Guanzhong Chang'an, the sky has not yet dawned, the sun has not risen, just four watches, the Sifangyuan salt shop on Zhuque Street in Chang'an, some of the guys cleaned up the door panel, some cleaned the storefront, ready for business early in the morning, and the shopkeeper of the salt shop was using an abacus to calculate the accounts coming and going. www.biquge.infoSuddenly, a guy ran over in a panic and looked into the store. When the shopkeeper saw the panicked guy, he immediately started a fire:

"Lin Lao Wu, what are you doing early in the morning? Don't you see everyone busy? Didn't know how to help. Lin Lao Wu saw the shopkeeper and hurriedly ran to the shopkeeper:

"Shopkeeper Huang, can you go inside and talk!" The shopkeeper surnamed Huang heard the discomfort in Lin Laowu's tone and knew that there must be something in his heart. swept his eyes inside, and took Lin Lao Wu into the inner hall:

"I said Lin Lao Wu, didn't I ask you to go outside the city to welcome the salt car? How did it take it back empty. Lin Lao Wu said in a panic:

"Shopkeeper Huang, something is wrong."

"Something big is going on, panicking."

"I went to Bashang outside the city, and found that the carts transporting salt were empty, according to the coachman, the Huaiyang salt in the south of the Yangtze River and the Qilu salt in Shandong, the salt ships in those two places did not come, and the small ones listened to the silk merchants from Jianghuai and the merchants from Shandong who came to sell local products, and now Jianghuai and Shandong are very strict with the Guanzhong caravan, as long as the salt cannot go out of the territory one step, not a single grain of salt can be transported out privately, all by the official transportation and trading." As soon as he heard the news, Shopkeeper Huang also opened his mouth in surprise.

"Shopkeeper, shopkeeper! What are we going to do? The shopkeeper forced himself to calm down:

"Slow down, slow down, you make me think, let me think! Belch! Lin Lao Wu, you immediately ask the guys to put up the door panels, and hang a sign at the door that the salt has been sold out. Let's go! ”

"Yes!" Under the command of Lin Lao Wu, the guys in the salt shop hurriedly got busy, and the shopkeeper Huang thought about it, gave an order to the guys in the shop, and walked out of the back door. Walk to the owner behind the scenes. The same thing is happening in other salt shops in Chang'an. In the morning, the people of Chang'an went out to buy some salt, but saw that this was the case in all the salt shops in Chang'an.

"What's going on! How did the salt sell out so quickly. ”

"Isn't it going to be a price increase again?"

"Oops! It's hard to say! It's hard to say these profiteers! ”

"Ugh! Don't talk nonsense! The main families behind these salt shops are all important ministers in the imperial court and local families! Don't talk nonsense! Be careful, your Xiao Ming will disappear without knowing it one day! "While the common people were rounding, at this time, a small window opened at the door of the salt shop, and a man stuck his head out:

"Ugh! Folks, folks, don't talk about it here, it's not that we don't sell salt, it's that we don't have much stock now. Moreover, the salt trucks on the Jianghuai and Qilu sides have not arrived in the past few days, so they are temporarily closed for the past few days. ”

"And when will I be able to buy salt?"

"It's hard to say! Anyway, they are all from the villagers, and as soon as the salt truck arrives, they will immediately open the door to sell salt. "When I heard that there were so many men, most of the people at the gate dispersed. Only a small number of people were still waiting at the door of the salt shop, hoping to buy some salt, but later saw that the salt shop was not open, so they were unwilling to disperse.

