Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 735 Good and fun-loving

At a ferry crossing on the Bianzhou Canal, Fang Chongyong was watching the workers (free labor service) hired by the "Canal Bureau" salvaging a large ship that had sunk at the ferry crossing.

This ship from Persia actually sailed into the canal, bumped into other ships along the way, and eventually ran aground and sank at the ferry.

This sudden incident suddenly reminded Fang Chongyong that there was a missing checkpoint at the port where Bohai Sea enters the Yellow River. There will definitely be many similar incidents in the future!
Although normal people would not sail a ship into the Yellow River, let alone the canal, there are always some "foreigners" with slightly abnormal brains, mainly from West Asia, who are very wild.

The ship in front of us took a detour and entered the Yellow River first and then went through Biankou because the owner did not want to pay the customs duties in Dengzhou (the goods were extremely valuable).

Eventually it ran aground and sank, blocking the canal.

"Put the boat owner and boatman in jail and send them to Shanyuan Villa to reflect on themselves for half a year!"

Fang Zhongyong gave the order with a face as gloomy as water.

Now is the last peak transportation season before the canal freezes, but the waterway is blocked by a sunken ship.

This caused chaos at all the canal ferry crossings in Bianzhou, with many canal boats stuck and unable to move.

This reminded Fang Chongyong of his previous life, when he saw a spectacular scene on the highway where a car had an accident and the resulting traffic jam lasted for more than ten kilometers.

"I will tell the clerk to do it right away."

Yan Zhuang spoke cautiously, not daring to offend Fang Zhongyong.

Yan Zhuang knew the official's temper very well. He seldom got angry over personal matters. Even if some ignorant people called him a traitor, he would just pretend not to hear it.

However, when it comes to official business, Fang Chongyong is very decisive and will get angry when he encounters some unexpected mess.

After Yan Zhuang left, Fang Chongyong looked at the large group of people busy working by the canal and sighed helplessly. Hebei Xinding naturally had no time to take care of the construction of Tianjin Port.

The key point of this node is to block the entry of seagoing vessels into inland waterways. It is a key "valve". Seagoing vessels have too deep a draft and will easily run aground when entering the Yellow River. This is caused by geographical restrictions and is difficult to change by human power.

Changing ships and transiting are inevitable.

Historically, after the middle and late Tang Dynasty, maritime trade began to develop rapidly, and this trend will not change. The relevant systems and infrastructure must also keep up.

"Your Majesty, Li Bai requests to see you."

Suddenly, Zhang Guangsheng reported in a low voice behind Fang Chongyong.

"There is no need to offer any poems or essays."

Fang Chongyong waved his hand gently. He was in a bad mood and had no time to chat with Li Bai.

"Well, why don't you meet the emperor? I saw Li Bai came with someone."

Zhang Guangsheng said with an embarrassed look on his face.

"alright."

Fang Zhongyong nodded. He had no interest in getting close to Li Bai. But anyway, since they were already here, it would be bad not to meet them.

Li Bai's official career was really not that good.

After Li Lin's death, Li Bai resigned from his post and returned home, but he still lived in Bianzhou. Li Bai usually traveled around and had nothing to do, so he didn't have to worry about his livelihood.

Many people voluntarily gave him money in order to ask him to write poems, so Li Bai lived a carefree life.

He just followed Mrs. Zong's advice and stopped getting involved in political affairs.

The group came to a private room on the second floor of Zhuangyuan Building. Li Bai had reserved the place today and no one else was there.

"Your Majesty, this is Li Zhao, my cousin. He is from Xiangyang and has something important to report to you."

Li Bai smiled carefully, but his heart was in turmoil.

He still wanted to be an official, otherwise, he wouldn't be so active. However, being an official was fine, but he couldn't be labeled as "Li Lin's confidant". Today was for Li Zhao, and even more for the sake of building a good relationship with Fang Qing.

"If you have anything to say, feel free to tell me."

