Crown Tang emperor

Not to mention the Zan Po in front of him, even if Li Tong changed places with her, he didn't think there was any better coping strategy.

Needless to say, Tang's hatred and resentment towards the Gar family, even many Tang people did not know whether there were other political forces in Tubo Kingdom, but when they mentioned Lu Dongzan and his son, they gritted their teeth.

On the Tubo side, the situation has developed to this point, and there is almost no possibility of relaxation. The existence of the Gar family has seriously threatened the majesty of the Zanpu kingship.

Qin Ling is indeed strong. When it comes to military talent in the world, I am afraid that few people can match him.However, war is the most complex and bloodiest group activity in human society, and there are many reasons for determining the outcome of the outcome. The level of military ability is not the only condition, and it is not even the most important.

Although today's Qinling occupies the land of Qinghai and possesses impressive military power, it is sandwiched between the two major powers of the world, and its situation is bound to be very difficult, especially when facing the threat of Tubo. There is a moral disadvantage, and it is really uncertain how much strength he can exert. It is even possible that the subordinates will turn against each other before the war begins.

It is already very difficult to deal with even one of them.If the two parties still reach a consensus and compromise, then the only fate that greets the Gar family is death.

Such a situation, no matter how positive and optimistic people are to face it, I am afraid that they will not be happy.

Because of Zan Po's silence, the banquet was extremely dull.Although the singing and dancing in the hall was lively and charming, Zan Po was really not in the mood to appreciate it.

Although Li Tong broke people's mentality, he didn't feel much guilt.He was just a little curious. Po Zan's entry into the Tang Dynasty this time must have taken on a very important mission. It should be known that when he was enthroned in the early years, Qinghai only sent people from the third generation.

Although he is a bit bad at the moment, he deliberately revealed some intentions of Tubo Kingdom to Zampo.However, Zanpo, as an important member of the Gar family, must have a very strong psychological endurance. Faced with such an obvious and not unexpected thing, she seemed a little unbearable, and she didn't even mention the original intention of entering the Tang Dynasty. .

Li Tong was curious, but Zan Po was also in a tangled mood at this time, wondering if it was necessary to tell her thoughts about this trip.

Zanpo's trip to Tang Dynasty, in addition to spying on the real strength and trends of Datang, has another more important meaning, that is, she hopes that Qinghai can also join the business system around Datang.

The situation in Qinghai is very bad now, and it can even be said that it is already a little unsustainable.Compared with the Tang Dynasty, Qinghai is naturally not a rich land. Although it also has certain farming and animal husbandry conditions, it is only barely maintained, and it is not even comparable to the Jiqu River Valley where the Tubo royal city Luosuo City is located.

In previous years, they could still obtain certain supplements from the middle school, and with the entire territory of Qinghai, whether it was in Longyou, which was close at hand, or in the Western Regions, they could also open up sources of income through various forms such as wars.

But now, the land of Haidong has been forcibly contested by Datang, and the relationship with the middle school is getting worse and worse, and the supplements that can be obtained are becoming more and more limited.Moreover, Qin Ling himself is not a person who is good at political management. He has no long-term plans for people's livelihood, and he has to maintain a huge army all year round, which makes the already insufficiently abundant products even more barren.

Of course Zampo also understands his elder brother's difficulties, sandwiched between the two great powers, in order to survive, there is no room for them to stop fighting and recuperate.However, if this situation continues, even without the need for the opponent to take the initiative to attack, Qinghai may collapse itself.

Corresponding to Qinghai's increasingly embarrassing economic situation, it is Longyou, Longnan, Xikang and even Tubo. They were excluded from Qinghai.

In the past few years, it is not that Qinghai did not try to intervene and get a piece of the pie, such as blackmailing by force, or supporting the agents of the Tibetan Ministry.

However, the results of these attempts are not impressive. In terms of force, Datang's military strength in Longyou, Longnan and the Jiuqu of the Yellow River has been increasing year by year. Coupled with the threat from behind, Qinghai does not dare to start a war at all. think.

Although it is possible to catch some small fish with some small-scale actions, or blackmail, or plunder, but such behavior also caused their Gar family to be generally rejected and alienated by the Longbian Hus. If things go on like this, they will be even more of isolation.

