Changsheng originally wanted to help Mr. Hei dig out the thing, but he thought that there were many things that could greatly replenish qi and blood, and he was not willing to waste it. After hesitation, he went back to the north room, leaving Mr. Hei to continue tossing in the stable.
I fell asleep before the second watch. It was the fourth watch when I woke up. After a simple wash, I was about to go out. But before I left, I changed my mind. I couldn't wear official uniform anymore. It was out of season. I wore official uniform yesterday because I was going there. It's too late to enter. If you continue to walk around in official uniform today, it will be suspected of being sensational.
Thinking of this, he changed out of his official uniform and put on a Taoist robe. Before going out, he went to the side room to see the black master as usual. Who had ever wanted to lift the curtain but found the big head dozing off by the manger, holding a burning stick in his hand? Complete fragrance.
After the curtain was opened, the cold wind blew in. Da Tou woke up and stood up hurriedly when he saw Chang Sheng.
"Brother Fu, what are you doing here?" Changsheng asked.
Da Tou stamped out the incense stick and yawned, "I'm afraid you got up late, so I'll wait for you here."
Chang Sheng felt awkward when he heard this, "How many times have I told you that we are friends and you are not my subordinate."
"I know, I know," Datou nodded repeatedly, "I'm not sleeping here just to wake you up. Your horse is a fool. It wasn't very happy when I led it back yesterday. I have to get along with it as soon as possible. Once you're done with it, I'll prepare a horse for you and you'll be able to pull it."
"Well, it won't happen again," Changsheng said, "By the way, you have to be careful. The black master's feces and urine are highly poisonous, and his saliva is also highly poisonous. Don't let him lick you."
"Okay, let's go," Dutou raised his hand to wipe his eyes, "I already ordered the canteen to cook for you yesterday. You have something to eat before you go."
Changsheng nodded and lifted the curtain, indicating that Datou should go first.
Da Tou waved his hands in fear, asking Chang Sheng to go first. Chang Sheng didn't bother with him, grabbed his neck collar and pushed him out, and then went out to the dining hall with Da Tou.
Seeing Da Tou yawning profusely, Changsheng asked casually, "How long did you work last night?"
"Third watch," Datou replied, "there were more than ninety officials, big and small, who came here yesterday. Almost all the yamen of Chang'an, big and small, sent money. You definitely don't have time to look at it these days. There are so many boxes piled up in the courtroom. It’s not a big deal, Yang Kai and I opened the box and counted the silver taels, there were more than 62,000 taels in total, we have sent people to move it to the warehouse, and the list is on the desk of the public case.”
"Thank you for your hard work." Changsheng said casually.
"Your Majesty, you are serious. We can't do big things, we can only do trivial things." Datou said.
While the two of them were talking, they came to the dining hall. Several cooks hurriedly brought breakfast to them. The two of them were eating and talking at the same time.
"Sir, those people who came yesterday just wanted to test our attitude. We will accept all who come. They will definitely give you separate gifts next. It is not a problem to have so much money piled up in the warehouse," Datou said in a low voice. , "You have to find a way to deal with it."
"No need to deal with it. It won't cause problems if it is piled in the warehouse, but it will cause problems if it is moved to other places." Changsheng said.
"Your Excellency, you are right," Datou nodded, "but after all, our warehouse is not the imperial court's treasury, and we are not at home all the time. I'm afraid they will steal it."
Changsheng thought for a while and said, "In this way, you let them melt the silver and turn it into a big lump that they can't move."
Da Tou grabbed Chang Sheng's rice bowl and served him porridge, "It's a way, but if you want them to be unable to move it, it would cost at least two thousand taels. There is no mold that big."
"If it doesn't work, just build a trough to feed the horses." Changsheng said casually.
"That should be ten thousand taels," Datou said with a smile.
