Chapter 236 The Awakening of Merchants (Part 1)
After all, they have the Fusang tree to protect them, so the impact on Tianji Sect is certainly not too great.
Unlike the Shushan Sword Sect, there are no longer any members left, and only a few books of martial arts are passed down in the world.
After Lu Xianxian returned to human form, the three of them took a flying vehicle back to the cave.
Lu Sen sat in the pavilion and took the time to listen to the report from his servant Ah Huang.
About the plan, about the civil war situation in Northern Liao, and about the current people's livelihood in Northern Song .
Thanks to the 'discovery' of the Spice Islands, the Northern Song now had a higher trade surplus.
Although things like silk and porcelain were profitable before, the people of the Northern Song Dynasty were fond of spices and condiments.
These two items were luxury goods and sold at extremely high prices, offsetting a large part of the trade surplus. Now that the Northern Song Dynasty could ship goods back from the Spice Islands itself, it naturally no longer had to purchase them from Seljuq merchants, and could even resell some of them.
The benefits brought by a trade surplus are, in general, better living conditions, and Hangzhou, as the most important foreign trade port at that time, has benefited the most.
There are almost no beggars in Hangzhou.
After listening to the report, Lu Sen said thank you for your hard work. Just as he was about to take a break, his family general Ah Huang suddenly said, "Sir, the local governor Lu and a group of merchants would like to invite you to meet at Fugui Tower in the city tomorrow to discuss important matters. Here is the invitation."
Connection between officials and businessmen?
In his dynasty, it was normal for officials to promote businessmen.
But this situation rarely happened in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Because the status of literati in the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties was too high, and merchants... were nominally the last of the four classes of people, even though their actual status was ranked behind the scholars, the literati did not really look up to them at all.
At most, they are regarded as tools to make money for themselves.
After all, the saying "the literati and the emperor share the world" is not just a joke, but a real action.
Lu Huiqing himself was a talent who came from the orthodox imperial examination system. He had a bright future and held a high position at a young age. Logically, he would not mix with businessmen.
But now such a thing has happened, so Lu Sen is very curious about what happened that made a high-ranking official like Lu Huiqing willing to act on the same stage with a group of businessmen.
The invitation card was bright red with some gold edges. Lu Sen opened it and looked at it, then said, "Please tell Magistrate Lu that I will be there on time tomorrow."
Ah Huang bent down and was about to leave.
Lu Sen stopped him and said, "By the way, the fruit trees at home have produced a lot of fruit recently. Jinhua and the others picked some and stored them in the warehouse next to the fountain. You can take five boxes and distribute them to everyone."
"Thank you, my dear." Ah Huang clasped his fist happily.
Being a retainer in the Lu family is what Ah Huang and others consider to be the luckiest thing.
First of all, the status of the head of the family is extremely high. As long as he goes out and says "I am a disciple of the Aishan Lu family", everyone will give him some face.
Moreover, the head of the family and the three ladies were extremely kind-hearted and never treated them as servants. Not only was their monthly allowance much higher than that outside, but they could also get some fairy fruits or honey to eat from time to time.
From the time when Ah Huang and others became the Lu family's retainers until now, they have never suffered from any illness.
You can share some fruit pulp and eat it every few days, which is good for your health.
But Ah Huang thought for a moment and said, "My dear, I have something to ask you."
Lu Sen didn't look up and said casually, "Just say it, no need to be so polite."
Ah Huang showed some surprise on his face, and after a while he said, "Brothers all think that it is a waste to eat these fruits since we are healthy. Can we sell the fruits and share the money with everyone?"
"Of course you can." Lu Sen raised his head and said with a smile, "I've given them to you. How to eat them, whether to eat them or throw them away, is of course up to you to decide."
Ah Huang was immediately overjoyed, clasped his fists and said, "Thank you for your permission, my lord."
Then he retreated.
Everyone in the world knows that Master Lu is hiding in the mountains and forests outside Hangzhou City, but no one can find him.
It was already difficult to find the immortal's whereabouts when there was only a secret passage. Now there is another person in the family, Lu Jingjing, who can set up illusion arrays. Now both the physical maze array and the magical maze array are working together. It is almost impossible to find Lu Sen's cave.
But the Lu family’s fairy fruit is one of the scarcest hard currencies.
Although they cannot increase one’s life span, they may cure a wide range of diseases. Who wouldn’t want to keep one or two on hand as a backup in case of emergency?
But Lu Sen never appears in front of ordinary people, so they cannot get the immortal fruit even if they want to.
But in this world, as long as you have a heart, you can always find a way.
