The next day, after the morning court, Xue Shao returned to the yamen of the military department and called Yao Yuanchong for questioning.

The matter of Shuo Fang's army changing its flag was handled by Yao Yuanchong. But after coming back, Xue Shao had not discussed the details with Yao Yuanchong. What is the current situation of Shuo Fangjun, Yao Yuanchong must have understood. Xue Shao planned to hear a little objective opinion from the mouth of an "outsider".

Niu Ben is an illiterate rough man, and like many old generals of the Shuofang Army, he has a natural resistance to Wei Zhiwei, the new commander. In this way, he will not be able to see what Wei waits for. Therefore, you must not believe what Niu Ben said, but you can't believe it all.

As soon as Xue Shao asked, Yao Yuanchong sighed first.

Just this sigh made Xue Shao's heartstrings tense.

"Shuo Fangjun, generally speaking, is quite stable." The first sentence that Yao Yuanchong said was like this.

"Safe? If it weren't for an old man in his twilight, how could he describe it as stable! Xue Shao frowned, "If you have something to say, don't beat around the bush with me!" ”

"I knew you would ask sooner or later." Yao Yuanchong smiled bitterly, "Originally, I, an outsider, shouldn't have talked about Shuo Fangjun's affairs. But Shuo Fangjun is your heart, and I can't hide it from you. ”

"What kind of outsider insider, aren't you a soldier of the army? The armies of the world are under your control, and no matter how you say it, it is not a vain discussion. Xue Shao said, "Don't talk nonsense, let's talk about it!" ”

"Okay, I said it." Yao Yuanchong frowned and said, "In short, the internal fighting of the Shuofang Army is now fierce. It has been roughly divided into two factions, one faction is headed by Xue Chuyu and Guo Yuanzhen and others, who are your staunchest supporters. The other faction fell to his side after Wei Zhiwei took office. The core of the contention between the two factions is the business profits on the side of the Yinchuan Juntun. ”

"I already know that. You say something else. Xue Shao said.

"You know?" Yao Yuanchong was surprised.

"You don't care how I know, I just know anyway." Xue Shao said lightly, "You have been in the Shuofang Army for a few months, don't you find anything else?" ”

Yao Yuanchong hesitated for a moment, "...... Yes! ”

"Say!"

"A few people took advantage of their positions to participate in the sale of tea horses and smuggled salt." Yao Yuanchong said, "After the Turks asked the Tang Dynasty for peace, the border between the two sides opened up some small trade towns. Not far from Toyoshu, there is a 'white-maned plain', do you remember? It used to be a small village where caravans from the north and south settled, and it was abandoned during the war, but now it is about to develop into a large shopping mall that is not inferior to the northern city of Shendu. ”

"And then?" Xue Shao asked with a twisted eyebrow.

"The large-scale development of Yinchuan Juntun requires a large amount of materials, manpower and animal power." Yao Yuanchong said, "The caravans of smuggled goods smuggled in large quantities of slaves, cattle and horses from the northern desert and sold them at high prices to merchants in the White Mane Plain, or in exchange for the tea, salt, ceramics and silk they needed. ”

"Sold to a merchant in Whitemane Plains at a high price?" Xue Shao grasped the core words.

"Yes." Yao Yuanchong nodded, "A Turkic horse worth sixty guan, they can sell it for a hundred guan." ”

Xue Shao thought about it and understood that of course someone wanted to get a kickback from the forty percent price difference. So he asked, "Are the many shops in the White Mane Plains opened by people from Shuo Fangjun?" ”

"More than ninety percent." Yao Yuanchong nodded, "But many of the materials needed by the Shuo Fang army are now purchased and transferred in the White Mane Plain. Even if the supplies were purchased elsewhere, some generals would drag them to the Whitemane Plains for a walk, so that he could earn a large difference. ”

"Speaking of which, they are all some lowly deeds that use power for personal gain. I don't want to hear that kind of detail. Xue Shao hated itchy, "Let me ask you something, the logistics procurement and supply of the Shuofang Army have always been in charge of the Red Leaf Chamber of Commerce. How is it doing now? ”

"This ......" Yao Yuanchong hesitated a little.

