As soon as Lu Yao stepped out of Cao's mansion, he saw a eunuch running towards him in a hurry.
Lu Yao sighed helplessly. Could it be that he couldn't get along with the Han family these days? He couldn't go every time he wanted to.
The eunuch came to Lu Yao out of breath and gasped: "Master Lu finally found you. The officials are anxious to see you, but I ran for several streets before I heard that you were coming."
Mr. Lu, please go to the palace with me quickly. If the officials blame me, I will suffer the consequences."
The more Lu Yao listened, the more uncomfortable he became. He frowned and asked, "Who did you ask about my coming to the Cao Mansion? My whereabouts are obviously very hidden."
The eunuch didn't think Lu Yao's whereabouts were very hidden, because...
"I just asked a random person on the street to ask. As soon as I called out your name, he pointed me to the Cao Mansion." The eunuch replied.
"Doesn't that mean that everyone in the city now knows that I have come to uncle Cao Guo's house?" Lu Yao was about to cry but had no tears. How was he going to explain to the Han family!
"Master Lu, please stop standing still. The officials have been waiting for you for half an hour. If you delay any longer, both of us may be punished." The eunuch was a little anxious.
"Your servant has worked hard, I'll leave now." Lu Yao silently took out a lot of money from his purse and put it in the eunuch's hand. Everything went as it should.
The eunuch quickly excused himself, saying that he had been in the palace for so long and no one had given him money.
"Master Lu, this is inappropriate, you should take it back."
"There's no reason why I, Lu Yao, can take back the money I sent out. It's just a small amount of money. Besides, the chamberlain still has parents outside the palace. It's his right to give it to his family to supplement the family income. If you don't tell me about this, I won't tell you.
, who can know."
The eunuch was moved and took the money back into his arms. When they turned around, they found countless pairs of eyes looking at them on the roadside.
The eunuch was panicked. How could he stay in the palace after being seen by so many people? He even thought that Lu Yao was teasing him.
Lu Yao didn't have this idea. He simply saw that the eunuch was very tired, so he kindly used the money as travel expenses. Besides, since he was already a eunuch, there was no need to embarrass him.
Lu Yao threw another amount of money out of his purse, threw it at the man closest to him and said, "You divide the money, and just pretend you didn't see this matter today."
The man smiled and said, "How come I don't know what Mr. Lu is talking about?"
Lu Yao feels that there are still many smart people in this world.
Approaching the palace gate, Lu Yao lost the excitement of entering the emperor for the first time. He also knew that Zhao Zhen would not blame him. The title of Benevolent Emperor was not just talk. It would be fine even if he waited for half an hour. Neither did he.
Deliberately leaving him dry.
Moreover, his entry into the palace this time was related to the matter of making salt. Either there was news about the salt-drying method of seawater, or the eunuchs and maids in the palace ate his filtered table salt without any other symptoms. After all, it was a good thing.
The meeting place was still Wende Hall. This time, in addition to the people we met last time, there was also Bao Zheng.
Anyway, Bao Zheng could be happy when he saw that Lu Yao didn't look good on him and pretended to be his son when they met, and he didn't have a son yet.
Seeing Lu Yao entering the Hall of Wende, Zhao Zhen smiled and said: "Our great hero is here."
Wen Yuanbo and Fu Bi both had smiles on their faces.
This was originally something that they were worried about, but Lu Yao solved it. Suddenly, they felt relaxed all over, and they would definitely have a good sleep tonight.
"The common people have seen the officials." Lu Yao saluted respectfully.
"Hurry up and give the great hero a seat."
The eunuch placed the chair next to Lu Xu. After Lu Yao sat down, Lu Xu asked in a low voice: "Why did you come here? Aren't you studying at home today?"
"Uh... I went to talk to Uncle Cao Guo about something." Lu Yao originally wanted to say that he and Su Shi attended a gathering of literati, but everyone seemed to know that he went to Uncle Cao Guo, so he couldn't lie.
Spread.
