Chapter 298 Bao Zheng also wants to go to sea
In the end, Yelu Hongji left.
Neither agree nor refuse.
Just as he himself lamented, he actually always wanted to be a Song Dynasty person.
He admired the culture, system, customs and folkways of the Song people.
As an emperor, it is wrong to have such thoughts, but unfortunately... he has been educated in Han culture since he was a child.
This is the effect of strong soft culture.
It’s a pity that the Northern Song Dynasty in history, which had a strong economy and culture as well as good military strength, was ruined by a group of so-called elites, who destroyed the promising situation.
After leaving Linhuang City, Zhao Zongshi sat in the aircraft, looking at the mountains and rivers below, and asked: "Brother-in-law, why don't you take Empress Xiao with you?"
"Why do you want to take her away?"
"Brother-in-law should also know that if Empress Xiao stays in Khitan, it will only..."
"You little brat, you also know how to feel sorry for women?" Lu Sen joked with a smile, and then he remembered that this kid knew how to play the game of eagle catching chickens with the maids more than a year ago: "That's right, your maids are actually your concubines."
Zhao Zongshi chuckled twice, feeling somewhat proud.
Lu Sen continued, "I know that Empress Xiao's future may not be easy, so I left her a treasure that should be able to solve this problem."
"What treasure?"
Lu Sen smiled and said nothing.
It’s not that Lu Sen wanted to do anything to Xiao Guanyin, but looking at her face that was almost exactly the same as Lu Xianxian and Jingjing, he really couldn’t ignore her.
Besides, Xiao Guanyin is not a bad person.
She was just a poor woman. Her family was considered "traitors" and she was despised, suspected, and then hated by her husband. The small piece of system home that Lu Sen gave her was just a place to stay. If she didn't have a better way to protect herself, she would be torn to pieces by the jackals surrounding her.
After leaving Linhuang, Lu Sen did not rush back to Hangzhou, but took Zhao Zongshi to travel around.
After several days, he quietly returned to the cave in Hangzhou City.
Zhao Zongshi had a big meal in the cave before returning to his home.
He really had a lot of fun these days.
At this time, the hibiscus tree had grown bigger and taller, about 40 meters high, with its leaf crown spread out, and its diameter reached about 70 meters.
From a distance, it looks like a huge green umbrella.
Moreover, it exudes a lot of spiritual energy, which can be easily absorbed by sitting under its shade.
"If this continues, my magic array will not be able to hide it." Lu Jingjing sat in the pavilion and said helplessly: "I have never heard that the hibiscus tree can grow so fast."
Lu Xianxian poured a cup of tea for Lu Sen and fed it to him personally, saying, "This is probably due to the cave mansion technique. All the fruit plants in the cave mansion are growing very fast."
"But this rapid growth is still outrageous." Lu Jingjing sighed, then she looked at Lu Sen: "If it continues like this, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth may return to the world. I remember that old woman once said that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that we whales can absorb is limited. If it is too abundant, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth will slowly replenish."
Lu Sen raised his eyebrows: "Wait, you mean, just one person can't absorb the spiritual energy of the entire world?"
"Of course, otherwise how could the two emperors Yan and Huang have sealed it!" Lu Jingjing said as a matter of course: "It can only occupy most of the spiritual energy, but there is no way to absorb it all."
It turns out that the three additional monsters, neither foxes nor whales, have caused all the spiritual energy in the world to dry up.
Then in the final analysis, it was still the Tianji Sect's fault.
If they hadn't wanted to lure Lu Xianxian to Fuso Island and refine her, how could so many things have happened later?
Lu Sen couldn't help but look up at the huge tree trunk in front of him. If it was true as Lu Jingjing said, that the spiritual energy generated by this Fusang tree under the blessing of the system home was far greater than the remaining absorption rate of the whale, then would the whole world return to the fantasy era?
Then, wouldn’t this place be a holy place for cultivation in the future?
Then at least we have to build a sect first.
Lu Sen looked at the system, which showed that Yaoyao and Kunkun had met the conditions for becoming a disciple for some time.
He then said, "Jinhua, go call Yaoyao and Kunkun up. I have to hold a graduation ceremony for them."
"Are you going to chase them away now?" Yang Jinhua was embroidering nearby and was stunned when she heard this: "Isn't it too fast? Besides, they are still young."
Lu Sen smiled and said, "The departure of our sect is different from that of other sects. It just means that they can walk the world independently and do what they want. It doesn't mean that we want to drive them away. It's not a big deal."
