Luoyang Palace, early dynasty.

At the time of Mao, in the Hanyuan Palace, under the reflection of dozens of golden lamp trees more than one person high, the palace is golden and bright. On top of each lamp tree, there were eighteen thick bowls of oil lamps, and the fire rising from the wick was constantly shining, which was intoxicating!

Hundreds of civilian, military and military officials dressed in purple, scarlet, green, and green clothes knelt on the ground according to the level of their official qualities. To be precise, sitting, not "kneeling".

"If you have something to do, please play, and if you have nothing to do, you will retreat!" There are five pins of Luantai to shout loudly in the matter.

So, under the guidance of the palace attendants, the officials began to get up and kowtow according to the ranks and grades.

Xue Jichang is a righteous doctor, a five-grade ministry, and he is also in a slightly upper middle position among the permanent staff.

When it was his turn, he went out of the class to kowtow and reported loudly: "Xue Jichang, the minister of the main doctor, has something to play!" Yesterday, the minister met a strange man who knew how to smelt copper and iron, and today he specially recommended it to His Majesty! ”

When everyone heard this, there were many people who knew the art of smelting, what was so strange? Especially Wu Sansi, who was not far from him, was quite unimpressed! He said:

"Doctor Xue, this person who smelts copper and iron is everywhere, what's so strange? Your Majesty's daily affairs are full of opportunities, don't delay Your Majesty's precious time! ”

"Xue hasn't finished speaking, why is King Liang wasting His Majesty's time when he sees that he is contemptible?" He has never had a good impression of Wu Sansi! Hence the disdain!

Wu Zetian said: "Think twice, don't interject, let him finish." ”

"Your Majesty! The person recommended by the minister today is not an ordinary person! He has the magic method of smelting the seven golds, which is a rare stone, and he is also sure that he can refine hundreds of thousands of catties a year! As for copper, according to him, it is not a problem to produce three to five million catties a year! Xue Jichang was confident.

As soon as these words came out, they couldn't help but provoke hundreds of people in this hall to burst into laughter! There is a lot of talking:

"Why is Gong Xue talking nonsense today? Hundreds of thousands of pounds of stones? Five million pounds of copper? This ......"

"I'm afraid I want to be promoted and want to go crazy, right? Whoever has the ability to produce five million catties of copper a year, I will pull my head off! ”

"Is there such a person in the world? Ay! Xue Gong, what's wrong with today? Isn't he quite stable on weekdays? Why is it so frivolous today? ”

“……”

Xue Jichang heard everyone laughing at him, but he didn't care at all!

"Xue Gong! Are you mistaken, adding 350,000 catties of copper made you 35 million catties? The Prime Minister said Yao Xuan (shú).

"Yao Xianggong! Xue Mou dared to speak in front of His Majesty and all his colleagues? Xue Jichang smiled slightly.

On the throne, Wu Zetian was silent. She watched the reaction of the hundred officials, and almost no one believed it.

She herself doesn't quite believe it! How can there be such a strange person in this world? But this Xue Jichang has always been cautious, and he is not a flatterer. Seeing him talk, he doesn't look like he is confused, huh?

Seeing that everyone was still discussing, she spoke: "Xue Aiqing! How old is the person you're recommending, and who is it? What is it doing now? ”

"Your Majesty! If you want to say that this person is old, he is really young, he just turned eighteen years old this year, and he has not yet reached the crown! ”

As soon as he heard this, there was another burst of laughter in the hall.

Xue Jichang had the style of "everyone is drunk and I am sober", and he didn't look at everyone, and continued: "This person is a man who has fallen into the first place in the Keming Sutra, and if you want to talk about him, he is His Majesty's nephew!" ”

As soon as these words came out, this hall suddenly fell silent!

The emperor's nephew?

It seems that there really is such a person? This royal relative, few people dare to pretend! But this emperor's nephew, many people also know it! How can there be such a person? Could it be a distant relative?

