Chapter 159: The Age of Demons (5k)
Su Ze didn't understand what Bian Ji understood, so he said, "In five days, you must invite Princess Nanyang to Longhua Temple again."
Bian Ji immediately said, "I understand!"
Seeing how serious he was, Su Ze didn't know what he had understood. However, if he could get Princess Nanyang out again, he could continue testing to see if he could continue to spawn followers of the [Northern Palace Soldiers] series around her.
After dealing with the coinage issue of Princess Chenliu, Su Ze finally moved back to the courtyard in Jianyangli with his sister, but the house was indeed a bit crowded at this time.
In addition to the followers summoned by Su Ze, Su Ze also needed to arrange accommodation for Murong Shaozong and Hou Jing who had come to him.
By relying on the relationship between the [corrupt household clerk] and the village head, Murong Shaozong and Hou Jing's entry and exit wooden signs were quickly obtained.
Su Ze also visited the families of the soldiers who died in battle with him one by one through a [strictly enforcing military judge].
Although Su Ze won great victories in the battles of Pingcheng and the grassland, several soldiers were killed in the battlefield because swords were ruthless.
Su Ze paid a visit to the families and presented them with belongings and compensation. Looking at the lifeless eyes of the family members who had lost the pillar of their family, Su Ze also felt a little sad.
What does it mean that one general's success is the result of the sacrifice of millions of soldiers? The death of every soldier in battle means eternal pain for a family behind him.
However, the families of the imperial guards were still grateful to Su Ze. Those who had young children were also pulled to kowtow to Su Ze. They even begged Su Ze to wait until their sons or brothers grew up, and insisted that Su Ze continue to accept their children as soldiers.
It has been more than 20 years since the Imperial Guards have seen a general like Su Ze who personally returned the remains and relics and absolutely did not embezzle the pension.
Dying on the battlefield is certainly a sad thing, but the living still have to continue living. During the time they followed Su Ze to fight, their whole family was able to have enough food to eat and they could receive pensions after their death, which was already a very rare thing.
Su Ze also saw several military dependents whose houses were vacant because their family members had died in the battle. He came to rent their houses and settled down the subordinates brought from the north such as Murong Shaozong and Hou Jing.
After returning to Luoyang, he was busy every day. When the tired Su Ze returned home, his sister Su Yuyao excitedly dragged a quilt over.
"Brother, I sewed this. Isn't it nice?"
Using silk from free-range tussah silkworms as the lining, Su Ze asked Su Yuyao to buy brocade from the market and sew a brand new brocade quilt.
The quality of tussah silk made directly into silk is much worse than that of mulberry silk, but there is no difference when used to make quilt cores. Both the warmth retention and breathability are quite good.
Looking at the neat stitches, Su Ze saw the needle holes on his sister's fingers and said with some heartache: "Let the embroiderer do these things in the future."
"How can I let an embroiderer do what my brother asked me to do? Besides, I will get married in the future, so it is my responsibility to do housework."
"Even Sister Luzhu is very good at sewing. Nowadays, every woman knows how to sew."
Su Ze blurted out: "Princess Chenliu wouldn't do that, right?"
Su Yuyao said quickly: "No matter how familiar brother and Sister Luzhu are, you can't talk about Your Highness behind her back like this! Your Highness is the Emperor's daughter, so naturally she doesn't need to do maid work."
Isn't the Emperor's daughter also being held down by your brother? Su Ze certainly wouldn't tell his sister about this kind of thing that is not suitable for children. He changed the subject and said, "How is the matter of getting everyone to buy food going?"
Given the nature of the Northern Wei court, Empress Dowager Hu would probably find it difficult to resist the temptation to replace the Buddhist coins.
So Su Ze ordered Su Yuyao to spread the news in Jianyang during the day and mobilize everyone to exchange the money they had for food.
Su Yuyao raised her little face and said, "It's done!"
"So fast?"
Seeing that her brother looked down on her, Su Yuyao put her hands on her waist and said, "Brother, you may not know that when you were leading the troops to war, I was the one who took care of all these businesses at home!"
"Really?"
"My father-in-law and sister Luzhu also helped, and His Highness also helped..."
"Go on."
"Now many of our imperial army's properties are under the name of His Highness. I am very familiar with the wives of the heads of the big families in Jianyang! After I mentioned it to them, everyone has already started buying food!"
Su Ze still underestimated his prestige in the imperial guards. As the highest-ranking Yulin officer after the Yulin, Su Ze's prestige in Jianyang was at its peak.
