Chang'an City was shrouded in wind and rain, the sky was gloomy, and there were lightning and thunder from time to time in the dark clouds.
The wide streets were deserted, deserted and empty.
"drive--"
A man and a horse galloped over, with three letter flags behind them.
Horses are not allowed to ride in Chang'an City. The patrolling imperial army heard the sound and rushed over. Seeing the signal flag, they quickly stopped to get out of the way. The war horse staggered and fell. The messenger on the horse was thrown away. He let out a exclamation and fell heavily to the ground.
, rolled twice and started wailing.
An officer of the Forbidden Army came forward and asked, "Brother, it doesn't matter whether you speak or not."
"Quickly, send me to see the Holy One." The other party shouted weakly.
When the officer saw that the courier was seriously injured and could no longer run, but the courier had a heavy responsibility, he gritted his teeth, picked him up and put him on the horse, and led the horse forward in a hurry.
Not long after, the group arrived at the gate of the imperial city, and some guards from the Forbidden Army stepped forward to stop them.
The officer stepped forward and said: "Brother, this is the messenger, send him in quickly."
The messenger was picked up by the imperial guard and quickly sent into the imperial city. He was led by the chamberlain to the Manna Hall.
Li Er was reviewing the memorial. When he heard that a messenger was coming, his face changed slightly, and he hurriedly asked someone to come in. When he saw that the messenger was wet, his face was haggard and weak, and he didn't have much breath left. He had obviously run a long distance, so he got up quickly.
Go forward.
The messenger took out a letter from his arms with difficulty and fainted.
Li Er took the letter and told Wang De: "Quickly, send the imperial doctor to rescue him."
Being a messenger is a high-risk profession, but it is also a respectable profession.
Wang De knew the importance, so he quickly agreed and called several people in the country to take the person away.
Li Er saw that the seal on the letter was intact and had not been opened, so he quickly opened it, took out the letter and read ten lines. His face instantly became gloomy, and his eyes were filled with anger. After reading it, he became furious and cursed: "You bastard, damn it, forgive me."
Not you."
The servants who were left as scouts in the main hall were as silent as a cicada and did not dare to move. However, the daily assistant quickly recorded Li Er's anger, which will be archived and preserved in the future.
"Here comes Xuan Fang Xuan Ling." Li Er roared, angrily returned to the imperial desk and sat down, motionless, with a terrifyingly gloomy face.
After waiting for a while, Fang Xuanling hurried over: "Your Majesty!"
Li Er waved his hand to show that there was no need to be polite, and said in a cold voice: "Qibi Sili sent someone to send urgent military information, saying that there was news from the front line that a large number of pirates were looting Chuzhou, Haizhou, and Yizhou, old people, young people
They were all beheaded, the women and children were all kidnapped, and they fled to the sea. Ten houses were empty, and the coastal cities and villages were reduced to ashes by fire. The crimes were too numerous to describe. Would you like to go to the three places to check?"
"What?"
Fang Xuanling was taken aback, and immediately became furious and shouted: "The Japanese pirates have bullied people too much. You will kill them. I suggest that Qibi Sili divide his troops and go to three places to check and preside over disaster relief. Chuzhou, Haizhou and Yizhou
Guarded by government soldiers, the pirates were able to capture them one after another, which required a huge force. It can be seen that the pirates jumped over the wall in a hurry, concentrated their forces to fight, and after winning, they retreated and escaped into the sea."
"You mean, there are no pirates causing trouble in the Jiangnan area?" Li Er asked. He also had this judgment in his mind, but he didn't have enough evidence to be sure.
Fang Xuanling's eyes were cold and terrifying. Three states were burned and no one knew how many people were killed. This hatred was irreconcilable. He said coldly: "The Japanese pirates know that the imperial reinforcements are dispatched and they will be defeated if they fight for a long time. They will make a last ditch effort, but they are not strong enough."
It is absolutely impossible to conquer three states in a row. We can only concentrate our troops in one battle, plunder and then leave. When we reach the sea, the court has no choice but to make great efforts to build sea ships and train the navy to prepare for the future."
"The navy is indeed necessary. I have thought about it. Once all the pirates escape to the sea, they will be difficult to hunt down. Half of the problem in Jiangnan has been solved. The rest is to provide disaster relief and care for the place. My dear, I have been more worried recently. It is best to organize the transportation of a batch of grain and grass.
Go over there." Li Er warned.
"According to the order!" Fang Xuanling solemnly agreed. His mind was filled with the killings and hatred caused by the Japanese pirates. There were tens of thousands of people in the three states. Now they were either killed or robbed and turned into slaves. Women can give birth.
As time goes by, won’t there be more and more islands?
Thinking of this, Fang Xuanling suggested again: "Your Majesty, the islands have kidnapped women, children and women, and the number will soon be even greater. The imperial court has no power to fight at sea, and pirates may invade again at any time. There will be no peace along the coast. Ships,
It is imperative for the navy to move, and it must be done as soon as possible.”
"I will consider it and prepare food and fodder." Li Er waved his hand and asked Fang Xuanling to come over mainly because of the food and fodder matter. Military power Li Er did not want to give it away to anyone easily.
Fang Xuanling saw Li Er's thoughts, sighed secretly, said goodbye and left.
"Sailor?"
