Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 246: Raising Taxes to Suppress Rebellion
"boom--"

By June, there were constant thunders in the Longxi Mountains, and smoke and dust covered the surrounding mountains and forests with a layer of white ash.

This is in the mountains and forests at the junction of Minzhou and Linzhou, and the constant thunderous sounds are the result of craftsmen and laborers expanding and repairing the official road.

In order to prepare for future defensive counterattacks, Liu Jilian ordered each state to use gunpowder to expand and repair official roads.

Most of the original official roads in Longyou were two zhang wide, and a small number were ten zhang wide.

Now, after Liu Jilian's order, all official roads must be built to a width of three meters.

Because of this, the entire Longyou area is now basically covered by the thunder of gunpowder explosions.

Fortunately, the expanded official roads are all internal and far away from the border, so there is no need to worry about being discovered by the Tang court.

On an official road somewhere, Liu Jilian sat on horseback, looking at the dust gradually dying out in the distance, and behind him were Cui Shu and Cao Mao.

At this time, the two were reporting intelligence about the Tang court and Hexi. What Liu Jilian was most concerned about was Gao Pian's transfer.

"Gao Pian led more than 4,000 Chengwu Rangers and 8,000 family members southward, to quell the rebellions in Hunan and Lingnan along the way, and then served as the governor of Lingnan."

"The newly appointed governor of Qinlong and military governor of Tianxiong Army is Li Chengxun, the former military governor of Jingyuan."

"Now most of the Chengwu Youyi Army has been taken away by Gao Pian, leaving only 10,000 Tianxiong Army and 1,500 Chengwu Youyi Army in Qin and Long states."

"After Li Chengxun arrived in Qinzhou, he merged the Chengwu Youyi Army into the Tianxiong Army and recruited more than 400 additional soldiers."

"At present, Qinlong's Tianxiong Army has 12,000 soldiers, of which less than 2,000 are cavalry."

After Cao Mao's report, Liu Jilong spoke:

"By bringing so many foreigners to Lingnan, is Gao Pian trying to lead them to death?"

Liu Jilong knew much more about the differences in climate between the Northwest and Lingnan than Gao Pian.

The climate of Lingnan during this era was similar to that of the Indochina Peninsula in later generations, and was even hotter and more humid.

It would be a blessing from God if one third of the people Gao Pian brought with him could survive.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong shook his head and didn't bother to care about Gao Pian's life or death.

Anyway, he left Longyou and was replaced by an unknown Li Chengxun who came to Qinzhou. This is a good thing for Longyou.

"Let's observe Qin Long's situation for now. If the Tianxiong Army shows any signs of expansion, tell me immediately."

"Yes!"

Cao Mao responded to Liu Jilong, and when Cui Shu saw that Liu Jilong did not continue speaking, he immediately reported:

"Envoy Zhang asked us to prepare enough porcelain, lacquerware and silk."

"The price of various spices has also been set. It is only 30% of the price of Chang'an spices. We can make 70% profit by reselling them."

"In addition, the four states of Guazhou, Shazhou, Gansu and Gansu have all been stabilized. Envoy Zhang sent Du Wanmeng with 2,000 elite cavalry, 1,500 infantry and 20,000 civilians to Guazhou and Suzhou for resettlement."

"After the resettlement, we should prepare to send troops to retake Yizhou."

"The population of Yizhou is only over 7,000, and the garrison of the two counties is no more than 800 people. Suo Zhongyi has no choice but to surrender the city."

After Cui Shu finished speaking, Liu Jilong sorted out his thoughts and then said:
"Don't worry about Hexi's affairs, just keep an eye on Liangzhou."

"Also, how are the people who migrated to Lanzhou being resettled?"

He turned the topic to population. Cui Shu remained silent, while Cao Mao took over the conversation:

"There are 27,000 people in Wuquan under the jurisdiction of Lanzhou, and three townships and 18 villages are arranged in the river valley plain."

"Guangwu County in the north originally had only about 8,000 people, most of whom were foreigners."

