Chapter 194: South Korea in a desperate situation [two-in-one]
At the time when Tang Ju, the envoy of Wei State, was on an envoy to Qi State, Zhang Qigong, the right captain of Wei Tiance Mansion, also secretly sneaked to the border of Wei and Han with his deputy Bei Gongyu. In "Feicheng" County, with Anling and Song County, the giants
Uncle Fu Wen and Tao Hong met to discuss in detail what Zhang Qigong had mentioned in his previous letter to them, regarding the use of Wei Guowan coins to replace Korean coins.
Feicheng County is the border between Handan County and Julu County. Since two years ago, Wei State General Pang Huan and his anti-rebellion army have been stationed here. Their main targets are the Han generals Leyi and Yan from Julu City.
Waiting for a few people.
But to be precise, there is actually a county between Feicheng and Julu, about fifty miles northeast of Feicheng, called "Lieren" County. In this county, Le Yi's deputy general is stationed.
Ji Kuo, his own army of about three thousand Northern Yan troops - Feicheng, Liren, this is the real border between Wei and Han in this area.
Compared with the tense confrontation in Handan and Wu'an, on the Feicheng side, the armies of Wei and South Korea were relatively more restrained. After all, whether it was the general Pang Huan on the Wei side, or the South Korean generals Le Yi and Yan Kui.
, they are all calm and restrained types, not like Yan Wang Zhaojiang who has a quick temper, nor is he like Shanggu Shou Xu Li who is confrontational and unwilling to show weakness easily.
However, recently, the confrontation between Feicheng and Lieren has become a little tense. Just because the autumn harvest is approaching, Wei general Pang Huan, Han general Leyi, and Yan Cree are all wary of each other whether they will come to cause trouble during the autumn harvest.
Because of this, in this area, the sentries and scouts of Wei and South Korea are frequently dispatched, keeping an eye on each other's every move, causing the situation on the border to become more tense than in previous months.
When Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu came to the house, Tao Hong was still recounting the experience of a caravan under his command that went to Lieren a few days ago, but was closely interrogated by the Korean army.
"Captain Zhang, Deputy Lieutenant Beigong."
"You two are very polite."
After the two parties greeted each other, Wen Shaobo and Tao Hong invited Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu to sit at the same table, and ordered the servants in the house to serve wine and food.
While enjoying wine and food, Zhang Qigong first asked about the general situation at the border.
It was similar to what he had learned before. Although the situation between Wei and South Korea became increasingly tense, the generals on the front lines of the two countries still abided by the strict order of "no active attack." Although during this period, the armies of the two countries
There was a lot of friction between the sentries and the scouts, and there were some casualties, but each time the casualties were only a few to a dozen people, and in rare cases the number of casualties only exceeded fifty.
Hearing this, Bei Gongyu said thoughtfully: "Sure enough, South Korea actually does not want to start a real war with Wei Dynasty."
This is obvious. If Wei and South Korea are fighting fiercely on the border at this moment, the loser will most likely be South Korea. On this matter, the judgments of Wei and South Korea are quite consistent.
According to the judgments of Wei King Zhao Run and Tiance Mansion Counselor Zhai Huang, what best suits South Korea's interests in this matter is for the Wei army to take the initiative to attack Handan North County and Julu County. In this way, South Korea, as the defender,
Although I can't say
It will definitely be able to repel the Wei army, but at least there is still a slight chance of victory - after all, in the past two years, Han general Leyi has comprehensively strengthened the defense facilities in Handan North County and Julu County, and prepared local operations in advance.
preparation.
After chatting for a while, Zhang Qigong mentioned to Wen Shaobo and Tao Hong what he had mentioned in the letter before, about taking the opportunity to let Wei Guowan coins replace Korean coins as the mainstream currency in South Korea.
As successful businessmen, Wen Shaobo and Tao Hong were both extremely sensitive to money. When Zhang Qigong only mentioned a few words in the letter, they immediately captured the business opportunities.
