Simultaneous traversal: All Abyss difficulty.

Chapter 506 The Countdown to the Demise of the Great Congee? I Think So!

The autumn wind is bleak.

Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong, sat on a dilapidated oxcart. His magnificent dragon robe had long been stripped off, and he had been dressed in a coarse linen garment.

His face was pale, his lips were cracked, and his eyes were vacant as he stared blankly at Luoyang as it receded into the distance.

"Your Majesty, it's time to continue our journey. We need to be there before nightfall," the eunuch beside him whispered, his voice trembling.

Liu Hong did not respond, but stared blankly at Luoyang in the distance.

That place was once his palace, his kingdom.

Now, he was first flooded by the porridge fairy with porridge, and then Dong Zhuo forcibly dragged him out of Luoyang and exiled him to a remote small county town under the pretext of "moving the capital to avoid disaster".

"Move the capital? Ha." Liu Hong sneered, his voice hoarse. "I am the Son of Heaven, yet I am humiliated like this by these people!"

The eunuch dared not reply, but kept his head down, afraid that Dong Zhuo's henchmen would hear him.

The oxcart moved slowly forward, and the people along the way all turned their heads to look, but no one dared to step forward.

"Your Majesty, Yangdi is just ahead," the young eunuch said cautiously.

Liu Hong looked up and saw a dilapidated small county town standing in the wilderness. The city walls were low and the city gates were mottled. Even the soldiers guarding the city were lazily leaning against the walls and dozing off.

"This is my 'new capital'?" Liu Hong laughed self-deprecatingly. "Dong Zhuo is 'merciful' enough not to make me live in a thatched hut."

The oxcart entered the city, but the streets were deserted, with not a single decent shop in sight.

Several ragged children curiously gathered around, only to be dragged away by their parents.

"Your Majesty, we've arrived." The eunuch pointed to a relatively intact residence in front of them. "This is a temporary 'palace' set up by the county government."

Liu Hong stepped off the oxcart and looked up at the so-called "palace," which was nothing more than a slightly larger private residence, with even a stone step in front of the door missing a piece.

"Ha, I, the Son of Heaven, have fallen to this state," Liu Hong muttered to himself, anger flashing in his eyes.

Just then, there was the sound of horse hooves in the distance.

"Your Majesty!" A trusted aide of Dong Zhuo rode up, looking down at Liu Hong with a contemptuous tone: "The Chancellor has decreed that now that Your Majesty has moved the capital, you should rest and recuperate here. You are not to leave Yangdi without permission, otherwise..."

He sneered and didn't continue, but the threat was clear.

Liu Hong clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, but he could only lower his head and reply, "I understand."

The confidant nodded in satisfaction, turned his horse around, and rode away, leaving Liu Hong standing in front of the dilapidated "palace," gazing at the gray sky, and muttering, "Is my Great Han... truly gone?"

"Report!"

Suddenly, a young eunuch rushed in: "Your Majesty! New news! The Great Porridge Kingdom..."

"Speak!" Emperor Ling of Han frowned. "Do you want your tongue cut out if you don't speak?"

The little eunuch hurriedly said, "Great Congee Kingdom has legalized smuggled salt!"

"What!?"

Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong, threw the crystal ball he was playing with on the ground and smashed it to pieces!
"Absurd! My salt tax!"

Zhang Rang, one of the Ten Attendants, knelt on the ground and picked up the broken pieces of the artifact. "Your Majesty, please calm down. That sorcerer is cutting off his own path to survival! Salt tax accounts for 60% of the national revenue. By doing this, he is digging his own grave!"

Zhang Rang resumed his sinister expression: "I'd like to see how long this sorcerer can hold out. Without the state monopoly on salt and iron, how will he support his army?"

Emperor Ling of Han stroked his chin. "Heh, what a fool! Letting these peasants eat salt for free, who knows what they'll do! I'll see how this sorcerer regrets it then!"

Inside Yuan Shao's tent in Ye City, Guo Tu was drawing crooked lines on a table with a block of salt.

After a long while, he analyzed, "This is like drinking poison to quench thirst!" Salt dust fell in a flurry with his excited movements. "Back then, Guan Zhong's salt strategy enriched the country, but now this sorcerer is destroying his own foundation!"

Feng Ji suddenly stood up and angrily cursed, "Fool! What 'Porridge Immortal'? He's clearly trying to sever the lifeline of all the feudal lords in the world!"

Yuan Shu overturned the table: "Does a lowly commoner deserve to eat salt?"

Before the kneeling maid could finish wiping, a cold glint flashed in Yuan Shu's hand, and the maid's head rolled down the steps. "What a damned thing!"

Prime Minister's Mansion.

