Aspirations

Chapter 36

"How do you know that King Jing is also playing with Xia Xiang's idea? You are talking nonsense!" Mu En sneered at Hua Guan's statement and smiled contemptuously, "You neither know King Jing nor the roundworm in King Jing's stomach. , what does King Jing think, how do you know?"

"I don't know King Jing, and you don't know either. Hmph, how much better are you than me, and won't you also be called around by Yan Hao?" Huaguan became angry, stood up, and raised his hand to hit Mu En. , just as soon as he moved, the sword light flashed, and he was hit in the back.

Fortunately, it was the back of the sword, otherwise he would have to be cut in two on the spot.Although it was the back of the sword, its strength was still amazing. He only felt a strong force coming from him, where he could still stand, his legs softened, and he knelt on the ground again with a "thump".

"There will be another time when the head falls to the ground." Man Tuo gave Hua Guan a cold look, then turned to Mu En, "Go on."

Mu En was so frightened that he was in a cold sweat, Mantuo was extremely skilled in martial arts, and he was moody. He said he would do it, and if he said murder, he would kill. He raised his forehead, thought for a while, and said, "Huaguan's speculation is not entirely unreasonable. I also overheard Yan Hao tell Gao Jianyuan that King Jing is also looking for Li Dingshan's whereabouts. It is said that King Jing also knows about Li Dingshan. There was a disciple named Xia Xiang in Zhongshan Village. He couldn’t find Li Dingshan, so he wanted to find Xia Xiang. King Jing has always appreciated Li Dingshan and wanted to protect Li Dingshan.

Mantuo slowly understood, Li Dingshan started everything, and Xia Xiang just became the fulcrum innocently.For Xia Xiang, who has not yet obtained the title, it is not a good thing to disturb the princes and nobles with his white body.

Man Tuo thought about it again, and asked: "Now the emperor is critically ill, and the third prince is determined to take the throne. He doesn't devote his mind to the important matter of inheriting the throne, but he insists on finding Li Dingshan's whereabouts. Why? Could it be that Li Dingshan Is he the key person who can inherit the throne? Who is Li Dingshan?"

Although Man Tuo came from a family of officials and his father once held an important position in the imperial court, he has never heard of what position Li Dingshan held.Although my father was far away from the capital after being demoted to Hainan, if Li Dingshan was a high-ranking and powerful person in the capital, he would definitely be famous far and wide.Why not only did she know nothing about Li Dingshan, even her father never mentioned Li Dingshan...

Hua Guan was stunned by Man Tuo's question, and after thinking for a long time, he scratched his head and said: "Young lady's words are not without reason, the third prince should be thinking about how to inherit the throne to be serious, why must he find Li Dingshan's whereabouts? What kind of important person is Li Dingshan? Mu En, have you heard of any important positions that Li Dingshan held before?"

Mu En was stunned, thought for a while, and smiled strangely: "According to what I said, Li Dingshan served as the censor three years ago, and because he wrote a letter to impeach the third prince and angered the third prince, he was kicked out of the capital by the third prince. ..."

"It's just a small censor?" Man Tuo's mind was uncertain. The censor had grown from a first-rank doctor censor, from a second-rank censor Zhongcheng, to a supervisory censor and a palace censor. Although the grades were quite different, But they are not powerless, they are noble officials, so she is very puzzled why Li Dingshan is valued by the third prince and King Jing.

You must know that among the four princes, the third prince is the most powerful and domineering, and also the most arrogant. How many people want to join the third prince's family but can't get in.As the great prince, King Jing is the most mature and prudent. He has been cautious for many years, never showing his head, and has almost no sense of presence.But the strange thing is that many people think that in terms of strength and influence, the aggressive Third Prince is still inferior to King Jing.

As for the fourth prince and the fifth prince, the fourth prince is in his prime, but he is obsessed with calligraphy, painting, Buddhism and Taoism, while the fifth prince likes to play and is obsessed with the craftsmanship of making various exquisite objects. Only King Jing and the Third Prince were the candidates for the beauties, and King Jing was too old, so in comparison, only the Third Prince was the most suitable.

