Jiuxi

Chapter 597 [Starting from Today]

Shanyang County Mansion.

The plaque on the gate had been replaced by the eunuchs in the palace. This showed that Li Zongben had decided long ago to confer the title of Duke of a county on Lu Chen. Even if Li Daoyan had not made the decision, he would not have been led astray by Xin Yixian and others.

The rules in the mansion remained unchanged, only the maids and servants were filled with excitement and joy.

It is a great honor for their young master to be conferred the title of Duke of the County, and even they, as servants, will enjoy the benefits.

Lu Chen would not be stingy, because the rules in the Lu family's inner house were very strict, and the treatment naturally could not be bad. So when he returned home, the chief steward Chen Shu immediately asked the accountant to distribute reward money to everyone according to his instructions.

After returning to the inner study room which was heavily guarded by personal soldiers, the smile on Lu Chen's face gradually faded.

There was another person in the study, he was Tan Zheng, one of the leaders of the Lu family's secret guards.

He looked at Lu Chen's back standing in front of the window and said respectfully, "Sir, Miss Wang has a letter."

Lu Chen nodded slightly and took a secret letter with wax intact from him.

Looking at Wang Chulong's familiar and beautiful handwriting on the letter paper, the anger that Lu Chen had been suppressing in his heart slowly dissipated.

After reading the contents of the letter in silence, Lu Chen asked calmly, "Was the conspiracy of Xin Yixian and others instigated by Zhong Cheng?"

Tan Zheng said in a deep voice: "There is no discovery in this regard so far. Following Miss Wang's instructions, several of our agile brothers have been keeping an eye on the Zhong Mansion, and have not found any contact between Minister Zhong and Scholar Xin. Lord, could it be that someone is deliberately framing this?"

"This possibility cannot be ruled out."

Lu Chen pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Our strength in the capital is still too weak."

This statement was actually a bit beyond the line, but Tan Zheng did not show any panic at all.

His life and property have long been dependent on Lu Chen. Even if Lu Chen wanted to take him to do something outrageous, he wouldn't even frown.

On the contrary, when Lu Chen finally decided to shift part of his focus to the capital, Tan Zheng felt extremely excited, as it meant that he had a place to use his talents.

Lu Chen continued, "Miss Wang divided you into three groups earlier. I didn't want to interfere with her decision, but now the situation has changed, and we also need to make some adjustments."

Tan Zheng understood and said, "Please give me your instructions, sir."

Lu Chen still looked out the window and said calmly: "Send a message to Qu Zhong, asking him to take his men south. From now on, you and he will be responsible for gathering information in the capital. As for Jiang Sheng, let him continue to stay in Dingzhou. Dingzhou will be the top priority in the next two years. No matter how these people in Jiangnan stir up trouble, as long as I can firmly control Dinghuai and Dinghuai, they will not be able to stir up any trouble."

Tan Zheng couldn't hide his excitement, and bowed his head and replied, "Yes, sir."

Lu Chen instructed, "We need to plant our spies in the homes of the two prime ministers, the six ministers, and Han Zhongjie, Zhang Xu, Chen Lanyu, Li Jingda, Shen Yulai, and others. We need to win over people from the court, the military academy, the six ministries, nine temples, and seven bureaus, including the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy. I will ask my family to prepare 500,000 taels of silver, and you and Qu Zhong will be responsible for opening up the connections. You can continue to consult Miss Wang for specific matters, and she will be in charge of all the details."

Tan Zhengdao: "I obey your command."

"Go and do your work. We will have guests coming to visit you in the evening. There is no need to panic."

"Yes, my lord."

Tan Zheng bowed and left. Lu Chen put his hands behind his back, looked at the green and lush summer scenery in the courtyard, and whispered to himself: "Although you are better than the incompetent emperor who was burned to death in the palace, I am really not Marshal Yang."

After nightfall, there was a gentle breeze.

A figure quietly sneaked into the Duke's Mansion and appeared in the study.

Lu Chen personally poured tea and invited him to take a seat.

The visitor sat down leisurely, holding a teacup in his right hand, looking at the furnishings in the study, and said with a smile: "Outsiders think you are a genius who has no knowledge or skills. If they were to walk into this study, I'm afraid they would be so shocked that their jaws would drop to the ground. If I didn't know you well enough, I would probably think you were just pretending to be cultured."

Lu Chen also smiled and said, "That's right."

The visitor pointed at the various books on the bookshelf and the two thick piles of books on the desk, and said confidently: "I bet you have read at least half of the books here carefully and left annotations."

Lu Chen did not continue to deny it, and said with emotion: "You still understand me."

"Of course."

The visitor recalled the past and said leisurely: "When I first met you in the drizzle of Guangling, I knew you were a rare talent. Don't forget, I used my own merits to buy you a job, so that you could step into the world and rise to prominence from then on."

"Look, a little favor has been remembered for so many years."

Lu Chen took the opportunity to joke: "Why don't you quit your current position and follow me to Dingzhou to start a business?"

The visitor said in a bright and cheerful tone: "If you are willing to give up the resources of the Weaving Bureau, I am of course willing to go to Dingzhou. The question is, are you willing to do so?" The two of them couldn't help but smile at each other.

The visitor was Su Yunqing, the supervisor of the Sutra Weaving Department.

