No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 724: Fake Ding Sword [Ask for a guaranteed monthly ticket in the middle of the month! ]

Night Breeze Hunting.

Luoyang, Ziwei City.

On a high platform next to the square, there was a man in a dark python robe, holding a string of Buddhist beads in his hand.

The robe embroidered with a python was rustling in the evening breeze, and it was impossible to see how many claws the python had.

The night was dark and the wind was strong.

Ziwei City is very large. As the ruling center of the Great Zhou, it is firmly fixed like nails on the central land of Luoyang by a series of majestic city gates, and it controls ten regions of the world.

Every night, the night wind between the solemn palaces and the narrow vermilion walls in the city seemed to have an accelerated effect, becoming more rapid, as if it was going to blow away the patrolling guards, the palace maids with their heads bowed, and the officials who entered the palace in the middle of the night, making it difficult to reach the saint's lofty bedroom in the center.

Wei Jisi had long been accustomed to entering the palace at night, and was also accustomed to the dark and fierce wind in Ziwei City Square.

He put on a warm cloak outside his python robe. This cloak seemed to be a gift from a saint. It was made of the fur of a rare small animal in the bitter cold land of Liaodong. Only in the half month before the frost of the year would it leave its hidden underground cave and appear in the wilderness, looking for food swiftly. Even the most skilled hunter could only hunt two of them in a year...

The imperial tribute cloak of Wei Jisi requires the furs of thirteen rare small animals.

Wei Jisi had more than a dozen precious clothes like this... There were many similar situations in the daily life of the Wei Palace and the Liang Palace.

Take it like a penny, discard it like mud and sand.

Ever since Empress Wei Zhao ascended the throne and changed Qian to Zhou, in the past ten years or so, the resources of the entire dynasty have been like blood in the arteries, continuously and hotly transported to Shendu, the power center of the newly established Wei Zhou.

Wei Jisi's gaze slowly fell on the square in front of him.

Ziwei City can be roughly divided into two parts: the Imperial City and the Ziwei Palace. The Ziwei City Square is located between the Imperial City and the Ziwei Palace. Every morning during the court session, all civil and military officials have to pass by this place with their heads bowed and small steps.

Majestic and majestic is its hallmark, and the smaller it makes passers-by feel, the better.

During the time when Wei Jisi was building the Great Zhou Songde Tianshu in the center of the square, he actually experienced the original intention of the designer of Ziwei City Square.

The majesty of imperial power is to be so majestic that the mortals below will feel insignificant.

Because he would occasionally put himself in the shoes of the actual owner of this imperial city and think about these issues... Of course, he couldn't tell others about these thoughts, because Ziwei City now already had an elderly hostess, who was also his aunt.

In the center of Ziwei City Square, hundreds of people gathered, holding torches, illuminating a tall bronze pillar in the center.

The bronze pillar is like a sword, piercing straight into the night sky. Since its construction, no one knows how many high-flying birds have died by crashing into the pillar.

The words "Da Zhou Song De Tian Shu" are faintly engraved on the column.

This Tianshu for singing virtue almost exhausted all the "songde bronze" donated by thousands of states and counties in ten regions of the country.

Wei Jisi felt that, in a sense, this move was as grand as the record in ancient history books about Dayu controlling the floods and casting nine bronze tripods after he collected the nine states.

Moreover, this was a national project of a unified dynasty. Logically, its scale was far beyond that of the ancient times when resources were scarce. It was just that Dayu cast the Nine Cauldrons too early and was exaggerated by historians who valued the past more than the present.

However, he did not underestimate the legendary Nine Cauldrons, because it was too close to the mythological era mentioned in ancient books that was even earlier than the ancient times. It was like a ray of afterglow falling from outside the door to inside the door. It was part of the myth.

Wei Jisi once heard from an overseas Qigong practitioner who presented treasures that the Nine Cauldrons cast by Dayu later successively guarded the fortunes of the three ancient dynasties of Xia, Shang and Zhou. At that time, the world was unified and people's hearts were stable. It was not until the middle of the Zhou Dynasty that there was a rebellion in which Prince Chao fled to Chu, which led to the loss of the mythical Nine Cauldrons. Also lost was the legendary Zhou Storage Room that the pre-Qin Qigong practitioners later yearned for and obsessed with searching for… From then on, the Zhou Dynasty began to decline, and it was followed by the era of kings, ministers, various schools of thought, and pre-Qin Qigong practitioners.

The lost tripods reappeared later, when the First Emperor swept across the world and ruled the world. With the [Elixir of Immortality] as the starting point, they were transformed into murderous and explosive tripod swords one by one, and the first tripod competition among Qigong practitioners in the pre-Qin period began...

I don’t know if the Songde Tianshu built by the Wei family will stand forever in the square of Ziwei Palace like the Nine Cauldrons in a few years, or become as legendary as the Nine Cauldrons, existing in the long river of history, bound to the national destiny of the Great Zhou, and lasting for a hundred years...

In the dark night wind, Wei Jisi turned a string of white jade Buddhist beads in one hand and tapped the railing with the other hand, thinking of these things for no reason.

