When the Song army captured Yunzhou, it basically blocked the Liao Kingdom's path from going to Beijing to support Xixia. In fact, with the current national strength of the Liao Kingdom, they were unable to support Xixia.
Without the aid of the Liao Kingdom, Xixia was basically the meat in the bowl of the Song Dynasty.
Seeing that the situation was over, the Empress Dowager Liang and her brother decisively chose to flee all the way north. The Song army actually captured Xingqing Mansion without a single blow.
In the rear, Suzhou, Ganzhou, and Xiliang Prefecture were also captured by merchants inside and outside.
Basically, the most fertile areas in Xixia were under the control of the Song Dynasty.
As for Li Bingchang, Empress Dowager Liang did not take him away, but after he came out, he knelt down directly.
The reason is very simple. After this war, Xixia was devastated and thousands of people were crying for food. Even if the Song Dynasty allowed Li Bingchang to continue to be the leader of the country, he was unwilling.
Why.
If it was not my fault, why should I be held responsible?
This is of course a wise choice. It is no exaggeration to say that if Li Bingchang dared to continue to be the leader of the country, he would die mysteriously and suddenly the next day.
In fact, this was a huge challenge for the Song Dynasty.
Because this was not a complete attack, the people and merchants of Xixia were deceived by the Song people and wanted to join the Song Dynasty, so they rebelled.
Then the Song Dynasty would be responsible for them.
The key point is that they all have weapons in their hands now. If we can't survive, no one will survive.
This is also a very difficult problem.
Wang Shao immediately reported the situation here to the court.
Zhao Xu was still immersed in joy when he suddenly saw Wang Shao's letter. Everyone was confused and had never thought about this problem. After all, since Taizong, there has never been a war to destroy the country. Xihe expanded and only fought some Tibetans.
Tribe, no experience!
Therefore, Zhao Xu quickly summoned key ministers to discuss the matter, including Fu Bi, Zhang Fei, Zhao Pin and other judicial officials.
Because the public security bureau must be built locally.
"I agree with Wang Shao's suggestion and follow the example of the Xihe area." Xue Xiang nodded.
Wen Yanbo immediately said: "But Xihe was able to succeed because at that time Xihe was the main trade route from the Western Regions to the Central Plains. Xixia did not have this environment, and Xixia's population and land were much larger than Xihe's, and the local situation was also
Xihe is complicated, and if we completely imitate Xihe, there may be problems."
Xue Xiangdao: "But Xixia is also more fertile than the original Xihe. Xixia has large pastures and salt ponds, which we need in the Central Plains. The imperial court can spend money to buy these materials in Xixia, which can not only restore local production,
The court will also gain something.
The key point is that Xixia is also short of currency. We can use tax coins to buy it, and then use the food that Xixia is most short of to guarantee the tax coins. We may lose some money initially, but not much."
Wang Anshi frowned and said, "So, the imperial court doesn't want those pastures and salt ponds?"
Xue Xiang hurriedly said: "Ms. Wang, it's not that I don't want to, but we promised from the beginning that as long as they are willing to take refuge, their property will be considered their private property."
Wang Anshi said: "But there are many pastures and salt ponds in the hands of the Xixia court, including the Liang family and their nobles. Who should these belong to?"
What was surrendered before is certainly considered private property, but what belongs to the Liang family and many other Xixia dignitaries can no longer be counted as theirs. Those are all spoils of war!
"this...."
Xue Xiang frowned slightly and said, "I didn't think about it carefully."
Zhang Fei suddenly said: "In a legal sense, these should be regarded as belonging to the country. However, I suggest that they can be sold to businessmen or landowners in exchange for food, and then follow the ideas of the three ministers to help the local people."
Xue Xiang nodded silently, that's what he thought, so he didn't think about it in detail.
Wang Anshi said: "But salt and pasture are very important goods, especially war horses."
Zhao Xu nodded slightly.
The emperor of the Song Dynasty had an unusual obsession with horses. He finally managed to secure a piece of pasture and sell it directly?
Is this appropriate?
Sima Guang also expressed concern: "Sold to businessmen, the businessmen are only interested in profit. They will not take care of the people, nor do they care about the needs of the court. It is really inappropriate. If the court takes over, they can still hire some people."
Zhang Fei did not base his refutation on this, but took the retreat as the basis for advancement: "I just look at it from a judicial perspective, and there may be some shortcomings. The specific opinions of all the gentlemen should be based on."
Zhao Xu immediately said: "This is related to the rise and fall of the country. Don't pay too much attention to it. Let's discuss it together. President, if you have any ideas, just say so."
Fu Bi also nodded and said: "Actually, what Xixia lacks most at present is stability. If the public security system cannot be established well, it is impossible to do what Wang Xianggong and the Third Division Envoy said. In this situation, even if there are pastures, horses cannot be raised.
ah!"
