Chapter 80 Preparing to Return to Beijing
Rumors and gossips, when spread widely and to more and more people, will be processed layer by layer by different individuals through word of mouth and eventually become so bizarre that the original spreader cannot even imagine it.
The reason why there is a rumor that Lu Sen likes to drink foot washing water (bath water) is that when Lu Sen married Yang Jinhua, Yang's doorman Lao Qi boasted at the banquet: My young lady has a strong and violent personality. When she is angry, she will say insulting words. She will even scold the enemy to drink her foot washing water. However, Lu Xiaolang does not take it seriously. They are really a good match.
Old Qi was praising Lu Sen, saying that the latter didn't mind Yang Jinhua's impulsive and willful temper, and was a good man. His lady had married the right person by marrying Lu Sen.
Who knew that after the word spread out of the banquet, it became that Lu Sen loved to drink Yang Jinhua's foot washing water, so he married her. He also described Yang Jinhua's feet as crystal clear and unique in the world.
You know, in ancient times, including the Northern Song Dynasty, women's feet were actually one of the (忄) organs!
So what Yang Jinhua said about letting others drink her foot washing water was actually quite... vulgar.
It's just like the psycho girl nowadays who keeps talking about reproductive organs.
As Lu Sen's deeds became more and more popular in the Song Dynasty, the content of the rumors gradually changed. Needless to say, those rumors describing his supernatural powers were extremely outrageous.
The rumor about him liking to drink his wife's foot washing water has also risen to the level of liking unmarried girls' bath water, which shows how terrible the rumor will be after it spreads.
Also because the rumors about Lu Sen were too outrageous, Lu Huiqing just treated them as a joke when he heard such things in the southern county.
However, he also filtered out some useful information from these contents.
For example, there was a young Taoist priest in the city of Bianjing who was deeply favored by the emperor, but he did not persuade the emperor to practice alchemy and practice cultivation. Therefore, the civil and military officials were kind to him and even let him take up a civil service position without any objection.
In general, in Lu Huiqing's opinion, Master Lu should be a young man who is very good at talking about Taoism theory.
As for the rumored immortal shadow play and the so-called cave technique, it is most likely a trick to deceive the eyes.
As for why the officials in the capital did not expose Master Lu’s tricks?
The reason is very simple: since Master Lu has advised the officials not to practice cultivation and has given enough face to all officials, isn't it natural for all officials to give him face as well?
This is one of the unspoken rules in officialdom.
However, everything he saw now overturned all his previous speculations.
His three views were shattered as well.
"Is there really such a magic?" Lu Huiqing followed Ouyang Chun closely with a confused look on his face.
Many people will have similar expressions when their world views are shattered and reorganized. After all, the amount of information they receive is too much and their brains cannot process it all at once.
This is especially true for people who already have their own firm world views.
Lu Sen walked on the ice and went to the second grain ship, putting all the sacks into the system backpack.
Soon, this scene attracted the attention of other grain transport soldiers. They came over spontaneously and watched Lu Sen take away bags of grain in silence, their faces filled with disbelief, as well as a strange kind of fanaticism and piety.
The food on more than 30 ships was quickly taken away by Lu Sen.
Standing in the heavy snow, Lu Huiqing's still immature face had an expression of being unable to accept, even a little distorted.
He pressed his forehead and said in some pain: "If everyone knew this magic, disaster relief and food supply for the army could be easily solved. Why would we need a large number of logistics and food transport teams?"
Only those who have served as grain transport pioneers know how painful it is to travel with a grain team.
Managing the eating, drinking, and defecation of hundreds of people along the way is already a troublesome task, and one also has to guard against some military ruffians who might secretly eat or steal food.
Such things happen quite often. One person steals a little, another steals a little; today they steal a little, tomorrow they steal a little, and before they know it, a lot of food is gone.
And then you have to be careful of robbers.
Being a grain transport officer is a tough job that is both mentally and physically demanding.
But if you were like Master Lu, you could just use your hidden powers to collect all the food and then release it when you reach the destination, how easy it would be.
Not only does it save time, money and effort, it is also highly secure.
After Lu Sen collected all the food, he said, "Lü Baoyi, we have the food, and it's time for us to leave."
"Please wait a moment. As a grain transport officer, I have to go and hand over this matter to Councillor Ouyang." Lu Huiqing clasped his hands together and said respectfully, "Master Lu, please allow me to accompany you."
Lu Huiqing was a very proud man and didn't look down on people of his age, but now he had to bow to Lu Sen.
Whether in terms of official status or ability, he felt that he had no capital to be arrogant in front of Master Lu.
