A few months passed in the blink of an eye, and the time came to the end of August in Hongde's seventh year.
The autumn wind blew through Jiankang City, leaving yellow leaves all over the ground.
On this day, Lu Anshi and his daughter, together with Shen Yi's father Shen Zhang, left Jiankang and returned to Jiangdu together, mainly to prepare for the marriage of the two families.
It was almost September, and it wasn't long before the two got married. Shen Zhang naturally had to go back to prepare, and Master Lu missed Ganquan Academy very much because he had been away from Jiangdu for a long time, so he happened to go back with him.
Zhao Changping tried many times to persuade him to stay, but he was unable to keep this old friend.
It is worth mentioning that Zhao Shilang, who had worked as a deputy in the Ministry of Revenue for many years, was finally promoted to a regular position in early August. He has now taken up the post of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and has become one of the great nine ministers of the imperial court, which is also commonly known as the local official minister.
Although the official career has not come to an end, there is not much room for progress. The only road ahead of Zhao Shangshu is the five seats in the meeting hall.
However, the six ministers have great authority. Even if the Assembly Hall is the superior of the six ministers, many matters have to be discussed with these ministers and they will not issue orders directly, which shows the weight of the six ministers.
At this time, the newly appointed Minister of the Ministry of Finance did not go to work in the Ministry of Revenue. Instead, he took his two sons and a son-in-law to the east gate of Jiankang to pay tribute to his old friend.
Also coming to see him off were several of Master Lu's students in Jiankang and Shen Yi and Shen Sizheng.
At the gate of the city, Zhao Changping and Master Lu held hands with each other. The newly appointed Minister of Household Affairs looked at Lu Anshi and sighed: "I don't know when we will see each other again after we say goodbye."
In comparison, Mr. Lu, who was dressed in a loose robe, was much more free and easy. He said with a smile: "Brother Changping, there is no need to be sad. One day you will retire and become an official. You will live in your hometown for a few days and then come back to the academy. I will bring this mountain to you." I will give you the position of elder, and when the time comes, you and I, brothers, can study together in the academy."
Hearing this, Zhao Changping looked back at his two sons and son-in-law Song Ying, and sighed slightly: "In recent years, my teeth have fallen out, and my hair has turned gray frequently. I don't know if there will be that day that Jizhong mentioned."
After saying this, he also smiled: "But one day, I will definitely go back to the academy to find you in Ji Zhong. There is no need for me to be a mountain leader. I just want to be an ordinary gentleman in the academy and be able to teach the academy." The birth of several young children can be regarded as repaying the kindness of the academy in teaching back then."
After the two old friends talked for a while, Lu Anshi suddenly looked to the north and sighed: "Brother Changping, now that I am in the opposition, I shouldn't ask about the affairs of the court. I have nothing to do with the affairs of the court." My interest is just a matter of family and country, but I still worry about it a lot, so I asked my brother something I shouldn’t have asked..."
He looked around and saw no one around, so he asked: "The war between the Huaihe River and Huaihe River..."
Zhao Shangshu is the ninth minister in the imperial court. When His Majesty the Emperor summons people to discuss matters, unless he only summons a few prime ministers, he will go to "meetings" to expand the scale of the discussions.
Therefore, he naturally knows much more than ordinary people.
Zhao Shangshu turned his head and waved his hand, signaling the juniors behind him to take a few steps back. After these juniors left, the local official Shangshu let out a long sigh: "The fight is almost over."
He was in a low mood: "Autumn has already entered, and it will get cold soon. I estimate that in another half month, the Qi people will retreat."
Master Lu looked at Zhao Shangshu blankly: "Did you really retreat because of the cold weather?"
"Oh..."
Zhao Shangshu's expression was a bit bitter: "How can it be so easy? I sent the former minister of rites, Pei Yuan, to the capital of Yan. After several twists and turns, we finally negotiated the matter. It was decided that we would send 50,000 pieces of silk.
One hundred thousand bolts of silk cloth, two hundred thousand taels of silver, and some servants were sent to the capital of Yan, and they called off their troops and made a truce."
Having said this, he, the Minister of Household Affairs, snorted: "Brother Yu has been busy preparing these things for Qi people recently."
Master Lu was stunned.
He looked at Zhao Changping with a sad look in his eyes: "Isn't this paying tribute to ask for peace?"
"It's on the inside."
Zhao Shangshu's tone was a little helpless, and he said: "But Pei Yuan is a very eloquent person. According to him, these things we gave to Qi people are officially called..."
"bride price."
When he heard the word betrothal gift, Master Lu's eyes widened and his voice became louder.
"Could it be that I want to make that Qi woman my queen?!"
"That's not the case."
Zhao Shangshu sighed helplessly: "I'm just a noble concubine, but I still have to give heavy gifts to Qi people."
Seeing that Mr. Lu looked unhappy, Zhao Changping reached out and patted him on the shoulder, comforting him and said: "There is no need to be sad, Jizhong. In the past few years, our Chen country has had good weather and there have been no major disasters. There is no shortage of money in the treasury. This little thing...
"
"A piece of cake."
Master Lu looked ugly and said in a low voice: "They came to fight once this year and reaped the benefits, but will they come again next year?"
"I haven't heard of a defeat in the north, so how can you be so cowardly!"
"Pei Yuan is Yang Jingzong's student."
Zhao Shangshu sighed helplessly: "This old prime minister still has a great influence in the court. It is estimated that it will take three to five years for the court to slowly eliminate his influence. Jizhong, the frontline battle is not going well.
, Your Majesty is also under pressure from all aspects, you..."
"You must be considerate of the court."
"I'm just a man from the mountains. What does it matter whether I'm considerate or not?"
Master Lu's original good mood about returning to his hometown was completely ruined. He cupped his hands towards Zhao Changping, his eyes a little red: "Brother Changping, you are a member of the court. It would be difficult for me to talk to you.
, then I say goodbye."
He bowed to Zhao Changping and fell to the ground.
"Farewell brother."
Zhao Changping sighed and bowed in return.
After the two of them saluted, Master Lu got into the carriage.
At this time, Shen Yi walked out from among the juniors at the back. He cupped his hands towards Zhao Changping and said, "Master, I will give more to the teacher."
After that, he said hello to his father, Shen Zhang, and jumped onto Lu Anshi's carriage.
The convoy started slowly.
Master Lu's carriage was driven by an old servant of the Lu family, while Miss Lu was in another carriage, so there were only two people left in the carriage, the master and the apprentice, or the father-in-law and son-in-law.
Shen Yi sat opposite the old gentleman.
This was the first time he saw Mr. Lu lose his temper like this.
Shen Yi sat silently opposite the teacher and did not speak for a long time. When Lu Anshi's mood stabilized, Shen Yi lowered his head slightly and said, "Teacher, is it the war on the front line that broke your heart?"
Shen Yi didn't know that the imperial court wanted to pay tribute to Northern Qi.
Because his newspaper department would not print such negative news on matters involving the imperial court, and the palace would not even give him such information.
Lu Anshi had calmed down now. He looked at Shen Yi in front of him and sighed silently.
"Your uncle Zhao told my teacher that the war between Huaihe and Huaihe is coming to an end."
Lu Anshi silently repeated what he had just said, and after he finished speaking, he said slowly: "Since you didn't know about this originally, then after hearing it, you should pretend not to know, so as not to make it difficult for you, Master Zhao."
Shen Yi nodded silently.
Seeing that the teacher was in a low mood, Shen Yi lowered his voice and said, "Teacher, please relax. The Zhao family is so domineering in Jiankang and suffers repeated losses in the frontline war. This may not be a good thing for Da Chen."
