The raindrops are flying densely in the sky, without the moon, the streets are particularly dark, and there are few pedestrians. Even cats and dogs that often come out to find food hide in a corner and sleep soundly. The cold and desolate spring night makes people reluctant to come out at home. The bright lights and warm smiles at home are the best destinations for people's hearts.

Li Qing's mansion was barely changed until the first update. It was closed with a heavy and exhausted "boom". This day, everyone was exhausted, and the lights were extinguished one after another, but the lights in the main room of the back house were still on.

The lights in the room were swaying, and the strong fragrance of medicine was filled with the fragrance of medicine. Li Qing and Yan'er were guarding the bed. Both of them stared at Xiaoyu in a drowsy mood in silence. She had woken up once in the evening, fell asleep again after drinking a bowl of medicine.

"Li Lang, did you think of this new salt method?" Lian'er suddenly asked after a long silence.

Li Qing didn't say anything. After a while, he slowly said, "What did you hear?"

Lian'er sighed and glanced at Xiaoyu and smiled bitterly, "It's okay to come to my house to make trouble. The streets are doing it. But I heard from Song Mei that the salt prices in the market have risen sharply, and it has increased more than three times overnight. The most expensive one has reached 150 cents per dou, and the rice price has also risen. Originally, 30 cents per dou, it has also risen to 60 cents or 70 cents. People in the streets and alleys are saying that this is the sin of Mr. Li of the Ministry of Revenue. I think, is there anyone else in this Mr. Li, surnamed Li of the Ministry of Revenue?"

"You are right. I have indeed implemented this new salt method, but it has not officially started. The price increase of salt rice in the market has nothing to do with me. It is all bad businessmen who take the opportunity to raise prices."

Li Qing sneered and said, "In fact, the earliest raw salt was only seven, eight cents per dou, and the top-quality salt was only ten cents, but in the end, it was sold for fifty cents, and in our Shazhou it was sold for eighty cents. Where did the profit in the middle go? It was not taken away by the salt merchants and the powerful."

He stepped forward and gently hugged his wife's shoulder and said softly: "My new salt method is to deprive these people of huge profits. The government bought it from the salt farm for ten cents, and then sold it to the small salt merchants for thirty cents. The deduction of the canal transportation, and the final salt price in the market was only six or seventy cents, which was not much different from now."

Lian'er looked up at her husband's face and said worriedly: "I know you are not an official who harms the people, but we also worked hard from the bottom. Have you forgotten the Liu County Magistrate of Yilong County? The fate of the people is still in these grassroots officials. You may be able to control the capital, but can you control those small counties?"

A trace of worry flashed in Li Qing's eyes. He touched his jaw with his hand, then turned into a firm attitude, clenched his fist with his right hand and hit the palm of his left hand, "If you can't control it, you have to control it! Curtain, don't look at the current singing and dancing, but this is actually a false prosperity. The prosperous era of Kaiyuan was the yellow flowers yesterday. After Tianbao, more and more farmers lost land, and their wealth was taken away by those in power. The poor are poorer, the rich are richer, and the people have no way to survive, so they can only sell themselves as slaves. Just say, King Qing, he has tens of thousands of slaves, but he is not satisfied, selling private salt and hoarding food. These borers will sooner or later emptied the foundation of the country. In the long run, how can the ambition not see the opportunity and cause chaos? I started with the salt administration, just to accumulate a financial foundation for the next step of reform. As long as I have money in my hands, I can achieve twice the result with half the effort."

The curtain seemed to understand, she looked up at Li Qing blankly, and suddenly hugged her husband's waist, her head tightly against his chest, and said excitedly: "I don't care if the price of salt is too high, but you are my husband. I just worry that you offend those powerful people. They will definitely attack you. If you have a few shortcomings, what will happen to me and my child!"

Li Qing hugged his wife tightly, smiled and comforted her, "Don't worry! I'm not easy to mess with. I dare to kill Tubo Zanpu, are you afraid of those shit King Qing and King Yong? If I really annoyed me, I will even deal with them. At worst, we can go back to the Western Regions, and there is another day there!"

The next day, at dawn, Li Qing got up early and went to the imperial city. There were military patrols all the way, and the atmosphere was quite tense. Li Qing asked several people repeatedly, but he didn't know why.

Since Li Longji moved to Xingqing Palace, the daily morning court has gradually been abandoned. It was first three days a day, and then changed to five days. After the Lantern Festival, there was no morning court again, but the great court and foreign envoys could barely maintain it.

Every morning, officials from various departments, temples and prisons went to the office to complete their respective tasks, while the prime ministers went to the Xingqing Palace Political Affairs Hall to discuss some military and national affairs with Li Longji.

