Chapter 259: No Long-term Planning
Empress Cao was behind the curtain, listening to the discussions of the ministers below, and she became more and more anxious.
These people were only discussing the possibility of the "military academy" mentioned by Lu Sen and what benefits it would bring to the court, but no one mentioned the things she cared about most.
After waiting for a long time, she could not help but ask, "My dear nobles, please listen to me. Since Master Lu is willing to use someone else to present his political views, how much is his willingness to return to the capital to take up his post?"
Don't blame her for being anxious.
Women, especially those who are no longer young, are extremely concerned about their appearance and age.
She had eaten the fruits and honey produced by the Lu family and knew the effects of these two things. She even ate half a piece of rainbow silk, and her wrinkles became less severe.
Having truly experienced the benefits of 'reverse aging', she was extremely concerned about whether Lu Sen would return to the capital.
After hearing Empress Dowager Cao's speech, all officials fell silent.
Finally, Ouyang Xiu stepped out and said, "Master Lu asked his colleagues to present the memorial on his behalf, and his original intention was still not to return to the capital."
"Then what's the point of us fighting to the death to capture Xingqing Prefecture!" Empress Dowager Cao was so anxious that her throat was almost on fire. She felt more and more that she was getting older day by day. When she woke up every day and looked at herself in the mirror, it seemed that she had one more white hair. She felt a sense of fear in her heart: "Could it be that the army spent so much money and food, but still couldn't make Master Lu change his mind?"
All the officials looked at each other, while several important officials frowned.
Bao Zheng could not help but stand up and said, "Queen Dowager, please be careful with your words. The main reason why the Secretariat agreed to the war against Xixia was not to appease Master Lu, but because it was a national policy that benefited the country and the people."
Even if you really think so, you can't say it out loud.
If this matter were to spread outside, how would the people of the world view these important officials of the court?
Empress Dowager Cao felt a burning sensation in her heart, and she was unable to vent her anger.
But she also knew that she was not the only one who had the final say in the court. Even Empress Dowager Liu did not dare to control the imperial power too much. If she said anything more inappropriate , Wang Anshi would probably scold her again.
She took a deep breath and left first.
Anyway, she was behind the curtain and no one could see whether she left or not.
When she returned to her own bedroom, she immediately summoned the inner palace supervisor and said, "After the court session, go talk to the Prince of Runan and ask him if he can borrow a peach from Master Lu. If it works, I will definitely reward you handsomely."
The eunuch supervisor responded and walked out.
The matter of recovering Xingqing Prefecture is extremely important, as it concerns the northwest barrier of the Song Dynasty. In addition to the Zhe family continuing to stay there, it is very important to decide who to send to be in charge of government affairs there.
Of course, young ones cannot be sent there casually, and old ones who are not good at military strategies cannot be sent there either.
After all, the incident with Duke Wen happened before, and everyone in the court is afraid that it will happen again.
If Xingqing Prefecture is lost again, they may not have the chance to take it back.
After three major wars in a row within a few years, the country's manpower has been almost exhausted.
The officials discussed this matter for a long time. It was not that no one was willing to go, but that there were too many people willing to go.
After all, the Rejuvenation Banner that Lu Sen left there is still standing in its original place.
Everyone wants to go and rub it.
After all, except for young people, everyone has some minor illnesses.
However, when they thought of Sima Xianggong's matter, several important officials under the Secretariat did not dare to nominate a candidate at random.
The Prince of Runan just watched these people quarreling and felt extremely bored.
As a prince, he can attend court, but his words have no weight.
He had been dozing off while standing, and finally made it until the court was adjourned. Just as he was about to leave the palace, he was stopped by Supervisor Wang who was standing next to him.
"Prince of Runan, I am here to pay my respects." The eunuch did not dare to play any fancy words in front of the Prince of Runan. He bent over and said, "The Queen Mother said that if the prince can offer a peach, she will reward him generously afterwards."
The Prince of Runan was somewhat surprised. He asked, "Only Master Lu has the peaches. Why did the Queen Mother look for me?"
"Now in the court, only the prince and Master Pang have this opportunity." The eunuch smiled and said, "Besides, the queen mother and the prince are also members of the Zhao family, so they will naturally come to you for help."
The Prince of Runan said "oh" and then smiled, "I will tell my daughter about this matter. As for whether she can get the peaches, I dare not guarantee it."
