In the morning, outside Chang'an City, the willows have turned blue, the small knots protrude in the branches of the spring cold is particularly long, the air is still cold, and the trunk is still condensed with a layer of hoarfrost.

A thousand cavalry escorted Li Qing, the head of the household department, and a group of officials to Yangzhou on a business trip, and at this moment they were saying goodbye to their families who saw them off.

The curtain hugged the child and Xiaoyu together and carefully told Li Qing, Li Qing gently pinched the child's pink little face, smiled and agreed one by one, he glanced at it, only to see a willow tree not far away, a beautiful and light carriage was quietly parked there, the curtain was ajar, but the face of the beautiful woman could not be seen.

Seeing that Li Qing was a little distracted, Curtain Er pushed him with a smile, "Go and say goodbye to the wild goose!" She was in a bad mood. ”

Li Qing urged him to step forward, but it was still quiet in the curtain, and when he got off the horse and approached, a beautiful face full of tears suddenly appeared on the window, his eyes were red, and his lips were bruised by the cold wind.

She looked at Li Qing blankly, choked, unable to say a word, Li Qing walked to the car window, smiled and wiped the tears from her cheeks, "Don't cry, smile, your father has promised our marriage, I will marry you when I come back, the old rule, the sedan chair goes out from the back door, and the front door comes in." ”

His last sentence made Li Jingyan 'flutter!' She reached out to hold the hand on her cheek, and was reluctant to let go for a long time, "Last night, my eldest brother kept persuading me, ordering me, and forcing me to break up with you, and then we quarreled." ”

Li Qing smiled slightly. "Don't blame your eldest brother, he is just more rigid in etiquette, as long as he looks good, he doesn't care if your marriage is happy or not, if you don't marry me, I think I will be sour, the first beauty of the Tang clan, how can she marry a filthy child."

Li Jingyan smiled. "Poor mouth! Are you dirty? In my opinion, you are more heroic than anyone else! ”

She smiled slightly, staring at Li Qing's eyes, her clear eyes revealing unprecedented resoluteness and decisiveness: "Li Lang, you can go with confidence!" I was born as your man, and died as your ghost. I will marry no one but you! ”

Li Qing was moved by her steadfastness, he pulled her a little roughly, kissed her on the lips, and then solemnly said in her ear: "I don't allow you to say a dead word, no matter who you are, I don't want to take you away!" Even if the emperor is old, my earth knife will never agree! ”

Li Jingyan's eyes were obsessed, his hands wrapped around his neck, and said with a hint of crying: "Li Lang, I don't want you to go!" ”

"Silly girl! Only the pain of separation can have the sweetness of reunion. Take good care of your Sister Lian'er and Xiaoyu, I'll go! ”

He gently pulled Li Jingyan's wrist away. Strode up to the war horse and turned over on the horse. He smiled and waved at her, turned his head, and sped away.

A round of red sun erupted from the clouds, the warm sunlight gradually melted the hoarfrost, and the group said goodbye to the family members at the farewell site, waving flags, facing the golden light, and slowly drove towards the southeast.

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Emperor Sui destroyed Chen. After razing Chaojinling to the ground and changing its name to Shengzhou. Yangzhou (Tianbao was renamed Guangling County in the first year, for the reader is not confused, or called Yangzhou) gradually became the center of gravity in the southeast, Emperor Yang of Sui dug the canal, dredged the Cao Yun, Yangzhou became the heart of the Cao Yun again, the materials of the southeast half of the country are collected here, and they are continuously transported to the important place of Beijing, and also achieved the commercial reputation of Yangzhou.

Guangling County's brocade, mirror, bronze, seafood; the Ayasan section of Danyang County; Wu County's three broken glutinous rice, square silk; Jinyang County's folding official end silk embroidery; Huiji County's bronze, Luo, Wu Aya, and silk yarn; So much so that overseas pearl incense elephant rhino, tortoiseshell jade and other strange things, all gathered in Yangzhou, transported to Chang'an by Cao Canal.

The prosperity of commerce is inseparable from the development of agricultural land, the lake fields in the Danyang area of Runzhou, '5,000 hectares of Guangliang land, and a minute per mu (one bell is ten stones, one hundred buckets)', plus 'Jiangdu is a good businessman, not a farmer, with tea as a business, going back and forth between Huai and Zhejiang, when there is nothing to do in all directions, Guangling is the place of song and bell, rich businessmen, through more than 100'.

In this way, there was a situation of 'Yang Yi Yi Yi Two' in the major cities of the Tang Dynasty (not considering Chang'an), so that merchants gathered in Yangzhou, and also led to the development of handicrafts, silk fabrics, porcelain, paper and pencils, all kinds of workshops, and even appeared 500 silk machines of thousands of artificial workshops.

