Chapter 354: Future generations have their own plans
The ministers met with Master Lu at night!
This matter has spread in Bianjing City.
Why did Master Lu return to Bian Jing and what did they talk about? This is something that makes people very curious.
All parties were asking questions, but no one who participated that night wanted to talk about it.
Under the threat of pleading, Lu Huiqing said:
Master Lu said, "Merchants should flourish."
These words shocked the entire capital for several days, with some people happy and some worried.
Afterwards, various people tried to confirm with those who participated in the night party, but no one was willing to talk about it anymore.
Afterwards, Lu Huiqing was transferred away from the court and sent to Suzhou to serve as the prefect.
It seems that he was demoted because he talked too much, which caused the displeasure of senior officials in the court, so he was sent away.
But everyone present that night knew that Lu Huiqing was given an "important task", after all, the loom appeared in Suzhou.
In addition to the incident of 'the ministers meeting with Master Lu at night', there was another more interesting incident.
The Prince of Runan has been running around among the major families these days.
Originally, the court officials were unwilling to see Di Qing go on an expedition to Northern Liao, but recently they gradually changed their minds and actually agreed.
This should have been a good thing, but Di Qing was not at ease.
He always felt that this was a game, a game against him.
The candlelight in the study flickered, making crackling sounds from time to time, burning to death the flying insects that tried to fly into the fire.
It's normal that I can't go on the expedition, but if I can... there must be something fishy going on.
Di Qing was sighing in his room, feeling extremely worried, when an old servant came to report, "Sir, Master Lu wants to see you."
"Master Lu?" Di Qing was stunned for a moment, then stood up quickly: "How can such a distinguished person be left waiting outside the door? Come in... No need, I will go out and greet him myself."
He hurried out the door, only to see Lu Sen already standing in the yard.
The old servant was naturally perceptive. He knew that it was impossible for an immortal like Lu Sen to be kept waiting outside the door, so he had already invited him into the house.
Di Qing breathed a sigh of relief, walked over, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Master Lu, it has been nearly two years since we last met. You are worthy of being an immortal, and your demeanor remains the same."
Lu Sen clasped his fists in return: "This time I came here for nothing big, just to give something to General Di!"
Um?
What is worthy of being delivered personally by Master Lu?
He actually ate a lot of fruits and vegetables from the immortal world.
Lu Sen took out a wooden sculpture of a brown bear from his system backpack: "I can't openly help with the expedition to Liao, but I can still provide some protection for the general."
"Spiritual beast!"
Di Qing's eyes suddenly became sharp, and then became hot.
Throwing the forest eagle in his hand over, Lu Sen said with a smile: "I have something important to deal with next, so I have to go ahead. Don't blame me, General Di."
Di Qing reached out his hand to take the spirit beast. He wanted to ask Lu Sen to stay, but seeing that he was determined to leave, he clasped his fists and said, "Farewell, Master Lu. I will never forget your kindness."
He kept making the gesture of thanks with his fists clasped until Lu Sen disappeared, and then he asked the old servant to close the door.
Then Di Qing cut open his palm with the knife he carried with him without hesitation and pressed the wooden sculpture onto the blood.
A majestic bear-shaped helmet... and a brown full-body armor covering his entire body.
Feeling the endless power flowing into his body, Di Qing laughed out loud.
The spirit beast contract is very powerful and can make him invincible on the battlefield, but what really makes him feel at ease is another meaning.
This spirit beast contract is Master Lu's declaration to the world: Di Qing is under my protection, and those of you who are not afraid of death can go ahead and target him.
In fact, Di Qing's political sense was not strong enough, he only saw the first layer.
When he went to court the next morning, many ministers looked fearful when they saw the little brown bear standing on his shoulder.
When the Prince of Runan, the young official and others saw the brown bear on him, what they showed was... a look of intimacy.
The fact that he could bring a spirit beast with him meant that he was recognized by Master Lu, and Master Lu was the brother-in-law of the small official. In other words, from now on, Di Qing could be considered half a "relative by marriage."
It is no longer a 'force' to be guarded against.
After this operation, more than twenty days passed.
It was early autumn and the city of Bianjing was beginning to get cooler.
Red and yellow leaves swirled down. Lu Sen stood in the garden, watching the three women packing up their things.
When he came, he brought a large group of people with him because he had to take care of the Sixth, Tenth and Thirteenth Ladies of the Zhao family.
Now that we are going back, only four people are needed, and the rest can stay in the capital.
Just when Yang Jinhua and the other two were about to pack up their things, there was a rapid knock on the outer door.
Zhao Bilian jumped over to open the door, only to see a group of people appearing outside.
The leader was an old man in official uniform. He clasped his fists and asked with a smile, "Excuse me, madam, is Lu Longtu in there? Zhou Bu Si, the Minister of Agriculture of the Ministry of Revenue, wants to see you."
At this time, Lu Sen still had his title and was still the Grand Secretary of Longtu Pavilion.
Therefore, people in the officialdom usually called him "Zhenren", and when handing over court affairs, they called him "Longtu".
When Lu Sen heard the voice, he took the initiative to come out, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Excuse me, Zhou Sinong, what's the important matter?"
