The morning breeze in early spring is clean and clear, with a slight chill.
Cao Bin seemed unaware, standing naked at the open window, admiring the rockeries and flowers and trees in the courtyard, twisting his waist and lifting his legs to stretch his muscles, feeling deeply comfortable.
At this time, the maid suddenly shouted outside:
"Master, Madam Li is here and waiting for you in the front hall."
Cao Bin was speechless, feeling that Li Qingzhao was deliberately retaliating.
You know clearly that you hate getting up early, but you still come to your house to urge me. Do you still act like a subordinate?
Ever since Li Qingzhao caught him slacking off, Cao Bin always felt that he was being manipulated by the other party.
However, as a dignified marquis and an important minister of the imperial court, he did not tolerate the other party.
No more pretending.
He was about to ignore the persona he had set before, break the jar and drive Li Qingzhao away, but he felt Zhang Zhenniang's body stiffened as she was crawling on the window sill. She couldn't help but laugh and comforted:
"Sister Zhen, don't worry about her, she can't enter the backyard."
Zhang Zhenniang didn't want it to end so soon. She was shy and timid, looking back to wait, but another maid ran into the yard and shouted:
"Master, Madam Li said there is urgent business, so you must hurry up."
Zhang Zhenniang trembled with fright, stood up quickly, covered herself with clothes, pushed Cao Bin, and said nervously:
"Master Hou, business matters are important. You'd better wash up quickly and go to work."
Cao Bin saw that she had already ordered the maid to prepare toiletries with her weak feet, so he could only say depressedly:
"All right......"
After he finished washing and dressed neatly, he came to the front hall and saw Li Qingzhao sitting and drinking tea. His face darkened and he said:
"What's so urgent, Chief Li, that he went to my house to urge you?"
"Is it so difficult that you can't take up the job if you don't have the qualifications?"
Li Qingzhao was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then put down the tea bowl, stood up, glanced at Cao Bin with contempt, and said in a sticky voice:
"Master Hou, I'm not here to join you in the job."
She looked at the rising sun above the club, looked down upon Cao Bin again, and then continued:
"News just came from the Zhengshi Hall that households in the Jianghuai Salt Farm collectively robbed salt and escaped."
"In this case, not only will the salt tax of the imperial court be lost, but Jiangnan and other provinces will also be cut off from the supply of salt."
"I'm afraid that the imperial court will soon ask Mr. Hou to come up with countermeasures, so I came to inform Mr. Hou urgently."
"I wonder if Mr. Hou has any ideas?"
The salt industry was a major tax item in the Song Dynasty, and it was also related to the national economy and people's livelihood. It was the top priority in the wealth under the jurisdiction of the three divisions.
Well salt from Sichuan, Chi salt from Shanxi and sea salt from Jianghuai are the three pillars of the Song Dynasty salt industry, each supplying large areas.
There is a problem with the Jianghuai Saltworks, and it may destroy half of the Song Dynasty.
Li Qingzhao's heart dropped when she heard the news. She thought there was no perfect solution, and it was too late to urgently train salt workers now.
After speaking, Li Qingzhao stared at Cao Bin closely.
Although she was greatly disappointed by Cao Bin's performance during this period, at this time, she desperately hoped that he could find a way.
After hearing this, Cao Bin realized that he had misunderstood her.
However, he was not surprised by this situation and had been prepared for it. He just didn't expect it to come so soon.
When Cai Jing was in charge of the Third Division, he often reformed the salt policy, and the salt policy of the Song Dynasty was almost ruined by him.
Although those salt households produced salt, they could only sell it to the government, which would then sell it directly or resell it to merchants.
From the imperial court to the government, and then to the salt merchants, everyone made huge profits.
Only the salt farmers who produce salt live like slaves. They are not only exploited by the government, but also forced to work. Sometimes they are owed wages. It is simply miserable. Is it any wonder that nothing happens?
