Chapter 549: Just a Small Matter

In the prison, there was no sunlight. Lu Chao could only infer what time it was based on the approximate time of meals. In the prison, there was one meal each in the morning and evening. When he had dinner, it should have been dark outside.

After returning from Shannan County, he was arrested and imprisoned by officials from the Ministry of Justice. He didn't know how his mother was doing now, but Lu Chao was not worried about it. First, Lu Bin would take care of his mother. Second, the teacher was still in Xianyang. With the teacher around, his mother would not be bullied.

The prison door was pushed open again with a clang. Lu Chao raised his head. With the light from the torch in the prison, he saw the prison boss bringing two people in. He stood up suddenly, rushed to the fence in a few steps, and knelt down with a thump.

"Mother!"

Mrs. Lu no longer had the pampered life she had in Fufeng and Liaoxi. Her face was full of frostbite after running around in the severe winter. Her originally mottled hair turned white in just over a month. Looking at the long iron chain on Lu Chao, she couldn't help but wail.

Across the fence, the mother and son hugged each other tightly, and Lu Bin, who followed Mrs. Lu, couldn't help crying.

"Mother, are you okay? Have you found a place to stay?" Lu Chao asked, holding back the sadness in his heart.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Housekeeper Lu rented a small yard and we have settled down. Chao'er, you, you have suffered." Touching Lu Chao's thin face, Mrs. Lu held back her tears.

"I'm fine. This month or so has been the most leisurely time I have had in recent years. I eat and sleep, sleep and eat. If this continues, I will soon become a pig!" Lu Chao said with a smile.

"Sir, you have lost a lot of weight. How can anyone live here?" Lu Bin wiped his tears.

"Why can't people live here? I'm a criminal, how can I have so many requests!" Lu Chao shook his head, "Butler Lu, how are you doing with what I told you to do?"

"My wife and I have been busy with these things for some time, and we have made some progress, but all the money my wife brought from Liaoxi has been given away." Lu Bin squatted down and whispered, "In order to let the young master atone for his sins with silver, my wife gave away 100,000 taels of silver just as gifts."

Lu Chao nodded, "For my crime of losing Shannan County, I should be executed immediately, but there is no verdict until now. It should be that the silver It worked. If the silver is gone, it's gone. As long as people can get out alive, they can earn it back. Steward Lu. Have you seen the teacher? "

Lu Bin shook his head, "The Li family has been living in the palace. How can my wife and I see them?"

Lu Chao was silent for a while,

"I don't think the teacher will ignore me, Steward Lu, all the silver in the family has been taken out. How do mother and you live now?"

"Although a large amount of silver has been given away. But I still have some savings. There is no problem to survive this winter, but in a few months, there will be a deficit. I have sent some servants who followed me from home. Send them away, so that a few mouths can be fed. Save some food."

"Now you and mother are the only ones left at home?"

"Yes!" Lu Bin lowered his head, "Sir, it's because I'm useless. I even sent away the maids around the old lady."

"Thank you for your hard work!" Lu Chao closed his eyes slightly, "When I get out, I will never treat you unfairly."

"What are you talking about, sir? My life was saved by the master. Doing these is what I should do. As long as the old lady is safe and sound, I hope you can escape this disaster."

"Wait, everything will be fine." Lu Chao nodded. Nodding, dragging the iron chain to the corner, he took out a large stack of paper from somewhere, "Thanks to the teacher, I didn't suffer much in prison, and I was able to get pen, ink, paper and inkstone. This is the summary of the gains and losses of Shannan County's governance in recent days, and what we should pay attention to if we manage these places again. Take it out and try to give it to my teacher."

"Yes, young master!"

"You and mother go back. This prison is very cold. Mother is weak. Staying here for a long time will hurt her body. Mother, you go too. Don't worry, your son will be out soon." Lu Chao looked at Mrs. Lu and whispered.

In the palace of Xianyang, in the hall at the highest point, King Qin Wulie sat cross-legged on the black marble floor as in the past. The clear lines on it outlined the geographical map of the entire Central Plains. What is different from the past is that the former Korean territory has now been incorporated into the territory of Qin. Although Xinzheng has not been taken, in the eyes of King Qin Wulie, it is only a matter of time.

Opposite him, a thin old man sat on a cotton mat, smiling and flipping through a stack of papers in his hand. On his side, another man sat still, looking at his nose and his heart. He was the leader of the Black Ice Platform, Guannei Hou Zhongli.

Although he lost Shannan County, King Qin Wulie still seemed to be in a good mood. His fingers were rubbing the lines under his body with interest. Indeed, the loss of Shannan County was a loss, but it was not a big deal for Qin's current strategy. This was originally a leisurely chess move to contain Zhao. Attacking Zhao and destroying Zhao was beyond the ability of Qin. Only after conquering Han and Wei and crippling Chu, King Qin Wulie would truly turn his attention to Zhao.

"Young junior brother is arrogant and arrogant. I'm afraid I feel very sad after receiving a heavy blow this time." King Qin Wulie knocked on the marble floor, making a clanging sound, and said with a loud smile: "Especially the person who defeated him, It turns out to be Gao Yuan, whom he has always looked down upon, which probably makes him feel even more sad."

The old man opposite put down the paper in his hand and said with a smile: "Lu Chao is very talented, diligent and studious, and can endure hardships. His ability to endure hardships is something you couldn't match back then. Of course, your status It’s also a huge difference.”

King Qin Wulie laughed loudly, "I know that you value this little junior brother, teacher, but I didn't expect that you value him so much."