After a while, he collected his scattered thoughts and looked at the tall Tianshu where ants were densely packed with workers. In the whistling evening breeze, the "ants" were shaking and almost falling from time to time.

Wei Jisi's face was calm and cold, and he turned around.

His eyes fell on the end of the square at the back, where there was a magnificent hall named "Temple of All Things" by the saint.

This Luoyang Mingtang is the main hall of the Ziwei City, where important court affairs are held.

It was also the political center of Wei Zhou and a symbol of imperial power.

In a few days, the grand ceremony for the completion of Tianshu and the four Buddha statues will also be held here. By then, I wonder how many kings, princes, generals and ministers will come, and the saint will also be present in person.

Wei Jisi let out a long breath and swirled the white jade Buddhist beads in his hand faster.

During this period, the Wei family kept a low profile and remained patient, just for the smooth completion of this project.

The day of completion is a day of pride.

Saints like to celebrate success and auspicious signs. What could please a saint more than praising the virtues of Tianshu and the four Buddha statues?

Not to mention, the Songde Center and the four Buddha statues are not just face-saving projects.

Instead, it can allow the saint's power of life and death to expand on a large scale.

Wei Jisi nodded slightly, seeming satisfied.

"Brother Wang."

Behind, a prince in white, also wearing a python robe, came.

Wei Jisi knew it was his younger brother Wei Sixing without even looking back.

Wei Sixing walked side by side with him, squinted at the center in front of him, and then looked at his expression.

Suddenly asked:
"Brother Wang, have you not taken off the white cloth on your head? It seems like you have been wearing it for a long time."

Wei Sixing consoled him, "Brother Wang, please accept my condolences. The incident has passed. It will be useless to hurt yourself."

Wei Jisi nodded expressionlessly:

"I'll pick it later."

Wei Sixing sighed.

Wei Jisi suddenly chuckled:
"Don't worry, I will take it off on the day of the grand ceremony the day after tomorrow, because someone has put it on for me, so I don't need to wear it anymore."

Wei Sixing looked a little confused.

Wei Jisi turned around and asked:

"How's it going over there?"

Wei Sixing stood with his hands behind his back and could not help but speak happily:
"The Grand Master of Destiny came to inspect this afternoon. The core part of Tianshu has been completed. We just need to do some repairs on the outside. It's almost done. The ceremony will be held on time the day after tomorrow.

"Also, the latest news is that the four Buddha statues have been built. The slowest one is the Donglin Buddha in Jiangzhou, which was also completed secretly ten days ago. It was almost slower than our Tianshu, but fortunately it was completed. Their Xunyang Palace did contribute a lot, and that Ouyang Lianghan also made a lot of contributions to the Donglin Buddha. Especially the latter, everyone in Xunyang respects him, even though they are taking advantage of our efforts."

Wei Jisi said calmly: "It's okay, let them continue." Wei Sixing found that Brother Wang seemed to be particularly easy to talk to recently, so he continued:

"On the morning of the day after tomorrow, Jiangzhou will also hold a smaller celebration ceremony. At that time, it will be held at the same time as ours in Ziwei City Square. It's quite a coincidence."

Wei Jisi chuckled.

He suddenly sighed and said, "I really want the days to pass faster. Why do I still have to wait for another day and two nights?"

Wei Sixing shook his head helplessly.

As if remembering something, he turned around and asked:

"My brother, do you know that the Saint is planning to use this ceremony to arrange a marriage for our Wei family? He may choose a young man from my palace or yours and arrange the marriage in public at the ceremony. Does your family have a suitable man?"

Wei Jisi turned around and frowned slightly: "With which family?"

Wei Sixing narrowed his eyes and said, "Cui."

Wei Jisi subconsciously asked: "Which Cui?"

"Which other Cui family could it be?" Wei Sixing shook his head. "Who else could make a saint spend his time thinking about except the Qinghe Cui family, one of the Five Surnames and Seven Families?"

"Is the Saint going to start with the aristocratic families outside the Great Wall?"

"I'm not sure if the wind has changed, but the saint has been busy cleaning up those Guanlong nobles in Chang'an these years and has no time to care about them. Now, taking advantage of Li Zhengyan's rebellion, he has plowed the interior of the country, and things have calmed down a lot. As for the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats outside, they still need to be beaten. Otherwise, do you really think the noble families are indestructible?"

Wei Sixing put his hands behind his back and raised his head and said: "The Great Zhou Dynasty was first named Wei."

Wei Jisi calmed down, pondered for a moment, and said:

"Looking at all the noble families in the world, the Qinghe Cui family is the most aloof. The Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families are headed by him, and he is a hidden troublemaker. He doesn't cooperate with some things, which actually means he opposes. He seems to be talking about some ancestral precepts, saying that the daughters of the Qinghe Cui family will never marry people outside the Five Surnames. Even the Wang and Xie families in the south, who are also from the Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families, try not to marry them, and value the north and despise the south."

Wei Sixing sneered:

"So stubborn, do they look down on our Wei family? Then the Saint will have to deal with them this time, and we should cooperate with them. If they dare to refuse in public at the ceremony, they will be disrespecting the Emperor.

