Tiger Owl

Chapter 135 The Throat and Lifeline
When the salt fleet arrived in Chaisang, Gan Ning was inspecting the expansion of the new city. Chaisang was originally a medium-sized county town with a circumference of 20 li. The main city wall on the east side was demolished, and the city was extended five li to the east, eventually forming a large city with a circumference of 30 li. Many government offices, residences and granaries were built on the expanded area.

It was early December, the dead of winter, but construction was still in full swing at the site. About 80% of the work was completed, with 20% remaining. The main road construction and the interior decoration of the official residences were not yet finished, but the city walls had been repaired.

At this moment, Gan Ning stood on the newly built city wall covered in white snow, silently watching the laborers and craftsmen who were digging ponds and building roads.

Lu Su chuckled from the side, "My lord, if we continue construction like this, it will indeed be completed by January next year."

Gan Ning nodded and said, "We don't need to move at the same time. The various government offices can move in batches, starting in January. The first priority is to allocate the official residences and courtyards so that everyone has a place to stay after moving in. We can even give the keys to the officials in advance so that they can send their own stewards to take care of things in advance."

"Understood, Your Excellency. I will make proper arrangements."

At this moment, Gan Ning glanced at the messenger beside him who seemed hesitant to speak and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

The messenger knelt on one knee and said, "Reporting to my lord, the salt fleet has arrived at Chaisang Wharf, and was attacked by Sun Ben's navy on the way."

Gan Ning frowned slightly. "Go take a look!"

They arrived at the riverbank dock, where the river was filled with salt boats. Thousands of laborers were busy unloading the goods, carrying bags of salt off the large boats and piling them on the dock. Large carts came and went, transporting the bags of salt from the dock into the government granary.

Salt, iron, and money of Yuzhang Prefecture were stored in Chaisang County, while large quantities of supplies such as grain, oil, and armor were stored in Nanchang County.

Gan Ning arrived at the dock, and the guard captain Qian Chang stepped forward and bowed, "This humble servant greets my lord!"

"I heard you were attacked by Sun Ben's navy?"

"That's right. Our fleet was sailing along the south bank when we were attacked by two hundred enemy warships in Danyang County. We fought back bravely, and later, the Jiangdong scout ships also came to our aid, which is how we managed to repel the enemy."

How many of our brothers were killed or wounded?

"Reporting to our lord, we have over a hundred wounded, over fifty dead, and nine warships destroyed. The enemy's losses are five times ours."

Gan Ning nodded and asked again, "Were there any losses to the salt ships?"

"The salt ship suffered no damage whatsoever. Although a dozen enemy soldiers rushed onto the salt ship and tried to cut the ropes connecting the ships, we used iron chains, which they could not cut at all."

"It seems that Sun Ben came specifically to target our salt transport ships. There must be a traitor among us."

Lu Su shook his head and said, "There is an inside traitor, but it's not us. It should be Sun Ben's intelligence spies in Eastern Wu. Sun Ben knows the situation in Jiangdong very well."

Gan Ning paused for a moment and said, “Salt is our weakness. Sun Ben knows this, and Jiangdong must know it too. Sun Ben can only harass us with small tricks, but Jiangdong can strangle us at any time. As long as salt is still in Jiangdong’s hands, we can forget about taking Lujiang County and Jiujiang County, and we will always be controlled by Jiangdong.”

At this point, Gan Ning turned to Lu Su and said, "We must regard salt and iron as matters of utmost importance, second only to grain. We must control salt and iron ourselves. This is our lifeline, a matter of life and death. We must immediately increase the number of salt producers, and we must produce all our salt ourselves."

Lu Su pondered for a moment and said, "I also understand the importance of salt. The salt in our Luling County is buried deep and difficult to mine, so the output is not high. I have organized a mining team to search for rock salt in Changsha County. In addition, I heard that Huang Zu has solved the salt problem."

"Have they found a salt mine?" Gan Ning asked, sensing something was amiss.

