The ultimate rebirth of the abandoned woman

Chapter 384 Cui Da's Business Trip ([-])

"What? The crown prince ordered you to go to Puzhou?"

Xiao Nan can't be blamed for being surprised, it's already the end of October, and the Chinese New Year will be one month away.Moreover, it's not a good time to go out for a long trip when it's freezing outside.

Cui Youbo didn't think so, he just felt excited and excited to be entrusted with a heavy responsibility by the crown prince, and wished he could prepare his bags now and set off early tomorrow morning.

"That's right." When Cui Youbo thought of the prince's trusting eyes, his blood couldn't help boiling, he grabbed the lady's hand, and carefully explained the mission the prince gave him.

The prince ordered Cui Yabo to go to Puzhou to integrate Chiyan in Anyi and Jie County. It would be better if they can be unified and managed by the government.

Having said that, we need to explain the salt administration in the Tang Dynasty.

Anyone who reads some history books should know that in ancient times, iron and salt were the main economic lifelines of the government, and most of the ruling courts adopted monopoly and monopoly policies.

It has been more than 700 years since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty fully implemented the salt monopoly until the Sui Dynasty. It has become a common practice to levy taxes on salt production and sales.During the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen abolished the old and introduced the new, and completely abolished the salt tax.When the Tang Dynasty was established, in order to restore people's livelihood and remove the tyrannical government of the previous dynasty, it also continued to adopt the policy of suspending the salt tax.

Therefore, at that time, neither cooking salt nor selling salt was taxed, and basically there were no private salt dealers, and the imperial court allowed and even encouraged people to cook salt.

Of course, it does not mean that the imperial court did not care about the salt affairs. The imperial court still controlled some pond salts near the Gyeonggi area, and set up a special salt supervisor under the Si Nong Temple, with one supervisor in charge of the management of the salt fields, and the profits were used to pay the officials in the capital. Expenses such as salary reports, court meetings, and sacrificial offerings.

In addition, while the imperial court was garrisoning fields on the border, it would also carry out salt settlements and cultivate salt fields, and the money obtained was used to pay for military supplies. Of course, these salt fields were also under the overall planning and dispatch of the imperial court.

In addition to the above two items, the government does not restrict or impose taxes on private salt production.

And today, the imperial court has used troops abroad one after another, coupled with the construction of imperial mausoleums, Tangquan Palace, Furong Garden and other projects, and the trend of extravagance from top to bottom inside and outside the palace has gradually increased, and government expenditures have increased day by day. Taxes are a bit out of reach.

The crown prince has been handling government affairs for a period of time, and the Minister of the Household Department has cried to him for poverty several times, and Zhaoling has not yet been completely completed, and still needs a lot of money.

For this reason, the prince was very distressed.

Later, a member of the Eastern Palace offered advice to the prince, suggesting that the prince should integrate the salt affairs of the main salt production areas and levy low taxes to ease the current financial pressure.

The prince felt reasonable after hearing this, but the matter involved a lot, he hadn't sat on the dragon chair yet, so it was really hard to change his father's decree with great fanfare.

Besides, after these years of development, the pond salt in the salt producing areas close to Gyeonggi, such as Hedong Road, Guannei Road, and Longxi Road, has been controlled by local families of all sizes. resist.

Although the crown prince's status is stable now, he still needs the support of the aristocratic family, how can he easily offend them? !

But he was really short of money, so after thinking twice, the prince decided to send someone to Puzhou to have a look. It would be best if he could take back the Yantian without offending the family. If not, then try to cooperate with the family to manage Yantian. To get some money back.

As for who to send, the crown prince encountered another difficulty. He didn't want everyone to know about the 'tax salt' matter, so the people who went to Puzhou must be his confidantes.

Moreover, this person must be a son of an aristocratic family, because the aristocratic family has its own way of communication and contact, forming a unique circle, and the poor and common people cannot get in at all.

Again, this person must be talented and capable, otherwise, even a family member may be coaxed around by the local family members and return without success.

After thinking about it, the prince finally thought of a person, that is Cui Youbo, the husband of the princess of Xiangcheng and his prince's servant.

The prince compared the conditions, and was surprised to find that Cui Youbo met all of them.

Therefore, the prince immediately summoned Cui Youbo, and after a few words of gossip, he went straight to the topic and asked Cui Youbo if he was sent to Puzhou, what good strategy would he have to integrate the local Chiyan.

Cui Youbo didn't give an answer on the spot, but begged the prince to allow him to go back and look up some local information, and then write a detailed memorial about the salt affairs in Puzhou.

The prince heard this, and instead of being disappointed because Cui Youbo couldn't reply on the spot, he was very happy, because in his opinion, Cui Youbo's words and deeds reflected his down-to-earth and rigorous character, and he would not talk nonsense just to deal with it.

Well, it's him!
As soon as the prince took the picture, he arranged an errand for Cui Youbo on the spot, ordering him to go to Puzhou years ago, trying to reclaim the salt fields in early spring, and harvest white salt in summer when the southeast wind blows.

After listening to Cui Youbo's narration, Xiao Nan bowed her head in thought, and after a long time, she raised her head and said with a smile: "Congratulations sir, the prince must trust you very much for entrusting such an important matter to you, it seems that your previous efforts , the prince has seen it all."

Hearing this, Cui Youbo was even more happy, he punched his left palm with his right hand, and said confidently: "The prince trusts me so much, I will definitely settle this matter."

