The Road to the Imperial Examinations of Farmers in Ancient Times

The carriage stopped in front of a house, got out of the carriage, Li Wen looked at the man beside him, and asked the man with his eyes: What exactly are you bringing me here for?Is it time to tell me now.

With a slight smile on the corner of Zhao Xiangyi's mouth, he returned the boy's peaceful eyes.

Well, since he has come here anyway, Li Wen is not in a hurry anymore.

At this time, a man with the appearance of a housekeeper came out from the house, and saluted Zhao Xiangyi, "I have met Master Zhao." Seeing the young man brought by Master Zhao, the housekeeper asked, "Excuse me, who is this one? "

"This one is Master Li Wen." Zhao Xiangyi said.

"Oh, so it's Mr. Li. I'm so young that I don't know Taishan, please forgive me." The housekeeper is no stranger to this name, but it's the first time I've seen him, so it's not surprising that I don't know him.

Li Wen smiled slightly.

Zhao Xiangyi asked, "Master Jiang is inside?"

"Yes, yes, our master is at the back of the house." The housekeeper made a gesture of invitation, hurriedly invited people inside, and said, "Master Zhao, Lord Li, please come inside."

Zhao Xiangyi turned his head and glanced at the young man beside him, and said, "Let's go in."

Li Wen nodded and followed Zhao Xiangyi. The two of them followed the butler who led the way and walked into the house.

They met no one on the way in.

Walking to the depths of the house, Li Wen knew what was going on there when he heard the sound of "Yang Yu Yi" hammering iron.A flash of light flashed through his mind, Li Wen thought of a possibility, he turned his head and looked at the man beside him, could it be what he thought?

His young man is so smart, he must have guessed it, Zhao Xiangyi nodded, confirmed Li Wen's guess, and said, "Didn't you tell me last time that there is a kind of burning stone? I sent someone to find it. I'm busy, I forgot to tell you about this, just come here today to pick up the sword, and bring you over to have a look."

Burning stones!

Did you find coal?

Li Wen really forgot about such a thing. He didn't expect that after so long, Zhao Xiangyi said that someone had found it.He remembered that the last time Zhao Xiangyi competed with the Hu people, the saber on his body was cut off, so Zhao Xiangyi sent the saber back for repair?I came here today to pick up the sword, and brought him over to have a look, and he finally understood.

"Please come in."

"My lords, please wait a moment. I'll go and ask our master to come out." The steward left them standing there waiting, and went in to tell his master, "Master, Master Zhao and Master Li are here."

"Haha..." Before I saw anyone, I heard a burst of hearty laughter.

A big man with shirtless arms and a half-white beard came out from the inside, walking vigorously with his feet. This man must be the owner of this house.

Zhao Xiangyi is an acquaintance with the owner of this house, he cupped his hands and said, "Master Jiang."

"Little General Zhao." Master Jiang bowed his hands to Zhao Xiangyi, and looked at the young man who was with Zhao Xiangyi, with doubts in his eyes, as if he was asking who this person was.Zhao Xiangyi said, "Master Jiang, this is Master Li Liuyuan. Master Jiang is not curious about how I know this special stone? It was Master Li who told me that I sent someone to look for it."

"Haha, it turned out to be Li Liuyuan. Scholars are really different. They know everything." Master Jiang said that using this kind of flammable stone to make weapons, the temperature of the fire is higher than that of ordinary firewood, and the swords made It is sharper and stronger. When it comes to making weapons, Master Jiang has endless words.

But he didn't forget that Zhao Xiangyi came to get the sword, and asked the housekeeper who was following him to get the repaired sword, "Go and get the sword I repaired."

"Yes, master, let's go now, little one."

After a while, the housekeeper who went in came out holding a sword, and handed the sword over to their master^

Master Jiang took the sword and pulled it out of the scabbard. A cold light flashed from the long sword that had been re-stretched inside. He nodded in satisfaction. Master Jiang inserted the sword back, threw it to Zhao Xiangyi, and said, "This is the sword you sent. , I have repaired it, try it, this sword is two inches longer than your original sword, and it is heavier..."

In fact, repairing a sword is more difficult than rebuilding a sword. After all, when a sword is originally built, its length, size, reset, etc. have already been considered the most appropriate. The master and the weapon are completely integrated.

Despite such a small change, for a master who is used to this saber, this change is still very big.

Restoring a weapon is tantamount to giving the weapon a new life, and it must be difficult to achieve the same as before.

Same.The owner of the weapon will have to get used to and familiarize himself with this saber in the future. For a warrior, the weight of the sword in his hand is different even if it is a little lighter or a little heavier.Master Jiang knows all these things, "Try it, see if you can get used to it, and see if there is any problem."

