The news given by the Cao Gang is basically the same as the message given by An Lingxu in the front, but the only difference is that.

Someone accidentally broke one of the bags while carrying it, and it was discovered that so many boats were full of grain.

This news made Li Hao completely wiped out, why did he say that the good private salt became food.

If this is false news deliberately spread by An Lingxu, then what is their purpose.

Li Hao was really full of question marks at this time, and the best way was to notify him not to act.

But now the news is too late, the fleet has already set off, and it is estimated that they have all entered the Huaiyang Army.

And Ye Sheng's side must have already started to act, and if he wants to stop it at this time, he can't do it.

However, Li Hao's first reaction should be to find An Lingxu.

Just because of this incident, Li Hao was a little wary of Cai Xiang, so he directly recruited Yang Wenyuan, and after explaining the situation to him, he asked him to quickly send someone to find it.

Just waited for Yang Wenyuan's people to find him, An Lingxu had disappeared, and when he asked Cheng Shi, he didn't know An Lingxu's whereabouts.

Now Li Hao and Yang Wenyuan are a little tired, and they have nothing to do for a while, so they can only hope for God.

But unfortunately, the good spirits are not bad, Ye Sheng sent someone to Yangzhou City overnight that night, and rushed into the city early in the morning to report.

At this time, Li Hao, who had not slept all night, also gathered everyone in the mansion and waited for Ye Sheng's news.

When they arrived, they immediately called in for questioning, only to hear someone say, "Ladies and gentlemen, we seized all the smuggling vessels last night as planned.

However, when I went on board the ship to inspect it, I found that all the military rations on the ship were sent to the north, and all kinds of documents were complete, and it was not smuggling."

As soon as he heard that it was military rations, Sheng Hong immediately said, "Then hurry up and let them sail away, the longer they stop, the bigger the problem, whether the current batch of military rations has been shipped."

As a result, before anyone could answer, Cai Xiang said, "This is the trick they have set for us, now that we have all taken the bait, it is so easy to let them go."

At this time, the person who came affirmed, "Yes, after finding out that it was all military rations, Lord Ye had already let us go.

But they still stuck in the waterway, but they didn't leave, saying that before we searched, they had been told that it was military rations.

As a result, we forcibly boarded the ship, saying that we suspected that we had done something in it, and did not dare to move forward.

And when Lord Ye heard this, he didn't dare to let him go easily, worried that they would do something to frame us.

So Master Ye asked me to come to Yangzhou quickly and ask the adults how to solve it."

After hearing this, Li Hao said, "Okay, I already know about this, you go down and rest first."

After the visitor left, Cai Xiang first came to admit his mistake: "This matter is my fault, and it was An Lingxu's female businessman who led to the current situation.

If the court wants to hold the court accountable for this, I will be the one who will be responsible."

Hearing this, even for the sake of face, Li Hao couldn't be silent: "It's not your problem, I also know about this matter, don't you see it?"

….

It doesn't matter if you are held accountable, the most important thing now is how to resolve the matter as soon as possible.

As for An Lingxu, when he frees his hand, he will have to clean it up."

Then Li Hao asked everyone's opinions and said, "Now let's discuss it together and see how to solve this matter."

can listen to Li Hao's question, but there is also silence below.

Of course, Li Hao can also understand them, and this will go wrong.

However, when the sky falls, there is also a tall man like Li Hao, who will inevitably be involved in saying something wrong, so it is naturally more important for Li Mingzhe to protect himself.

So Li Hao simply said, "Since you don't have an idea for the time being, you might as well go back and think about it."

When they heard this, they all arose as if they had been pardoned

Leave.

In the end, only Yang Wenyuan, Cai Xiang, and Sheng Hong stayed, and Li Hao was not surprised that the other two stayed.

But seeing that Sheng Hong also stayed, Li Hao was really a little curious, could it be that this guy had some good plan to solve the problem.

Otherwise, such a wise person would not run fast.

It's just that before Li Hao asked, Yang Wenyuan said, "This matter can't be frozen there, otherwise it will be troublesome in the middle of the court after a long time."

The bell must be tied to the bell, since this is a set set by Wang Youqian for us, we still have to find him to solve it.

Why don't I go to him and put this matter down with my head down."

Li Hao said: "It's not a matter of bowing your head, his purpose is to make me give up continuing to pay the salt tax, and you may not be able to see him when you go."

In fact, everyone understands this truth, but they don't want to bring it up.

Now that Li Hao said it, Yang Wenyuan said directly: "Then let's just give up, we have already made achievements in the front, and I am unwilling to give up like this."