Xue Shao's heart sank, today Yao Yuanchong said a lot of things that I already knew, Red Leaf Chamber of Commerce, this is probably the biggest "secret" he knows!

"Why don't you dare say it?" Xue Shao frowned, his face was not too good-looking, "Are you in trouble or what?" ”

"Of course not!" Yao Yuanchong's face was worried, "I'm afraid of you...... Angry. ”

"I'm already angry." Xue Shao's face became more and more gloomy, "If you still want to hide it from me, Xue Rentu's temper is about to attack." ”

"I say I say!" Yao Yuanchong was scared, and hurriedly said, "After Wei Zhihua took office in Xiazhou, she first withdrew her right to be the official comprador of 'Salt, Iron, Grain and Cloth' on the grounds that Yu Hongye had privately mined salt wells and participated in the sale of illicit salt. As a result, the Momiji Chamber of Commerce was also closed for three days. Later, after Liu Youqiu, Su Wei and others' repeated explanations and strong struggles, the Red Leaf Chamber of Commerce was unsealed, but the power of the official comprador could not be taken back. Otherwise, how could it be the turn of those merchants in the Whitemane Plains to fool around? ”

"This dog's day Wei waits for the price, what a big guts!" Xue Shao was furious and smashed his fist on the table, "In order to grab money, he dared to make a black hand against the Red Leaf Chamber of Commerce!" Didn't he know that the power of the Red Leaf Chamber of Commerce's salt, iron, grain, cloth and comprador was personally approved by the Queen Mother? This chamber of commerce used to be just a small shop in the West Market, which was supported by Lao Tzu's hard work...... Fuck me, I'm pissed off!! ”

Yao Yuanchong was dumbfounded. It was the first time he had seen Xue Shao so angry and foul-mouthed.

After panting for a while, Xue Shao shouted, "Wang Yu, get me a cup of tea!" ”

Wang Yu hurriedly ran in and poured Xue Shao a cup of tea, and glanced at Xue Shao.

"If there's a fart, you can let it go, what are you squeezing?" Xue Shao was angry, drank a sip of tea and burned it, threw away the cup, and was furious, "Do you want to burn me to death?!" ”

"My cousin is here." Wang Yu hurriedly said.

Xue Shao was stunned for a moment, "Where is it?" ”

"Outside the door."

"Stupid!" Xue Shao scolded angrily, but his voice was much lowered, "Why don't you report it early?" ”

"She, she said that you are on official business, and she won't let me come in and disturb me." Wang Yu was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe.

Xue Shao pointed at Yao Yuanchong, "Sit here and wait, and I'll settle accounts with you when I come back!" ”

Yao Yuanchong smiled bitterly, what kind of account do you have with me?

Xue Shao took a deep breath and tried to adjust his emotions, and gradually the anger on his face disappeared, and he returned to the appearance of a noble son who was calm and breezy in the past, and said to Yao Yuanchong with a smile: "Correct, you sit here for a while, and we will discuss it later." Wang Yu, first serve Yao Shilang a good cup of tea, and then accompany him to play a game of chess and wait patiently for me to come back. ”

"Yes."

Wang Yu and Yao Yuanchong looked at each other and smiled bitterly, and watched Xue Shao walk out with a sao bag like a spring breeze.

"Wan'er, why are you here?" There was nothing else to do today, and Xue Shao's tone was full of gentleness.

Shangguan Wan'er's eyes were also quite kind, and she said softly: "The Queen Mother asked me to come and send you a bowl of herbal tea that calms the fire of your heart." ”

With that, Shangguan Wan'er held up a small medicine bag.

"Uh......" Xue Shao was stunned, "How could the Queen Mother know that I would be angry and angry?" ”

"In this world, there is probably nothing that her old man doesn't know." Shangguan Wan'er smiled and stuffed the small medicine bag into Xue Shao's hand, "The mission has been accomplished, I have to go back to the palace to die." ”

"Wait, don't rush to go!" Xue Shao grabbed her hand in a hurry.

