Realm of Power

On the curve in the heavy rain, the rain splashed the mud

Li Long was riding on the horse, his eyes glancing at the orders issued by the emperor in his hands. His face was gloomy and frightening. After more than ten seconds, he raised his head and looked at the arrogant Yu Fenlong in front of him, with a somewhat cold look on his lips. He smiled and said, "If it were anyone else, I'm afraid they would have hid as far away as possible for fear of coming close to the Li family. Mr. Fenglong even made a trip in person. Anyway, my Li family still thanks Fenglong." This friendship from adults”

"Master Li Long is so polite. He respectfully welcomes His Majesty's return to the south. The Li family is the first to do so. Your Majesty has not returned to the south yet. It's really unreasonable to treat the Li family like this. .......Hey. Let’s not talk about it. His Majesty gave this order, and he naturally had your Majesty’s thoughts. I hope Mr. Li Long can take care of himself!” Yu Fenglong shook his head and sighed, deliberately pretending to be compassionate, “Since it is your Majesty who wants me to stay. If you are in charge of affairs in the north of the river, then your Majesty will have to rely on Mr. Fenglong to take care of you this time when he returns to the south." Li Long grinned, with a frustrated look on his face, which completely caught the attention of Yu Fenglong across from him. inside,

"Don't worry, Lord Li Long. I will do my best when Your Majesty returns south. After His Majesty returns south, His Majesty's anger towards the Li family will subside. I will look for more opportunities to speak kindly to the Li family. I believe that Lord Li Long will return to the south of the river." It won't be long." Yu Fenlong's eyes flashed and he cupped his hands. Some people thought that this person had a lot of affection for the Li family.

"Thank you, Mr. Fenglong"

Li Long raised his hand to Yu Fenlong who turned to leave with excitement on his face. When Yu Fenglong's back disappeared at the corner of the road in the distance, the excitement on Li Long's face immediately disappeared and turned into a mocking look. Are you kidding? Do you really think that I, Li Long, know nothing? If anyone in the entire court least wishes to see the Li family rise again, it is Master Yu Fenglong and the Long family in front of them. The Long family does not want to see the Li family gain power again because they do not want the military ministers to overwhelm the civil servants. The situation was overthrown because of the rise of the Li clan, and this Lord Yu Fenglong wanted to seize the monstrous attack of welcoming the emperor back south from the Li family, and he would not hesitate to do so. He tried his best to slander the Li family, and now he came here with the emperor's order with a hypocritical face. How could Li Long not know his thoughts? He just wanted to personally confirm that he had given up on returning south with the emperor. "Sir, we What should we do now? The emperor has deprived you of your status as special envoy and asked you to take full responsibility for the north of the river. Doesn’t this mean that you are not allowed to go back to the south? "

A Li clan guard asked cautiously from the side. The situation changed too quickly. The guards could not understand how the emperor who looked like he was dependent on life and death just a few days ago could become another person in the blink of an eye. This time, Li Longzhong was deprived of his power. Although he was a special envoy, he wanted Li Long to stay in the north of the river. This is why Yu Fenglong came here in person.

"Haha, at this point, these people are still so short-sighted. In this situation, they are still thinking about fighting for power and profit, completely ignoring the life and death of millions of refugees stranded in the river." Li Long seemed to be thinking of something, noncommittal He said coldly, turned his horse's head and glanced at the large river behind him.

Under the rain, the width of the river has expanded even more. It was originally only more than a hundred meters wide, but now it is nearly two hundred meters wide. The pontoon bridge originally built on it has now completely collapsed, and the entire river is full of people crying and screaming. They cried loudly when they saw the washed-out pontoon floating in the river. There were also people who relied on their good water properties and tried to cross over, but most of them were caught in the middle of the rapids. The heavy rain has blocked the transportation of the big river. As a result, there are still a large number of Central Asians stranded in the north of the river, and these remaining people are either the most miserable among the refugees. In the Yelu family During the reign, they were the lowest-status slaves, or they were the so-called traitors who had helped the Yelu family suppress the Zhongbia people, but now were afraid of settling accounts in the future and were reluctant to cross the river. This time the Yelu family purged the Central Bians, but regardless of their status, they all drove them out. The same Central Bians who took refuge with the grassland people when the grassland people moved south did not escape the fate of being driven out.

"Li Jiakang, how many people have passed since the Yelu family was evicted until today?"

