Chapter 167 Huang Chao
In the evening, Linjin City.

Wei Ji was drinking tea in a side hall of the government office in the city. Since Black Bear liked it, many people followed suit and drank tea.

He sat in front of the fire, drinking tea and thinking about the relationship between Guanzhong and Hedong.

From a geographical point of view, even if Hedong is not the throat of Guanzhong, it is at least the bridge of the nose.

The most crucial thing is the salt in Hedong. Guanzhong and Hebei will sooner or later fight for Hedong.

Not for any military security reasons, but just for the issue of salt, it is worth and necessary to go to war.

The profits from salt were too lucrative; Zhong Yao was able to recruit an army of 8,000 thanks to the cooperation of the Hedong salt monopoly.

In about two months, the salt previously stored by the people in Guanzhong will become scarce.

The salt transported from Hedong must be obtained within one month.

The longer the salt is delayed, the more passive Guanzhong will become.

If this problem cannot be solved in the long run, the huge profits from salt smuggling will seriously shake the ruling prestige brought by the suppression of the various tribes in Guanzhong.

In the face of this war that is bound to break out, what should the Wei family do?

This war was different from the one in Guanzhong. He was alone in Guanzhong.

The Wei clan was a prominent family in Hedong that was able to lead an army of two to three thousand powerful men to change their camps.

While he was hesitating and worried, he heard hurried footsteps, and the clerk who was temporarily recruited came in a hurry: "Changshi, the General Zhenbei is here."

"Where?"

"Go to the general's mansion and send someone to summon Han Qi."

The clerk said hurriedly, "I saw Han Qi leave in a hurry, and I didn't see the messenger come to see the chief historian, so I came to tell you."

"No problem."

Although he said it was okay, Wei Ji still stood up and walked to the back hall to re-examine the registers of the surrounding counties and various records in the government treasury.

The general's residence with its plaque removed not far from the county government.

Zhen Mi served Black Bear his meal and also brought him a small bottle of freshly brewed chrysanthemum wine.

Every two or three days, the black bear would return from Chang'an.

The highway between Chang'an and Linjin is less than 300 miles away.

If Zhen Mi wanted to take the supplies and food seized in Linjin to Chang'an, it would take at least three days by land.

It takes two days to transport the food via Luoshui and Weishui.

For Hei Xiong, he could reach Linjin in about an hour after Chang'an set out after the curfew at night.

Nowadays, riding skills are becoming more and more sophisticated and the public security along the way is also very good, so the physical and mental energy consumption is less.

The black bear drinks chrysanthemum wine, which is made by soaking and aging a mixture of various types of chrysanthemums in autumn.

The aging time is not very long, probably because the alcohol can extract the floral aroma.

This reminded Black Bear of perfume. He really didn't know much about chemistry, but he knew that alcohol had a very active effect.

In times of peace and prosperity, both scholars and civilians had the ritual and custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine to ward off evil spirits. But in times of chaos, only scholars and officials still maintain this custom to commemorate the peaceful times in their memories.

Therefore, in Black Bear's memory, there was no custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine among family members.

Seeing him frowning in thought, Zhen Mi asked with a smile, "My dear, what are you thinking about now? Are you thinking about the salt from Hedong?"

"I was thinking about chrysanthemums and the Qingzhou soldiers. As for salt, I'm waiting for Cui Yan, and Cui Yan is waiting for Yuan Shang. We can't be impatient about this."

Black Bear immediately smiled. After defeating the generals in Guanzhong, the spirits of men and women everywhere were sublimated.

It's not just the Tiger Tooth Army, ordinary people in every county are the same.

The dark clouds pressing down on everyone's head seemed to be cut by a sword. After the autumn rainy season ended, everyone was enjoying the warm sunshine before winter.

Zhen Mi did not think that she was worse than ordinary officials and scholars, but she also knew that it was difficult for her to understand Black Bear's thinking.

Especially after this war, Black Bear changed even more. When he sat there eating, the close servants around him didn't dare to speak.

Even she felt that the change in Black Bear's demeanor and majesty was like that of Yuan Shao when he defeated Gongsun Zan.

It can be said that majesty is inherent in the way he looks around.

Confused, Zhen Mi asked, "What is the connection between this chrysanthemum and the Qingzhou soldiers?"