Then Sheng Hong opened his mouth to persuade Yang Wenyuan: "What can we do if we don't give up, now we are already riding a tiger."

Giving up now can at least keep a useful body, and there is still a chance to start over, take a step back and open the sky."

Hearing this, Yang Wenyuan disagreed, but he didn't know how to refute it.

And Li Hao couldn't help but sigh when he went, sure enough, Sheng Hong was still what he remembered.

However, at this time, Li Hao still agreed with Sheng Hong, and said, "What Sheng said is right, and stopping losses in time is not necessarily a bad thing.

Moreover, Wang Youqian is a person who knows the severity, and he understands how much the official family attaches great importance to this salt patrol.

The officials and ministers will not sit idly by, and even if I leave, there will be a steady stream of people coming behind me.

So he won't embarrass me, and he'll even make concessions so that we can go back and make a difference."

Hearing this, Sheng Hong breathed a sigh of relief directly, but Yang Wenyuan said directly: "Then we will compromise with them like this, I can't swallow this breath."

Li Hao persuaded: "Forget it, this matter is a bad move for us after all, and if we lose, we will lose.

Wen Yuan, you first send someone to Dantu and inform Jin Chaozhong to bring the men and horses back.

As for those people, they must be paid enough to let them go back to Jiangning Mansion.

After sending people, you will go directly to Suqian, meet Ye Sheng, and wait for my news.

….

In addition, Judge Cai and Master Sheng appeased people in Yangzhou and promised that we would not make a mess ourselves.

As for Chuzhou, I'll just take someone to it myself."

Then he appeased Cai Xiang, who had not spoken, before letting everyone go down to do things.

It was also when Li Hao was discussing things here, in Chuzhou, Wang Youqian and others were also celebrating.

I only heard the governor of Chuzhou say: "This time we seized the military rations privately, we people just need to drag it and refer to him on it to see if he can take off his skin."

Then everyone continued to echo, as if they could directly knock Li Hao into the dust.

But Wang Youqian said at this time: "There is no need for this, he is a hero after all, and he is deeply respected by the officials.

Not to mention that there are still a few ministers and British ministers behind him, just because of this incident, the official family will not dismiss his officials.

Since you can't kill people once, you can't offend people to death, and you can't make money in peace."

Hearing this, the limelight immediately changed, and he continued to praise Wang Youqian.

However, the supervisor of the goods business was a little worried: "Then Li Hao will not rely on the forces behind him to stand up and get along with us."

Wang Youqian said: "No, this matter can be big or small, if it really turns the sky upside down, the official family has to care about this leisurely public, and he will not be unscathed.

Since Li Hao has been able to come so far, he can still see the importance of this."

After saying this, Wang Youqian looked at everyone and said, "And this time

We can't really let him go home empty-handed, we still have to make some friends after all.

Let him give an account to the imperial court, and give an explanation to the officials and several ministers, so that everyone can continue to do it in peace."

Hearing this question involving self-interest, the place also fell into silence all of a sudden.

Seeing that everyone was dumb like last time, but this time Wang Youqian had no intention of giving up, and said directly: "Since you don't want to say it, then it's up to me to say it.

This time, all of us will collect 1.5 million taels of salt tax, and at the same time pay an additional 600,000 taels a year on top of the current salt tax."

Hearing this, everyone was in an uproar and said, "This is too much, you said that you can pay 1.5 million taels in addition, everyone can live a little tighter."

But we will give another 600,000 taels a year, and if we don't know, we will think that he has seized our handle."

Wang Youqian sneered directly at this time and said, "I asked you to say it just now, but you don't say it.

Now that I have said it, you are against it again, so it is better to make your own decisions."

Seeing that this sign was wrong, the supervisor of the goods department hurriedly said, "Don't be angry, Lord Wang, everyone just thinks that this silver is too much.

I have no objection to you, do you want us to reduce it a little, 300,000 taels per Chinese New Year's Eve."

Wang Youqian naturally disagreed with this, so he said directly: "Is 600,000 taels a year, I don't think it's much at all.

You must know that if you don't give a little more, how can you reassure the court, the court is not at ease, can we do this business for a long time!

And this is not just the Imperial Court of Hulong, I also want to see if I can bring Li Hao in.

You have to understand that there is still Ouyang Xiu standing behind Li Hao, who can be in charge of the three divisions, not to mention that Ouyang Xiu is also friendly with Han Qi and Fu Bi.

….

If we can take this opportunity to build a relationship with them, how much can we earn, and think about it, do you still think that this is a lot of money?"

After listening to the explanation, everyone could accept it, so they all nodded in affirmation.

