Li Bing couldn't help but be slightly startled when he heard the words "treasure of the country". He turned to look at Shen Lie next to him, and Shen Lie also shook his head in confusion, indicating that he didn't know anything about it.
Li Bing thought to himself: With Xia Hou Ninghan, Master Hui Dian and Shen Changshi here, I am afraid that no assassin would dare to come and act wildly, and the safety of this palace will not be seriously affected, so he ordered: "The secret envoy is here to see you."
The guard outside the door responded loudly, and then led an official in black court uniform into the room.
When Li Bing and Shen Lie saw this person, they were both a little surprised. They did know this secret envoy sent by the imperial court.
This man's name was Shang Yiyun. He was an official worshiped as the Heavenly Supervisor and was in charge of observing celestial phenomena, calculating solar terms, and formulating calendars. Shang Yiyun had practiced Taoism in Zhongnan Mountain for many years, so he was nicknamed "Shang Taoist Master" in the court. He is nearly seventy years old this year and is a veteran of the Holy Tang Dynasty. Although his position is not high, he is well respected by the courtiers.
When Li Bing saw it was him, he couldn't help but said: "It turns out to be Shang Sitian, how come you came to Youzhou?"
Shang Yiyun first kowtowed to Li Bing tremblingly, then stood up slowly and replied: "Your Highness, I have been ordered by the emperor to escort the national treasure to Youzhou and hand it over to Your Highness for safekeeping."
"National treasure? This is strange." Li Bing was a little surprised: "I have been ordered to lead a large army to resist the enemy and suppress the rebellion. The place where I am located is the front line of the battlefield. What kind of national treasure is it? I will not move to Western Shu with the imperial court. To avoid chaos, instead of rushing to be sent here to this palace?"
Not only him, but everyone in the room had this question in their mind.
Just listen to Shang Yiyun patiently explain: "Your Highness, you don't know something. This treasure was passed down by the founding emperor of the Holy Tang Dynasty. It is called the Huntian Observation and Timing Instrument. It can not only calibrate the star positions and observe changes in the celestial solar terms. , and it can also deduce the calendar through the operation of internal organs, which can be said to be an important tool for the country. More importantly..."
Shang Yiyun paused for a moment and emphasized: "I didn't know this before, but the emperor himself told me a few days ago that this treasure will show a star map in the first thousand years of the Holy Tang Dynasty. The corresponding mountains and terrain are buried with huge treasures left by Emperor Gaozu. It is said that the treasures stored there are all the treasures accumulated by the previous emperors from all over the world. There are so many gold and silver mountains that we can't even count them."
Li Bing's eyes widened in surprise: "Are you kidding? How could such a bizarre thing happen?"
"Old minister is terrified!" Shang Yiyun was so frightened that he knelt down quickly: "No matter how courageous I am, I don't dare to joke about the fate of the country and deceive you. This secret was told to me by the emperor a few days ago. There is absolutely no falsehood or tampering. . It is precisely for this reason that the emperor did not let the old ministers move to Yizhou with the three provinces and six tribes. Instead, he disguised himself and escorted the Huntian Observation and Time Instrument to His Highness."
The old man added tremblingly: "The emperor hopes that the astonishing wealth can be kept in the hands of His Highness and used to reorganize our country, Shengtang."
Seeing him like this, Li Bing hurriedly said: "Shang Sitian, don't be nervous. I just said it unintentionally, and I didn't mean to doubt you. By the way, where is the Huntian Observation and Timing Instrument now?"
"It's just outside in the car."
Li Bing ordered: "Okay, bring it in and let me have a look."
Shang Yiyun nodded upon hearing this, and was about to give an order to his subordinates outside when Shen Lie suddenly said from the side: "Wait a minute! Your Highness, before moving the treasure in, please let Wei Chen go and inspect it first."
Li Bing knew that Shen Lie was cautious, and because he was worried about fraud, he had to personally check the treasures brought by Shang Yiyun to make sure they were safe.
So, he raised his hand to let Shen Lie do what he wanted.
After about a meal, Shen Lie came back from outside. He had obviously seen the so-called Huntian Observation and Timing Instrument, and there was nothing wrong with the treasure itself. Behind him, there were eight strong soldiers carrying a five-foot-square copper utensil.
The bronze vessel has a spherical appearance, and the spherical surface is densely engraved with constellations and symbols, making it look very mysterious. On the periphery of the sphere, several rail frames with scales are installed, staggered around the bronze vessel.
Underneath the spherical bronze vessel is a square base. It can be vaguely seen that there are complex mechanical locks inside, which are probably used to deduce the movement of the stars.
Perhaps because of its long history, the entire device, from the sphere above to the base below, is covered in mottled rust.
Shang Yiyun explained embarrassedly: "Your Highness, please forgive me. I didn't know that this treasure actually contained a shocking secret. I thought it was just like other ordinary armillary spheres, just a tool for observing the stars, so I neglected it." Maintenance has caused the Huntian Observation and Timing Instrument to look like this. If it is damaged due to rust and delays the important events of the court, then the old minister will really deserve death."
Li Bing thought to himself that the previous emperors must have already made rubbings of the treasure star maps in the bronzes, and then handed over the Huntian Observation and Timing Instrument to the Qintian Supervisor for safekeeping. Otherwise, how could they allow such a thing to be related to the astonishing wealth? Baby is out in the sun and rain? It is estimated that the emperor's uncle was afraid that if the map was delivered directly, something unexpected might happen on the way, so he simply ordered Shang Yiyun to transport the original equipment directly to Youzhou so that he could use the huge treasure to raise troops and save the country.
