Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 192 Sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight

Yan Rou was able to rise from a slave to a person who could handle both the Han and the Hu. His foresight and thoughtfulness were beyond the reach of ordinary people. In particular, Yan Rou had a deep relationship with the Xianbei and Wuhuan Hu people, and could get them to work for him when necessary.

How could Zhang Yu remain indifferent to such a sociable person?
After all, if we want to maintain regional stability in the northern border, the more talents like Yan Rou, the better. Now Yan Rou has asked Zhang Yu for an official position, and Zhang Yu will not refuse. As for keeping him in Pingcheng, it can not only meet Yan Rou's business needs, but also help Zhang Yu stabilize the order in Dai.

When Zhang Yu left Pingcheng, merchants from Taiyuan and Shangdang counties, who had learned the news of the reopening of Pingcheng's border market, drove their carts north to trade goods with the various Hu tribes and exchange what they had.

Seeing that Pingcheng was becoming more and more populated, Yang Zan was very happy and arranged for Pingcheng officials to maintain order and collect taxes from transactions. Among the transactions, corn, salt, lacquerware, silk, linen, and ironware were probably the most popular Han products among the grassland people.

It is a pity that tea has not yet spread to the grassland. If it were after the Tang Dynasty, tea would still be one of the scarce commodities in the trade.

On the eve of Zhang Yu's departure, in order to make Yang Zan work for him and concentrate on running the Pingcheng border market, Zhang Yu appointed Yang Zan as the tax officer and concurrently the head of Pingcheng, under the jurisdiction of the Mayi Duwei Mansion, responsible for the border market of the Duwei Mansion. The household tax and customs duty collected in Pingcheng were no longer sent to Yanmen Yinguan, but were transferred to Mayi Duwei Mansion.

Seeing that the Central Plains was in chaos and Zhang Yu wanted to use him, Yang Zan gave up the idea of returning home and devoted himself to working for Zhang Yu.

After a series of operations, Zhang Yu established the Mayi Commandery, appeased Guo Yu, the governor of Yanmen County, and surrendered the Hu people in the two counties, thus completing the task of pacifying the northern border.

On April 2, Zhang Yu led his troops south to Jinyang because he was worried about the troops going to Changshan.

Ke Bi and Shi Yi stayed in the northern border temporarily because of tribal affairs and to assist Li Song. In order to show his obedience, Guo Yu not only let Guo Huai go south with Zhang Yu to serve as an official, but also let his second son Guo Pei accompany him.

Guo Pei, courtesy name Zhongnan, was the younger brother of Guo Huai. Unlike his elder brother Guo Huai, who was good at both martial arts and literature, Guo Pei was more interested in literature. Seeing that Guo Pei had good talent and was the son of Guo Yu, Zhang Yu recruited him as a county official.

As for Guo Huai's words, needless to say, Zhang Yu was appointed as the Sima of the Right Department of Du Liao, and participated in military affairs together with Xu Shu, the Sima of the Left Department.

Compared with the speed of crossing the border, when Zhang Yu led his troops back, the speed was much slower because they carried thousands of livestock.

It took Zhang Yu twenty days to complete a journey that would have taken ten days. On April 24, he returned to Jinyang and handed over the cattle, sheep, horses and camels to the officials.

"My Lord, this trip north has yielded a rich harvest!"

Looking at the livestock all over the mountains, Zhong Yao, who was coming out to greet them, couldn't stop smiling. When he saw the tall camel with a long and flat head, he asked, "This animal has a burly body and carries two bags on its back. I have never heard of such an animal before. I wonder what it is?"

"Tutu!"

Zhang Yu waved his hand and led a camel over, saying with a smile: "The camel lives in the Western Regions, and many of the Hu people on the border raise them. The weight they carry is much heavier than that of cattle and horses. They can carry people and do farming. As for the food they eat, it is like grass for cattle to eat."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu touched the fur of the camels and said, "There are 2,000 camels, and the camel breeders are accompanying us. I'm afraid we will need more camels to transport military supplies in the future."

