Chapter 1036 Brothers talk!

Because it was noon, Lu Jianchao asked his son and nephew to stay in the mansion for dinner. An hour later, Lu Houde and Lu Yun came out of the Governor's Mansion.

Lu Jianchao wanted to say goodbye to Lu Yun and go to Murong Zhengshan to check on him, but he didn't expect Lu Yun to say to him:

"Brother, you know I am a warrior with a big appetite. I am too embarrassed to eat more in front of my uncle in the mansion!"

"I heard that you, Big Brother, have hired two new chefs at Dingxianglou in the city. Their cooking skills are very good. I wonder if I can go and try them, too?"

Lu Houde was somewhat surprised by Lu Yun's words, but feeling the seriousness faintly emerging from Lu Yun's expression, Lu Jianchao also understood that Lu Yun did not want to eat his meal!

In all likelihood, having dinner was just an excuse. Lu Yun probably wanted to take this opportunity to say something to himself!
After thinking quickly in his mind, Lu Houde also took over the conversation and said with a smile:

"Brother Yun, you are really well-informed. The cooking skills of the new chef hired by my Dingxianglou are really extraordinary. Brother Yun, you are in for a feast today!"

As Lu Houde and Lu Yun brothers were talking, they got on the carriage one after another, and after a while they arrived at Dingxiang Tower.

In the Jiangnan region, merchants were prevalent, and Lu Houde had a strong appetite, so he opened the Dingxianglou, to satisfy his own needs and to make money...
Since Dingxianglou was first established, Jiangnan officials, both big and small, knew that the owner of Dingxianglou was Lu Houde, and they often spent a lot of money here in an attempt to win Lu Houde's appreciation. This can be regarded as a disguised bribery!

However, Lu Houde had very good taste, so according to the requirements of the prince of Jiangnan, Dingxianglou had to provide very good environment and delicious food. Today, Dingxianglou has become known as the best restaurant in Jiangnan, and it can contribute nearly 100,000 taels of silver to Lu Houde's wallet every year!
Dingxianglou's business has always been very prosperous and it is difficult to get a seat. Even if it is raining or cloudy outside, the restaurant is still full of guests!
However, as the owner of Dingxianglou, even though it was difficult to get a seat in Dingxianglou, the best private room in the building was always reserved for Lu Houde!

The two brothers sat down in the private room, and delicious dishes were served on the table one after another. There were so many delicious fish and meat, good wine and good food that they were overwhelmed!
As the most upscale restaurant in Jiangnan, the cheapest bowl of rice in Dingxianglou starts at one or two taels of silver. It is normal to spend more than ten taels of silver on a meal!
Although he knew that eating was not Lu Yun's purpose, for the sake of his family's face, Lu Houde still served more than a dozen dishes. The cost alone was several hundred taels of silver, enough for more than a dozen ordinary families to eat and drink for a year...

The two Qi brothers toasted for a while over the meal. After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Lu Yun slowly spoke:
"Brother, I heard that Song Weijie sent Song Weikai to meet Ye Mingsheng. In addition to asking Ye Mingsheng to surrender, he also hoped to be canonized by Ye Mingsheng!"

"It is said that Song Weijie hopes that after Ye Mingsheng establishes a new dynasty, he will be crowned the King of Shu, a hereditary ruler of Sichuan and Shu, and control all military and political affairs in Sichuan and Shu!"

At this point Lu Yun paused, then raised his head to observe his elder brother Lu Houde's expression before continuing;
"As for Song Weijie's bottom line, he is the Grand Commander of Sichuan and Shu, and he controls the military affairs of Sichuan and Shu. For this, he is willing to present a number of beautiful women, gold, silver and valuables to Yi Jing every year!"

After hearing Lu Yun's words, Lu Houde did not rush to answer. Instead, he picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth to taste it carefully, then slowly asked back:
"Brother Yun, do you think Marshal Ye will agree to Song Weijie's proposal?"

After hearing this, Lu Yun thought for a while and said:
"Brother, I think Song Weijie's wish to be named the King of Shu is a little unreliable. Ye Mingsheng probably won't agree to it. But as for Song Weijie's bottom line, I think it's possible to discuss the matter of the Grand Commander of Sichuan and Shu controlling the military affairs of Sichuan and Shu!"

