Fenghou

"Does this Liu Lu have any characteristics?"

"He has a large mole on the left side of his nose. He is in his thirties and has a medium build. He can be recognized at a glance."

Zhong Huan nodded slowly, he knew what to do?

……

Before dawn, a man in his thirties came out from Zuojia Lane, with a medium build and a large mole next to his nose. He rode a mule and headed north quickly. This man was named Liu Lu, from Changshu County. The chief steward of Shenjun Manor.

Needless to say, Liu Lu is naturally also the domestic servant of the Liu family, and has been a domestic servant for two generations. His father was a domestic servant. He himself grew up in Liu's family since he was a child, and he was deeply trusted by the master's family. He was appointed as the steward of the manor five years ago.

Liu Lu has to go home every ten days or so to visit his wife, children and old mother. His son wants to study, and his wife does not want to move to a remote manor, preferring a lively city, so Liu Lu can only run back and forth hard.

After leaving Pingmen, Liu Lu headed north along an official road. A mule cart followed him unhurriedly. He set off before dawn and did not arrive at the manor until dark.

After walking for about an hour, there were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the road. At this time, the mule cart behind suddenly accelerated and chased Liu Lu. A man riding a horse appeared in front of him. The horse and mule passed by, and the man on the horse jumped. He rose up and overturned Liu Lu to the ground.

Liu Lu was shocked. Just as he was about to turn over and get up, a sharp dagger was pressed against his neck. The man said viciously, "Move, I will cut your throat!"

At this time, the mule cart stopped beside him, two big men jumped off, tied Liu Lu up, gagged his mouth, put a black cloth bag over his head, and threw him into the mule cart.

Liu Lu was terrified. He thought he had encountered a bandit and was about to be murdered for money. He didn't know how long it was before the hood was ripped off suddenly. Liu Lu's eyes lit up. He turned around slowly and found himself in a In an empty room, several burly men stood in front of them, and among the burly men was a dark-skinned scholar.

"You...what do you want to do?" Liu Lu asked in horror.

"Is this your sign?" The scholar held an iron sign in his hand.

Liu Lu nodded. It was his family identity card. The man looked at it and asked, "What does the engraved zero-seven mean?"

"It's my identification number. I rank seventh among domestic servants."

"Where's Liu Gui in the tent?" Zhong Huan asked again.

"He's fifth!"

"Where's Liu Gui from Jingzhao?"

Liu Lu was even more confused, but he didn't dare to hide it, so he had to confess honestly: "He is ranked third!"

"Okay! Who is your master Liu Zhen?" Zhong Huan returned to the topic.

"You... what are you?"

Next to me, Mei Wu took out a dagger, put it against his ear and said coldly: "Just answer honestly, ask one more question, and I'll cut off one of your ears!"

He exerted a little force, and a strand of blood flowed from Liu Lu's ear, which made him yell in fright, "Don't cut it! Don't cut it! I just said it."

"Speak!"

"My master's name is Liu Zhen. He turned out to be the largest grain merchant in Bianliang. He has sold grain for decades and accumulated a lot of wealth."

"Hmph! I knew you would say that!"

Zhong Huan knelt down and said with a sneer: "Liu Zhen's family of eleven members were all killed in the first year of Jingkang and died on the boat. His family's property on more than a dozen boats was also taken away. Your master should be the one who killed Liu Zhen." The robbers, you are his accomplices, am I right!"

Liu Lu's face turned pale. The secret that had been hidden for more than ten years was suddenly revealed. He lowered his head and trembled uncontrollably.

"Speak up! Tell me honestly, I will spare your life."

"Are you... sent by the imperial court?"

Zhong Huan took out the token and waved it in front of him, "We are the internal guards of the Western Army, and we are investigating a deal. Tell me! Don't let me do it."

"Western Army?"

There was disbelief in Liu Lu's eyes, and he gritted his teeth and said, "What does my master have to do with the Western Army? You are meddling in your own business!"

With a wave of Mei Wu's hand, half of Liu Lu's ear disappeared immediately, blood gushed out, and his face was covered with blood.

Liu Lu screamed in pain, "I say! I say! Don't cut it."

