Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 116 The Empire's Hidden Dangers

Consort Wu Hui lived in the deep palace from a young age. Although she had no worries about food and clothing, she had very few assets. The emperor would certainly bestow various gifts upon her and occasionally reward her with money and silk, but never with such an extravagant amount as 100,000 strings of cash.

Even if the various treasures he possessed were of even greater value, they still needed to be sold off to generate income for accounting purposes. Such a large-scale sale of palace items could not possibly be kept secret from the emperor.

Zhang Dai had been waiting for these words. He immediately rose and bowed, saying, "Your subject harbored selfish motives before, during the funeral of Emperor Huiwen..."

He quickly explained the matter of the flying money, and then said, "I am holding the profit share on behalf of Consort Hui. As long as the money I paid into the account recently is redeemed, I can get huge profits, which should be more than enough to build a textile workshop."

"This windfall profit is truly astonishing!"

The emperor was slightly surprised when he heard this. He had just heard Gao Lishi mention this matter a few days ago, and in just a few months, the shop had already attracted several million strings of cash, showing a truly rapid development momentum.

The long-term stable development of society during the Kaiyuan era allowed the accumulation of private wealth to accelerate, laying a solid material foundation for the exploitation and hoarding that followed in the later Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras.

Therefore, the total amount of wealth controlled by the government during the Tianbao era reached an astonishing level. Many of the figures are exceptionally exaggerated, almost unbelievable for a feudal period.

This is an inverted phenomenon caused by the lagging operation of administrative and official enrichment in line with the development of the times. With the advancement of enrichment technology, the wealth accumulated by social development in the previous decades has been extracted and seized, creating a superficial but abnormal prosperity, while in fact exacerbating the accumulation of contradictions and hidden dangers.

The emergence of flying coins was undoubtedly a new phenomenon in line with the development of the commodity economy in Tang Dynasty society. Therefore, it showed amazing potential from the very beginning, and even the emperor was amazed by it.

Zhang Dai was not worried that the appearance of flying money would stimulate the emperor's extravagance and accelerate the advancement of corrupt officials; this was a rather narrow-minded view.

First of all, as the Son of Heaven, the emperor theoretically owns the entire country, and he has absolute control over all wealth, regardless of its form. If you don't get rid of him, what's the point of any precautions?

Secondly, the development of the Tianbao regime was a systematic process of moving forward, and it was not simply due to the emperor's arrogance and extravagance.

That being said, for any regime with a decent strength, the ruler's mere extravagance and debauchery are not the direct cause of its downfall. Rather, they inevitably give rise to other more serious social problems and irreconcilable contradictions in the distribution of power, which eventually lead to a concentrated outbreak.

If the emperor were simply indulging in self-enjoyment, wouldn't what he currently possess be enough to overwhelm him? As for other more fundamental issues such as his enthusiasm for border conquests and his need to guard against his son, they have no direct relation to the money.

As for the advancement of corrupt officials, that's beyond Zhang Dai's control. With Yuwen Rong's banner already raised, if Zhang Dai wants to grow rapidly, he'll have to prove himself superior to them!
Accumulation itself is not the problem; the problem is how to use the accumulated wealth. If used properly, then accumulation is simply the rational allocation and utilization of resources.

The disaster in the fourteenth year of the Kaiyuan era occurred shortly after the completion of the Fengshan ceremony, and the affected prefectures and counties were mainly concentrated along the route of the eastern tour of Fengshan.

These prefectures and counties have already exhausted their capacity to cope with disasters and other emergencies. They even had to use up the resources within the Eastern Capital's budget shortly after the disaster began. The government's relief efforts alone would inevitably be insufficient, and it was urgent to create a channel for disaster victims to help themselves.

Consort Wu Hui naturally hoped that her reputation and deeds would not be limited to the inner palace, but would be praised by more people in a wider world, so she took Zhang Dai's suggestion very seriously.

Moreover, she entered the palace at a young age and had little experience living in the streets. She lacked a direct understanding of the amount and function of money and did not realize that 100,000 strings of cash was such a huge sum of money that she was reluctant to give it away.

