Chapter 3225 Combing Hair
After finally coaxing little Bai Jingxing to sleep, Bai Shan took Zhou Man's hand and went back to the house, stealing glances at her all the way.
Zhou Man pinched him and asked, "What are you secretly looking at?"
Bai Shan grabbed her hand, held it firmly in his palm, and whispered in her ear, "Do you want to have another child?"
Zhou Man's cheeks flushed slightly. After a long silence, he whispered, "I haven't been very busy lately."
Bai Shan understood, pulled her and quickly returned to the room.
Zhou Man's face turned redder and he pulled him aside and asked, "Aren't you going to plan a bandit suppression plan with Governor Liu?"
Bai Shan: "No delay."
Governor Liu had a navy with a large number of soldiers and warships. He had long disliked the pirates on the sea, especially his son who was transporting official salt for the Salt Transport Bureau. The official ship had to make eight round trips a year, and from time to time he would encounter pirates passing by.
After becoming the governor of Qingzhou, merchant ships entering and leaving Longchi Wharf were occasionally harassed by pirates, which was intolerable under his rule.
So Bai Shan spoke to him on behalf of Tang He, and he immediately agreed.
Tang He helped him contact the governors of Pingzhou and Dengzhou and apply to the court for a joint crackdown on bandits. Governor Liu promised to capture the pirates who were colluding with Laizhou and hand them over to him.
Things were going relatively smoothly. When little Bai Jingxing finally came out of his grief and had temporarily forgotten little Bai Ruoyu, Bai Shan returned from the sea exhausted, his eyes sparkling as he said, "We won. The bandits in Pingzhou and Dengzhou were wiped out and dispersed, and the Baekje and Japanese pirates who were hiding on the islands at sea were also dispersed."
It was late at night and Zhou Man was awakened. He was sitting on the bed looking at him in confusion. Seeing him talking nonstop, he reached out and pinched his face.
The feel is very real, "It's a real person."
Bai Shan paused, "...Of course it's a real person."
He hurriedly got up, pushed her into the quilt, and covered her with it. "It's my fault. I was too excited. You go back to sleep."
Zhou Man couldn't sleep anymore. She woke up completely and was about to pull Bai Shan to ask for details, but he had already run to take a shower and wash his hair.
He had been staying in Longchi during this period and had also gone out to sea. It was normal for him not to take a bath for ten days or half a month on the boat, so he was now covered in dirt.
When he tiptoed into the room with wet hair, he saw Zhou Man sitting cross-legged on the couch in the outer room.
He instantly stood up straight and walked in, "Awake?"
Zhou Man nodded, picked up a large towel, and waved, "Come here, I'll help you wipe your hair."
Bai Shan walked forward and sat directly on the footrest.
Zhou Man felt that the weather was a bit cold, so he handed him a cushion and helped him wipe his hair. "Did you catch the person that Brother Tang wanted?"
"Well," Bai Shan said, "the people have been sent to Laizhou. Do you know where they sold the stolen salt?"
"where?"
Bai Shan said: "Baekje, Silla, and Liaodong."
Zhou Man was stunned. "Doesn't the salt from Liaodong come from here?"
Bai Shan shook his head. "The Imperial Salt Transport Bureau has no control over that area now. They're self-sufficient in salt now. The price of salt is even higher than before the salt administration reform, fluctuating around 120 wen. The price in Baekje and Silla is similar."
Although their currencies are different, the value of the items can be calculated by converting them.
Transactions between the two countries generally use gold and silver as currency, which is not difficult to convert.
Zhou Man: "They are so brave to smuggle salt to foreign countries."
Bai Shan nodded. "It's a huge amount. Originally, they were planning to do it quietly. They would ship a portion of salt directly from the salt fields, lose some during transportation, and then deliver it to the pirates every month via merchant ships going out to sea."
"The pirates brought the salt to various locations and sold it privately, splitting the proceeds between the two parties. It seemed like they were working together seamlessly," Bai Shan said. "But the Laizhou governor noticed something was amiss and began keeping an eye on the salt fields and the Salt Transport Office."
"The Laizhou Salt Works was originally run by the Laizhou Governor. Even when the Salt Transport Bureau took over, he still had his own people there. Once he sensed something was amiss, he sent people to guard it tightly. As a result, they were unable to ship out the smuggled salt for three consecutive months. The buyers were pressing them so hard, they lost their minds and sank the official ship carrying the salt."
"There's also a waterproof oilskin bag inside the salt bag. It's tied tightly, so it's waterproof even if it falls into the sea. Afterwards, once everyone's gone, they'll find someone who's a good swimmer to dive down, tie up the salt bag, and pull it up."
Zhou Man was amazed. "For the sake of money, they are really creative and will do anything."
She was puzzled. "If you're so smart, wouldn't it be better to use it in a legitimate way? Isn't the money earned in a legitimate way good?"
Bai Shan thought for a moment and said, "The money earned through legitimate means is less."
Zhou Man shook his head. "But committing a crime requires more energy and is terrifying. Add to that the consequences of breaking the law, and it's not worth it."
"If you put these talents to good use, you can also earn a lot of money. Money is enough for daily life, so why bother with it?"
Bai Shan smiled and looked back at her. He reached out and touched her cheek and said, "That's because you have a righteous heart and are easily satisfied. But the most difficult thing to satisfy in the hearts of people in this world is greed."
Zhou Man reached out and pushed his head back, making him sit up straight, and continued to wipe his hair. "Now that we've apprehended the pirate, we can let this case go, right, Brother Tang? I wonder if he'd be willing to come and live in Beihai County for a while?"
Bai Shan said, "We'll ask him later. He's already come for inspection once. If he comes again, it will either seem like he's lazy or that there's something wrong with Beihai County."
Zhou Man thought so too. Because of his identity, although he could choose where to inspect, he couldn't do whatever he wanted.
Zhou Man dried his hair, touched his soft long hair, became happy, turned around and crawled over to get a comb, and started to comb his hair with great interest.
Bai Shan grabbed her hand, and the tips of her ears turned red. "I can do it myself."
"No, I'll comb it for you."
Bai Shan squeezed her hand and emphasized, "I can do it myself."
"You've combed my hair, but I haven't combed yours yet." After saying that, she raised her hand and reached towards his head.
Bai Shan hurriedly grabbed her hand, his face flushed, "No, I can do it myself!"
Zhou Man just looked at him quietly.
Bai Shan's neck turned red. He was already fair, so the redness was particularly noticeable. Zhou Man looked him up and down, thinking, "So you're shy~"
Bai Shan looked at her silently, then let go of her hand after a while and sat back on the footstool, looking as if he was ready to do whatever he wanted.
Zhou Man instantly became happy, touched his hair and combed it carefully.
The tips of Bai Shan's ears turned red.
Xibing yawned and went back to the room. He said to the sleepy Jiuyue, "Aren't you going to sleep yet?"
Jiu Yue tried hard to open her eyes, "My dear husband and my wife are still awake."
Xibing then sat beside her on the bed and after a while said, "Let's go to sleep first. The Master and the Lady don't like us serving them, so they probably won't call anyone tonight."
Jiu Yue didn't move, so Xibing turned her head to look at her, and saw that she had fallen asleep with her head down. She reached out and poked her head, and she leaned to the other side and fell on the bed with a thud.
Xibing yawned and fell on the bed at the other end.
(End of this chapter)
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