"I'm mainly here for the grain seeds." Zhou Buti took two steps forward, bowed, and looked at Lu Sen with eyes full of 'reverence': "The 'Jinmaoshu' that Lu Longtu sent four months ago is now mature. The yield per mu is measured to be more than 1,000 kilograms, slightly better than the Immortal Rice."
Nowadays, there are few people who are engaged in "farming" who do not admire Lu Sen.
"It's grown so quickly?" Lu Sen was a little surprised.
Zhou Buti smiled and said, "Such an auspicious sign cannot be neglected. Now that the grain has been planted, can we distribute it to all directions to benefit the people?"
This thing was sent by Lu Sen. The Prince of Runan secretly instructed that if Lu Zhen did not nod, it would be temporarily planted in the palace. If Lu Sen nodded, it would naturally benefit everyone.
"Of course, the sooner the better."
Zhou Buti was overjoyed when he heard this. He bowed and clasped his fists, his voice choking with sobs: "On behalf of the people of the world, I would like to thank Master Lu for his blessing."
As the chief official in charge of agricultural affairs, he knew the advantages and disadvantages of fairy rice and 'Jinmao Yam' very well.
Immortal rice is a staple food and can be found on the table at any time.
Although the yield of the yam is high, it can only be used as a supplementary food because it is not as filling as rice. Its leaves and vines can even be used to feed pigs, which is extremely useful.
It has another more important advantage, which is that it is not picky about the land... Immortal Rice requires a lot of water and good land to produce high yields.
There is a limited amount of fertile land in the world.
But the yam does not need this. It can be planted in any sandy land near the river or on the hillside, and it survives very well.
In this way, farmers who do not have good land can plant yams on wasteland and have a good harvest as long as they water them regularly.
It’s not a problem to support a few people.
If the immortal rice made the world free of hunger, then the appearance of the tangerine peel would ensure that everyone in the world would have enough to eat.
Zhou Bushi left with many thanks. Although he was old, he walked as if with the wind and was extremely happy.
Lu Sen smiled, shook his head and went back to the room.
The door of the Yang family closed again, and not long after, a flying vehicle floated into the sky and flew away from the capital.
Many people saw it, some were paying homage, and some were just gazing at it quietly.
After Lu Sen left Bianliang City, the court introduced many new policies.
Many policies are related to businessmen, lower business taxes and more operating rights.
But there are also more constraints... Once a businessman operates dishonestly and evades taxes, he will face huge fines if caught by the government, and even three generations of his clan will be banned from taking the imperial examinations for ten years.
There are many similar initiatives.
It seems to be in line with the previous rumors that Master Lu said that merchants will prosper.
However, the newly enacted commercial laws are also restricting the expansion of businessmen.
Full of contradictions.
But no matter what, the businessmen felt that the shackles on them had loosened a lot, which was naturally a good thing. Everyone was very happy and began to increase their business investment and operations within the scope permitted by the law.
Some people even took the initiative to form fleets and head overseas.
Because maritime trade taxes have dropped to 50% of their previous level.
Previously, the Spice Islands route was no longer profitable, because too many spices were shipped to the Song Dynasty, the price had been falling, and the taxes were also high, so the profit was very small.
But after maritime trade taxes were reduced by half, spices once again became a very profitable business.
The merchants were naturally delighted.
At this time, Lu Huiqing was in the Suzhou Weaving House, watching more than a dozen looms working noisily.
His face was not very good. After a while, a clerk came over with a booklet and said, "Prefect Lu, the data has been compiled."
"How many bolts of cloth have been produced in the weaving house this month?"
"Thirty thousand."
When Lu Huiqing heard the number, his face was full of disbelief.
At first glance, 30,000 pieces of linen may not seem like a lot, but last year the Ministry of Revenue collected about 10 million pieces of "tax" on silk and linen fabrics.
But this is only the monthly output of the weaving house, and there are only about a hundred looms of this type in the entire weaving house.
Moreover, 30,000 pieces was not the upper limit of the working quantity of the hundred or so looms. Rather, because the Weaving Bureau purchased a large amount of hemp thread on the market, causing the hemp thread to appreciate very quickly, the Weaving Bureau had temporarily stopped purchasing hemp thread.
Lu Huiqing calculated that the hundred or so looms in the weaving factory alone could produce at least 500,000 pieces of cloth a year.
If the scale of the looms is expanded and other counties also use the looms... in a year, more than ten million rolls of cloth can be easily produced.
If this continues, there will definitely not be enough silk and hemp threads in the entire Song Dynasty.
And what will happen in this case?
"Mulberry trees occupy good farmland, and farmers are engaged in weaving, and flock to them. Merchants are hoarding land at high prices and engaging in mergers and acquisitions." Lu Huiqing shuddered subconsciously. He had vaguely seen some bad signs: "No wonder Master Lu said that merchants must not be allowed to hold real power."
In fact, what Lu Huiqing "saw" was just the surface, but it was scary enough.
Besides, the fact that he could 'see' this proved that he was very smart.
He immediately returned to the government office and wrote a memorial to the emperor, explaining what he had seen and thought. He concluded by asking, "To promote business is like feeding a ferocious beast. If it is young, you can still hold it in one hand. But if it grows into a giant tiger, who can subdue it?"
Half a month later, the secret decree from the imperial concubine arrived, with Fu Bi's seal on it: Future generations will have their own plans!
