"Alert!"

The night was falling, the frost and wind were heavy, and Yi Feng was wearing clothes in the inn to watch the official document sent from the fast horse from the rear, which was his agreement with Gao Bo. During his stay in Beijing, Gao Bo sent fast horses every three days to make a briefing on Huaihuang's important affairs and pass it to him. If something important happens, it will be reported as soon as possible. There was nothing big about the briefing sent by Gao Bo today, and Huai Huang was running as usual. At this moment, Wang Bao's low voice suddenly came from the verandah outside the house: "Alert! ”

With an order, the atmosphere in the entire inn suddenly became tense. The flag guards were originally loose on the outside and tight on the inside, and they were not heavily guarded on the surface, but in fact, they had long occupied various important positions, and most of them were secret sentinels. Wang Bao is an old subordinate who has followed Yi Feng for many years, the head of Yan Yun's eighteen horsemen, and he has already felt it immediately when he is a little bit windy.

More than 30 flag guards turned quickly like a sophisticated instrument, in just a few breaths, they have relied on the inn, established a three-dimensional strict defense, ten crossbowmen with the most precise crossbow jumped on the roof of the inn for the first time, and five knife players quickly rushed to the staircase of Yifeng Xiaolou and the edge of the corridor column upstairs, standing shields and drawing knives. The rest stood near the doors and windows of the lobby, swords unsheathed, bows wound, and waiting. It is better to be careful than indulgent, these dozens of people are responsible for Yi Feng's safety, and no one dares to be careless.

Thirty-six flag guards were tense and ready for battle, Wang Bao, Qin Qiong, and a few generals also immediately rushed to Yi Feng's room, guarding the side with knives. Wei Zheng, Xu Deyan, Zhang Zhongjian, and Li Keshi also picked up their swords, and only Yi Feng sat at the table with a calm expression. With so many elite subordinates guarding his side, there was no need for him to draw his sword and hold his sword. These more than thirty flag guards. Although the number is small, but in this inn, if it is a short battle, ordinary one or two hundred people do not have to be afraid at all.

Zhang Zhongjian was holding a scimitar in his arms, inlaid with gold and jade, which was extremely luxurious, and Yi Feng could see it at a glance. This knife is a very standard Arabic scimitar, with a narrow blade and a great bend. The Central Plains people often call it the full moon scimitar. But in later generations, this knife had a more resounding name, the Damascus scimitar. Made of an extremely special kind of steel, Damascus steel is made with a special process, and is widely respected by later generations as the king of cold weapons. The people of the Central Plains generally call Damascus steel Uzi steel. This steel is considered to be the best steel at this time. Uzi knives made of this steel. The toughness and hardness are excellent, and the blade is extremely sharp. Such a Uzi knife can easily cut off a goat's waist or the head of a cow or a horse every time.

This kind of sword made of Uzi steel is very gorgeously decorated, most of the gauntlets are made of silver gilt or wrong gold, the handle is mostly made of black rhinoceros horn, buffalo horn, the inside of the scabbard is hardwood, the outer layer is wrapped in cowhide and sewn with gold, silver and copper thread, the sheath and the sheath of the scabbard are carved with precious metals such as gold and silver, and the handle and scabbard are inlaid with coral, precious stones, etc. The blade is also engraved with the name of the swordsmith in gold and silver, and each one is a precious work of art.

Many Western merchants came to the Central Plains with this precious Uzi steel knife. Each one is a precious one. This kind of sword is very sought after in the Central Plains, but those who can afford to have one are definitely those gate valve nobles. Zhang Zhongjian's father is the richest man in Yangzhou, and he can have a handful of it.

"A false alarm!" Zhang Zhongjian listened carefully for a while, and then said with a smile.

Li Keshi also nodded, "Zhang Sanlang is right, there is a small latent form, but it is just a night owl mouse, don't worry." ”

Hearing both of them say this, Yi Feng also believed it. In fact, he didn't really worry about it at all, there were these thirty-six flag guards, and there were also generals around him, as well as fierce people like Zhang Zhongjian, not to mention, just to the left of this inn, there were two flag guard squads in ambush, ready to come over to support. With a total of more than 100 flag guards, even if the other side transfers four or five hundred soldiers and horses, they can still evacuate and break through if they can't fight. What's more, Yi Feng didn't believe that under Youzhou City, anyone would dare to murder him so boldly.

