Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 749 Double-edged Sword

The spring is bright, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant. It is a good time for a spring outing.

However, outside the city of Biyang, the capital of Tangzhou, the military was in strict order, ready to go!
Lu Qi, the governor of Tangzhou, stood on the city wall, looking at the Bianzhou army below the city with horror. It seemed as if something was blocked in his throat and he couldn't utter a word!
It was not that he did not want to surrender, but the price offered by the Bianzhou court was not enough, and there was no promise of reward afterwards. It was just that cold sentence: If you don't open the city gates, your whole family will have to hang street lamps!
This, this, this, who would do something that has no benefit?

Lu Qi would not get up early unless there was benefit. If he didn't do it, he would die. Couldn't he just run away?
With this idea in mind, Lu Qi wanted to have some discussion with the court in Bianzhou. Anyway, the speed of the land march could not be very fast, so he should be able to bargain.

Unexpectedly, the Bianzhou army has already arrived at the city today, and he, he is not ready yet!

"Lord Lu, do you have a plan to repel the enemy?"

The Bianyang defender Ge Shuyao asked in confusion.

He was ordered by Li Lu to come to reinforce Tangzhou and replace the original garrison commander. Li Lu had long known that the garrison commander of Tangzhou had a past relationship with Lu Qi, so when the latter was still making his wishful thinking, he sent Geshu Han's son Geshu Yao to replace that person.

Ge Shuyao and Lu Qi have no relationship. It can even be said that they did not know each other before, and now he has no intention of getting close to Lu Qi.

"Sir, I don't have any plan to repel the enemy. Isn't defending the city what you are supposed to do?"

Lu Qi yelled at Ge Shuyao in frustration.

Damn, just give me some color and start a dyeing factory!

Ge Shuyao was secretly angry, but he said to Lu Qi with a fake smile: "Then Envoy Lu, please go back to the government office to rest. I will go to open the city gate to welcome the royal army into the city."

ha?
Lu Qi thought he had heard it wrong.

But he didn't have the chance to speak. Two of Ge Shuyao's personal soldiers came forward and held Lu Qi's arms. One of them even stuffed a piece of rag into Lu Qi's mouth.

"Woooooooooooo..."

Lu Qi struggled and didn't want to leave, but was dragged away by the two bodyguards. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared over the city wall without a trace.

Ge Shuyao took out a piece of letter paper from his sleeve, took a look at it, and then put it back into his sleeve. He ordered the messenger: "Put down the original military flag, hang up the flag of the Bianzhou army, and open the city gate."

If any normal soldier were to encounter these ridiculous orders, he would probably ask a few questions. However, the messenger simply clasped his fists and saluted, then ran off to deliver the order in small steps, without any obstruction.

Fighting a war? What a bullshit war!

Ge Shuyao's face was calm, but he was sneering in his heart.

Jiangling has been lost, what is the point of defending Tangzhou? Before Li Yu's imperial edict reaches Biyang, it is imperative to quickly surrender to the other side.

He heard that Li Yu was frantically mobilizing troops in various places in an attempt to retake Jiangling. However, there were very few people who responded, and the commanders in various places basically just stood by and watched.

In other words, the emperor must prove that he is worthy of being the emperor before the princes from all over the country can organize themselves to serve him.

And this touchstone is Jiangling.

If Li Yu led the troops from Xiangyang to recapture Jiangling, then the troops from all over the Jingxiang court would be united.

If you want everyone to support you, you must first prove that you are the right material. Isn't that fair?

"General Geshu, there is an eunuch who is delivering the imperial edict. He is detained in the government office where Lu Qi lives. Here is the imperial edict."

After a while, a personal soldier came running over and handed the rolled-up yellow silk to Ge Shuyao.

After opening it, Ge Shuyao suddenly understood. He had always been puzzled as to why Li Yu did not transfer the troops from Tangzhou back to Xiangyang. It turned out that they were stuck with Lu Qi.

The Bianzhou court had already been conducting a large-scale civil and military intimidation against Jingxiang, bribing and winning over the garrisons in various places, and Geshu Yao was naturally no exception.

Although he also invested, he did not follow Lu Qi's path.

In fact, Fang Chongyong also has this attitude, to develop in many areas and make progress in many directions.

Without Zhang the butcher, would we still eat hairy pigs? Without Lu Qi, would we be unable to conquer Tangzhou?
It must be said that Lu Qi overestimated his level. Li Lu was not much better. He defended Lu Qi, but failed to defend Ge Shuyao who came to Tangzhou to change defense.

