Zhou Zong narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Yuan, who had a bitter and resentful look on his face, then he laughed loudly while stroking his long beard: "I guessed that my dear son-in-law, you would raise this issue sooner or later. Hey, I am also helpless! You But my son-in-law is your Majesty’s most valued general. Do you think I will go against you?
The strange thing is that I am getting old and can no longer attract Your Majesty's attention. If I was still the Right Chancellor when the late Emperor was in power, how could I withhold your reward and give you those rags? What's more, Xu Xuan and his group have His Majesty's express decree that all the money and food supplies need to be sent to the Zhennan Army. What can I do? What I can give you is my best. "
Li Yuan then grinned and said: "Haha, father-in-law, son-in-law is just joking! I know you have always treated me very well, and this time it must be Xu Xuan and his group who did it again, but I never blamed you. Don't believe it. You can go back and ask Ehuang, I have never complained about this matter once, I will take whatever you give me."
Zhou Zong nodded, but suddenly said with a mysterious smile in a low voice: "My dear son-in-law, I want to ask you, are you actually asking His Majesty to attack Jingnan so that the imperial court can justifiably pay you money and food?"
Did you really guess it? ! Li Yuan's face turned red, he scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "My father-in-law is really smart, but you saw through my son-in-law's thoughts."
Zhou Zong chuckled and said, "I might as well make it clear to you. In the morning, I received the order from the imperial court and learned that Your Majesty had promised you a town in Wuping to attack Jingnan in response to the Northern Expedition. I was a little confused. After all, you in Wuping are expanding your army and are preparing to do so." Almost everyone in the court knew about the matter of going south to recapture Guiguan. I had doubts in my mind at that time. Even if my son-in-law is a natural-born general, how can he be distracted and attack two countries at the same time?
After you revealed the story about the salt well just now, I immediately understood. If it is to defend the salt well, as the governor of Langzhou who controls the Chu territory, you can take the initiative at the moment. It is just an attack on a few small towns in Jingnan. Why bother to go back to the capital thousands of miles away to ask for your Majesty's request?
But you just told His Majesty frankly, wasn't it just to take the opportunity to mix the private matter of attacking Jingnan into the official matter of responding to the Northern Expedition? In this way, you can justifiably obey the court and ask for some money and food. Haha, good son-in-law, what a good method, what a good method! "
Li Yuan was speechless and deeply touched. Zhou Zong was worthy of being a veteran of two dynasties. He had eaten more salt than he had eaten. His intentions were clearly understood in just a few words, which was heartfelt. I admire you so much.
"Father-in-law, you got everything right. My son-in-law is speechless. I am deeply impressed!" Li Yuan sighed seriously as he cupped his hands.
Zhou Zong laughed several times. The old man picked up the wine cup and took a sip. He waved his hands and said, "This time, you don't have to worry about money and food. Your Majesty has decreed that your Wuping Army will be treated as the Zhennan Army." Standard supply, don’t worry, I will arrange it properly and you will definitely come home with a full load.”
Li Yuan quickly saluted and said, "Thank you very much, father-in-law!"
"There's no need to be polite, family. Besides, you fought for it yourself. I'm just going along with the flow. Good boy, the court owes you, and it's only been a while since you took it back..." Zhou Zong blinked and smiled. road.
"My father-in-law was so complimentary."
Zhou Zong nodded and said: "Now that you have money and food, let me ask you again, how sure are you that you can quickly end the war in Jingnan? Don't let the army get trapped in Jingnan and fail to get the salt. In the end, you will lose your strength and make mistakes. For the important matter of regaining Gui Guan, don't forget how many people in the court are watching you."
Li Yuan smiled and said: "Okay, let me give my father-in-law a reassurance. I am 100% sure that it will be half a month from the date of launching the army. If I break my promise, I will not be able to see my father-in-law..."
"What are you talking about?" Zhou Zong frowned and scolded: "No matter what, you are my Zhou Zong's son-in-law."
"Oh, anyway, I absolutely believe what my son-in-law says. Who is our son-in-law? He is a famous general that everyone in the Tang Dynasty knows. Just say how difficult it was during the recent expedition against Dongxi, but he won it in one fell swoop. After returning to the army, he defeated the Han army several times in succession. Who can match this level of skill? Now he is just fighting a small Jingnan. Lang Jun, you don't believe him anymore. Could it be that he is confused?" Xu muttered dissatisfiedly. road.
"Don't I just ask so you can rest assured..." Zhou Zong didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he thought for a while and said
: "Well, you are an expert in war. I won't ask any more. In short, the sooner you take it, the better. You can decide it yourself. I don't need to say anything. By the way, if the battle is over, I can take these salt gods without anyone noticing. If the land is sold for money, how do we divide the accounts?"
Li Yuan knew that this was the key point. Even if it was his father-in-law and mother-in-law, they would not suffer a loss if they put in so much effort to help. He quickly responded: "Four to six, I will give you six."
"What?" Zhou Zong's old face suddenly sank, he picked up the wine cup and drank it all in one gulp, the majesty in it made people shudder.
In fact, the splitting of accounts into four and six was something Li Yuan had already thought of. He thought Zhou Zong would happily agree, but the result was unexpected. At this time, Li Yuan felt helpless. Could it be that he didn't understand the rules and his father-in-law thought it was too little? So he quickly changed his words and said, "In this case, father-in-law, I am three and you are seven. I understand that if these salts cannot be sold for money, they will be waste and are not suitable for paving roads and filling holes. I also know that private salt must be included in official salt." You have to take a huge risk by selling it, after all, it is a crime of beheading."
