Early the next morning, when he left the Xue Mansion, Gu Yuanbai had thought that Xue Yuan would not appear before him.
But as soon as the door opened, Gu Yuanbai still locked eyes with the bearded Xue Yuan, who pulled up a frozen smile, his shoulders drenched in a layer of watery dew, "Your Holiness, I'm going into the palace."
"...... "Gu Yuanbai, "What are you doing in the palace?"
Xue Yuan: "Protecting you."
Gu Yuanbai couldn't help but turn the jade wrench on his hand, his gaze flicking over his face and away from his stubble and the greenish-blackness under his eyes, "Want a salary?"
"His Holiness will just manage food and shelter." Xue Yuan said.
Gu Yuanbai nodded, dryly, "Follow."
There was another one inside the group leaving the palace, Xue Yuan wrapped his boots tightly, straightened his sword at his waist, and rejoined the group of personal guards.
He looked at Gu Yuanbai's back, his brows lowered, and his grip tightened on the hilt of his sword.
After returning to the palace, Gu Yuanbai called the Dongling guards, but before he could command the order to let them fully search the bedchamber and Xuanzheng Hall, someone from the Supervision Department came to pay a visit to His Majesty.
This group of people returned from the coast, they were sent by Gu Yuanbai to explore the matter of sea salt and pool salt, in the Western Xia green salt secretly prevalent, Gu Yuanbai has been looking for ways to open source.
In addition to that, they had a special task, which was to go around the coast to look for unseen crops, to see if there were any seeds from other continents that had been lapped by the waves to the borders of the Great Heng, or something that had been brought in by seagulls and then rooted and sprouted at the coast. If one could really find potato or corn seeds along the coast, it would be a great joy.
This group had been to the coast for two years, and this was the first time they had returned. Gu Yuanbai ordered the Dongling guards to wait on the sidelines and let the officials from the Inspection Division come forward.
After the officials of the Supervision Office saluted, without any nonsense, they first reported the matter of coastal salt tanning, and handed the map to Gu Yuanbai, who looked at the red dots on the map, "These are the newly found rock salt and pool salt?"
"Yes," said the official of the Supervision Office, "we have found salt lakes in the hollows of the mountains in the two Zhejiang provinces, and after many years of exposure to the scorching sun, the water in the lakes has long since dried up, leaving only salt grains as bright as snow flakes. There are many salt lakes in this one place, and the ministers tried it out, and it is exactly the salt that can be eaten."
"Naturally sun-dried table salt," Gu Yuanbai's eyes lit up, "much?"
"Large and small rolling piece of mountain," monitoring office officials cautious, "that place has been entrusted to the garrison surrounded, a detailed investigation found that the animals in the mountains are happy to lick a mountain wall before noon, I went to take a look, with a dagger without scraping a few times, showed the dirty color of the salt particles, and then scrape a few times, the inside is snow white salt. The mountains were hidden with a few grains of salt of a dirty color. The hills were covered with snow, and I realized then that what covered the hills was not snow, but rock salt. But the minister and other manpower is not enough, only first came back to report to the emperor, has not yet checked the number of how much."
Gu Yuanbai's breathing heaved, "Then these hills with salt lakes?"
"Yes," the official of the Inspection Office also couldn't help but show a smile, "these hills, as I boldly speculate, are all one big salt mine."
This surprise came too suddenly, Gu Yuanbai was caught off guard and was overjoyed. Supervision office people see the saint like this, also heart happy to meet, and took out a wooden box to, "saint, I and so from the coast of a back, found that the rich and noble people in the Linhai like to point on a kind of spice, this kind of spice flavor pleasant, and also refreshing the effect of the brain, the ministers and so on specially brought to dedicate to the saint."
Gu Yuanbai gladly agreed, let Tian Fusheng took over, extinguished the incense in the hall, after ventilation, lit the spices brought by the officials of the Supervision Department, set on top of the desk to taste.
Dense smoke from the incense burner curls up, light and elegant fragrance slowly diffuse, Gu Yuanbai face of the smile is a meal, and finally slowly convergence, condensed into an expressionless look.