The general trend has been formed, and there are only a handful of people who are as stubborn as Yan Zhenqing and refuse to look for a way out. Everyone has family, and even if you are not afraid of death, you have to think about your family, right?
"Well, you take your people to the government office to deal with it. I will go to the city gate to welcome the Bianzhou army into the city."

Ge Shuyao whispered a few words to his personal soldiers.

From controlling Lu Qi to opening the city gate, the whole process was done with ease without causing any disturbance.

If Yan Zhenqing was in Tangzhou, perhaps Ge Shuyao would not dare to be so presumptuous. But who could blame Lu Qi for offending so many people and having such a bad reputation?

When Ge Shuyao arrived at the city gate, the Bianzhou army was already entering the city in an orderly manner. The local united soldiers of Tangzhou, Ge Shuyao's men, had already surrendered their long weapons, shields, bows and crossbows, and removed their armor and returned them to the warehouse.

He only kept a sword at his waist for self-defense.

"General Che, the guilty general Shu Yao comes to plead guilty."

Ge Shuyao walked forward and saluted Che Guangqian with his fists clasped.

"Your father was also a subordinate of the emperor, but it is a pity that he died of illness. Don't be so polite. I would like to thank you for this."

Che Guangqian dismounted, patted Ge Shuyao's shoulder and spoke affectionately.

When Geshu Han was injured in Longyou, he returned to Chang'an to recuperate. He had a stroke due to excessive drinking and died soon after. After many twists and turns, Geshu Yao followed Yan Zhenqing and Li Lu to the south of Jingxiang and naturally controlled part of the military power.

But Geshu Han of this era was not as brilliant as Fang Zhongyong's previous life. So Geshu Yao did not actually make a name for himself, but just mingled in the army as a son of a military family.

Now, after hearing Che Guangqian mention what happened back then, Ge Shuyao finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that this bet was right!
He also had a "letter of introduction" secretly sent by Fang Zhongyong hidden in his sleeve, and Che Guangqian must have known about it. China has been a society of favors since ancient times, and Lu Qi was able to win over the corresponding generals because of the kindness of his grandfather Lu Huaishen.

Fang Chongyong could naturally rely on his own connections to carry out certain shady operations in private.

There is no good or bad means, the key lies in who uses it and how they use it.

"General Che, I am quite familiar with the terrain of Nanyang. Why don't I lead the vanguard and attack Wancheng first, then attack Dengxian, and then drink water from the north of Hanjiang River?"

Ge Shuyao stepped forward and saluted Che Guangqian.

"Well, that's great. Take me to see Lu Qi first."

Che Guangqian nodded and said.

Although his face was still tense, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and he could no longer suppress it.

……

In the study of the Kaifeng City Government Office, dozens of files were placed on the table in front of Fang Chongyong.

Lu Mai, the military intelligence officer of the Privy Council, saluted and reported to him, "Your Majesty, these are the documents of the Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng and many other temples smuggling grain and grass to the Huihe people. Please decide how to deal with them."

"Well, let's hold off for now."

Fang Zhongyong waved his hand, signaling Lu Mai to calm down. He had a strange expression on his face, frowning for a while, and then suddenly realizing something.

"These bald asses really keep up with the times."

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but sigh.

Historically, the temples of the Tang Dynasty were a place of filth and corruption, and they only built golden Buddha statues. At most, they would hold a silver party, which was an entertainment activity for the rich. However, the temples in Bianzhou have now become a "chain operation + multiple industries running in parallel", and have become a commercial organization that is not controlled by the government.

Many large local temples have achieved unified financial management and make profits by issuing "certificates of ordination".

In addition, they also operate a large number of hotels and restaurants, and are also involved in seed sales, poultry breeding, grain procurement and processing, fruit and side dishes and other businesses.

Even things like "canned food" are already sold in temples and exported all over the place.

As for lending and such, those are basic operations and it’s better not to mention them. They just cannot be put on the table because the scale is limited.

Lu Mai found out that due to the influx of a large amount of grain from other places, local farmers in Bianzhou could not make money by selling grain, so they had to sell the excess grain to temples.

These temples used various means to transport the grain through Hebei to the northern grasslands.

And Guanzhong.

Lu Mai originally just wanted to investigate smuggling, but he didn't expect to uncover such a huge thing.

Who would have thought that the monks in Bianzhou were so business-savvy?
However, they already had land, production, and sufficient capital. It didn't seem strange for them to enter the fast lane to do business.

The business environment in Bianzhou is not suitable for hoarding gold and silver for natural growth, so it is better to invest the funds in business to make money, which is also expected.

