The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 157 Salt Affairs
When Chu Yi found her husband, Wang Congxun was receiving a bandage.

From the back to the chest, from the left arm to the right hand, the criss-crossing scars were like a net.

At the age of fifteen, he joined the army and rose from a soldier in Chengde to where he is now. Only Xiao Wang himself knows the price and taste of it.

Chu Yi's eyes moistened as she looked at her husband, who was almost completely bruised. The Saint was stroking Xiao Wang's strong muscles while cursing and cleaning the wounds and applying medicine. He was not pretending, he was serious. He hated the warrior, but he loved Xiao Wang. This was the only warrior he trusted 90%, and the only thief embryo he had successfully transformed himself into.

Xiao Wang's case made him believe that some bad people can turn over a new leaf.

"You bastard! Never take life lightly in the future." The saint angrily slapped the little king's buttocks and said fiercely.

"Don't worry, I know what to do." Wang Congxun nodded and responded perfunctorily.

"I leave it to you." After comforting Chu Yi with a few words, Li hurried away.

He was very busy. Every morning when he opened his eyes, he would worry about whether the various troops gathered near the capital would suddenly rebel. Two days ago, the Zhongwu Army on the other side was making a fuss. The noise he heard was terrifying, which made the saint very panicked. He summoned the ministers to reflect on whether he had treated his own troops badly. His nerves were so tense that he was absent-minded and couldn't get excited when facing beautiful women at night. Zhu Xiewusi was very dissatisfied with him and suspected that her husband had been sucked dry by the three fairies, two moons and one Luo.

But this is only the most basic stress resistance.

The saints think about other things.

On the fifth day of the twelfth month, Zhu Wen burned down his camps and marched eastward. From Baoding City to Sangquan County, from Yishi to Yuxiang, Bian thieves were everywhere, and the roads were jammed with carriages and horses. Zhu Wen vented his anger by dismembering the captured wounded soldiers of the royal army and transporting the spoils to the foot of Shouyang Mountain to build a monument.

He also let his soldiers clean up the city, released military grievances, and killed everyone along the way. He also sent Xiao Hao to dig up the land and kill the salt officials. If he didn't pacify Hezhong Prefecture, it would be an advantage for Li Ni, and the peasants would follow Li Ni to oppose him. Zhu Wen would not make such a mistake. As for whether he would lose the support of the people by doing this - they were not his own people, why should he care?
The transformation of Hezhong Prefecture into a wasteland was a foregone conclusion.

At this moment, the saint is counting the benefits.

The remaining Hezhong troops, led by Liu Xun, Tao Jianzhao, and Chen Xiong, should not have any hope for Zhu Wen. Then, with Wang Ke, the bond to which they were willing to pledge allegiance, still alive, and their positions tested in the war, those who were fickle were eliminated, and the remaining warriors in Hezhong were ready to be used.

The saint plans to reorganize this group of people.

The militia and state soldiers were disbanded, and those who were willing to serve in the army were either added to the nine foreign military schools or organized into garrison troops at the three checkpoints of Pu, Tong and Wu.

The Yajun, the Yajun in Hezhong, has only rebelled three times in the past fifty years. One was to expel Li Du, one was Chang Xingru killing Wang Chongrong, and one was to kidnap Wang Ke as a token of surrender two months ago. Fortunately, these idiots have been used up by Zhu Wen.

After thinking about it, he decided to let Liu Xun, Tao Jianzhao and Chen Xiong select two thousand people to join the imperial guards and cavalry and infantry.

The rest will be left to the bugs.

Although they are relatively obedient, they are not that reliable after all. It is too dangerous to control them all under the central government. The saint does not have the courage of Zhu Wen, Yang Xingmi, and Li Cunxu, so the rebels can be turned into his personal soldiers.

Later, Wuyongdu rebelled. Old Master Qian did not trust any of his own troops, fearing that they would join Wuyongdu. So he sent his enemy Yang Xingmi as a hostage, asking the State of Wu for help in suppressing the rebellion. When the Wu people arrived, they laughed at him. Qian Liu's angry reply was a classic of the times: "There are rebellions in the army everywhere!"

Where haven't warriors rebelled?
Difficult to stretch.

In addition to military adjustments, another priority is the salt pond.

