Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 78 Planning
In the Guangling Jingkou area, salt is not too expensive and is not a scarce commodity.

But if it is shipped to the Central Plains, the profit will be ten or even dozens of times greater.

Whether they are from Jin or Hu, they cannot survive without salt.

The more frequent the wars, the greater the demand for salt. The Hu people make a living by grazing, and their cattle, sheep, and war horses also need salt.

Money can make the mill push the devil.

Liu Daogui now has too many places to spend money, and he really needs a long-term and stable source of income. He lives by the mountains and the sea. Guangling is close to Yandu, so of course he has to eat the salt from Yandu.

But this business is too risky, and I don’t seem to be able to handle it with my current strength.

The Tianshi Sect dared to occupy Yandu right under the nose of the General Zhenglu's Mansion. There must be a big shot behind it to support them.

In official circles, one must be clear about who to offend and who not to offend, otherwise one will bring disaster upon oneself and die without knowing how.

However, this business is really enviable. Although we don’t have enough strength, we can still send some people in to find out the details and then make long-term plans.

Liu Daogui glanced at the people around him and fixed his gaze on his uncle Zhao Lunzhi. His name contained the character "zhi", which showed that he had a strong connection with the Tianshi Dao.

There are many followers of Tianshi Dao, and everyone is welcome. The internal situation is even more chaotic than that of the General Zhenglu's Mansion.

It’s so easy to get two people in.

"Why are you looking at me?" Zhao Lunzhi felt a little scared by Liu Daogui's eyes.

"Hasn't the Tianshi Dao always wanted to extend its hand into the military headquarters? We can also extend our hand there. Knowing ourselves and the enemy will ensure victory in every battle. Uncle can contact them and find out the details of Yandu so that we can take action in the future."

"I knew you were full of bad intentions."

"Isn't there anything we can do? We can only afford to eat, not to be fully clothed and well fed. We need money for everything."

Zhao Lunzhi is my uncle. He is loyal, steady, and has seen the world. There is no need to worry about him being instigated by the Tianshi Dao. He is simply the best choice.

Liu Daogui was really worried about sending other people.

At the beginning, Liu Xinzhi was bewitched by the Tianshi Dao people and acted as an insider, and was killed by Liu Daogui with a single knife.

"As long as I can help you, your uncle will risk his life." Zhao Lunzhi said firmly.

"Uncle, you're too kind. There's no need to be like this. Just do your best." Liu Daogui was moved. He felt that these blood relatives were reliable.

"I have a few old brothers who have shared life and death with me at Tianshidao. Leave this matter to me."

"Thank you, uncle."

"Why are we two family members talking about different things?"

As they ate and drank together, soldiers came over to curry their favor. Liu Daogui took this opportunity to make friends with them, memorizing everyone's name and trying to get to know them as well as possible...

The next day, Huan Hong, Yuan He and Huan Daozhen finally returned from Jingkou.

This time he kept a much lower profile. He did not ask the common people to go out of the city to welcome him, nor did he ask the military officials to wait at the door. He returned home quietly and did not leave the house for several days.

Since Huan Hong was suppressed, Yuan He should have risen in power, but unexpectedly he also closed himself off and didn't care about anything.

There was a strange atmosphere in the entire military headquarters.

Liu Daogui guessed that Wang Gong was not looking at them well.

Wang Gong was a righteous man and the brother of the current queen. He even dared to contradict Sima Daozi, so naturally he would not give Huan Hongxing any cold shoulder.

However, Yuan He was so low-key that Liu Daogui was a little confused.

He had always believed that Yuan He was also Wang Gong's man, but now it seemed there was something else going on. The noble families were full of intrigue and deception, and Liu Daogui had difficulty seeing the full picture. He had to speculate based on various trends, which inevitably led to deviations.

Since Yuan He refused to summon him, Liu Daogui had no choice but to write a document to send troops to suppress the bandits and take the initiative to go to his house. On the surface, he was reporting the results of the suppression, but in fact he was trying to test Yuan He's attitude.

If I'm not mistaken, he was the one behind Huan Chengzhi's death.

"It's a pity that the bandit chief was not killed, otherwise I would have reported it to the court and Daoze could have accumulated some military merits." Yuan He spoke much more politely than before.

Liu Daogui was a little uncomfortable with such politeness. "It was Sima who helped me, otherwise how would I have had this opportunity? However, the bandits in Mount Tai are still rampant, and the military farms have just been established. Now is the busy farming season, and Jiangzuo is peaceful. I plan to take more troops north, firstly to suppress the bandits, and secondly to train the troops."

"I've said it before, you're a soldier joining the army, training to suppress bandits. You can make your own decisions and just hand over a disc." Yuan He had an unfathomable smile on his face.

Of course Liu Daogui couldn't do what he said. He had to know his limits when trying to get by in the General Zhenglu's Mansion. Many things were not worth a pound unless they were weighed. Once they were weighed, if someone caught him, he would not be able to hold on to thousands of pounds.

"Without Sima's supervision, how dare I act on my own?"

"If all the military officers and officials were as dedicated and conscientious as Daoze, the imperial court could rest easy."

"How dare I, how dare I? This is all my responsibility." Liu Daogui handed over the document to send troops to suppress the bandits.

Just like last time, there will still be 500 soldiers, and they will set off next month for three months.

It is now the end of May, next month will be June, and three months later, the autumn harvest will be over.

There's nothing much to do in Guangling anyway. It's really boring to be surrounded by intrigues all day long.

If anything really happens, just come back as soon as possible.

As the General of Conquering the Enemy Army, Huan Hong spent most of the year hanging out outside...

Yuan He raised his seal cheerfully, and just as he was about to stamp it, he suddenly stopped mid-air and said, "The Tao knows...Jingkou has reappointed a rear-guard Sima?"

Liu Daogui felt a sinking feeling in his heart. He had just built up his power in the rear, and Sima was appointed from above.

It's such a coincidence.

The original Sima of the rear was a descendant of the Xi family, and he had been in office all along, but had never taken up the post. Sending someone over now clearly meant someone was trying to seize military power...

Jingkou and Guangling were originally one.

Huan Chengzhi's death made the attention of the important figures focus on Guangling.

But Liu Daogui was a little curious about who would be sent this time.

It is not so easy to seize the military power. Among the rear troops, Zhao Lunzhi is his uncle, Li Damu has become his confidant, and there are 32 subordinates. The morale of the rear troops is already on him, so no matter who is sent from above, it will not work.

Unless you are willing to spend a lot of money to bribe the soldiers.

But the possibility is not high. If the powerful people above treat the soldiers a little better, they will not be left to starve and freeze.

This time when heading north, Liu Daogui planned to take away the other rear soldiers except Zhao Lunzhi and Li Damu.

When he came back three months later, the opportunity had gone cold and the newly appointed Sima could only watch helplessly.

"Since it is arranged by my superior, I will fully cooperate." Liu Daogui said calmly.

Yuan He revealed this news to me, but I didn't know what it meant.

After working in the military office for the past few months, Liu Daogui's only experience is that one must always be on guard against others.

"That's very good. Daoze is very clear about righteousness." The seal in Yuan He's hand finally fell and stamped on the document.

(End of this chapter)