As for the agents of the Hu tribe, not to mention the corruption and exploitation among them, because Chiling, an important border defense area, is not under control, many tribes directly surrendered to the Tang Dynasty after receiving the goods from Haixi and arrived in Haidong. , so that the Gar family suffered more humiliation from the loss of people and wealth.

In addition, there is one more disturbing point, that is, the Bailanqiang located near Jishi Mountain, under the instigation of the dignitaries in the Tubo Kingdom, constantly harassed and snatched the salt pond near the territory.Although it cannot be occupied for a long time, the interference to a great extent has destroyed the normal production of Yanchi, making Qinghai frequently run out of basic living supplies.

Therefore, whether a stable financial source can be found is also a key factor for whether Qinghai can continue to maintain it.In the situation where war, the most direct and effective means, cannot be used, commerce has become one of the few options.

Originally, Zan Po still had a lot of confidence in this point.

First of all, Datang is the core of this business network. The more trade partners, the greater the profit.Secondly, their strength in Qinghai itself is not weak. If they are excluded for a long time, they can only use force. Once the two sides go to war, with the power they have in Qinghai, they will definitely be able to influence and shake the operation of the entire business network.

Under such circumstances, making money in harmony is the best choice.

However, this idea is based on the fact that the restoration of the national power of the Tang Dynasty is not enough to start a big war, and at the same time, they still have a strong military deterrent in Qinghai.

But now it seems that these two hypothetical goals seem to be untenable, and the recovery of Datang's national strength has far exceeded their imagination.What's more terrible is that the Tubo Kingdom seems to be about to set off further coercion and sanctions against Qinghai. Under such circumstances, how can Qinghai have the power to threaten Datang to make a choice against his will?

The resentment towards the Gar family is a kind of sentiment that exists in Tang Dynasty from top to bottom.Not to mention those courtiers and low-level people, even the emperor of the Tang Dynasty in front of him, who hadn't reached the summit in his early years, and hadn't gained a firm foothold when he returned to Chang'an, so he was impatient to launch a war against Qinghai. And know what kind of attitude he has towards the Gar family in his heart.

The current situation is quite different from the previous assumptions. If this request is forced to be made again, whether it will be granted or whether it will bring shame on itself is still a matter of course.The key is that doing so may expose a lot of Qinghai's financial situation, which will intensify the idea of ​​Tang monarchs and ministers falling into trouble and trying to avenge old grievances.

Knowing the latest intention of the junior high school, Po Zan already has a lot of thoughts on her mind. Now that her thoughts are immersed in this consideration, she is even more distracted and doesn't know how to choose.

The atmosphere of the banquet has been very low, Li Tong waited for a while, seeing that Grandma still didn't speak, so his patience gradually ran out, so he raised his hand to indicate that the banquet could be stopped, and said to Grandma: "If there is no urgent matter I urge you to stay in Beijing for a while. In the future, the King of Xikang will be enshrined in the palace. With such a background, there are not many villagers to help him. It is also a comfort for human beings to have such an old man attend the ceremony."

Hearing what the saint said, all the members of the Jiying Hall in the hall were also a little surprised, but they calmed down soon.As the confidants of the saints, they naturally knew that the imperial court had long-term plans for the Xikang Kingdom, and the inclusion of the Xikang King into the palace would also promote a series of related future plans.

Zan Po had expected this incident long ago, although she was a little disappointed, she still pulled herself together, held up the wine glass on the table and said: "I am so happy, the foreigner really wants to congratulate the saint and Princess Chizun! This cup is to show joy..."

He didn't agree to stay to attend the ceremony. The two important purposes of entering the Tang Dynasty this time, the former has become meaningless, and the latter has little hope, which also made him no longer plan to stay here.Right now, he just wants to return to Haixi as soon as possible, pass on what he has seen and learned, discuss countermeasures with his brother, and tide over the difficulties with his family.

Ye A Li was usually bright and cheerful, but now that the sage told the great joy in her life in public, a little bit of embarrassment appeared on her pretty face.

Seeing that Grandma Zan was not very enthusiastic about this, she also stood up from the table, looked at the other party and said sincerely: "Ye Li has a lot of life experience and a bleak fate, the general knows it well. Today, I will be gracious to serve you. I can leave the bitterness behind me, but I dare not bring this desolation into the heavenly family. Therefore, I also hope that the old acquaintances from the old country can help me to prosper. If the general can help me this time, Ye Li will be grateful."

