Chapter 320 Visiting Qufu City Again

After staying at the Zhuxian Inn, the county magistrate of Zhuxian came to visit not long after. Hua Kai asked Yu Jun to receive him, and he did not show up. Now, for the county magistrate of such a small county, Hua Kai asked Yu Jun to receive him on his behalf, which was considered to be giving face to the other party.

The next day, the eleven people of the Hua family passed by Huajiabao without stopping to rest in the fort. Hua Kai's return to Huajiabao must have caused shock. They were traveling south secretly this time.

After passing Guangxian, they went south all the way. There were not many mountains. The Hua family rode their horses very fast. Arriving outside the city of Qufu in Lu at night, Hua Kai thought about it and decided to enter the palace of Lu. Lu was a major grain producer, and its grain output was no less than that of the entire Qi State. It would be even better if he could get some grain from Lu.

The wild beasts outside Qufu gathered far away from the city wall. Hua Kai and the other 11 people easily crossed the wild beast group and came to the outside of the city wall of Qufu. Taking advantage of the night, Hua Kai sensed that there was no one inside the city wall, and several people crossed the city wall and entered the outer city of Qufu.

Qufu City is still bustling. As the strongest second-class country in the world, Lu State, even if it is not counted as a foundation-building state, its strength is still above the Hua family. Several people came to the downtown area of ​​the outer city and found the best inn to stay.

Early the next morning, Hua Kai came to the palace of King Lu and asked the palace guards to inform King Lu that an old friend was visiting.

As relatives, the Lu and Hua families are also one of the most important allies. When King Lu heard the palace guards' introduction of Hua Kai's appearance, he hurriedly ended his political affairs and went to the palace gate to greet him in person!

"The head of the Hua family is here in person. I am sorry for not welcoming him from afar. I don't know why I didn't send someone to notify in advance so that the whole city of Qufu can welcome the arrival of the head of the Hua family."

Seeing that it was really Hua Kai, King Lu was very surprised. The New Year would be in three days, and he didn't know what Hua Kai was doing in Lu at this time. The Hua family now controls Gaoliu County alone. Although it belongs to Qi in name, everyone knows that the Hua family actually has independent sovereignty like Lu.

"There is heavy snow on the grassland in winter. The livestock in Gaoliu County suffered a serious disaster and the consumption of grain and grass increased. I wanted to go to the south to see if there is any grain to purchase. I passed by Qufu City and came to see the situation in Lu." Hua Kai said.

As allies, the Hua family and Lu should have kept in touch more. Lu has also developed rapidly in recent years because of the Hua family's elixir. Although the Lu family cannot completely suppress the other two third-grade families, its regime is much more stable than before.

"Although the Hua family has moved, our friendship remains. I don't know how my daughter is doing now. I heard from her letter that she gave birth to twins!" King Lu said.

"Aunt Wu gave birth to twins in September this year. The two younger brothers are very healthy. After Gaoliu City stabilizes for a while, I will let Uncle Wu take Aunt Wu and the two younger brothers back to Lu to visit relatives." Hua Kai said.

"That's good!" King Lu heard a rare smile on his two grandsons' faces.

Hua Kai followed King Lu to the study room of the palace. King Lu asked all the palace maids and guards to withdraw, and then he talked to Hua Kai about food.

"During the three years of drought, thanks to the help of the Hua family, hundreds of thousands of people in Lu State did not starve to death, and the strength of the Lu family was consolidated. The Hua family's favor to the Lu family is not excessive. However, although Lu State has had a good harvest every year in recent years, the grain in the national treasury has not increased. Many times, I have to prepare with other families in Lu State to prevent the people from starving." The King of Lu said with a distressed face.

"Oh? Why is that?" Hua Kai asked puzzledly.

"You know the grudge between Kong Zhisheng and the former king of Lu State, right?" said the King of Lu.

As the first person among all the schools of thought, Kong Zhisheng's life experience has been studied by all students. Among all the classics written by Kong Zhisheng, the one with the greatest resentment is the king of Lu State. He blamed all his frustration on the King of Lu for not knowing how to judge people. Lu State prospered because of Kong Zhisheng, but also declined because of the Kong family.

"Because of Kong Zhisheng, all the noble families in Lu are very wary of the Lu family. Most of the rights in Lu are divided by them, and all the obligations of the country belong to the Lu family.

There are few cultivated fields in Lu, so they say that the Lu family should build water conservancy projects. As a result, all the voices in the country are discussing that the Lu family does not take charge of building water conservancy projects and ignores the people.

Under pressure, the Lu family began to build water conservancy projects. Those noble families began to say that the Lu family was laboring the people. The people felt that the Lu family was always an exploiter, and those noble families were their protectors. Little did they know that after the canals were built, the fertile land would be in the hands of the noble families, and the common people could only be tenants of the noble families."

As the King of Lu said, Hua Kai listened quietly. Every country in this world has different customs, different ideas of governance, and different focuses of power. The pressure on Lu is not from the noble families and the people, but from Kong Zhisheng, a person above the Jindan realm or even the Huashen realm.

"There are about 4 million mu of arable land in Lu, but only 700,000 mu is actually controlled by the Lu family. There are more and more poor people living on the starvation line in Lu every year. We need the help of other families in Lu to prevent too many people from starving to death in Lu."

