Chapter 63: Li Yu

962 A.D. (the third year of Jianlong) December 20 (lunar calendar)

Jinling, the slanting sun in winter shines on the eaves of the Chengxin Hall in the Southern Tang Palace, which looks extremely cold. This is the place where Tang lord Li Yu usually reads books and reads the recitals. The furnishings in the house are very elegant, revealing the good cultivation of the owner.

Behind the rosewood table sat a young man in a fox fur, he was handsome, about twenty years old, and the most amazing thing was that there were two pupils in his eyes. He is Li Yu, the lord of the Tang Kingdom.

Opposite him stood a middle-aged man, dressed in crimson court clothes, of medium stature, with a clear face, and about forty years old. He bowed and said, "Minister Seo Hyun greets Your Majesty." ”

Li Yu put down the recital in his hand and asked, "Xu Qing, is there something important to start?" ”

Seo Hyun is a 46-year-old waiter of the Ministry of Worship and Worship. He took out a few pieces of paper from his pocket and put them on the table, "Your Majesty, the minister has recently obtained three excellent long and short sentences, which I think are very subtle, and I have come to present them to you." ”

Li Yu picked up the paper curiously, "Oh, it must be a good word to make Xu Qing, who is famous in Jiangnan, so respectful." Wait for me to see. ”

Li Yu looked at it for a while, and couldn't help but be amazed, he said with some excitement: "It's really wonderful, it's really a good word, Xu Qing, who did it?" ”

Xu Xuan bowed down and replied: "This was spread from Mingzhou in Wuyue Kingdom two months ago, and now it is sung in every courtyard in Jinling, and it is said that the entire Jiangnan region has become a sensation." ”

Li Yu was very interested, "Xu Qing, tell me about the specific situation, who did it, what a genius!" ”

"I became acquainted with a merchant named 'Cao Deshun' in Jinling City, who was a well-known and wealthy merchant in the city. According to him, two months ago he was invited to attend an 'auction' in Minnesotsu, where he heard the three long and short verses sung by the singer. ”

"Oh, what is 'auction'?" Li Yu asked puzzled.

"Your Majesty, it was the Cui family, a big local family, who took out three overseas treasures and invited many wealthy businessmen to bid for them, and finally the highest bidder got the treasure. Cao Deshun said that this is the 'auction'. ”

Li Yu became more and more curious, he stood up and paced a few steps, "Xu Qing, you tell me in detail, I'm very interested." ”

Xu Xuan continued: "According to Cao Deshun, the three treasures taken out by the Cui family are all rare treasures, and each one is a treasure that has never been seen before. The competition at the 'auction' was fierce, and every treasure was sold for a large price. It is said that more than 230,000 pieces were sold. ”

Li Yu was surprised, what treasure could be sold for such a high price? Even if you are the lord of the country, you can't just come up with so much cash.

Xu Xuan saw that Li Yu was a little stunned, so he continued: "Your Majesty, Cao Deshun bought one of the treasures in the Cui family and spent 80,000 yuan. He dedicated this thing to His Majesty through Weichen, saying that only the unparalleled appearance of the queen mother is worthy of using this thing. ”

Li Yu was not calm, and said eagerly: "Submit it quickly, let me take a look." ”

Xu Xuan took out a small box of rosewood from his pocket and carefully placed it on top of the bookcase. He opened his mouth and said, "Your Majesty, the treasure is in this box, please take a look." ”

Li Yu froze. Slowly lifted the lid of the box. Inside the box was some red brocade, tightly wrapped with an object, Li Yu carefully opened the brocade, and what caught his eyes was a flat box the size of half a palm.

The box was flattened, a finger high, rectangular, about three inches in length and about two inches wide. The surface of the box is ivory white, the edges and corners are not straight, and they are polished into a certain arc, which looks exquisite and clear, and it is extremely smooth.

He asked suspiciously: "This thing is very exquisite, but it is a bit too much to say that it is the most precious treasure in the world." ”

Xu Xuan stepped forward with a smile, picked up the flat box, and gently pressed a bulge, and the lid of the box popped open.

He held the pop-up box in both hands and held it up in front of Li Yu's eyes. Li Yu looked at the open box and suddenly shouted, "Ah! Then the body shook a few times and almost fell.

Xu Xuan hurriedly put down the small mirror and helped Li Yu. He helped Li Yu to the side of the chair and asked him to sit down. Li Yu was still in a daze.

Xu Xuan cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, are you okay?" Do you want to see a doctor for treatment? ”

Li Yu shook his head and said, "This thing is indeed a treasure, I was in a bit of a trance for a while, it's no big deal." ”

Xu Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, "Your Majesty, is this object worthy of the queen's use?" ”

Li Yu nodded and asked, "The merchant you said really spent 80,000 yuan to buy this thing?" ”

"There is no doubt that more than 100 people witnessed it at the auction at that time, and if Cao Deshun did not deliver the money, the Cui family would not give him this item."

