Three days later.

Chang'an City was shrouded in wind and rain, the sky was overcast, and there were lightning and thunder in the dark clouds.

The wide streets were deserted, deserted and empty.

"Drive-"

A man and a horse galloped forward, with three letter flags planted behind them.

Chang'an City is not allowed to ride horses, the patrol forbidden army heard the sound and rushed to see the letter flag quickly stopped to avoid, the horse fell under the feet of a stumbling down, the messenger on horseback was thrown out, let out an exclamation, smashed to the ground, rolled twice, wailed.

An officer of the forbidden army stepped forward and asked, "Brother, it doesn't matter if you say something." ”

"Quick, send me to the Holy One." The other shouted weakly.

Seeing that the messenger was seriously wounded and could no longer run, the officer gritted his teeth, picked up the man and put him on the horse's back, and hurried forward with the horse.

Not long after, the group came to the gate of the imperial city, and the internal guards of the forbidden army stepped forward to stop them.

The officer stepped forward and said, "Brother, it's the messenger, send it in quickly." ”

The messenger was picked up by the internal guards of the forbidden army, quickly sent into the imperial city, and was led to the Manna Hall by the inner guards.

Li Er was reviewing the notebook, when he heard that a messenger was coming, his face changed slightly, and he hurriedly let people in, and when he saw that the messenger was wet, his face was haggard, weak, and there was not much left in his breath, obviously he had not run long distances, so he quickly got up and went forward.

The messenger struggled to pull a letter out of his bosom and fainted.

Li Er took the letter and told Wang De: "Quick, send it to the imperial doctor, you must save it." ”

Messengers are high-risk professions and respectable professions.

Wang De knew the severity, so he hurriedly agreed and beckoned several people from China to take people away.

Li Er saw that the letter was intact and had not been opened, so he quickly opened it, took out the letter and looked at ten lines, his face instantly became gloomy, his eyes were beating with anger, and after reading it, he was furious and scolded: "Bastard, damn it, I can't spare you." ”

The attendants who left scouts in the main hall were silent and did not dare to move, but they hurriedly recorded Li Er's anger, which will be archived and preserved in the future.

"Come here, Xuanfang Xuanling will meet you." Li Er roared, and rushed back to the imperial eucalyptus to sit down, motionless, his face gloomy and terrifying.

After waiting for a while, Fang Xuanling hurried over: "Holy Lord! ”

Li Er waved his hand to show that there was no need to be polite, and said in a cold voice: "Qi Bisili sent someone to send an emergency military situation, saying that there is news from the front line, a large number of pirates have looted Chuzhou, Haizhou, and Yizhou one after another, the old people, young and strong people have all been killed, women, children, and children have all been taken away, and they have fled to the sea. ”

"What?"

Fang Xuanling was taken aback, and immediately became furious, and shouted: "The pirates are too deceitful, you will kill them, the minister suggested that Qi Bisi should divide the troops all the way, go to the three places to check, and preside over the disaster relief, Chuzhou, Haizhou and Yizhou are guarded by government soldiers, and the pirates can be taken one after another, and a huge number of troops are needed. ”

"You mean, there are no pirates in the Jiangnan area?" Li Er asked, and he also had this judgment in his heart, but he didn't have enough evidence to be sure.

Fang Xuanling's eyes were cold and terrible, Sanzhou was burned, I don't know how many people were killed, this hatred is not shared, and he said coldly: "The Japanese Kou knows that the imperial court reinforcements are dispatched, and they will be defeated after a long battle, and they will make the last fight, but the lack of troops will definitely not be able to connect the three states, only to concentrate the troops in one battle, and leave after grabbing, when it comes to the sea, the imperial court is helpless, and the minister implores to vigorously build sea ships and train sailors for the future." ”

"The sailor is really necessary, I think about it later, once all the pirates are far away from the sea, it will be difficult to chase and kill, half of the Jiangnan problem will be solved, and the rest will be disaster relief, caress the place, Aiqing has been worrying more recently, it is best to organize the transportation of a batch of grain and grass." Li Er admonished.

"Yes!" Fang Xuanling solemnly agreed, his mind was full of killing and hatred created by the Japanese robbers, the land of Sanzhou, there were tens of thousands of people, and now they were either killed or robbed, reduced to slaves, women can give birth, in time, wouldn't there be more and more islands?

Thinking of this, Fang Xuanling proposed again: "Holy Lord, the island has taken away women, children and children, and it won't be long before there will be more people, the imperial court has no power for naval warfare, pirates may invade again at any time, and the coastal line will no longer be peaceful, sea ships and sailors are imperative, and they must be done as soon as possible." ”

"I'll think about it, let's go prepare grain and grass." Li Er waved his hand, letting Fang Xuanling come over was mainly about grain and grass, and Li Er, the military power, didn't want to let it out to anyone easily.

Fang Xuanling saw Li Er's thoughts, sighed secretly, and left.

"Sailor?"

Li Er asked the chamberlain to push the map, and his eyes fell on the three places of Chuzhou, Haizhou and Yizhou near the sea, thinking about who would be the right leader of the water division, suddenly, Li Er thought of another question, and suddenly felt cold all over his body, Tong Kong shrank, and an unprecedented sense of tension came to his heart.

