Chapter 219 Khitan Changes
The information from the Prince of Runan soon arrived in Hangzhou. After reading it, Lu Sen was also a little surprised.
Although it was his plan to cause internal strife in Western Xia, the effect seemed too good.
The man named Xiao Shen was really amazing. He was able to defeat a larger force with a smaller one, and this was during a siege.
Is it possible that the amplifying effect of psychological influences in a group is so strong ?
He knew very well that the so-called "Iron Certificate of Heaven" was not something powerful in essence. It was just a simple "fun" prop, a digital dice for a tabletop game, but Lu Sen had specially set some special numbers for it.
It's really interesting that with such a thing, they were able to rebel and even win two great battles.
However, Lu Sen believed that Xiao Shen’s luck was almost used up.
Unless he is really blessed by heaven, luck will not always be with him. Moreover, even if this person can succeed in taking the throne, the consequence will be... the human resources and economic resources of the entire Khitan country will regress by at least 20 to 30 years!
To get to the top, he must become the enemy of the entire old Khitan power, and then there will be rivers of blood and corpses floating for thousands of miles.
Human resources need to be "grown"; it cannot be developed without more than ten or twenty years.
And this achieved what Lu Sen wanted.
After putting down the information, Lu Sen took a flying vehicle and took Yang Jinhua to Guijun...which is Guilin, a place with beautiful scenery that is best in the world.
At this time, Bao Zheng had already arrived in Gui County and became a local official.
The news was brought by Zhan Zhao through someone. It was just a message, nothing more than a message. But Lu Sen thought about it and felt that he should go over and take a look.
Guijun is quite far from Hangzhou. Lu Sen stayed in a small county town for one night and flew to his destination the next day.
There was a bit of a commotion when entering the city. After all, people who had never seen something flying would scream a little when seeing it!
At the gate of Gui County government office, Lu Sen saw Zhan Zhao, who was wearing a bright red military officer uniform. He stepped forward, clasped his fists and said with a smile, "Brother Zhan, I'm here to visit you."
"Lu Xiaolang!"
Zhan Zhao was about to go out to patrol the streets, but he was overjoyed to see Lu Sen. He came over, clasped his fists, and said with a smile, "Why are you in Gui County?"
"Didn't you say you were visiting?" Lu Sen smiled and narrowed his eyes.
Zhan Zhao thought that Lu Sen was passing by Gui County for some business and came to visit him, but when he thought about it, Lu Sen had a flying vehicle, and a thousand miles was no big deal for him. Knowing that he and Bao Fuyin had arrived in Gui County, it didn't seem difficult for him to come and check on the situation.
"Lu Xiaolang is thoughtful." Zhan Zhao invited Lu Sen to go to the government office, and said, "Prefect Bao is resting in the backyard."
The two men entered the government office.
Compared with Kaifeng Prefecture, Guijun Prefecture was much smaller, with only two or three courtyards. The first was the court, followed by several side rooms, and then the courtyard.
In the backyard, there are a few clusters of green bamboo, two osmanthus trees, and a few banana trees surrounding a green-tiled pavilion.
Bao Zheng was fanning himself in the pavilion, drinking cool well water and avoiding the heat.
There is no way... The climate in the Northern Song Dynasty is still in a warm period, and the current average temperature in Gui County is higher than that in the future when Lu Sen was born.
This is why Gui County, which has beautiful mountains and clear waters and many rocky mountains, should be relatively cold, but it can be so hot that northerners can die.
Qiongzhou is much hotter, but in comparison, the environment in Guijun is still barely sustainable.
Although Gui County has beautiful scenery, it is not prosperous and has a small population, estimated to be around 100,000. So after Bao Zheng came here and took over the post of governor of Gui County, he completed all internal affairs and cleared all old cases in less than half a month.
Lu Sen walked over, bowed slightly and said, "Master Bao, we meet again."
"Sit down." Bao Zheng pointed to the stone bench opposite him with his fan, and then said, "I envy you, a half-immortal who can fly around. It's estimated that it took only two or three days for Zhan Zhao's letter to reach you before you came here. If it is used to convey military intelligence... forget it, let's not talk about this."
Bao Zheng laughed at himself.
The county magistrate is also called the prefect . If it is the prefect of other places, the power is extremely great.
For example, big cities like Hangzhou, Suzhou, Jinling, etc.
But Gui County was not included in this list… It was said to guard the people of Baiyue and control the civil and military officials of Gui County and Nanyue, but in reality it did not have that power at all.
Even the city defense of Gui County only had 3,000 soldiers, and their equipment was very poor.
