Nu Yalang of Tang Dynasty

While Sun Aying was leading the Tang cavalry to pursue the Huihe people, the Anbei Protectorate in Baiting County was very busy.

Anbei deputy envoy Zhou Ze has not returned to his home for several days, and now he is staying at the official residence for food and accommodation.

More and more Mobei tribes are migrating from the grasslands to the city; on the one hand, the merchant alliance needs to recruit manpower, and on the other hand, it needs to cultivate and build.

This involves household registration, manufacturing, craftsmanship, taxes, budget, etc., and the manager of all these is the newly established Anbei Protectorate.

On this day, Zhou Ze was reviewing documents in the official office. His son Zhou Shang called out at the door, and then walked into the room and said: "Father, Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Tongping Zhangshi Fifth Qi, Huangmen Shilang Wang

Jin, we just came to Baiting and are now in the middle hall."

Fifth Qi was highly valued by His Majesty because he was proficient in finance, and Wang Jin was the younger brother of the literary giant Wang Wei, who was well-known in the literary world of the Tang Dynasty.

These two people were both well-known figures in the court, but Zhou was a little confused as to why they came to Baiting.

Although he didn't know the intention of the visitor, Zhou Ze knew that he couldn't neglect these two people, so he put aside his official duties for the time being and hurried to the central hall.

Entering the hall, Zhou Ze saw Wu Qi and Wang Jin, but what surprised the former was that there were many other officials standing in the middle hall.

Seeing Zhou Ze, everyone in the hall saluted.

Wu Qi had a cold attitude, while Wang Jin smiled.

Zhou Ze knew clearly that Wu Qi had never been a party member in the court, nor did he seek power. He only focused on practical matters and acted businesslike with everyone he met. As for Wang Jin, he had a great reputation and had many connections in the court.

He is relatively lively, and I heard that he is still a close friend with Yuan Zai of Jinyiwei.

Facing these two people, Zhou Ze braced himself and prepared to deal with them.

Fifth Qi first said: "According to the emperor's order, the Ministry of Revenue has checked the household registration of the border residents with the Anbei Protectorate. In addition, Your Majesty wants to know the prince's situation in Anbei, such as his daily life, schedule, official duties, etc."

When Wu Qi mentioned the word "Prince", Zhou Ze's brows twisted into the word "Sichuan".

Prince Zhou Xiao left Liangcheng and came to Baiting on the border. Suddenly freed, he was like a wild horse running wild. He spent every day traveling around mountains and rivers, hunting and camping.

Although the prince did not cause any trouble after his arrival, the absence of anyone all day long made Zhou Ze nervous every day.

Now hearing Wu Qi talk about the prince, Zhou Ze could only smile awkwardly and said: "The prince is extremely intelligent and can govern the people well. I guess at this moment, he should go to pay a private visit incognito to sympathize with the people."

When Wu Qi heard this, he frowned and looked at Zhou Ze, but in the end he didn't say anything.

Wang Jin on the side smiled and said: "Anbei has a lot of affairs. It is really rare for Deputy Zhou to manage the place in such an orderly manner."

Compared to Wu Qi, Zhou was more wary of Wang Jin.

There is no other reason. Although Wu Qi has a cold face, he always speaks and does what he says and never deceives behind his back; but Wang Jin is a well-rounded person with good writing skills. He is often responsible for drafting provincial documents and cooperating with various departments of the imperial court.

They all have contacts and are proficient in the ways of being an official.

While Zhou Ze was thinking about it, Wang Jin suddenly asked: "I heard that under the jurisdiction of Anbei, the merchants competed to enclose the land, and used high salaries to win over the Mobei people, and the merchants were very close to the border people?"

Zhou Ze was stunned and asked subconsciously: "Is there anything wrong with this?"

Wang Jin said nothing, just looked at Zhou Ze and smiled.

Wuqi on the side said: "The Tang Dynasty's successive wars have left the treasury empty. Your Majesty has no choice but to use the war profits as goods in exchange for the trading houses to provide food and wages to the army. Although this can support the war, it is invisible.

If the official property of the Tang Dynasty is handed over to merchants, if there is a problem with the merchants' operations, the country may be affected."

