Chapter 233 How to repay a meal
"Do you want to resolve land annexation?" Lu Sen asked with a smile.
Wang Anshi nodded, "It was because of this that Bao Shumi was exiled. I have been thinking about this for a long time in Qiongzhou, and I really think this is the biggest problem of our dynasty. When one day in the future, all the land in the world belongs to the gentry, and the people have no land to cultivate, they will either starve to death or sell themselves into slavery and spend their whole lives serving others. This is a disaster on earth and must be solved."
Lu Sen thought for a while, shook his head and said, "I have also discussed this matter with Governor Bao, and he also asked me a similar question, but I told him that the issue of land annexation can only be solved from the outside, and there is no way to solve it from the inside."
"Really?" Wang Anshi frowned and asked, "Or, has no one ever done this before?"
Lu Sen sighed, "It's not like we haven't done that before. When Wang Mang reformed the system, his original intention was to solve the land annexation . Unfortunately... you also know the consequences."
Wang Anshi seemed to be thinking about something. After Lu Sen's explanation, he remembered that Wang Mang had indeed done so in the past.
"Is there really no other solution?" Wang Anshi asked, "If we solve it from the outside, it means changing the dynasty."
Lu Sen looked at him in surprise, then laughed and said, "You are so bold, Lord Governor Wang."
Wang Anshi chuckled softly, "I dare to say this in front of Master Lu, but I don't dare to say it in front of other people."
Lu Sen did not respond, but took a sip of the wine in the Bitian Pavilion.
Now many Semites bring their local wine here and sell it at a very high price, about one hundred barrels for one piece of silk.
I have to say that the wine from outside is indeed better tasting than the wine brewed by the Song Dynasty itself.
The main reason is that there are few places in Song Dynasty that are suitable for growing grapes, and the quality of the grapes grown is not high at the moment.
Naturally, you can't make good wine.
Wang Anshi also took a sip of wine. He pondered for a while and asked, "Master Lu attaches so much importance to the issue of land annexation. I think he has a way. Can we talk about it? It will also give me some experience."
"It's not a good idea, actually." Lu Sen looked at Wang Anshi for a while, and felt that he was really asking for advice and really wanted to solve this problem, so he said, "My master... he said that the cause of all disputes in the world is the lack of existing interests. In other words, the cake... the pie is not big enough. So many times, if the pie is not big enough, you might as well make it bigger."
Wang Anshi was stunned for a moment, then said, "Master Lu means... to expand the territory?"
"That's true." Lu Sen said with a smile, "But this is just one of the reasons. We don't have to conquer our neighboring countries. Fighting is too costly. There are still many places in this world that are suitable for us Song people to live in. They are extremely rich and large, not inferior to the Great Song."
Wang Anshi hesitated for a moment and said, "This is a solution, but it is hard to leave one's hometown. I am afraid that the people will not be willing to leave."
"Then lead them out." Lu Sen said with a smile.
"Just like what Master Lu is doing now?" Wang Anshi stared at Lu Sen steadily.
Lu Sen smiled and said nothing.
He really admired these civil servants who had left their names in history. Perhaps their vision was limited by the times, but they did have their own way of understanding people's hearts and insights into the world.
Bao Zheng saw Lu Sen's determination, and Wang Anshi saw Lu Sen's plan.
Most of the things in this matter cannot stand scrutiny.
Seeing that Lu Sen stopped talking, Wang Anshi also quieted down. The two drank in silence. When the cups were empty, they bowed to each other and said goodbye in tacit understanding.
Wang Anshi was a little drunk, and his body was swaying when he left Bitian Pavilion.
Lu Sen stood at the window on the second floor and watched him leave.
The sun boat in the sky was shining with golden light. The city that never sleeps, Hangzhou, was covered with a layer of orange light. Wang Anshi was walking on the crowded street, like a stone blending into a pile of sand, inconspicuous at all.
Lu Sen suddenly remembered that more than a year ago, Wang Anshi was a man of dignified literary character and handsome appearance. Even in casual clothes, he stood out among the crowd and was almost the most conspicuous one.
But now, I feel like an ordinary person.
This should be considered an improvement... Lu Sen muttered to himself.
In any case, Lu Sen knew that history had begun to change since he appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty in this parallel universe.
It wasn't very obvious before, but now the history in Lu Sen's "impression" is very different.
