Chapter 208: The Twelve Capitals of Divine Strategy

"Censor Zheng, do those who privately mint copper coins know that if they're discovered they'll be beheaded?"

In the Jinwu Guard's treasury room, Fang Chongyong, as if nothing were amiss, asked under candlelight while leafing through the Tang Six Codes.

Inside the yamen, one could not hear the unlucky private‑coin‑minting folk crying out, but Fang Chongyong could imagine that tonight's scene would be terribly brutal.

He did not wish to witness it with his own eyes, nor did he have the power to stop it.

Within the top‑down strict deployment, Fang Chongyong trusted that the Jinwu Guard soldiers would execute the orders thoroughly: kill only people, no looting, no side issues, and withdraw after the job is done.

At this point, even robbery and rape became a form of tolerance and mercy. To prevent certain Chang'an power brokers behind the scenes from noticing, and to leave them no response, this operation would be very decisive.

It would also be cruel to the extreme.

Fang Chongyong had once imagined what it would be like if, after transmigrating, he were born into a family of illegal merchants.

Tonight, he seemed to have found the answer.

"The law does not punish the gentry, and propriety does not reach the commoners; it is just so."

Zheng Shuqing sighed lightly, and when he saw Fang Chongyong silent for a long while, he added:

"I know they didn't take the big heads; it was the people behind them who did. Yet the outskirts of Chang'an lack firewood and charcoal, everyone's lives are hard, so they can only abandon them to preserve more people."

"I also know that after dealing with this batch, new ones will quickly take their place. But even if I could handle the nobles behind them, would there not be new nobles to rise?"

"A lifetime with only a few decades of peace is already a blessing; how can one demand too much?"

"Indeed, Censor Zheng is merely a Deputy Censor. With a few supervising Censors, a handful of errand‑running external officials, and some menial staff, what power does he have to persuade the backers of the private mints to abandon their interests?"

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and closed the volume of the Tang Six Codes he was holding.

Although the book clearly outlines each court office's duties and responsibilities, for some reason tonight not a single word could enter his eyes.

"Right, if we kill them, the private‑minting business will pause. Chang'an will have more people able to buy firewood and charcoal, the circulation of bad money will decrease, and who wouldn't be pleased?"

Zheng Shuqing stepped in front of Fang Chongyong, spread his hands, and asked.

"Yes, from today these hands are stained with blood."

"But these hands are also empty; after all, I am just an ordinary bureaucrat, and I have not a single master in my hand."

"Even as a transmigrator, in my position that's about all I can do; what else can I do?"

Fang Chongyong recalled that in the past Du Fu wrote the famous line "Red gates reek of wine and meat, while the road bears frozen corpses," expressing his sympathy for the lower strata and his anger at social injustice.

But Du Fu seemed not to tell later generations how to avoid, handle, or rescue such matters.

Identifying a problem is always easy; solving it is hard. Someone like Zheng Shuqing who merely "raises the soup to stop the boil" is already rare, and later he may even face retaliation from the nobles, let alone anything else.

Then how can one "pull the firewood from under the cauldron"?

Fang Chongyong found the question essentially unsolvable; at least for now he had not thought of any method. As a member of the ruling class, he could not lower his quality of life to that of tenant farmers, and reality would not allow it.

Eating gourmet food, hugging beautiful women, doing pleasant jobs, living in mansions, then spouting lofty humanitarian words—Fang Chongyong still could not accomplish such a thing.

"Do you still remember back then, when I took you to the sage's banquet, and later I said something to you?"

Zheng Shuqing suddenly brought up an old matter from many years ago.

"Remember, Censor Zheng said dogs are stronger than ants."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly.

"Isn't that so?"

"But although dogs are stronger than ants, the moment any wind stirs the grass, it's the dogs that are killed first!"

"The superiority of dogs over ants is limited."

"Don't think that I look imposing tonight; someday when I am accounted for, I may still need you to save me."

Zheng Shuqing looked at Fang Chongyong and gave a wry smile.

Since I became the charcoal official, overseeing charcoal distribution in the capital region, my hands cannot stay clean.

Either I'm tainted with copper odor or with blood; either I'm corrupt or I offend people—just a matter of which side I stand on, and both must be represented equally. My family wealth runs into the ten‑thousands, the Zheng clan of Xingyang controls the canal profits, earning a fortune daily, so I need not be greedy.

To preserve my power, offending people is inevitable. If I don't offend the nobles, I will surely anger Brother Ji.

Zheng Shuqing's power was given by Brother Ji, and Brother Ji can withdraw it; when that happens, I will be the unlucky one. Once I'm unlucky, the Zheng clan of Xingyang's local economic interests will lose official backing and protection, and being devoured is only a matter of time.

On the surface, Zheng Shuqing's actions may seem capricious, but the path he must take and the choices he can make have already been set.

