Although the attacking fireship was fierce, the attackers were obviously a group of rabble, and the fierce arrows shot the jumpers and drowning people in the river, wailing and wailing, and even the wind contained bloody breath, and the iron chains across the river gradually relaxed, and finally sank completely into the river.

"Dudu, this is inevitably a bit thunderous and rainy!"

Li Fei Shouyu, who had been in actual combat for a long time, frowned, "If this is the end of it, wouldn't the sneak attackers be too stupid, reminding the enemy in vain, do they want to do it again in the future?" No! It shouldn't be like this, they should have something to follow. ”

"Shouyu, do you remember the assassination in Yangzhou?"

Li Qing smiled and reminded Li Fei Shouyu: "The two assassins seem to be menacing, but in fact they have no effect, the real killer is still that woman, it should be the same this time, the person they want to kill is me, will I die if I burn the boat?" So if I'm not mistaken, this fire attack is just a trick, and the real assassin may be nearby, or maybe he is already on the ship. ”

"On board?"

Li Fei Shouyu Huo Ran turned around, carefully looking for suspicious places, the boat was in chaos, more than 200 soldiers shuttled back and forth, some were carrying wood, some were shooting arrows on the side of the ship, roaring and scolding were noisy.

"No, how can you let the wolf crouch around!" But he was grabbed by Li Qing, gave him a look, and said with a smile: "Just talk about it, why take it seriously." ”

Li Fei Shouyu woke up, slowly put away the bow and arrow, and guarded Li Qing's side, after a while, almost all the people in the river were shot, and the people who accidentally slipped through the net were also frightened, lying on the shore, not daring to move, and dozens of fireboats were also burned to ashes and sank into the river, a farce-like sneak attack gradually ended, the big ship turned around, and continued to sail to the southeast.

The black surface of the river shimmered and seemed unusually quiet, as if nothing had happened, and the soldiers went back to their cabins, leaving only a group of soldiers on night patrol to check back and forth on the ship.

The night was as dark as ink, the cold moonlight appeared and disappeared in the heavy cloud curtain, most of the soldiers had already slept, suddenly, two black shadows quietly appeared on the deck, their movements were like ghosts, sometimes hidden, sometimes fast, slowly, the most tired and slack, they were trying to take advantage of this opportunity, but 'the praying mantis catches cicadas, the yellow finch is behind', in a dark cabin, there is a pair of sharp eyeshadows, from time to time whispering orders backwards, arranging something.

Li Qing's cockpit was surrounded by pro-soldiers, two black shadows hidden on the mast, the falling sails cleverly obscured their figures, they waited condescendingly for their opportunity, the orange light reflected several swaying figures on the window paper, and it was impossible to distinguish which one was the target they were going to attack.

At this time, the big ship suddenly slowed down, a small boat slowly approached the big boat, and then climbed up from the small boat, two people, both dressed in black, covered their faces with black scarves, Li Qing's personal soldiers quickly brought them to the cockpit, and reported in the foreign court: "Governor, the envoy of His Royal Highness Yongwang has arrived. ”

The voice was low, but the two people on the mast could hear it clearly, they looked at each other, their eyes were full of horror, Li Qing actually had a secret relationship with King Yong, that is to say, King Yong was very likely to have the support of Zhang Qiu's party, this is definitely an extremely important piece of information, no less than assassinating Li Qing.

Without words, the two exchanged only a glance and nodded, and just as the man in black was brought into the cabin, one of them slid down the mast silently, and disappeared into the river like a gecko along the wall of the ship, disappearing into the sparkling waves. The other man remained hidden on the mast, watching the dark shadows in the cabin, and soon the envoy of the King of Eternal walked out of the cabin and was taken to another cabin to rest.

After another quarter of an hour, the lights in the cabin went out, and 'Li Qing' walked out under the escort of dozens of personal soldiers, and at the moment when he walked under the mast, the opportunity finally came, and the black shadow flew like a bat eating in a summer night, and at this time, 'Li Qing' flashed away, raised his head and smiled, in the dim moonlight, the assassin found that he actually had a long face like an eggplant, which was not at all

'Fooled! As soon as he had a thought, a dozen thick nets covered his head, and immediately threw him to the ground, and the soldiers rushed up, held him firmly, took off the long sword, twisted off his chin, and directly strangled him with a net rope like a plump meat dumpling.

