31 Exploding Gold Coins
◎Liu Che: Ah Yan, please give me some gold coins for your uncle!◎
At the beginning of the second year of Yuanguang, "Han Qingnian" was launched. Its interesting content and illustrations immediately attracted enthusiastic pursuit from the scholars in Chang'an City. Many people even took the inaugural words as their motto and placed them on their desks or beds.
The smooth paper and special typesetting, printing and binding are even more talked about.
Now, the Confucian school that had just been regarded as orthodox became anxious. Half a month after its publication, Dong Zhongshu and his disciples dropped a big bombshell, planning to launch a new Confucian journal to compete with the scientific school.
As the nominal leader of Confucianism at that time, his statement naturally inspired people.
Of course, this also means that the scientific school is beginning to emerge.
Huo Yan had to resort to extreme tactics, beginning to publicize his experimental inventions. He even opened a shop in East Market, serving as a base for his scientific faction. He sent letters to all contributors, hoping to organize a science exhibition showcasing his handmade scientific inventions and their principles, from crystal telescopes and bamboo tubes to his freshly produced paper.
He was even prepared to introduce his newly designed rotating hot pot table to the guests attending the conference.
He was on high alert, thinking of having a party, taking a stack of papers, asking those people to leave their articles, and then writing a book to compete with Dong Zhongshu. He never expected that the next day after Dong Zhongshu released the news, he would personally visit the toy house, or visit the owner behind the toy house who promoted the rise of science and threatened the orthodox status and ideological unity of Confucianism.
Unfortunately, Dong Zhongshu had a good idea. It turned out that the toy shop was open on the day he arrived. Not only could he not see Huo Yan who was studying blast furnace steelmaking near the horse farm, but he couldn't even step into the door because there were too many people.
He squeezed in the crowd for a long time before he barely found Shi Ye, who was greeting customers. After introducing himself, he met the manager on the third floor of another shop.
The steward had been busy reconciling the accounts and distributing the war funds to Liu Che according to Huo Yan's request. But upon seeing him, he put down his bound paper account book, rubbed his hands, and asked Shi Ye to serve tea and snacks to Dong Zhongshu. He said with a smile, "Mr. Dong, your visit is truly a great honor to our small shop."
He had been dealing with those nobles for a long time, and with Huo Yan's guidance, he had already become a veteran. His attitude towards Dong Zhongshu was not fawning, but just the right amount of attentiveness.
"My Lord often tells me that Mr. Dong remains as elegant and graceful as ever after so many years."
Don't hit a smiling person. Dong Zhongshu, who was squeezed and looked embarrassed, couldn't help but relax his expression.
"I have seen your pages, and I find them quite interesting. The paper and binding are especially good."
The steward understood that this was a business opportunity. Just as Huo Yan usually asked him to sell the newly produced flowered paper to the ladies, he raised his hands and placed about five or six pieces of white paper in his palms. "The master said that Mr. Dong has a wonderful handwriting. This paper is blessed to have been with Mr. Dong."
Dong Zhongshu took it, untied the purse containing the five-zhu coins he was carrying, and pushed it in front of him.
He knew that this paper was a rare item.
The incense and gold-woven paper used by the wealthy families to entertain guests are now priceless.
So how could he take it for nothing?
The steward returned the purse with a smile and said, "Mr. Dong, please don't embarrass me. The master has instructed that the paper we give you won't be charged. We just hope that you will be happy with your writing and that your works will be good, and that you will say good things about our paper."
Knowing that they wanted to borrow his reputation, Dong Zhongshu felt amused, but his brows relaxed. He took the paper and kept stroking the smooth surface with his hands.
"How much would it cost to typeset the newly published 300 copies of 'Ru Feng' like your 'Han Qingnian'?"
The manager was grinning inwardly, but he pretended to be embarrassed and held up three fingers awkwardly.
Dong Zhongshu asked, "Thirty gold?"
The steward shook his head and used the trick Huo Yan had taught him. "One book costs three gold coins, totaling nine hundred gold coins. I'll give you a 20% discount, totaling seven hundred and twenty gold coins. Are you paying in cash?"
Dong Zhongshu still wanted to bargain.
The manager's face suddenly wrinkled, and he saw tears in the corners of his eyes.
"Mr. Dong, to be honest, our layout has to be manually adjusted bit by bit, and hundreds of people are eager to help. If we give you this paper for free and give you a 20% discount on this order, we will lose money. If it weren't for the fact that our master really admires you, how could I dare to give you this price?" He wiped his eyes, "If it weren't for this small room to support us, our master would have to pawn his clothes."
