Chapter 753 Strategic Materials
Chapter 753 Strategic Materials
A dark and thin man walked in from outside the door and shouted as soon as he entered the door: "I will be leaving tomorrow. Shopkeeper Li, please settle the payment for the herbs today!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Pu Wensong's hands were grabbed by someone. He was startled and asked in amazement: "Manager Li, what are you doing?"
Shi Xiaozhen waved the internal security gold medal in front of him and said, "The internal security is investigating the case, please cooperate!"
Pu Wensong dared not say a word. He was taken to the inner hall. Shi Xiaozhen pointed at the oil in the porcelain jar and said, "This is what you brought to Luoyang!"
"what!"
Pu Wensong finally understood and nodded quickly, "Yes, I brought a few large buckets. We call it Gaonu water in our hometown!"
"Where are you from?"
"I am from Fushi County, Yan'an Prefecture. This Gaonu water is a specialty of our hometown. We also call it Gaonu oil. It is sold all over the streets. It can burn, so the locals mainly use it to light lamps and cook. Later, it was discovered that it can also treat skin diseases such as scabies, so pharmacies also started selling it."
"Is this a specialty of Fushi County?"
Shi Xiaozhen asked, "Where does it come from?"
"It is produced on both sides of Qingshui in Fushi County, gushing out from the cracks in the low-lying ground. Local people collected some of it, but most of it flowed into Qingshui. We were afraid of polluting the river, so we set it on fire. There were often big fires on the river surface, with thick smoke billowing, which was very spectacular."
Shi Xiaozhen nodded, "Does it come out all the time?"
"Not really. It only gushes out in spring and autumn, not in summer and winter. The output is not large, only a hundred kilograms a day at most. In fact, we all know that it is hidden underground. Sometimes it will come out when we dig a well. We are also afraid that it will gush out too much and pollute the land. Therefore, the county has a regulation that forbids digging wells on both sides of Qingshui."
"Does Yan'an County know about this Gaonu water?"
"Of course I know. The county government office is in Fushi County, and county officials also use it to light lamps."
"Does Chang'an know?" Shi Xiaozhen asked the key question.
"They sell it in the West Market of Chang'an. I've been there many times to sell it, but I don't know if the Chang'an government knows about it."
Shi Xiaozhen made thorough inquiries and asked Pu Wensong to stay in the inn for another three days. He hurried back to Neiwei to report to Li Luming.
In the afternoon, Li Luming once again rushed to Shangyang Palace to report to the emperor.
After listening to Li Luming's report, Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and said, "You mean to say that the Chang'an government already knows about this?"
Li Luming explained: "Chang'an is short of salt, and the King of Tang has sent people to search for salt lakes everywhere, among which Yan'an County is the top priority. The investigating officials must have discovered oil, and once they have summarized and reported to the King of Tang, if the King of Tang realizes the military value of oil, then there will be trouble."
"What do you think?"
"I suggest that we immediately send an army to Fushi County to seize the oil, and then send more troops to seize Yan'an County in one fell swoop. If Your Majesty is not ready to go to war with Chang'an, then we can use the excuse of defending against the invasion of the Turks and Liang Shidu."
Xiao Xia nodded. Li Luming's idea made sense. Li Yuan sent people to look for salt everywhere, so he must have discovered oil. It's just that he hasn't realized the military value of oil. Once he realizes it, he will definitely send troops to seize it. Xiao Xia must strike first.
Xiao Xia walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and gave an order: "Order Shi Xiaozhen to lead two thousand inner guard cavalry on two horses to rush to Yan'an County. Set off today. If it is inconvenient to cross the Yellow River, the horses can be left on the east side of the river. The people go first and bring all the supplies. I will order Li Jing to reinforce immediately."
In the Tang Palace in Chang'an, Li Yuan was reviewing reports on salt searches from various places. At this time, a report from Yan'an County caught his attention.
"There is a lot of black oil on both sides of Qingshui River in Fushi County, which is called Gaonu Water. It can burn when lit by fire. Local people have used it to light lamps since the Southern and Northern Dynasties."
Li Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Let Wang Jing come to see me!"
