While playing with his concubine's breasts, Li Ye's thoughts were wandering, thinking about the recent policies of the imperial court and the changes in the situation in Guanzhong. He is not as unreliable as he appears on the outside, he just maintains certain habits developed in Tokyo.
Li Ye has always had great ambitions and great ambitions, and he is also smart. He wants to become a minister who will serve the emperor and leave a name in history. It's just that he is arrogant and does not match his ambition. When he was in Tokyo, he was doted on by the Queen Mother.
Until he violated the emperor's taboo, he was driven out of the capital and sent to Yuanzhou as a governor. At the beginning, Liu Chengyou was still worried about whether he would cause another disaster to the local area. For example, in the early days, Liu Xin, including Murong Yanchao, were all troubles to the local area.
But judging from the subsequent development, he managed tens of thousands of people in a state from a remote capital without any constraints or scruples. He governed and controlled the people completely according to his will, and the results were good. At least, under the rule of Yuanzhou, the population is increasing, the fields are increasing, and the taxes are increasing.
"It's been two years!" After the last pair of warriors competed, Li Ye lost interest. He hugged his concubine and walked to the inner garden, saying: "In a flash, we are here on the border. I’ve been here for so long!”
Li Ye was demoted due to the Puzhou case in the spring of the fourth year of Emperor Qianyou's reign. Although it has not been two full years now, it is not much different. Two years are enough for a person's ability and knowledge to greatly improve, but for Li Ye, the tempering of one's mind has made the greatest progress. Although arrogance is inevitable, the city is much more profound, at least not as domineering and flamboyant as it was in Tokyo.
"Are you tired of staying here?" Li Ye asked while hugging his concubine and holding her smooth chin.
The concubine had a tender and touching expression on her face and timidly responded: "The Lord is here and I can serve you. How can I get tired of it?"
Li Ye smiled when he heard the words, pointed his finger on the seductive red lips, and said: "You are quite good at talking with this little mouth! This bitter cold state, a barren land, is not enough to miss, I am tired of it! However, Don’t worry, if you endure it for a while longer, it’s time to change places! Next time, I have to ask the emperor for a more comfortable place..."
In the past two years, Li Ye was in Yuanzhou. In addition to scolding Fang Qiu, he was also reflecting on it. Even though he was in a remote place, he was always paying attention to and understanding the situation and policies of the imperial court.
Of course, his deepest feeling was to understand the emperor's intention of demoting him to Yuanzhou. Punishment is one of them, training is the second, and the third is mixing sand with the original Changyi Army Jiedu Envoy Shi Kuangyi's regime.
Li Ye also fully understood it after Shi Kuangyi was ordered to go to Beijing last year and stayed in Beijing to recuperate. Li Ye somewhat admired the emperor's nephew, and according to his estimation, it was almost time for him to be transferred.
Full, warm and thoughtful, he went straight into the inner room and had a lot of fun. When he was completely happy, Li Ye just went to the study with a calm expression of great enlightenment and summoned the manager of the mansion.
"How is our private salt business?" Li Ye asked directly as soon as he sat down.
"The latest batch of twenty stones has been sent out. This time, at least a thousand dollars can be made!" the manager replied with a smile.
Although Yuanzhou is a border area, it is indeed a prosperous place. During the two years that Li Ye took office, he inevitably took advantage of his position to write foreign articles. After all, he supports so many people in his house, and the daily expenses are not small. The female family members in the back house wear gold and silver, and there are many rewards in the house. Just relying on his title, salary, and official salary, even if doubled, is not enough to support it. .
I have no long-term plans in Yuanzhou, so I don't like ordinary people to enclose land for farming, and the money comes slowly. With Li Ye's shrewdness, after investigating the situation in Yuanzhou and getting to know the surrounding Dangxiang, Uighurs, Tuguhun and other miscreants, he ordered his confidants to secretly start a merchant business.
Moreover, he did not engage in ordinary silk, porcelain, or grain business. Instead, he did whatever the court banned and made huge profits. In addition to ironware, salt, iron, and tea are all involved.
For about more than a year, through these huge transactions of goods, I exchanged a large amount of gold, silver, cattle and horses from the Hulu, and made a lot of money.