"In less than two years, more than 13,000 people have moved in, with a population of more than 22,400. The land has been redistributed, with an average of 5.2 mu per person."

"Based on the local situation, at least 500,000 acres can be reclaimed, enough to feed 50,000 people."

At this point, Cao Mao paused and continued, "Since this month, there has been basically no influx of people into Shannan West Road."

"In Jiannan Road, Yang Fugong is doing import and export horse trade with us, and he sells no less than a thousand import horses to Songzhou every day."

"As of the day before yesterday, Yang Fugong had sold 17,612 people, most of whom were young and strong women."

"Among these people, more than 9,000 people have not been resettled."

"May I ask, Marshal Jie, are these people also going to be resettled in Guangwu?"

Cao Mao asked Liu Jilong, and Liu Jilong nodded without hesitation.

Seeing this, Cao Mao stopped asking questions, and Liu Jilong also said: "After selling so many people, the money in Yang Fugong's hand can at least buy 70,000 to 80,000 dan of grain."

"They haven't stopped the horse trade yet. I'm afraid the news from Yu Conghui is true. Wei Mo not only needs disaster relief, but also needs to raise money and food to repair the southern pass."

"If they sell a few thousand more people, they'll probably be able to collect enough money and food to repair the pass."

"The population purchased from Songzhou will still be resettled in Guangwu as I said."

"If the grain in Guangwu County's warehouse is used up, we will transfer grain from the warehouses in Hezhou and Shanzhou. We cannot touch the grain in the government warehouse."

"In addition, prepare the goods needed in Hexi, and raise another 20,000 dan of old grain to send to Zhang Huaishen."

Liu Jilong has not forgotten that Zhang Huaishen had lent him grain. Now he has sufficient grain and grass. Although it is still far from the target of 2 million shi of grain reserves, it will not hurt to send some old grain to Zhang Huaishen to repay his kindness.

Anyway, as the spice trade between Hexi and Longyou develops, Longyou will gain extra income.

If this income was used to buy grain, it would be no problem to fill the other two government granaries.

Of course, the most important thing now is to take over Liangzhou as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong turned his horse around and said, "Go back to Didao!"

At his signal, everyone turned their horses around and headed back to Didao.

In order to capture Liangzhou in time, Liu Jilian dispatched a separate army from each town.

The 36th Regiment of the 12th Army, 2,400 elite cavalry and 4,800 infantry gathered for training in Wuquan County, Lanzhou.

Although Liu Jilong had the ability to command tens of thousands of people, the armies needed to be coordinated.

Because of this, Liu Jilian built a training platform in Wuquan County and ordered Zhang Chang to go to Wuquan to train the army. While he was teaching in Didao, he always paid attention to Feng Hui's health.

In mid-June, Feng Ao and Feng Bangyan each sent two concubines from Chang'an and Shannan East Road.

The four concubines were all outstanding in both talent and appearance, but Liu Jilian's mind was in Liangzhou and he had no interest in matters between men and women.

In July, Du Wanmeng first settled the people in Guazhou and Suzhou to balance the problem of too many foreign populations in the two states.

The next one was Suo Zhongqi of Yizhou, who handed over Yizhou and five hundred Hexi Guiyi soldiers, and led Suo's three hundred troops across the Hexi grassland, and arrived in Liangzhou with his family.

Du Wanmeng led his army to take over Yizhou. After Zhang Huaishen learned the news, he immediately ordered Jiu Juyan and Zhang Huaijian to lead 3,000 soldiers from Liangzhou to migrate the people of Fanhe and Jialin to Shazhou and Yizhou.

On July 15th, Suo Xun finally took control of Liangzhou and granted all the more important official positions in Liangzhou to the descendants of the Suo family.

At the same time, Suo Xun and Wang Duanzhang, the deputy governor of Liangzhou, once again petitioned Chang'an to move in the population.

When the news reached Chang'an, it was once again in chaos.

"Traitors! Traitors! Why are there more traitors?"