Later, the person from the cargo service asked about transporting salt to Hebei, and said, "The people over there in Hebei are already urging, and they are also going to transport this batch of salt out again.

If you don't get lucky, then it won't be easy to explain."

Regarding this, Wang Youqian actually had a plan: "Don't worry, Li Hao is also the people in the front of the palace.

I will take this opportunity and ask Li Hao to bring all the people from the front division of the palace to Yangzhou.

It's just under his nose to keep you safe, and I don't think he dares to do anything."

After talking about this, everyone left separately, while Wang Youqian was waiting for Li Hao to come to the door.

As for Li Hao, he didn't rush out of the house, but went to find Zhang Fu.

Zhang Fu, who knew the situation, directly comforted him when he saw Li Hao: "Uncle, you don't have to take this matter to heart, these officials in Huainan dare to bully you, I will tell the master about this when I go back, and let him give you a head."

Hearing this, Li Hao really couldn't cry or laugh, but he didn't expect that in Zhang Fu's eyes, he would become a child who couldn't win the fight, so he went home and cried his nose.

However, Li Hao didn't defend anything, but got down to business: "I want to ask if you are inquiring about the news in Huainan, and whether it is possible that the officials in Huainan will know your identity."

Zhang Fu replied: "That's absolutely not, I inquired about the news directly from the low-level petty officials, and they were all people who could be entrusted to the back, but they would not leak the news.

And there are few officials in Huainan who know me."

Hearing this, Li Hao continued to ask, "That's good, I heard from you last time that the general of the Forbidden Army in Scarlet Prefecture is under the command of his father-in-law, I don't know if he can be trusted."

Zhang Fu said: "He is also the master's personal soldier, and he has not participated in the matter of private salt, so he is naturally credible."

Li Hao said: "Okay, then I want you to go and transfer troops from him, but this matter must be kept secret, this is my trick to fight back."

But at this time, Zhang Fu was taken aback and said: "Without the imperial edict, you can't transfer troops, and even if you can transfer troops and horses, transferring troops for no reason is a capital crime.

Even if the officials and ministers want to protect you, they can't protect it, and you can't do stupid things."

Li Hao smiled at this time and said, "Naturally, I won't be so stupid and risk my life."

As he spoke, he took out the talisman and edict from his bosom, and explained, "Of course, when I delivered the song to Beijing, I was worried that something would happen, so I specially asked for these two things, so I could be allowed to drop the soldier once.

After I went over this time, they would definitely ask me to bring back all the people from the front of the palace, and they wouldn't have thought that I would have to transfer troops.

So when I confirm that I have no one to arrange, I will definitely ship this illicit salt.

I need you to lead people to deploy in advance, catch them, can you do it."

Zhang Fu did not answer immediately, but first checked the authenticity of the talisman and the will, and confirmed that there was no problem.

….

Then he said, "With these two things, I promise that as long as they are really lucky, they will definitely be able to arrest them in the Huaiyang Army."

Li Hao said, "Okay, then please, and I'm introducing you to someone."

After speaking, he called the people of the Cao Gang in and introduced each other.

He also said to Zhang Fu: "The Cao Gang will definitely be used to transport smuggled salt, and when they get the news, they will notify you as soon as possible."

The news may not be timely, it can only be used as a guarantee, and you have to pay more attention to it."

After confirming that there was no problem, Li Hao asked them all to leave first.

After packing up, he rushed to Chuzhou with people.

Li Hao rode all the way, and he only arrived in Chuzhou City the next day, and he didn't have time to freshen up, so he went directly to the transfer envoy Yamen.

After seeing Wang Youqian again, Li Hao said directly, "Lord Wang, I'm here to ask for your help today."

Wang Youqian naturally understood what Li Hao was here for, but he just pretended to be a lake and said, "What did Master Li say about this, you and I help each other, and we don't ask for anything.

Let's stop standing outside and talking, let's go inside and talk."

As he spoke, he pulled Li Hao into the room and sat down, and then asked, "You just said that you have something to ask me to do, what is it?"

Li Hao replied: "Don't pretend to be a lake, it's not a batch of military rations to be sent to the north here, and then my people can't tell the difference.

Even the people with the boat were stopped, and now they refuse to leave, so they stay in Suqian.

I can't afford to be guilty of withholding military rations, so I came to Lord Wang for help."

Here, Wang Youqian pretended to suddenly realize, and said, "It turns out that it is really a person under your command, I still don't believe the news that came back, I just thought that someone was fake.

Aren't the people in the front of the palace all Dantu, why did they go to Suqian again?"

From knowledge to strength