Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 569 Arrangements
When Zhang Lu left Hanzhong, he kept it a secret from the people. However, after he left Wudang and arrived in the territory of Chu, there were loud gongs and drums and firecrackers...
This also made Zhang Lu feel more at ease - if they arrived at the territory of Chu State and did not publicize it, Zhang Lu would suspect that the King of Chu wanted to silence them!
However, this time, Zhang Lu and his family were sent all the way to Jinling with the grand ceremony of "the princes coming to surrender".
In order to show solemnity, Bai Tu even went to a port not far from Jinling in person to welcome Zhang Lu.
Zhang Lu also understood that since he had already surrendered to Chu, it was not a good time to make any more moves...
Seeing Bai Tu coming to greet him personally, he immediately stepped forward with a look of "touched" and bowed first: "Zhang Lu from Hanzhong, I pay my respects to the King of Chu!"
"There is no need to be so polite, Marquis Hanning." Bai Tu also stepped forward to support him.
"Today there is no Marquis of Hanning, only Zhang Lu who is loyal to the State of Chu..."
The two men were at the port, and they were being humble and yielding to each other. One of them seemed to say, "If you suspect that you want to occupy Hanzhong, you are looking down on me," and the other one said, "Hanzhong is a heavy responsibility, and we must hand it over to the King of Chu before we can feel at ease."
After some humble words, the two moral gentlemen returned to Jinling together!
Slightly different from Liu Cong and Lady Cai who defected to Chu before, Zhang Lu came directly to Nanjing with his entire family, completely losing the ruling power of Hanzhong, and did not actually "transfer" it to Chu.
Zhang Lu's "surrender" only gave the State of Chu a legitimate excuse to send troops, and could suppress the backlash of local factions to the greatest extent. It did not have the strength of Lady Cai's offering of Xiangfan, and if there was no State of Chu, Hanzhong would have been lost!
Therefore, Zhang Lu was actually a little unsure about how he was treated...
As for the upper limit, maybe it can be similar to Liu Cong, and the lower limit... maybe it can be just an ordinary marquisate.
Of course, compared to these, Zhang Lu cares more about preaching!
Zhang Lu regretted it very much now. If he had known this would happen, he would have taken a boat down six or seven years ago. It would have been considered not being nice enough if Bai Tu did not recognize him as the "Heavenly Master" certified by the State of Chu. However, this was absolutely impossible now.
Fortunately, Bai Tu's attitude made Zhang Lu feel relieved.
As for how to "negotiate conditions" specifically, of course it couldn't be done at the port, but he first came to Jiangshan Garden with Bai Tu.
At this time, Zhang Lu's whole family was in Jinling, and his reputation in Hanzhong also made him a stepping stone for the Chu army because of his abandonment of the city and escape.
Even though some of his followers were not completely disappointed in Zhang Lu because of this, they could not withstand the repeated "stepping on" by the State of Chu in the future, and he had no chance to fight back in Hanzhong.
In fact, if it was just an evacuation, although it would lose face for the "Tianshi", it would not be a big deal. However, Zhang Lu at that time first used the name of Tianshi Dao to call all the believers into the city to "fortify the city and clear the fields", and then escaped without fighting... This is very resentful!
In Jiangshan Hall, Zhang Lu formally met Bai Tu and all the ministers in the hall as a "guest".
After Zhang Lu flattered the King of Chu again... no, praised the King of Chu, Bai Tu ordered people to read out the edict that had been prepared long ago - not to mention rewards such as houses, gold and silver, the most important thing was that Zhang Lu would be named Marquis of Yuhan, and the title would be hereditary!
Naturally, Zhang Lu was very grateful for this - the place of Yuhan had some connection with Zhang Lu.
Zhang Lu's grandfather, Zhang Daoling, once made elixirs at "Longhu Mountain" in Yuhan County...
Was it a coincidence? Or did the King of Chu know about this and was hinting at something?