Xiao Nan suppressed his smile, and was about to pour some cold water on him, "It's just that the Puzhou family has entrenched there for hundreds of years, and their forces are deeply rooted. You must be fully prepared for your trip, otherwise, it is very likely that you will be attacked by local forces." Obstruction or even armed resistance."

Cui Youbo didn't get angry when he heard this obviously splashing cold water. Instead, he smiled with relief on his face and said: "I know, I have thought about what my lady was thinking and thinking on the way home. My lady just Don't worry, I still have a few good ways to deal with these small families."

Coming from a top family, Cui Youbo is extremely proud of his background, in his eyes, those small families are nothing to mention.

When Xiao Nan saw it, a bad premonition surged in her heart. She felt that Cui Youbo thought highly of herself and underestimated her opponent. She hadn't set out yet, so arrogant. Alas, it was a very harbinger of failure.

However, Xiao Nan didn't try to persuade him anymore, he is already an adult, she has no responsibility and no need to continue to support him, he should also try what it means to hit a wall, what it means to fail, and what it means to take responsibility.

Thinking of this, Xiao Nan smiled slightly, and said softly: "It seems that Mr. Lang has a plan in mind, hehe, then I will wish Mr. Lang a smooth trip and a triumphant return in advance."

Cui Youbo was even more hearty and laughed loudly.

The husband and wife talked and laughed for a while, and then began to discuss the specific preparations for Cui Youbo's trip.

First of all, there is the issue of the entourage. Although Cui Youbo's trip is not a difficult and dangerous one, it is by no means an easy job. , that would be bad.Therefore, he must be accompanied by effective guards.

Cui Youbo was very disapproving of this, and waved his hand, "It's good to have Ada, Aer, and Ashan follow me. I'm not going to fight a war, so there's no need to bring more people."

Xiao Nan disagreed, she could just sit and watch Uncle Cui run into a wall, but she didn't want to have a disabled husband, she said solemnly: "No, although Puzhou is not far from the capital, but it's also nearly a thousand miles away, it's okay to go official way and say nothing. It will take two days, and Mr. Lang is not going to Puzhou to play, but to stay there for a long time to do business, even if it is not for safety, there should be some people around to run errands. So, Mr. Lang should bring more people."

After thinking for a while, Xiao Nan continued: "Well, I'll call out twenty armored guards to accompany Lang Jun."

Seeing that Cui Youbo was about to speak, Xiao Nan said first: "Mr. Lang, don't refuse in a hurry. I let them go with me because I have selfish intentions. Don't forget, Mr. Lang, our family also has a salt field in the East China Sea. Although the cooking process of sea salt and pond salt They are different, but the principle should be the same, and there is no harm in letting them follow suit."

Hearing that Xiao Nan had reached this point, Cui Youbo couldn't refuse, so he could only nod in agreement.

The problem of the entourage is solved, and then the staff.

As the saying goes, 'Three cobblers are better than Zhuge Liang', no matter how talented and intelligent Cui Youbo is, he still needs a capable assistant to give advice when he is actually doing things.

Regarding this point, the couple had the same idea, that is to ask Zheng Qin to go with Cui Youbo.

It is said that since Zheng Qin brothers and sisters came back from Luoyang with Cui Youbo's family, he did not study behind closed doors, but wandered around the capital from time to time. Lah, what is Qujiang, what is Famen Temple, what is Xingyuan... I just play with the two brothers and sisters so much that I don't want to leave.

After visiting these places, Zheng Qin started to hang out in famous restaurants, teahouses, and bookstores, and even went to Beisanqu in Pingkangfang to appreciate the unique style of talented women in Xiajiaofang.

Tired of shopping during the day, he is not idle at night, either to visit the old man, play Shuanglu with the old man, talk about some of his views on current affairs by the way, and listen carefully to the old man's explanation;

Either come to Cui Youbo to drink, chat, and gossip about gossip in Beijing and anecdotes about officialdom.

Although there is no serious errand, Zheng Qin's small life is very busy and happy.

However, Cui Youbo and Xiao Nan both understand that Zheng Qin looked at the leisurely and leisurely life every day, he did not forget his goal, nor did he relax his demands on himself, what he was waiting for was an opportunity, one soaring into the sky, Opportunity to shine for the family.

The husband and wife were talking, when someone came back to report——

"So that my lord and lady know that Imperial Physician Pei has already checked Jin Zhi's pulse, and she is already two months pregnant."

After hearing this, Xiao Nan looked at Uncle Cui with deep meaning, and said with a teasing smile, "Congratulations sir, hehe, I'm going to be a father again, this should be considered a double blessing, right?!"

Cui Youbo rubbed his nose in embarrassment, avoiding Xiao Nan's gaze, and smiled sarcastically: "Young lady, what a happy event this is."

Even so, Cui Youbo was very happy in his heart. After all, it was his blood. As a traditional man, he naturally believed in the saying of having more children, more blessings and a prosperous family.

However, Xiao Nan sighed, and said: "Just now I was thinking that when Mr. Lang goes to Puzhou, he needs two caring and capable maidservants to serve him. Jin Zhi is usually very stable. I originally thought that she and Bi Si went with Lang Jun, but she was pregnant, so why not let Fu Rong and Bi Si go to Puzhou with Lang Jun?!"

PS: I just saw the announcement on the homepage of the main website, and a certain Sa is very sad. I am also a writer, and I want to say: "Ten years of snow falling, and a good journey!"

(End of this chapter)