"There are actually quite a few families in the court who appear to be obedient but are actually not. The Qinghe Cui family and several other families of the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Clan are typical examples. They just need to be dealt with."

Wei Jisi nodded:

"We'll listen to the saint on this matter. This time, let them offer a noble lady of the Cui family, and it has to be the most direct one. Isn't there a Cui lady who is very famous? Let us, the sons of the Wei family, see how noble this surname can be."

He stopped spinning his Buddhist beads, turned around and said calmly, "Let An Hui stay in Jiangzhou for a while."

Wei Sixing shook his head:

"No, she's still young."

……

night.

Chengtian Temple.

“Back then, Tao Yuanming, the master of Hanshi Sword, hid Hanshi in a place called Peach Blossom Spring.

"Tao Yuanming is very powerful. He learned a special Qi-refining technique from somewhere and constructed an interesting sword formation. Let's call it the Taoyuan Sword Formation.

"The core of the Taoyuan Sword Formation is [Hanshi]. He also used something called blood bronze to forge the fake Ding Sword, which is closely related to the entire sword formation."

Wu Daozi sighed:

"If that were all, it wouldn't be a big deal. The point is that Tao Yuanming created an alternative way to use the Ding Sword, which is to set up the Taoyuan Sword Formation and create a fake Ding Sword to replace the real one. This way, he can roam the mountain."

"Fake Ding Sword?"

"Well, this is the name given by the scholar named Cui later. You can understand it as a perfect substitute for the Ding Sword, which can exert the same power and magical power as the Ding Sword. The original copy of Peach Blossom Spring was a fake Ding Sword, and it was also the first fake Ding Sword on the mountain."

Wu Daozi sighed:
"Xiao Huaimin, it can be used not only on the [Hanshi], but its success on the [Hanshi] shows that other Ding swords can also set up the 'Taoyuan Sword Formation', and a fake Ding sword can be used to replace a real Ding sword, thus achieving the purpose of protecting the real sword. And most importantly, the fake Ding sword has lowered the requirements for the sword holder.

“This is a new path besides the traditional swordsman.

“It solves two problems that plague swordsmen at the same time:
“First, true sword wielders are too rare. There are too few people who can follow this unique vein. It is difficult to train them. Every death is a great loss. However, the sword wielder’s vein has the strongest killing power. Many forces need it. If the threshold can be lowered, the sky will be wider.

"Secondly, the struggle for Dingjian is too cruel. Once you lose, Dingjian will be gone. Although the fake Dingjian also consumes a lot of resources, it is not like the Dingjian, where each one has his own place. It can be used as a consumable. For those big forces, they can afford it, although it is a bit troublesome.

"The Peach Garden Sword Formation, combined with the Fake Ding Sword, is an innovation in the traditional sword-wielding system. The traditional sword-wielding system, such as Yunmeng Jianze's Hidden Lord, is strong, but Yunmeng Jianze hasn't been able to gather a Hidden Lord for many years. This is the shortcoming. Even Yunmeng Jianze is like this, not to mention other forces.

"So what do you think, is Tao Yuanming powerful?"

Yuan Huaimin swallowed and nodded.

Wu Daozi sighed:
"But there are even more powerful ones. Although Tao Yuanming is a legendary swordsman, he is used to fighting alone. He is still limited to the power of one person, so the power of the fake Ding Sword and Taoyuan Sword Formation is not fully exerted, especially for some powerful forces."

"Can you make more than one fake Ding sword?"

"Yes, but it's not the only way. It will disperse the power. It's better to be more thorough and lower the requirements for the sword holder again, so as to win by quantity."

Yuan Huaimin looked puzzled and couldn't help looking at the bronze scroll in his arms.

"So this thing is the fake Ding Sword?"

"It is a restored fake Ding sword, and it is also the only fake Ding sword that Hanshi has."

"What do you mean? There are no other fake Ding swords."

Wu Daozi smiled slightly, but did not answer immediately, instead he said leisurely;
"However, Tao Yuanming made a small mistake. Or rather, it is not a mistake. If it had not been for this small mistake, it is possible that [Poor Scholar] would have been exiled to the foot of the mountain and caused disputes."

"What little mistake?"

The thin old man smiled and said:

"Tao Yuanming hid the "Hanshi" so well that not only could the Liu Song royal family of the Southern Dynasty who lost the fake Ding sword not find it, but the Northern Wei royal family who came after it also couldn't find it, even if they got the fake Ding sword."

Yuan Huaimin asked curiously:
"Isn't this a good thing? This kind of killing weapon should not appear in the world, it will easily lead to bloodshed."

Wu Daozi smiled and said:

“Yes and no, because a scholar named Cui took advantage of this and made some special improvements to the Taoyuan Sword Formation and the Fake Ding Sword system.

"He was sure that [Han Shi] was trapped somewhere in Peach Blossom Spring forever and could not be found by the world, so he recklessly used the original fake Ding Sword to build a more sophisticated sword-wielding system for the Northern Wei Dynasty. As I just said, he made full use of the idea of ​​the Peach Blossom Spring Sword Formation..."

(End of this chapter)