two men don't know that this Guazhou iron is not only good-looking, but also strong and durable. It is even better than the ones produced by the Ordnance Supervisor of Guan Nei."
All weapons are strong."
Yang Yan and Liu Yan were even more surprised now. Ordnance Supervisors were agencies set up by the imperial court in various places to manufacture weapons, but many Ordnance Supervisors also secretly manufactured weapons and sold them.
The kitchen and agricultural tools produced by the Dashuixia Iron Works are actually stronger than the weapons of the Ordnance Inspector?
But seeing the long queue in front of the Dashuixia Blacksmith Town, Yang Yan and Liu Yan had to believe that the products from the Dashuixia Iron Factory were really good, which was why so many businessmen were rushing to buy them.
The two set off again, and when they were about to arrive at Guazhou City, they found that there were more and more scholars coming and going.
After asking, I found out that these scholars were also going to Shazhou City, and they were also going there for the great debate in Shazhou City.
In a wine shop where scholars gathered, the two finally understood why King Jianning wanted to hold this big debate in Shazhou City.
"I heard that this debate started in Gaochang City. More than 20 village chiefs wrote to the Xizhou Governor's Office, asking the Governor's Office to take back the mountain forest mines in the hands of the old Gaochang tribe in the name of wasteland. Naturally, the old Gaochang tribe refused to accept it, so they
The matter came up in front of Mr. Li, the governor of Xizhou, so Mr. Li asked the Gaochang old tribe to debate with the officials of the governor's office in front of the whole city."
"The old people of Gaochang also hired many scholars for their ancestral property. It is said that the governor's office set up a place in front of the government office, and the two sides debated for three days and three nights, but neither could discuss the matter clearly."
"Master Cui can only report this matter to His Highness King Jianning, so His Highness will hold another debate in Shazhou City to discuss whether this mountain forest mine should be opened."
How could King Jianning be so ambitious?
Different from these Longyou scholars who have little family knowledge, Yang Yan and Liu Yan are both well-read scholars. In addition to Confucian classics, they also read history books. King Jianning summoned the sages of Longyou to discuss whether the mountain forest mine should be
It’s time to open up. Isn’t this just like the Shiquge meeting?
The Shiquge Salt and Iron Conference was a political and cultural meeting held by Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty to convene the world's virtuous writers and important officials of the imperial court to discuss the matter of the salt and iron official camp.
At the end of this meeting, the discussion was not only about the issues of salt and iron, but also the national policy of the entire Han Dynasty.
After the meeting, Minister Huan Kuan compiled the contents of the Shiquge meeting and formed a book "Salt and Iron Theory".
This book is still the theoretical source of financial law in the past dynasties. It can be said that the pros and cons of collecting wealth and collecting taxes in the past dynasties were discussed at the Shiquge Salt and Iron Conference.
King Jianning actually wanted to hold such a meeting. Yang Yan and Liu Yan looked at each other and saw shock in each other's eyes.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
After some adjustments and updates, this chapter is 4,000 words long.
In the future, it will be updated at 9 am and 7 am. One chapter will be 3,000 words, and the total number of words will remain unchanged.
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