Chapter 218 The Heavenly Way Iron Certificate is Really Useful
The Lin family's mourning hall was set up in a private house outside the city wall of Hangzhou, which was rented at a high price.
After all, using someone else's house to store corpses and set up a mourning hall is an unlucky thing in itself. Without adequate compensation, who would be willing to do so?
When Lu Sen arrived at the mourning hall, there were only a few people busying around in front of it. There was a group responsible for funeral affairs, dancing, singing and playing music nearby, adding a heavy atmosphere to the lonely old house.
When Lu Sen came, naturally no one informed him.
Mr. Lin was kneeling in front of the coffin, wearing mourning clothes and looking dazed.
There was an old woman crying nearby, her voice almost hoarse, but she was still sobbing. I guess it must be Lin's mother.
When Lu Sen approached, Mr. Lin realized that he had a guest.
He looked up at Lu Sen, his eyes full of red, and said in a calm tone: "Master Lu, are you here to pay your respects?"
Lu Sen nodded.
Mr. Lin's expression became more vivid, and he forced a smile, "If my father knew that the world-famous and distinguished Master Lu came to visit him, he would be very happy if he had a spirit in the underworld. After all, he is a very face-conscious person."
Lu Sen bowed to the coffin three times, then turned around and said, "I've heard about it, Mr. Lin, please accept my condolences."
"I'm sorry to have embarrassed Master Lu." Mr. Lin's face returned to its previous state, with a bit of confusion in his grief: "I wonder if I have harmed my father. If I hadn't brought him to Hangzhou, he wouldn't have..."
After saying this, Mr. Lin wiped his eyes.
Lu Sen said slowly: "I thought you would blame me more or less."
"How could it be? I am not such a person who is ignorant of worldly affairs." Mr. Lin sighed, "Rainbow Silk is a rare and precious item in the world, and Xiongfeng Pills are also good items. Since they are both good items, but something happened to my father, this means that the problem lies with my father, not with you, Master Lu."
Lu Sen stared at Mr. Lin for a while and found that everything he said was true and there was no sense of hypocrisy.
"What are your plans next?" Lu Sen asked.
"Let's keep the body for seven days first, and then send the coffin back with my father." Mr. Lin looked a little confused: "As for what happens next, we'll see how the situation develops."
"You're not going to go out to sea?" Lu Sen asked in confusion, "It's been a long time since we established the Nanshan Society. If you leave, won't it be a benefit to others?"
Mr. Lin slowly raised his head and looked at Lu Sen, somewhat surprised: "Master Lu is interested in merchants like us? He even found out so much about the Nanshan Society."
"Yes." Lu Sen thought for a while and said, "Because I see something different in you, or you may have something different."
"We, merchants?" Mr. Lin was a little stunned, then he thought of something, his eyes suddenly gleamed: "Could it be that Master Lu deliberately let us trade overseas? It's not the gems that you value, it's just the seeds. You let us merchants go further and further, there must be a reason. It was the case with the Spice Islands, and it is the same for letting us go to India by sea now."
He is indeed a Confucian businessman. After all, he is educated and his political sense is different from that of ordinary businessmen.
Lu Sen smiled and said, "Mr. Lin is indeed very smart. I do have a reason. If you are willing to become a sea merchant and explore the market after the wake, you can go to the Bitian Pavilion and ask Mr. Zhang to notify me. Then, I will tell you what capital is."
After finishing speaking, Lu Sen left.
Mr. Lin knelt in front of the mourning hall, lost in deep thought.
For Lu Sen, the matter of Mr. Lin was just a spontaneous act. He just added a new chess piece to his plan.
It is not that important, but he still hopes that this chess piece can bring new moves to his game.
And he felt that the chess game with the Khitan was about to begin.
After returning to the cave , he asked his family soldiers to report the news about the Khitan.
He looked at it and chuckled.
It was exactly as he expected. Although the situation on the Khitan side was relatively calm on the surface, undercurrents were surging beneath the sea, as if a volcano was about to erupt.
Queen Xiao Guanyin was sitting in the pepper room at this time and sighed deeply.
She hasn't gone out for five days. It's not that she doesn't want to, but she can't and doesn't dare...mainly to avoid suspicion.
Just a few days ago, General Xiao, who had robbed Qingyang Ke's iron certificate, fled to the northwest with a part of his private army, and successfully occupied a small town not far from Xijing and proclaimed himself king.
What's even more outrageous is that there were 30,000 soldiers in that small town, but General Xiao took down the town with 3,000 men and... recruited more than 10,000 men to surrender.
This is totally incredible.
