Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

In the turmoil in the court of Chang'an initiated by the Changsun family, not everyone involved was as fearless as Li Tai, and still in the mood to plan their own lives.

Liu Min has been very anxious recently. On this day, he went to the village to visit Li Tai, and he was followed by hundreds of people, most of whom carried bows and swords. It was obvious that he was worried that he would be attacked and killed by the Changsun family on the way.

There were many people in the front village, and Li Tai did not go out to greet him, but just stood at the entrance of the valley waiting. When Liu Min walked here, the two brothers in distress could not help but sigh when they met.

Li Tai still had some deliberate pretense to take care of Liu Min's emotions, but Liu Min was really worried, his beard and hair were messy and he had no manners at all. When he saw Li Tai, he sighed before speaking.

"The current situation is unusual. If Doctor Liu has something to say, just ask him to come and report it. There is really no need to take the risk and go in person."

Hearing what Li Tai said, Liu Min sighed again, and then said with a bitter smile: "I have been stripped of my previous position because of my poor moral character and inability to be a Langguan. Boshan, you should change your title. Just call me by my name."

While speaking, he led out a timid child of six or seven years old from behind, and greeted Li Tai with a stern face, and introduced him to Li Tai as his youngest son, Liu Ang.

Walking into the valley, when Liu Min saw the armored personnel of the Taifu account stationed here to protect Li Tai, a trace of envy flashed in his eyes, but he didn't say much.

Arriving in front of the villa hall, Li Tai raised his hand to call Ruo Feng and Li Ya who were playing in the yard, and asked the two boys to take the little Liu Ang to play somewhere else, and he invited Liu Min to sit in the hall.

"My family's Grand Marshal was also stripped of his post. The revenge of the Changsun family is really fierce and frightening. I am now confined to my hometown by the Lord, and it is difficult to respond to my brother's affairs. I am really sorry."

The thing that can comfort people in adversity is always to tell them that you are not the most unlucky. It is unfortunate that Liu Min was stripped of his official position, but compared with Gao Zhongmi's being stripped of his position as Grand Marshal, it is not the most pitiful.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Liu Min also restrained his sorrow a little, turned around and comforted Li Tai a few words, and then said: "This time I came to see you, it is to say goodbye to you, Boshan. I failed to perform my duties in the previous incident and brought trouble to the government. Fortunately, the master still has pity and asked me to return to my hometown to work and make up for my mistakes." At this point, he said with some shame: "If I hadn't come to ask for help, Boshan wouldn't have been involved in the matter. The incident was caused by me, but now I have to escape in the face of the enemy. I am really ashamed to meet Boshan again, but I think that I may not see him again, so I am so shameless to come here and say goodbye in person." Li Tai didn't think that he was implicated in this matter by Liu Min, but felt that he was led by her to get this opportunity to enrich himself and make a fortune. Although Liu Min led people to attack the Changsun family temple, it was also instigated by Li Tai. Now that Liu Min has been stripped of his official position and sent back to his hometown, Li Tai is still happily counting his gains in the village. He is already mixed with joy and sorrow, and when he hears Liu Min say this, he can't help but feel a little embarrassed for a moment.

"Life is full of difficulties. Brother Liu, you are a warrior who strives forward in adversity. This world is no longer the old days when two or three meritorious families decide the general situation. Keep this loyalty to the country, and the storm will always pass."

Seeing Liu Min's depressed face, Li Tai spoke again to comfort him.

Returning to Hedong's hometown and temporarily avoiding the Changsun family's edge is also a good choice for Liu Min. Even Li Tai himself, his cousin Cui Qian had previously suggested that he avoid disaster in the hometown, but he made a more favorable choice because he understood the intention of the Grand Secretariat.

The Liu family has been a famous family in Hedong for generations. When it comes to the strength of the local power, Li Tai can't compare. Even if Liu Min retires to the countryside, he can still do a lot. Unless the Eastern Wei fully occupies Hedong, it is only a matter of time before he is reinstated. What Li Tai said is not empty talk.

"Boshan, your fearless spirit is really enviable. I had similar sentiments and ambitions last year, but after experiencing setbacks and vicissitudes, I gradually lost my original intentions... Alas, thank you for your good words, and I hope that the situation will turn around next year." Liu Min is not as optimistic as Li Tai. In addition to worry, he also has a sense of frustration and pessimism about the overall future of their Hedong family. The relationship between the Pei, Liu, Xue and other families in Hedong and the Western Wei is more subtle. Because of the local geography, they happened to be located in the center of the war between the Eastern and Western Dynasties, and because of the considerable local resources and power, they have a certain transcendent status. The reason why these families defected to the Western Wei was of course not related to the Beizhen Group led by Yuwen Tai. To put it nicely, it was because Xiaowu moved west and returned to the legal system, but in fact, it was also because the Western Wei was weak and they could gain more autonomy here, and even had the fantasy of becoming the other side that could influence the general situation of the court and the world. But in reality, the development of these Hedong families towards the Western Wei court was extremely unsuccessful, and there was almost no high-ranking official in the court. The nobles of Luoyang who followed Emperor Xiaowu to the west, Yuwen Tai's hegemony, including Su Chao and other Guanxi people, all intentionally or unintentionally excluded them from entering the court.

