"Uncle, the matter has been found out. It is the Zhao family who ran the salt price in Dingtao, Diqiu and other places in the Central Plains!"

Wei Manduo looked gloomy, listening to Linghu Bo, who had just returned from the East, reporting to him.

"Sure enough." He patted the table heavily with his hand, and asked again, "Where did the Zhao family get the salt, Taiyuan big brine? The salt produced there is worse than Anyi Salt Pond in terms of quality and quantity. Shipping to the Central Plains has long been more expensive than Anyi salt, how to run it?"

"It's not big brine salt, but a new type of salt, from Langya, Ju country in the East China Sea."

"You mean that the Zhao family boiled a lot of sea salt from Baili Beach in Langya District, and then sold it at a price below the cost, so that the Wei family could not compete with it?"

"I'm afraid it's not Zhao's loss, but the price of these salts is very low."

Linghu Bo leaned into Weimando's ear and said, "I have been in contact with the Chen family of the Qi country, and they said that this Langya salt, which has recently appeared in the market, has also caused great difficulties for the Qi country's sea salt. The salt workers who have seen it, this salt was never boiled with the existing technology."

"I'm afraid that Zhao's son has come up with new tricks, just like the flour and paper he made before." Wei Manduo sighed, now Wei's, and even the world can see imitations of Zhao's, from From the city's health planning, to the military's arms and training, Zhao's influence is everywhere.

But what discourages him is that no matter how he imitates, he will not be able to catch up with Zhao's footsteps, because in the territory under Zhao Wuxi's rule, there will always be new things that will suddenly appear, and let you know when you don't expect it. The world is eye-opening.

This time, Zhao's salt workers probably came up with a new method to obtain a large amount of high-quality and inexpensive salt from seawater. The Chen Clan of the Qi State both hated and coveted it, and kept sending people to test it, hoping to know this method, so that it could be replicated by the Qi State’s thousands of miles of seashore. However, the Wei family has no coastline, and it is useless to be greedy. The current problem is that the Anyi pond salt has been run on by Langya salt, and it cannot be sold in Taoqiu and Diqiu at all, which has caused economic difficulties for the Wei family.

"Uncle, how should this be done?"

Just as the state of Qi relied on the taxation of Haiyan to maintain the survival of the state, the sales of Anyi salt also accounted for a large proportion of Wei's financial income. He got up, so Linghu Bo was very anxious.

Weimando sneered and said: "At the time of the Houma Alliance, Zhao Wuxi claimed that he would not intervene in Hedong, but in fact, he coveted this place all the time. Because Hedong is connected to Shangdang in the east, Hexi in the west, Zhou and Zheng in Nantong, and Zheng in the north. Jinyang, just as Zai Kong once said, the Jin state was sealed, Jing and Huo were considered the city, and Fen, He, Su, and Hui were considered the Yuan. It can be said that there are rivers and mountains inside and outside. As far as we can imagine, if he wants to get Quanjin, he can't give up Hedong!"

Having said that, he suddenly paused and pressed his hands slightly to his abdomen.

"Uncle, but your health is ill?" Linghu Bo was even more nervous. At such a critical juncture, if one of Wei's two pillars fell, the consequences would be disastrous.

"It's okay, it's just that when you're older, your stomach often feels uncomfortable."

He continued: "I was confused by him in the early years, thinking that he was interested in three points of Jin, but now it seems that it is all a pretense, a mist released before the annexation of us. Now the situation around the Zhao family is very good, and the country has Destroyed, Shangdi surrendered, Hejian also recaptured, no one can threaten his back, and after consolidating the East, Zhao Wuxi is afraid that he can't wait to attack us and unite Jin."

Seeing the book, Weimanduo, the old fox, has already noticed Zhao's actions from the run on the salt price.

As a monarch, one must be as cunning as a fox in order to recognize traps, and at the same time be a tiger in order to frighten the jackal.

But Zhao Wuxi was not an ordinary jackal. He was a giant eagle who wanted to attack the world. With the Wei family alone, he was afraid that a rabid dog would bark at the sun, and he could not curb his ambition.

"Faced with Zhao's aggressiveness, I have to guard against it." Weimanduo made a decision.

"Go to the east again and tell Chen Qing of Qi State that I cannot join the anti-Zhao alliance he proposed for the time being. But I can stay in Jin State to provide him with information and convenience. In return, can Qi State help Wei? Shi and Qin Guo said that the various misunderstandings between the Qin and Wei families were all because of the Zhao clan's provocation, so why not put the Hexi dispute on hold first, so as not to let the Zhao clan gain the benefits of the fisherman."

...

Wei Manduo sent Linghu Bo to the gate of the mansion and watched him go away slowly. Every generation of the Wei family will produce some talents, which is an important reason why they have continued to this day. Especially in the next generation, Wei Ju, Lu Xing, and Linghu Bo can be called the three heroes. The son can run the government, Lu Xing can lead the army, and Linghu Bo is also the talent of Zaifu. The affairs of the East are left to him, Wei Mando. Very relieved.

He really hoped that the Wei family could go through this year smoothly and continue to prosper, and one day he would fully hand over the burden to the young people.

At this moment, Weimanduo listened to his hometown chief sighing: "The weather today is different, look at that sun..."

He also raised his head to look at the sun, but saw a halo around the sun, like a white long rainbow passing through the sun.