Xue Jichang saw that he had exposed the emperor's nephew, so you would be honest, right? and ridicule the contemptible, ridiculous!

He felt so refreshed!

Wu San thought about it for a moment and said, "Nephew? Why don't I know? I know all of His Majesty's nephews, which one do you say? ”

As soon as his words fell, he was suddenly interrupted by Emperor Wu Zetian: "Think twice, don't say anything!" Xue Aiqing only said that he was a nephew, but he didn't say far or near! I have a lot of people from the Wu clan in the first room of hydrology in the state! ”

Wu Sansi was stunned for a moment, and then knew that he was abrupt, so he kowtowed to the emperor and said, "My nephew is abrupt!" The nephew suddenly remembered that it was the eldest grandfather's room, and there were some offspring, and the nephew couldn't recognize it all! After all, we haven't been in touch for many years! ”

"Hmmm! Xue Aiqing, which room of the royal family are you talking about? ”

"It is the great-grandson of His Majesty's great uncle, and he is also the nephew of His Majesty. This person's name is Wu Yanzhi, the eldest son of Wu Junya's third son, Wu Jingzong, and his only son. Perhaps his family moved out of Bingzhou Hydrology a few years ago, so His Majesty and King Liang don't know each other! Xue Jichang explained the origin.

"Oh! I haven't seen my uncle's grandchildren for many years. Thirty years ago, I sent someone to ask some of my nephews to come out as officials. The boss had been dead for years; The second Wu Jingzhen has affection for the landscape and does not want to come out to be an official.

The third Wu Jingzong had some minor problems in his legs and feet, and he was reluctant to come out. I didn't force it, but I didn't expect this third child to raise such a son, but I didn't expect it!

Xue Aiqing, tell me, does he really have this ability? Have you ever seen it with your own eyes? ”

"Your Majesty! Wei Chen talked with his hand all day yesterday, and he also saw the smelted stone with his own eyes, and the master of the Xuantian Temple, Jiuxiao Refiner, could not refine a few catties of stone in a year. But it only took Wu Yanzhi a month, and he found some stones casually, and he refined more than a dozen catties of stones, and it is said that there are more than 70 catties of zinc! ”

"Zinc? What is zinc? ”

According to Takero, this zinc is a metal similar to tin, and when it is smelted with copper, it can be used to produce a stone. This method was learned by a merchant in the Western Regions last year!

Wechen has also seen the zinc he smelted, which is indeed similar to tin, and I don't know how it was smelted. Anyway, for thousands of years, no one has ever refined it, but he has refined it.

From this, Wei Chen can conclude that Wu Lang must have thaumaturgy, and he is by no means comparable to the ordinary direct officials and craftsmen of the various metallurgical supervisors of the Great Zhou Dynasty! ”

As soon as these words came out, hundreds of officials were shocked!

Xue Jichang has seen what "zinc" with his own eyes! Could it be that there are really strange people in the world? It seems that there are mountains outside the mountains, and there are people outside the people!

Those who had laughed at Xue Jichang before gradually felt uneasy. Because, if there is really such a person, this Xue Jichang will definitely be promoted! He is now a five-grade idle job, and if he is promoted again, he must be the fifth grade to the middle of the matter, the house, and the middle of the imperial history, and it is very likely that he is a fourth-grade waiter!

These positions are all important positions, and it is possible to pay homage to the prime minister in an instant, because the saint often uses the four-grade waiter as the same level of affairs.

When Wu Zetian heard this, he was very excited and said: "It seems that there are really people in my martial arts family." Think twice, together with Shang Fang Supervisor Qiao Gong and Xue Aiqing, find a few direct officials who understand metallurgy, and test this nephew in the Xuanzheng Hall tomorrow.

By the way, Li Qing of the Si Affiliated Temple also participated, and I also wanted to come and see it. If he really has such a talent, I will be sealed and reused! ”