In the middle of the night on December 30 of the old year, the city of Xiongni in the capital city of Zhang Guo was expanded more than ten times, and now the large court hall that can accommodate hundreds of people is full and noisy.

All the officials above the county department level in Zhang Guo gathered together with their married wives and most cherished heirs, and accompanied the monarch to keep the New Year as retainers and according to the ancient system of Yan and Huang.

Only this night in the year according to the old custom that has been passed down for thousands of years, the gift of the noble and the lowly can be a little unrestrained, plus as the monarch Zhang Huansheng took the lead and drank and sang, sometimes untied and danced, and sometimes made a mess with the hundred opera singers, which attracted everyone to indulge in joy.

However, although the surface is the most uninhibited, Zhang Huansheng's heart is actually quiet and abnormal, knowing that as soon as the time passes, it will be the arrival of the new year, he saw that the small water clock beside him was about to turn to the end, and immediately stood up with a smile, waved his hand to summon four female officials who had been waiting around for a long time, took out a bag of fist-sized silver melons from the neck storage beads and handed it over, "Strike the bell." ”

"Yes." Hearing this, the female officials responded respectfully, carried the four corners, carried the brocade bag and walked out of the court quickly, and after getting off the high level of jade grinding, they gave the brocade bag to a team of knights in angry horses and fresh clothes, and shouted loudly: "Spread the king's edict and strike the bell." ”

"No." When the knights heard this, they all responded in unison, and then urged their horses to go to the brightly lit Xiong Ni Bell and Drum Tower, handed the brocade bag to the twelve wrestlers, and shouted at the same time: "Pass the king's word and strike the bell." ”

The wrestlers replied, "Yes." Untie the brocade bag, take out the silver melon inside as a projectile, and then hang it more than ten zhang high, the bronze bell given by the Son of Heaven hit, and smash it on the sound pattern engraved on the body, and suddenly there will be a crisp 'bell bell...' resounding in the night sky.

After the bell rang in Xiongnicheng, the bronze bells of Siyi rang in turn, and then the Gyeonggi counties, the 50 counties established half a year ago, and the 10 new towns that had just been established for less than a month all rang loudly.

Marking the renewal of one yuan and the renewal of Vientiane, Zhang Guo, who is extremely young, has grown up by one year.

The people in the court heard the bell ringing, the noise was suspended, and the ministers led by Sen Xuanji stood up solemnly one by one, and shouted in unison to Zhang Huansheng, who was on the throne: "At the beginning of the new year, the old year is gone, and my monarch has worked hard to make my Zhang Guo's fortune prosperous... Congratulations to the ministers. After that, he bowed down.

Seeing this, Zhang Huansheng hurriedly stood up, avoided the void, arched his hand high, bowed deeply and saluted: "Loneliness has an inch, and it is all the power of your assistance...", and his speech seemed as warm as jade, and he was extremely modest.

After the monarch and the ministers had gone through this routine of etiquette, they sat down again.

While it was still quiet, Zhang Huansheng looked at Sen Xuanji and said: "Xuangong, when the fifty new counties were established a few months ago, I was afraid that I, Zhang Guo, would not be able to control the big with a small swallow, so I ordered it to be governed by heavy regulations.

I thought that it would take a year or two to regulate the people's customs, but I didn't expect that people's hearts would be kind, and in those fifty counties, there were only a few thefts and robberies in one hundred and ninety days, and now it seems that it is okay to be imprisoned immediately, what do you think? ”

"So is the minister." Hearing this, Sen Xuanji smiled and said: "And ask Your Highness to divide these fifty counties into four counties, with Huaishan as the capital, including Yanghe and Jinlin... for Jiye County; With Gyeongnam as the capital... for Zhuyan County..."

The two of them sang and harmonized like this, obviously they had already had a tacit understanding on this matter, Zhang Huansheng nodded with a smile and said: "Xuangong said this great good, so he set up these four counties."

The best officials in the old land were selected to fill the county government. ”

Hearing this, many people in the hall were hot in their hearts, unconsciously picked up the wine cup, and drank a sigh of Qiong Brew in disguise, and then heard Zhang Huansheng say again: "When the New Year was kept, it was not appropriate to discuss politics, but I was anxious to say a few words, I really shouldn't, when I punished myself for three lamps, Zhuqing was happy."

Lady Zheng, don't hurry up and call the people who play a hundred operas to perform again, as well as the circus and dancing girls who came from the park, and all of them will be put into the palace. ”

When the words landed, there was a light and joyful music above the court, and then the door of the temple was opened, and hundreds of people poured in, singing and dancing, and the waist shook gently; Or a trickster.

Soon the atmosphere was buzzing again.

After celebrating the New Year, at dawn on the first day of the first lunar month, all the ministers followed Zhang Huansheng to sacrifice to the sky and worship the earth, and then dispersed and happily enjoyed the rare five-day rest.

Zhang Huansheng went out of Haiyuan Pass alone, and came to the prosperous Yanhuang Frontier in those big maritime trade cities in Youjunfang City, planning to drink a glass of plum wine, watch the beauty of Hailan, and then calm down, practice a few rounds, and then go to rest.

Unexpectedly, I had just bought a pot of freshly brewed plum wine and walked out of the wine shop, and suddenly I heard a very familiar voice in the noisy market, which I hadn't heard for a long time, faintly came into my ears, "You many people... I can't run away... I said it was my little brother who was... Does the big official understand the big official... Bigger than all your governors there..."

After just listening to these few words, Zhang Huansheng couldn't help but get excited in his heart, looking left and right to find no one to speak, he pricked up his ears in eagerness, and hurried in the direction where the sound came from;

shouted loudly: "Sister White Knife, Sister White Knife, but you, have you come to Zhang Guo..."

After shouting a few times, he was impatient, wanting to identify himself, mobilizing troops and horses to seal the city, and looking carefully, Zhang Huansheng suddenly saw a tall, emaciated figure stumbling towards him.

Because he cried too much, the man couldn't speak clearly in his mouth, and only shouted vaguely, "It's still whining, yes, it's you, you're whining...", but looking at the appearance is exactly the person he thinks in his heart.

"Sister White Knife, how did you come across the ocean to Zhang Guo?" Regardless of the stunned eyes around him, he stepped forward and hugged Qiu Baidao in his arms, Zhang Huansheng asked in surprise.

When the words landed, Qiu Baidao was still choked and unable to answer, but not far away, there were several heads and foreheads wrapped around an unknown number of layers, resulting in a huge pointed round hat shaped cloth, with a jewel in the center of his eyebrows, dark skin, and a bearded alien man rushed over and shouted: "Are you the brother this woman is looking for, if so, you will speak...";

"She said that you are a dignitary in this island country, but it's true, I don't look like it...";

"We are all businessmen, but we have seen many big people in the trade of the four continents of the human race, and we are not afraid of nobles..."...

Seeing that although those people were dressed strangely, they didn't look like people who had nothing to do and did evil deeds, Zhang Huansheng frowned and said, "Don't shout nonsense, and choose someone who understands to slowly tell me about things."

No matter what my sister owes you, it is 100,000 gold beads, and I will pay it back immediately. ”