Compete for the Song Dynasty

Cai Jing watched Wang Pang finish his lesson and he was still at ease. He followed Wang Pang and said as he walked, "My lord, I just heard someone talking about him. He is the son of an official in Xixia. You are causing trouble for yourself again." .”

Wang Pang also didn't look at Cai Jing. He looked at the various shops on the street. The supplies here are generally not as rich as those in Song State. There are more blacksmith shops. The ones must be well-made; there are even armors for sale on the street.These forging processes are relatively advanced.

Seeing that Wang Pang ignored him, Cai Jing knew that what he said was useless. He pointed and looked around the shops on the street and said, "Young Master, after looking around for a long time, did you find anything concerning?"

Now Wang Pang asked, "What?"

Cai Jing said: "My lord, have you noticed that there are very few medicine shops in the long time we've been walking?" Hearing Cai Jing's reminder, Wang Pang noticed that as Cai Jing said, they only saw one medicine shop in the whole Xingqing Mansion.If this were in Kaifeng, there would be more than a dozen pharmacies on one street. [

Cai Jing continued: "You said that none of the Xixia people are sick? That's not right, then Mr. Li Xili was sick a few days ago. Didn't he take medicine?" Cai Jing had already forgotten about the little trouble caused by the side, and began to talk more.

The two walked near a government office in the center of the city, and saw some notices posted on it, and few people around were looking at it.They went up and saw that some of them had been posted for three to five days, with rewards and government announcements, one of which was about the government opening salt warehouses and putting low-priced salt on the market.

This made Wang Pang a little strange, when they stopped in front of the bulletin board, someone behind them said: "The front is Mr. Wang Pang." Wang Pang turned his head, and it was the shopkeeper He of the blacksmith shop.

Shopkeeper He followed Wang Pang all the way, and when he saw Wang Pang stop to make an announcement, he walked up and clasped his fists to salute: "Just now, thanks to the help of the young master, it may be that it is presumptuous for me to send the knife. If you don't mind He, I would like to invite the young master to drink it." Two cups."

When Wang Pang saw Shopkeeper He, he was dressed like a Han Chinese. His skin was red, his hair and beard were gray, and he was of medium build. But it doesn't seem like a businessman's flattery, especially when the shopkeeper He just stopped his buddies and prevented them and Ji La's entourage from doing anything, his tone was a bit majestic.

Wang Pang asked Cai Jing to go back to the post house first, and he himself was invited by shopkeeper He to find a restaurant, and then found a quiet box to sit down.During the conversation, Wang Pang found out that shopkeeper He's real name is He Xingyuan.

The shop waiter greeted him attentively, and quickly served the food and wine.The two got closer and closer, and the more they drank the wine, the more foolish they became. Wang Pang was able to say that he was good at observing words and expressions, but soon He Xingyuan felt that a thousand cups of wine was too small for a confidant, and slowly told Wang Pang the truth .

It turned out that He Xingyuan's father was from the Song Dynasty, and there was a daughter of the He family in the family, who married Song Taizu and became a queen.After Song Taizu died in the "shadow of candlelight and axe", Song Taizong succeeded to the throne.Song Taizong: Zhao Jiong, whose real name was Zhao Kuangyi, later changed his name to Zhao Guangyi to avoid the taboo of his brother Song Taizu, and changed his name to Jiong after he ascended the throne.After Taizong succeeded to the throne, he did not wait until the second year to change the year name.Zhao Kuangyin's eldest son, Dezhao (30 years old at the time), was forced to kill Zhao Kuangyin, and Zhao Kuangyin's youngest son, Defang (only 26 years old), also died of a mysterious sudden illness.After the death of Taizu's widow, Song Taizong did not follow the queen's etiquette for the funeral.

Empress He's people were squeezed out and suppressed. At that time, some people fled the Song Dynasty, 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 his capital to Xingqing Mansion in Xixia.Speaking of this, He Xingyuan sighed.

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

Wang Pang filled his wine: "Mr. He is so frank, I offer you a toast, if you can trust me, let's talk about it."

At this time, He Xingyuan was already speechless, he said: "This knife is the knife used by Li Chigui to assassinate the queen who did not hide." Wang Pang was startled when he heard it, and the wine glass he was about to drink just stopped halfway .

He Xingyuan's face was flushed, he smiled, obviously he was not strong enough to drink today, he looked at the knife with deep eyes and continued: "I used to be a bit of an official, but seeing the civil strife in Xixia, I found a reason to resign and work incognito. Make a living."

When Wang Bang saw that he talked about his ancestors, he also talked about knives, and said that he kept his name incognito. He was afraid that he drank a lot and his language was a little confused, but He Xingyuan continued: "You know, after the Xingqing Mansion was built, these batches People were ordered to build the imperial mausoleum."

Seeing him continue talking, the king did not interrupt him.He drank the wine slowly, thinking about the connection between them. "The last time I saw my father before I resigned, he sneaked out. It was the time when Empress Wuzang was buried. He told me to leave Xixia if I had the chance. After Li Liangzuo ascended the throne, he would definitely kill the family. I'm afraid there will be civil strife in Xixia. But I will only do this blacksmith business, and if I leave Xixia and return to Song Dynasty, I won't have a foothold."

Wang Pang knew that what He Xingyuan said had no place to stand, probably because he was afraid that his family law would go back to the Song Dynasty, and another reason was that the Song Dynasty's arms control made it difficult to engage in the business of selling knives and guns.

