Jiuxi

Chapter 113 112 [Uninvited Guest]

Lin Xi once told Lu Chen that the wealth in Guangling City was quite rare, and it was rare to see such a prosperous city in the North.

This sentence is not an exaggeration. During the seven years when the relationship between Southern Qi and Northern Yan was peaceful, Guangling served as the hub of Huaizhou, and its developed commerce was enough to create massive wealth.

But if compared with Yongjia, Guangling appears to be much weaker.

Before it became the capital of Southern Qi, Yongjia had a history of thousands of years. The city was surrounded by vast fertile plains. The fertile land laid a solid foundation for the rise of Yongjia.

With the rise of maritime trade, a large amount of silver poured into Yongjia City from overseas, and it gradually became the core of the entire Jiangnan economy.

For more than 100 years before the Yuanjia Incident, various places in the south of the Yangtze River, represented by Yongjia City, had become the granaries and tax centers of Daqi.Therefore, after the fall of Heluo and the late emperor and the prince's self-immolation in the palace, Li Duan, the seventh son of the emperor, relied on the support of Li Daoyan and others to continue the great Qi State Zuo in the south of the Yangtze River and could raise an army of hundreds of thousands. This was what he relied on. A vast land of profound heritage and wealth.

Today, Yongjia City is becoming more and more prosperous, with more than 200 million permanent residents inside and outside the city, nearly six times that of Guangling City.

The city wall that stretches for dozens of miles still cannot cover all the people. A considerable number of people live on the periphery of the city on the east and west sides, and now a new urban area is gradually forming.

On the official road to the north, Lu Chen, Li Bingxue and the Jingzhou generals rode on horseback. When they were still more than ten miles away from the capital, they could feel the prosperity of this big city.

Going south, there were more and more houses along the road. By the time they approached the city gate, it was already a busy scene.

Although the gatekeeper's attitude was not friendly, he did not deliberately make things difficult for the soldiers who returned from the border. They were released after checking that the official documents were acceptable.

The layout of Yongjia City is completely different from that of Heluo. The imperial city is located in the south, while the north city is mainly engaged in commerce and trade, occupying nearly one-third of the inner city.

The east and west cities are mostly residential areas with relatively narrow areas.

Lu Chen and others entered Beicheng and continued walking along the wide and flat main street. Everywhere they looked were lively and noisy scenes.

Cars and horses are shining, and pedestrians are like weaving.

There are rows of shops on both sides of the street, and there are endless sounds of hawking and shouting.

The faces were filled with eagerness, busyness, and contentment. They told the hundreds of frontier soldiers who were riding their horses slowly about the prosperous life of the people here, which was completely unlike those on the frontier. The people are so miserable and poor, giving them the illusion of being in a prosperous age.

The frontier soldiers who were talking and laughing gradually became silent.

When they arrived at the Ministry of War Yamen and handed over the documents, the dull atmosphere eased slightly.

They left their residence in the city at the Ministry of War, and then received a reply waiting for notification. The Minister of War encouraged the generals and told them not to leave the city during this period, so as not to delay the important event of meeting the saint.

After coming out of the Yamen of the Ministry of War, Lu Chen said goodbye to Li Bingxue and other Jingzhou Army officers and soldiers, and then took the people to his residence.

The house Lu Tong prepared is located between Dongcheng and Nancheng. Although it is not as good as the mansions of powerful people in Nancheng, it is still more quiet and elegant.

For the next two days, Lu Chen stayed quietly in the house without leaving the house.

That afternoon, he was sitting alone in his study. On the big case in front of him were several greeting cards, all of which were gifts he received before leaving Guangling.

The top one was written by the miracle doctor Xue. With this invitation, Lu Chen could easily knock on the door of Xue Nanting, the right minister of the dynasty.Of course, Xue Huaiyi did not need to let Lu Chen take the lead. He was just worried that this young junior was not familiar with the place in the capital, so he directly put this relationship in front of Lu Chen.

If Lu Chen causes any trouble in the capital, as long as he is not a big shot related to the Tian family, Xue Nanting's face will be enough to settle everything.

Lu Chen looked at the invitation calmly and then put it aside.

The second copy was written by Zhan Hui, the prefect of Guangling. Chen Chun, the minister of the Ministry of Rites of the Central Dynasty, was his tutor during the imperial examination. His promotion to the prefect of Guangling was inseparable from Chen Chun's recommendation.

Although the Ministry of Rites does not have much real power, for the officials of the Southern Qi Dynasty, if they want to enter the center and become the prime minister, the Minister of Rites is the only way.

Chen Chun is thirty-three this year, so it is unlikely that he will enter the central government. However, he has served in the Ministry of Rites for more than twenty years, and every minister will try to be friends with him, which is enough to illustrate his status in the court.

Lu Chen looked at the kind words in the post and couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.

Master Fu Zun naturally has good intentions, but for Lu Chen, this good intention should not be used.

The reason is very simple. When a great scholar like Chen Chun opens his mouth, he must quote from many sources. Lu Chen probably has no room to speak in front of him, and it has always been a taboo in the court for military generals and civil servants to be too close.

Lu Chen placed this greeting card at the bottom of a stack of books, and his eyes rested on the third and final greeting card.

This greeting note was sent to Lu Zhai by Su Yunqing and written by him in his own handwriting. It was intended for Qin Zheng, the Sutra Weaver Secretary.To this day, Lu Chen still retains his identity as the head of the warp weaving department.

