Cai Jing watched the king finish teaching Laqing, still leisurely, he followed the king's side, and said as he walked: "Son, I just heard people talk about it, that is the son of an official in Western Xia, and you are making trouble for yourself." ”

Wang didn't look at Cai Jing either, he looked at the various shops on the street, the materials here were still not as rich as those of the Song Kingdom, and the blacksmith shops were not known if it was due to competition and lack of control, the weapons of the Xia Kingdom were better than those of the Song Kingdom; There are even armor sold on the street. These forging processes are more advanced.

Cai Jing saw that Wang was ignoring himself, knowing that what he said was in vain, he pointed to the shops on the side of the street and said, "Childe has been watching for a long time, have you found a hanging?" ”

Then the king asked, "What?" ”

Cai Jing said: "Did Childe find out that we have been gone for half a day, and there are very few pharmacies?" Listening to Cai Jingyi's reminder, Wang Bi noticed that sure enough, as Cai Jing said, they only saw one pharmacy in the entire Xingqing Mansion. If this is in Kaifeng, there will be more than a dozen pharmacies on one street.

Cai Jing still continued: "Do you say that these Western Xia people are not sick? No, then Master Li Xili was sick a few days ago, didn't he take medicine? He had a chance to come out and go around, and Cai Jing had already left that little trouble next to Wang Bian just now, and he began to talk a lot again.

The two walked to the vicinity of a government office in the center of the city, and saw some notices posted on it, and there were few people around. They walked up and saw that there were some people who had been sent for three or five days, there were rewards, and there were government announcements, one of which was about the government opening a salt warehouse and putting low-priced salt on the market.

This made the king a little strange, they stopped in front of the bulletin board, and someone behind them said: "In front of the king, the prince next to the king" Wang next to the king turned around, it was the blacksmith shopkeeper He shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper He followed the king all the way, and when he saw the king stop to make an announcement, he walked close and hugged his fist and saluted: "Thanks to the help of the prince just now, it is probably a little presumptuous that I want to send a knife, if you don't dislike He, I want to invite the son to drink two cups." ”

Wang saw this He shopkeeper, seeing that the clothes were all dressed by Han people, his skin was red, his hair and beard were a little gray, he was of medium stature, and he spoke politely, but he felt that he was not like ordinary businessmen, although most of them were polite, but they were not like the flattery of businessmen, especially when He shopkeeper had just drunk his own buddies and did not let the guys and his retinue move, his tone was a little majestic.

Wang asked Cai Jing to go back to the hall first, and he was invited by the shopkeeper to find a restaurant, and found a quiet box to sit down. During the conversation, Wang Bi learned that the real name of the shopkeeper was He Xingyuan

The shopkeeper greeted him warmly, and soon served the wine and food. The two of them got closer and closer, the more they drank the wine, the more they drank, the more they drank,

It turned out that He Xingyuan's father was a native of the Song Dynasty, and there was a daughter of the He family in the clan, who married Song Taizu and became the queen. After Song Taizu died in the "candlelight axe shadow", Song Taizong succeeded to the throne. Song Taizong: Zhao Jiong, whose real name is Zhao Kuangyi, later changed his name to Zhao Guangyi because he avoided his brother Song Taizu, and changed his name to Jiong after ascending the throne. After Taizong succeeded to the throne, he did not wait for the second year to change the era name. forced Zhao Kuangyin's eldest son Dezhao (30 years old at the time), and Zhao Kuangyin's youngest son Defang (only 26 years old) also mysteriously fell ill and died. After the death of Taizu's widow, Song Taizong did not mourn according to the queen's etiquette.

Empress He's clan was ostracized and suppressed, and some people fled the Song State at that time, and He Xingyuan's grandfather was one of them. Later, He Xingyuan's father, He Chengzhen, was responsible for the construction of Xingqing Mansion when Li Deming moved the capital to Xingqing Mansion in Western Xia. Speaking of this, He Xingyuan sighed.

He pointed to the knife on the table and said, "I had planned to sell this knife for a long time, but I can't sell it to the Tanguts. The origin of this knife is very special. ”

The king poured him full of wine: "He Gong is so honest, I will give you a glass, if you can trust it, then say it." ”

At this time, He Xingyuan was already unhappy, and he said: "This knife is the knife that Li Shigui used to assassinate Queen Wuzang back then. The king was startled when he heard this, and the wine glass he had just picked up stopped halfway up.

He Xingyuan's face was flushed, he smiled, obviously he was a little weak today, his eyes looked at the knife with deep eyes and continued: "I also had a bit of an official position back then, but seeing the civil strife in Western Xia, I found a reason to resign and make a living incognito. ”

When the king saw him talk about his ancestors, he said about the knife again, and said that he was incognito, afraid that he drank too much and his language was a little confused, but He Xingyuan continued: "Do you know that later, when the Xingqing Mansion was built, these people were ordered to build the imperial tomb. ”

When the king saw him continue, he did not interrupt him. He drank slowly, mentally pondering the connection. "The last time I saw my father before I resigned, he sneaked out, just when Empress Muzang was buried. He told me that he would leave Western Xia if he had the opportunity, and that Li Liangzuo would definitely lose his family when he ascended the throne. I am afraid that there will be civil strife in Western Xia at that time. But I will only do this blacksmith business, and if I leave Western Xia, I will have no place to return to the Song Dynasty. ”

Wang Bei knew that what He Xingyuan said about having no place to stand probably meant that he was afraid that his family would not be able to return to the Song Dynasty, and another reason was the weapons control of the Song Dynasty, and he was afraid that it would be difficult to engage in this industry of selling knives and guns.