Looking at the burly camel, Zhong Yao was quite afraid because it was the first time he saw it, so he just nodded in response.

Seeing that Zhong Yao was a little scared, Zhang Yu handed the camel to the Hu cavalry and said with a smile: "The camel is docile except when it is in heat. It likes dryness and hates moisture. It can be raised like cattle and sheep. Lao Yuan often finds a place for the camel to stay."

"good!"

Seeing that the camels were being led away, Zhong Yao felt relieved and said, "It is not difficult for camel breeders to find pastures. But if they live in pastures, the camels cannot be used for farming. Moreover, since the camels live in pastures all year round, the people are not familiar with the habits of camels, and no one dares to lead the camels, so it will be difficult to transport military supplies."

"So in Yao's opinion, it is best to let the people raise the camels, or raise them in the army. When going to war, the soldiers and the camels can be mobilized; when there is no time, the camels can be used for farming or for transporting commercial goods."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu frowned slightly. Previously, he only thought about using camels to transport supplies, but he didn't think about the spread of camels in the Han area. As Zhong Yao said, if they were raised specialized, it would be difficult to find suitable people when sending troops to transport camels.

"What Yuan Chang said is very true. For the time being, we will find pastures for the camels and let the cavalry and camel breeders raise them. Later, we will gradually hand over the camels to the soldiers, civilians and caravans to raise. As for the rest of the livestock, the cattle will be handed over to the people of the counties in Bingzhou as mentioned before, and the horses will be put into the pastures."

"promise!"

After arranging the matter of livestock, Zhang Yu, accompanied by civil and military officials, went to the provincial capital to discuss the matter of sending troops to Jizhou.

After everyone was seated, Zhang Yu looked at the familiar faces and asked, "I have been away from Jinyang for several months. I wonder how the situation is now?"

Yu Yi stood up and presented the document, saying, "My Lord, after months of deliberation between me and Mr. Zhong, we have drafted a decree for the salt and iron industry. I hope you will give us your guidance and make corrections."

The core of the salt and iron government-run decree drafted by Yu Yi was monopoly sales. In order not to cause strong resistance from local tyrants and nobles, the policy he adopted was to restrict the tyrants and nobles from selling salt to the people without authorization. The salt produced by the tyrants and nobles was all handed over to the government for operation.

In order to ensure that the price of salt would not increase too much, Yu Yi lowered the price of salt produced by the gentry and powerful.

The iron monopoly was different from the salt monopoly. The powerful and wealthy families could mine iron ore and were allowed to smelt iron, but the government would collect taxes from the iron they sold.

If there are no owners of salt ponds or iron mines, they will all be taken back by the government for use, and the powerful and the nobles will not be allowed to mine or smelt them.

The essence of the state-run salt and iron industry is to integrate salt and iron suppliers, monopolize trade routes, and collect invisible head taxes from the people in disguise. "It's feasible!"

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and said, "Salt is consumed by everyone. Now the government has set a fixed price for purchasing salt and selling it uniformly. Salt is sold according to the number of people, and people exchange it for money and grain. If one person consumes 20 coins of salt, and Bingzhou has a population of one million, the government can earn 20 million coins, which is second only to the household tax."

"It's a pity that most of the salt depends on the Hedong Salt Lake. If we can get the Hedong Salt Lake, we will control the lifeline of Sili and other prefectures and counties such as Yan and Yu." Zhang Yu said regretfully.

The reason why Hedong Salt Lake is important, in addition to its high output, is that the Central Plains region does not produce edible salt, and the production technology of sea salt is not yet comparable to that of Hedong Salt Lake.

There are only two places in Bingzhou that can produce salt, one is Chanhebi and the other is Qiyuze. However, the production of salt in these two places is not enough for the Han and Hu people in Bingzhou, and they still need to rely on the salt pond in Hedong.

The salt monopoly currently implemented in Bingzhou, in addition to controlling the salt production in Qi Yu and Canhe, is to control the import and export of salt in Hedong, and the government sells salt to the people.

"How is the state-run salt and iron business being implemented now?" Zhang Yu asked.

