Mrs. Lu and the old Taoist priest walked into Liu Xiu's room excitedly, put a beautifully decorated brocade box in front of Liu Xiu as if offering treasures, and then smiled proudly, just like a child who scored 100 points in the exam and was waiting for his parents to praise him.

"What?" Liu Xiu asked as he opened the brocade box. A piece of golden glass lay on the bright red silk, reflecting his sleepy-eyed face. Looking at the face with a thick beard in the mirror, Liu Xiu was startled, and instinctively shrank back, "Who is this?" ”

Mrs. Lu couldn't help but chuckle. Liu Xiu's face flushed, and only then did he come back to his senses, it was himself. He is used to seeing others grow beards, but he has not seen his true face. Although the bronze mirror of this era is a rare cultural relics and antiques in later generations, but to tell the truth, the real practical value is very general, no matter how good the quality of the copper mirror is a little blurry, for him who is used to using glass mirrors, the effect is too far behind, not to mention that he never looks in the mirror, because he has no habit of makeup at all, which is also the most obvious difference between him and many men of this era. In the Han Dynasty, both men and women, as long as conditions permitted, had the habit of putting on makeup, but there was a difference between heavy makeup and light makeup, ordinary men may only repair their beards and eyebrows, and some just apply some powder, and those who value their appearance very much are like women to draw their eyebrows and apply Zhu, use aromatherapy clothes, and it is not uncommon to wear sachets or something. Liu Xiu has always been more reluctant to bring these habits, and he refuses to even bring sachets, feeling that they are too fatty.

He has always been accustomed to and proud of his good age in his early twenties, and he has never seen that he actually has a beard like Zhao Yun and Lu Bu, and now he suddenly saw it in the mirror, and he couldn't help but be a little surprised.

"Just made?" Liu Xiu looked at the glass mirror in his hand and couldn't put it down. Although this mirror was still a little far from the beautifully made mirrors in his memory, compared with the bronze mirror, the reflection effect was already a leap. He examined it carefully, and felt that the gold on it did not seem to be plated, but it was not gold leaf. "How?"

"It's going to take a lot of work." Mrs. Lu said with a smile: "We spent several days for three days, and finally found a recipe with gold, so we made it overnight, and the effect was very good." ”

"Why not silver?"

"Silver? Gold is more valuable. Mrs. Lu said as a matter of course.

"Hehe, gold is precious, but when it comes to realism, silver is better. If you don't believe it, try it, and make sure that it is meticulous and difficult to distinguish the authenticity. ”

Mrs. Lu and the old Taoist priest glanced at each other, a little frustrated.

"Technically, this mirror is worthy of going down in history." Seeing that they were a little lost, Liu Xiu hurriedly comforted: "I will immediately ask Mr. Cai to make a mirror fu and leave a name for you." ”

The old Taoist priest was overjoyed and went happily. Mrs. Lu stayed, in a very good mood, "General, a mirror can also go down in history?" ”

"Of course." Liu Xiu smiled mysteriously: "Have you noticed that the portraits in this are exactly the opposite?" ”

"That's true of all mirrors."

"But no one ever asked why." Liu Xiu said: "In fact, not all mirrors are like this, some mirrors will reflect the portrait of the person upside down, and some mirrors can become bigger and smaller. ”

"There are mirrors like this?" Mrs. Lu shook her head: "Isn't that a magical mirror?" ”

"Hehehe......" Liu Xiu smiled and shook his head: "This is Taoism, pushing things you don't understand on the heads of gods and demons, that's irresponsible, and it's not the attitude you should have in pursuing the Great Dao." If you don't understand nature, how can you take the law? ”

Mrs. Lu nodded approvingly. After a short time, Cai Yong rushed over, and after listening to Liu Xiu's words asking him to do the fu, although he did not refuse, he was a little disapproving. Liu Xian was also idle, and as soon as he had an idea, he drew a sketch of the convex mirror and the concave mirror, and asked Mrs. Lu to arrange for the old Taoist priest to process it together.

"Although the lesson made by this glass is clear, there is no need to make a fu, right?" Cai Yong looked at the glass mirror over and over again, but he became interested in the inscriptions in the back, and praised the strong engraving of those words. Liu Xiu was speechless, although Cai Yong was a generalist, he was a Confucian after all, and he was more interested in the culture of retreat, and he didn't look down on the skills of a hundred craftsmen.

