Chapter 648 The war begins again

Chapter 648 The war begins again

Since Li Tai was in a hurry, Li Qianzhe rested for two days at the General Manager's Mansion before continuing his journey to Shuzhong to implement a series of subsequent plans.

For this batch of Shu brocade that was shipped back, Li Tai just asked someone to select a batch of high-quality ones and send them to his house, leaving them for his wife to use at home or as gifts for daily social interactions.

Of course I have to send a batch to my parents in Chang'an, but I still have to wait for a while to save some things and send them back together. It's not worth the trip alone.

As for the remaining ones, he arranged for people to put them into the Jingzhou official market in batches and sell them one after another. One is to take advantage of the current price to sell and make a profit, and the other is to widely advertise that there is also Sichuan brocade trading in Jingzhou, so as to lock in a group of target customers in advance.

The official market in Jingzhou is large in scale and transactions are frequent. The General Administration collects funds through various investment promotion activities, and then issues various material orders to the public through the official market.

Since the orders for goods issued by the General Manager's Office are usually relatively large, far beyond what ordinary people can satisfy, even large merchants with strong financial resources sometimes cannot meet the government's order requirements. Therefore, various private markets gradually emerged around Jingzhou's official market, gathering public strength to meet the government's trading requirements.

Transactions between public and private parties are becoming more and more frequent, and barter transactions are becoming increasingly lagging behind. Li Tai is also thinking about whether he can mint a batch of coins to meet the trade needs of Jingzhou's official market, but he has not dared to try this idea easily.

It’s not that we are worried that this move will cause dissatisfaction with the Taiwanese government. In fact, there are various regional currencies used for buying and selling in various places. Moreover, the financial power of the Jingzhou General Office is relatively independent. If you really want to create a regional currency, you do not need authorization from the Taiwan government. It can be circulated as long as it is approved internally.

What Li Tai really worried about was that the Taiwanese government was so poor that even if he could establish a currency in circulation, it might be used by the Taiwanese government to make money.

For example, when he was organizing investment promotion, Li Tai was thinking about whether the General Manager's Office should issue a commercial invoice to record the exchange of goods between the General Manager's Office and those investors?

For example, if one thousand bolts of silk is used as the denomination of a bill, powerful people can obtain a commercial note by delivering one thousand bolts of silk to the general manager's office. This commercial note can be used for direct government-led investment in Jingzhou, or in the official market. After buying and selling, it can also be exchanged for silk again at the General Manager's Mansion.

This is a relatively low-end financial application, the purpose is only to save losses during the transportation of money and facilitate settlement.

Of course, the General Administration of Jingzhou can greatly increase the amount of materials it can actually control by issuing commercial bills. The prerequisite is that there must be enough credit to back it, and at least someone must be willing to deposit money and goods in exchange for a bill.

If it were just the Jingzhou General Manager's Office itself, Li Tai would have the confidence to give it a try. But I'm afraid that the Taiwan government will also follow the same fooling around. To make money and make money, you have to go through a whole set of melting and casting processes, but this process only requires the hands.

The power and resources controlled by the Tai government are much greater than those of the Jingzhou General Administration. If this model is promoted under Li Tai's management, it will be much simpler for the Tai government to carry out similar operations on this basis. However, the internal personnel structure of the Taiwan government is much more complicated than that of the Jingzhou General Manager's Office. Once a breach of contract occurs, Jingzhou will inevitably collapse.

Therefore, there is really no limit to a person's power and status. Before, Li Tai naturally had many scruples when he was a low-key person in Kansai, but now he has become an important official and a general in the army. However, because he is not in charge of his own affairs, I still can't completely let go of my hands and feet when doing things.

This model is not easy to implement casually, and it is even more difficult to mint and issue new coins that require greater investment and supervision.

Minting and issuing currency is very simple, but the prerequisite is that Li Tai can grasp the power to launch war at any time against local powerful or hostile forces. This can prevent others from stealing the currency that he has worked hard to build and operate to plunder his wealth.

So thinking about these things at the moment is just to refresh my mind. Li Tai, a native of Jingzhou, is afraid to engage in any monetary and financial innovations at the moment, lest improper operations cause the newly restored people's livelihood in Mianbei to be severely damaged again, but when the conditions are ripe, But we can do it in Longyou and Hexi.

The reason why Li Tai is obsessed with controlling the voice of Longyou Commerce is that, in addition to the benefits brought by Longyou Commerce itself, there is also a large wave of dividends that are about to come.

When the Tai government sent troops south to control Shuzhong, the Western Wei Dynasty was not just a convenient transit station in the Silk Road trade, but a powerful supplier with a great say.

Whether Northern Qi Gaoyang was wise or not in the first half of his life is a matter of opinion, but one thing is certain. His father and brother maintained relatively good diplomatic relations with neighboring countries. After he came to power, he messed up the Northern Qi Dynasty through a series of wars, which greatly compressed the Northern Qi Dynasty. A space for communication and trade with the outside world.