Yi Feng was interested in the scimitar on Zhang Zhongjian's body, Huaihuang now has more advanced steel-making technology, and the steel smelted is much ahead of the technology at this time, so he has made better steel, and has been able to create stronger plate armor and sharper swords. But Yi Feng is self-aware, although he can help the blacksmiths improve a lot of steelmaking skills, but the improvement is also limited, and he himself is not a steelmaking professional. Compared with Damascus steel, Huaihuang's steel must be inferior.

"Zhang Sanlang's knife is good, I'm afraid it's hard to buy it, right?" Yi Feng asked.

Zhang Zhongjian smiled, "This was purchased from a Taisi Persian merchant in Jiaozhou Port in Vietnam, and it cost five hundred taels of gold. According to the merchant, my knife was originally a Uzi sword from the collection of the Persian emperor, made by the famous Persian Uzi sword maker, and it has not only the inscription of the master, but also the inscription of the emperor who collected the sword. According to the merchant, the Persian emperor later gave the sword to one of his generals. Later, the general took the sword to the war between Persia and Fula, and he died in battle, and the sword was left among the people, and finally he obtained it, and he brought it all the way to the East, and finally I bought it. This is a real treasure knife, a certain knife once used to cut off the heads of ten buffaloes in a row, without any loss of sharpness, a real treasure knife made of Uzi steel. ”

His words were full of pride and love for the sword in his hand.

"This knife should actually be called a Damascus scimitar." Yi Feng pointed out the inadequacies in Zhang Zhongjian's words. The Arabian scimitar is produced in the Arab region of the Middle East and is made of Damascus steel by a special forging method, but it is not the same as Uzi steel. Uzi steel, also known as Indian iron, is produced in the Indian region and is forged into steel ingots after smelting, which is called Uzi steel. The ingots were shipped to the Middle East for sale, where they were then recast by the Arabs using a special process to eventually become Damascus steel, which was used to create the sharp Arabic scimitar. To be clear, the Arab scimitar can be called a Damascus scimitar, but it cannot be called an Uzi knife directly. Uzi knives. It should refer to knives made directly from Uzi steel, while Arabic knives are basically made from Uzi steel after processing them into Damascus steel.

Damascus knives are far better than Uzi knives. Many Western merchants brought to the Central Plains to sell Uzi knives rather than better Damascus knives, but many Central Plains people thought that these two knives were one and the same. Zhang Zhongjian's is indeed an authentic Damascus scimitar.

"It turns out that there are so many twists and turns here, Yi Shuai is really well-informed, and I admire it so much."

However, Yi Feng talked so much about him, but not to show off his knowledge. As a matter of fact. After he saw this precious sword, he gave birth to a way of wealth in his heart. Zhang Zhongjian's family is the richest man in Yangzhou, although his family is also a local tycoon. There were many estates and fields, but more of them made their fortune by trading and making a fortune from the sea. Yi Feng had already heard some information about the Zhang family, which had been engaged in long-distance trade for generations. The family also has a large ocean-going fleet. It not only has trade contacts with countries in the northeast such as Dongying, Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo, but also with Linyi, Chenla, Champa, Zhuran, and Sriwijaya in the South Seas, and even sails to the Mediterranean Sea. The Zhang family's business is very extensive, and they also have a group of business partners who have cooperated for a long time. Moreover, he already knew that the Zhang family did have a good relationship with Yang Guang.

This year, the imperial court issued a new decree prohibiting the private sector from building large ships, and basically ships that can go to the sea are within the ban. This law is for a family like the Zhang family. It can be said to be a fatal blow. Originally, this decree was promulgated by the imperial court with the intention of cutting off the smuggling of Jiangdong merchants to Goguryeo. It was to cooperate with the war between the imperial court and Goguryeo. Of course, the merchants were unwilling to be so restrained, and the last countermeasure that the Zhang family and other maritime merchants thought of was to throw themselves under Yang Guang's door. The emperor of Tiangao is far away, and the real ruler of the Jianghuai region is still Yang Guang, the king of Jin. As long as Yang Guangken turns a blind eye, this ban will naturally have no effect. Yang Guang was also very happy about the businessmen's refuge. He needed money, a lot of money, and the merchants had a lot of money in their hands. Ocean trade is extremely profitable, Yang Guang is very happy to be a backer for some merchants, and then share a share of profits, his only requirement is that the merchants are not allowed to smuggle trade to Goguryeo in the future, and the rest, to the South Seas or Taixi ocean trade does not matter.

