What the emperor was most concerned about was the salt production.
"As long as we take good care of it, the output will not be lower than in previous years, and may even be higher." Xiao Liu looked up at the emperor. He was a prince and had the qualifications. "The premise is that no one will make up excuses to profit from it."
"I am in charge of the salt tax myself. I want to see whether their hands are quicker to reach out or my knife is quicker to cut." The emperor glanced at the ministers and laughed coldly, "Now the price of salt has reached 150 coins per catty. The money people earn in a month can't even afford a catty of salt. It's really ridiculous. If the salt tax is passed, it will benefit the people. If anyone thinks they are tougher than ordinary people, they can try it."
"I dare not."
All the ministers knelt down, but the emperor did not call them to stand up. He looked at Xiao Liu'er and said, "Cheng Qian has made great contributions in offering salt. I will grant him a mansion, two hundred palace maids, and he will also be in charge of the salt tax. You must make sure that the salt tax is running as soon as possible."
In other words, Xiaoliu and Hua Bailin of Qingzhou should work together to build the salt fields as quickly as possible to produce a large amount of salt. The emperor knew clearly that if he wanted to make a lot of money for the national treasury from the salt tax, only by giving it to Xiaoliu could he achieve the greatest effect. Hua Bailin was now the person who knew best how to produce salt. If someone else were to preside over the salt tax, who could stop him if he did not do his best
He only wants money and doesn't care about anything else.
This was exactly what Xiaoliu wanted. As he had just entered the court, it was best to start with the salt tax.
Hua Zhi thought the same. She looked at Xiao Liu, who had grown up a lot every time he went out, and said, "We all know that the emperor wants the money to do something, so this matter cannot be delayed. The people cannot afford salt, but people will get sick if they don't eat salt. In the end, it will hurt the foundation of Daqing."
"Master, rest assured. I dare not neglect it."
Hua Zhi is not quite used to this title yet. She prefers Xiao Liu to call her Sister Hua, even though they are of different generations now.
"Master, you were assassinated..."
"Don't worry about this." Hua Zhi interrupted him, "Let the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince fight. If you rashly join in, you will only help them break the situation. My goal is not to confront them head-on. I would rather take this opportunity to chop off a few of their arms."
After all, it was all for him. Xiaoliu felt a little uncomfortable. No matter how hard he tried to grow up and how hard he tried to take on responsibilities, he still needed his master to plan for him with all his heart. Sometimes he really wished he could grow up to be five, six, seven or eight years old overnight so that his master wouldn't have to shoulder all the responsibilities for him.
"General Sun submitted several memorials about the meat jerky and crispy noodles, but the emperor rejected them and told General Sun to find a solution on his own, and delayed the payment of rations." Hua Zhi stroked the hot water bottle, "I have saved a lot of money now, but I can't expand my own business now, so I might as well use it to do something to help you improve the soldiers' favorability."
“Why is father like this…” Xiao Liu almost swallowed the disrespectful words. Guarding the pass was so important, had father forgotten the teachings of Taizu
Hua Zhi lowered her head and chuckled, "The Emperor is trying to torture me. He asked General Sun to find a solution on his own, and that solution is me. General Sun is your grandfather, and I am your husband. If I knew about this and didn't help, he could alienate you and me. If I help, this one thing alone would be enough to drain all the wealth that the Hua family has saved over the past year."
"Master, I won't listen to him."
"I still have to help." Hua Zhi sighed. "The Qisusi has been investigating and now it is almost confirmed that Jinyang is the hiding place of the Chaoli tribe. Yan Xi has already made arrangements in Jinyang. Once the Jinyang situation is broken, it will be equivalent to cutting off the Chaoli tribe's financial resources. They have been preparing for so many years. When they are exposed, it may be the time for war. The Chaoyang tribe is no longer the tribe that only knows how to use brute force as we know it. They may have wise men, and Daqing's military strength is no longer what it used to be. With one advance and one retreat, no one knows whether we will beat them back to their hometown this time, or they will regain their former glory. Compared with this matter, money is really a thing outside of our body."
Xiao Liu didn't dare to think about how powerful the Chaoli people were, as they were both strong and intelligent. He could only think about the present, "What can I do?"
"This is what you have to do. Crispy noodles and meat jerky are not difficult to make. I will lend you my people. Didn't the emperor grant you a mansion? You go and make a lot of them. I will give you the money. As for how to divide them and who to give them to after they are done, this is something you need to consider yourself. Also, you should pay more attention to the affairs of the court, talk less and listen more, keep the salt tax well, and don't let anyone get their hands on it."
"Yes, Master."
Hua Zhi pinched her brows and said, "The Qisushi are too capable. It is precisely because they are too capable that the ministers in the court can be so self-righteously incompetent. Even though they know that the Chaoli tribe is making a comeback, they have no sense of crisis at all because the Qisushi is at the forefront. You have to pay attention to these problems and think more about solutions on a daily basis. Maybe this is the problem you will have to face in the future."
"My father and the court officials are too dependent on Qishusi."
"It's good that you know what's going on. Go to the study. Chen Qing is waiting for you there. He will tell you everything that has happened recently in the capital and the current situation."
Xiaoliu nodded, "You should take good care of your health."
"Don't worry, it's okay."
Hua Zhi has never been a person who would not fight back. After throwing out the first abandoned piece, she calmly threw out the second one she caught.
In the Wei family's study, Wei Chenze was running around anxiously, "Dad, please think of a solution quickly. If this continues, we won't be able to hide anymore."
Wei Jing's face darkened. "Have the people we sent out come back?"
“No.”
"Send more people."
"Dad..."
"Send another person!" Wei Jing shouted, "If you want to abandon my Wei family, you have to see if I agree or not."
Wei Chenze was shocked, "Why did they want to demolish the bridge?"
Wei Jing closed his eyes and stopped looking at him. Even at this point he still couldn't figure out what the other person was thinking and hadn't made any progress at all.
"Master, there is a letter for you."
Wei Chenze walked over quickly, opened the door, took the letter from the butler, looked down, and saw that there was no signature on the envelope. "Who sent it?"
"The concierge said that he had never seen the man before, but he saw that the man was not an ordinary person, so he delivered the letter to the old servant."
Wei Chenze stopped talking nonsense and handed the letter to his father.
Wei Jing's eyelids twitched as he looked at the letter. After a while, he opened it. There were only a few words on the letter: He who knows the times is a hero.
Wei Chenze saw that his father looked strange, so he leaned over to take a look and his face suddenly changed. "Yes, it was his idea? Then what about our Wei family? He doesn't care about it anymore? Dad, aren't we doing things for him? He also promised us that we would find a way to get you back to the Ministry of Personnel..."
Wei Jing sat down dejectedly. His son's words were like wind blowing past his ears. Not a word of them entered his heart. In this world, there was only one person with the surname Gu. If he really dared to give up the Fourth Prince, the Emperor would teach him what a hero was without the Fourth Prince having to do anything.
PS: Many girls asked how long it would take to be finished. Kong Kong can only say that the plot has reached the final stage. It is hard to say how many words it will have, it depends on the development. Up to now the plot has been progressive, the clues buried in the front need to be concluded, and the foreshadowing is still being laid. When the later plots are concluded, you will find that the inconspicuous little plots in the front are all useful. Let me do a small survey. Do you want Kong Kong to just write until the storm calms down and the Hua family returns, or do you want to write further