"He was caught at the Kaiyuan Checkpoint, did you know!" Li Ye suddenly became furious and stared at the manager: "Idiot! Do you need to transport twenty stones at a time? Don't you think the target is not big enough? Isn't this being investigated? Do you think you can have nothing to worry about anymore? What if you don’t lose control within Yuanzhou and leave Yuanzhou?”
"Don't you know how much effort I have to put in to smooth out my account with just twenty rock salts? You idiot!"
Hearing the scolding, the steward suddenly showed fear, his legs weakened, and he knelt down: "It was a little careless. Please calm down, Lord! I will send someone to deal with it now!"
"Disposal? How to deal with it? Use the official documents of my governor's office to rescue him?" Li Ye glanced at him and said sarcastically.
"How dare you! The private salt trade has nothing to do with the governor's office, let alone the prince." The manager shook his head and replied, then a ruthless look flashed across his face and said, "I sent someone to deal with those smuggling criminals." !”
Hearing what he said, Li Ye frowned even deeper, and said a little disappointedly: "You have been following me for a few years, and you are usually very cautious. Why do you make so many stupid suggestions when things are urgent?"
Without waiting for him to speak, Li Ye said directly: "We have been released from Laijing. Since it is smuggling, I will judge the punishment according to the national law! The key is, how can ordinary smuggling criminals gather such a large amount of salt? The source of this batch of salt , if you can’t figure it out and just justify it, it’s an obvious flaw, waiting for people to doubt it!”
"What should we do according to the wishes of the Duke?" The manager finally became smarter and stopped making bad ideas casually. He asked Li Ye directly for instructions.
Li Ye obviously had some calculations. There was a hint of sinisterness in his eyes, but his tone was calm and he said: "I have always suspected that someone is guarding and stealing. The officials of Yanlin can investigate and collect evidence. This time, I want to borrow Use the machine to dig out the moths in Yuanzhou and severely crack down on the smuggling lawbreakers!"
Li Ye's righteous words made the manager stunned for a moment. If he didn't know the truth, he would definitely be deceived by this appearance. After thinking about it for a while, he understood that Li Ye was planning to find a scapegoat to make up for his mistakes. He immediately raised his hands and said: "I understand, little one, let's do it immediately!"
"In order to avoid leaking the information, just investigate in secret!" Li Ye did not forget to warn.
"yes!"
"In addition!" Li Ye raised his finger, hesitated for a moment, and ordered: "From today on, all the smuggling transactions in hand can be thrown away. Throw them away completely, and there must be no more involvement!"
Upon hearing this, the manager couldn't help but be stunned. He looked at Li Ye with a puzzled face and said, "Why is this? That is a good way to make money! How can we ensure that the government can make money by throwing away everything?"
"Isn't it that the profits I have made over the past year cannot meet the expenses of the government?" Li Ye said, "There is nothing to be reluctant to part with!"
"But -" The manager's face was full of regret, but he still wanted to persuade.
Li Ye interrupted him rudely: "Do you think I really care about this money?"
"I'm willing to give up, can you not?" Li Ye's questioning voice was ups and downs.
Facing Li Ye's cold gaze, the manager trembled and quickly responded: "Yes! I'll go ahead and do it if you obey!"
After he left, Li Ye's expression slowly returned to calmness. He sat behind the desk, thinking calmly and seriously about how to end it. In the final analysis, he engaged in smuggling just to ensure the government's expenses and satisfy his wealthy life.
Sensing the danger and discovering something went wrong underneath, he made the right choice without hesitation and washed his hands of the situation. However, to stop it safely, you still need to spend some brain cells.
Thinking of the reaction of the manager of the mansion just now, Li Ye couldn't help but show a sarcastic smile and murmured: "Don't you think you can hide it from me?"
After thinking for a while, he pinched his short beard, raised his head and called out: "Here comes someone!"
"Young man is here!" A servant was waiting for orders in front of the door.
"Go and find me Coach Sun!" Li Ye ordered.
Instructor Sun was born in the Forbidden Army. During the process of reorganizing the army, he was retired due to old age. In the end, he was only in his early forties. He was still brave but not very smart. He was raised by Li Ye in the mansion. Although he did the work of guarding the courtyard and practicing martial arts as a training partner, he still felt prestigious. At least he was more relaxed than in the army. On weekdays, he also helps Li Ye with some private activities.