Li Jiancheng got up in the morning and was about to go to court, when the crown princess Zheng Wanzhen came to Li Jiancheng's side:

"Your Highness, my father is here." As soon as he heard that his father-in-law Zheng Yuanxiu was coming, Li Jiancheng was a little strange. Zheng Yuanxiu has rarely come to the prince's east palace to disturb the prince since Li Jiancheng was established as the prince, this is not that Zheng Yuanxiu has any dissatisfaction with Li Jiancheng, but because since Zheng Wanzhen gave birth to a son Li Chengxun for Li Jiancheng, Zheng Yuanxiu's threshold is about to be broken by people who ask for favors and pull relationships, and even send his daughter to Zheng Yuanxiu in the hope of being Zheng Yuanxiu's father-in-law. 'Now that Zheng Yuanxiu is here in person, I'm afraid it's not a whim,' Li Jiancheng thought of this, and immediately said to Zheng Wanzhen:

"Then hurry up and invite my father-in-law in!" Zheng Wanzhen agreed, and immediately went to help Zheng Yuanxiu and invited him in.

"Old minister, see His Royal Highness the Prince." After Zheng Yuanxiu came in and saw Li Jiancheng, he immediately knelt down and saluted Li Jiancheng, Li Jiancheng quickly helped Zheng Yuanxiu, Zheng Wanzhen also helped beside him, and put Zheng Yuanxiu on a stool and chair next to him, Li Jiancheng and Zheng Wanzhen also found a chair and sat down:

"Father-in-law, haven't you been recuperating in your womb? Why did you have time to come to me today? ”

"The old minister does have something important to ask to see His Royal Highness the Prince." As he spoke, Zheng Yuanxiu looked at Zheng Wanzhen as he spoke, and Zheng Wanzhen knew what Zheng Yuanxiu meant, and hurriedly got up from the chair:

"His Royal Highness the Prince, Dad! When I came, I seemed to hear Cheng Xun calling me, I'll take care of it, Dad, you are here to talk to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I won't bother. Zheng Wanzhen said, and walked out, closing the door by the way. Li Jiancheng nodded with satisfaction, and asked Zheng Yuanxiu again:

"Father-in-law, what happened, judging from your face, it should be not small." Zheng Yuanxiu lowered his voice and said:

"His Royal Highness the Prince, this morning, I reported to me in the salt shop shopkeeper on Zhuque West Street, saying that the salt shop guys sent out did not welcome the salt on the salt cart in Bashang, and there seems to be news that all the salt sales in Qilu Shandong and Jianghuai are directly bought and sold by the housekeepers, and the major ferries of the Yellow River and Huaihe River have set up checkpoints, and not a single grain of salt is allowed to go out of Shandong and Jianghuai!" When Li Jiancheng heard Zheng Yuanxiu say this, he was also taken aback, "Using economic means to carry out subversive activities, and then using military means to deal with the enemy after creating an economic chaos, this kind of common means in later generations can also be encountered here, can someone cross with me." Li Jiancheng thought to himself:

"Oh! There is such a thing! "Li Jiancheng has been a prince for a long time, and he has seen a lot of storms, and he has already reached the point where his mood is invisible.

"Good! Thank you father-in-law for telling my son-in-law the news. Thank you very much for the son-in-law. ”

"Look at what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said, you and I are all family, and now that the news has arrived, I will also leave."

"Father-in-law! Why don't you sit for a while, it's rare for the father-in-law to come once on weekdays, the son-in-law asks the cook to quickly make a first-class banquet, and the son-in-law accompanies you to drink a few more glasses. Zheng Yuanxiu still excused himself:

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince doesn't have to be polite, the old minister has taken his leave." After sending Zheng Yuanxiu away, Li Jiancheng turned out the secret letter sent to Li Jiancheng by Shi Song Lingwen, the governor of Jingzhou, that day:

"Humph! It turns out that they are making such a ruse, which is really poisonous. Someone! Quickly invite Lord Xu Jingzong, Lord Wei Zhengda, Lord Di Zhixun and Lord Huang Wenqing, and say that the prince has important matters to discuss. After a long period of observation and running-in, Li Jiancheng found that among the auxiliary ministers of the East Palace, if there are only these four people who make plans and make conspiracies. The eunuch who was waiting for Li Jiancheng heard Li Jiancheng's order and immediately quickly invited all four adults over.

