A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 725 Conservative Party Wei Zheng

In the blink of an eye, the four years of Zhenguan are almost over.
Only a little tail is left. The children are looking forward to the New Year, but the adults are still busy and busy. Especially for many poor people, the New Year is a tribulation.

Although life has improved in recent years, at least for most people, food supply is stable and sufficient, prices are not high, and food and clothing are barely enough.

But there will be a lot of expenses during the New Year, which makes people have a headache just thinking about it.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the princes and ministers who are above the rest do not have an easy time at the end of the year. They don't have to worry about money to buy new clothes and prepare new year's goods. Instead, they have a lot of things to deal with in the court at the end of the year.

"Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses stationed in Lingnan? Who thought of it? No food or drink? No military money and food? Just those 12 people went to Tongjun Mansion, 400 people went there, and [-] regiments had to be divided to build the city. Field, where did the field come from?”

In the political hall,

Wei Zheng, the Attendant and Duke of Julu County, spoke in a loud voice, even tapping the tables in front of him with his knuckles as he spoke.

"We also need to build a naval army. Three naval armies, each with [-] troops. Then which port will each of these naval armies be stationed at? Do we need to build water fortresses? Do we also need to build naval warships? How much does this cost? "

"We need to build three coastal inspection departments, each with 3000 people. It's really easy to say..."

Wei Zheng kept talking,

The Lingnan garrison plan was completely refuted by him. The only thing he supported was to change the original nine governor's mansions into six governor's mansions. He even felt that there was no need for six governor's mansions in Lingnan, and at most the three governor's mansions in Guangjiao and Guizhou would be retained.

There is no need to have so many states in Lingnan now. It can be streamlined and streamlined, just down to 100 or [-] states, unlike the more than [-] states now.

But the household registration is only over 60.

In the fourth year of Wude, Li Jing went to Lingnan and all the states surrendered. At that time, there were 96 states with more than 60 registered residents. Now ten years later, there are still more than 60 registered residents, but there are more than 100 states.

It's just nonsense, just saying that Gaozhou and Naju will be divided into two, and the two into four.

That Douzhou, originally called Nanfuzhou, had five counties, but the total number of households was just over a thousand.

But so what if there were 60 households? How many cents in taxes did the imperial court receive from Lingnan?
Although Lingnan is large, in recent years it has only relied on receiving some taxes from the three states of Jiaotong, Guangxi and Guangxi. In the past two years, one has been added to Shaozhou, and then there are trade tariffs from the ports there.

To be honest, the taxes collected in Lingnan were not as much as the imperial court could earn from direct government-run gambling and trade there.

Although Lingnan is large, the household registrations are all fictitious, let alone taxes. There is no fiscal revenue in the place. If the imperial court sends tens of thousands of troops there, isn't it just a loss-making business?

How much military expenditure does it cost per year?
Furthermore, in Wei Zheng's eyes, the Lingnan area was as barbaric as Central Guizhou and Nanzhong. The imperial court sent so many troops there at once. With the arrogance and domineering nature of those generals, they must be looking for trouble even if they have nothing to do. How could they do that? Looking for ways to start a war,

Military generals are afraid that there will be no battles to fight. If they fight, they will be able to make meritorious deeds. Fighting will also bring various benefits.

Just like Dou Gui, Cheng Yaojin, Wei Yunqi, Guo Xingfang and others who were in Bashu South, they didn't know how much they earned from buying and selling slaves.

In Wei Zheng's view, this plan was simply something created by the military and there was no need to discuss it.

Wu Huaiyu sat in the political hall,
Holding a cup of hot tea, he listened calmly to Wei Zheng's comments.

I haven't been back for a long time, but Wei Zheng's ability to troll people seems to have improved a bit.

It cannot be said that what Wei Zheng said is unreasonable. The reasons can be listed as one, two, three and four, but Wu Huaiyu can only say that Wei Zheng is biased.

This is not a dispute over civil and military lines, nor is it a financial issue.
The imperial court wanted to send troops to Lingnan, which was a necessary action to bring the now semi-independent Lingnan into the imperial rule.

Although the Tang Dynasty was large, there was not an extra inch.

Just like Jiaozhou Dudufu, its southern coast extends all the way to Huanzhou Jiude in the far south, which is probably Vinh City in Vietnam in later generations, and reaches the Lan River.Previously, the imperial court also established the Nande Governor's Office here.

During the Sui Dynasty, they even went on an expedition to Linyi, captured the capital of Linyi, and pursued them all the way to the south of the Tiannan Bronze Pillar that was established after Ma Yuan of the Han Dynasty destroyed Jiaozhi. Three new counties, Linyi County, Bijing County, and Haiyin County were established. From the original three counties of Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen and Rinan, six counties were established in the Annan area.

However, during the turmoil at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the three counties established by the Sui Dynasty were captured by Lin Yi.

The Jiaozhi people even wanted to attack the Red River, but Qiu He was still somewhat capable when he was in charge of Jiaozhou. With the assistance of Gao Shilian and others, he not only suppressed the Jiaozhi people, but also repelled Qinzhou's troops. Ning's invasion.

