Chapter 248: Problems Arising from Development Can Only Be Solved by Development

After arriving in Lanzhou, Fang Chongyong decided not to leave for the time being. Taking advantage of the Tianwei Army's reorganization, he selected a large number of fierce warriors from these elite Longyou troops, obtaining over three hundred men, every one of them worth ten ordinary soldiers.

Fang Chongyong divided these three hundred men into three companies, managed respectively by He Changqi, Guan Chongsi, and Wang Nande, with the remainder serving as his personal guards at his side.

For several days in a row he remained firmly in place, showing not the slightest intention of departing from Lanzhou.

This time even Wang Zhongsi could no longer stand it!

With Fang Chongyong not leaving, he, the newly appointed Longyou Jiedushi, could hardly bring himself to lead his troops back to Shanzhou.

So Wang Zhongsi came in person to inquire when exactly Fang Chongyong could proceed to Liangzhou to take up his post.

After all, settling the mess in Hexi sooner would benefit everyone.

Fang Chongyong's answer was blunt: if you want someone to clean up after you, then act like you're asking! Right now I'm the boss, and that bunch of local turtles in Lianghou are the grandsons!

Back when he was in Hexi's Shazhou for four years, did he take a single cent from those bastards?

Now that there's trouble, they think of him, Fang Yanei — what were they doing earlier!

Fang Chongyong had already made his plan: if Liangzhou did not send someone to invite him this time, he would write to Brother Ji and have the court redraw the Jiedushi defense zones, moving the Hexi Jiedushi's garrison to Lanzhou! He would conduct business from Lanzhou henceforth!

Let's see whether that bunch of turtle grandsons in Liangzhou sends someone to invite this great god!

Wang Zhongsi felt helpless at Fang Chongyong's tough stance, and did not know how to persuade him, but he himself had to proceed to Shanzhou to take up his post and could not delay any longer.

So Wang Zhongsi had no choice but to leave Lanzhou with his officer corps and one thousand elite Hedong troops, leaving Li Guangbi to command the Tianwei Army in training at Lanzhou and fill its ranks to ten thousand, while appointing Geshu Han as deputy army commissioner.

This displeased Geshu Han greatly, yet he was utterly helpless.

Without outstanding battle achievements, if the central court and the Son of Heaven had not seen some general's exceptional ability, then climbing upward could only rely on personal connections.

What abilities Li Guangbi specifically had, Geshu Han did not know, but he did know that the man was Wang Zhongsi's staunch confidant, like an adopted son.

That alone was enough.

As long as Wang Zhongsi served as Longyou Jiedushi for even one day, Li Guangbi's career in the army would face no trouble whatsoever.

Sure enough, Fang Chongyong could still sit tight, but the people in Hexi could no longer hold still!

Ten days later, an "uninvited guest" arrived in Lanzhou and called upon Fang Chongyong, presenting the deed to a grand mansion in Wuwei City, along with land deeds for several hundred qing of fine farmland near the Macheng River outside the city.

Feeling that he had received sufficient "respect," Fang Chongyong finally opened his doors to receive the visitor, leading him into the prefectural study for a private discussion of important matters.

……

"This subordinate officer, An Chongzhang, deputy army commissioner of the Chishui Army, greets Jiedushi Fang…"

This middle-aged man nearing forty was about to introduce himself further, but saw Fang Chongyong wave his hand and say: "You're a young master of the An clan — no need to say more, sit."

Fang Chongyong pointed at the cushion beside the desk and said.

In Liangzhou, the An clan was a prominent local family, and they also held influence at court. Though the An clan in Liangzhou could not be said to blot out the sky with one hand, they were at the very least a force that no one dared to underestimate.

Yet even so, anyone whom Fang Chongyong addressed as "young master" was certainly no ordinary member of the An clan.

In fact, this An Chongzhang before him was a direct descendant of the branch of the An clan that had originally used the Hexi Four Garrisons as a "gift" to participate in Great Tang politics.

