A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 24 Paper Armor
Tao Hong looked solemn.

He knew that this was not the first time Song Xuan had killed someone.

He met Song Xuan when he was in the hands of a kidnapper. He wanted to take care of Song Xuan by relying on his age.

But the performance of young Song Xuan left a deep impression on him.

Tao Hong saw with his own eyes how Song Xuan sold out the kidnappers and finally killed their leader.

Even so, he went to Tokyo and had some fun.

"I just want to study peacefully and earn some money, but there are always people who want to keep this little money and not let me live a peaceful life."

Song Xuan looked at Tao Hong and smiled: "What do you think we should do?"

"Whoever wants to harm the young master, I will kill him."

Song Xuan nodded slightly: "That's the truth."

Zhang Fangping listened to the conversation between the master and servant. Why did they want to kill someone right away?

"Since they're not one of us, then they must be outsiders who are interested in the money we made from selling our shop. Go and check around, especially on those so-called heroes."

"promise."

After Tao Hong left, Zhang Fangping said solemnly:

"Twelfth Brother, should we report this to the authorities?"

"It's just some street talk right now. How do I report it to the police?"

Song Xuan put away his weapon:
"Besides, they are in the dark and I am in the light. There is no point in reporting to the police. Let's do it ourselves!"

Zhang Fangping was still groping for the gold ingot two days ago, feeling a little confused.

But today's news made him realize that if he didn't have the strength, then the child Huaijin would be dead!
Since ancient times, money has moved people's hearts, and it is not an empty talk!
Zhang Fangping didn't quite understand Song Xuan's thinking.

Because of long-term contact, he did not think Song Xuan was a desperado.

Although the twelfth brother is smart, he does not put all his intelligence into studying. Instead, he is distracted by all kinds of things.

If you can focus all your attention on studying in the future, you will definitely be able to pass the exam.

But the preparations he made at this moment really looked like something a desperado would do.

Zhang Fangping finally asked what was in his heart:
"Why aren't you afraid at all, Twelfth Brother?"

"What's the use of being afraid?" Song Xuan said nonchalantly:
"Fang Ping, worrying about this is personally useless. I understand that robbery has been the hallmark of the times since ancient times. It's just a matter of how clever the means used are."

Didn’t Zhao Kuangyin seize his kingdom through open robbery?

It is normal that someone comes to rob Song Xuan’s money now.

The law of the jungle is the basic principle of survival.

Song Xuan didn't say the word "cannibalism".

Zhang Fangping had not been influenced by Lu Xun's articles, so he naturally did not understand the meaning of these words.

Of course, this place is not far from Zhang Xun Temple.

When the Tang army was defending Suiyang, they ate many people, in the physical sense of the word.

Song Xuan was afraid that if he said the word "eat people", Zhang Fangping would misunderstand him.

"Besides, Suishui River can also be used to bury people."

Song Xuan unfolded the topographic map of his surroundings. He had to take a boat downstream to get to Yingtianfu Academy.

No matter who is behind the second brother's attack, if he wants to take action, he will do it in the river.

"When we get to the center of the river, someone will ask us if we want to have flat noodles or wontons."

"Oh?" Zhang Fangping looked puzzled.

"Are there any shops selling these on the river?"

"No, no, no." Song Xuan began to search the cabinet for his paper armor again:

"Bandao noodles" and "wonton" are slang terms used in the underworld. "Bandao noodles" means being hacked by a boatman with a knife, leaving a mutilated body.
Wontons are about skipping the boatman's trouble and jumping into the river, leaving behind a whole body, though there's a chance it won't be found. Whether it's flat noodles or wontons, the boatman is the one who dies, and the boatman takes his belongings.

"what!"

Zhang Fangping opened his mouth wide, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Song Xuan took out the paper armor hidden in the cabinet.

No matter which dynasty, privately possessing armor is a serious crime.

But for now, paper armor is a bug in the law.

It is rumored that paper armor was invented by Xu Shang, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, when Southern Tang was at war with Later Zhou, "some people among the people led their own troops, using paper armor and farm tools as weapons, and they were called white armor soldiers."

It was not until the late period of Song Renzong's reign that the imperial court ordered the Jiangnan region to manufacture 30,000 pieces of paper armor for Shaanxi archers, and officially equipped the army on a large scale.

It was not until the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song that it was stipulated that if anyone privately produced five pieces of paper, the leader would be sentenced to death by hanging.

Song Shenzong's father had not even been born yet, let alone this new regulation.

Even if Song Xuan had five pieces of paper armor in his hands, the laws of the Song Dynasty could not apply to him.

This kind of paper armor was further integrated by Qi Jiguang into a armor that covers the body, and the arms need to be pierced with separate arms.

It looks not much different from today's bulletproof vests.

It is made of a special flexible paper, three inches thick, with four nails nailed between each square inch.

After being soaked by rain, it becomes stronger and difficult for guns and swords to penetrate.

Song Xuan has taken good care of this paper armor, and it is still usable now. It is enough to protect against hidden arrows.

"Fang Ping, when the time comes, just hide in the cabin. I'll kill as many thieves as come."

Zhang Fangping nodded. He wasn't good at these things to begin with, and he felt a little worried.
"We need to tell Mr. Yan and the others about this. They are also going to travel with us. If they get hurt, it will have a bad impact."

"Yeah." Song Xuan responded:
"This matter does need to be informed to them, but Mr. Fan has always carried a sword and traveled to various places to study in his early years. He is much more experienced in dealing with these matters than Mr. Yan and the others."

Zhang Fangping was stunned. He had inquired about Fan Zhongyan's deeds.

Unexpectedly, Fan Zhongyan's family background was even worse than his and he lived in poverty.

But even so, Mr. Fan still studied poetry and books hard, and eventually passed the imperial examination and realized his ambitions.

In fact, Zhang Fangping was extremely excited when he learned that Fan Zhongyan was going to teach at Yingtianfu Academy.

If this news gets out, I'm afraid students from all over the world will come here to study.

But don't let your losses be caused by some villains.

Song Xuan was not angry at all about the trouble that came to him.

Instead, I am full of expectations.

After all, it has been a long time since I had a legitimate reason to wield weapons and compete with others.

Hunting was too boring for him on weekdays. The biggest prey was wild boar, and he could only hunt pheasants, rabbits and the like on weekdays.

It is difficult to hide tigers or something like that in the Henan Plain.

In addition, Zhao Kuangyin issued an order to hunt tigers, but after so many years, tigers have only appeared in Dengzhou (Xichuan County).

Unlike Shandong, there are more dense forests, which provide tigers with ample living space.

Song Xuan did not think that the Song people were too cowardly, especially in Henan, where there were many brave and ruthless people, and it was normal for them to carry weapons when going out.

After stretching out his paper armor, Song Xuan reluctantly picked up the book and continued reading.

Zhang Fangping was still thinking wildly. He really didn't expect that someone wanted to kill his twelfth brother's money and life.

Twelve Brother still has the composure to remain calm even when Mount Tai collapses in front of him and to remain unmoved even when a deer appears on his left.

It was as if the villain didn't want to take his life!
(End of this chapter)