In the evening, there was a hustle and bustle in Tianshui County, the capital of the Xue Qin Dynasty. Except for the personnel on duty on the city wall, everyone was eating meat and drinking wine inside and outside the military camp.
"Come on, keep drinking!"
"This battle was really enjoyable, His Highness the King of Qin used his troops like a god!"
"I knew His Highness was brave from the previous fight against Daxing... Why didn't I see His Highness?"
"Where's Erlang? You've been in there for so long, are you afraid that we'll get you drunk?"
"Hahaha!"
When Li Shimin opened his eyes, he heard the noisy and laughing sounds of the officers and soldiers outside the county guard's mansion. The contrast with Chu Zhen's place made him feel a little dazed for a moment.
Fortunately, the box was on the ground nearby. Li Shimin picked up the telescope from inside and took a few glances to confirm that it could indeed see into the distance, and then he felt relieved.
This thing has great uses!
Li Shimin put away several telescopes alone, and kept the rest in the box in the room.
After thinking about it, he took out the compound bow, removed the sight, and took out a bag of tea leaves. He left the lychees and mangoes and took out the rest of the fruits.
When Li Shimin went outside, Chai Shao, with sharp eyes, picked up the wine bottle and shouted at him: "Why did Erlang squat for so long?"
The word "crouch" is used wonderfully.
"Hahaha!"
All the soldiers in the governor's mansion laughed together.
In fact, it was a great victory to take down Zheqian and capture Xue Rengao, but Li Shimin ordered not to celebrate until the army entered Tianshui County. A group of generals and their guards went to grab the property of Xue Qin's officials and plundered the big houses in the city to vent their anger for the rest of the month. The sweltering heat and suffocation I endured.
Only the county governor's palace, Xue Ju's "imperial palace", was spared the disaster.
Li Shimin waited for half a day before ordering the troops to return to camp and closing the city gates to celebrate.
The city officials brought the people to offer wine and meat with great fear, but Li Shimin accepted them all and asked them to go home and stay in peace.
"Don't worry, you'll get drunk and talk nonsense later."
Li Shimin called a guard over who was drinking, handed him the paper bag, and said: "This is tea. You can go find someone to boil a few large pots of water. After the water boils, gradually add the tea leaves until the taste is suitable." After it’s cooked, bring it over with the pot!”
"tea?"
Li Jing was a little confused. Why did King Qin still take care of making tea?
But without saying much, he picked up the bag and walked out to the street. The cook was outside.
The cooks in the army did not have the iron pots used by scholar-bureaucrats. They used cauldrons or earthen pots to cook vegetables and boil water.
Holding the tea leaves, Li Jing felt something was wrong. After walking out of the gate of the Sheriff's Mansion, he looked at the bag carefully and found that it looked like paper, but it was much better than ordinary paper.
He studied it for a while, then tried to tear open the seal and saw that the dried leaves inside the paper bag were not tea cakes.
Li Jing pinched some and looked at it carefully, and then smelled it, and a refreshing fragrance hit his nose.
He was more and more amazed.
The paper bag alone was exquisite, and the tea leaves inside had a richer aroma than the tea cakes, making him want to try it.
After stopping his thoughts, Li Jing quickened his pace and walked to where the cooks were cooking. They happened to be boiling water and then crushed the tea cakes and prepared them to be cooked and sent to the generals.
Li Jing asked them to stop, grabbed a handful of dry tea leaves and put them into the boiling water.
After the tea leaves from 1,500 years later were soaked in boiling water, the aroma of the tea filled the air, making the cooks who were originally doubtful couldn't help but take a few deep breaths and exclaimed, "What a fragrant tea!"
“It’s indeed good tea!”
Li Jing sighed again and tasted the taste with a spoon. Although it was boiling hot, it still couldn't hide the sweetness and flavor of the tea.
In the same way, tea was added to other cauldrons, and Li Jing ordered the cook to carry the cauldron and send it to the King of Qin with him.
Back in front of the government office, Li Jing heard laughter coming from inside.
"Your Highness, this strange bow doesn't work just by looking at it. No wonder Xue Ju lost to us."
"Look, this wheel can still spin when you draw the bow!"
"What kind of bow did Xue Juming make? Why not throw it away!"
Strange bow?
Li Jing walked into the front yard of the government office and saw a strange bow in his hand, with protruding wheels at both ends.
"Whoosh!!"
Li Shimin let go of his hand, and the arrow shot through the air, hitting the target hanging on the wall, and the arrow penetrated deeply into it.
Li Jing's pupils shrank suddenly.
The soldiers around were shocked, and many people shouted:
"What a fast arrow!"
They are all good at using bows, and it can be seen at a glance that the arrows shot by this bow are comparable to the two-stone bow.
But the way His Highness drew the bow just now did not look like the strength of his arms used to pull a strong bow.
"Good bow!"
