"Mm, you two did well!"
Lin Yi praised the two for their efforts. They had found him a mountain of gold.
Luckily, he hadn't killed those two back then. They turned out to be two lucky stars.
"Thank you for the praise, Your Highness!"
Seeing the smile on their heir's face, Zhang Long and Zhao Hu felt as if they had eaten honey, their whole bodies tingling with delight.
It looked like the two brothers had gotten it right this time!
Zhao Hu couldn't resist claiming credit. "Your Highness, the two of us traveled all over Northern Liang this time. We endured untold hardships and faced the full eighty-one tribulations before we finally found a huge salt mine. It definitely won't disappoint you."
Over the past few days, the brothers had traveled through most of Northern Liang and finally found their target. Now they could surely report a job well done.
Boo-hoo, he'd even gotten tanned these past few days.
Fortunately, the two of them had also rendered great service this time. They could finally make up for their offenses with merit and escape punishment from the heir.
"Where is the salt mine?"
"Baiyuan Commandery!"
"Is it well salt or something else?"
"Rock salt. It used to be a mine that produced coal, but it was abandoned after the coal ran out. The two of us bought it outright!" Zhang Long explained.
Lin Yi gave him a strange look. "You didn't swindle or seize it, did you? Who would sell a salt mine? Was the seller a fool?"
"Hehe, you know this person too, Your Highness. You even have a grudge against them," Zhang Long said proudly.
A grudge?
Lin Yi paused. There were quite a few clans that bore him a grudge, so it was hard to guess.
Zhao Hu smiled. "It was the Ran Clan's mine, but now it belongs to you, Your Highness. Here's the deed." With that, he handed Lin Yi the deed in his hand. They had spent twenty thousand taels of silver to get it.
The Ran Clan?
Lin Yi's expression turned strange.
The Ran Clan had actually sold him the mine. That was rather bizarre. They couldn't possibly fail to recognize Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, and they should have been able to guess who was behind them. Why would they still sell it to him?
"My lord, there's a trick here!"
Jia Xu had naturally noticed that something was wrong too. He pulled a file from his robes and leafed through it, then found what he needed.
He handed it to Lin Yi, pointed to a passage, and said gravely, "Look, Your Highness. It says here that the Ran Clan's coal mine in Baiyuan Commandery was exhausted after only a month of digging, but after the coal ran out, a large salt deposit was discovered."
"But the salt in this mine is all poisonous, so they abandoned it. To preserve the Ran Clan's prestige, they concealed the matter. Now they've sold it to you with ulterior motives, Your Highness. They're trying to set you up."
A poisonous salt mine?
Hearing Jia Xu's words, Lin Yi believed him at once.
He knew what Jia Xu had been doing. Jia Xu had previously borrowed the Northern Liang Guard's intelligence resources, and Lin Yi had also had Wang Yue's Net give him its information. Jia Xu had compiled it all into a book called the Blacklist.
Jia Xu recorded all of Lin Yi's enemies, and the Ran Clan was clearly a major entry, so he had naturally paid attention to them.
Lin Yi took the record and read it. According to the account, the salt mine was some distance from the abandoned mine, but it seemed to have been contaminated by something, so the Ran Clan had given it up.
"It really is poisonous salt!"
Lin Yi's face darkened. The Ran Clan really did harbor evil intentions. They wanted to make him commit an injustice.
Once he sold the poisonous salt, Northern Liang City would surely hate him to the bone. By then, the popular support his father had previously gained would probably be destroyed overnight as well.
Without Northern Liang's support, taking him down would be much easier.
What a vicious lot!
"Poisonous salt?"
"Forgive us, Your Highness. We didn't know about this, I..."
Zhang Long and Zhao Hu's expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly dropped to their knees. They had done something stupid and nearly sent the heir into eternal damnation.
If the poisonous salt killed a large number of common people, the heir probably wouldn't be able to protect them, and might not even be able to protect himself.
Twenty thousand taels of silver!
Even Jia Xu couldn't help frowning. That was no small sum; it was a major loss. Though he had a hundred cunning schemes, even he could do nothing about poisonous salt.
They probably wouldn't get the twenty thousand taels back. After all, it had been a transaction both sides had agreed to, so the princely residence couldn't intervene either.
But the Ran Clan had dared to scheme against the heir, and he, Jia Xu, would not let the matter rest so easily.
Well done, Ran Clan. You've succeeded in drawing my attention. I hope you all live to a ripe old age! he sneered inwardly.
When a ruler was dishonored, his ministers must die. To dare scheme against his lord was simply courting death.
Seeing their reactions, Lin Yi suddenly burst out laughing. "Haha, it's nothing but a small matter. Why are you all so nervous?"
"A small matter?"
Jia Xu's pupils contracted. He was stunned by his lord's bearing. Even twenty thousand taels of silver was merely a small matter to him.
Lin Yi nodded and said disdainfully, "It's only twenty thousand strings of coins. The Ran Clan may be celebrating now, but who knows how they'll cry in the future!"
"My lord's spirit could swallow the world. Jia Xu is in awe!"
Jia Xu suddenly knelt, looking utterly won over, with even a trace of worship in his eyes. No wonder Lin Yi could be his lord. Only one who went against the current was a true powerhouse.
What does that mean?
Lin Yi stared in shock. Why did the venomous strategist Jia Xu seem a little slow-witted, suddenly dropping to his knees?
And what was with that look of worship? What the hell was going on?
Ding!
Just as he was about to speak, a message sounded in his mind, filling him with delight.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for winning someone over with virtue and successfully subduing the renowned venomous strategist Jia Xu. Reward: one thousand Flying Bear Army soldiers and one hundred top-grade carrier pigeons-Blue Pigeons!"
The system had been stirred!
"That works too?"
Lin Yi was thrilled. He could actually win over the people he had recruited with virtue too. This was wonderful.
What was more, judging by the notification, there was a bonus for subduing a renowned person. It had given him a huge drop outright. He was about to take off!
The rewards he had farmed from Jia Xu this time were no small thing. Compared with Ma Chao's Xiliang Iron Cavalry from before, they were every bit as good, if not better. Both the Flying Bear Army and the carrier pigeons were very important to him.
The Flying Bear Army!
Its name might have sounded a little bearish, but its fighting strength was no joke. It was the strongest elite force under Dong Zhuo, without equal.
Just how strong was it? Records said that Flying Bear Army soldiers could carry five hundred jin on their backs and travel seven hundred li in a day.
To form this army, Dong Zhuo had selected only three thousand men from a force of three hundred thousand. One could imagine how formidable they were-truly the elite among elites.
With the Flying Bear Army, Dong Zhuo had entered and taken control of the Central Plains and the Han Imperial House, striking terror into the eighteen routes of feudal lords at the mere mention of his name.
In short, the Flying Bear Army was insanely awesome!
As for the carrier pigeons, they went without saying. They were vital to transmitting intelligence, and their appearance would save a great deal of travel on foot.
Blue Pigeons were top-grade carrier pigeons, said to be able to fly continuously for a whole day without food or water.
Although that was a little outrageous, it was enough to show how remarkable they were.