That seems to be the case too.
Wang Anshi and Sima Guang also looked at Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei then said: "According to the previously formulated principles of the Basic Law, they only need to abide by the Basic Law, and the rest of the legislation is still based on local legislation.
In being able to occupy Xixia this time, the merchants actually played a great role, and the merchants highly respected the Public Security Law, because compared with the old system, the Public Security Law was able to protect the rights and interests of merchants. In the future, the obstacles faced by the local construction of the Public Security Law are those who had earlier
The old Xixia nobles and officials who surrendered, as well as the Tibetan tribes who helped us capture Ganzhou and Suzhou.
Although they have surrendered, most of them joined us because they did not want their own interests to be exploited by the Empress Dowager Liang and others. If Xixia is to be completely turned into a state capital of our dynasty, these forces must be weakened and checked.
Therefore, there are three benefits to selling those salt ponds and pastures to businessmen.
First, they can immediately strengthen their power in Xixia to balance the old Xixia nobles.
Second, we can use this to negotiate terms with businessmen and let them assist the court in stabilizing the people. For example, setting a minimum wage and allowing them to hire Xixia people and provide livelihoods for the local people.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Thirdly, and the most important point is that businessmen support the Public Security Bureau and can quickly establish the Public Security Bureau and Law in the local area, and we use the power of businessmen to strive to establish more
Laws that are conducive to the administration of the imperial court."
Fu Bi nodded and said, "The veteran agrees with what the Chief Justice said. At present, the main focus should be on building the Public Security Bureau and the Procuratorate in Xixia."
After that, he glanced at Wang Anshi again, and then said: "As long as the public security law is established, there will not be fewer war horses, but more. It's just that the court may have to spend more money to buy them, but compared with directly relieving Xixia, the cost will be less."
The money will be much, much less.”
Sima Guang also nodded and said: "If the public security law is well established and minimum wages can be stipulated, businessmen will indeed be a better choice."
Wen Yanbo said: "Constructing the public security system well can also prevent people with evil intentions."
The old man's words made Wang Anshi dare not say anything more and quickly nodded in agreement.
really!
At present, the most important thing is to build the public security system, and other things must be postponed a little later. Otherwise, everything will be impossible to talk about, and there will be many hidden dangers.
In such a chaotic situation, if people's hearts are not stabilized immediately, who can guarantee that it will not encourage other people's ambitions.
The person Wen Yanbo mentioned as having evil intentions may not necessarily refer only to the party nobles, but also to the generals of the Song Dynasty.
Now there are two options. First, adopt Wang Anshi's plan and put it directly under the control of the imperial court, which will take the lead in building the public security law.
Second, use the indirect control of businessmen to build the public security system.
However, according to the principles of the Basic Law, if the imperial court controls the upper class, then the lower class will become a rope, and the old Xixia aristocrats may take the lead. After all, during this expedition to Xia, neither country has declared war, and the Xixia aristocrats and landowners are in the front.
The Song army lacked some prestige in the local area, let alone that the powerful dragon could not overwhelm the local snakes.
If you support businessmen, you will split the lower classes and adopt a balancing act.
Obviously the second method is more suitable for the current situation.
One very crucial point is that businessmen have great faith in the public prosecutor and the law. They are supporters of the public prosecutor and the law, not destroyers.
In the end, Zhao Xu adopted Zhang Fei's suggestion.
It is to stabilize the Xixia region around the construction of public security, security and law as the core.
Subsequently, the imperial court announced that it would spend 5 million yuan to purchase livestock, medicinal materials, and other goods from Xixia.
At the same time, another two million coins were allocated to reward the soldiers of the three armies. This does not include the soldiers of the Western Army in Yunzhou, but only the Song Army in Xixia.
The court spent this money very happily. If it were to conquer an inch of land, it would cost more than this. Of course, these tax coins are actually real gold and silver, and they are all paid from the deposits in the internal treasury.
In the past, when generals performed meritorious services, they would allocate land to them locally, but this time it is not the case, because the court has monetized it, and if you allocate land to generals, you will also face problems in collecting taxes in the future, and these may become unstable factors.
Just give the money directly.
This can also stimulate the development of industry and commerce in Xixia. Soldiers will also consume when they get coins!
What's this?
This is a business opportunity!
After receiving this news, merchants rushed to Xixia to pan for gold.
When Wang Shao got the final plan from the court, Ma Tianhao and the others actually received a letter from Zhang Fei.
They were overjoyed because the entire plan of the imperial court was to focus on businessmen.
By selling resources to businessmen, businessmen can intervene in local legislation, and the laws enacted will definitely be very beneficial to businessmen.
Merchants in Xixia bought grain everywhere at high prices, because they knew that if they wanted to buy those resources, they had to use grain to trade.