Lu Sen thought for a while and said, "That makes sense. Then come with us on horseback to Hangzhou. But we'll have to trouble you to ride with others."
"No problem." Lu Huiqing bowed, then turned to the more than 200 soldiers in front and shouted, "Everyone, listen up, line up first."
There was a rustling sound, and more than two hundred soldiers lined up in several rows, looking fixedly ahead. Some of them focused their attention on Lu Huiqing, but more of them were looking at Lu Sen. There was a gleam of admiration in their eyes.
Lu Huiqing also discovered this, and he felt quite helpless.
Along the way, he had finally managed to win over the morale of these people, but Lu Sen's incident easily attracted the attention of most of the soldiers.
He didn't like this feeling very much. He had worked so hard to accomplish something that others didn't need to put in any effort to achieve better results.
This made him feel defeated and look like a fool.
However, he was quite thoughtful, without any unhappy expression on his face. Instead, he said, "When we were transporting grain here, we encountered heavy snow and the river was blocked. The grain delivery date is approaching. If we cannot deliver the grain to Hangzhou on time, we will be severely punished. Even if we don't die, we will probably be exiled to the border army."
Hearing this, many soldiers swallowed their saliva in fear.
Lu Huiqing took a quick look and took in the expressions of all the soldiers. Then he smiled and said, "Fortunately, Master Lu came flying over and saved me. It was like saving water and fire. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is my reborn parent. What should you do?"
"Thank you Master Lu for saving my life."
All the soldiers knelt on one knee and saluted with their fists clasped.
The action and sound are neat.
Lu Sen and Ouyang Chun were both stunned.
Then a slight smile appeared on Ouyang Chun's lips, and he understood the meaning of Lu Huiqing's action.
One is to defend himself in disguise and prove his ability, telling Lu Sen that the grain transport team was trapped here because of God's will, not because of his incompetence.
The second is to show goodwill to Lu Sen and put all the credit on Lu Sen.
Lu Sen naturally understood, but he didn't care. He turned around and raised his hand to the group of soldiers: "Please stand up."
Although there were only two short words and his tone sounded emotionless, with a cold feeling, he was dressed in white and standing in the snow, his otherworldly temperament was even more prominent. Everyone felt that it was natural for Lu Sen to speak concisely and ruthlessly.
A group of soldiers did not dare to disobey and stood up.
Lu Sen turned around and said to Lu Huiqing, "Please settle them. Hero Ouyang and I will wait for you at the post station ahead."
"Yes, command."
Lu Huiqing clasped his fists and bowed his head.
Only after Lu Sen and Ouyang Chun left did Lu Huiqing slowly raise his head.
Snow fell on his official hat and uniform, and the weather became colder.
Lu Huiqing breathed a sigh of relief, and a long white mist spewed out of his mouth. Looking at the two paths of footprints on the snow spreading into the distance, he felt a little depressed.
He thought that this was just an era full of geniuses and eccentrics, and he felt that he had the ability and courage to compete with the heroes of the world.
But how to compare with real gods?
Lu Sen and Ouyang Chun walked side by side. Although the snow was deep, it had no effect on the two.
Ouyang Chun smiled and said, "That Lü Baoyi just now doesn't look simple."
"Indeed, the soldiers of the grain transport team are well disciplined." Lu Sen was a little hungry, so he took out two pears from his system backpack and threw one to Ouyang Chun, who took a bite. Then he continued, "When he arrives in Hangzhou and becomes the county magistrate of Ouyang, he will be able to rise to prominence soon with his ability."
"Master Lu seems to be very optimistic about him?"
"It's not that I'm optimistic about him, I just think he's capable."
"There are really not many officials who can do things now." Ouyang Chun also took a bite of the pear and was surprised by the deliciousness of the fruit. He said, "As the leader of a horse gang, I often dealt with officials in the past. Sometimes I was so angry with those stupid officials that I wanted to vomit blood."
Lu Sen laughed when he heard this: "Since you've been bullied by a dog official, why don't you do something to enforce justice?"
"Lu Xiaolang still loves to joke around." Ouyang Chun sighed helplessly, "As a righteous man in the martial arts world, you can't act according to your temper, otherwise it will only bring disaster to your sect and relatives."
"Brother Ouyang has a very clear understanding of the world."
"What's the matter with transparency..."
The two chatted and soon walked back to the post station, where they saw three officials who were warming themselves by the fire.
When the three saw Lu Sen and Ouyang Chun, they immediately surrounded them and asked what was going on.
Ouyang Chun smiled and said, "With Master Lu's 'The Universe in His Sleeves', how difficult would this be?"
