Li Chengliang smiled and said, "Is the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce considered one?"

Fan Yunchao said with a straight face: "Big brother, do you think I'm targeting the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce and Li Mao? To be honest, I didn't like a ranger like Li Mao before, in my opinion, any uncontrolled force is within the scope of the government and the army. ~with~dream~small~say~щ~suimеng~lā

But with Li Mao's several assassinations that sacrificed his life and forgot to die, it changed my opinion of him, at least he knew that he was a Tang man, which gave me some respect for him.

But I still don't like him, since I can't keep him in the army to serve, an unstable ranger like him, let's let him leave Dunhuang City as soon as possible, I don't want to be the target of his assassination one day.

As for the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce, the scale is not very large, and it is not ranked in the top three in Dunhuang City, I heard that he resold all his properties to local wealthy businessmen at a low price, and did not draw much money from Dunhuang City.

Moreover, the direction of their internal relocation is Yuezhou's hometown, which belongs to the fallen leaves and returns to their roots, and the situation of those wealthy businessmen who moved to Suzhou Road and Ganzhou Road in order to transfer assets and preserve their families is understandable.

In addition, I also heard that the Xu family donated some of the real estate and workshops to Dunhuang Mansion, I wonder if it is true?"

Li Chengliang nodded and said: "The situation is true, yesterday the record of joining the army has taken people to count and receive these properties and workshops, which are estimated to account for a quarter of the total assets of the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce." ”

Fan Yunchao said with some surprise: "This Xu family seems to have a lot of vision and courage, as a businessman, in order to return to the roots, he is willing to give up so many benefits." ”

Li Chengliang said: "I'm afraid if I tell the truth, you will be unhappy again." ”

Fan Yunchao said curiously: "Why would the eldest brother say this?"

Li Chengliang said: "According to Brother Wei's understanding, these properties and workshops are assets that are difficult for the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce to realize for a while, and Xu Jiu simply donated these assets to the government at the suggestion of Li Mao.

Now Xu Jiu is obedient to Li Mao's words, and his means of dealing with various complex affairs are obviously much more sophisticated, this Li Mao is really not simple.

Now that the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce is taking the initiative to donate in exchange for the opportunity to return to their roots, we no longer have any reason to continue to embarrass them, otherwise it will make other rich businessmen feel sad that rabbits and foxes have died.

In addition, Jingyunguan's attitude is a little ambiguous, I once asked Li Renfeng about Li Mao's situation in person, Li Renfeng was unexpectedly vague, it seems that Li Mao and Jingyunguan really have something to do with it, and the virtuous brother should no longer be entangled in Li Mao's affairs. ”

Fan Yunchao nodded and said, "Well, let's go with Li Mao and the Xu family, it will not have much impact on Dunhuang City, and we have more important things to do."

What I am most worried about now is that after this barbarian alliance invasion, coupled with the upcoming expansionary national policy, more Dunhuang merchants will lose their sense of security, and they will choose to leave Dunhuang Mansion, which is located on the front line of the border. ”

Li Chengliang slapped the table heavily and said: "Alas, this has to be prevented, otherwise the rich merchants and wealthy families are gone, which is equivalent to draining the blood of Dunhuang City, how can other people survive!"

Fan Yunchao lowered his voice and said, "Brother Chengliang, if we forcibly stop these wealthy businessmen from moving inward, I'm afraid it will be very difficult. Can we write to the imperial court and ask the imperial court to request the registration of the information of the wealthy merchants and wealthy families in the border city area in the form of a decree, so as to restrict their free movement to the interior?"

Li Chengliang stared at Fan Yunchao, his eyes flickered several times, and finally sighed: "Yunchao, this move is a bit vicious, which is equivalent to tying them all to the chariot that is about to run in Datang." ”

Fan Yunchao said: "The method is a bit cruel, but without such means, who is willing to contribute to the country and defend the land for the country, since they started from border trade, why can't they be with the border city in times of crisis?"

Moreover, these rich businessmen have been engaged in border trade for so many years, and they may not all be clean, and there must be many businessmen who pass information to foreign races and communicate with foreign countries, but we have not pursued them.

If it is investigated, many people are enough to raid their homes and exterminate the clan, so it is imperative for Dunhuang to strengthen the control of the rich businessmen and wealthy families in Dunhuang Mansion, of course, this policy is best issued by the imperial court, and we will implement it. ”

Li Chengliang got up and kept pacing in the second hall, he was still a little hesitant about Fan Yunchao's suggestion, after all, the rich businessmen and wealthy families were also ordinary people, and Li Chengliang was a little reluctant to trap them with such an edict.