The first thousand and 130 chapters and seven truths

Chong Huan said viciously, "You don't shed tears when you see the coffin. If you dare to talk too much, I will cut off your ears first, and then your nose!"

Liu Lu was so frightened that he trembled all over, he didn't dare to hide any more, and said honestly: "My master's real name is Liu Xianchen, he is a descendant of Taiwei Liu Mei, and he was named Duke of Runan County."

"Liu Mei?"

Chong Huan thought for a while and said, "But Empress Mingsu's elder brother?"

Empress Mingsu is Song Zhenzong's empress Liu E, who has been in power for a long time as the empress dowager. Her elder brother Liu Mei is actually her ex-husband, and because of her prosperity, she became a famous foreign relative in the Song Renzong era.

It turned out to be Liu Mei's descendants, that is, the relatives of Song Dynasty.

"You killed Liu Zhen's family?"

"Liu Zhen deserves what he deserves. Like us, he is also the breadwinner of the master. He has been taking care of the food business for the Liu family. The master treats him well, but he betrays the master and tries to steal the master's [-] grain money. If he dies, whoever dies ?”

Zhong Huan immediately understood that the largest grain merchant in Bianliang turned out to be the relative Liu's family, and that Liu Zhen was just a senior manager of the Liu family.

Then the people who opened the Taibai restaurant in Jingzhao and invested 12 yuan to buy a teahouse turned out to be the Liu family, their relatives, but they didn't want Jingzhao to know their true identity, so they covered it up.

Of course Zhong Huan also understood that the Liu family was a relative of the Great Song Dynasty. If the emperor knew that they had secretly invested in Jingzhao, they would definitely be punished by the emperor, so they concealed their identities.

"Then why did you pretend to be Liu Zhen?"

Liu Lu said with a mournful face: "I don't know what the master thinks, but I heard from my father that at that time, many people accused the emperor of being kidnapped and the court was destroyed. It was all caused by foreign relatives who brought disaster to the country. My master was afraid of being held accountable, so he I have concealed my identity, as far as I know, many relatives have changed their names."

Zhong Huan nodded and ordered: "Bandage his wound!"

Two soldiers applied medicine to bandage Liu Lu's wound. At this moment, Uncle Jiang asked, "Aren't all relatives taken away by the Kingdom of Jin?"

"It was a group of people who were kidnapped. At that time, Emperor Huizong was on a tour to the south, and most of his relatives followed him. After the Jin soldiers retreated northward for the first time, the emperor returned to the capital. His relatives wanted to leave a way out, so they left some of their family members in Jiangnan. There are three masters, the two elder brothers returned to the capital, the master stayed in Jiangnan, and transferred a large amount of wealth to Jiangnan. Later, the master's two elder brothers and their family members were taken away, and the Liu family took root in Pingjiang Mansion."

This is reasonable, not Liu Zhen, a grain merchant, but Liu Xianchen, a foreign relative. Zhong Huan asked again: "How many foreign relatives have invested in Jingzhao to buy land?"

"I'm a small manager, so it's impossible to know about this kind of thing."

It was true, Zhong Huan stopped asking him, and ordered him to be released. Liu Lu came out of the private house and found himself not far from the west of the manor.

He fled back to the manor in panic, and sent Zhuang Ding back to Wu County to report to the master. At this time, Zhong Huan led the crowd to evacuate Pingjiang Mansion. It was not his task to contact the Liu family. He believed that the Liu family would send someone to Jingzhao show up.

……

Liu's Mansion is not in the city, but at the foot of the upper mountain in the southwest of the county seat. It is a huge house covering an area of ​​about [-] mu. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with beautiful scenery and surrounded by lakes and small rivers. You need to take a boat to reach this mansion. .

The owner of the Liu Mansion is Liu Xianchen, who held a vain position in the imperial court as an envoy of the Caizhou Regiment, and at the same time he was named the Duke of Runan County. There were originally more than [-] members of their family, but the main members were taken away by the Jin soldiers and stayed in the Jiangnan branch. There are only a dozen people left.

However, most of the Liu family's wealth was transferred to Jiangnan in time to ensure the continued prosperity of the Liu family.