"Ten thousand taels is ten thousand taels, the bigger the better," Changsheng said. "The silver ingots are too big to be moved. The court knows that we don't want to embezzle them at all. After they are cast, they are piled in the warehouse and taken out when needed." "
After breakfast and having discussed all the trivial matters, Da Tou went back to his room and changed out of his official uniform, and accompanied Chang Sheng to the square in front of the palace.
Because it was still early, there were not many people around the square. When the two arrived, the guys from Baoqing Inn had already arranged the seats for everyone in Longhu Mountain. Yesterday, they were in a hurry and only brought a dozen chairs. Today's time Since they had plenty of money, they brought over fifty of them, arranged neatly in various directions.
Since the weather was cold, they also brought a tea stove to boil water and an oven to bake cakes.
Not only is Longhu Mountain being cared for by people, there are also people arranging seats and preparing tea where other champions are. Although the court has always talked about the prosperous times, in fact everyone knows that these are troubled times, and the power of force in troubled times It can protect everyone better than the law, so anyone with a little family fortune will look for a backer in order to be protected in critical moments.
After arranging the trivial matters, Chang Sheng sent Da Tou back. His original intention was to let Da Tou go back to rest, but he just asked him to go back to rest. Da Tou would definitely not leave, so he could only arrange something for him to do, and let Da Tou go back and watch the smelting of silver. , and by the way, I was also keeping an eye on someone who might give gifts.
At three o'clock in the morning, all the champions arrived one after another. When the o'clock in the morning was approaching, everyone from the Shangqing Dynasty led by Longhu Shan also arrived. Changsheng wore a Taoist robe today and greeted the elders of each sect with the courtesy of a junior, although he had been in Gezao before. The mountain made everyone feel disgraced. This time, Gezao Mountain still stands with Longhu Mountain, and Maoshan is naturally among them. In addition, there are more than a dozen small Taoist temples and sects derived from Sanshan, as well as lay sects. A few, but not many.
Although the Shangqing people are relatively small in number, their strength cannot be underestimated, because the Shangqing Sect has always been good at magic. Compared with the traceable martial arts moves, weird and mysterious spells are not only more powerful, but also more difficult to guard against. .
A total of six alliances were formed by the small sects who temporarily gathered together yesterday. One of them stormed the Prajna Temple and almost wiped out the entire army. Today there are five alliances on the sidelines. The number of these five alliances has increased a lot compared to yesterday. The reason for the increase is that after a night of alliances, all the waiting small sects have joined these five alliances. At this time, apart from the nine champion camps, there are only these five alliances left. It is clear at a glance and the differences are clear. .
When the hour of the day was approaching, the Imperial Guards came out of the palace and lined up, and all the examiners took their places.
Seeing a eunuch standing next to the examiner, Changsheng knew that something would change. Sure enough, when the time came, the eunuch immediately took out the imperial edict from his sleeve and read loudly, "My disciples, on the eighteenth day of this month, the first festival of Qianqiu, all over the world Peace is achieved and all nine states are celebrating together. Martial arts competitions and fights harm the peace of the world. Therefore, the promotion of people ends at sixteen, and the promotion of Jinshi stops at seventeen. I admire this."
Hearing the eunuch's announcement, there was an uproar outside the venue. The so-called Qianqiu Festival is actually the emperor's birthday. To put it bluntly, the day after tomorrow is the emperor's birthday. It is bad luck to see more blood in a fight. Therefore, the martial arts examiner will be selected today and tomorrow. Selecting Wu Jinshi, to put it another way, means that nine division champions will be selected today, and three general champions will be selected tomorrow.
Others were surprised, but Changsheng was not surprised, because the court had been changing the rules during the Tongbang competition, secretly influencing it. It is not surprising that the imperial court repeated its old tricks in this official competition.
The reason why everyone was shocked and in an uproar was also very simple, that is, the sudden imperial edict directly disrupted their plans. Last night was a sleepless night for everyone involved in the competition, whether it was the champion guarding the competition or the competition leader. The warriors who tried to steal the ring were all racking their brains to plan and communicate, and finally came up with a way that was beneficial to themselves. After an imperial edict came down, all their previous efforts were wasted.