Lu Xu really wanted to get angry, but he could only endure it now that he was in Wende Hall. Things that were already calm, why would his unlucky son provoke the Cao family again? Thinking about it gave him a headache. Han Yonghe would definitely have another quarrel with him tomorrow.
"We'll have a good talk when we get home," Lu Xu warned through gritted teeth.
Zhao Zhen did not hear the whispers between the father and son, and smiled again: "Thanks to Lu Erlang's suggestion, the palace already knew a few days ago that rock salt can be eaten after Lu Erlang's method.
We have called Lu Erlang to wait for news from Dengzhou. Lu Erlang, come and read the report from Dengzhou."
After taking the memorial from the eunuch, Lu Yao looked at it carefully.
In the beginning, there are all praises for Zhao Zhen, such as the auspiciousness from heaven, the blessing of the Song Dynasty, and the fact that Zhao Zhen is the most wise king in the history. At the end, he said that the salt drying method is completely correct, and a salt pond can produce a lot of salt.
, an acre can produce six stones. This is almost cost-free. After Yang Si, the magistrate of Dengzhou, got the news, he ran to the salt pond without even putting on his shoes and socks, took a big bite of the snow-white sea salt, and stood there.
I giggled all day by the salt pond.
Lu Yao gathered the memorial together and saluted: "Congratulations to the officials for finding another way to make salt. The officials care about the people. Such kindness has never been seen in the ages."
Zhao Zhen smiled and said: "Stop complimenting me. This credit still belongs to you, Lu Erlang. Tell me what reward you want me to give you."
"No." Lu Yao said seriously: "The common people really admire the officials. Without the officials' love for the people, how could the common people have the opportunity to present the method of making salt in front of the officials? It is precisely because of the officials' love for the people.
Only with a strong heart can I have this strategy. My admiration for the official family is like a torrent of water. I have heard my father talking about how good the official family is since I was a child. At that time, I still had doubts in my heart. After this incident, I
I realized that the merits of the officials are a hundred times better than what my father said, and the credit should go to the officials. I was just making random guesses. I don’t deserve such credit, and I have no shame to accept the rewards from the officials.”
Even Zhao Zhen felt dizzy after being slapped with flattery. He was really as good as Lu Yao said, so it must be somewhat true.
Bao Zheng couldn't stand this kind of flattery, so he yelled at Lu Yao: "You kid, don't try to confuse the public with your lies here. The benevolence of officials is known to the world, so why do you need to come here to flatter me?"
Lu Yao secretly sighed that it turned out that Bao Zheng was a good flatterer. He was so flattering that it was invisible. He really admired him.
Zhao Zhen waved his hand and said: "Bao Qing's family is right. After all, Lu Erlang is considered a hero today. How can you say this about him? Besides, he is just a young man who made a slight mistake. We elders need to be more tolerant.
"
"Promise", Bao Zheng responded, holding the wat board with both hands, and the old god sat on the seat on the ground, as if what just happened had nothing to do with him.
"Guilty is punished, merit is rewarded. Lu Erlang, this is your merit, so you should be rewarded. There is no excuse. You don't have an official title now, so you won't be promoted. Moreover, such great achievements that benefit all people must be promoted to a noble title."
.I have thought about it, how about granting you a county title?"
The titles of the Northern Song Dynasty were roughly the same as those of the Tang Dynasty. The lowest rank was the founding male, followed by viscount, earl, marquis, duke, and finally the king.
The Song Dynasty had three more titles than the Tang Dynasty: King, Duke and Founding Duke.
And Zhao Zhen wanted to make Lu Yao the son of the founding county and the fifth rank, which is not a low ranking. His father, Lu Xuhubu Shilang, was also an official below the fourth rank.
The salt-making method he dedicated was equivalent to Lu Xu's ten years of struggle.
