By mid-March, the weather had warmed up.

However, for the average old man, it is still a little too cold in the morning and evening.

Of course, Li Jing is definitely not an ordinary old man, he has long been accustomed to the days of eating and sleeping in the open air, and he has never stepped on the ice and snow, so he has walked much faster than other customs envoys, and he has been thousands of miles away in just over a month.

But after all, age is not forgiving, and the long journey still made Li Jing feel a little tired.

Especially today's spring rain, the coolness is slight, so Li Jing can't help but miss the coal stoves in his Chang'an mansion - in this cold weather, if you can sit around the coal stove and have a drink, how comfortable it would be?

"By the way, it seems that the coal stove is from the hand of King Xu?"

Suddenly remembering the origin of the coal furnace given by the emperor, Li Jing raised his eyebrows and said in a low voice: "Li Zhong, how far is it from Luzhou?" ”

Although Li Jing's voice was not loud, there was an immediate reply from outside the carriage: "If you go back to Xianggong, there are still more than thirty miles!" If the convoy is on its way at full speed, it should be there before the gates close! ”

"No hurry, no hurry!"

Shaking his head, Li Jing gave an order: "Let the sons and daughters hurry slowly, find a place to rest on the way, and enter the city tomorrow afternoon...... Remember, don't make a big noise, just go into the city quietly. ”

"Yes, Xianggong."

After all, the old servant Li Zhong had followed Li Jing for many years, and immediately understood what he meant, and quickly gave orders.

Listening to Li Zhong's voice outside the carriage ordering the guards, Li Jing squinted his eyes in the carriage and began to ponder the next stop of his journey to observe customs and customs - Luzhou.

This place in Luzhou, Li Jing is quite familiar.

When he attacked the Turks in the north, he set off from Luzhou when he was stationed in Shentouling. And when he returned to Luzhou after a few years, Li Jing had changed from the marching commander who led the troops to fight to a minister-only title that only prime ministers could use in the Tang Dynasty......

No, it should be said that his current identity is an envoy of customs.

But compared to the reunited Luzhou City, Li Jing was more interested in the person in the city.

Xu Wang, Li Yuanjia.

Originally, with Li Jing's identity and status, as well as his cautious character, he should not have dealt with King Xu in this life, at most, he would have the opportunity to meet and say hello. But because of the emperor's words more than a month ago, Li Jing did not hesitate to come to Luzhou all the way, just to see Li Yuanjia......

In other words, to find out the bottom of this King Xu!

As for these thoughts of the emperor, to be honest, Li Jing really didn't understand it.

Now that the Tang Dynasty is thriving, the emperor's prestige is gradually gaining popularity, and it can be said that he has completely secured the position that is not very justifiable. So if you want to say that Li Shimin cares about his brothers, Li Jing must be understandable, after all, he himself became the emperor by killing his brother and killing his brother, and it is always not wrong to be careful.

But because of this, it won't make an important minister like Li Jing come to Luzhou on purpose, right?

Li Yuanjia, the king of Xu, is just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, even if he is born in the royal family and is talented, what kind of mind can he have at the age of sixteen or seventeen? Even if he has a mind that he shouldn't have, where does he have the strength and the people who are loyal to him?

"Or is there something else peculiar about this King Xu?"

Suddenly thinking of the coal stove that the emperor had given to many important ministers, as well as the tables, chairs, iron pots and other things that had just begun to circulate among the dignitaries in Chang'an, Li Jing's heart moved, and he thought of another possibility. Tables, chairs and iron pots or something, Li Jing didn't let his family follow suit, and naturally he didn't know the wonders, but it was said to be a coal stove made by King Xu, which was really a god for heating in winter, and it was very wonderful.

"Hehe, that's funny!"

Brushing his beard under his chin, Li Jing suddenly laughed: "In any case, tomorrow I will listen to the evaluation of Li Yuanjia by the people of Luzhou, and then look at the style of this Luzhou city, and then go and meet this interesting King Xu the day after tomorrow......"

……

"What? A hundred? ”

In the small courtyard of the Luzhou Government Office, after listening to Wang Pu's words, Li Yuanjia's eyes suddenly widened.

"Goo-dong!"

After swallowing hard and spitting, Wang Pu stiffened his head and said, "Yes, the king, it takes at least a hundred times!" Most of them are used to collect materials for making paper. We have already tried the common papermaking materials in Luzhou, and now we need to find some less common and unused ones to try...... There are other things that are needed in the papermaking process, and we also want to change some of them. On the other hand, we wanted to improve the papermaking tools and add some utensils, so we ......"

"So you think a hundred times can make the paper better?"

Without waiting for Wang Pu to finish speaking, Li Yuanjia waved his hand and asked indifferently.

“…… I do not know. ”

After swallowing and foaming, Wang Pu shook his head with a wry smile.

It's just that judging from his expression, he really can't see what the king is feeling at this time, after all, Li Yuanjia's expression has returned to his usual calm at this time. But Wang Pu knew very well that he had just opened his mouth to ask for a hundred yuan, which was quite a lot of money!

And the use of this money is nothing more than an attempt to know the result!

So after answering King Xu's question, Wang Pu secretly sighed in his heart, and was ready to be rejected by the king, and even scolded.

Before and after, the king had already spent a lot of money with them.

There is no need to take out a small notebook to make your own records, just the relatively large amount in Wang Pu's memory, it adds up to at least more than 400 times! And if you add the reward money and some extra expenses for the three of them, it will definitely exceed five hundred!

Since learning to use those numbers, Wang Pu has been quite sensitive to them.

But after spending so much money, Wang Pu and Niu Da Niu Er have not made a better white paper than the Li family paper mill so far, no matter how hard they try, they are always a little bit worse!

So when he opened his mouth to ask for this hundred, Wang Pu was really a little bottomless in his heart.

But......

"Alas, I'm really unwilling!"

After sighing secretly in his heart, Wang Pu, who was still unwilling after all, gritted his teeth, hung his head and said in a trembling voice: "King, although I am not sure if I can succeed, didn't you once say that no one can guarantee the result without trying?" So, so ...... Or fifty times? All it takes is fifty strokes! We're going to improve the craftsmanship a little bit more and give it a try......"

"Hahaha......"

Without waiting for Wang Pu to finish speaking, Li Yuanjia suddenly laughed.

This smile made Wang Pu stiff and at a loss.

Just when the muscles on Wang Pu's cheeks trembled several times and wanted to ask boldly, Li Yuanjia suddenly waved his hand and said: "That's right, I did say that no attempt can guarantee success, so what you have to do is not be afraid of failure, just keep trying!" ”

"Goo-dong!"

In this short period of effort, Wang Pu subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of foam for the third time.

Only this time, the mood is very different.

And Li Yuanjia paced two steps, and suddenly turned his head to look at Wang Pu: "One hundred? Now that you've got an idea, let's be bolder! I'll give you two hundred, just do it boldly......"