"In the past, the Heroes would be Jiang Ganzhong, and today I have to sing it again, such a cold river, it's really hard for your companion."

Yongwang's envoy Youyou came out of the cabin, he took off his scarf, but it was Li Qing with a smile, he glanced at the assassin with pity, and said with a faint smile: "I know that you are sent by King Qing, as long as you tell the truth and tell me the details, I will not kill you, even your old mother, wife and children, I will spare them, your fate is in your own hands, but if you are very stubborn.

He beckoned lightly, and Li Fei Shouyu strode up, "Please command!" ”

Li Qing pointed at the assassin who was about to breathe fire in his eyes, and said with a cold smile: "This person will be handed over to you, no matter what means you use, I just want to hear his truth." ”.

Four days later, the Jiangnan Dongdao Observation Envoy's boat finally crossed the Taihu Lake and along

Slowly drove into Suzhou Panmen, since the late Spring and Autumn period Wu Zixu built Gusu City has maintained the original appearance, after several vicissitudes, but the city has never fallen, until 2,500 years later, her graceful demeanor still stands on the shore of Taihu Lake, deep alleys, old houses; small bridges, flowing water; The mottled exterior wall, the peeling gray wall, and the withered leaves wrapped around the city wall, 'the gentleman comes to Gusu, and the people sleep on the river', the small rivers flow through the city, Wu Nong's soft words sound softly in the ears, this is Suzhou.

Since the Tang Dynasty's Suzhou to the Eastern Jin Dynasty moved south, it has always been an important town in the south of the Yangtze River, and Yangzhou and Changzhou are the economic centers of the south of the Yangtze River.

"Squire please see, the south is the upper mountain Lengjia temple tower, and the north is the Tiger Hill Yunyan Temple tower, this south and north, the legend is that one is the town of yin and one is the town of yang, the yin and yang are harmonious, and the aura of Suzhou is inexhaustible, so there are many talents here, since ancient times, it is a treasure land for the elderly, after the old man retires, he also intends to find a garden here, and take care of the days."

The speaker is Suzhou Thorn Shi Cui Huan, he is also a famous family, the Tang Cui family originated in two places, one is the Boling Cui family, such as Cui Qiao, Cui Guangyuan; The other is Qinghe Cui's family, Cui Huan is one of the representatives, he is about fifty years old, short and thin, his eyes are bright, as if he can see through people's hearts at a glance, after the Anshi Rebellion, Cui Huan served as the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, and made great contributions to the recovery of the Tang economy.

At this moment, Li Qing has changed to a small boat, the slurry rows the clear waves, the boat passes through the white walls and black tiles, Cui Huan is standing beside him, and talked about the customs of Suzhou with great interest, the topic changed, and gave him a brief introduction to more than 10,000 people in Suzhou, under the jurisdiction of Wucheng, Kunshan, Jiaxing, Changshu, Changzhou, Haiyan six counties, the land is rich, it is really my Tang granary, Wu Aya here is also very famous, and the waiter is back. ”

Li Qing stroked his black beard lightly and said with a slight smile: "Thank you Cui Tingshi for introducing all the way, it's just that the emperor urged the cabinet case, please take me to the scene first." ”

Cui Huan glanced at the youngest high-ranking official from the third grade in the Tang Dynasty, and saw that his attitude was modest and elegant, which was very different from the legendary blue-faced villain who dared to kill Tubo Zampu, and he was secretly surprised in his heart, but his surprise was not revealed in Yan Ye, the old man admired, now the road we are going to is the old place of the cabinet workshop, please look at the white stone bridge in the distance, called Jiangcun Bridge, the canal passes through the bridge, and the cabinet workshop is built in the place of the bridge. ”

Li Qing took the curtain and looked forward, at the end of the small river there was another big river, sure enough, a white three-eyed arch bridge spanned the river, there were many ships on the riverside, most of them were flat-bottomed boats transporting goods, but at the end of the small river, there were a few Wupeng boats, forcing the river to only a narrow waterway.

