Do you know: I am Yuan Wenshao

Chapter 316 Emperor of Xixia
Han Zhang heard the words and said calmly: "Deputy Ambassador Li, there are only you and me here. If you have anything to say, just say it."

"Haha, the Grand Prime Minister is still as cheerful as ever. In this case, I will tell you directly."

Li Shangyu pondered for a while and then said: "Grand Prime Minister, I am here this time to ask the Grand Prime Minister for help and to persuade His Majesty to give up the thorough investigation of the salt affairs at the appropriate time."

Han Zhang was not surprised at all about Li Shangyu's purpose. Hearing this, he said, "Sorry, the officials are determined to investigate now. I'm sorry that I can't do anything."

"The Grand Prime Minister is joking. Your Majesty has great trust in you. I am not imposing my position on others. I just ask the Grand Prime Minister to persuade me at the appropriate opportunity. We owe the Grand Prime Minister a favor for this matter." Li Shangyu said.

Han Zhang's eyes flashed slightly, Li Shangyu emphasized the word "we", and he naturally understood what it meant.

Salt tax revenue has dropped so much, but it has been difficult to find out. The interests involved are too great.

There are many officials in the DPRK and China who are in this chain of interests. Li Shangyu came here this time to represent these people.

Of course, what Li Shangyu said about us also meant a threat.

If you help, you will be grateful. If you don't help, you will naturally hold a grudge.

Han Zhang didn't think Yanwu really found out anything, and what would happen to these people.

After all, there are too many involved. If Zhao Zongquan doesn't want to cause big turmoil, he won't take action against them in the short term. At most, he will move some local officials.

Han Zhang was silent for a long time and then said: "With your current little tricks, I'm afraid it won't have any effect? ​​As far as I know, the officials have ordered Gu Tingye to lead the troops to protect him."

"Haha, the Grand Prime Minister knows it, and we naturally know it too. We have to exercise some restraint in Bianjing. These are just some appetizers." Li Shangyu said with a smile.

Naturally, they understood that it was impossible for the officials to compromise just by relying on this.

Doing so is just a warning to the officials.

After this incident, King Huan naturally knew that a thorough investigation of the salt affairs was full of difficulties, so he would naturally be cautious when he got to the place.

They are not afraid of King Huan's caution, and now progress will inevitably be much slower.

When the time comes, we will delay it secretly. After a long time, no important clues can be found. If Bianjing makes another effort, the officials will not be able to withstand the pressure, so naturally they can only stop it.

Han Zhang also understood what Li Shangyu meant. He was silent for a while and said: "I can help with this matter, but the premise is that you can put enough pressure on the officials. And I am only helping to persuade. As for whether it will succeed, I can't ensure."

"Thank you, Grand Master, don't worry, we will definitely not make things difficult for you." Li Shangyu said with a smile.

"I hope so." Han Zhang said lightly.

……

Zhao Zongquan ordered Gu Tingye to lead the army and follow him, for fear that something would happen again.

However, there was no accident this time. There was no incident until the next day when he led the civil and military officials to personally send King Huan to the dock to take a boat down to the south of the Yangtze River.

Watching the fleet leave, the officials breathed a sigh of relief.

He saw him off in person just to show that he valued it and to make those officials wary of messing around.

Now it is finally time to set off normally. As long as the private salt can be cleared up and the national treasury is filled, we can send troops to regain the Yanyun Sixteenth Prefecture.

Thinking of this, the official was very excited and a flush appeared on his face.

Zhao Zongquan stood on the dock and watched the fleet of ships disappear before giving the order to return to the city.

Entering the inner city, a chamberlain conveyed the official's order, ordering the civil and military officials to disperse on their own.

After King Huan went to Jiangnan, Bianjing once again returned to its former peace.

Because the martial arts performance was over, Yuan Wenshao did not live in the military camp as often as before.

Supervise the training of soldiers in the military camp every day during the day and return home in the evening.

Autumn had just begun when King Huan went to the south of the Yangtze River. Because he returned his orders directly to the officials, not much information was known to the outside world.

But after more than a month, some gossip came back one after another.

The progress of the thorough investigation of the salt affairs was very slow. When King Huan went there, officials from various places cooperated very well. In addition, the rampant salt gangs were not a secret among the people, and a lot of information was obtained.

However, when King Huan sent people to investigate the whereabouts of the Salt Gang members, the Salt Gangs all over the Jiangnan water system seemed to have suddenly disappeared.

Not only were the people from the Salt Gang unable to find it, but the private salt on the market also completely disappeared.

Because of the disappearance of salt gangs and private salt, the price of salt in Jiangnan suddenly skyrocketed, making the people miserable, and some negative rumors slowly spread among the people.

Private salt itself is sold cheaper than official salt. Because private salt crowds out the market, official salt sales are very low. Therefore, there is not much official salt prepared in Jiangnan and other places.

Now that the Salt Gang has come to Jiangnan to inspect the salt affairs because of King Huan, all those selling illegal salt have gone into hiding.

Without private salt, the common people still had to eat salt, but the official salt reserve was insufficient to meet the needs of the people in Jiangnan.