Li Qing and his entourage, the morning trip to the twilight, out of Tongguan, from Shaanzhou (now Sanmenxia, Henan) of the Tianbao River on the boat, to go to Yangzhou, travel for nearly half a month, this day, will gradually arrive at the boundary of Yangzhou.

It was the time when the drizzle was falling and the smoke and rain in the south of the Yangtze River were hazy.

Li Qing changed into a moon-white soft robe, bowed his head and came out of the cabin, seeing the fifth Qi of the branch member Wailang standing in the wind, his clothes fluttering, staring at the scenery on both sides of the strait, muttering and chanting.

Li Qing walked behind him and said with a smile: "Brother Yugui, seeing that you have stayed all the way to the landscape, is it the first time to come to Yangzhou?" ”

Fifth Qi shook his head, looked at a few buffaloes walking among the weeping willows on the shore, and sighed: "A few years ago, I was engaged in Wei Shangshu, dredging Cao Yun in Shaanzhou, and going back and forth between Yangzhou and Luoyang many times. ”

Li Qing slowly walked to his side, pointed to a few shepherd boys who were scrambling to climb on the back of the ox, and said: "If Brother Yu Gui wants to be at ease and not fight for the world, just learn from those shepherd boys, since ancient times, there is no confusion among mediocre people, what they think is just the desire of the mouth, the entertainment of the voice, since the husband has embarked on the official career, he must show his ambitions, for the prosperity of the country, for the people of the world to do a career, if you suffer from gains and losses, do not dare to act, is not to live up to these decades of Shaohua, Brother Yu Gui and throw away Dr. Qu's soul to return to mourn Jiangnan', remember another sentence: 'Parasitic mayflies in heaven and earth, a drop in the sea'. ”

'A drop in the ocean', Fifth Qi couldn't help but be moved, yes! How small is it for a man to live between heaven and earth and the sea,

The implementation of the new salt law was full of concerns, and he was indeed too timid, he only felt cheerful and heroic, and hurriedly took two steps back and bowed to Li Qingchang, "Thank you Li Shilang for your words, Yu Mao Sai suddenly opened, and was willing to work for dogs and horses and serve the new salt law." ”

Li Qing grabbed him and said with a surprised smile: "You are my deputy, have you decided to implement the new salt law now?" ”

Fifth Qi smiled bitterly, "Everyone has their own ideas, and the younger ones may be as sharp as Li Shilang, but people of my age will inevitably think about it and judge the current situation, and they will have some concerns." ”

Li Qing ordered people to take two chairs, sat down with Fifth Qi, and asked, "Then tell me, what is the situation now?" ”

Fifth Qi looked at no one on both sides, and then said in a low voice: "A few years ago, when Wei Shangshu was in charge of Cao Yun, he seized a fleet of smuggled salt, which amounted to 10,000 stones, and was originally going to be imprisoned, but later learned that this was King Qing's private salt, Wei Shangshu told the emperor for this, and finally someone from the palace sent a secret decree, and Wei Shangshu released this fleet, which shows that today is conniving at what everyone does."

Salt, tea, wine, iron, these things have huge profits, which king of Beijing is not touched, in fact, we old officials know in our hearts that Li Shilang went to Yangzhou to implement the salt law in name, but in fact it is to compete with King Qing and King Yong, as long as they control the salt source, they have great ability in Beijing, and they are helpless, they naturally understand this, so when they go to Yangzhou, there must be a fierce battle. But.

Speaking of this, Fifth Qi hesitated a little, and his eyes showed embarrassment.

"But what, keep talking!" Li Qing said.

"That's where our concerns lie." Fifth Qi sighed, "Since the emperor ordered Li Shilang to go to Yangzhou, but did not give Shang Fang Tianjian, it means that the emperor still has reservations." ”

Li Qing pondered for a moment, "Then what does Brother Yu Gui think I should do first?" ”

"Liwei!"

Fifth Qi said decisively: "There is only Liwei." in order to stimulate morale and unite everyone's hearts. ”

Li Qing's eyes flashed with a knowing smile, he got up and walked a few steps by the side of the boat, and suddenly turned around and smiled: "Actually, my plan is also Liwei, but it is deeper than you think, the art of war." 'Show weakness to lure the enemy', I came this time, I was already so frightened, how could the other party not be prepared? Hiding what should be hidden, hiding what should be hidden, will not give me a chance to take advantage of it, only by doing the opposite, taking a foolish trick to show weakness, and disrupting their deployment, can we find clues in the chaos. ”

Seeing that Fifth Qi still didn't understand, he stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder and smiled, "You just wait and see." ”

.

There are seven counties below Yangzhou. 77,000 households, with a permanent population of 400,000. Since ancient times, the statistics of the country have only counted the permanent population, for example, a certain city adjacent to Hong Kong has a per capita GDP of more than 10,000 US dollars. It is proud to be among the developed countries, but this per capita dollar deprives millions of migrants of their contributions.