Hearing this, Lu Houde became interested and asked again:

“Brother Yun, what makes you think Marshal Ye would agree to Song Weijie’s conditions…”

Lu Yun answered without hesitation:

"Sichuan and Shu are natural dangers, and the road to Shu is difficult, as difficult as climbing to the sky! Shuzhong is also a land of abundance, and we can form our own faction to defend it!"

"Song Weijie has been eliminating dissidents in Sichuan and Shu during this period. Now his position as the Grand Commander of Sichuan and Shu has been 100% confirmed. I estimate that he probably has 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers and horses at this time!"

"If the Fengwu Army wants to capture Sichuan, it will need at least 200,000 soldiers and horses, and it must be prepared for a protracted war!"

Hearing Lu Yun's words, Lu Houde smiled and said:
"Brother Yun, how do you think the Fengwu Army compares to the Luoan Imperial Guard? How does Ye Mingsheng compare to Shangguan Hongyuan?"

Faced with this question, Lu Yun thought for a while and said:
"The Fengwu Army is definitely stronger than the Luoan Imperial Army. Their firearms are very sharp. Even though they hid a lot of tricks when they sold us the firearms, they also helped our Jiangnan firearms to develop and improve greatly.

As for how Ye Mingsheng compares to Shangguan Hongyuan, I don’t know, but Ye Mingsheng has been able to lead the Fengwu Army to where it is today, so his ability should be at least as good as Shangguan Hongyuan’s! ”

Hearing his cousin's answer, Lu Houde said calmly:

“During the Luoan Rebellion, Shangguan Hongyuan was able to break through Sichuan and Shu despite being attacked from all sides. Now Ye Mingsheng’s momentum to swallow up the world is complete, and the Fengwu Army’s combat power today is stronger than the Luoan Imperial Army. How long do you think Song Weijie from Sichuan and Shu can hold out?”

Lu Yun's face turned very ugly when he heard that. Although he kept talking about Sichuan, he was actually referring to himself secretly. After all, looking around the world, apart from Annan, only Sichuan and Jiangnan had not fallen into the control of the Fengwu Army!
Therefore, the current situation of their Lu family and Song Weijie can be said to be very similar. However, the natural barrier of Nanjiang in Jiangnan is basically gone because of the fall of Huainan, while the natural barrier of Sichuan and Shu still exists, and Jiangnan is ten times richer than Sichuan and Shu!

Therefore, Jiangnan will definitely become Ye Mingsheng’s next target, and its strategic situation is far worse than that of Sichuan and Shu!
Therefore, if Ye Mingsheng did not agree to Song Weijie's conditions, then he would not agree to the conditions of the Lu family. Seeing his cousin's ugly face, Lu Houde also understood what he was thinking. He sighed, and then poured a glass of wine for his cousin himself, and asked with some sadness:

"Brother Yun, do you think you can lead our Jiangnan men to stop the Fengwu Army?"

Faced with Lu Houde's directly critical question, although Lu Yun wanted to give an affirmative answer, under the gaze of his cousin, Lu Yun had to face the cold reality. He shook his head with a wry smile and picked up the wine glass and drank it all!

Lu Yun is now in charge of the Jiangnan Army. He knows very well that the Jiangnan Army, facing the Zhennan Army, relied entirely on the advantages of firearms, numbers, and sufficient logistics on the homeland to barely fight a 50-50 situation...

Although the firearms of the Jiangnan Army were stronger than those of the Zhennan Army, Lu Yun was very clear that many of the firearms that the Jiangnan Army was proud of were second-hand goods eliminated by the Fengwu Army!

Therefore, facing the Fengwu Army, the Jiangnan Army’s firearms advantage would not only disappear, but it would even fall into an absolute disadvantage!
Without the protection of firearms, facing the ferocious barbarians of the Fengwu Army, although Lu Yun was full of passion and fighting spirit, he had to face the reality. As long as the Fengwu Army marched forward, the Jiangnan Army would be inevitably defeated!

After a moment of silence, Lu Yun did not intend to continue to be confused with his cousin, and asked his cousin directly:

"Brother, is uncle ready to surrender? What conditions does uncle intend to offer to the Fengwu Army?"

Facing his cousin's question, Lu Houde pondered for a while and said:
"My father's thoughts are still unclear, but Zhu Chen is already preparing to go to Yijing to meet Marshal Ye. When he comes back, things should be moving forward!"

Hearing this answer, Lu Yun hesitated and said:
"Brother, I was born and raised in Jiangnan, and I don't want to leave here!"