Fan Yunchao saw Li Chengliang's hesitation and continued: "Brother Chengliang, as the saying goes: mercy is not in charge of the army, love is not in charge, righteousness is not financial management, kindness is not an official, and the eldest brother must not be soft-hearted.

It is our duty not to keep these rich families and the money and resources they control, we will be disloyal to the court and the people! Since it is a matter of both loyalty and righteousness, why can't we do it?

These rich families have many children and rich families, which one has no backhand, and they have the ability to make a comeback at any time, and we are not forcing them to die, but we are not allowing them to move inward on a large scale, which is already our biggest concession. ”

Li Chengliang stopped, looked at Fan Yunchao and said: "Okay, let's ask for both loyalty and righteousness! I will write to the imperial court and ask them to issue relevant decrees as soon as possible, if these rich businessmen and wealthy families do not love my Datang, then we can only force them to fulfill their patriotic obligations." ”

When Fan Yunchao heard this, he finally took a long breath, Li Chengliang is impeccable in all aspects of his official and personality, and his only weakness is soft-heartedness, it is said that it is impossible for an official of this character to be in charge of a border city for 20 years, but he not only did it, but also did it very well, which is what Fan Yunchao admires most about Li Chengliang.

Fan Yunchao was afraid that Li Chengliang would hesitate, so he directly cut to the next topic: "Brother Chengliang, about the matter of recruitment, I have already mentioned it just now, if the recruitment system is still used in the future, it will be difficult to ensure the number of soldiers in the border army, and I suggest that the conscription system be implemented." ”

Li Chengliang frowned and said: "Now is not wartime, if the conscription system is opened, will it provoke a popular uprising?"

Fan Yunchao said in a deep voice: "City Lord, Dunhuang Mansion has only a population of 750,000, the border army occupies more than 31,000, the city defense army occupies 40,000, women and children occupy 360,000, and the old and weak occupy 100,000.

Of the remaining 220,000 young people, 120,000 are between the ages of 31 and 45, and they are really suitable for serving as soldiers, while only 100,000 are young people between the ages of 16 and 30, and many of them work in workshops and farms outside the city.

The imperial court asked us to recruit 13,000 troops locally, which is equivalent to drawing more than 10% from these 100,000 young people, if we use a gentle way of recruitment, it is impossible to recruit so many people, and when the army is insufficient, the last general will not dare to guarantee that he can defend Dunhuang City!"

When Fan Yunchao talked about the military he was in charge of, he saw that Li Chengliang disagreed a little, and finally couldn't hold back his anger, he didn't even call his eldest brother, he directly called the city lord, and he became the last general.

Li Chengliang naturally knew that what Fan Yunchao said was the truth, but if the conscription system was suddenly adopted, Dunhuang City would suddenly lose more than 10% of its strong laborers, which would greatly affect the normal operation of Dunhuang Prefecture's agriculture and workshops.

Li Chengliang pondered for a moment and said, "Yunchao, you tell me your opinion in detail." ”

Fan Yunchao said in a deep voice: "The recruitment system is obviously no longer suitable for the current Dunhuang Mansion, and it is no longer possible to make up for the number of troops in Dunhuang Mansion through recruitment alone, not to mention the upcoming plan to go west and go north, which needs more and stronger troops to support."

I propose that all young people between the ages of 18 and 20 be conscripted into the army at one time this year, for a period of three years, and it is estimated that there will be about 20,000 people of this age group in Dunhuang Prefecture, and that only about 15,000 people will be conscripted at most, except for some people who are disabled, seriously ill, and those whose body size and weight are not up to standard.

Teenagers aged 16 or 17 are not yet fully equipped and should not join the army too early, and young people in the age group of 18 to 20 are not veterans and main force in workshops and farming, so they should not have much impact on agriculture and workshops.

Starting next year, all young people who have reached the age of 18 must join the border army or the city defense army to serve for three years, and so on, so as to ensure that the soldiers of Dunhuang Mansion are sufficient. ”

Li Chengliang said: "Well, the method is feasible, but is there no scope for conscription? Do the children of officials, eunuchs, wealthy merchants, and wealthy families also have to serve in the military? Who can guarantee that their children will not find a way to evade military service?"

Fan Yunchao was a little angry: "Under the military service policy, no one can be special! As long as the imperial court can agree to the conscription system, I will naturally set up a special picket team in the army, and I will severely punish individuals who deliberately evade military service and their family members who assist in evading military service!"

Li Chengliang frowned and said: "Yunchao, it is not appropriate to keep high pressure like this, it will have a great negative impact on your career, have you ever thought about replacing blocking with dredging?"

Fan Yunchao asked curiously: "Brother Chengliang, how to replace blocking with dredging, you tell me how to operate?"