Wang Jing was the weapons supervisor. Although he was a civil servant, he had many insights into various new weapons. The porcelain bottle fire bomb was developed by him.
Soon, Wang Jing came hurriedly and bowed. "Please give me your orders, Your Majesty!" Li Yuan handed him the report. "This is an outbreak of salt search. They found a kind of black oil in Fushi County called Gaonu Water. It comes out of the ground and can burn. You take a few men to investigate on the spot and see if this black oil can be used for military purposes?"
"I will take people there right away!"
"By the way, let's investigate further to see if the quality of the salt lake in Yan'an County can be improved?"
"Follow the order!"
Wang Jing bowed and retreated.
Li Yuan paced back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back. In fact, he didn't care about the black oil as much as he did about the brine. Xiao Xia choked him with salt, making him restless day and night.
Yesterday, Li Yuan received a formal letter of negotiation from the Luoyang court, asking him to abolish the title of Emperor Sui before the end of March. There is only one Great Sui in the world, and it can only be in Luoyang. The Sui Dynasty in Chang'an must be abolished, and Yang You must also be handed over to Luoyang, otherwise not a single grain of salt will enter Guanzhong.
Li Yuan was extremely annoyed, but there was nothing he could do. It was already mid-March, and Luoyang actually only gave him half a month's deadline.
At present, Luoyang only sells him one thousand stones of salt every month, which is just enough for his army and civilians to eat, not more. It is impossible for Li Yuan to save any money.
Even worse, the other party demanded that he must abolish the title of emperor before the end of March. If he did not, the 1,000 stones of salt in early April would be gone, and he would be cut off from salt immediately. Now his enemies were not only the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Xue family, but also Li Gui of Hexi had sent 30,000 troops to attack Jincheng County, and Liang Shidu had also sent troops south to occupy Huining County and continuously attack Pingliang County, making Li Yuan miserable. He felt like he was in danger of being attacked from all sides.
The title of emperor must be abolished. Since he cannot ascend the throne, there is no point in maintaining it.
Although he decided to abolish the title of emperor, Li Yuan also hoped not to be strangled by the salt issue again. Dou Jiande and Luo Yi were both defeated in Xiao Xia's salt war, and Li Yuan did not want to become the third one.
Yan'an County does have a very small salt lake, but like the salt lake in Yanchuan County, it not only tastes extremely bitter, but also causes illness after eating it for a period of time. The salt produced here can ultimately only be used to make weapons.
But Li Yuan was unwilling to give up. He hoped to find some way to reduce the bitterness, or find new salt mines, such as the brine wells in Bashu.
At this time, an attendant reported, "Your Majesty, Pei Changshi wants to see you!"
"Let him in!"
Not long after, Pei Ji hurried in and presented a document, "Your Majesty, Longyou is urging us to pay for the money and grain!"
"Why are you asking for money and food again? Didn't I just send them a batch of money and food at the beginning of the year?"
"Your Highness, the 300,000 strings of cash we sent can only last for one month, and the food can only last for three months at most. It's already been two and a half months."
Li Yuan had no choice but to ask, "How much money can Curry raise?"
"There are still about 80,000 strings of cash left!"
"Only 80,000 strings of cash!"
Li Yuan's eyes widened. "I remember there were 200,000 strings of cash, right?"
"Your Highness, we can't use all our money to pay the military and officials. We need to purchase food, pig iron, salt, mutton, pay the craftsmen, dredge the Wei River, and repair the border passes. These all cost money. We have spent more than 100,000 strings of cash in two months. Do you think this is too much?"
Li Yuan was speechless. The army not only had to pay salaries, but also had to ensure food, meat, and various weapons and equipment. These were the big expenses. A set of weapons and armor cost 100 strings of cash, including a set of leather armor, a sword, a spear, and a bow and arrows. Ten thousand sets of weapons and armor would cost one million strings of cash, not to mention war horses. A qualified war horse would cost several hundred strings of cash, which they simply could not afford.
Li Yuan walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said in a deep voice: "Is there no way?"
Pei Ji sighed, "Or it could be what I mentioned before!"
(End of this chapter)