In the middle of November of the 25th year of the reign of King Qin, Yugan, more than 300 miles away from Pengzeyi, and two miles away from the city, dried bamboo and wood were stuffed into the stove, and the big furnace was suddenly smoky and burning, and dust flew everywhere.

Hundreds of Ganyue people with vertebrae or broken hair were gathered around the smelting workshop, and they passed baskets of collected nails and hair one by one to the swordsmith in leather skirts, and then poured them into the furnace, and suddenly the fire was even stronger, and a scorched smell emanated in the air.

"Cut off your hair and cut your claws, throw them into the furnace, and the gold and iron will be wet, and then you will become a sword!"

Led by a shirtless young man, the Ganyue people raised their hands in the air and shouted in their language.

The young man's name was Wu Rui (ruì), the son of Wu Shen, the lord of Yu Cognac, whose father was old and frail, and he fell ill after the winter, so today's sword sacrifice ceremony was attended by his father.

There are a lot of copper, tin and iron ore in the Yugan area, and casting swords is the old business of the Ganyue people. Three hundred years ago, at the same time as the Xu people crossed to Pengze in the south, King Wu Lu dominated Jianghuai and ruled this area, so he ordered Gan Yue to offer swords and swordsmiths, so the cadre and his wife Mo Xie were sent to Gusu to cast swords for King Wu.

It is said that at that time, King Wu ordered thousands of people to pick the iron essence of the five mountains and the gold of the Liuhe, so that 300 boys, girls and men drummed and loaded charcoal, and the cadre Mo Xie forged a sword, and cut off his hair and claws, and threw it into the furnace. The yang is said to be a cadre, and the yin is said to be evil, and it has become a famous sword in the world......

Therefore, the people of the Central Plains call the sword "the sword of Wu Yue", and the Yue country of Wu Guo also calls it "the sword of Ganyue".

At present, Wu Yue's Spring and Autumn Period has long since disappeared, and the Ganyue people who are still dry and water have continued the tradition of sword casting from generation to generation.

The sword is the first wife of the Ganyue man, and they will also pass the chicken every year to calculate a good day, forge a good sword, and present it to the king.

At present, the hair and nails have been put into the furnace, more than 100 people began to blow the wind and fill the charcoal together, and after a morning of smelting, the copper and tin finally completely melted.

At this time, in the reverent gaze of everyone, Wu Rui strode forward, took over the work in the hands of the engineer, and poured the gold liquid into the sword casting sword with his own hands!

In the heat, sweat flowed on Wu Rui's bronzed skin, and the dragon and snake tattoos on his arms seemed to come to life.

After that, after a few days of cooling and solidification, the bronze sword was formed, but the quality of the sword is still unknown.

"I only hope that on the day this sword comes out, it can cut off cattle and horses on land, hit the birds and geese with water, and kill the enemy immediately!"

Wu Rui waved his arms and shouted, looking forward to it from the bottom of his heart!

At this point, his mission is completed, and everything will have to be handed over to time and the blessing of the ghosts.

Wu Rui put on a rough linen coat and returned to the city with the Ganyue people who had come to watch the sword-casting, the smoke of the cooking stove was rising, and it was already time for dinner, and everyone seemed to have smelled the aroma of fish soup and rice at home.

The city of the Ganyue people is very distinctive, directly built on the edge of the Yuganshui, along the river, it is a bamboo and wood building, covered with thatched dry column building, very similar to the Dai family building in later generations. Several pillars prop the main body of the house off the ground, and people live on top and livestock below. The land south of the Yangtze River is hot, but this kind of building is cool all year round.

The real city is adjacent to these bamboo houses, and is the rammed earth town of Gao Zhangyu, which was built by Wu Rui's father, Wu Shen, 20 years ago, under the leadership of the local Ganyue people, and is also the first city on the Yugan water.

The Ganyue people I met along the way all respected Wu Rui very much, bowed to him, and the old man took his hand and sighed: "Twenty years ago, we were still migrating along this water, often attacking other Yue tribes. Thanks to Wu Jun coming here, he taught us to build a city and gather more than ten villages into a city, and since then I have never been afraid of other tribes plundering! ”

Yu Gan has become the largest clan among the Ganyue people, and it is thriving day by day, and now Wu Shen is getting old day by day, and once he dies, Wu Rui will become the new monarch......

The buildings in the city are also mostly in the dry column type, and even Wu Shen's mansion is no exception, the Yue warriors are holding bamboo spears to guard outside, and when they see Wu Rui returning, they greet him one after another.

When he entered the largest hall, Wu Rui found that during the time he was out of the city, his father had welcomed several guests, and he was discussing things at the moment......

Ganyue did not have such complicated etiquette as the Central Plains, Wu Rui strode forward and bowed to his father, who was old and rarely left the city: "Father, my son is back!" ”

Wu Shen has gray hair, although he is a Chu person from Wu Land, but now he is dressed like an ordinary Yue person: broken hair and tattoos, wrong arm and left side.

After claiming to be the royal family of Wu, he was originally from Jiangdong, and was exiled to Yu Ganshui because he offended the magnates, but he did not die under the arrows of the barbarian Yue, but relied on his own ingenuity and bravery, through marriage, to help the Yu Ganyue people defeat other tribes, build cities, and sit in the position of the leader of Ganyue.

In order to make the Ganyue people surrender and not regard themselves as outsiders, Wu Shen changed his clothes, followed his customs, dressed himself and his son as Yue people, and explained: "The ancestors Taibo and Zhongyong fled to the barbarian Yue, so they entered their hometown and followed their customs, like the local barbarians, tattooed with patterns and cut their hair, so that the state of Wu can be established. ”

However, Wu Shen has long lost his former youth, he is weakly wrapped in a lamb blanket, afraid of cold in winter and hot in summer, in stark contrast to Wu Rui, who is still wearing short clothes and walking barefoot in November, he is really old.