In this way, Shang Yiyun is worthy of being a veteran of three dynasties with good cultivation. With such tempting wealth, he did not abscond with the treasure on the way, but worked tirelessly and traveled long distances to fulfill his mission faithfully.
Thinking of this, Li Bing said happily: "Shang Aiqing, you have done a good job in protecting the treasure! When you come to the Japanese Palace to drive away foreign enemies and put down the rebels, you will probably rely on this treasure passed down by your ancestors!"
Shang Yiyun was also very relieved: "Your Highness has killed the old minister. It is the honor of the old minister to be loyal to the country. How dare I claim even half of the credit. If I could relieve the emperor and His Highness from their worries, the old minister would die in peace." only……"
"Just what?" Li Bing asked curiously.
"To be honest with Your Highness, I am not sure whether this Huntian Observation and Timing Instrument can really deduce the treasure star map that has been revealed for thousands of years." Shang Yiyun said slightly worriedly: "After receiving the emperor's order, the veteran hurriedly On the road, it has not been specifically verified until today.”
Li Bing nodded in understanding: "I understand this. After all, the matter is very urgent. The Turks are about to besiege the city, and you don't dare to delay at all. And you have to avoid the eyes and ears of the rebels along the way. It is already very difficult to deliver the treasure to Youzhou intact and to me, so how can we have the chance to deduce it?"
Having said this, he thought for a moment, and then said: "How about this, you can try to operate the treasure here and demonstrate it to me in person."
"This..." Shang Yiyun hesitated: "Your Highness, such a confidential matter..."
His meaning is very clear. The Huntian Observation and Timing Instrument deduces the number of thousands of years, and the obtained mountain and star map means a huge treasure. It is the most important secret of the Li family. There are many outsiders here. If it is leaked, wouldn't it be Want to cause big trouble?
Li Bing waved his hand indifferently: "It doesn't matter! Here are all the most trusted and loyal people in this palace. They will never covet treasures. It doesn't hurt to see them with their own eyes. Besides, we will have to rely on them to deduce the star map in the future. I have brought those mountains of gold and silver back."
After hearing the words, Shang Yiyun thought for a moment and found that it was indeed the case, so he nodded and said: "Your Highness is right. If this is the case, then the veteran will deduce it on the spot here, which can be regarded as truly fulfilling the sacred mission entrusted by the emperor."
With that said, he turned to Shen Lie and said, "Master Shaoqing, to deduce the calendar, I have to let my disciples come in to help."
When Shen Lie went out for inspection just now, all his thoughts were on the Huntian Observation and Timing Instrument, but he didn't pay too much attention to Shang Yiyun's entourage. Now that I heard what he said, I couldn't go out and filter the people out again, so I had to say: "Since His Highness has a decree, please let Mr. Shang make arrangements on his own."
Shang Yiyun nodded slightly and explained a few words to the guard next to him. The guard turned and left as instructed, and within a moment, Shang Yiyun's twelve disciples were brought in.
Shen Lie raised his eyes and glanced at those guys who were both Shang Yiyun's disciples and Qin Tian Supervisor's staff. They were all wearing black gauze robes and hoods. They looked mysterious and a little weird. He couldn't help but become more vigilant and slowly moved his body to a position closer to Li Bing.
Almost at the same time as Shen Lie, Xiahou Ninghan also slowly walked up to Li Bing seemingly casually.
Shang Yiyun did not pay attention to the two men's actions. He tremblingly ordered his apprentices to arrange themselves around the Huntian Observation and Timing Instrument according to the innate Bagua directions, and prepared to start deducing the calendar.
Everyone moved quickly, some were holding instruments and mechanisms, some were checking astrolabes with flat ends, some were holding pens and paper for recording, and some were standing in position to protect the Dharma. Everyone was silent, waiting quietly for the discussion. Yiyun's instructions.
Shang Yiyun bowed his hand to Li Bing: "Your Highness, I'm ready, please order the deduction."
Li Bing nodded: "Okay, let's get started."
Following his words, Shang Yiyun's disciples immediately pushed the mechanism of the armillary sky observation and timing instrument. The copper sphere slowly rotated, and the surrounding scale tracks also rotated along with it.
The sphere rotates relatively quickly, while the orbital scale changes gradually in an orderly manner, frame by frame.
The entire instrument kept making loud rattling noises. Several disciples responsible for observation stared closely at the astrolabe in their hands, carefully checking the evolution of the sphere and scale, and reporting star position data rhythmically for their fellow disciples to record.
"On the summer solstice of the seventy-first year, the sun is in the virtual place and the rat is four and five; the fire snake is in the wing and it is one and nine. Accurate!"
"At the end of the year 165, the spica wood dragon is six or seven; the heart is the moon fox, it is twenty-eight. Correct!"
"At the beginning of autumn in the third year of the three hundred and seventy-three years, Kui is the Wood Wolf, one or four; Pleiades is the Sun Rooster, five or nine; Ghost is the Golden Sheep, three or six. Correct!"
"On the spring equinox of 708, the fire pig in the room is three and three; the earth deer in the willow is two and seven. Correct!"
As the apprentices loudly announced the year and time and deduced the star position, Shang Yiyun closed his eyes tightly, pinched his fingers with both hands, and muttered something in his mouth, as if he was calculating something silently. The star map that marked a thousand years since the founding of the Holy Tang Dynasty was getting closer and closer. Everyone present became nervous unconsciously. The ministers and generals, including Li Bing, all focused on the rotating time instrument. For fear of missing any detail, even Shen Lie was a little distracted and wanted to take a look at the changes in the instrument's scale from time to time.
At this time, there was only one person in the whole room who was not attracted by the star map deduction.