Therefore, the actual population of Yangzhou in Tianbao's five years should also be added to foreign merchants, porters, garrisons, and a large number of unregistered black households and slaves, to say the least, more than 100,000.

Jiangdu County is the seat of state governance, Yangzhou Metropolitan Governor's Office is also located here, after the Wutang Dynasty, the country's military center of gravity gradually moved to the border state. Coupled with the decline of the government military system, Yangzhou's military functions have been greatly reduced. The Metropolitan Governor's Mansion was in vain, but after the Anshi Rebellion, the feudal towns were divided, and the rich Jianghuai region became the focus of the warlords' peeping.

The wind gradually became stronger, the river rolled up with white foam and slapped on the shore, Li Qing's official boats were blocked after reaching the periphery of Jiangdu, and seven or eight long fleets of boats were stagnant in the canal, and there was no end in sight, and people could jump between the boats and go to the opposite bank, and on the shore they saw dozens of officers and men jumping and scolding, ordering the civilian boats to give way, and the men's cursing voices, women's complaints, and children's cries were constantly heard from the civilian boats.

Li Qing sat in front of the window, saw this scene, frowned, and ordered his subordinates to personally soldier, "Go and ask me the people on the boat next to me, why is it so blocked!" "The soldiers took the order.

He turned back to the fifth Qi and asked, "When you came to Yangzhou before, was it also blocked like this?" ”

"I've had a smooth ride every time, and I've never had a jam like this."

At this time, a petty official stood next to him, about thirty years old, and he saluted Li Qingshi and said, "My subordinates know one or two." ”

Li Qing recognized him as Wei Jiansu recommended to himself the able official, Liu Yan, the director of the Ministry of Jin, Liu Yan in the history of the Daizong period, vigorously reformed the finances, but also from the salt and iron, the fifth Qi in the salt and iron monopoly law to implement the local government unified purchase and sales should be the government unified purchase, and then distributed to salt merchants, reduce the first link of the first link, ease the suppressed local commerce, was praised as the minister of finance by later generations.

Li Qing looked at him with interest and said, "Then tell me, what is going on?" ”

Liu Yan walked in front of Li Qing, bowed down and said: "This situation, if it is in the summer and autumn, it will not exist, the spring flood has not arrived, the river draft is still shallow, and heavy boats are generally not allowed to exercise, but the subordinates heard that since the year before last, the officials in various places have acquiesced in the exercise of heavy boats in order to collect more taxes, so that the stranding of large ships in winter and spring has occurred from time to time, which has seriously affected the transportation of water. ”

After a while, the soldiers came to inquire about the situation and reported to Li Qingyu: "My subordinates have asked clearly, and I heard that ten miles ahead, two iron ships ran aground, and the people who escorted the ships refused to unload the goods, so it caused a blockage. ”

'Refuse to unload! ’

Li Qing sneered, this situation is not daring for ordinary civilian ships, needless to say, it must be a private ship owned by a powerful person in Beijing, a thought flashed in his heart, and he sneered again and again.

After another moment, several guide boats pushed away the civilian boats and forced a waterway out.

There was a person standing at the bow of the first boat, less than forty years old, with clear eyebrows and a dignified temperament, dressed in official uniforms, and recuperating his appearance, and said loudly to Li Qingza's boat: "Xiaguan Jiangdu County Commander Liu Suifeng was ordered by Lord Shi to come to greet the right attendant of the household department. ”

Qing walked out of the cabin slowly, stood at the bow of the boat with his hands, and looked at Liu Suifeng obliquely: "Liu County Order, where do you not meet in life, don't come to harm?" ”

This Liu Suifeng was the county order of Yilong County that year, Li Qing was imprisoned, and then took the upper route, and was transferred to the wealthy Jiangdu as the county order.

"Humble and confused, I forgot where I saw Lord Shirou, please remind one or two."

Li Qing smiled faintly, "Forget it, it's hard to work hard Liu County Order, lead the way ahead!" ”

Liu Suifeng was struggling desperately with his memories, this squire might be some distant relative of his mother, if he recognized his relatives, this would be a way to promotion, but no matter how he tossed, Li Qing was only a vague impression in his mind, and he really couldn't remember, so he couldn't help but give himself a mouth as a punishment.

More than 20 official ships passed through a narrow waterway, and the boats on both sides were crowded like canned sardines in the 80s, and they traveled about 10 miles of waterway, and Li Qing's official ships passed by the scene of the crime, only to see two large stranded boats across the canal, and a young man who looked like a housekeeper standing in the bow, and a dozen family members and geese lined up, watching suspiciously as the official fleet passed by the only small waterway left.

"Are you from the Qingwang Mansion or the Yongwang Mansion?"