Li Long withdrew his gaze from the direction of the river, and asked the guard captain behind him in a solemn voice. As for the situation in the river, the guard captain named Li Jiakang was in charge of surveillance, with a total of one hundred and fifty people. Li family guards, according to each They monitor the situation of the refugees in the south at a distance of one person, and in the south of the Dahe Road, the Li family's spies have long been monitoring the situation of the entire Dahe Road." A group of fifty people under his subordinates have been on the Dahe Road all the time. Staring in the direction, from the time when the Yelu family drove Nangui to the present day "It's exactly ten days. It is conservatively estimated that the number of refugees who have crossed the river is between seven and eight million." The guard captain paused carefully and continued. "According to the family's arrival in the south of the river a day ago, Reports sent from observation points, people The number is roughly the same, but due to lack of food, these refugees who crossed the river have not been resettled. The area near the river is now overcrowded. If it were not for the 300,000 Central and Libyan troops pressing on the river, I am afraid it would have been impossible. Cleaned up"

"Three hundred thousand troops and seven to eight million refugees. Even if the Central and Asian courts take out all the food, they may only be able to hold on for a month. Now that the army is suppressing it, the situation can still be controlled. Once the food is exhausted, , the army will not only be withdrawn, but also when unrest breaks out." Li Long took a deep breath. , with a cold smile on his lips, he let out his resentment for the unfair treatment he suffered. Those who wanted to see the Li family's joke might not even have time to cry. The whole court thought that the Li family would use this time to welcome the Emperor Nan. The opportunity to return came up, but it was completely wrong, and it was so wrong.

The opportunity for the Li family to revive was not at all the emperor's return to the south, and the great turmoil among the millions of refugees after they ran out of food was when the court was completely devastated and had to buy food from the empire. As a Zhongbi, Li Long The person in charge of the North of Asia and the Great River, this position that seems like a joke, will be in charge of the entire Central China. The key figure in Biya's life and death. By the time the Zhongbia court woke up, the situation was already beyond their control. The empire had Li Yuehua, and Zhongbia had Li Long. They were both members of the Li family. Even if Zhongbia wanted to By temporarily replacing people, Li Yuehua can also use this to refuse to sell grain to Zhongbia. When the time comes, the Li clan will rise again and it will be unstoppable!

"The empire promised to sell us grain, but it would sell it to us at five times the current price of grain. If the money is not enough, let us use the tax rights of the six coastal ports to mortgage it. In the main hall of the Zhongbia court, the emperor He has not yet returned south, but the documents regarding the purchase of grain sent back from the empire have already caused an uproar in the entire court.

Prime Minister Long Po's face was ashen, and he slammed the imperial document on the table. Now is the time when the economy is in decline. The price of food is already astonishing, but as the news of tens of millions of Central Asians returning south spreads, the food supply in various places has The price has almost skyrocketed. So far, it has more than doubled the initial price. , and now, the empire wants to increase the current price five times. Even Long Po, who does not understand internal affairs, feels that this is a condition that is simply impossible to accept. Even if Zhongbia court treasury is emptied, I'm afraid I won't be able to raise half of it, but if I don't buy food from the empire, who else can sell so much food to China and Bibia at this time?

The other ministers looked at each other one by one. Under Long Pohong's fearful gaze, the minister in charge of internal affairs had to bite the bullet and said, "The empire is not selling food. It is simply taking advantage of the situation. The price of food is five times that of The weight of the grain purchased is an astronomical figure, which is more than 50 million imperial gold coins."

"Fifty million imperial gold coins..."

There was also a look of horror on Long Po's face. Because the Imperial Gold Coin was easy to use and had a huge circulation range, whether it was Zhongbia, Oparo, or even the grassland people in the north, they all recognized the Circulation of the Imperial Gold Coin, so Imperial gold coins are now a recognized currency. As the head of the Long family in the Southwest, Long Po knows that the entire annual income in the Southwest is less than 10 million. If you compare it with this, you will know that this food sale The price that needs to be paid is so huge,

"How much is there in the treasury now?" Long Po walked back and forth a few times, stopped and asked

Another minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stood up with a miserable expression and said, "Fifty million imperial gold coins are absolutely impossible. Even when China and Bibia were in their heyday, that was the total income of a good year. But now, not only have we lost In addition to the most prosperous Imperial Capital, the entire central and northern parts, and even one-third of the south, were attacked when the Yelv family crossed the river to attack Linhang last time. It has become a ruin, and more than a million refugees have just been resettled in the past two months. In order to resettle these refugees, the national treasury has spent more than 10 million, and this year's taxes have not been collected yet. Where can we find these 5,000? Ten thousand imperial gold coins, if you can come up with two to three million, it will be considered as high as the sky, and this is only possible after collecting taxes from six coastal port cities in advance."