Taking a sip of tea,

Wu Huaiyu put down his tea cup and coughed.

"Prime Minister Wei,"

Wu Huaiyu interrupted Wei Zheng, "Don't be impatient, Prime Minister Wei. Today's meeting is just about discussing matters. Everyone should express their opinions and discuss their opinions.

Everyone can speak freely next,”

In today's meeting, it is Wu Huaiyu's turn to hold the office pen.
Wei Zheng sat down and picked up the tea cup. He also likes to drink loose tea from the Wu family. It is easy to brew and drink without the complexity of boiling and seasoning.

After giving an impassioned statement in the hall meeting, I felt thirsty and had a drink to moisten my mouth.

Huaiyu sat there and turned over the plan in his hand.
It was reported by Zhou Shaofan, Minister of the Ministry of War. However, this report was read by the emperor and forwarded to the Political Affairs Hall for discussion. The report was actually proposed by Wu Huaiyumian Shengshi. Then the emperor asked Zhou Shaofan and Li Jing to discuss it together and asked the Ministry of War to draft a report and submit it to the emperor. , the emperor came to the political hall again.

This matter has actually been basically approved by Li Shimin.

Now we have to go through the procedures and pass them through the Political Affairs Hall.

But Wei Zheng strongly opposed it.

In the Tang Dynasty, from the fourth year of Wude, Li Jing went to Lingnan to pacify 96 states, and now at the end of the fourth year of Zhenguan, the imperial court has only set up three offices in Lingnan, namely Guangzhou, Guizhou and Jiaozhou.

There are only 800 people in each government.

There were more than 600 unified armies in the Tang Dynasty. Including Beiya's forbidden army, there were 70 million soldiers and horses. However, there were only three unified army offices in Lingnan.

In Guannai Road alone, there are 280 nine unified army offices.

Strong trunks and weak branches keep the inside weak and the outside weak.

The core status of Guanlong and the peripheral status of Lingnan can be said to be very obvious.During the Southern Dynasties, Lingnan only controlled the core points of Jiaoguang and Guangxi. The rest of Lingnan relied on a system that supported powerful chiefs such as Feng Ningchen as agents of the court to manage Lingnan.

For such remote areas, this agent system cannot be said to be bad. At least it can ensure that these places are not chaotic. They can also collect some tribute and taxes from there every year, and occasionally recruit tribal soldiers during wars.

Of course, another benefit of Lingnan's stability is that it can also become a market. For example, handicrafts in government-run workshops, such as silk and porcelain, can be sold to Lingnan, and high value-added items such as ironware can also be sold in Lingnan. There is a market here and a lot of profit can be made.

Of course, the Central Plains court also wanted to have stronger control, directly collect taxes and send conscripts, etc., but the ruling power here was too weak and it was really impossible to do so.

So we had to adopt this agency system,
It's just like some places directly engage in tax farming. If they don't have enough ability to calculate and collect accurately, then they can farm the tax, outsource the tax, set a rough tax amount, and even allow the tax farmer to gain great benefits. It's better than doing it yourself. It's not strong at all.

Regardless of whether you have Song, Qi, Liang, Chen, or the unified Sui Dynasty, they have not been able to achieve complete rule. It would be good to be able to control a few cores.

Even powerful chiefs such as Feng Ningchen and others, who hold the titles of governor, governor and other governors awarded by the Central Plains, can only control those cities and plain areas, and they cannot control the Xitong barbarians in the mountains.

Li Shimin was an ambitious emperor.
He doesn't want any nominal submission, what he needs is real rule.

Lingnan must be included in the actual rule, especially Wu Huaiyu said more than once the importance of Lingnan. The coast has the benefits of maritime trade, and Lingnan is rich in gold and silver. In addition, the Danquan there can soak iron into copper and become the copper material of the Tang Dynasty. main source of
Each of these is a huge benefit,

What's more, compared with those places in southern and central Guizhou, which are really remote and backward, with inconvenient transportation, Lingnan still has many advantages in transportation. The Ling Canal opened in the Qin Dynasty and the Meiguan Ancient Road opened in this dynasty can cross the Five Ridges and become important. trade routes.

Lingnan itself, the Xijiang River Basin, is also connected in all directions.

There is still such a large population. There are a lot of Han people in Lingnan, and the plain areas are also well developed.
With such a large population, land, and high-quality resources, how could Li Shimin give up?

Wu Huaiyu told Li Shimin that Lingnan is equivalent to the Hexi Corridor.

Can the Hexi Corridor be abandoned?
cannot,

Therefore, Lingnan and the imperial court must not give up. They must completely control it and turn it into the Hexi Corridor of the Tang Dynasty and a prosperous Maritime Silk Road.

If you want to control it, you need an army.

And Wu Huaiyu told the emperor that not to mention [-] to [-] troops, even if there were [-] troops stationed in Lingnan, they would not lose money. The returns that could be obtained there would definitely be ten times or a hundred times, and the longer the return, the higher the returns.