"Please ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to make it clear, is there something big going on for me to come here?" Xu Jingzong has been in charge of the East Palace's secret agency Qilinwei for a long time, and he has vaguely become the head of the four major advisers, so Xu Jingzong dared to ask Li Jiancheng directly what happened. Li Jiancheng handed over Zheng Yuanxiu's secret report and Song Lingwen's secret letter to the four advisers to pass it on, and everyone understood, and said in unison:

"What a poisonous ploy!"

"His Royal Highness the Prince, there is a saying among the people about rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea, and salt and rice are the most important of these seven things. It doesn't matter if the food is there, in recent years, there has been a bumper harvest in Guanzhong, and Bashu is also my Datang granary. It is this salt, ninety percent of the salt in my dynasty is supplied by Qilu and Jianghuai, one percent is supplied by the salt wells of Bashu, and now Qilu Jianghuai has cut off the salt tribute, and Bashu has just recovered, and the salt wells are in the hands of the barbarians, once they get the news to rebel, the salt famine in Guanzhong is coming. So we have to find a way to do it quickly. Otherwise, disaster will come. Di Zhixon said sharply.

"His Royal Highness the Prince, also, if the people can't eat salt, if there are any two-hearted people who stir up trouble everywhere, not only will the salt shortage come, but the civil unrest may also come." Huang Wenqing added:

"Also, now the major salt shops in Chang'an are monopolized by officials of the Guanlong Shi clan, and the people will rob the salt shops in a small matter, the key is that Jianghuai and Qilu will use salt to buy the aristocratic officials of the major families, whether it is to buy secrets or make them defect in front of the battle, it is possible!" As soon as Wei Zheng's words fell, everyone's faces became even paler. Li Jiancheng hurriedly ordered:

"Lord Xu Jingzong, you quickly send an order and order the Qilin Guard to strictly monitor the interior of the mansions of the major princes in Chang'an and the mansions of the nobles of the major families in Guanlong. As soon as there is any movement, report it immediately. There are also orders to ambush the hidden piles in Qilu and Jianghuai, as well as Mayi and Luoyang, to see what other actions Liu Wuzhou, Dou Jiande, Wang Shichong and Fugongtuo and others have, and the prince must not let them lead the nose. Xu Jingzong got up and agreed:

"Yes! Wechen obeys! After agreeing, he immediately got up and left to do errands. Li Jiancheng instructed Di Zhixon and Huang Wenqing again:

"Lord Di Zhixun, you quickly go to the Jingzhao Yin Mansion and pass on the edict of the palace, let them strengthen the patrol in the city, there must be no robbery during the salt shortage, once someone picks quarrels and provokes trouble, and spreads rumors, they will be killed first. Lord Huang, you have worked hard, go to Tongguan quickly, inform Lord Qu Tu and General Li Ji, and ask them to step up their precautions to prevent Wang Shichong from taking advantage of the chaos to attack. Di Zhixun and Huang Wenqing nodded yes and immediately went out to do something. Li Jiancheng instructed Wei Zheng again:

"Lord Wei Zheng, I have you to help the palace draft a recital, and the palace must urgently enter the palace to meet my father, and let my father quickly think of a way to come up with a countermeasure to deal with these ghosts."

"Yes! Wechen obeys! After speaking, Li Jiancheng personally sharpened ink for Wei Zheng, originally Wei Zheng saw that the other three had something to do, and he was afraid that he would fall out of favor in front of Li Jiancheng. In fact, Li Jiancheng did it on purpose, among all the auxiliary ministers in the East Palace, Wei Zheng's calligraphy was the best, and he was praised by Li Yuan many times, so Li Jiancheng asked Wei Zheng to draft the rules, which can be regarded as a means to compete with Li Shimin for favor in front of Li Yuan.

"Come on! Come on, all of you! Prince Ben is waiting for you here. Li Jiancheng said proudly in his heart.