In their view, if Wei Guowan coins replace the status of Korean coins in South Korea, it means that they may be able to manipulate the Korean market.
This is a very powerful weapon for both them and Wei.
You must know that in the past year, the unprecedented merchant war has fully proved how lethal this group is.
Prior to this, in the world's perception, merchants, as the bottom of the social class of "scholars, farmers, industry and merchants", had been suppressed. "Emphasis on agriculture and neglect of business" was the mainstream of this era - even in
Confucianism, which subconsciously believes that farming is "something for lower-class people," is also true on this point.
But this time, the merchant class allowed the countries in the Central Plains to see the power of merchants through an unprecedented commercial war. For the merchants, this was also a matter of pride. At least from now on, Confucianism and individual schools of thought would no longer
We cannot continue to suppress them with the argument that "businessmen are treacherous and greedy and have little contribution to the country."
The status of merchants has been improved since then.
Perhaps because of their reputation and status protection, the merchants of Wei State, although they suffered heavy losses in this commercial war, were very cooperative with the court. Perhaps they felt that they could earn more money, but it seemed like this
Opportunities that can enhance the social image and domestic status of businessmen should not be missed - these are the foundation of their establishment.
As for Zhang Qigong, he wanted to make up for the omissions in the previous plan and take revenge on South Korea for scheming with him, turning South Korea's batch of newly minted copper coins into a pile of scrap copper.
Under the premise that their interests were aligned, Zhang Qigong quickly reached a tacit understanding with the businessmen represented by Wen Shaobo and Tao Hong, and began to attack South Korea's monetary system in an orderly manner.
In this operation, both the Wei State's meticulous work and the Qingya people under the command of Gao Kuo, the Zuodu Lieutenant of Tiance Prefecture, cooperated with Zhang Qigong's actions, lurking in various counties in South Korea, spreading rumors, and attempting to destroy the Korean civilians' opposition to them.
Trust in national currencies.
The first stop is in Julu City.
At this time, Julu City was busy with the autumn harvest. Originally, Han Jiang Leyi and Yan Kui saw that there was no movement from the Wei Guozhen rebels in Feicheng, and they felt a little relieved, thinking that they could spend this year in peace.
Unexpectedly, just as he breathed a sigh of relief, a rumor broke out in the city, pointing directly at South Korea's copper coins - the national currency controlled by the South Korean court.
The main idea of the rumor is very simple. It simply means that Korean copper coins have lost their original value (lost their purchasing power), and the Jicheng court is trying to use this (rapidly depreciating) national currency to purchase the newly harvested grain from the hands of civilians.
, trying to pass on the losses of the country's great nobles and great families to the common people.
As soon as they heard this rumor, the civilians in Julu City suddenly went into an uproar.
In fact, to be honest, it has always been very common for the court represented by the local county government to purchase the county's grain output. It is also a system established by various countries to protect the interests of civilians, regulate market rice prices, and effectively respond to natural and man-made disasters.
An effective strategy is actually a very powerful strategy for all parties.
But the bad thing is that some time ago, in order to resist the dumping tactics of Wei merchants, South Korea resorted to the trick of minting more copper coins. Although this successfully increased the losses of Wei merchants and effectively made up for the loss of South Korea's treasury,
After this incident was exposed by the Wei State, it was inevitable that the credibility of the Korean currency in the hearts of the people and the world would plummet.
Under this premise, the Korean imperial court's routine procurement of grain, with a little provocation, inevitably turned into something else: a means of passing on losses.
In just half a day, Korean civilians in Julu City were filled with complaints. Most of them refused to be purchased by the local county government based on last year's pricing standards.
At this time, Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu had both infiltrated into Julu City as merchants.
When he saw the turbulent scene in the city, Bei Gongyu was quite surprised. He was surprised that the civilians in the city could be successfully instigated so easily - shouldn't they unite and help the country tide over the difficulties?
In this regard, Zhang Qigong said with a smile: "This depends on the charm of the contemporary monarch. If the monarch wins the hearts of the people, the people will follow him, and vice versa... Don't think that the common people are easy to fool. People in the market are often smart."
