Uncle Liu, is there a letter from the capital? ”

"Li Gongzi, not yet." Steward Liu said respectfully, he has regarded Li Kui as half of the master of the Liu family, and naturally the gift of master and servant cannot be abolished. Steward Liu hesitated for a while, and hesitated: "Why don't Gongzi Li stay at home for a few more days, and the old man will send someone to the capital to ask the head of the family with a fast horse?" ”

Li Kui waved his hand and said: "Don't bother, fortunately, the next time I went to the capital, it was half a month." Wait until you get to the capital, and then make plans, right? ”

"Alas, the old man can't help the son, so that's the only way." Steward Liu said disappointedly.

Since coming to Linyi, Li Kui waited for the test to be solved, and at the same time sent a letter to the capital Liufu. The solution to the test was not complicated for Li Kui, and he successfully obtained the identity of Xie Yuan. But what kept him worried was that the letter from the capital had not arrived for a long time.

According to the agreement between him and Liu Baosheng, after the emperor took power, he found an opportunity to offer the secret recipe of snowflake salt.

First, it can completely stabilize the status of the Liu family in the court, and at the same time prepare for Liu Baosheng to take the last step.

His goal is the country.

But the official family has long had a queen, and Liu Qingjing wants to become a queen, which is impossible in the short term. Then it can only be a concubine, which is not difficult. Zhao Xu also had a plan. But to give a concubine, you also need to wait for the opportunity. In particular, how to arrange Liu Baosheng is Zhao Xu's problem. Liu Baosheng has merit, he naturally knows it. In the past two years, the money that Liu Baosheng has sent to the palace is an astronomical amount, but he can't say it, and he can't say it. Without credit, Liu Baosheng wouldn't have been promoted to lieutenant just because his daughter was a concubine, right?

Don't you really take the queen seriously?

According to Li Kui's plan, Liu Baosheng should act at this time, and even he should show his face in front of the emperor.

However, there was no movement in the capital for a long time, which made Li Kui quite puzzled. Could it be that Liu Baosheng swallowed his own benefits?

But their Li family is still making snowflake salt, and orders from all over the country have not stopped. In particular, the sales volume in the capital is getting higher and higher. Obviously, Liu Baosheng didn't give snowflake salt at all?

With this doubt in his heart, Li Kui took Li Yun and the Xie brothers on the way to the Daimyo's Mansion.

Yizhou to the capital, in fact, is not convenient. One way is to go south, go to Pei County after sparing Xiapi, go to Yingtianfu, and then go all the way west to the capital; Another way is to go north, after arriving in Qizhou, take a boat from Jishui into Liangshanbo, which also becomes a huge lake in Dayopi, and then pass through Liangshanbo, and enter the Wuzhang River.

Wuzhang River is also one of the five major water systems of Bianliang, which can directly reach the outer city of Bianliang, and can enter Bianliang City less than 20 miles ashore. This is also the most convenient route.

There is another road that is exaggerated, from Yishui all the way south, directly to Chuzhou on the edge of the Huai River, and then after entering the canal, to the Bianhe River, you can directly enter the city from the Bianhe River from the Bianliang Water Gate. But it is also the farthest detour, and it takes more than half a month to take a boat on the road. Li Kui chose a road with a medium itinerary.

The reason why he chose this way was because Baekjang Village was recruiting people in Jeju and other places. The fifth uncle, Li Lin, wrote to him and told him that he seemed to have found news of Gongsun Sheng, and Li Kui tried to see if he could catch this guy.

That's when I planned to go to Qizhou.

Hurry up along the way, and don't say anything.

Bianliang, Imperial Palace,

Let's say that after two years in the capital, Liu Baosheng, who relied on his daughter to be the general of Sanpin, once again participated in a court meeting that did not belong to him.

On the vertical arch hall, Liu Baosheng hid in the corner of the military general area, and the surrounding generals and relatives of the emperor were talking about the good places in the capital, and which geisha had a great chance to seize the Shangyuan Oiran. Or all kinds of fun things like horse and dog fighting. And he was isolated by the entire group of Jiangmen and the emperor's relatives.

Before, it was because the Empress Dowager hung the curtain to listen to the government, and no one dared to approach Liu Baosheng.

Now, the Empress Dowager has been buried. But no one was close to him. This made Liu Baosheng very depressed all the time, early in the morning before the rooster crowed, he got up, waiting for the court meeting, who would have thought that the words he said alone at the court meeting would be - thank you Lord Longen.

After this sentence, there is only 'the resignation of the ministers'.

The more Liu Baosheng thought about it, the more unpleasant it became, he knew that this was the case, and it was better to fight in the Huaiyang army. For his current rank, I am afraid that he is the leader of the Huaiyang Army. Although the place is a little inferior and a little down, it is better than being able to speak, and what you say works. It's better than being a wooden man in the capital, right?

