In March of the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan, Li Longji, who had been very comfortable all winter, returned to Xingqing Palace from Huaqing Palace, and then he was almost knocked out by the Tubo people.

The Tubo army fought in the three sections of the border with the Tang Dynasty: Jiannan, Longyou and Hexi, and its momentum was very fierce!

But the other two directions are all false moves, only the Hexi side is a real attack.

The Tubo army, located in Xincheng (now the ancient city of Jinbatai in Qinghai), infiltrated the Hexi Corridor from the Qilian Mountain Confucius, and attacked Liangzhou City in a hurry, which surprised Cui Xiyi, the envoy of the Hexi Festival.

He personally led the Chishui Army and the Tubo Army to fight outside the city of Liangzhou, and both sides suffered heavy casualties and fists to the flesh.

Later, because they couldn't get a bargain, the Tubo army took advantage of the night to escape.

Although the Tubo people didn't succeed, they made Li Longji break out in a cold sweat. Liangzhou City is a key logistics node of the Hexi Corridor and the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate and the Beiting Metropolitan Protectorate. If the Tang Dynasty's army in the Western Regions is compared to a sword, then Liangzhou City deserves to be the hilt of this sword.

The hilt of the sword was smashed, and the sword was broken. The situation in the northwest of Datang will accelerate erosion.

Brother Ji was furious and issued an edict:

"The Tibetan clown, who has been making frequent mistakes, spoils my town, and captures my border people. Its Hexi, Longyou, Anxi, Jiannan and other prefectures, below the Jiedu soldiers, there are those who can win the Tubo Zanpu, and the king with a different surname; Those who have won the great general will be awarded the great general; Those who are awarded below the rank of general will be awarded the rank of general and lieutenant general. There is no limit to the official qualifications of the white body, and one case of reward; Rapid proclamation, salty make known. ”

Well, to put it simply, it means that the meritorious person is awarded an official position, but the reward in this area of money and wealth is not mentioned.

Wang Zhongsi received the military order, transferred to the Chishui Army, and went to Hexi from now on. But Fang Chongyong hasn't left for the time being, because his current identity is the "civil affairs official" of Liangzhou City, and he can wait for the battle situation to be less anxious before leaving.

……

"What the hell is this?"

A few days before departure, Fang Chongyong received a letter from Zheng Shuqing from Luoyang, in addition to those polite words, the core topic was only two words: help!

Lao Zheng was appointed as a transshipment envoy, and is now in charge of the storage of Hanjiacang and the supply of grain to the war in the northwest.

This is killing him!

The canal from Biankou to Luoyang was abandoned by Pei Yaoqing, and the grain stored in Jiajia naturally had no stable source. Occasionally, ships carrying grain came to Luoyang, and they also sold the grain to the local area, rather than to the government for storage.

At this time, it is time to take out the good methods of the "ancestors" and give it a try. For example, the "Flat Method".

The price of grain harvested by the Pinglian method is lower than the price of grain on the market in Luoyang, so this means that when the canal is not smooth, there is actually not much grain to be collected. Collecting grain locally in Luoyang will also cause high grain prices in the eastern capital.

The higher the grain price, the more large local households will hold on to grain and refuse to sell, further pushing up grain prices. In this way, Lao Zheng needs to constantly "ask for money" from the imperial court, otherwise, he will not have so much money to collect grain. With Li Longji's character, doing so is mostly death.

But if Han Jiacang is always empty, Lao Zheng is likely to be punished by Li Longji.

What to do is a dilemma.

"It's just a stack of warehouses......"

Fang Chongyong read the letter again and again, and his heart was tired for a while.

If you want to do a good job in Datang's economy and solve those people's livelihood problems, Fang Chongyong has no way at all.

But if he wants to fill Hanjiacang, is it difficult for him?

Not at all!

He just wanted to spread out the paper and write a letter, when Fang Dafu came to report that Niu Xianke had come to visit!

Fang Chongyong was shocked, although Niu Xianke's style is low-key, he is also a scholar of the Ministry of Industry! I just don't know why the cow cyclamen came to the door!

After he ushered the other party to the study and took a seat, the cow cyclamen pulled out a thick thread-bound book from his cuff.

In those days, most of the books were scroll books, but many of the ordinary people's notebooks were handwritten books bound in threads, and it can be said that each had its own merits.

"This is a booklet of the common armaments of the Tibetan people, and I have a picture next to it."

Niu Xianke said with a smile.

"How does this work?"

Fang Chongyong was flattered, but he still took the line book very resolutely.

"I will go to Shuofang tomorrow to persuade the Sogdian Zahu of the Six Prefectures, and I have come to bid you farewell today."

Niu Xianke said with a heavy face.