Zhao Xiangyi took the long sword and pulled it out of the scabbard. Looking carefully, he couldn't see that the sword had been broken at all. He could feel that the restored long sword was stronger than his previous one. better.He held the handle of the sword and swung it twice. Although he felt that it was a little different from the previous sword and he was a little unaccustomed to it, but he should be able to get used to it in the future. "Very good, thank you, Master Jiang."

"Hey, whatever you say, as long as you are satisfied, you can take it back and use it." Hearing that the owner of the sword said he was satisfied, Master Jiang was happier than picking up gold on the road.

Master Jiang is a well-known master in the capital. Many people want to ask him to make weapons, but he doesn't necessarily give him face.

However, Zhao Xiangyi knew Master Jiang many years ago, and it was Master Jiang who made his sword. When he came back to find Master Jiang to restore it, it was just a matter of saying a word.It happened that the people he sent out found the flammable stone that Li Wen said, and he sent the stone and the broken sword together.

Get the repaired sword and they should go.

Li Wen, who had been silent all this time, asked, "Master Jiang, can we go inside and have a look?" What he asked was if it was possible to go to other people's work places to have a look. He went to see where he was working, so out of politeness, he had to ask the owner's permission before he could enter.

"Okay, of course."

Master Jiang led people inside. The temperature inside was very high. There was a big stove inside, and there were various tools beside it. Master Jiang even showed Li Liuyuan the unfinished iron.

Every weapon has to be tempered by a blacksmith before it can become a weapon.Every forged weapon is just an attractive weapon until the owner is found. Only when the owner is found can the weapon be endowed with a soul.

Master Jiang is a craftsman who is obsessed with making weapons, and he has the spirit of a craftsman.

Seeing Master Jiang forging iron with his own eyes, and seeing the coal burning in the stove, Li Wen touched his chin, and he had some thoughts in his heart. It's not that he hadn't thought about this before, but he didn't find coal before, so the thought in his heart It ran aground.But now that we have found coal, we can think about it.

When Zhao Xiangyi saw the boy beside him touching his chin, he knew he was thinking about something.

——What are you thinking?

Li Wen gave the man a look back: "Go back and tell you."

After the visit, they should go too.

After saying goodbye to Master Jiang, Zhao Xiangyi took Li Wen into the carriage and left.

Sitting in the carriage, Li Wen asked, "Where did you ask someone to find this... stone?"

Zhao Xiangyi said the place.

The carriage returned to the city. At this time, there were not so many pedestrians and horses on the street.

The carriage passed by the street, and the two went to [Kezhi] for dinner. Li Wen talked to Zhao Xiangyi about his thoughts and listened to Zhao Xiangyi's suggestions.

The two of them will discuss everything with each other in private, which is a kind of trust they have in each other.

Li Wen talked to Zhao Xiangyi about his troubles in the Ministry of Accounting. He knew that the Ministry of Accounting was not his final destination. As for what department he would go to later, he did not know, but he was sure it would not be the Ministry of Accounting. He sighed With a bang, he said, "Now that I am in the Ministry of Household Affairs, I really miss the Imperial Academy a little bit."

Looking back now, the days in the Hanlin Academy were the most relaxed and happy, and there were no such troubles and troubles

"Do you want to go back to the Imperial Academy?" Zhao Xiangyi asked.His eyes said, if you want to go back to the Hanlin Academy, it is not impossible for him to help you.

"...Of course not." Li Wen pulled his hair in annoyance. He didn't want to go back to the Imperial Academy. He didn't know where he wanted to go, but it was definitely not the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Imperial Academy, or any of the household departments. a department.

Zhao Xiangyi quickly grabbed the young man's hand, couldn't help laughing and said, "It hurts, don't pull out your hair."

Li asked, "..."

It wasn't too long before he arrived at the household department.Generally speaking, it takes at least three to five years for an official to have a chance to be promoted in a position, so he wants to be transferred from the household department. Go to another place, otherwise he will stay in the household department for a long time

With his current qualifications, he will definitely not be able to take the position of Minister of the Household Department. No matter who takes the position of Minister of the Household Department, he wants to get the approval of his boss under the circumstances that he has removed the previous Minister of the Household Department. trust and reuse

It's all hard.It is one thing for the emperor to reuse him. Usually, he must go through the hands of a superior in everything he does, but he has already experienced the feeling of doing things under a superior who does not like and trust him. Great experience.

Besides, now that he is in this embarrassing position, Li Wen still wants to change it.

"No matter what you want to do, I will support you. You just need to remember that I will always stand behind you. Just let go and do it." After listening to the young man's words, Zhao Xiangyi naturally could see the young man's troubles, he said , "As long as what you do is beneficial to Dacheng, the prince will definitely support you."

It's true, he has several backers behind him, and he has a smart brain, he just finds a way to solve things, and thinking too much is asking for trouble.Once he thought about it, Li Wen felt relaxed, picked up the fruit wine on the table, and said to Zhao Xiangyi, "Come on, have a drink."

Zhao Xiangyi picked up the wine glass and touched the boy...