In the afternoon, the selection of the pro-guard team was completely completed.

The personnel in various positions were selected through the martial arts competition, and the guards were also convinced.

"Zhang Sancai, Liu Dali."

Li Ke stood up from the chair and moved his muscles.

"The subordinates are here!"

looked at the end of the competition regretfully, and when they heard Li Ke's call, the two of them hurriedly bowed their heads in response.

"Let's investigate, around Yizhou City, where is there a salt farm, are you willing to sell it?"

"Yes! Rajah. ”

The two took the order and left.

On the day of the day, after Li Ke finished washing, Zhang Sancai and Liu Dali came in to tell them about the salt works they had explored yesterday.

"Lord Wang, Liu Dali and I ran all the salt farms nearby, none of them wanted to sell, and these salt farms were all controlled by the Xue clan in Hedong, if Your Highness wants to get them, I'm afraid you can't!"

Li Ke stood up, held his forehead, and kept walking back and forth, Yizhou does not rely on the sea, and wants to make sea salt, but it is also difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice.

Could it be that he only bragged about it yesterday, and he will let it be destroyed today.

No, once it is shattered, his prestige among the guards will definitely plummet.

Before that, all his efforts were in vain, and it seems that he will be able to meet this Hedong Xue clan for a while.

Li Ke even thought about snatching the salt farm, but thinking of his current strength, he still gave up.

If you want to destroy the Xue clan in Hedong, you have to destroy the army in Yizhou, like the current guard battalion, after reform, after it is completely in your own hands, so as not to cut the grass without eradicating the roots, and end up in a foreign land.

The Xue family in Hedong, the family of Xue Rengui, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, also wanted to meet this folk legend to see if he could receive his subordinates.

Thinking of this, Li Ke immediately repaired a letter and wrote: "This king heard that among the Xue clan in Hedong, there are many talented people who are rich in five cars and talented in eight buckets, and they want to see their demeanor, so they want to visit in person, but this king first came to Yizhou, and he was busy with military affairs and couldn't leave him. This king is in Cao Ying's heart in Han, I want to witness the demeanor of the Xue family in Hedong, and this king has something important to discuss with Mr. Xue, the head of the Xue family in Hedong, hereby inform the old man Xue Zhiyong, bothering him to work tirelessly, come to the palace of this king, this king will sweep the bed to welcome, and treat each other honestly. ”

For the sake of this salt industry plan, Li Ke did not hesitate to pat the sycophants of the Xue family in Hedong.

Send Zhang Sancai to send it to the Xue family in Hedong quickly, and ask him to find a young man named Xue Rengui in Hedong.

Far water can't quench the thirst of the near, and now Li Ke is in urgent need of money, so he asked Liu Dali to find Liu Erkui, the commander of the first company.

Let him arrange two queues to buy all the salt in Yizhou and check the situation of all the salt wells in Yizhou.

Arrange a queue, obey Liu Dali's command, make a device and venue for making fine salt, and teach this queue how to make fine salt.

In the past few days, due to Li Ke's vigorous purchase of salt, there was a shortage of salt in Yizhou County, and the price of salt began to rise.

Li Ke took out the fine salt and sold it in time, but he didn't expect the fine salt to be sold for fifty yuan a catty, and it was frantically snapped up by the local gentry.

In an instant, Li Ke's pockets bulged, and Li Ke, who had a lot of money, began to plan the next tasks.

His own guards still have to be trained, so Li Ke first had to recruit troops and hire a large number of manpower.

From buying, production, and selling, we employ the common people of the neighborhood uniformly, and the poor people who are strong give priority, and each laborer is always paid every month.

Under the command of the pro-guard team, it took nearly half a month for the recruited personnel to master the process of making salt.

Li Ke, who had recovered his strength, sent someone to send two carts to Li Er, and the salt he made set off at the same time as the caravan he transported to the capital to sell salt.

At the same time, Hou Peiyu's recital also set off to Chang'an City, participating in the role of the King of Shu ignoring the military and political affairs of Yizhou, wholeheartedly making salt, and even delaying the training of the pro-guard team to make salt, putting the cart before the horse.

And the price of salt in Yizhou has risen, and the people can't afford to eat salt, all because of the fact that Li Ke, the king of Shu, vigorously purchased salt, which was also written on the chapter.

More than half a month has passed, and Zhang Sancai, the personal guard, returned to the Shu Mansion with Xue Zhiyong, the head of the Xue family in Hedong, and a young man who was twenty-eight years old.

In the palace of the king of Shu, Li Ke looked at Xue Zhiyong, who was only old and full of white hair, and said: "Xue is so old, it is really not an honor for this king to come to my Shu palace from thousands of miles away." ”

Xue Zhiyong hurriedly returned with a smile on his face: "Lao Yu and I, Hedong Xue Clan, can get such a reputation from His Royal Highness, it is really a blessing for three lives, even if I break these two legs, I have to come to thank His Royal Highness the King of Shu for his reputation." ”

After greeting each other for a while, Li Ke said back to business: "Mr. Xue, your Hedong Xue clan controls half of my salt fields in the Tang Dynasty, and I don't know how much the annual output is. ”

Xue Zhiyong proudly stretched out three fingers and said leisurely: "My Xue family can produce three million stones of salt a year. ”

Li Ke said with a deep sigh: "This king wants to eat all your output, how much discount can you give this king." ”

Xue Zhiyong looked at Li Ke in disbelief, if this person in front of him was not the King of Shu of the Tang Dynasty, he would definitely think that he was a yellow-mouthed child, and he was not afraid of breaking his big teeth when he spoke big words.