"Rui, I've seen a distinguished guest."

Although Wu Shen's body is getting weaker and weaker, his wisdom has not diminished at all, and he knows who he can't afford to offend.

Wu Rui looked at the visitors and found that one of them was a scholar wearing a Chu-style robe, Wu Rui knew that his name was Xu Shu, he was a person from Peng Zeyi, and he had come to Yugan once a few years ago, and he could speak the words of the Yue people.

"I haven't seen you for a few years, and the little gentleman is an adult."

Xu Shu smiled and approached him, but Wu Rui was more interested in the other person.

The man was wearing armor and a trapezoidal crown on his head, sitting in a precarious position, his hairstyle and armor were something that Wu Rui had never seen on the generals of the Chu State who passed through Yugan, and he couldn't help but take a few more looks. This person is Heifu's subordinate Lixian, who is also looking at Wu Rui.

When Wu Rui sat down, the matter discussed by the three of them was also nearing the end.

Xu Shu arched his hand and said: "What Sima wants us to say, I have already told Wu Jun, what does Wu Jun think?" ”

Wu Shen smiled: "How dare you disobey a big country? But the matter of sending troops, and let me think about it, although I am an elder in name, but every time there is a major event, I still have to ask the ministries first. ”

Li Xian spoke at this time: "Sima is not patient, the army is about to attack Fanyang, if Wu Jun does not become a subject of Qin, then he is the enemy of the Qin army!" ”

This person dared to talk to his father like this, Wu Rui was suddenly furious, and wanted to draw his sword and rise, but was glared back by Wu Shen.

After the two left, he said quite dissatisfiedly: "Although Fanyang Jun sends people to collect ten good swords every year, and fight fifty pairs as taxes, but those Chu State doctors are also respectful to their father, but this person directly threatened, why not kill him!" ”

Wu Shen coughed for a while, then shook his head and said, "The thing I was worried about has finally come, do you know who that military official is?" ”

"My father told me...... Qin people? ”

Wu Rui was born in Yugan and never went far away, so everything in the outside world was relayed to him by his father.

Wu Shen said: "However, the Qin people promised that if I choose to submit and send troops to assist the Qin State Sima to attack Fanyang, the Qin State will recognize me as the lord of Yugan, and I can pass it on to my descendants, and according to the old practice of the Qin State ruling the barbarians, I will be exempted from taxes......"

Wu Rui was unhappy: "This city was built by my father, with my father as the ruler, and it is also supported by the local Ganyue people, when do you need others to recognize it?" Fanyangjun didn't dare to coerce his father like this. ”

Wu Shen sighed and said: "I don't know, in the past, Fanyang Jun didn't dare to touch me, that's because Yu Gan and his forces are inseparable, but the Qin State is different. ”

Wu Shen is a native of Jiangdong Wu, and he once served as a guest of Chunshenjun, and it was not until the fall of Chunshenjun that he was implicated, and he was exiled to Yugan by Chu Xiang Li Yuan in despair, so he had some insight and knew the strength of the Qin State. I also understand that it is only a matter of time before the state of Chu suddenly collapsed, and the small Yugancheng was brought under the rule of Qin.

"In the past 20 years, I and Fanyangjun, Peng Zejun, Shangganjun, Xunjun, Yangyue, Luling Meishi, etc., are just small fish and shrimp in the pond, and they are the same size. But now, there is a big ray (tuó) breaking into the pond, disemboweling the big whale of Chu State, devouring Xunjun and Peng Zejun one by one, and then, it will be Fanyangjun's turn. And to be Qin's vassal or Qin's enemy, Yu Gan must also make a choice......"

Xu Shu persuaded him with good words and brought gifts, while Na Lixian bluntly threatened, and the two of them were soft and hard, and he had to give in.

After thinking about it for a while, Wu Shen decided to agree to Lixian and Xu Shu's request to send a thousand Ganyue people to cooperate with the Qin army to attack Fanyang.

According to the requirements of the Qin people, the two sides will lead their troops to meet at the place where the three rivers of Ganshui, Fanshui, and Yuganshui converge on the first day of December half a month later, and discuss the plan for attacking Fanshui......

Lixian returned satisfied, and went to report to Heifu, who had set off from Pengze, while Xu Shu left a contact message.

"I can't leave the city after a long illness, so you will go to meet with the Qin army Sima for me."

On the day of departure, Wu Shen instructed his son: "My son is young and his blood is flourishing, but because his father is old, you will have to take on the rest of the work sooner or later, so you must be cautious in everything and not be reckless!" “

Although Wu Rui verbally promised well, he was still a little unconvinced, feeling that his father was really old, and he was frightened by a few words from the two of them, so he was timid.

He touched the sharp sword he had just taken out from the sword-casting furnace, it was a rare good sword, the cold light was bursting, and the hair could be broken by blowing.

Wu Rui's pride and self-satisfaction, just like this sharp sword, is cast by the bits and pieces of his life in the past 20 years, he doesn't know how strong the Qin country is, he only knows that in the Yugan water, in the Ganyue, their father and son say the same!

He secretly thought, "If the Qin people are really so powerful, why do they still use our strength to fight Fanyang?" I want to see what's so great about those Qin people! ”

Wu Rui didn't expect that on this trip, he completely knew what it means to have people outside the world and a sky outside the sky......