Chengyang, the military town in the western part of the Chu State, the first capital of the Xiang King of Chu to move to the east, stands on a high slope on the north bank of the Huaishui. The city is not big, only nine miles, but the city is high and the pool is deep, and there is a prince city four miles away from the northeast of the city. When Xia Yang and his entourage entered the city to stay, Fu Chuan checked very carefully, but fortunately, everyone entered the city seriously, and Fu Chuan was fine, and he entered the city safely after routine business.

The sun is not in the west, seeing this opportunity, Xia Yang immediately took someone to drive to the big city after staying overnight, who would have thought that his wife would not want to. "Beloved, what's in the car... It's hard to buy, but it can be used for months for us, so why sell it? ”

The traders are all concubines, but this time Xia Yang brought out the country, but it was the wife who Xia Yang brought abroad. Qin Fa was severe, and a lover scared half of Xia Yang's soul away, his vest was sweating, and when he saw that no one was closing the door outside the door, Fang lowered his voice and said: "I have said many times, after leaving home, you can only call my master, and you must not call me a lover." ”

"No." The wife is beautiful and innocent, and Xia Yang loves her very much. She was nibbling on a sour plum just now, and it tasted delicious. "Master, why did you sell it?"

"The senior brother said that the train was too slow and delayed the trip. Although the things in the border market are cheaper than Xianyang, they ...... "Xia Yang originally wanted to explain that Chu was not Qin, because the tax was not high, so the department store was cheap, but this kind of thing is difficult to explain to women." He grabbed his wife's hand and asked with concern, "How many times did you vomit today?" ”

"I vomited twice in the morning, and I didn't vomit after eating plums." His wife leaned into his arms, "Beloved, the child really wants to be born in the Chu State?" ”

"Yes." Xia Yang was silent, he couldn't help but touch his wife's belly, but unfortunately, it was flat, but this caused his wife to laugh.

"My mother said that it would take October to give birth, and I started to feel unwell in the first month, so I should have given birth in October."

The wife in her arms tilted her head to calculate when the child would be born, looking at her beautiful neck, Xia Yang kissed her before saying, "You and I are both Koreans, not Qin." You're talking about Qin Yue, Xia Yue, who is not traveling to Korea. Qin Yue must not mention it in front of outsiders, if he mentions it, your beloved and my head will fall to the ground, and the child is afraid that it will be ......"

"Ahh The smiling wife froze when she heard this, and in her anxiety she raised her face, her pupils trembling and tears welling up in her big eyes, and her lotus-like arms circled her husband's head, fearing that it would fall to the ground now.

"Don't be afraid." Concubines are rare guests, Xia Yang felt that he seemed to be overly intimidated, and he said again: "You just need to remember that October in Qin is the first month of the summer month, and our children will be born in the first month, if we use the Chu month, it will be born in the winter and evening months." ”

"I remember, our children will be born in the first month, and if we use the Chu month, it will be born in the winter and evening months." The wife nodded heavily.

"Good. Thus you beloved, my head will be saved. Xia Yue deliberately laughed a few times, and then kissed his wife on the forehead. I go to the big market, and I will buy delicious and beautiful food. With that, he went out.

Like all cities in the world, the city of Chengyang is also in the north of the inner city. Compared with Xianyang, Chengyang is not big, only less than one-fifth of it, but Chengyang is a big city and full of people. It is easy to buy the necessities of the household that my wife bought, and it is the price—a stone of salt can be bought for one hundred and forty yuan, and it can be sold for only one hundred yuan; A jar of sauce buys fifty dollars, but sells it for no more than thirty dollars.

"What a loser." Xia Yang muttered in his heart, and saw a group of people over there buying plums, there were not many plums left, thinking that his wife had been fond of eating sour recently, he took his subordinates to squeeze over to buy plums.

The city of Chengyang is lively and lively, and at the head of the inner city in the south of the city, the generals are surrounded by a tall and heroic general, and a military official beside him is holding a thing and talking. "General Xiang, please see, Lu Lijing uses one end to the eye, and the other end to the outside, which can be changed from small to large, and far from close, which is very magical."

The most dangerous place at the junction of Chu and Qin is more than 100 miles north of Dabie Mountain and south of the southern border of Wei State. If the Qin State marches from here, it can directly point to the heart of the Chu State, so there are more than 30,000 soldiers in the counties and counties where Chengyang is stationed, and the general is Xiang Yan, the brother of Yin Xiangque of Xiangxian County.

Since the beginning of this year, Sima Mansion has always come up with some new gadgets, such as a four-hundred-step crossbow, a four-wheeled heavy vehicle, and a communication pole that can count messages. The county pawn is not the king's pawn, the king's pawn is said to be equipping the crossbow and four-wheeled heavy vehicles on a large scale, and the county pawn can't even touch a shadow, but this communication pole not only sees the shadow, but also deploys it in Chengyang City. Today, Xiang Yan is going to give this Lu Lijing a try.

The Lu Lijing in the hands of the military officer was made of bronze, and it was a little heavy to hold, and when Xiang Yan looked at it a few times and wanted to lift it, the military officer hurriedly straightened it and let the eyepiece face inward, and then he looked at Xiang Yan, waiting for his frightened words. It's a pity that after waiting for a long time, Xiang Yan didn't see any shock, and the general raised the mirror as if he was raising his head, and he didn't mess up at all. After carefully looking at the city and the distance, he put down Lu Lijing, nodded and praised: "It is indeed magical, if there is such a thing in the battle between the two armies, it can be seen that the enemy is the first, which is very helpful." You'll see. ”

Xiang Yanwei's name originated from the Battle of Peiwei Mountain forty years ago. Seeing that he handed Lu Lijing to his subordinates for a detailed look, although the military officer was unwilling in his heart, he only had a smile on his face. "Da Sima has an order, this mirror does not need to be kept secret, and it must not be known to the Qin people."