After Zan Po heard this, she couldn't help feeling a little hesitant in her heart.After pondering for a while, he opened his mouth again and said: "The sage and the Princess Chizun both bowed down to invite them, but the outsiders were disrespectful. But I didn't know such a joyful thing before I left. I am here without congratulatory gifts. I dare to ask, When is the ceremony date?

If there is still time, please inform Haixi's family members to prepare gifts and deliver them urgently to Chang'an.Although vulgar things are not enough to express the true feelings, Princess Chizun is the jewel of our country, and she is happy to marry, so she should be congratulated, otherwise it would be unreasonable! "

Ye Ali was still immersed in the joy of fulfilling her long-cherished wish at the moment, and when she heard Zampo's thoughtful etiquette, she didn't think deeply for a while, but turned her head to look at the saint subconsciously.Although it is said that the matter has been decided, the specific date has not yet been agreed.

After Li Tong heard the words, he nodded slightly to Ye Ali, don't reject the gifts that come to your door, although it is a bit far from Haixi to Chang'an, but at most it will be a few days longer.

At the same time, he was a little curious about the other purposes of Zanpo's entry into Beijing, but after hearing this, he realized something in his heart, and said again: "In the past, there was quite a swordsmanship between the two sides, so now the Chiling line They are all heavily guarded, and personnel access is quite difficult. With your kindness, I will make it easier for you to close the door and not open the door."

When Zan Po heard this, her shoulders trembled slightly, and she immediately understood in her heart that her carelessness had been seen through.He is planning to use this opportunity to urgently raise a batch of materials, mix them with gifts and transport them across Chiling, and conduct a private transaction in Longyou, so as to prepare a batch of materials for the upcoming junior high school. Mishap occurred.

If the Tang sage hadn't seen through his plan, he wouldn't have deliberately pointed out that Chiling Pass was heavily guarded and the characters were sad, and offered to open the door for convenience.

In addition to the embarrassment and embarrassment of being seen through, Zan Po's thoughts changed again, and a burst of ecstasy suddenly surged in her heart.Since the other party has seen through his thoughts, but still does not stop the matter, does that mean that he is also willing to open the door of convenience in other aspects?

After having such a realization, Zan Po couldn't hold back any longer, she directly got up from the table, bowed to the side and said in a trembling voice: "It is true that the two sides of the old party have disputes, but in recent years they have both restrained themselves, so it doesn't hurt harmony. Hai Western materials are abundant, and Chang Si can travel freely outside, so now I have the courage to ask the sage, can I give you the favor of opening the market?"

After Li Tong heard the words, he laughed again, looked at Zampo and said: "If you achieve it, you will benefit the world. This is the foreword. According to what the fanciers see, is it that I have not achieved it now?"

"This this……"

When Zan Po heard this answer, she was stunned again.

"Specialized and paid for by a secretary, this is not the matter in my case. Let's drink another cup, and tomorrow there will be staff to receive foreign guests."

Seeing Po Zan's slightly sluggish appearance, Li Tong laughed again, and raised his wine glass as a gesture.

After Zan Po heard this, her complexion changed, and then she went straight back to the table, grabbed the wine urn and held it to her chest, not without surprise, she said: "The Ming Lord of the Tang Dynasty ruled the world, and the strong wind of the past returned to the world. Drink wins!"

Chapter 0881 Caoqu flowing fat, full of rice

In the past few years, the organizational structure of the court's various departments has undergone considerable changes compared with previous years.

Although the central organizational structure of the six ministries of the three provinces of the Tang Dynasty today is a summary of the political gains and losses of previous dynasties, it is a comprehensive form based on this. Under this framework there are increases and decreases.Even many foreign regimes use this as the standard, and it is more effective.

But whether the system is perfect or not cannot be separated from the specific background of the times.If the actual situation is ignored, no matter how reasonable the system design and arrangement seem, it will lose its meaning of existence.

Although the basic structure of three provinces, six ministries, nine monasteries and five prisons has not changed in the reform of the political system of the imperial court, the actual decision-making and administrative levels have changed a lot.

First of all, the rise of Jiyingguan, the emperor's cronies and staff, divided the power of Zhongshu and his disciples to a certain extent.In the past, the importance of the two provinces was reflected from top to bottom. It goes without saying that Zhongshu Ling and Menxia servants held high positions and weight. The imperial edict also played an important role in the formation process.