Liu Xiu didn't argue with him, and waited for another day, and the concave mirror and convex mirror were also made, this time it was plated with silver, and the effect was much more natural than the gold mirror. However, shocked by the ability of these two mirrors to deform people's faces, several people involved in the processing called it the magic mirror in unison, and two even changed their faces and wanted to smash the mirror on the spot.

Cai Yong was also taken aback when he saw these two mirrors, and he didn't speak for a long time.

Liu Xiu quipped: "Mr. is knowledgeable, can you tell me why?" ”

Cai Yong thought about it for a long time, but he couldn't think of a reason, and in the end he had no choice but to ask Liu Xiu for advice. Liu Xiu was interested, and Suo told Cai Yong some basic theories of optics - he didn't understand the complexity, at most it was the introductory knowledge of refraction and reflection, but these optical knowledge that he seemed very simple to Cai Yong sounded very novel, he was like a treasure, recorded them in detail one by one, and decided to teach them to the students in the school after he figured it out.

Liu Xiu couldn't ask for it, and within two days, the news of the magic mirror spread throughout the entire academy, and even Duan Cheng from the Military Academy came to inquire about the gossip. However, their interest is mainly in the magic mirror that can make people bigger and smaller, and their interest in the plane mirror is limited.

It can be seen that from ancient times to the present, people's curiosity is unchanged, and it is not uncommon for dogs to bite people, but it is rare for people to bite dogs.

In the midst of the exclamation, Liu Xiu was very calm, and he poured some cold water on the enthusiasm of several Taoist priests from the Taoist Academy to immediately make the magic mirror into a product for sale. He said to the Taoist priests that the magic mirror is a novelty, but the quality of the glass is not up to par, and the silver can only be plated on the outside, which brings a problem, after a long time, the silver will be polished, and if the things that people spend a lot of money to buy are so easy to break, then who wants? You still put your mind on improving the quality of the glass, and when the time comes, you can plating the silver on the back, so that you can greatly improve the quality of the mirror, so as not to affect the reputation.

The Taoist priests were impressed and praised Liu Xiu for thinking far and thoughtfully. Thinking of the bright prospects, they enthusiastically invested in a new round of technology research and development.

…… Yuan Shu took Qiao Rui and others to the horse, and restrained the war horse at the front door of the house, the war horse man stood up, kicked a few times in the air with his front hooves, and took a few steps forward, and the horseshoe hit a little spark on the bluestone slab, and rushed to the front of the steps before stopping, which frightened a few servants chatting in front of the door were shocked.

"Who?!" The servant who came to his senses shouted.

"Lao Tzu me!" Yuan Shu threw the stirrup and dismounted, and the face was whipped in the face of the servant, "I don't even know Lao Tzu, what are you doing with these dog eyes?" Come on, rip it for me! ”

When the servant saw this, he was so frightened that he fell to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly. Yuan Shu laughed, shook his head, strode into the door, and the voice came from afar: "Wait for the good old man's horse, or you will be abolished." ”

The domestic servant sweated like rain, like an amnesty, he didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly took Yuan Shu's horse and walked towards the side door.

Yuan Shu entered the atrium, and when he saw his eldest brother Yuan Ji coming out of it, Lao Yuan shouted loudly: "Brother, are you okay?" ”

Yuan Ji looked at his dragon and tiger look, and couldn't help but smile: "Yo, who should I be, it turns out that the famous general of our family is back, and he is a capital crime." ”

Yuan Shu laughed, and was about to say a few words to Yuan Ji, when he saw a child running towards the courtyard, shouting in panic as he ran: "Mother, the rogue uncle is back, let's go home quickly." ”

Yuan Shu became angry when he heard this, hurried a few steps, picked up Xiao Yang Xiu and held it under his armpit, and pretended to be fierce: "Boy, who do you say is a scoundrel?" ”

Xiao Yangxiu's face turned white, and he didn't dare to speak.