In addition, since he had established a relationship with the Princess Chenliu's Mansion, the imperial guards' industries naturally became affiliated with him.
This time Su Ze made another contribution, and Su Yuyao asked everyone to buy food. Everyone naturally understood that Su Ze had obtained some inside information, and they all paid to buy it.
Su Ze continued, "Ordinary families should also be mobilized and try to spend the bad money they have in the next few days. Do you understand?"
Su Yuyao nodded repeatedly, and Su Ze sighed. This was all he could do.
Of course, privately minting counterfeit coins cannot be done in a high-profile manner, and Su Ze is not stupid enough to lead the entire Jianyangli to engage in private minting.
Enabling his colleagues in Jianyangli to stock up some food before prices rise is all Su Ze can do for Jianyangli.
Then Su Ze asked about the situation of several businesses of Su Yuyao's family. Su Yuyao's answer was quite satisfactory. Su Ze said with satisfaction: "My daughter has grown up. Yuyao will be able to be a capable lady in the future!"
Su Ze suddenly thought of Yuwen Tai who was far away in Wuchuan. This kid was the right age for Yu Yao and had good abilities. He should have brought him back to be his brother-in-law earlier.
However, Su Ze was just thinking about it. Under the current circumstances, Su Ze was reluctant to marry his sister to the Northern Territory.
Among the people around him, Su Cho was also of marriageable age, but he was from an aristocratic family and was already married, while Yu Jin was already married.
Murong Shaozong was of the right age, but Hou Jing looked a bit ugly.
Su Ze shook his head and threw these crazy thoughts out of his mind. His sister was not yet an adult. Once he climbed to a higher position, he would definitely be able to find a good brother-in-law!
Su Yuyao smiled and said, "Brother, you should marry my sister-in-law as soon as possible! Sister Luzhu is much more capable than me, but the most capable one is still His Highness."
"Your Highness?"
Su Yuyao said in admiration, "Yes, brother, you don't know how amazing Her Highness the Princess is! There are so many businesses in the mansion, but Her Highness can handle them all in half an hour every day, and no one in the mansion is dissatisfied. No one in the mansion can hide anything from Her Highness, and Her Highness knows the experience and personalities of those who manage the mansion, and can always let the right people take care of it. Don't you think it's amazing?"
When Su Ze saw Princess Chenliu, she was basically in a state of embarrassment. He didn't expect that Princess Chenliu, after putting on clothes, would be so capable?
But it is no wonder. Without a father or a husband, the only connection between Princess Chenliu and the royal family is a non-blood-related sister-in-law and the little emperor who is not a close blood relative. However, Princess Chenliu can still enter and leave the palace freely and receive the care of Empress Dowager Hu. She can gain a foothold in the turbulent Northern Wei court, so she is naturally no ordinary person.
It seems that I still underestimated the people around me.
Su Ze did not defend himself against his sister treating Lu Zhu as her lover. After all, it was not the first time that Lu Zhu took the blame.
While the brother and sister were talking, a timid servant came over to announce that a guest had arrived.
Su Ze looked at the sky. Is there anyone visiting at this time?
When he reached the door, Su Ze saw who was coming and hurried over to him and said, "Brother Liu!"
The visitor was Liu Bozhi, the recorder of Qinghe Palace, and the cousin of Su Ze's good friend Liu Gui.
In fact, after Su Ze returned to Luoyang, he gave Liu Bozhi a gift, but Liu Bozhi basically worked in the Qinghe Palace on weekdays, so Su Ze just dropped the gift and left.
Unexpectedly, Liu Bozhi came to visit after dark today, and Su Ze was naturally a little surprised.
The good news was that he had been planning to find an opportunity to meet Liu Bozhi. To investigate the matter of the Buddhist coins in Luoyang, he must start with Prince Qinghe. Liu Bozhi was a close confidant of Prince Qinghe, so Su Ze planned to inquire about the news from him.
Seeing Su Ze wearing the Diao Chan crown, Liu Bozhi was also moved. The first time he met Su Ze was at the invitation of his cousin Liu Gui, when Su Ze asked him about the selection of the front line in the Qinghe Palace.
But in less than a year, Su Ze had been promoted to the rank of Captain of the Imperial Guards, and there were rumors in Luoyang that he had made great contributions during the Northern Expedition and was about to be promoted to the rank of General of Miscellaneous Title.
However, he was still a recorder in the royal palace, and it was still a long time before he could be appointed to an official position by the imperial court.
It's not that Liu Bozhi is not doing well in the Qinghe Palace. He still has the trust of Qinghe Prince. It's just that there are too many people working under Qinghe Prince!
