Chapter 172: You can still be happy?
Bao Zheng felt helpless as he watched the Prince of Runan leave arrogantly and complacently.
Honestly speaking, if someone else handed over this kind of information involving the Zhao and Wang families, the informant would be "invited" to the Kaifeng Prefecture, and after being questioned in detail, he would be handed over to the Dali Temple for further "questioning".
It can be said that we have to be extremely cautious.
But the informant was Lu Sen , and the one who handed over the information was the Prince of Runan. Both of them were not ordinary people, so how could they be "invited"?
Now that Master Lu is willing to hand over the information, it is already a great favor. Everyone in the world knows that Master Lu has given up on the court.
Bao Zheng sighed, flipped through the book again, then entered the palace and met the emperor.
Half an hour later, Zhao Zhen finished reading the booklet, and his face turned as black as charcoal.
Although he is kind, he is not stupid.
Since ancient times, the loser in the fight for the royal throne has never had a good outcome.
He was really angry this time.
"Was this booklet really presented by Master Lu?" Zhao Zhen asked, suppressing his anger.
Bao Zheng bowed his hands and said, "The Prince of Runan did say so. I don't think he would lie about this."
When it comes to treason, anyone with a little bit of common sense will try to stay away from it.
"My dear Lord Bao, do you still remember that two years ago, some archers ambushed Master Lu outside the city?" Zhao Zhen suddenly asked.
Bao Zheng nodded and said, "Of course I remember. Afterwards, I secretly sent people to track them down, but they couldn't find any trace of those people."
Zhao Zhen stood up, walked to the bookshelf next to him, took out a booklet, and handed it to the person in front of him. Although he was afraid of Bao Zheng, he also trusted him very much in his heart: "These are some clues that I asked the Imperial City Bureau to collect in the past two years. Although I still don't know who those people are, I have found a direction. Now compare it with the information sent by Master Lu, and the clues point directly to the King of Xiangyang."
Bao Zheng did not agree with this immediately, but opened the booklet and read it carefully.
Zhao Zhen was not in a hurry. He sat back in his chair and continued to review his documents.
After nearly half an hour, Bao Zheng finally finished reading. He closed his eyes and thought for a while, comparing the clues in the two books one by one, and finally opened his eyes and said, "How does the emperor plan to deal with this? Now the King of Xiangyang has not yet raised his arms and called for action. We don't know how many soldiers he has secretly raised. If we really want to investigate this matter, we must act decisively and capture the King of Xiangyang first, so that he can't mobilize his soldiers."
"But who can do it?" Zhao Zhen sighed, "My cousin looks gentle and refined on the surface, but in fact he is very cunning. He will be alerted at the slightest sign of trouble."
"Can he be summoned to the capital?" Bao Zheng asked.
Zhao Zhen thought for a moment and said, "The problem is that the exiled prince cannot enter the capital at will. If I announce the decree, he will definitely be suspicious and then start a rebellion."
Bao Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Then I will call together all the officials in the Secretariat to discuss how to deal with this matter. After all, one person's plan is short, but everyone's plan is long."
"That's it for now then."
Lu Sen has been quite happy in the past two days. To be honest, he has been unhappy with King Xiangyang for a long time.
The environment in the Northern Song Dynasty was actually quite good. Although the farmers lived a hard life, there were at least a group of civil officials who were willing to help the grassroots people.
Bao Zheng wanted to protect the common people, and the reformists led by Master Pang also wanted to amend the malpractices in land administration so that land annexation would not be so serious.
In general, considering the current productivity, the humanistic environment in the early and middle period of the Northern Song Dynasty was still quite good.
In the later period, land annexation was too serious, which led to small waves of peasant uprisings.
The current situation in the Northern Song Dynasty is still okay. If a rebellion breaks out and several provinces are really ruined, especially if the war moves from south to north, then several major grain-bearing areas will become war zones, and agricultural harvests will fail, which will inevitably cause a great famine.
The rare peaceful era is probably gone.
Besides, if the Song Dynasty really wanted to be in chaos, it would have to be Lu Sen's doing. It was part of his plan.
That's right...he is so hypocritical.
If the Northern Song Dynasty is really in chaos, it is because of me, Lu, and no one else can do anything about it.
With this idea in mind, Lu Sen would review his plan over and over again whenever he had time, identify any problems in a timely manner, and correct them at any time.
He did not believe that a rough plan, once started, would work itself out as planned.
Human beings and human society are highly uncertain and random.
Human social development is an upward spiral, and from time to time there will be a decline in overall productivity.
Therefore, Lu Sen never relaxes his monitoring of the plan.