Bei Gongyu glanced at Zhang Qigong after hearing this. He felt that Zhang Qigong's "little wisdom" was somewhat sarcastic.
In fact, this is exactly the case. The "little wisdom" mentioned by Zhang Qigong actually refers to the characteristics of ordinary civilians who are "selfish" and "love to take advantage of small things."
To be fair, selfishness cannot be said to be an evil, it is just human nature: most people will only have the leisure to consider other people's problems and do good deeds when they meet their own needs in life.
.
This is understandable.
If you still have time to consider others when you are not satisfied with yourself, then this person will be a saint.
There are not so many saints in the world, but more ordinary people who are running around to support their families and take care of them.
Therefore, the common people and small landowners in Julu City are concerned about their own interests and do not want the local county government to use the depreciating Korean copper coins to purchase the grain in their hands at the original price in previous years. This is not a big evil.
We can only say that human nature is like this. "Note: Human nature here is a neutral term, not praise or criticism."
In Zhang Qigong's view, at this time, it all depends on the monarch's personal charisma. If the monarch's personal charisma is great enough to make these civilians give up their "self-interest" and would rather starve the whole family to support the country, then Zhang Qigong
The plot failed.
However, in his opinion, the people's support for South Korea's monarch Han Ran should not reach this level.
"We can ask Tao Hong and the others to proceed as planned."
After seeing the messy scene on the street, Zhang Qigong ordered Bei Gongyu.
"Understood." Bei Gongyu nodded.
Soon after, many stores of Wei merchants who purchased grain appeared in Julu City. These grain stores started a battle with the local county government in Julu, trying to use Wei's money to purchase civilians in the city.
Grain in hand.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Wei State's Wan Money is already the hardest currency in the world. Especially after Wei King Zhao Run came to the throne, the Wei State's Wan Money does not increase or depreciate in value under the control of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and its purchasing power is quite strong.
.
And this is exactly the basis for Zhang Qigong to implement his strategy.
On the one hand, there are South Korean copper coins that have a poor reputation and are still depreciating rapidly. On the other hand, there are Wei coins that have a good reputation and are stable in value all year round. No matter how stupid the civilians in Julu City are, they understand which party they sell to to get more money.
big benefits.
Therefore, as soon as Wei Shang's shop in Julu City put up a sign saying "Use Wei Wan's money to purchase grain", civilians in the city immediately negotiated with him.
After learning about this incident, Julu Shou Yanju was greatly worried.
At this time, Yan Que actually did not know that Zhang Qigong's real intention was to destroy South Korea's currency system. Yan Que only saw the superficial harm, but even this superficial harm was enough to make Yan Que feel like he was facing a formidable enemy.
Thinking about it, if the merchants of Wei State really exchanged Wei State's money for a large amount of grain, wouldn't it mean that the food in South Korea was even more stretched? - He would never think that the merchants of Wei State were purchasing that grain.
After that, they would still be piled up in South Korea. This must have been shipped back to Wei, no doubt!
Under this situation, if South Korea allows this phenomenon, then once Japan, Wei, and South Korea go to war, Wei will have a continuous supply of food and grass, while South Korea will only have a large number of Wei people who can only watch.
Copper Wan - Fools also know that once Wei and South Korea go to war, Wei will definitely close its trading channels with South Korea, unless Korean civilians take the money to move to Wei and trade in Wei itself.
Realizing the stakes of this matter, Yan Kui immediately found the frontline coach Le Yi and discussed countermeasures with him.
To be fair, Le Yi is not as good as Yan Cree in terms of domestic politics and the people, but he can also see the harm behind this matter.
The question is, how should they respond?
Should we forcibly confiscate those Wei merchants and forcibly expel them from Julu?
To be honest, this is not appropriate, because once the army intervenes, the nature will be completely different - it is equivalent to South Korea taking the lead in going to war against Wei!