At this moment, she spoke again: "Since we are going to spend money to help the disaster, why be stingy with our resources! After the charitable institution has provided looms, why not give all the looms to the people for food? I have enough food and clothing now, but I am taking the labor of the disaster victims and making them work for me, taking away their food. They are useless to me, and I will be ridiculed by the world!"

"Things are not as simple as you think. Don't make a fool of yourself in front of the younger generation!"

Upon hearing this, the sage immediately waved his hand and said...

When Zhang Dai heard his aunt's somewhat naive remarks, he couldn't help but sigh that it's rare for a person to be completely useless. His aunt was greedy for power and position but not for money. From the beginning, when he talked about the business of making money by flying, she wasn't very interested. She only agreed to join when she heard that it was the emperor's idea.

Now that she heard that Zhang Dai had already planned how to use the profits she had not yet seen, she had no objections at all. On the contrary, she felt that it was a shameful thing to profit from disaster relief and saving people.

Both were naive and foolish, but Zhang Jun, the father, didn't care whether it was actually useful or not; as long as he felt it was useful to him, he would take it. Consort Wu, on the other hand, only cared about what was useful to her; she didn't care about what wasn't.

This also reflects that, at least so far, Consort Wu Hui has no concrete plans to build her own team or to actively seek and advance towards the position of Empress.

The sage may have been considering the personnel costs of maintaining and operating the project in the medium to long term, while Zhang Dai had other plans for using the profits.

"Zigong redeemed people, and Zilu received cattle; these are all stories of virtuous men of the past. Consort Hui was of noble character and took the lead in righteous deeds. Because she received the Emperor's grace, she did not want to benefit the common people. But now there are many people suffering from disaster, and it is difficult to save them all with the efforts of one person."

Those who share the same righteous intentions may hesitate to proceed. To act righteously and receive reward is not inherently evil. But how can one promote good and discourage evil by doing good and refusing reward?

Zhang Dai then spoke up, saying, "If Consort Hui insists on not accepting the profits from these charitable institutions, she can use the money to plant mulberry trees and create forests, which will further benefit the weaving industry."

Since the Tang Dynasty, floods along the Yellow River have become increasingly frequent. A major underlying cause is the over-cultivation and overgrazing in the north, leading to continuous soil erosion. This factor is further amplified, especially against the backdrop of significant climate change.

The pastoral and settlement practices in the Hetao and Shuofang regions, along with the activities of the various nomadic groups from the six prefectures and nine clans, placed immense pressure on the environment. The situation was even worse in the Central Plains, where excessive cultivation led to a surge in agricultural water use. Coupled with the lack of a comprehensive soil and water conservation plan, this increased the risks to the Yellow River and other surface runoff.

Even if these problems are recognized, there are no good solutions. Border defense and people's livelihood are fundamental needs that cannot be avoided, and long-term social stability and natural population growth both necessitate a continuous increase in the scale of agricultural production.

Even when such disasters occur, the chaos in production further exacerbates land consolidation, and unemployed people flee abroad. In order to attract them back, the mountains, lakes, forests, and wilderness are opened up, further damaging the ecology.

In the Middle Ages, talking about the environment and ecology might seem ridiculous, but problems such as the shrinking and degradation of surface runoff and soil salinization were more or less present in traditional agricultural areas.

Zhang Dai suggested using the proceeds from the charitable institution for mulberry planting and afforestation, but he didn't have a long-term plan yet. Besides, even if all 100,000 strings of cash were used for afforestation, the area that could be covered would be limited. Moreover, the area along the Yellow River is mostly fertile, well-cultivated land, so who would be willing to use it for mulberry planting and afforestation?

He wanted to provide another approach to post-disaster reconstruction and to lay the groundwork for personnel arrangements in the subsequent disaster relief efforts.