"Sir, you scared me." Yang Jinhua rolled her eyes at Lu Sen, then went down into the mountain to call for help.
Although Yaoyao and Kunkun call her "Master's Wife", in fact they are more like sisters.
They just play around with each other, without any respect for the authority of the elders.
After Yaoyao and Kunkun came up, they knelt in front of Lu Sen, holding a cup of tea respectfully.
This was just a symbolic courtesy. Lu Sen picked up the cups one after another, drank a sip casually, then patted them on the head and said, "You are now apprentices. From now on, you can go wherever you want to play."
Their eyes suddenly lit up.
At the same time, Lu Sen confirmed in the system that these two people would go out on the expedition.
Suddenly, some golden light appeared on the two of them, and then quickly disappeared. This scene attracted the women around them to come over.
Yang Jinhua complained, "It 's obvious that there were unusual signs when we set out on our expedition. It's obviously a big event. How can you just say it's a common occurrence?"
"Yes, yes, for such a good event, we should set out several tables of delicious food." This is what Zhao Bilian shouted beside her.
Pang Meier didn't say anything, but just sat aside, pulled Yaoyao over and asked, "You were glowing with gold just now, is there anything special about it?"
"Hmm..." Yaoyao felt it and said, "I can also use the cave technique, although it is not as big as Master's, and the space of Qiankun Sleeve is a little bigger."
The system functions of the twins are castrated versions, so they naturally cannot be compared with Lu Sen's.
After completing their apprenticeship, the two's system capabilities were slightly enhanced.
As for Lu Sen himself, he successfully activated the 'sect system'.
A system interface appeared, which contained various buildings and various skills, which dazzled Lu Sen.
All of these require 'spiritual energy' to obtain.
As for the method of obtaining spiritual energy... after the sect is officially established, one third of the spiritual energy obtained by all disciples during their practice will be forcibly extracted by the system and injected into the sect's spiritual energy pool.
Spiritual energy has many uses, such as exchanging system skills, and buildings are just basic functions.
Other methods include forcibly prolonging life, increasing lifespan, forcibly infusing people with large amounts of spiritual energy to refine their bodies, rapidly improving people's qualifications, etc.
"What a great thing." Lu Sen sighed. He looked at the huge Fusang tree and said, "I want to build a sect, a system-based sect. Do you have any objections?"
Everyone's eyes shifted over.
Naturally, no one objected. In fact, it was better to say... this was more in line with their ideas.
In the eyes of everyone in the Lu family, their master has long been qualified to establish his own sect, but if he doesn't want to, no one wants to urge him.
Now that he is willing, naturally he will give his full support.
"Before establishing a sect, we must first build the sect." Lu Sen looked at the two female disciples who had just finished their apprenticeship and said, "You should be able to see the pictures in your mind. I have a task for you. Just build the sect according to the drawings. Do you understand?"
“Yes, Master.” The twins saluted with fists clasped and smiled happily.
From now on, the two of them will be the eldest senior sisters.
A few more days passed, and that day was the beginning of spring. There was a light rain in the sky, and because of the dark clouds, the entire sky was dark.
However, there was a solar boat in the sky above Hangzhou City, so the whole city of Hangzhou was still bright.
At about the same time, a high peak among the mountains to the north of Hangzhou city shone brightly.
Then, as if a curtain was unveiled, a huge, glowing tree appeared before the world.
Even the most experienced seafarer has never seen such a tall tree.
Then under the giant tree, there is a huge building. Even from a distance of more than ten miles, you can still see that huge six-story stone building with curved corners and flying eaves, and the whole body is light gold colored.
Afterwards, it appeared and disappeared among the clouds and mist.
Those with sharp eyes could even see a plaque above the main entrance of the building with the three characters "System Gate" written in regular script.
On that day, people in the entire Hangzhou city almost craned their necks to look at the giant trees and buildings in the distance, unwilling to take their eyes away for a long time.
Everyone knows that Master Lu has never liked to show off his power, but now he is making such a big fuss about it. What does this mean?
Many people were talking about it and guessing.
The most mainstream view is that Master Lu is using this method to force the court to give him an explanation.
He has the ability to establish his own school of thought. Whether he will be in the Song Dynasty or Khitan in the future depends entirely on the decision of the court.
It was under such circumstances that some events occurred in the imperial court that shocked the whole world.
Master Pang and Bao Zheng joined forces and led all the officials to force the emperor to abdicate. They first accused Empress Dowager Cao of interfering in government affairs and of trying to subvert the Song Dynasty. They also said that the emperor had no ability to govern the country and should abdicate and let a more suitable person sit on the throne.
