Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 2310
Watching Fang Jun step up to the center of power in the Tang Dynasty step by step, famous all over the world, even if the emperor wanted to suppress his official position, he couldn't help it, how could Changsun Wuji not feel jealous?
The eldest son, Sun Chong, is unlikely to enter an official career again in his life. Even if he makes military exploits in the Eastern Expedition in the future, the emperor will allow him to pay for his crimes. It is already a great favor of the emperor to return to Chang'an as a commoner. Official career... ...impossible.

Glancing at Changsun Huan, this bastard is not bad at wit and resourcefulness, but it's a pity that his talents are useless. Being the chief official of the Nine Temples is already considered the limit. .

There is never a shortage of smart people in this world, and there are countless people with deep scheming minds, but not everyone can be a good official.

The most important thing to be an official is to do things. Doing things not only requires smart wisdom, but also vision, responsibility, and courage. Otherwise, even if you can slander and flatter you to get into an official position by virtue of your cleverness, you will never have the slightest room for improvement. .

If morality is not coordinated, there will be disasters, and it will not end well in the end...

Thinking of his eldest grandson Wuji being an extremely powerful minister and possessing power all over the world, it is hard to express the depression and sigh in his heart that so many of his sons can't find a single person who can take on the heavy responsibility and lead the leader.

I have fought against Fang Xuanling secretly for half my life, and even though I have the upper hand, I have never completely overwhelmed Fang Xuanling. As a result, when I was old, the competition of the next generation was overwhelmed...

When Changsun Huan saw his father frowning and sighing, he was very curious. This kind of dejected expression is not often seen in Changsun Wuji, so he couldn't help asking: "Why is father sighing?"

Changsun Wuji glanced at him, endured it, and finally did not say "I think my son is not as good as Fang Xuanling's son" to strengthen the blow, but said: "You are the young minister of Honglu Temple now. , pay more attention to the situation of the countries in the Western Regions, and inquire about the situation in the Western Regions from the merchants and envoys of the countries in the Western Regions, my father always feels that under the tranquility in front of the Western Regions, there seems to be some undercurrent of turmoil brewing."

Chang Sun Huan was taken aback: "Father mean that Arab?"

Changsun Wuji shook his head and said: "If it's just Arabs, it's better. The most fearful thing is that the Western Turkic gang, who were frightened by the Tang Dynasty, colluded with the Arabs and united with the countries of the Western Regions... If In that way, I am afraid that the great situation created by thousands of tigers in the Western Regions will be destroyed once, as long as the Silk Road is completely blocked, it will be a huge blow to the taxation of the Tang Dynasty."

For a long time, the existence of the Silk Road is equivalent to a river flowing with gold.

Throughout the dynasties, as long as the Silk Road can be unblocked, so that the porcelain and silk from the East can reach the far West, and the gold, gems, and spices from the West can also be transported to the East, and the countries passing through it will gather massive wealth.

Changsun Chong frowned and said, "Right now, the navy of the Tang Dynasty is running rampant across the ocean. Wherever it goes, it is the place where the goods of the Tang Dynasty are sold. The profit of the sea trade is more than twice that of the land route? I am afraid that the taxation of the Silk Road trade is in the Great Tang Dynasty. In Tang's overall taxation, the proportion is getting lower and lower, right?"

He witnessed with his own eyes the arrival of merchant ships escorted by the Royal Navy of the Tang Dynasty to Goguryeo. The magnificent scene of the boats like clouds and the masts and sails was very shocking.

A huge merchant ship was loaded with countless cargoes. Once it docked, it would be divided up by Goguryeo merchants and sold to various places in Goguryeo.

And it is said that such prosperous scenes happened in countless countries such as Nanyang and Dongyang. If the Silk Road is a flowing golden river, then the various sea routes are endless and surging tides!

The scale of the two cannot be compared at all.

The joint operation of the Changsun family and several clans in the south of the Yangtze River alone, the annual profit of the sea trade can bring hundreds of times the wealth of land lease...

Under such circumstances, why not simply abandon the Silk Road, which requires huge manpower and material resources to maintain, and concentrate on managing maritime trade?
Let the barbarians in the Western Regions fight for it, and give them the entire Silk Road, to see what kind of waves they can make without the huge market of Datang...

Changsun Wuji sighed slightly, and said: "Do you think that now that the sea trade is booming, there will be corresponding taxes flowing into the national treasury? It's too naive. The existence of the Shibo Division has indeed made many hidden profits in the past have to be put aside." On the stage, this greatly increased the tax revenue of the empire, but in fact, the Shibo Division will never be able to achieve a true and detailed control of the accounts of maritime trade, and corruption and concealment are still the norm."