Liu Xianchen is about 60 years old. He has four sons, seven grandsons, five granddaughters, and even two great-grandchildren.

Liu Xianchen sat in the lobby, looking solemnly at Liu Lu who was kneeling on the ground. Liu Lu had half of his ear cut off.

"Are you sure the opponent is the internal guard of the Western Army?" Liu Xianchen asked.

Liu Lu looked sad, and said tremblingly: "They said it themselves, and I saw their silver medal."

"silver medal?"

Liu Xianchen asked, "What kind of silver medal?"

"It looks a bit like an eagle's head."

Liu Xianchen nodded, that's right, it is indeed the Neiwei Eagle brand, Liu Xianchen also realized that he must have spent 12 yuan to buy Yi'an Teahouse, which attracted Chen Qing's attention, so he sent someone to Pingjiang Mansion to investigate his details .

"What did you say to them?"

"I just said what the master told me!"

Liu Xianchen patted the table and said, "You still dare to lie to me, do you want me to cut off the other ear too?"

"My lord, please forgive me. It's because they are too vicious. The villain can't stand their threats, so I have to tell them."

"what did you say?"

"Tell the real identity of the master."

"and then?"

"Then they asked if the master killed Liu Zhen back then?"

Liu Xianchen frowned, how could the other party know about Liu Zhen?

The eldest son Liu Wei said to his father: "Father, the other party may have gone to Bianliang to investigate. Many people in Bianliang know about Liu Zhen. It is not a secret."

Liu Xianchen nodded and asked again: "Then how do you answer?"

"I told them that Liu Zhen was also a domestic servant of the Liu family. He was ungrateful, betrayed his master, and tried to embezzle food and money. He deserves death."

"And what did they say?"

"They didn't say anything. The young man in charge asked his men to stop the bleeding and bandage the wound, and then let me go."

"Anything else?"

"No more, that's all you asked?"

Liu Xianchen questioned again and again, and confirmed that there was no more, so Liu Lu stepped down.

The eldest son, Liu Wei, pondered for a moment and said, "My son thinks that the Western Army is only here to investigate the background of the transaction. It mainly involves the princess. They are a little worried, but they don't have any malicious intentions."

Liu Xianchen nodded, "I really underestimated them, the inner guards actually dug out my old background."

"Father, my son suggested a secret trip to Jingzhao. Since they know about it, it's not good not to go."

Liu Xianchen sighed and said, "It's not that simple, it depends on the attitude of the leader? Prepare a boat for me, and I will visit the leader."

……

Associations were very common in the Song Dynasty. This is related to the tolerance of the emperors of the Song Dynasty to the associations. Therefore, the parties in the court were the same, the ministers had different political opinions, and the ideas of governing the country. They formed various political groups, fought fiercely in the court, and attacked each other. The new party and the old party repeatedly appeared on the scene. The more than 100 years of the Song Dynasty were basically spent in internal struggles among various parties.

In the early years of Jingkang, a large number of foreign relatives and dignitaries fled to the south of the Yangtze River. When Bianliang fell, the two emperors were captured, and the news of the Song Dynasty’s demise came, these foreign relatives and dignitaries in Jiangnan spontaneously formed a political group in order to protect themselves. It is called the Song Yihui, which means that they are the survivors of the Song Dynasty and consist of more than [-] families.

Later Kang Wang Zhao Gou ascended the throne in Yingtianfu, a new court was established, and Song Yihui was renamed Song Xinghui.

Of course the emperor Zhao Gou also knew about the existence of Song Xinghui, but he never interfered, as long as it was beneficial to his rule, he basically ignored it.

The purpose of the Song Xinghui is to revitalize the Song Dynasty’s predecessors, but in fact, they are more focused on making money from business. For example, the largest cabinet shop in the Song Dynasty, Baoji Cabinet Shop, was established by Song Xinghui. The Shi family is the largest shareholder and the second largest shareholder. It was the Xiang family, and the third largest shareholder was the Liu family.

Song Xinghui was established in Pingjiang Mansion, but more than [-] member families are scattered all over the south of the Yangtze River. Pingjiang Mansion has the most, followed by Lin'an, and then Jiankang.