After all, every decision related to state affairs is not decided to be implemented by the emperor and the prime ministers.From the initial discovery of problems, project establishment discussions to the final decision-making, almost all the middle-level officials in these two provinces are in charge.

Because of this, although Zhongshu Sheren and his servants are only officials in the fifth rank, they are known as ministers, and their importance in the court situation even surpasses most of the fourth rank Tonggui.

The emergence of the group of scholars in the Jiyingguan allowed the emperor to have a fixed number of think tanks who could discuss state affairs. Whether it was in the drafting of the rules and regulations or in the process of implementation, it gave the emperor's will a greater autonomy. The promotion of the emperor's authority has extraordinary significance.

In addition to the Jiyingguan, it is the establishment of the Privy Council and the separation of military and government.This change is of much greater significance, allowing the country to have a more independent and systematic management and decision-making organization in the military.

Leaving aside the Shen Ke changes brought about by the current political structure, the establishment of the Privy Council can be said to minimize the impact of political struggles on military operations even if the court politics fell into a state of chaos similar to that before and after the Wu and Zhou Dynasties.

Of course, this is actually only a theoretical possibility.After all, no matter how the system is arranged, people always stay in their positions, and it is almost impossible to completely avoid interference with each other.

It's just that at the moment, the imperial court's national strength is gradually recovering, which requires both military and political development.If the exploration of the military system is too late, it will also cause serious constraints to actual military operations.

In addition to these huge changes in the military and political structure, more changes have been made at the level of actual affairs.The addition of the stables under the Taifu Temple is just one of the aspects, and it is not the most important change.

Nine Temples are the first-line department of the imperial court to implement specific affairs management, so the increase or decrease of its Cao Division needs to be more timely, and the changes among them can best reflect the current real situation of imperial court politics in terms of state affairs.

Like the establishment of the Social Supervision Administration, it replaced Baigong Supervision to manage Baigong inside and outside.This seems to be just a name change of the relevant government office, but in the actual authority and management method, a huge change has taken place.

The former Baigongjian was established under Jiangzuojian, and was mainly responsible for coordinating the management of all kinds of artisans, storing and providing bamboo and wood materials.However, there are still many departments at the same level with similar functions.The subordinates of Shaofu, Taifu, and Guanglu each have functions and institutions for managing artisan households and official slaves.

There are many related agencies, which have made personnel scattered and difficult to integrate, and there is a more important problem, that is, although there are many government offices, they lack the integration and management of real civilian productivity.

In view of this situation, the imperial court abolished the relevant government departments, and the chief officer of the Sinong Department was in charge of slaves and maids. The Shaofu Weaving and Dyeing Department was in charge of weaving and weaving. The director of Jingyuan managed the two capitals and the northern capital Zhuhuangyuan The maintenance and production of the garden industry, the Ministry of Industry measures the enlistment of craftsmen from all over the world.

All affairs that are not involved in these four are collected in the social supervision office.At the same time, the Social Supervision Administration has also added a new function, which is to manage various folk craftsmen and formulate industry standards.

The reason for such a reorganization of powers is that apart from the fact that the imperial court itself wanted to abolish redundant staff, reduce administrative expenses, and improve administrative efficiency, another reason was the rapid development of folk handicrafts.

In the past, the imperial court pursued the taxation method based on rent adjustment and material objects as the main body. This method was first established in the social situation based on the land equalization system.And the various materials collected by the imperial court in the taxation process need enough labor to process them into usable products.

This financial model has its own advantages. From materials to production, the government is more resilient to various disasters.As long as sufficient administrative capacity is ensured, there is almost no need for external requests and additions.

However, this model also has serious disadvantages. Not to mention whether the social basis of land distribution, the equal-field system, can be guaranteed. How much pressure will it bring to the government's administrative capacity?

Therefore, with the expansion of territory, the sharp increase of political volume, and the development of private handicraft productivity, if no changes are made, the imperial administrative organization will become more and more bloated, with higher costs and higher efficiency. lower.

Therefore, even if the social supervision office established by the imperial court was to supervise the private handicraft industry, it would not go into detail for each production unit, but these industry organizations.