"Put down my son!" Yuan Shu's sister came out of the house and hurriedly screamed when she saw this. Yuan Shu laughed twice and pinched Yang Xiu's nose, "Say it quickly, who is the scoundrel?" If you don't say it, I won't let you go and give you to the Xianbei people. ”

Yang Xiuwa cried and kicked his legs desperately: "I don't want Xianbei people, I don't want Xianbei people, Xianbei people are so scary." Mother, save me, the scoundrel uncle is going to give me to the Xianbei people. ”

Yuan strode forward, raised his hand and slapped Yuan Shu, snatched his son, and glared at Yuan Shu: "Whoever is a scoundrel is a scoundrel, and as soon as you go home, you will be restless." ”

"Hey, what are you talking about, this is my home, not yours." Yuan Shu was not angry, and he quarreled with his sister without saying a word. Yuan Feng and his wife walked out of the house, looked at Yuan Shu's scoundrel appearance, shook their heads helplessly, and sighed.

Yuan Shu took two steps, bowed deeply, and then hugged his mother Li's shoulder affectionately, and said with a hippie smile: "Mother, I haven't seen you for a few months, and you are a few years younger." ”

"Flim tongue, not serious." Li Shi poked Yuan Shu's forehead, and asked distressedly: "Ah Shu, are you suffering in Northern Xinjiang, are you injured?" ”

"It's okay, your son is so good, who can hurt me." Yuan Shu's eyebrows fluttered, and while helping his mother back to the house, he talked about the fact that he led the Northern Army and the Xiliang Iron Cavalry to aid Yuan Shao, and finally said seriously: "Ah Weng, I suffered a loss this time, I asked Liu Xiu for help at the beginning, but he refused to tell me, but he didn't know that Liu Xiu didn't want to save him at all, and I had no soldiers, so I had to plead with Liu Xiu, so I asked him for 10,000 steps." I knelt down to him for this. ”

Yuan Feng listened and nodded again and again: "Highway, you finally did the right thing this time." Your uncle and I were very happy when we learned the news. After so many years of stubbornness, today I have grown up. It seems that it is right to let you go to the north this time, if you don't experience it on the battlefield, how can you be sensible. ”

"yes, it's too dangerous on the battlefield. However, no matter how dangerous it is, I can't die without saving it, who made him surnamed Yuan. Yuan Shu patted his chest and said loudly: "Actually, if he didn't trust me and didn't leave me any soldiers, I wouldn't be so embarrassed, maybe I could make greater contributions, it is possible to catch Tanshi Huai, how can I wait for Liu Xiu to pick up the cheap." ”

Yuan Feng frowned, Yuan Shao had already written back, talking about Yuan Shu bringing grain and grass to meet him, but it was relatively simple, just saying that Yuan Shu and Huangfu Song and others arranged by Liu Xiu rushed to Luoyueyuan together to ensure that the army could return to the fortress smoothly, but the specific situation did not say much. Listening to Yuan Shu now, it seems that there is still some hidden truth in this, Yuan Shao asked Yuan Shu to stay in the Sei, except for two hundred guards and a few tiger Benlang, there was no army left for Yuan Shu. If this is the case, then Yuan Shao is doing something wrong.

Yuan Feng was not at ease, and asked again, Yuan Shu took the opportunity to say a few bad words about Yuan Shao, these were all thought of on the road, and he was used to lying, so he simply came with his mouth open, and finally said that he was fighting with Micah and others in Luoyueyuan, and the foot soldiers were not strong enough, he personally went into battle, and was almost hacked to death by the Xianbei people, and tears flowed in his eyes, and he pointed out the wound to his father and mother. Yuan Feng was shocked when he saw it, and Li's eyes were red from crying, and he scolded Yuan Shao for being vicious and wanting to kill people with a knife.

Yuan Feng had a gloomy face and didn't speak for a long time. Yuan Shu pretended to persuade his mother and asked, "Ah Weng, it's been a few months since the war ended, and the good news has already arrived in Luoyang, why hasn't the reward come down yet?" The soldiers at the border are all in a hurry, and if it drags on, what if there is a mutiny? ”

Yuan Feng glared at Yuan Shu, "What do you know, you only know nonsense." ”

"What's wrong with me?" Yuan Shu frowned, and retorted unconvinced: "I don't understand, but the person who understands is also anxious, otherwise how could he send me back to ask?" ”

"I'm in a hurry?" Yuan Feng was a little surprised, it doesn't matter if Yuan Shu doesn't understand, if Yuan Shao doesn't understand either, then it shouldn't be.