It's just that after the emperor named Xia Cun as the king, the situation suddenly changed.

Xia Cunxian was a weak crown in his early years. He should have been crowned as the county king. The sons of the third and fourth princes are the county kings.Even if it was Feng Xiacun who met King Ning first, it would be much better, and the outside world would not have too many speculations.Man Tuo clearly remembered that at that time her father said to her that it was very rare in all dynasties that a father and son were kings with the same title, and there was only one case in this dynasty.The princes of Daxia descended from one-character king to two-character king and then to county king. Xia Cunxian was the second special case who went directly from county king to one-character king since the founding of Daxia.

Many people are trying to figure out the holy meaning and seal Xia Cunxian to see the king. Could it be that the emperor intends to let Xia Cunxian inherit the throne?What made many ministers puzzled and disturbed was that Xia Cunxian was not a sage king, with neither talent nor character. If he succeeded to the throne, it would not be a blessing for Daxia nor a blessing for the common people.If you had to choose between the King of Kings and the King of Stars, the Third King of Stars would be more talented and more like a king than King Xia Cunxian.

After thinking too much for a moment, Man Tuo withdrew his thoughts and waved to Hua Guan and Mu En: "If you two do something harmful to nature and reason in the future, if I meet you, you will have no chance of surviving... Get lost!"

"Get lost!" Huaguan raised his head as if ambitious, and rolled on the spot, his appearance was extremely ridiculous.

Not only did Mantuo not laugh, but he didn't even bother to look at Huaguan and Muen any more. Since she had already asked everything she wanted, the two of them were useless to her. With her character, they really didn't even care. Saying one more word to the two also felt insulting, so I turned around, stepped on my feet, twisted my waist and shrugged, and flew over the wall.

As soon as Mantuo left, Huaguan closed his body, stopped rolling, and scolded angrily: "Damn, stinky woman, next time I will rape you and then kill you. Mu En, were you stupid just now? I You clearly hinted that you took the opportunity to attack her, why didn't you respond? Are you fascinated by the beauty of the little lady?"

Mu En snorted coldly and said with great disdain: "I knew you had been thinking about attacking the little lady from the moment you knelt down, but I didn't respond to you, it wasn't me being stupid, it was me who wanted to save your life. Martial arts are too high. In my opinion, she is no worse than Yan Hao, but she is softer than Yan Hao. If we are obedient, we might still be able to survive. She has let us live right now, if it wasn't for me, Huaguan, you'd have fallen on your head now!"

"Fuck, shit, stinky shit!" Hua Guan was unconvinced, raised his leg and kicked Mu En, "Have you forgotten how many masters we have killed together in a sneak attack? No matter how powerful Mantuo's martial arts are, he is only a petite little boy. Madam, you just fell in love with the little lady, pity Xiangxiyu, and you are reluctant to kill her, right? You look at the ugliness of your flattery to her just now, I'm sick to the point of vomiting."

Mu En wholeheartedly thought about Hua Guan, and only wanted to save his life, Hua Guan not only disrespected him, but also slandered him, and couldn't help but get extremely angry: "It's not that I fell in love with the little lady alone, and I want to tie her here, rape and then kill it is also you It is not a shameful thing to beg for mercy, a man can bend and stretch. You don’t often say that being able to bend and stretch is a dragon, and only stretching and not yielding is a worm... Huaguan, today’s matter is just about You know and I know it, if it gets out, you and I will have no face to hang out in Beijing anymore."

Huaguan looked displeased, but still nodded: "Don't worry, how could I be so stupid to say such a shameful thing? One day, we will avenge today's revenge. But if we meet again next time For such a thing, you must act according to my wink, just now there were several opportunities to kill Mantuo, it was all because you were too timid... Ah, thank you, you, you!"

After uttering the word "you" three times in a row, Huaguan could no longer speak. The word "you" was his last word in this world. He felt his body was cooling down rapidly, as if he had fallen into an endless abyss , Powerlessness, panic, unwillingness, disbelief, and countless complicated emotions that he didn't have time to feel, his eyes began to blur, and his consciousness also blurred.

