Time flies, in a blink of an eye, it is the cold winter wax moon, seeing that the New Year is approaching, and the snow is falling in Gusu City.

The cold wind blew from time to time, blowing large snowflakes into the sky, the snow on the ground was no longer up to the ankles, and the peach trees next to the courtyard wall were also full of white and crystal velvet flowers. The earth was covered in silver, quiet and peaceful, except for the silent notes of snowflakes falling.

A flute sounded from the empty corner, and the voice was poignant and melodious, as if pouring out endless whispers.

Gong Wanran sat alone under the eaves, the stove beside him was burning tepidly, melting a piece of warmth on the ground. He played the bamboo flute, his white fingertips were frozen with a hint of red, although the fingers were a little stiff, but it did not affect the performance at all, and the sound of the flute was still beautiful and moving.

After the song was played, there was a sudden gloom between heaven and earth.

Gong Wanran put down the bamboo flute and looked at the snow scene in the yard, as if reminiscing about the aftermath of the sound of the flute.

There was a pleasant knock at the door, "Knock knock." ”

"Senior brother! Brother! I'm coming! ”

Gong Wan stepped on the snow and opened the courtyard door.

"Here, Yunqing."

"Senior brother, I'm done. Sizzle, I'm freezing to death, hurry, hurry up and get me some hot drinks, oops, it's cold! Xiao Shi looked happy, jumped into the courtyard gate excitedly, and pulled Gong Wanran to the house.

Gong Wanran smiled and shook his head, "Don't worry, I've already cooked it for you." ”

When the two came to the house, Gong Hui poured Xiao Shi a cup of hot potpourri tea, Xiao Shi picked up the cup and sniffed deeply in front of his nose, with a happy expression on his face. He exhaled a cold breath and took a sip of Baihua tea.

"It's delicious, it's delicious, this is Baihua tea."

"Yes, it's the tribute tea of the Yue Kingdom."

"But why is it different from what I usually drink?"

"I put some grains in the same cooking, which can replenish the middle qi."

"Oh, no wonder there's a mellow scent, well, well, subtle, subtle! Senior brother is really amazing! ”

"How? At the end of the year, all the things that are done for the tribute? ”

"Well, that's it. By the way, senior brother, I've obeyed you, how do you usually deal with Bo Yao's gang? This old thief is too much, isn't he? You say that he is greedy, and the shrimp soldiers and crab generals under him are also insatiable, and they have to mean anything big, and they have to do a little bit of it, hey, this errand is really disgusting. ”

Gong Wanran smiled: "It's good to get used to it." ”

"Hey, I didn't say it, senior brother, Wu Guo will be finished sooner or later, you just come with me to Yue Guo."

Gong Wanran waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay, stop talking nonsense." By the way, Yun Qing, have you seen the Qi State Mission? ”

"I saw it, and I went through the warehousing procedures with them. Strange to say, the envoy in charge of the mission told me that he wanted to ask me to talk about something this afternoon, and I always felt that the person was so familiar that he seemed to have seen him somewhere. ”

"Huh? Is there such a thing? ”

"I do have an impression, but I can't remember anything."

"Well, don't be careful, you'll know when you should know."

"Yes, senior brother."

"By the way, Yun Qing, Senior Brother Ji and Shuang Di, how are they living in Yue Kingdom?"

Xiao Shi seemed to be a little displeased, and said perfunctorily: "It's good, Senior Brother Ji is now a general, so naturally there is nothing to say; Heyu is engaged to Jianyue, and I think it's pretty good; It's just that Shuang Tu is indeed a little pitiful, lonely, and can't speak. ”

"What? Isn't it curable? ”

"Seriously, it's not like I don't want to treat her. Senior brother, you know me, although I don't have much friendship with Frost, but I have always been ecstatic to encounter this incurable disease. It's just that this time I really tried everything, but it didn't get better, hey, I'm worried that this disease may really not be cured, and I'm afraid I won't be able to speak anymore after frost. ”

Gong Wan's face was sad, and he lamented: "Hey, the frost is really pitiful......"

Xiao Shi pursed his lips and muttered, "Hey, senior brother, you always care about this and that, and you don't say that you care about me much?" ”

Gong Wanran smiled and patted Xiao Shi's shoulder, and said, "Senior brother has always cared about you, huh...... How long are you going to stay this time? ”

"I'll be back early tomorrow morning."

"Oh, it was a tight time."

"Yes, I still want to catch up with my brother."

"In the evening, you can come over after you finish your errands in the afternoon, let's have a good chat in the evening, I have a vacant room here, if it's late, you can also stay."