There are too many people to take care of, and as a clerk in the palace, it is still a long way to go before he can leave the palace.
After welcoming Liu Bozhi to the main hall and Su Yuyao serving him tea and snacks, Su Ze asked:
"Brother Liu is really too busy. I visited you twice but you were not at home. I was thinking of visiting you at the palace someday!"
Liu Bozhi was also very touched. Su Ze did not forget his old friend after he became rich. The gifts he gave were not so expensive that would make people uncomfortable, and he came to the door in person. Liu Bozhi felt that Su Ze was trustworthy.
These accumulated favors may seem useless, but in fact they can make people think of you at critical moments, and some important opportunities lie in such a thought.
This was the case with Liu Bozhi's visit this time. When he returned home from Qinghe Palace, he heard his wife say that Su Ze had sent a gift. He then thought of the troubles he had experienced in recent days, so he took the initiative to find Su Ze to return the gift.
Liu Bozhi looked around and asked, "Brother Su, do you have any wine?"
Su Ze immediately said, "Of course there is wine! Yuyao, go get the wine that General Li sent last time!"
After a few drinks, Liu Bozhi told the purpose of his trip. He said, "Brother Su, have you seen this?"
Liu Bozhi took out a large coin from his sleeve, which was the Buddhist coin given to him by Princess Chenliu.
Su Ze said calmly: "I have never seen it."
Liu Bozhi whispered, "This is the secret treasure of Fotucheng, the Buddha coin, which is making a lot of noise in Luoyang right now."
Su Ze feigned surprise and exclaimed, "Huh?"
Liu Bozhi quickly asked Su Ze to lower his voice. He continued, "In fact, this Buddha coin is not from any secret treasure at all, but was privately minted by the King of Qinghe."
Su Ze was pleasantly surprised. Could it be that the task could be completed so easily?
Then isn't this mission the easiest one to complete?
Liu Bozhi continued, "The story begins with the return of the Grand Commander Yuan Yao. During this expedition to the Jizhou Mahayana sect, the Grand Commander brought back a demon."
"magician?"
Liu Bozhi nodded and said, "This man is called Liu Lingzhu, he is half Buddhist and half Taoist, and he is also proficient in alchemy and divination. He has a great reputation in Youzhou and Jizhou."
Liu Lingzhu? Su Ze remembered this name. This was a famous demon in the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, after Erzhu Rong entered Luoyang, they discussed the matter of deposing and enthroning the emperor, but everyone held their own opinions and no conclusion was reached.
Erzhu Rong therefore ordered Liu Ling to help with divination and cast bronze statues of Emperor Gaozu and six princes and their descendants, including Prince Xianyang Xi. Those that were completed were to be enshrined as the main ones. As a result, most of the statues could not be cast, except for that of Emperor Zhuang (Yuan Ziyou), who was then enthroned.
In fact, Su Ze felt that there was a lot of water in the so-called divination by casting statues. No matter how immature the casting technology was during the Northern Wei Dynasty, the success rate of casting statues would not be so low. In fact, the Buddhist statue-making technology of the Northern Wei Dynasty was very advanced, and the Buddha statues worshipped by ordinary families in Luoyang were very exquisite.
The so-called divination by casting statues is probably to mix some special substances into the molten copper to control whether the statue can be cast.
Liu Lingzhu gained Erzhu Rong's trust through divination and was appointed as the governor of Youzhou, and also as the acting governor of Youzhou, Bing, Ying and Anzhou.
After Erzhu Rong's death, he rebelled against the Erzhu family in the name of supporting the Wei Dynasty, and named himself the King of Yan and the Grand Chancellor. He quickly seized control of You, Ying, Cang and Ji.
But this is the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Being able to get on the stage is not a skill. Erzhu Rong was not the only one who started off with a bang and then suddenly died. Liu Lingzhu was defeated and killed soon after he started his rebellion, and his divination and magic did not work at all.
How did Liu Lingzhu end up serving under King Qinghe?
Liu Bozhi said: "Liu Lingzhu, this evil man, claims that he has obtained the secret method of Fotucheng and can make ten thousand coins. In fact, he just changed the coinage to big coins. If this evil man disrupts the currency system, Luoyang will surely be in chaos!"
Su Ze was silent. In fact, the recasting of large coins was not uncommon during the turbulent times of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. It happened more than a dozen times during the Southern and Northern Dynasties alone.
However, this was the first time that the Northern Wei Dynasty used this trick. It was the Southern Dynasties that often used this trick.