The reason why Wang Anshi's reforms in the original world failed was because he was too arrogant, too stubborn, too competitive, too independent, and too eager for success, all because of his extreme personality.
But Wang Anshi now seems different.
Lu Sen tapped the window, feeling somewhat relieved, and left the Bitian Pavilion.
When he returned to the cave, he saw Bilian playing with the Snow Girl and directing her to use magic to play around.
Sometimes they froze the fountain into icicles, and sometimes they made an ice bridge and slid down the slope for fun.
Lu Jingjing joined in the fun and cheered loudly.
Pang Meir and Yang Jinhua were discussing techniques on how to weave rainbow silk.
A peaceful scene.
Lu Sen sat in the pavilion, took out books and papers from his system backpack, and began to practice calligraphy.
At first he just practiced it for fun, but now it has become a habit.
He felt uncomfortable if he didn't practice for a day, and because of this, his handwriting became more and more beautiful.
The vixen came over and sat opposite him, saying, "I envy your sleeve-drying technique, it's really very convenient."
In fact, Lu Xianxian also has her own tricks, but there are some subtle differences.
Not to mention that her 'World in the Sleeve' can only hold a few things, there is also a time limit, and it consumes spiritual energy. The more things she puts in, the more it consumes.
Under normal circumstances, only one or two relatively precious and light treasures are packed.
Lu Sen stopped writing with the brush in his hand, looked up at her, and asked, "Want to play chess again?"
Lu Xianxian shook her head. She thought for a while and said, "I want my husband to accompany me to Qingqiu!"
Lu Sen was stunned for a moment and asked, "Didn't Qingqiu lose its connection with the human world?"
Not long after Lu Xianxian joined the Lu family, Lu Sen also privately asked what "Qingqiu" was all about.
According to Lu Xianxian, 'Qingqiu', 'Kunlun', 'Moon Palace' and 'Heavenly Palace' are actually a kind of special small world, which were created in the ancient times when spiritual energy was extremely abundant.
It's a bit like small bubbles stuck to a big bubble, that's what it means.
Two hundred years ago, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was no longer as strong as before, so the connection between the various small worlds and the Central Plains became unstable. Then the whale plague came into the world, and all the small worlds were disconnected from the Central Plains.
"I just want to go and see what's left in Qingqiu."
Lu Sen thought for a moment and said, "Why did you ask me to come? You can go with Jingjing."
If you are worried about the problem of running out of spiritual energy, it can be easily solved with Lu Jingjing by your side. Lu Xianxian can be full with just one bite.
Lu Xianxian said helplessly: "But Jingjing doesn't have any combat ability. It would be bad if he ran into the Tianji Sect or the Xiuxian Sect."
This is indeed a problem. Although Lu Jingjing is full of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, she is not able to call upon it. It is OK to deal with ordinary people, but it is like throwing a meat bun at a dog when dealing with "experts".
This is a racial issue, not an issue of her own ability.
If a few people really came from the Tianji Sect, they would first consume Lu Xianxian, forcing her spiritual energy to be temporarily exhausted, and then they would be able to catch the two of them in one fell swoop.
You have to know that sects like the Tianji Sect have secret techniques to deal with demons, otherwise Lu Xianxian would not have been beaten down by the Tianji Sect at her peak, forcing her to hide in Japan.
"Then I'll go with you." Lu Sen thought for a while and said, "And bring Jinhua with you."
"Listen to my husband."
Lu Sen brought Yang Jinhua along to avoid suspicion. After all, a single man and a single woman, staying together outside for many days, would inevitably raise some questions in people's minds.
In addition, every time Lu Sen goes out, he usually takes Bilian and Mei'er with him, so this time he wants to take Yang Jinhua with him to relax.
When she told everyone about her decision during the meal, everyone agreed except Bilian who was a little unhappy and acted like a spoiled child.
Yang Jinhua was also very happy.
As the eldest wife, she should have stayed at home and taken care of the household chores, but as a daughter, who doesn't want to spend more time with her husband?
So that night, she generously gave her bed to Mei'er and Bilian, and slept in another room to recuperate.
Lu Sen was preparing to set off for Qingqiu, which is now Qiancheng City.
And outside the city of Suzhou in the north, in a house by the Taihu Lake, Yaoyao and Kunkun were glaring at each other at the same time.
There was a group of men standing in front, both young and old, blocking the door, all looking excited.