Li Chengliang said: "Since the eunuchs, wealthy merchants, and wealthy families do not want their children to join the army, they will find countless ways to disrupt the implementation of the conscription system.

For example, if you want to be exempted from military service, you must pay a large 'ransom payment' to the border army in a lump sum, which is equivalent to the salary of a border soldier for three years of military service, plus twice the pension of the fallen soldiers, and we agree that their children have participated in military service.

And this money can be used to improve the equipment and living conditions of the border troops, and it can also be used to increase the pension of the fallen soldiers, rather than let them evade military service in other ways, it is better to let them use the money to buy their lives, I think they will gladly agree.

I estimated that in the past, the pension of a border soldier could only live for a family of three for three years, and our goal is to increase it to six years, which can help the family to reunite, avoid the displacement of military families, and also give us an account of the fallen soldiers. ”

After hearing this, Fan Yunchao hurriedly got up, bowed deeply to Li Chengliang and said, "It's still the eldest brother who thinks far-reaching, the younger brother lost his temper just now, and he collided with the eldest brother verbally, and I hope you don't have the same knowledge as the younger brother." ”

Li Chengliang hurriedly helped Fan Yunchao up and said: "The reason is not clear, the way is not clear, the policy is originally a process of discussion, and some opinions are different, and there is nothing to do."

Besides, we just look at things from different angles, but the two of us pursue the same goal, and we both want to build Dunhuang Mansion better. ”

Fan Yunchao nodded and said: "Regarding the conscription system, I really haven't thought about it clearly, I have to think about it carefully after I go back today, and when I have sorted out all my thoughts, I will come back and discuss with my eldest brother." ”

Li Chengliang said: "Judging from the current national policy, the implementation of conscription in the border cities and the implementation of high taxes in the interior are both imperative, but the imperial court has not yet had time to come up with a specific strategy.

If the virtuous brother can consider the suffering of the people and come up with a reasonable and effective first draft of the "Conscription Law" and report it to the imperial court, maybe it will really be adopted by the imperial court, so the virtuous brother must put some effort into writing it with his heart, and this matter should not be delayed for too long. ”

Fan Yunchao hurriedly said: "Thank you big brother for reminding me, I will start writing when I go back tonight, and I must come up with a result within three days." ”

Li Chengliang said: "Well, the virtuous brother should consider the problem from different angles and try to take into account the interests of all parties, otherwise once the "Conscription" is set as a national decree, it will be difficult to revise it.

Since the virtuous brother wants to think about the details of the conscription method, then by the way, the resettlement of the two 10,000-strong guest troops in Ganzhou Road and Suzhou Road is also taken into account.

In the future, how to settle the guest army, how to quickly integrate the guest army into the local border army system, and how to curb the unruly guest generals should all be considered maturely.

In terms of military affairs, Brother Wei doesn't know much about it, and he has never interfered in your military affairs, you have to master it yourself, the specific information of these two guest armies has not yet been sent, and you have to do more research after sending them, so that they can quickly form combat effectiveness. ”

Fan Yunchao naturally knew that the placement of guest troops was not a simple matter, and if it was not handled well, it would even affect the stability of the original border army system in Dunhuang Mansion.

Although the two guest armies have not yet been drawn out because of the wind and snow, they will rush to Dunhuang Mansion at the latest in late February or early March, so Fan Yunchao has to make full preparations in advance.

Subsequently, Li Chengliang and Fan Yunchao confirmed that the opening of the city on February 2 would be as customary and would not be postponed due to the barbarian siege this year, and the relevant details of the opening of the city were improved, and then the city lord's palace would issue an official announcement to the whole city.

Li Chengliang and Fan Yunchao discussed from noon to evening, and only after they finished talking about several major topics, Fan Yunchao got up and said goodbye.

Li Chengliang said: "It's almost dinner time now, so it's better to come back after dinner." ”

Fan Yunchao said: "Big brother, your younger brother and sister and nephew are still waiting for me at home, so I won't bother you." ”

Li Chengliang said: "Okay, I won't keep you for my brother." Yun Chao, today's conversation with you is enough to prove that your current thinking and vision are enough to bear the burden of the lord of a city, and I will once again make a proposal to the imperial court and recommend you to take over my position as the lord of the city. ”

Fan Yunchao clenched his fists and said: "Brother Chengliang, you don't have to force it, there is a good saying - I am fortunate to win, I lose my life, I don't value the position of the city lord very much, as long as I can live up to the court, the army and the people, it is enough! Okay, don't bother the eldest brother anymore, the younger brother will go first." ”

Fan Yunchao hurried away, but Li Chengliang stood in the second hall for a long time, a little distracted.