"Yes, around the end of September, all the Qingzhou soldiers had confessed their sins and shaved their heads. According to the agreement between Guo Tai and I, the Qingzhou soldiers will be reorganized and given new numbers."

"Do you want a new number, my dear?"

"Well, when I was drinking your chrysanthemum wine, an idea suddenly occurred to me. Bring me some paper."

"Yes."

Zhen Mi quickly went to the study and brought back a plate of bamboo paper with a small inkstone on it.

The black bear had a goose feather pen in his hand. He dipped it in ink and wrote the first line: "Wait until September 8th in autumn, when my flower blooms, all other flowers will die."

Then comes the second line, 'The fragrance of incense rises to the sky and permeates Chang'an, and the whole city is covered with golden armor.'

Zhen Mi looked at this new theme of poetry, and then at the black bear's profile with a smile from the heart, and for a moment she seemed to be surrounded by countless chrysanthemums and golden-armored soldiers.

Then she became more and more certain that the Yellow Turban Army was hidden in this poem.

"I was wondering what the name would be if the Green Emperor was reincarnated as a human."

The black bear muttered to himself, picked up a pen and wrote four words at the end: Mr. Huang Chao.

Zhen Mi frowned and thought, the Green Emperor is the one who makes all things sprout and grow full of vitality, while in autumn all things turn yellow and dead, so it seems reasonable for him to be called Huang Chao.

She looked at the words "Huang Chao Layman" and determined the real reason why the Qingzhou soldiers changed their stance so quickly. It was not just the magic, but also the inheritance of the same lineage.

Magic can only cause the Qingzhou soldiers to defect, but the key to the mutual trust between Black Bear and the Qingzhou soldiers is the same bloodline.

Now that Guanzhong has been pacified, we can finally reveal some of our positions.

Perhaps this poem is a call to the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army in various places.

This Supreme Yellow Sky, if not Huang Chao, who else could it be?
The person who lives above him, if not the Lord of Yellow Sky, then what else could he be?
As the Lord of Huangtian, why would he need to usurp the throne or abdicate?
This is Ge Ding!

Black Bear folded the yellowed bamboo paper and wrote three words on the next page: Qinghua Wei.

"My lord, do you want to change the Qingzhou soldiers into Qinghua Guards?"

"Well, from now on they will be my personal guards."

Black Bear dismissed the quills and said to Zhen Mi, "You will set off to return to Chang'an tomorrow. The troops in Chang'an will be reorganized and dismissed at the end of the month. I hope everyone can get a new coat. Lantian is rushing to make them. You will be in charge and then take the guards to distribute them."

Zhen Mi nodded and asked, "Is there enough cloth?"

The captured treasuries of the generals contained no shortage of food and various strange utensils, but relatively little cloth.

Guanzhong has only recovered for three years, and mulberry and hemp planting and textile production have not yet truly recovered.

Not only was there a shortage of cloth in circulation, but there was also a shortage of Wuzhu coins, so it was difficult to collect head taxes, commercial taxes, and the like.

The common people bartered, the generals and their troops performed military service, and the registered households in the counties and prefectures performed corvée labor, all of which involved paying taxes by using physical labor.

“There is never enough cloth.”

Black Bear stretched out his palm and shook it. "Fortunately, we have harvested a lot of gold, silver and bronze. I have already sent a letter to Jingzhou, hoping to buy 50,000 rolls of silk from Liu Qi. Officials need annual gifts in the new spring, and the soldiers of the army will be issued summer clothes around April."

"Fifty thousand?"

After hearing this, Zhen Mi felt that it was too little and frowned. When she was serving Liu, she also overheard the Yuan family's gossip.

Black Bear was also distressed because the economic production in Guanzhong was recovering too slowly.

The weapons and armor of the warlords on all sides are mainly repaired, and there is a serious lack of upstream production capacity such as iron ore and copper mines.

"When you return to Chang'an, you will look for craftsmen and women workers who are good at weaving. I hope you will be in charge of the planting of mulberry, hemp and cotton, as well as textile production next year. You can figure out what you need."

Black Bear blinked and said, "In the Shanglinyuan area, you choose a place to cultivate. Nowadays, the currencies of various places are bad and difficult to circulate. Cao Cao has implemented household tax in Yan and Yu states, and it will soon be extended to Qing and Xu states. You take charge of textile production, so that the power of cloth currency will not fall into the hands of outsiders."

