Chapter 1 He Has to Be Okay, Right?

"Sister, is my brother-in-law alright…?" When Ye Tao's new appointment was announced, and to everyone's surprise, Ye Tao took office with a guard, entourage, and staff that far exceeded the requirements of the position, Tan Wei Shi felt a little uneasy.

Ye Tao's appointment was merely as the Director of the Road and Bridge Department of the Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner's Office. His main job was to manage all roads, bridges, and surface post stations and checkpoints within Yunzhou, ensuring traffic flow within Yunzhou. If funds permitted, he could build new roads or widen existing ones as needed. This was an extremely important and influential position. Yunzhou currently had only one main road, roughly stretching from the location of the Blood Kirin Army's camp at Dongjiaji all the way to a point west of Thunderclap Cliff, then branching into two roads, one leading to Suiyuan and the other to Ningyuan, and finally to the ferry crossing near the Di River that Ye Tao had overseen the construction of. In most of Yunzhou, only paths formed by frequent foot traffic were passable, leaving ample room for road construction. The special authorization to set up post stations and other service facilities along Yunzhou's main roads, using operating and toll fees to maintain and build roads, offered considerable room for maneuver. The problem was that this powerful position seemed almost too straightforward on the surface.

This appointment, which was in line with Ye Tao's current rank, would have been met with envious gazes if it had been given to anyone else. The funds, manpower, and resources that could be manipulated in this position were substantial. Even without deliberate embezzlement or bribery, the "courtesy" gifts from various stakeholders would be enough to make a fortune. The series of post stations along the way could be used to accommodate many of one's own subordinates, allowing this golden avenue to continuously generate wealth. Achieving political achievements in this position was simple, and the prospects for future promotion were quite considerable, as long as one wasn't too foolish and steadily promoted road and bridge construction.

But this appointment, given to Ye Tao, inevitably led to speculation. Because many of Yunzhou's industries hadn't been taken over, and it would take time to take over the local finances, all the expenses of the Road and Bridge Department were directly allocated from the internal treasury. Appointing Ye Tao, the imperial son-in-law, to manage this matter naturally involved the element of trusting one's own family, but combined with the continuous debates and covert struggles in the court recently, this appointment clearly had the element of allowing Ye Tao to fade out of the center of controversy, to prevent Ye Tao from being surrounded by all kinds of hostile gazes. It also had the element of easing the struggle and allowing those civil officials who had been put in a very awkward position by Ye Tao to serve their posts with peace of mind, so as not to cause turmoil in the court. But the balance between these two was really hard to say.

Compared to Ye Tao's previous position as the Grand Canal Governor-General, or the job where he could make decisions about Yunzhou affairs with a single word, this appointment was really too ordinary for a young official like Ye Tao, who was the focus of much attention. It was so ordinary that Ye Tao, who could always create unexpected tricks, might well become ordinary in this position, and finally become one of the "capable officials" of the Dongping court who followed the rules.

Tan Wei Shi, who could understand this level of relationship, would naturally be a little worried. What was most attractive about Ye Tao was that he could always discover all kinds of ideas and practices in the traditional model that were beyond common sense but in line with reason. Tan Wei Shi was also deeply afraid that this position, which seemed unable to cause any waves, would wear away Ye Tao's brilliant creativity.

"How could your brother-in-law be in trouble?" Tan Wei Xin smiled. "Just based on what he said in court, Father asked him to sort out a detailed explanation and conceive some methods to avoid the various problems that might arise after reunification. Being qualified to write such a memorial means that Father has already recognized that Ye Tao has the talent to assist a ruler. And Yunzhou is probably the best place for your brother-in-law to avoid the limelight, calm down to sort out his thoughts, and at the same time easily do some practical things."

Tan Wei Xin didn't tell Tan Wei Shi about the work Ye Tao was undertaking privately. In addition to the kind of work that everyone thought should accumulate merit, such as building bridges and paving roads, and the great and ethereal work of planning the Dongping grand plan, Ye Tao was also responsible for a pile of other things.

