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"It was the Emperor of the Central Plains who abandoned us!" Yuan Hongyan sat on the ground and hid his face and cried bitterly. However, there was no anger but full of sadness. He sobbed indistinctly: "That year... I had just turned sixteen. I heard that

Khitan barbarians came to take over the city. The soldiers and people in the city were shocked and frightened. All the men in the city went to defend the city without the government recruiting them. Women and children were not willing to be left behind to wash and cook food. Many wealthy households gave up their wealth to reward the soldiers...

The army and the people concentrated on confronting the Khitan barbarians for two months. Then the emperor issued an edict, telling the soldiers and people in the city to give us to the Khitan barbarians. The whole city was wailing, and many of them committed suicide. Among them was my brother. We are waiting for you.

The barbarians have been driven for more than 20 years. It is all the fault of the Emperor of the Central Plains, but you blame us!"

He looked at Xu Xian with a bit more hatred. After hearing this, Xu Xian stood up and bowed to him, "The people of the Central Plains of Xu's generation send their regards to our fellow brothers in the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun."

Yuan Hongyan was stunned for a moment, then he grinned and cried loudly. He took a few sips of the wine jar and took a few sips into his mouth. Fortunately, this was just ordinary sake, otherwise he would have been drunk.

When Xu Xian saw him, he said: "There have been many heroes in Yanzhao since ancient times, and Brother Yuan is not a mediocre person. He must not be willing to be the eagle dog of the Khitan people. It has been six years since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, and all of them are unparalleled wise kings."

, Not only was he diligent in his work and loved the people, but he also followed the style of the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty. Since he ascended the throne, he has been attacking the unconquered ministers, defeating the Han, Shu, and Tang Dynasties in a row, and he also has the ambition to restore Yanyun in the north..."

"Seriously!" Yuan Hongyan jumped up from the ground, stretched out his hand to wipe the tears on his face, "Okay, I will be loyal to the Emperor of Zhou Dynasty, but the official I will be given cannot be younger than now, and I have to give up my family.

Just pick it up."

Xu Xian was not surprised that the other party was so happy. The land of Yanzhao was often harmed by the Khitans, and he hated and feared the Khitans. The soldiers of Youzhou often fought with the Khitans. Shi Jingtang ceded Yanyun Sixteenth

When he was in the state, Yuan Hongyan was almost an adult, and he would probably not be willing to be loyal to the Khitans. As long as he had enough chips, he could be asked to change the hall. If he reaches the next generation, it would be hard to say.

"Xu admires that Brother Yuan can still cherish the righteousness of his motherland!" Xu Xian pondered for a while and then said: "But you misunderstood me. I am not asking you, Brother Yuan, to be a minister of the Zhou Dynasty, but to continue to be a minister of Zhou Dynasty."

Served in the Liao Kingdom."

Yuan Hongyan raised his thick eyebrows, "Are you asking me to be a spy?"

"Well...that's probably what it means, but..."

Before Xu Xian could finish his words, Yuan Hongyan waved his hands repeatedly, "No, if the Emperor of Zhou Dynasty regains the Sixteenth State of Yanyun, I am willing to charge forward and swarm the city with ants, even if I die. But being a spy is not a hero.

I would never do such an immoral thing."

"Brother Yuan, don't be too stubborn. I am willing to pay for Brother Yuan to manage connections and official positions in Youzhou. The higher Brother Yuan climbs, the better. In the future, our emperor will lead an army to the city. Brother Yuan only needs to climb high and respond to the opening of the city gate. The effect is comparable to

It’s much easier to attack the city personally, and the risk is smaller! Brother Yuan endures the humiliation and bear the burden, and my emperor will certainly not hesitate to reward you, and he will also grant you the title of marquis and Prime Minister."

"This..." Yuan Hongyan rolled his eyes, "What you said seems reasonable, well, but how much money can you give me!"

Xu Xian stretched out his leader and said, "This is the number every year!"

Yuan Hongyan frowned and said: "Five thousand guan is a bit too little. Now the people above have a big appetite. How about 8,000 guan?"

"You made a mistake. I didn't say five thousand guan, but 50,000 guan! This is not a small amount. You can even bribe the emperor. How high you can climb depends on your ability!"

"Okay! I've made this deal!" Yuan Hongyan waved his fist excitedly, "You can trust me!"