Incidentally, this also stimulated the northwest economy, because grain prices in the entire northwest, Xihe and other regions were increased by twenty cents.
Not only that, many northwest landowners began to practice rotational farming on their land, growing grain for one season and horse feed for another season.
Because they knew that this war horse was going to Hebei and would definitely go here, and the horse materials would definitely make money.
Cai Jing, Cai Bian, Cao Ping and others also rushed to Xixia. Cai Jing was mainly responsible for grain trading, while Cai Bian and Cao Ping were responsible for building the public security law.
Wang Shao first sold all the properties of the Xixia royal family and the Liang family to merchants. In less than a month, Xixia had 30 more salt-making workshops, more than a hundred ranchers, and many pharmaceutical companies.
merchant.
The imperial court obtained a large amount of grain from merchants, and the grain was sold directly to the WFP.
The WFP then sells these grains locally and stipulates that they can be purchased with tax coins.
Where do tax coins come from?
The imperial court spent money to buy local horses, medicinal materials, and salt.
Although the merchant has just taken over and has not yet produced the goods, it does not matter. The court will directly send money first, and you can quickly hire people to produce.
The businessmen knew in advance that they dared to do this. As long as we take these resources, the money will be available immediately. We can sell as much as we produce, and the price will not be low.
Make money by dying.
At the same time, after Cai Bian arrived at Xingqing Mansion, he immediately promulgated several temporary laws.
First, the Pasture Protection Law. In the name of protecting local customs, it is determined that pastures cannot be turned into cultivated land, and violators will be fined heavily. It also involves the Pasture Relief Law, which means that when pastures are affected by disasters, the government will provide relief.
After all, herdsmen are not as good as farmers in their ability to withstand risks.
Second, the Salt Tax Law. The salt ponds were sold to merchants, but the court had to control the sale of salt to avoid affecting the salt industry.
How to control it is through salt tax. If you want to sell it to Jiezhou, I will tax you 200%. But if you want to sell it to Xuzhou and other places, then I will only tax you 5%, or even
In some places the tax is only 1%.
The third is the Minimum Daily Wage Law, which stipulates that the minimum daily wage for employees cannot be less than 30 cents. In Bianjing, it is 100 cents, but it certainly cannot be compared with Bianjing.
Why is it a daily salary instead of a monthly salary? It is to ensure that as long as you work for a day, you must calculate the money to avoid wrangling later.
Of course, this comes at a cost.
The reward is through the Contract Law, Copper Redemption Law, Immunity Law, and Workshop Law proposed by the merchants.
Merchants were also afraid that the old Xixia nobles would cause trouble for them, so they had to have contract laws to ensure that both parties to the contract were equal.
The copper redemption law ensures that merchants can spend money to forgive their sins for many crimes without having to accept corporal punishment. These are mainly for moss punishment and some prison sentences.
The exemption law is different from Wang Anshi's exemption law. Not only are merchants exempted from corvee, they are also exempted from military service, ensuring that the government cannot conscript merchants into the army under any circumstances.
The Workshop Law allows merchants to freely build workshops, but this is only for the privileges of the nobility. Merchants still cannot build workshops on pastures and cultivated land. In fact, the properties of this land are written into the Basic Law and cannot be easily changed. The Pasture Protection Law,
It also ensures that the pasture cannot be changed, but that's it. There are no other restrictions. Merchants can build shops in front of noble mansions or on the streets, which were not allowed before.
These bills were also passed one by one.
In addition, the imperial court also announced that local taxes would be exempted for three years, except for the wine tax and salt tax. The name was to rationally distribute grain and salt, these supplies needed by the people.
In fact, the people of Xixia were slowly getting used to the existence of the Taxation Department.
However, as far as the Song court was concerned, it would be fine if the court was not allowed to pour money into it every year.
The merchants finally felt the pleasure of power, which attracted more merchants to come to Xixia to do business.
Businessmen must hire people, which in turn provides more livelihoods for local people.
Among them, salt workers and herdsmen are very popular, because these are the most profitable businesses, and their wages reach the minimum daily wage standard in Bianjing.
During this period, Wang Shao and Cao Ping set out to deal with the civilian armed forces, because the first people who entered the border were all militiamen hired by businessmen. How should these people be arranged?
In fact, the method is very simple, that is, let them be incorporated into the Royal Police, and the other part will be absorbed by the Business Administration, mainly the transportation group.
...
Legislative Council.
"These businessmen are so cunning and shameless."
Sima Guang was immediately angry when he saw the bill coming from Xihe, "On the one hand, they emphasize the equality of contracts, but on the other hand, they set up many privileges for themselves. Although they will not recruit their businessmen to serve as soldiers, they do this
, it just seems very shameless.”
Zhang Fei muttered in a low voice: "Isn't it the same for literati?"