"Actually… never mind."

Fang Chongyong originally wanted to tell Zheng Shuqing a harsh truth, but thinking that the Censor was now immersed in the sentiment of "self‑sacrifice for the country and people", he could not bear to shatter his illusion.

"Hmph, you must be thinking that doing this brings me no benefit, right?"

Zheng Shuqing snorted coldly.

"Uh, that's not it."

Fang Chongyong hesitated, about to speak.

"What is that?"

"Many powerful families in Chang'an actually hide large amounts of good money for emergencies."

"Now that Censor Zheng has killed all the makers of bad money, the circulation of coins in Chang'an will inevitably shrink. If I am among those people, I will seize the opportunity before others react, hoard a lot of good money, making the market's money even scarcer, while quietly releasing the bad money I hold."

"Thus the bad money can be used just like the former good money."

"Once the hype passes, they will continue to melt good money and cast bad money, stirring up trouble again. In the end, Censor Zheng has only wasted his effort. At most, the big charcoal merchants are eliminated, which can lower charcoal prices a bit, but striking at private minting is absolutely impossible."

"I am certain that next year private minting will be even more rampant; next winter, what does Censor Zheng plan to do?"

Fang Chongyong replied slowly.

"It can be foreseen that this wave of crackdown on private minting will cause prices to fall in the short term. Yet the nobles who hold both good and bad money will quietly collect good money to replace it with bad, and use the bad money to purchase supplies to offset losses, giving them double the pleasure."

"Thus, overall market prices can remain stable, and even ordinary people will find it hard to notice."

"Although inflation treats everyone equally, ordinary people's information channels and reaction speed are far slower than the nobles'. By the time they react, this round of 'regulation' will have ended, more good money will have slipped into the nobles' pockets, and the proportion of bad money will certainly be larger than before the crackdown!"

"In other words, even if market prices stay the same, the market size shrinks, and resources become more concentrated in the nobles' hands, not being released into circulation."

Although Zheng Shuqing has cracked down on private minting and reduced the circulation of copper coins, he has only made the market smaller, without substantially lowering prices. Moreover, during this process most common folk will suffer misfortune from the fluctuations.

Of course, the smelting operation is a major charcoal producer; burning a furnace of copper coins basically consumes thirty to fifty loads of wood of equivalent weight! Zheng Shuqing lets this winter be "quiet" for a while, which can at least lower the price of firewood and charcoal a bit.

But that's all it can do.

"You mean, that someone killed so many people, but in reality… it's of little use, just drinking poison to quench thirst?"

Zheng Shuqing, with a shocked face, retorted.

"Although that person doesn't want to say it, … it is indeed so."

Fang Chongyong nodded wordlessly and said.

In his previous life he understood that the Tang market only circulated Tang copper coins. But after arriving here he discovered that even the Southern Chen 'cross‑waist coin' circulates freely in Chang'an!

In his previous life, counterfeiters gradually lost prospects because counterfeit money died as soon as it was exposed. But the Great Tang is different; privately minted copper coins are also "real money," and can even replace the Tang government's circulating copper coins, as long as the market lacks the official "Kaiyuan Tongbao," there is no major problem.

This has led to the current market chaos.

Even if the nobles do nothing, as long as they exploit informational advantages among the four items—"good money," "bad money," "silk," and "livelihood supplies"—to flip them back and forth, they can earn a full pot.

Moreover, these people also cheat, privately mint copper coins, and use their official authority to force purchases and sales.

Zheng Shuqing's "treating the symptom, not the cause" approach will only provoke a larger backlash later; there is nothing else.

"So it was just a futile effort after all."

Zheng Shuqing sat weakly at the desk and let out a long sigh.

"It's not entirely futile; at least Censor Zheng's position is probably preserved, and charcoal prices will drop a bit. How could it be futile?"

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but tease.

"Fine."

Zheng Shuqing, shaken by him, felt downcast and didn't want to speak.

He thought he could get a perfect score this time, but in the end he barely passed. Anyone hit like this would be unable to endure.

……

That night, many people died in Chang'an, many of whom seemed innocent on the surface.

Fang Chongyong originally thought this was just a beginning, but what followed were round after round of purges that lasted a full ten days! Every night, many Chang'an residents could hear earth‑shattering cries from a particular lane and household.

Later, according to the Imperial Guard's own statistics, within ten days more than two thousand people were killed, and even more were imprisoned, exiled, or reduced to slavery.

Probably after hearing Fang Chongyong's remarks, Zheng Shuqing thought that further cracking down on private minting would curb the nobles' ability to cause trouble, so his actions were especially harsh. Many who had only forged casting tools and bought copper, but had not yet begun private minting, also fell into misfortune.

After this operation, the nickname "Zheng Dog Official" became an old calendar. Now, among Chang'an's alleys, Zheng Shuqing has earned a new nickname: Zheng Yanwang.