If Ye Tao's plan was submitted to the court for discussion, it would definitely not be approved. Moreover, Tan Xiao Pei couldn't guarantee now that the people in the Hall of Political Affairs and the people around them were all reliable. If the news leaked out, it would be all over. Nie Rui would be the first Director of the Dongping Intelligence General Bureau, which was under construction. Nie Rui would also be directly in charge of promoting the Lei Yin Mo Zong (Thunder Sound Demon Sect) in Xiling. Ye Tao was the key link in the entire plan. He would be responsible for establishing the entire Lei Yin Mo Zong's doctrinal system, training the first few batches of various religious personnel, especially training a group of "priests" with strong penetration, communication, and persuasive abilities to preach. In addition to selecting a group from the internal affairs guards, most of these personnel were selected from the various industries operated by the internal treasury and the royal manors, etc., from people of all ages who were loyal to the royal family, flexible in thinking, good at dealing with people, or showed some performance in leadership. When this group of people was handed over to Ye Tao, it was nominally just that Tan Wei Xin wanted Ye Tao to better establish the post station system along the main roads of Yunzhou and transferred personnel from her own industry. But after a period of training in public relations, group studies, psychology, interpersonal communication, and behavioral science, Ye Tao would select those with potential for further training in religion and communication skills, etc. Naturally, the use of combat skills, passwords, and a series of espionage supplies, including the first generation of invisible ink based on lemon juice, were also included in the curriculum. After these trainings, qualified people in all aspects would be sent to Xiling. Zhuo Xian Chen had withdrawn from Xiling. Now staying in Xiling, occupying the Li family's castle, and slowly carrying out the preliminary layout for Dongping's Lei Yin Mo Zong plan, was an important leader of the internal affairs guards. This guy, who is said to be named Lei Chi now, has used both bribery and threats to quell the pursuit of the Xiling local government for what happened to the Li family's castle, cleverly turning it into a property transfer with some possible conflicts…

Under the current circumstances, letting Ye Tao stay away from Danyang, away from the power center of Dongping, but giving Ye Tao a solid and stable position, allowing Ye Tao to conduct personnel training for intelligence in a place where everyone would not pay attention all the time, on the one hand, coincided with Ye Tao's laziness and love of dealing with things rather than interpersonal relationships. On the other hand, it also laid the groundwork for changing Ye Tao's position in the future and giving him more important appointments. Moreover, the current Ye Tao is as stable as Mount Tai. Except for Tan Xiao Pei, no one can easily move him. The expenses for training personnel and the expansion of the Lei Yin Mo Zong in Xiling are all handled through Ye Tao's Road and Bridge Department. However, since the Road and Bridge Department is entirely funded by the internal treasury, the Ministry of Revenue and the Censorate have no room to intervene. In the future, when Ye Tao is transferred, as long as the person in charge of the internal treasury says that the accounts are okay, then they are okay. However, the person in charge of the internal treasury is still Tan Wei Xin. Even if there is a problem, with her prestigious name as the "Queen of Fake Accounts," it would be too easy to smooth it over on the surface.

Tan Xiao Pei used such an appointment to ensure that Ye Tao would not be further involved in the court's disputes and future prospects, but used two other errands to greatly enrich the connotation of this appointment. Behind such an appointment was not only Tan Xiao Pei's repositioning of Ye Tao, a very talented young man, but also placing him in a position as a close confidant who could share secrets. Although it seems that Ye Tao is a bit aggrieved now, when these benefits gradually become apparent, everyone will be too late to envy him.

If there is anyone who would be very dissatisfied with such an appointment, it would probably be Ye Tao himself. He had only just returned to Danyang not long ago, and he was going back to Yunzhou again. Through Tan Xiao Pei's hints and Tan Wei Xin's explanations, Ye Tao did understand how important the things he had to do were, and how great the benefits of this appointment were, but the problem was that the Director of the Road and Bridge Department was another type of hard labor.

But what can be done now? Tan Xiao Pei generously promised that next summer, after Crown Prince Tan Wei Ming and Prince Tan Wei Ran successively got married, she would immediately arrange the wedding for herself and Tan Wei Xin. The long period of time from nominally recognizing Ye Tao's status as imperial son-in-law to actually holding a wedding for the two may also set a record in Dongping.

Is the Road and Bridge Department really a place where Ye Tao's full of creativity has no place to play? Ye Tao doesn't think so, at least he won't as the director. Since Ye Tao already has a good reputation in Yunzhou, he can do many things that others find difficult to operate. Just when his motorcade was temporarily stationed at the Dongjiaji camp, the first Yunzhou tribal trade caravan also came to the Dongjiaji camp. This large trade caravan, led by Goran, the chieftain of the Solo tribe, was undertaking far more than just trade. At least one-third of the various materials carried by the caravan were prepared as tributes to the Dongping Emperor. Goran will represent the various tribes of northern Yunzhou in expressing their submission to Dongping, and also hope to get a promise from Tan Xiao Pei.