Seeing that Zhou Zong remained silent, Li Yuan had no choice but to speak again: "How about father-in-law, just tell me a number, and I will agree."
Mrs. Xu couldn't hold back for a long time. She rolled her eyes at Zhou Zong who was pretending to be serious, and said angrily: "What a wise son-in-law, I don't care about your father-in-law. We are a family, why bother arguing about the share here?" It's really shameful to bargain like a market person about things that are important to you.
Dear son-in-law, I will agree to whatever you want on behalf of your father-in-law. As for the risks, we should share them. Of course, you don’t have to worry. We, as a couple, still have some weight in Jinling and nothing will happen to us. "
Zhou Zong said coldly: "I haven't spoken yet, why are you getting involved in a woman's family?"
Mrs. Xu was unwilling to give up, pinched Zhou Zong's arm hard and said: "Why don't you think about it, our son-in-law will go to the battlefield to fight, and after the battle, we will send troops to guard there. If you want to talk about the risks, you are in the capital." It tastes good and drinks well, how can we judge it? No one is less than the other. Besides, this salt well was discovered by my son-in-law. According to me, it will be as much as he said, and we are not short of money."
Zhou Zong seemed to have been pinched by his wife just now, and his face suddenly became distorted. At this time, he kept pressing the painful spot tightly and hissed: "It really hurts. I've been telling you for so many years not to be so rude. My son-in-law is still there...
Madam, my madam, you really misunderstood. I was just joking on purpose. I am already over sixty years old. Do you think I would really care about these external things with him? If he really wanted to care about it, how could I buy war horses and cavalry from merchants for him every month and then hire a ship to send them to Langzhou? "
Mrs. Xu was still dissatisfied and muttered: "Are you kidding me? Are you joking like this?"
Zhou Zong ignored Li Yuan who was stunned and covered his arms tightly, but childishly moved towards his wife and said with a smile: "Hey, what my wife said is that this matter was just a whim of mine. I did it." No, don’t be angry..."
This time it was Li Yuan's turn to laugh and cry. Was this guy kidding after he had been making trouble for a long time? No wonder he couldn't figure it out just now. It was clear that just as Zhou Zong said, his father-in-law could spend a large amount of money every month to selflessly gift his own war horses and cavalry. Why would he be so concerned about it today? It turns out that's the case, but why is it necessary... ..
Li Yuan coughed lightly and said: "Father-in-law and mother-in-law, I know you are good to me, but even if I take advantage, I can't take advantage of my own family. It's better to just settle for four or six points. After all, the transportation from Langzhou to Jinling My father-in-law still needs to provide carriages and horses. I really don’t know how to transport freight. As for the dug salt, it needs to be transported from the salt well and purified and boiled. The cost of these artificial firewood, camels and horses——"
"Stop, stop, stop." When Zhou Zong saw that Li Yuan was really calculating the running numbers, he thought that his son-in-law was getting serious. He quickly waved his hand to stop him, and then said with an embarrassed chuckle: "Xianson-in-law, I am the real person." Are you kidding, don't take it seriously, don't take it seriously...
In this way, I will make the final decision on how to divide the accounts. How about we divide the accounts twenty-eight? "
Seeing Li Yuan's astonishment, Zhou Zong hurriedly added: "I'm two, you are eight. That's it." Then he immediately turned to his wife Xu, and seeing her beaming with joy, Zhou Zong's heart dropped. He was afraid that it would never happen again in the future. I don’t dare to make random jokes like this that cause unrest in the backyard.
Li Yuan almost couldn't believe his ears, but he felt extremely warm in his heart, and even felt a little guilty. He was too superficial at first, thinking that he would succeed in persuading Zhou Zong with the huge profits from the salt business. Unexpectedly, his father-in-law didn't even think about it. The matter of profit is basically for Li Yuan himself.
Because if Zhou Zong really divides the accounts like this, even if the 20% is a large amount, Zhou Zong will still suffer a loss in the end, and it is very likely that he will not be able to make a profit. Open up the channels of the court, revitalize the joints between officials, and don't block their mouths at all? Why don't you give money to keep quiet the people down there who are doing some secret things? In the end, whether Zhou Zong can really get 20%, this matter is really not sure...
All in all, despite Li Yuan's hard persuasion many times, due to the repeated insistence of the two elders Zhou Zong and Xu, Li Yuan could only accept it shamelessly and formally reached an agreement on the salt well. After the profits were made, the two parties split the accounts 28-28.
Zhou Zongxian took out one million yuan to advance the initial expenses. Li Yuan was responsible for transporting the salt out of the salt well, purifying and packaging it. Zhou Zong ordered someone to set up a horse and carriage company in Langzhou to transport the finished salt back to Jinling. The rest was done. I handed it over to my old father-in-law and sold it through the salt sales channel of the Ministry of Revenue.
The moment the agreement was reached, Li Yuan could no longer express his excitement and emotion in words. He could only stand up and raise three glasses of wine to the two elderly people in front of him who were like reborn parents. He then listened to their kind words and advice. I am used to and tired of the intrigues in the court. The true love at this time is like a jar of old wine, precious and intoxicating...