Notes on the Classic of Waterways: Since the fourth year of Yuanshou during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Sang Hongyang started to develop salt and iron industries. There were 28 counties with salt officials in the whole country, with Anyi in Hedong being the first.

The Book of Tang, Food and Money Records, states that there are eighteen salt ponds and six hundred and four wells in various regions, except for the five ponds in Anyi, which are collectively called the Two Ponds, and all of them are under the jurisdiction of the Salt and Iron Monopoly.

It has always been the mainstay of the central government's finances.

After the Chao Rebellion, Chongrong took control of the area and paid tribute every year. The imperial court forcibly recovered the area and was defeated. Tian Lingzi was identified as a war criminal by the various towns and also caused a disturbance to depose the emperor. The benefits were so great that they were enough to change the way of the monarch and his subjects.

The sage was also curious about the extent of the moisture, so he asked the commander.

Answer: In terms of silk, the annual tax is no less than 300,000 pieces.

This is just the tax floor.

According to the government's self-production and self-sales model, the annual output of the two salt ponds was between 7000 million and 8000 million kilograms during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong and Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty. In the late Tang Dynasty, there were frequent wars, and the output was not good. In addition, the quality was not good because of the military administration. Take Wang Chongrong for example. During the rebellion in the Guangqi period, Wang suddenly ordered that a certain amount of production must be completed before the end of the year. He wanted to fight, and if the production failed, all salt officials would die. Do you dare to work slowly and carefully? Therefore, there are often mud and sand mixed together, and the competitiveness is not good. After all, there are 18 salt ponds in the world, and it is not that everyone can only eat bland food without your Wang family salt. Therefore, in terms of output and quality, the profit of the monopoly is not as good as that of the Song Dynasty.

The sage also asked the Grand Commandant about this detail, and according to his report: When Liu Yan changed the salt law, salt accounted for half of the country's tax, and the royal family, soldiers, and officials all relied on it for their salaries.

It's scary. During the reign of Emperor Daizong, the central government maintained a constant of 1200 million strings of cash, and salt profits accounted for half of it. The increase in salt profits soared from 40 strings of cash in the early days of Liu Yan's reign to a terrifying 600 million strings of cash. The sales share of Hezhong Salt Court accounted for a quarter of the national salt profits and one-eighth of the country's total revenue - nearly 170 million strings of cash.

The saint's heart trembled.

Are you still thinking about the Qingmiao money and the Spring Festival red envelopes from the vassal states?

With this income, why should we fear rebellion by military men?

But the price of salt rose from 10 coins per dou in the Tianbao period to 110 coins in the fifth Qi period, and then Liu Yan ordered it to be increased to 200 coins on the grounds of "preparing spring clothes for the border troops". Then Chen Shaoyou, the governor of Yangzhou, thought that southerners had money and requested to increase the price of Wu salt to an astonishing 370 coins per dou, so a large-scale bland diet appeared in the south. Salt officials and pavilion households began to smuggle on a large scale, and gangs arose among the people. Men and women were armed to sell salt. It reached an exaggerated level of "patrol soldiers were everywhere in the prefectures and counties." Warriors no longer fought, and their daily work was to fight wits and courage with salt dealers and encircle and suppress salt gangs.

Tian Xing led Wei Bo to surrender, and the first request of the Yajun was not to enforce the salt law in the six states. I seek welfare for the people, and the people of Wei will not eat expensive salt!

However, Emperor Muzong was embarrassed and wanted to make some adjustments. Zhang Pingshu, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, thought it was okay, but he was scolded by Han Yu and others. After that, no one discussed salt anymore, and the salt law became stricter.

By the time of Emperor Xuanzong, the style of painting had become like this: "Those who build trenches and fences, and those who steal and destroy the salt pond dikes will be killed. Salt thieves who carry bows and arrows will be killed." Climbing over the salt pond wall will result in death. Stealing and destroying the brine will result in death.

Anyone who appears with weapons near a salt area will also be considered a hidden criminal. If salt is found on you, you will be executed on the spot.

For the internal salt dealers and gangsters, plainclothes officers and secret agents were sent to "track down their residences, and the police and the community will punish them. If they sell five stones, sell two stones in the market, or steal and sell two stones in the pavilion, they will all be put to death." If a village found a salt bandit, the whole village would be punished. If the internal smuggler smuggled more than two stones, the whole family would be exterminated!