Because the natural disaster of the fourteenth year of the Kaiyuan era was just the beginning, and an even more severe wave was expected the following year. The core grain-producing areas suffered major blows for two consecutive years, which triggered a chain reaction and laid a significant clue for the development of the situation after the Tang Dynasty's golden age: the power of the border garrison commanders continued to increase.

In the early Kaiyuan period, the Tang Dynasty basically followed the strategy of focusing on border defense in its military operations. No large-scale military actions were carried out on the borders. This was also because powerful enemies such as the Turks and Tibetans entered a period of turmoil and recovery, a time when there were no strong enemies.

Taking advantage of this rare period of rest and recuperation, the Tang Dynasty also completed a series of military and political reforms, both internal and external. After the Fengshan ceremony, military activities suddenly became active again.

For example, in the first half of this year, five prefectures in Hebei were established with troops based on the Hebei Unity Army during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, and a second line of defense against the Turks was set up below military towns such as Youzhou.

Later, some of these Hebei troops joined the resistance against the An Lushan Rebellion, while others became supplementary forces to the rebel army, and a considerable number of them became the armed separatist forces of the three towns of Hebei in the future.

Meanwhile, in the west, the border generals, led by Wang Jun, the military governor of Hexi, launched a new round of fierce battles with the Tubo, with each side experiencing victories and defeats.

It was during this period that the practice of military governors holding multiple positions, which was later criticized, began to become the norm. Military governors of towns such as Hexi and Shuofang successively held multiple positions, which they used to coordinate local manpower and resources and launch foreign wars when domestic supplies were insufficient.

When discussing the history of the Tang Dynasty, many people often refer to a particular year as a dividing point and elaborate on the people and events of that year in great detail, sometimes even to an exaggerated degree.

But in fact, everything that happened each year was important. There were precedents and follow-ups. These people and events together formed a trajectory of the Tang Dynasty's rise to its peak and its subsequent collapse.

Therefore, for Zhang Dai, his time was both ample and urgent.

Personally, he is only a teenager, with a long and promising future ahead of him. With his grasp of the pulse of the times, his understanding of human affairs, and the various resources he currently possesses, even if he doesn't rise to the highest ranks of officialdom, he can still enjoy a life of wealth and honor.

However, if we look at the era as a whole, the wheels of time are rolling forward, and some highly harmful elements of the era have emerged. If we don't make some preparations in advance, it will be difficult to offset the pressure and anxiety in our hearts.

When the emperor heard Zhang Dai suggest using the money from the charitable institutions to build mulberry groves, he couldn't help but sigh, "Zhang Dai may be exceptionally talented, but he is ultimately ill-suited to worldly affairs. In the year of great disaster, the priority should be to restore agriculture, but planting mulberry trees and building industries would be difficult to accomplish in a short time, which is impractical."

"I have recently been reading at home and came across my grandfather's old memorial on the establishment of garrisons in Youzhou. I have some humble opinions, which I would like to present to Your Majesty for your correction."

As long as a minister's memorial does not involve confidential matters, it can be kept in a copy. Zhang Yue and Zhang Jiuling's collected works contain many documents that they personally communicated. What Zhang Dai was referring to was a memorial that Zhang Yue submitted when he served as the governor of Youzhou in his early years.

After being ousted from the court by Yao Chong, Zhang Yue served as an official in Hebei and other places for a long time. When he served as the governor of Youzhou, he put forward many opinions on military and political matters, such as setting up garrisons in Youzhou to strengthen the border defense and controlling the two barbarian tribes to deal with the Turks.

However, the prime minister at the time, Song Jing, also adhered to Yao Chong's idea of ​​not engaging in border service and focusing on recuperation, so some of his ideas were not put into practice.

After Zhang Yue entered the court, his status changed, and he had many disagreements with Shuofang Wang Jun and Zhang Jiazhen, who served as the governor of Dingzhou and in charge of military affairs in Beiping. Moreover, he was keen on promoting the Fengshan ceremony and other related matters, and was not enthusiastic about planning border affairs.

The emperor believed that planting mulberry trees would take several years to complete, and that it would be a case of "distant water cannot quench immediate thirst" for disaster relief, thus having little practical significance.