In the middle of the two sides, there was an old woman sitting on the ground, wiping her tears.
The candlelight flickered, and the faces of the people in the room were bright and dark, as if they were swaying with time.
After a while, Yaoyao said, "My last name is Yu, not Huang! What does the Huang clan's affairs have to do with us sisters?"
KunKun next to him nodded vigorously and glared at the opposite side, like an angry little female cat.
The old man standing in the crowd said slowly, "Yaoyao, you grew up in our village. Although your last name is Yu, no one in our village has ever treated you as an outsider. Before you entered the brothel, you grew up eating the food of our Huang family, right?"
That’s right!
Yaoyao pursed her lips, not knowing how to answer.
What the other party said is indeed true.
Their parents never took care of them. They were raised by their grandmother, and occasionally went to other people's homes in the village to get some food. When they were a little over six years old, their parents came from Yangzhou to pick them up.
At that time, they thought they could live with their parents from then on, but they didn't expect that their parents would sell them to a brothel.
The Yangzhou skinny horses... gradually started to appear during the Song Dynasty.
Among them, twin skinny horses are the best.
The exact amount it was sold for...they later found out in the brothel, it was exactly two hundred taels.
To the sisters at that time, this amount was an indescribable sum of money.
It feels like I'll never be able to pay it back in my lifetime.
But fortunately, the two of them were lucky and turned a disaster into a blessing, and they were able to become immortals.
They are rich now... Lu Sen has never treated the people around him badly in terms of monthly salary, let alone his three wives. They can use the money in the family as they like.
Ringo and Heizhu also receive several taels of silver every month. As for Yaoyao and Kunkun, their money is the same as Heizhu's.
At the same time, during festivals and the New Year, they would receive red envelopes from the master, and they had no need to spend money, so the two of them saved a lot of money together.
Two hundred taels of silver did not seem to be a large amount of money to them.
When I have money and ability, I think about repaying my family.
Parents...they both don't think about it anymore and don't hold any grudges. They are already very generous.
So now the only person they want to repay is their grandmother.
My grandmother is old, so I brought some fruit and honey, thinking of showing my filial piety to her.
The intention was good, but unexpectedly, something went wrong.
The Lu family's fruits are considered magical fruits outside. I can't say that honey can bring the dead back to life, but as long as you still have a breath, it can save you.
Yaoyao and Kunkun gave a lot of these things to their grandmother.
Like Lu Sen, both of them have system backpacks.
However, they both had few "grids", only twenty grids each, so they couldn't bring too many things.
So in addition to some spare clothes and some protective equipment, there were fruits, honey, and money.
The grandmother of the two men has worked hard since she was a child. Although she is only in her fifties, she looks old and almost eighty years old. Her hands and feet are not flexible and she is a little confused, and she often mistakes people for others.
As a result, after eating the fruit and drinking honey, I felt a lot younger, more energetic, and more clear-headed.
Her grandmother was also a kind person. She had good things in her hands, so she wanted to repay favors.
So he gave some of the fruit to other people in the village to enjoy.
As a result, something went wrong after eating it.
There are not many fools in this world. Even if a farmer has never been to school, and has been dealing with loess all his life, he has his own set of account books in his heart.
After these people tasted the effect and tasted the flavor, they gathered at Yaoyao's grandmother's house, hoping that Yaoyao would provide them with more of this fruit.
Seeing that Yaoyao was silent, the old man in the middle smiled and said, "Yaoyao, we are not ungrateful. We know that you two sisters must have found a good family, otherwise you wouldn't be dressed so beautifully and wouldn't have received these good things."
"We don't rely on rich people. We have entered the immortal sect and we have a master."
The old man waved his hands and said nonchalantly: "This has nothing to do with our Nantou Village. We don't ask for much. Please tell us poor people how to grow these fruits. We can't have enough to eat and wear warm clothes just by growing crops. We must have a skill."
As the old man spoke, he spread out his hands, which contained several fruit cores, which looked like peaches.
"These fruits were given to us by my master. We don't know how to grow them." Kun Kun said .
The old man grinned, with few teeth left in his smile: "It doesn't matter, you can ask your master, he must love you very much for letting you wear such good clothes and eat such good food. As the saying goes, a meal is like a rebirth. You two sisters have been eating in our Huangjia Village since you were young, it's time to repay your kindness."
Yaoyao was shaking all over and closed her eyes in anger.