He looked at Changsun Chong. Although he knew that this son was still unable to enter the official career, he was still a little disappointed by his sensitivity to the political situation at the moment.

"Do you know that Fang Jun has always been a staunch supporter of vigorously maintaining the rule of the Western Regions, why is this?"

"..."

Chang Sun Chong was stunned for a moment, thought for a while, and was quite puzzled.

The rise of maritime trade is precisely because Fang Jun single-handedly created the Royal Navy, which wiped out large and small pirates in the East China Sea in one fell swoop. The profits of sea trade increased exponentially, resulting in the outbreak of sea trade.

At the same time, he led the navy to forcibly lease ports in Annan, Waguo and other places, demarcated free trade areas, and knocked on the doors of various countries with force, allowing Datang goods to flood into these places under extremely low tax rates. , Crazy grabbing profits.

It can be said that the prosperity of Datang Maritime Trade is thanks to Fang Jun.

However, while vigorously developing maritime trade, it still advocates maintaining control over the declining Silk Road, which is really surprising.

"The child is stupid, and I hope my father will explain it."

Chang Sun Chong couldn't help asking.

Changsun Wuji stroked his beard, a little disappointed and disheartened, and sighed: "My son, think about it, where is the imperial capital of the Tang Dynasty?"

Chang Sun Chong suddenly realized, and blurted out: "So that's how it is!"

The eldest Sun Huan next to him was stunned. Even if he didn't want to admit it, he knew that this elder brother who had to go into exile like a dog who lost his family, had a wisdom and strategy that couldn't be compared with his own.

Unavoidably depressed...

Changsun Chong said: "The imperial capital of the Tang Dynasty is Chang'an! Qinchuan, which is 50 miles away, is the center of the empire and the center of the country, and the stability of Guanzhong will make the world safe. Sea trade has certainly brought great wealth to the Tang Dynasty, but at the same time It also caused the wealth in the Jiangnan area to increase suddenly, even surpassing Guanzhong in one fell swoop. If it is allowed to ebb and flow, it will not take long for Jiangnan to surpass Guanzhong and become the most important wealth of the empire. Top-heavy, it is not a long-term solution Therefore, not only must the Silk Road never be cut off, but it is even necessary to intensify efforts to continuously develop the Western Regions, so as to ensure the status of Chang'an. Otherwise, after three to fifty years, if you want to continue to maintain the stability of the government, you can only give up Chang'an. Move the capital to Jiangnan!"

When the capital of the empire is located in Guanzhong, but the place of wealth is far away in the south of the Yangtze River, the distance between the two is thousands of miles, and even the most powerful emperor will inevitably be beyond his reach. If things go on like this, it will inevitably breed the ambitions of the Jiangnan gentry, and turmoil and division are just around the corner. between.

Therefore, the more prosperous Jiangnan is, the more the empire must stabilize the Western Regions and keep the Silk Road unimpeded, so as to ensure that Chang'an is always at the center of the empire.

Changsun Huan was very distasteful. It took a long time for his father and brother to understand that Guanzhong and Jiangnan still had such entanglement and competition with each other, but Fang Jun had already seen through all this, and strongly advocated that the empire continue to exert pressure and use troops on the Western Regions. Could it be that Is the gap between myself and Fang Jun really that big?
He felt resentful, and couldn't help but said: "Sea trade was advocated by Fang Jun vigorously. Could it be that he moved a stone and shot himself in the foot? How can His Majesty put Guanzhong in a situation where it will be overtaken by Jiangnan at any time?" Don't blame him?"

Changsun Wuji sighed from the bottom of his heart, picked up his teacup, and lost interest in talking.

this idiot...

On the contrary, Chang Sun Chong patiently explained: "Second brother may not have seen Fang Jun's strategy. Just imagine, if Jiangnan is allowed to surpass Guanzhong in one fell swoop and become the core of the empire's wealth by relying on the profits of the sea trade, we Guanlong nobles will be in danger. Where is it placed?"

Changsun Huan subconsciously said: "Naturally, one ebbs and another ebbs and flows... Oh, that's how it is!"

Once Jiangnan rises and becomes the core of the empire's wealth, the gentry in Jiangnan will surely rise accordingly, and the Guanlong nobles will gradually decline in their place.

How can the nobles of Guanlong sit and wait for death?

(End of this chapter)