But for now, since it has only just begun, things are still under his control.
That day, he was in the Bitian Pavilion, discussing with Mr. Zhang the issue of the exchange of giant rice. For example, the rice seeds could only be distributed to the Song people, and outsiders were not allowed to get a single seed.
In this world, Mr. Zhang naturally agreed.
He felt that there was nothing wrong with Master Lu's decision.
During this period, only the people of Song were considered human beings, and the others were just "barbarians".
After settling the matter, Lu Sen left the Bitian Pavilion and walked around the street. When he came to the city gate, he was just thinking about finding a place with fewer people to release the aircraft back to the cave, but when he glanced ahead, he suddenly stopped, a little surprised.
Opposite him stood three people, a few officers wearing dark brown police uniforms, who were escorting a down-and-out young scholar walking on the left side of the street.
At first glance, he is an exiled official.
But Lu Sen was very familiar with this person, the former Prime Minister and current prisoner, Wang Anshi.
Wang Anshi also saw Lu Sen and looked shocked.
After an incense stick of time, Lu Sen and Wang Anshi sat in a private room of the tavern, while the officials and others were enjoying delicious food and drinks around a large round table in the hall.
Wang Anshi was wolfing down the fruit given by Lu Sen.
He finished eating quickly, and when he opened his eyes and rested for a while, he became more energetic.
"Thank you, Master Lu." Wang Anshi's bent back straightened up again, and his eyes sparkled again: "You saved half my life."
Wang Anshi just now looked haggard, weak and exhausted. If he continued like this, he would probably die of exhaustion in less than a month.
But there was no way around it. Bao Zheng was very rigid in his work. When Wang Anshi was demoted to Qiongzhou, he could only walk, but he could not take a car or a boat, and he could not enjoy himself.
Wang Anshi was just a weak scholar and had never endured such hardship. It took him more than three months to walk all the way from Bianliang to Hangzhou.
The original plan was to go to Guangzhou to board the ship, which was a long way off.
Moreover, this section of the road was the most difficult. After all, Guangdong and Guangxi were still considered to be barbarians in the south at that time. This section of land was infested with miasma and poisonous insects. I don't know how many demoted officials died on this section of land.
But Wang Anshi was Wang Anshi after all, and Master Pang still had high hopes for him. He used some tricks to allow him to take a boat to Qiongzhou from Hangzhou.
Because of Lu Sen, Hangzhou has now become a spice transit point, with many routes opened, including those to Qiongzhou.
Lu Sen smiled softly and said, "You're welcome. After all, we were once colleagues."
"We are still colleagues now." Wang Anshi looked at Lu Sen with a strange expression: "The government has not revoked your official position, nor has it agreed to your resignation. In addition, although I am no longer a prime minister, I am still a civil servant in the Five Palaces."
So that's what happened. Wang Anshi was punished, but not completely punished.
This is normal, after all, the Northern Song Dynasty was a dynasty in which the literati and the Zhao family shared the world.
Civil servants like Wang Anshi, who came from the imperial examination system, were considered the best in the Northern Song Dynasty and enjoyed many privileges.
Lu Sen said calmly: "I want my feelings, not the officials or you."
What he said is a joke in modern society, and he said it just out of habit.
After all, the imprint left on him by the Internet society cannot be eliminated so quickly.
But to Wang Anshi, these words sounded very casual and arrogant.
He laughed dryly and said, "Is this the spirit of a cultivator? I admire you."
As for Wang Anshi, no matter how proud he was, he could not say such words.
Lu Sen still looked at Wang Anshi with a smile, and then said, "You look much better to me now."
" Master Lu, are you trying to kill me?" Wang Anshi's expression was a little ugly. "If you keep saying that, I won't remember your kindness in giving me a meal."
"It doesn't matter whether you remember it or not." Lu Sen laughed. "I thought you built a city in Xingqing Prefecture and repelled two attacks from Xixia. After returning to the capital, you would definitely be promoted step by step. I didn't expect that you would become a prisoner. I don't want to say that God has eyes, because God never cares about the life and death of individuals in the world. I just want to say that Master Bao did a good job. I applaud and agree with him."
After saying this, Lu Sen really clapped his hands.
The crisp sound of palms hitting each other echoed in the box.
When Wang Anshi saw Lu Sen's look, he was so angry that his face almost twisted.
He really regretted that he had been so obsessed as to agree to Lu Sen's invitation to treat him to dinner.
But Wang Anshi is not an ordinary civil servant after all. Although he is arrogant, he is now also shrewd.