Three thousand against thirty thousand, and they were attacking a city. Not only did they win, they even got an extra ten thousand elite soldiers. If you tell others about this, who would dare to believe it!
But it is what it is now.
General Xiao’s real name is Xiao Shen, and he got this name because he was born at the hour of Shen.
Honestly speaking, Xiao Shen had not been anything amazing before. His usual performance was just like that of an ordinary playboy. The Xiao family had no shortage of such people.
As a truly large family, the Xiao family has hundreds of people in its main and branch branches, so it is not surprising to have a few playboys.
But if a capable person appears...that would be weird.
After all, since more than a hundred years ago, the ones who have produced the most in the Xiao family have been the empress and the empress dowager.
After taking this small town, General Xiao is said to have begun to march towards the nearby Xijing.
When Xiao Rongrong heard the news, she was confused.
How dare I do that... That's Xijing.
And Xiao Rongrong's father is the King of the West Courtyard!
Of course, it was just a nominal position. Xijing Datong Prefecture was actually managed by the Yunzhou Pacification Envoy.
But the Xiao family’s hometown is there. Although there are not many people left there, it still has special significance for the Xiao family.
But now, Xiao Shen actually led his troops to attack Datong Prefecture in Xijing, which put the entire Xiao family on fire.
Xiao Rongrong sighed and put down the embroidery in her hands, feeling extremely helpless.
Although they are both branches, Xiao Rongrong's lineage is not very familiar with Xiao Shen's lineage. When they return to their hometown to worship their ancestors, they usually just chat with each other and visit each other as part of the routine holiday affairs.
However, he rebelled... The emperor would not care so much. In his eyes, everyone with the surname Xiao seemed to have the word "rebel" on their heads.
Even the queen is no exception.
Fortunately, Yelu Hongji was still relatively rational at this time. He knew that the Xiao family did hold a lot of power and military authority, and it would be unwise to rashly label the entire Xiao family as traitors.
Therefore, he only declared Xiao Shen's lineage to be traitors, and the other members of the Xiao family did not seem to be in his eyes.
But... no one would think so.
The Queen imprisoned herself in the Pepper Room just to show that she and Xiao Shen were not on the same side.
At the same time, some members of the Xiao family cried and shouted that they wanted to see the emperor and eliminate the great harm to the Xiao family for the emperor.
In the imperial study, Yelu Hongji had just persuaded an old man from the Xiao family to leave, and his face gradually became gloomy.
"Xiao family, how dare you do this!"
But before he could start processing the official documents, a eunuch hurried in, lying on the ground in shock, and said, "Your Majesty, there is an urgent military report."
"explain."
"Someone from Datong Prefecture in Xijing has reported that Xiao Shen has captured Datong Prefecture, and Yunzhou's envoy Huang Xin has died in the city!"
"How is it possible?" Yelu Hongji stood up angrily. "Datong Prefecture has 100,000 elite soldiers. Xiao Shen has no more than 20,000 men. How can he conquer Datong Prefecture? Envoy Huang is also an old veteran of the battlefield. Is his ability to lead an army not as good as that of a child?"
The eunuch lay on the ground and dared not speak.
After a while, Yelu Hongji waved his hand and said, "Go down and bring me the boy."
The Khitan military and political power was almost entirely in the hands of the Khitans, but the interior ministers were almost all Han people.
This boy-like figure is also a Han Chinese. Although he is old and thin, he still looks very energetic.
After coming in from outside, he bowed and said, "I greet the emperor."
"Xiao Shen conquered Datong Prefecture."
Tong Xiang's real name is Tong An. He nodded and said, "I have already heard about it just now."
"Prime Minister Tong, do you think this is strange?" Yelu Hongji sighed and said, "Although I have never been on the battlefield, I have learned the art of war. Do you think these 20,000 men can capture a strong city with 100,000 elite soldiers?"
Tong An shook his head: "There must be a reason for this."
Of course there was a reason. Yelu Hongji remembered the rumor that Master Lu from the Central Plains had lost the Iron Certificate of Heaven, which was now in Xiao Shen's hands.
The brightest words are "Nine Five".
Is it true, as rumored, that the Iron Certificate of Heaven can prosper a person's destiny?
Yelu Hongji thought for a moment, then said to the eunuch beside him, "Announce the emperor to summon Chongyuan."
Tong An thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I will take my leave first."
Yelu Chongyuan was one of Yelu Hongji's confidants, the kind he trusted extremely much.
In comparison, although Tong An was called "Prime Minister" and held certain real power, he was still not as good as the real Khitan ministers.
After Tong An retreated, he met Yelu Chongyuan in the aisle. Tong An bowed as he walked, and the difference in status was already apparent.
