Tibet

In Anshanfang, the Ministry of War official responsible for monitoring Liang Baoer discovered something was wrong. The person placed next to Liang Baoer had not contacted him for two days.

The officials hurriedly reported it, and soon the Plum Blossom Guards came to confirm and found that the maid who was monitoring Liang Baoer had been poisoned. Liang Baoer had secretly left the back door and escaped with several followers two days ago.

There are various signs that Liang Baoer fled back to Jingxiang.

When the news reached Li Heng's ears, Li Heng was furious and ordered Zhang Xun to be dismissed from his position as Minister of War and demoted to the rank of Lieutenant of Gushu County.

In the afternoon of the next day, Dugu Ming received a reply. After thinking about it, he decided to go to his elder brother. Although this matter had little to do with his elder brother, if he was not allowed to know about it, he would not say anything, but he would have opinions in his heart. .

When Dugu Ming came to the back hall, he unexpectedly found his eldest brother playing mahjong with his mother and several sisters-in-law. He couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Big brother also likes to play this?"

Old lady Dugu's face sank, "What do you mean you like to play this? Your elder brother is just spending time with my mother for fun. How different is it from you? Have you ever spent time with your mother?"

Dugu Ming quickly smiled and said, "I will definitely play more games with my mother later!"

The old lady ignored him, and Dugu Ming did not dare to leave, so he had to stand aside with a smile.

Mahjong in Chang'an is also called fortune play. In fact, it is an upgraded version of the leaf play that is popular in Chang'an. The tubes are copper coins, the strips are the ropes for money, and Wan means Wan Guan. To make money from east to west, north to south, it means to go out and make money in all directions.

After it was introduced from Longyou, it immediately replaced Yezi Opera. It was suitable for all ages and became popular throughout Chang'an.

The deck of cards they were playing was a deck of ivory cards sent from Longyou by someone from Qiuyue. The old lady was hooked immediately. She was not in good health and spirit at first, but unexpectedly she became more energetic as she played, and everyone was happy. They all play cards with her.

At this time, the old lady drew a card and laughed, "Ninety thousand strings, I'm confused!"

She turned the cards down, and everyone was amused. There was a confusion. It should have been seven or eight or nine hundred thousand. Her card was seven or nine or nine thousand, and she mistook the nine for an eight.

Everyone laughed together and said: "Ancestor is lucky, but he got confused again."

The old lady then said to the eldest son: "I guess the third child has something to do with you, so go ahead!"

The old lady invited her eldest grandson's daughter-in-law next to her to play with her, and then Dugu Lie and his brother came to the study.

The two brothers sat down, the maid served tea, and Dugu Ming told his elder brother what had happened.

When Dugu Lie heard that the emperor was going to sell the official and financial rights of Bashu, he couldn't help but be shocked, "Is the court short of money to this extent?"

Dugu Ming nodded, "We've almost run out of arrows and food!"

Dugu Lie said after a while: "I remember last time, didn't Ye'er send hundreds of large boxes of property?"

Dugu Ming smiled bitterly and said: "They were all buried with the Supreme Emperor, and all the little wealth that Zuo Zangku had managed to accumulate was also buried with him. Just like this, the emperor is still crying bitterly, saying that he is ashamed of the Supreme Emperor."

"No wonder you are so poor that you have to beg for food!"

Dugu Lie looked at Ying Xin and said with a smile: "Jing Xiang is actually included in this, will the emperor agree?"

"This is sold in a package. If the emperor refuses, let's not talk about it. And I just heard the news that Liang Chongyi's son Liang Baoer disappeared the night before yesterday. The situation in Jingxiang is very strange. It is said that Liang Chongyi may join forces with Li Xilie. "

Dugu Lie sighed, "Issuing large sums of money has severely damaged the morale of the army, causing the army to lose morale and have no fighting spirit. Liang Chongyi saw an opportunity. Wu Qi really deserves death!"

Dugu Ming nodded, "I will go find Li Fuguo now to see the emperor's attitude!"

Dugu Ming went to say hello to his mother again, and then hurried away.

