Fenghou

Chapter 484

Salt has been valued by various rulers throughout the dynasties, and the salt tax was even the most important source of finance in the Tang Dynasty.

Salt may be just a condiment today, and its importance cannot be realized, but in the past, salt was the best preservative. One dish was seasoned, and it would rot within a few days after eating, so pickled vegetables and cured meat were The most important food in ordinary people's homes, every household consumes a lot of salt.

Salt is not like grain and cloth, you can plant the land and weave your own cloth, but salt must be purchased from outsiders, so the biggest expenditure of each household is basically salt, and adding taxes on salt has become the best way for the ruler. means of exploitation.

Therefore, we all feel that land tax and household tax do not seem to be much in history, but we always say that the tax is heavy. In fact, a big reason is that the indirect tax is too heavy.

Salt is equally important to Chen Qing. Their salt production site is in Yanchi, Jichuan County, but the output is not large, just enough for military and civilian use. But with the increase in population, the demand for salt will also increase greatly. He is also considering A new salt-producing area, so when Feng Quan mentioned salt, Chen Qing suddenly regained his energy.

"What trouble?"

"The Western Army has three large salt lakes in the south of Xihai. Although these three salt lakes are not within the scope of Xining Prefecture, they are under the jurisdiction of Xining Prefecture. The three salt lakes were initially subject to a salt tax, and later a road tax. Since last summer, mining has been banned, saying that it is their land, and all salt workers had to withdraw."

"what about now?"

"It's just the beginning of spring, and I'm going to send people to negotiate. I haven't set off yet, but I guess it won't happen in [-]% or [-]% of the time, or it's going to be asking for a lot of money, which is unacceptable!"

"The three salt lakes are definitely ours, did Ren Dejing sell them?"

Feng Quan sighed, "We bought the three salt lakes fifty years ago, including the ten miles around the salt lakes, including a salt road, all of which are our property. No matter how much Ren Dejing flatters Xihaibu, he will not dare to flatter the salt lakes. , His army needs to eat salt, but he dare not be tough on the West Sea, he blindly seeks perfection, and desperately spends money to please Geloba, which makes Geloba and his son very arrogant."

Sure enough, it was Xihaibu again, Chen Qing said lightly: "I'll take care of this matter!"

Chen Qing brought several soldiers to a large tent, which was the residence of Ren Dejing's second wife and youngest daughter. Ren Dejing's second wife was the daughter of Geloba, the chief of the West Sea. Get along well with Saikaibu, but now he has changed his mind.

Chen Qing has always believed that the fist is the truth, and only when the fist is hard can there be dignity, especially for foreigners. Chen Qing is not Ren Dejing, he is called a devil, since Gelopa can't be a man, then Chen Qing will use a knife Come and teach him to be a man.

Ren Dejing's second wife was boiling water, and when she saw Chen Qing coming in, she was so frightened that she hugged her daughter and hid in a corner.

Chen Qing glanced at her and said, "Pack up your things! I'll take you home today."

Although Chen Qing killed all the male members of the Ren family, he was not mean to his wife and daughter, and left a sum of money for each of them, enough for their retirement.

Ren Dejing's second wife received five hundred taels of silver, which is considered a generous treat.

"Go back and tell your father, I will visit him when I have the chance."

After speaking, Chen Qing turned and left.

The phrase 'have a chance to visit him' depends on the context. If Feng Quan said it, it meant that he was going to deal with Geropa.

But to Geropa's daughter, the meaning is different, it means that she will go to pay homage to him, at least Geropa's daughter understands it in this way, she will bring Chen Qing's overtures to her father.

Chen Qing returned to his big tent. At this time, Gao Ding brought in an official named Dong Liang, who was the head of salt affairs in Xining Prefecture. Feng Quan was going to send him to negotiate with the West Sea Department.

"Dutong, he's here!"

Dong Liang quickly clasped his fists in salute, "See Jiedu envoy for humble posts!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "Director Dong, please sit down!"