Compared with the 'leisure and leisure' of the military attachés, the left side of the hall occupied by the civil officials is as lively as a fang market, and it is still the kind of person who quarrels and a large group of people pull the side fight.

Since the "Qingmiao Law" was set to change the law, it has been arguing for more than half a year.

The period also included the formulation of the title of the Empress Dowager.

Every time it's a fight, it's a spittle, and I can't wait to roll up my sleeves and have to fight.

Liu Baosheng wants to watch the play, he has no sense of existence in the court. Even the emperor felt that his old man was a little cowardly. When he saw Zhang Dan, he didn't even dare to raise his head, and the same was true when he saw other civil officials.

In the past, it was a matter of arguing about the law, and Liu Baosheng couldn't understand it, but it sounded like that anyway. But today is a little special, it's about talking about money.

Two years ago, Western Xia was on the border of the Great Song Dynasty.

It was at this time that Longtu Pavilion was sent to Huanxing Road in the Great Song Dynasty frontier as an envoy to Qingzhou. At the same time, the four cities of Jialu, Mizhi, Futu, and Anjiang were ceded to Western Xia. The reason is also very simple, the Empress Dowager was not in good health at that time and could not support a protracted national war.

Of course, even when she was in good health, she didn't dare to fight.

As a woman, no matter how high her status is, her power leans towards the government and the opposition, and in the face of war, she still can't make the confidence and toughness that a big country decision-maker should have.

The Gao family just wants to hand over the Great Song Dynasty to his grandson as it is, and complete his mission, that's all. From this point on, she has done a very successful job. The treasury is full, the country is quite stable, and after his grandson Zhao Xu is in power, he has the confidence to display his talents.

It's a pity that the Tanguts were greedy.

also met the Empress Dowager Liang, who was rare in a hundred years, and the result of the confrontation between the two women was that the Empress Dowager Liang of the Western Xia was very tough, and the Empress Dowager of the Great Song Dynasty was very cowardly, plus the army of the Western Xia was stronger than the border army of the Great Song Dynasty, it stands to reason that the result is very easy to guess, and it must be a complete victory for the Western Xia. What people didn't expect was that the Empress Dowager Liang was pressed to the ground and hammered by Zhang Qi, a civil official who came out of nowhere in the Great Song Dynasty, and almost became the first empress dowager to be caught by the Song army since the founding of the Western Xia.

After this battle, Western Xia wanted to take revenge on the Snow Country, and the Great Song Dynasty had enough confidence in his heart.

But the controversy in the court affected the war on the frontier. Whether to fight out or stick to it has become the focus of controversy in the court.

Fighting out, naturally, is very risky, and it requires a lot of military spending, which makes it difficult for conservatives to accept. finally accumulated so much money, but let a group of white-eyed wolves come to be chic, this is probably the most aggrieved thing for conservatives.

Su Zhe, as a minister who cares for his life, can only roll up his sleeves and go down in the face of the controversy before the national war: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the predicament of Western Xia is nothing more than the disease of ringworm, and now the Tubo people in the land of Hehuang are my enemies." Originally, our dynasty could obtain 15,000 war horses from the land of Hehuang every year, and countless money and grain, which were enough to support the battle on the Xingqing Road. ”

"But now, Qingtang and Tubo hate our dynasty, and the war horse trade is even more severe. In the Western Xia war, the war horse lost one, and the dynasty lost one warhorse. Moreover, Qingtang Tubo does not rule out taking advantage of the fact that our army is fighting on Xingqing Road and sneaking up on our Qinfeng Road from behind, and there will be a belly and back to suffer from the enemy's difficulties. The minister thought that although the guard could not win a big victory, he would not need too many soldiers, and he could prepare more soldiers for Qin Fenglu in case of contingencies. ”

"It's ridiculous, Qingtang Tubo would have surrendered, if it weren't for Sima Guang to withdraw the army and let it stand on its own. Where am I in the trouble of a war horse? Seeing Su Zhe come forward, Zhang Dian couldn't help but speak. But he knew that the key was nothing else, money: "If the household department has no money, it can transfer the treasury from other areas." I am a big country, why should I be afraid of the threat of repeated small countries? ”

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that if our Celestial Dynasty overthrows the Western Xia, the military expenditure in the northwest will be reduced by more than seventy percent, and the expenditure of my Great Song Dynasty will be less than 20 million yuan per year. This is a long-term situation, and those who are not rats cannot understand it! The squire of the Criminal Department jumped out, and his righteous appearance was unquestionable, but the civil and military officials present knew that this thing was a hypocrite.

Sure enough, as soon as Xing Shu opened his mouth, he said something else: "I heard that in the past two years, there has been a kind of salt called snowflake salt, the price is more than silver, but the price of high-grade salt is 45 wen a catty for tax, how ridiculous!" The minister proposed to increase this salt tax by a hundredfold to set an example. And my Great Song Dynasty salt and iron tea are all official-made, the minister thinks that this salt is popular, but it is not controlled by the household department, this is illegal, and I also ask Your Majesty to issue an order to confiscate its illegal gains and sentence the main offender ......"

