Chapter 117: Poisonous Scheme

Liu Zheng naturally wouldn't expect to get rich from a bowl of hot and sour noodles.

However, the bumper harvest of sweet potatoes still made the people of Yinzhou cheer and spread the news. Those who had doubted Liu Zheng before were dumbfounded. Two seasons a year, one acre and six thousand kilograms per season? And these sweet potatoes can be eaten in any way, with a sweet taste and a full feeling of satiety. It is indeed much better than rice.

then.

The entire Yinzhou, Yangzhou, and Kezhou have all started a craze of switching to growing sweet potatoes.

Liang Erfu has been very busy these days, but fortunately, under Liu Zheng's instructions, he started preparing for the cultivation of sweet potato seedlings before the New Year. This way, there will not be a shortage of seedlings to sell.

Sweet potato planting began to be widely popularized. And after a few days, the slag cement in Yintan City was finally successfully produced. This means that the quality of the buildings in Yinzhou, Yangzhou, and Kezhou will change from wood to concrete, and the same is true for the city walls, construction works, and defense works! From now on, Liu Zheng's Yinzhou will be built into a steel castle by him! At least in the face of the cold weapon sieges today, it will be able to resist for a long time.

And as time went by, Liu Zheng began to consider actually entering the desert...

The cement-built post stations and camel caravans will greatly reduce the losses in the desert.

Of course, the most important thing is still planting trees and water issues.

This gave Liu Zheng a headache.

After all, Yinzhou, or the entire Liangzhou, is a place with little rain, and at this time, there is no technology that can achieve the goal of transferring water from the south to the north. This helpless objective condition can only be solved slowly.

Liu Zheng is very busy.

The Silk Road was the most important thing in his eyes, so he personally did everything from purchasing saplings, designing the journey, planning planting and post stations. On the way to and from Loulan, Liu Zheng had already drawn a map. Based on his memories of his previous life, he could roughly assess where he needed to take a detour and where he needed to improve the road... After all, Lop Nur was a real devil's land, so he would go around it if he could and try his best to stop the loss...

…

Liangzhou Prefecture.

Chen Ping sat in his study, looking at the small bag of refined salt in front of him with a gloomy face.

"How is this going?"

"Can anyone tell me where this refined salt comes from?"

Then he started to roar.

A group of counselors and staff members from Liangzhou Prefecture looked at each other in silence.

"Sir, this refined salt seems to have appeared out of nowhere..."

"Yes, we have been investigating for a long time, but we still can't find out where this refined salt comes from."

Chen Ping angrily said: "Useless, are you all a bunch of good-for-nothings?"

“Check who is selling it and where the goods are imported from!”

"Find out where the source is!"

With a bang.

He slammed the desk hard and warned: "Salt transportation is a national priority. Now this kind of refined salt suddenly appeared in Liangzhou, and you actually told me you didn't know. What's the point of keeping you!"

A counselor said with a bitter face: "Sir, the source, the source..."

"What's the source?"

Several people took a deep breath and said, "Sir, the source of this refined salt seems to be in Pingzhou, we dare not check it!"

"King Lu?"

Chen Ping was stunned for a moment, a sinister look flashed in his eyes, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Bai Ya Army!"

A group of people bowed their heads and remained silent.

As long as you are from Liangzhou, who doesn't know the relationship between the Baiya Army and Prince Lu? The biggest reason why the Baiya Army, such a strange official-bandit group, appeared in Liangzhou is the support of Prince Lu of Pingzhou! Prince Lu looks like a crazy and stupid person, but in fact he is very cunning. The key is that the emperor has a certain tolerance for him. What's more important is... Although Prince Lu has been pretending to be crazy and stupid for many years, he has never expressed his attitude towards the princes.

But everyone knows that the current Queen Zheng Fu is closer to Prince Lu.

In this case, the Prince of Lu naturally did not want the Crown Prince to succeed to the throne. Therefore, he, the Queen, and the Baiya Army were all on the same side. In addition, the Prince of Lu was a legitimate vassal king, so he naturally looked down on Chen Ping of Liangzhou.

Thinking of the Baiya Army, Chen Ping thought of the Liu family father and son in Yinzhou, and he immediately became furious. He shouted, "How can this be? The Baiya Army is so bold that they dare to get involved in salt transportation! If this continues, will Liangzhou still be Liangzhou? Just give him the Baiya Army and Yinzhou!"

Everyone was so frightened that they fell to their knees.

is not that right?

With the Baiya Army in the north and the Liu family father and son in the south, Chen Ping, the governor, has become less and less important. Moreover, seeing the Baiya Army and Yinzhou growing stronger little by little, how can Chen Ping not be anxious? At this moment, he only has the advantage of being the capital of Liangzhou, and nothing else.

"Think of a way! Think of a way for me!"

Chen Ping shouted angrily.

A think tank said: "Sir, I have a plan!"

Chen Ping saw that it was his chief military advisor Liu Chang, and his expression eased a little. He said calmly: "Liu Changshi, please tell me."