Yelu Chongyuan was a young man with a typical Khitan appearance and a large beard on his chin.
The moment the two men passed each other, Yelu Chongyuan suddenly took a step to the left and hit Tong An's left shoulder with his right shoulder.
Tong An was already an old man, and when he was pulled like this, he immediately fell to the ground with a look of pain on his face.
Yelu Chongyuan turned around in surprise and said with a very hypocritical expression: "I'm sorry, I bumped into Tong Xiang, it's really not right, but the emperor summoned me, I dare not delay. In a few days, if I have time, I will come to the mansion to apologize."
After saying that, he turned and walked away, and then a loud laugh could be heard faintly.
Tong An stood up by himself and left the palace twisting his body.
Yelu Hongji waited in the study for a while and then met Yelu Chongyuan.
He didn't say any nonsense and said directly: "Chongyuan, take the 180,000 imperial guards and your own private army and go to Xijing immediately to take back Datong Prefecture."
"But what about Xiao Shen?" Yelu Chongyuan was overjoyed and said, "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. This time, I will take back Datong Prefecture within two months and bring you Xiao Shen's head."
"I'm at ease when you do the job." Yelu Hongji nodded slightly.
At this time, Yelu Hongji suddenly stepped forward and whispered, "Your Majesty, this woman Xiao Rongrong, do you want me to help you..."
He made a throat-cutting gesture in a sinister manner: "After all, she is also from the Xiao family. I am not too confident about her."
Yelu Hongji thought for a moment and said, "There is no need to touch her for now. She is just a weak woman."
"Then Your Majesty, please don't drink the soup she makes, just in case."
Yelu Hongji frowned, then chuckled and said, "Don't worry, I will be careful."
Naturally, the Song court in the south also knew about such a big event that happened to Khitan.
Although the Zhao Song Dynasty is not very aggressive and is very timid at the moment, it is still possible to plant some spies in other people's homes.
Besides, if people have money... they can buy a lot of things, including information.
A few days later, at the Zhao Song court, the commander of the Imperial City Division sat beside the young emperor and read out all the recent events in Khitan before stepping aside.
Then the whole court was overjoyed.
Civil and military officials were talking about it.
There is nothing more satisfying than seeing the enemy in chaos.
Then came the torrent of flattery.
"God bless our Great Song. Barbarians are barbarians. They will eventually destroy themselves."
"Hu Fu has no luck for a hundred years!"
"My young master is blessed by the purple energy, but it has only been a short time since I took the throne, and the Khitans have become so chaotic. If they had a few more years, the Khitans would probably have destroyed themselves."
Everyone laughed even more happily.
But there were still a few ministers who did not smile.
For example, Master Pang, Ouyang Xiu, etc.!
Queen Mother Cao did not smile either. She gestured, and when the court had quieted down, she said, "This is indeed a happy event. I understand that the nobles are happy, but I suddenly feel anxious when I hear this."
Immediately someone asked, "Why is the Queen Mother so anxious?"
"I heard that this Khitan rebel Xiao Shen, after receiving the 'Iron Certificate of Heaven' from Master Lu, he changed from a playboy to a capable man, and even had the fate of a dragon." Empress Dowager Cao said with a worried look on her face: "If Xiao Shen unifies Khitan, won't he use military force against our Song Dynasty? After all, he sounds like a powerful leader!"
Yelu Hongji was actually very pro-Northern Song Dynasty.
His greatest wish was to become a person of the Northern Song Dynasty in his next life.
If he had not been supported by a large number of military and civil officials, and if he had not been born a Khitan, he would most likely not have used military force against the Northern Song Dynasty and would not have had any hostility.
And the coming to power of such a "peaceful" Khitan emperor was a great thing for the Zhao Song Dynasty.
If that 'Xiao Shen' really becomes the leader of Khitan, things will be difficult.
Immediately, an official stepped forward and said angrily, "Master Lu clearly had such a good thing as the Heavenly Dao Iron Certificate, but he was unwilling to hand it over to the court and kept it secretly. Now it has been stolen to the north, creating a tiger for nothing. He is guilty. I suggest that Master Lu's rank and official status be removed, and the whole world be informed that Master Lu is suspected of disrespecting the emperor's orders, is heartless and ungrateful, disregards the safety of the country, and deceives the world."
Everyone looked at the censor.
The other person was very young, with a youthful look on his face.
The reason why this man hated Lu Sen so much was that ten days ago, his mentor and father-in-law, Li Yushi, passed away.
When Censor Li was ill, the young censor went to the Prince of Runan's mansion to ask for the celestial fruit but failed to obtain it.
He could only watch his mentor cry out in pain on the hospital bed for several days before he died miserably.