Li Shimin praised it and handed it to Qu Tutong aside, "General Qu, come and give it a try."
The veteran general Qu Tutong had long been interested in this strange bow. He immediately took it, took an arrow, and stringed the bow.
"Xue Ju's bow——"
He felt that this bow was extraordinary. After the arrow was shot, its power was beyond his expectation.
Although the accuracy is a bit off since it was my first time using it.
"Your Highness!" Qu Tutong looked at him in surprise, "This Xue Ju can actually make such a strange bow?!"
"I don't know how he made it."
Li Shimin smiled mysteriously and greeted everyone: "You all come and give it a try."
After hearing this, all the soldiers gathered around and everyone who tried it was amazed.
This strange bow was not too powerful, its power was between two stones and three stones, but it required much less arm strength, so they were all shocked by the abnormal power of the arrows when they released them.
After pulling out the bowstring, use a small amount of force to hold it, and then release your hand, but the arrow will have the power of a heavy bow.
"Your Highness, this bow is truly a sharp weapon."
After Yin Kaishan tried the bow, he was pleasantly surprised and quickly suggested that he quickly find the craftsman who made the bow in the city.
Li Shimin smiled and said: "Entering the city today has disturbed everyone in the city, how can we disturb them again? The city gate is closed, and it will not be too late to search again tomorrow."
"Your Highness is kind." Yin Kaishan saluted.
All the soldiers also praised him one after another.
Just at this time, the fragrance of tea gradually spread. Li Shimin invited everyone to come to drink tea and gave them a fruit brought from Chu Zhen.
The tea was still piping hot, but the fragrance was so tempting that all the soldiers didn't care and went to ask for a bowl of tea.
Du Ruhui, Duan Zhixuan, Hou Junji and others all applauded after tasting it, and drank the tea more vigorously than the wine.
Li Jing also tried the strange bow. After the arrow was shot, he was also frightened by the power of the arrow.
"Is this bow... really made by Xue Ju?"
With doubts, Li Jing found Zhai Changsun who was drunk outside the crowd and asked him the inside story.
"I don't know. Maybe there is, but I've never seen it."
Zhai Changsun shook his head.
He had recently joined the Tang army and originally served as the internal history officer under Xue Ju. If Xue Ju ordered this bow to be made, he should have heard about it.
But it wasn't until King Qin came out of the government office and took out the bow that he heard about it for the first time.
Li Jing pondered for a moment and said to him in a low voice: "Next time someone asks you, just say you have it, but I don't know who made it."
Zhai Changsun glanced at King Qin in the crowd from afar and agreed.
Li Jing returned to King Qin, returned the paper bag and some remaining tea leaves to His Highness, and briefly mentioned the matter of Zhai Changsun.
"The pharmacist is thorough in his work and brave in battle. It is really inferior to only serve as a personal guard."
Du Ruhui on the side praised, looking at King Qin.
"I was negligent."
Li Shimin sighed and then said with a smile: "Tomorrow we will go to the city to look for craftsmen. When we get back, we will discuss our merits and reward them!"
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
Li Jing looked happy and saluted and thanked him.
After leaving, Li Jing also took a bowl and prepared to ask for tea. Unexpectedly, a group of soldiers were gulping down the tea. He finally squeezed in and got the last half of the bowl of tea.
"Oh, there are so few."
Li Jing smacked his lips and felt the taste of the tea in his mouth. If he wanted to drink it in the future, it might not be that simple. Only the King of Qin could take out this tea.
"Physician Li!"
Du Ruhui called him and asked him to boil all the remaining tea leaves and add more water. He didn't need to take back the paper bag and asked him to keep it.
"Thank you for the reward, Your Highness."
Li Jing collected the bag and weighed it. This exquisitely made bag with clever sealing was just right for holding some things.
And the tea fragrance remains in the bag.
After he left, Du Ruhui whispered: "Is there something on your mind, Your Highness?"
When His Highness left earlier, he looked beaming with joy after a great victory. When he came back with the strange bow, tea leaves, and fruits, he turned into a thoughtful look from time to time.
"It's something."
Li Shimin raised his head and took a sip of wine.
"map?"
"No, it's Mr. Nayan Liu."
Li Shimin looked at him and said, "I won't stay in Longxi for long. I'll leave it to you to manage this place. I'll do more benevolent government and make sure the people of Longxi return to their hearts."
Du Ruhui agreed and said he would try to divide Li Gui's forces and make Longxi completely stable.
As expected, the King of Qin left very quickly, and after staying for less than ten days, he led 70,000 troops and escorted Xue Rengao, Zong Luohu and others back to Chang'an.
On the road, Li Shimin, who was riding on a horse, couldn't help but think about how to intercede with Liu Wenjing, so that when his father killed Xue Rengao, he would also kill Liu Wenjing, Yin Shishi and others.
He also doesn’t believe in avoiding two deaths.