He snorted, "Mr. Bao was indeed the main reason for my demotion and exile, but Master Lu, you were the inciting cause!"
"What do you mean?" Lu Sen was very curious.
He had no idea that Bao Zheng's outlook on life had changed because of his few words.
Wang Anshi then told the story.
After listening to this, Lu Sen clapped his hands again: "Good, good, this makes me feel much better."
"Hmph." Wang Anshi let out a sigh of dissatisfaction.
Then the two of them chatted for a few minutes and then dispersed.
After all, the two of them don't get along very well, so what can be said!
Before leaving, Lu Sen said to Wang Anshi: "You are very smart and capable, but the more so, the more terrifying you are to me. For the sake of your so-called civil servant dignity, you forcefully took over the command of the army, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and almost destroying the entire northwest defense line. If you knew you were wrong, it would be fine, but I see that until now, you don't think you have made a big mistake."
"So what?" Wang Anshi narrowed his eyes at Lu Sen.
"No reason," Lu Sen stood at the door, shook his head and said, "But I believe that the environment in Qiongzhou will make you change."
Wang Anshi remained silent.
In the eyes of civil officials, Qiongzhou at that time was a hell on earth.
The officials who were able to come back alive are all real tough guys.
In fact, Wang Anshi hoped that Lu Sen would give him a bottle of honey. When he felt comfortable, he would take a sip of it. It was estimated that it would keep him going for a long time. At least he would not die easily before adapting to the climate of Qiongzhou.
Lu Sen then left.
But Wang Anshi remained silent. He sat back in the box and ate up all the remaining delicacies and drinks.
Soon after, the officials came in, and the leader said respectfully, "Doctor Wang, it's time to report to Hangzhou Prefecture."
At this time, Wang Anshi was still a fifth-rank official and held the honorary position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue.
He stood up silently, followed the officials out of the restaurant and came to Hangzhou Prefecture.
After the officer reported their names, the Hangzhou constables took them to the prison, and then Wang Anshi was arranged in a solitary room, which was also the best iron cell.
He had clean straw for a bed and no other prisoners living with him.
You have to know that most of the prisoners in prison are ferocious and if they are locked up together, there will often be disputes.
He was temporarily detained here because the ship to Qiongzhou only departs once every half a month, and the previous ship left the port three days ago, so Wang Anshi had to wait about twelve days.
Sitting on the straw pile, Wang Anshi had no time to feel depressed before he suddenly discovered that in the cell next to his, there was a dishevelled man with messy hair, holding the iron bars with both hands, and looking at him with a pair of burning eyes through the gaps.
"Hehe, the thin white|tender meat looks good."
Wang Anshi felt a chill all over his body. He stared at the other person fiercely, but the other person didn't care and just swore at him even more.
Wang Anshi was so angry that he almost vomited blood and died.
But soon, the criminal restrained himself because the acting prefect of Hangzhou, Lu Huiqing, arrived.
"Jiefu, I haven't seen you for a long time. I miss you so much." Lu Huiqing sighed: "It's been almost three years since we last met in the capital, but I never thought that when we meet again, it would be like this."
At that time, Lu Huiqing had just passed the imperial examination and had no official position after leaving the court.
Wang Anshi was already a Prime Minister and was highly regarded by Grand Tutor Pang, so the gap in their status was huge.
At that time, in order to win over the new Jinshi scholars, Master Pang took Wang Anshi to entertain almost all of them.
It can be said that Wang Anshi and Master Pang were the center of everyone, while Lu Huiqing stood on the side, bowing and nodding, as humble as a minion.
But now the situation is completely reversed.
Lu Huiqing was dressed in official uniform, looking bright and handsome, while Wang Anshi was dressed in rags, sitting on straw, looking as miserable as a beggar.
Lu Huiqing has never been a generous person.
At that time, he was jealous of the high-spirited Wang Anshi.
The two men were of similar age. When Lu Huiqing had just passed the imperial examination, the other was already a minister in the court.
This made Lu Huiqing, who called himself a "genius", extremely unhappy.
But he was also smart and never showed such emotions in front of others.
The same is true now.
But who is Wang Anshi? He keenly noticed the mocking gloating in Lu Huiqing's eyes.
After all, Lu Huiqing is still too "young".
"Prefect Lu, you actually still have time to come and see me? Don't you know that you are going to be in trouble?" Wang Anshi said lightly.
"Why do you say that? Brother Jiefu, this is your first time here..."
Wang Anshi interrupted Lu Huiqing and said, "Master Lu is in Hangzhou, but you can't find him. How do you think the important officials in the court will view you?"