The housekeeper heard that the accent of the fifth Qi was also from Chang'an, he didn't dare to ignore it, his face raised, and he said proudly: "We are the people of Qingwangfu." ”

"Disrespectful!"

Fifth Qi perfunctory to him. The official ship passed out of the waterway, and the water in front of it suddenly opened up, and the majestic Jiangdu County was already far away.

.

'Dock! A little public shouted, more than 20 official ships slowly leaned towards the revetment of Jiangdu County, the shore suddenly gongs sounded in unison, drums shook the sky, lion dancers and dragon dancers wave after wave, dozens of local officials under the leadership of Li Chengshi, the assassin Shi Shi, came to the dock to welcome the arrival of the high-ranking officials in the capital.

Hundreds of soldiers descended from the ships on both sides. Clear the barricades, get rid of the idle people, and then, a boat board was put on the embankment, and the founding marquis, the household servant, the deputy envoy of salt and iron, the Jianghuai transfer envoy, and the imperial historian, Li Qing, who had a series of dazzling eyes, walked in a square step, surrounded by more than 100 large and small Beijing officials. Slowly step off the boat.

"Huh! Li Shilang has worked hard all the way. "Assassin Shi Li Chengshi greeted him with a smile from afar, Yangzhou is Shangzhou, Shangzhou Assassin History is from the third rank, and Li Chengshi is still Li Tang clan, if it weren't for Li Qing is envoy sent by the emperor, his household servant rank is still below Li Chengshi.

Li Qing seemed to be a little arrogant, only arched his hand to him, and said with a gloomy face: "This official was entrusted by His Majesty to come to Yangzhou to implement the salt law and rectify the Cao Yun, but only a few miles away from Jiangdu County, there was a Cao Yun blockage. It has not been communicated for two days and two nights, and Zhang Tingshi is the governor of a state. Why do you let it go and turn a blind eye? ”

Li Chengshi is the person who celebrates the king. More than half a month ago, he received orders from him to do everything possible to sabotage the implementation of the new salt law, as early as Li Qing had just left Beijing, he arranged for the deployment, and today Li Qing arrived in Yangzhou with an unusually grand face to cover up his weakness of heart.

But Li Qing's first words when he met him were not to greet him warmly. And as if he was stunned, he glanced at Li Qing. After estimating his age, he was not yet thirty years old, and his qualifications were extremely shallow, Li Chengshi couldn't help but secretly despise him, "No wonder his Shazhou governor was removed after less than a year, he really didn't know how to be an official, could it be that the affairs of the world can be solved by a person who has been a soldier for two days?" ’

He sneered in his heart, and still said with a smile on his face: "Probably Li Shilang has not been an official in the Jianghuai area, this Cao Yun is not the responsibility of the lower officials, but the Jianghuai transfer envoy of Li Shilang, Li Shilang asked me, just like asking the people of the Ministry why the rent and taxes can't come up, how do I know?" With that, he spread his hands left and right, glanced at the officials behind him, and everyone laughed loudly, and they all echoed: "Yes! Oh, yes! It must be Li Shilang's first time in Yangzhou, so he made a mistake! ”

Li Qingxin sneered slightly, but pretended to be a trace of embarrassment on his face, and scratched his scalp casually, "Oh! It turned out that the official made a mistake and offended! Offend! He looked left and right, and asked a little annoyed, "Is the official in charge of Yangzhou Caoyun here?" ”

At this time, a person was squeezed out of the crowd and came to Li Qing and said in a panic: "In Xiayangzhou, the judge of Caoyun has seen the transfer envoy. ”

Li Qing saw that this person was about ten years old, with gray hair and a red rosacea, so he said sharply: "Since you are in charge of Cao Yun, the canal has been blocked for two days and two nights, but you don't care, what kind of crime should you be guilty of!" ”

The Judge was so frightened that he 'pounced!' He knelt on the ground and said in a trembling voice: "It's not that my subordinates don't want to care, but, yes.

"What is it?" Li Qing forced to look at him, and said, "Is it because it is King Qing's ship that you can let it go and ignore the laws of the Tang Dynasty?" ”

His eyelids raised slightly, and he swept quickly, only to see Li Chengshi's hands in his hands, his body to the side, his eyes looking at the sky silently, Li Qingxin secretly sneered, and shouted again, "Someone!" ”

He pointed his finger at the Caoyun judge, "Give me fifty strokes, and immediately remove me from the post of Caoyun judge." ”

More than a dozen soldiers rushed up next to him, held him down and beat him with sticks.

Looking at the red and black sticks flying, Liu Suifeng next to him had an understanding, he looked at Li Qing carefully, and suddenly remembered, Tong Sheng, fifty taels of silver, lottery, prison, isn't this squire the Xixi Li Qing of the Zhang family?

His face turned pale with shock, and he felt that his eyes were black for a while, and he retreated again and again, and planted the canal with a 'bang'.