Half an hour later, Liu Xianchen took a boat and came to a mansion in Mudu Town. This is the mansion of the leader. There is no big signboard, only a small sign with the word 'Gaofu' engraved on it, which is very low-key.

"Ah! Duke Liu is here." The butler came out with a smile on his face.

"Are you there, Master?"

"Here! Duke Liu, please come in."

Liu Xianchen nodded and walked quickly into the mansion.

The first thousand and 130 eight chapters will be the leader

Liu Xianchen was invited to sit in the guest room for a while. At this time, a hunchbacked old man with a dragon head and a cane was helped in by a middle-aged man. If the people of Bianliang saw this person, they would be surprised. It was none other than Taiwei Gaoqiu who had died more than ten years ago.

Gao Qiu fled to the south of the Yangtze River in the first year of Jingkang, and did not return to Bianliang with the late Emperor Huizong. Fearing that he would be harmed by Tong Guan, he feigned death in Jiankang Mansion, found a death row prisoner who looked like himself, and gave him a large sum of money. Settling down to a small house, the death row prisoner committed suicide by taking poison, and lay in Gao Qiu's coffin. Gao Qiu secretly sent his eldest son Gao Yaokang back to Bianliang to report the funeral.

Almost all officials in the government and the public thought that Gao Qiu was dead, but Gao Qiu himself quietly hid in a small town in the south of the Yangtze River and changed his name to Gao Gan. After the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, no one cared about Gao Qiu anymore, and his brother Gao Jie also fled to Suzhou.

After the establishment of the Song Dynasty Legacy Association, Gao Qiu reappeared and was elected as the leader. Except for a few core members, not many people knew that Gao Qiu was still alive, and the emperor Zhao Gou was one of them.

However, Gao Lian's prosperous era has passed, and now he is just a hunchback and thin old man in his seventies, with no power or power in his hands, no one will take him seriously.

And because of his age, Gao Li had resigned from the position of leader five years ago, and is currently only an honorary leader. The real leader of Song Xinghui is Prince Shaobao and Shi Guangping, Duke of Kuaiji County, who lives in Lin'an, also known as Baoji Cabinet. Fang's largest shareholder.

Gao Qiu walked into the guest room and said with a smile, "Mr. Liu hasn't been to the old man's shabby house for almost a year!"

Liu Xianchen got up and saluted and said with a smile, "Sometimes you are too close, but you don't want to run away."

"That's true. Once people are lazy, they don't even bother to go to the town."

Gao Qiu sat down, and the maid came in to serve them tea. Gao Yaokang, the eldest son of Gao Qiu, sat beside him. He was not Gao Yanei who molested Lin Chong's wife. The actual head of the family, the Gao family's wealth worth hundreds of thousands is in his hands.

On the contrary, Gao Yao, the third son of Gao Qiu, was naughty and wandering when he was young, and he often led a group of rascals to provoke troubles and molested women on the streets of Bianliang. The second uncle, Gao Shen, was escorted by the Jin soldiers to Liaodong as slaves.

Liu Xianchen took a sip of tea, then told Gao Qiu what had happened recently, and finally said with a wry smile: "I really didn't expect that the inner guard would come to Pingjiang Mansion to investigate and check my old background to the bottom. The 12 yuan investment is now It seems that there is no problem, but after a long time, Chen Qing will definitely find something tricky inside, to be honest, I am really worried."

Gao Qiu said lightly: "I have warned Shi Guangping long ago not to get too close to the imperial court. We are wealthy idlers in the Song Dynasty, so we have to do what idlers should do, earn money, play with stones, fight tea, that's all. You can't get involved in the internal strife between the imperial court and Sichuan and Shaanxi, but Shi Guangping is blinded by the desire for power, hey! I persuaded him many times, but he didn't listen, and I can't help it."

"The question is what do I do now?"

Liu Xianchen said distressedly: "Out of the 12 guan, only [-] guan was voted by me, but [-] guan was voted by Shi Guangping, and another [-] guan was voted by other families, but Shi Guangping let me take the lead. Once Chen Qing finds out Clue, I'm afraid my Liu family will be unable to eat and walk around."