Specifically, he was the great-grandson of An Xinggui, one of the "Ten Great Meritorious Ministers" of the Wude era.

In the early Wude years of the Great Tang, An Xinggui, a native strongman of Liangzhou, leveraged his family's power to participate in the campaign to destroy the Prince of Liang, Li Gui, and successfully got on board.

He was subsequently appointed Supreme Pillar of State, Grand General of the Right Martial Guard, and Duke of Rong. His family garrisoned Liangzhou for generations, and later defeated the Turkic army in Liangzhou, serving as Grand General of the Right Valiant Guard and Duke of Liang.

The Chishui Army was originally his direct-line force.

And this An Chongzhang before him was An Xinggui's great-grandson.

If anyone else from the An clan had come to Lanzhou, Fang Chongyong might not have taken it seriously.

But An Chongzhang's status was different. His family's relationship with the Great Tang imperial house had been "handed down" from the Wude era, and many of his family members already served as civil officials in Chang'an, having essentially opened a "green channel" from local strongman to the central court.

This was a courtesy Fang Chongyong could not refuse.

"You're all far too polite — coming to see me and even bringing gifts."

Fang Chongyong patted the stack of property deeds and land deeds on the desk, speaking with great warmth.

Hearing this, An Chongzhang was at a loss for words. He could only clasp his hands in a salute and, following his father An Zhongjing's instructions, recounted everything in full detail:

"Jiedushi Fang, the Hexi merchant caravans have been shrinking in scale, and all manner of chaotic problems keep emerging one after another.

Moreover, the previous tax-exemption policy at the various passes can no longer be implemented.

From the Western Regions — that is, the merchant caravans west of Shule Garrison (Kashgar, Xinjiang) — for some unknown reason they no longer come to Shazhou either.

In short… Hexi needs you to go quickly and take charge of the situation."

An Chongzhang spoke with restraint; the actual situation was far more chaotic than he described.

Specifically, the Western Regions trade route had become like loose sand, with no one to unify it and no proper countermeasures offered. The various forces — including the prefects and government offices of the various Hexi Corridor prefectures, the Western Regions Hu merchants, local Han strongmen, the Hu settlements beside the cities, and the Great Tang border troops — were each doing their own thing with no coordination.

With the volume of goods already dwindling, and everyone wanting to grab a larger share for themselves, it was no surprise that the trade route was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.

"Why have the Western Regions merchants from west of the Congling Mountains stopped coming now?"

Fang Chongyong asked in puzzlement; this question had been weighing on his mind for a long time.

On the surface, the great Western Regions merchants conducting this kind of "trade blockade" could indeed gain the upper hand in the short term. But judging from actual demand and historical experience, a trade blockade was like striking the Seven-Injury Fist — harming others and oneself, impossible to sustain for long.

The demand volume along the Silk Road was simply too great; relying on decrees and regulations to block it would not hold.

Therefore, the current situation, aside from the collapse of the "Ponzi scheme," must have deeper causes.

"This, your subordinate does not know. We can only wait until Jiedushi Fang takes charge of Liangzhou to find ways to inquire."

An Chongzhang said with considerable helplessness.

"This Jiedushi will, in due course, also relocate his family to Wuwei City to reside permanently, and thoroughly resolve this matter. I will remain in Liangzhou long-term.

I trust you should have no objections, and can believe in this Jiedushi's sincerity, yes?"

Fang Chongyong asked with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

Hearing this, An Chongzhang was overjoyed and hastily nodded in gratitude and bowed.

"Go back first and inform the others of this Jiedushi's meaning. Tell them that in a few days, I will lead troops to Liangzhou.

So much time has already passed anyway — one or two days more won't make a difference, right?"

Fang Chongyong said unhurriedly.

"Jiedushi, my father gave a strict order for me to return to Liangzhou together with Jiedushi Fang.

If Jiedushi does not go to Liangzhou, then I need not go back either."

An Chongzhang looked troubled, and risking offense to Fang Chongyong, forced himself to say.

