Third Yang brought back ten catties of salt from the county. The Zhou family had many mouths to feed, so salt consumption was huge. Ten catties seemed like a lot, but it wouldn’t last long.

Yang Xi inspected the salt she bought; it contained some sand. After removing the sand, it would be good to have about eight catties of salt.

Third Yang had run around to many places today and was exhausted. “This is already the best salt on the market.”

Yang Xi patted the salt in her hand and wiped her hands clean with a handkerchief. “What news did you find out?”

Third Yang: “The county is severely short of salt.”

Zhou Yu heard this as soon as she entered. “It seems someone is secretly controlling the salt.”

Grain and salt were important reserve supplies.

Third Yang: “Gu Zhifu?”

Zhou Yu shook his head. “Gu Zhifu will wait until the autumn harvest to take action. He won’t break ties with the various forces in Ruizhou now.”

Gu Zhifu hadn’t yet subdued the various forces in Ruizhou; currently, he wanted Ruizhou to be stable more than anyone else.

Third Yang thought of Jiang Wang’s son-in-law and the Jiang Gongzi disguised as a woman. “Is it the Jiang Wang who is stirring things up?”

Yang Xi shook her head. “It might not be Jiang Wang. This place is too far from Jiang Wang’s fiefdom. I’m more inclined to believe the various powerful families.”

Third Yang was annoyed. “They all have a lot on their minds.”

Yang Xi thought to herself, “As if you have few thoughts.”

Third Yang asked, “JIefu, Jiejie, will you let me out?”

Zhou Yu still said the same thing, “Not yet.”

Third Yang was just testing the waters. Yang Xi said, “Instead of thinking about going out, you should seize the time to study more. You’ll need it sooner or later.”

The more you learn, the more you can impress people. Third Yang was too young, which was a major weakness.

Third Yang knew that his Jiejie and Jiefu were doing this for his own good. “I can’t get any salt. What should I do?”

Yang Xi and her husband had a way to get salt—sea salt. They weren’t far from the sea, but they didn’t have the ability to protect it, and they didn’t want to tell General Bai. The two looked at Third Yang and then looked away.

Third Yang felt a chill run down his spine from Zhou Yu’s gaze. “Why are you looking at me?”

Zhou Yu replied, “Don’t worry about the salt issue.”

Third Yang dared not utter a sound, feeling that his JIefu was plotting against him.

Yang Xi frowned. “The capital’s control over the various prefectures is getting weaker and weaker.”

This had led to the current situation, truly proving the saying “the Emperor is far away; everyone wants to be a local tyrant in their own prefecture.” Now that the situation had been reported back to the capital, the capital was powerless to control it.

Zhou Yu said, “To destroy someone, you must first make them mad.”

Yang Xi pursed her lips. “It’s the common people who are suffering.”

The powerful families didn’t care about the lives of the common people; they hoarded supplies, thinking only of their own interests.

Zhou Yu thought for a moment. “I’ll go to the county tomorrow to talk to my elder brother.”

Ruizhou should be stable, but it was not suitable for him to show up; Brother Zhong was the most suitable.

Yang Xi asked, “Should we talk to Uncle Zhong?”

Zhou Yu nodded. “Let’s talk tonight.”

Uncle Zhong was teaching now; he was increasingly enjoying teaching.

The next day, Zhou Yu and Uncle Zhong went to the county town. Long queues had formed at the salt shops. The more panicked they became, the more they hoarded; the contagious sentiment spread quickly. Just a few days ago, Xiang County was peaceful, but today only fear and unease remained.

Zhong Jin was also very troubled. Zhong Yan asked directly, “Hasn’t the official salt arrived?”

Zhong Jin shook his head. “No.”

Since the imperial court reformed the salt administration, allowing some merchants to become salt merchants had both advantages and disadvantages. It made it easier for ordinary people to buy salt, but the downside was that salt merchants, driven by profit, made salt even more unaffordable for ordinary people.

Salt prices hadn’t fluctuated too much in recent years, but this time, something seemed wrong with the salt merchants’ salt; the official salt hadn’t arrived either.

Zhong Yan said, “We don’t need to wait for the official salt.”

