Chapter 1172: Carrying on the Past and Opening up the Future (Sixty-Two) A Bolt From the Blue

He walked back to his general's residence with heavy steps and locked himself in the study. He smoothed out the newspapers that Wang Minghui had thrown away before leaving. He was now spreading them on the table, reading them word by word. Just as he said to Wang Minghui now, Gao Yuan published his army composition and army leadership in such newspapers to the public, which reflected a kind of confidence and pride.

However, the situation of Daqin is getting worse and worse. Last year, his 50,000 troops in Yingchuan could get the full amount of military pay, food and various materials allocated by the court. In the first half of this year, he only got 80%, and in the second half of the year, he could only get 50%. Seeing that it was already midwinter, but the troops still lacked nearly 20,000 sets of cotton-padded clothes and cotton quilts that had not been issued. In desperation, Tan Feng could only reduce the activity time of the army and let those soldiers who had not received cotton-padded clothes stay in the barracks as much as possible to ensure that they would not suffer unnecessary injuries due to the cold weather.

The army was once the cornerstone of the Qin Dynasty. If even the needs of the army began to be in arrears, I am afraid that the Qin Dynasty would be overwhelmed. Thinking of this, he spread out the news about the Central Bank of Han to issue paper money, and read it carefully word by word. Tan Feng himself is not just a simple military general. He also has experience in economics and people's livelihood. The trade agreement signed between Han and Qin has led to a large number of high-quality and low-priced Han goods pouring into Qin, which has greatly hit the local industry and commerce of Qin. Tan Feng now has a vague understanding of the consequences, that is, a large amount of gold and silver flowed to Han. So what is the purpose of Gao Yuan setting up this central bank? Is it just to solve the inconvenience of precious metals in circulation?

Is there any conspiracy here?

Now Tan Feng. Subconsciously connects every move of Gao Yuan with the conspiracy.

Tan Feng has been in Qin for many years. When he first came, he admired Li Ru's efforts to ensure the strength of the central government of Qin and the sharpness of the army's offensive power by mobilizing the whole country, but now he finally recognized it. All this needs to be based on the army's victory after victory on the battlefield. Once the army is frustrated, this policy will immediately cause a series of bad consequences. If it fails, it will be necessary to concentrate again. Building a stronger army requires more money, and the oppression of the people will be more severe, the people's livelihood will be more difficult, and a large amount of farmland will be barren. Business is declining, and national taxes are reduced. In order to collect more taxes, it is necessary to carry out stricter rule in the country. This is a vicious circle. The final result is that the peasants' uprisings are like the current Shu County. The local guards in Shu County are exhausted, and these local guards have inextricable ties with the local area, so the suppression operation has become a little strange. It became a cat-and-mouse game, so that in the end the regular army had to be mobilized to start the suppression. Although the situation is now stable, Tan Feng does not think that things will end here. The temporary calm may only be brewing a bigger storm.

When he was in Yan State, Tan Feng also held the power of the country, and he knew it deeply. Farmers are the most docile and honest group. As long as they have a bite to eat, they will never take risks and risk their heads to rebel. The uprisings and riots in Shu County can only show that the situation there has collapsed to the point where it cannot be worse.

Once upon a time, the powerful Qin, which Yan State could only look up to, had reached such a dangerous point, and all this was thanks to Gao Yuan.

Gao Yuan dared to dismiss hundreds of thousands of local guards in the country, which showed that he was quite confident in the domestic security situation. He only needed to rely on a small number of police to improve local public security, which was unimaginable in Qin State.

His series of reports on Han were delivered to the desk of the King of Qin, but they were like a stone sinking into the sea, and there was no news at all. This made Tan Feng a little depressed. He believed that the current Qin was already full of holes. If he did not dare to burn his boats and reform, it would not take long for this big ship to sink.

Based on this understanding, he came together with Fan Sui, the prime minister of the dynasty, because Fan Sui appreciated some of his analysis very much and wrote to him many times to discuss whether a series of reform policies of Han could be transplanted to Qin.

Unfortunately, in Qin, it was not Fan Sui but Li Ru who had a profound influence on the government. Fan Sui was more like a paperhanger that the old King of Qin found for the new king before his death. He could only make repairs and could not make substantial changes. Tan Feng did not think that Li Ru did not see the crisis that Qin was facing now, but he was determined not to make changes. Was it because he did not want to lose in the academic dispute with his junior brother Jiang Jiaquan?

In Tan Feng's view, Li Ru had already lost.

If Qin implements reforms, it will indeed affect many vested interests, but these people are vines attached to the big tree of Qin. As long as the army is firmly controlled, Tan Feng does not think they can make much waves. Only after breaking down and then building up can there be a chance, and the phoenix nirvana can be reborn from the ashes.

There is not much time left for Qin. The reason why Gao Yuan of Han stopped the war is that the domestic economy is in crisis due to the wars on the borders in recent years, and it is necessary to stabilize the country first. However, with the high efficiency of Han's administration and the implementation of a series of economic stimulus policies, the speed of Han's recovery is far beyond the reach of Qin. When Gao Yuan stabilizes the domestic situation and the people's livelihood economy begins to recover, it is time for him to launch a large-scale attack.