"Very well, I shall arrange a residence for you in Lanzhou city. You may stay there for the time being."

Fang Chongyong sighed softly, knowing he could not shake off this leech before him. An Chongzhang, nearly forty, still going out to humbly beg others—this was truly because the situation of the Hexi trade route had already become very grim.

Otherwise, he would not have wanted to come to Lanzhou to endure others' displeasure either.

"Then... I shall not disturb Jiedushi Fang further."

An Chongzhang bowed stiffly, then withdrew from the study with great caution, not daring to harbor any illusions.

Only after he left did Fang Chongyong let out a long breath and sigh silently.

He spread out a large sheet of paper, intending to write a memorial to Brother Ji. He thought for a long time but still did not know how to write it. Just as in his previous life many cancers could not be fundamentally cured, the root problems of the Great Tang now were likewise beyond his ability to solve.

No matter when, problems arising from development can only be solved through development!

The systemic contradictions of the Great Tang likewise can only be resolved through continuous forward development.

Any crooked scheme could only reach the limit of postponing the bomb's explosion, buying time for subsequent possible reforms. This objective law applied even in the technologically advanced era of Fang Chongyong's previous life.

No matter how people played the game, or how many variations they devised, wealth and grain could not be conjured out of thin air. It was always a game of passing the parcel—whoever it landed on was the unlucky one.

The plan Fang Chongyong had previously devised was essentially "trading space for time." The methods of execution were complex, but the principle was extraordinarily simple.

The problem of the Great Tang's central finances was what his previous life had worn his ears out talking about: "insufficient liquidity," commonly known as the government having no money.

In fact, the total amount of wealth at the societal level of the Great Tang was still very large, yet its distribution was extremely uneven. In particular, many nobles and local strongmen could each be described as bloated and rolling in wealth.

But these riches were firmly held down by the nobles and did not participate in societal circulation. The court—or rather, those in power—also needed to use some unconventional means to collect the money in the nobles' hands, then allocate it through central finances, thereby delaying the outbreak of social crisis.

To put it plainly, this was the Dao of Heaven: supplementing the deficient and reducing the surplus. The state would run a pig-butchering scheme, taking the money the nobles had grabbed through fraud and plunder, and using it for national construction through government finances.

Either to build canals and roads, or to serve as military funds.

According to Fang Chongyong's design: artificially drive up the price of luxury goods, let the Chang'an nobles follow the trend, and the first step of the plan would be complete.

At this point, the state should step in as the backer to release these luxury goods, exchanging the nobles' silk and copper coins for overpriced luxury goods, thereby alleviating the central finance's money shortage.

However, Brother Ji did not use this window period to close the fiscal gap. Instead, he used the extracted money to build Huaqing Palace, to reward confidants, and to maintain the imperial household's enormous overall expenditures.

For example, the daily expenses of those sixty thousand palace women and the massive eunuch population.

As if this money had been conjured out of thin air, requiring no cost at all.

Moreover, one of the side effects of Fang Chongyong's tactic was that it would lead the nobles to join the smuggling of trade route luxury goods in the form of "buying shares"—they were buyers and shareholders at the same time. These people participated while simultaneously fanning the trend, somewhat like "being the tiger's accomplice."

Only, over time, the money these people obtained through smuggling channels would mostly come from their own people—the so-called "eating their own." So they had to constantly recruit new partners, otherwise the game of passing the parcel could not continue.

The group of partners ranged from Western Regions merchants to Brother Ji, a very broad scope.

This process originally would have taken many years to complete, yet Brother Ji's greed and reckless actions, and the boundless greed of the Chang'an nobles, invisibly accelerated the process. After the madness, all the nobles had left in their hands was a huge pile of astronomically expensive, overpriced Western Regions luxury goods with a price but no market, that no one wanted, and that served no practical use!

So what if they came from the Western Regions? If you couldn't eat them or wear them, what use were they? Egyptian gold masks costing several thousand or even tens of thousands of strings of cash—who would buy one to wear?