Dong Zhongshu, who had received a package of prepared pancakes and agreed to pay 720 gold the next day, felt as if he had seen Huo Yan. Finally, he looked at the card box of the First Merchant, which Liu Che had personally bestowed upon him. After a moment of silence, he said, "Could it be that Ah Yan is the norm?"
We don’t know whether Huo Yan is the ultimate version of the world.
But because he was being talked about, he sneezed three times in the cold wind of early spring, which successfully attracted the fox fur that Huo Qubing had people add to him. He was wrapped up like a ball and couldn't even move his legs.
Huo Yan wanted to refuse, but was directly suppressed by Huo Qubing. After all, there is a kind of coldness called thinking that your brother who is about to ride a horse thinks you are cold.
Huo Yan, drawing a blueprint for a blast furnace, directed his men to mix clay powder with a small amount of water, then blend it into a plastic mud. To strengthen the mud's structure, plant fibers like straw and wheat husks were added, and the mud was then pulled into air-dried bricks, which were then filled into the pit.
Everyone around me was shoveling coal with their bare chests to keep the temperature in the cellar at one thousand degrees.
Huo Yan, who was wearing so many clothes, felt hot and dry in the mouth. His face flushed red, his voice was hoarse, and his forehead was covered with sweat. "Brother, if you don't take off your clothes, you will have no brother."
Huo Qubing was originally staring at the fire in a trance, and he cried out when he heard it. He didn't quite know how to untie Huo Yan's twisted belt, and was afraid that his younger brother, who was as delicate as a flower, would really die. So he tore it violently, leaving Huo Yan with only his inner clothes. Then he glanced at his brother's body, and saw the ugly embroidered thing on it. He turned his head silently, revealing his little white teeth.
"You know what, the puppy my mother embroidered is so lifelike, it even sticks out its tongue."
Huo Yan even wanted to kill someone.
"I've told you eight hundred times, it's a tiger!"
He gritted his teeth and said in a plaintive tone, "You and your uncles weren't wearing any clothes, and you ran away so fast, so Mother only caught me! With her temper, when she gets excited, all my underwear is in such a mess!"
Huo Qubing laughed out loud.
"Aren't you still worried that Mom will stop loving us if she has a new child like Auntie did? Isn't now the perfect time?"
Huo Yan threw a piece of mud at his legs and muttered, "Oh no! I'm worried, but Mother still wants to integrate into the Chen family. She wants to have a new child and then gain a firm foothold. So it's not wrong for Aunt to love Jingsheng. The others have grown up and have also drifted. There's always a give and take."
And we will always be abandoned, just like my aunt's previous children who could only make a living with other uncles.
He was both rational and sad, and then he was kicked in the butt by Huo Qubing.
The eight-year-old Huo Qubing had slightly narrowed almond-shaped eyes, green hair and red lips. He kept raising his leg to kick him, looking straight at him with eyes as bright as torches.
"You're right."
Huo Yan rubbed his butt, "I'm right, why are you kicking me!"
Huo Qubing smiled and said, "Because I don't like to hear Ah Yan's discouraging words, I want to interrupt you."
Huo Yan sneered and kicked back.
"I don't like it when my brother doesn't comfort me when I'm down! It's my fault, brother, so I'm going to deduct your pocket money."
Huo Qubing put his outer clothes on him and said to him, "You always think too much. You are afraid of being abandoned, so you make it impossible for them to abandon you."
Ah Yan, I am always here, you and I will never abandon each other.
Huo Yan's heart sank as deep as water, but he didn't show it on his face. He just waited for the bricks to cool down slowly to avoid thermal stress and cracks caused by the large temperature difference.
[If you two don't get down to business, I'll really curse you.]
[Is the gunpowder from last time still being purified?]
[Hurry up and build the blast furnace. I don't know if this slightly lower temperature will work.]
[You little brat, is the animal-powered blower ready?]
[Slag, iron ore, lime, pig iron, have you finalized the proportions and materials?]
[Don't let us have a scientific storm, your love life is in crisis, and mom is very worried.]
[If you continue to be passive and lazy, you won’t be able to finish the project within three months.]
[Blast furnaces are built of refractory materials. Ah Yan's idea of using relatively high-refractory bricks is correct.]
[The furnace body is divided into four parts: the wind chamber, the belly, the waist, and the throat. The locations of the air outlet and the iron outlet are also marked. I have described it to you in the figure.]
[Don't forget to surround it with iron sheets to reduce heat dissipation, which may raise the temperature to 1400 degrees.]
…
The warm red light from the cellar reflected on his face, and Huo Yan suddenly hooked Huo Qubing's finger gently in response.
How could I abandon you?
The barrage broke through the defense again.
[Can you please stop being like a dog seeing a bone when you see your brother?]
[Brother brain is harder to kill than love brain.]
[I’m so annoyed, let’s get to work.]