So after Zhang Lu expressed his gratitude, he took the opportunity to bring up the matter of "Tianshi Dao" and wanted Bai Tu to "allow" him to preach in Chu. However, everyone could hear that Zhang Lu not only expected "permission", but also hoped that the Chu court could support him.
Zhang Lu certainly has no intention of "religious victory" now. His words also hinted that Taoism is a good helper to help the court stabilize the world, and he will also cooperate with the Chu court...
However, Bai Tu remained noncommittal and only said that if Zhang Lu wanted to "found" a sect in the State of Chu, he should remember to follow the procedures, first report to the Bureau of Astronomy, and then register with the Ministry of Rites.
The Taishi Bureau and the Religious Department of the Ministry of Rites have their own rules. Zhang Lu just needs to follow the rules...
Of course , Zhang Lu also heard that Bai Tu obviously did not want to give any preferential treatment to the Tianshi Dao, and he also warned himself to reorganize the doctrine.
For a moment, Zhang Lu felt a little disappointed.
However, the reward of "Marquis Yuhan" not only left him speechless, but also made him secretly happy. More importantly... Bai Tu at least did not directly ban the Tianshi Dao!
Bai Tu would certainly not specifically ban the Tianshi Dao. After all, if Zhang Lu could change the teachings of the Tianshi Dao to the point where they could pass scrutiny and be subject to supervision, then there would be no reason to ban it. And if it failed... there was no need to ban it himself.
At this time, Zhang Lu mentioned another matter: "Your Majesty, Lu...I have a daughter..."
Bai Tu frowned immediately after hearing this - it's good that Zhang Lu changed his words, but why did you mention your daughter? Do you think anyone can "kidnap" me?
In the past, whether it was Xu Rong, Zhang Chunhua or Huang Yueying, which one of them was not... in love with each other?
How could I, a 1.8-meter-tall man,...
"Ahem. Lu has a daughter who is very intelligent and studious. I heard that the king has opened a palace school, and the king's beloved son is the teacher... I wonder if my daughter can study in the palace?" Seeing Bai Tu's expression, Zhang Lu immediately brought out another set of excuses he had prepared.
Originally, Zhang Lu did want to use Zhang Qiying for marriage, and the target of the marriage was naturally the King of Chu himself - after all, the King of Chu was only thirty years old now, on the contrary, because of the "late marriage and late childbearing", the King of Chu's son was only seven years old...
However, Zhang Lu tentatively raised this idea with Zhao Yun, but was strongly stopped by Zhao Yun.
Perhaps Zhang Lu felt that Zhang Qiying, who was fourteen years old, was already old enough to get married, but in the State of Chu... that was obviously not the case.
Moreover, Bai Tu has always been a person who would only agree to things after he was "really attracted" by them. Forcing things would definitely not work, especially since the age gap between the two was too big - this was indeed what Zhao Yun meant, but of course he would not have said it that way!
Therefore, although Zhang Lu did not give up, he had an idea to settle for the second best option.
Bai Tu's biological son is only seven years old, but his adopted son is the same age as his daughter.
Although the adopted son Deng Ai certainly had nothing to do with the throne of King of Chu, Zhang Lu had also inquired about it along the way. Deng Ai was very talented and was highly regarded by Bai Tu. He would definitely be an important official of Chu in the future. It would be safer to be able to make friends with him.
"Palace school? There is no such thing. If Marquis Yu Han really has this intention, I can guarantee that your daughter will go to Jinling University..." Bai Tu was stunned when he heard this.
What is the Imperial School? Where his two sons and Wang Yuanyuan studied? That's three little kids! Your daughter is very talented, but she still has to go to "primary school" at the age of fourteen?
"No, no, no. I have just arrived in Chu State and don't know much about Chu studies and science. It is better for me to lay a good foundation. I heard that the king's adopted son is extraordinary and must be a good teacher..." Zhang Lu further hinted.
Bai Tu finally understood...
Bai Tu doesn't like being arranged, but if it's Deng Ai who's being arranged...