The place Li Qing is going to now is not the Ministry of Revenue, but to the Ministry of Personnel. He has a lot of things to do, to stabilize the price of salt, implement the salt method, and take over the salt source. However, tracing the source, the most urgent task is to form a salt and iron envoy. Without anyone, he can't do anything. On the list given to him by Di Wuqi yesterday, many people needed to cross-departmental calls, which all needed to pass through the Ministry of Personnel.

"Ha! I knew Yangming would come to me today."

Yang Shenjin saw Li Qing all the time and greeted him with a smile. He took Li Qing's hand, looked him up and down, and kept chanting: "It's okay! It didn't hurt the human body."

Li Qingwei was stunned, "What, do you already know what happened yesterday?"

Yang Shenjin stroked his beard and smiled slightly, saying, "Although Chang'an has a vast city, this kind of thing has spread the fastest. I heard that the censor was preparing to impeach you to commit crimes in the street and arrest people randomly. I'm afraid the emperor will ask you about this matter in a while."

"How did Brother Shen Jin know that the emperor wants to see me?"

Yang Shenjin looked up at the sky, looked at Li Qing and smiled and said, "I guess you haven't gone to the Ministry of Revenue yet! Xingqing Palace has issued an order. In the morning, the ministers of each department and the above must go to Xingqing Palace to attend an emergency meeting. I am about to set off, so why not go together."

The two got on Yang Shenjin's carriage. The coachman swung the whip and the carriage quickly started and left southward.

"Is the emperor's emergency meeting a surge in the price of salt and grain in the market?" Li Qing, who had been silent in the carriage, suddenly asked.

Yang Shenjin nodded in a serious manner, "I heard that it was just for this matter. Yesterday, several grain shops were robbed by the rioters. Even Wannian County and the county government was hit and half were burned. The emperor was furious and ordered Xing's troops, Dali Temple, and the Grand Third Department of the Censorate to try the case."

Speaking of this, Yang Shenjin looked at Li Qing with a slant, and smiled faintly: "I'm afraid Yangming will become the one who everyone pays attention to again today."

The political affairs hall of Xingqing Palace was in a state of solemnity. Dozens of important officials from the Tang Dynasty gathered together to wait for His Majesty’s lecture. The grain robbery incident that occurred in the capital yesterday was small, but it was the first time since Li Longji ascended the throne. It was of great significance. No wonder His Majesty was furious and investigated the case strictly.

Li Linfu sat in the upper head and was greeting Li Daofu, the new Minister of Works, but his eyes were coldly looking at Yang Shenjin who had just walked into the lobby. He came with Li Qing, but after entering the door, he went to greet Zhang Qiu Jianqiong, not himself. Recently, he also heard that Yang Shenjin and Zhang Qiu Jianqiong were very close. It was obvious that this person wanted to change the party. Li Linfu said 'hum!', don't he know what the end of betraying himself?

Li Daofu got up, slowly walked to Li Qing, walked around him for a while, and suddenly smiled at the sky, "Life experience is so wonderful. Master Li, are you safe?"

Li Qing also laughed, with a smile, stared at him and said coldly: "What should I call you? Li Shangshu, Li Governor Li or Sima, it is not easy to turn over. If you take another wrong step, you will probably never be reborn. Li Shangshu must be careful."

"Hmph! I, an ignorant child, are really no one in the Tang Dynasty!"

Li Qing was not annoyed, glanced at him and smiled faintly, "Shu Li, do you mean that the emperor is stupid and does not know how to recognize people?"

Li Daofu was so shocked that his face turned pale. Seeing that there was no one around, he whispered in a hurry: "Nonsense! When will I say this? Don't swear at someone!"

At this time, a crisp bell rang, and a long shout from the prison in the hall, "His Majesty the Emperor is here!"

Everyone stopped talking and stood up. For a moment, Li Longji's face was as deep as water. He walked over with dozens of eunuchs and palace maids, sat upright on the dragon throne, and the officials knelt down and shouted long live.

"Forget it, let's take the seat to discuss the matter!"

All the ministers stood up and returned to their positions. Li Longji coughed gently and said in a heavy tone: "I have been ascending the throne for thirty-five years and have always been peaceful and peaceful. However, yesterday there was an incident of hungry people robbing grain, which really shocked me. Since ancient times, hungry people robbing grain has been a sign of the decline of the country, which made me very ashamed."

He glanced at everyone with a sharp look, stopped at Jingzhao Yin Li Xian, and said coldly: "You will explain what happened yesterday first!"

Although he did not name the name, Jingzhao Yin Li Xian knew that the emperor was looking for him. He hurriedly bowed his head and hurriedly stepped out, bowing to Li Longji and saying: "When you say to your Majesty, yesterday's riots in Chang'an were mainly concentrated in Xinghuafang and Xishi. Five grain shops and silk shops were robbed."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Longji interrupted him impatiently, "I am asking about the root of the riot, not about your losses."

