Seeing that he humbly asked for advice, Bai Maoxin nodded with satisfaction, sent away the singer who served the wine, and beckoned Yan Xiyin to come close together, and said in a low voice: "The benefit of firearms in the world is nothing more than artillery, and the benefits of artillery are all in the power of gunpowder. The Ordnance Supervisor and the Sanya Warehouse have specially designed for the use of refined gunpowder for the forbidden army in the capital, which is the purchase of the top grade of the Xia Kingdom, the ordinary firecracker needs three taels of medicine, and this kind of refined medicine can be used for seven dollars, and it is even more rare that the powder is pure and even, and it is not easy to get damp if it is kept properly, as long as the amount of medicine filled is tried, it is exactly the same every time, if the artillery is used with this medicine, the cannon is simple, the cannon hits far, the power is powerful and it is not easy to explode. ”

Wanyan Zongbi was overjoyed when he heard this, and the Jurchens were not afraid of field battles with the Liao, but they could not overcome the strong city defenses of Huanglong Mansion. This time he went to the Southern Dynasty as an envoy, and his father's greatest expectation was to buy artillery and gunpowder from the Song State that were conducive to the siege of the city. It is really the wish of heaven and people, and the immortal heaven will send this white lord who is proficient in firearms to his eyes. Wanyan Xiyin praised: "An adult's words and guidance are better than a million male soldiers, and tens of thousands of people and children in the next generation of the He clan feel the same virtue." At the same time, he personally poured Bai Maoxin full of wine.

Bai Maoxin squinted his drunken eyes and saw clearly the flattering appearance of the two, his heart was happy, and he said in a low voice: "If the gold is enough, it is not impossible for the lower officials to discuss with the adults of the Sanya, and exchange this batch of refined gunpowder, along with the best cannons, for the two of them." ”

The three of them discussed for a while, Bai Maoxin was satisfied, Wanyan Zongbi asked Wanyan Xiyin to call Wanyan Zonghan, a reckless man who stayed outside, to come in and eat the remaining wine and food together, Wanyan Zonghan while eating, while teasing the accompanying singer, while scolding: "If Liaoyang Mansion is conquered in the future, such a woman will rob him of ten hundred and go back, and when he is happy, he will be happy, and when he is unhappy, he will be beaten, and then he will be taken to the grassland to change horses." ”

Wanyan Zongbi and Wanyan Xiyin ignored his crazy words, and discussed how to make up the money promised to Bai Maoxin, and calculated for a long time, the gold they carried this time was exhausted, and there was still a difference of two thousand yuan, so the two decided to take the valuable Ming jewelry knives and other things around them to the pawnshop outside as cash, to see if they could count it enough, Wanyan Zongbi said in a deep voice: "God help my clan, after the Jurchen Wanyan is prosperous, it will be named Dajin, and it will be invincible." ”

On the heavy eaves of the moon, the largest restaurant in Bianliang, Xichun Building, is still brightly lit, bright as day, and the sound of orchestral silk and bamboo is endless. In the most spacious third floor of the Accomodation, the prince Zhao Kezheng was talking to Chen Dong with a pleasant face, and in addition to Xuezheng Qin Hui and Luo Ruji, a member of the criminal department, there was also the prince to read Zhao Yan

At this time, a team of eighteen dancers with tulle masks entered, driven by the lead dancers, all the dancers twisted their waists with the music, and the small silver bells on their hands and feet and wrists rang with the rhythm, and the graceful posture that was only covered by the light veil suddenly attracted the attention of everyone present. The crown prince Zhao Ke looked directly at the most moving lead dancer in the middle, as if his burning gaze was about to lift the light veil away, Qin Hui lowered his head and poured himself a drink, Luo Ruji and Zhao Yan looked at each other and smiled, but Chen Dong frowned.

At the end of the dance, the dancers all crouched on the ground, only the dancer in the middle knelt and presented a glass of wine to the prince, and a pair of eyes stared at Zhao Ke boldly. Zhao Keji took a sip of the wine in the cup, laughed and said, "Raise your head and let Gu see your appearance."