At the end of July, roaring and sounds of smashing and smashing were heard from the side hall of the Purple Palace, and the three ministers and four nobles in the side hall booed.

Li Chen's face was slightly pale. It was clearly only early autumn, but he was already wearing winter clothes.

Lacquerware and porcelain were smashed to pieces on the ground, and the hall was in a mess.

Seeing this, Li Chen gradually calmed down. As he was very good at cultivating his energy, he knew very well that this was not his usual character.

When he saw the music chart just now, he felt extremely hot all over, so he smashed these things.

Now that he has calmed down, he can't help but feel regretful.

But the emperor could not be wrong, so he did not explain, but just glanced at the memorial on the table.

On the sixth day of June, the Jiangxi army was in turmoil, and the general Mao He expelled Zheng Xian, the governor of Jiangxi.

On the eighth day of the seventh month, Kang Quantai, the governor of Xuanzhou, rebelled and led his guards to expel Zheng Xun, the governor of Xuanshe. Zheng Xun fled to Yangzhou and was protected by Cui Xuan.

Within a year, the generals of the four towns rebelled, and one of the military governors and inspectors of the four towns was imprisoned and three were expelled. This was undoubtedly a slap in the face of the imperial court.

The key point is that after these generals expelled the inspectors and military governors, they all volunteered to be the new inspectors and military governors.

Could it be that in their opinion, the imperial court had become so weak that it allowed its generals to expel the military governors and did not dare to suppress the rebellion?

Thinking of this, Li Chen took a deep breath and looked at everyone with cold eyes.

The four nobles include Linghu Tao, Xiao Ye, Xiahou Zi who was newly promoted to prime minister, and Wang Zongshi who remained in his position.

"Has the prestige of the court fallen so much?" Li Chen questioned everyone, and everyone bowed and said, "Your Majesty, calm down..."

After the words fell, Linghu Tao was the first to express his opinion:

"Your Majesty, the general was reckless, so he thought that by expelling the Jiedushi and Guanchashi, he could be promoted to Guanchashi by the court."

"This kind of evil trend must be nipped in the bud to prevent other vassal states from following suit."

"I think that Guangluqing Wei Zhou's father Wei Dan was once the governor of Jiangxi. He governed well and the military and civilians still miss him. It would be better to appoint Wei Zhou as the governor of Jiangxi and order the troops from neighboring provinces to suppress the rebels."

"Neighboring road?" Li Chen frowned slightly, Linghu Tao explained:

"Earlier, I had intended to transfer troops under the command of Xu Shang, the governor of Shannan East Road, to Hunan to quell the rebellion. Now that the matters of quelling the rebellions in Hunan and Lingnan have been handed over to Gao Qianli, why not send Xu Shang to help Wei Zhou quell the Jiangxi rebels?"

"As for Xuanzhou, Your Majesty may order Cui Shixiang of Huainan to attack the rebel general Kang Quantai."

Although Linghu Tao seldom spoke, he was able to maintain a stable position during the Dazhong period, which showed that he had some wisdom.

With just a few words from him, the rebellions in Jiangxi and Xuanzhou were resolved.

Li Chen nodded after hearing this, took a deep breath and said, "Issue an imperial decree to appoint Cui Xuan as the governor of Xuanshe and send troops to suppress the rebellion today."

"In addition, Wen Zhang, the governor of Songzhou, was appointed as the training envoy of Xuanzhou. He stayed in Xuanzhou after Cui Xuan suppressed the rebellion."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Linghu Tao and others sang when they saw this. Li Chen also felt that his original anxious symptoms had calmed down a lot when he saw this.

He gradually calmed down, and at this time Wang Zongshi also hurriedly stepped forward and bowed:
"Your Majesty, Liangzhou has reported that Anxi Deputy Protector General Zhang Huaishen has led his troops to the west, and Hexi Observation Envoy Suo Xun has led his troops to station in the counties of Liangzhou. Please petition to relocate the population to fill Liangzhou."