"Alas, I am not the God of Salt." The saint sighed.

The salt profit is tempting, but it is meaningless to do such a thing. After learning about these things from the Taiwei, his impression of Diwu Qi, Liu Yan, and Han Yu was instantly bad. A bag of salt worth two yuan is sold to you for sixty or seventy... Liu Yan and his peers have made great contributions to financial management, but their indifference, cold-bloodedness, and cruelty to the secular world are not human. If the people suffer more, this is not the right way to make them suffer. And the old Xuanzong went even further on this basis, which may be related to his mother being a bitch.

The subsequent salt law still needs to be discussed in the long run. But the price must be reduced, at least in half. In addition, the poor Li Keyong is bound to covet it, and Zhang Cunjing, the commander of the Hezhong Camp in Bianzhou, is about to arrive, so he must take over as soon as possible.

The soldiers are easy to deal with, but which general is suitable?

He must not be afraid of Li Keyong and dare to fight back when the Jin people robbed him, but he must also know how to strike a balance and not offend Keyong. He must also be good at fighting, so that if a serious conflict breaks out, he will not be defeated by Li Keyong in one battle. At the same time, he must be obedient and have a low possibility of rebellion... Chen Xiong. The saint immediately thought of his loyal father-in-law. Although he was loyal to Wang first, he had a good father-in-law relationship with Concubine Chen. Concubine Chen's words were very important to him, and he and Concubine Chen also had a very good relationship.

My brother-in-law Zhao Fu is actually also okay.

But if Zhao Fu's position continues to rise, and he leads troops outside and builds prestige in the army, the Privy Councilor will increasingly expect Zheng Yang to succeed. If she continues to pour resources into Jing Shen, it will easily lead to conflicts. ——Zheng Yang has been sent to the Zhenxian Temple in Yanshouli to be fostered by Taoist Li Quanwei and nun Jiao Yusu, hoping to use magic to protect Zheng Yang and let him grow up safely, which shows how much she values him.

Compared to Concubine Shu, who would cuddle cats and dogs whenever she had time but thought that it was okay for children to do so and did not discipline them, Zhao was much more shrewd.

Thinking of this, the saint came to a military camp outside Chaoyi City.

He came here today to deal with the captured wounded and corpses of the Bian army.

Part of it was produced by Zhu Wen's attack.

As for the bodies of the soldiers, the Bian bandits who could be seen and found were dragged back as much as possible, but when the king's army cleaned up the battlefield, they still found many dead bodies. In Hexi City, Hedong City, plus those dragged back from Shouyang Mountain earlier, there were more than 2,000 people in total. There were warriors and even a dozen officers, but they were mainly consumables.

Part of it was the "front" meeting that day.

Zhu Wen desperately snatched back more than a thousand swordsmen, Changzhi, Luoyan, and Tingzi Mazhi who died in the battle, and more than 600 light and heavy wounded soldiers could not keep up. Well, the saint ordered Yang Zaisi and other southern barbarians to snatch the heads, and then captured them. At that time, the saint's idea was to exchange the wounded after the war, but Zhu Wen was extremely cruel and executed all the captives of the king's army when he withdrew his troops.

Damn it. Just fight back!
But reason told him that although Zhu Wen could be so cruel, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty had to maintain certain bottom lines and had to hold his nose and act like a saint.

"Your Majesty." The warm winter sun was shining brightly, and the small camp, filled with wailing, was surrounded. The soldiers drew their swords and strung their bows. When they saw him coming, they all bowed their heads in salute, then puffed out their chests, surrounded him in the middle, and chattered at the same time, waiting for the order to slaughter these evil beasts.

"Don't make a fuss, and strive to be Ziyi." The saint patted their shoulders and taught them.

"Hey!" Hearing him start preaching like an old monk again, the warriors had to keep quiet.

The saint walked towards the camp gate.

Looking through the gate, all I could see were wounded soldiers and disabled generals.

They either leaned against the wall with their eyes closed, or lay on the ground with their armor as pillows, or helped each other treat their wounds. Apart from the abnormal and disordered breathing and low groans of pain, no one spoke; there was dead silence.