Dong Liang sat down a little uneasy, and Chen Qing calmly said: "Feng Tongpan said that Mr. Dong has a better understanding of the situation of the Tubo people in the West Sea, and recommended you to me. I want to know the situation of the army in the West Sea."

"Reporting to Jiedushi, in fact, the biggest difference between Hehuang Tubo and Qingtang Tubo is that Qingtang Tubo has a special army, while Hehuang Tubo doesn't have a special army. It can be said that they are all soldiers. The Xihai area is rich in dragon horses. In fact, they are excellent Hequ horses, so the Tubo people are basically cavalry, and their equipment is much better than that of the Tubo people of several other tribes."

"Is it Ren Dejing supporting them?"

"Ren Dejing wanted to set up a [-]-thousand western navy, all equipped with the equipment of the Qi army, but he just had this idea, and he hasn't started to implement it yet.

The equipment of the Tubo people in Xihai was actually supported by Xixia. They were all equipment eliminated by the Xixia people. As far as I know, there are almost ten thousand sets of leather armor, leather helmets, leather shields, spears, and short swords. I am very strong, and I want to unify Hehuang Tubo and rebuild the Qingtang Dynasty. "

"Where are the bows and arrows of the Tubo people?"

"Bows and arrows are very common. If you can't shoot them, they have a range of fifty steps."

Chen Qing was puzzled and asked: "I feel that Xihaibu is not very good, why is Ren Dejing flattering them so much?"

Dong Liang sneered and said, "When he was courting the West Sea, he was relatively weak. Later, when he gradually got an army, he also wanted war horses and wanted to form the West Navy. He always wanted the other party, so of course he had to please!"

Chen Qing nodded slightly, "I want to go to Salt Lake to have a look, Director Dong will show me the way!"

Geloba was about fifty years old, not tall, but extremely strong. He had been the chief of the West Sea for nearly thirty years. At the beginning, he was also a very simple Tubo man. He respected the Song Dynasty very much. Hou also valued him very much.

It's just that as he got older, Geropa's character flaws became more and more serious, and he gradually became arrogant and arrogant. Especially after Jingkang, he no longer respected Da Song, but looked at it with an extremely contemptuous attitude. Song people, including his son-in-law Ren Dejing, he also looked down upon from the bottom of his heart.

This time, Chen Qing's attack on Ren Dejing ended too quickly. When he got the news, the war had already ended, and his son-in-law Ren Dejing was also publicly executed.

However, Chen Qing did not execute his daughter and granddaughter, but even sent someone to bring them back, which was a bit beyond Geloba's expectation.

"Did he say so? By chance to visit me?"

The young Tibetan woman hugged her daughter and nodded slightly.

Geloba snorted coldly with a face full of disdain: "I thought of visiting me after killing Ren Dejing? I thought he was so capable, but in the end he had the same virtue as Ren Dejing, obediently bowing his head to see me! "

The second son, Zhudan, said angrily: "If you kill someone, can you come here and apologize? Father, this Chen Qing has to pay the price. I want him to know that our Xihaibu is by no means a soft persimmon, and he can be dismissed with an apology." gone."

The eldest son Luo Jiang also said: "Father, simply take down those three salt farms completely as compensation for killing Ren Dejing!"

Geropa snorted, "The three saltworks belonged to us in the first place, what kind of compensation is it?"

Just as we were talking, a Tubo man came running from outside and said, "Chief, Chen Qing, the leader of the Han people, has gone to Salt Lake, and they have resumed work!"

Geropa's eyes widened, he stood up abruptly and said angrily, "They dare to start work before I agree? How many troops do they have?"

"Probably a few hundred cavalry."

The eldest son Luo Jiang said: "Father, let me go and see!"

Geropa thought for a while and said, "You take a thousand people there and don't allow them to start working. If you need help, send someone to notify me immediately!"

"I see!"

The eldest son Luo Jiang walked out quickly, and the second son Zhudan jumped up and said, "Father, I will go too!"

"What are you going to do! You go to mobilize all the young and strong to gather. If there is a need to fight, we will have a good fight with them!"

When Geloba thought of Chen Qing's flattery to him, he looked down on him from the bottom of his heart.

(End of this chapter)