After knowing this, Yi Feng now wants to cooperate with the Zhang family to do a business.

"Coming back from Tianzhu to traffic Uzi steel?" Zhang Zhongjian was a little surprised.

Yi Feng nodded, the raw material of the Damascus scimitar is Uzi steel, which is basically made in India. Yifeng plans to buy Uzi steel from India as well, and then study and imitate Damascus scimitars, and then sell them everywhere in the name of Damascus scimitars to make a lot of money. The name of the Arab scimitar is too loud, and the profit is too high, so high that Yi Feng can't help but want to insert it. It's just that it's not easy to sell steel in India. Judging from the map, it seems that it is very close to India from Sichuan, but in fact, at this time, the mountains of Yunnan-Guichuan are full of indigenous barbarians who do not obey the king, and the further south you go, the more so. It is simply impossible to organize a caravan through this area. The famous Ancient Tea Horse Road, at this time, there is no shadow. Therefore, if you want to go to India, you mainly have to take two other routes. One is from Guanlong through the Hexi Corridor, into the Western Regions, and then after passing the Green Ridge, and then turning to the southeast, which is equivalent to going around a huge circle. Historically, Tang monks learned scriptures, that is, this road was taken, the road was far away, and they had to pass through dozens of countries and countless tribes, and the most difficult was the desert and Gobi in the middle. Most of the merchants from the Western Regions took this road, that is, the Silk Road.

The other way is to take the sea route directly and follow the coast of the East China Sea to the west. But it is also dangerous to take the sea route, mainly because the navigation technology is not too developed at that time, and the shipbuilding technology is not enough, taking such a sea route is not only long, but also extremely dangerous, and can only take the monsoon round trip, and a trip has to go at least a year. It is also destined that whether it is the land Silk Road or the maritime Silk Road, such ocean trade can only carry precious goods with high profits and small footprint.

Uzi steel is not ordinary steel, it is worth trafficking in the ocean.

At this time, the Central Plains also began to have some Uzi steel imported from the Western Regions, called iron and steel, but this kind of iron iron is not the real Uzi steel, but more in the Middle East produced some steel, similar to Uzi steel, but there is a gap, compared with the Persians to exercise Damascus steel is far behind.

Bringing Uzi steel from Tianzhu and finding a way to get a group of Damascus steel and scimitar craftsmen from Persia, Yi Feng felt that he also had the opportunity to forge Damascus steel and Damascus steel knives. It's going to be built, and it's a cash cow.

Zhang Zhongjian also seems to have been moved by Yi Feng's mention, he is the son of the richest man in Yangzhou, and of course he understands the huge business opportunities of Damascus swords. In addition, he is also a sword lover, if he can create this peerless sword, it will be so tempting.

"Report!" Wei Chigong's voice sounded outside.

"Come in."

"Report to the commander, catch a suspicious sneaky person."

Cheng Yanjin and Cheng Mingzhen, two flag guards, dragged one person in and threw him to the ground. Yi Feng looked over, but was slightly surprised, the wolf guy who was brought in was actually Liu Wenqi, the son of Youzhou Mansion who wanted to extort his toll before.

"What, did Liu Gongzi forget anything in this inn before?" Yi Feng looked at Liu Wenqi and asked.

Liu Wenqi was very wolf at this time, he had just been knocked down by Yi Feng's men, and he was beaten without asking, if the other party hadn't recognized him earlier, it is estimated that his life would have been gone. He settled down, wiped the boot prints on his face, and hurriedly said the purpose of this trip.

"Today, there were many adventures before, and I was tolerated by the big handsome, and the little ones were grateful, and I felt that I couldn't repay them." Liu Wenqi saw that Yi Feng seemed to be a little impatient, and hurriedly continued: "After the little one left here before, he went to the front store to drink, and went outside to relieve himself during the banquet, but he unexpectedly heard an important matter, which was related to the big handsome. ”

"Oh, I don't know what?"

"There are Diao people who want to harm the king!"

Wang Bao glared at Liu Wenqi, "Tell me the details quickly!" ”

"Yes, yes, the small one will tell the details in detail, and the little one will never dare to have half a lie." Liu Wenqi said excitedly, he came so hard all the way, didn't he just want to have a relationship with the famous Yi Shuai, how could he miss such a great opportunity. (To be continued......)