Liu Zongmin has a wooden temperament, is not good at words, and has always been a taciturn and boring little blacksmith.

And Gao Jie deliberately made friends because of his fame, plus Li Hongji and Li Guo are both pure people in their hearts, and they have no contempt for Liu Zongmin.

Liu Zongmin communicated with his peers for the first time, it felt very fresh, and Gao Jie and others spoke easily, so that he felt no pressure, in a short period of time, his vigilance gradually disappeared, and his closed mind slowly opened, and there was a smile on his iron-like face, and there were many more words than usual. It's just that because he has never read a book, he is not very eloquent, and his expression skills are quite insufficient, and he can't understand a thing for a long time.

Fortunately, Sanxiao even guessed, but slowly learned a little about his life experience.

Liu Zongmin's parents are both ordinary farmers in Lantian, who rented a few acres of official land and worked hard to make ends meet. However, when Liu Zongmin was four or five years old, due to a natural disaster, the crops were poorly harvested, and his father was forced to pay taxes by the government and hanged himself. His mother, Han, became a beggar and took Liu Zongmin around begging for food. Soon after, his mother died of cold and starvation, and poor Liu Zongmin was adopted by his kind uncle Han Qing. This unfortunate encounter made him hate the government and the powerful from a young age.

Liu Zongmin's uncle Han Qing is just a poor farmer, and the family has a lot of people, and the family has lived a difficult life in the years since adopting his nephew. Although Han Qing thought of the love between brother and sister and was very good to Liu Zongmin, his aunt and other people in the family did not treat him very well, so he had some inferiority complex and autism since he was a child.

When he was twelve or thirteen years old, Hu Dawei, a native of Henan, came to Lantian to open a blacksmith shop and recruit apprentices as helpers. Liu Zongmin, who has always been quiet and cowardly, insisted on leaving his uncle's house this time, and Han Qing had no choice but to take him to blacksmith Hu Dawei as a teacher to learn the art of wrought iron. Since then, Liu Zongmin has been working as a child laborer to support himself.

He has experienced hardships, has a strong will, works hard and sells mechanics, and has won the respect of his master, and Hu Dawei has taught various forging skills over the years. After years of hard work, the sixteen-year-old Liu Zongmin also became a blacksmith with extraordinary skills.

In the past year or so, the business of Lantian wrought iron has been bleak, and the life of the master and apprentice has become more and more difficult. At the beginning of the year, Hu Dawei met an old friend from Henan in Lantian, who was now making a living in Li Jiqian's village, and saw that their blacksmith shop was unsustainable, so he suggested that they go to Li Jiqian's village to open an ironsmith shop and give it a try.

After hesitating for a few months, Hu Dawei finally made up his mind, so he took Liu Zongmin to pack up his guys and rush to Li Jiqian's village.

After learning about Liu Zongmin's life experience, Sanxiao sighed, and became more and more fond of this lonely but self-improving little friend, and Liu Zongmin gradually had a feeling of hating Gao Jie Sanxiao.

The four teenagers sat together, chatting happily, and laughing happily from time to time, which made Li Shouzhong and Chen Dawei look sideways, and Hu Dawei was so happy and happy when he saw his beloved disciple for the first time, and his heart was also very happy.

After a short break, Li Shouzhong and his party began to rush again. Because Sanxiao and Liu Zongmin were already familiar with each other, they were quite close to each other, so they invited them to go together.

So the blacksmith Hu Dawei drove his old horse, drove behind the Li family's horse team, and slowly went to Li Jiqian's village.

As the sun sets in the west and the sun sets, a small but majestic castle slowly appears in everyone's eyes.

Li Jiqian Village is located in the mountain col, surrounded by high walls made of long city bricks, and there is only one mountain road that can be accessed from the gate tower of the walled gatehouse. There is no big difference between the village in the castle and the ordinary villages in northern Shaanxi, the village is located between the mountains, the earth dam seals the ditch, and the sunny hillside, the cave is uneven, and the trees are shaded.

Li Jiqian, a native of Yinzhou (now south of Yulin County, Shaanxi Province), was a native of the Pingxia tribe of the Dangxiang clan. He was the son of Li Guangyan, the defense envoy of Yinzhou in the Sui Dynasty. The ancestor's original surname was Tuoba, and Tang Zhenguan returned to Tang at the beginning and was given the surname Li.

In the history of the Song Dynasty, "In the fourth year of Jianlong (960 AD), Li Jiqian was born in Wudinghe, Yinzhou, and was born with teeth. When he was young, he was brave and decisive, "good at riding and shooting, and he was famous for his wisdom". At the age of twelve, he served as the envoy of the military management of Dingyan.

