Lu Xiu walked into the room, knelt down in front of his grandfather's bed and asked, "Does grandfather feel better?"
Lu Yihao smiled slightly and said: "Xiu Niang's words are like a good medicine. My grandfather's heart has been untied a lot. Who taught you?"
"Master taught my granddaughter."
Lu Xiu's master was Li Qingzhao, who was also a woman who had gone through ups and downs.
Lu Yihao nodded and said apologetically to his granddaughter: "The litmus test is hardship. I really thought that Shen should have been engaged. Now I realize that things are not that simple. The Shen family must have received the news that I have been dismissed as prime minister, so I just found an excuse to reject the marriage. It's because my grandfather is bad and doesn't know people well. I didn't expect the Shen family to be so snobbish."
At this time, Lu Jin said from the side: "Father, Chen Qing introduced Wei'er to a position as Huguang Xuanfu Envoy Sihu Cao to join the military. Does Father think it is feasible?"
Of course Lu Yihao knew that Chen Qing was transferred to Yue and Ezhen to be the envoy. He also knew that Chen Qing defeated the water thieves in Yuezhou and saved Li Gang's life. Li Gang would definitely give this favor to him.
He pondered for a moment and said: "Li Gang was dismissed from office because of my impeachment. It is inappropriate for Wei'er to serve as an official under him. It's okay if he is the governor of the provincial government!"
Lu Xiu suddenly understood what his grandfather meant and couldn't help crying with joy, "Thank you, grandfather!"
Lu Yihao touched his granddaughter's head and sighed: "When you reach my age, you will understand my grandfather. Chen Qing is an outstanding talent. Of course I will not give up easily. I am actually considering marrying your sister Xian Niang." Give it to him. Now it seems that my grandfather was too greedy."
Lu Xuan is Lu Xiu's cousin. She is one year younger than her. She is good-looking, but has a very quiet personality. She basically stays close to home. She is exactly the opposite of Lu Xiu's personality. The two of them cannot play together. However, Lu Xiu actually had a very good relationship with her cousin Li Mei.
Lu Jin said from the side: "Chen Qing invited Wei'er and Xiu'er to visit Bashu. I wonder if my father will allow it?"
If this invitation had been put forward a day earlier, Lu Yihao would never have allowed it. But if it was put forward now, it would be completely different. It's just that Lu Yihao couldn't let go of his face.
Lu Yihao sighed and said: "They are your children, you can decide for yourself! You don't need to ask me about this kind of thing."
Everyone ended happily. Seeing that Lu Yihao was a little tired, everyone retreated, leaving only his second brother Lu Datong.
"Second brother is still right about Chen Qing's affairs. Things in the world are unpredictable. Who would have thought that he, a military general, would also serve as the governor of Yuezhou, holding both civil and military responsibilities?"
"I think this is a general trend. Now the officials have learned their lesson and no longer only use civil servants. Instead, they have begun to reuse Confucian generals who are both civil and military, such as Liu Guangshi, Zhang Jun, Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, etc. Chen Qing did the same On the same line, I heard Xu Xiantu say that the officials admired the poems he wrote at Zhang Jun's birthday banquet and praised him repeatedly as a rare Confucian general and not a brave man. He was made the governor of Yuezhou, which I guess he also It has something to do with the official’s perception of him.”
"You're right. I've seen this trend a long time ago. The only mistake I made was that I misjudged the Shen family."
"Everyone is doing it for the benefit of the family, so the Shen family's choice is not surprising. But my brother should rest peacefully and take good care of his body during this period. Maybe one day, the government will be unstable and important ministers will be needed to take charge, and the official family will think of my brother again. ."
Lu Yihao nodded secretly. The second brother had a more long-term vision than the third brother.
.........
In the northwest corner of Lin'an City, there is a large area of dilapidated small houses. Although the land prices in Lin'an have soared, this large area is still a low land price, and the rent is very cheap. This is the slum area of Lin'an, where hundreds of thousands of low-income people live here.
.
Compared with the high rents in other places in Lin'an, the rent here is really cheap. You can rent a room for five hundred cents a month. Although the room is very shabby, it can still protect you from wind and rain. Many low-income people who have fled from the north
People all live here.
