Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

"The head of the house, there is no salt in the house, how can I live this life!" A peasant woman wiped her red cheeks from the sun, and complained to her husband dejectedly.

"Has the price of salt increased again?"

"Yeah, it's increased by another [-]%. This summer, the price of salt will skyrocket. How will ordinary people live?"

The man sighed, but he was at a loss. Salt must be bought, but the salt sold by the government was expensive and poor, and even a catty of salt would not last long without frugality.

"Tomorrow I'll go up the mountain to hunt wild animals." The blood of wild animals can replenish salt. Many people who can't afford salt will use animal blood instead. People still dare not drink animal blood for a long time.

The couple worked in the fields for a whole day and came home exhausted after dark. With such labor intensity, they were sweating all the time. Even if the water was poured all the time, it could not replenish the missing salt in the body. People are dizzy.

As soon as he entered the village, the man was called away by the village head, with an anxious expression as if something terrible had happened.

"Village Chief, please slow down! What's the matter?"

"Hush, don't make a sound yet, let's talk at my house." The village chief picked up several villagers who came back from work all the way, and brought them home, then closed the door, even locked it, and led them into the inner hall before saying: " Don't panic, it's not a bad thing, it's a great thing. Your family is short of salt!"

Everyone didn't know what he meant, and they all complained that the government had raised the price of salt again. Those who bought the salt gritted their teeth and came back and didn't dare to say anything, for fear of being borrowed. I also don't want to be taken advantage of.

"Don't make noise!" The village chief yelled in a low voice, "Listen to me, I went to the town today and met Mr. Lu, and he introduced someone to me. That person has cheap and good salt in his hand. I think Seeing that everyone’s family must not be able to afford official salt, I came back to ask you if you intend to buy private salt?”

Everyone was too frightened to speak, private salt, it is forbidden to buy and sell, if the government finds out, they will be beheaded.

"Village...Village chief, don't fool everyone, if you are caught, the entire village will be wiped out."

"Yes, yes, and it's hard to say whether the private salt dealer is reliable. What if he cheated our money and ran away?"

The village chief spat at him, "Nonsense, the purchase and sale are paid for and delivered, and the other party also said that everyone will look at the goods first, and then buy when they are satisfied. The important thing is that his price is [-]% cheaper than the official salt." , a full thirty percent."

Everyone was shocked again, [-]% was a huge deal, if it was at this price, they would have to buy some even after gnashing their teeth.

"And the staff member Lu said that the salt in the man's hand is very good. It is neither bitter nor astringent. It is as white as snow. It is especially good for making meals. A little bit is better than a spoonful before. If this is the case, it is cheap. It’s not just [-] percent.”

Everyone didn't believe it, "This is impossible. If there is such a high-quality salt, how could it be so cheap and sold to us poor people."

Everyone expressed their disbelief, but the village chief said: "Let's say that you are not tempted. If you are, pick two people to follow me to the town tomorrow to have a look. The salt cannot be faked. You will know the taste after a taste." , it won’t be too late to decide whether to buy or not.”

This is reasonable, anyway, it won't hurt you to go and see it, if there is such a good thing, you will suffer a big loss if you miss it.

"Village chief, where did that man come from, and where did he get this high-quality salt?" The villagers asked curiously.

"You guys are stupid. Selling private salt is a capital offense. Who will reveal the real name and origin, let alone where the salt came from. First, if you want to buy it, no one can disclose it at that time. Even my wife and children can't say anything, if anyone leaks, everyone will die together."

Everyone also knew the seriousness of the matter, and they promised that they would not spread it to the outside world, and life was almost over. Who cares about private salt or official salt, they will definitely not say it.

On the second day, the village chief went to the town with two village representatives. In the other courtyard outside Yuan Lu, he saw three young salesmen and the salt that was said to be as white as snow. All the people from Hachimura came.

After personally inspecting the goods, they were all shocked and delighted, and they divided up the hundreds of catties of salt brought by the salesman on the spot.

When these people left, one of the young shopkeepers said to Lu Yuanwai: "You should think about it carefully. If you dare to do it, my three brothers will definitely send you salt every month. If you don't dare, the business will be forgotten, brother." We also thank you for your help."

This Lu Yuanwai is the county magistrate's uncle. He raised the county magistrate. The county magistrate obeys him. Naturally, he has courage and is not afraid of being found out by the government. However, private salt is not an ordinary commodity after all, and no one dares to contaminate it easily. this.

"You have also seen the quality of this salt. It is a business that can make a profit without losing money. It is rare that you have a relationship. If you don't do this business, it will be a loss."

Officer Lu gritted his teeth and asked, "Can you really guarantee that the goods will be delivered every month?"

