Some days later, the "Quan Salt Law" compiled by Wu Qi was officially released. After Kong You led a group of civil servants to revise it, it was placed on Zhou Jun's desk.
At the same time, Zhou Jun issued several orders in the name of the imperial court.
1. Appoint Guo Ziyi as the Minister of the Ministry of War and order him to lead the elite back to Lingwu; appoint Pugu Huai'en as the Northern Guard (Taiyuan) and lead the army to guard Taiyuan; appoint Yan Zhenqing as the Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Censor, and recruit envoys to Hebei.
Responsible for liaison matters with the Hebei Rebel Army.
Second, appoint Wu Qi, a talented economic man, as the supervisory censor and the envoy of Jianghuai Rent. He went to the south of the Yangtze River to collect taxes and tribute, and then transported them to Shuofang via the Shannan West Road.
Third, Duan Xiushi was appointed as the envoy of Longyou Dezhi and the envoy of Daqi transfer, responsible for the dredging of the Daqi trade road and the westward migration of refugees.
Fourth, send an envoy with an imperial edict to the Uighur tribe and invite Gel Khan Tulishi to come to Lingwu to discuss reinforcements.
Fifth, notices were issued to the Hu tribes in Anxi, Beiting, Hexi, Lingzhou and other places. Anyone who sent troops to help the court suppress the rebellion would be rewarded.
After doing all this, Zhou Jun waited in Lingwu. When Guo Ziyi retreated and returned to Lingwu, he summoned the generals from the four towns and held a meeting. The theme was to raise food, grass and military pay.
Zhou Jun was sitting in the upper seat. When he saw Guo Ziyi entering the palace door, he stood up from his seat, walked straight to the latter, looked at him and smiled.
Zhou Jun looked at Guo Ziyi and found that the latter was a little darker and a lot thinner than before. It must have been caused by the intense war and exhaustion.
At the same time, Guo Ziyi was also looking at Zhou Jun.
Ever since leaving Dunhuang, Guo Ziyi knew that Zhou Jun was not a creature in the pool, and sooner or later he would stand out. But when he heard that Zhou Jun, who was not yet thirty, actually took the position of the marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, it was really
I was also shocked.
Zhou Jun introduced Guo Ziyi to the seat, and said to the generals from Anxi, Beiting, Hexi, and Shuofang who came to attend the meeting: "I invite you all to come here today, and not for other reasons, just to solve the problem of food and salary in the military town."
The war against the rebellion lasted for almost a year. The rebels became richer and richer as they fought, while the Tang army became poorer and poorer. No one would believe this.
All the generals pricked up their ears, wanting to hear how Zhou Jun would handle the matter.
Zhou Jun looked at Shuofang Jiedushi and the Minister of War, Guo Ziyi, and said, "Guo Shangshu, can you first tell us about the current situation of Shuofang's army?"
Guo Ziyi cupped his hands and replied: "Shuofang's army has 60,000 troops. There are many casualties among the soldiers. In addition, we need to defend the north and south fronts, so we can only recruit troops again and again. Now we have 90,000 troops. There are too many soldiers.
Naturally, the consumption of food, fodder, and military pay was also huge. Due to the large-scale recruitment of troops in Shuofang, there was no one to take care of the fields, and the harvest dropped sharply. In addition, the teahouses in the south had to be closed because they were close to the battlefield, so food and pay became a big problem."
After Zhou Jun listened, he nodded, picked up the "Quan Salt Law" from the desk, and said to the generals present: "Regarding the shortage of food and pay in the army, an official proposed to me a policy called "Quan Salt Law"
Law"."
After Zhou Jun finished explaining the bill, the generals fell into deep thought.
Pei Mian, the deputy envoy of Hexi Jiedu, was born in the Pei family. He couldn't help but stand up and said: "Commander, changing the salt from private to government-run will indeed solve the army's food and salary problem in the short term. However, most of the salt fields and salt mountains are
It is controlled by large households in the state and county, and it would be extremely difficult for them to hand over their power."
Zhou Jun said coldly: "Now that the Tang Dynasty is in danger, if the salt industry does not cooperate with the government at this time, is it possible that we will have to wait for the rebels to suppress the territory and then be taken away by them?"
When Pei Mian heard Zhou Jun's words and saw the unkind looks of the generals around him, he quickly shrank his neck and retreated.
Zhou Jun added: "The imperial court also had specialties such as iron, horses, silk, etc. in the past, but those responsible for the official goods often committed acts of stealing and lining their own pockets. Since the Salt and Quan Law was established to raise food and salary for the army,
Then I plan to involve the Marquis of Yu and the magistrates of the military town, and jointly supervise the mining, refining and sale of salt products with the Imperial Salt Department."
The generals of the four towns were stunned after hearing this.
The imperial court represents the imperial power, and the military town is nothing more than a group of soldiers.
Logically speaking, the imperial court specializes in the salt industry, from mining to refining, and the military town can only watch.
After the household department of the imperial court sold the salt into silk and grain, the military town, with the support of the Ministry of War, could ask the imperial court for money. This was the practice of the Tang Dynasty.
But now Zhou Jun plans to let Junzhen participate in the supervision of specialty products.
Guo Ziyi asked carefully at this time: "Commander, the military town and the imperial court jointly supervise the salt industry. What kind of... management law is this?"
