Chapter 1587: The Son of an Old Friend (Additional New Year’s Eve)

The soldier smiled and said: "That's the truth. The young man is really smart. He will definitely go to the Golden Palace to be called a Jinshi in the future."

Su You secretly laughed in his heart, this young man was already holding a post as a scholar, and that happened to him the year before last.

But it could be regarded as a lesson learned. Su You asked: "The military master is from the Tianxiong New Army? The accent doesn't sound like Hebei, but more like Weizhou, Shaanxi."

The sergeant said: "My name is Wu Xun, nicknamed Ziyi. I am indeed from Weizhou, Shaanxi. I came to Hebei with my parents."

Su You nodded: "My father gave you this name because he admired the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai, Kou Xun. Your father has extraordinary knowledge."

Kou Xun, whose courtesy name is Ziyi, is a famous general under Emperor Guangwu. He is a master of Confucian classics and has noble moral conduct. He has served as a soldier all his life. He is both wise and courageous. He governs the people well and has great prestige. He is dedicated to serving his country and taking the overall situation into consideration.

Keeping business is like Xiao He, and deploying troops is like Han Xin. Seeing that Wu Xun was in his twenties, he was born in the era of the Song Dynasty when culture was emphasized over martial arts, but Father Wu had such insight and hoped that his son could become a figure like Wu Xun. It is indeed an extraordinary experience.

Wu Xun exchanged horses with Maibing, and then he smiled sheepishly and said: "My father is a local hero, but my name was given by my mother."

Su You was very interested: "I know all the people in Weizhou twenty years ago, and your parents may also be my friends."

"Really?" Wu Xun couldn't help but look at Su You curiously: "My father kept this secret, I wonder if you, sir, know it?"

Su You was startled: "He is really the son of an old friend! I wrote a poem for your mother!"

Wu Xun suddenly became furious. He threw his belt to the ground and was about to explode. Su You's personal bodyguard Cheng Yue stepped forward, holding the hilt of his sword, staring at the young man in front of him.

But Wu Xun seemed to suddenly remember something, his anger disappeared, but his face turned pale: "You are... you are..."

Su You patted the Xiangwei rank on Wu Xun's shoulder: "As expected, he is the son of an old friend. You graduated from the Royal Military Academy? Your mother hates war the most. Will she let you join the army? No way, right?"

Wu Xun bowed and saluted: "Wu Xun pays homage to Duke Ming. I am really happy to see him today."

"I'm a naughty person with a military bent. It happened that Tian Duwei was looking for sniper talents in Shaanxi, so I signed up. I didn't have a role to begin with, but..."

"Hahaha..." Su You laughed heartily: "But your talent is so good, God will reward you, right?"

"Tian Yu mentioned it in a letter to me, saying that he discovered a talent in the countryside. He tried his musket for the first time and could hit the eye of a swan from three hundred steps away. However, he never thought it was you who had a future!"

After saying that, he finally realized: "Yes, this is also a family tradition. Your father was a great shooter no less than Wang Wenyu back then. By the way, where are your parents now? Have you added younger siblings to the family?"

Wu Xun said: "Not far away, in Xin'an Town, Feixiang, after the Battle of Huanzhou, Prefect Meng Di took care of him. He said that his younger brother Di Zi was serving in Hebei, so he arranged to come here. It happened that the imperial court was encouraging immigration, and the men of the clan, A total of 1,500 acres of land were rewarded, and my mother used the reward from the court to purchase another 1,500 acres of land. Now the whole family is there, called Wujiazhuang!"

Su You nodded: "Feixiang is on the bank of the Zhang River. It is considered a good place. I have always admired your mother's vision."

Wu Xun said: "It's a pity that it's not during the holiday. Otherwise, I would ask Ming Gong to go to the village and have a look."

Su You smiled and said, "That's a must. Is your father still in good health?"

Wu Xun said: "The people of Hebei are strong and fierce. My father took great advantage of him here. He established a bow and arrow club with several nearby villagers. He taught his children every day and played archery to win the straw. He was always scolded by his mother."

Su You nodded: "Then I have to go and have a look. When I settle down, I will definitely pay a visit."

Wu Xun said happily: "I will write a letter to my mother today to tell her the great news. My two elders are at home and they always talk about Ming Gong."

At this time, Wu Xun's horseshoe had been slapped. Wu Xun paid the money and said to Su You: "Wu Xun still has official duties. He has to go to Liting in a while, so it won't be a good idea to delay it any longer."

"You go, you go." Su You said cheerfully: "Next month, you can also take a leave and accompany me to visit your parents."

Wu Xun paid a military salute to Su You and then got on his horse. The old blacksmith came over to trim the hoofs and shoes of several horses.

