bastard seizes tang

Chapter 221 Fairy Lady
After the Sui Dynasty, the canal was built, starting from Youzhou in the north, passing through Luoyang and Yangzhou, and reaching Suzhou and Hangzhou in the south. All goods, no matter how big or small, were mostly transported by water, and land routes were less and less.

The Grand Canal is an important north-south route, and there are countless boats on the canal every day. Although the Grand Canal has only been built for [-] years, water transportation has gradually become popular in this short period of [-] years.

The canal is thousands of miles long and passes through dozens of prefectures and counties. The northern section is centered on Luoyang, the eastern capital, and after passing through Jeju, it is centered on Yangzhou. Therefore, Luoyang and Yangzhou are naturally the most prosperous places for water transportation.

In Yangzhou, boats rely on water for food, which is the backbone of water transport. With the rapid development of boats, the boats have gathered not only river boats, but also boatmen, and tens of thousands of hard labor porters who travel to and from various wharfs. Therefore, boats are very popular in Yangzhou. With a bit of power, it makes sense for Xianniang to say so.

As for the Salt Gang, that is even more so.

"Since ancient times, the benefit of cooking salt has been more important than that in the southeast, and Huainan is the most."

Huainan is adjacent to the sea. Since Liu Bi, the king of Wu in the Western Han Dynasty, was entrusted to Guangling, he boiled the sea into salt, and there was a salt field. With the land of Huainan, the king of Wu, Liu Bi, dared to raise his army to the north and oppose the imperial court, relying on salt Lee gave him confidence.

The Huainan Salt Field has existed for thousands of years, and although there are many Yanzhou counties in the world, Huainan is the one with the highest salt quality and the most abundant annual production.

The world is so heavy that there is no salt or iron.

Compared with iron, salt is more profitable. The profit of boiling salt may be ten thousand gold, or ten times the profit. .

At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, the national power was exhausted. Therefore, since the Western Han Dynasty, due to the huge profits of salt, most of the salt industry has been run by the government to enrich the national treasury. However, since the third year of the Kaihuang Emperor of the Sui Dynasty, the national treasury has been abundant, and the government has released the salt profits to the people. It is not run by the government, nor is it charged with salt.

Not long after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, it was unavoidable to compete with the people for profit, which was not conducive to the stability of the southeast. Therefore, the Tang court also followed the old practices of the Sui Dynasty and did not involve in salt matters. The huge profits from salt sales were all in the hands of salt merchants. The world has even reached the point where it can determine the stability of the southeast half.

Xianniang was right when she said that the Salt Gang was extremely powerful in Yangzhou.

"Just now what the fairy lady said, what do you think?" Although the fairy lady is beautiful, Li Ke will not be confused. After playing the song, Li Ke ordered someone to send the fairy lady back to the boat, and turned to the person beside her. Wang Xuance asked.

Wang Xuance said: "Although I am not from the south, I have traveled around the world to study before I became an official. I have heard of the great power of the salt merchants in Yangzhou. The people's daily food must not be without salt. Salt is the foundation of the southeast. If the salt is chaotic, the southeast will be chaotic, and the southeast will be chaotic, and the world will not be governed. Your Highness is going to Yangzhou, and you must not be careless with the salt merchants."

Wang Xuance's words were cryptic, but Li Ke still understood the meaning of his words.

Li Ke asked: "According to Mr.'s intention, do you want this king to stay away from those salt merchants?"

Although the salt merchants are not officials, they can determine the stability of the place better than the officials. Wang Xuance's intention is nothing more than to ask Li Ke to be more patient with the salt merchants in Yangzhou, so as not to cause turmoil in Yangzhou.

Wang Xuance replied: "Although Your Highness is releasing Yangzhou, according to His Majesty, His Highness will only be in Yangzhou for three to five years at most. Your Highness's heart should be in the world, not in the southeast corner. Why do you want to fight for a moment? Add to the trouble."

From Wang Xuance's point of view, Li Ke has the heart to seize the throne, so his stay in Yangzhou is by no means a long-term plan.

