After hearing about the two possibilities for the imperial court to reduce the vassalage, Zhou Jun thought for a while and said to Kong You: "I just thought of something about the reduction of the vassalage."
Kong You: "What did the master say?"
Zhou Jun: "If the imperial court wants to reduce the vassal state, besides borrowing troops and losing money in battle, according to common sense, shouldn't there be another simpler way?"
Kong You said with a smile: "The master wants to say that the imperial court can transfer Wang Zhongsi from the Northern Fan to serve in other areas?"
Zhou Jun nodded.
Kong You shook his head and said: "If it were an ordinary Jiedushi envoy, this method would certainly be effective. However, for Wang Zhongsi, the transfer method has many restrictions and cannot be implemented."
Kong You began to explain: "First of all, Wang Zhongsi is the military governor of the four towns and controls thousands of miles of territory. If you want to mobilize him to other border areas, even though the Tang Dynasty is big, where can you let him go? Since the border army cannot
To accommodate Wang Zhongsi, if you want to transfer him away from Beifan, there is only one place to go."
Zhou Jun: "Enter the dynasty as prime minister."
Kong You: "Yes, the sage did not let Wang Zhongsi become the prime minister at first because he was worried that the princelings would be too powerful. But now that Li Shizhi has resigned, Wei Jian, and Huangfu Weiming have been demoted. Logically speaking, the time is ripe for Wang Zhongsi to become the prime minister.
However, at the moment he is unable to enter the court and become prime minister."
Zhou Jun: "Why?"
Kong You: "Because Wang Zhongsi touched something that shouldn't be touched - commercial tax. The four towns of Shuofang, Hedong, Longyou and Hexi had insufficient military pay. Wang Zhongsi raised the commercial tax to supplement the military pay. This was not only benefiting the people.
, and it even damages the power represented by the merchants."
"It's just that most of the merchants in the four towns of Beifan are Hu merchants. Although there is a backlash against the increase in commercial taxes, it is not strong after all. However, if Wang Zhongsi becomes prime minister, the trend of imposing additional commercial taxes will spread.
Entering the Gyeonggi and the Capital area, the merchants there have connections with the important officials of the court and the aristocratic families, and the impact and opposition they will bring may be far greater than those in the four towns."
"Therefore, in order to prevent Wang Zhongsi from becoming the prime minister and posing a potential threat to the officials and businessmen in Gyeonggi, Duji and other places, as long as the saint makes a slight hint of inviting Wang Zhongsi to become the prime minister, I am afraid that all the high officials in the court will attack him."
Hearing this, Zhou Jun also understood: "Wang Zhongsi cannot transfer other frontier troops, nor can he be appointed prime minister, which means that if the imperial court wants to deal with the increasingly powerful Beifan, it can only use strong methods to reduce the vassal.
"
Kong You: "That's right. Although Wang Zhongsi is a military commander, he is not a fool. The expansion of the Northern Fan has caused dissatisfaction with the court. I am afraid that he will gradually notice it in the future. It is expected that he will ask for a reduction in power, but he will
To what extent is unknown.”
Zhou Jun sighed: "It seems that the Northern Fan will have to deal with difficulties in the future."
Kong You: "The difficulties of the Northern Fan are both a disaster and a good thing for the main family."
Zhou Jun: "How do you say this?"
Kong You: "Let's talk about the misfortune first. Wang Duhu appreciates the master's family, and many of his military envoys are friendly with you. If something happens to the Northern Fan, the master's family will lose a lot of help, and there may be a lot of inconvenience in the future."
"As for the good things, Wang Duhu is suspected by the court, and his military power will gradually be eroded in the future. His military envoys see it in their eyes and remember it in their hearts. They are afraid that they will follow in the same footsteps, and they will all find their own way out to prevent the same in the future.
Like Wang Zhongsi, he was demoted and killed. In this way, the master's family became friendly with the Northern Fan. He showed his affection and lured him with benefits, and he could divide and win over the generals among them, so that he could use them in the future."
Zhou Jun listened and nodded slowly.
Half a month later, Mao Shun and the families of many craftsmen were taken into Liangzhou City. Their houses were built near the Jin House, and troops were patrolled to prevent others from approaching.
The teahouse equipment and pots and stoves were assembled, and the Jin family was responsible for purchasing tea ingredients and fuel. The site was further expanded and there were a lot more people. Therefore, the production of fried tea was once again increased.