“Besides, I’m still young and don’t want to be imprisoned as a rich man. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life just eating and waiting to die. I’m happy in Yijing and don’t want to leave. I still want to do something and realize my ambitions and ideals in life…”

As Lu Yun spoke to the end, his words became more and more sincere, and the pleading in his eyes was beyond words!
Lu Houde understood what he meant, but he didn't have any good solution for this matter. However, he couldn't say it directly, so he hesitated and said:
"Brother Yun, I understand your thoughts. I cannot promise you anything at this moment. After all, this matter depends on what Marshal Ye thinks. But I promise you that I will do my best to fight for you and not let you live in Yijing!"

Lu Houde's guarantee could not satisfy Lu Yun. After all, all the troops of the Jiangnan Army were now in his hands!
In fact, after knowing that Song Weijie wanted to be crowned king, Lu Yun's heart also became active. He felt that if Song Weijie could be crowned king, then his uncle Lu Jianchao could naturally be crowned king as well. In this way, he, Lu Yun, could also be crowned a marquis!
However, after being hit by Lu Houde's words, Lu Yun also realized that the possibility of Song Weijie being crowned king was not great, and his title of nobility naturally became a bubble!

That's why Lu Yun now had to settle for the second best and no longer pursue the title of nobility. Instead, he made two requests: first, not to leave Jiangnan, and second, he hoped to continue leading troops to fight!
Lu Yun thought that his two requests were not excessive at all, and that his uncle and brother should give him a guarantee, but he did not expect that his brother was only willing to do his best, which was too far from Lu Yun’s expectations, making Lu Yun feel very disappointed································
Lu Yun was a warrior who was not very cunning and did not cultivate his Qi very well. His worries were easily shown on his face. So looking at his dark face, Lu Yun could sense his cousin's current thoughts, so he quickly spoke to comfort him:

"Brother Yun, it's not that I won't help you in this matter, but now the Zhennan Army is finished, and we in Jiangnan are facing the blade of the Fengwu Army!"

"And we can't stop the Fengwu Army. We are now at the mercy of others. The Fengwu Army has the initiative and decision-making power in the negotiations!"

"You said that I promised you now, big brother, but Marshal Ye doesn't plan to let our Lu family lead the army anymore, or he wants us to move out of Jiangnan!"

"So what do you think we should do if this happens, Brother Yun? Should we stop talking to the Fengwu Army and go to war directly?"

Faced with Lu Jianchao's question, Lu Yun wanted to say something immediately, but when the words came to his lips, he couldn't say anything and could only let out a long sigh of frustration!
Seeing this, Lu Houde was delighted, and poured another glass of wine for Lu Yun and continued to say sincerely:
"Brother Yun, I know you have feelings for Jiangnan and have ideals and ambitions in your heart, so as long as the conditions permit, I will do my best to fight for you. Even if it means sacrificing some other interests, I will try my best to protect your conditions!"

“Brother Yun, you are my brother. As the eldest brother, I don’t want to pat my chest and lie to you. This is what I really think…”

After he finished speaking, Lu Houde also raised his wine glass. Seeing this, Lu Yun was silent for a moment, then he also raised his wine glass, clinked it with Lu Houde's and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp!
After drinking the glass of wine, Lu Yun, with a slightly red face, clasped his hands together and said to Lu Houde in a deep voice:
"I'll leave everything to you, big brother!"

Lu Houde also nodded heavily and said:

"Don't worry, brother Yun. I will never let the Fengwu Army mistreat you. All of us in the Lu family will be fine!"

After talking about these things and almost finishing the wine, Lu Yun said goodbye to Lu Houde and left with a lot on his mind.

Lu Houde had drunk some wine, and it was already getting dark, so he originally planned to go home and have a good rest!

However, when Lu Houde returned home, he couldn't sleep well thinking about Lu Yun's commission. He thought that he must visit his brother-in-law Murong Zhengshan tomorrow.

Some recent news from the north indicated that some compromises and behind-the-scenes deals seemed to be reached within the Fengwu Army, and his brother-in-law Murong Zhengshan, who had nearly lost his life in the assassination attempt by the Thousand Tiger Guards, would most likely turn a disaster into a blessing and be appointed to important positions by Marshal Ye!
Now that the negotiations between Jiangnan and the Fengwu Army will begin soon, it is necessary for me to get in touch with Murong Zhengshan...
(End of this chapter)