Chen Qing followed the housekeeper to the back house and walked into a courtyard. The housekeeper smiled and said, "This is my master's study. He wants to see you if he has something to do."
Lu Yihao wanted to find him, which was beyond Chen Qing's expectation.
"What do you want Mr. Lu to do with me?"
The housekeeper smiled and shook his head, "I don't know either, sir, please!"
Lu Yihao was wearing a loose Zen robe and a plain scarf today. He smiled and asked Chen Qing to sit down. "General Chen must be mentally prepared and may return to the northwest early."
"Why?"
"Your envoy Zhang Xuan wrote a letter. The Kingdom of Jin is constantly deploying troops and generals to Guanzhong. It is very likely that there will be a big war this winter and next spring. Wu Jie hopes that you can go back as soon as possible."
"What about my martial arts?"
"The officials want you to graduate from school in an exceptional way!"
Chen Qing didn't speak for a long time. He didn't expect that he would graduate early, let alone that this matter would alarm the emperor. Was it a bit of a fuss?
Lu Yihao seemed to understand Chen Qing's thoughts, and smiled and said: "The key is that Wu Jie values you very seriously, so your return has become an important part of the Song army's preparations for war. It is not surprising that the officials have been alarmed."
Chen Qing nodded silently, "Then when will I go back?"
"It depends on your arrangement, just these few days! Return immediately after completing the formalities."
"I understand, thank you, Prime Minister, for letting me know."
At this time, a maid came in to serve them tea, but for some reason, Chen Qing always felt that this maid was a little different. He couldn't tell what was different. It seemed that her temperament was not like that of a maid. Chen Qing couldn't help but look at her more.
One glance.
I saw that she was about sixteen or seventeen years old, with snow-white skin, a long face, a small mouth with clear outlines, red and full, a high nose bridge, a pair of big eyes, slightly drooped eyelids, thick and long eyelashes, and a pair of slender white hands.
As for slenderness, she is about 1.7 meters tall and looks extremely gentle and graceful.
The girl quickly glanced at Chen Qing with her pretty eyes and slowly retreated. Lu Yihao looked at her meaningfully as she walked away.
"There is another thing. The officials are not very happy that you use your own money to pay pensions to the soldiers. This pension will be made up for you next year, but the officials hope that this will only happen once and will not happen again in the future.
occur."
Chen Qing smiled bitterly for a while and said, "Is this also what Zhang Xuanfu said in his letter?"
Lu Yihao nodded, "I checked, you should have sold the house that the government rewarded you with, right?"
"Exactly! I sold 15,000 taels of silver, and I also have the 3,000 taels of silver from the previous official family, as well as the bonus for winning the championship in riding and shooting, etc. In total, I have 35,000 taels of silver. I can give
The families of 1,200 fallen soldiers were given pensions. In fact, there was still a shortfall of 5,000 guan."
"Write it all down. The emperor wants to know how you have so much money. Someone has already impeached you for making huge amounts of money from unknown sources."
"Fan Zongyin?"
Lu Yihao shook his head, "It's Qin Hui!"
Chen Qing immediately wrote a detailed list and passed it on to Lu Yihao.
"I understand, you go ahead! Complete the formalities and return to the Western Army as soon as possible."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Lu, for speaking up and speaking out for your humble duty."
"General Chen, remember, the army is the emperor's army. You must not overstep your authority. This is a taboo."
Chen Qing bowed deeply, turned around and left.
Lu Yihao looked at his tall and straight figure walking away and sighed softly, "Thanks to the fact that there are such soldiers, we, the Song Dynasty, have hope!"
At this time, the girl who had just served tea came in and gave a Wanfu gift, "See you, grandpa!"
Lu Yihao smiled slightly and said, "How about it? Do you still like it?"
The girl bit her lip gently and nodded shyly.
"Xiu'er, you can't just look at appearance!"
The girl shook her head gently, "Xiu'er doesn't just look at appearance."
Lu Yihao became somewhat interested and asked with a smile: "What else do you know about him?"
"I would rather go bankrupt and pay pensions to the fallen soldiers. Based on this, I don't know how many times better than those outside yamen who only know how to compare with wealth. Xiu'er deeply admires him!"
Lu Yihao laughed loudly, "The person who can attract my Xiu'er's attention is really extraordinary. This person's natural appearance is like a dragon and a phoenix. Although he is a military commander, he is extremely well-educated and has both civil and military skills. Unfortunately, there are many people in the court who are short-sighted and do not recognize talented people.
.”
The girl was a little worried and said: "It's just that my granddaughter has..."
Lu Yihao waved his hand nonchalantly, "You are just a widower, not a real widow. He won't care about such a small thing, but this matter must be discussed in the long run and not in a hurry."
............
It was already two o'clock when Chen Qing returned to the martial arts school, and Hu Yantong and Liu Qiong who were in the same dormitory with him were not asleep yet.
Seeing Chen Qing coming back, the two of them immediately stood up and said, "You are finally back!"
"What's the matter?"
Liu Qiong put a cup of hot tea in front of Chen Qing, "Hu Yan heard some news today."
Chen Qing looked at Hu Yantong, "What's the news?"
Hu Yantong said worriedly: "I heard that the envoys from the Kingdom of Jin entered Lin'an last night!"
Chen Qing was startled, "What is the envoy from the Kingdom of Jin doing here?"
"I don't know. It was my second uncle who told me. The news is very secret. Not many people know about it. Moreover, the messenger is a big shot in the Jin Kingdom. My second uncle refused to tell anyone."
Hu Yantong's second uncle Hu Yanwei is a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, so his news should be true.
It’s just that the arrival of the envoy from the Kingdom of Jin and his departure, what is the relationship between the two?