Fang Chongyong looked at Li Zhao and said, although his tone was calm, he seemed intimidating without being angry, and his aura was overwhelming.

The highest-ranking official Li Zhao had ever met was Zhao Zan, the governor of Xiangzhou.

He glanced at Li Bai nervously, and seeing that he was already getting angry, he swallowed his saliva and said, "Your Majesty, the traitor Li Lu has committed atrocities in Jingxiang, making the people's lives miserable. I beg you to send the royal army to wipe out the bandits and give the people of Jingxiang a peaceful life."

"Please explain in detail. I am still confused."

Fang Chongyong sighed. Li Zhao was probably so frightened that he couldn't express himself clearly and just talked a lot of nonsense.

Li Zhao finally came to his senses and described the "new policy" in Jingxiang like a bamboo tube pouring beans, including how Li Lu listened to Lu Qi's advice and gave him full authority to "make money", and how the government falsely marked the prices of land and houses to squeeze the marrow out of people.

He told me everything.

After hearing these words, everyone in the box, including Li Bai, was shocked by this extremely explosive money-making operation.

He could have just robbed them, but he actually left behind land and houses worth ten thousand strings of cash for others!
Why can Li Lu be so kind even though he is a bad guy?
Fang Zhongyong couldn't find any words to describe this behavior for a moment, he just wanted to cry to death.

"This, isn't this right?"

Zhang Guangsheng was shocked and muttered to himself.

What is Li Lu doing?

Zhang Guangsheng couldn't understand what the point of Li Lu's behavior was.

He was also someone who knew Ji Ge very well, including Ji Ge's methods of making money, which he knew far more than just a little bit.

In Zhang Guangsheng's view, either don't do it, or do it thoroughly!

Now that the robbery has started, just wipe out the entire family and blame it on the robbers!
Li Lu's way of making money not only offended many people, but was also very inefficient in making money.

He doesn't rely on either side and is neither here nor there.

The valuation of land and houses has a great impact on making money. Because land and houses cannot be converted into cash or military expenditures, the valuation is very flexible, which makes it easy for people at the bottom to take advantage of them.

If the value of the land and house is very low, then the big merchants can just pay a few taels of dates to get through without any major loss.

But if the officials below wanted to kill a big businessman, they could just overvalue his land and houses and then move his things directly to his house.

The scale of the case was too large, and the officials who carried out the case would definitely use their power to make a lot of money. Then Li Yu and the court would not make much money, but would bear a bad reputation, and in the end, the officials who were sent to confiscate the property would benefit.

As the emperor, what was Li Lu trying to achieve by doing this?

Zhang Guangsheng couldn't understand.

"So violent?"

Fang Zhongyong asked curiously, almost blurting out the question. He soon realized that he had said something wrong, and quickly coughed to cover up his embarrassment, then said seriously: "Bianzhou welcomes you to settle here. You can stay at Li Taibai's house first, and then go to Bianliang City to look for a suitable house. As long as you abide by the laws of the court, this place will be very suitable for you to settle down."

"Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir!"

Li Zhao was very grateful.

A large number of people are now pouring into Bianzhou. People from other places are just "guests" who can buy houses inside or outside the city, but cannot buy land for cultivation.

In order to develop industry and commerce, Fang Chongyong formulated a strict land policy and cracked down on land annexation.

The purpose was not to actively expand the area of ​​arable land, but to develop the secondary industry and allow those refugees from other places to live in the city or suburbs and become wealthy businessmen or hired workers.

But they do not own the land.

If everyone goes to the villages to farm, who will produce the goods sold nationwide?
Fang Chongyong's words just now actually not only allowed Li Zhao to live in Bianzhou (after all, the threshold was very low), but also hinted that he could move the industries in Jingxiang to Bianzhou for operation.

As for business, there is an enrichment effect. The more concentrated it is, the more developed it is, and the more developed it is, the more things it can do.