"Okay, then it's decided, I'll come over in the evening!"

"Hmm."

In the afternoon, Xiao Shi came to the wing room on the top floor of the drunken willow building - Lanshui Pavilion, the fire in Lanshui Pavilion was booming, and the envoy of Qi was sitting quietly, the envoy was about forty years old, with a goatee and a very tall figure.

After some pleasantries, the two sat by the window, and the snow outside the window was falling, and a layer of snow covered the ice of Mingxin Lake.

The envoy raised his glass and said, "Thank you, General Xiao, for your face, please." ”

Xiao Se raised his glass and drank with the messenger, he always felt as if he had seen this person somewhere, but he couldn't remember it anyway, this feeling made him a little uneasy, so Xiao Se asked, "Why do I always feel as if I have seen you somewhere?" ”

"Huh." The envoy smiled and nodded, "We have met, last time it was in Ailing. ”

"Ailing?" Xiao Shi looked at it, and then suddenly realized that the envoy of Qi in front of him was Guo Shu, the deputy general of Qi who came to surrender at that time. Xiao Shi laughed and said, "Hehe, isn't General Guo dead?" ”

"That's right, after the surrender of the Qi State, at the request of King Wu, Guo Shu and his family were all executed by the King of Qi."

"General Guo, you are really bold, you dare to come to Gusu like this."

"Hehe, I can't see anyone who knows me; He who can see does not know me. So why wouldn't I dare? Besides, don't I have a beard? Guo Shu said with a smile.

"Haha!" Xiao Shi laughed and raised his glass: "Okay! General Guo, respect you! ”

"Please!"

Putting down the wine glass, Xiao Shi exclaimed: "General Guo's battle was really wonderful!" ”

Guo Shu shook his head, "I was also ordered to be in danger, the chief general of our army has been seriously ill, and he suddenly fell ill and died that day, so I had to take over the whole army." ”

"Oh, that's the case, but if that's the case, General Guo is a bit risky. After all, General Guo was already in charge of the whole army at that time, and he was shouldering a heavy responsibility, so I don't think you should go to the enemy camp in person to surrender. ”

"Hehe, at that time, the allied army was short of food and grass, and the husband was eager to win, so I calculated that he would definitely be hit."

Xiao Shi nodded and said, "Yes, I think so too, so I deliberately went to the rear to inspect the grain and grass rationing on the night of the incident." ”

"Haha, General Xiao is shrewd! Come, drink again! ”

The two drank another glass of wine, and Xiao Se asked, "General Guo asked me over, wouldn't it be just to tell me this?" ”

"Well, of course, there are more important things I want to discuss with General Xiao."

"General Guo, please speak, since General Guo shows his true face, I will naturally treat him with sincerity."

"It's just that the sincerity of the lower is not only the sincerity of the individual, but also the sincerity of the king, the sincerity of the Qi country, I don't know if General Xiao can represent the king of Yue and represent the Yue country?"

"You and I are messengers on this trip. The so-called messenger represents the king and the country, so my sincerity is the sincerity of the king of my family, that is, the sincerity of the Yue country. ”

"Good! So much better! ”

The two talked happily, and before they knew it, it was already dark.

After the last glass of wine, Xiao Shi got up to say goodbye, Guo Shu saluted, and then the two went back to rest.

Xiao Shi stepped on the snow and came to the outside of the public courtyard, and drunkenly shouted inside: "Senior brother, hehe, senior brother, I'm here, I'm coming to you!" I have so much to tell you! Hey! ”

Not long after, Gong Hui opened the door, he hurriedly took off his cloak and put it on Xiao Shi, and reproached with concern: "Look at you frozen, quickly, let's enter the house." ”

"Hehe, senior brother, I'm not cold!"

The next day, Gong Wanran sent Xiao Shi away, and just returned to the outside of the yard, he saw Zhang Xun standing at the door.

"Xiao Xun, are you here for the iron weapons and those siege equipment?"

"Yes, I'll ask about the funds." Zhang Xun seemed a little unhappy, and muttered, "Xiao Xun slept here yesterday?" ”

"Well, he's here to pay tribute."

"Hmph, disgusting fellow."

Gong Wanran shook his head with a smile and said, "He just left, but fortunately, the snow stopped yesterday afternoon, otherwise they wouldn't be able to leave today." ”

"Oh, I guess it's snowing over there in Yue, too." Zhang Xun looked a little sad, sighed, and said, "I don't know how Xiaoshuang is, will it be cold ......?"