This imperial edict is unfavorable to everyone. There is only one day left to fight for the martial arts. The five alliances formed by small sects have no time to assess the situation and act according to the opportunity. If they do not want their sects to be forcibly dismissed by the court, they can only Bite the bullet and choose a challenger to attack. This move is like a moth rushing to a flame, throwing an egg against a stone.
As for the nine champions, except for Prajna Temple, which was hit hard yesterday, the other eight champions could have sat on the mountain and watched the fire. However, according to the imperial decree, in addition to Prajna Temple, which was hit hard, four other champions would also be affected. Challenged by the other four alliances.
The imperial court's move was a pretense of killing with a borrowed knife. Although the emperor and the eunuchs did not get along, neither the emperor nor the eunuchs wanted to see the rise of martial arts sects and the emergence of masters in large numbers. The reason is also very simple. These martial arts sects and Xi Once the people of Wu rebelled, it would be difficult for the court to surrender and quell the rebellion.
The gong sounded, and the nine champions could only send people to the stage to continue accepting the challenge.
Seeing that the person who came to the stage of Prajna Temple was Monk Tongde, who had been seriously injured yesterday, one of the allies immediately sent people to the stage to seize the opportunity first.
The remaining four alliances were undecided and hesitant.
Yesterday, in order to resist the charm of the masked woman, Monk Tongde had already lost his vitality. After defeating three people in a row, he was finally kicked out of the ring by the fourth person.
Seeing that the abbot of Prajna Temple came next, everyone immediately knew that Prajna Temple was at the end of its war effort. Seeing that this method was feasible, another ally came up to challenge.
I don’t know whether it was due to the importance of loyalty in the world or some private agreement made last night. This alliance did not challenge Prajna Temple, but chose the Wushuang City in the due south arena.
Seeing that another alliance has taken action, the remaining three alliances become more and more anxious. The longer the delay, the more disadvantageous it is for our own side. The relatively weak opponents have been snatched away, and our side can only choose those powerful champions to attack. .
Driven by this mentality, the third alliance immediately came to power, and their goal turned out to be the Salt Gang, which had a lot of help.
Then came the fourth alliance, choosing Dajiji from the Southwest Arena.
At this time, there is still the last alliance composed of small sects that has not taken action. This alliance is also the alliance with the largest number of people.
The champions include the Beggar Clan, Zhuque Villa, Shaolin Temple, Longhu Mountain, and Liangyi Mountain that have not yet been attacked.
In the end, the leaders of the alliance gathered together to discuss anxiously. The remaining five sects were all the most difficult to deal with. No matter who they chose, they would not be able to take advantage.
The five champions were also secretly nervous at this time. There were too many people in this alliance. No matter who was bitten by them, even if they could barely hold on to the champion, their vitality would be severely damaged, and they would definitely be at a disadvantage in tomorrow's decisive battle.
The leader of the last alliance was discussing urgently while turning his head from time to time to look at the camp of the five champions. Shaolin Temple was the ancestral home of the Zen sect and there were so many masters that they had no chance of winning.
The Beggar Clan has a hundred thousand members, and any bad deeds will be punished. Moreover, there are many small sects attached to the Beggar Clan. If you offend them, even if you keep the sect, you will not be able to survive in the future.
Zhuque Villa, Qinglong Villa, White Tiger Villa and Xuanwu Villa are in the same spirit and have been friends for generations. Let alone the four parties joining forces, they cannot defeat even one of them.
After excluding these four, only Longhu Mountain and Liangyi Mountain remain.
The number of people in these two Taoist sects is not large. Although they are more prestigious, after all, the number of people is small. If they put all their efforts and fight for their lives, they may still have a chance of winning.
Seeing that people were looking in the direction of Longhu Mountain more and more frequently, Chang Sheng began to worry secretly. Oh no, this ragtag group of people might choose to attack Longhu Mountain.
At this moment, the opponent made up his mind and sent one person to the Longhu Mountain Arena located in the middle of the square...