"I understand. I will go back and report to the Empress Dowager." After saying this, the eunuch retreated first.
The Prince of Runan left the palace, and on his way home, the smile on his face gradually turned into a sneer.
After entering the study at home, he snorted, "A few years ago, when Sen'er was still in the capital, you, a woman, didn't get close to him at all, and you even slandered him in secret. Now that you are old and gray, do you know how good Sen'er is? Hehe, it's too late!"
The Prince of Runan had special intelligence channels. Cao, who was the queen at the time, had said bad things about Lu Sen in front of Zhao Zhen, intentionally or unintentionally, without any reservation.
But Zhao Zhen was not easily influenced by others and did not listen.
Only a few people knew about this, and the Prince of Runan was one of them.
Of course, he did not tell Lu Sen about this. After all, if he went to complain based on just a few words, he would always be suspected of gossiping.
He thought quietly in his study for a while, called the housekeeper over, and said, "Write a letter for me and send it to Sen'er in Hangzhou, saying that I suggest he return to Beijing, but not now, but wait a little longer, until all the officials are almost in despair."
This butler is his confidant and is extremely loyal and reliable, so these very confidential matters can be handled by him.
The letter was delivered to Hangzhou and into Lu Sen's hands twelve days later through the business network of the Prince of Runan.
Sitting under the Fusang tree, after reading the contents of the letter, Lu Sen stood up and said to Lu Xianxian, who was playing chess with Pang Meir, "Ask Alijie to send some people to the capital to collect intelligence."
Lu Xianxian asked: "The intelligence is mixed with human and snake. If our people go there rashly, it will be difficult for them to gain a foothold."
"Then we should set up an institution in the capital." Lu Sen thought for a moment and said, "We will set up a rice seed storage center. I will send some rice seeds to the capital in batches every month. In the future, the work of handing over rice seeds to the court will be taken over by this center, and we will send intelligence personnel to mix in with it."
Lu Xianxian thought about it and said with a smile: "It's feasible."
At this time, Alijie was training several teenagers in a valley outside Hangzhou.
She knocked them down with a stick tied with a cloth strip, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said, "You have made rapid progress. Remember, when you encounter an enemy, you should act like this, feinting and running away. No matter what, the right thing to do is to protect yourself first."
Among this group of young men, there was one with particularly dark and bright eyes. He was very thin and tall, like a sharp knife, exuding a sharp aura.
"Master, why don't you teach us how to kill people?" The young man asked, pursing his lips. "We can only run away, isn't that cowardly? Besides, offense is the best defense. If we can kill the opponent, wouldn't it be safer?"
Alice looked at the young man and smiled, "I mentioned this to Langjun before, but he said that he established the Intelligence Center just to collect intelligence and didn't intend to do anything bad. If he wants to kill someone, he has tens of thousands of ways to kill people. And for those of you who work in intelligence, learning how to escape will have a higher survival rate than learning how to kill people in the same amount of time."
With the same amount of time, using it to practice light body techniques, internal energy, and teleportation, wouldn't that make you more specialized than practicing an additional assassination technique?
Moreover, intelligence gathering itself requires the ability to act quickly.
The young man looked somewhat unconvinced, but he did not say anything else. Instead, he closed his eyes slightly.
Alice ignored him. This boy was a bit of a troublemaker among the newcomers, but he wasn't that difficult to deal with. He just liked to ask questions.
Just when Alice was about to announce the disbandment, a family general came over and conveyed Lu Sen's intention.
After hearing this, Alice's eyes lit up and she smiled, "I thought you would need at least two months to be able to stand on your own, but now my husband has something for us to do. Anyone who wants to go to the capital, please step forward."
Several teenagers stood up, including the boy with a sharp temperament.
They also roughly guessed what they were going to do in the capital.
"Very good, you guys prepare today and go north with the ship tomorrow."
The young men agreed one after another.
After Alice left the valley, all the teenagers relaxed.
A young man looked at Alijie's back and sighed, "Master Ai is so beautiful."
A young man laughed and said, "Master Ai is a Semu. If you marry her, won't you be beaten to death by the elders?"
"I don't have any elders anymore." The young man smiled bitterly, "If Master Ai hadn't picked me up from the street, I probably wouldn't have survived the last winter."
At this time, the young man with a particularly sharp temperament suddenly said: "Master Ai has a registered permanent residence. She is from our Song Dynasty. Marrying her will not be considered a disgrace to our bloodline."