"Haha... I don't believe you at all. After all, this is the first time we've met. It's easy for me to trust you. Write me an oath of allegiance. It's best to have it stamped with your official seal. By the way, give me your son."

Send them to me as hostages!"

Yuan Hongyan narrowed his eyes, "What if I don't want to."

Xu Xian slowly pulled out the horizontal knife from his waist, "You have no choice!"

Either die now, or get stuck. As long as you are not blinded by lard, you know which choice to make.

After another night of thinking, the regiment trainer of the Liao Kingdom finally made a decision and asked his confidants to pick up his second son from Jizhou. He was a young man of fifteen or sixteen years old, who looked roughly the same as Yuan Hongyan.

Similar, there is no need to do a paternity test at all.

Yuan Hongyan called his son aside and warned him for a while, and then brought him to Xu Xian, "From now on, Manager Xu will be your adoptive father. You must respect him well."

Before Xu Xian could refuse, Yuan Hongyan had already pressed his son down and knelt down in front of Xu Xian. The young man shouted: "My son meets his adoptive father!"

However, he had a fifteen or sixteen-year-old son in his early twenties, which was emotionally difficult to accept. However, he seemed to have no reason to refuse, otherwise it would appear to be insincere.

Xu Xian immediately gave him a jade ornament as a greeting gift. The adopted son recognized him and changed his surname to Xu, with the single word "Lang".

Xu Lang was very obedient, especially his father. He followed Yuan Hongyan's instructions before he left and was very filial to Xu Xian. This young man served Xu Xian three times a day and was extremely attentive to Xu Xian, and he never left Xu Xian.

From time to time, he would pull out half of the knife and yell at everyone who tried to get close to Xu Xian.

Xu Xian couldn't help but have the illusion that he was Yuan Hongyan's hostage. This feeling was very bad, so he simply threw him to the recruit camp and handed him over to Jiubao for training before Xu Xian was freed.

Jiedushi is not only a local military commander, but also an administrative chief. He is also responsible for the livelihood of the local people. Hearing that Xu Xian paid two months' salary to the soldiers of the Henghai Navy, local officials would harass him from time to time.

.

It turned out that Chen Yuan not only lost the air force pay, but also the officials' salaries. He could only make ends meet by getting paid every other month. He finally changed the military envoy, and he had to come to ask for it no matter what. Once he really wanted it,

It's on.

Qin'e, the governor of Cangzhou, had never smiled since he met Xu Xian. He looked like a mother-in-law who had died. If Xu Xian was still wearing single pants and hemp shoes in the winter, he probably wouldn't be able to smile.

"Don't be afraid of the chief manager's joke. The expenses of the governor's office have been cut off for two months. The servants are almost gone. As the head of a state, I can only ride a donkey when I go out for inspections. If there is no more money, the official's family may have to go without food.

Already."

"That's not true. Although the land in Cangzhou is thin, it is still a plain. We can always collect some food. The autumn harvest has not been long, have the taxes been used up?"

Qin E smiled bitterly and said: "I'm afraid the general manager doesn't know that the taxes from Henghai Town have been collected three years ago. However, all of them have not gone into the government treasury and have gone to the military government. The people are already poor and asked the officials how to apportion the taxes.

The expenses of the state and county are barely maintained by the occasional allocation from the military government!"

Xu Xian pounded the table angrily, "Chen Yuan is so hateful, why don't you go to court to impeach him!"

"Of course he was impeached by the lower officials. The memorial was handed over, but for some reason it ended up in Chen Yuan's hands, and he kept him in custody for three months for no reason."

"I forgot, he is Fu Yanqing's man, and he is very powerful in the court." Xu Xian muttered in his mind and asked, "How much money does Chen Yuan owe each state and county in total?"

Qin E hurriedly stretched out two fingers, "No more, no less, a total of 150,000 coins!"

Xu Xian waved his hand and said, "I don't think I asked you. There is nothing I can do. Governor Qin can go back."

Seeing Xu Xian was about to leave, Qin E quickly stepped forward and grabbed his sleeve, "I heard that Chen Yuan left a lot of money for the manager before he left. The manager will give us some."

Xu Xian sighed: "To tell you the truth, I was also deceived by that guy Chen Yuan. He didn't leave me much in the first place, and now he only has less than 20,000 guan."

