Xiaoqian glanced at Doudou teasingly, put her hands on her hips and asked:
"Would you like me to go home with you?"
Doudou nodded without thinking, "Of course, I can only dream about it."
Hearing this, Xiaoqian grinned, turned around and said to Su Muer:
"My mother agreed that I should stay with you for a while. I heard that there is a sea there. Doudou, would you like to take me to the beach from time to time?"
"Okay, I can take you to catch crabs, sea cucumbers, and shells..."
When Xiaoqian heard this, she was even more happy and couldn't wait to get on her way.
Doudou also echoed, "Then let's get on the road now."
His happy state was completely different from his previous appearance.
In this way, Su Muer and his party happily set out on their way soon.
In the blink of an eye, it's five years later.
After these five years, Linhai Village has become Linhai City. A large number of houses have been built here, and the facades entering the city are no different from other cities.
The salt farm in Linhai City has also become famous in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and their business is getting bigger and bigger. Not only has it formed a relatively stable business relationship with the Guning Kingdom, but also some salt traders from the Eastern Jin Dynasty also come to her to buy salt.
This also caused the court to be full of resentment towards her behavior of collecting salt.
The seaside in the early morning was a busy scene. Su Muer stood on the seaside with her hands behind her back and her heart suddenly felt a little melancholy.
Now that she had saved enough money and was recruiting troops one after another, Ye Shihan didn't have to do anything else, but he had to help her train these people, otherwise she would directly drive him away.
But she was hesitant at this time. Raising an army to rebel was not a trivial matter. If it succeeded, it would be fine, but if it failed, it would probably affect the people in the city and the peaceful life she had worked so hard to build.
So she didn't know what to do and had been wandering back and forth by the beach these days.
"Mother..."
Doudou's voice came from not far away. He had grown taller and bigger. At first glance, he looked like a big boy.
Su Muer only feels good when she sees him.
"What's wrong?" She ran toward him in the direction he was running from.
"Mom, why are you here again? Uncle Wu is looking for you."
"Does he have anything to do with me?"
Doudou shook his head, "I don't know, but he seems to be in a hurry. Go and have a look."
After hearing what Doudou said, she didn't dare to neglect and hurriedly walked towards the city.
There were people guarding the gates of Linhai City. All this was arranged by Ye Shihan. Although she felt that Ye Shihan's arrangement was a bit redundant, she did not interfere much. She named him personally, the Great Master of Linhai City.
Woolen cloth.
As soon as she arrived at the city gate, the gatekeepers greeted her one after another.
"Hello Miss Water."
"Hello Miss Water."
She nodded and signaled, without any time to stop, she hurriedly headed towards Linhai City's largest meeting hall.
When the house was being built here, she specially ordered it to be built, mainly to make it more convenient for everyone to discuss matters here.
At this time, Uncle Wu was clapping his hands and pacing back and forth in the room.
Su Muer walked over quickly and asked puzzledly:
"Uncle Wu, why did you call me here?"
When Uncle Wu turned around and saw her, he hurriedly welcomed her and sat down as if he was seeing a savior.
After Su Muer sat firmly, Uncle Wu sat down beside her and said incoherently:
"I heard that the imperial court issued a ban prohibiting people from collecting salt privately. Why do I feel that we are the only ones who did such a big business in salt mining in the Eastern Jin Dynasty? Is this ban imposed on us?"
Hearing this, Su Muer frowned. The court finally couldn't sit still and was about to take cruel measures.
She sat with her hands clenched in fists, pondered for a moment, and asked eagerly:
"Does the ban say what will happen if mining is forced?"
"If... it is taken by force, the imperial court will send troops to seize it forcibly on the charge of treason, and... everyone will be punished for the crime of deceiving the emperor, their homes will be ransacked, and they will be beheaded."
Hearing this, Su Muer's heart trembled, and then she asked again:
"Then what will happen if we don't do it now?"
Uncle Wu raised his hand and touched his beard, and said solemnly:
"The notice says that if you are willing to pay the court the income you earned from mining salt over the years, and plead guilty, you will be sent to the frontier at most...at most."
Distribution again?
Su Mu'er suddenly sneered, "The court's ban is really implemented in one step. Whether you admit it or not, the result will be the same."
Wu Shujin looked at her indifferently and asked tentatively:
"What do you think?"
Su Muer's eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp look, she suddenly slapped her fist on the table and said bitterly:
"In the past few days, I have been thinking about whether we should continue to live a peaceful life like this. Now it seems that this kind of tranquility will not last long, so we should make preparations early."
"you mean?"
"Uncle Wu, go quickly and ask everyone to come to the meeting hall to discuss matters. Call Doudou and Ye Shihan together."
When Uncle Wu heard this, he didn't dare to neglect and ran out in a hurry.
After a while, the meeting hall was filled with people. Among these people, there were people who collected salt, dried salt, delivered salt, dried sea cucumbers, and picked seafood.