This reward was so big that Lu Yao was a little afraid to accept it. He was in the fifth rank, and he was only sixteen years old. He could be said to be the youngest county magistrate in the Northern Song Dynasty. Wen Yanbo also had objections to this reward before, thinking that Lu Yao
Being too young and having a high rank in the county will definitely arouse criticism from the courtiers. However, Zhao Zhen insisted repeatedly that he felt it would be too unfair for Lu Yao not to be knighted for such a great contribution, and he felt shabby to be crowned a county boy, so he decided
In the lower county, they had been talking about this matter before Lu Yao came.
Lu Yao said in fear: "Officials and ordinary people cannot be worthy of being a county prince."
Zhao Zhen could not tolerate Lu Yao's refusal and said firmly: "It's decided. Anyang is a very good place. I will make you the son of Anyang County and grant you a settlement of 500 households. The three provinces immediately drafted a decree to make salt by the year before."
The good news will be passed on, so that the people will have a good year, the market price of salt will drop by a hundred cents per catty, and the losses of merchants will be made up with salt next year."
Lu Yao slumped down on the chair. Now that he has become a county magistrate, wouldn't he be able to get a salary from the court in the future? Although a salary of two hundred dollars a month is nothing to Lu Yao now, it is just a matter of face.
What's the use of having so much money? I'm just getting a salary, so I'm superior to others without knowing it.
Lu Yao was in a state of confusion. He didn't even know how he was brought home by Lu Xu.
When Lu Hao saw Lu Yao being brought back by his father, he was shocked. Could it be that Lu Yao was caught making trouble outside by Lu Xu? Would he be derelict in his duty by letting Lu Yao go out? Will he be beaten by Lu Xu?
, these questions were running rapidly in his mind.
"Look at the good things you have done." Lu Xu shouted, and Lu Yao suddenly woke up.
Lu Hao was sweating on his forehead. With Lu Xu's anger, Lu Yao must have gotten into trouble, and it was quite serious.
Lu Yao defended: "Father, it's really not what you think. I went to Cao's house to discuss business, which is different from what you thought!"
"Business? You know business. We are a family of officials. It is really embarrassing for the Lu family to mix up with traders every day. Besides, how much money can you make from selling wine? You also go to the Cao family to discuss business. Do you think Uncle Cao Guo thinks highly of you?
Is the liquor business going to work?" Lu Xu cursed.
"Not to mention that Uncle Cao Guo is really interested in the wine selling business." Lu Yao said with a smile.
"Don't tell me lies. I know Uncle Cao Guo better than you. He is not profitable and can't afford to be an early person. How can he like your business if it doesn't make a lot of money? I don't know what you think."
, you must have gone to Cao Mansion to see Cao Han in the name of discussing business. You said that you were the one who wanted to break off the engagement, and you were the one who didn't want to break off the engagement. Finally, your relationship with the Han family has become slightly better, and you are the one who wanted to break off the engagement.
Run to Cao's house, why did I, Lu Xu, commit such sin and give birth to a son like you?" Lu Xu regretted that he knew that the son he gave birth to looked like this, and he should have photographed it on the wall.
"Father, I'm really going to talk about business, and winemaking is very profitable. Uncle Cao Guo plans to invest 60,000 yuan this time to build a factory for me to make wine. How big is the profit?"
"Sixty thousand guan? Uncle Cao Guo will not give you 60,000 guan if you marry his daughter, just for selling wine? Then tell me how much money you have made from selling wine these days?" Lu Xu
Said angrily.
Lu Xu cleared his throat twice and whispered in Lu Xu's ear: "No more, no more, I've earned almost a thousand gu in the past few days."
"Only one thousand..." Lu Xu originally wanted to mock Lu Yao and make him feel ashamed, but suddenly felt that something was wrong with this number.
Lu Xu widened his eyes and asked, "How many words did you just say?"
"It's just a thousand gu. After the factory is built, it won't be a problem to make a thousand gu a day. You can just sit at home and collect the money."
Lu Xu's eyes were dull. His salary for three months was only 1,000 guan. Lu Yao's interest in the past few days was only 1,000 guan. This was not as good as not knowing, but as a comparison, he felt like rubbish. Suddenly, he felt that this official position was no longer tasteful.