"Of course." Yuan Shu's eyes rolled, "Although he doesn't say it, he drinks with those celebrities every day, but I know that he is also very anxious." He licked his lips, "Especially after knowing that Liu Xiu was promoted to General Zhenbei." ”

"What's wrong with General Zhenbei, isn't that half a level lower than him, General Zhengbei?" Yuan Feng snorted dissatisfiedly: "If the Son of Heaven doesn't issue an edict, he will just stay there safely, is it possible that Liu Xiu still dares to take away his military power?" I heard that Liu Xiu has left Northern Xinjiang and will return to Luoyang soon. ”

"Liu Xiu has returned to Luoyang?" Yuan Shu was a little dazed: "Isn't he the general of Zhenbei, what are you doing when you go back to Luoyang?" ”

"I don't know, the Son of Heaven issued an edict to let him come back, saying that he was recuperating from his injuries. But what the Son of Heaven really wants, no one can say. Yuan Feng shook his head in distress: "You clean up, go to your uncle's mansion with me later, tell him about the affairs of Northern Xinjiang, and we will consider it again." He shook his fingers, and said with special care: "If there are outsiders, you must not say that the original is not, the brothers are not in harmony, let people look at the jokes, and damage the style of my Yuan family." ”

Yuan Shu nodded and agreed, and after going in to wash, he changed his clothes and followed Yuan Feng to Yuan Kui's mansion. When Yuan Kui heard that Yuan Shu had returned from northern Xinjiang, he was very happy and set up a family banquet to entertain them, and his wife Ma Lun also came out to accompany him. Yuan Shu naturally wanted to get around Ma Lun to curry favor again, and coaxed Ma Lun to laugh. Although Yuan Kui was a little unhappy, Yuan Shu had just returned from his meritorious service, and he didn't want to show him a look. Judging from his military exploits in northern Xinjiang, although this kid is a little stubborn, he can stretch and bend, in order for Yuan Shao to bow to Liu Xiu, this overall situation is still there, and he can personally lead 10,000 steps to ride Yuan Shao back, this is not bad in terms of soldiers, at least it is much stronger than Yuan Shu in his impression.

After the banquet, the Yuan Feng brothers spoke in the front hall, Yuan Shu accompanied Ma Lun back to the back room, as soon as he entered the door, without waiting for Ma Lun to sit down, Yuan Shu couldn't help but open his mouth: "Uncle, why doesn't the imperial court reward meritorious soldiers." ”

Ma Lun smiled and glanced at Yuan Shu: "It's still that monkey surname, I thought you were reborn." ”

Yuan Shugan laughed twice, presented a few gifts, and then got tired of being by Ma Lun's side. Ma Lun played with the gift, deliberately boiled Yuan Shu for a while, and then asked: "You know about Liu Xiu being named the general of Zhenbei, right?" ”

Yuan Shu nodded.

"Don't you think there's a problem?"

Yuan Shu rolled his eyes, picked up an orange from the case and peeled it. "It seems to be a little low. According to the favor of the Son of Heaven in the past, he made such a great contribution this time, I always thought that he would at least be named one of the four generals before and after, and maybe it would be possible to be named General Wei, but I didn't expect it to be just a general in Zhenbei, which is lower than the current official position. ”

"Well, I finally got some brains, so why do you think that?"

Yuan Shu stopped his hand and looked at Ma Lun in a daze, Ma Lun looked at him with encouraging eyes, "Think about it, everything is unreasonable, there is always an unreasonable reason, what is the purpose behind the Son of Heaven making such a move." ”

Yuan Shu pondered for a moment: "Want to suppress my Yuan family's exploits? ”

"Yes, what else?"

"I don't want others to interfere in the merger of the state, but also let Liu Xiu control the merger."

"Very good, what else?"

Yuan Shu thought about it for a while, but he couldn't think of anything anymore, so he hugged Ma Lun's arm and shook it: "Uncle, don't test me, tell me directly." ”

"You're not stupid, you're lazy." Ma Lun smiled: "Think about it again, what else does he want to do besides suppressing our Yuan family's military exploits and letting Liu Xiu continue to control the state?" ”

Yuan Shu blurted out: "I want to rob our Yuan family's money." ”

"It's not our Yuan family, it's all the clans in the world." Mullen corrected: "Think about it, what kind of people are the main people who followed the original expedition this time? It's either Ruying or Jizhou. Ru Ying is our foundation, not only talented people, but also the most concentrated wealth, if the Son of Heaven controls here, our Yuan family will become a source of water, a tree without roots. ”

"Won't we, we have made meritorious contributions, and the Son of Heaven will still attack us?" Yuan Shu was taken aback, and his face was frightened.