"They found it. To the west of Anlu County, the mining team sent by Huang Zu discovered a large area of ​​high-quality salt rock. The quality was very pure, and the deposits were shallow, making them easy to mine. The reserves were also enormous, reportedly enough to supply the entire Jingxiang region for hundreds or even thousands of years. As a result, Huang Zu escaped the salt crisis in just a few months. But interestingly, he did not sell the salt to Liu Biao."

Gan Ning nodded. "This cunning old man is afraid of attracting Liu Biao's attention."

At this point, Gan Ning smiled faintly and said, "I have been looking for a reason to attack Huang Zu, and now I have finally found one."

Lu Su reminded him, "Anlu County is Huang Zu's ancestral land. Even if we get our hands on that salt mine, it won't be so easy to swallow it."

Gan Ning paused for a moment and said, "Zijing is right to remind us. Although there are difficulties, it is better than doing nothing. Salt is our lifeline, and we cannot allow our lifeline to be in the hands of others."

After returning to Nanchang County from Chaisang, Gan Ning arrived back in Nanchang around midnight. He went straight to his residence, where everyone was already asleep.

When Da Qiao heard that her husband had returned, she quickly came out to greet him.

Is everyone asleep?

"They're all asleep." "Then let's be quiet and go to the study first, so as not to wake everyone up."

Inside the study, Da Qiao helped her husband remove his outer garment, and Gan Ning pulled her into his arms, the two embracing and kissing passionately.

After a while, Da Qiao heard a 'gurgling' sound coming from her husband's stomach.

She then realized what was happening and quickly asked with concern, "Husband, haven't you eaten yet?"

Gan Ning laughed and said, "Not yet! Just get me some cakes or pastries to tide me over! It's too late now."

"How can that be done!"

Da Qiao hugged her husband's neck again, gave him a big kiss on the cheek, and said with a coquettish smile, "Be a good boy and wait here. I'll have the kitchen make you some side dishes and heat up a bottle of wine!"

Gan Ning sat comfortably in the study, watching Da Qiao's departing figure. Suddenly, he felt an indescribable emotion. If Da Qiao initially attracted him with her beauty, now her gentle and virtuous nature made him feel the warmth of a family.

Before long, Da Qiao brought over several plates of side dishes and a large bowl of noodles. She knew her husband was hungry and needed to eat first.

Gan Ning was really hungry, and he quickly finished a large bowl of noodles, finally feeling about 70% full.

"Where's the wine?"

Gan Ning then noticed that there was no wine on the table. Da Qiao smiled, took out a pot of wine from the scalding hot wooden bucket, and then took out a wine cup to pour a cup for her husband.

"Have a drink with me," Gan Ning said with a smile.

"it is good!"

Da Qiao also took out a small wine cup, only one-third the size of Gan Ning's wine cup. She said with a coquettish smile, "This is not me cheating. You know my alcohol tolerance. I get drunk after just one cup, so I can only drink a little less."

Gan Ning laughed heartily, "A small cup is fine! I'll pour you one."

He poured Da Qiao a full glass, and the two gently clinked glasses, smiled at each other, and drank it all in one gulp.

Da Qiao snatched the wine pot and poured wine for her husband, saying softly, "There's something I need to tell you."

"Business matters?"

"No, I actually let Yunqing handle all the business matters. I'm too shy to point out anything that's wrong, but Yunqing is different. She'll point it out to the head steward without hesitation."

Gan Ning nodded. "Then what do you want to tell me?"

"Xu Wei's second brother has arrived."

"Ah! How long have you been here?"

"He's been waiting for you for several days now."

Gan Ning frowned. "What's he doing here? Is he going to take Xu Wei away?"

Da Qiao gently shook her head. "I don't know what he came for. I didn't see him. I only heard from Yun Qing that her brother is waiting for you to come back."

"Xu Wei has spoken with her brother?"

Da Qiao nodded. "I've met him twice, and it seems there wasn't any heated argument."

Gan Ning pondered for a moment and said, "I'll see him tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)