"I'm afraid I'm not up to the task."

"I'll keep an eye on you, just do your best. How bad can it be?"

While Black Bear was trying to comfort him, a female guard came to the steps outside the door and reported: "General, Madam, the Left Assistant Commandant Han Qi has arrived."

"I'll meet him in the side hall and bring him some ginger tea."

Black Bear stood up and smiled at Zhen Mi who was secretly suppressing her excitement. Zhen Mi also stood up and quickly took the deerskin coat that Black Bear was wearing today.

With a soft leather coat draped over his shoulders, Black Bear walked out of the small courtyard in clogs and went to the side hall of another courtyard to meet Han Qi.

The black bear came in through the side door and arrived first.

As soon as he sat down, Zhen Mi's female guards came in groups of two and brought ceramic braziers and placed them in the corner of the side hall to dispel the cold.

After these female guards left, Black Bear felt a warm feeling behind him.

Han Qi was also led by the female guards, carrying a tray of bamboo slips, into the side hall and around the screen. "Your Highness Han Qi, the Left Assistant Commandant, is here to see the General."

"I came to you for two things. The first is about the salt in Hedong. The army has sufficient salt reserves, and I am worried about the people. So I hope you can collect all kinds of hardwood and have the garrison build vehicles and boats so that we can attack Hedong in the future and seize the salt."

Seeing Han Qi's expression change drastically, Black Bear continued, "Without salt, the army and the people will be weak and vulnerable to being bullied. If the price of salt is too high, I would rather some people die so that most people can afford salt."

After the war breaks out, who will die, the people of Guanzhong or the people of Hedong?
This is not something that can be discussed at the moment. Judging from the record of the Tiger Tooth Army sweeping across Guanzhong, it is likely that more people from Hedong died.

Declaring war in order to obtain cheap salt was a just war involving almost every person in Guanzhong.

This kind of war never lacks support.

Han Qi did not dare to refute and could only hope that Hedong would quickly transport the first batch of salt.

It would be best to keep Hedong in a neutral position through negotiations, just like during the Wang Yi period.

Seeing that Han Qi had no objection, Black Bear continued, "The second thing is to transport all kinds of bronze wares to Lantian. After a while, people from Jingzhou will come to trade cloth and grain for bronze wares."

Is it more cost-effective to melt the copperware and cast it into five-zhu coins to buy food and cloth, or to directly exchange various copperware for food and cloth?
Black Bear had no idea what the people of Jingzhou were really thinking at the moment, so he could only hold an "exhibition" to trade various bronze wares and horses.

As for gold, it was taken to Jingzhou and purchased directly.

Han Qi frowned as he listened: "General, how much does it cost to transport Jingzhou's grain to Guanzhong?"

"It's not important. They transported the food to Nanxiang, and our people were responsible for transporting it to Guanzhong. What was consumed on the way was also eaten by our people, so it doesn't count as a loss."

Seeing that Han Qi was reluctant to give up the gold and was against trade with Jingzhou, Black Bear said, "Guanzhong needs Jingzhou, and Jingzhou also needs Guanzhong. This kind of alliance is a mutually beneficial and trustful alliance."

Han Qi asked again: "General, when will the food from Jingzhou be delivered?"

"This is something that the Danshui Canal Transportation needs to consider. If Guanzhong is short of food next year, it will rely on this batch of Jingzhou grain."

Black Bear looked at Han Qi and frowned: "From what you said, do you want to buy food from Hedong and Taiyuan?"

"This……"

Han Qi was a little embarrassed: "In my opinion, if we can negotiate the salt issue with Hedong and then transport some grain, it is really a trivial matter. In this way, Hedong will be short of food and unable to raise troops, which can ensure the peace of Hedong's people."

"You have some truth in what you said, but Jingzhou is my only ally. Don't say such things again in the future."

When Black Bear saw the female guard bringing ginger tea, he said, "It's cold at night. Drink some ginger tea to warm yourself up and then go back to prepare for the transportation. In a few days, I will dispatch a fleet to Luoshui to assist in the transportation."

"Yes, I accept your order."

(End of this chapter)