Having local power but no political resources means that these Hedong people cannot speak independently and safeguard their own interests in this Western Wei regime, and can only become vassals of one party.

Just like this time when Liu Min was dismissed, it is true that he was the first to provoke the inferior, but it is enough to show that their Hedong family is weak and difficult to speak in the court. Traditional political forces such as the Changsun family do not look at them in the eye. Without the protection of the Grand Executive Office, Liu Min would even be suppressed in his local power.

This incident can reflect that it is almost impossible for the people in Hedong to cross the Bafu and talk directly to the court, at least for now, and there is no need to expect to be free from the court and the Bafu. A third-party political force.

Regardless of her own circumstances, this situation also makes Liu Min feel discouraged. The Hedong people and the Beizhen warriors were two forces that had little to do with each other. However, due to the arrogance of the imperial court, if they wanted to gain access to promotion channels and maintain local power, they could only strengthen their dependence on and obey the Bafu.

Liu Min calmed down for a moment, then turned to Li Tai and said: "This time when I return home, in addition to rectifying the township military camp, I also serve as the governor of the salt pond and rectify the salt affairs. I remember that you, Boshan, made suggestions to Daxingtai before. , I came to visit today. In addition to saying goodbye in person, I also want to ask for the inside information. "

After Li Tai heard this, he was stunned at first and then a little embarrassed. After all, this matter itself touched the interests of the people in Hedong. He was somewhat embarrassed to be questioned face to face by the person involved.

But soon he sighed again, after all, Yu Wentai is still cool.

Originally, he thought that Yu Wentai was just using this to undermine the political reputation of the Changsun family, but he did not expect that the Hedong family would also be included. They would use the pressure exerted by the Changsun family in the court to implement the salt introduction system in Hedong.

Killing people and killing people's hearts is nothing more than that! Liu Min just helped you clean up the temples in Guanzhong, and before he even had time to spend the money he got, he took advantage of him being targeted and forced him to attack the countryside.

"I do have some input and suggestions on this matter. Salt policy is related to people's livelihood, but the imperial court has failed to control it since it was established..."

Li Tai first said some formulaic words, and then talked about his specific ideas.

The salt introduction system is a typical planned economy that provides integrated and standardized management from salt production to sales.

In the short term, it will not directly harm the interests of these salt producers. Even due to the regulations on salt marketing, the salt can be sold more conveniently and safely with the help of Bafu.

But in the long run, the right to distribute profits will be handed over to the hegemony. The production scale, sales routes, and product pricing rights will no longer belong to the local wealthy families.

To carry out this kind of fundamental normative reform, Liu Min is indeed a very suitable choice now.

First of all, he comes from a famous family in Hedong, and has great local power and prestige. By presiding over the reform, he can avoid the resistance and opposition of Hedong people to the greatest extent. Secondly, as a senior practitioner, I can understand the details and loopholes better than others. In the end, Liu Min's own situation is worrying. As her dependence on Bafu increases, she is bound to be more attentive to her work.

Although this incident has put a shackles on the Hedong Salt Industry as a whole, it is not a short-sighted attempt to catch all the money. Liu Min, as the official in charge of this matter, has the entire Xingtai Overlord's backing, and has unprecedented power in dispatching and allocating local forces. Strengthen!

To be honest, Li Tai was very envious of Liu Min. His being able to get this appointment was truly a blessing in disguise. At least if Bafu handed this matter over to him, he would never refuse. It's a pity that he is not from Hedong, so this good job cannot fall on him anyway.

Liu Min originally thought that Daxingtai's salt policy reform was a zero-sum game in order to take back the salt profits from the people in Hedong and return it to the Taiwan government. Therefore, when he was appointed, he was worried and worried that if he did not do well, he would be blamed by the Taiwan government. , the force is too strong and cannot be tolerated in the local area. In the end, it may end up being unpalatable to both sides and ruining both the name and the name.

But after listening to Li Tai's explanation, he also breathed a long sigh of relief, his face swept away with depression, he clasped his fists in the direction of the Taifu and said with emotion: "The former envoy neglected his duty and caused trouble for himself. I thought he was ugly. It’s difficult to use, but I didn’t expect Daxingtai to take on more important responsibilities, which really makes me feel scared and ashamed!”

He then turned to Li Tai and said: "It's even rarer that you, Bo Shan, have proposed such a good plan to benefit the country and benefit the people in Daxingtai. I owe it to you to propose this idea. I will definitely do my best to implement it sincerely, so as to benefit both the government and the people." , I will never let down your wisdom and benevolence, Boshan!”

Therefore, people must learn to understand themselves after all. Li Tai felt that Liu Min should be able to see the far-reaching intentions behind Yanyin's reform, but he never mentioned it, only praised him a lot, and after deceiving himself, he had the mentality of selling local resources. The burden will be much lighter.

Naturally, he would not expose Liu Min's self-comfort. After learning that Liu Min had been appointed as the Salt Administration Officer to implement reforms, he felt that they could strengthen cooperation with each other, so he smiled again and said: "Brother, if you are not in a hurry, we can go there later." Later, I will gather all the people from the countryside to discuss matters, and I will ask my brother to attend and support me."