Chapter Ten Was It Him?

  Yuyang County is the seat of Yuyang Prefecture, which is now Tianjin's Ji County. To the east of Yuyang is Yan Prefecture, and to the east of Yan Prefecture is the Liao River, beyond which lies the territory of Goguryeo. In the third year of the Kaihuang era of the Sui dynasty, Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian issued an edict abolishing Yuyang and Yan prefectures and converting them into counties under the administration of Youzhou. By the third year of the Daye era, however, Emperor Yang of Sui had reconverted these two places into prefectures. The emperor and his father were willing to go back and forth on this matter; whether it was a prefecture or a county didn't make much difference.

  Yuyang County is a semi-militarized city due to its proximity to the border. The county's troops are equivalent to the border army, so their weapons and equipment, as well as personnel numbers, are much stronger than those of ordinary counties. Yuyang has 4,000 county soldiers, who not only guard the city but also patrol the northern Great Wall. The commander is Cui Huan, alias Liao Yuan, the governor of Yuyang County.

  Cui Huan's military training is still quite impressive. It is said that when he was a member of the Yang Su's personal guard during the conquest of Chen, he had strong connections in the imperial court. Although Yang Su died in 604, his influence remained significant. His son, Yang Xuangan, served as Minister of Rites and was deeply favored by Emperor Yang Guang. Therefore, Pei Yan, the governor of Youyang Commandery, also showed great respect to Cui Huan, despite holding a higher position than him.

  The city gate of Yuyang County, many merchants come and go. Many merchants from all over the world choose to leave Yuyang and enter the Khitan tribe for trade. There are also many guests from Liaodong who come to Yuyang to sell medicinal materials, so the city of Yuyang is mixed with dragons and snakes, and there are all kinds of people. Especially after Yang Guang announced in the name of Emperor Gaozu that all guests entering the Great Sui would be treated to free food and drink, the foreigners in Yuyang City were even more arrogant than the Hans.

  It is also unknown how many restaurants and inns went bankrupt because of this absurd order.

  Zhang Zhongjian brought Li Xian, Fu Hu Nu, Chen Que Er, and Luo Fou, a group of five disguised as merchants entering the city of Yu Yang County. This was not Li Xian's first time near the border, having lived in the Yan Mountains for a period of time before, so he wasn't curious about those foreigners with curly hair and green eyes. Moreover, in his previous life, he had admired men like Schwarzenegger and Stallone, and had fantasies about beauties like Megan Fox.

  After paying the tax silver to enter the city, Li Xian couldn't help but think that foreigners were exempt from all fees, while his own people had to pay various taxes and levies. How huge was the trade deficit of this great Sui dynasty?

  But he was also worried, everything Han people had on the grassland was marketable, especially Shu brocade and ironware. It's worth knowing that on the grassland, the grassland people loved Shu brocade for its bright colors and thickness, and merchants could exchange silver and jade with the grassland people at several times the price. If a iron pot was used as a betrothal gift, one could marry a beautiful woman like a flower, and the girl's family would also be higher in status and couldn't sleep at night.

  There was once a lucky merchant who brought some paper to the Xiongnu tribe. His fellow travelers teased him all along the way, saying that paper was not easy to transport and prone to damage, and that there were hardly any literate people on the grasslands, so what was the point of bringing paper? As it turned out, when they arrived at the Xiongnu tribe, who would have thought that the wife of the Xiongnu chieftain was a woman from a Han Chinese family, and as soon as she heard about the ink and paper, she immediately sent someone to exchange them for a whole small sack of silverware, leaving everyone's jaws dropped in shock.

  He chose an inn and Zhang Zhongjian said to Li Xian, "I didn't let you come, but you insisted on following. I'll go out with Luo Fu and the others to scout ahead, you just wait here in the inn."

  Li Xian pouted and said, "Master wants to take me to Weak Luo Water to find the fallen iron for forging a long knife. Who knows how long this trip will take? We should bring some more things, give me some meat, let Little Bird Brother accompany me to buy some necessities."

  Daxi Zhangru accepted Li Xian as his disciple and wanted to take him to the Khitan people's side of the Weak Luo River to try their luck. In those years, when Daxi Zhangru arrived at the Khitan people's Qingniu Lake, he had found a large piece of meteoric iron, but it was too heavy to carry, so he sank it to the bottom of the lake. Daxi Zhangru wanted to teach Li Xian knife skills and remembered that piece of meteoric iron. He planned to take Li Xian to Qingniu Lake to find that piece of meteoric iron and forge a handy long knife for him. Li Xian thought of going to the county town of Yuyang to buy some things to bring along.