And just at the Dongjiaji camp, after a full half-day of consultation with Goran, Ye Tao introduced Liu Qing, who served as the liaison for the Seven Seas Trading Company, to Goran, and introduced the merchants of the Seven Seas Trading Company and the Jiuzhou Trading Company who followed Ye Tao's motorcade into Yunzhou to look for post-war business opportunities, and gave Goran a piece of news that couldn't be better: In order to ensure the supply of salt to the grassland tribes, the internal treasury will sell two of the four salt fields under its name to the Yunzhou tribes at a "reasonable price." The Dongping court will not interfere with the Yunzhou tribes' way of holding shares in these two salt fields. In the first three years, the internal treasury will be responsible for the original salt field staff to teach the people sent by the tribes a series of salt-making processes such as salt drying, impurity removal, and purification. The salt produced by these two salt fields will be supplied exclusively to Yunzhou and cannot be circulated into the original territory of Dongping. Thanks to the support of the tribes' large number of horses and the new four-wheeled carriages produced by Ye's Workshop, it is conceivable that the tribes' spending on salt will be greatly reduced. They will not only have enough salt to ensure daily dietary consumption, but also be able to use a considerable portion to pickle excess meat for storage. This alone is a huge improvement in the living conditions of the tribes. As for the issue of tea, since Dongping itself is not a major tea-producing country, most of the ordinary tea consumed daily, except for a few special tea varieties with small yields, is also imported from Chunnan. In order to ensure that tea can be self-sufficient and ensure Yunzhou's needs, the Dongping Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Industry are trying to expand Dongping's tea production. The first batch of old tea farmers and workers who have mastered tea-making techniques who were poached from the major tea plantations in Chunnan at any cost have arrived in Dongping and are establishing tea plantations in some places in the southeast of Dongping that seem more suitable for tea production.

"Your Excellency… this is all thanks to you." Hearing what Ye Tao said, Goran bowed deeply to Ye Tao. The old man is a hero on the grassland and has a lot of strength. Ye Tao wanted to stop him, but he couldn't.

"This really has nothing to do with me." Ye Tao smiled and said, "When the court was still arguing, His Majesty's arrangements had already begun. His Majesty's original intention was that even if those terms were too resisted in the court and could not be passed immediately, he could not let you wait too long. Now that the internal treasury is in good financial condition, it will help you solve it through the internal treasury. Anyway, His Majesty himself doesn't care about having less money in his hands, so everyone has nothing to say. And now that the court has also passed it, this is the fastest way to solve it, and there will be no trouble."

Dongping's rapid response and implementation of its policy towards the Yunzhou tribes had a great impact on Goran and other tribal leaders. How much income the two salt fields can bring to the internal treasury every year is a number that can be estimated. Even if it is to ensure Yunzhou and ensure the supply of the northern tribes, they would have been very satisfied if they sold it to them at a slightly lower price than the original Yunzhou salt price. But now, the salt fields are in their own hands. Although they always feel that the salt fields are too far away from Yunzhou and they can't reach them, it is much better than completely relying on others. And the condition for this part of the supply is only that the output of these two salt fields is not allowed to flow back to Dongping and interfere with the Dongping market.

Only a fool would let the salt flow back to Dongping. You must know that when there is a surplus of salt, doing business with the northern tribes is the way to maximize profits. If properly controlled, Yunzhou's special salt supply can even become a tool to coerce and divide the northern tribes. As long as it is properly controlled, the situation where tens of thousands of cavalry suddenly appear may never happen again.

"Since His Majesty is kind to us, we are also straightforward to our friends. Brother Ye, give me the bottom line. How much money should our tribes pay to buy those two salt fields?" Goran asked spiritedly.

"I don't know about this. His Majesty won't personally ask about this matter. You will probably have to talk to my fiancée about this deal." Ye Tao said with a smile, "You are all my friends. Don't worry, although it definitely won't be cheap, it won't be too big a number. You must be left with enough money to do business… Remember the business partnership we talked about before? When the road is built and a large number of goods can be shipped out, there will be too many opportunities to make money."

Goran shook his head slightly and said, "You underestimate us too much. There is nothing else, but everyone has a lot of cattle, sheep, and gold in their hands."

Ye Tao apologized quickly: "Well, it's my fault. Then I'll tell you another good news. If you encounter any local officials on the road to Danyang who dare to call you barbarians or anything like that, whip them hard, just don't beat them to death. Although this matter has to be subtle, you must be persistent enough, so that our friends can help."

Ye Tao winked. Goran laughed heartily in understanding. This suggestion was very much to his liking. The Dongping Emperor, whom he had never met, immediately became more vivid in his mind. This emperor is really an interesting person. Goran predicted that he should be able to become friends with the Dongping Emperor.