When I looked under the fence, I saw a disheveled handsome man holding a rag in his mouth, his left hand pressing on his thigh that was constantly bleeding, and his right hand slowly inserted a few fingers into the flesh... When it began to wriggle... he suddenly lowered his head, his eyes went straight, and his body twitched violently. Then, he suddenly raised his head, and an arrow hooked on the fascia was pulled out, and his bloody palm was like it had been put into a dye vat.

Hiss...the saint's scalp tingled when he saw this.

He tore off his clothes to wrap around his wound, then leaned gently against the fence and took a rest.

"Li Ni is coming!" Huangfu Lin had sharp eyes and saw Li standing there peeping. Hearing this shout, there was a faint movement in the camp, and all the Bian thieves who were still able to move cast their eyes over.

"Oh, you are the Dog-footed Emperor? I don't think you have three heads and six arms as everyone says."

"I was not as skilled as the other party and was captured. Today, I have nothing to lose but death. There is no need to humiliate myself. I am not a hero if I ask for mercy."

"Don't be complacent. In this world, if you kill me and I kill you, we are all crazy. You can't say for sure. You may get beheaded at any time."

"Everyone, please be careful with your words and leave a way for the brothers who want to go home."

"Zhu Wen used us as scapegoats all day long. He has been conquering for ten years without a break. My parents died of old age in the village, and I was unable to return home to mourn. The officers were killed in battle, but the soldiers were blamed for not fighting and slaughtered the entire team. We met each other with swords and blood, hahahaha, and ended up with the life of a lackey. I applaud Zhu Wen for being defeated by you! You, the emperor, should work harder and march into Bianzhou earlier to slaughter his entire family."

"Everyone says that Concubine Shu is beautiful. Can you let me see her? I don't mean anything else. I just want to see her stunning beauty."

"You are still so brave even when death is approaching." The soldiers were furious. Some pushed the gate while others raised their spears and rushed in.

"Don't make a fuss." The saint shouted, then looked at the warriors and said, "I will let them go."

!!!

what?
You are out of your mind!

The saint raised his hands, signaling for silence, and then said under the gazes of a pair of questioning or angry eyes: "Let them go back, and the people of Bian will know that the king's army does not harm prisoners. At least they will understand that I do not do that. Then they will not fight to the death like we did that day. Moreover, I don't even kill elite swordsmen, who are one in a hundred, let alone slaughter others. When they go back, they will know the living facts, and it will shake the morale of the army. In the future, your casualties will be less."

In the torrent of time, dynasties are but a moment. Only the land under our feet will last forever. The sky is the sky, it does not favor anyone. But the land under our feet will choose the person it likes. The saint wants to be a different killer.

Why was it so difficult for Zhu Wen to conquer the four directions? Because he killed prisoners. Why did he kill prisoners? Because the warriors were unruly and resisted fiercely, so he had to cut the grass and root them out, killing them until they were scared. Was it useful? Not much. If the massacre could deter the four directions, everyone would have knelt at the feet of Qin, Ru, Chao, and other experts with millions of achievements. The saint wanted to learn from the lesson and take a new path. Only the thieves like Qi and Feng need to be killed.

"Well, that's it." The soldiers shook their heads. They would have to fight again in the future, so they should take it easy.

"My saint is very merciful. He thinks it is a waste of his knife to kill you pigs and dogs. Get out of here!" Several soldiers stepped forward and cursed.

Upon hearing this, the Bian army looked at each other in surprise.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to trick us into going somewhere and killing us?"

"Hurry up and kill me, it's a quick death."

"My leg is broken and I can't walk."

"Tsk, hypocritical." Huangfu Lin sneered and turned over. He was sure that he wanted to take everyone to a certain place to chop them up and then bury them on the spot. He thought I didn't know this trick.

After whispering to each other for a while, the Bian army quieted down again. After a long time, a voice asked, "Can we not leave? I didn't save the commander, and I'm the only one left in the fire. If I go back, I'll die. I'll be a deserter anyway, so I won't leave, and I won't have to travel thousands of miles to get stabbed. Just give me some food..."

"I'm not leaving either."

"In this cold winter, with all the injuries, I'm afraid I won't make it to Bianzhou and will die on the road and be eaten by wild dogs."

Huangfu Lin finally couldn't help it, he lifted his hair and shouted: "If you really want to be kind, just heal the soldiers first."

(End of this chapter)