Moreover, the price of salt in the Song Dynasty was as high as forty or fifty cents per catty, which was more than ten times more expensive than the green salt in Xixia.
This is also the reason why the Song Dynasty strictly prohibited the entry of Xixia Qingyan.
If Xixia green salt is allowed to be sold, no one will buy Shanxi's Chi salt because it is too expensive, and the court will lose a lot of salt profits.
Cao Bin pondered for a while, and when he saw Li Qingzhao staring at him with a longing look on his face, he couldn't help but laugh and said:
"Have you forgotten the letter I asked you to write to the Queen Mother of Xixia?"
When Li Qingzhao heard this, he suddenly realized, looked at Cao Bin in shock and said:
"Using the green salt from Xixia to supplement the sea salt from Jianghuai? Could it be that Mr. Hou had anticipated this situation?"
She thought she was extremely smart, but she didn't expect that Cao Bin seemed to predict the future. Isn't this amazing? No matter how you look at it, his lazy look doesn't look like such a master.
Unless the salt farmer's escape was his plan.
Thinking of this, the way she looked at Cao Bin was a little scary.
Although she knew that when doing important things, she should not be merciful, but it would be too cruel to do something like this.
You must know that there is no difference between escaping from the salt robbery and rebelling.
Once captured, the only penalty is death...
Then she shook her head suddenly, looked at Cao Bin and said:
"No, it doesn't make sense for Lord Cao to do this."
"Do you do such a rebellious thing just to buy Xixia salt?"
When Cao Bin saw that she said that he knew things like a god, he wanted to admit it shamelessly, but before he could speak, Li Qingzhao himself denied this speculation.
He suddenly got stuck, and could only tell the truth with a dark face, giving up on himself and saying:
"You are overthinking. I am just a little worried about Cai Jing's salt policy."
"The purpose of buying Xixia green salt is to make the Queen Mother of Xixia agree to my request."
Li Qingzhao breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest, and said in a rare tone of admiration:
"Even so, the planning in Mr. Cao's mind is extraordinary."
"Since Xixia Qingyan is here to help, people in Jiangnan and other provinces don't have to worry about their livelihood."
Then, she became a little worried and said:
"It's just that Jianghuai's salt tax is a huge loss. Now the national treasury is short of money, but it's hard to make up for it."
"Next, will our third division need to retrain salt farmers?"
Cao Bin took a sip of tea, shook his head and smiled inexplicably:
"No, we're not doing anything!"
These words were beyond Li Qingzhao's expectation, but looking at Cao Bin's calm and calm appearance, even with her intelligence, she was a little confused for a moment.
She thought she had seen another side of Cao Bin, but he always surprised her, which made her want to stop and couldn't help but ask for advice:
"Why is this?"
Seeing Li Qingzhao leaning over, looking sincerely asking for advice, Cao Bin was secretly happy.
Unexpectedly, as long as she pretended to be good this time, she would be able to meet the standard for using the inheritance card in one fell swoop, so she became enigmatic:
"Although this escape of salt farmers was unexpected, the result was not bad."
"I have wanted to change the salt policy for a long time, but the time has never come, but now is the right time."
No matter what kind of reform, once it is started, it will definitely harm the interests of some people and put himself at the forefront. Cao Bin will never sacrifice himself for the public like the great sages.
Reforming the salt policy has been very dangerous in every dynasty.
If they just go on a rampage, those salt merchants and salt officials will still hate themselves to death?
So he must wait for a good time or find a suitable spokesperson.
Why did Li Gui retire after his reform, while Wu Qi and Shang Yang ended miserably?
That's because the Wei State that Li Gui served was in urgent need of change. His reforms were in line with the interests of most people, and those who opposed it were against the general trend.
Cao Bin is waiting for such an opportunity. Only when the salt policy is completely ruined and everyone loses their jobs, no matter what he does, he will change it for the better, then others will have no reason to object...
