Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 277: It’s Cold at the Top
"The imperial court is spending so much money, and the rebellion in eastern Zhejiang has been delayed. I wonder if you gentlemen have any good ideas?"

By October, with the political situation gradually stabilizing, Li Yi, who had changed his name, gradually settled down.

Wang Zongshi and others did not have a strong desire for power. Even if they had the merit of supporting Li Yi, they would not do anything to Li Yi as long as he did not interfere with their interests.

Because of this, Li Yi gradually became bolder.

Having been suppressed for too long during the Huichang and Dazhong years, he finally began to have his own thoughts after tasting the sweetness of power.

Just like in the Purple Palace at this moment, the four ministers Linghu Tao, Xiao Ye, Jiang Shen and Pei Xiu went to court together to discuss state affairs.

To be honest, compared with the situation left by Emperor Wuzong Li Yan, the situation left by Emperor Xuanzong Li Chen was extremely corrupt.

The imperial court increased taxes three times, and refugees emerged all over the country.

Although the rebellion of Wang Shouwen in Henan was suppressed by Pei Xiu, the rebellion of Qiu Fu in eastern Zhejiang still existed.

Moreover, Nanzhao in the southwest repeatedly provoked conflicts on the border, and the Eight Kingdoms of the Western Mountains were also invaded by Duo Miqili Ben Shangmoyan of Tubo.

Not long ago, Li Yi also learned that Liu Jilian had sent troops to recapture Liangzhou.

Although Liu Jilian was nominally a general of the imperial court, he was actually a self-made vassal governor, and it could even be said that he was not even as good as a vassal governor.

Li Yi knew the three things his father said before his death. Qiu Fu's rebellion and Liu Jilian in Longyou were both problems he needed to solve.

To solve a problem, you have to address the cause and root.

The imperial court was unable to suppress Qiu Fu's rebellion because it did not have enough money and food to mobilize more troops and use drastic measures.

The same applies to the situation in Longyou.

Therefore, the problem facing Li Yi was how to increase finances and cut expenditures.

This problem is also a problem that successive emperors of the Tang Dynasty have faced since the An-Shi Rebellion.

Everyone has different ways of dealing with this, but basically all of them focus on "increasing taxes."

"Your Majesty, in the current situation, the only way to balance the budget and avoid repeated tax increases is to reduce the number of troops."

Pei Xiu, who had just returned to Chang'an, took the initiative to stand up and bow to ask, and Jiang Shen beside him also nodded in agreement:
"The imperial court has spent more than 17 million on military pay, while the taxes collected in summer and autumn are only more than 14 million."

"Except for the two Zhejiang provinces where troops need to be dispatched to quell the rebellion, the rest of the troops need to be reduced."

"Wang Shouwen rebelled. The eight garrisons in the northwest of Beijing had 110,000 soldiers but were unable to stop him. The same was true for the garrisons in Hezhong and Heyang."

"I think that the towns do not need to add soldiers and horses, and that the court should provide compensation for the dead."

Jiang Shen's move was indeed a good one. During Wang Shouwen's rebellion, nearly 40,000 government troops were killed and the government spent more than 800,000 yuan in grain every year.

If only pensions are issued without recruiting new personnel, it will only be because the military pay expenditure is higher this year, and the annual expenditure on military pay will be reduced by 800,000 yuan in the future.

Of course, these troops are only a small part, and the majority of them are in the Shen Ce Army.

Everyone knows the specific situation of the Shen Ce Army, which is said to have more than 100,000 soldiers.

If we can take advantage of the false and gain the real, it will be enough to reduce the treasury expenditure by three or four million strings of cash.

However, the problem is that these "fictitious" military salaries are often controlled by the officials of the Northern Department.

Relying on the "virtual quota" of the Shen Ce Army, they make millions of strings of cash every year, and they will never let go easily.

Everyone was very clear about this, and Linghu Tao and Xiao Ye did not want to offend the eunuchs of the Northern Division, so they remained silent.

