After building the last Ding furnace, Coppersmith Guo exhaled slowly, walked to a rough elm table, sat down, poured a bowl of water, and drank it slowly.

Guo Yang packed up all the newly made bronzes, wiped each one with a linen cloth, wrapped it and carefully put it into a large wooden box.

"Dad, we finished the task ten days early." Guo Yang said.

"Hmm." Coppersmith Guo agreed.

"Dad, then let's relax for two days, and you can rest and rest." Guo Yang continued.

"Hmm." Coppersmith Guo took a sip of water and said lightly.

Guo Yang sighed, also walked to the table, poured a bowl of water, and drank it slowly.

Father and son were silent.

Outside the door, the spring cold is steep.

"There you go." Guo coppersmith got up, walked slowly to the copper anvil, picked up a small copper hammer, clamped a small piece of cooked copper from the fiery furnace, and began to "jingle and clang" to beat.

Its sound is steady and long.

Guo Yang looked at his father's gray hair and tall but somewhat rickety back, and his eyes were moist.

As a recalcitrant of merchants, if it is discovered that the workload can be completed in a short period of time, it is very likely that additional tasks will be assigned. Coppersmith Guo knows this too well, so every time he completes a task, he will not be idle, but "busy" all day long.

"Dad, then I'll go out." Guo Yang said hello and went out.

Outside, the sun was shining, but the weather was extremely cold.

A few days ago, it snowed for several days in a row, and the village road was muddy. As soon as Guo Yang's feet in straw sandals stepped into the mud, he couldn't help but inhale a breath of cold air in his mouth.

Standing in the cold mud, Guo Yang got used to it a little, and then walked towards the west of the village.

……

Not long after Guo Yang left, a dark-faced man walked into the coppersmith shop.

He slowly walked to the elm table, picked up half a bowl of water, drank it slowly, and watched as the coppersmith Guo made a piece of cooked copper into various shapes there.

"You didn't teach him kung fu?" The black-faced man asked suddenly.

"Hmm." Coppersmith Guo answered.

"Why?" The black-faced man asked.

"I want him to live a few more years." Guo coppersmith pounded the wrought copper intently, and the hand holding the hammer was strong, steady and rhythmic.

"It's not interesting to live like pigs and dogs." The black-faced man was silent for a long time and said.

"But it's better than hanging on a flagpole to dry." Guo coppersmith said.

Both of them fell silent, the fire of the furnace reflecting their swarthy faces, flickering in and out.

……

Guo Yang came to a small forest, found a dry place, and sat down.

In front of it is the Qianhe River, and on the other side of the river, a large area of flat land is divided into the shape of a "well". Flocks of slaves were toiling in those fields, looking from afar, like some gray birds.

That's Wang Tian.

"Under the Putian, it is not the king's land; On the shore of the land, it is not the king's minister. Guo Yang sighed secretly, and a gloomy look appeared on his face.

The so-called recalcitrant people of Shang relics were actually mostly nobles of the blood of the former Shang kings, who were forcibly moved into Luoyi, and although many people saved their lives, they were deprived of the means of production and were under the strict supervision of the Zhou division.

Some recalcitrant merchants chose to flee, but the end was often tragic.

In the land stranded in Luoyi, the aristocracy of the past is declining, and most of them are reduced to small handicraft workshops.

The same is true for Guo Yang's family.

However, for the glory of the past, Guo Coppersmith kept silent. He never pointed out to the new dynasty.

Guo Yang didn't have any thoughts about this. He had seen the sacrifices and burials of some Shang nobles, and the barbarism and bloodshed made him unforgettable for the rest of his life.

He had also seen the soldiers of the new dynasty slaughter thirteen relict people with a smile on their faces like slaughtering sheep, and there was no need for a reason at all.

Every day, he made bronze objects, from the ancestral ornaments full of totemic and witchcraft colors, to the symbolic and decorative decorations of the New Dynasty, he seemed a little absent-minded.

Guo Yang didn't like it here, he wanted to leave.

He looked up at the sky, and there were several frostbitten birds, limping by.

The shadow of the bird flashed across the earth, like a handful of ...... Knife!

Guo Yang looked up, thinking wildly.

……

"Little brother, the best charcoal, do you want it?" Suddenly, an old voice sounded.

Guo Yang turned his head, but found an old man with gray temples, picked up a load of charcoal, and looked at him with a smile.

The old man was in rags, his face was dark, and his figure was quite tall. Especially his big hands that were dyed black, with thick and long knuckles, gave Guo Yang the first feeling that Kong Wu was powerful.

"The best charcoal can be calcined all kinds of copper and iron, does Brother Guo need it?" The old man asked again.

"My husband knows me?" Guo Yang asked a little strangely, he had never met this old man.

"Hehe, Guo family's coppersmith shop, I'm afraid there are few of us businessmen who don't know." The old man laughed.

"The old man is polite. However, my father has the final say in the matter of buying and selling, and I can't be the master. Guo Yang saw that he was a businessman, so he said politely.

"It doesn't matter. My charcoal, your father can't use it. The old man said.

When Guo Yang heard this, he was slightly stunned and asked, "My father doesn't need it?" ”

"Yes. My charcoal can turn the heavens into divine iron. Your dad can only make bronze objects, so he can't use them. The old man looked at Guo Yang meaningfully and said.

"Shentie? I don't have a god iron. I'm really sorry, my husband, please. Guo Yang was confused when he heard it, but he still politely clenched his fists and said.

"You don't, but I do. I have two catties of Shentie, nine taels and three dollars, is Brother Guo interested? ”

As he spoke, the old man looked left and right, and took something out of his sleeve.

Guo Yang looked at it fixedly, and couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat: "Iron!"

The old man smiled slightly, sat down on the ground in the mud, and threw the swarthy piece of iron to Guo Yang.

Guo Yang took the piece of iron, feeling the solemn aura that he had never experienced before, and his face showed a flush of excitement.

"This is iron!" Guo Yang gently stroked the piece of iron, comparing it to the piece of copper he came into contact with every day, it was a world of difference.

The old man looked at Guo Yang and was silent, just smiling slightly.

"Uncle...... This Divine Iron ...... How to sell? Guo Yang gently stroked the iron and asked.

In fact, Guo Yang knew very well in his heart that such treasures were by no means something he could afford. I just want to know what it's worth.

The old man looked at Guo Yang and slowly stretched out two fingers.

Guo Yang stared at his two eyes, not knowing what the old man meant by stretching out his two fingers.

"Two conditions, if you agree, Shentie will send you." The old man said with a smile.

"Two conditions?" Guo Yang frowned and asked, feeling a little uneasy in his heart.

"Yes, two conditions." The old man pondered for a moment and continued: "First, use this divine iron to create a knife. Second, you must worship me as a teacher. ”

Guo Yang was stunned.