When the King of Lu said this, Hua Kai already understood that the King of Lu, the father of the fifth aunt, was really aggrieved. Kong Zhisheng attributed all the country's problems to the King of Lu. As a result, the families had a reason. All good things were inseparable from them, and all bad things were attributed to the Lu family. The Lu family managed the poorest people in the country. When a talented person emerged among these people, he would be the first to join other families to fight against the Lu family. No wonder the Lu family occupied such a favorable position in the Central Plains. As a second-grade family, its presence was not as good as some third-grade families.

"This is really difficult for you! Kong Zhisheng... Even if he is still alive, he can't impose the grievances of his ancestors on you. In the final analysis, it's just that those noble families used Kong Zhisheng's words to attack the Lu family and fool the people! To solve the problem of the Lu family... There is actually a way?" Hua Kai said after a silence.

"What way?" King Lu opened his eyes wide. The ancestors of the Lu family did unfair things to Kong Zhisheng. When the Lu family fled to Qi, Kong Zhisheng protected them, but in the end he was betrayed and fled back to Lu alone. Later, Kong Zhisheng was promoted to the foundation-building stage. Not only did the Lu family not use him, but he was forced to become enemies with the noble families in Lu. His career was bleak and he could only hide from the world.

"A way of self-improvement, a way of having many supporters." Hua Kai said, and King Lu came over and listened quietly.

"The competition among the noble families is ultimately about strength. The Lu family is the master of Lu State, which is unmatched by other noble families. The noble families are targeting the Lu family only for their own interests. If the Lu family can become stronger, give some noble families benefits, and drive out all the opposing voices, then the influence of Kong Zhisheng will no longer be important."

"This... it is so difficult to impress the interests of the noble families. If it is just a few small noble families, it is easy to say. There are more than a hundred noble families in Lu State. How can the Lu family win them over?" King Lu asked puzzledly.

"It is definitely not possible to rely on the Lu family alone, but there is also the Hua family? The Hua family is so anxious to find food. One reason is that the food in Gaoliu County is indeed tight, and another reason is that the Hua family needs to purchase some high-level spiritual medicines, natural treasures, and special stones." Hua Kai looked at King Lu and said.

"Then what can the Hua family offer in exchange?" King Lu asked.

High-level spiritual medicines, special stones, and natural treasures are not treasured by the great families. In many cases, they are the key to supporting their family's continuation. If the Hua family wants to exchange these things, they have to pay more than just money.

"Artifacts, elixirs, if anyone needs to upgrade the family's mental skills and martial arts, I can guarantee the upgrade." Hua Kai said lightly.

"How many artifacts are there? What level? What level of elixirs? You can actually upgrade the skills?" King Lu opened his eyes wide.

"Artifacts above level six, elixirs are not limited to ordinary elixirs and treasure elixirs, but also spiritual elixirs and longevity elixirs. It takes half a year to upgrade the skills." Hua Kai said.

There are people in this world who specialize in modifying skills. It is rare to find a master of skills who can improve the level of skills. How many families can only improve their family skills by themselves. I don't know how many family members have been seriously injured or fallen because of practicing the skills.

"It really deserves to be the best student in Jixia Academy for thousands of years. It's a pity that this king has only one daughter, Ji Le!" King Lu sighed.

Hua Kai couldn't help but smile: "I can stay in the Lu Palace for a while. You can contact the families with whom you have good relations first. If you need any magic weapons, elixirs, or upgrade your mental skills and martial arts, as long as the reward is enough, these are no problem."

"Then this king has never had a magic weapon. I wonder what the price of a magic weapon used in the late stage of foundation building is?" Lu Wang asked.

"Three eighth-grade spiritual medicines, or thirty seventh-grade spiritual medicines, or you can send the strange stones in the palace..."

After Hua Kai arrived at Lu Wang's Palace, he returned to the inn in the afternoon. When he came back, he took the letter of introduction written by Lu Wang to him. He had good relations with the second-grade countries such as Song, Zheng, Xu, and Zhoulai. With his introduction, it would be easier for the Hua family to buy food.

"Yu Jun, take two people to Song State, meet the King of Song when you get there, buy as much food and grass as possible, it's okay if the price is a little higher, build a granary and wait for me to come. There should be some food in the Central Plains area. Now we accumulate more food. If there is chaos in the future, we can do a lot.

Xue Pan, you go to Zheng State, Tang Lei, you go to Xu State, Hua Peng, you go to Zhoulai State. The major families in Lu State should have accumulated a lot of food. Many of them have high-level spiritual medicines and strange stones. I'll see if I can collect some. In any case, I will find you within ten days. At that time, you will arrange the granary according to my requirements. When I come, we will put it in the [Baoguang Liuli Bottle], and then we will go to Wuyue." Hua Kai arranged for everyone.

In the evening, Hua Kai refined a ninth-grade [Qingyao Sword] of the Baobing level according to the requirements of the King of Lu. There are many scholars in Lu State who like to use swords. This sword can withstand any true qi below the Jindan realm, and its attribute is water, which is just right for the King of Lu.

After refining the sword, Hua Kai took out a book of Xuan-level mental methods and martial arts, which were given to him by King Lu. He needed ten days to get started and then upgrade it to above the Earth level. Although this was a test from King Lu, if the level of the martial arts and mental methods were really upgraded, the reward from King Lu would not be less at all. The foundation of the State of Lu was not comparable to that of ordinary families.