The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Li Yuan had no intention of dealing with official documents at this time, so he simply continued talking to old man Zou in the front hall, and the topic never left the salt well in the north of Lizhou City.
According to Old Man Zou's detailed account, King Ma Xifan of Chu ordered the excavation of those big wells and encircled a large piece of land in the north of Lizhou City, probably no less than ten miles in radius. It was also demolished to pieces. The royal order issued to Lizhou at that time was only four words: specialize in salt affairs.
Regarding the salt well, Old Man Zou's description was almost the same as what Li Yuan had speculated. It is true that Ma Xifan was one of the most politically influential kings of the Chu Kingdom. During his sixteen years in power, he governed according to customs and was tolerant and generous. The things he ordered must have been carefully considered. In the first few salt wells dug, a lot of salt-like things did precipitate on the stone walls.
But before the Lizhou governor reported the good news to the King of Chu, he heard shocking news. Many soldiers of the Chu army stationed near the salt wells regarded the things collected in the salt wells as edible salt and even mixed it into their meals. It was said that although it tasted bitter, it was also salty.
The result was that more than two thousand soldiers of the Chu army, as well as the animals used to pull the carts, were all found dead next to the well after just one night. Their death was as shocking as death from poison. After some authors cut open the intestines and stomach of the deceased, they found that the entire intestines had been burned and eroded. Soon, the theory of poisonous salt spread like wildfire.
King Ma Xifan of Chu was shocked when he heard the news, and immediately issued a royal order to abolish the salt well fortifications. From then on, the newly excavated salt well was abandoned, and the existence of the large tomb near the salt well where two thousand Chu soldiers were buried also disappeared. The surrounding officials and citizens did not dare to approach this area at will, because the air there was too cool and depressing, and it was regarded as a forbidden area...
Hearing this, Li Yuan probably had an idea. Since the crystals precipitated from the salt well can poison men and animals, it must be because there are too many impurities in them. Really edible salt must be obtained through filtration and other processes. It was really reckless for those Chu soldiers to take it and eat it rashly, and they paid a heavy price with their lives, but it was no wonder that they were there. After all, how could people in this era know anything about chemistry?
When Li Yuan calmly proposed that he wanted to see it with his own eyes, Old Man Zou was stunned for a long time without saying anything. The dignified Governor of Langzhou, with such a distinguished status, actually wanted to go to the forbidden land in the north of Lizhou City in person. Who knew about that ghost place? Birds don't lay eggs and there are wild grasses everywhere, not to mention that many innocent souls have been buried there. If the Yin Qi is so strong that it destroys the noble body of the Governor, what should we do?
Old Man Zou swallowed his saliva and asked tentatively: "Master, Commander-in-Chief, are you worried that those Huixincao are not enough for Madam to recover from her illness? So you want to personally collect some and bring them back for later use? In my opinion, that's fine. No, these Huixincao are enough and can definitely cure the disease! You are a person with a lot of money. You must not go to such a ghost place. You may not be able to pick it up if you go. The villain only encountered a dozen plants last time. ..."
Li Yuan laughed dumbly. Old man Zou was obviously mistaken. But Li Yuan couldn't explain too much to him in detail. He just smiled and said: "Old man, I just want to ask you, can you lead the way for me?"
Old man Zou opened his eyes wide. The governor was really coming. It seemed that he was deeply in love with his wife and would not hesitate to take risks with his own life. They really have a deep love for each other... So he frowned and thought for a long time and hesitated. : "There's nothing wrong with leading the way. The governor has orders, and the villain should obey them. But, but..."
"Oh, Grand Governor, I'll tell you straight. Think about it. It's a sinister place, which is extremely detrimental to people's luck. For more than ten years, few people have entered. First, they're afraid of being poisoned. Salt, and secondly, I was afraid of causing dirty things. Old man, when I went in to retrieve the heart grass, I also went there with the thought that it would be a pity if the old bones died..."
Li Yuan remained calm as usual, raised his hand and pointed upward, and smiled with a mysterious look: "I might as well tell you that I have the blessing of God to defeat evil things, not to mention that this Lizhou is mine. Under Wu Ping's rule, this is the governor's own territory."
Old Man Zou licked his lips, bravely stared at Li Yuan Yingwu's face, thought for a moment, nodded and whispered: "The Governor has a great reputation, naturally he is protected by God, but I am too worried. When will the Governor set out?" , I am willing to lead the way!"
Li Yuan smiled and said, "Okay, then this matter is settled."
...
In five days, Zhou Ehuang's depression improved significantly as Old Man Zou had promised. Although he still frowned and thought sometimes, his appetite was greatly restored and he could sleep well. My weight has dropped a lot, and I have seemed to be in high spirits recently. It seems that the Huixincao sent by the Zou couple does have a miraculous effect on women suffering from depression during pregnancy.
Seeing that Emperor Zhou E was fine, Li Yuan felt relieved and decided to leave to take a look at the salt well.
Old man Zou had already gone back to the countryside of Lizhou to settle down three days ago, and was waiting for Li Yuan in Lizhou. They would just meet him at the village where the old man lived. According to Old Man Zou's request, the people accompanying him on this trip must have strong yang energy, and the more the better, but Li Yuan did not want to mobilize a large number of troops, so he ordered Lin Sichang to lead a hundred powerful personal guards, and specifically ordered Zouping. Traveling with Wang Jingguo.
Zouping was the son of old man Zou, so it was normal for them to set off together. The reason he named Wang Jingguo was because Li Yuan remembered that this boy had participated in illegal salt trafficking in Chuzhou before, and it might be useful.
In addition, Li Yuan also ordered Lin Sichang to inform all the people accompanying him that this trip should be top secret, and anyone who leaked it would be killed immediately. Everyone knows what salt means in this era, and they don't want to make a news that "the governor went to inspect the salt well" to avoid causing uproar in the city.
Therefore, even Liu Jiangsheng, Luo Erhu, Xu Kuangheng, Chai Kewu and other confidants, Li Yuan hastily informed them of his whereabouts, but did not tell them the real purpose of the trip. He only told everyone that he wanted to go to Lizhou to inspect and inspect, and told them to perform their respective duties. Just take care of the matters at hand.
It was normal for the Governor to inspect the prefectures and counties. Although everyone was caught off guard, no one could take care of the Governor's affairs, and everyone had a lot of things on their hands and was very busy, so they didn't think much about it. It's just that Xu Kuangheng asked a few more questions and didn't get an answer.
On the early morning of the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Yuan and his entourage left Langzhou and headed north to Lizhou after bidding farewell to their adoptive mother, wives and concubines. The soldiers who were riding on them were all good Khitan horses, and they were very fast. Three days later in the afternoon, they arrived at the small village where the old couple Zou lived, ten miles north of Lizhou City. Without further ado, Li Yuan decided to continue setting off at dusk.
Old man Zou was very "fully prepared". Just like the time he took his old lady to search for Huixincao, he had several rings of garlic around his neck, a handful of dog teeth tied around his waist, and several packs of realgar cinnabar in his arms. He even took the trouble to tell everyone the things to pay attention to when entering the Yinsha Land. His expression and words showed that he was very worried about this trip.
Li Yuan naturally didn't believe it. Seeing that Old Man Zou had just finished talking and wanted to do it again, he immediately waved his hand and ordered his guards to remove all these unnecessary things from Old Man Zou's body, and then turned over expressionlessly. horse.
Old Man Zou felt helpless, but when he saw that Li Yuan's personal guards, including his own son Zouping, were all calm and composed, he had no choice but to lead the donkey to follow him angrily.