The craftsmanship was very neat, using a flat iron knife. Su You admired the old blacksmith's smooth hoof pushing movements while chatting with him: "This knife is made of shoeing, right? The blacksmith shops in Daming Mansion all use

of coking coal?”

The old blacksmith kept his hands in his hands and replied: "Go back to the official, all the shops in our area use Handan coal."

Su You's heart moved, yes, Handan Iron and Steel was also very famous in later generations, but now it is close to Hebei and has been in decline for many years. There was not much development before. The imperial court only set up an iron smelting service in Xingzhou, and the Cizhou Kiln in the south of Handan.

It is considered a traditional porcelain manufacturing base in the north.

It is only 150 miles from Handan to Daming, and there is also the advantage of Zhanghe River water transportation. If this can be established, it will be more convenient than Yunzhou. If a coal and iron base like Yunzhou or Xuzhou can be established, even transportation can be saved.

!

Unable to sit still, he got up and went into the shop to pick out some coal and iron materials. He asked Maibing to go to the street to buy a basket and put it in: "This Shen Cunzhong, how dare you not report such a big thing and carry the iron from Yunzhou

Build a suspension bridge! I want all of this, and the old man will pay for the palm exchange later."

Unexpectedly, the old man was in trouble: "The official has friendship with the military master of Tianxiong Army, so he is not a bad person, but Fang Zheng just came to explain, saying that the new Wang Yunshuai has an order, Taiyuan City is surrounded by fish and dragons, so be careful

The spies of the Liao people are involved in fine iron and coal, and anyone who buys them must be reported. The old craftsman thought...this...it is better to do less than to do more..."

Su You laughed again. Zhang Shangying turned Hebei upside down, cracked the secret spy network, and the court reprimanded and demoted a large number of officials involved. Lao Wang was once bitten by a snake, but he was afraid of the rope in ten years.

But there is no need to embarrass this responsible old man because of this small matter. Su You said: "Yes, it is more appropriate to contact the guild merchants for these matters."

The old craftsman breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you for your consideration."

After he finished speaking, he added: "The shoes used by my Da Song Dynasty are all made of fine steel. Although they are worn out, the remaining bits are still good things. Our shops in Beicheng love to collect them and make them into small ironware, which are also unique in our Daming Mansion.

.”

Maibing took the ironware from his shop and showed it to Su You. Su You took out a slender and curved pocket knife from it. He could turn it by pressing the pick behind the front blade with one hand. The blade was slender and sharp.

There are also burnt blade patterns and inlaid steel wires, which show that the old craftsmen have extremely high processing skills.

The folding knife is made of green oak wood chips as the exterior, and is waxed to reveal the fine and dense wood grain. Although it is a small thing, the craftsman's meticulous care can be seen.

"Beautiful!" Su You admired the craftsmen with this kind of craftsmanship and mentality. In future generations, he would be a proper national-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor. He said: "Old man, how can I sell this fish knife?"

?”

The old craftsman had replaced the horseshoes of Su You's horse and was checking the horse's stance. Hearing this, he looked at Su You with some surprise: "The official is an expert. Ten out of ten people in Hebei can't find this thing."

Correct the name. It’s obviously a thing used by the horse racing gang, but it’s called a fish knife.”

Su You smiled and said: "It is indeed a thing used by the horse racing gang, but it is a thing of the southwestern Yi horse racing gang. Later, the Dun'an army came out of the southwestern Yi and brought this knife to the Western army."

"The soldiers of the Western Army saw that this little thing was easy to use, so it gradually became popular."

"Southwestern Yi people like pickled cabbage, and pickled cabbage has no fishy smell when paired with fish. Therefore, when they go to caravans, they often buy cheap fish and cook it with pickled cabbage."

"This knife was first used to cut open fish. Because it is extremely sharp, it can be used for shaving, trimming nails, and cutting bamboo and rattan. Although it has many uses, the Yi people still call it a fish knife."

The old craftsman was very happy: "So there is a reason for this. Today, the official has solved the old man's doubts. Since the official is an expert, you can take the eight hundred coins."

Su You fiddled with the knife twice: "The craftsmanship of the horse tooth setting and the grinding of the mirror are only worth eight hundred dollars?"

The old craftsman said: "The horse tooth inlay saves 60% of the steel material. The mirror grinder used to be valuable, but now that we have the polishing machine, it is not valuable anymore. It is all made from wheat cakes."

Su You scanned the store and found a hand-cranked wheel fixed on a large wooden table. A wool wheel was locked on the wheel. The outer edges were black, which were traces of polishing paste.
Chapter completed!