“……” Upon hearing this, Li Chen frowned immediately.

He could not forget Zhang Yichao's support for this matter, so he always felt that there was a conspiracy behind this matter.

"Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen have an old grudge against Suo Xun, but now they are cooperating to withdraw from Hexi and give up Liangzhou to Suo Xun to garrison. What do you think?"

Li Chen asked everyone, and after everyone listened, Ma Gongru was the first to stand up and bowed:
"Your Majesty, I think there might be some fraud in Suo Xun's entry into Liangzhou. Wang Duanzhang might have been bribed by him. How about sending another official to inspect?"

"Your Majesty..." Wang Guichang, who was also one of the Four Nobles, also stood up and bowed:

"Even if there is no deception, we should not keep a treacherous person like Suo Xun in charge of Liangzhou."

"I suggest that you order Zhang Zhifang to lead his army into Liangzhou and cooperate with Wang Duanzhang. Then you can order Suo Xun to serve as an official in the imperial court!"

"Your Majesty, I second the motion." Wang Jufang, one of the four nobles, also stood up to second the motion, which made the isolated and helpless Wang Zongshi furious.

He turned his gaze towards Linghu Tao, but saw that Linghu Tao was calm and composed, with no intention of speaking.

"Your Majesty, Suo Xun is indeed erratic and should be guarded against."

Xiao Ye did speak, but he did not support Suo Xun's stationing in Liangzhou.

Wang Zongshi turned his gaze towards Xiahou Zi, only to see Xiahou Zi hesitate and say, "Your Majesty, this matter requires long-term consideration..."

It wasn't that everyone was being cautious, but Zhang Yichao's attitude was truly abnormal. In addition, Suo Xun's fickle deeds had long been spread in Chang'an, so they naturally needed to be careful and on guard.

Moreover, in their view, as long as Zhang Huaishen and Liu Jilian did not take action against Suo Xun, Suo Xun could completely control Liangzhou with the 7,500 armored soldiers in his hands.

"Your Majesty, if Liu Jilong learns of this and leads his army north to seize Liangzhou, all the efforts made by the imperial court over the years will be in vain!"

Wang Zongshi could only drag Liu Jilong in, but as soon as he finished speaking, Ma Gongru snorted coldly:

"If Liu Jilong dares to send troops to attack Suo Xun, the court will have an excuse to suppress the rebellion!"

Wang Guichang also echoed the words: "I heard that Liu Jilong sent people to spread rumors in Jiannan, Shannan and other places, and even spread them to Jiangxi and Huainan. His purpose was to lure the people to Longyou."

"Three days ago, the governor of Xichuan, Wei Mo, and the governor of Dongchuan, Cui Shenyou, jointly reported the incident of the people fleeing to Longyou, and Your Majesty was furious."

"If Liu Jilong sends troops to attack Suo Xun, this action will be like rebellion, and the court can send troops to suppress it!"

What Ma Gongru and Wang Guichang said really touched Li Chen's heart.

Liu Jilian became increasingly powerful in Longyou, and the court's several sanctions were ineffective.

If this continues, it will be too late to take action when Liu Jilian becomes more powerful.

However, Liu Jilian acted so cautiously that the court was unable to find any evidence against him.

In addition, the treasury situation is not good, so it has been delayed until now.

Now that his health was gradually deteriorating, if he left Liu Jilong to his children and grandchildren to take care of, it would probably bring disaster to them and affect his own reputation.

Thinking of this, Li Chen hesitated for a moment and then said:

"People say Liu Jilong has the appearance of a man of heaven and earth, and he may have ambitions."

"If Liu Jilong really covets Liangzhou, the imperial court will naturally send troops."

"But the treasury is empty right now. If Liu Jilong mobilizes troops, the court may not have enough money and food to deal with it."

No matter what, it all comes down to money.

Linghu Tao knew very well that the emperor wanted to increase taxes, but did not want to speak up in person.

After all, the situation in the world was like this. There were starving people everywhere, and there were hundreds of thousands of bandits in Huainan.