Shangguan Wan'er trembled slightly, and she didn't rush to withdraw her hand, but just smiled with a flushed face: "Xue Shangshu, what else do you have any advice?" ”

Xue Shao noticed his gaffe and quickly let go of his hand, and said with a smile: "It's rare to come once, drink a cup of tea and leave." If I want to give advice, don't I have something to ask you? ”

"I really don't know too much about the Queen Mother's delivery of this medicine bag." Shangguan Wan'er picked the corners of her mouth, revealing a slightly playful and regretful expression, "So, I can't help you." ”

"That's weird." Xue Shao looked at the small medicine bag, "What kind of medicine is sold in her old man's bag?" ”

"If you really want to know, why don't you just ask the Queen Mother?" Shangguan Wan'er said.

"That's not going to work." Xue Shao said, "If you can say it clearly, she won't send you to deliver this little medicine bag." ”

"You can understand it, but you can't say it." Shangguan Wan'er smiled slightly, "Xue Shangshu has always been extremely smart, can he still not understand the deep meaning of the Queen Mother?" ”

Shangguan Wan'er said this, and Xue Shao immediately opened the small medicine bag, which did contain some dried red leaves and black-gray lumpy medicinal herbs.

Xue Shao looked left and right, and said that he was basically a layman in traditional Chinese medicine, so he asked Shangguan Wan'er: "I know the flowers and red leaves that kill insects and detoxify the fire, and it is common in the army." But what kind of medicinal herb is this, do you know? ”

Shangguan Wan'er glanced at it twice, smiled a little shyly, and whispered: "This is a herb, produced in the former residence of the Qiang people, which has the good effect of regulating qi and nourishing blood, and women after giving birth use it more." ”

Xue Shao's eyes were straight, "Doesn't what you said mean you didn't say it?" ”

"Angelica."

Xue Shao grinned, "Are you saying that Angelica is endless?" ”

"I'm not here to show off!" Shangguan Wan'er covered her mouth and smiled.

"Angelica, Angelica......" Xue Shaozhi was stunned, "I'm a big man, what is the use of the Queen Mother giving me such a medicine?" ”

Shangguan Wan'er snickered while still eating, "Maybe the Queen Mother knows, your concubine who was secretly raised outside is pregnant and about to give birth?" ”

"Nonsense, am I that kind of person?" Xue Shao turned his face flat, and even he felt that he was too upright and gentlemanly.

Shangguan Wan'er just laughed, and the more she laughed, the brighter she became, the more she couldn't help it.

"Flower red leaves, angelica...... Red leaves angelica? Xue Shao looked at the pills over and over again, and thought in his heart: Could Wu Zetian mean that it's time for the Red Leaf Chamber of Commerce to come back?

Xue Shao thought about it carefully along this line, after all, he was a son of heaven and a courtier, and now Wei Zhiwei has become the new lord of Xiazhou, it is reasonable for him to want to fully control the economic power, which may be his motive for attacking the Red Leaf Chamber of Commerce - he knows the relationship between the Red Leaf Chamber of Commerce and me Xue Shao, and he has no reason and no courage to tear his face with me.

In this situation, it is indeed inappropriate for Yu Hongye to remain there. If you want to make money, where is there no money to make, the capital is full of gold and is more active than the business opportunities in Xiazhou. But how can I swallow this breath? …… Obviously, Wu Zetian already knew these inside information, and also knew that I would be angry because of it, so she first sent Shangguan Wan'er to persuade me not to be angry, and then persuaded me to focus on the overall situation and not to have a momentary and profitable dispute with Wei Zhiyuan, it's a big deal to transfer Yu Hongye back to the capital to start anew!

In this way, even Wu Zetian made some appeasements and concessions to Wei Zhiqi. The purpose is nothing more than to let him sit firmly in Xiazhou and manage the army - just like when she hugged my waist and protected Xue Shao.

Thinking of this, Xue Shao couldn't help but sigh, it seems that he has to settle accounts with Wei in the future. As an important minister of the country, I will not tear my face with him because of a little dispute over business interests, so as to make the entire Xiazhou Governor's Mansion and Shuofang Army unpeaceful.

"It seems that Xue Yuma has already understood the Queen Mother's intentions?" Shangguan Wan'er asked suddenly.

"Nope!" Xue Shao put the pills on the table and said with a smile, "Why don't you sit down and have a cup of tea and patiently help me take a look?" ”