"Yes, Your Highness." The dancing girl was quite well-behaved and docile, and she raised her head slightly as ordered, and gently removed the veil, revealing her face, even Zhao Ke, who was used to seeing beautiful women, couldn't help but take a breath, only to see that her face was like a lotus calyx, her lips were like cherries, her skin was delicate and white and flawless, and she was shy. Even Qin Xuezheng, who has always paid a lot of attention to tolerance, sighed secretly in his heart, the so-called I see pity, it is exactly like this, such a beauty fell into the dust by mistake, and it can be regarded as her luck to meet the prince.

Zhao Ke was amazed, and was thinking about whether to admit this woman into the East Palace, but Chen Dong, who was sitting with him, coughed lightly and whispered: "There is a beautiful woman in the north, and a smile will fall into the city, and then a smile will fall in the country." Everyone looked sideways at him, but he asked Zhao Yan next to him: "I am only shallow in my studies, but I forgot the following two sentences of Li Yannian's poem." Zhao Yan was a little embarrassed, silent, and the following two sentences were, "I'd rather not know the city and the country, and it's hard to get a beautiful woman." Luo Ruji said in his heart: "Chen Shaoyang is usually pretentious, but today he came to pretend to be a gentleman and advise the prince not to indulge in beauty, but it is embarrassing to act like this."

Zhao Ke felt a little out of shape, coughed, and said in his heart: "Chen Shaoyang is really a straight person, when he is employing people, he can't be cold." He waved the dancers to step down.

"Shaoyang is not only knowledgeable, but also has done a great thing in the township." Luo Ruji diverted the topic quite interestingly, "In the early years of Xuanhe, when the traitorous party was in full swing, he contacted nearly 500 squires in Danyangzuo, Runzhou, and tens of thousands of people jointly signed a letter, asking for a stop to implement the Fangtian Average Tax Law, the Exemption Law, and the City Yi Law, which shook the world, and the imperial court abolished the Fangtian Average Tax Law in the second year of Xuanhe, and Shaoyang was also a meritorious minister. "Everyone laughed, the abolition of the Fangtian Tax Law is the proud work of the old party to snipe the new law." Zhao Ke had the intention to recruit Chen Dong, and everyone knew it, so they all praised it.

It seems that the crown prince Zhao Ke, Luo Ruji and Zhao Yan are all long-time residents of Bianliang, and they are not very clear about the local situation, so Chen Dong explained: "The imperial court Fangtian tax law divides the land into five classes to pay taxes, the original intention is to make the burden even, but the officials at the bottom are greedy for ink, and the officials blackmail the township, which makes the burden of the poor heavier, and the local tyrants use this to set the fields as the lowest class to evade taxes. ”

The southeastern roads were the main source of taxes paid by the imperial court, and under the layers of exploitation, they were already overwhelmed, the people's minds were in turmoil, and there was a faint tendency to dry firewood everywhere, the squires formed associations to confront the government, and even more cults took advantage of the situation to take advantage of the situation, and they collected believers everywhere, and a great change was only at hand.

Chen Dongzheng wanted to take this opportunity to speak, but he heard Zhao Ke say: "It seems that a young and handsome man like Shaoyang will be a pillar of the imperial court in the future." He turned his wine glass with his right hand, and said to Qin Hui sideways, "At present, the traitorous party is controlling the evaluation of the upper students, and if Shaoyang wants to be an official as soon as possible, he must participate in the imperial examination, and he must also bother Lord Qin to say hello to the Ministry of Rites, and he must be a good student to choose materials for the country." Qin Hui smiled slightly, he had two friends of the same year who happened to work in the Ministry of Rites, although the grade was not high, but it was powerful. Chen Dong knew that it was Zhao Ke who asked the officials of the Ministry of Rites to let him enter the palace test, and his brows furrowed slightly, but he couldn't refuse the prince's kindness on the spot, so he had to thank him.

Zhao Ke saw Chen Dong's hesitation, and said with a slight smile: "I believe in Shaoyang's talent, but in today's world, it is not enough to have talent. He turned his head and asked Qin Hui, "Does Zhao Qi really want to participate in the imperial examination?" Qin Hui nodded, and Zhao Ke said, "It's really a floating wave, just because my father let him come like this, the soup of Jinke is already muddy." He said to Chen Dong quite expectantly, "Although the Ministry of Rites is fine, Shaoyang still needs to prepare for a good life, and he will be a good student to frustrate the arrogant people who are uneasy about their position in the palace examination." ”

Coming out of Xichun Tower, Luo Ruji noticed that Zhao Ke glanced back, and said in his heart: "Your Highness still has a love for that beauty, it is better to buy that dancing girl and send it to the East Palace, and the prince also remembers my heart." In order to prevent the prince from misunderstanding, he did not bring her home, but still kept in the prostitution building, and left it to be sent to the East Palace at an opportune time in the future.

