novelAbuy Chapter 59 Mount Hua is not far from here, and Chen Tuan is still alive.
Chapter 59 Mount Hua is not far from here, and Chen Tuan is still alive.
Zhao Kuangyin was a rather impulsive emperor. He got into a good chat with his younger brother, and before long, wine was laid out in the Chongde Hall, and the two of them started drinking.
At Zhao Guangmei's age, she was already tipsy after just a few drinks, her face flushed. Zhao Kuangyin merely moistened his lips and joked, "Third brother, you're not so good either."
"Who says I can't do it? Let's do it!"
Making such a young brother drink alcohol is really shameless.
After drinking too much, Zhao Guangmei became even more unrestrained in her speech, shouting:
"Actually, my second brother told me that day that even beasts like Huang Chao and Zhang Yanzhe had taken the initiative to restrain their troops, but they couldn't restrain them later, which led to the troops killing people indiscriminately."
"Li Congke was also a son who succeeded his father, and he was also an adult prince. He even had experience leading troops. It was only after my second brother told me that I learned that in order to raise money to reward his soldiers, he did not hesitate to strip the Empress and Empress Dowager of their gold and silver jewelry."
They arrested all the wealthy households in Luoyang, tortured them severely, and extorted money from them. But the soldiers were still not satisfied and forced Li Congke to agree to their demands for widespread looting of the city.
"So recently I've been thinking, did the Shatuo Tang really perish because of the Khitans and because of Shi Jingtang's betrayal?"
An official, an official whose throne was passed down from father to son, actually ordered his soldiers to plunder his own capital. Even if the Khitans did not attack, could such a court really continue?
Was it already a dilapidated house, and Shi Jingtang only gave it a light kick?
"My second brother once did some calculations for me. Since the An Lushan Rebellion, less than half of the military governors in the Tang Dynasty actually died of old age. Apart from a small number who were killed by the court or other military governors, almost half of the rest were killed by their own soldiers."
"Therefore, if the military is not disciplined and the soldiers are not restrained, the world will not be at peace. Thus, if the Song Dynasty wants to obtain a temporary respite, it must strengthen the central government and weaken the local forces, control the central government, and promote civil administration while suppressing military administration. This is the worst possible strategy."
Zhao Kuangyin: "Why would that be a poor strategy?"
"This will inevitably lead to our Song army being very weak in external affairs. The more capable an army is in fighting, the less reliable it is; the more reliable it is, the less capable it is in fighting."
The second brother said, "This is because the interests of the state and the army are not aligned. If the interests of the monarch, the state, and the army are not intertwined, or even if they don't want to be involved, how can the army not rebel? The only solution is to abolish the army."
"Brother, let me ask you, back then, the troops that forced Li Congke to seize the entire Luoyang, were they the current Imperial Guards?"
Zhao Kuangyin nodded: "That's right, that's indeed the case."
"Then why are the soldiers of the Imperial Guard still so poor? Even the houses they live in now were built by my second brother's family to win over the army for Han Tong."
Before that, most people could only live in dilapidated thatched huts. They overthrew so many dynasties and bought and sold emperors like commodities, so why were they still so poor?
"And then there's the Tianxiong Army. The Tianxiong Army's predecessors were the Weibo Yabing and the Silver Spear Loyal Army. As the saying goes, 'The Emperor of Chang'an, the Weibo Yabing—back and forth, how many Grand Commandants and how many officials have they sold out?'"
Even a benevolent man like Li Siyuan could not tolerate them any longer and massacred the entire elite force of 50,000 Silver Spear Loyal Soldiers, yet no one in the world thought he had done wrong.
"From the end of the Tang Dynasty to now, how much money must they have robbed? When Guo Wei plundered Kaifeng ten years ago, they were the ones who robbed him, right? But brother, I've never been to Daming Prefecture, have you? Is Daming Prefecture more prosperous, or is our Kaifeng City more prosperous?"
Those soldiers from Weibo who started buying and selling emperors and military governors during the An Lushan Rebellion, it's been two hundred years now. Are they wealthy now? Have they become rich?
"My second brother said that soldiers drive out generals and buy and sell the emperor for money, but ultimately, it's because they're poor."
Since the An Lushan Rebellion, the country had become increasingly impoverished and chaotic, and the more chaotic it became, the poorer it became. Soldiers amassed wealth through various means, including extorting rewards, changing commanders, buying and selling emperors, altering dynasties, and massacring cities and markets.
But all this wealth was like hailstones falling on a rooftop—it looked spectacular, but soon it all vanished.
The soldiers were penniless again, so they resorted to demanding rewards once more. If that didn't work, they would change commanders. If that didn't work either, they would buy or sell the emperor. If no suitable emperor was available, they would change the dynasty and then massacre the city and its inhabitants.
"So my second brother told me that if our Great Song Dynasty wants to achieve long-term stability, the worst strategy is merely a compromise, while the middle strategy is for the army to engage in commerce."
But they must be able to make money, and it must be the army engaging in commerce, not the generals. If the soldiers are wealthy, then our Great Song Dynasty will naturally be secure.
