Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

Li Xu stopped when he was [-]% full, and waited until Kou Xiao had finished the third bowl of rice before asking him, "How many more dishes do you want to serve?"

Kou Xiao drank a glass of fruit wine, shook his head and said, "No, I'm full."

Li Xu didn't even ask the other two, so he asked Xiao Er to clear away the plates on the table, then Liu Shu came in with water to rinse his mouth, and then took a damp cloth to wipe his hands, as if he was a nobleman, the others also rinsed their mouths after meals He wiped his hands, but couldn't show his dignified demeanor.

"The two Lord Leis were invited today because of the matter of Yantian. Last time Lei Juncheng failed to give me a clear answer. I wonder if I have done a good job of checking the information in the past few days?"

Lei Zhan glanced at Lei Ming, laughed and laughed: "After the lord asked, the officials immediately went to check the data, and I knew it in my heart. The salt fields in South Vietnam were only opened three years ago, relying on boiled salt from the north. The method, because the technology is not skilled, so it is true that only [-] mu of salt fields have been opened, but don't underestimate the [-] mu of salt fields, it is enough for the people of South Vietnam to eat for a year."

Li Xu nodded, noncommittal, looked at Lei Ming and said, "This king has a more convenient and faster method of making salt. I wonder if Mr. Lei is interested?"

Lei Ming stood up excitedly and asked, "But really?"

Kou Xiao patted the table, "Sit down and talk, you don't even have the concentration, what's the point?"

Lei Ming cursed in his heart, it was really rare for General Kou to say the word "decency", but after all he was much calmer, he just stared at Li Xu with fiery eyes.

"Of course it is true. Moreover, the coastline of South Vietnam is long, and there must be more than one place where salt can be produced. This king is planning to inspect it before choosing a place to open up salt fields."

This is a good thing, Lei Ming has no reason to stop it, but he always feels that it is not that simple, and Li Xu continued to say: "I called the two Lord Lei today to discuss the matter of the new Yantian."

"Please speak."

"This king is the king of Nanyue, and the whole of South Vietnam belongs to this king, isn't that true?" Li Xu looked at the three present and asked with a smile.

Kou Xiao picked up his glass and took a sip of the fruit wine, then nodded helplessly. The truth is true. He didn't admit it at first, but seeing that Li Xu did a good job and everything was in line with his wishes, he didn't reject him as a king.

Seeing Kou Xiao nodding his head, Lei Ming had no choice but to nod along, but he thought in his heart that General Kou's deception skills were getting better and better, so he didn't believe that General Kou was willing to give up his military power.

Li Xu doesn't care what they think, just admit it on the face, "That's good, since Nanyue belongs to my king, then I will have the final say on everything in Yantian, and all the income will be controlled by me, is it okay?"

To put it bluntly, Li Xu wants to control the salt road in South Vietnam, and no one else is allowed to get involved.

Before Lei Ming could react, Lei Zhan had already stood up "swish", and boldly said: "No, the matter of Yandao belongs to the county guard's mansion. The prince can intervene if he wants to, but the benefits cannot be completely owned by you. The salt tax is a big tax in South Vietnam, and the military pay and rations come from here.” He looked at Kou Xiao, and said with righteous indignation: “General, you always say that the army’s salary in the county guard’s mansion is not paid in time, and the army rations are not enough. I have exhausted all the strength of the county guard, and I dare not delay the Kou family's army's salary even after delaying other people's salaries."

Lei Ming added: "It's not that Lei Juncheng is exaggerating. The salt business is indeed the top priority of South Vietnam. The government has formulated a series of laws to restrain the salt merchants. If..." He quickly glanced at Li Xu and sighed: " If the prince wants to take it back, the military administration in South Vietnam may not be able to continue."

Li Xu drank the fruit wine calmly, and only after listening to him finish speaking: "This king gives you two choices. One, the original salt fields continue to be owned by the prefect's mansion. Since this salt field can support the entire South Vietnam, then this king will also Don't interfere, what happened in the past is what will happen in the future, the new salt field was developed by the king himself, and naturally it belongs to the palace, and the income is taxed as it should be paid, so there will be no leakage of money.

Two, hand over all the salt industry in South Vietnam to the royal family, and distribute the proceeds from this to the people as appropriate, and take it from the people and use it to the people. This king will do it without your urging. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages, think about it. "

Kou Xiao didn't express his opinion, he was thinking, did Li Xu make a fuss just for the huge profits of the salt industry?He always felt that it was not that simple.

Lei Zhan looked at Lei Ming anxiously, hoping that he would choose the first option, which would remain the same, and there would be a new salt tax, which was a surprise.

He didn't want to give up the original salt field. It was built by him with hard work, and he had accumulated a lot of hard work, and he had gained huge benefits from it. If it was cut off, his hard work would be in vain.

Every year, he secretly extracts thousands of catties of salt and sells it to Lingnan at a high price, and all the proceeds belong to himself. Lei Ming naturally knows about this, and he also gave him a lot of money, but he kept it secret from the outside world.

The two brothers looked at each other, and Lei Ming was about to speak, when Li Xu said calmly: "You can think about this matter for a day, and you can give me an answer tomorrow. In addition, there is another matter. The king will tell."

Lei Ming suppressed the uneasiness in his heart, "My lord, please tell me."