Early the next morning, Luo Ruji wanted to buy some jewelry to add to the dancing girl's body, so as to take advantage of the prince's wishes, so he personally went to the largest pawnshop in Bianliang, a warehouse called Bianzhentang, where you can often buy rare treasures that cannot be bought from ordinary jewelry merchants, and the price is even cheaper. As soon as he stepped inside, he heard three barbarians arguing with his fellows, Luo Ruji didn't want to be in the same room with these barbarians, but when he looked at the counter of the pawnshop, he couldn't take it back.

I saw a thumb-sized pearl with multicolored silk threads entangled, the pearl itself is white and crystalline, flawless, good color, next to the pearl, there is also a shape like the Han Dynasty ring head of the ancient knife.

At this time, Wanyan Xiyin was arguing loudly with the pawnshop's courtier: "This Dongzhu and the treasure knife are both treasures, and they are extremely cheap when they are a thousand yuan, how can they still lower the price?" A roe deer-headed rat-eyed Mr. Chao Feng said: "A shabby iron knife, but a few dollars, and you want to be a thousand, you barbarian is crazy." ”

Luo Ruji's eyes fell on the pearl, quite moved, and was about to speak, when he suddenly heard Zhao Yan's voice behind him: "Wang Chaofeng, have you received good gold and stone antiques recently?" Without waiting for Wang Chaofeng to answer, he said "huh" again, Zhao Yan, who was dressed in a white Confucian shirt and wearing a blue scarf, walked into the store, he knocked a folding fan in his hand, and the Lantian jade fan pendant shook and shook, and arched his hand to Luo Ruji in a chic manner, and without asking anyone to agree, he picked up the scabbard placed on the counter and rubbed it. Luo Ruji secretly screamed strange in his heart, this Zhao Gongzi has always been vassally elegant, he only likes to collect gold and stone antiques, swords and other things, the hollow ones are acceptable, and the solid ones are too heavy, why are you suddenly interested in this Hu people's knife today.

Seeing that the big patron was coming, the dynasty hurriedly smiled and said: "Zhao Gongzi came by coincidence, and recently received a "Peony Picture" by Xu Xi. Zhao Yan didn't hear it, and looked up and asked Yan Xiyin: "How much is this knife?" Wanyan Xiyin saw that someone who knew the goods came, his heart moved, and he said in a deep voice: "This is the ancestral treasure knife, if the son likes it, take it for two thousand yuan." Wanyan Zongbi said: "This knife should only be sold." ”

Zhao Yan was in a hurry when he heard this, and said, "How can you not sell it?" Luo Ruji shook his head secretly in his heart, this prime minister's son grew up in a wealthy family, he was too ignorant of the world, but he was still in the prince's companion to read, wasting a good position in vain, he coughed, stepped forward slowly, picked up the knife and looked at it, sighed and said: "Although it is an antiquity, it is a pity that it is too shabby, and it is not inlaid with gold and jade, it is obviously not a thing used by princes with a history, five hundred yuan is already a high price, and you have to be insatiable?" Zhao Yan was not happy when he heard this, and was about to refute it, but was grabbed by Luo Ruji's right hand, Luo Ruji stared at his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "The son's family has a huge fortune, but he can't let such a traitor earn it in vain." Zhao Yan saw that he seemed to have something in mind, so he fell silent.

Luo Ruji saw that the three barbarians had rough faces, their heads were tied with unkempt braids, and the brocade robes wrapped around their leather jackets were all bargains, obviously they had just arrived in the Central Plains, and they were sure that they did not understand the market in Bianliang in the Bianliang market for jewelry and antiques. He shook his head while saying to Yan Xiyin and the other three Jurchens: "This pearl, I offer a price of 1,500 guan, and the knife is worth 500 guan, a total of 2,000 guan, no more." Wanyan Zongbi was about to refuse, but Wanyan Xiyin said to him in Jurchen words: "I ran more than a dozen pawnshops, and the price here is the most, and the big thing is important!" A complicated look flashed in Wanyan Zongbi's eyes, this treasure knife was the first time he went into the mountain to shoot a big bear when he was fourteen years old, and his father rewarded him, he clenched his fists, looked at Wanyan Xiyin like an enemy, and closed his mouth.