[The whole world knows you have a brother, and he's super cool, okay, sir!]
[Give me back my ambitious Ah Yan.]
[It's sick. Next time, don't accompany your Piranha Plant. He should be able to walk independently.]
…
Huo Yan suddenly acted naughty, and under the accusations of the barrage, he hooked Huo Qubing's little hand again, with his eyebrows and eyes clearly showing his smugness that I have a brother and you don't.
Maybe Huo Yan was too proud, or maybe he had just been unlucky recently.
His blast furnace was built in three months after much hustle and bustle. Even because of the blower he modified, the temperature inside the furnace reached the target of melting iron, and the first batch of iron harnesses was also made in good condition.
But before he could put horseshoes on Huo Qubing's pony, Liu Che arrived again. He had even made preparations, arriving at the theater, this time bringing Sang Hongyang, Wei Qing, and a young Huo Qubing. His words were all very well-written. First, he said that His Majesty had already accepted the suggestion of Grand Secretary Wang Hui to send troops to the Xiongnu, saying that this was a great cause that would benefit future generations, and he hoped that the owner of the temple would help the country. Then, he became shameless and made it clear that he was here to rob Huo Yan. He even ordered Sang Hongyang to come and start counting Huo Yan's property.
Anyway, the main point is that if Huo Yan doesn't pay, he will move things to pay off the debt.
This is a living scoundrel.
Huo Yan felt like he was betrayed by the whole world and was filled with hatred.
"I won't give it to him anymore. Let him move out. Damn it, tell him that if he dares to empty this place, he'll never get a penny from me in his life!"
The steward wiped his sweat, not daring to leave. After all, Huo Yan had already prepared the money for Liu Che. If he didn't give it now, at this critical moment when they were about to attack the Xiongnu, the young master would feel bad. After all, this Mayi plot was the first war against the Xiongnu, so it would be good to take the initiative.
The young master also asked Dongfang Shuo to write articles in "Han Qingnian" every day to remind His Majesty to remember to keep his actions secret and be careful of the Huns attacking the pavilion①, and to pay attention to the Wei Shi who traveled to and from Yanmen County and asked the envoy to stop patrolling②, so as to avoid being caught by the Huns in a surprise attack.
Besides, the young master also values his family.
Seeing that he didn't move, Huo Yan became even more furious. He kicked the table in anger and said, "Uncle Dan, get down here and answer him as I say! Otherwise, I'll go down myself. He's talking like a pig with an onion in its mouth, his mouth full of staleness. This isn't human speech. His eight generations of ancestors are such wicked and unlucky people. They wouldn't even feed this money to a dog. Let him move! I'll watch him move!"
After saying that, he stood up and was about to go down.
The manager dragged him along, crawling and crying.
"Master, don't do anything stupid. If your identity is exposed, you will be killed!"
Huo Yan refused and was hugged by him around the waist. Although he couldn't move, he still picked up the snacks on the table and threw them through the window of the box at the head of the triumphant Liu Che.
The pastry was a crispy one with some oil residue on it. It fell in a parabolic trajectory from the upstairs and landed right in front of Liu Che. It spun around and turned into a pile of crumbs.
Wei Qing, who was protecting Liu Che as he moved back, suddenly twitched his left eyelid.
Fortunately, A Yan didn’t throw any weapon, otherwise it would have been an assassination!
Huo Qubing and Xiao Piaoliang were already used to it, so they just took two steps to the left and found a place to stay.
I'm here, so A Yan shouldn't throw hot water on me.
No, there seems to be a horseshoe on Ayan’s desk!
He suddenly stood up and tried to run out, but Liu Che grabbed him by the collar.
The emperor narrowed his eyes and looked at the window that was immediately closed after the snack was shot out.
"Qubing, what's there that's worthy of your anxiety?"
Huo Qubing remained calm and unperturbed, but he clenched his hands tightly, fearing that his brother would throw iron at Liu Che's head.
"I don't know who accidentally injured Your Majesty. I will capture him for Your Majesty."
Liu Che rubbed his face and asked, "My Ah Yan is on top, right?"
Huo Qubing's eyes froze for a moment, then he regained his composure and said with a straight face, "Ayan went to learn horseback riding."
Seeing his reaction, Liu Che had already guessed something and ordered everyone to leave, leaving only a few attendants. He leaned on the slide and shouted upstairs, "Huo Yan, there's no one here now, why don't you get down here!"
When the other people present heard Huo Yan's name, Su Jian and Gongsun Ao made "Wow" expressions, and Sang Hongyang's eyes lit up like incandescent lamps. He looked at Huo Qubing and Wei Qing with his ears perked up, waiting for a reply from upstairs.
