From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 128 Yan Bingyun is arrested
"Yan Bingyun did a great job in Northern Qi. Half of the credit for the smooth progress of this battle with Northern Qi goes to him," said Chen Pingping.

"Why was he arrested?"

"The Supervisory Commission is investigating."

Emperor Qing tapped his fingers lightly on the imperial desk in front of him. After a moment, he suddenly asked, "What's the situation in Northern Qi? There are all kinds of news coming in. Some say Northern Qi is becoming increasingly impoverished, while others say it's becoming increasingly prosperous, with more and more wealthy people. But they all contradict each other. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

Chen Pingping smiled wryly. "Well, in recent years, the Princess has expanded the smuggling channels from the inner treasury to Northern Qi, especially the smuggling channels of the inner treasury's blue salt, which has completely squeezed out Northern Qi's official salt. This is also one of the reasons for this war. Because the income from official salt has been greatly reduced, Northern Qi's finances are in jeopardy. So when the war was not going well, they took action against the salt merchants."

"Salt merchants? So Northern Qi isn't short of money now?"

"The Northern Qi court shouldn't be short of supplies right now," Chen Pingping said. "Also, many exotic goods from the inner treasury have been smuggled into Northern Qi through various channels. Through these channels, they've established connections with the princes and nobles of Northern Qi, and have made a lot of money with them. Now, everyone in the capital of Northern Qi is proud to get their hands on goods from the inner treasury, especially those from the Jiangnan inner treasury. It's become quite a trend."

"Is this the reason why Shangjing is so prosperous?"

"Most of the shops of the princes and nobles of Northern Qi are in Shangjing. They sell the in-demand goods from the Jiangnan inner treasury, so they are naturally sought after. Moreover, these goods are shipped from Shangjing to various parts of Northern Qi. Therefore, the news from Shangjing and several land and water ports is correct, and these places happen to be the focus of our attention."

"But Yan Bingyun's connection to the Northern Qi hierarchy is quite deep. He knows that since the beginning of this year, tax revenue has plummeted across Northern Qi. If it weren't for the money from the salt merchants, they would be unable to make ends meet."

"So, the Northern Qi delegation has another important mission this time: to cooperate with the Imperial Treasury to obtain new salt production methods and relax restrictions on the salt industry."

Chen Pingping told some information about Northern Qi in a relatively clear manner.

"Salt Administration, when did it become so easy to reform the salt administration?" Emperor Qing frowned, feeling somewhat puzzled.

"Northern Qi hasn't changed yet," Fan Jian said. "The reason why the salt administration in Daqing was changed so smoothly is entirely due to the Crown Prince's drastic measures and the huge role played by the Neiku. While salt is said to be freely traded, it's essentially a monopoly held by the Neiku. The Neiku has the money, the people, the technology, and they've taken over the salt fields. Other merchants simply can't compete. The Neiku monopoly is a state monopoly, and this hasn't changed. If Northern Qi wants to change, it won't be that easy. It might just cause chaos."

"You mean, Neiku can cooperate with them?"

"Of course we can cooperate." Fan Jian sneered. "The salt policy isn't so easy to change. Although a large number of Northern Qi salt merchants were confiscated, the nobles behind them only suffered some financial losses, not serious damage. It's precisely because of these financial losses that they are trying every possible way to make up for it from other sources. The prosperity of Shangjing and the sea and land docks is partly due to this."

"After Northern Qi and the Imperial Household Department cooperate, they will also want to get a piece of the pie. However, if the young emperor of Northern Qi wants to imitate the reforms of Daqing, conflict is inevitable. That will be our opportunity."

"You old thing, after all these years, your murderous nature is still there!"

"Haha, it's not that I have murderous intent, I just saw an opportunity." Fan Jian smiled and stroked his beard.

"Then let's set the bottom line for negotiations with Northern Qi today," Emperor Qing said, looking up. "Summon Prince Zhao, Lin Ruofu, and General Qin to the Lakeside Palace for a meeting!"

※※※

My name is Li Chengqian. I live in Lijiawazi at the foot of Mount Huashan. I am the eldest son of Lijiazhuang. Lijiawazi is a beautiful place surrounded by mountains and rivers. The village was destroyed by a group of thieves.

I died, but I came back to life.

"After the internal strife at Huashan, the village's vitality was severely damaged, its strength was weakened, and the land was unstable. Many villages like Lijiawazi were destroyed, and I was just one of them. I should have died, but I covered this up and came back to life. Then I was saved by Yue Buqun and his wife who came to check on the situation."

In a small room in the Huashan Sect, Li Chengqian opened his eyes and looked at the little kid, only three or four years old, crawling around curiously beside the bed. This kid, this kid, must be Yue Lingshan. He forced a smile and said, "Well, good timing. I can have it all."

※※※

"Swordsman?"

East Palace, Study

Li Chengqian, who was discussing matters with Mao Qiwu and Li Mingchuan, looked puzzled.

The Smiling, Proud Wanderer is just a low-level martial arts world. It may be of some help to him, but the help will not be too great. However, at least it verifies that the second soul can really completely cover my speculation that he is on the verge of death. This is a good thing.

Since it was a world that was like chicken ribs that was neither tasty nor worth throwing away, Li Chengqian simply stopped paying attention to it and focused on the information in his hand.

"Yan Bingyun has been arrested. Has the leak channel been determined?"

"It's in Kyoto." Mao Qiwu said, "The news was sent from the diplomatic corps."

“Why wasn’t it intercepted?”

"They used carrier pigeons," Mao Qiwu said helplessly. "And every day the envoys would send dozens of messages to Northern Qi via carrier pigeons and carrier birds. Many of these messages were related to the negotiations and were public. No one knew what was hidden in them, and it was difficult to stop them. However, Northern Qi confirmed that the messages were sent from Kyoto."

"Can it be fixed to Chen Pingping's body?"

"It's difficult. This old cripple has been the President of the Supervisory Commission for decades. No one knows how many cards he has in his hand." Mao Qiwu shook his head.

"No matter how many cards you have or how deep you bury them, they are still just small cards. They can't turn the tables."

"So, he's eager to train a Grandmaster." Mao Qiwu said with a smile, "He's even started to target Sean."

"Whether it's Tianyi Dao's techniques or Western magic, if they're truly that effective, then Northern Qi wouldn't just have Ku He as a Grandmaster." Li Chengqian turned to Li Mingchuan and asked, "What does my aunt say?"

"Everything has been arranged. The port, personnel, and cargo are all ready. Her Royal Highness the Princess has always been meticulous in her work and there will be no mistakes." Li Mingchuan replied, appearing calm on the surface, but very excited in his heart.

Having served as the Eastern Palace Secretary for several years, he had already realized that the prince before him was completely different from the princes of previous dynasties that he had known.

What about the crazy prince, what about the frivolous prince, what about the sickly prince...

It's all bullshit!

The real prince is a monster who occupies the East Palace and is ready to swallow up the world at any time!
Thinking about the prince's previous series of arrangements and the possible impact they might bring, even he, an old bureaucrat who had been in office for many years, couldn't help but get excited.

Unifying the world and building a great empire, is this something I will be able to see in my lifetime?
No, I am already a participant in promoting this process!

(End of this chapter)