Seeing that Fang Zhongyong did not mention anything about leading troops to attack Jingxiang, Li Bai asked in a low voice: "Sir, regarding the matter of sending troops to Jingxiang..." "Well, it's almost winter, we need to think long and hard."

Fang Zhongyong waved his hand and said nothing.

"But don't worry, Li Lu's evil deeds will not last long!"

He added that this was clearly official language.

"It's not that we won't do your job, but the imperial court has its own rules for employing troops, and it can't just happen on a whim. The emperor needs to go back and study it. How about this, today we will only talk about business matters, and not government affairs, hahahahahahahaha."

Yan Zhuang laughed and rescued Fang Chongyong.

Now that the two armies are confronting each other in Hongzhou, a war may break out at any time. How could they change the battle plan just because a cousin of Li Bai comes to cry and complain?

"Please be patient. I will not forget this matter. However, the military is a matter of great importance to the country and we must pay attention to it. I cannot promise you anything now. Come on, come on, eat your food."

Fang Zhongyong laughed it off and winked at Yan Zhuang, who understood and found an excuse to leave.

Li Zhao and Li Bai looked at each other, and they both understood that this was the only way to go today. It was just a test run, and the current result was already pretty good.

It is indeed unrealistic to expect the Bianzhou court to suddenly send troops to Jingxiang.

Not to mention that the canal will soon be frozen, and the Bianzhou court's ability to dispatch troops to the south will be weakened by 90%, and food and military equipment cannot be transported to Yangzhou via the canal.

If the logistics can't keep up, there's no point in fighting a war. This matter really cannot be rushed.

If we want to start the war, it will be next spring. The terrain of Bianzhou is that in winter, the Yellow River is frozen, which is suitable for attacking northwards, while in spring and summer, the river rises, which is suitable for attacking southwards, which is exactly the opposite.

After a round of flattery, the dinner ended and Fang Chongyong returned to his study in the government office.

At this moment, all the staff have gathered here and have been waiting for a long time.

Fang Zhongyong sat down with a majestic look, looked around at everyone and asked, "You have all heard about the situation in Jingxiang, what do you think?"

"Reporting to the emperor, I think that we can take action in advance to stop Li Yu's evil deeds. The impact of their wrongdoings will be concentrated next year, and it will take a lot of time to remedy and restore order.

In other words, next year will be when Li Lu will be at his weakest.

If we wait for them to correct their policies and use remedial measures to recover the losses, it will be disadvantageous to us.”

Che Guangqian took the lead and saluted and suggested.

Everyone in the room nodded frequently.

Li Lu's new policy this time can be regarded as a severe blow to his own aorta.

Yes, those wealthy businessmen who were full of themselves were indeed hateful to a certain extent. Sometimes Fang Zhongyong wanted to kill them and confiscate their property.

In fact, Fang Chongyong also agreed with what Li Lu said, "What do you need so much money for?"

But for many things, thinking is one thing and doing is another.

If the big merchants were targeted directly, other businessmen would be saddened and those who could escape would not stay. Even Fang Zhongyong himself only dared to let the big merchants invest in the establishment of a business, with the government sending people to supervise them, and let them operate independently in the "board of directors" model.

In other words, this is equivalent to saying: the money is still yours, but your money is useless if it is piled up in the warehouse, so you might as well take it out and use it. The money is still there, and I haven't taken it away.

Even so, they were cautious and did not promote it on a large scale. These joint-venture banks and companies were all used for specific purposes, and each bank covered one or several industries.

Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. Everything has to be done with caution and continuous experimentation. Only after successful experience is gained can it be promoted.

This is an iron rule.

Most of the policies that are issued at random are bad. It is rare that they do not cause big chaos, so there is no need to expect any good results.

"What about you? What do you think?"

Fang Chongyong looked at the others and asked.

"Your Majesty, the goods from Bianzhou can be sold to Jiangling via the Yangtze River without any trouble. From here, we can also enter Shu.