There were also people who secretly purchased large amounts of official salt, making it difficult to find salt in Jiangnan for a while.

After the news spread, a large number of Jiangnan officials first came to report.

They did not ask the officials to give up the thorough investigation of the salt affairs. They only explained the local situation and hinted that Zhao Zongquan had already caused chaos in Jiangnan because of the thorough investigation of the salt affairs. It was best to stop it as soon as possible.

Not long after Jiangnan officials began to play, many officials in the DPRK also followed suit.

They don't need to be so euphemistic. They say that Jiangnan is the most important place for taxation in the world, and most of the taxes for the imperial court are collected from Jiangnan.

Nowadays, due to the thorough investigation of salt affairs, Jiangnan is in turmoil, which will affect the court's tax revenue.

We cannot ask the officials to give up the thorough investigation of salt affairs because of small losses.

Zhao Zongquan naturally refused. He scolded the officials who submitted the report, and then ordered people to adjust the salt and go to Jiangnan to calm the salt price.

Yuan Wenshao was very happy during this period. First, Xiaocui found out that he was pregnant, and then Xiaohuan gave birth to a daughter for him not long after.

Counting the unborn ones in Xiaocui's belly, he had four children.

Brother Xian is almost one year old and has begun to chirp every day.

After Yuan Wenshao came home every day, he would always hold him and teach him how to speak.

……

Xixia Xingqing Mansion is where the capital of Xixia is located.

In a palace in the imperial palace, Emperor Li Xingze of Xixia was lying on a soft couch, and a charming young woman in her twenties was feeding him wine.

This woman is none other than Li Xingze's favorite concubine, Mrs. Liang.

The strange thing is that Li Xingze looked to be in his twenties, but this woman was already nearly thirty.

The reason for this is that this woman has another identity.

This woman was Li Xingze's cousin a year ago.

Li Xingze was not the eldest son. His mother came from the Xixia wealthy family Mu Zang.

Wu Zang Youpang of the Wu Zang family was deeply trusted by the emperor at that time and ranked as prime minister.

However, Pang was extremely ambitious and secretly instigated the then prince to assassinate the emperor. He then executed the prince in the name of murdering the emperor and proclaimed his nephew Li Xingze as emperor.

Li Xingze was only a few years old at the time, and the Queen Mother was not the regent. The Empress Dowager's brother did not hide it, so he transferred Pang Yinuo to Bodu and other three generals to control the military power. He was in charge of state affairs, appointed himself as the prime minister, and took charge of the government affairs. It can be said that he had power over the government and the opposition. As he grew older and became wiser, Li Xingze naturally did not want to continue to be a puppet emperor.

However, with his mother suppressing him above him and his uncle who has been in power for more than ten years below him, there was nothing he could do.

His mother died of illness two years ago, and his uncle blackmailed Pang into marrying his daughter to him as queen and continued to control the government.

Wu Zangyingpang also noticed that Li Xingze was very restless, so in order to give him a warning, he directly found an excuse to kill several of his confidants.

Later, he even had the idea of ​​killing Li Xingze and proclaiming himself emperor.

Unexpectedly, Li Xingze had an affair with his daughter-in-law, who was not hiding Pang's wife, that is, his cousin-in-law.

Liang told Li Xingze the news. When Li Xingze learned about it, he discussed it with the loyal ministers in the court and set up a scheme to execute all of Wu Zang and Pang's family before he officially took control of the power.

"Your Majesty, when will you ennoble this concubine as your queen?" Madam Liang asked, putting down her wine glass.

"Don't worry, my dear, I have to make some achievements before I can make you my queen." Li Xingze comforted her.

His queen, Wu Zangshi, had already been killed by him when he was executing Wu Zang and Pang's father and son.

Li Xingze was very obsessed with Liang. His mother helped his uncle to suppress him. His private life was very chaotic and he had no maternal love since he was a child.

Not only did he like Liang, there was also a plot of that kind in it.

In addition, because of Liang's whistle-blowing, he was able to deal with the collectors and take control of the power, so he was naturally grateful to her.

Although the Xixia royal family belongs to the Dangxiang tribe, they are also a branch of the nomadic tribe.

For nomadic people, inheritance of family property includes the father's woman.

Although Mrs. Liang was his cousin-in-law, it didn't matter that she was now his woman.

However, Xixia had already implemented Han rites for a long time. As a concubine, Liang's identity was fine, but if she became a queen, she would definitely encounter opposition.

"Your Majesty, I have your child. If you still don't make me queen before the child is born, then the child will not be born." Liang said pretending to be angry.

"Don't worry, concubine, I have calculated the time for Da Zhou's horse to be delivered soon. I have also stabilized the Liao Kingdom. When there is definite news from Da Zhou, I can attack the Tubo army in Hehuang." We are attacking the Qiang people. Once we occupy Hehuang, it will be a great achievement to expand our territory. When the time comes to make you the queen, no one will object." Seeing that Liang was unhappy, Li Xingze quickly comforted him.