Zhou Jun: "First, the salt fields are currently controlled by the big families in prefectures and counties. If the imperial court wants to confiscate the business, it will inevitably conflict with the local powerful. In case someone is armed and causes chaos, the military town can send soldiers to cooperate with the imperial court to ensure
The collection process was seamless.”
The generals of the four towns nodded after hearing this.
As for the army, they are not good at embroidery, but they are good at killing people.
If the imperial court enacts the Salt Law, confiscates the world's salt industry, and provides food and wages for the army, it will definitely encounter desperate opposition from the salt owners. The army can be of great use at this time.
Zhou Jun: "Second, after the official camp of the salt field, in order to prevent someone from causing rebellion or stealing, soldiers were always left behind to guard it. In the past, camps such as Iron Horse and other camps had to set up a new army and dedicate people to guard it. Firstly, it cost a lot; secondly, it required a lot of money.
Training also takes time. The military town assists the court and manages the salt industry, and can directly send out its soldiers, thus saving the effort of establishing a salt division army."
The generals will understand after hearing this.
Zhou Jun: "Third, in the past, when the imperial court distributed grain, grass and military pay, it first collected taxes and tributes into the inner government, then bought them into grain and copper goods, and finally distributed them to the soldiers. As they came and went, there was a lot of loss in the process.
When it is distributed to the soldiers, they often cannot get enough to pay them. But after the salt industry is established as an official camp, the soldiers can choose to use the equivalent amount of salt as military pay when they receive military pay, so that losses can be minimized."
After hearing this, the generals lowered their heads and thought deeply, then looked at each other and nodded.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Seeing this, Zhou Jun said: "Since everyone has no objections, the Salt Law will be implemented tomorrow. Shuofang Salt Division and Hexi Salt Division will be established in Shuofang and Hexi respectively.
In charge of the salt industry of the two places. The Shuofang Army and the Hexi Army cooperated with the salt departments of the two places to seize all the salt fields and salt mountains as official camps. Anyone who disobeys orders will be severely punished according to law!"
When the generals of the Anxi, Beiting, Hexi, and Shuofang armies brought Quan Yanfa back to the army, the four towns performed differently.
Anxi and Beiting, as Zhou Jun's subordinates and as guest troops in a different place, naturally gave full support to the Quanyan Law that could raise food and wages.
Not only was the Shuofang army short of food and grass, but the sergeants of the army had not received military pay for a long time. Most of the generals regarded the Quanyan Law as a timely rain and welcomed it, but there were still a few generals who were from the Shuofang Xian clan, because it involved their own interests.
They expressed their opposition, but the number of people was too small to make any waves.
As for the Hexi Army, it is the most troublesome.
Pei Mian, the deputy envoy of Hexi Jiedu, was born in the Pei family and represented the interests of the Xian clan in Hexi. However, the Hexi area was originally home to many merchants, so they were naturally resistant to the salt law.
The reason was not just that the private salt industry was confiscated, but that the promulgation of the Salt Law touched the nerves of local wealthy families.
Today, the imperial court can confiscate the salt industry in the name of raising military pay; then, will it confiscate the local silk reeling industry in the same name tomorrow? Where will the imperial court extend its hands in the future?
If this continues for a long time, the industries that the local wealthy families have been running for many years will be used as wedding clothes for the court and the army in vain.
As a result, in Shuofang and Hexi, the promotion of Quan Salt Method showed a situation of ice and fire.
In Shuofang, for only half a month, all the salt fields and salt mountains were managed by the salt department sent by the imperial court together with the military town.
Those salt mining households registered in the register were unified and registered by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and they were separated from the control of local large families and directly converted into salt households directly under the imperial court.
The military town dispatched troops to garrison the salt fields, and also dispatched military officials to supervise the salt industry together with officials from the Shuofang Salt Division.
The Shuofang Salt Division and the military garrison guard the two sides to check and balance each other and supervise each other.
Every time when military pay was distributed, the two parties jointly organized manpower to seal the salt into bags, then load it into trucks and transport it to the military camp.
Shuofang's soldiers were all overjoyed to receive the same amount of salt as military pay.
Because the soldiers were not stupid, the imperial court implemented the Salt Law, and the price of salt skyrocketed. The price of salt at the beginning of the month might have been twenty cents per catty, but by the end of the month it had risen to twenty-four cents.
Using salt as military pay, the soldiers could take advantage of the rising price of salt in exchange for more grain and silk, so they naturally flocked to it.
Compared with the joy of Shuofang's soldiers, the Hexi army was filled with sorrow.
Because Hexi is located on the main east-west transportation route, there are many large merchants and noble nobles, and they have always been resistant to the implementation of the Quan Salt Law.
Moreover, Li Longji and a group of royal relatives lived in Liangzhou. In order to make friends with the royal family, the local wealthy family gave away a large number of precious treasures to please His Majesty. Relying on this relationship, they did not give away their power.
Take the salt method into account.
Therefore, one month after the decree was implemented, the Hexi Army only cooperated with the court and confiscated some scattered small salt farms, but did not touch the industries controlled by the big names.
Officials who implemented the salt law reported this matter to Zhou Jun more than once.
After the latter heard about it, he just laughed and said that after some time, we will naturally find out.