Gong Huiran patted Zhang Xun's shoulder and comforted: "Shuang Tu is fine, don't worry, come, come into the house and say, it's cold outside." ”

"Okay."

Gong Huiran poured water into the copper kettle, soaked in some pot-facled tea and grains, and boiled it on the stove, and it didn't take long for the tea to be boiled. Gong Hui poured Zhang Xun a cup, the teacup was steaming, and the whole room was warm.

Zhang Xun held the teacup and didn't drink it for a long time, and the public looked lonely and asked, "What's wrong?" What's on your mind? ”

"Huh? Not...... No...... I just suddenly thought of Xiao Shi's treatment of Xiaoshuang, and I don't know if Xiaoshuang can speak now. ”

Gong Wanran shook his head and said helplessly: "Not yet." ”

"Hey...... Xiaoshuang sacrificed too much for me......"

"Don't think about it, it'll be fine."

"Hmm......" Zhang Xun took a sip of warm tea and continued: "Brother Gonghui, Xiaoshuang is indeed the smartest person I have ever met, she has completely eaten the wisdom passed down from the Yue Nu clan. I was already amazed when I read the annotations she wrote, and when I looked at the book she wrote herself, I was even more impressed. She explained the principles of 'light', 'force' and 'fire' clearly, and provided a lot of ideas for development. I followed her train of thought to design this siege machine. ”

"Well, I read the drawings you submitted, it is indeed very advanced, Huaxia is so big, but I have never seen such a siege machine, its range and power have reached more than twice that of conventional siege engines."

"Yes, that's why I proposed to the king that ten units be built in the spring and equipped with the siege troops."

"Well, this is not difficult, although the cost of the equipment is not low, but after all, only ten units are needed, and there is no financial pressure. It's just a matter of replacing the iron......"

"What's wrong? I've figured out the art of forging iron swords, and I've even designed a watermill workshop, so that next year I can build a watermill by the river, find some craftsmen, and reassemble the incense factory workers who have been driven away! It doesn't cost much, so it shouldn't be difficult, right? ”

Gong Wanran shook his head and said, "This is really difficult. I've seen the iron sword you forged, it is indeed extremely sharp, but the cost is really expensive, even if you don't count the cost of building a workshop, it costs half a tael of gold to cast an iron sword. If the whole army is replaced according to your proposal, you will have to build 60,000 pieces, which is 30,000 taels of gold. Last year, China's fiscal and tax revenue totaled 130,000 taels of gold. ”

"But now that there is a shortage of ordnance, Brother Gonghui can go to the camp to take a look, almost all the bronze equipment we are equipped with now is rusted into tatters, and it was time to replace the equipment, so take advantage of this time to directly upgrade to iron weapons, isn't it good? Besides, the king agreed, and said that he would allocate 50,000 taels of gold to me? ”

"Hey...... The king agreed, but what about the money? Where does the money come from? In the past two years, there have been many wars, the accumulation of the state treasury has long been spent cleanly, and the people's taxes are getting higher and higher, and it is simply impossible to continue. ”

"But...... However, the Yue Kingdom is equipped with iron swords, and their iron swords are much more powerful than our bronze swords, and if we fight with the Yue Kingdom in the future, we will not be opponents at all. ”

"I know this, but the cost of forging swords in Yue may be lower, and they shouldn't be equipped by the whole army."

"This ...... I don't know about this, but I've studied the process as much as possible to reduce costs, and I'm a general after all, so I can't stay in the workshop every day without coming out. ”

"What about the craftsmen? Can't they figure it out? ”

"Hey, don't mention it, the king doesn't pay attention to it at all, those government-run workshops are in tatters, and the craftsmen are starving all day long, how can they develop new technologies? That's why I designed a watermill workshop myself! ”

"You're right. Xiao Xun, I think so, it is unrealistic to equip all the troops in a short period of time, I will find a way to raise 15,000 taels of gold for you next year, 5,000 taels will be used to build siege equipment and build workshops, and the remaining 10,000 taels will be enough for you to build 20,000 iron swords. At that time, these 20,000 iron swords will be equipped to the regular troops first, and the militia and reserves will not be equipped for the time being, and then a batch will be replaced every year, and after two or three years, the strength of our regular troops will be restored, and they will basically be equipped, what do you think? ”

"Okay, then I'll leave the matter of funds to Brother Gonghui!"

"Well, don't worry, this money should be spent, it is necessary and meaningful to replace the iron equipment."

"By the way, Brother Gonghui, there is one thing I have finally decided, I ......"