"How long will it take to fight in Hehuang Land? The child in my belly cannot wait that long. Your Majesty said that if it is a boy, he will be crowned prince." Liang said.

Liang had an affair with him and even betrayed her father-in-law and husband, wasn't it because she felt Li Xingze's obsession with her.

For the position of queen and prince.

Liang also knew that it was not easy for her to become the queen because of her status, so she naturally had to force Li Xingze to make a decision quickly.

Now that the position of queen is vacant, some ministers have already petitioned for Li Xingze to become queen.

If she doesn't hurry up, if Li Xingze can't withstand the pressure and becomes a queen, won't her work be in vain?

"Don't worry, my beloved, my queen will only be you." Li Xingze quickly promised.

Ms. Liang wanted to say something else, but a eunuch came in and saluted: "Your Majesty, Mr. Chi sent someone to deliver an urgent letter."

"what?"

When Li Xingze heard this, he quickly sat up and said excitedly: "Bring it to me quickly."

The eunuch hurriedly sent the letter forward.

Li Xingze took the letter, opened it and read it.

"Okay, very good!" After reading it, Li Xingze laughed happily and said, "Go and send someone to ask An Guogong to meet me in the study."

"Yes!" The eunuch responded and retreated.

"Your Majesty, what did Master Chi say that made Your Majesty so happy?" Mrs. Liang said in surprise.

"Haha, Chi Aiqing accompanied the envoys of the Great Zhou Dynasty to deliver horses to the Great Zhou Dynasty. After arriving in Bianjing, the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, they heard the news that the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty was conducting a thorough investigation of the salt affairs, and the opposition was very loud. Now there is chaos within the Great Zhou Dynasty. Now, it's a good opportunity to send troops to Hehuang." Li Xingze said with a smile.

Li Xingze was able to endure for many years and finally regain his rights, so he was naturally capable.

He saw at a glance the benefits of taking over the land of Hehuang. After taking power, he sorted out his internal affairs and sent people to express his goodwill to Liao and Xixia.

Compared with the Zhou Dynasty, Xixia and Liao were closer.

Although the Liao Kingdom took away all the territory occupied by the Xixia grassland.

However, they did not do much to hinder Xixia's independent establishment, and directly recognized the establishment of Xixia.

On the contrary, Zhou sent troops to attack Xixia. Although Xixia was repulsed, the hatred between the two countries was also forged.

Therefore, Li Xingze spent a lot of effort on Da Zhou's side.

Now that the Great Zhou Dynasty is in chaos, there is no time for others to take care of it. The number of soldiers and horses on the border has decreased. With the addition of Lingzhou, a place that must be defended, the soldiers and horses on the border are somewhat stretched.

This was a good time for Xixia to send troops to capture Hehuang.

Mrs. Liang was very happy when she heard this. After all, she would be the queen after taking over Hehuang.

But she was also a little worried in her heart and said: "Your Majesty, the land of Hehuang is not so easy to win, isn't it?"

"Don't worry, my dear, the leader of the Tubo Kingdom is seriously ill now, and the two sons are fighting each other for the position of the leader. This is a good opportunity. And with An Guogong leading the army, Hehuang will be captured quickly." Li Xingze said confidently.

He was very confident in An Guogong Feng Rushan's abilities.

It was precisely because of Duke An Guo's presence these years that his uncle was not allowed to completely control the military power.

Otherwise, he wouldn't even have a chance to resist.

It is precisely because of this that he began to reuse Han people after taking power.

Of course, the Han people he re-employed were all the Han people who surrendered to Dangxiang in the late Tang Dynasty.

"My dear concubine, I'm going to discuss the matter of Hehuang. If you're bored, go check on the imperial sister for me. I don't know what's going on. After I came back from a trip to Dazhou, I always felt that something was wrong with her. . In the past, she came to bother me every three days, but now she has not come for more than a month. When I went over, I either fell asleep or felt uncomfortable. However, the emperor’s sister has a bad temper, so my beloved concubine should take more care of her." Li Xingze said.

"Yes, I understand." Mrs. Liang nodded.

She knew that Li Xingze's mother had not cared about him since he was a child, and his uncle had treated him as a puppet. He only regarded his sister as his only relative and loved him very much.

Although Li Xuan didn't like her sister-in-law, Li Xuan didn't threaten her, so she didn't care.

Moreover, the worse Li Xuan's attitude towards her, the better she would treat Li Xuan, and Li Xingze would naturally like her more.

After Li Xingze finished explaining, he left the palace and went to the study.

When he came to the study, Feng Rushan was already waiting in the study.

"I pay homage to your Majesty!" Feng Rushan saluted.

"Gong Anguo is exempt from the courtesy, but he will be given a seat if he comes!" Li Xingze said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Feng Rushan quickly thanked him.

After Li Xingze waited for Feng Rushan to sit down, he smiled and said: "Dong An Guo, a letter came from Chi Aiqing, saying that the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty is currently conducting a thorough investigation of the salt affairs, and that the internal affairs of the Zhou Dynasty are in chaos. Now is a good time to send troops to Hehuang. I am going to let you lead the army to conquer Hehuang."

(End of this chapter)