Wang Zhongsi submitted a relocation order to the imperial court and finally approved it.
Zhou Jun was moved from being the eighth-level supervisor of Hushi to being the sixth-level supervisor of Hushi. At the same time, he served as the governor of Wuwei County.
A young man who had only been in Liangzhou for a few months and was only nineteen years old not only became the top leader of Wuwei County and was in charge of the entire Hexi Mutual Market, but on the day he took office, 200,000 people in the city decorated the city with lanterns and colors to congratulate the new official.
To outsiders, it seems unprecedented and even a bit unbelievable.
July 15th, Liangzhou City.
After Zhou Jun finished handling the affairs of the palace, he took his troops to the south of the city and waited for the arrival of a motorcade.
It was nearly noon, and on the official road far outside the city, there was a mighty motorcade, slowly moving forward towards the city gate.
When the convoy came closer, the leader pulled off the windshield, jumped off the cart, quickly came to Zhou Jun and bowed down.
Zhou Jun smiled and helped him up and said, "Bohong is finally here."
Kong You stood up, let out a long breath, and said excitedly: "I have heard everything about what my master did in Liangcheng. It is really the ability of a great sage."
Another strong old man walked out of the convoy, came to Zhou Jun, bowed and said: "Mr. Zhou, there are three carts of workshop equipment, five carts of new tea, three carts of miscellaneous goods, a total of forty-four people including craftsmen and handymen. All are safe."
arrival."
Zhou Jun looked carefully and saw that the old man was Mao Shun, the master craftsman. He stepped forward and held the latter's hand and said, "Master craftsman has worked hard all the way. You craftsmen, including your family members, have already sent someone to pick them up. I believe you can use them."
It won't take many days to reach Liangzhou."
Hearing this, Mao Shun was stunned for a moment, and then said with trembling emotion: "Erlang's kindness, we craftsmen can't repay you for our work, we can only work hard and die."
Zhou Jun said a few words of relief, and first asked Bu Qu to accompany the craftsmen, drove the cart to the house, and then walked with Kong You to talk.
Kong You first said: "Wei Jian, regarding the case of Huangfu Weiming's secret meeting with the prince, Li Linfu challenged Li Shizhi in the court, saying that there was an informant and Li Zuoxiang was also involved in the case. In order to avoid suspicion, Li Shizhi resigned from his post and was demobilized.
The land is an official. The sage persuaded, but the left minister insisted. In desperation, the sage could only agree to Li Shizhi's request."
After Zhou Jun heard this, he sighed at first and then said: "Li Shizhi is afraid of Li Linfu to such an extent."
Kong You said: "Have you ever seen the clues? In the Shangyuan secret meeting case, Wei Jian, Huangfu Weiming, Li Shizhi and Li Linfu are all insignificant characters, but there is only one person who is the key."
Zhou Jun thought for a moment and asked, "Is the person Bo Hong refers to a saint?"
Kong You nodded and said: "In the case of Wei Jian, the sage used the art of balancing to restrain the prince's party. Wei Jian and Huangfu Weiming were both demoted because of this. However, the prince who was the center of the case did not receive any punishment.
The sage did not even rebuke him. This shows that the sage believes that the case is over and the purpose has been achieved."
"However, Li Shizhi was worried about Li Linfu, but he directly offered to resign and seek refuge. I'm afraid the saint never expected this. Originally, because of the Wei Jian case, the forces of the two parties in the DPRK and China were already tending to be balanced, but because of Li Shizhi's resignation, they were
The layout is messed up, which is what the saint doesn’t want and doesn’t want to see. Therefore, ‘the saint persuades, but reluctantly agrees’.”
After listening to Kong You's words, Zhou Jun gradually came to his senses: "Now that the left prime minister has resigned, and only the right prime minister is left in the court, the saint may have concerns."
Kong You: "Yes, Li Linfu is very scheming, and he also wrote a letter to attract his servant Chen Xilie, a scholar of Chongxuan Hall, to become the prime minister. Chen Xilie is good at pleasing saints with Taoist auspiciousness, but he is not good at political affairs, so he is lazy in government affairs. This move of Li Linfu can make
The monopoly of power can, secondly, make the saint feel at ease, and thirdly, it can silence the crowd."
Zhou Jun: "It seems that no one in the court can compete with Li Linfu anymore."