"Twenty thousand guan is good, it can always solve the urgent need, otherwise the government offices in various states and counties will collapse. Moreover, if they force the money on the people and trigger a civil uprising, it will be troublesome."

"Twenty thousand guan can solve the urgent need, but what about next year?"

Qin E added: "I heard that the general manager has a rich family and must be proficient in making money. As long as the general manager outlines the regulations, the subordinates will give their full cooperation."

Seeing that his words were sincere, Xu Xian couldn't help but feel soft. He returned to his seat and thought for a long time and said: "The agricultural business in Henghai is not doing well, so we have to resort to sideways. I heard that the fishery here is not bad, so why not ask the fishermen to catch the fish and pickle them into salted fish?"

, purchased by the government and then sold to other places.”

Qin E asked back: "May I ask the manager whether he likes to eat cheap, fresh, live fish or expensive, smelly, salted fish?"

"It doesn't matter whether it's expensive or not, fresh fish is of course delicious."

"The manager also said so, where can I sell the salted fish? Besides, Henghai Town only has dried fish, not pickled salted fish."

"Why?"

Qin E spread his hands and said, "Salt is expensive!"

Xu Xian couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Are you kidding, Governor Qin? You guard the sea but say salt is expensive?"

He remembered that there was the largest Changlu Salt Farm in the Bohai Bay in later generations. It seemed to be in Cangzhou. Is it still there now? Xu Xian slapped his thigh and said, "How about cooking salt and selling it? This business is guaranteed to make a profit, Qin Governor

Just do it, I will definitely support you strongly."

Qin E smiled bitterly and said: "What the manager said was indeed a good idea, but he thought of the matter too simply. Sea salt is bitter and astringent. Rich people mostly eat field salt, and only poor people eat sea salt.

There are indeed people in Henghai who cook and sell salt. Even the bitter and astringent private salt cannot be bought by some people. In addition, Henghai is a small area and the population cannot consume much private salt. If the government intervenes, I am afraid that the sales will be even less.

, the people suffered so much that they didn’t have much income.”

"Why not sell it to other places..." Xu Xian swallowed it before he could finish his words. Societies as developed in later generations had extremely strict local protection for salt. How could it not be the case now? Even private salt dealers have to deal with it.

The government and the military collude and step in to steal other people's interests. How can the other party just let it go?

Qin E smiled and said: "The manager seems to understand the difficulty. This business of selling smuggled salt is against national law. It's okay not to do it."

Xu Xian suddenly laughed and said: "Ordinary private salt sales are indeed difficult, but if it is cheap, white and fine refined salt, it must be different."

It is not difficult to turn seawater into refined salt. You only need to add one more filtration process. If it doesn't work, use two. Just do it. The next day, Xu Xian took the household items prepared overnight to the beach. He asked people to follow the predetermined steps.

After setting the process flow, the filtered seawater quickly shrinks and condenses in the pot, turning into light blue salt blocks. Then break it into pieces and throw it into the hand-cranked stone mill. Turn the handle gently, and you will immediately have fine and snow-white salt.

Spill it out.

Qin E put his trembling hands on his tongue, smacked his lips vigorously, and said ecstatically: "This salt is neither bitter nor astringent. Except for a slight smell of sea, it is not the same as the 500 yuan per pound of refined salt on the market."

No difference. With such salt, those private salt dealers will come to Cangzhou to buy salt in the future."

He went to Xu Xian again and bowed solemnly, "Don't worry, manager, even if I kill someone with a knife, I won't tell anyone about your secret salt-making skills."

Xu Xian waved his hands indifferently and said: "I don't care that much. The salt tax is the most important financial source of the imperial court. Even if your Majesty understands the hardship of Henghai Town, it will be taken away in a year or two at most. But Henghai can finally have something."

A decent industry is not worth my tenure in Henghai."

Qin E bowed his hands to Xu Xian and said, "I will set up a monument to commemorate the kindness of the general manager, so that Henghai people will never forget it."

"Well! Just be willing!" Xu Xian patted Qin E on the shoulder, "Before the court takes it away, as long as you remember to send me half of your income, you will be considered worthy of my kindness. As for setting up monuments and legends, forget it.

.”
To be continued...