In the seventh year of the Taiping Rejuvenation (982 AD), he and his brother Li Jichong, his cronies Zhang Pu and others went to Jinze (now southwest of Yijin Huoluo Banner in Inner Mongolia) to organize and lead the various tribes of the Dangxiang clan to rebel against the Song Dynasty.

In February of the second year of Yongxi (985 AD), Li Jiqian sent an envoy to Yinzhou, and pretended to make an appointment with Cao Guang, the inspector of the Song capital. Cao Guangshi believed that it was true, and when the agreed deadline came, Li Jiqian ambushed his troops in Jialuchuan (now northwest of Jiaxian County, Shaanxi), booby-trapped Cao Guangshi and others, faked his banner, and attacked Yinzhou. In the third year (986 AD), Li Jiqian attached himself to the Khitan, and was appointed as the envoy of the difficult army and the governor of the military of Xiazhou. In the first year of Chunhua (990 AD), the Khitan Feng Li moved to become the king of Xia.

In July of the second year, Li Jiqian returned to the Song Dynasty, awarded the Yinzhou Observer Envoy, and gave the name Zhao Baoji. Soon it attached to the Khitan and joined the Khitan army, attacking the northwest border of the Song Dynasty many times. In December of the third year, Li Jiqian returned to the Song Dynasty again, and granted the Xiazhou Assassin History, the Dingyan Army Festival Envoy, and governed the five prefectures of Xia, Yin, Sui, You, and Jing.

In March of the sixth year of Xianping (1003 AD), Li Jiqian captured Lingzhou of the Song Dynasty, renamed it Xiping Mansion, set up official positions, and reorganized the army, laying the foundation for the later founding of the Western Xia.

At the beginning of the sixth year, the Song Dynasty sent envoys to negotiate peace, and cut the five states of Yin, Xia (now northwest of Hengshan, Shaanxi) and moved with Li Jiqian. In December, Li Jiqian attacked Xiliangfu (now Wuwei, Gansu), and the Tubo army made a surprise attack, and Li Jiqian fled with an arrow. In the first month of the following year, he died of injuries at the age of 42.

Li Jiqian, a powerful generation of heroes, skillfully maneuvered in the gap between the Song and Liao, supported the army and became self-reliant, gradually became stronger, and became the founder of the Western Xia Dynasty. This Li Jiqian, who created the 190-year history of Western Xia, is undoubtedly the pride of the Dangxiang clan. The place where he was stationed in Mizhi County was called Li Jiqianzhai by people, which shows how much people respect him.

Who would have thought that more than 600 years later, an even more shocking peerless hero Li Zicheng was born here!

Looking at this famous Li Jiqian Village, Gao Jie couldn't help but feel excited and admired.

Li Jiqian's walled city was well defended, but there was no one stationed at the gatehouse at the entrance to check, and the entry and exit were very free. In addition to the children of the Li family, half of the people in the village are people with foreign surnames, and there are about 1,000 people in the entire village.

Li Shouzhong has been drifting for many years, and when he returns to his hometown, his mood is naturally very complicated.

The familiar scenery in front of him has not changed much, but things are not people, and there are not many people in the village who still know and remember him, an immortal talent who was amazing for a while.

Li Shouzhong slowly adjusted his mentality, took the lead, and led everyone to the southeast of the village. And there is the center of Li Jiqian's village and the place where the patriarch of the Li family lives.

When he first entered the village, blacksmith Hu Dawei said goodbye to Li Shouzhong and his party and went to his fellow villagers in Henan.

Liu Zongmin had no choice but to reluctantly say goodbye to Sanxiao, and Gao Jie Sanxiao agreed with him that he would go to meet him after settling down.

When passing through the central area of the village, Gao Jie saw three high platforms built of blue bricks, in the shape of a pinzigzag, all of which are about one zhang high, hexagonal shape, and the area of each high platform is more than three zhang, which is very eye-catching. Listening to Li Shouzhong's introduction, this is the Li family's ten-year big competition.

The streets in the village are all paved with green bricks, which can be passed side by side by four horses, and the shops on both sides of the street are scattered, and the goods bought and sold are very complete, and the whole village seems to be much more prosperous and lively than Changliangwan Village.

Soon, Li Shouzhong and his horse team came to a rather large courtyard complex, the front half of which was a brick and stone structure, with about seven or eight courtyards, and the back was a traditional cave-style courtyard. The entire courtyard group is composed of more than 20 large and small courtyards.

On both sides of the gate, two stone statues are separated, mighty and majestic, the image is strange, Gao Jie identified it for a long time, and he didn't see which way the gods were.

There were two Tsing Yi guards with knives at the door, and when they saw Li Shouzhong and others coming, they were about to come forward to ask, but two young men and women came out of the open door.

When the two guards saw the two of them, they hurriedly bowed down to say hello.