Li Ru raised his cup to drink with Dong Zhuo, who was as large as a small mountain: "My lord, do you know why Duke Xian of Qin banned the private sale of salt?" Dong Zhuo's golden wine cup reflected his sinister smile: "Because salt could..."

"Because salt can sustain the people!" Li Ru suddenly interjected, "and sustaining the people will lead to rebellion!"

"This porridge will kill itself sooner or later!"

Dong Zhuo tossed the wine cup into his mouth and began to chew. "He doesn't need to play by himself. I'll go and eat him alive whenever I have a spare moment!"

Inside a thatched hut in Zhuo County, Jian Yong chewed on a piece of salted vegetable and mumbled, "Porridge Immortal, this is benevolent governance!"

Liu Bei stopped picking up food, glanced at the two brothers gesturing outside the window, and sighed slowly: "The world is now divided like this. His Majesty has been kidnapped by Dong Zhuo, Luoyang has been occupied by Zhouzhouxian, and Yuan Shao and Sun Jian's forces are plotting against the royal family. Is the Liu family's rule really going to end with my generation?"

Jian Yong was Liu Bei's childhood friend. Looking at Liu Bei's current state, he really wanted to yell at him to his face, "What's it to you?"

However, Jian Yong could not say it outright, so he just smiled and said, "I think it's not so bad. In recent years, have the people been well-fed and clothed? Lord Xuande, do you know how many people died in the last great famine?"

Liu Bei shook his head: "I don't know."

Jian Yong made a gesture, "Three."

"Three hundred thousand?"

Jian Yong shook his head, "Thirty million people."

"Hiss!" Liu Bei gasped. "There are so many!?"

Jian Yong nodded: "Therefore, Lord Xuande."

Inside Cao Cao's main tent, a drunken Xu You slammed a bowl of salt onto the table. "Cao Cao! You still have the mind to study military books? That porridge has ruined the salt tax!"

Xun Yu paused slightly as he was organizing the documents.

Xu You dared to be so rude!
"Why is Ziyuan so agitated?" Cao Cao put down the bamboo slips, dipped his fingertip in the salt on the table, and put it in his mouth. "It is indeed excellent green salt."

"Ha!" Xu You suddenly kicked over a stool on the ground. "Are you Cao Mengde brainless?! When the coarse salt from that Great Porridge Kingdom floods over, you'll probably have to eat with the lowly commoners!"

He slid a silk cloth from his sleeve and flung it at Cao Cao's face, shouting, "Look for yourself! The price of salt in Ye City has plummeted to the bottom of the market!"

Xun Yu caught the silk half a step ahead, and his pupils contracted slightly when he saw the words "one qian per dou"—this price was not even enough to pay for the straw sandals of the salt transporters.

"My lord," Xun Yu said, neatly folding the silk, "the salt administration is of great importance."

"Wenruo, shut up!" Xu You directly lifted the tent flap. "I told you we should have launched a surprise attack while Da Zhou was still establishing itself! But some people are too timid and hesitant!" He glanced meaningfully at Xun Yu. "Now that Da Zhou has grown so powerful, I'm afraid some people are going to switch sides?"

Cao Cao suddenly burst into laughter: "Ziyuan, do you really think I'm inferior to that porridge immortal?"

"Ha!" Xu You slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "You, Cao Cao, can't hide anything from the descendants of eunuchs!" He pointed at Cao Cao's nose, his hand still stained with salt. "Back in Luoyang, if it weren't for me, Xu Ziyuan..."

Xun Yu suddenly slammed his teacup down. "Mr. Xu, please be careful with your words."

Xu You, however, remained blushing and said, "I'll go and serve Benchu ​​today! His mansion, built by four generations of high-ranking officials, surely wouldn't allow its advisors to eat with its stable boys!"

He turned and flung his sleeve, the jade pendant jingling loudly. "Cao Cao, you'd better watch yourself!"

"Ziyuan!" Xun Yu chased after him outside the tent. "Yuan Shao is outwardly lenient but inwardly suspicious; he is definitely not like that."

Xu You mounted his horse and said, "What do you know, you pedantic scholar? Wait until I help Yuan Shao conquer Yanzhou, then let's see what else you can say!"

Xun Yu gazed at the smoke and dust and sighed, "My lord, Xu Ziyuan is going."

"Let him be." Cao Cao suddenly chuckled. "Wenruo, what do you think about the legality of smuggled salt?" He drew a circle on the table with his fingertip dipped in salt. "Should it be legal, or not?"

"My lord, Xu You said that smuggled salt is the countdown to the demise of the Great Congee. I don't think so!"

"If this continues, not only will the refugees and the poor suffer, but even our own troops will eventually end up in that porridge house!"

"Isn't the point of being a soldier to fill your stomach?"

Xun Yu sighed, and after careful consideration, said, "This porridge..."

"We have no choice but to fight!"

(End of this chapter)