As soon as these words came out, Fu Bi, Sima Guang, Zhao Pin and other judicial leaders silently turned to look at him.
The room immediately fell into dead silence.
Zhang Fei also reacted and said: "Sorry! Sorry! As you all know, I am just a straight person."
Sima Guang snorted: "I didn't know until today that you are a straight person."
After saying that, he sat back.
He was silent no more, and his old face was still slightly red.
What he said is true!
Zhang Fei quickly spoke out to comfort him: "Actually, what businessmen want is not privileges, but the protection of their own rights and interests."
Fu Bi asked curiously: "How do you say this?"
Zhang Fei said: "As Scholar Sima said just now, the imperial court will not allow merchants to serve as soldiers or do corvee labor. Why do merchants care about this? It is very simple. The merchants have money. If it is not stipulated in this way, the government will definitely take this as an excuse if it has the opportunity.
Recruiting them to serve is actually a form of extortion from them.
Although it is undeniable that this is a privilege, but in times of war, we actually need businessmen to produce rather than letting them serve as soldiers, so I think it is still acceptable."
Fu Bi nodded slightly and said, "That makes sense!"
...
As Xixia gradually came to fruition, the plan to destroy Liao was immediately put on the agenda.
After all, the recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun was a great achievement for the Song Dynasty. Although it was already the general trend, Zhao Xu couldn't wait any longer.
"Now we have acquired a large number of war horses in the northwest Hetao. Within two years, we will have enough strength to attack the Liao Kingdom, and we are even stronger at this time than during Yongxi's Northern Expedition."
Wang Anshi said very excitedly.
Han Jiang said: "I suggest that we should proceed in two steps. First try to recapture the remaining states in the Yanyun area, and then decide based on the situation. Because there is grassland outside the Great Wall, sending troops to conquer will cause huge losses and limited results.
Even the public security bureaucracy will be difficult to establish in grassland areas in a short period of time."
The public security law is still more suitable for cities and towns and places with concentrated populations.
Wen Yanbo said: "The Privy Councilor's words are reasonable. Taking back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun is the expectation of the people of the entire Central Plains, and there is enough public support. However, if we continue the Northern Expedition, if there are too many losses, we may not get too much support from the people."
support."
Wang Anshi also agreed.
Zhao Xu nodded and asked: "What do you think we should do to regain the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun?"
Wang Anshi immediately said: "According to the spies' reports, the Liao Kingdom is extremely shocked by the growth of our Song Dynasty's strength. At the same time, their domestic calls for reform are also very high, and the Liao Kingdom has been imitating our Central Plains system and culture.
We can separate the paper currency from the public security law and publicize it to confuse them. The Lord of Liao is not as wise as His Majesty. In addition, there are many short-sighted nobles in their country. They will definitely be eager for quick success and abandon the public security law and choose tax coins. Since then,
After cutting off trade with our country, they also began to have a money shortage in their country. Tax currency can solve their immediate needs and appease the people at home.
But once they issue banknotes on a large scale, there will inevitably be a phenomenon of indiscriminate issuance, which will make their domestic people miserable. At this time, we can join forces with Goryeo and send troops at the same time, because Goryeo is also eager to take back several important military towns on the east bank of the Yalu River."
Having said this, he paused for a moment and then said: "However, the Li Dynasty in the south has recently begun to step up its attack on Champa. We can first send troops to the south to support it, so that the Liao Kingdom thinks that we have focused our attention on the south and give
This will not only weaken the Li Dynasty in one fell swoop, and even capture the Li Dynasty if there is a chance, but also deceive the Liao Kingdom into taking this bowl of poison."
Zhao Xu looked slightly worried and said: "But can the finances support the use of troops against the Li Dynasty?"
Wang Anshi said: "The Sixth Southeast Road has developed very well in the past few years, and we already have enough food reserves. If our purpose is only to support the city, rather than to eliminate the Li Dynasty in one fell swoop, I think there is no big problem. But I think
The imperial court could deliberately create momentum to paralyze the Liao Kingdom."
Han Jiang's eyes lit up and he said: "This is a wonderful strategy, and I agree with it. According to Guo Jinglue's letter, the troops and horses in the south have been reorganized long ago, and they are able to use firearms skillfully. They are strong."
Wen Yanbo also nodded in agreement, and then added: "The Liao Kingdom is not like our country. They mainly control the Yanyun area and the surrounding areas of Shangjing, which is where the Khitan people lived before. For the tribes in the west,
The control of Xixia is actually very weak. Now that we have captured Xixia, we can use Xixia to start trade with the northern tribes to alienate them and ensure that when the time comes we send troops from Yunzhou to attack Youzhou, we will not be attacked from both sides."
Zhao Xu nodded and said: "According to what you all said, this time we will definitely regain the sixteen states of Yanyun and fulfill Taizu Taizong's last wish."