Lu Tong told him not to care, Xiao Wangzhi made it clear that he could keep him, and Su Yunqing naturally wanted this.

It's just that... the two identities of Huaizhou Dudu Mansion Inspector Xiaowei and Sutra Weaving Secretary Officer are a bit awkward no matter how you look at it.

In fact, even without this invitation, it would not be out of the blue for Lu Chen to go to the Yamen of the Weaving Department to meet Qin Zheng. Su Yunqing was obviously showing Qin Zheng how much he valued Lu Chen.

Looking at this gilded greeting card, Lu Chen's father's instructions before leaving came to mind.

"Although entering the capital this time is just a formality. The emperor just wants to win over you, the rising stars in the frontier army, but it is related to the adjustment of the power structure of the frontier army and the Beijing army. There will definitely be people in the DPRK who don't want you to easily ascend to high positions. Enter the capital. After that, you must remember not to say anything, not to do anything, only to have a pair of eyes and ears, and never to become a bargaining chip in the struggle between the emperor and the officials."

These greetings in front of me seem to be the best footnotes to these words.

Lu Chen smiled faintly, of course he had no interest in getting involved in the muddy waters of the capital.

At this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door, and then Chen Shu said, "Master, we have a visitor."

Lu Chen turned to look at him and noticed that the expression on his face was a little strange, so he asked, "What guest?"

Chen Shu replied: "He is a young man in his 20s. He claims to be a student of the Imperial College, and his name is Song Yun."

Lu Chen frowned slightly and said, "What is the origin of this person?"

Chen Shu shook his head and said: "Master, forgive me. I don't know about it, and I haven't heard it mentioned by the master. He is probably not an old friend of our family. Song Yun told the villain that he heard that the young master made outstanding achievements in the Jiangbei victory. So I feel admiration in my heart, so I specially came to visit you today."

"A scholar from the Imperial College..."

A sharp light appeared in Lu Chen's eyes, and he said calmly: "Please meet him in the main hall."

"Yes, Master." Chen Shu quickly agreed.

After a while, Lu Chen walked slowly to the main hall, and saw a young man in a green shirt sitting upright. When he saw him coming in, he stood up quickly, stepped forward to greet him and said, "I am a student of Song Yun, and I have met Colonel Lu."

Lu Chen returned the courtesy and said, "Brother Song, please sit down."

After sitting down, Song Yun said seriously: "I have taken the liberty of visiting today, and I hope Captain Lu will forgive me. Some time ago, I heard about the great victory in Jiangbei, and all the people in Beijing cheered, and everyone praised the might of the frontier soldiers. The same was true in the Imperial College, When I chatted with some of my classmates about this great victory, they were all excited and wished they could go to the frontier in person to serve the country."

This man looked very familiar. It didn't look like he had met Lu Chen for the first time. It was as if he and Lu Chen had been friends for many years. He then spoke eloquently: "Later, I heard the details of this battle and learned that the planner of this battle was actually the young and weak Colonel Lu." Lieutenant, while I am amazed, I feel admiration at the same time, thinking that if I cannot get to know a young and promising hero like Captain Lu, wouldn’t it be a great regret in life!”

Lu Chen quietly watched him perform hard and said calmly: "Brother Song is so complimentary."

Song Yun sighed: "These are not lies, they are all my sincere thoughts. Colonel Lu must be a little confused, how can I know the captain's residence? In fact, there is no airtight wall in the capital. To be honest, I and I I have some friendship with the young master of Hu Shilang's family in the Ministry of War, and I asked him to find out where Colonel Lu lives, and ask the captain to forgive me for any rudeness."

Lu Chen smiled faintly and said calmly: "So that's it. Brother Song has a wide network of connections in Beijing, which is admirable."

"Just a trivial matter, why bother."

Song Yun spoke modestly, and then added: "I didn't want to be such a presumptuous guest, but there was no other way to get to know the captain, so I had to come to visit him shamelessly. If the captain doesn't mind, I and a few of them will My classmate wants to help the captain and cleanse him from the dust, so he asks the captain to give him some thin noodles."

Lu Chen looked at the obviously puffy bags under his eyes and thought, do I really look like I have a clear sense of stupidity?
He said calmly: "That's unnecessary. Why bother Brother Song and spend money?"

Song Yun said meaningfully: "You don't have to be suspicious, Colonel. I just want to make friends with young talents who are rare in this world. Those classmates of mine are all children of wealthy families in the capital, and they will also be beneficial to the future of the Captain. When I saw him, I Then you’ll know.”

Lu Chen smiled and said: "Brother Song may not know that Lu came to the capital this time to wait for His Majesty's visit under the Holy Order. It is really not appropriate to leave this place."

Song Yundao said: "The face to face is naturally the first priority, but the palace will definitely notify you in advance. Furthermore, if there is no communication after the morning court is over, the captain can handle his own affairs with peace of mind."

Lu Chen calmly picked up the tea cup, took a sip and said calmly: "Brother Song, who are you ordering me to come here today?"

"The captain is really a very good person!"

Song Yun gave him a thumbs up, then leaned forward slightly, deliberately lowering his voice and said: "The good captain knows that there is indeed someone else who came to invite the captain."

He paused for a moment and said with emphasis: "His surname is Li."

(End of this chapter)