"My second brother said, 'Eldest brother, your generation's task is to accomplish the least difficult task, at least to restrain these martial artists.'"
"If we truly want the Song Dynasty to enjoy long-term peace and stability in our generation, we must allow the army to engage in commerce and generate revenue for them. Once everyone is wealthy, they will naturally refrain from rebellion. This is the middle-ground strategy."
"So, my brother asked me about my ambitions... My ambition is to make money, lots and lots of money, and to make money together with the soldiers of my Great Song Dynasty. Once we've made money, we'll share it all. That way, no one will rebel, and my Great Song Dynasty can enjoy long-term peace and stability."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin laughed and said, "In this world, how many armies don't do business or trade? In the end, money isn't something that's easy to earn, and what business is guaranteed to make a profit without any risk?"
However, that makes sense. You're the second person to say that to me today.
"The second one?" Zhao Guangmei asked in surprise. "Then who was the first one?"
"Zhang Mei."
"Zhang Mei? He and my second brother seem to share the same opinion."
"A brilliant idea? Perhaps, but it's really just a hypothetical scenario; it requires a real ability to turn lead into gold."
As he spoke, Zhao Kuangyin pulled out an account book from a large stack of documents on his desk and handed it to Zhao Guangmei.
"What is this?"
"You, as the owner of Tongfu Inn, haven't you even looked at the inn's own accounts? You haven't even looked at the accounts, yet you dare to say you'll help me reward the troops in the future? Humph."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Guangmei scratched her head sheepishly: "It seems I really haven't seen it. When I bought that inn—no, I didn't even pay for it."
"At the time, I was mainly trying to hook Wang Yansheng, and afterwards I almost forgot about it. What, is there something wrong with the inn's accounts?"
"No problem, it's very neat."
"Isn't that great?"
"It's too neat."
"what?"
"It wasn't just the inn's accounts; Zhang Mei also checked the brick and tile workshop's accounts, which were even more meticulous. The workshop used mud to exchange for grain, bricks for tea, and tea to buy grain. Zhang Mei said that even if he did it himself, he might not be able to do it clearly, let alone do it so neatly."
"Does Big Brother mean the accountant at the brick and tile workshop is more capable than Zhang Mei? You must be joking."
The logic of appointing officials during the Five Dynasties period differed from later periods. Few high-ranking officials were graduates of the imperial examinations. Zhang Mei, for example, started as a clerk, specializing in bookkeeping.
Putting aside everything else, no one in the world can rival his ability to keep accounts and calculate finances; he has all the money and grain in the world stored in his head.
How could just any ordinary accountant be more capable than Zhang Mei?
"The accountant of the brick and tile workshop is now Wang Jun's wife, Han Ling'er. Before she entered the brick and tile workshop, she couldn't do math at all. Zhang Mei said that he had someone test her, and Han Ling'er still can't do accounts."
"What...does that mean?"
"What I mean is that the Wang family father and son possess a method that can transform someone who knows absolutely nothing about arithmetic into a master accountant in a very short time, even surpassing Zhang Mei's abilities."
To confirm, Zhang Mei specifically requested and reviewed the accounts of the Tongfu Inn, discovering that the same account existed there.
"Do you know what that brick and tile workshop is doing now?"
Zhao Guangmei shook her head: "They said the whole thing was given to Han Tong's son, Han Wei, and moved to Luoyang."
"He kicked the people Han Tong'an had planted to Luoyang. They stopped making bricks and tiles there and started smelting iron. Zhang Mei said that the Wang family father and son seem to have the ability to turn stone into gold."
"Zhang Mei told me that she wanted to recommend Wang Jun to enter the Three Departments directly, to become the Salt and Iron Commissioner, or even to become the Deputy Commissioner of the Three Departments in one step, so that when she retired in the future, Wang Jun could take over her position."
"He also said that with Wang Jun's talent, if he could focus on making money for the country, opening more workshops, hiring more soldiers' families, and giving more of the money he earned to the soldiers, then our Great Song Dynasty would be able to stay stable and avoid the mistakes of Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Zhou. Of course, this would require them to really be able to turn stones into gold."
Zhao Guangmei exclaimed, "My second brother and Uncle Wang are truly extraordinary people from another world!"
"Just a reclusive master? Wang Lu didn't talk to you about it. Where did he and his father get their abilities?"
"Didn't we say we were going to become disciples of the immortal Chen Tuan?"
"Did Chen Tuan himself possess such great abilities?"
"what?"
"Mount Hua isn't that far. My second brother and I have both sent people there. In such a vast place as Mount Hua, nobody knows Wang Jun, nobody knows Wang Lu, and I've even brought Chen Tuan back. There's never been a disciple named Wang Jun."
"In addition, I obtained a chemical scripture from Fu Hou, which is said to be the source of Wang Jun's Taoist arts. Chen Tuan, and even all the Taoists in Huashan and Zhongnanshan, could not read it completely, let alone understand its meaning."
"Tell me, is the Chen Tuan I found a fake, or is Wang Jun's master a fake?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Guangmei was speechless and at a loss for words.