After the first Northern Expedition, he was recommended by Qin Zheng as the new supervisor because of his merits, and the post of Huaizhou Inspector was taken over by Yang Jingxuan.

Others naturally didn't know that Su Yunqing had already offered his services to Lu Chen long before he led his troops to attack Heluo. When the Huaizhou army broke through Heluo and hung the head of Jing Jun on the city wall, this senior official of the Weaving Department, who was determined to avenge his family, had already become Lu Chen's most loyal supporter.

It is difficult for others to see how powerful the forces under Lu Chen's wings are now. Among these followers, apart from the Lu family's confidants, Su Yunqing's determination is the most determined.

The reason is very simple. The blood debt of the 19 members of the Su family has always been on Su Yunqing's heart. He dare not forget that his deceased father's head was hung on the city wall by the Jing army.

Based on this, as long as the State of Jing does not perish and Emperor Jing does not die, Su Yunqing will not be able to redeem himself.

Only Lu Chen can help him complete this heroic revenge.

So Lu Chen has actually always been very familiar with the situation in the capital.

Su Yunqing took a sip of tea and turned to the main topic, "Your Majesty is indeed a little too hasty."

"Not necessarily."

Lu Chen seemed very relaxed in front of him and said calmly: "In the eyes of others, Your Majesty did nothing wrong at all."

Su Yunqing looked slightly puzzled: "That's right?"

Lu Chen said, "He conferred the title of Duke of Wei on me, and conferred the title of Duke of a county on me. What's wrong with that? Rewarding the three armies is something the court must do, and this matter cannot bypass Duke of Wei, Duke of Rong, and me. If he didn't say a word, how would the world view the court's harshness? From the perspective of a minister, a monarch who is clear about rewards and punishments and generous is worth serving, isn't it?"

Su Yunqing was startled, then laughed and said, "That makes sense."

Lu Chen's lips curled up slightly, and he continued, "As for this kind of reward, it will elevate me and cause me to be put on the fire and be scrutinized by civil and military officials. What does this have to do with Your Majesty?"

Su Yunqing hesitated and said, "But this will disgust you because you don't want to get into this situation too early."

"It does not matter."

Lu Chen shook his head and continued, "Your Majesty has granted me the title of Duke of the County, but has not weakened my military power, and has allowed me to set up the Dingzhou Governor's Office on my own. What kind of trust and respect is this? If I were dissatisfied with this, all the knowledgeable people in the world would ask, what do you, Lu Chen, want to be so greedy for? In this situation, do you think I dare to be dissatisfied? Do I dare to become the target of public criticism?"

Su Yunqing's expression gradually became solemn.

Lu Chen added: "Besides, your majesty knows very well that he is not the late emperor and does not have a deep friendship with me. I will not be as loyal to him as I was to his late emperor, so he will naturally feel a little uneasy, so he uses this method to set me up. The relationship between monarch and minister, and the righteousness and honor, our young majesty is very skilled in using it. In fact, if he is not so anxious, Uncle Li, Uncle Xiao and I will still treat him like the late emperor."

Su Yunqing couldn't help but sigh: "Maybe he is just worried, after all, people's hearts are hard to predict."

"That's correct, but I've also confirmed one thing through the turmoil at today's court meeting."

Lu Chen's eyes flashed with sharpness, and he said word by word: "Your Majesty has a heart disease."

Su Yunqing narrowed his eyes slightly. As a senior official of the Weaving Bureau who had been immersed in the evil minds of human beings all his life, he could fully understand the meaning of the word "heart disease".

After a moment's silence, he asked softly, "What do you need me to do?"

"To be honest, I originally just wanted to see the late emperor off for the last time, and then head north to take charge of the border troops, continue to fulfill the late emperor's last wish, and strive to return to the old capital and recover the homeland as soon as possible. Based on this, I don't really care how those people in the central government fight for power. As long as they don't affect the strength of the border troops, don't reach out to the north of the Yangtze River, and only fight in the south of the Yangtze River, I am willing to turn a blind eye."

Lu Chen took a sip of the teacup and sighed, "But this requires a prerequisite, that is, your majesty is impartial like the late emperor, and has the two hundred thousand soldiers of the border army in his heart. Now it seems that our young majesty has many ideas and has the means to achieve his goals, so I need someone by his side who can detect his plans in advance."

There was no doubt about this candidate, and Su Yunqing quickly understood why Lu Chen summoned him in secret.

But his expression was slightly serious, and he asked, "Do you think His Majesty will take action against Lord Qin?"

"The word 'take action' is a bit strong. Your Majesty should not go to such lengths."

Lu Chen was silent for a while, and then he said softly, "As the saying goes, a new emperor appoints new ministers. Your Majesty has already started working on this matter in the palace. He will not and dare not act rashly in the court or the army for the time being, but he will not completely trust Qin Tiju. For any emperor, how can he not control a government office like the Textile Bureau?"

Su Yunqing nodded and said, "Indeed."

Lu Chen looked up at him and said seriously, "So you have to get closer to His Majesty little by little. If one day he really wants Qin Tiju to go home and retire, the person who will take over the Sutra Weaving Department must be you."

Su Yunqing said without hesitation, "Don't worry, I can do it."

Lu Chen raised the teacup and the two of them touched each other from a distance.

(End of this chapter)