Now the temples in Bianzhou, headed by the Daxiangguo Temple, have their own land, which produces grains, fruits, cotton and other agricultural products. They also raise poultry and sell seeds. They also have their own fleets that can sail through the canal and even go out to sea.

Many of them are monopolized by upstream and downstream industries.

Not only that, these temples also participated in the prosperous catering industry in Bianzhou by participating in the shares, which was also one of the contents found by Lu Mai. Even He Baiwan's giant textile workshop had shares in the temples.

In other words, although Fang Chongyong created an objective environment for revitalizing business in Bianzhou, making it suitable for "raising fish".

But not every fish in the pond was what he expected.

Temples have unique conditions for developing commerce, as they have everything they need. Moreover, temples in various places are also very familiar with what is scarce in the local market and have more sensitive business intelligence than the government.

They don't have to put their own names on the map. In many cases, they control large and small businessmen by participating in shares, or participate in high-profit industries.

It’s a good thing that Fang Zhongyong didn’t set up a stock exchange. If he had, I’m afraid all these bald guys would have become the wolves of Wall Street.

"If this continues, it will eventually become a trust."

Fang Zhongyong crossed his arms and muttered to himself, lost in thought. It is estimated that in a few years, these monks who are overfed will be able to manipulate prices.

We can't just let them do whatever they want!
The new concept is a double-edged sword. While it invigorates the thinking of the government, it also activates the thoughts of the people.

The key issue actually lies in land ownership.

The land occupied by a temple was actually not much. Fang Chongyong had already cleared it once before, but he did it just to weaken the temple's resistance and did not kill them with one blow.

But the problem is that these temples have "spontaneously" united, using business as a link, and have participated in diversified operations. Moreover, these temples use Buddhism to attract a wide range of believers, and then cultivate these lands intensively, with output far higher than extensive production.

Temples are linked to land and population, and the power they generate is far more than just one plus one.

They have the ability to control the upstream and downstream industries of certain industries!

"Keep a close watch and collect evidence, no matter what it is. I don't believe that those temples have no shady practices in their operations!"

Fang Chongyong ordered in a deep voice.

Lu Mai crossed his arms, bowed, and turned to leave.

In fact, he did not realize the harmfulness of these temples. If they had not smuggled grain to the Uighurs, Lu Mai probably would not have bothered to care about this matter.

But Fang Chongyong obviously saw farther and more clearly.

After Lu Mai left, Fang Chongyong called Yan Zhuang and Liu Yan and showed them all the files on the table.

"Is there a monster in this Buddhist temple?"

Yan Zhuang was horrified after seeing it. He was the prime minister, not an ignorant layman. The things played in the temple would be extremely harmful in the long run!
"They operate in the form of equity participation, avoiding the government's commercial taxes. These temples are not fools, they just don't think in the right place."

Liu Yan sighed with emotion, he felt that it was not in vain that he could see such a "wonderful sight" in his lifetime.

“We created a place that is suitable for doing business, not for these bald asses to be idlers.

The commercial laws currently formulated by the government can no longer adapt to the increasingly large market.

Through this rectification of Buddhist temples, we will change the commercial law and tax law, increase government revenue, and increase support to the people.

I still follow the same principle, arrest the big ones and let the small ones go, and severely punish those who show up!"

Fang Zhongyong said with a stern expression.

Damn it, these bald donkeys are taking advantage of him.

The government needs to invest in maintaining the market, but these investments will not have direct outputs.

Temples take advantage of loopholes in market rules and operate in a monopoly manner, so they do not need any additional investment.

Is this situation new?
Actually, it’s not new at all.

This is how the civil service group in the middle and late Ming Dynasty amassed wealth. The developed commerce did not bring huge tax revenue to the country. All the money went into the pockets of the civil service group and the landlords who depended on them.

It’s just that the officials haven’t shown up yet, but the monks have shown up first!

No matter how hard you try to seek development, new problems will arise one after another. There is never a permanent solution.

Although the world has not yet been unified, new problems arising from the revitalization of business are emerging one after another.

Although the steam engine had not yet been invented, the "sheep eating people" phenomenon was already ready to take off.

"Actually, there is still a department missing in the government, or in the Ministry of Revenue."

Fang Chongyong said thoughtfully.

"What department?"

Liu Yan asked in return, he was the Minister of Revenue, and he didn't realize what department was missing in the Ministry of Revenue.

"We still need a commercial audit department to deal with these bald asses and wealthy tycoons."

Fang Chongyong sneered.

Haha, those who evade taxes and those who engage in monopoly, all of you need to clean your necks.

He secretly swore in his heart that he would make these people taste the iron fist of the government.

(End of this chapter)