"I don't understand this. How could this knife fall into He Gong's hands." Wang Pang asked in bewilderment

"Do you know that the people who built the imperial mausoleum will be buried with the royal secrets that cannot be revealed. Some people will arrange family affairs in advance, and this knife is also buried with them. The empress did not die of vendetta, she was poisoned. Die, hold this knife tightly in your hand when you die."

"When the imperial mausoleum is built to the most critical position, those responsible for the construction will leave a way for themselves. Some family members will be appeased. My father will be responsible for this. But in the end, my father can't leave the imperial mausoleum. The last time I saw him , He just appeased the families of these people and gave some gold and silver to make a living. My father left me this knife, and he always felt that there was something wrong with it. As for how he got it, I don’t know.”[

Wang Pang picked up the knife and looked at it, and He Xingyuan chuckled: "This knife is nothing, maybe the queen was too uncomfortable to be poisoned at that time, maybe I want to kill myself."

Wang Bang thought to himself, this is thrilling and strange, is it like the knife in Yitian Tulongji, is there any secret hidden?Presumably, an ancient like He Xingyuan might not have thought of hiding such a thing in the sword.However, Wang Pang also wanted to complain about Jin Daxia. From the perspective of the forging process, when the knife that has been tempered and hammered is hot, everything will burn out.Maybe what He Xingyuan said is right, this matter is not important, what is important is: He Xingyuan does not want to sell this knife to Xixia people again, so as not to cause more trouble.

Wang Pang saw that He Xingyuan was drinking in full swing, his face was already red, and his eyes were slightly blurred. He feared that he would drink too much, so he said: "I am lucky today, Mr. Meng He trusts me so much, I don't know how I can help."

He Xingyuan smiled and said: "At my age, I don't ask for anything, I just want to live a peaceful life. Recently, I want to close this shop and go back to the Central Plains. My dog ​​He Zhu has also reached the age of schooling. I have heard of your son's name for a long time. I didn't expect to have a fate today. Let’s meet. I also heard that Prince Wang is employing people, so I don’t know if I can follow him because of my ability to discern stones.”

When Wang Pang heard this, his heart was moved. The ability to distinguish stones is not ordinary. People often say that steel can be made by hardening, but not all iron can be made into steel. , sometimes it is inconvenient to transport stones. Xixia people found good stones in the Song Dynasty, and often cast them on the spot, and then returned to Xixia for processing.Wang Pang has heard of these, but he is also a layman. Seeing that He Xingyuan is a loyal person and a descendant of the Song Dynasty, Wang Pang is of course willing.

Wang Pang hurriedly saluted: "Thank you, shopkeeper He, for your help. I'm afraid I won't be able to invite the shopkeeper, but I don't know when I will be able to leave for the Song Dynasty in my next trip. If there is a mistake, I may delay the shopkeeper."

He Xingyuan said: "What did the young master say? Anyway, I plan to close the shop and go back to the Song Dynasty. Since the young master is willing to take him in, I will go back to open the shop and follow the young master with my dog."

Seeing him, Wang Bang only said that the father and son couldn't help asking: "Isn't Mrs. He the shopkeeper doing it differently?"

He Xingyuan smiled sadly: "This country of Xia doesn't believe in medicine. If you get sick, you rely on divination and witchcraft. My wife died early, and now the dog is seven or eight years old. Those who can go to college in the country of Xia are descendants of Han officials. The child can't go to school, I don't want him to learn this skill from me. It's also the reason why I want to learn Song Kingdom."

Wang Pang remembered that there were almost no pharmacies on the road, and he understood that what He Xingyuan said was true, and it would be good to have more helpers.Besides, He Xingyuan knows the customs of Xixia very well, and he just needs such a person around him. Seeing that the wine is almost drunk, Wang Pang said: "I won't drink wine today. After we return to the Song Dynasty, I will invite shopkeeper He to drink it well." After finishing his order Xiaoer serves a pot of good tea.

It is said to be good tea, but its quality is also very average. Wang Pang chatted with shopkeeper He about tea and learned that Xixia does not produce tea, but because the meals of Xixia people are all meat, tea is a must, so tea is not only expensive , and often not available.Some people go to Sichuan and Sichuan to buy tea or use Ma Yi tea.

Song Renzong also told Wang Pang about this at the beginning, and he also reminded Wang Pang that if the tea is made well, he can go to Yima, but the land of Guanshan can be traded, and the tea transport from Jianzhou to Xiaguo requires a long journey. too far away.Hearing about the land of Sichuan and Shu, Wang Pang suddenly thought of the Ancient Tea Horse Road.

The so-called Ancient Tea Horse Road is actually an authentic caravan road.On the ancient road are thousands of hard-working caravans, day after day, year after year, in the difficult journey of eating and sleeping in the wind, breaking the tranquility of thousands of years of mountains, forests and deep valleys with the sound of bells and running horseshoes, opening up An economic and trade road leading to the outside world.

As for Wang Pang, with the two resources of one mine and one tea, Yi Xixia had a turmoil in buying knives, but he got He Xingyuan's helper, which was very rewarding.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 Man Baa's men next to the king. Seeing drinking in the restaurant next to the king, he followed Cai Jing to Guanyi, found out about the origins of the two, and went back to report to Master Man.After listening to Master Man, he also heard that the Prime Minister Liang Yibu had invited Wang Pang, but Wang Pang ignored the matter, and decided to meet Wang Pang for a while before the Prime Minister.