Linzi, the palace of the Prince of Jin and Qi.
Liu Bogen has been excitedly wandering around the palace for a whole hour, but he still hasn't seen everything.
The first generation owner of this Qi Prince's Mansion was King Qi Sima You. Sima You's ancestor was Sima Shi, but in fact he was the biological son of Sima Zhao and the biological brother of Emperor Wu of Jin, the old driver of the sheep cart.
At the end of Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty, he was famous in both the government and the public, and there were even calls for Sima You to replace the foolish prince as the heir to the throne.
The second generation King of Qi was Sima Jiong, one of the Eight Kings Rebellion. Sima Jiong once dominated the court, adding Jiuxi, Grand Sima, and Prince and Grand Master.
After being managed by two generations of such illustrious Qi kings, the entire Qi Prince's Mansion in Linzi was resplendent in Liu Bogen's eyes, exuding intoxicating grace and splendor everywhere.
Because in the past few years, after the death of King Sima Ji of Qi, the palace was temporarily vacant, so there were no gold and silver treasures in the palace. Moreover, when the Donglai Army entered the city, many maids and eunuchs in the palace escaped quietly. .
By the time Liu Bogen entered Prince Qi's palace, only a few old and weak eunuchs were left. It was under their guidance that Liu Bogen visited the Qi Prince's Mansion.
In the eyes of these eunuchs, although this strong and tough Donglai bandit leader had some insight, the wealth and luxury of Prince Qi's Mansion far exceeded his imagination.
Especially when Liu Bogen inspected a house, he smelled the refreshing aroma in the house, but there was obviously no burning of incense or flowers. Liu Bogen was quite puzzled and asked the eunuchs.
An old eunuch quickly explained that the reason why this house smelled so fragrant was because the walls of the house were all painted with precious spices. Thousands of kilograms of the most precious spices were used in this house alone, and the whole house was full of fragrance. There are three or four rooms like this in the palace, all of which are equally luxurious. The only difference is that their fragrances are different.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, in the eyes of the people of the Central Plains, these spices were not only more expensive than gold and silver, they were also top-notch luxuries. However, these precious spices in the eyes of ordinary people were actually used to paint walls.
After hearing that this was the reason for using precious spices to paint the walls, Liu Bogen, a thief from a wealthy family in Donglai County, was shocked and speechless.
Liu Bogen saw more and more in Prince Qi's palace, and the desire for power and fame in his heart became stronger and stronger, burning his heart like fire.
He felt more and more that it was a huge mistake for him to stay on such a promontory in Donglai County.
Liu Bogen recalled that since the army was launched, it had been unstoppable. Although there were occasional small setbacks, Linzi was still captured, and it could be said that it was a separate force.
With such a great talent and strategy, he should have looked for an opportunity to raise troops a few years ago.
It's ridiculous that I had little knowledge at that time, and I was even complacent about getting the official position of Yinxian County Magistrate. Thinking about it now, I feel ashamed to death.
When Liu Bogen returned to the magnificent room in the inner courtyard, Liu Bogen waved away the guards and eunuchs and stayed alone in the room.
Liu Bogen began to take out a silk book that he had kept close to his body. This was a book of prophecies (chen).
This was left to him by the great sage of Tianshi Tao who passed away last year. The old sage was quite proficient in Huang Lao and the prophecies.
He then repeatedly interpreted a passage on the prophecy silk, lest he might misunderstand the obscure prophecy.
In the end, with Liu Bogen's repeated confirmation and interpretation, he came to the same interpretation of this prophecy as the great virtuous teacher who persuaded him to raise an army.
The great virtuous master at that time interpreted this prophecy as "Liu Ye is the one who will destroy the Jin Dynasty."
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At this time, Liu Yu also led his troops to station in a side courtyard of Prince Qi's Mansion. Although it was a side courtyard, there were enough rooms to accommodate nearly a thousand people.