This time, all the young men turned their eyes over, each with a surprised expression.
After a while, someone exclaimed, "An Qing, do you also have a crush on Master Ai?"
"No!" An Qing said coldly, "I just said a few fair words for her. Besides, you also understand that our lives were not saved by Master Ai, but by Mr. Lang."
"We also know that it was Langjun who saved us." A young man sighed, "But Langjun is too far away from us. He is an immortal and is destined to never appear in front of us. So we can only attribute the life-saving grace to Master Ai."
The group of people chatted and returned to their residence.
And at some point, a slightly distorted ball of air appeared next to them. After listening to these teenagers chatting for a while, the air gradually faded away.
Lu Sen was in the pavilion, spreading out the world map and looking at it.
This is a map from later times. Although the terrain is roughly the same, the national boundaries are very different.
Lu Sen could only remember some important ports based on his memory.
For example, what are the famous places in the Mediterranean area?
At this time, Lu Xianxian suddenly appeared beside him. The vixen came over, bringing a faint fragrance, and said, "My dear, you have to capture the hearts of the people in the intelligence organization."
"What's going on ?" Lu Sen was a little surprised: "Is Alijie having ulterior motives? It doesn't seem possible!"
"That's not the case." Lu Xianxian repeated what she had just heard and seen, and said, "It's just that those young men couldn't see you, so they could only place more loyalty on Alijie."
“That’s a good thing!”
Lu Xianxian asked in surprise: "Why is this?"
"People need spiritual support, whether it's Alice or those teenagers." Lu Sen smiled and said, "If Alice works hard for us and trains talents but is not respected, then her spirit will easily become 'empty', which will lead to some unnecessary negative thoughts, which is not conducive to the stability of the intelligence organization. As for those teenagers... they have two spiritual supports, mine is virtual and Alice is real, which is also very good for their mentality."
"Is that so?" The vixen looked Lu Sen up and down, and said helplessly, "It is said that we foxes understand people's hearts, but I feel that you, my lord, know how to play with people's hearts better than us vixens."
Lu Sen said unhappily, "You make me sound like a tyrant ."
"Do you dare to say you are not?"
Hmm... Lu Sen thought about it, but couldn't seem to find any reason to refute.
Seeing that Lu Sen did not refute, Fox had to interrupt the topic. She looked at the map on the stone table and asked, "What are your plans next, my dear?"
"I want to go over here and take a look!" Lu Sen pointed to the end of a long and narrow bay and said, "Let's go over there with a flying vehicle."
"My dear, are you going on a long journey?" The fox was surprised.
Lu Sen nodded and said, "I am quite concerned about the whale plague. If they really have hibiscus trees, they should be around here."
Lu Sen drew a circle on the map with his finger.
If there were people from later generations here, they would know the place where Lu Sen was trapped: Italy.
And the first stop he wanted to go to was Venice.
"My dear, why do you think the Fusang tree from the Western Barbarians will appear here?" Lu Xianxian couldn't help but ask.
Lu Sen smiled and said, "Intuition."
It’s not actually intuitive.
If there is any symbol that marked the rise of the Western world, it would probably be the Renaissance.
Then came the great geographical discoveries.
It can even be said that it was the Renaissance that led to the subsequent great geographical discoveries.
Besides, Italy is the successor of Greece, so it should have some luck.
So having a hibiscus tree in that area doesn't seem to be such a difficult thing to accept.
Hearing her intuition, Lu Xianxian did not refute.
She was well aware that some practitioners would have the so-called "divine connection", where they would occasionally have a flash of inspiration and the decisions they made would be correct.
But she frowned and said, "Who are you going to take with you, my dear?"
Lu Sen thought for a moment and said, "I won't bring anyone with me, just an interpreter."
"Alizee?"
Lu Sen thought for a while and said, "She should be able to do it, but she still has to be responsible for the affairs of the Intelligence Center."
"Leave the Intelligence Center's affairs to me." Lu Xianxian said, "Although I can't say that Alijie is completely trustworthy, at least she is one of our own. It's better than you having to hire an interpreter from outside."
At this time, Yang Jinhua came over from the side.
The two did not try to suppress their conversation in silence; Yang Jinhua, who was knitting clothes with Ringo nearby, heard everything.
She said softly, "My dear, it's okay to take Alijie with you, but you have to let her stay with me for two or three days first, okay?"
Um?