It was unclear who intercepted the salt, but the salt merchants were probably in a terrible predicament.

Zhong Jin was exhausted. “Father, you’ve seen it for yourselves. The peace I’ve worked so hard to maintain is gone.”

Zhou Yu pointed out, “It’s not just us who are short of salt.”

He remembered Wang Dongjia selling salt privately, but unfortunately, he was too far away, and he didn’t know how Wang Dongjia was doing.

Zhong Jin cursed under his breath, “The country isn’t dead yet!”

Zhong Yan scolded, “Silence.”

Zhou Yu pointed out, “The one most in need of salt is General Bai.”

The army’s pay was already insufficient, and the soldiers needed salt for daily training. The soldiers couldn’t lack salt, no matter what.

Zhong Jin’s headache subsided. “You mean to contact General Bai?”

Zhou Yu nodded. “We’re close to General Bai, so he must be worried too.”

Just as his elder brother Zhong said, the country wasn’t dead yet. At this time, no one dared to be the first to step forward; everyone was waiting for chaos in the north!

Now, no matter who controlled the salt, whether it was legally sold salt or government-controlled salt, in the name of the prefecture, unless they wanted to rebel, they had to give up some salt. Currently, no one was willing to be the first to do so.

Zhong Jin reacted quickly, “You mean Gu Zhifu will intervene, and General Bai will send troops to escort them?”

Zhou Yu nodded. “Yes, Gu Zhifu is busy consolidating his power. He and General Bai don’t want Ruizhou to be in chaos. They share the same goal and are very willing to cooperate.”

Zhong Yan said to his son, “You go to the prefectural city to talk to Gu Zhifu yourself. I’ll write a letter to General Bai.”

Zhong Jin was so anxious that he had blisters on his lips. He hadn’t eaten breakfast this morning, and now that he had a plan, he was hungry. “Father, let’s eat first.”

Zhong Yan said, “You eat. We ate breakfast before we came.”

Zhou Yu wanted to go out for a walk, so he got up and left the county government office. Other shops in the county government office were also affected quite a bit. The grain shops and salt shops were the most crowded.

The Zhou family had bought a lot of grain. Most of the money given by General Bai had been exchanged for grain. The family’s warehouse was full. He wasn’t in a hurry to stockpile grain. As long as there was no shortage of salt, Ruizhou could still live peacefully.

Zhou Yu was more concerned about news from the north. Unfortunately, it was too far from the capital, and the news was very delayed. He didn’t know what was happening in the capital.

They didn’t yet have the capacity to train manpower, unlike the powerful clans who had their own intelligence networks.

That afternoon, Yang Xi waited for Zhou Yu to return. “Did it work out?”

Zhou Yu looked relaxed. “It worked out.”

Yang Xi touched her belly. “I hope things calm down soon so I can give birth in peace.”

Zhou Yu’s eyes softened. “It will calm down.”

The couple kept a close eye on the news. Three days later, General Bai’s guards arrived at the Zhou family, bringing clothes and food for Bai Lang, as well as a letter for Zhong Yan.

Zhong Yan read it and smiled. “General Bai has already reached an agreement with Gu Zhifu.”

Zhou Yu also smiled. “That’s good.”

Zhong Yan put away the letter. “The rest is beyond our control.”

Several forces were vying for power, seeing who could get a piece of the pie. They weren’t qualified to continue participating.

The game wasn’t fast. A month later, Xiang County finally had official salt. That’s right, only official salt. Salt merchants’ lives became even more difficult. With the people seeing salt, Xiang County finally returned to peace.

General Bai sent a cartload of salt to the Zhou family, a sign of his regard for Zhong Yan and Zhou Yu.

Yang Xi was finally relieved and could focus on preparing for childbirth. Her classes had been suspended recently, and several of her female students would come daily to polish parts. There were some problems with the loom model she had made, so she improved it, and all the parts needed to be remade.

That day, Liu Lizheng came over. Zhou Yu was accompanying Yang Xi for a walk, and Zhou Yu invited Liu Lizheng to sit down.

Liu Lizheng, calculating the days, said, “The baby’s due soon, isn’t it?”

Zhou Yu smiled and nodded, “Soon.”

(End of Chapter)

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