Wanyan Xiyin breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head and said to Luo Ruji with a smile: "This knife is indeed a treasure knife, which can cut gold and break jade," he saw that Luo Ruji's eyes showed disdain, and that Zhao Gongzi seemed to be held down by Luo Ruji, so he said, "The big official has good eyesight, so let's do it, a total of three thousand yuan, and you can take away the knife and pearls." ”

Luo Ruji was about to make a counteroffer, but Zhao Yan couldn't hold it back, and said first: "Okay, just like you said." He was afraid that these three barbarians would regret it, so he took out Jiaozi and handed it to Wanyan Xiyin on the spot. After the Jurchens left, Zhao Yan handed Dongzhu to Luo Ruji, and before he could speak, he turned around and picked up the treasure knife, and while carefully rubbing the inscription on the scabbard with his hand, he smiled and said, "I can be regarded as picking up a treasure today." ”

Luo Ruqi said: "Could it be that Lord Zhao knows the origin of this treasure knife?" Zhao Yan smiled, handed the knife to Wang Chaofeng, and said proudly: "Do you recognize the inscription on this?" Wang Chaofeng took the sword with both hands, carefully identified it for a moment, and said with a shameful face: "The villain doesn't know. Zhao Yan smiled, pointed to the two rows of inscriptions on the scabbard, and said word by word: "Ancient sharp weapons, Wu Chu Zhanlu, Great Xia Dragon Sparrow, Famous Crown Divine Capital." You can be far away, you can be soft; Like the popular grass, it is subdued by the nine districts. The world is very bad. ”

"This is the dragon bird big ring knife worn by Helian Bobo of the Xia Kingdom at the end of the Jin Dynasty." Zhao Yan said, forcefully pulled the dragon bird out of the pitch-black scabbard, he didn't expect the knife to be a little heavy, his right hand sank, only to see that the blade faintly had blood flowing, accompanied by the slight tremor of the blade, making a whining sound, it seemed to be a divine soldier unyielding because it was held in the weak hand.

"An ancient knife that seems ordinary." Luo Ruji said in his heart, "But I picked up a cheap price for this Zhao Yan." Xia is the most martial arts, the origin of this dragon bird knife with a Xia character, if this knife is resold to Chang'an, the dignitaries will definitely compete to raise the price to buy, just afraid to sell more than 10,000 yuan of sky-high prices. ”

Back in the mansion, Zhao Yan was about to hang the dragon bird ring head knife in the study, when his mother Guo Shi walked in with Qin Xuezheng's wife Wang and told him about the rejection of his marriage to the Li Mansion.

"The Prime Minister deigned to marry his family, and Li Xuezheng was too ignorant?" Wang said angrily that she failed to fulfill the wish of the prime minister's son, and she also felt disgraced.

"Is Miss Li really married to someone else? I don't know whose son? Zhao Yan was a little depressed.

"I have inquired with others, Zhao Xingde, who studied in Taixue, his father was Zhao Tixin, the servant of Longtu Pavilion, who was exiled and died by being demoted. It is said that it is a family affair that the two parents have agreed on a long time ago. The child of the Li family is also an unblessed person, because this stubborn and old-fashioned father, the ready-made prime minister's son, does not follow, but wants to marry into the broken family. Wang comforted.

Zhao's mother was distressed when she saw her son's appearance like a mourning concubine, and asked Wang with a frown: "Then Zhao's servant system has passed away, and the two families do not have three media and six hires, so there is no room for this matter to turn around?" ”

Wang's face was embarrassed, and he replied: "I am also persuaded like this, and even Mrs. Li is a little moved. How could Li Xuezheng be determined to marry his daughter to Zhao Xingde. Seeing that the scientific examination was approaching, in order to let Zhao Xingde prepare with peace of mind, he even let him live in Li's Mansion to prepare for the exam. After that, he snorted unwillingly.