The three officers were delighted upon hearing this, and then someone brought two bowls of mutton soup, which was still hot, for Lu Sen and Ouyang Chun to warm up.
In fact, neither of them felt cold, but they did not reject other people's kindness.
Afterwards, the five of them sat around the kang and chatted, and as they chatted, it began to be Lu Sen who was telling the story.
Several people who stayed behind in the post station also gathered around and listened with great interest.
Two hours later, Lu Huiqing arrived.
He came in wearing a black cloak and shook off the snow on his body. "Master Lu, I have already taken care of the matter. We will set off at that time."
"Right now." Lu Sen stood up.
Ouyang Chun also stood up with the other three officers.
Then the five of them set off on horseback, and Lu Huiqing rode on the same horse with an official.
After another three-day long journey, when Lu Sen returned to the outskirts of Hangzhou, he discovered that even in Hangzhou, which was much further south and on the coast, there was thin ice floating on the surface of its moat.
"The cold wave has reached Hangzhou." Lu Sen was stunned. "It's so cold here, what about Bianjing? Or the grasslands and northwestern plateaus further north?"
Ouyang Chun was stunned. He didn't understand what Lu Sen meant.
After all, he is a martial artist, so there is no need to go through so many twists and turns.
But after Lu Huiqing thought for a while, his expression changed drastically: "Master Lu, do you mean that the northern barbarians will go south?"
Whenever there was a white disaster, the barbarians from the north would go south to plunder.
This has become a rule.
It is almost spring now, and the weather should be gradually getting warmer, but it suddenly got cold, and it looks like it will be cold for a while longer. The barbarians on the northern grasslands, or the foreigners in the northwest, are probably running out of food for the winter. In order to survive, looting in the south is the only way for them to survive.
"I hope my guess is wrong." Lu Sen sighed.
After the five people entered the city, they separated.
Ouyang Chun and three officers went to Juyi Tower, while Lu Sen took Lu Huiqing to the Hangzhou government office on foot.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw Ouyang Xiu rushing out. He saw Lu Sen from a distance and shouted, "Master Lu, did you bring the food back?"
Because Ouyang Xiu had seen Lu Sen collecting a large number of "wooden blocks" for shipbuilding before, and knew that he had a "method of transporting them", that was why Ouyang Xiu came to ask Lu Sen for help.
"I brought it back." Lu Sen smiled.
"Great." Ouyang Xiu clapped his hands excitedly, then bowed to Lu Sen and said, "Thank you Master Lu for your kindness and hard work to save the people of Hangzhou."
As he spoke, the burden on Ouyang Xiu's face disappeared completely.
At this time, Lu Sen discovered that Ouyang Xiu seemed to have aged a little, with more and deeper wrinkles on his face.
At this time, Lu Huiqing stepped forward, bowed, clasped his fists, and said, "Your humble servant Lu Huiqing, the grain transport pioneer, is preparing to take up the post of Hangzhou County Magistrate, and would like to meet Councillor Ouyang."
"Xu Jian is missing, Lu Jifu!" Ouyang Xiu smiled happily and said, "You did a good job this time. You acted decisively and sent a letter for help immediately. If you had delayed for a few days, it would have been difficult to handle."
Last year's provincial examination was presided over by Ouyang Xiu, and Lu Huiqing's ranking in the provincial examination was also approved by Ouyang Xiu.
It can be said that Ouyang Xiu was Lu Huiqing's mentor.
Therefore, the relationship between the two can be regarded as a special kind of "master and apprentice".
The reason why Lu Huiqing was able to come to Hangzhou to serve as the county magistrate was because of Ouyang Xiu's help.
"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Ouyang." Lu Huiqing smiled happily.
Then Ouyang Xiu said, "Master Lu, let's go put the food out first."
"good."
The three of them went to the warehouse on the left side of the government office. In front of many people, Lu Sen threw out bags of sacks, which soon filled up half of the warehouse.
"Lü Jifu, take your men to count it and then hand it over to me." Ouyang Shangzheng stroked his beard and looked at the generations of grain with a calm expression.
When Lu Huiqing led his men to count the food, Ouyang Xiu pulled Lu Sen aside and whispered, "Master Lu, I know you want to stay in Hangzhou until the fleet sets sail, but I hope you can go back to Bianjing now."
"About the matter where the cold wave will cause the northern barbarians to move south?"
Ouyang Xiu chuckled upon hearing this and said, "Since Master Lu already knows, then please return to Bianjing City as soon as possible. Regarding the matter of supervising the army, I support you."