Kong You nodded and said: "In the short term, that may be the case. But after all, it is impossible for a saint to sit back and watch Li Linfu's family dominate. He will always find another person to balance the forces in the DPRK."
The two of them were talking and walking. Along the way, people from Liangzhou, merchants in the city, and officials, big and small, all saluted and greeted Zhou Jun when they saw him. When Kong You saw this, he looked happy and said, "Erlang has won the hearts of the people. This is a great good thing."
."
Zhou Jun took Kong You into the Governor's Mansion, then went to the side hall, dismissed the others, and then said: "This time there was a food shortage in Liangzhou, I asked the Huihe people for food, and this solved the crisis. Wang Duhu wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.
Implementing commercial tax to increase military pay, can Bo Hong analyze the pros and cons of this matter for me?"
Kong You thought about it and said to Zhou Jun: "The Mobei Turks have been weakened, the Tuyuhun rebels have been captured again, and the Tubo army has been defeated in Qinghai. On the surface, all the enemies in the north of the Tang Dynasty have been wiped out, and the royal guard has
The Northern Fan that we lead is in the limelight for a while...but in fact, the current moment is when Northern Fan is in danger."
Zhou Jun was stunned after hearing this: "What's the meaning of Bo Hong's words?"
Kong You said: "Among the towns in the Tang Dynasty, the Northern Fan needed to deal with the threats of the Turks, Tubo, and Tuyuhun, so it had the largest number of troops and the strongest combat capabilities. However, after several battles, both of the three major foreign enemies were silent, and the Tubo new
Defeated, the Northern Fan army was too strong and became a constraint."
Zhou Jun thought thoughtfully: "You mean, the bird is gone and the bow is hidden, the rabbit is dead and the dog is cooked?"
Kong You nodded first and then said: "At the beginning, Wang Zhongsi took charge of the four generals' seals alone. Although the minister came up with this idea first, I estimate that 80% of it was Li Linfu's idea. This move seemed to delegate power to Wang Zhongsi.
In fact, it is emphasizing to the sage that the Northern Fan Wei cannot be lost and is getting increasingly out of control."
"Beifan first destroyed the Turks, then Tuyuhun, and defeated Tubo. Moreover, Wang Zhongsi took the four seals by himself, and now he is going to raise business taxes. Erlang also thought about how the court would view Beifan, and how the saint would view Wang Zhongsi.
?”
Zhou Jun's heart tightened.
In the history books, Wang Zhongsi led the four generals in Hexi, Longyou, Shuofang and Hedong. Due to the lack of military pay and the failure of commercial and tax reform, he had to give up his position in Shuofang and Hedong Jiedushi, which weakened his authority.
But now, due to Zhou Jun's intervention, Liangzhou's grain shortage has been solved, merchant groups have been persuaded, and civil pressure has eased. Wang Zhongsi's business tax reform is likely to be passed. History has seen some changes here.
As the leader of the Northern Fan, Wang Zhongsi will not give up his position as the envoy of Shuofang and Hedong. This means that the power of the Northern Fan has become stronger again and again, and has reached a point where the imperial court has to pay attention to it.
Thinking of this, Zhou Jun asked Kong You: "So, the next thing the imperial court will do is to cut down the vassalage?"
Kong You said with a smile: "The imperial court has always dreamed of reducing the vassal state, but under what name? The armies of the Northern Fan Dynasty have repeatedly made great achievements and captured countless prisoners. They should be the benchmark for the military spirit of the Tang Dynasty. If the decree is issued to reduce the vassal state at this time,
, wouldn’t that chill the hearts of the soldiers? It might even cause civil strife in the army?”
Zhou Jun said confused: "What will the court do?"
Kong You: "If the imperial court wanted to weaken the military strength of the Northern Fan, there were actually two ways. The first method was to borrow troops. It asked other military governors to borrow troops from the Northern Fan on the grounds of war, thereby reducing its military strength."
Zhou Jun: "What about the second method?"
Kong You: "The second method is called war damage. Deliberately leading the Northern Fan to attack powerful enemies, and also plotting to create various unfavorable environments, thereby causing the Northern Fan armies to lose troops and generals, and achieve the reduction of the feudal vassal in the name of war.
"
Zhou Jun took a deep breath. The guess Kong You mentioned became more and more likely the more he thought about it.
next chapter
This chapter has been completed!