In today's Guanzhong, the land is becoming more and more barren, and the distribution of wide and narrow towns is seriously unbalanced.Although the imperial court has been vigorously promoting household registration and land equalization, these measures can only achieve the stability of social order, and will not bring a qualitative improvement to the agricultural production in Guanzhong.

The total amount of agricultural production is still in a state of gradual decline for a relatively long period of time, regardless of whether the owners of these lands are nobles, powerful or ordinary people.

After hundreds of thousands of years of reclamation and development, the farming environment in Guanzhong is no longer optimistic. Without the production of chemical fertilizers, a modern agricultural weapon, even if the agricultural technology has improved, it will only slightly delay the process. It is difficult to have a substantial improvement.

Although the situation is such a situation, the Guanzhong Plain has extraordinary political significance for the Tang Family Sheji, and of course it is impossible to completely abandon it.Especially in the following Western Front strategy, Guanzhong will still serve as a political and military center for a long time.

A powerful regime based on agriculture, but its political center could not choose to set up in the area with the most favorable farming environment. This was also a dilemma faced by the Tang court after the middle Tang Dynasty.

The heavy dependence on external materials has also made Huaixi and other feudal towns along the canal grow stronger. If you really want to compare the feudal towns caused by the Anshi Rebellion, the threat to the central government from the three towns in Hebei, where they originated, is even worse. Go to the towns in Henan.In Huaixi alone, powerful feudal clans such as Li Xilie and Wu Yuanji appeared successively.Of course, these goods were originally from Hebei.

In order to maintain the geographical advantages of the Guanzhong region, it is necessary to strengthen external exchanges and communication, and at the same time allow Guanzhong to have more choices of production methods.Therefore, in addition to compiling households and equalizing fields, the promotion of private handicrafts is also a policy that the imperial court has been pushing hard in recent years.

This is not to ignore the foundation of the country based on farming, but to make new changes in line with the actual situation, adapt to local conditions, and adapt to the current situation.If Guanzhong wants to maintain its status as a political, military and economic center, it needs to be more attractive to the general public.

Although the imperial court can also improve and enhance the aggregation of resources in Guanzhong by reforming water transportation and warehousing, this is not contrary to promoting the development of private commerce, and the two can go hand in hand and complement each other.

In the past few years, the reason why Datang's national strength has recovered so quickly has a lot to do with the prosperity of commerce and trade.Although it is said that the reform of various internal and external government orders has allowed Datang's productivity to recover quickly, the previous order in places such as Hedong, Hebei, and Henan has also been severely damaged, and the blood transfusion capacity for Guanzhong cannot be quickly restored in a short period of time.

The transportation of rice from Jiangnan to Guanzhong has increased year by year. For example, in the first year of Kaiyuan, the total amount of grain transported from Jiangnan to Guanzhong was only more than 60 hu, but in the third year of Kaiyuan, it had reached more than 230 million hu.In just three years, the scale has increased several times, which has greatly improved Guanzhong's demand for food.

But if this is all it takes, the gap in food demand in Guanzhong is still not small. Even if the ground will not be full of starvation, it will not be enough to fill the treasury and fill the warehouse with grain and rice, which can be used to discuss the military level.

This is the case with the official grain transportation force, and in addition to this, the private grain supply has also surged.There is an ancient motto among commercial banks, the so-called long-distance transportation of grain is costly, high-risk, and the profit is not considerable enough. Therefore, private traders are not very enthusiastic about grain trafficking.

Of course, food, as a basic survival material, has a strong influence on social stability. Of course, the imperial court cannot allow private merchants to hoard and traffic long-distance for profit.

However, this matter is not without room for flexibility. With the improvement of the storage and water transportation environment in various places, the system of Changping warehouse has regained its vitality.

Previously, the imperial court only relied on local governments for operations, with limited coverage and low efficiency.Moreover, in the process of reconciliation and purchase by the government, there are still a large number of forced purchases and apportionments. Officials often do not spare the rations of private households for the sake of political achievements and profits.

After all, the sales and purchases conducted by the government are not the same in power and size, so how can it be possible to form a general situation of mutual benefit and equality.

Therefore, the imperial court also allowed merchants to participate in the peace purchase. The local Changping warehouse was only responsible for storage and transshipment, while the imperial court specially dispatched envoys to picket and supervise together with the prefectural and county governments to carry out certain grain purchases. degree of market openness.