At the same time, Longyou and Shuzhong were completely in the hands of the Western Wei Dynasty. The Western Wei Dynasty could be said to be the only supplier at the eastern end of the Silk Road trade during this period, and its right to speak was naturally greatly improved. Then it could then mint coins on the Silk Road. Expand profit share in road trade.

Due to its geographical reasons, Longyou and Hexi are a very suitable area for large-scale official and market trade, so a batch of virtual currencies can be minted specifically for foreign trade, such as five and ten coins, as the only designated currency for official and market trade.

In this way, if Hu merchants from the Western Regions want to buy goods in the official market in Longyou and Hexi, they need to first sell their own goods in exchange for the inflated official money, and then use the official money to buy the needed goods in the official market. commodity.

In this case, the Western Wei regime could use those fictitious foreign trade currencies to directly exchange for real wealth in the hands of Hu merchants. Although the value of official money itself is not high, it is locked with the trading rights. Without official money, it is impossible to participate in the Silk Road. trading.

The reason why Li Tai is so keen to control Longyou's right to speak is to promote the implementation of this plan and occupy a relatively considerable share of interests in it.

Historically, it was not until the period of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty that this foreign trade advantage was initially straightened out and utilized, and a series of false-valued coins such as Buquan were minted. It is not certain whether it was a special supply for foreign trade, but it is certain that by the time of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, , the Kansai regime, which is known for its poverty, has many records of rewarding heroes with large amounts of gold and silver. There is no tradition of using gold and silver money in the interior. Naturally, the main source of these gold and silver coins can only be the Silk Road trade.

Although Shuzhong is not yet under control, Li Tai has already clearly calculated the subsequent opportunities and benefits. It is only Yuwentai's lack of support that has greatly slowed down Lu's progress.

However, we can’t blame Yuwentai blindly. After all, the foundation of the founding of the Western Wei Dynasty was really poor. After several battles, it finally got better, but the Mangshan battle almost led to bankruptcy. Finally, the battle of Mangshan was over. After several years of development, the country's military and political affairs had made great progress.

Putting aside the series of foreign war developments represented by Li Tai, domestic rectification and construction have now reached a critical period.

The former Sixth Army of Taifu gradually recovered and was changed to the Chinese and Foreign Army. So far, all the Eight Pillar Kingdoms are in place, and two of the twelve generals have been identified. While Li Tai was diligently engaged in domestic and foreign affairs in Jingzhou, Yuwentai in Huazhou was not idle. On the one hand, he was keeping an eye on the personnel news in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and on the other hand, he was also stepping up domestic reform steps.

One of the most important changes in the middle of the year was the renaming of the Grand Prime Minister and Daxingtai Mansion in Huazhou to the Zhongwai Mansion. As the highest institution in charge of the government's military, it further strengthened the military and political attributes of the hegemony.

As the Taifu was renamed as the Zhongwaifu, the subordinate relationship of General Li Tai was also directly transferred. Moreover, in June, the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office issued an order, instructing him to list all the soldiers under the Jingzhou Governor's Office and submit them to the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office.

This reorganization is the last major reorganization before the Fu army system is completely formed. All Jia soldiers who are registered as Fu soldiers will be naturalized in Guanzhong and assigned to each Fu regardless of their hometown.

Although the soldiers are registered, the relationship between Li Tai as their general will not change. These government records are only a reference for the Chinese and foreign governments when they transfer people. Of course, this is just a statement given by the Chinese and foreign governments.

Of course, the early government soldiers were armored soldiers who still had a certain private nature, but at least after Emperor Wu of Zhou changed the sergeants of the army to aides, the private nature of the government soldiers was erased.

It is okay not to incorporate the private songs into the government register, but judging from the military orders received by Li Tai from the Chinese and foreign governments, rights and obligations coexist. His current official position is general and general manager of Jingzhou. According to the troop quota issued by the Chinese and Foreign Governments, the total number of state soldiers and government soldiers should be about 15,000, including 3,000 state soldiers and 12,000 government soldiers.

The Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office did not directly state the consequences of failing to complete such a troop reorganization, but it is probably related to the inheritance of subsequent military power. Li Tai inquired and learned that the Qinzhou General Manager's Office directed by Long Youyuwen also had such a troop quota. As for the other generals, they have not yet been awarded the title, and Li Tai does not know the number of troops they command.

The number of soldiers in the government is relatively fixed, and it is also the most elite force under the jurisdiction of the Chinese and foreign governments. The current officers and soldiers have a master-slave relationship with the general, which is equivalent to the number of tribes endorsed by the Bafu. In the future, there may no longer be clear transfer power, but this level of identity relationship can still be retained.

In other words, if one of these soldiers becomes more powerful than the original general in the future, he will still be at a lower social status. This is probably similar to the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty that are more familiar to later generations, and they all have the flavor of tribal chieftains.