At this stage, a dual-price system was inevitable, and the price-cutting of luxury goods and the boom of the secondhand market were equally inevitable, so the collapse of price monopoly was no surprise.

In later eras, similarly overpriced goods could be orchids and tulips, could be tea, could be jewelry, or could even be invisible, intangible Bitcoin with absolutely no practical use whatsoever!

Ponzi schemes, passing the parcel—the flowers look the same year after year, but the people are different year after year.

Inherent swindling techniques passed down since ancient times, facing all manner of greedy yet "clever" players across nations and eras.

Proved effective again and again, without fail!

Previously, Fang Chongyong set the trap, let Brother Ji run the game, and opened a pig-butchering scheme.

The problem now was: there were no more new pigs to slaughter. Was the next step to slaughter people?

The answer was yes.

If contradictions could not be resolved, then they had to be diverted. Otherwise, the retribution would recoil upon the one running the game.

Thinking of this, Fang Chongyong picked up his brush and wrote on the paper:

"...

Regarding Hexi affairs, the crux lies in the people west of Congling not yet being pacified, and Greater and Lesser Bolu defecting to Tubo. It may also be caused by political turmoil in the Persian region.

I recommend temporarily suspending the special supply of Western Regions luxury goods, and only after pacification is achieved, reorganizing the trade routes and restraining the merchants.

Only when the canal is built can water flow continuously. I possess no family wealth and lack the means to tribute to Your Sage Majesty; I can only stabilize Hexi.

I believe Western Regions affairs should be planned in three steps.

Step one:

Stabilize the hearts of the people in Hexi, restore pass tariffs and local commercial taxes, and clear bad debts.

Step two:

..."

Even at the risk of offending Brother Ji, many truths had to be made clear to this grandiose emperor.

A Ponzi scheme could not be saved by anyone; one could only cut the tail to survive.

After finishing the memorial, Fang Chongyong called for Cen Shen and handed him the sealed memorial, saying:

"Judge Cen, make a trip to Chang'an. You must personally deliver this secret memorial to Gao Lishi.

The matter is of great importance; there must absolutely be no mistakes."

Fang Chongyong said with a solemn expression.

"Why should Jiedushi worry? I shall depart for Chang'an at once."

Cen Shen said with a crossed-hand salute.

Fang Chongyong waved his hand weakly and said:

"There is no rush for these two days. Right, you served in the Anxi Protectorate. Do you have any acquaintances who could help me inquire whether the Western Regions kingdoms west of Congling, and those even farther places, have had any upheaval in the past two years."

"That's easy enough. I'll just write a letter to Kucha Garrison. Round trip, the letter should reach Liangzhou in about a month."

Cen Shen said dismissively.

"Mm, just be careful on the road."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly. He had a nagging feeling that something must have gone wrong in the Western Regions—otherwise the Ponzi scheme wouldn't have fallen apart so quickly that it was already unusable.

After Cen Shen left, Fang Chongyong lay on the couch in his study like a dead fish, staring blankly at the oil lamp on the desk with lifeless eyes.

He pondered in his heart: he wondered whether Brother Ji, after reading that memorial of his, would choose to step out of his "beautiful dream," or sink into a new "beautiful dream" and continue to wallow in it?

Most likely the latter!

Just then, the study door was pushed open. Pei Xiu slipped in quietly as if stealing something, her expression conflicted—quite unlike her usual carefree self.

"What's wrong?"

Fang Chongyong asked in confusion.

"Alang, I haven't had my monthly courses in a long time. Today I quietly went to see a medical official in the city, and he said I'm with child."

Pei Xiu said with a troubled expression.

She had not wanted a child, but perhaps because their intimacies had been too frequent, she had finally been caught.

She didn't know exactly when it happened, but one thing was certain—it was undoubtedly Fang Chongyong's child.

"Have it! I'll raise it!"

Fang Chongyong threw his arms around Pei Xiu's shoulders and said.

"Really?"

Pei Xiu was overjoyed, her anxious heart finally at ease.

"Of course it's true."

(End of this chapter)