Chapter 35: The New Buddha is Born (Three more chapters, please read later)
The reason why Liu Gui was able to become Gao Huan's benefactor was that he, relying on his status as a fellow townsman, served under Erzhu Rong and was deeply trusted by Erzhu Rong.
It was also because of Erzhu Rong's trust in Liu Gui that Liu Gui was able to speak well of Gao Huan in front of Erzhu Rong many times, allowing Gao Huan, an outsider, to join the core layer of Erzhu Rong's group.
Su Ze knew very well that in addition to excellent personal qualities, opportunity was also very important for the rise of a hero.
Now it was I who suggested Liu Gui to join Erzhu Rong. When Liu Gui becomes successful in the future, he will naturally repay Su Ze.
This is also the reason why Su Ze deliberately made friends with Liu Gui.
After finishing their business, the three started drinking again, and the atmosphere became relaxed.
As the wine went down his throat, even Su Ze began to feel tipsy, while Gao Huan simply knocked on the wine jar with chopsticks and sang folk songs from the North.
At this time, Su Ze also discovered that Gao Huan had a special personal charm that made people unable to help but get close to him. Su Ze immediately took a sip of wine to calm his nerves. As expected, many founding monarchs had this kind of innate succubus body. Male succubus were really terrifying!
Liu Gui was also very drunk. He lifted the jar of wine and placed it on his head, left his seat and started to dance with cups and plates.
The movements of this cup and plate dance are very funny. Liu Gui's head is steadily supporting the wine jar, but his body below the neck is dancing flexibly and freely.
This is a Hun dance, similar to the Uyghur dance that Su Ze had seen in later generations. When Liu Gui, a man, dances, he does not have the seductive feeling of a woman, but rather is agile and powerful.
Liu Gui suddenly pushed hard again, sending the wine jar flying into the air. He turned his body flexibly, then raised his head and caught the jar steadily.
Su Ze cheered. With Liu Gui's unique skills, he should be able to make a living even if he had to perform on the streets.
After the three of them had eaten and drunk their fill, they exchanged their addresses. Su Ze then learned that Gao Huan was temporarily staying in an inn in Sitong City, while Liu Gui lived in Guideli, not far from Sitong City, which was just north of Longhua Temple and not far from Jianyangli.
Gao Huan put his arm around Su Ze's shoulder and said:
"Brother Su, can you lend me your riding slave who is good at judging horses?"
Borrowing people? Su Ze looked at Gao Huan in confusion, and Gao Huan said:
"In the past few days, many wealthy people have come to Sitong City to buy good horses. They came to me to buy horses."
Gao Huan said awkwardly, "The Huaishuo horses I brought have all been sold out. I have chosen a few horses in the East Market and would like to ask Brother Gao's riding slave to help me choose one."
Su Ze looked at Gao Huan. Is this guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes also using the Yangcheng Lake bathing crab trick?
After selling horses in a high-profile manner, Gao Huan also became famous in Sitong City. In addition, the Huaishuo horses he brought were indeed good, so people came to buy them.
Luoyang was a big city and not easy to live in. Seeing that he had nowhere to go and his pockets were becoming increasingly scarce, Gao Huan came up with this idea.
The East Market in Luoyang has the largest horse market in the entire Luoyang. Gao Huan planned to buy good horses from the East Market and then disguise them as Huaishuo horses and sell them in Sitong Market.
Su Ze thought about it and felt that this was a good business. He could also use Gao Huan's name to buy some horses at a low price and sell them at a high price to make some profit from the difference.
This Shenwu Emperor was indeed quick-witted. After gaining fame, he knew how to cash in on it immediately. He was not the kind of one-time deal who exhausted all the resources. He also understood the principle of sustainable development and would rather spend more money and effort to sell horses from the East Market.
Liu Gui also cast an interested look, Gao Huan immediately said: "Brother Su's riding slave is very good at judging horses. He picked the best horse at a glance. But I still don't understand the horse-judging technique you mentioned. Why are you willing to trust your riding slave when he can't even distinguish the color of a horse's coat?"
Su Ze smiled and said, "My riding slave is good at judging horses. The coat color is just a superficial thing and has nothing to do with the quality of the horse. My riding slave is not fooled by appearances. When he judges horses, he only looks at the essence of the horse." "I know his ability to judge horses, so I trust him."
Gao Huan nodded repeatedly, but Liu Gui asked, "Brother Su, do you also treat Huang Lao?"
Su Ze remained silent, and Liu Gui felt that Su Ze was even more unfathomable.
Metaphysics was popular during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Although metaphysics began to decline during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was still regarded as a subject that only the children of wealthy families could study.
The story of Su Ze selecting horses is similar to the one in "Liezi Jiufang Gao Selecting Horses". Anyone who can read "Liezi" is definitely not a child from a poor family!
As soon as Liu Gui asked, he realized he had violated a taboo. Su Ze was unwilling to talk about his background, fearing that there was some hidden secret. If he insisted on asking, he would lose the demeanor of a son of a noble family.
Liu Gui said apologetically, "Brother Su, I have a cousin who also likes Huang Lao. He is now serving as a student in the Qinghe Palace. In two days, when he is on leave, I will arrange a meeting with him at Longhua Temple and ask him to talk about the selection of talents. You two can also discuss the Huang Lao Way. How about that?"
As expected, these big families have made multiple bets. Regardless of whether they are Hu or Han, any family that can survive in this chaotic northern world would have perished long ago if they did not understand this truth.
But a family is a family, and an individual is an individual. Su Ze's advice to Liu Gui is still valuable. The family is betting on many parties, but it will only bet heavily on the best one.
As his father was away on a mission, no one was left to continue to guide Su Ze. There was no reason to refuse the pre-exam tutoring offered by Liu Gui. Su Ze immediately intervened and said:
"Thank you very much, Brother Liu!"
After making an appointment to meet again at Longhua Temple, the three of them dispersed from the restaurant.
At this time, Sitong City had become bustling. Luoyang was the largest city in the north. Merchants from all over the country traded here. Even merchants from the Western Regions would travel to Luoyang on camels just to sell their goods to the people of Luoyang.
It’s a pity that this prosperity is just a bubble. Outside Luoyang, the bubble of the Wei Dynasty’s heyday has begun to collapse.
At the same time, in Longhua Temple not far from Sitong City and Jianyangfang, several monks were crowded in a narrow monk's room for a secret meeting.
The imperial court advocated Buddhism and during the reign of Emperor Xuanwu, it was ordered that every temple should build free monk's rooms for wandering monks to stay temporarily.
However, these monks were not as kind as ordinary monks. Instead, they had a fierce look on their faces.
The leading monk said:
"The plan to assassinate the Demon Queen has failed. Senior Brother Fazong has been executed by the dog thief Yuan Yi."
All the monks chanted the Buddha's name together. The leading monk showed no sadness on his face. Instead, he said, "Brother Fazong sacrificed his life for justice. When the new Buddha is born, he will surely be able to attain the status of a bodhisattva!"
"Brother Fayuan, the date of the new Buddha's birth is approaching. Should we retreat back to the north and assist Brother Faqing in starting an uprising?"
The monk named Fayuan shook his head and said:
"Our affairs in Luoyang are equally important. If we can assassinate one or two important officials and create chaos in the court, it will be more helpful to Senior Brother Faqing."
"Before Senior Brother Fazong passed away, he sent a message to us, asking us to continue cooperating with the bastard Yuan Yi and assassinate Prince Yuan Yi of Qinghe during the Qinghe Palace's selection of the best fighters!"
I will continue to update tomorrow and strive for 8,000 words
(End of this chapter)