Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The hall became quiet. A breeze blew in, and the charcoal fire turned red for a moment, then dimmed.

In the bright light, Lu Bu had an embarrassed look on his face, as if he had not paid much attention to the use of money and food recently, and had pushed the scholar from Huaixi a little too hard. It turned out that the military expenses were quite high recently, but the biggest source of income at this time, taxes, were much less than usual because of winter.

There was a crackling sound in the brazier.

Lu Bu opened his mouth and said, "Then...is there any way to make money?"

The four Liangshan elders below looked at each other, and Qiao Lie spoke softly: "Unless the king goes back to the Song Dynasty, we can do nothing about it."

"Or increase taxes." Jiang Jing suddenly said, pursed his lips, and said, "But I don't recommend doing so. Liaodong has suffered varying degrees of damage, especially in Liaoyang Prefecture, which was once occupied by the Yuan Dynasty. A hasty increase in taxes may cause protests from the people."

The events of the Zhongping years flashed through his mind. He shook his head and said, "I know that most of the rebels in the past were people who couldn't survive..." He touched his chin and leaned forward: "Can we ask the rich to donate?"

The four people on the opposite side were silent for a moment and shook their heads. Lu Bu leaned back and laughed at himself: "Yes, if the rich were willing to donate their money, I wouldn't have to worry about this."

Lu Bu stood up and paced in front of the people. He stopped for a while and said, "If the victims from the north come in, we should accept them first. We should also not stop preventing pirates from the south..."

He rubbed his temples and said, "Let Ling Zhen, Ye Chun, and Wu Hu stop manufacturing for a while and continue it next year. The existing weapons and warships are sufficient, so we can wait." He turned to look at Liu Min and said, "Is it possible to help the victims until the beginning of spring?"

Liu Min turned to look at Jiang Jing. The divine fortune teller was calculating quickly in his mind and spoke after some hesitation: "According to the situation in previous years, winter clothes can be taken off in late spring or early summer. There are still three to four months from then. The money saved by stopping the construction of weapons and warships would be enough to provide food relief in the summer. However, the country is short of money everywhere now, so..."

He hesitated and didn't finish his words.

Lu Bu nodded. He was not a stupid man. What Jiang Jing meant was that the court had many needs for money, but it might not be enough to cope with the additional population.

He frowned, looked at the four people and said, "Do you have any suggestions?"

The four of them also had worried faces. Liu Min spoke first: "Your Highness, please forgive me. I don't have any. Perhaps... you can stop paying some of the military pay?"

"Bad idea." Lu Bu rejected it flatly. "We built our country on military power. If we follow the example of the Song court and cut military pay, who will be willing to fight to the death for me? Don't mention this matter again."

"Then I can't do anything." Liu Min bowed helplessly, and the other three looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Forget it, let's cut down on the palace expenses." Lu Bu paused for a moment, then thought of something and sighed, "Just cut down on some expenses, and let's keep the women in the backyard as they are. After all, the two are pregnant, and Wen'er is still young."

"I've got that in mind." Liu Min bowed.

"Why not cut the officials' charcoal fees as well?" Qiao Lie suddenly said, "Except for the soldiers on the front lines, the charcoal fees of officials and servants in the rear can be appropriately reduced. After all, the official residences have been renovated and are much better than before, when they were leaking everywhere. They don't need that much charcoal."

Li Zhu twirled his beard and nodded: "I second the motion."

"I second the proposal." Jiang Jing nodded.

"Then the Ministry of Revenue will have more money available." Liu Min laughed, looking more relaxed.

"Okay, if you have nothing else to do, just leave and take those women and children into your possession first."

Lu Bu waved his hand, looking a little tired. Talking about money and food with others was more tiring than leading troops to fight.

"We will take our leave!" Then the four of them stood up and said goodbye to Lu Bu. When they reached the door, Li Zhu turned around hesitantly and said, "My king, now that everything is settled, do you want to find a wife?"

Lu Bu was stunned for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "This matter is not urgent...", and repeated: "Let's do it this way for now."

Li Zhu nodded and walked out.

Lu Bu stood in the hall and looked at the beams for a while, then he exhaled and muttered to himself, "It's time to give me a name..."

He turned around and strode to the table, writing something with a pen. Soon, an official document was sent out to all places, and Wu Qing, Hu Sanniang and Su Jinniang were all appointed as concubines.

Then he strode out.

……

The sky is about to set, and the setting sun hangs in the sky, shining weakly. The streets are sparsely populated, and the cold weather will freeze idle people who like to stroll outside back into their homes, welding them to their beds. It will also make vendors who make a living by selling fruits and vegetables unable to leave their homes, forcing them to live on their surplus income.

The horse's hooves made a clattering sound as they stepped on the cold, hard ground. It passed several carriages. The red warhorse was breathing out white air. It walked through the streets and alleys under the protection of the guards in front and behind, and stopped at a restaurant.

Lu Bu dismounted his horse and turned to look at the Hua Niangzi Building diagonally opposite. Red lanterns were hung outside the majestic building. Several eunuchs were wearing winter clothes outside, greeting the officials, both big and small, who were passing by, to come in for a drink and a rest.

"In that place?" The King of Qi, wearing a black cloak, tilted his head.

Yu Cheng stepped forward and said, "That's right. When the military advisor has nothing to do, he likes to drink and often stays away from home for several days."

"He's quite cool." Lu Bu raised his lips and went into the restaurant: "I'm waiting for him on the second floor, go and call him over."

Yu Cheng responded and went over with three guards.

Someone behind him pulled the horse to the backyard, gave him a tip of more than ten cents, carefully instructed the shop owner to take care of the work, left two guards there to guard it, and then went up to the second floor.

It was not yet time for dinner, and not many people were around. Lu Bu found a seat by the window and sat down. Not wanting to make his personal soldiers work hard, he had them sit at three or four tables around him. He ordered food, and the waiter wrote it down one by one. Someone brought a brazier and placed it at his feet before Lu Bu retreated to prepare the meal.

Opening the window a crack, Lu Bu looked across the street. A new soldier poured hot soup and handed it to him. He took it and drank it slowly.

After drinking a bowl of hot soup, a familiar figure wrapped in fur coat walked out of the gate, trembling as he trotted over. Yu Cheng and three personal soldiers followed behind, and soon they came up to the restaurant.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Wang Zheng bowed and straightened his back with several rouge and lipstick marks on his face.

"sit."

Lu Bu pointed to the opposite side. He was not a virgin who had never seen the world, so he would not make a fuss. He just glanced at Yu Cheng, whose face was flushed, with interest, and then looked at the young man who was sitting down: "Military Advisor likes women to warm his bed, so just marry a few more at home. When will this habit of hanging around in brothels end?"

"Your Majesty is wrong." Wang Zheng shook his head. "Zheng hangs out in brothels because there are mostly poor women there, struggling in the mud all day, smiling at people for a little money. I am naturally soft-hearted and cannot bear to see them being reluctant, so I am willing to sacrifice myself to accompany them. Over time, they know my character and naturally will not smile just for money. Their smiles at this time are for me and come from the bottom of their hearts. This is my wish. I hope that all women in the world can smile happily, so I often walk around brothels to cleanse their hearts and hope that there will be a ray of light in their lives."

The restaurant gradually became noisy. Lu Bu sat opposite in silence. After a while, his face twitched. He took a sip of the hot soup and put it down: "This is the first time I have heard you speak like this. It is really fresh and unconventional."

Wang Zheng smiled contentedly. (End of this chapter)