Chapter 706: Step up to control the heart of the army
In order to strengthen the cohesion of the troops under his command, Li Siye often visited the barracks and requested that promotions to the rank of captain or above must be stamped with his seal before they can take effect. Since the land controlled by the armies of the three towns was vast, he allowed Anxi to
The promotions of officers in Beiting, the Transoxian Tochar region and the Great and Little Bolu, as well as in North India are reported together at the end of the year.
In order to make the system flexible and not appear rigid, military envoys can first promote those who are to be promoted to their posts, but they must add the word "generation" in front of the official position, and the salary is only 70% of the current position. This makes
His seal as the governor of the three towns has always had an absolute influence on the grassroots of the army.
In March, An Lushan promoted 2,000 junior officers under his command to Zhonglang General. More than 2,000 names were filled with petitions for promotion. The emperor agreed one by one, and all of them were sued. This move bribed them.
The loyalty of the officers under his command.
Li Siye also decided to follow his example and submitted a petition to the emperor at the end of October, requesting the emperor to appoint Zhao Congfang, the envoy of the North Indian garrison, as the army guard and general of the right Xiaowei.
The patrol envoy of Lu was promoted to the general of Zuowuwei. Others such as Yonghui Army's envoy Bi Sixhen, Longshuo's envoy Bai Xiaode, and the other four town envoys were all promoted to generals.
He also asked the emperor to appoint the deputy governor of Anxi, Feng Changqing, the deputy envoy of Jiedu, and become the general in charge of the army, Huaihua general.
The military envoy Li Guangbi was promoted to General Yunhui, and all the military envoys in Hexi were promoted.
Li Siye petitioned for the title of Zhonglang General on behalf of 1,500 mid-level officers, drafted a memorial thicker than a book, and then sent it to Shang'an to wait for the emperor's approval.
Yang Guozhong jumped out to express his opposition again, but the emperor was not ambiguous on this issue and directly approved the prosecution to be issued by the Ministry of War.
Li Siye has now completely read the emperor's pulse. As long as An Lushan asks for something, he will ask for it. The emperor will not allow it. This seems to be called the legendary bowl of water being even.
Method, how could it be embarrassing for Longyou Jiedushi Ge Shuhan and Shuofang Jiedushi An Sishunqing?
Cao Anding, who joined the army in Hexi Province, sent him a letter saying that Yang Guozhong strongly opposed the memorial he submitted.
Li Siye slapped his palms heavily on the table and said angrily: "Yang Guozhong is really ignorant, and he still stumbles over my memorial at this juncture. If not for your Majesty's wisdom, this guy would really have caused trouble.
.His Majesty even granted him the position of Sikong. What qualifications does such a mediocre person have to be Sikong?"
Sitting below, Cheng Qianli, Du Fu, and Li Guangbi looked at each other in confusion. Cheng Qianli twirled his beard and hesitated for a moment before crossing his hands and saying: "Although Yang Guozhong has no talent or virtue, he is in charge of the government alone? He blocked the way to speak, and there was a flood in Guanzhong? Not only did he conceal it and refused to report it,
? I also reported to Your Majesty that although there was heavy rain, the crops were not harmed. With such a prime minister in the government, how could we, the Tang Dynasty, be free from disaster?"
Du Fu took the opportunity to admonish Li Siye: "The disaster in Guanzhong suffered, and Yang Guozhong blocked the Holy Land? The doctor can't just sit back and ignore it? Du Fu is willing to write a memorial for the doctor? Please face the disaster seriously and send envoys to inspect the disaster relief."
Li Siye lowered his head and asked Cheng Qianli and Li Guangbi: "What do you two think?"
"No," Cheng Qianli crossed his hands and said, "Guanzhong is at the feet of the emperor. Can't the princes in the court see it? Just because Yang Guozhong controls the court? All officials dare not speak out. Not only does the doctor's memorial have no effect?
We will also hate Yang Guozhong because of this. Once the conflict between us and Yang Guozhong deepens, An Lushan will have an opportunity to take advantage of it. Therefore, I think it is best not to deal with the affairs in Guanzhong."
Li Siye thought for a moment, then pressed his hand on the case and said, "Are the people affected? I can't just sit idly by and ignore it. Zimei, you immediately write a memorial and send it to Chang'an. As for Yang Guozhong? I'm too lazy to pay attention to him."