Even if Fang Chongyong is not familiar with military affairs, it is easy to hear that the so-called "Six States Miscellaneous Hu" is not so easy to be persuaded. There are many Hu people on the border of the Tang Kingdom, and they are intertwined with contradictions, and if they are not careful, they may be provoked. Niu Cyclamen's this time, it was not a good errand.

"This matter should be suppressed by the right minister, right?"

Fang Chongyong asked quietly.

The cow cyclamen was slightly stunned, and then nodded silently.

"The water in Chang'an is too deep, and I, the magistrate of Hexi, really can't control it after I come. It's not a bad thing to go to negotiate with Liuzhou Zahu this time. ”

The cow cyclamen sighed, not knowing what to say.

In the center of the Tang Dynasty, people are floating and the atmosphere is very idle. Although he is the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, he has no relationship and no connections, and what he says is not useful, in fact, the power is still in the hands of the two Ministry of Works.

The six Shangshu of the Tang Dynasty have been in the process of being virtualized, and after the middle and late Tang Dynasty, they were even completely reduced to decorations, forming a new rule of "entering the phase with a waiter". Although this demonic wind has not yet blown, the cow cyclamen, who has no background and no background, has already felt the chill to the bone.

"Niu Shangshu...... Please take care all the way. ”

Fang Chongyong crossed his hands and saluted, he was very sorry that such a practical official was about to be unable to get along in Chang'an.

It can be seen that the Tang Dynasty may still be full of flowers and looks incomparably strong, but the seeds of disaster have been planted. An important piece of evidence of the country's decline is that hard-working officials are not being reused and unable to carry out their work smoothly.

"By the way, although Liangzhou City is generally safe, it is not excluded that the Tibetan scouts will attack. The bows and arrows of the Tibetan people were made of poisonous reed shafts, and their soldiers generally liked to extract poison from the arrows.

Although this poison is not a death when encountered, if you don't pay attention to it, it will also be a life of death. Remember to be safe over there. ”

The cow cyclamen patiently admonished.

"Understood."

Fang Chongyong nodded cautiously.

"Then I won't bother, and I'll take my leave.

Xiao Langjun went to Hexi, and he didn't really need to do anything big. If you have time, you might as well help the border soldiers write letters home. ”

The cow cyclamen made a "request" that was not a request.

"Understood, I'll do my best in this matter."

Fang Chongyong continued to nod.

The cow cyclamen seemed to have something to say, but in the end, it turned into a sigh and left the Fang family's mansion with his waist bent.

After he left, Fang Chongyong began to flip through the booklet, only to see that there were not only words on it, but also pictures drawn by Niu Xianke.

"There are five kinds of swords of the Tibetan people, namely: Shangma, Sobo, Hupai, Gusi, and Jiare.

Shangma's knife back is heavy, Suobo's blade is sharp, Hupai has a scabbard, Gusi has a silver knife pattern, and the armor can cut iron. ”

"The Tibetan armor includes rhinoceros skin armor, nine-eyed armor, chain armor and horse armor."

"The rest are not worth mentioning, only the chain mail is light and strong, the men and horses are all wearing armor, only the eyes are exposed, and the bow and arrow cannot be injured."

"Tubo is good at attacking cities, with throwing buildings, flying ladders, goose carts, wooden donkeys and other equipment, with heavy armor foot soldiers, it is unstoppable."

……

Fang Chongyong flipped through the "secret books" provided by Niu Cyclamen page by page, and these armaments were all recorded and sorted out by Niu Cyclamen in Hexi for decades, and they were exchanged for the lives of Tang Army soldiers.

"This gift is very heavy."

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

In his impression, the Tang Army should have an absolute advantage in weapons and equipment against Tubo.

However, according to this secret book of the cow cyclamen, it seems that he has a cognitive bias. It is not for nothing that Tubo can fight back and forth with Datang, and even have an advantage in some periods.

The Tibetans are not only well-equipped, but there are also many subdivisions in those equipment, which is enough to show that they have a deep understanding of warfare in the era of cold weapons.

This is really going to fight, can Wang Zhongji bear it?

Fang Chongyong put a question mark in his heart.

This trip to Hexi, it is estimated that it will be a long experience!

At this moment, the haze of war is shrouded in Fang Chongyong's heart, the battle in Hexi, it won't take many years, it will become the normal state of Datang, rather than rushing around and not knowing what to do, it is better to prepare now.

You can't wait for the enemy to put a knife on your neck before you think of going to martial arts.

……

Inside Hanjiacang, Zheng Shuqing was pretending to be on patrol. There is a cross-shaped street inside Hanjiacang, which divides the warehouse city into a reservoir area, a life management area and a Caoyun wharf area. Zheng Shuqing looked at Xiao Suo's Caoyun Wharf and didn't know how to scold his mother.

The so-called reform must have beneficiaries and victims.