"Of course I value it!" the old man said calmly: "You have strengthened the Qin Dynasty with my scholarship, and you will dominate the world in the future, but I am more optimistic about letting Lu Chao carry forward my doctrine and inherit my tradition. But he is too arrogant. "It is a good thing for him to suffer a serious setback this time. The sharp edge of the sword comes from hard work, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold. If you don't suffer a few times, you will know the difficulty of doing something."

"That's true!" King Qin Wulie nodded and said, "It seems that the junior brother has indeed learned some lessons this time. What does the teacher think of what he has learned from prison?"

"It's still very pertinent. I didn't get dizzy because of this failure. I also summarized this failure well. I didn't blame everything on Gao Yuan's cunning, but reflected on our Great Qin's governance in Shannan County. Gains and losses, this is the most important thing. In the future, when we retake Shannan County, his experience will be of great use." The old man twirled his beard and smiled.

"Yes, after we defeated the Huns, we only wanted to prevent the Huns from gathering together again. But we didn't expect to use these Huns for our own use. This mistake made Gao Yuan catch him. If We can recruit several Xiongnu tribes to support us, but how can they succeed so easily this time?" King Qin Wulie sighed.

"This matter is extremely easy for Gao Yuan. But it is very difficult for us." Zhongli on the side shook his head and said: "The Xiongnu were defeated by our Great Qin, and even their royal court was destroyed by Prince Yingying. , and Wang Xiao killed tens of thousands of Huns captives at Huolan Pass, which made the Huns extremely hate us. On the other hand, Gao Yuan has always been on good terms with the Huns tribe. He did this with half the effort, and we, I am afraid, are the same. Half the result with twice the effort.”

"Having said that, there are many people in this world who seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. Gao Yuan's strength is not worth mentioning compared with our Great Qin. It's not too late to make up for it. Zhongli, you have to do this. Go ahead and do it. Gao Yuan took Shannan County and gave it to Zilan. He just wanted to contain us. If we can support one or two Xiongnu tribes, they can invade Dai County and cut off the logistics channel from Dai County to Shannan County. , that Shannan County will definitely return to my hands in the near future."

"The king's words are correct. There is internal unrest in Zhao State. Zilan cannot get the support of King Zhao. It is already very difficult for one county to deal with us. In addition to this, people should be sent to Zhao State to continue The conflict between King Zhao and him only added fuel to the flames, with everyone talking about gold and building up bones. Over time, there will be irreconcilable conflicts between the two people. With Zhao Wuji's mind, he will probably have to deal with it. Zilan takes action, if this is true, the county will be in chaos, and it will be easy for our army to replace the county." The old man said.

"Yes, I will arrange this immediately after we get down!" Zhongli leaned over and said.

"Teacher, my junior brother has almost suffered enough from his sins, and someone in the court also proposed to let him pay for his sins to atone for his sins. It just happened to be a borrowed donkey. It's just where the teacher thinks he should arrange his junior brother. , which one is the most suitable?" King Qin Wulie said with a smile.

"Let him go to Li Xin's army to make meritorious service!" The old man said: "General Li will take over South Korea soon, and Lu Chao is also very talented in governing a party. Let him go to South Korea and raise military supplies for General Li on the spot. Let Li The general can concentrate on plotting against Wei in the coming days."

King Qin Wulie clasped his palms together and said, "Teacher's words are exactly what I want. My junior brother is very talented. Let him sharpen his skills for a few years, and he will definitely be a great asset to my great Qin in the future."

Zhong Li on the side also laughed and said: "Mr. Lu's family is rich. This time, in order to persuade the man to propose a crime and pay the silver, he actually gave the man one hundred thousand taels of silver. As far as I know, Mrs. Lu is willing to spend all her money." , rescue Lord Lu from prison.”

"I gave away one hundred thousand taels of silver just to ask someone to plead guilty." King Qin Wulie's eyes widened, "No wonder that person put so much effort this time, it saved me the trouble of thinking of another way. I wonder how much silver Mrs. Lu prepared for the crime?"

Zhongli stretched out his hand and said, "Fifty thousand taels!"

As soon as these words came out, even King Qin Wulie took a breath of cold air. "I didn't expect that my junior brother's family is so rich?"

"Chao'er's father used to do business in partnership with Gao Yuan, and almost monopolized the entire wine industry in Yan State. It is not surprising that he has accumulated such a fortune." The old man said calmly: "Your Majesty, this time Chao'er's crime money will be used. So it was set at 500,000 taels, and General Li used his troops. Although he won consecutive battles, the treasury was still very empty, so it was just used to supplement it."

"Well, you don't seem too embarrassed about this, right?" King Qin Wulie touched his chin and laughed dryly.

"It is precisely to make Chao'er lose everything that can stimulate his greatest motivation!" The old man laughed, "How can we really make him become a talent without forcing him to a dead end?"

King Qin Wulie swallowed his saliva. This teacher was really cruel. However, he did not think it was strange when he thought about how he treated him in the past. He smiled and turned to Zhongli and said, "Zhongli, don't let the person who took the silver have an easy time. When the matter of my junior brother is settled, you must find a fault and make him spit out the 100,000 silver."

"I understand. I will definitely put the 100,000 silver into the national treasury!" Zhongli nodded.

The three of them settled everything here in a few words, and then put this matter behind their minds. For them, this matter was really not worth mentioning.

"Zhongli, you went out this time and stayed in Liaoxi for a long time. You also met my junior brother. Tell me, what do you think of Gao Yuan?" The old man said to Zhongli, "To be honest, I didn't care about this Gao Yuan before, but since my junior brother couldn't stand the loneliness and ran to him, I am a little interested."