Li Yu picked up the small mirror and played with it repeatedly. After a long time, he looked up at Xu Xuan, his eyes were sharp and with a hint of coldness. "Xu Qing, what are the requirements of that businessman named Cao Deshun? He would not have offered such a treasure for no reason. ”

Xu Xuan's forehead began to sweat, and his heart was a little weak. He calmed down for a moment, bowed down and said, "According to Cao Deshun, his family is under the rule of my Tang Kingdom, and he has received the grace of three generations of monarchs, and his family business is very prosperous. He felt that he could not repay it, so he bought it and offered it to His Majesty. He didn't ask for anything. ”

There was a sneer on the corner of Li Yu's mouth, "Xu Qing, do you believe what he said?" Is it so hard that he thinks that I only succeeded to the throne last year, and I don't have enough experience, so I can be bullied? ”

Xu Xuan sweated like pulp, and his voice trembled a little, "Back to Your Majesty, the minister doesn't dare to bully the king, that Cao Deshun really doesn't have any requirements, he just wants the whole family to be safe." ”

Li Yu didn't think so, he felt that it was almost enough to beat Xu Xuan. said in a soothing tone: "Xu Qing, you have done a good job in this matter, and the queen will definitely like this thing." You have a chance to take care of that Cao Deshun, don't let the officials at all levels in Jinling embarrass him, just say that I mean. In this way, I will write a piece of writing, and you will give it to him when you go back, and the officials in Beijing will understand. ”

In the evening, in the main hall of Cao's house in Jinling, Cao Deshun was talking to the managers of shops in various places, summing up the experience of the past year and formulating a development plan for next year.

A servant hurriedly walked in and bowed, "The head of the family, Mr. Xu, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, has come to visit, and he has arrived outside the gate." ”

Cao Deshun immediately got up to greet him, and at this time Xu Xuan had already entered the main entrance of the lobby, his face was full of spring breeze, and he said with a smile: "Mr. Cao, there is a great good thing!" How can you thank me? ”

Cao Deshun hurriedly stepped forward to salute and invited Xu Xuan to sit down. He winked, and the stewards all went out after saluting Seo Hyun.

He asked calmly, "I don't know what's good?" Need you to come to the Humble House in person? Just ask me to come over, and bother you to make a trip. ”

Xu Xuan stroked his beard and said smugly: "What you entrusted me with has been completed, is it so difficult that I don't need to explain it to you carefully?" ”

Cao Deshun was very surprised, and said loudly: "Is it really done?" And that's good news. The whole family will thank you again. ”

Xu Xuan smiled slightly and shouted outside, "Bring things up!" ”

A guard of the Xu family walked in, holding a scroll in his hand. Seo Hyun motioned for him to open it, and the guard carefully unfolded the scroll.

Cao Deshun looked over and saw four big characters written on the snow-white silk cloth---- "Ploughing and Reading Heirlooms".

These words are strong, such as cold pine and frost bamboo, and later generations called it 'golden wrong knife'. Xu Xuan said proudly: "This is Your Majesty's imperial pen inscription, you made it into a plaque and hung it on the main hall." ”

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At the same time, Zhao Zizhong and Boris arrived at Mingzhou City with twelve escorts. Disguised as a caravan, they drove three wagons into the east gate. Boris covered himself tightly, after all, he fought in the city more than two months ago, and also broke out of the name of the mythical beast 'White Tiger', and there is still a legend of the blonde demon in the city, which can stop children from crying at night.

The convoy marched in the direction of the north of the city, inquiring along the way, looking for 'Li Ji Herbal Medicine Shop'. After walking for more than half an hour, I finally found Li Ji's medicine shop. When you look up, you can see that this is a very large shop, with five tall houses side by side, the doors are wide open, and many people come in and out, and business is very prosperous.

Zhao Zizhong asked everyone to wait outside and walked into the shop by himself. There were a lot of people in the pharmacy, many guys were busy grabbing, packing, and decocting medicines, and customers were waiting patiently.

Zhao Zizhong came to the counter and said to a person who looked like an accountant: "A certain family is a friend of Cui Hong, the housekeeper of the Cui family, and has brought some gifts to the proprietor of your shop, please inform the proprietor of your shop." ”

The bookkeeper politely invited Zhao Zizhong to sit down, and then walked to the backyard to find the proprietor. After a while, the bookkeeper returned with a middle-aged man about forty years old.

Zhao Zizhong got up to meet him, hugged his fists and saluted, and said, "But is it Li Dongzhu?" ”

The middle-aged man is not tall, his body is a little fat, he has a smile on his face, he looks harmless to humans and animals, and he is a sleek person at first glance. He said happily: "I am Li Wenliang, sir, your surname?" ”

"The surname is Zhao, and the name is heavy. It was your cousin's friend who was entrusted by him to bring you some gifts. ”

Li Wenliang asked Zhao Zi to go to the backyard to talk in detail, and the two came to a room in the back, Li Wenliang closed the door, took out half a piece of paper from his pocket, and put it on the table. Zhao Zizhong also took out half a piece of paper and put it together with the paper on the table.

Li Wenliang looked at it carefully for a while, raised his head and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhao, I have admired your name for a long time, the last auction caused a sensation in the entire Jiangnan, it was all your brother's handiwork, right?" ”

Zhao Zi waved his hand and said a few words of humility. Li Wenliang said: "Mr. Zhao, how many of you are there?" ”

"Fourteen men, three wagons."

"I'm ready, go out of the north city gate and walk more than ten miles, there is a Zhuangzi, called Li Village. It's where my family has lived for generations, and there is one of my houses there, and it's no problem for a dozen people to live. ”