Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 430 Do not nurture disaster for your descendants.

"What did you say?"

No matter how shrewd Yuwen Rong was, he couldn't understand a name he had never heard of before. Upon hearing Zhang Dai's question, he immediately frowned and said...

"Your Excellency's concern for the nation's suffering and your eagerness to serve the country are truly admirable. Although I am but a lowly official, I am moved by your loyalty and diligence, and I am willing to serve you with utmost loyalty!"

Zhang Dai first flattered Yuwen Rong, then continued, "But among the officials who receive salaries, how many are truly loyal and diligent than just Lord Yuwen and myself? Why then are the affairs of the state still so troubled? The severity of the situation is clearly evident. Those in charge must not only have loyalty and diligence, but also the skills to govern the country! Those who possess these skills are extremely rare, therefore Lord Yuwen's position is truly well-deserved!"

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Rong nodded slightly with a reserved expression, agreeing that Zhang Dai's words were very pertinent. Anyone can express loyalty, but the truly important ability to solve problems is not something everyone possesses.

"The flying money business in Bianzhou is indeed quite ingenious, and I am deeply honored to receive such praise from you, sir. However, this business has not been operating for long, and people have not yet fully realized its benefits. The annual turnover of money and silk is only a few hundred thousand strings of cash. Compared to the bustling scene of Bianzhou, a major thoroughfare of the world, where people and goods gather in droves, it is still far from being as prosperous as it once was. If we were to rashly interfere with other matters now, it would only discourage people from trying it, and in the long run, the business would decline and never be able to recover!"

Zhang Dai looked at Yuwen Rong with a sincere expression and said, "Bianzhou Feiqian still has great potential for development. Its current scale is far from its limit. To put too much pressure on it now is undoubtedly overdrawing its potential and killing the goose that lays the golden eggs."

But this business wasn't Yuwen Rong's, so he naturally didn't care about its future potential. Hearing Zhang Dai say this, he immediately frowned and his tone became unfriendly: "You're not willing?"

"Rhubarb is good, but it is not a medicine for preventing miscarriage! Even the deepest illness requires diagnosis and treatment. The country is in trouble, and Prime Minister Yuwen has been diagnosing and treating it for a long time. There are already medicines for many of the ailments. However, the border is currently in turmoil, and the soldiers are vying to risk their lives for border achievements, which has greatly increased border expenses and strained the national treasury. I wonder if what I have said is in line with the symptoms?"

Zhang Dai then cupped his hands to Yuwen Rong and said, "To solve a problem, we must face it squarely, understand the objective factors that led to its occurrence, and then use the corresponding objective laws to solve it. Amputation can certainly treat paronychia, but not everyone is willing to bear this cost."

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Rong nodded slightly. Just as Zhang Dai had said, he had been in charge of a series of domestic affairs, such as land and household registration, since the ninth year of the Kaiyuan era. He had actively proposed various solutions to address the daily financial difficulties of the state, and all of them had achieved good results.

However, the escalating border conflicts and soaring military spending overshadowed his past efforts and increased the pressure on him. Especially now that the Tang Dynasty had just experienced the devastation of natural disasters in the fifteenth and sixteenth years of the Kaiyuan era, and domestic affairs and people's livelihoods had only just begun to return to normal this year, it had to face this sudden increase in military expenditures.

Even with Yuwen Rong's financial acumen, he racked his brains trying to find a suitable solution. That's why he turned his attention to Zhang Dai, putting aside past grievances and trying to win him over.

Yuwen Rong had long been in charge of finance and was generally familiar with agriculture, sericulture, commerce and trade in the country. The flying money in Bianzhou was a new business model, and it had soon shown a strong ability to attract money and make profits. This greatly catered to Yuwen Rong's eagerness to open up new sources of income outside of the traditional model.

Seeing that Yuwen Rong agreed with his statement, Zhang Dai continued, "Heaven desires the rise of the Tang Dynasty, but the barbarians are restless and constantly causing trouble. The only way to stop this is to kill them with iron and blood! Even if we manage to restrain them temporarily and stop the fighting, it is only because they fear our strength. However, the barbarians are cruel by nature and difficult to educate. Once the situation changes slightly, they will surely rise again, thus creating disaster for our descendants. For example..."

At this point, he suddenly paused, only then realizing that Yuwen Rong in front of him was a descendant of barbarian barbarians who were bringing disaster upon their descendants.

The Eastern Yuwen clan belonged to the Xianbei ethnic group and was successively driven out by the Duan clan and the Murong clan until it was destroyed by the Northern Wei Tuoba clan. Afterwards, the Yuwen clan was sent to the Six Garrisons in the south of the Gobi Desert. With the decline of the Northern Wei and the mutiny of the Six Garrisons, Yuwen Tai, who came from the Yuwen clan, rose again and established the Western Wei Bafu. Later, his descendants established the Northern Zhou regime.

Although Yuwen Rong's family was not a descendant of Yuwen Tai, the Yuwen clan originated from Liaodong and integrated into the Guanzhong region during the Western Wei and Northern Zhou periods, intermarrying with powerful Han families.

Fortunately, the Yuwen clan had been inhabited by Han people for hundreds of years, and Yuwen Rong had long considered himself a member of the Han aristocratic family, so he did not feel offended.

However, he was still somewhat dissatisfied with Zhang Dai's belligerent remarks: "Zhang Dai is a scholar, how can he be so belligerent? Yao Songxian successively held the government, but neither of them took pride in their border exploits, and this did not damage their reputation. Although your grandfather Zhang Yangong rose through the ranks because of his military achievements, he has never used his power to incite border conflicts."