Zhou Ze initially heard Wu Qi's words and thought they made sense.

The current land, livestock, ores, crops, etc. in Mobei were conquered by the imperial army. Now because the national treasury cannot pay for the food, it is left to the merchants to take care of it.

But what if the merchant fails?

Commercial banks will withdraw their capital, employees will be laid off, and funds will be cut off. At that time, the development of the entire Anbei, as well as the army's food and salary, will become a problem.

Wang Jin also followed up and said at this time: "The Fifth Minister is just talking about one thing. The second thing is that the businessmen are only interested in profit. Now they not only occupy the land, but also employ a large number of border people, and even mix with the army. In time, Deputy Zhou

Aren't you worried about chaos in Anbei?"

Zhou Ze was stunned and suddenly fell silent.

Wu Qi and Wang Jin both said that merchants operating government properties might bring trouble to Anbei.

However, Wu Qi is from the economic point of view, while Wang Jin is from the political point of view.

In Zhou Ze's view, what the two people said seemed to make sense, but both seemed to have flaws.

Seeing that Zhou Ze was deep in thought, Wang Jin decided to strike while the iron was hot: "Deputy Envoy Zhou is in charge of Anbei affairs and naturally knows the importance of this matter. Everything should be discussed in the long term."

Zhou Ze didn't want to go around in circles with these people and asked directly: "What are you planning to do when you come here to find someone?"

Wang Jin: "We plan to jointly submit a petition to ask Your Majesty to reconsider the business operation of government property by merchants in Anbei. The government property of the Tang Dynasty should naturally be left to the government, not those profit-seeking businessmen."

Zhou Ze was puzzled: "If that's the case, you can just go to Shu directly. Why do you want to come to me?"

Wang Jin smiled slightly: "Actually, you and I both know that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not in the official office on weekdays, and the entire affairs of the Anbei Protectorate are managed by Deputy Envoy Zhou. If you can co-sign in the memorial, I will tell His Majesty that Qing'an

If we don’t understand the ‘current situation’ in the north, then things will be much simpler.”

Zhou Ze: "The current situation?"

Wang Jin: "For example, a trading company enclosed land as a leader, recruited border residents, and privately owned war horses and iron materials. They were colluding with each other. This may be detrimental to the Tang Dynasty and should be strictly investigated."

Hearing this, Zhou Ze was startled. Wang Jin's remarks characterized the business behavior of the trading company as "possibly treasonous".

If such a memorial is really handed over and His Majesty believes it to be true, then the entire business alliance in Anbei will probably end up in Jinyi Guard Prison.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! When Zhou Ze was about to speak, Zhou Shang suddenly said: "Government property is privately owned. This law is conducive to the prosperity of Anbei and cannot be easily abolished."

Wang Jin looked at Zhou Shang and found that the latter was just a low-grade official. He was about to reprimand him.

An official nearby quickly came over and whispered that this man was Zhou Ze's son.

Wang Jin was stunned for a moment, then put on a smile and asked, "Tell me, how can it be beneficial?"

Zhou Shang: "Private industries, in order to compete for the market, will try their best to improve quality, improve technology, and reduce costs, thereby expanding sales and creating profits. In this process, businesses are competitors with each other. Although there is cooperation, it is very difficult to do so.

It is difficult for there to be collusion, let alone for rebellious intentions. This is because the biggest interest of businessmen is profit. Before doing anything, they will compare costs and benefits. Even if they risk beheading, it is difficult to achieve the corresponding result.

They will not do such a loss-making business."

"However, the government-owned industry is exactly the opposite. The owner of the government-owned industry is the local government, and the tax tribute paid to the court every year has been fixed. If this year's tribute is too low, the superior will reprimand him.

If it is high, it will be detrimental to the evaluation in the coming year. Therefore, officials in charge of government-owned industries often intentionally control the operation, or use swindles to make up for the shortfall from other sources, or take bribes and bend the law, and jointly embezzle profits. In the long run, this will form

The binding of official power and money eventually developed into a group with vested interests."

After Wang Jin heard this, his face turned blue and white. He wanted to refute, but he didn't know what to say.

The fifth Qi looked at Zhou Shang with a look of surprise on his face and nodded slightly.