Given the current situation, if we rashly increase taxes again, it may cause even greater unrest.

Thinking of this, Linghu Tao remained calm and pretended not to understand what the emperor said.

Seeing that Linghu Tao didn't say anything, Xiao Ye and Xiahou Zi also fell silent.

In this case, Ma Gongru took the initiative to bow and said:
"Your Majesty, if Liu Jilong rebels and the treasury is empty, Guanzhong may be in danger."

"I suggest increasing the taxes on salt, tea and other miscellaneous taxes. This will only be enough to support the troops in Guanzhong and the eight garrisons in the northwest of Beijing for a few months, and we will be able to deal with Liu Jilong's rebellion."

Upon hearing this, Linghu Tao secretly shook his head.

Liu Jilian is still staying in Longyou. If they use him as an excuse to increase taxes, Liu Jilian will be forced to rebel even if he doesn't want to.

Thinking of this, he looked at the emperor. Fortunately, although the emperor was angry, he also knew that this move would easily force Liu Jilong to rebel, so he rejected it:
"Liu Jilong has not yet rebelled, so how can you use this excuse to collect miscellaneous taxes?"

"I was confused..." Ma Gongru also admitted his mistake decisively, and Li Chen looked at Xiao Ye when he saw this.

"Prime Minister Xiao, in your opinion, what should we do?"

Seeing that he could not escape, Xiao Ye immediately made a calculation for Li Chen.

"Your Majesty, although the court's annual revenue is large, the regular expenses are less than 3 million. The officials can only make ends meet next year by collecting money from far away."

"Now the various provinces are using troops, and the monthly expenditure is more than one million strings of cash. The expenditure for Guanzhong and the eight garrisons in the northwest of Beijing alone is more than four hundred thousand."

"If we want to raise funds for several months, we can only increase the taxes on salt, tea and other items, or even raise the taxes by three cents."

Xiao Ye did come up with a solution. The Guanzhong Shen Ce Army and the eight garrisons in the northwest of Beijing would cost more than 400,000 strings of cash every month.

This is the case of maintaining troops in the town. If troops are sent out, the cost may double.

If the imperial court wanted to deal with Liu Jilian, it would have to save up at least several months' worth of military expenses, which would be two to three million strings of cash.

As taxes were generally not paid in Hebei, this was equivalent to searching more than a hundred coins from every citizen in the Tang Dynasty.

Xiao Ye's original intention was to let Li Chen retreat, but after thinking about it, Li Chen couldn't help but nodded and said:

"I hereby order all provinces in the country to increase taxes by 3 cents in the name of providing relief to the famine victims in Jiannan."

Linghu Tao, Xiao Ye, and Xiahou Zi sighed inwardly upon hearing this, but Ma Gongru, Wang Jufang, Wang Guichang and others hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Chen coughed a few times, only to feel his throat itching again. He waved his hand and said:
"When the autumn harvest tax is collected in the government treasury, it will be stored and allocated when there are changes in Helong in the future."

"I accept the decree..."

Xiao Ye had no choice but to bow and accept, then followed Linghu Tao and others out of the side hall.

After they left, Li Chen looked at Ma Gongru and the others and said, "You can also leave. I will also call the imperial physician Li Yuanbo to bring in the long-term medicine."

"I accept your instructions."

Ma Gongru and others withdrew one after another and summoned the imperial physician Li Yuanbo for Li Chen.

At the same time, news that the court was going to increase taxes spread throughout the government and the country.

If the tax is increased by three cents, if the world is peaceful, the revenue could be close to one million strings of cash.

But now there is a great famine in Huainan, and the people are displaced, while Lingnan, Hunan, Jiangxi and Xuanzhou are all experiencing wars.

Whether this three-cent tax can satisfy the court's appetite is still to be seen.

If disasters occur in various provinces, the three-cent tax may not be collected.

In this regard, some people sighed, some were at a loss, and some still ignored it and just lived their own lives...

(End of this chapter)