It is not difficult to predict that once Julu City expels those Wei merchants, then the Wei general Pang Huan in Feicheng opposite will most likely send troops to attack the city immediately, and the war between Wei and South Korea will probably really end due to this.
Start.
Although Le Yi has made preparations for local wars in Handan North County and Julu County in advance, he still does not want a war to break out between the two countries until the last moment - because this is a war that is almost destined to defeat, even if
Even though he had made sufficient preparations, he could not stop Wei's overwhelming attack. At best, he could only delay the Wei army's capture of his Korean territory.
The real hope actually lies with the Chu State: Only the Chu State responded to his country, and when the Wei-Korean war really broke out, and sent troops from western Chu to contain the Wei State, his country, South Korea, was able to survive the fall of Wei's army.
possible.
To be honest, Le Yi doesn't like this. He doesn't like to pin his hopes of victory on others, even the Chu State, which is currently his private ally in South Korea - God knows whether the Chu State will assist him in South Korea?
If the Chu State is more despicable and waits until the Wei army attacks Yuyang County and approaches the gates of Jicheng, then it takes the opportunity to sneak attack the Wei State. Of course, the Chu State can catch the Wei State by surprise, but what about South Korea? If it is attacked by the Wei Army
When we get to Jicheng, how different is this from the fall?
Precisely because of this consideration, Le Yi absolutely did not want a real war to break out with Wei.
Under this premise, Le Yi certainly did not support expelling Wei merchants from the city.
"Ask Wang Cheng for instructions."
Le Yi said to Julu Shouyan.
Yan Kui nodded helplessly. In fact, he also felt that this matter had exceeded the authority of generals like them and could only be decided by Jicheng.
Probably at the beginning of the eleventh month, the messenger cavalry sent by Le Yi and Yan Kuai traveled day and night to the royal capital Jicheng and reported the matter to Han Wangran.
After learning the news, Han Wangran paid great attention to it and immediately summoned the Prime Minister Kaifangdi and Zhisu Neishi Han Kui. He briefly told them what happened in Julu City at the moment, hoping that they could come up with some clever plans to deal with it.
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Kaifangdi and Han Kui looked at each other for a long time. Kaifangdi then frowned and said intermittently: "This rumor to slander the palace must be a conspiracy of the Wei people... I suggest that the entire city should immediately search for spies of the Wei state."
"Le Yi and Yan Fu are already taking care of this matter. I would like to know what the two adults' countermeasures are for Wei merchants using Wei's copper coins to purchase grain from our common people?"
"this……"
He hesitated for a long time without saying anything.
Next to him, the same was true for Han Kui.
It's not that Kaifangdi and Han Kui lacked wisdom, but that it was hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice: the real key to this matter was actually the credibility of his Korean coins, which gave the Wei State an opportunity to take advantage of.
"How about raising the purchase price..."
Han Kui said hesitantly.
Han Wangran glanced at Han Kui and remained silent.
It is undeniable that Han Kui is right. Since forcibly expelling those Wei merchants will lead to an early war between Wei and South Korea, the only way left is to increase the purchase price.
The question is, will those Wei merchants stand by and watch?
Think about it and you will know that those Wei merchants accumulated a large amount of Korean copper coins in the last merchant war, and they will definitely use it to purchase grain this time. The purpose is not to rush to buy grain, but to raise the purchase price and set off a stir.
The second commercial war came to crush South Korea's treasury funds.
Although the Korean treasury received a considerable amount of money last time by minting additional copper coins, this money may not be able to cover the losses caused by the food price war with Wei merchants - to say the least, even if it can defeat Wei
As a businessman from the country, I am afraid that there is not much money left in the South Korean treasury. How will it be supported in the future?
That day, after Kaifangdi and Han Kui left, Han Wangran sat alone in the palace, thinking about countermeasures.
At this time, he had realized that South Korea's pressure on him, South Korea, had become increasingly intense, and he, South Korea, actually could not sustain it for much longer.
"...Should we be decisive and declare war on Wei?"