But the greater significance of this afforestation is to provide psychological comfort to people, and to preserve production organizations to the greatest extent possible, rather than forcing people to flee abroad and fend for themselves in distress.

The wives and daughters of these people can rely on the production opportunities provided by Yifang and Sanglin to exchange for basic living supplies. In addition to organizing the repair of river embankments and the restoration of farmland, the men can also be organized to go to Youzhou and other places to directly engage in production. This is also a way to resettle people in other places and disperse the pressure of disaster relief.

After the disaster that lasted for more than two years passed, the imperial court could recruit exiles from the inner prefectures to settle and cultivate the border areas. Those exiles who had originally gone to the border could return to their homeland and resume their original production organization and family life.

Because of the existence of those charitable institutions and mulberry groves, the lives and social organizations of these disaster-stricken families can be preserved, avoiding the situation of "all the refugees leaving and the hometowns being abandoned". When they return to resume production, the obstacles they encounter at the administrative level can be greatly reduced.

Therefore, the newly planted mulberry grove held more symbolic significance than practical value. Or, to put it another way, Zhang Dai wanted these soldiers, even those stationed on the frontier, to remember that a young master Zhang from Luoyang had donated money to plant mulberry trees, providing their wives and daughters with a means of survival.

As for whether doing so might be seen as trying to win people's hearts and arouse the emperor's suspicion?

He was just a commoner, neither a high-ranking official nor a member of the royal family. What right did he have to be suspected? Could it be that all the officials in the prefectures and counties who performed well in their evaluations and were deeply loved by the people were plotting to seize the emperor's throne?

Acting under the name of Consort Wu Hui was enough to draw the emperor's attention to Consort Hui, making it easier for him to build a "rat stockpile".

"Duke Yan has served in various positions both inside and outside the government for many years, and now, even without leaving his home, he still possesses such mature and strategic wisdom. This is truly admirable!"

The emperor first sighed, then turned his gaze to Zhang Dai and said, "Is it because the Duke of Yan is worried about the country's predicament and has no way to advance, that he sent you to pay respects to Consort Hui and offer your advice to me?"

Zhang Dai was speechless upon hearing this. Damn it, we were just discussing national affairs, and suddenly you veered off to suspecting the old ministers and concubines of having an affair. It's really hard to guard against!
"Today, I came to pay my respects to Consort Hui to express my gratitude for the inheritance bestowed upon my late mother. Upon seeing the silkworm breeding matter, I had some thoughts. However, due to my limited knowledge and understanding, I stole my grandfather's plan to supplement my clumsy opinion and show off my wit before Your Majesty. I did not expect that Your Majesty would recognize who came up with the plan. I am ashamed!"

He could only go along with this guy's words, half-truthfully and half-lie. He could admit to stealing his grandfather's strategy, but he absolutely denied any premeditated collusion.

Upon hearing this, the sage laughed. The idea of ​​creating the Yifang (charity hall) to provide relief to refugees may have been a flash of inspiration in his youth, but the subsequent concept was quite grand. Without sufficient experience and practical skills, it would be difficult to come up with it out of thin air.

"Hearing this plan, I am reminded of Lord Yan. Tell your son to go back and tell his family that he must come to the palace to see you after tomorrow's court session!"

After a moment's thought, the sage spoke again.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai was overjoyed and kowtowed to express his gratitude. However, after finishing his thanks, he looked up and asked, "Then I have devised a good plan for Consort Hui. May I ask Your Majesty if it is feasible?"

"Your nephew is selfless and compassionate. As long as it benefits others and doesn't cause trouble, go ahead and do your own thing. Each prefecture and county has its own orders, so remember not to use Consort Hui's name to harass the government!"

It's fine to contribute money, but you can't use this as an excuse to publicize Consort Wu Hui's presence in this matter. Just like leading the women of the six palaces in raising silkworms, it's okay to do it in the inner palace, but if you want to preside over the real silkworm-raising ceremony, you'll have to wait!
(End of this chapter)