Huo Qubing was shocked and confused, and Wei Qing was terrified. They frantically tried to recall whether they had revealed anything when talking to the emperor. In the end, they tragically discovered that he might have exposed A Yan's existence without his knowledge.
It's over, completely over.
He wanted to cry but had no tears, as he felt that Ayan's future was bleak.
When Huo Qubing saw his uncle's expression, he sighed in his heart, and his face was full of helplessness that he couldn't bear to look at.
Just for this snack, Ah Yan was so exhausted that he fainted.
At this time, Huo Yan calmed down instead.
There was no thought of escaping the crime in his mind, only one thought remained.
Damn it, how did Liu Che guess that?
The barrage was also scrolling frantically.
[I'm not worried about you anymore. Pig will only love you more. The main thing is that you've been discovered.]
[Some of these people betrayed us.]
[Bingbing is impossible, Zhuo Wenjun is impossible, only Dongfang Shuo is.]
[Let Dongfang Shuo write an article?]
[Dongfang Shuo had already been controlled, so how could he pass on any information to the outside world?]
[So who is it.]
Huo Yan shook his head and kicked the frightened manager.
"Let go, I can't die."
He opened the window of the third-floor box in the theater, greeted everyone below, and then smiled at Liu Che, "Uncle, I don't know how to roll. Please teach me."
The young man with half of his body leaning out of the window looked almost exactly like Huo Qubing, except that there was cunning in the corners of his eyebrows and eyes, without the coldness that Huo Qubing usually showed.
He was not wearing the formal attire that Huo Qubing usually wore. He seemed to be wearing a jade-colored gown with a small red jade pendant hanging from his ear. He had a playful smile on his face, and his red mole was faintly visible.
These words seemed presumptuous and rude to the emperor, but Liu Che just snorted and laughed, obviously very happy with this little guy.
"I won't teach you, but if you don't come down, don't expect me to keep it a secret for you."
Huo Yan couldn't go down, his face full of pride. He placed his fingers on the window frame and stuck out his tongue. "You've spent so much of my money, so you know how much I earn."
He laughed, and then sighed, not knowing whether it was because he was having a brain attack or because he was showing off too much.
"You know, Gan Luo has to be twelve years old to be appointed prime minister, and I'm only eight. So I'm incomparable, unique, and the highest honor will be given to Gan sooner or later. I'm so great, and now that I'm gone, you can't hit me!"
Liu Che laughed out loud.
"No, no, Xiao Yan, come down quickly."
Everyone originally thought that this guy was incredible, and that he was doing business like a normal person. It was not until he made this sound that they couldn't help but laugh.
What a child! This little shop is full of toys, probably left by Wei Qing for children to play with.
Your Majesty probably wants to help the Wei family.
Wei Qing, who had unintentionally taken the blame, blinked his innocent eyes at his nephew again and whispered, "Bing'er, I think Ah Yan is not feeling well again. Will he go home and bang his head against the wall?"
Huo Qubing nodded and shook his head reassuringly, and finally said, "Don't be afraid, uncle. I will stop him."
Wei Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Then you take good care of him!"
Huo Yan was unaware of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing's concerns, and he slid down the slide and was lifted up by Liu Che.
"Ah Yan, uncle and you are a family, are you uncle's little Ah Yan? So, you know."
Explode gold coins!
【Author’s words】
You can guess from whose behavior Zhuzhu inferred Ayan’s identity.
① Pavilion: A beacon tower in the border areas of the Han Dynasty that had multiple functions such as post station, sentry post, etc.
② Wei Shi: A special official position on the border, there is one for every 100 people, which is similar to the current border defense company, mainly responsible for patrolling.
③ The Mayi plot: Junchen Chanyu, upon receiving a report from an envoy, led his army toward Mayi. Over a hundred miles from Mayi, they discovered livestock along the way, ungrazed, arousing Junchen Chanyu's suspicion. Meanwhile, the Xiongnu captured a small border guardhouse and captured the Yanmen Weishi. Under duress, Weishi revealed the Han army's plan. Shocked, Junchen Chanyu exclaimed, "We've almost been betrayed by the Han!" He ordered an immediate withdrawal. After crossing the border, he told Weishi, "My capture of Weishi is heaven's will. Heaven commanded you to reveal it to me!" He then bestowed upon Weishi the title of "Heavenly King."
Wang Hui and Li Xi led a 30,000-man army from Dai County, preparing to attack the Xiongnu's baggage train. Upon learning the Xiongnu had retreated, Wang Hui was greatly surprised. Convinced that his army was no match for the Xiongnu, he retreated. Han Anguo and his men, led by Han Anguo, set up an ambush in Mayi, but after several days of no action, they changed their plan and launched an attack, only to find no Xiongnu at all.
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