"We have made meritorious service or a trivial matter, more importantly, in order to be able to make meritorious service, we ascended to the heights and responded to the world, and raised a large amount of money and food in a short period of time, which is not only the deep connections accumulated by our Yuan family in the fourth generation, but also the pride of our Yuan family, and the power that makes the Son of Heaven frightened. If you think about it, will he not be nervous? ”

Yuan Shu closed his mouth tightly, feeling a chill in the back of his head, which made the Son of Heaven nervous, which sounded very cool, but the crisis behind it was also very amazing. Although Yuan Shu is not a very well-known person, he still understands such a simple truth.

"Since he has a heart for our Yuan family and wants to attack the Ruying family, how can he reward him greatly, could it be that he has just been promoted to the rank of knight and regarded them as successful ministers, and in the blink of an eye, he will be dismissed from the official and dismissed as a rebel?" Ma Lun's voice was unhurried, but there was always a chilling taste in that voice, which made Yuan Shu's heart beat for a while. "In the Northern Xinjiang War, Liu Xiu is the first merit, and the next thing is you and Ben Chu, and now Liu Xiu is just a general of Zhenbei, so how can you seal it? He has been dragging his feet and not issuing the edict because he can't seal it, and he doesn't want to seal it at all. ”

"So dragging it out?"

"I think that's probably the best he can think of." The corners of Ma Lun's mouth twitched slightly: "The Son of Heaven thinks he has a plan, but he doesn't know that this is a very stupid method. If he didn't issue an edict and reward, he could have stayed in the north at the beginning, and those soldiers could not be disbanded, and it dragged on for a long time. If he wants to drag, we will drag it with him. ”

Yuan Shu didn't speak for a long time, and he was very angry in his heart. After doing it for a long time, the Son of Heaven didn't want to be rewarded, but wanted to do it, and the Yuan family also took the opportunity to continue to hold the military power and sit back and wait. Everyone is pretending to be confused, and he is the only one who is really confused.

"Highway, no matter what happens, you have to use your brain more and think about the reasons." Ma Lun patted Yuan Shu's hand earnestly: "Although he was overshadowed by Liu Xiu this time, his merits are obvious to all, whether it is a famous person in Ruying or a famous person in Youji, they all respect him very much, and even the Qingxu area is spreading his reputation." As long as he is allowed to subdue the hearts of those soldiers, what will he not be able to do in the future? ”

Yuan Shu's face sank and he didn't say a word.

Ma Lun sighed secretly: "What about you, it's not bad, this time you went out thousands of miles to meet the army, and half of your original credit is in you." And you can put aside the original suspicion and save him, which your father and your uncle are very satisfied with, and praise you for being sensible. It's just the beginning, and you can't be complacent. ”

Yuan Shu nodded, and his face finally softened a little.

"By the way, how are the captains of your Northern Army and Huangfu Song doing? The Huangfu family is very prestigious in Liangzhou, you and Huangfu Song fought side by side, have you ever tested his meaning? ”

Yuan Shu suddenly became happy, patted his chest and said: "Needless to say, I have worked hard, I drink with a few of them whenever I have time, and my friendship is very good, except for Xiahou Yuan's stunned young man who doesn't know each other, they are very close to me, and even Liu Bei has become my good friend." ”

"Liu Bei? Is it the one who is said to be of the same clan as Liu Xiu? ”

Yuan Shu shook his head disdainfully: "No, he and Liu Xiu are not of the same clan, he is the real clan after King Jing of Zhongshan." Liu Xiuneng is still the eldest princess, it is definitely not a clan, what it is, no one can tell, his parents are still missing......" Yuan Shu was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered something, "Alas, no, his parents have been missing for almost three years, why haven't I heard that he sent someone to look for him?" ”

Maren was stunned for a moment, and also felt a little surprised, this seemed to be indeed a little unreasonable.

(To be continued)