"It's not that the tax revenue of the six coastal port cities is generally around five million, so why is it only two or three million this year?" After hearing the words of the ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Long Po's eyes flashed, and his tone was cold and the people in the main hall were stunned. The air is a bit colder

"This..." The Minister of the Interior also felt that he had let something slip, and his face turned extremely pale. The six port cities refer to the six large ports in the southern coastal areas of Central and South-Bia. The Central-Bian Empire is not good at it. Maritime trade, so these six port cities are not valued, but However, with the substantial shrinkage of the Central Asian region, the imperial capital was destroyed twice, and the fiscal revenue has dropped sharply. Now it is less than one-third of the original. The tax revenue of six port cities was revealed at once, which is enough. It accounts for more than one-fifth of China’s current tax revenue from court.

Originally, Long Po thought that despite the fluctuations this year, the revenue from the six ports should be four to five million. Unexpectedly, when he heard the words of the ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart. Tens of millions of refugees needed to be resettled. Although the tax revenue from the six port cities is not enough for food, it can at least ease the situation for a while. It is like a life-saving straw, but unexpectedly, it has shrunk by nearly half. The six ports that originally had five million in tax revenue now only have two to three million. You don’t need to think about Long Po to know that there are many opponents among them. How long has it been since they carried out interception and carve-up, and these people are still so unscrupulous to this extent!

The veins on Long Po's forehead bulged, and everyone in the entire hall was silent. They could all feel how murderous the No. 1 general in China and Bibia was, and the minister was even more unbearable. Trembling, he said with a cry in his voice, "Master Prime Minister, this matter really has nothing to do with my cabinet. Last year, the tax revenue of Liucheng Port was indeed more than 5 million, but it was collected by the Song people for half a year at the beginning of this year. So, All that's left is two to three million."

"Get up." Long Po gritted his teeth and waved his hand vigorously. I knew that the Song Clan had taken away some materials and property when they evacuated the court, but I didn't expect that the Song Clan would also take away the tax revenue from Liucheng Port. I still felt soft. Some of them should have intercepted everything the Song clan wanted to take away.

"Master Prime Minister, in fact, if we want to buy food, the empire is not the only way." A minister hesitated for a moment, then stood up and said, "It is said that I know that there are big businessmen from the Kingdom of Aden in the six port cities, and they are as rich as the enemy. We can definitely buy food from them!”

"Buying food from the people of Aden?" Long Po looked hesitant. He didn't know anything about foreign trade.

"This is absolutely impossible!" A middle-aged minister stood up and denied decisively, "I have served as a political officer at Liucheng Port for six years. I know that the goods of the big merchants in Aden all come from Aden and are transported by sea ships. , not to mention the high cost, the quantity that can be transported is even more limited. Such a quantity of grain transactions, if it is transported by horse-drawn carriage I'm afraid it will take three to four thousand vehicles, and I'm afraid it will take more than hundreds of ships to transport large ships. If you want those big merchants in Aden to give up carrying expensive goods and use hundreds of large ships to transport grain and sell it to us, the price will probably be ten times higher. It’s hard to say, but there is a way you can try. If it succeeds, it might be able to temporarily make up for the tax collection shortage of Six Cities Port.”

"What can be done?" Long Po asked in a serious voice when he heard that he could make up for the tax losses.

"Last year, the Aden navy attacked our coastal city. In this case, we can use this as an excuse to rob the wealth of these big businessmen in Aden. I don't dare to say how much, but it is definitely necessary to fill in the half-empty tax revenue. of"

"Isn't this tantamount to going to war with the Aden people?"

Long Po grinned and felt a little moved in his heart, but he had heard of the country Aden in the southwest. It was the overlord of the southern seas and owned countless large ships. It had crossed the sea many times to harass the coastal areas of Central and South Africa. For the navy of the Kingdom of Aden, , Long Po had to consider

At this moment, a court guard hurried in and said breathlessly, "Report, there was a riot in the Dahedao area. Just this morning, hundreds of thousands of refugees from the south gathered in the area on the pretext of needing to eat. Outside the Huangcheng Mansion where military supplies were being stored, the head of the Huangcheng Mansion ordered the garrison to drive away the refugees. As a result, a conflict broke out. More than a thousand garrison troops were attacked and beaten to death by the refugees. The chief officer, Ting Yan, was hanged on the flagpole. The grain stores in Huangcheng Prefecture were divided up. Later, Kucheng County, which is adjacent to Huangcheng Prefecture, was also attacked by the refugees, and the residents in the county were robbed by the refugees. The looting caused numerous casualties among the residents. Urgent reports also came from the Taizhou military camp that the refugees were gathering towards the Taizhou military camp, and the number may be one million..."

(To be continued...)