Just when Liu Bogen was shocked by the luxury and magnificence of Prince Qi's Mansion, Liu Yu was also shocked by the things in this side courtyard.
Liu Yu found a large number of slips, silk books and scrolls in several houses in this side courtyard. He carefully looked through some of them and found that some slips were left over from the Qin and Han Dynasties and were more than five hundred years old. .
In Liu Yu's eyes, these slips and silk books were simply more precious than gold. He immediately sealed up several houses containing books and arranged for soldiers to be stationed at the door to prevent anyone from destroying the bamboo slips inside.
Liu Yu then went out with a few guards. He went to the two cities and knocked on the doors of several pharmacies, but he couldn't find the fire salt he wanted.
He couldn't help feeling disappointed. It seemed that the black powder was still not easy to prepare.
Qingzhou does have a lot of sulfur output. Although the output is not high, it is better than nothing. But the most difficult thing to get is fire salt. Since Linzi City is so prosperous and rich, is it really necessary to scrape cesspits all over the city to get fire salt?
However, when Liu Yu thought that if that happened, he might be given the nickname "The Man Who Scraped the Dung" or something like that.
Liu Yu shook his head. He could only put the preparation of black powder on hold for the time being, and wait until there were channels or time to raise gunpowder before making plans.
Originally, Liu Yu wanted to see the prosperity of Linzi, a large commercial city during the Western Jin Dynasty. However, along the way, except for the Donglai army who filled the streets to arrest the remnants of the Jin army and looted the mansions of escaped Western Jin officials, there was not a single idler. None were seen.
After the Donglai Army entered the city, they posted notices and shouted that all Jin court officials who stayed in the city should report to the Qingzhou Governor's Office, otherwise they would be punished as enemy prisoners if they were captured.
Although the Donglai Army did not kill people at will in the city, the soldiers and people of Linzi City still did not dare to show their faces at will.
Liu Yu walked around a few more streets and found that the place where wealthy families gathered was quite deserted, and there was almost no one in the courtyard surrounded by high walls. He guessed that most of these wealthy families were well-informed and might have rescued everyone before Donglai's army entered the city. Run away.
The streets were full of Donglai Army's "street cleaning tigers", which made Liu Yu no longer want to wander around. He planned to go back and see the injured Gongsun Sheng and the wounded soldiers again, and try to find an opportunity to learn from Wu Qi's love for soldiers. deeds.
Just when Liu Yu was about to return to Prince Qi's Mansion, he saw a group of Donglai Army soldiers escorting several dejected businessmen and dressers out of Prince Qi's Mansion from a distance.
Although these businessmen were dressed the same as people in the Western Jin Dynasty, their appearance was obviously different. They looked like some Sitan people from later generations.
After the group of businessmen were escorted out of the door, they were all thrown out by Donglai Army soldiers. Some of them were even thrown directly to the ground, and their thick curly beards were covered with loess.
One of the young businessmen seemed to have argued a few words, which somehow angered the Donglai soldiers. The soldiers used their scabbards to beat the young businessman severely.
The young businessman who was beaten fell to the ground and kept wailing. The other companions did not dare to reach out to stop him. They could only anxiously beg for mercy on behalf of the beaten companion.
"Okay, stop fighting."
After Liu Yu approached, he quietly stopped the beating of several Donglai Army soldiers.
When these Donglai soldiers saw that it was Liu Yu who was speaking, they all stopped obediently.
One of them even happily saluted Liu Yu.
Liu Yu felt familiar at first. After taking a closer look, he remembered that this person was the soldier who shouted to him when the ferry was surrounded this morning. He seemed to be called Wei Bao.
Hearing that Liu Yu actually remembered his name, the tall military man named Wei Bao was very happy.
"Who are these people?"
Liu Xuan looked at the businessmen with curly beards and deep eyes who were cowering aside.
"Oh, they're just a few worthless jerks."
Wei Bao said nonchalantly.