If there is no relationship, then why is it such a coincidence?
Chen Qing had a vague hunch that the arrival of the Jin envoy might have something to do with him.
He put the matter aside for the time being and said to the two of them: "I also have something to tell you. I may have to go back to the northwest."
Hu Yantong and Liu Qiong's eyes widened together, "Why?"
"The situation in the northwest is tense. Wu Dutong repeatedly asked me to go back and prepare for the war. Envoy Zhang Xuan wrote to Lu Xianggong that the emperor has agreed that I should graduate from martial arts as an exception."
Hu Yantong and Liu Qiong looked at each other and unexpectedly graduated, and they asked again: "Then when will you leave?"
"Just these few days! I'll go to the Ministry of War to go through the formalities tomorrow."
Hu Yantong was a little sad, "We won't have much time to see each other in the future."
Chen Qing patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't be so sad. I may have one more thing to ask you for help."
"Tell me! What's the matter?"
Chen Qing said slowly: "Tomorrow night, accompany me to Fengle Tower!"
...........
The sudden notification disrupted many of Chen Qing's plans. He couldn't just leave. Before leaving, he still had some things to arrange. First, his martial arts studies were about to end. Even if he graduated under the exception, Chen Qing would not be able to leave.
A formal approval letter from the Ministry of War is required.
The second was his promise to Li Qingzhao. Since Chen Qing asked Li Qingzhao to copy books for him, he had to prepare a sum of money so that Li Qingzhao would no longer worry about his livelihood for at least two or three years.
Getting a sum of money is Chen Qing's top priority.
Borrowing money was certainly not the first choice, so Chen Qing thought of a piece of information told to him by the steward of the Lu family. He could use his archery skills to make a lot of money in Fengle Building. In fact, it was a big gamble.
In the evening of the next day, Chen Qing and the others came to Fengle Building outside Yumen.
Fengle Tower is the Fan Tower in Bianliang, Tokyo. The Fan Tower in Bianliang, Tokyo had been set on fire by the Jin soldiers. The owner of the Fan Tower, the Qian family, rebuilt the Fan Tower in the most prime location of Lin'an and renamed it Fengle Tower. It actually
It is a group of buildings, consisting of a main building and five auxiliary buildings. The main building is ten feet high, with cornices and brackets. It is covered with small lanterns. It is brightly lit at night and is full of brilliance. Its luxury is even better than that of Bianliang Alum Tower, and it is known as
It is the first floor in the world.
The building is filled with gold and jade, which is extremely luxurious. Hundreds of young and beautiful women live in it, including musicians, dancers, singers, tea girls, wine girls, etc., all of them are as beautiful as gods.
With such a high grade, of course the consumption is also extremely high. The cheapest cup of tea costs ten guan, which is not something ordinary people can afford.
Fanlou in Bianliang, Tokyo, requires a certain identity to enter. Ordinary businessmen are not qualified to go there. Lin'an Fenglelou is better. Someone needs to guide you to go upstairs for consumption. However, there are not so many rules in the lobby on the first floor. As long as there are
With money, you can come for tea during the day and drinks at night.
The lobby on the first floor of Fengle Building is like a palace, surrounded by splendor and splendor. It covers an area of several hundred square meters. It is divided into three areas. One is the tea and wine area, with dozens of small tables where you can drink.
tea drinking;
The second area is the music and dance area, where a group of beautiful musicians are playing melodious music, a few dancers are dancing in the middle, and two singers are singing softly. Sometimes they will also perform some exotic songs and dances.
The third area is the gambling area, which is the gambling area. There are various kinds of gambling here, such as backgammon, dice, dominoes, pot throwing, holding hands, leaves, etc., and even fighting games.
There were hundreds of people in the lobby, most of them wealthy businessmen. They couldn't go upstairs, so they all gathered in the lobby, indulged in it, and never wanted to leave.
Groups of well-dressed bartenders shuttled among the crowds, all of them smelled of perfume, their eyes were eager and their expressions were flirtatious, making the merchants fascinated.
Of course, there are samurai who maintain order. Dozens of sturdy men in samurai uniforms stand against the wall, watching the situation in the lobby. As long as there is no trouble, they will never step forward to interfere.
Hu Yantong is a frequent visitor to Fanlou in Bianliang, and he has been to Fenglelou in Lin'an several times.
"I have the building number of Fanlou in Bianliang, Tokyo. Lin'an also recognizes it, but we don't need to go upstairs. We can just stay in the lobby on the first floor."
Liu Qiong smiled and said: "I heard that the wine in Fenglelou is very good. Can you try it today?"
"Fenglelou's Meishou wine is indeed excellent. Whether you drink it today or not depends on Lao Chen, for fear of disturbing his business."
Chen Qing smiled and waved his hand, "It won't hurt if you drink less!"
The three of them found a seat and sat down. A beautiful wine girl stepped forward and asked with a smile: "What would you like to drink, these three officials?"
"A pot of Meishou wine brewed for three years, and three plates of side dishes."
After saying that, Hu Yantong took out another hundred coins and threw it to her, "This is for you!"
"Thank you, officer!"
The beautiful woman gave Hu Yantong a wink and flew away like a butterfly.
Hu Yantong lowered his voice and smiled at Chen Qing: "The wine girls here are different. If she wears flowers on her head, she can negotiate a price and take her out for a night of romance, but only for some wine girls and dancers.
Neither singers nor tea girls can do it."
"I'll go check out the gaming area first."
Chen Qing stood up to leave, but Hu Yantong grabbed him and said with a smile: "The time has not come yet, let's have a drink before going. Now among the top ten sakes in the Song Dynasty, only Meishou wine can be drunk with money."