sjar Chapter 107: Top-quality Orb
Chapter 107: Top-quality Orb
Lu Cheng followed Lu Wenzhao and others and fled all the way from Liaodong to the interior of the country and then to the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
At this time, the news of the defeat at the front had already been reported back, and the entire Ming court was shaken. People in the court were in panic, fearing that the Later Jin Tartars would attack all the way and break into the interior.
At this time, Emperor Wanli was nearly sixty years old. Years of eating, drinking, playing, and lying down had already drained his body and wiped out all his ambitions.
Emperor Wanli no longer wanted to care about anything else and just wanted to enjoy himself for a few more years.
In the court, the civil officials quarreled fiercely, angrily denouncing the incompetence of the military commanders on the front line and demanding the punishment of the commander-in-chief Yang Hao and the commanders of various armies.
Commander Yang Hao immediately resigned and was imprisoned. Three of the four main generals were lost, and the only one who returned was Li Rubai, who was defeated before he even came into contact with the enemy. Li Rubai was also immediately impeached by the censors.
Of course, the struggle in the court did not affect Lu Cheng, a seventh-rank military officer.
This time the Ming army suffered a great defeat and lost many soldiers and generals. It was also short of manpower and needed some grassroots officers to reorganize the defeated army.
After returning to the capital, the eunuch Guo Zhen gathered the few people together and said, "You have just returned to the capital, and I guess you don't have a place to stay yet. It just so happens that my family has a small courtyard in the capital, so you can stay there for a few days, how about that?"
Shen Lian and Lu Cheng were not polite: "Thank you, Eunuch Guo."
"Don't say thank you or not. You saved my life. These are nothing."
As a fifth-rank military officer, Lu Wenzhao also had his own network of connections in the capital. After settling down, Lu Wenzhao prepared to make some efforts to find a job.
At this time, Lu Cheng, without Guo Zhen and Shen Lian on his back, came to a secluded place with Lu Wenzhao and said, "Brother Wenzhao, although I have not been to the capital for a long time, I know that the capital is very complicated and the network of relationships is extremely complex. Now that we have suffered a defeat on the front line, it may not be easy to find a good job."
Lu Wenzhao nodded: "It's not easy, but don't worry, brother. Even if I have to sacrifice my dignity and my wealth, I will definitely find a way out for us. As long as I have mine, you will also have mine."
Hearing this, Lu Cheng was also very moved: "Brother, I have no doubt about your love and care. To be honest, before on the battlefield of Sarhu, I accidentally picked up a valuable treasure from a pile of corpses. I have been hiding it on my body and dare not tell anyone.
Now, since my brother wants to make a career, he must have made some arrangements. If you can offer this precious treasure, our future will be secure."
Hearing this, Lu Wenzhao also became interested: "What kind of treasure is it? Take it out and let me see it."
In fact, at this moment, Lu Wenzhao did not believe that Lu Cheng, a small general, could come up with any treasure. If it was really a treasure, it would not be left behind on the battlefield.
However, when Lu Wenzhao saw an item Lu Cheng took out of the bag, he suddenly widened his eyes in shock, quickly reached out to cover the treasure in Lu Cheng's hand, and looked around to confirm that there was no one around, then he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Brother, this is... this is a truly incredible treasure. Have you been discovered by anyone?"
"Absolutely not."
"That's good, that's good. If the news of this treasure were to leak out accidentally, it might bring disaster. Brother, are you really willing to hand over this treasure to me?"
"Of course, if this treasure is in our hands, it will only bring disaster. Only by presenting it to the emperor can it play its greatest value. Brother, I am of low rank and position, so of course I don't have this opportunity. It is most appropriate to give it to you, my brother."
"Brother, aren't you afraid that I will embezzle it?"
"I believe my brother is not that kind of person."
Lu Wenzhao was also somewhat moved, and gritted his teeth: "Don't worry, brother, I will definitely make the most of this treasure."
As he spoke, Lu Wenzhao looked around again before taking the treasure from Lu Cheng. He only took a quick look at it and quickly put it in his arms, fearing that it would be discovered.
Afterwards, Lu Wenzhao carefully walked to a corner, took out the treasure, and examined it carefully.
The treasure was actually a transparent glass ball the size of a baby's fist. Inside the ball was a lifelike flying dragon. In front of the dragon was a round ball, which looked like the dragon spitting out pearls.
In fact, colored glaze has appeared many years ago, and some people in the West have even made it directly. However, the glass made in this era contains a small amount of divalent iron, so it appears green or other colors.
The glass ball that Lu Cheng took out was pure and transparent, without any mixed colors, and had a regular shape and was perfectly round. Moreover, there was a scene of a flying dragon spitting out pearls, which was definitely not something that could be achieved by craftsmanship in this era.
If this thing were presented to the emperor, it would definitely be considered a good omen.
At a time when the battle had just been defeated and the whole court was in despair, the appearance of such an auspicious sign had an impact that one can imagine.
Seeing Lu Wenzhao carefully putting away the fist-sized glass ball, he took out his purse, poured out all the silver in it, and handed it to Lu Cheng: "Brother, take these first and relax in the capital. Just wait for good news from me."
After throwing out all the silver, Lu Wenzhao turned the purse over and cleaned it. Then he put the glass ball in the purse and put it in his arms.
Lu Cheng did not expect that there would be an extra gain. Looking at the dozens of taels of silver in his hand, Lu Cheng did not hesitate: "Brother, I will not be polite with this silver."
"Why are you being so polite to me? Go back and have a rest."
Lu Cheng smiled, picked up the more than 40 taels of silver, and walked out of the alley.
In fact, this glass ball is a treasure in this era, but in later times, it is just a few yuan on Taobao or Tmall. The larger ones are only a dozen yuan.
When Lu Cheng was storing jewelry in the previous world, he wanted to maximize its value as much as possible because he had limited funds.
Considering the possibility of traveling back to the ancient world in the future, Lu Cheng directly bought some glass balls. There are colorless and transparent ones, and there are also golden ones. The figures inside include flying dragons spitting beads, double dragons playing with beads, dragons and phoenixes presenting auspiciousness, etc.
A glass ball the size of a baby's fist weighs only two or three taels. Lu Cheng bought seven or eight of them in total, and the total cost was only a few dozen yuan.
Lu Cheng didn't prepare too many glass products, after all, too many would be worthless. And if he traveled to the modern world, it would just be a few glass balls.
But Lu Cheng didn't expect that he would get dozens of taels of silver before he even offered up this "top-quality gem". The rate of return had increased by who knows how many times.
After returning to his residence, Lu Cheng saw Shen Lian resting in the yard, so he said, "Brother Shen, I just arrived in the capital and am not familiar with the surroundings. I am just about to go out for a walk. Brother Shen, do you want to go with me?"
"That's fine. Mr. Shen hasn't been to the capital for a long time."
The two of them had changed into ordinary clothes and walked outside together.
Although the battle had been lost and the court was in turmoil, the wealthy businessmen and nobles in the capital were still living a life of luxury.
It was evening at this time, and the restaurants on both sides of the street were very busy. We passed a brothel on the way, and there were some artists leaning against the windows, looking at the street scenery.
It was the first time that Lu Cheng had seen such a scene. He was a little curious, but he did not go in to watch. He and Shen Lian just found a small restaurant, chose a seat by the window, ordered a few side dishes and a pot of old wine, and sat down to eat and chat.
The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled on the prosperous capital of the Ming Dynasty. Smoke rose everywhere, but Lu Cheng's heart had not yet fully integrated into this world...