Looking at the serious Li Ke, Xue Zhiyong, who recovered after a moment of shock, said with an embarrassed face:

"Your Royal Highness, the old decay family depends on salt to make a living, barely surviving, if Your Highness wants it all, the old decay is ruthless, one catty and nine dollars!"

There was also a kind of forbearance and love on his face, as if he had given Li Ke a great discount.

Li Ke looked at Xue Zhiyong in front of him, and his heart was full of anger, the old man in front of him didn't take himself, the king of Shu, in his eyes at all, and coaxed him like a child.

Said angrily: "The current price of salt in Datang is ten yuan per catty, this king asks you to take it all, saving you the people you transport to various places to consume horses, store rent, etc., your cost can save at least three to four dollars, you ask this king to ask for nine yuan, what is the intention, do you feel that the king's knife is not sharp, or do you think that this king is young and can be bullied, but you can't help you Hedong Xue family." ”

said with a domineering spirit that was not angry and self-threatening.

Xue Zhiyong looked at the angry Li Ke, listened to what he said, and did not dare to have the slightest discrimination and deception against Li Ke in his heart.

Cheng said with trepidation: "His Royal Highness the King of Shu, the old man should be damned, it's all because the old man is obsessed with wealth for a while, don't you dare to deceive the prince when he is young!" Since the prince wants it all, the old man no longer dares to be greedy, and sells it to the prince for six dollars per catty, and if it is less, the old man will have to go bankrupt and accompany him. As he spoke, he burst into tears.

Seeing Xue Zhiyong reduce each catty of salt to six yuan, Li Ke knew that this was his bottom line.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Okay! Then sell it to this king for six dollars a catty, and all the salt produced by your Xue family will be transported to this king's mansion by you on a monthly basis, and this king will pay for the goods on delivery. ”

Xue Zhiyong looked at Li Ke, who was decisive, and also agreed, and then left happily after completing the purchase and sale documents.

After watching Xue Zhiyong leave and calming his excited heart, Li Ke summoned the twenty-eight boy that Zhang Sancai brought back.

Although it is also the Xue family in Hedong, the young man in front of him is wearing a linen coarse coat and a slightly strong figure, which is a good way to grow crops at a glance.

This is the famous Tang Dynasty general in the future, Xue Rengui, who set the Tianshan Mountain with three arrows and entered the Han Pass with a long song.

Said happily: "What do you call my brother?" ”

And stretched out his hands to grasp the big rough hands.

Xue Rengui looked at the happy Li Ke, and he was also excited, he was a farmer, and the King of Shu knew him so well, it was really like Uncle Liu Huang asking for Kong Ming's honor in the thatched house!

Hurriedly broke free of his hand, hugged his fists and replied: "Back to the prince, the villain's surname is Xue, a single name is a gift, and the word is benevolent."

Hearing Xue Rengui say this, Li Ke was relieved that this person was Xue Rengui, and hurriedly said: "Who else is in my brother's family, if you live in this king's mansion, there is just a lack of a martial arts instructor in this king's guard camp." ”

Xue Rengui hurriedly returned: "There is also a newlywed wife Liu in the villain's house, and I can't give it up for the time being, thank you for your love." ”

At this time, Xue Rengui was just young, and he was a newlywed Yan'er, of course, he had no intention of abandoning his family and children, and joined the army to make contributions.

Li Ke hurriedly said: "Brother don't worry, this king has purchased a property for my brother in Yizhou County, and when the time comes, my brother can take his sister-in-law to my Yizhou County to settle down." ”

Looking at such a sincere King of Shu, Xue Rengui's heart rose up with the determination to die as a confidant.

said: "Since the prince values the villain so much, the villain will not make excuses, when the villain returns home, settles down the house, and takes his wife over, at that time, he will definitely do his best for the prince." ”

Looking at Xue Rengui, who nodded in agreement, Li Ke was very happy, but he was afraid that something would happen, so he sent Zhang Sancai to accompany Xue Rengui back.

Li Er, who received the recital, was furious, this bastard, although he was naughty in the capital, he was also very smart and courageous. How did you get to the fiefdom so unbearable, and it is contrary to the grand ambitions that I talked about at the beginning.

Not only did they fail to get the people out of poverty, but they actually intensified their competition with the people for profit, and even made the people unable to even afford to eat salt.

At a young age, he actually interfered in the salt administration, is this a rebellion?

The angry Li Er immediately issued an order and fined him for half a year, allowing Li Ke to concentrate on handling Yizhou's military and political affairs, and forbidding him to lose his mind and delve into kitsch and lewd skills.

A few days after the holy decree came out, Li Ke's salt was also sent to Li Er.

Looking at the snow-white salt grains in front of him, it really blinded Li Er's eyes, and he had never seen such pure and beautiful salt.

Listening to the person who sent the salt, His Royal Highness the King of Shu looked at the hard-working Li Er, and the year of the establishment has been gray-haired, very sad, thinking, developed such a fine salt, eat this salt for a long time, can prolong life, as soon as it is developed, it will be immediately sent to Chang'an, for Li Er to enjoy.

For Li Er, nothing can make him more excited than longevity. Thinking of the previous holy decree, I can't regret it. It is rare for Ke'er to have such filial piety.

Then he sent an additional letter to Li Ke, writing that he was young and inevitably playful, exempted him from punishment, and ordered Hou Peiyu to do his best to assist the king of Shu and deal with the affairs of the Yizhou army.

By the time Li Er's two holy decrees were issued to Li Ke, it was already the twenty-seventh day of the lunar month, and the New Year was approaching.

As the end of this year approaches, Li Ke does not want to make a big move, and everything is ready to wait for the beginning of next year's spring before taking action.

Looking at the two holy decrees, knowing that Hou Peiyu must have participated in himself in front of Li Er, he couldn't help but feel murderous in his heart.