"Naturally, we are in business, and it takes almost a month to go back and forth from here to our hometown."

Lu Yuanwai wondered where their hometown was, but he had never traveled far himself, so he couldn't guess it.

"Double the quantity, one thousand catties a month is too little." If you want to do it, make it big. Member Lu knows that with this purchase price, he can sell the private salt to other counties, and the business is sure to make a profit.

"No, no, that's all we can get, nothing more." The two parties bargained again, and finally signed a contract, setting the cooperation for the next year.

The three brothers left contentedly, waited out of the town, deliberately circled around a few times, and got rid of the followers before rushing to their destination.

They are now in Shu County, and they came with a coal mine ship, and brought a whole boatload of fine salt. The salt was not brought into Shu County, but a transit warehouse was built in the barren hills at the junction of the two counties. , Their so-called monthly trip refers to transporting salt to this transit warehouse.

After Wang Yonglian's family was raided, the business of the Nanyue River Transport was divided up by several other big families like a plate of fat. Shun Wang's famous post, all the way unimpeded.

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On this day, Lei Zhan walked into Li Xu's study fearfully holding the latest account book, and said with a smile on his old face, "My lord, look, a shipment of salt was shipped over, and it was sold out in just half a month. Merchants have sent letters asking for more salt."

Li Xu took the account book, flipped through it casually, and handed it back to Lei Zhan, "The detonator is indeed an experienced person. It is really right to entrust you with the job of selling private salt."

Lei Zhan's whole body trembled, and his knees limp on the ground, "My lord...my lord, this subordinate deserves death, please spare this subordinate."

That day, he came here in the afternoon according to the request of the prince. He thought that the prince wanted to discuss the factory with him, but he didn't expect the prince to ask him if he had sold illegal salt. Of course he didn't admit it, but the prince looked at him When he came here, he knew that it was useless to admit it or not. If the prince wanted to punish him for this crime, he would not be able to escape.

In the end, the prince didn't pursue it, but let him be in charge of selling salt. In the past month, he was terrified, and he didn't dare to step into this study until today.

"Get up, let's forget about the previous things, you just need to make up the part of the salt money for Tanmo, if not, it will be deducted from your future monthly salary, when the deduction is over, when will you get the monthly money."

Lei Zhan's mood was ups and downs. He had never seen such a kind and tolerant lord. He wished to do things for him with all his heart and soul. Unfortunately, he was an old man, and he might not be able to do much for the lord.

"Don't worry, my lord, I will do my best to repay all the debts."

It's not that Li Xu is so tolerant that he can bear any crime, but he knows that Lei Zhan brothers' greedy money is not used for extravagance, and the Lei family subsidizes military and political expenses. It's just to intimidate the old man and let him do things with his heart.

"There are boats in Shu County, so it is convenient to transport salt, but what we are selling is private salt, so we can't be too ostentatious, let alone occupy the market for official salt. The amount of one boat per month is just right."

Lei Zhan also understands that if there is a flood of private salt, the government will definitely re-investigate it, which is not good for them, and relatively speaking, it is huge profits to transport salt outside the pass, and earning money from the barbarians is what the Lei family and the prince love to do most matter.

The prince is always sympathetic to the sufferings of the people, even if he sells private salt, he sets the price extremely low. If it weren't for the convenience of the boats to and from Shu County, they would not be able to earn much from transporting salt so far away.

"My lord, look, if the high-quality salt is shipped outside the pass, will the price be doubled?"

Li Xu laughed, "It's not just doubled, tripled, and the sales volume is controlled, so that everyone can buy it. Our South Vietnamese things must be rare goods when they arrive in the Northland."

The two looked at each other and both laughed. There was a knock on the door, followed by Liu Shu's voice, "My lord, the steward of the garment workshop brought a young man named Gan Shun here. Can you please?" Want to see?"

"Please come in." Li Xu pointed out a place on the map as the next market to sell private salt, Lei Zhan agreed and left with excitement.

Liu Shu led two people in, one tall and one short, one fat and one thin, forming a stark contrast in body shape.

Gan Shun has been guessing the identity of the young master. Even if he entered the garment factory and learned that it was the property of King Shun, he never thought about King Shun. Until now, he knelt in front of King Shun and kowtowed Three ringing heads, raised their eyelids a little and took a sneak peek at Queen Shun, only then did they know who their noble person was.

"Let's get back together, give me a seat." Li Xu didn't take care of this young man very much during this time. On that day, he gave a suggestion to the supervisor of the garment factory, asking him to discuss cooperation with the Gan family. Later, the other party reported that the Gan family The young master wanted to talk to the prince face to face.