That person was the crown prince who had been chosen before the young emperor was born: Zhao Zongshi, or more precisely, Zhao Shu.
This forced abdication lasted less than four days. Empress Dowager Cao cried bitterly behind the curtain in the court, but she could not win back the hearts of the officials. She was isolated and helpless, and finally had to bring the abdicated official, Zhao Xi, to Hangzhou City under the escort of the imperial guards.
It was said that the fiefdom of King Xiangyang would be handed over to Zhao Xi, but everyone understood that this was a disguised way of sending Zhao Xi and Queen Mother Cao under Lu Sen's nose. It was up to Lu Sen to decide whether to kill them, imprison them, or let him be a free and easy prince.
At this point, everyone in the Song Dynasty breathed a sigh of relief.
From now on, there should be no more twists and turns in the Song Dynasty within the next hundred years.
In July of that year, Zhao Zongshi officially ascended the throne and changed the reign title to Xining.
On the same day, Lu Sen appeared in the mansion of the Prince of Runan. Of course, in theory, Zhao Yunrang should be the emperor emeritus.
But... Zhao Shu was adopted by Zhao Zhen back then, so now that he sits on the throne, he still has to call Zhao Zhen "father" and Zhao Yunrang "uncle".
Zhao Zongshi was very unhappy about this, but there was nothing he could do.
Finally, he had no choice but to issue a new decree to revoke the princess's right to "promote".
In the past, when a princess of the Song Dynasty married, she and her husband would be promoted one generation.
In other words, from now on, the princess and her parents-in-law are of the same generation and should be treated like brothers and sisters.
The prince consort is of the same generation as his parents and can address them as brothers and sisters. Even on major festivals, parents have to kowtow to their son and daughter-in-law and ask for money in accordance with the rules.
As soon as Zhao Zongshi withdrew such an immoral act, he naturally received widespread praise.
Originally, it was very difficult for a Song princess to marry. Scholars didn't want to marry her, and ordinary people had no chance. Even dogs didn't want her!
But now...the scholars are somewhat moved.
After all, everyone in the world knew that the official's sister had set a "good" precedent by being willing to marry Master Lu as a concubine.
After that, Bao Zheng and Master Pang both resigned from their posts at the same time, insisting on leaving despite the emperor's attempts to retain them.
That night, Bao Zheng appeared in the Prince of Runan's mansion in plain clothes.
Although he was already the de facto emperor, when Zhao Yunrang saw Bao Zheng, he bowed solemnly and bent down to invite him into the palace.
And Lu Sen was already waiting for Bao Zheng in the study.
"Master Lu, are you satisfied with this?" Bao Zheng asked with a smile while drinking tea.
Lu Sen smiled and said, "I thought that you had already driven Queen Mother Cao out of the palace, but I didn't expect that you would even pull the little official down with you."
"I don't know how the history books will comment on us in the future." Bao Zheng took a sip of tea and chuckled, "But we can't escape the title of 'Summer Solstice Coup'."
That’s right, the day when Bao Zheng, Master Pang and all the officials successfully forced the emperor to abdicate happened to be the summer solstice.
Lu Sen sighed, "You scholars are really hard to describe. Sometimes I feel that you are so cowardly that it is unimaginable, but you also do things that surprise me. What I am even more surprised about is why the Cao family did not oppose you."
"They dare not." Bao Zheng smiled with some pride.
The civil officials have been suppressing the military generals for at least a hundred years, and the generals have had some stress reactions due to the blows.
"So, Bao Longtu, after you resign, do you plan to return to your hometown?"
"No, I plan to go out to sea." Bao Zheng said with a smile: "I plan to take Guard Zhan, Wang Chao, Ma Han and others to go out to sea to see this world. I heard from Master Lu that the world is round. As long as we keep going east, we can return to the Central Plains from the west, right?"
Lu Sen nodded: "I did say that, but I only said that among the merchants. How come you guys also heard about it?"
"There are people from the imperial court among the maritime merchants."
"I roughly guessed it." Lu Sen did not look surprised at all.
The imperial court sent people to infiltrate the maritime merchants to collect information about Lu Sen, and Lu Sen also used the maritime merchant group to indirectly input his own ideas into the court.
"We need a big ship to go out to sea. Can Master Lu support me with a treasure ship? I want to load more magic weapons and crossbows on it." Bao Zheng said with a rude smile, "You always say that scholars like me are cowardly. Now I am going to go abroad to spread the prestige of the Song Dynasty. By the way, I will go east to see if the world is really round."