Therefore, in the early stage, the generals who can control more troops will have a higher say in the army system.

But it’s not that the more registered the better, the Chinese and Foreign Offices still set a upper limit. The number of troops in the two general offices of Jingzhou and Qinzhou is the same. If there are no accidents, this should be the highest number of troops under the general’s command. .

Nowadays, there are more than 10,000 troops in Jingzhou. In addition to Li Tai and his various generals, the 10,000 armored soldiers brought by Zhao Gui withdrew to Guanzhong last year. Last year, Li Tai also began to consciously train the state soldiers and township regiments and the armed forces of the barbarians. .

Now that all the people and horses from all parties have been added together, there are still more than 30,000 people under the jurisdiction of the entire Jingzhou General Administration. This is because the powerful armed forces in Shannan, Handong and other places have not been reorganized and recorded. If this part is compiled again, I am afraid it will have to be more than 20,000. After all, the powerful forces in Jianghan have always been tough.

If you don’t tell me this, you still don’t know. After calculating it, Li Tai couldn’t help but feel that Jingzhou’s military strength was enough to build a small Chinese and foreign government. At least as far as he knew, no prescription town in the entire Western Wei Dynasty had such a strong military force. Even the Qinzhou General Manager's Office at the same level pales in comparison.

Of course, this is just a thought. Xinhe Liansheng is not that easy to get, so he should first secure his position in the gang.

Due to sufficient troops and no shortage of manpower, it only took Li Tai more than half a month to get the relevant military register. For powerful men like Linghu Yanbao and Li Qianzhe who had thousands of songs in their own right, Li Tai did not list their own songs, but only listed them as his subordinates.

According to the establishment of the imperial army, one general has two kaifus under his command. However, due to last year's great achievements, Li Tai had several kaifus under his command, which was naturally greatly exceeded.

But as mentioned in the preface, rights and obligations coexist. Although there are many people who have opened a mansion, they do not have enough troops themselves, so they are not among the leaders. Opening a mansion is just an honorary title. Li Tai's cousin Cui Qian, for example, did not receive any military orders from the Chinese and Foreign Governments to organize his reorganization. It can be seen that although Cui Qian was the founder of the government, he was not included in the military establishment.

Although Li Tai did not recruit several powerful troops, he still had a large number of troops under his command.

The common people from the countryside who had gradually joined his tribe since the Shang Yuan period, plus Zhu Meng and others from He Basheng's old tribe, as well as Li Yunxin and others like Longyou Erlang, as well as Guanzhong local tycoons such as Guo Yan and Shi Jing, and Diao Yin from northern Shaanxi These troops of the Liu family were gathered together and carefully selected, and they gathered 12,000 troops. These troops were the shares he held in the Western Wei regime.

As soon as Li Tai's registration book was sorted out and submitted, the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office officially issued the first convening order after the reorganization, ordering all parties to gather in Guanzhong, and after the army was assembled, they would launch an attack on Northern Qi.

Yes, as expected, Gao Yang of the Eastern Wei Dynasty usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor a month ago after intensive preparations for more than half a year. This naturally aroused Yu Wentai's sensitive nerves to a great extent, so he rushed to launch an attack on the puppet Qi regime at the moment when the formation of the army was officially completed.

As one of the generals of the imperial army, Li Tai was of course among the conscripts, but he was not asked to return to Guanzhong to gather. Instead, he led his elite troops to cooperate with the military movements of the Chinese and foreign governments and went north out of Sanya Road and into Yiluo. In order to contain the Northern Qi army's dispatching activities in this area.

After Li Tai received this military order, he was full of curses in his heart.

It's true that people with different fates have different fates. He was transferred to the Yiluo front line and needed to be separated from the army and move alone in the Heluo area. He was in danger of being made dumplings by the Northern Qi troops at any time. However, the general manager of Qinzhou, Yuwen Daozhi, was transferred back to Guanzhong and stayed at the base camp in Xianyang. There was no danger at all.

Therefore, Yu Wentai's sons deserve to be slaughtered in the future. He really dotes on his nephew too much. In Li Tai's opinion, since your eldest son is already married, wouldn't it be a good idea to let him stay at the base camp? Even if he has little experience, doesn’t he still have his father-in-law to help him?

I left the father-in-law and son-in-law to sit in Guanzhong, and I accompanied Daxingtai to charge into the battle. One mistake and you fell on the battlefield. We also directly changed the dynasty, and we must not fall behind in the version!

Although he understood that this attack would only start but end, military orders from the Chinese and Foreign Governments had been issued, and Li Tai could not openly disobey the orders. Before the Guanzhong army was fully assembled, he quickly began to reorganize his troops, pack up, and assign various tasks.

After more than half a year, the war machine of Jingzhou General Manager's Office began to operate again. With the blessing of last year's series of military exploits, Jingzhou's soldiers did not panic because of this, but calmly and methodically carried out various pre-war preparations.

The personnel transition is finished, and the plot will continue. . .