Li Fuguo rushed to the harem overnight, and a eunuch on duty reported to the emperor for him. Not long after, the emperor Li Heng changed into a robe and met Li Fuguo in the outer hall.

In the past two days, he began to pay attention to big money, and the subordinates no longer dared to hide him. Pieces of bad news reached Li Heng's ears. The situation was worse than he thought. Not only did the merchants in the Central Plains and Hedong areas no longer They charge a lot of money. In fact, no merchants except Chang'an will accept it.

Merchants are not fools. It is obvious that they can no longer make money and will stop issuing products sooner or later. Who is willing to invest big money in their own hands at this time?

Chang'an merchants can only be forced to collect large sums of money. If they don't accept the plum blossom guards, they will come looking for arrests. However, Chang'an merchants also have countermeasures, which is to close down and stop business. They would rather not do business than accept the losses caused by large sums of money.

Many people with big money have no choice but to go to the black market to exchange it, but the price of big money in the black market has fallen by one to two. That is, a Kaiyuan Tongbao that is worth ten coins is only worth two coins and one cent. It has shrunk five times from the official price. This is Its true metal value.

The people holding big money were mainly the army and officials. For a time, the officials were full of complaints, the people were filled with resentment, and the troops everywhere were making trouble.

Li Heng was mentally and physically exhausted and miserable. At this time, he could see through his eyes. He was waiting for the deal to be successful. He immediately took back the large sum of money from the soldiers to appease the army.

"Your Majesty, Long You has replied!"

It was so fast. Li Heng became energetic and asked quickly: "Did you agree?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, King Qi agreed in principle."

Li Heng was startled, "What do you mean by agreeing in principle?"

"Your Majesty, King Qi hopes to acquire Jing Xiang together."

"Acquisition of Jingxiang?"

"Exactly, King Qi is very worried about Liang Chongyi's occupation of Jingxiang. He wants to take it back. I hope your majesty agrees."

Li Heng didn't speak for a long time. Of course, Li Ye would not hand over Jingxiang to the imperial court if he took it back. Doesn't that mean that Li Ye's power will expand again?

Li Heng thought for a long time, shook his head and said, "This time I just want to talk about Bashu."

Li Fuguo smiled bitterly and said: "The other party's condition is that either they will talk with Jing Xiang, or they will not talk and maintain the status quo."

"Damn bastard!"

Li Heng gritted his teeth and cursed, and could only say angrily: "One million yuan is not enough to talk with Jing Xiang."

"Your Majesty, the other party is willing to pay 1.5 million taels, which will be paid with 500,000 taels of silver."

Money is the most comforting thing. When he heard that the other party was willing to pay 1.5 million yuan, Li Heng's anger immediately disappeared and a smile appeared on his lips.

"Five million taels of silver?" Li Heng asked in confirmation.

Li Fuguo nodded, "Exactly!"

That's not enough. Li Heng knew very well that no matter whether he agreed or not, Li Ye would attack Liang Chongyi and recapture Jingxiang sooner or later. Li Ye just wanted to spend 500,000 yuan to buy a legal name. In fact, the deal was worth it. .

"Li Weng thinks the political hall will agree to this additional clause?"

Li Fuguo laughed and said: "Li Xilie cut off the Huaihe River channel. Taxes from the south of the Yangtze River can only go through Jingxiang. Liang Chongyi is as dangerous as Li Xilie. Moreover, Liang Chongyi's son escaped the day before yesterday. The old slave believes that the political affairs hall would rather let the King of Qi control Jingxiang."

Thinking of Liang Chongyi's son's escape, Li Heng was so angry that he couldn't even hold back a hostage. Are these people in Zhengshi Hall eating shit?

Li Heng sighed and said, "Then it's settled. Five hundred thousand taels of silver will be passed by the Political Hall tomorrow morning. King Qi must deliver the silver to Zuozang Treasury within five days."

Although he lost face with King Qi, Li Heng felt relieved when he thought of the five hundred thousand taels of silver. He finally had the money to clean up this big money mess. Wu Qi must bear the responsibility for this big money failure. In addition, Pei Mian also has to bear the responsibility of selling his official position and getting a title.