According to Mao Shun's preliminary estimate, the annual production of fried tea should be increased to 50,000 jins.
Zhou Jun, as the official of the mutual market supervisor, ordered the reopening of the mutual trade with the Mobei people at Baiting in the north of Liangzhou City. Liangzhou City's trade and commerce became more and more prosperous, the population continued to grow, and the price of residential land in the city rose, faintly comparable to that of the East and West
All.
Since Shuofang's army was no longer a broker, Zhou Jun directly connected with the Uighurs for the tea roasting business. After repaying the food aid from the Uighurs, the original price of tea, which was several hundred cents per catty, was sold directly to about five guan without the middleman.
, very profitable.
On the other hand, in order to make up for the vacancy in military pay, Wang Zhongsi implemented commercial tax reform in the four towns of Beifan, which was approved by the court. The Ministry of Household Affairs also sent officials to assist in statistics, which would be reported to the court later in the year.
At this point, there was no war in the four towns of Beifan, mutual trade was booming, finances were sufficient, and the military salary deficit was gradually filled, entering a relatively stable period of development.
Time has come to October in a blink of an eye.
On this day, Zhou Jun and the officials were taking inventory of the commodities in Hushi Town, Hexi Province. Someone came outside to report that there were Buddhist monks who wanted to see the city supervisor.
Zhou Jun didn't react at first when he heard the word "Jingjiao monk", but after thinking about it carefully, he guessed the identity of the person coming.
After asking someone to bring the monk, Zhou Jun went to the side hall. He didn't wait long before he saw the dusty Yisi walking in the door.
Facing Zhou Jun, Yis first bowed and saluted, and then said: "I came to Liangzhou City with my companions to preach. I heard that Superintendent Zhou was here, so I came here to visit."
Zhou Jun smiled and said: "You should call me Erlang."
Iss nodded in agreement.
Zhou Jun asked Yisi to sit down and talk, and then sent someone to get some food.
Yisi knew that Zhou Jun was kind to others, so he stopped being polite and started gobbling down the water.
Zhou Jun waited for him to eat some, then asked: "I have been away from Chang'an for a long time, how is it there now?"
Yis swallowed the biscuits in his mouth and said: "A month ago, I went to Bachuan. A new street was built there. There was an endless stream of tourists doing business every day. I heard that if you want to go in now, you have to make a reservation.
."
Hearing the prosperity of Bachuan Commercial Street, Zhou Jun felt happy and asked Yisi with a smile: "How is the monk doing?"
Yis thought for a while and said: "The Tang Dynasty Scriptures are unwilling to accept civilian believers. I am opposed to this kind of discrimination. Now I have found many like-minded partners to spread the glory of the Lord. We originally only had more than 20 people, but now we have increased to
There were more than two hundred people. We were divided into several teams and traveled throughout the Tang Dynasty, preaching and attracting believers at the same time."
Zhou Jun asked again: "Where do the expenses for your travels come from?"
Iss: "Some believers with firm beliefs will donate money, silk and other items, and we ourselves will also take on errands such as translating literature and literature to earn daily expenses."
Zhou Jun nodded and said to Yis: "Since I'm here, I plan to give you some money and food. I hope you won't refuse."
Yis was not polite at all. He stood up, bowed, and sincerely thanked Zhou Jun.
After seeing Yi Yi off, Zhou Jun told Kong You about the incident, and laughed and said that there might be a good show tomorrow.
Sure enough, on the next day, Yinglong's Heavenly Book appeared in the streets and alleys of Liangzhou City. It said that in the fifth year of Tianbao's reign, at the end of October, Yinglong appeared and brought disaster to Liangzhou. There were continuous droughts in autumn and winter, and rain and snow did not fall.
When the people in the city saw it, there were merchants who had heard Yinglong's name, and they swore to others that the book from heaven was efficacious and must be true. Every household should make plans in advance to deal with the drought.
But most people have lived in Liangzhou for a long time, so naturally they have never heard of Yinglong's statement. They just regard it as a joke and don't care about it.
In the city, Marquis Wu went around collecting the Heavenly Books and asked the governor's office whether he wanted to arrest those who spread the rumors.
After hearing this, Zhou Jun just smiled and said, it's just sensationalism, why bother, just let it go.