Back then, with the Xuanjia Army as the vanguard, he had never been so nervous about killing 100,000 enemy troops.

"Haizhou, Chuzhou, Yizhou, salt?"

Li Er looked at the three places, muttered to himself, and shouted unwillingly: "Someone! ”

Someone immediately stepped forward to make a promise.

"Let's go and check whether Haizhou, Chuzhou and Yizhou are salt production places? Just go. ”

The chamberlain felt Li Er's anxiety and anger, and hurriedly agreed and hurried away.

Li Ershen sat on the dragon couch, his eyes were firmly fixed on the three places on the map, and he didn't blink, and his whole person was trembling.

Not long after, the chamberlain hurriedly came over: "Shengshang, I found out, Sanzhou is the main place where I make sea salt, and the rest is Yangzhou." ”

"Bastard!"

Li Er was furious, kicked the royal eucalyptus over, and the music book on it was scattered all over the ground, so frightened that everyone in the hall did not dare to move, and even held their breath, for fear of touching the mold, but Li Er was full of anger, where to care about the people around him, his eyes became red, and he rushed to the side of the map.

The three places in Haizhou were destroyed, and the ten rooms were empty, which means that the salt fields will also be destroyed, and all the craftsmen who know how to make salt will be killed, and there will be no sea salt for a long time, and the remaining Yangzhou can't even satisfy the south of the Yangtze River, there can be no surplus, what should Chang'an do?

If you don't have salt, you'll have a big mess!

There are only three kinds of salt in the world, sea salt, green salt and rock salt, also called well salt, sea salt is gone, rock salt is only for the southwest area, and the remaining green salt is in the Longyou area, the output is also limited, they are insufficient, and they are also unable to support Chang'an, and a sense of powerlessness comes to my heart.

If the 100,000 stone rock salt in the imperial court is still in hand, it can be relieved to some extent, but now it is all gone, and even the inventory of Chang'an salt merchants is also sold short under his own instructions, and the people's homes are a little bit, and they can survive for a while, but what about others? How long has it been?

"Protector?"

A name flashed in his mind, and Li Er's expression suddenly relaxed, there is still a lot of salt in the Protector Mansion, as long as you bring it, you can alleviate it.

Soon, Li Er's face froze, thinking of the current tense relationship between the two, one thought after another flashed through his mind.

"Defeated!"

"I'm still defeated!"

"In terms of the way to help the people, I am not as good as a weak-crowned boy?!"

At this moment, Li Er muttered to himself, his face was full of shame, distress and helplessness, once upon a time, the monarch and the minister were like father and son, cooperated tacitly, trusted, joined hands to open up the territory, laid down a piece of land, the three emperors were high, and the name was left in history, but now they have become enemies.

Li Er thought that it was caused by suspicion, and the fault was on himself, but he did not regret it, for the change of imperial power, for the sake of the Li family, some things must be done, and the blame is only for the other party to be too good.

"Salt, you have to get it!"

A thought emerged, and it quickly became firm, now tearing your face is not good for yourself, it is not advisable, then buy it, that batch of high prices, the court can't be chaotic, and the people's hearts can't be chaotic.

"Someone!"

Wang De hurriedly agreed.

"You go in person and ask the Lord Protector what conditions the salt can be sold to the imperial court."

"Ah...... Compliance. ”

Wang De was a little confused, but he didn't dare to ask more, so he hurried away.

Half an hour later, Wang De came to Qinjiazhuang and was led up to the courtyard on the top of the mountain.

Qin Huaidao met in the study, Wang Deke was a close attendant by Li Er's side, and coming over itself meant that Li Er was soft, but a little sincerity was unknown, Qin Huaidao poured tea for Wang De and asked with a smile: "It is rare for Wang Gonggong to come here, and when he left, he just brought the next month's dividends." ”

Wang De hurriedly said: "This time I came not to share dividends, but to ask the Lord Protector what conditions he can sell the salt in his hand to the imperial court." ”

"The imperial court wants to buy salt, shouldn't it, it won't take long for the floods in the south of the Yangtze River to be calmed down, and a large amount of sea salt can be sent to Chang'an, can't it be used?" Qin Huaidao asked curiously.

Wang De looked around, and after making sure that there was no one else, he whispered: "Protector of the country, you and I are not outsiders, let's be honest, the imperial court has just received an emergency military situation, Haizhou, Chuzhou and Yizhou have been looted by the islands one after another, the city has been burned, the old man has been killed, women, children and children have been taken away, and ten rooms are empty. ”

"Is this burning, robbing, killing?"

Qin Huaidao was stunned, and then his face turned pale, his eyes were beating with endless anger, and he also understood why Li Er wanted to buy this batch of salt in his hand, Sanzhou is a major salt-producing town, and now it has been destroyed, no sea salt has come in in a short period of time, Chang'an is going to be chaotic, and he couldn't help but ask: "What about pirates?" ”

"Far away from the depths of the sea."

"If you run away after the robbery, won't the court pursue you?"

"The imperial navy cannot fight at sea."

Qin Huaidao understood, looked out the window and was silent, his eyes cold.