But there is no need to worry about the Baiyue people. Di Qing had already frightened the Yue people in the southwest two years ago. It can even be said that he drove most of them away. Now only the Baiyue people are hiding from the Han people.
Bao Zheng felt that as a "small official" himself, there was no point in discussing military and national affairs.
"Mr. Bao, are you discouraged now?" Lu Sen looked at Bao Zheng and felt that he no longer had the spirit he had before in Kaifeng.
Mentally, he doesn't seem as strong as he used to be.
Bao Zheng heard this and said with a smile: "You can do things only if you can be both firm and flexible. In Gui County, my duty is to educate the people. The affairs of the court have nothing to do with me."
Bao Zheng thought that it would be difficult for him to return to the center of power.
Generally speaking, officials who were demoted and sent to other places would not be able to return to Beijing until after a dozen years at most and five or six years at least.
Bao Zheng is not young anymore. If he has to wait more than ten years before returning to the capital, he will not have much energy to do anything.
Because he was thinking about solving the problem of land annexation, he was targeted by almost all the civil and military officials in the court. He was demoted from the high and mighty position of Privy Councilor to the position of Prefect of Gui County, which was a world of difference.
Lu Sen would not ask Bao Zheng whether he regretted it later, because it would be an insult to the upright man in front of him.
He just wanted to ask: "Master Bao, don't you want to return to the court to plead for the people and relieve the worries of the world?"
"Can I go back?" Bao Zheng chuckled. "Even Grand Tutor Pang doesn't like me anymore. Who in the court can speak for me anymore?"
Lu Sen laughed: "Master Bao, you forgot that you and Master Pang were originally political enemies. Although you have cooperated with each other later, in fact, you two have different political views."
Bao Zheng laughed a few times while holding the book, and said, "Of course I haven't forgotten this. Although Master Pang and I have different political views, we share the same desire to strengthen the country and ensure its security. It's a pity that Master Pang's vision is still a little shallow, and he doesn't know the harm of land annexation. Speaking of vision... Master Lu, what exactly do you want to do?"
Lu Sen was drinking the warm tea that Zhan Zhao brought him. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "You are talking about family and national affairs, why do you involve me? This is the business of you 'ministers', what does it have to do with me, an outsider!"
"That may not be the case." Bao Zheng put the book in his hand on the round stone table, and stared at Lu Sen. "After being demoted, I was relieved of most of my duties, so I have some free time to think about what you, Master Lu, have done recently. I couldn't see it clearly in the past, but recently, I have been thinking about it day and night, and gradually I can see some signs clearly. Master Lu, you use the world as a chessboard, and you are placing your pieces and setting up the game."
Lu Sen's expression remained unchanged as he chuckled and said, "Master Bao thinks too highly of me."
"The Khitan Xiao family's rebellion is a clear proof of this." Bao Zheng said with a serious face, "Everyone thinks that the Heavenly Dao Iron Certificate was lost by you, Master Lu, but those of us who have visited the immortal caves know that without the permission of the immortal master, no one can enter the cave, let alone steal the immortal treasures from it. But if the immortal did it intentionally, then it is possible."
Lu Sen sighed: "I know I can't hide it from you extremely smart people."
Hearing Lu Sen admit it, Zhan Zhao was stunned, with some surprise in his eyes.
Bao Zheng looked as if it should be so. He lowered his eyes for a moment and said, "Although Master Lu said that the people in the court are all petty scoundrels who are ashamed to be associated with us, you are also disappointed in me!"
Lu Sen didn't say anything.
Bao Zheng smiled slightly. He probably knew what kind of person Lu Sen was. "I am here to thank Master Lu on behalf of the court for his arrangements and efforts in Khitan."
After saying this, Bao Zheng stood up and bowed.
Lu Sen said indifferently: "I am just doing what I can. Whether it can be accomplished depends on whether you officials can seize the opportunity."
In fact, he had something in his heart that he hadn't said. What he did was not for the so-called court, but only for the fellow tribesmen of this land.
But he didn't say these hurtful words after all. After all, Bao Zheng was a very good official, and now he had almost lost his official hat.
Lu Sen may not give face to other people, but he still has to respect people like this from the bottom of his heart.
"Master Lu, you can rest assured about this. There are many talented people in the court..." Bao Zheng suddenly stopped talking here and sighed deeply.
In fact, he also understood that if the Song Dynasty really had so many talented people, it would not have fallen to this point.
There were several opportunities to defeat the enemy, or even to suppress them, but they were wasted.
For example, the stories of Han Qi and Wang Anshi.
He wanted to solve the malpractice of land annexation, but ended up in this situation, with almost no one in the court who was his friend anymore.