As his expression went cold, the atmosphere in the palace also seemed to be suddenly frozen. In the huge palace, there was actually only this misty fog moving with the wind.
Gu Yuanbai slowly leaned back, leaning on top of the back of his chair as he said with uncertain joy and anger, "Is this incense from the coast?"
The Supervision Office official's face was solemn, "I don't dare to speak nonsense, this incense is precisely the incense that entered my Daheng from the coast."
Gu Yuanbai's breathing was a bit sharper, his hands had pinched the seat armrests, his fingertips whitening, his monstrous anger hidden, "I know. You guys had a hard journey, go down first."
The officials of the Supervision Department wore a worried expression and retreated extremely obediently.
As soon as the people left, Gu Yuanbai looked at Dong Lingwei, his eyes like quenched ice, "Invite the seventh prince of Western Xia! Say that I invited him over to accompany me to enjoy the Imperial Garden."
Dong Ling Wei immediately led the order and went away, Gu Yuan Bai's face was gloomy, so black that it dripped ink, he abruptly stretched out his hand and smashed the incense burner fiercely into the hall, bam, the palace guards in the hall knelt down on the ground and let out a dull thud.
"Coastal incense, coastal spice!" Gu Yuanbai's forehead veins emerged, "It has even become the national fragrance of Western Xia!"
Xixia inland, is the location of the later Ningxia, Shaanxi area, and the sea across the great Heng distant, such a landlocked country, how can a spice from the coast in to become the national fragrance!
The incense burner rolled a few times on the ground and was stepped on by Xue Yuan under his feet, Xue Yuan's brows were clouded as he went up to support the saint who was trembling with anger.
Gu Yuanbai was helped by him to sit down again, his gaze sullen as he looked at the ashes of the cigarette that had knocked over the floor, and a word suddenly flashed through his mind in a flash of electricity.
Addictive substances.
*
The wind blew in from the palace door, and the hair and robes fluttered toward the front. The midday sunlight spread at the palace gate, lengthening to the front of the case, but Gu Yuanbai felt his limbs chilled.
He grabbed Xue Yuan's hand and his fingers pinched out a fingerprint on the back of Xue Yuan's hand.
Addictive substances, what do you mean by addictive substances?
The most famous would be opium. The famous addiction that the Chinese hate and fear is opium, which is made from the fruit of the opium poppy.
And five stone powder.
Wu Shi San was popular during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, but few people use it now. However, opium has been used as a tribute from foreign dynasties since the Tang Dynasty, and has always been recognized as a good medicine. By the way, opium is not called opium nowadays, it is called poppy popcorn. ①
The cold air went straight into his head, and his internal organs seemed to be covered with a layer of black gas, Gu Yuanbai felt that his hands and feet were cold, and he did not have the strength to hold Xue Yuan's hand anymore, and when he was about to dislodge it, his backhand was held by Xue Yuan.
Xue Yuan suppressed, "Your Holiness."
Gu Yuanbai looked up at him blankly, then said, "Xue Jiuyao, I seem to be poisoned."
Addictive substances are taken sparingly, and can even be a good medicine into the medicine, Gu Yuanbai believes that in his layers of control under the Imperial Hospital, if someone really secretly let him take addictive substances, it is likely that it is only a subtle amount of dosage, so that the dosage in the eyes of the Imperial Doctor may just be beneficial to Gu Yuanbai's body.
But the heart panic, breathing difficulties, leave the palace for a long time is weak hands and feet, dry vomiting and regurgitation, which is clearly already addicted.
Xue Yuan's hands suddenly tightened, he clenched his teeth in death, the corners of his jaws bulging as if he was about to storm out, "Xiang?"
Gu Yuanbai looked at him with this look of going for the kill at any time, but instead calmed down, "Not necessarily."
If he had become an addict, then yesterday's reaction was just too easy to get through. Even though Gu Yuanbai had never taken drugs, he knew what kind of reaction a truly addicted person would have when they quit.