"My lord, the state-run salt and iron industry has been implemented in several counties of Shangdang. Now it is being extended to all counties of Bingzhou, and I have asked my lord to sign the order." Yu Yi said.

"Submit the documents later and I will sign them one by one!"

"promise!"

After Yu Yi finished his report, Zhong Yao bowed and said, "Your Excellency, I am in charge of the household registration search in Taiyuan. Thanks to Madam's lobbying, we have divided 1,865 households since the beginning of spring."

"Take it easy!"

Zhang Yu put down the document and said, "I have only been in Taiyuan for half a year, and the people have not been attached to it for long. Let's start with the government-run salt and iron business. By selling salt according to the number of people, the people's household registration will be gradually separated."

"promise!"

In modern society, medical insurance, pension insurance, and various household registration systems are used to limit the number of unregistered residents. In ancient agricultural society, in addition to sending officials to check the population, another powerful weapon to limit the number of unregistered residents was to sell salt based on the number of people.

Salt is not like grain. Although grain is a necessity for people, people can grow their own grain. However, there are few places where salt is produced. If people want to buy salt, they must use their household registration certificate to buy it. This is similar to the household-based grain sales system under the planned economy.

Under this system, although unregistered residents can still exist, many people who hide their registered residence will voluntarily report it in order to get salt.

It was precisely because of the system of "selling salt per head" that Zhang Yu took the lead in implementing the state-run salt and iron industry, rather than harassing the hidden households of the big families.

Seeing that things were going smoothly, Zhang Yu felt much better and said with a smile: "Yuan Benchu invited me to send troops, and Bingzhou's political affairs still need to be managed by Yuan Chang and Shao Ran."

Zhong Yao stroked his beard and chanted, and asked, "I wonder when you will send out the troops, and how many men will you take with you?"

Zhang Yu turned his head and looked back at the map hanging behind him, then stood up and pointed at Jingxing Road, saying: "As far as I know, Gongsun Zan has sent troops south from Zhuo County, and Han Fu has stationed a large number of troops in Yecheng. So I want to lead 5,000 infantry and cavalry out of Jingxing, attack the counties of Changshan, and respond to Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao."

Guo Tu frowned and said, "My Lord, Heishan Zhang Yan occupies the mountainous area around Changshan County. If we send troops to Changshan now, we may clash with Zhang Yan."

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Jizhou is rich and is the bed beside Bingzhou. I now control Bingzhou, how can I let the tiger control Jizhou? Yuan Shao has ambitions for Jizhou, Gongsun Zan has ambitions for Jizhou. I also have ambitions, but my army is temporarily unable to look east."

"So I led the troops east this time. Although I accepted Yuan Shao's invitation, I don't want to see Jizhou fall into Yuan Shao's hands. Heishan Zhang Yan is the Lieutenant General of Suppressing Rebellion. He leads hundreds of thousands of Heishan soldiers and civilians, and has tens of thousands of elite soldiers under his command. He is entrenched on the edge of Taihang Mountain. His strength should not be underestimated."

"So I want to make a secret alliance with Zhang Yan and recommend him as the governor of Changshan to check and balance Yuan Shao."

"Check and balance Yuan Shao?"

Zhong Yao muttered to himself, his expression showing a lot of agreement, and said: "Han Fu is weak, Jizhou is a rich place. If Yuan Shao were to occupy it, it would be harmful to you. If you can unite with Gongsun Zan and Zhang Yan, Yuan Shao will find it difficult to occupy Jizhou."

"When you have wiped out the Xiongnu and taken over the two rivers, and Bingzhou has a large population and a strong army, then Hebei and Guanzhong will be within your reach!"

"Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao are vicious tigers. When the two tigers are exhausted, you can march east with strong troops and horses, and sweep across the world." Guo Tu said with a smile.

"Of course!"

Zhang Yu held his belt with his hands, his expression full of pride.

It would be best if Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao could fight to the death, while I could unite with Heishan Zhang Yan to balance the situation in Hebei.

(End of this chapter)