The crackdown on private minting had a clear effect; charcoal prices fell at a visibly rapid rate.

Following Fang Chongyong's suggestion, Zheng Shuqing ordered the establishment of a "charcoal depot" on the outskirts of the capital, buying charcoal at low prices, which to some extent curbed the nobles' practice of buying charcoal cheaply, hoarding, and reselling at a profit.

However, that was the limit; within Chang'an the firewood price plummeted, but charcoal prices only fell slightly, leaving ordinary officials still unable to afford charcoal. More and more woodcutters joined charcoal burning. The "charcoal seller" became the "charcoal man," becoming a hot occupation this winter in Chang'an.

It seems everything has changed, yet it seems nothing has changed.

On this day, deep in the severe third nine of winter, Grand General Fang Youde of the Dragon Martial Army presented a "military reform" proposal to Tang Emperor Li Longji.

The reform mainly targets the Northern Office Imperial Guard, and Fang Youde does not mention how the Southern Office forces are handled at all.

Brother Ji, after reviewing the reform proposal, gave no comment—at least he never raised the issue publicly. Yet he assigned the task of "training a new army" to Fang Youde, which in effect means he endorsed the reform proposal, at least in part.

In the winter of the fifth year of Tianbao, Tang Emperor Li Longji ordered a grand camp on the outskirts of Chang'an to train a new Imperial Guard, with Grand General Fang Youde of the Dragon Martial Army presiding over recruitment and soldier training.

The new guard's designation is called:

Divine Strategy Army!

This new force plans to recruit thirty thousand men, organized into twelve armies. They are divided into left and right wings; each wing has six armies, each army comprising two thousand five hundred men.

The most visible change is that the basic Tang unit structure shifts from a decimal system to a quinary system, and soldiers are no longer arbitrarily assigned during missions as before.

The smallest unit is a five‑person squad. Once formed, as long as members are neither killed nor retired, they are not broken up for re‑assignment. Every march or battle moves troops by squad, and squads within an army can be combined freely, not limited to their original order.

Fang Youde then advised Emperor Li Longji: the combat unit of this army is called a "army," which can be confused with the existing border armies also called "army," yet the two have no common nature or scale.

Therefore he suggested changing "army" to "Du."

The specific organization is: the chief commander of the Divine Strategy Army is the Grand General, who commands left and right wings, each wing fifteen thousand men, with one chief commander appointed;

Each wing contains six "Du," each "Du" having two thousand five hundred men and a commander appointed;

Each "Du" comprises ten battalions, each battalion two hundred fifty men with a battalion commander;

Each battalion contains five companies, each company fifty men with a company commander.

One company has ten squads, each squad five men, with a squad leader.

Each squad acts together daily without separation; each company shares one stove for meals; each battalion lives together whether marching, camping, or on guard duty; each "Du" shares a single roster and collective rewards are distributed jointly.

This means that as long as a soldier is assigned to a squad and survives, he becomes essentially a brother‑in‑arms with his squadmates, while soldiers of different squads may remain emotionally distant.

In terms of troop numbers, the Divine Strategy Army is comparable to the Dragon Martial Army, appearing to be prepared as a replacement.

But looking solely at the organization, there seems to be a trend toward "refinement."

Halving the battalion‑level unit size makes it better suited to the guard duties of Chang'an, and eliminates the distinction between "marching organization" and "combat organization," clarifying authority and responsibility.

Moreover, Fang Youde also downplays the authority of the left and right wings, retaining only their administrative and management powers, stripping the Grand General of the Divine Strategy Army of the right to redeploy troops.

In other words, even if the generals who manage the left and right wings of the Divine Strategy Army plotted a coup, they could not move the troops of the six "Du" under them.

And each "Du" has a commander whose authority exceeds that of previous officers of the same rank. Yet, despite their weight, their limited manpower prevents them from accomplishing much.

……

"Why does it increasingly resemble the Saint Seiya and the Twelve Gold Palaces?"

In his own study, holding the 'Military Reform Proposal' and reading it over and over, Fang Chongyong muttered to himself.

"Just say it's okay, will you?"

Fang Youde asked with a stern face, ignoring the 'odd' things Fang Chongyong said.

"It's okay, but even if the Divine Strategy Army is trained, can we be sure they won't rebel?"

Fang Chongyong asked with a puzzled expression.

"At least, it's a bit stronger than the Longwu Army. The Longwu Army's organization naturally has problems; the power of the Grand General of the Left and Right Army is too great."

Fang Youde said in a deep voice.

"Alright, as long as you're happy, that's fine."

Fang Chongyong waved his hand and said: "I'm going to fight Wudu; you take your time."

This chapter makes up for yesterday's; there's still another chapter today.

(End of chapter)