The army was a place that emphasized unity and cooperation above all else. Comrades were forever your strongest support. As long as you had comrades at your back, you could fight without concern, not having to worry about someone stabbing you from behind. No matter which general it was, what they hated most was when they were in the midst of battle and a hidden arrow suddenly flew over, leaving them to die with grievances on the battlefield.
Pei Du’s refusal of the Emperor’s request was a solution born of having no alternatives. At most, the Emperor would strip him of his position. But if he lost the protection of his comrades, how the hell could he fight any battles?
Li Er walked down with cold, sinister laughter and kicked Pei Du over with one foot, saying viciously: “Kill people? Kill all three hundred-some thousand? Do you think I am a tyrant like Jie or Zhou? Who told you I wanted to kill people? A bunch of killing talents who only know slaughter and massacre. Once heads fall off, they can’t be put back on. Three hundred-some thousand people could bring such great benefits to the Great Tang—how could they be killed?”
Hearing the Emperor say this, Pei Du immediately scrambled up and said: “We subjects are Your Majesty’s hounds and naturally must resolve Your Majesty’s worries. As long as we don’t kill those unarmed people and tarnish the Great Tang army’s reputation, this subject will comply with whatever Your Majesty instructs.”
“Good! The Ministry of Revenue will re-demarcate the pastures of the Henan region. To prevent the unexpected, you will lead the Right Weiwei Guard to suppress any disturbances. All herdsmen slaves must be registered and recorded in census books. They will not enter the household registry but must be separately recorded.”
“Yun Ye, the Ministry of War’s directive must also be issued to the local militia forces. Hmph, over three hundred thousand able-bodied men have been stuffed right under my nose. Each one wants to get rich—have they gone mad with greed? Don’t they care about the nation’s security? Look at the map—from the Henan region to Chang’an is only ten days’ march, and there are no dangerous passes or fortresses in between. Back then, Xie Li went straight from the Henan region to Jingzhou. Do you want me to have another Alliance at Baimasi?”
Now they understood why Li Er had summoned all the great generals to the Hall of Ten Thousand People. He was warning this group who held military power—the wealth you want, he can give you; the power you want, he can also give you. But don’t go asking for it yourselves, don’t go finding your own paths to wealth. This economic blow had made the civil officials suffer greatly. Now it was the military generals’ turn.
He didn’t care about empty-shell generals, but to the twenty-some people standing in the great hall, he had to issue a warning. When these people caused trouble, that was when things became most troublesome.
Yun Ye immediately wrote the directive, blew the ink dry, and presented it to Li Er for imperial review. Li Er glanced at it and casually handed it to Pei Du, telling him to go to the Ministry of War tomorrow to have it stamped and go through the procedures.
The group exited the great hall, found their warhorses, and prepared to return home. Pei Du pitifully bowed with cupped hands to everyone: “Elder brothers have all seen—this younger brother truly had no choice. His Majesty is determined to deal with the Henan region. Old Qiao in Pacified West is also going to be in trouble. If elder brothers could send letters to familiar brothers to explain things for this younger brother, Pei Du would be immensely grateful.”
“Old Pei, this matter isn’t your fault. Those people in the Henan region went too far. His Majesty’s worries are not without reason. Guannei Circuit—how dare they let over three hundred thousand bearded barbarians in! Most of those people become soldiers the moment they mount warhorses. We Sixteen Guards are the force defending the Guanzhong strategic region. If anything changes, we bear the brunt first. These people acted improperly, pushing the pressure onto us to bear. When you go to the Henan region this time, you must control these barbarians well. Don’t worry, since it concerns the interests of us Sixteen Guards, the brothers will all help you. If they properly accept control, that’s fine. If they don’t accept it and resort to blades and weapons, when have the Sixteen Guards ever feared anyone?”
Yun Ye shook his head and said: “Not appropriate. If strife breaks out within the military, we’ll just give those civil officials something to laugh at. Besides, those three hundred-some thousand people staying in Guannei Circuit will be a disaster sooner or later. We need to think of a way to disperse these people. We can’t let them remain in Guannei Circuit. Every extra day they stay, we have one more day of trouble.”
“Old Yun is right. You’re famously clever—think of a solution that benefits everyone.” The group quietly discussed as they left the Hall of Ten Thousand People, heading directly to the Ministry of War to discuss countermeasures.
Yun Ye stood beside the enormous sand table, pointing at the Henan region with a bamboo pole: “This place is absolutely the Jiangnan beyond the frontier. Using it entirely for raising sheep is a waste. Professors from the Academy’s Agricultural College have said that the Henan region is a treasured land blessed by wind and water. The Yellow River makes a great bend here. This generation has a dense water network, convenient irrigation, and humid climate. I’ve heard even growing rice is no problem. Using it entirely for raising sheep is too wasteful. In recent years, the land in Guanzhong has become saturated. Farming too frequently has caused the land to become very barren.”
“Brothers are military generals and don’t understand these matters of people’s livelihood, so listen as this younger brother explains in detail.”
“When our dynasty was first established, it instituted the Equal-field System. The army inherited the militia system from the former Sui. Permanent land, personal land—every Great Tang subject has a share, regardless of gender. Land cannot be regenerated. If you divide more, others will divide less. All of Guanzhong is only so big—how can there be enough to divide? Just watch—within ten years, Guanzhong will have no land left to distribute.”