  Zhang Zhongjian and his men were coming to kill people, Li Xian didn't mind killing people, especially bad ones. But he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about it either, so he hadn't planned on participating in the mission at the county governor's mansion from the start.

  Zhang Zhongjian's boxing was fierce and overbearing, but Li Xian's body was slightly thinner. Perhaps it was because he had been exposed to the cold in the snow when he was young, although he had been practicing hard for many years, his physical strength was not particularly robust. Zhang Zhongjian's boxing was too domineering, and Li Xian couldn't practice that kind of inhuman boxing even though he was stronger than his peers. Fortunately, Zhang Zhongjian could still teach Li Xian archery, and fortunately, Li Xian had a clever and resourceful little nun named Hong Fugugu.

  "You just stay with him then, County Magistrate's office, I and Hu Nu, three people will be enough to go."

  Zhang Zhongjian said to Chen Queer.

  Chen Que nodded, the three strongest people in Tie Fotou went to find trouble with Pei Yan, and it was indeed unnecessary for him to follow along. Besides, there were still brothers who had entered the city a few days ago to explore the way, so there was no need to worry about Zhang Zhongjian and others. However, Chen Que really couldn't bear to part with Li Xian who was going on a long journey.

  Zhang Zhongjian turned around and was about to leave when Chen Que'er grabbed him and said: "Big brother, you've forgotten something."

  Zhang Zhongjian frowned and said, "Is there anything else?"

  Chen Que'er stretched out her hand: "Give me money!"

  "Did you not?" Zhang Zhongjian glared at him and said.

  Chen Queer said seriously: "I have it, but that's mine... I still need it!"

  Zhang Zhongjian took out a package of silver coins from his bosom and threw it on Chen Queer's body: "I think in the future, I won't call you Little Bird anymore, just call you Rooster!"

  The universal currency of the Sui Dynasty was wuzhuqian and silk, although silver was rarely circulated as a hard currency, it was more convenient to carry than wuzhuqian. If you went out with dozens of strings of money, you had to push a small cart. The wuzhuqian cast during the Kaihuang period of the Sui Dynasty was of sufficient weight and good copper quality, weighing four jin and two liang per thousand coins. Emperor Wen Yang Jian once ordered each customs office to set aside one hundred coins as samples, and any copper coins that did not meet the standard were melted down and recast. However, during the reign of Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, although the weight of the wuzhuqian remained unchanged, it was mixed with a large amount of tin and lead, which the people commonly referred to as "white money". One liang of silver could be exchanged for one thousand good coins, but if exchanged for white money, at least one thousand six hundred coins could be obtained.

  If this bundle of loose silver were exchanged for meat, it would really need a pushcart to carry.

  Fútú nú took out a package of silver from his bosom and handed it to Lǐ Xián, saying: "I don't have time to go around buying gifts for you, just buy whatever you want yourself."

  Li Xian laughed and said: "Hun slave brother is mighty."

  Luo Yu was only twenty-five years old, and he had a habit of being extravagant with his money. He rummaged through his pockets and handed Li Xian a gold leaf: "This is for you, it's enough to exchange for several sets of nice clothes."

  Li Xian refused to accept it: "Thirty-Seventh Brother, this can't be accepted!"

  Li Xian knew that Lü Yu was generous with his money, spending as much as he wanted, but this gold leaf had been kept all along. It was given to him by Lü Yu's mother before she died, telling him to use it as a betrothal gift for his future wife.

  Lü Bu laughed and said: "After all, it's just external things. People like us, where would we find a woman willing to marry? Every day, licking blood from the blade, besides, I didn't plan on taking a wife anyway, that's harming others. If you don't want to spend it, then keep it. Consider it my gift to you for becoming sworn brothers. Don't lose face in front of Thirty-seven!"

  Li Xian was called Lü Yu's thirty-seventh brother because he ranked thirty-seventh in age among the monks at the Iron Pagoda.

  Zhang Zhongjian said, "Hand it over to you, and that's it. What he said is true, Daxi Changru is a master of knife skills, but if you don't practice diligently after learning from a famous teacher, you'll lose the face of our Iron Floating Pavilion!"

  Li Xian nodded heavily.