"I'm sorry Huaguan, you can only die for me." Mu En leaned over to Huaguan's ear and whispered, he slowly drew out the sword that pierced Huaguan's chest, and wiped it again on Huaguan's body The blood stains on the sword, and a tear dripped from his eyes, "You can rest assured and go on the road, I will take care of the aftermath."

Huaguan's body slumped to the ground, only a little dust was stirred up, and then he returned to calm.The peripheral vision of Mu En's eyes swept away, in the dark night, under the eaves not far away, Man Tuo's figure flashed away, and disappeared in the darkness in a blink of an eye.

Mu En sat down on the ground and burst into tears: "Hua Guan, you are such a fool, Man Tuo has not gone far, and is eavesdropping on our conversation, if you continue talking, both you and I will die..."

Mantuo did not go far, and she did not want to eavesdrop on Huaguan and Mu En's conversation, but she wanted to kill the two of them again.Unexpectedly, as soon as I turned back, I heard the conversation between the two, and I didn't find it funny.In fact, Hua Guan wanted to hint that Mu En was going to join forces against her several times. She had already noticed it, but she just pretended not to know.

When he was about to kill the two of them, Mu En suddenly killed Hua Guan, Man Tuo let out his killing intent, so he didn't make another move.

Back at the Xingzhou inn, the inn was already in chaos. The old man who was robbed by Huaguan and Muen by mistake was Xiong Lishi, one of the shopkeepers of Nanhai Commercial Bank who went south to Quanzhou.Huaguan and Mu En mistakenly robbed Xiong Lishi, but it was not Mantuo's deliberate action. With Mantuo's character, she disdains and is too lazy to play tricks behind her back. En wanted to prescribe drugs to her in a nasty way, so she asked the shopkeeper to change the room.As for who lived in the room she vacated, she didn't care.

There are dozens of people in the Nanhai Commercial Bank, and one of the shopkeepers suddenly disappeared, so how can we not make a big fuss at Quanyou Inn?The inn didn't know that Xiong Lishi didn't sleep well, how could Yaxing go for a walk in the middle of the night, so he quickly sent people to look around.Man Tuo was also happy to be a favor, so he stopped a clerk of the South China Sea Trading Company and told him where Xiong Lishi was.

The guy is tall and burly, although he is not the type of five big and three thick, but he is also a powerful image of Kong Wu. What is rare is that he still has a bit of elegance. He was pleasantly surprised and bowed to Mantuo: "Thank you, little lady. Tell me, Xia Qu must be engraved in my heart, and I will never forget it."

It was a trivial matter, and Man Tuo wanted to leave after finishing speaking, but she didn't want the other party not only to report her name, but also said that she was unforgettable, so she couldn't help but looked at Xia Qu a few more times curiously, it's okay not to look at it, after a look Thinking of something, he said "Hey": "Xia Qu? Are you Xia Qu from Lingshou Zhongshan Village?"

Xia Qu was also surprised for a moment: "Young lady, do you know me?"

Mantuo did not answer Xia Qu's question, and asked lightly: "Your Nanhai Commercial Bank should go all the way south to the sea, why is it in Xingzhou?"

"Xiong Weng said that the countries in the South China Sea are very fond of Daxia porcelain, and Xingzhou's Xing Kiln is the most famous Daxia Porcelain. Therefore, the company is in Xingzhou, and it will not be too late to fire a batch of Xing Kiln before going to sea." Xia Qu There was a slight worry in his expression, "To tell you the truth, Xiong Weng is my savior. I fell off a cliff and fell into a coma. He rescued me and guided me along the way, letting me follow him to the countries of the South China Sea. Do something big. At the beginning, I was reluctant and didn’t want to leave home thousands of miles away, but later I figured it out, a man’s ambition is everywhere, if he doesn’t do something big, he will be a man in vain.”

So that's the case, Man Tuo nodded, and wanted to tell Xia Deshui to deliver the letter to Xia Xiang, but before he could speak, Xia Qu was dragged away by the people from the business.