Their silence made Li Yi feel dissatisfied. He couldn't help but think of the fact that these two people were also silent when Pei Xiu, Jiang Shen and others advised their father to establish a crown prince.

If they had said a few words for me, I wouldn't have been bullied like this by Li Zi, Ma Gongru and others...

Thinking of this, Li Yi silently took note of the matter and prepared to settle the score later.

"I will discuss the matter of the Shen Ce Army with Wang Neixiang and others. As for Qiu Fu's rebellion in East Zhejiang, I wonder when it will be suppressed?"

Li Yi questioned the four men. Among them, Pei Xiu frowned and bowed, saying, "The rebels in eastern Zhejiang have many soldiers, and the people are ignorant. They actually support the rebels and are against the imperial court. It is really difficult to suppress them."

"It will be difficult to suppress the rebellion with the troops in Cui's hands. It would be better to dispatch troops from Xuanwu, Yicheng and other garrisons to the south. It should be possible to suppress the rebellion within this year."

"How many troops are needed?" Li Yi was worried that mobilizing too many would cost too much.

Pei Xiu, however, estimated based on his own experience: "If we mobilize 30,000 troops, we should be able to defeat the enemy within this year."

"In addition, those who have previously defeated Wang Shouwen need your Majesty's signal for reward."

"I and Prime Minister Jiang have checked the Ministry of Finance and found that the 9-cent autumn tax can collect 4 million strings of cash. After the normal expenditure, there is still a surplus of 1 million strings of cash."

Even if the tax was increased by nine cents, the imperial court could only have a surplus of one million strings of cash, while the people of the world had already been unable to bear the heavy burden.

In response, Li Yi frowned and said, "The tax increase by the court is only 9%, even if all taxes are added together, it is only 30%."

"There are 600 million acres of farmland in the world, but only 50 million people. Even if 30% of the taxes are paid, there will still be a surplus. In my opinion, this 9% tax should be made a regular practice."

Li Yi thought it was a relaxed thing, and he thought so because he was too far away from the people, so he thought that increasing the tax by nine cents was nothing.

In response to this, Pei Xiu and Jiang Shen explained earnestly:

"Although there are many acres of land in the country, the towns in Hebei do not pay tribute, and most of the local land is occupied by aristocratic families, so the common people have very few acres of land."

"In addition, due to the corruption of the clerks, the people had to bear much more than 9 cents of the 9 cents tax."

Pei Xiu couldn't help but sigh at what Li Yi was thinking. In his opinion, since the previous emperor only cared about King Kui, he neglected the education of the current emperor's imperial mentality.

Since the An-Shi Rebellion, the clerks' habit of favoritism, corruption and greed has long been known to everyone in the government.

When the grain transport system was first reformed, the emperor even asked Pei Xiu how to solve the problem of corruption among clerks. Pei Xiu's solution was to assign all annual grain transport commissions to the clerks, thus solving the problem of "profit" that the clerks were most concerned about.

What Li Yi is thinking about now is a way of operating the Tang Dynasty where everyone works for the public, but now in the Tang Dynasty, corruption is rampant among officials at all levels.

The tax increase of 9 cents will only mean an additional eight or nine kilograms of rice tax per mu on the surface, but in reality, the people have to pay far more than eight or nine kilograms of rice.

This problem is not just something that Pei Xiu understands, but something that most officials who have experienced state and county governance understand.

However, for Li Yi, this was something he had just learned about.

Li Yi's face looked a little unhappy, and he could only say, "Let Prime Minister Pei take care of this matter."

Obviously, he also knew that he had made a fool of himself, so he decided to leave the matter to Pei Xiu.

This kind of thing would have been impossible if Li Chen was in power, because Li Chen had a strong desire to control power, but Li Yi was able to delegate power.

With his character, if he chooses the right minister, it will be a good thing for the people.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. We will do our best to repay the emperor's grace!"