  After Zhang Zhongjian and the other two left, Li Xian narrowed his eyes and looked at Chen Que'er, saying: "Little Bird Brother, what gift do you plan to give me?"

  Chen Que'er smiled mysteriously and said, "Do you really think your little bird brother is a stingy iron rooster? The gift I want to give you is absolutely unexpected! Come on, let's go out for a walk!"

  Two people walked out of the inn and strolled on the main street. Chen Que'er looked around and muttered, "How can this place be so poor, not even a decent one? Xiao Xian, you just had your 11th birthday a few days ago, right? This farewell gift is also a birthday present for you. By the way, what courtesy name did Da Xi Chang Ru give you?"

  Li Xian smiled awkwardly and said helplessly: "Wukong..."

  Chen Que'er didn't notice Li Xian's expression, and while searching for the target, asked: "Wukong, it's fine, why did you react so big at that time."

  Li Xianxin said: Can I explain it clearly?

  "Li Wukong, very good, anyway I couldn't think of such meaningful words."

  Li Xian sighed in his heart, what's the point of this? The two words "Wu Kong" have only had one meaning for a very, very long time.

  Li Xian strongly opposed it at the time and insisted on changing two characters. Da Xi Chang Ru was also very surprised, not understanding why Li Xian had such a strong aversion to the two characters "Wu Kong". It was Red Buddha who got annoyed, pinching Li Xian's ear and saying: "The elder has given you a gift, don't refuse it! Is this child asking for another beating? Still not thanking your master for giving you a courtesy name!"

  Li Xian was pressed down on his knees and then gritted his teeth, saying: "Thank you, Master Wukong. Let's go to Gao Laozhuang and Liu Shahe now."

  Of course, apart from himself, everyone thought he was going crazy.

  Li Xian comforted himself, endure it, admit it, after all, it's not a disaster.

  "Little bird brother, where are you going to take me?"

  Li Xian asked.

  Chen Que'er smiled and said: "You'll know when you get there."

  Just then, a voice of admiration was heard from not far away: "What a handsome young man!"

  With a sigh, the man said: "Sister, aren't you always curious about what Shichang looks like? Let me tell you, when Shichang was young, compared to that boy over there, although he was slightly inferior, it wasn't much different."

  Li Xian's face darkened with anger, thinking to himself that on the main street, people were openly discussing others' appearances as if he was some kind of prostitute. He turned his head towards the source of the voice and saw a young man in his early twenties wearing a sky-blue brocade robe, staring at him. The young man had an average build, but was very proportionate, with a clean face and a refreshing appearance. Beside him stood a girl around thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a yellow dress, looking like a lotus flower emerging from the water. The girl's eyes were bright and her teeth were white as she curiously sized up Li Xian.

  Li Xian's expression was somewhat unpleasant, and the young man slightly bowed his head and said: "Young brother, don't be offended. In this fishing city, there are all kinds of despicable people, it's rare to see a handsome young man like you, I lost my composure for a moment, please forgive me."

  The man's smile was genuine, and there was no mockery in his eyes. As a result, Li Xian found it difficult to lose his temper. When someone complimented him on his good looks, could he still burst out in anger?

  He returned a courtesy to the man, and Li Xian took another look at the beautiful girl, thinking that a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl was indeed a "flower bud", small, a bit too small.

  Li Xian turned around and left, hearing the man say in a low voice: "He has good manners, he must be from a wealthy family, but looking at his clothes... I'm afraid he's also fallen on hard times, what a pity."

  Li Xianqi, just as he was about to turn around and scold, suddenly saw a middle-aged man who was slender but had an extraordinary air walk over. The young nobleman and the lovely maiden hastily paid their respects, saying: "Father."

  The middle-aged man said with a straight face: "Bishamen, why did you bring your sister down from the car?"

  The young gentleman hastily said: "I know I was wrong."

  The girl explained to the middle-aged man: "Don't blame Brother, Father. It was me who asked Brother to take me down from the car to get some fresh air."

  A middle-aged man sighed, "It's been a long and tiring journey. Let's get on the bus, we still have a way to go, your mother is waiting for you in the car."

  "Father, how much farther is it to Huaiyuan Town?"

  The young gentleman asked as he walked along.

  "How many more days to go."

  As he watched those people walk away, Li Xian's eyebrows furrowed involuntarily. He stroked his chin, staring at the middle-aged man's back and muttered to himself: "Vaisravana? Huaiyuan Town? Could it be him?"