A figure hurried to Beicheng, walking through the streets and alleys, as if he was familiar with the road in the slums.
Soon, he came to the depths of the North City, where there was a huge chain of houses, which was formed by many independent courtyards opening up the walls.
Agou hurriedly came to the gate of the chain house. He broke in without even knocking the signal, walked through the corridor, and found Guan Suzhi in a hurry.
At this time, Guan Suzhi, who was fat and covered in sweat, was supervising iron smelting in front of a large furnace.
On the ground beside the yard, dozens of iron balls as big as melons were placed. The iron balls were hollow and evenly distributed with dents on their surface. They were obviously the thunder balls, or artillery, depicted on Xie Changyuan's drawings.
After hurrying and slowing down, nearly half of the quantity was finally completed. There were still about twelve days until the God-Proclaiming Ceremony, and the people in the courtyard still needed to process and add some.
Agou panted and ran to Guan Suzhi. As soon as he got close, he leaned on his knees and bent down. He wanted to speak anxiously, but he was out of breath. It looked really uncomfortable.
A look of helplessness flashed across Guan Suzhi's ugly face, and she immediately took off the water bag from her waist and threw it to Agou.
"Drink some water and speak quickly after you finish breathing."
Agou didn't dare to neglect, unscrewed the stopper and drank a large gulp of water. Because the temperature near the stove was too high, what he drank was actually warm water.
"Sister, Mr. Xie has already left Bianliang City, and there are more than 500 soldiers following him."
Agou explained the matter as quickly as possible.
Hearing this, Guan Suzhi raised her eyebrows and paced back and forth for two steps with her hands behind her back, as if thinking about something.
Obviously she was also a little surprised, but she was not Princess Linyang, and she and Xie Changyuan were already close friends. When encountering such an unexpected situation, her first consideration was not whether the plan should continue, but the implications of Xie Changyuan's sudden departure.
"My brother has always been reliable in his work. He left suddenly this time because he had to deal with important matters."
Guan Suzhi rolled her little eyes and murmured to herself in a low voice.
Agou hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively.
"Then eldest sister, why should we do this? What if Mr. Xie doesn't come back..."
"Fuck you, uncle!" Guan Suzhi suddenly glared.
She continued, "We still have to fucking do it. As long as someone delivers gunpowder in the next few days, we have to build this artillery. If you delay my brother's important task, I will kill you!"
Agou shrank his neck when he was told that, and quickly nodded in agreement, with a look of resentment on his face.
Turning her head, Guan Suzhi raised her voice and shouted.
"Young ones! Work harder and harder. We will drive out fifteen iron melons today. My eldest sister invites you to visit the brothel!"
Hearing this, the people working in front of the stove were immediately overjoyed and hurriedly agreed, and soon the speed of their work accelerated a bit.
…
Also in Beicheng, there is a dilapidated brick alley at the entrance.
A dozen gentlemen were squatting there, forming a circle as if they were having a meeting.
The person in the middle is none other than Yan Yong, who sells pig trotters.
Yan Yong was shirtless and didn't have much flesh on his body. He was squatting on the ground, and his backbone was quite obvious.
He was smoking a dry cigarette and frowning, as if something unpleasant had happened to him.
The people around him were all hawkers who usually went to the outside of Beicheng to set up stalls. Just now, when someone was setting up a stall, they found Xie Changyuan walking out of the city.
Because at that time, Xie Changyuan had rescued them from the hands of the government officials, and people in the market were most concerned about their feelings. At that time, the hawker wanted to give Xie Changyuan some bacon, but who knew that when he turned around, he saw more than 500 imperial guards following Xie Changyuan.
, this frightened him so much that he turned around and ran away, fearing that his cart would be overturned.
The vendor said solemnly.
"I went back and made some inquiries. I heard that Xie Zhuangshi was a great hero who killed the Oiran killer, but I couldn't figure out why he was escorted out of Bianliang City by a large number of troops today."
The others also sighed, obviously they all remembered Xie Changyuan's kindness for them.
They were hawkers, and in the current world of the Song Dynasty, if they were caught, their property would be confiscated, paraded through the streets, and they would be beaten up afterwards.
What is the name of this crime? Now there is a novel name called "affecting the appearance of the city."
Yan Yong took a heavy drag on the cigarette and exhaled the smoke for a long time. He was also helpless. Although he was very grateful to Xie Changyuan and liked to do business and chat with this strong man with a huge appetite, but now there is an army to control him.
If he is taken away, what can they do to the common people?
Even if I feel anxious, I can't stop it when my manpower is exhausted.
"In the past few days, my brothers have been asking around to find out what exactly Xie Zhuangshi has committed. We know exactly what happened. We know what we can do to help him when the time comes. Maybe he will come back in a few days."
Xie Changyuan's topic ended like this, and a dozen gentlemen quickly talked about the next topic.
"Brother Yong, do you think we can still leave the stall on the day of the God-Proclaiming Ceremony?"
The God-Proclaiming Ceremony can currently be regarded as the most grand ceremony in the Song Dynasty, and a huge amount of money was even spent to build a God-Proclaiming Platform.
During the Xuan Shen Ceremony, it was announced that the Song Dynasty was completely under the Twelve Divine Palaces. Hui Emperor Zhao Shuo wanted to have fun with the people and ordered the whole city to take a three-day vacation. At that time, they could all go to the Xuan Shen Pavilion to witness the historic scene.
This kind of grand gathering is usually an opportunity for small businessmen and vendors to make money. They can often earn five days' worth of money in one day, or even more!
The traders are unwilling to miss this opportunity, but now they are all poor people who have been driven to the North City because they have no money. As ghost vendors, they have to take risks every time they go out to set up stalls.
This is usually the case, let alone the day of the God-Proclaiming Ceremony. If I had known that the emperor would choose to rush them to Beicheng just for the purpose of making Bianliang City dignified enough on the day of the God-Proclaiming Ceremony.
But even so, once people become poor, their desire for money becomes more intense. The greater the desire, the greater their courage.
Sure enough, Yan Yong slapped his thigh directly.
"Go, why not go? Who would have trouble with money?"
The Xuan Shen Ceremony is a good opportunity to make money. For this group of small traders, even if they take risks, as long as there is sufficient return, it is worth trying.
So they reached a consensus and set out the stall on time on the day of the God-Proclaiming Ceremony!