"It's good that Xia Qu is fine, it's good that it's fine." Xia Xiang looked very happy, he was very happy to hear the news that Xia Qu was safe and sound, and bowed to Mantuo, "Thank you, little lady."

Man Tuo naturally didn't tell Xia Xiang all of her experiences, and also skipped many irrelevant links about Huaguan and Muen, and only picked up the important ones, she picked up the teacup, and took a sip of tea "Don't thank me, it's just a matter of little effort, why bother to take it to heart. Xia went here to the South China Sea, it was extremely dangerous. He fell off the cliff, and he was lucky to survive the catastrophe. Going to the South China Sea again, it is a narrow escape. Reporting to Xia Deshui that he is safe also has his own reasons, he does not want to let his father forget the old worries and add new ones... Could this teacup be the Xing Kiln that Xia Qu talked about?"

Xia Xiang nodded: "Both the Xing Kiln and the Yue people can make porcelain. It is round like a moon soul pendant, and light like a cloud... The white porcelain produced by Xing Kiln is very exquisite. The glaze is as white as snow, and the shape is as standardized as the moon. Light and thin as clouds, the sound of the buckle is crisp and wonderful like square rings. Because of its large number and low price, it is not only used by the court, but also used by the common people. It is famous all over the world for Xing kilns. Nanhai Commercial Bank deliberately stays in Xingzhou, and most of them are also Because the price of Xing kiln is low. In fact, along the south of Xingzhou, there are many places along the road that produce porcelain."

Man Tuo was slightly startled, Xia Xiang was originally a scholar, how could he be so clear about business matters, she was very curious, and asked: "Mr. Xia Lang is reading books of sages and sages, how could he be interested in business matters?"

"It's not that I'm interested, I just know a thing or two." Xia Xiang smiled indifferently and talked eloquently, "I think when I was in the Tang Dynasty, when the four seas surrendered, and Fanbang came to worship, it was called the Celestial Dynasty. Martial arts, strong national strength, in my opinion, Datang is far less than Daxia."

"How do you know that?" Although Mantuo has martial arts skills, she also lived in a family of poetry and books since she was a child. She was influenced by her father and also read history thoroughly. However, the number of pilgrims from Fanbang is still not as large as in the Tang Dynasty, so why is the Tang Dynasty far behind Daxia?"

"There are three reasons why the Great Tang was inferior to the Great Xia. First, the Great Tang surrendered all over the world, but did not open the sea ban, and its national power failed to benefit the countries in the South China Sea. Second, the Great Tang suppressed business and emphasized agriculture, while the Great Xia emphasized agriculture but did not suppress business. Third, Although the Great Tang has imperial examinations, it is limited to families without white men within three generations, and I, Da Xia, can take part in the imperial examinations regardless of my background. With these three points alone, Da Xia will definitely surpass the Great Tang." Xia Xiang had something in his heart. Qiu He explained all his thoughts and thoughts since entering Beijing, "Allowing the sea to trade, the national strength of the Great Xia will benefit the countries in the South China Sea. The countries in the South China Sea first love the tea and porcelain of the Great Xia, and sooner or later they will yearn for the natural treasures of the Great Xia. Great Xia Culture. Therefore, allowing commercial firms to go to sea can not only make a profit, but also promote my Tianwei, killing two birds with one stone."

Mantuo didn't speak, his eyes were shining, and he rested his cheeks on his hands, like an ignorant girl listening to a learned old scholar.

Xia Xiang opened the folding fan in his hand, shook it a few times, and continued: "Agriculture is the foundation of a country, and so is business. Farming is important, but business is not to be taken lightly. Without business, how would Daxia's silk, tea, and porcelain be sold to the countries of the South China Sea? How to get the silver of Baihuahua? Little lady, you know that Daxia produces very little silver. It is precisely because of the overseas business that tea and silk are exchanged for a large amount of silver from overseas. Little lady, you must not know that at the beginning of Daxia When the firm goes out to sea, the cargo on board is all tea and silk, but the tea and silk are too light, and they will easily capsize in the event of wind and waves, what should I do?"

(End of this chapter)