"This is a white rainbow shining through the sun. It is said that there are ominous things in the world, which will cause this kind of celestial change..."

"Bullshit."

Although Weimanduo looked pious in front of the people and used ghosts and gods to confuse people, in fact, he didn't believe in the eternal nature of heaven and the retribution of good and evil, so he sneered at the words of the old master. , said confidently: "If there is something ominous, it will also happen in Zhao's territory."

In the middle of winter, all the corn that should be harvested on the Wei family's territory has been harvested, and the wheat planted in summer has been eaten up by locusts. greater loss.

On the contrary, in Weimanduo's view, things are changing for the better. Isn't there a sentence, misfortune and fortune depend on fortune and misfortune lies in it, he thought it was a blessing when he got Hexi, but he was dragged into the quagmire of war. ; The continuous drought and locust plague thought it was a disaster, but it also prompted him to get on the line with Qi and Zheng.

This year, the Zhao clan successively turned Wei Guo and Sanzhu into their own puppets, which shocked the lords of the world. Zhao Wuxi dominated the world, and his intention to annex the Central Plains was undoubtedly revealed. Therefore, the Chen clan of the Qi state was planning a new rebellion with Qin and Chu. Zhao Tongmeng even wanted to bring the Wei family in.

Wei Manduo's request was very simple. If Qi could make Qin and Wei reach a peace treaty, then he would be happy to remain neutral when the princes attacked Zhao, and even give them convenience.

As long as Hexi is in the hands of the Wei family, it is naturally impossible to negotiate peace, but Wei Manduo only wants to ease the offensive of the Qin people, so that the Wei family can endure until next year's autumn harvest.

"Zhao's expansion this year has already made the princes panic, for fear that he will become the next Wei Guo, Sanzhu, and the countries are close at hand to attack Zhao, just waiting for Zhao to fall into the four fronts, I will join Han's neutrality, sit and watch Zhao Wuxi is too tired to deal with it, and it is still unknown who has the final say in Jin at that time!"

This is the omen of the white rainbow shining through the sun, the omen that the Zhao family will have a military disaster next year, he thought with schadenfreude.

...

That day, Wei Manduo once again entertained guests. These people are the protons of various clans and nobles in Hexi. In order to stabilize the place, Wei Manduo made a lot of effort to win over them.

Halfway through the feast, Weimanduo felt a little discomfort in his stomach. After he turned fifty, his stomach became worse. He ate too much delicacies from mountains and seas, and he was prone to indigestion. The number of times he went to the toilet became more frequent. .

"Help me to get dressed."

People have three worries. Fortunately, there is a toilet in the side hall. This is a new toilet that was just repaired this year. Weimanduo has not been there yet.

The guards were waiting outside, and Weimanduo entered alone, because the monarch must maintain his own sense of mystery in front of his subjects, and he could not let others know his details, especially not let them realize that the supreme monarch, like the ordinary people, must Shit!

Weiman had a bad stomach and had to squat for a long time every time, with his bottoms off and rolled up around his hips, but after finishing it, he found that there was no toilet paper beside him.

Since the invention of paper by the Zhao family, paper has replaced toilet chips and has become a must for nobles.

At the same time, he also found that there was another person in front of him, holding a sharp dagger in his left hand. He quietly lurked in the toilet like this, watching one person leave until his target finally appeared.

"The villain has seen Wei Qing." The prisoner's eyes were as terrifying as a leopard that found its prey after lurking for many days.

"You are... the person who painted the toilet in my family..." Weimando's face was not afraid, at least he didn't show any traces. Now even if he shouted for help, the people in front of him could harm him before the guards arrived. , From his eyes and the posture of holding the dagger, it can be seen that this is a seasoned assassin. Weimando's eyes glanced at the sword behind this man - Wei Qing's saber, which was released when he went to the toilet. There, it was only ten feet away from him.

"What do you want, gold and silver, women, or an official?"

"I just want to greet you for my lord."

"Who is your lord?" Weimando tried to influence the man with words, and at the same time tried to get up slowly and prepare for action.

"Wei Qing's memory is really good. He even remembers me, an inconspicuous little person, but unfortunately he forgot Wei's closest ally, Zhishi?"

At the end of the speech, without waiting for Weimando to cry out for help, he tried to jump over to take the sword, and the torturer's dagger pierced Weimando's lower abdomen.

Weimando groaned and fell to the ground. The dagger was inserted so deeply that it didn't reach the wooden handle~lightnovelpub.net~ The blood kept flowing along the blade, flowing over his naked lower body, dripping to the point where he was cleaned. On the clean ground, the prisoners swept the streets for three years and the toilets for two years, for today.

"You... how dare you!" Weimando couldn't believe it, his trembling eyes were full of horror, but at this moment his stomach was completely relaxed, and a stench suddenly filled the toilet.

The movement inside should have been heard outside, and the guards were pouring in while scolding.

"This time is for my master, Jun Zhiyao, and this time..."

The prisoner picked up a small hand crossbow, stretched the bowstring, set up an arrow, and aimed at Weimando's forehead.

"It's for my wife's family, and it's for the people of Hedong who have been driven to ruin by your generation's tyranny!"

He snapped his finger, and the feather arrow inserted into Weimando's brow. Before the spear stabbed behind him, the prisoner flew and kicked Wei Qing's body into the bottomless cesspool...

PS: There are two more chapters in the evening

(To be continued.)