There was a sudden noise in front of him, Li Qing's boat slowly slowed down and stopped, Cui Huan frowned, and said angrily: "What happened ahead?" Why are the boat lanes blocked? ”

A small boat that had opened the way in front of us sailed over, and a servant on board bowed down and reported: "Envoy, a boat in front of us is blocking the way in the river, and we ordered them to get out of the way, but a scholar on the boat said. Dare to speak up.

"What did he say, but it has something to do with me?"

Li Qing smiled and said, "You might as well say it directly, I don't blame you." ”

The official took a deep breath and plucked up the courage to say: "He said that the salt thief who harmed the people came to Suzhou, so naturally he couldn't let him run rampant. ”

'A salt thief who harms the people? Li Qing was stunned, where did he start with this, without waiting for him to express his position, Cui Huan next to him couldn't hold his face, Li Qing was the observer of Jiangnan Dongdao, and he had the right to directly dismiss himself, if he mistakenly thought that he was furious, he said angrily: "How can this be reasonable, dare to insult the important ministers of the court in front of the street, take this person down with me, and send it to Wucheng County to punish the crime!" ”

Li Qing hurriedly raised his hand to stop, he turned his head to Cui Huan and said: "Thank you Cui Tingshi for standing up for me, but the thief who harmed the people, I have this name on my back for the first time, I want him to ask, where did I harm the people?" ”

After a while, a Confucian scholar in a robe was dragged over, and Li Qing looked at him, only to see that he was about thirty years old, with white skin, slender eyebrows, and a slightly collapsed nose, which made a pair of lips extremely thick.

"What's your name? Why are you insulting me? ”

The man glanced at Li Qing and snorted coldly, "Hmph! Why are you insulting, let me ask you, you are Li Qing who implemented the salt law. ”

Cui Huan already understood what he wanted to say, and couldn't help but secretly admire his courage, but Li Qing's face couldn't be ignored, his face sank, and he shouted: "Bold! Is the name of the Tobe Squire a small citizen that you can call it? Don't kneel down to answer the old man yet. ”

"There are people who are famous below, and it can be seen that officials do not kneel."

The Confucian student saluted Cui Huan, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Lord Cui is a good official and has done a lot of good things for the people, and the students are polite here, but Lord Cui can't be afraid of offending the powerful ministers and ignore the facts, and speak for this thief." ”

At this time, Li Qing next to him interrupted him and said coldly: "You keep claiming that I am a salt thief, is it because of the rise in salt prices, you say that I am harming the people by implementing the salt law, is that so?" ”

"Yes!" The man's waist straightened, and he met Li Qing's gaze without fear, and said stiffly: "Before the salt law was implemented."

However, ten wen a bucket, the most expensive time is only thirty wen, but the new salt law implementation bucket will turn to sixty wen, and it has risen year by year, this year has reached eighty wen a bucket, salt itself is a cheap thing, but it is sold at such a high price, the difference in the middle of the price has been stripped away by the imperial court, so that the people live in hardship, this is not because of your new salt law, are you not a thief who harms the people? ”

Cui Huan was suddenly silent, he also wanted to hear it, how did the head of the household who held the financial power of the Tang Dynasty answer this thorny question, the wind hunted and hunted, blowing up the hem of Li Qing's clothes, he looked at this scholar with a straight back, his age was similar to his own, his status was humble but he dared to speak and act, and he did not put the dignified observation envoy and the history of a state assassin in his eyes, in contrast, he looked forward and backwards, and was careful in everything, the elegance of the year had long been gone, and he suddenly had a sense of vicissitudes, It was as if a thousand-mile horse was kept in a small stable, and my heart was full of emotion and expectation.