Pei Xiu bowed respectfully, and Li Yi thought of the reward for suppressing the rebellion he mentioned, and said calmly:
"Before this, in recognition of the victory over Wang Shouwen, 100,000 rolls of silk were awarded to Xuanwu and Yicheng, 70,000 rolls of silk were awarded to Heyang, Tianping, Hedong, Zhaoyi and other towns, and 30,000 rolls of silk were awarded to Fengxiang and other eight towns in the northwest of Beijing."

"Give the Pingxia tribe 20,000 pieces of silk, and give the Pingxia Tuoba tribe the surname of the emperor."

Li Yi gave 780,000 pieces of silk in just a few words.

If calculated based on the price of silk collected by the court, the money converted was only over 600,000 strings of cash, leaving a surplus of over 300,000 strings of cash in the national treasury.

But the problem in eastern Zhejiang has not been solved, so the money still has to be used in eastern Zhejiang.

"Dispatch 10,000 troops from Xuanwu, Yicheng, and Zhongwu to the south of Zhejiang to quell the rebellion, and grant 150,000 strings of cash for the expedition."

Li Yi finished his arrangements, then stood up and said, "If there is nothing else, let's adjourn the court."

"I have something to report..."

Linghu Tao suddenly spoke, and Li Yi frowned and said, "Sir, please speak."

"Your Majesty, two months ago, the Tibetan general Shang Moyan from the Duomiwei Prefecture invaded Xishan and has now conquered the Baigou and Dongnu kingdoms."

"Xichuan Military Supervisor Yang Fugong led an army of 3,000 soldiers to station in Yizhou."

"The Eight Kingdoms of Xishan are the defense of our dynasty. If they are lost, it may be dangerous. Please decide whether to send troops."

Linghu Tao threw the question to Li Yi, who was displeased and then looked at Pei Xiu and Jiang Shen.

"What do you think should be done about this?"

As soon as Li Yi finished speaking, Jiang Shen said, "Your Majesty, the rebellion in eastern Zhejiang has not been quelled yet. If a war breaks out in Xichuan again, it will be disadvantageous to the court."

"I think we can first pacify the eastern part of Zhejiang, and then move our troops to the western mountains."

"Your Majesty, I second the proposal."

After Jiang Shen finished speaking, Pei Xiu seconded his opinion without much hurry, and Xiao Ye also said: "West Mountain is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and we have Weizhou in our hands, so there is no need to worry."

"Okay." Li Yi felt a little disappointed. He really wanted to send troops to Xishan to establish his career.

However, given the current situation at the court, it is indeed not easy to send troops rashly.

Seeing that Li Yi agreed, Pei Xiu and his companions breathed a sigh of relief. Compared to the emperor's pursuit of pleasure, they were more worried that the emperor wanted to expand his territory.

"I'll take my leave..."

Seeing that everyone was fine, Pei Xiu and the other three looked at each other and sang, and at Li Yi's signal, they left the Purple Palace.

After they left, Li Yi immediately looked at the eunuchs in the palace:

"Summon the General of Cavalry, the Privy Councilor, and the Lieutenant."

"This slave accepts the order..."

After the eunuch agreed, he walked out of the palace and ordered the eunuch on duty outside the palace to go and summon him.

Half an hour later, Wang Zongshi, Wang Maoxuan and others arrived and looked at Li Yi and saluted:

"Tens of millions of years old..."

"Everyone is safe!"

In more than two months, Li Yi had adapted to his identity as emperor.

Facing Wang Zongshi, Wang Maoxuan, Qi Yuanshi and Qi Yuanjian, Li Yi told everyone about the remarks made by Pei Xiu and others from the Southern Yamen.

When he said that he needed to cut down the useless troops in the Shence Army, he was still very nervous. After all, he was the emperor supported by Wang Zongshi and others.

Now that he was about to launch an operation against the Shen Ce Army, if Wang Zongshi and others were unhappy, he would probably have trouble sleeping.

However, facts have proved that after Wang Zongshi and others took control of the Northern Division, the environment in the Northern Division was indeed better than before.