"I heard that the Lei family made their fortune by doing business. It just so happens that this king will develop the salt and tea ceremony and other products, which will require a lot of manpower. If the Lei family is willing, they can cooperate with this king and get paid from the profits."

Lei Ming thought for a while and said, "The lower official heard that Lei Yang, the younger brother of the clan, works by the prince's side. He has three sons and one grandson. The three sons are all adults, and they can help the prince."

The fact that Lei Yang and Li Xu got together to do business together cannot be hidden from others. Lei Ming was angry at first, annoyed that he was hiding it from himself, but later he figured it out and thought it was nothing wrong. It's like placing an insider next to the enemy, so why not do it.

And if Li Xu is a ruthless one, he will take care of the Lei family for Lei Yang's sake in the future.

Li Xu shook his head and said, "That's not enough. The king needs a lot of people. Tomorrow the king will post a notice to recruit people, but these recruits are ordinary people. The king needs managers with business experience. The more the better. "

Lei Ming put his hand under the table, twisted it lightly, and his brain started to work quickly. After a while, he said: "Does the lord want an experienced businessman to open up business for you?"

"It's better to be a stranger than to be familiar with it. The adults of this Wang Guanzhi's Lei family have average political ability. It's better to return to business, make use of their strengths and avoid weaknesses, and make a difference."

These words are not very pleasant, Lei Ming is still calm, but Lei Zhan's old face is so red that blood can drip, he lowers his head and dare not look at Li Xu, he has self-knowledge, as a county magistrate, he really struggles, but a high-ranking official has a good salary , and hold great power, who doesn't like it, only fools return to business.

Scholars, farmers, businessmen, and businessmen have a humble status, how can they compare with high-ranking officials.

Kou Xiao looked at the brothers of the Lei family and fell into deep thought. He was not good at political affairs, so he promoted the wealthy Lei Ming to the top position. The military camp was busy and busy, so he ignored the county guard's mansion. Now it seems that the Lei family has a lot of officials. Make a fuss.

He asked directly: "Nowadays, how many members of the Lei family have official positions?"

Lei Ming bent his back a little, and replied with trembling lips: "There are only seven people in the county guard's mansion, except for my two brothers, they are all petty officials."

Kou Xiao said "Oh", and asked again: "Apart from the county guard's mansion, how many other officials are there?"

Li Xu lowered his head and took a sip of his wine, covering the corners of his slightly raised lips. This Kou Xiao was really an assist, he asked all the questions he wanted to ask.

That day when he went to the county guard's mansion, he knew something was wrong when he saw the number of Lei's family. The Lei family was not a big family with a scholarly background, but a businessman. It must be lacking. Such a family occupies a high-ranking official position in the government, but isn't it a vegetarian meal?

Lei Ming got up and knelt down beside him, sadly saying: "Your lord sees it clearly, the general sees it clearly, my Lei family now has more than [-] children in official positions, but they are all good officials who are dedicated to the people, if the lord thinks There are too many people in the Lei family participating in politics, so I will resign as soon as I return home, and let all the children of the clan resign and return the government to you."

Lei Ming was very angry, this King Shun was really targeting the Lei family, he didn't dare to touch General Kou and turned the conflict to the Lei family, he didn't even think about it, without the Lei family's annual subsidy, would the Nanyue County Guard Mansion and Kou's army be able to operate? ?

He asked himself that he did his best to Nanyue, asked people to ask for money, how did it come to the mouth of the prince, that he wanted to dominate the government?

Hmph, he wanted to see how the county guard's salary would be distributed next month after leaving Lei's house.

With a smile on his face, Li Xu said gently: "Lord Lei, please get up quickly, it won't be like this. This king cherishes talents and wants to recruit some available talents from Lei's family. As for the government affairs, I haven't checked it yet, so I dare not say anything about it." You are not good officials."

Kou Xiao tapped on the table lightly, Dadi knew Li Xu's purpose, he not only wanted to drive the Lei family out of the political circle, but also wanted to recruit the Lei family to do business for him, it was really shameless.In this way, he can not only install his cronies in the government, but also have the outstanding Lei family children to open up business for him, and he gets both the fish and the bear's paw.

But how could the Lei family take advantage of it and give it up easily? Is it possible for Li Xu to want all the Lei family to resign?Why is he?As King Shun, who has no soldiers and no generals, who will listen to him?

Oops!Kou Xiao glanced down at his palm, then gave Li Xu another glance, and immediately understood the meaning of sitting here.

I'm afraid that King Shun has been trying to win him over from a very early age, trying to make him willing to listen to his orders. He is really a good-looking and cunning fox.

Kou Xiao pressed his palms on the table and said, "In that case, let someone send over the twenty or so people from Lei's family to see their achievements when they were officials."

Officials have to evaluate their performance at the end of each year. This is very scientific, but there is no official department yet, and the evaluation of performance is carried out by the supervisor. Is that possible?

Can an official who relies on money to get to the top not to bribe the prosecutor to give a green light to his performance?

But Kou Xiao had already spoken, of course Li Xu would not refute him, so he asked He Zun and Liu Shu to go together, and then asked Xiao Er to serve a fruit plate, as if chatting forever in a restaurant.

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small theater:

Lao Gong: "I suspect that my daughter-in-law is plotting against me every day, but I have no proof."

Lao Gong: "I still suspect that he seduces me every day, even the expression of the calculating person is so good-looking."

Li Xu: "Think too much."