Chen Qing led several of his men to inquire all the way, and after a lot of effort they found Anyuan Lane. This is a very narrow alley, about a mile long. The alley is basically occupied by various stoves and junk, and war horses cannot enter.
go.
Chen Qing asked one of his men to watch the war horses outside. He led two soldiers into the alley. The alley was dimly lit, and there were densely packed small doors on one side. Each small door was a room. I don’t know how many people lived in the alley.
people?
The alley was filled with sewage and the smell of rot, feces and urine was nauseating. There were also many naked children running in the alley.
A soldier pointed to the sign on the wall and said: "Du Tong, this is the middle section, it should be around here!"
Chen Qing saw an old man sitting at the door in front of him, so he stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me, father-in-law, where is Xie Changzhi's home?"
"I only know one Xie Laizi. If you want to find him, his house is right in front, just hang a lantern at the door!"
Chen Qing heard from Zhao Wenxin that one of Xie Changzhi's legs was broken five years ago, and it should be him.
After walking dozens of steps, he saw a lantern hanging above a small door. Chen Qing looked at the exquisitely crafted lantern and knew he had found the right one.
"Who are you looking for?" A young man, about eleven or twelve years old, walked out of the room, holding a bundle of branches and looking at Chen Qing warily.
"I'm looking for Xie Changzhi, he must live here!"
"What do you want to buy?"
As soon as the boy finished speaking, a roar came from the room, "Xiao Min, don't talk nonsense!"
Chen Qing laughed, guessing that Xie Changzhi was making some contraband to make money!
"We are not from the government, so don't worry!"
At this time, a middle-aged man with unkempt hair walked out, dragging a lame leg, his hands were covered with calluses, his appearance looked very old, but his eyes were extremely sharp.
"I am Xie Changzhi, who are you?" the middle-aged man stared at Chen Qing and asked.
"I am Chen Qing of the Western Army, have you heard of me?"
"Chen Qing who conquered Jingzhao City?"
"Exactly!"
Xie Changzhi's eyes softened, "Please come in!"
Xie Changzhi ducked and let Chen Qing into the room. The room was not dirty, but it was filled with all kinds of wood. There was an unfinished military crossbow on the table.
“Now I can only make a living by relying on old skills!”
Xie Changzhi smiled mockingly, put the crossbow aside, "Please sit down!"
Chen Qing sat down and the young man brought him a bowl of herbal tea. Chen Qing saw that he was quite smart and couldn't help but like him a little.
"Is this your son?"
"It's my youngest son. The eldest son is also a craftsman in the Ordnance Supervision. He refused to work for the Jin State and was stabbed to death by the Jin soldiers. I took my youngest son and the child's mother and fled from Bianliang to Lin'an. Only then did I know that I had
It is marked as dead in the craftsman's book. I am free now, but it is difficult to support my family. I can only rely on my wife to make a small amount of money by making lanterns for others every day."
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said: "I learned about your whereabouts from a friend in the Ordnance Supervision. My friend said that you were the best craftsman in the Ordnance Supervision's crossbow workshop. Can you do anything else besides military crossbows now?
"
"General, you want to ask me to do something?"
Chen Qing nodded and said frankly: "We experimented with large-scale fire kites in Ganquan Fort, and they always failed. We occasionally succeeded a few times, but the experience we summarized seems to be wrong. I don't know where the problem lies?"
"Did it fall headlong to the ground? Or did it miss the mark seriously?"
"It's both possible."
Xie Changzhi laughed, "This is the most common problem for large fire kites. The technology is indeed difficult. When I was thirty years old, I studied for a whole year and failed hundreds of times before I found some tricks. But even so,
I have only been able to build seven out of ten large-scale Fire Kites. In the Tokyo Ordnance Inspector, there are only three craftsmen who can build large-scale Fire Kites. One is me, one is my apprentice, and the other is my eldest son."
"For thirty taels of silver per month and a house of five acres, I hired Master Xie to be my chief military craftsman."
Xie Changzhi's eyes lit up, "Are you really willing to give me one hundred and fifty guan per month?"
Chen Qing nodded, "I only have one condition: help me bring out a group of soldier apprentices."
Xie Changzhi chuckled again: "How do you believe I'm not bragging?"
Chen Qing picked up the military crossbow and said with a smile: "With my proficiency in military crossbows, this is the best military crossbow I have ever seen!"