After Pei Yaoqing's Caoyun reform, segmented transportation was adopted. In the past, the people of Jiangnan sent people to transport the rented rice to Luoyang by ship, and they had to pay the freight by themselves. The government now stipulates that these chartered ships can reach the Heyin Cang in Biankou, unload the leased rice, and then turn back to the south, without having to hire additional river masters and sailors to sail on the Yellow River.

Is this good governance?

To a large extent, yes, but not everyone likes this tone, such as the managers of Hanjiacang.

The current state of affairs is the fault of no one person because the state's supporting policies have not been assigned in place in the course of reform.

But since the pot is left, then naturally someone has to carry it, and officialdom is like this.

"Zheng Shilang, spring ploughing has begun, do you want to ......?"

Han Jiacang's prison warehouse Yushi said quietly.

"What do you think?"

Uncle Zheng asked with a smile.

"When the seedlings are young, we go and buy grain, so that there will be no extraneous branches. By the time of the autumn harvest, you can naturally receive a portion. ”

The prison warehouse Yushi was cautious, and found that Zheng Shuqing's eyes were staring at him unkindly, and his heart was beating for a while.

"The official doesn't have a penny, and he has to ask the court for money for the grain he buys. You told the official that the court didn't see a grain of rice, so how could you approve this money? ”

Uncle Zheng asked with red eyes, staring at the warehouseman who was "on the same boat" with him.

"Or you can use the method of harmony and harvest grain at a high price in Luoyang."

Inspector Goshi continued to suggest.

The so-called peace method means that when the price of grain is low, the government buys new grain and puts it into storage at a price one or two percent higher than the market price. This method has a long history, and the effect it has played is immediate.

However, this is not without its problems.

First, the use of the peace method will inevitably push up the local grain price in Luoyang, and even the overall price. Luoyang has lost its former status as a transit warehouse because of the diversion of the canal route, and now the government has come out to collect grain at a high price, and the final result must be that the price of grain in Luoyang has skyrocketed!

Seeing that the price of food has risen, will the big families immediately release grain to stabilize food prices?

No, no, no, what they have to do is to cover the grain and sell it, and push the price of grain higher!

With Luoyang's political status, if such a thing happens, Zheng Shuqing feels that he is also the head of the household.

What a bad idea these horses are!

At this moment, Zheng Shuqing's servant hurriedly came and handed over a very thick letter to the other party.

"Good! It's finally here! ”

Zheng Shuqing was overjoyed, and hurriedly walked to the office area in the granary, where he had already arranged his residence. Although it was useless, at least he swore to the imperial court that he wanted to "live and die" with Han Jiacang.

After retiring from the people, he hurriedly dismantled it.

After reading it in one go, Zheng Shuqing sighed.

This son is really terrifying, he will replace Li Linfu one day!

Fang Chongyong put forward three moves in the letter!

The first move, Fang Chongyong called it the "money method", and the principle is also very simple.

Encourage the merchants on the side of Biankou to transport the grain to the ferry port of Hanjiacang, and then they can go to Chang'an alone, take the documents issued by the government, and go to the Yamen of Si Nongqing in Chang'an to get the payment for the grain!

In these years, large transactions are mainly in kind. Now this trade route is all merchants who transport grain to Biankou and then get the wealth.

Theoretically, they had to return after the food was delivered, but in practice, it was impossible for them to run empty on this route.

Generally, they dragged their wealth to Luoyang, especially to Chang'an, where they bought rare goods from the Western Regions, and then went south along the canal.

In Fang Chongyong's previous life, the taxi driver sent the guests to the train station, and he also hoped to pick up a guest at the train station to avoid running empty. This kind of thinking is very common in later generations, and it is the same in this era.

The advantage of seeing the money method is that the businessman only needs to take the freight to Luoyang by water, and then go to Chang'an to get the money, go to the east and west markets over there to purchase, and finally take the goods away.

In the middle, there is a missing necessary procedure of "escorting the wealth into the customs".

After saving such a large amount, the money saved is old! And transporting grain from Biankou to Luoyang, all the way to the water, in a profitable situation, is not troublesome.

Therefore, the price of grain collected in Hanjiacang only needs to be slightly higher than the market price or even the same, so as to ensure that merchants will continue to come to transport grain.

More importantly, this method is "open and sold", and there is no need to ask the court for money in advance, just this one solves a big trouble faced by Zheng Shuqing.

If the first move is to solve the problem by market means, the second move is to be administrative.

The second trick is simple and simple, and it can be summed up as "quota to the household". A part of the grain paid by each household must be put into Hanjiacang. Whether this trick is good or not is another matter, in general, you can collect some of it.

In addition to administrative means, Fang Chongyong also proposed a third trick, that is, to use copper money as a loan, loan to farmers before spring ploughing, and then when the autumn harvest is made, the grain must be repaid if the rent is repaid, and it must be transported to Hanjiacang to repay the loan.

In the letter, he said that these three tricks can be used separately or in combination, depending on how much grain Hanjiacang needs to store.