Li Er asked his chamberlain to bring over the map, and his eyes fell on the three places of Chuzhou, Haizhou and Yizhou near the sea. He was thinking about who would be the suitable commander of the navy. Suddenly, Li Er thought of another question and suddenly felt chills all over his body.
, his pupils shrank, and an unprecedented sense of tension surged into his heart.
I had never been so nervous when I led the Xuanjia Army as the vanguard and charged into a formation of 100,000 enemy troops.
"Haizhou, Chuzhou, Yizhou, Yan?"
Li Er looked at the three places, murmured to himself, and shouted unwillingly: "Come here!"
Someone immediately came forward to accept the promise.
"Go and check, are Haizhou, Chuzhou and Yizhou the places where salt is produced? Go quickly."
The chamberlain felt Li Er's anxiety and anger, so he quickly agreed and left in a hurry.
Li Er fell down on the dragon couch, his eyes fixed on the three places on the map without blinking, his whole body was trembling.
Not long after, the chamberlain hurried over and said, "Your Majesty, we have found out that the three states are the main production areas of our sea salt, and Yangzhou is the remaining one."
"Asshole!"
Li Er was so angry that he kicked the imperial case over and scattered the memorials on the floor. Everyone in the hall was so frightened that they did not dare to move and even held their breath for fear of getting into trouble. But Li Er was full of anger.
Still caring about the people around him, his eyes turned red and he rushed to the map.
Three places in Haizhou were destroyed, and ten houses and ten houses were empty, which meant that the salt fields would also be destroyed. All the craftsmen who knew how to make salt were killed. No sea salt would be produced for a long time. The remaining Yangzhou area would be enough for even Jiangnan.
No, there can't be any surplus. What should Chang'an do?
Without salt, there will be chaos!
There are only three kinds of salt in the world, sea salt, green salt and rock salt, also called well salt. Sea salt is gone, rock salt is only available in the southwest, and the remaining green salt is in the Longyou area. The production is also limited, and it is insufficient. It is also unable to support Chang'an. It is powerless.
Feelings welled up in my heart.
If the imperial court still had the 100,000 stones of rock salt, it would be a relief to some extent. Now it is all gone. Even the Chang'an salt merchants' stocks were sold short under their own instructions. The common people have some at home and can survive for a while, but what about the others?
?What happens over time?
"Lord Protector?"
A name flashed through his mind, and Li Er's expression suddenly relaxed. There was still a lot of salt in the Duke Protector's Mansion. Just bring it to relieve some relief.
Soon, Li Er's face froze, thinking that the relationship between the two was currently tense, and thoughts flashed through his mind.
"Failed!"
"I am still defeated!"
"In terms of how to help the people, I am actually inferior to a weakling!"
At this moment, Li Er murmured to himself, his face full of shame, distress and helplessness. Once upon a time, the king and his ministers were as close as father and son. They cooperated with each other tacitly and trusted each other. They joined hands to expand the territory and conquered pieces of land. The three emperors made great achievements and made history.
He left his name, but now he has become an enemy.
Li Er thought that it was caused by suspicion and that the fault was his own, but he did not regret it. For the replacement of imperial power and for the sake of the Li family, some things had to be done. The only thing to blame was that the other party was too good.
"Salt, you must get it!"
An idea emerged and soon became firm. It would be unfavorable for me to break up now and it was not advisable. Then I would buy that batch at a high price. The court could not be in chaos, nor could the people's hearts be in chaos.
"Someone is coming!"
Wang De quickly agreed.
"Go there in person and ask the Lord Protector under what conditions the salt in his hands can be sold to the court."
"Ah... I obey."
Wang De was a little confused, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions and hurried away.
More than half an hour later, Wang De arrived at Qinjiazhuang and was led up to the courtyard on the top of the mountain.
Qin Huaidao met him in the study. Wang De was a close attendant of Li Er. Coming here meant that Li Er was submissive, but his sincerity was unknown. Qin Huaidao poured tea for Wang De and asked with a smile: "It's rare for Wang De to come here. Let's go."
It’s just the right time to bring next month’s dividends.”
Wang De hurriedly said: "This time I am not here to pay dividends. I am here to ask the Lord Protector for the conditions under which he can sell the salt in his hands to the court."
"The imperial court wants to buy salt, shouldn't it? The floods in the south of the Yangtze River will be calmed down in a short time, and a large amount of sea salt will be sent to Chang'an. Isn't it needed?" Qin Huaidao asked curiously.
Wang De looked around, and after making sure there was no one else, he whispered: "Duke Protector, you don't count me as an outsider. Let's be honest. The imperial court just received an emergency military report. Haizhou, Chuzhou and Yizhou were attacked by islands.
They looted one after another, the city was burned, the elderly were killed, the women and children were kidnapped, and all the houses were empty."
"Is this burning them all, robbing them all, killing them all?"
Qin Huaidao was startled, and then his face turned livid, with endless anger beating in his eyes. He also understood why Li Er wanted to buy this batch of salt in his hand. Sanzhou was an important salt-producing town, but now it was destroyed, and no sea salt came in in a short period of time.
Chang'an was about to be in chaos, so he couldn't help but ask: "Where are the pirates?"
"Escape to the depths of the sea."
"If you run away after robbing, won't the court pursue you?"
"The imperial navy cannot fight at sea."
Qin Huaidao understood, and looked out the window in deep thought, his eyes cold and stern.