Unless he is an emperor who does not want to do anything and has no ideals and ambitions, he will turn a blind eye to Lingnan and watch this treasure fall into the hands of those powerful chiefs and handsome men.

All the financial problems in Lingnan are not problems, they are just begging for food with a golden rice bowl in hand.

All the court needs is determination;

Now all the external conditions are basically mature. Now is the perfect opportunity for the imperial court to march into Lingnan and truly control Lingnan.

Even Feng An, the king of Lingnan, went to Beijing to meet the emperor and was willing to stay in Chang'an. What else did the court have to worry about?
The right servant shot Li Jing and made a sound,
"Lingnan is not Mobei. Although it is blocked by five ridges, it cannot become a natural moat that the imperial court is afraid of. I think this plan is very good. The imperial court should do this well now that it has spare power."

Zhongshu Ling Wen Yanbo felt that the current situation in Lingnan was good and there was no need to go to war in such a big way. Isn't this just looking for trouble?

Both prime ministers Zhang Liang and Xiao Yu expressed their support for the plan and felt that it was necessary to station troops in Lingnan. Of course, they had to find a way to solve this military expenditure problem.
Dai Zhou was the one Wu Huaiyu went to discuss with yesterday. Regarding personnel transfers and military expenditures, the two sides reached an agreement. Dai Zhou will support the people recommended by Wu Huaiyu, and he will also recommend some people. Wu Huaiyu will also support it. Lingnan Garrison Wu Huaiyu also said that the court did not need to worry about the expenses.

Zuopu Shefang Xuanling also exchanged opinions with the emperor and Wu Huaiyu. Of course, the emperor's right-hand man also supported this plan.

The prime ministers each expressed their opinions and expressed their attitudes. In the end, only the minister Fang Xuanling and the secretary Ling Wen Yanbo clearly opposed it. In fact, all six prime ministers supported it.

Wu Huaiyu then came up with the second item to be discussed, which was about personnel. Lingnan was changed to six governors' offices and 96 prefectures, including the adjustment and appointment of some governors, governors, military envoys, commanders and other civil and military positions.

There are many locations,

For positions of the fourth and fifth ranks, the prime ministers discussed and drafted them in the political hall, while for positions of the third rank and above, they discussed candidates and recommended them to the emperor.

As for those of sixth rank and below, civilian officials are selected and appointed by the Ministry of Personnel, and military attachés are selected and appointed by the Ministry of War.

Of course, if the prime ministers have particularly suitable candidates, they can also nominate and recommend them to the staff and soldiers.

"We haven't even decided whether to garrison troops in Lingnan. Now we are discussing personnel matters. Isn't this nonsense?" Wei Zheng was dissatisfied.

Wu Huaiyu just smiled and said, "This matter was originally transferred to our political affairs hall for discussion after the saint had initially agreed. Now that six of the eight prime ministers have agreed, it is naturally considered a preliminary agreement. Now the personnel matters are also included. Wouldn’t it be just right to discuss it and then present it to His Majesty together?”

"I don't agree!" Wei Zheng said.

Wen Yanbo also spoke up, "How can such a big matter be decided hastily? It should be discussed again,"

"I will first submit the results of today's meeting to the Emperor for His Majesty's decision."

When discussing matters, it does not mean that everyone must agree. Whether it is a court meeting, a hall meeting, or a court meeting, it is not that easy to get everyone to agree on something.

Wei Zheng lost his temper and said, "If you do this, even if His Majesty agrees, I will not approve it if Zhongshu drafts it. My subordinates will definitely reject it."

Wen Yanbo also said, "It is impossible for me, the Zhongshu Province, to issue an imperial edict."

Wu Huaiyu was not in a hurry at all.

"Prime Minister Wei, Prime Minister Wen, this meeting does not mean that we can reach an agreement in one meeting. Isn't this the first time for us to have a meeting? Now I am presenting the results to the emperor, and they are all done according to the process. Whether it succeeds or fails depends on it. Don’t discuss it anymore, there’s no rush, what’s the rush?”

He ignored them and announced the start of the second personnel issue.

There are many positions that need to be adjusted, appointed or removed.

Wu Huaiyu took out a list of his recommendations, including Hou Junji as the governor of Yongzhou, Chen Longshu as the governor of Rongzhou, and Feng Zhidai as the governor of Gaozhou.

And Pang Xiaotai was appointed as the governor of Duanzhou, Cheng Chumo was appointed as the governor of Lianzhou, Doulu Huairang was appointed as the governor of Shaozhou, Changsun Chong was appointed as the transfer envoy of Lingnan Road, Wu Junya was appointed as the branch envoy of Lingnan Road, etc.

Fang Xuanling, Li Jing, Dai Zhou, Zhang Liang, and Xiao Yu also came up with their own recommendation lists.
On the contrary, Wei Zheng and Wen Yanbo did not prepare at all in advance, because this issue did not follow normal procedures and was not sent to the prime ministers for preparation before the meeting.

(End of this chapter)