At the beginning, King Yong Li Lin led an army of 100,000 to move eastward with high spirits, trying to swallow up Jiangdong and Huainan. It went well at first, but once the court started to exert its strength, he failed. After several defeats, he only had 50,000 troops left.
, and morale was not high, and seeing destruction imminent, Li Ye suddenly came, giving Li Lin a glimmer of hope.
Counselor Xue Yu said: "Li Ye has always been cunning and cunning. Your Highness lacks a naval force. If he controls your Highness and provides benefits to the court, Your Highness must be on guard! I suggest that the prince go and talk to him."
Li Lin was relatively sober at this time. He sighed and said: "Now I am begging him to borrow the boat and use the passage. I must show my sincerity. I understand the military advisor's caution, but there are some things I have to go to even if there are risks.
"
Li Taiqing smiled and said: "What your Highness said makes sense, why not let Li Bai be the envoy to finalize the location and time of the interview for Your Highness, maybe he will give Li Bai some face."
"Okay, that rotten scholar has been drinking all day long, and it's of no use at all. He has a false reputation, so let him go."
Li Lin really disliked Li Bai and joined the army as a reporter. He thought the work was complicated and asked him to join the army as a Cangcao. He was confused again. He didn't even know how much food he had. He complained all day about not being reused and got drunk at every turn.
, which made the officials below also very disgusted. He wanted to be a counselor, but did he have the ability?
If it weren't for Li Bai's reputation, Li Lin would have kicked him away.
Not long after, some soldiers came for Li Bai. Fortunately, Li Bai was awake. He bowed and saluted: "See you, Your Highness!"
Li Lin smiled lightly and said: "Li Ye has come to Jiangnan. The fleet is anchored in Jiangning County, which is only more than a hundred miles away from me. He invited me to have an interview with him. I agreed, so I would like to ask Li Canjun to go to Jiangning County for me and meet him."
Li Ye will confirm the location and time of the interview."
Li Bai nodded, "I understand, I understand, so does Your Highness have any requirements on the place and time for the conversation?"
"The time is up to him, but I hope the location will be on the Fangshan River."
The reason why Li Lin asked to be placed on the Fangshan River is because there is a river there, leading to Danyang Lake in Xuanzhou. If the situation goes bad, he can quickly retreat from the river. He is just worried that Jiangbei Gaoshi and others are watching him.
Li Bai immediately said: "I will leave for Jiangning County now!"
Li Bai took a fast boat in the afternoon and arrived at Jiangning at noon the next day. A patrol ship stopped him. Li Bai explained the situation, and the patrol ship took him to the main ship.
Today is the third and last day of the treasure sale. Li Ye has sold 70% of the treasures, earning more than 10 million yuan, which is equivalent to the tax revenue of the Tang Dynasty for a year.
Of course, this is mainly due to the premium of gold and silver. Jade and other utensils cannot be sold for much money, and wealthy merchants mainly buy gold and silver.
When Li Bai arrived, the big tent was already being dismantled, and the remaining treasures were being packed into boxes to be sent to Suzhou and handed over to Wang Yuanbao's Wang's Jewelry Shop for sale.
At this time, Li Ye got the news of Li Bai's arrival. He specially got off the boat and accompanied Li Bai to visit the last dozen tents.
"This is also one of the purposes of my coming to Jiangnan. Selling treasures to raise military salary has been very effective. The hidden dragons and crouching tigers in Jiangnan are beyond my imagination."
Li Bai asked in confusion: "Your Highness's army is also a Tang army. Shouldn't the imperial court bear the military salary?"
Li Ye shook his head, "How can the imperial court still afford the military salary? The most they can afford is the military salary of the directly affiliated army. Now everyone raises their own military salary, including King Yong's army. Has the imperial court ever given him a penny of military salary?"
Li Bai pondered for a moment and said: "But the imperial court gave him all the taxes from the Jiangnan West Road, the Central Guizhou Road and the Lingnan Road. Otherwise, how could he afford to support an army of hundreds of thousands?"
"How many troops does King Yong have now?" Li Ye asked with a smile.
Li Bai sighed, "Your Highness, please don't embarrass me."
Li Ye nodded, "Actually, I also know that King Yong is at the end of his rope. Gao Shi and the others originally planned to launch an offensive this month. If I don't come, King Yong's army will be defeated."