The man in front was about twenty years old, with deep sunken eyes, high cheekbones, bright eyes, a burly and majestic figure, and a blue samurai uniform, looking heroic and extraordinary.

I saw him in a hurry, as if he was in a hurry to go out, but he was dragged by a green-clothed girl behind him and refused to let go.

The young man looked back at the girl, and said helplessly: "Jina, please stop messing around, okay?

The green-clothed girl snorted in her nose, grabbed the young man's shirt tighter, and said coquettishly: "I don't believe it, you must have gone to Li Jie and them to compete again, don't try to lie to me! Anyway, I will rely on you and you today, you must take me there!"

When everyone saw the girl, their eyes couldn't help but light up.

She is about sixteen or seventeen years old, and her appearance is quite similar to that young man, under the slender sideburns, her deep eyes are like a pool of autumn water, the bridge of her nose is high, she is tall, fat and thin, and she is born with a beautiful embryo. Dressed in a samurai uniform with emerald green and golden edges, but with a heroic bun full of masculinity on his head, and a plain yellow samurai scarf, he was not only heroic, but also beautiful, with a hint of exotic style.

While the two were entangled, the young man suddenly found Li Shouzhong and his team, felt a little embarrassed, hurriedly stepped forward, and politely clasped his fists and saluted: "May I ask if you guests are going to my patriarch's mansion for something?"

Everyone dismounted at this time, Li Shouzhong smiled, stepped forward and saluted back: "In Xia Li Shouzhong, from Changliang Bay, I have something to come to visit the patriarch!"

Before the young man could reply, the girl's eyes lit up, and she preemptively asked, "You are also surnamed Li, are you not from our Li family?

The young man listened to Li Shouzhong's words, was stunned, as if he suddenly remembered something, hurriedly scolded the girl, and bowed to Li Shouzhong with surprise and said: "It turns out that the thirteenth grandfather has arrived, and the nephew Li Zihan is polite!"

Li Shouzhong thought for a while, and suddenly said: "It turns out that you are the eldest grandson of the old patriarch, Han!

Li Zihan smiled and said: "Grandpa Thirteen has won the prize! This is the sister Jina, who is naughty and willful, and does not understand the rules, please forgive Grandpa Thirteen! Jina, don't come and see Grandpa Thirteen soon!"

The girl in green was looking at everyone curiously, and a pair of beautiful eyes were turning back and forth on the three small faces, and Li Hongji and Li Guoer looked down sideways, not daring to look directly. When she heard her eldest brother speak, she blinked her big beautiful eyes, let go of the little hand that was holding Li Zihan's clothes, stepped forward and saluted Li Shouzhong: "Li Jina has seen the thirteenth grandfather!"

Li Shouzhong showed admiration on his face, and naturally praised Li Jina again.

Li Zihan hurriedly called the guards and others to take care of their horses and vehicles, and led Li Shouzhong and others into the main hall of the courtyard.

Li Shoucheng, the old patriarch of Li Jiqianzhai, is Li Shouzhong's cousin and is the eldest among all cousins. And Li Shouzhong was ranked thirteenth at the time, so Li Zihan called him the thirteenth grandfather.

A few years ago, due to old age and illness, Li Shoucheng passed the position of patriarch to his eldest son Li Hongming, who is the current patriarch of the Li family in Li Jiqianzhai.

Li Zihan is Li Hongming's eldest son and the heir to the next patriarch, so he knows a lot about the personnel in the clan and has heard of Li Shouzhong's name. And Li Jina is Li Hongming's third-ranked youngest daughter, who is regarded as a pearl in her palm on weekdays, and has been spoiled since she was a child. Although she saluted and called her grandfather, she didn't know who it was, and her wonderful eyes were wandering, and she was very curious about everyone.

Li Zihan was polite and moderate, and first arranged for his subordinates to serve tea to everyone, and then went to the backyard to inform his father and grandfather.

After walking for several hours along the way, Gao Jie's riding skills have grown quite fast, but after all, it is the first time to ride a horse, and at this moment he feels the pain of being sharpened by the saddle between the two strands, and his internal organs are also bumped, which is very uncomfortable, and it is not much better than motion sickness and seasickness in his previous life. He saw that there were many chairs in the living room, so he immediately found a seat at the bottom and sat down.

That Li Jina stood in front of the hall prettyly, and did not sit down, a pair of beautiful eyes turned around on Sanxiao's body, and finally fixed on Gao Jie, and suddenly asked crisply: "Do you also have the surname Li? You look younger than me, don't you? Why don't you look like our Li family at all? Look at your thin skin and tender meat, you look handsome, just like our girl's family!"

Gao Jie just took a sip of tea at this moment, and when he heard this, he almost squirted out the hot tea.