It’s not just an increase in the amount of farmland, in short, there are many benefits.”

Yan Zhuang saluted Fang Zhongyong with his arms crossed and said.

There are two main routes from the jurisdiction of the imperial court in Bianzhou to Jingxiang.

One is from Hongzhou, taking the Yangtze River waterway. The other is from Nanyang Wancheng, taking a section of the canal southwards and then taking the land route.

If we really want to take action, we will definitely have to send out two large armies at the same time.

Che Guangqian and Yan Zhuang obviously both believed that the Jingxiang court had made a major policy mistake!
If we don't take care of internal affairs, there will be external troubles. Next spring, it will be time to attack Jingxiang and Nanyang!

"Is the money enough?"

Fang Zhongyong looked at Liu Yan and asked.

“Go back to the emperor. Even if Bianzhou doesn’t have enough money, the merchants from Jingxiang will always have money.

It would be better if the government issued a manifesto to fight against the rebellion and called on the merchants from Jingxiang to contribute money and manpower. It would not be a problem to fight for three to five years."

Liu Yan smiled and waved his hand gently, indicating that there was no need to worry about military expenses at all.

Don’t the merchants from Jingxiang who came to Bianzhou for refuge want to fight back? Well, we can’t just go away empty-handed like beggars, right?

The Bianzhou court is a government office, not a temple for making wishes! Even if you make a wish to the Buddha, you still have to give some incense money!

This is also the reason why Fang Zhongyong avoided the question during the dinner today.

Li Zhao could only persuade the Bianzhou army to send troops if he took out the coffin. Otherwise, he could "make a wish" to Fang Zhongyong, and Fang Zhongyong could just laugh it off. A simple "it's being done" would stop all doubts.

Fang Zhongyong's eyes lit up, and then he clapped his hands and laughed, "That makes sense. Let's issue a manifesto today to fight the rebellion, and then post a notice to call on merchants in Bianzhou to donate money. If you want to use Silver Spear Xiaojie, you must spend some money. If you don't donate a penny, you'd better go to bed."

The local merchants in Bianzhou, who were worth millions, would definitely have little interest in this kind of donation call. Just think about it and you will know that they have already taken the express train of the government, so there is no need to do anything extra.

However, after seeing this notice, the merchants who fled from Jingxiang no longer dared to pretend they had not seen it.

These smart businessmen must have understood the "hidden meaning" of the court.

This move can be called "targeted poverty alleviation". Only those who can understand it will come up with real money.

Everyone quickly dispersed and went about their business. Fang Zhongyong left Lu Mai alone.

Seeing that no one was around, he asked in a deep voice, "How is the emperor doing? Did he have any reaction after seeing the elegiac couplet?"

Lu Mai thought for a moment and said with some concern: "The emperor is not only not sad, but he asked me to thank you for your kindness. There is no sadness on his face, let alone tears. I think those people in Yunzhou can't stay. I'm afraid the emperor will make trouble during the Lantern Festival, or even earlier."

Even when his own son died, he was able to remain calm. The extremely provocative elegiac couplet was placed in the mourning hall. Li Wei turned a blind eye to it.

Li Wei's forbearance must be for a greater purpose, so much so that he could remain calm even when his son died.

During the Lantern Festival, according to tradition, a lantern festival would be held in the imperial palace of Bianliang City, and there would even be temple fairs along the canal, lasting a whole day and night!
At that time, Fang Chongyong had to participate in the celebration to demonstrate his authority.

There will be a large number of people at the celebration, and a mixed crowd. If there is any disturbance, it will cause a big mess.

It's a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain. Those who understand will know that there is still a chance.

Lu Mai’s concerns are very reasonable.

"Keep a close watch on that group of people, and remember to capture the eunuch who is in charge of delivering the message. As for the others, have He Lao Hu take action on their way to Bianzhou, and don't spare any of them."

Fang Chongyong made a chopping gesture, his heart as cold as iron.

(End of this chapter)