The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

He presented the four-column accounting method, made arrangements for the officials of the Ministry of Revenue, and instructed them to continue collecting grain. Chen Huai'an then turned around and returned to the Ministry of Works.

At present, the Ministry of Works' responsibilities are far more important.

"The Book of Documents"

As soon as Chen Huai'an returned, Chang Gui and Ouyang Shu came to greet him.

"Have the disaster victims in Shandong been resettled yet?" Chen Huai'an asked as he sat down.

"Reporting to the Minister," Ouyang Shu bowed, "I have already hired these disaster victims according to your arrangements."

"However... there are too many areas affected by the disaster, not only Shandong, but also the surrounding areas have disaster victims."

"In Chang'an, we can pinpoint the exact number of disaster victims down to the household level. But over there, we can only settle most of the disaster victims. There will definitely be many more who are not employed by the government and will come to Chang'an."

"Hmm." Chen Huai'an didn't have much to say about this. It was easy for the government to find these refugees who had gathered together, but it would be difficult to find them if they didn't gather together.

If they could reach Chang'an, or be discovered halfway, that would be fine. But if they died on the way, there was nothing that could be done.

Immediately, Chen Huai'an brought up another matter: "There are quite a few disaster victims, and we are also short of manpower. In addition to mining iron ore, reclaiming wasteland, building water conservancy projects, and mining salt mines, we can also hire them to build salt fields by the sea."

"Using salt fields to produce salt will greatly improve the efficiency of salt production. The more disaster victims there are, the greater the pressure on the imperial court will be. Therefore, we must expand the scale of salt and iron production as soon as possible."

"Your humble servant understands," Ouyang Shu replied.

"Go down and do things properly according to the original plan." Chen Huai'an rubbed his temples, looking somewhat tired.

Ouyang Shu was about to leave when he noticed that Chang Gui hadn't moved, so he tugged at his arm: "Brother Chang, let's go."

Chang Gui shook his head, cupped his hands, and said, "Minister, I have something to report."

"What is it?"

"Yesterday, several people in Chang'an died suddenly and mysteriously. For some reason, some...unpleasant rumors have been circulating in the streets," Chang Gui said hesitantly, carefully choosing his words.

Chen Huai'an frowned slightly.

It's just a few people dying. No matter how bizarre the cause of death is, it has nothing to do with him. Chang Gui isn't someone who can't see things clearly.

The fact that it's being brought up now is probably because it's related to him.

"What rumors?" Chen Huai'an's tone turned serious.

Chang Gui forced himself to say, "There are rumors circulating that these people died mysteriously because they ate our salt."

"Because our salt is made from toxic salt mines, it is inherently poisonous and cannot be eaten."

"The rumors are just starting to circulate, but I personally went to the salt shops to investigate, and our salt sales have already been affected; our profits have begun to decline."

As soon as he said those words, Chang Gui and Ouyang Shu suddenly felt the atmosphere in the Ministry of Personnel freeze, as if something heavy was pressing down on them, making it hard for them to breathe.

Chen Huai'an said coldly, "You believe that?"

Chang Gui quickly shook his head: "Of course I don't believe it. Ever since the Minister started making salt, I and my family have been eating this kind of salt. Do you think I don't know whether that salt is poisonous or not?"

"But... Minister, it seems someone is coming for us."

Ouyang Shu hesitated, but ultimately said nothing.

Throughout the entire Tang Dynasty, it's obvious who would dare to attack Chen Huai'an and the government like this.

Chang Gui is right. This is clearly a blatant slander, and the tactics are extremely ruthless.

Many ordinary people don't understand any principles; they believe whatever they hear. Now they've heard that the salt is made from toxic salt mines and that people have died from eating it.

Once the news spread, the reputation of refined salt will be completely ruined; this is going to uproot the entire industry!

More importantly... the two of them knew all too well how much Chen Huai'an cared about fine salt.

This was one of the two pillars supporting the imperial court's implementation of work-for-relief programs and disaster relief.

If refined salt cannot be sold, the revenue of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue will plummet. How will they implement work relief programs? How will they buy grain? How will they pay the wages of the hired laborers?

A fierce glint flashed in Chen Huai'an's eyes: "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday," Chang Gui hurriedly said, "the news came out yesterday. Three people died in total, two men and one woman, of different ages."

"Alright..." Chen Huai'an chuckled softly, "I knew they wouldn't sit still and would make their move sooner or later."

"I thought they would come after me first, but I didn't expect them to be so ruthless and come straight for the refined salt."

"And they were this ruthless right from the start."

"What do you think I should do now?"

Despite Chen Huai'an's smile, Ouyang Shu felt for the first time how terrifying his Minister was. He spoke quickly, "Minister, now that this has happened, the most urgent thing is to stop the rumors from spreading further. Otherwise, this kind of thing, which concerns food, will spread throughout Chang'an in no time."

"We must prove our innocence!"

"I suggest that we immediately go to the market on Suzaku Avenue, in the prefecture or county where the incident occurred, and set up the case in public."

"Notify the Imperial Medical Bureau and well-known doctors in the community. If possible, it would be best to invite the venerable Mr. Sun Simiao so that he can test the salt in front of the people and tell them that the refined salt is not poisonous, but that someone is making a false accusation."

"This is unlikely to convince the people completely. I am willing to bring my family and publicly reveal my identity as the Vice Minister of Works, and personally drink salt water mixed with fine salt in front of the people with my family."

"If that's not enough, then find a few death row inmates and make them eat food made with fine salt in front of everyone for several days in a row, with everyone watching in public."

Chen Huai'an's expression softened somewhat after hearing this.

Ouyang Shu truly deserves his position as Vice Minister of Works; he is quick-witted and decisive.

Chang Gui then spoke up, saying, "Minister, I can ask the Imperial Medical Bureau and the coroner to jointly open the coffin and examine the body."

"Even if it were non-toxic salt that we produced, or even toxic salt mines, people wouldn't die from eating them for a period of time. Therefore, I'm certain that these people have been poisoned."

"As long as it is found that these people died from poisoning, coupled with Brother Ouyang's method, it should be enough to prove that our salt is not poisonous."

Chen Huai'an remained noncommittal: "Your method is very good, but it only takes a mouth to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of legwork to refute them."

"Of course we need to prove it, but if we can't address the problem at its source, if our refined salt is rumored to be toxic today, there will be other rumors tomorrow."

"These matters are entrusted to you. Do as you have just instructed. I am going to see His Majesty."

"Yes, Minister!" The two bowed and watched Chen Huai'an leave.

After leaving the Ministry of Works, Chen Huai'an did not go to the Eastern Palace immediately, but planned to go home first to get some things.

However, what he didn't realize was that as he left the Ministry of Works and headed home, some people secretly followed him...

"..."

P.S.: Sorry, something came up today and I'm a few minutes late.