Liu Baosheng didn't care about it at first, but suddenly heard that he seemed to be remembered, and immediately looked at Xing Shu angrily, did you dig your ancestral grave or what? How harmful is it?

Not only Liu Baosheng, but also many people in the group of generals gritted their teeth with hatred. This snowflake salt is their biggest business. For example, the Cao family, which accounts for a large share, has an income of three or five hundred thousand yuan a year.

Worse than one hundred or twenty thousand.

The worst also has an income of tens of thousands.

The gate is different from the civil official, and the civil official can take anything with the money. But the generals can't, they need to support martial artists, train personal guards, and even support subordinates who have been born and died for them, and the cost is already very large. If they even have to take this money, won't they let them eat the northwest wind?

As he spoke, Gao Gonghua was furious, pointed at Xing Shu's nose and scolded: "Xuehua Salt pays a full amount of taxes according to the commercial tax of the Great Song Dynasty, and the Great Song Dynasty has not punished a business because it makes a lot of money." The court is not a robber, and it can't do such pickled things! ”

Xing Shu also straightened his chest and said: "Since the restructuring of Yuanfeng, the household department has coordinated the three envoys, but the tax income is getting lower and lower, and there are so many silverfish!" ”

Xing Shu is this person, right?

In the early years, he had a bad record, and as soon as he became a jinshi, he angered Wang Anshi because of his manipulation of right and wrong, and then he was kicked to the ground. What is even more unfortunate is that the county where he was appointed was revoked before he could arrive. It stands to reason that this one should be cold. But seven or eight years later, this product was remembered and became an official again.

During this period, several major events were really made, such as when Emperor Shenzong was seriously ill, he participated in the conspiracy of Lichu, but unfortunately Gao Gonghua and Gao Gongji were reprimanded by the Empress Dowager Gao and had to give up.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, he also helped the Gao brothers write a letter asking the emperor's biological mother Zhu to be the concubine. It stands to reason that the emperor's biological mother should be named the queen mother, and the concubine is a slap in the face of the emperor. The Empress Dowager didn't want the emperor's biological mother to have too much right to speak, although the Zhu family was finally named a concubine, making the identity of mother and son incompatible, but this guy was still degraded as the mastermind behind it.

It can be said that Xing Shu's officialdom is very unsmooth, but this guy is also a person who is becoming more and more courageous.

This time, Zhang Dian and Cai Bian remembered to be appointed as the squire of the Criminal Department, which meant that Xing Shu was used as a pawn to bite the old party.

But what kind of person is Xing Shu!

Where is he willing to do such an untechnical thing?

He added drama to himself.

Pull the emperor into the water first.

Although Zhao Xu is smart, he is also good at disguise. But the problem is that he is only a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, and in front of a group of old foxes, he can't hide a lot of things. For example, now, he didn't say anything, which not only caused Zhang Dian and others to be quite passive, but also gave birth to undeserved thoughts with conservatives.

So, he jumped out and forced the emperor to make a statement.

But the method used made Zhao Xu want to tear up the goods.

Can he not know about snowflake salt?

Although this is Liu Baosheng's industry, there is also a part of his future brother-in-law Li Kui. What's more, most of the money Liu Baosheng earned was given to Liu Qingjing. And Liu Qingjing's money was spent by her and Zhao Xu together. When the Empress Dowager was there, the Gao family advocated frugality and never gave Zhao Xu the concept of spending money. The emperor, who was used to being poor, suddenly discovered the benefits of money, and naturally relied more on Liu Qingjing.

Right now, suddenly Xing Shu attacked his father-in-law, but the real target was himself. This made him hate it so much that he almost blasted Xing Shu out of the palace.

The combination of new hatred and old hatred made Zhao Xu's pale little face flushed.

But the emperor is the emperor after all, he doesn't have to worry about the courtiers really rushing up and fighting with him, but Liu Baosheng was half scared to death. He touched the music in his sleeve, it had been more than a month, but he didn't dare to hand it over.

At this time, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty looked at him, and they couldn't hide, so they could only grit their teeth and be ruthless, stomp their feet, walked out of the general's train, took out the music in their sleeves, bowed over their heads, and said tremblingly: "Your Majesty, the minister has this music!" ”

"Accurate!"

Zhao Xu thought that the old man was going to fight back, so he couldn't wait to take the music from the eunuch's hand, looked at it twice, and was a little confused, where is this music chapter, but the secret recipe of snowflake salt.

Offering the secret recipe is naturally a great achievement, especially since this secret recipe has contributed millions of private money to him, so he naturally has a sense of closeness in it.

But what surprised him was not the secret recipe itself, but the cost of the secret recipe, even the emperor, you cost only this kind of thing, you dare to sell it for five yuan and a pound - profiteer!