In just a few years, instead of trying to subdue the salt merchants and compete with them for strengths, it would be better for Li Ke to form a good relationship with them. Firstly, it can ensure the stability of the southeast, and secondly, it can also add a bit of power to himself.After all, no matter how strong the salt merchants are, Li Ke is the prince, and they dare not be presumptuous on the surface.

Wang Xuance is the best at the way of vertical and horizontal, and Li Kezhi is not in Yangzhou. From Wang Xuance's point of view, the salt merchant has nothing to do with him.

Wang Xuance's words are quite old-fashioned, and they are pertinent in terms of the balance of interests, but Li Ke has his own thoughts.

Li Ke was noncommittal to Wang Xuance's words, and then asked: "What about the water transportation, what do you think the water transportation should be?"

Salt can’t be messed up, so can water transportation. Today is different from the past. Nowadays, the north-south transportation and the turnover of goods such as grain, grass and silk have already paid equal attention to water and land. If the water transportation is messed up, the Jianghuai waterways will also be messed up.

Half of Guanzhong's food and grass depended on the Jianghuai River, and the Jianghuai waterways were in chaos, and Guanzhong was even in danger of running out of food. Even Li Ke could not afford such a bad result.

Wang Xuance thought for a while, and said to Li Ke: "Water transport is different from salt. The key to salt is the goods, but the key to water transport is people. The water transport ships that can survive today depend more on the porters on the wharf than those ships. Although they are ordinary people in the market, it is extremely difficult to gather thousands of people in one place, if His Highness wants to deal with them, he should use the profit to divide them, and then they can defeat them one by one."

There are a lot of boats in Yangzhou, dozens of sizes, more boats, more people, the hearts are naturally not in harmony, and it is not difficult to divide them up. Wang Xuance's words coincide with Li Ke's thinking.

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Li Ke and Wang Xuance were thinking about the matter of Yangzhou, while on the other side, Xianniang had already returned to her flower boat with her maidservant.

"The lady was so close to Li Ke just now, why didn't she take the opportunity to take his life?" As soon as Fang returned to his flower boat, seeing that Li Ke's boatman had left, the fairy maiden's maid suddenly looked down, and looked at her. Xianniang asked puzzledly.

Xianniang looked back at the maid, and asked dissatisfiedly: "Are you teaching me how to do things?"

Seeing that the fairy was angry, the servant girl hurriedly explained: "The servant girl dare not, but Li Ke's father had a hatred for killing his father on the lady, and Li Ke is the son of the enemy, why did the lady spare him just now?"

Xianniang said: "It was Li Shimin who killed my father, not Li Ke, so why rush to kill him?"

Hearing this, the servant girl asked puzzledly: "Li Ke is also Li Tang's clan. Doesn't Li Ke deserve to die in my lady's opinion?"

A trace of hatred flashed in Xianniang's eyes, she gritted her teeth and said: "Yes, of course I should. I wish I could kill the entire Li family, but if he dies now, Li Shimin will be furious. When the time comes, Yangzhou will be thoroughly investigated and heavily guarded. Wouldn't the plan be defeated?"

The maid asked: "Madam, do you really believe Zuo Youxian's words?"

Xianniang nodded and said: "The white rainbow pierces the sun, and the disaster is in the southeast. As soon as the vision came out, Li Ke went south as an official. Didn't he just respond to this matter? Mr. Zuo is a master in the world. You must not neglect your words."

After hearing what Xianniang said, the maid immediately understood, and said to Xianniang: "So the lady mentioned the water transport and the salt gang to Li Ke on purpose?"

Xianniang nodded and said: "People from Water Transport and Salt Gang have always opposed me in Yangzhou, but they are too powerful and I can't move them. It would be the best if I can use Li Ke's hand to deal with them this time."

The maid said: "Do you think Li Ke can get rid of the people from the Salt Gang and Water Transport?"

Xianniang smiled, looking like she was holding the pearl of wisdom: "Whether Li Kesheng or Li Ke loses, when he fights with the people from the Salt Gang and Water Transport, it is the time for us to reap the benefits. At that time, we only cut off the water transportation and salt supply, and the two Huaihe Rivers will be in chaos, and once the two Huaihe Rivers are in chaos, our opportunity will come."

(End of this chapter)