Such a small partner is far from qualified for Li Xu to come forward, but because the two of them met once, Li Xu still agreed.

After Ganshun sat down, he still couldn't regain his composure. After thinking for a while, he stood up again and cupped his hands and said, "Gan Shun is very grateful for the support of the prince. I hope you will forgive me for being negligent that day."

"I'm serious. I'm going on tour in my clothes. It's fate to get to know Young Master Gan. How can I be so negligent? Please sit down. I heard that you want to talk to me in person. I don't know what you want to talk about?"

Ganshun took a deep breath, let himself be fascinated, and then said: "Gan Shun came to Minzhou for the purpose of learning, in order to improve his printing and dyeing skills, so that he can dye better cloth, so that The business of the Gan family will not plummet, but knowing that you are looking for a partner, Gan Shun is full of joy, but also has some concerns, so he asked to see the prince."

"What concerns?"

"My lord said that merchants who cooperate with the garment factory must sign a confidentiality agreement. This Ganshun is meaningless, but if other partners leak the secret recipe, and I have to wait to pay for it together, is this a bit too overbearing? I am willing Although the family came from a small place and operated with a small capital, they have always been honest people, but Ganshun doesn't know the character of other businesses, and Ganshun is not willing to be responsible for the character of others."

Li Xu didn't expect him to have the courage to question him face to face.

I have to say that what he said is very reasonable, no one is willing to pay for the mistakes of strangers, it is normal for Ganshun to refute.

"When a garment factory is looking for a partner, it is not looking for one or two, maybe it will be ten or eight. This king is not sharp-eyed and cannot read people's hearts. If one day the secret recipe is leaked, this king will have to spend time to investigate who it is. It was leaked, the king is busy and doesn't want to do such a thing, does Young Master Gan have a good plan?"

Gan Shun was a little angry, he thought that King Shun should be a sensible person, how could he do such a foolish thing without knowing right and wrong, and deal with it in a unified way, what is the difference between this and a treacherous minister?

He retorted excitedly: "My lord's words are a little unreasonable. If there is a murder in a certain place, don't the government need to find out who is the criminal, and execute all the suspects together? Since the palace wants to seek a partner, it must be If you want to bear this responsibility, or you can punish the crimes in charge, it’s because they don’t know people clearly, so what should they do with other people?”

"Presumptuous!" Liu Shu scolded, and taught a lesson: "What kind of status are you, dare to talk to the prince like this, don't say that the prince just asks you to pay compensation, even if you really want your life, you have to bear it obediently."

The imperial power is paramount, it's bullshit to say that a prince breaks the law and the common people commit the same crime, Li Xu is the king of South Vietnam, he controls the life and death of the people in this side, he doesn't need to reason with others at all.

Gan Shun knelt on the ground, straightened his back and looked at Li Xu, "My lord, please forgive the villain for making things difficult for me. I don't want to cooperate with the garment factory of the palace."

Is Li Xu a reasonable person?That depends on who you are dealing with, and he is still willing to reason with a brave and straightforward young man.

"Okay, Young Master Gan please ask, this king will discuss this matter with the steward again, and I will give you a reply in three days."

Gan Shun thought he would be dragged out and beheaded, but when he saw Li Xu speaking in a good voice, the breath that was constricted in his chest was gone, his face was reddish and he lowered his head, "Then Gan Shun will go back and wait for the news. "

He stood up, hesitated on the spot for a while, finally he blushed and saluted Li Xu and left. Walking out of this simple "Prince's Mansion", Gan Shun felt a little regretful, he was too irritable just now, how could he be rude to noble people!He obviously wanted to find the other party to repay his kindness.

Liu Shu sent them out, and said to Gan Shun indifferently: "Gan Shaodong's family, you go well, don't send them off."

Gan Shun turned around, took out a purse from his sleeve pocket and handed it to Liu Shu. He knew that these personal servants were sometimes the most difficult to deal with.

"My father-in-law, I have brought some gifts for the lord, please pass them on." Gan Shun prepared a gift, originally for the nobleman who wanted to find him, but now the nobleman is King Shun, so naturally there is nothing to worry about .

Liu Shu put his hands in his pockets, did not accept his purse, and raised his chin to look at him, "Yo, forget about your gift, the prince can't afford it, take it back."

Gan Shun withdrew his hand in embarrassment, the steward beside him was not familiar with Liu Shu, so he didn't dare to force himself, so he lightly tugged on Gan Shun's sleeve, and took him away.

When they were far away, the steward comforted Gan Shun in a low voice: "Young Master Gan, don't be angry, the prince is very tolerant, and will not blame you for it. Eunuch Liu is the prince's confidant, with an arrogant heart, and we have to respect him on weekdays." his."