A martial arts lecture in Lishan has consumed almost all the food accumulated in Gyeonggi in recent years, and even the consumption of each army's return is quite a problem.But even so, Li Tong still dared to boldly plan foreign strategies, because although the grain reserves in Guanzhong are not sufficient at the moment, in other places, the imperial court still directly controls a large amount of grain.

Not to mention other places, just one official warehouse in Luokou warehouse has a grain reserve of nearly 50 hu.In other official warehouses along the canal, the grain storage is more or less, and the total amount has exceeded 300 million hu.

At present, these grains have not been imported into Gyeonggi. One is that they are not needed right now, and Guanzhong can still maintain them. The other is that if they are shipped together, the consumption along the way will inevitably increase.

But as long as the imperial court has exact plans and needs, the warehouses along the water transport can be transported sequentially, and grain and grass will be continuously imported into Gyeonggi to meet the imperial court's needs in this regard.

With food in hand, there is no panic in my heart.Moreover, the increase in reserves did not impose a heavier burden on the local government, especially did not add extra power to the local government.

The Changping Warehouse itself is an independent system, and the local government has certain supervisory power, but it does not have absolute management power.As for this set of shopping system, due to the extensive participation of non-governmental merchants, the center of the entire business system lies in Guanzhong.

They participate in and buy, and the direct profits in this transaction are very limited, but they can get certain preferential treatment in the subsequent process of going to Chang'an for business.Such as discounts on goods, and the supply of goods in short supply and so on.In other words, if you don't come to Chang'an, the amount you can realize will be limited, and you won't be able to maximize your benefits.

With such an arrangement, the imperial court not only ensured the growth and stability of the lifeline of food, but also ensured that the power of local figures was further concentrated in Gyeonggi.

Guanzhong, as the center of this business network, certainly has its advantages not only in terms of policy guidance.In today's Guanzhong, the industrial structure has also undergone great changes. There are more than 30 households of registered workshops and craftsmen alone, and there are nearly [-] craftsmen in Chang'an alone.

This kind of industrial distribution not only ensures sufficient commodity output around Chang'an, but also eases the ever-severe conflict between people and land.A large number of households have devoted themselves to handicraft production, and the demand for land has naturally decreased.

Even many households with arable land are more willing to grow cash crops with higher returns in addition to basic food production.After all, people's pursuit of profit is also instinctive.

Datang is a huge country, so it is natural to carry out industrial adjustments that strengthen exchanges between regions and complement each other, and it is not necessary to arrange all industries in one place.

With such a large manual production scale in Guanzhong, there is naturally a great demand for the acquisition of raw materials.Therefore, the court naturally had no reason to refuse the business request made by the Gar family, whether it was out of strategic considerations or practical interests.

Chapter 0882 rises with the momentum, the sky rises

The prosperity of Guanzhong commerce naturally requires more systematic and detailed regulations in terms of management and scheduling.

Prior to this, the imperial court's management of business matters was not deep enough.Taifu Temple is mainly responsible for managing commercial affairs. The two capitals and cities under Taifu Temple manage each big market, specifying the quality of commodities entering the market, setting up official samples, and issuing sales contracts.The Bureau of Equalization is responsible for controlling prices to monitor and prevent merchants from hoarding.

In addition, there is also the Ministry of Finance under the Ministry of Households, which is in charge of the unit system such as weights and measures.

As for the localities, the content and scope of supervision are similar, and they are managed by the state and county officials respectively.

Such a management model is relatively simple and rigid.Once commodity trade flourishes, one of the most notable features is that transactions can occur anytime and anywhere, and a large number of private grass markets have sprung up, and many transactions will not take place in the official market.

Moreover, the types and quality of the goods will become diverse and uneven, and it is completely impossible to completely control the goods.

Management technology cannot be upgraded, which is directly reflected in the fact that various commercial taxes cannot be collected universally, and the imperial court has limited benefits from this.

Before Kaiyuan, apart from some official and market transactions, the imperial court's gains in commercial matters were indeed very limited.Taxes in this area mainly come from two aspects.The first is the tax levied in the government market, that is, the transaction tax, and the second is the customs tax levied in the process of commodity circulation, also known as the Daicheng, which is the embankment of the Yandai River , Cheng is the distance passed.