For example, the family generals on Lu Sen's side are a "gap".
People have different "values" and their views are also different.
One tael of silver in the eyes of a rich man and one tael of silver in the eyes of a poor man are two different concepts.
The same situation applies to the family generals, not to mention Lu Sen. In their view, although the fairy fruit is precious, it is not indispensable.
On the contrary, the gold ingots waved by the merchants seemed more attractive in the eyes of the generals.
The main reason is that the merchants gave too much.
Looking at Ah Huang's cheerful steps, Lu Sen knew that this kind of thing could not be avoided.
Lu Xianxian walked over, glanced at Ah Huang, and said, "Mortals are still like this. They can never see clearly what is a truly good thing."
Lu Xianxian believes that the fruit at home, which contains a small amount of spiritual energy, is a rare treasure in the world.
It's such a waste to exchange it for some stuff.
Lu Sen didn't say anything. Everyone has a different standpoint and a different perspective on things. There's no point in arguing about this. He asked, "What's the matter, Xianxian?"
Lu Xianxian took out the plate she had picked up a few days ago from her Qiankun sleeve and said, "My dear, there is a message left for me by my tribesmen on this plate."
Lu Sen was stunned.
Lu Xianxian handed the plate over, and only then did Lu Sen realize that compared to when he first received it, there were more words in the concave part of the plate!
But these characters were very strange, and looked like hieroglyphics, but Lu Sen had never seen them before.
"This is the writing of our Qingqiu tribe." Lu Xianxian immediately explained. She ran her jade hand over the characters on it and said, "After coming home, it may have absorbed spiritual energy, so the hidden characters appeared. What is written on it means: Same as Kunlun, north of Tianchi."
Lu Sen frowned, totally not understanding.
Lu Xianxian continued to explain: "Kunlun and Tianchi are both small worlds like Qingqiu, which means that Qingqiu may have collided with Kunlun now, to the north of Tianchi."
Will the small world still flow?
Like water?
As if she understood the confusion on Lu Sen's face, Lu Xianxian explained: "Most small worlds will 'change', but Kunlun and Tianchi will not, so as long as you know where the entrances to these two places are, you will roughly know where the entrance to Qingqiu flows to."
"That means..." Lu Sen raised his eyebrows: "As long as we find these two places, we can use them as a reference to find the entrance to Qingqiu now, and then go back?"
Lu Xianxian nodded vigorously: "That's what I mean."
She was really happy and felt that her tribe members had not forgotten her and at least gave her a way to return.
"Do you know where Kuncang and Tianchi are?"
Lu Xianxian shook her head, but then she said: "The Tianji Sect must know, and other Central Plains cultivation sects, if they have inheritance, should also know. After all, these two are one of the holy places of the human race."
"The Tianji Sect doesn't have a good relationship with us." Lu Sen muttered to himself.
Lu Xianxian felt a little embarrassed.
The reason why Tianji Sect has a bad relationship with Lu Sen is because of this vixen like me.
"Perhaps we can go to Mount Li to ask." Lu Sen thought for a moment and said, "I will go to Jinhua's parents' home tomorrow and talk to Marshal Mu. I will ask her to write a letter to Mount Li, saying that I will visit him in the near future."
In fact, Lu Sen didn't want to go through so much trouble and wanted to go directly to the door.
But that's how the so-called big and powerful families were, or at least that's how it was in the Northern Song Dynasty at that time. It was very rude to visit someone without a visiting card or an invitation, unless it was an emergency.
"Then I'll trouble you, my dear." Lu Xianxian bowed and seemed very happy.
Then time quickly came to the evening of the next day. Lu Sen changed into a green robe and went to the banquet with a few family generals.
I didn’t bring any women with me because the so-called Fugui Building was really just a building.
It is essentially a large pleasure boat moored on the shore.
It is also the gathering place for some of the most famous people in Hangzhou.
Lu Sen was not familiar with Hangzhou, and Ah Huang took him for a long time before they arrived at the pleasure boat.
At this time, Huahang had been booked out, and there were several people standing at the door, one of whom was Lu Huiqing.
As soon as Lu Sen appeared, he noticed him, and hurried over to greet him, clasping his fists and saying, "This subordinate greets Master Lu."
Now Lu Huiqing is already a sixth-rank civil official, and has the real power of "acting as the governor of Hangzhou", but when he sees Lu Sen, he still has to call him "your humble official".
Because until this time, the court had not stripped Lu Sen of his official status, and he was still a fifth-rank civil official and a direct scholar of the Tianzhang Pavilion.