Bao Zheng didn't believe that they didn't see the future impact of land annexation.
"Master Bao, you should stay in Gui County for a while and rest." Lu Sen understood Bao Zheng's worries: "Since ancient times, there has been no reason to break the land annexation from within."
In fact, every rise and fall of a dynasty was superficially due to climate influences, or the emperor’s incompetence, or rampant corrupt officials, and the people’s miserable lives. But in reality, if you really get to the core of it, it is essentially due to excessive land annexation.
This is also the fate of feudal dynasties.
Therefore, developing productivity and even "going out" is a better choice at the moment.
Although this process will be a bit tortuous, it is at least much better than internal strife within the tribe and the suffering of all people.
Bao Zheng looked at Lu Sen deeply. He only knew that Lu Sen had his own ideas, but he had no idea what he would do or how to do it.
After all, Lu Sen is now either selling some rare treasures or letting sea merchants go abroad.
He couldn't understand why the merchants, and even the monks and Taoists, had to be forced to leave. What was the reason?
Similarly, he knew that Lu Sen would not tell him the answer, so he could only watch quietly.
Until he could see clearly, or the chess game set up by Master Lu revealed his true intention.
After that, the two chatted about miscellaneous worldly matters. Lu Sen left two bottles of honey, one for Bao Zheng and one for Zhan Zhao, and then left in a flying vehicle.
After Lu Sen left, Zhan Zhao, who was standing next to Bao Zheng, asked: "Xiong Fei, do you think Master Lu would want to rule the country?"
"Of course not." Zhan Zhao answered without hesitation: "Because I can see that Lu Xiaolang has no interest in power. He even looks down on officials."
Bao Zheng nodded: "This includes me."
“Of course not.” Zhan Zhao shook his head: “Everyone in the court knows that you, the prefect, are highly respected by Master Lu.”
Bao Zheng looked up at the sky, and after a while he said slowly, "I just feel a little ashamed of my admiration for him. In fact, I already knew that the land annexation would have this result. I said it in the court just to make myself feel at ease. I never thought it would succeed. To be honest, I was just avoiding it."
Zhan Zhao was not surprised at all, he knew very well that his prefect was not that kind of person, and he admired the prefect's integrity very much. Otherwise, with his arrogance as a southern hero, how could he be willing to obey the orders of an official.
Isn't it comfortable to travel freely in the world with a sword?
"I hope Master Lu can find a way." Bao Zheng sighed imperceptibly.
It took Lu Sen two days to return to Hangzhou. He wanted to rest for a while, but soon something happened.
Bai Yutang was injured, seriously wounded and on the verge of death, hanging on by a breath of internal energy.
This news was passed on by Xu Qing of the Five Rats to Zhang Yuanwai of the Bitian Pavilion.
Lu Sen went to Bitian Pavilion and saw Bai Yuting who was seriously injured.
At this time, Bai Yutang's face was pale, his lips were bloodless, his eyes were closed, and his breath was barely there.
Originally, Bai Yuting was born like a girl, and now that he was injured, he looked even more pitiful, like Lin Daiyu.
At this time, the other four rats knelt beside him, all with sad expressions, and said in unison: "Please Master Lu save our fifth brother's life. From now on, whenever we are ordered to do something, no matter if it is windy, firey or watery, we will never retreat a single step."
Even if these four people didn't beg, Lu Sen would still save Bai Yuting.
He took out a bottle of honey, pinched Bai Yuting's mouth open, and poured the honey directly into her without any mercy.
It’s just that this feeling is weird. Ming Yutang is obviously a man, so why does he give people such a feeling of pity?
After a while, Bai Yuting's face gradually turned rosy.
The four mice who were standing nearby saw this and cried for joy, wiping their tears continuously.
The relationship between these five people is indeed better than that between brothers.
About half an incense stick later, Bai Yuting woke up.
He turned his head and looked around, seeing his four brothers next to him, then looked at Lu Sen and said with a wry smile: "I owe Master Lu another favor."
"How did you get hurt like this?"
Bai Yuting's kung fu is considered to be excellent in the martial arts world, especially after he received the honey from Lu Sen, his strength has been further improved.
Among his peers, only Ouyang Chun and Zhan Zhao can surpass him.
In addition, he is good at Qinggong. Normally, as long as he doesn't act recklessly, his life should not be in any danger.
Bai Yutang covered his chest and groaned, then said, "I went to Khitan a few days ago, hoping to help Master Lu find the Heavenly Dao Iron Certificate. But I didn't expect that when I sneaked into the palace in Shangjing, Khitan, I actually saw a woman with animal ears. She was the one who injured me!"
Um?
Lu Sen showed a surprised expression.