, anyway, they are all small bosses in various major places, and they have a lot of people under their hands.
Su Muer glanced at everyone, gritted her teeth and said:
"Everyone, our place has changed from Linhai Village to Linhai City. Our business has spread all over the Eastern Jin Dynasty and neighboring countries. This has also made the court dissatisfied with us. Now the court wants to order us to stop the business of selling salt and hand over these years of selling salt.
What do you think about the salt income?"
Biaozi was the first to speak angrily when he heard this. He shook his arms and said bitterly:
"Isn't this bullying? The imperial court has never said that salt mining is not allowed, nor does it say that selling salt is not allowed. Why is it issuing a ban now?"
Someone else shouted on the side:
"It must be because our business has grown bigger and stronger, and the court has become jealous. This dog emperor deserves to die."
When it came to the Dog Emperor, Su Muer glanced at Ye Shihan specifically, but he did not speak.
Because now he has no feelings for the emperor. His mother-in-law was critically ill two years ago, and he received an urgent letter from Bai Chen asking him to go back and take a look.
But when he arrived at the gate of the city, Bai Chen told him that the concubine had passed away. He wanted to see his mother off on her last journey, but was stopped by Bai Chen.
Bai Chen said that when the emperor put down his words, if Ye Shihan dared to step into the city gate, he would be shot to death with random arrows. Bai Chen was afraid that he would break in and cause big trouble, so he waited for him at the city gate for three days and three nights.
Thinking that I could stop him in time to avoid making a big mistake.
Even so, Ye Shihan still didn't listen to Bai Chen's words and insisted on going to the city to attend the funeral for his mother, so the bow and arrow at the city gate really shot at him. That time, he was injured, seriously. If it weren't for Bai Chen, he would have died.
He was sent elsewhere to recuperate, and by this time he was already dead.
Since then, his whole person has changed, and he has devoted himself to training these men, teaching them martial arts, and teaching them how to attack the enemy.
Su Mu'er knew that he must be heartbroken. She tried to talk to him, but he kept silent about it. And after he recovered from that injury, he was no longer the one who followed her all day long and wanted to talk to her.
The man she begged for peace with.
He became depressed, brooding and silent.
Just as everyone was muttering to each other, Ye Shihan suddenly stood up and said with a cold look in his eyes:
"I have already seen the notice. No matter what we do now, the final result will be the same. The emperor has already determined that we are the ones who intend to rebel, so instead of sitting back and waiting for death, it is better to send troops south, go straight to the emperor's lair, and kill him
I was caught off guard."
His words shocked everyone present, including Su Muer.
Although she knew that he hated the emperor in his heart, she didn't expect that he would hate him so strongly.
Everyone was silent for a while, and suddenly someone shouted:
"Master Ye is right, the imperial court will not let us live, and we will not make it easy for the imperial court."
"Yes, the imperial court wants to force us to death. We have managed to live a stable life for a few days, but they are going to force us to do so. Instead of doing this, it is better to face the difficulties."
Seeing everyone's indignation, Su Mu'er glanced at everyone and then said:
"This matter cannot be taken too hastily. Our current troops and weapons are not enough to fight against the imperial court, so we must prepare strategies to deal with the enemy and wait for the opportunity to act when the time comes."
Seeing that no one in the crowd disturbed her, she continued:
"Starting tomorrow, extra manpower will be deployed in the capital to keep an eye on the movements of the imperial court. In addition, camps will be set up within a hundred miles from Linhai City. If there is any movement from the imperial court, we can be informed in time. All people who know blacksmiths and carpenters will be gathered together.
, I have something important to explain later."
Everyone nodded after hearing this, and she looked at Ye Shihan again,
"Master Ye, you and Biaozi have worked hard these days to recruit troops from various places. The money has doubled compared to before. If anyone is willing, the whole family can move to Linhai City."
Ye Shihan nodded with a lonely expression.
She looked at Uncle Wu again and said:
"Uncle Wu, in the afternoon you take Doudou and a few brothers to the blacksmith shops in the city to purchase several sets of blacksmithing equipment at high prices. Then you go to various places to buy and sell iron tools in large quantities. When you come back, we will make weapons."
Uncle Wu hurriedly replied: "Okay."
She looked at Xiao Yuanyuan again, "Yuanyuan, you have to lead the old and weak women and children to take good care of the fields we farm. No matter what, the food and grass in the rear cannot be cut off."
"I understand, don't worry."
After arranging all this, she felt her head hurt a little, so she waved her hand directly,
"Everyone, go get busy."
After hearing this, everyone retreated, and only Ye Shihan sat still.
When Su Muer looked up and saw him, her face showed confusion.
"Master Ye, is there anything else?"
Ye Shihan nodded, "It's okay. I know what you are thinking. You want to defend the city and expand your strength first, but I don't want to wait any longer. Next month will be the third anniversary of my mother's death. I want to go back and burn incense for her.