Wrapped in a sheepskin blanket, Han Wangran walked to the window of the palace and looked at the snow gradually piling up outside the palace by the candlelight inside.
His intuition told him that instead of being targeted step by step by the Wei State, it would be better to declare war on Wei at the breaking point and break out the war in advance.
Because once war is declared, Korea will no longer have to consider the issue of Wei merchants - just kill them if caught!
In this way, all problems are solved.
But on the other hand, once South Korea declares war on Wei, the 'tense peace' currently present in the confrontation between the two countries will no longer exist. Even Han Wangran cannot guarantee that South Korea will be able to defeat Wei's attack.
How long will it last?
It might be a year, it might be half a year, it might be shorter.
"...Zhao Run, are you so impatient that you want to force me to go to war with your Wei State? Does this also mean that this kind of confrontation has also caused great losses to your Wei State?"
Han Wangran took a long breath and weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
That night, Han Wangran was always struggling with the issue of "starting a war" or "not starting a war", but in the end, his prudent character led him to finally decide to continue to maintain the status quo until he could no longer persist in Korea.
In fact, this is not a bad idea. After all, in the "Three Kingdoms Alliance of Han, Qi, and Chu", South Korea plays the role of containing and dragging down Wei, buying time for Chu. If it can cause Wei's interests to suffer simultaneous losses,
, South Korea’s loss of interests is actually acceptable.
Furthermore, although the current situation is indeed very difficult, no matter how difficult it is, it is not as difficult as the actual war between Wei and South Korea. Once the war between Wei and South Korea actually breaks out, South Korea will face the attacks of the two great powers Wei and Qin at the same time.
It's a real disaster.
As the saying goes, choose the lesser of the two strategies. After weighing the pros and cons of the two strategies, Han Wangran finally chose to continue to maintain the status quo.
Perhaps, this is the biggest difference between him and Wei Wang Zhao Run.
If it were Wei Wang Zhao Run, he would definitely choose to declare war immediately at this time, regardless of whether he could win in the end.
In view of Han Wangran's forbearance again, Le Yi and Yan Kui of Julu City finally did not dare to disobey the king's order and expel the Wei merchants in the city to provoke a war between the two countries.
As a result, the Wei merchants in the city and the local county government started a grain price war in order to snap up the batch of grain from the common people: Julu County government purchased grain at twice the price of previous years, while the Wei merchants tripled the price;
The Julu County government raised prices again, and Wei merchants also raised prices accordingly.
This has led to the fact that Korean coins are "increasingly worthless" in the eyes of ordinary people.
Under this situation, another group of Wei merchants suddenly threw out the Korean coins in their hands, further damaging the latter's credibility.
When the merchants of Wei State begin to use Wei State Wan money to purchase food from the civilians in Julu City, and these civilians are also willing to use Wei State Wan money to trade, this means that in Julu City, South Korea's monetary system has almost collapsed and has been destroyed.
Wei's round money replaced the function of currency in circulation.
By the spring of the ninth year of Wei Xing'an, this phenomenon quickly spread to the entire Handan North County and Julu County. South Korea's copper coins were completely devalued, while Wei's Wan coins took the place of the former and gradually circulated in South Korea.
Even though Han Wangran begged Qi to use Qi's currency to save the Korean market, it was too late.
Zhang Qigong's goal was achieved. In essence, he had almost destroyed South Korea.
After receiving the news, the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Luoyang of Wei State congratulated each other.
It is indeed worthy of celebration, because they destroyed South Korea's currency and destroyed South Korea's economy - as long as the Wei merchants in South Korea withdraw their funds, South Korea's economy will collapse immediately.
And with South Korea's economy collapsing, of course this country can no longer continue to confront Wei.
Either declare war on Wei immediately and divert its domestic conflicts; or it will collapse in silence and fall apart.
Sure enough, in early March of the ninth year of Wei Xing'an, South Korea was forced to declare war on Wei.
And this means that the second unprecedented battle affecting the entire Central Plains has begun.