The reason why the Northern Wei Dynasty played it first was that before Emperor Xiaowen’s reform, the Northern Wei Dynasty had no official currency!
It can be said that before Emperor Xiaowen's reform, the Northern Wei Dynasty was almost a makeshift team. Merchants were still trading in furs and currencies left over from the Qin and Han dynasties. There were dozens of types of money on the market alone, and large-scale trade could not be carried out at all.
It was Emperor Xiaowen who minted the Taihe Wuzhu coin, which led to the prosperity of commerce in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the prosperity of the Luoyang market.
The commodity economy in the south was more prosperous than that in the north, and the Southern Dynasty also inherited the legacy of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and had a deep understanding of currency.
Almost all of the dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang and Chen had changed the minting of coins. The official minting of coins occurred as many as eighteen times in the entire Southern Dynasties, and each time it caused great chaos in the currency market.
The biggest chaos was that a few years later, Xiao Yan minted iron coins. He was so desperate that he simply banned the use of copper coins and ordered the people to use the iron coins he minted.
Seeing Su Ze's silence, Liu Bozhi thought that Su Ze didn't know the disadvantages of recasting. After he finished explaining, he said to Su Ze:
"Brother Su, if the imperial court really issues Buddhist coins, it will inevitably cause chaos in the currency system, and the king will become a sinner for all eternity!"
Liu Bozhi was deeply distressed. The fact that he had corrupted the currency system could never be washed clean in history. Even though Prince Qinghe used the secret treasure of Fotucheng to cover it up, it could not prevent the infamy of future generations.
Moreover, besides Prince Qinghe, Prince Jiangyang Yuanyi is also eyeing the throne covetously. If Qian Fa causes trouble, it will give Prince Jiangyang Yuanyi another opportunity to show his abilities.
Liu Bozhi was a true disciple of Tianshi Dao, and he also hated evil people like Liu Lingzhu. However, Liu Lingzhu was very favored by King Qinghe. King Qinghe ignored Liu Bozhi's repeated admonitions and forbade him to talk about money and law again.
Su Ze secretly sighed. It's not that there are no one who understands, but the King of Qinghe has been blinded by greed, and the court's treasury is empty, so there is really no money to reward the soldiers going to the expedition.
The Yulin Rebellion was still fresh in our minds, and the rewards for the soldiers who went on the Northern Expedition had not yet been issued. It was like a sword hanging over our heads, ready to fall at any time.
Using Buddhist money to reward soldiers going to war may cause trouble, but it is better than delaying the payment.
After Liu Bozhi finished venting his anger, he looked at Su Ze eagerly, but Su Ze could only shake his head as he could not help with this matter.
Liu Bozhi said quickly, "I heard that Brother Su has a close relationship with Master Bianji of Longhua Temple. That master is also an accomplished person. People in Luoyang say that Master Bianji has cultivated supernatural powers. Can we let him compete with Liu Lingzhu to dampen his spirit and force him to leave Luoyang?"
Su Ze was speechless. Liu Bozhi came to him for help because of these weird and supernatural things. He wanted to persuade King Qinghe and even had to resort to ghosts and gods.
This matter has a bit of black humor of "It's a pity that the seat in front of me is empty in the middle of the night, and I don't ask about the common people but about ghosts and gods", but these are the only solutions Liu Bozhi can think of.
He originally wanted to ask the old Taoist priest to come out of seclusion to refine medicine elixir, and then use the medicine elixir to cover up the deficit like he did last time when he built Yongning Temple. However, this time the old Taoist priest refused to refine medicine elixir again. Liu Bozhi had no choice but to think of this method.
Su Ze originally wanted to refuse, but seeing that the system task had not been completed, his investigation into the entire incident had not been completed.
What is it? He pondered for a while and said:
"Brother Liu, do you know where the King of Qinghe mints coins?"
Liu Bozhi thought for a moment and said, "I can find out."
"If you want Liu Lingzhu to fight Master Bianji, then Liu Lingzhu must agree."
Liu Bozhi said confidently: "Brother Su, don't worry about this. Liu Lingzhu has always been arrogant. After entering the palace, he once made a bold statement that he is not afraid of anyone fighting with him. As long as Master Bianji agrees to fight him, I only need to provoke him in the palace, and he will naturally fall into the trap!"
Su Ze nodded and said, "Then please ask Brother Liu to help find out where the Qinghe King mints coins. I will talk to Master Bianji, and Brother Liu can prepare it."
"Thank you, Brother Su!"
(End of this chapter)