Li Bai was in a very depressed mood and said after a while: "He has the ambition to conquer the world, but he does not have the ability to conquer the world. His defeat is inevitable."
Li Ye felt Li Bai's depression and asked again: "What did King Yong arrange for Mr. Yong to do?"
Li Bai sighed softly, "He thinks I'm a waste. I don't know anything. He even halved my salary and joined the army as a candidate. Maybe I'm not suitable for politics."
"If King Yong is defeated, will sir have a place to go?"
"Gao Shi asked me to go to his place, but I haven't thought about it yet."
Li Ye shook his head, "The court will definitely investigate. Gao Shi can't protect you, so why don't you go to my place? I'll find a position for you."
"what can I do?"
Li Ye smiled slightly, "I am born with talents that must be useful. In fact, you are talented, but King Yong doesn't believe in you. I think you are suitable for running a newspaper."
"Applying for a newspaper? What kind of newspaper?" Li Bai was confused.
"Mr. "Kaiyuan Miscellaneous News" should know it! It is run by the imperial court and sent to local officials to disseminate imperial news, appointments and dismissals, etc."
"Are you talking about the court briefing?"
Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "It is considered a court briefing, but the content can be more, such as comments on current affairs, literature and poetry. The position belongs to the staff officer, which is equivalent to the fifth grade. How about it?"
Li Bai was really tempted. This seemed to be something he liked to do, and his position was not low.
"Your Highness, let me consider it!"
"No hurry, let's talk about business!"
Li Bai regained his energy and said quickly: "King Yong agreed to meet with His Highness. He hopes that the meeting place will be on the Fangshan River. The time will be decided by His Highness."
Li Ye nodded, "The time is set at noon the day after tomorrow. I will wait for him in advance!"
After completing the sales mission in Jiangnan, Li Ye set off to return. Most of the treasures were delivered on site. The merchants came by boat, carrying a large amount of copper coins, and paid in Jiangning, then took the goods away.
Li Ye gave the remaining small portion of the treasure to Zhang Ping and asked him to complete the delivery, leaving him with a thousand soldiers and more than 30 thousand-stone ships.
Before dawn, the fleet set sail and left Jiangning. Before noon, Li Ye's fleet arrived on the Fangshan River, which was only fifty miles away from Jiangning and happened to be the junction of Runzhou and Xuanzhou.
About half an hour after the fleet arrived, a soldier came to report, "Your Highness, a fleet of a hundred small boats appeared on the river. After verification, it is the fleet of King Yong!"
Li Ye nodded, "Please come to me by boat, Your Highness Prince Yong!"
Not long after, a thousand-stone ship came slowly. This was the ship of Yong Wang Li Lin, and it was also his only thousand-stone ship. Looking at the huge thousand-stone warship, Li Lin's heart bleeds. He hated Liu so much.
Ju Lin treated him well and ranked him third among counselors, but he actually cooperated with the Tang army and betrayed him. Hundreds of large warships fell into Li Ye's hands without any effort.
But the situation is stronger than the man. Now he is about to be destroyed and has to bow his head in front of Li Ye.
Li Lin, accompanied by his staff Li Taiqing, boarded the ship. Li Ye stepped forward, cupped his fists and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness Yongwang, long time no see!"
The last time they wanted to meet, Li Ye came back from the river and presented three million gold coins to the emperor Li Longji. The Yongwang Li Lin accompanied Gao Lishi to meet Li Ye, and it was just a casual acquaintance.
Li Lin forced a smile and said: "People on the other side are probably watching with eager eyes, so why don't we keep the story short and finalize the plan as soon as possible!"
Li Ye knew that he could not save his face, so he smiled slightly and said: "Your Highness, please!"
The two came to the meeting room. Li Ye was accompanied by Liu Yan, and Li Lin was accompanied by Li Taiqing. In fact, the specific negotiation was held between Liu Yan and Li Taiqing. Li Ye and Li Lin sat together drinking tea and chatting.
Li Lin took a sip of tea, laughed dryly and said: "The treasures and artifacts His Royal Highness came to Jiangning to sell this time are all treasures from the Supreme Emperor's inner treasury!"
Li Ye said calmly: "To be precise, it should be the treasure in the inner treasury of Anlu Mountain. How dare I sell the Emperor's things?"