Even in the face of Li Yi's remarks, the four did not get angry on the spot, but looked at Wang Zongshi, with Wang Zongshi as the leader.

As for Wang Zongshi, what he cared about was military power, not those nobles and children of officials who were just filling in the gaps.

After Ma Gongru and others were killed, many of their family members still remained in the Shen Ce Army to fill vacancies.

We can use this opportunity to clear them all out, and let the emperor and the Southern Court bear the blame...

Thinking of this, Wang Zongshi also bowed and said, "There are some old and weak soldiers in the Shen Ce Army who need to be eliminated. Your Majesty can set an example for other garrisons."

"So good..."

Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief, and Wang Zongshi continued:

"If your majesty needs it, we can now go and remove the old and weak, draw up a military roster, and hand it over to the Ministry of Finance."

"Okay, then I'll trouble you all." Li Yi nodded in response. Seeing this, Wang Zongshi and others left the Purple Palace.

After they left, Li Yi also stood up and glanced towards the Zichen Hall where his father had been in charge of the government for fourteen years.

"Aye, if you are worthy of being the emperor, I am worthy of being the emperor too!"

After he finished speaking, Li Yi turned and walked towards the side hall, and at the same time ordered people to draft an edict to confer titles on the concubines and princesses in the inner court.

He conferred the title of Princess Tongchang on his favorite daughter, but for some unknown reason, none of the other princes were given titles.

A few days later, Wang Zongshi ordered Wang Maoxuan, Qi Yuanshi and others to compile a list of soldiers for the Shen Ce Army, eliminating more than 14,000 idle troops, saving the court more than 400,000 military pay.

The Southern Court and the Northern Court drafted an imperial edict, ordering the three towns of Xuanwu, Yicheng, and Zhongwu to each dispatch 10,000 troops to the south to participate in the suppression of the rebellion in eastern Zhejiang, and to be under the command of Cui Xuan, the governor of Huainan and the envoy of the eastern Zhejiang campaign.

At the same time, the autumn harvest in Helong area also ended.

"As of October 30, the autumn harvest in all prefectures was completed, and the land tax collected was 896,200 dan, and the hemp stalks 180,000 dan."

"The tribute and taxes from the merchants in various provinces amounted to more than 383,000 strings of cash, and the spices sold in Chang'an amounted to more than 334,000 strings of cash."

"The government repaid nearly 130,000 strings of cash for commercial goods, and allocated 300,000 strings of cash for commercial goods."

"The government has stored 3,460,000 dan of grain and 280,000 guan of money and silk."

"After the salaries and military pay are paid, the grain reserves will be about 2.8 million, and the bankbooks will show 120,000 strings of cash."

In the main hall of the Protectorate, as Gao Jinda finished his report on the financial situation of the Protectorate, Liu Jilong stopped tapping the table.

After a brief thought, Liu Jilong said, "We will increase the amount of stored grain this year. If there is any old grain that needs to be disposed of, we will sell it to the inner pass."

"Tell Yu Conghui and other merchants to keep a record of the cost of purchasing grains, and give them priority in the spices that will arrive next year."

"By the way, how much gold, silver, copper, coal, and iron are stored in the treasury now?"

When asked, Gao Jinda responded like he knew all the details:

"The treasury has about 2,800 taels of gold, 56,000 taels of silver, and about 520,000 catties of red copper smelted into ingots, which can be used to make 130,000 strings of cash."

"In addition, there are about 2 million catties of carbon and 170,000 catties of iron ingots."

"In the past few months, iron ingots have been mainly used to make armor and weapons."

"After the expansion of the army, we still have more than 3,000 sets of armor and weapons in stock, and there are also more than 12,000 sets of armor seized and repaired from Liangzhou."

"However, this batch of armor will be transported to Songzhou in the south at the beginning of the month as you said, and it is estimated that it will arrive in mid-November."

Gao Jinda finished describing the situation in the treasury, and Liu Jilong looked at Zhang Chang after listening:

"How are the troops in each town? How many are they short of?"