Liu Chang was a skinny guy, but he always had good ideas, and the others listened attentively. A murderous intent flashed in Liu Chang's eyes: "Sir, although this plan is vicious, if it succeeds, it will definitely change the situation in Liangzhou, and even affect the situation in the Longyan Dynasty!"

Chen Ping was shocked: "Tell me quickly!"

Liu Chang smiled sinisterly: "Sir, why did the Xiongnu invade Liangzhou several times?"

“Food shortage!”

Chen Ping said without even thinking about it.

Liu Chang shook his head slowly: "We are short of food, but we are even more short of salt!"

Chen Ping was shocked, his eyes gleaming with brilliance: "What Liu Changshi meant is..."

Liu Chang laughed and said, "Sir, countless people die every year in the Xiongnu due to lack of salt. I can collect some of this refined salt and send it to the Xiongnu royal court, hinting to him that this refined salt comes from the Baiya Army. I will not interfere too much in Liangzhou. What do you think..."

Chen Ping's face changed drastically.

The others were also frightened and their faces turned pale.

In this case, doesn't it mean that Chen Ping wants to invite a wolf into the house? Let the Xiongnu, who just signed a ceasefire agreement, invade Liangzhou again? Even cause a dispute with the Longyan Dynasty again? How is this behavior different from selling out the country ?

One person immediately said, "Sir, this is absolutely not possible!"

"We must not become eternal sinners like this!"

"The Baiya Army is still made up of Longyan people, but the Xiongnu..."

"Letting a wolf into the house is a sin for the country!"

Liu Chang snorted coldly, "My Lords, the Baiya Army is nothing more than a group of bandits at best. How is it different from the Xiongnu? Besides, we are just using the Xiongnu to fight the Baiya Army, but my Liangzhou can just sit on the sidelines and watch. When both sides are exhausted, it will be time for my Liangzhou to come out and reap the fruits of victory!"

Everyone was shocked and speechless.

Chen Ping's face turned black and blue at times, and he looked very conflicted.

Liu Chang's plan was quite vicious. It was equivalent to secretly letting the Xiongnu wolves into his own yard. Even if the Xiongnu could completely devour the Baiya Army, could Liangzhou still drive them out? If not, then Chen Ping would really be a national sinner.

Liu Chang urged, "Sir, you can't be soft-hearted at this time! If Liangzhou continues like this, the country will not be able to rule the country, and the state will not be able to rule the state! Will you still have a place to stand?"

"good!"

Chen Ping nodded heavily and looked around coldly: "Anyone who dares to reveal this will be killed without mercy!"

"yes!"

"Liu Chang, take my order and set off immediately to secretly open the nine checkpoints, but you must control the situation!"

"Yes, sir!"

…

Du Biao has been a little cautious recently.

Every time he transported salt, his right eyelid would twitch.

Is it because he has made too much money recently? This refined salt business is really all about taking away refined salt and bringing back huge amounts of money, which is really addictive.

Of course, the Baiya Army did not lose their minds in the face of huge interests.

They still had the support of the Prince of Lu in Pingzhou. Every time they brought back refined salt from Yinzhou, they would first bring it to Pingzhou, and then redistribute it, or even export it for domestic sales, and then return it to Liangzhou. The Baiya Army's cautious actions allowed them to survive for so long.

With the protection of Prince Lu, who would dare to come and investigate?

After such a long time, there is no movement in the capital, only Chen Ping? Hehe...

Today, another batch of refined salt.

"Quick, quick, come here, what are you looking at!"

As soon as he arrived in Pingzhou, Du Biao saw and heard that in broad daylight, the Lu Wang Mansion was full of singing and dancing. He couldn't help but think in his heart that only by pretending to be crazy and stupid can one be a stable prince. Half of the profit from the refined salt went into the pocket of the Lu Wang. Who wouldn't be envious?

"Move quickly!"

"Be gentle and don't disturb the prince!"

Soon, all the dozen or so trucks of refined salt were moved down.

Du Biao turned and left.

The Prince Lu's Mansion will naturally settle accounts with the Baiya Army.

As the group of grooms continued to go back to Yinzhou to transport salt, Du Biao stood up in the city. As the third in command of the Baiya Army, he naturally would not escort the troops himself, but he would be present at every handover. An hour later, another team of refined salt would arrive, and he would go five miles outside the city gate to receive it, because without him as the third in command, the guards would not let these people in easily.

He, Du Biao, this face is his pass.

He was sitting in a small tavern by the roadside.

However, this wait lasted for an hour.

He has already drunk three bowls of Zui Yinzhou, but he hasn't come yet?

But he was often late, so he waited for a while.

However, it never came.

Something is wrong!

His face changed, he stood up suddenly, threw down a few pieces of silver, mounted his horse and started galloping.

Towards the direction of Liangzhou.

Following this route, he never found any trace of the team.

I became more and more nervous.

After running for a full hour, he finally saw people and horses falling to the ground and blood flowing like a river on the roadside ahead!