"That's nature." Sima and Jun Shuo both wanted to look in the mirror, and agreed in unison, but they didn't look at him at all.

"When will this mirror be dispensed with a border?" The military officials are from the Yingdu Dasima Mansion, and they are in charge of the communication station in Chengyang City, so Xiang Yan asked. "Don't you have to wait another ten years to get to the borderland?"

Xiang Yan was not angry and arrogant, and the military officials hurriedly said: "Non-yes, non-yes." This mirror is all made by the craftsmen of the Jade Mansion, which takes a lot of time, but His Royal Highness the eldest son said that it has a wonderful method, and it can be mass-produced next year. In addition to summoning the generals, they will also be awarded to the generals, commanders, and scouts. ”

"Next year?" Xiang Yan smiled, the king and the county are naturally different, good weapons, such as the double-hole crossbow are only equipped with the king's pawn, and the county pawn can't even see the shadow, and the same is true for the Jing crossbow. "If you can give this mirror next year, I will invite you to drink." He smiled and patted the officer on the shoulder, turned around and went downstairs.

"Father, are the people of Sima Mansion true? Next year, all the generals and the army will have a mirror? After his son Xiang Chao saw Lu Lijing, he was the first to catch up. He is very young, and he wears a rhino fur every day to hide the fact that he has not been crowned, Lu Lijing is such a magical thing, he dreams of one.

"So what? What if not? Xiang Yan's tone was indifferent. Lu Li's mirror is just to see farther, which is conducive to scouts, but it can be deployed to the enemy earlier. The two armies fight, mostly in the temple is properly calculated, the soldiers use their lives, this mirror is helpful, but not much. ”

"Father, the child has a thing that I don't know. Our county division is in the border area, and if the Qin army comes, it will be the first to be attacked. Why didn't Jing Xuan, Lu Lijing, etc. give me the king's pawn first? The king died in Yingdu ......"

"False!" Xiang Yan's face sank, "The king is the dry city of the country, how can he be in the border land?" If the county division is defeated, the king can still fight, and the country can still be restored; If the king is defeated, the community does not exist, where is the temple? ”

"Yui." Xiang Chao was most afraid of his father's anger, and when he saw him repulsing, he immediately bowed down and accepted it.

Xiang Yan was a little relieved by his son's attitude, thinking of the previous establishment of the prince, he said, "Who the eldest son is the matter of the Wang family, and you must not care too much." Today, the king has set up Prince Jing as the eldest son, although it is not what I want, the king is still the king of my Chu country after a thousand years. Fortunately, the king is virtuous, although he established Prince Jing, so that Yin still has Huang Xie in charge. ”

Fengjun and county Yin have been fighting for hundreds of years, in addition to Xiang Yan being the general of the county and responsible for the border defense north of Dabie Mountain, he is also the brother of Xiang County Yin. In the dispute between the crown princes, he naturally supported Xiong Han, but it was a pity that the king finally set up Xiong Jing, who was good at making tools.

Xiang Yan's words of teaching his son are also his own heart, there is a precedent of Jingyang's self-hanging, he doesn't want Dachu to have any holy kings, and he doesn't expect the king's pawn too much. He only hopes that in the future, the little king can sit on the throne to eat, drink, and have fun, and never interfere in military affairs.

*

Yingdu built a mansion, and Da Sima Nao looked at Kong Tieguan's baby and was very confused, this is a black and evil iron, what kind of iron is there. "Don't fool me." Nao shook his beard slyly, and his eyes stared straight at him. "Isn't this evil iron?"

"Definitely. This is not bad iron. Kong Tieguan, who was as thin as a rod, hurriedly shook his head, "His Royal Highness once said that iron is raw and cooked. Raw and cooked are mixed, and huge iron can be produced. This iron is wrought iron. ”

"Wrought iron?" From the four-hundred-step crossbow, the four-wheeled carriage to Lu Lijing, to the communication network, Nao Wei was already blind to Xiong Jing, he picked up the black wrought iron and looked at it carefully, and finally he still couldn't understand it. "How is this different from Evil Iron?"

"Please hit it hard." Kong Tieguan pointed to a copper pillar not far away.

"Hit it hard?" Suspicious, he grabbed one end of the wrought iron and hit it the copper pillar, and then the wrought iron bent.

"Da Sima, please try this iron again." Kong Tieguan was confident, and smiled and held an iron rod. Nao sly struck again, and with a 'dang' sound, the iron rod that hit the copper pillar actually broke.

"The first, wrought iron. Wrought iron is pure iron, which is not brittle but soft, and bent when hit. Kong Tieguan explained: "The latter, pig iron, pig iron is evil iron, impurities and brittleness, and it must be broken." Although I don't have a great iron now, I am not far from making a great iron. ”

"I see." Nao Cunning had a teachable expression, and then took the wrought iron rod to look at: "Why can't you make this iron before?" ”

"It's just because His Royal Highness the eldest son has not yet been born." Kong Tieguan couldn't tell the truth directly, and only slapped Xiong Jing on the back.

"And when will it be released?" Nao was puzzled by what he meant, and asked again.

"When the iron comes out depends on the stove. Iron is first smelted in a furnace, and if there is no furnace that can withstand firepower, there will be no extremely sharp iron. Kong Tieguan was talking, but his mind was wandering. The coke fire is worse than the charcoal, and the heat blast causes the temperature of the furnace to quickly melt the iron into molten iron. Molten iron, really molten iron! Something that his ancestors had never seen in his ancestors from a Wandi iron smelting family actually let him see it, but within two days of his happiness, the white and blue furnace fire burned through the furnace wall, leaving only wrought iron.