At this time, a messenger came to the front of the hall, knelt down on one knee and crossed his hands and held up a letter: "This is a letter from the envoy of Zhao Jun to the doctor."
Li Siye was surprised that Zhao Congfang had not written to him for more than half a year, so he did not know the situation in North India at all. He vaguely felt that Zhao Congfang had too much power west of Cong Congling, so he sent Wang Tao to replace him
The post of military envoy to Quy Nhon allowed him to concentrate on managing Northern India.
"Send the letter over."
He took the letter from the courier, opened the seal and read it, and said to the courier: "Bring the Kunlun slaves you escorted here to the hall for a look."
The messenger crossed his hands and retreated, came to the door of the Governor's Mansion, stretched out his hand to say hello, and brought the Kunlun slave escorted by the soldiers to the front of the hall.
Li Siye stood up from the desk and went to the corridor to look at the brown-skinned slaves standing under the steps. They had hunched shoulders, wooden shackles on their hands, and iron chains on their feet.
These so-called Kunlun slaves are the slave soldiers who Zhao Congfang led to attack the captives in South India. They are Dravidians, a race in southern India. They have dark skin and docile temperament. They are the favorite property of the dignitaries in Chang'an, and they keep them with them as their treasures.
Entourage is a symbol of status.
Kunlun slaves in the Tang Dynasty were generally trafficked from the tropical areas of Southeast Asia or Arabs from North Africa. Another type was the Dravidians sent by Zhao Congfang from northern India.
Zhao Congfang mentioned two ways to make money in the letter. One of them is to traffic Kunlun slaves to Chang'an through the pepper trade route, whose value is no less than pepper, spices and other items. Dravidians account for a high proportion of the population in South India. According to
Zhao Congfang estimates that there are millions of people.
The slave trade is the most shameful and despicable commercial activity in human history.
He held his chin and hesitated for a moment. In the era he lived in now, it was legal to buy and sell slaves. There were no legal issues, but there were moral issues... He always forgot that he was an ancient person, and the values of the past did not apply to this era.
If you feel disgusted, then just turn a blind eye and let Zhao Congfang and Dai Wang do their own tricks.
The second way to make money proposed by Zhao Congfang is to set up checkpoints in North India and collect tariffs from food and Byzantine merchants who pass through the Hindu Kush Mountains. This can be implemented, but the money collected from the tariffs cannot fall into Zhao Congfang's pocket.
.
He made a decision in his heart and said to Cheng Qianli and Li Guangbi who were sitting below: "You should retreat first, Zimei will stay."
The two stood up from the desk, crossed their hands towards Li Siye, walked back to the entrance of the hall, and then turned around and left.
He waved his hand and told Du Fu: "Zimei, write a reply letter to Zhao Congfang."
Du Fu stood up and moved his position, sitting in front of a wide desk in the corner, waiting for the clerk beside the desk to sharpen ink. He picked a fine pen on the pen holder, soaked it with ink and looked up at Li Siye.
Dr. Li paced with his hands behind his back and said: "You don't need to write to me about such a dirty little thing as slave trading. You can write to Dai Wang yourself. It is possible to set up cards to collect business taxes in Northern India, but you cannot do it alone. You will not be in contact with the Western Regions."
The Chamber of Commerce jointly sets up a card, and 70% of the tax revenue is transferred to the Western Region Chamber of Commerce and transferred to Hexi, and 30% is kept for your own use to expand your troops and reward your subordinates."
"In addition, within six months, 30,000 dan of rice and grain will be raised from North India, and manpower will be recruited to send it to Khotan Town to build a new granary in the city. All the above items will be implemented in compliance with the requirements."
Du Fu put down the penholder, held the paper he had finished writing on, and held it in the wind to dry it with his mouth.
He raised his head and glanced at Li Siye who was standing in front of the pillars with his hands behind his back. He hesitated for a moment and couldn't help asking: "Since the doctor knows that slave trading is a dirty thing, why doesn't he prohibit it? But he pretends not to care? So, my subordinates,
Think……"
Du Fu stopped talking because he saw that Li Siye's face looked obviously ugly.