Li Qing shook his head lightly and sighed: "You don't know the world, do you know the financial situation of the imperial court at that time, do you know the serious loss of salt tax, do you know that my Tang Dynasty's millions of soldiers have no money to support, in this way, who is guarding the Tang Dynasty, the skin does not exist, Mao will be attached, you only know the empty discussion, but you don't know the difficulty of governing the country, three years ago I tried my best to implement the country's cabinet, but in the end it ended in vain, and the local interests are important?" The interests of the imperial court are light? ”

Speaking of later, Li Qingxu said that the object has been turned to the side of the silent Cui Huan, Suzhou is one of the three pilot places of the cabinet, it is the difficulty of the implementation here, the people's non-cooperation, so that the opposition in the DPRK and China to find an excuse, unanimously believe that this is a disturbance to the people, so that his plan to collect local financial rights is frustrated, Li Qing also has to admire Li Linfu's foresight, actually chose Suzhou to be a pilot, here the people are stubborn, it is extremely difficult to accept new things from outside, and the court ban on killing has always been disdainful, it is Li Linfu's clever technical means, In the end, the plan of the Central Bank and the General Administration of Internal Taxation was reduced to the function of a credit union.

Li Qing's implication Cui Huan knew that three years ago, Suzhou was selected as a pilot project for the implementation of the cabinet, which made him sad for a long time, and strict implementation would inevitably offend most of the powerful and be secretly blamed by other local officials; But if he treats it negatively, and can't explain to the other faction of the court, fortunately, the implementation of the new law is not mandatory, and the people's taxes can be handed over to the government, and they can be handed over directly to the cabinet, so he took advantage of this loophole, and dragged it for nearly a year on the pretext that the implementation of the new law needs to be publicized to the people, and the emperor gradually faded the matter in the second year, and Cui Huan no longer mentioned it, only sent people down to urge taxes every summer and autumn, and the rent payment was still the old way, but he handed over the commercial taxes directly to the cabinet, and there was an explanation, but just ten days ago, a fire burned down the cabinet, The 100,000 silver deposits were gone, which made him fearful in his heart, if one of them was not handled well, even if he was not punished, his future would be ruined.

At this moment, Li Qing's indirect question, he didn't dare not answer, so he had to laugh and say: "The cabinet is a new thing, it will take time for the people of Suzhou to accept it, and the lower officials are afraid of provoking the people's uprising, so they dare not use force, and they need to be implemented slowly." ”

Li Qing only smiled faintly, "Master Cui is a good official, of course, the first thing to consider is the people, so let's do it!" Don't talk about it again. ”

The scholar didn't understand Li Qing's words, he still thought about the disadvantages of the salt government, his mouth pouted, and immediately retorted: "I'm just a small people, I don't know the financial embarrassment of the imperial court, the imperial court to tax the people is a matter of course, but there must be a degree, the price of salt has risen by twenty or thirty Wen, but now it has skyrocketed by fifty or sixty Wen, who can afford it, the country is people-oriented, if the court does not consider the life and death of the people, and exploits it with heavy taxes, it is inevitable that it will repeat the decline of the Han Dynasty and the death of the Sui. Lord Wangshilang is good at listening to contrary words. ”

Perhaps he also felt that what Li Qing said had a certain truth, and unconsciously, the saying of 'harming the people and thieves' had disappeared from his mouth, and his attitude gradually became humble, Li Qing also felt the subtle change in his attitude, and he smiled gently: "Let me ask you, how long can a bucket of salt make a family of six eat?" Let's talk about half a year! Is paying an extra 50 yuan in half a year a heavy tax? If that's the case, my Datang is too weak! The importance of the salt tax is not that it is heavy, but that every household can not do without salt, but can gather sand into a tower and the tax source is stable, if I really have the heart to exploit the people, I will directly issue a big money, a big money as fifty Kaiyuan Tongbao, the accumulation of wealth is fast and convenient, and why bother to implement any new salt law. ”

Li Qing saw that he was silent, and gently patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "It's good that you worry about the country and the people, but some things are not as simple as you think, how many people were killed when the new salt law was implemented, and even the Yangzhou assassin was killed with a cane, which involves the vital interests of too many people, they call me a thief and I can laugh at it, but you are a scholar who also calls me a thief of the people, which is really difficult for me to accept." ”

'Issue big money. ’

The scholar sighed, he knew that what Li Qing said was true, and he was indeed a little excessive, so he couldn't help but bow to Li Qing and said apologetically: "The student blocked the waterway of the waiter, and he made amends here." ”

"What's your name? Listening to the accent, you don't look like a native of Suzhou. ”

"In Xia Zhangji, a native of Nanyang, he failed the provincial test and now lives in Suzhou."