Even if it is really a problem with the fragrance of Western Xia, but the hospital did not check out the harm, only that the amount of tiny to harm the health of normal people, only "refreshing the brain" effect.
With this sensitive and decaying body of his, there is a good chance that he is overreacting to this addictive substance.
Gu Yuanbai thought of this, but his heart was relieved, "First wait for the seventh prince of Western Xia to come." For the first time, he was thankful that he was not well, "In the matter of the Western Xia Guo Xiang, I don't believe that they dare to frame me so blatantly."
Xue Yuan's breath stuttered, "You don't call the imperial physician first?!"
Gu Yuanbai froze and glanced at him, "Wait a minute."
Xue Yuan didn't say much more, looked deeply at him, flicked his sword, and stood aside to wait with him.
Gu Yuanbai thought of Xue Yuan's words last night about blocking the path to the Yellow Springs for him, and his complexion changed slightly, "Tian Fusheng, call the imperial physician to wait in the side hall."
Don't.
It's pretty crowded with two people squeezing a yellow road.
*
Dong Ling Wei went to invite the seventh prince of Western Xia, but brought the second prince of Western Xia along with him.
The second prince of Western Xia looked worried and smiled coyly, "The foreign minister has followed me without authorization, please forgive the foreign minister."
"How courteous," Gu Yuanbai looked at these two Western Xia's imperial sons with a smile, "Someone come, bestow a seat."
The two Western Xia emperors sat down, Gu Yuanbai slowly chatted with them about a few Western Xia customs, and then coldly asked, "Seventh prince, can you smell whether the smell in my temple is familiar?"
Li Angshun eyes slightly narrowed, carefully smelled the smell in the temple, smiled, "necessarily familiar, this is exactly my Western Xia's national incense. My Western Xia up to father, down to the hundred officials rich and powerful, all like this incense."
Gu Yuanbai repeated, "From the emperor down to the hundred officials and rich people ......"
His heart sank.
"Precisely," Li Ang Shun Road, "my father's palace in the incense flavor to be more than the saint here, he really love this incense, even after sleeping also want the palace people when renewed spices, if the night spice broken, my father will even panic to wake up from the dream. "
Gu Yuanbai closed his eyes, "I also think this tastes good."
It's already a chronic poison.
Li Ang Shun eyes in the self-satisfied color emerges, "This incense can be used to make people awake at first sight, my famous ministers of Western Xia are praised for it."
Gu Yuanbai had no more interest in chatting, and on the pretext of not feeling well, he asked the palace guards to take the two emperors forward to the Imperial Garden for a stroll.
The second prince obediently got up, but Li Anshun face disappointed, at this time, he suddenly perceived a burst of unkind gaze, head to look, see Daheng Emperor behind the standing of a handsome extraordinary guard, is staring at Li Anshun's finger to see.
Li Anshun frowned, and before his anger could rise, he turned his eyes to see two large black-skinned wolves standing up as tall as a man also standing in the hidden corner of the wall, and these two wolves with ghostly eyes were also staring at Li Anshun's finger.
Li Anshun's chills rose and he turned to follow the palace attendant out of the palace.
In a moment, the Imperial Doctor of the side hall came forward and took the pulse of the saint, the saint closed his eyes, still in the mouth of Li Angshun, "all the people inhale the national fragrance" and the chills.
The Emperor of Western Xia has become very addicted, and the people of Western Xia have not yet realized the bad effects of this incense? What kind of person traded so many addictive substances with Western Xia, and let Western Xia send these addictive substances to Gu Yuanbai.
Is it because of this that the Western Xia took out so many reparations.
"Check," Gu Yuanbai's voice was muffled and pressed with a thousand burdens, "Go find out where these incenses were shipped to Western Xia from, and then find out where the incense on the coast entered Daheng from."
Addictions of this kind are almost the supreme symbol of power, a powerful tool to rule over others and control them.
Absolutely can not endure, absolutely must find out who is coveting Daheng, who appetite is so big that want to even West Xia also swallowed into the stomach.