"Yes!" Li Xian glanced at Li Qing secretly and said slowly: "The cause of this incident was the sudden introduction of the new salt law, which caused panic among the people, and they hoarded salt, which continued to affect the rice prices, causing the rice prices to rise, and finally triggered the grain grabbing incident. I have sent a note to Jianghuai, demanding that the grain be transferred to Beijing urgently to calm the rice prices."

"Drift the rice from Jianghuai? You can think of it!"

Li Longji snorted heavily, "Even if the rice from Jianghuai reaches Beijing, it will take twenty days to transport the grain. Can the situation be calmed down? I sent my decree to order Taicang to quickly release 500,000 stones of grain to calm the price of rice in the capital."

The Minister of Taifu Temple immediately received an order to handle the matter of releasing grain without mentioning it.

"As for you."

Li Longji said coldly to Li Xian: "The new salt law will inevitably fluctuate, but you are not prepared at all, so that this disaster will occur and you will be punished. You are now transferred to Changsha Governor, and the position of Jingzhao Yin will be taken over by the Young Yin Yang Guozhong."

Li Xian knelt down and kowtowed, thanking him sadly: "I know my crime, thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"

The emperor's sudden appointment made all officials unable to believe their ears. Yang Guozhong, who had only been in Beijing for a year, was promoted from a small Jinwu Guard to a third-rank Jingzhao Yin. It seemed that the emperor's obsession with the imperial concubine was no longer ordinary. Li Linfu couldn't help but flash a hint of jealousy, and at the same time he was a little vigilant.

Yang Guozhong behind him was ecstatic. Jingzhao Yin was a third-rank official. In other words, he finally surpassed Li Qing and became a full-time official in a real-power department. He knelt softly on his knees and almost crawled over. He kowtowed repeatedly and said, "I thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"

Li Longji waved his hand gently and ordered him to join the list. His eyes slanted and fell on Li Qing. The root of the riot still fell on the Salt Administration, which Li Qing could not solve.

"I don't know how the implementation of Shilang Li's new salt law is progressing?"

Li Qing strode out of the court and bowed his body and said, "When you say that, the founding minister of the Salt and Iron Envoy has already seen it."

He took out the list from his arms and handed it over and said, "If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools. I think that people are the most important. This is the list of personnel drafted by me. Please give your Majesty the approval."

An eunuch came forward to take it and handed it over to Li Longji. He just flipped it over and signed it on it, and handed it to Yang Shenjin and said, "I have approved this matter, and the Ministry of Personnel will immediately apply for a transfer order."

He looked at Li Qing again and continued, "Then do you have any difficulties that I need to solve for you?"

"When you reply to your Majesty's question, what I am most worried about is the local lip service, taking advantage of the loopholes in the salt law, and taking advantage of the situation or taking the opportunity to end your personal pocket."

Li Qing's meaning was very obvious, and he wanted Li Longji to solve the local implementation problems for him. At this time, when the Shangshu Right Master Chen Xilie saw that the emperor obeyed Li Qingyan, he could no longer help but wink at Li Linfu and asked him to stop him. Unexpectedly, Li Linfu seemed to turn a blind eye to him. After being a powerful prime minister for more than ten years, Li Linfu naturally knew what could be opposed and what could not be opposed, and he felt like a mirror in his heart.

He knew that Li Longji supported Li Qing like this because the treasury was empty and the emperor was eager to ask for money. If he rashly opposed it, it would inevitably cause Li Longji to be dissatisfied with him, and it would not be worth the gain. He would not be so stupid!

"Your Majesty, I have something to say!" Chen Xilie told Li Linfu not to move, and he could no longer help but go out to oppose it.

"I think the most urgent task now is to solve the crisis in Chang'an, not the local area, so I suggest sending troops first, checking out the salt and grain inventory of major shops in Chang'an, and selling it at a price limit."

Li Qing was most disgusted by this person. He thought he was experienced and was just a stinking air. He took his words and said in a deep voice, "It is OK to find out the situation, but the military officials opposed it. Although it works quickly, its sequelae are serious. In the future, the people will not trust the court."

"What should you do according to your opinion?" Chen Xilie stared at Li Qing and asked back.

Li Qing sneered and replied: "The skyrocketing salt and rice prices in Chang'an is nothing more than a bad merchant who stocks up goods. It is easy to calm it down. I just need to see Jianchang close the positions. If they don't sell them, I will sell them. There is a low-priced salt and rice that is often closed. No matter how much he stocks up, it will be useless. So the key is to implement it locally."

Li Longji nodded, staring at Chen Xilie and said sternly: "Chen Pushe, you don't need to talk too much about this matter. Local governments do need supervision and implementation. The new salt law can be implemented. Li Daofu, Minister of Works, Cui Qiao, Minister of Dali Temple, Zhang Yi, Chief Censor of the Censor, and Wei Jiansu, Left Minister of Revenue."
Chapter completed!