Seeing that it was his turn, Zhang Chang hurriedly said, "The fourteen garrisons have a total of 42,000 soldiers and 38,700 combat soldiers."

"Among them, there are 28,700 infantrymen and 10,000 elite cavalrymen, but the elite cavalrymen are still short of more than 1,800 military horses and 3,400 riding horses."

"Based on the speed at which the military horse farm is selling horses, it will take until June next year to fill the quota."

"In addition, Liangzhou Deputy Governor Chen Ying and Chief Clerk Cao Mao led 2,000 elite cavalrymen out of the border and joined forces with Hexi Commander Zhang Jie, heading for the Juyan Sea. No victory reports have been sent back yet."

"There is military information in Songshan to the south. Shang Moyan has conquered the three kingdoms of Dongnu, Baigou, and Gelin, and captured 50,000 captives, eight cities, and more than 300,000 cattle and sheep."

"Xichuan Jiedushi Xiahouzi sent 3,000 soldiers to Yizhou to wait and see. Military Supervisor Yang Fugong wrote to you, hoping that you can mediate the conflict between Shang Moyan and Xishan."

Zhang Chang finished speaking, but Liu Jilong smiled and said, "Let me mediate?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The fifteen officials in the hall laughed out loud. After all, they all knew that Shang Moyan was able to achieve such success because of the support of his own commander-in-chief.

"General, Shang Moyan is ready to exchange the more than 2,000 Hankou prisoners captured from Xishan for 20,000 dan of grain."

Zhang Chang continued to report, but Liu Jilong shook his head after listening and said, "At most 10,000 dan. He can't feed so many people anyway."

"In addition, our army has recovered Liangzhou, and the land that can be developed in Liangzhou is worth millions."

"There are more than 120,000 oxen that can be domesticated in Liangzhou, but it is far from enough."

"If Shang Moyan is willing to exchange it with oxen, I can exchange it with him for one ox and ten stone of grain."

After finishing speaking, Liu Jilong looked at Gao Jinda and said, "Send the message to all the prefectures and counties to increase the efforts in reclamation. Don't worry about no one farming."

"As the imperial court continues to increase taxes, the number of people fleeing will only increase, not decrease."

"In addition, we can buy and sell prisoners with officials from various prefectures and counties and transport them to Hexi to make a profit."

"Instead of letting them be exiled to Lingnan, it is better to let them go to Hexi to radiate their remaining energy."

Liu Jilian has already tasted the sweetness of the Southern Road to the Western Regions.

If Zhang Huaishen could recapture Xizhou and open up the northern road, Longyou would be able to earn millions from the Silk Road every year.

With this money, it will be easier to bribe officials in Jiannan, Shannan and other provinces, and more people will move in.

Not only that, the conflict between the Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao is about to begin, and the price of grain in Xichuan will also rise.

Once the grain price in Xichuan rises, the entire Yangtze River Basin will be affected.

The reason why the people in Huainan Road became starving was mainly because of the exploitation by the government, but if they had money, they could still buy food.

But if the grain price in Xichuan rises, the food pressure in Huainan Road can only be solved by Jingnan and Jiangnan.

After these two places have satisfied their own needs, the amount of grain that can be sold is extremely limited.

By then, even if the people of Huainan Road had money, they probably wouldn't be able to buy food, and unrest was imminent.

However, the situation that the Tang court had to face with these 120,000 troops was not in Longyou.

The situation that Longyou will face is that Jiannan and Shannan West Road will be invaded by Nanzhao, the people will be displaced, and the local situation will be chaotic.

As long as there is enough food, Longyou can feed hundreds of thousands of people and wait for the world to fall into chaos before moving east out of Longshan!
While thinking, Liu Jilong looked at Gao Jinda and Cui Shu:
"The gold, silver and copper coins stored in the treasury should be temporarily kept for the trade of horses and people. We should move in as many people as possible to strengthen Longyou!"

(End of this chapter)