“Everyone still remembers what Ma Zhou made a fuss about years ago, right? He was worrying about this very problem. To solve this problem, the Great Tang must have sufficient land. Where does land come from? Don’t we still need to go conquer the world and seize it from others?”
“Redistributing population from Guanzhong again is something that must be done. How can good land not be prioritized for our own people? Since the Henan region is suitable for farming, we should propose using Guanzhong’s surplus population to fill the Henan region. Only this way will we brothers not have such great pressure, and only then will we truly solve the problem of barbarians threatening the capital at its source.”
“That won’t work, Old Yun. Those bastards have been making money from wool until their eyes are red. If we do this, they might rebel. That would be a great offense.”
“What if wool doesn’t make money anymore? Or what if wool prices suddenly drop significantly? At that time, those precious sheep will become money-losing black holes. What do you think those border troops will do?”
Old Jiang from the Xiaowei Guard was older and slapped the table, saying: “That’s difficult. Cloth woven from wool is very popular now. My wife’s family is in this business, so I know—it’s quite profitable.”
Yun Ye laughed and said: “Do you all know what happened on the spring equinox? Everyone suffered losses to varying degrees, right? Didn’t your family wealth decrease by quite a bit?”
“Damn it, the day before, one silver coin could be exchanged for six hundred copper coins. Who knew that within a single day, it would become one thousand copper coins to exchange for one silver coin! My family had stored several cartloads of copper coins—in an instant, we lost nearly half. Old Yun, what does this have to do with wool from the Henan region?” The speaker was Liang Jianfang from the Jinwu Guard.
Yun Ye took out a silver coin and placed it on the table: “The value of copper coins has returned to its original position. This means that with this action, His Majesty squeezed out the water from everyone’s family assets in one stroke. Now no one dares to scheme over copper coins. Major transactions have become settled in gold and silver coins. Unfortunately, the money houses now won’t give everyone silver coins, only copper coins. The minting facility in Yizhou can’t wait to turn all copper into copper coins. Right now, copper coins are flooding the market. If you go look at the West Market, there’s more than one or two people slitting their throats.”
“In other words, no one can afford to buy their wool. If they buy wool with copper coins, their profit drops by forty percent. The exchange rate between copper coins and silver coins is now one thousand to one. I believe that without these forty percent dividends, they’ll have no profit left.”
“The Great Tang’s largest textile workshop belongs to the Empress. If they dare to raise prices, they’re purely seeking death. Plainly speaking, this time His Majesty is punishing those fellows who hoarded copper coins wanting to drink the people’s blood. Haven’t you seen that His Majesty didn’t even spare imperial relatives?”
Liang Jianfang pounded his head and shouted at Yun Ye: “Just tell us directly how to drive the barbarians out of Guannei Circuit. Don’t talk about all this—it’s making my head spin. But simply driving them out won’t work either. They might become horse bandits, which would be even more dangerous.”
“Haven’t you understood His Majesty’s meaning yet? Those herdsmen slaves won’t enter the household registry, which means they’re still slaves. It’s just that the Great Tang doesn’t have such terminology anymore. His Majesty kicked the ball to us because he wants us to be the villains. Those barbarians will definitely follow the old path of Korean war prisoners—that is, being taken to mine or build roads.”
“Fang Xuanling and the others established a huge road system at the beginning of the year, on a scale no smaller than the post roads of the Qin Dynasty. Brother, I originally didn’t want to mention this murderous idea, but you, Old Liang, forced me into it. Let me say this first—once we leave this door, I won’t acknowledge it. Those civil officials all care about face and don’t want to expose His Majesty’s intention. We also need to save face.”
Pei Du drew in a sharp breath and said with difficulty to Yun Ye: “So you’re saying this elder brother has become the Great Tang’s biggest overseer?”
“That’s right. Everything I said before will definitely happen. Wool prices will start dropping, Guanzhong will begin migration, the Central Plains will start major road construction, Shu will start carving through natural barriers, Lingnan will start building post roads, Hebei will start digging canals. His Majesty must spend the wealth accumulated from this extraction at the fastest speed, or it will lead to even greater troubles.”
“His Majesty must have pondered such a grand plan for a long time. When His Majesty completes all these goals, hehe, the Great Tang’s territory will truly become an iron bucket. Emperor Yang of Sui also wanted to do this, but he was too stupid—he filled it with his own people’s lives. Isn’t that seeking death? His Majesty is much smarter—using foreign tribes’ people to fill the pits. His own people work and still make money. Who would oppose it? They’d wish for more roads to be built, more rivers to be dug, more palaces to be constructed.”
“Good grief, this massive construction project has actually become a virtuous deed.” Old Jiang let out a long breath.
“Exactly. Now whoever dares to block His Majesty’s path is a fool. The investigation team the Academy dispatched to the Western Regions is the beginning of this matter. Perhaps His Majesty’s mission for them isn’t investigating the mystery of Loulan’s disappearance, but investigating the population there, seeing how many able-bodied men are still available for use.”
As Yun Ye spoke these words, even his own back felt cold. The room full of great generals each sat restlessly. This was just too damn ruthless. No wonder the Turks, Tuyuhun people, Xue Yantuo, and the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu would rather go fight with Western barbarians than remain in place and accept the Great Tang’s loose-rein control.