There is a new term in Gao Yuan's economic policy that makes Tan Feng feel fresh, that is, deficit management. In other words, Gao Yuan's Han court owes money every year. Not only does it owe money, but the amount is huge. It is a typical case of eating up the grain of the next year and borrowing money to get by. It borrows the next year's money instead of the last year's. But what did Gao Yuan do with the borrowed money? Large-scale projects such as road construction and water conservancy construction have never stopped in the Han country. These actions have not only greatly boosted the local economy, but also ensured the vigorous development of these local economies. In turn, economic development has also promoted the prosperity of the Han country. Gao Yuan's court can always borrow a large sum of money when they need it, and this money does not come from a certain class, but the people of the entire Han country are paying for it. Their people have spare money in their hands and are willing to invest this spare money in national bonds. First, it is to show respect to their king, and second, it can really make money. For those farmers who are not good at business, it is better to invest money in national bonds to earn interest than to keep it in their hands. He is not afraid of losing money. Because they have a king whom they respect. Over the years, Gao Yuan has borrowed money year after year, but he has also paid it back year after year. His credit has long been established.

Is this possible in Qin?

Impossible. Ordinary people have no money at all. They may still be thinking about where to earn money for food tomorrow tonight, and those who are rich are the ones who know the details of Qin best. I am afraid they would rather send the money to Han secretly to buy Han’s national debt than to buy their own country’s.

The door creaked. The lights flickered, and Tian Ji, who replaced Tan Kang as the commander of his personal guards, walked in with a lamp. Tan Feng turned his head and looked out the window. Unconsciously, he had been locked up in the study for most of the day, and he didn’t realize that it was almost dark.

Tian Ji was also an old man who followed him all the way from Yan to Qin, but except for his martial arts, he was far behind Tan Kang in other aspects. There were not many people who could help him.

"General, someone from Xianyang has come and wants to see you. I'll ask them to wait in the living room first." Tian Ji put the oil lamp on the table and whispered to Tan Feng, "Also, my wife has come several times to ask you to go back for dinner."

"I know." Tan Feng nodded. His wife is a virtuous woman and she is beautiful, but he doesn't really have much affection for her. The so-called respectful relationship is just the courtesy between the two of them, or his enthusiasm has been exhausted on another woman.

"Someone from Xianyang has come to tell me that the military pay and bedding for the second half of the year can't be collected in a short time, right?" Tan Feng sneered. Since the beginning of this year, every time it is time to pay the pay, the Ministry of Revenue will send someone to escort things that are far less than the actual amount to complain to him.

"No, the person who came said his name?" Tian Ji said.

"Name?" Tan Feng asked casually. As soon as he said that, he suddenly realized something and jumped up. "Is it a man in his forties with a square face and red chest?"

"Yes, General, how did you know?"

"Damn it, this is Mingtai, the new leader of the Black Ice Platform!" Tan Feng said angrily, "Why don't you go and invite General Mingtai to my study."

"Yes, I know!" Tian Ji was also a little panicked. He knew too well what the leader of the Black Ice Platform meant.

Looking at Tian Ji's back, Tan Feng sighed. Tian Ji had just come up and didn't know much about the situation above. Mingtai had just replaced Zhongli as the leader of the Black Ice Platform, and not many people knew about it.

Tan Feng was very sorry for Zhongli's departure. As the actual controller of Yanlingwei in Dayan, he had fought with Zhongli. After defecting to Qin, he knew more about the head of the Black Ice Platform. He was one of the few clear-headed people in Qin. However, the new king would definitely not hand over an organization like the Black Ice Platform to an old man. The new king needed someone he could trust to control this dark organization. But what was the ability of this Mingtai? In some aspects, Mingtai was not worse than Zhongli, but in terms of the overall situation, he was definitely not as good as Zhongli.

But, what did Mingtai come to him for? A shadow surged in Tan Feng's heart.

He stood at the door and looked up, which was to show his attitude. Originally, as a general, he was far higher than Mingtai in terms of position. Mingtai was not Zhongli, but Tan Feng knew his position better. In the heart of the King of Qin, Mingtai was definitely more important than himself.

"General!" Mingtai, dressed in casual clothes, walked to Tan Fengming under the guidance of Tian Ji, clasped his hands and saluted Tan Fengming.

"Commander Ming, what kind of wind blows you, a busy man, to me?" Tan Feng laughed, returned the salute, stretched out his hand, and walked inside with Mingtai. "You haven't eaten yet. It's not a short journey from Xianyang to here. Tian Ji, I dare not ask my wife to prepare it. Commander Ming and I will have a few drinks later."

Walking into the study, Mingtai looked at Tan Feng and smiled, "General, it's a gloomy wind that blows me. I'm afraid the general will be a little unhappy."

"Commander Ming is joking!" Tan Feng's heart sank slightly, but he still smiled.

"General, Fan Sui, the chief minister, has been imprisoned!" (To be continued)