"I don't understand this, how could this knife fall into the hands of He Gong." The king asked puzzled

"Did you know that the people who built the imperial tombs were buried with the royal secrets that could not be revealed? Some people will arrange family affairs in advance, and this knife is also a funeral. Queen Muzang did not die of vendetta, she died of poisoning, and when she died, she held the knife tightly in her hand. ”

"The imperial mausoleum is repaired to the most critical position, and those who are responsible for building it will leave a way back for themselves, and some family members will be appeased, and my father is in charge of this. But in the end, my father couldn't leave the Imperial Tomb. The last time I saw him, he was to appease the families of these people and give them some gold and silver to make a living, and my father left me this knife, which he always felt was problematic. I don't know how he got it. ”

Wang Bian picked up the knife and looked at it, He Xingyuan smiled: "This knife is nothing, maybe the queen was poisoned too uncomfortably at that time, and she may not be able to decide it herself." ”

Wang Fang thought to himself, this is thrilling and strange, is it the same as the knife in the Heaven and Dragon Slayer, what secrets are hidden? Presumably, ancients like He Xingyuan may not have thought of adding this to the sword. However, Wang Bi also wanted to complain about Jin Daxia, judging from the forging process, when the hammered knife was burned and beaten, everything was burned out. Maybe He Xingyuan is right, this matter is not important, the important thing is that He Xingyuan does not want to sell this knife to the Xixia people again, so as not to cause more trouble.

Wang saw that He Xingyuan was drinking, his face was already red, his eyes were slightly confused, and he was afraid that he would drink too much, so he said: "Today, I am fortunate to be so trusted by He Gong, I don't know what I can do to help." ”

He Xingyuan said with a smile: "I have nothing else to ask for at my age, I just want to have a peaceful birthday, and I want to close this shop and go back to the Central Plains recently." Inuzi He Zhu has also reached the age of studying, and I have already heard of the name of the son, but I didn't expect to meet today. I also heard that Wang Gongzi was employing people, and I was able to distinguish stones at this point, and I didn't know if I could follow Gongzi. ”

Wang next to a heart moved, this ability to distinguish the stone is not ordinary, people often say that thousands of hammers into steel, but not all iron can become steel, the reason why the weapons of the Xixia people are excellent, is that there is a difference between the stone of striking iron and the stone of steelmaking, sometimes it is inconvenient to transport stones, the Xixia people found good stones in the Song Kingdom, often cast on the spot, and then go back to the Xixia to process. These kings have heard of it, but they are also laymen, seeing that this He Xingyuan is a loyal person and a descendant of the Song people, of course the kings are willing.

The king hurriedly saluted: "Thank you for your help, I am afraid that the shopkeeper will not move, but I don't know when I will be able to leave to return to the Song Kingdom on this trip, in case there is a mistake for fear of delaying the shopkeeper." ”

He Xingyuan said: "What did Childe say, anyway, I also plan to close the shop and return to the Song Kingdom, since Childe is willing to take it in, I will go back to the shop and follow Childe with the dog." ”

Seeing that he only said that the father and son were the two of them, the king couldn't help asking, "Isn't Mrs. He's the shopkeeper different?" ”

He Xingyuan smiled sadly: "This Xia country doesn't believe in medicine, and if you are sick, you rely on divination and witchcraft." My lady has been sick early, and now the dog is seven or eight years old, and the people who can go to college in Xia Guo are all descendants of feudal and Han officials, and children from ordinary families can't go to school, so I don't want him to learn this craft from me. It is also the reason why I want to meet Song Guo. ”

Wang Pan remembered that there were almost no pharmacies on the road, and he understood that what He Xingyuan said was true, and multiple helpers were fine. Besides, this He Xingyuan knows the customs of Western Xia very well, and he just needs such a person around him, seeing that the wine is almost drunk, the king said: "I won't drink the wine today, after we return to the Song Kingdom, I will ask the shopkeeper He to drink it well" After speaking, he ordered Xiao Er to serve a pot of good tea.

It is said that it is good tea, and the color is also very ordinary, Wang Pan and He shopkeeper chatted about tea and learned that Xixia does not produce tea, but because the meals of Xixia people are meat, tea is a must, so tea is not only expensive, but also often cannot be bought. Some people go to the land of Sichuan and Shu to buy tea or use Ma Yi tea.

Song Renzong also told Wang Pan about this matter at the beginning, and also reminded Wang Pan that if the tea was good, he could go to Yima, but there was no place to trade in Guanshan, and the road from Jianzhou to Xia was too far away. Hearing about the land of Sichuan and Shu, the king suddenly flashed in his mind, the ancient tea horse road.

The so-called Ancient Tea Horse Road is actually an authentic caravan road. On the ancient road, there are thousands of hard-working horse gangs, day after day, year after year, in the difficult journey of eating and sleeping in the open, with the sound of clear bells and the sound of rushing horses' hooves to break the tranquility of thousands of years of mountains and forests and deep valleys, and open up a road to foreign economic and trade roads.

For Wang Bong, the two lines of resources, one mine and one tea, had no intention of buying knives in Xixia, but he actually got He Xingyuan's helper, and he gained a lot. However, He Xingyuan's help to the king is far more than that.

The two of them were drinking in the restaurant, and Huang Que followed the Manba men next to the king, and saw the wine next to the king drinking, so he followed Cai Jing to the Guan Yi, and inquired about the origin of the two and went back to report to the man. After listening to this, Lord Man heard that the Minister of State Liang Yi buried the invitation to the king, but the king ignored the matter and decided to meet the king for a while before the prime minister.