How can you assert that only slaughter can secure the borders? How much do you know of the vastness of the world? If we slaughter all the nearby barbarians, they will rise again from the distance. The people's harvest from farming and weaving will all be sent to the border, leaving them with nothing to eat or wear at the end of the year. With such a disregard for death and a penchant for fighting, who will sustain the people?

"What you say, sir, is indeed very true. However, it is not I who do not wish for peace on the borders, but rather the various barbarian tribes. Although the western border is temporarily pacified, the two northeastern tribes are stirring again, almost secretly colluding with the Turks, and constantly acting like cowards. Therefore, although the country does not like war, we must prepare for it. Knowing that we are timid, the enemy will surely become even more rampant!"

Zhang Dai did not argue with Yuwen Rong about whether or not to pursue border defense merits, but only emphasized the necessity of preparing for war: "The people's livelihood should be taken care of, and military supplies should not be lightly reduced. The conscription of soldiers to the border relies on the people's provisions, with salt as the central element, hence the term 'opening the middle.' This is the 'opening the middle' method that I wish to offer to you, sir!" "Salt as the central element, the key link?"

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Rong became interested, but at the same time looked puzzled, unable to understand how such a description could be realized.

"Indeed, salt is the king of all flavors, indispensable to men, women, young and old! With this in hand, one can freely control all things under heaven. In the pre-Qin period, the state of Qi had the advantage of fish and salt, and Guan Zhong, as prime minister of Qi, used this as the basis for his laws..."

Zhang Dai wasn't entirely clear on the specific origins of the Open China Law, but he was familiar with the model and the concept of distance. To increase his persuasiveness, he naturally went as far as possible, claiming it was a wise and meticulously chosen strategy for national prosperity.

At first, Yuwen Rong was skeptical. He didn't think Zhang Dai could offer him any amazing plan. But the more he listened, the more moved he became. He didn't blink. After Zhang Dai gave a brief account of the plan, he immediately asked for the details.

Through Yuwen Rong's questioning, Zhang Dai gradually came to understand that the current era of the Tang Dynasty was quite different from the time when the Open Market Law was implemented. For example, there was still a certain gap in the government's control over salt production, and the Tang Dynasty had not yet produced a large number of large grain merchants who could transport grain to the border.

But setting aside these slight differences in objective conditions, the logic of the Sino-Korean approach is valid.

Besides shifting part of the burden of supplying military provisions to private merchants, another important benefit was that it encouraged these merchants to actively relocate people to open up the border areas. This not only alleviated the conflict between people and land in the country, but also directly changed the ratio of Han and Hu populations in the border areas.

Although the Tang Dynasty at that time had a vast territory and implemented the registration and management of the people in places as far as Xizhou, it was undeniable that there were also a large number of tributary states, including many Hu tribes and their armed forces living outside some border towns.

For example, in the early years of the Kaiyuan era, Jiang Hui served as the Imperial Censor and was ordered to patrol the border. At that time, some Turkic surrendered households came to join him. Zhang Zhiyun, the deputy protector of the Shanyu Protectorate, confiscated all the surrendered households' weapons and ordered them to cross the river to the south. The surrendered households were resentful and complained to the border patrol envoy Jiang Hui that they had no bows and arrows and could not hunt. Hui returned them all, and the surrendered households, having obtained them, rebelled.

The so-called crossing the river to the south refers to the Hetao region, which originally had excellent conditions for cultivation. However, the surrendered people still made a living by hunting and maintained their original tribal organization and lifestyle. If they were not restrained and reformed, they would be a bunch of ungrateful wretches.

With the profit model provided by the Kaizhongfa, it would be very profitable to carry out civilian settlement and land reclamation in border areas, driven by profit.

No one does a losing business, but everyone rushes to do one that could cost them their lives. Large numbers of displaced people from the interior migrated to the frontier, which not only expanded the scale of production but also replaced the ecological niche of those border towns and armed forces, thus consolidating the border defenses.

Even Yuwen Rong, who was always very confident, couldn't help but sigh after hearing Zhang Dai's plan: "Zhang Dai's ideas are truly magnificent and brilliant. If this plan is implemented on the border, it will greatly benefit both the interior and exterior. How can the achievement of merely capturing one or two cities compare to this!"

"I have merely perused ancient texts and gleaned the wisdom of our predecessors before giving it some thought. Whether it can be implemented and benefit the nation is not something I can confidently say. I now present this plan to Prime Minister Yuwen, hoping it may alleviate your predicament. If this method proves effective, it can be practiced year after year and benefit generations to come. Your plan to supply the army and border regions will be worthy of being recorded in history!"

Seeing that Yuwen Rong appreciated and valued this so much, Zhang Dai spoke up again. To be honest, he also wanted to see how feasible the Kaizhong method was in the Tang Dynasty through Yuwen Rong's research.

"Zhang Dai, you should not go to the Censorate anymore. Instead, stay under my patronage. In the future, I will recommend you for the position of Left Remonstrance Official, to advise me on this matter!"

After a moment's thought, Yuwen Rong looked at Zhang Dai and spoke.

Zhang Dai was taken aback by these words, not expecting Yuwen Rong to be so generous in trying to win him over. Pei Guangting had only offered him the position of Supervising Censor, and a minor one at that, while Yuwen Rong had directly promised him the seventh-rank position of Left Remonstrance Official—a much more magnanimous offer. Putting everything else aside, Yuwen Rong was certainly a charismatic superior.

Unfortunately, even though Yuwen Rong was sincerely trying to win him over, Zhang Dai didn't dare to jump on his bandwagon.

It wasn't just because there were too many enemies on board, and someone might stab you in the back at any moment. It was also because Yuwen Rong's personality had major flaws, which meant the ship simply couldn't sail far!
(End of this chapter)