Lu Sen clasped his fists in return and said with a smile, "I'm sorry to bother County Magistrate Lu to wait outside. I'm very worried."
Lu Sen returned the gift first to Lu Huiqing, and then to the several businessmen standing around.
These businessmen were behind Lu Huiqing, and when they saw this, they quickly bowed their heads in return.
They are businessmen and have no right to speak at this time.
"No, no, please!" Lu Huiqing was also wearing a gray uniform at this time. He pointed to the entrance and said, "Master Lu, please come in."
Walk from the wooden pier covered with red carpet to the deck of the pleasure boat, and then hear the lively sounds coming from inside.
There were cheers, noises of laughter, sounds of stringed instruments, and lascivious sounds.
Lu Sen walked in front. After entering, he looked around and found a lot of businessmen sitting inside.
They were chatting in groups of three or four, watching plays and listening to music, or hugging young girls, touching them with lewd smiles on their faces.
This is the norm in pleasure boats...even the most upscale ones will have such shows.
However, famous courtesans would not appear on this floor; they usually went upstairs.
When Lu Sen came in, many people looked over subconsciously.
Then the entire pleasure boat fell silent.
In fact, they had known for a long time that they might be able to invite Master Lu this time, so when someone came from outside, they immediately looked over.
The moment they saw Lu Sen, they knew that the 'young man' in front of them was definitely Master Lu.
Even if they had not met Lu Sen, they would have come to this conclusion.
Because Lu Sen's temperament is obviously different from that of ordinary people. Not only is he extremely handsome, but he also has an otherworldly aura. His face is smooth, flawless, and extremely pure. This is definitely not the skin that a normal person can have.
So clean!
Without any grease or scars, untouched by the world.
The whole ship fell silent, and the women who were sitting on the merchants' laps also subconsciously stood up and walked to the side, standing with their heads down.
The businessmen began to tidy up their clothes subconsciously.
Lu Huiqing walked a few steps from the side and said, "Master Lu, please go up to the second floor from here."
Lu Sen followed his instructions and walked up the wooden ladder.
Lu Huiqing turned around and shouted, "Why are you all standing there? Listen to the singing and continue dancing."
Then the minor tune and the sound of stringed instruments began again, but this time the sound was obviously much softer, and the music also changed from the previous decadent joy to the sound of clear mountains and flowing water.
The artistic conception is vague.
There is a very large exhibition stand on the second floor, and there is a large platform on the protruding platform with two seats, one on the left and one on the right.
Lu Huiqing asked Lu Sen to sit down and sat opposite him.
Looking to the right from this position, you can see downstairs into the lobby and everyone in the venue is clearly visible.
At this time, two beautiful women in white clothes came over.
One stood next to Lu Sen, and the other stood next to Lu Huiqing.
Lu Huiqing introduced: "Master Lu, the lady next to you is the most beautiful woman in Hangzhou City, Liu Qingqing!"
The woman bowed slightly and said, "I dare not claim to be the best. There are so many beautiful women in this world. I am just a drop in the ocean. I am not worthy of being on the stage."
When Liu Qingqing spoke, she looked at Lu Sen's profile and her voice was trembling.
She was excited but also a little scared.
Lu Sen's reputation has long spread throughout the world, and everyone knows that he has great powers.
Even if the rumors are not credible, the solar boat hanging above our heads must be credible.
Now the golden light it is emitting is coming in through the window.
She felt very lucky to be able to serve such a strange man, a half-immortal, and was also afraid that she would not serve him well.
Lu Sen turned his head and looked at Liu Qingqing, and said, "Hello, Miss Liu."
"I don't deserve it."
Liu Qingqing bent her body slightly and squatted, her movements gentle and charming.
I have to say that Liu Qingqing is very beautiful. After all, she was specially chosen to serve Lu Sen.
Her appearance is almost on the same level as Pang Meir's...Pang Meir before she married Lu Sen.
At that time, Pang Meir did not eat much fruit and honey, nor did she practice any martial arts, and was still in the category of "human".
But now Pang Meir's temperament has changed greatly, she is even more fairy-like and charming.
That's a big win.
In terms of appearance alone, everyone is almost the same at best. What really makes people more charming and outstanding are temperament and aura.
Lu Sen looked away from Liu Qingqing and asked, "Lü Junshou, why did you call me here this time?"
"How about asking them to serve the food and drinks so we can talk slowly?"
Lu Sen had no objection: "The guest should follow the host's wishes."
Lu Huiqing clapped his hands, and the servants brought the dishes.
Halfway through the dish, Lu Sen frowned because he found that something was wrong with it!
