The land west of Hexi was called Yongzhou in ancient times. In the third year of Shuo of the Han Dynasty (126 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty changed Yongzhou to Liangzhou because of the cold land. He also sent General Huo Qubing to attack the Xiongnu, occupy Guzang, and massacre the two places. .
After hundreds of years of fighting against the Xiongnu, Qiang, Di and other Hu tribes, the administrative seat of Liangzhou was finally settled in Guzang, also known as Wuwei. Compared with the surrounding areas, Guzang can be called a wealthy city, with currency of Qiang and Hu, and a market of four places. There are wine shops all over the country, and every person who lives in the county will not be able to make money for several months, and often ends up with a lot of money.
"There is such a prosperous land in the west of Hexi! I thought that I would never see such a beautiful scene again after leaving the Central Plains." Outside the gate of Guzang City, a young man with broad shoulders, round waist, tall stature and a slightly ferocious face praised.
"Shut up!" The middle-aged man dressed as a scribe next to the young man scolded in a low voice: "My father is here to visit many old friends. If you make a mistake, your father will lose face and be rejected by his old friends. Outside, it’s convenient——”
"How about...?" Seeing that his father deliberately did not tell the truth, the young man was quite uneasy.
"I will punish you by not eating meat for ten days." The man said leisurely.
"——!" The young man's eyes widened, but he did not dare to speak out, lest his father would take him seriously.
"How can a father feel at ease when he is so unstable?" The man added: "Although we are old friends, it is the limit to show you a filial and honest person. If you do something wrong, there is no way I can change things for you."
"Father, don't worry. I am just a small official. How can I be more difficult to get along with than the Qiang people?" the young man replied nonchalantly.
"Alas..." the man sighed.
The man's name is Dong Junya. He is originally from Longxi, Liangzhou. He once served as a lieutenant in Yingchuan County. Although he has a reputation for bravery, he is not very wise. He was used as a gunman in a secret fight in Yingchuan officialdom and had to resign and return home. During his tenure, His wife gave birth to him two sons in Yingchuan, the eldest son Dong Zhuo and the second son Dong Min (min).
Dong Junya took the nicknames "Zhongying" and "Shuying" before his second son was crowned, hoping that they would succeed in Yingchuan. However, Dong Zhuo preferred knights to learning, and although Dong Min wanted to go to school, he had no qualifications. Because of his shortcomings, he was often laughed at by Yingchuan students for some reason.
This time when he returned to his hometown, he asked his second son to concentrate on studying and wait for the superior to conquer. Because it was located on the border of Han and Qiang, the people of Liangzhou were fierce, and because of the revival of spiritual energy, if they were looking for brave men, they would be all over the place, but they could help the superior to deal with it. It is rare to find one person among thousands of people who are involved in civil affairs. Therefore, if a Liangzhou person wishes to become a civil servant, as long as he is not too bad, there will be no obstacles.
The eldest son Dong Zhuo was more troublesome. Although he had some natural powers, he did not have "unparalleled" characteristics. After returning to Xiliang, he befriended the Qiang people and started to engage in knight-errant activities. Seeing that he was still the same as an adult, Dong Junya had to bring him to the state to govern. I asked my old friend to find a job for his son.
After taking Dong Zhuo into the city, Dong Junya solemnly warned: "When my father goes to visit friends, I'm afraid it won't be possible if I ask you to stay somewhere and not move around. In this way, you can play around in the city as you like, but you can't go out of the city. If the sky is dark, In the evening, I waited for my father at the largest restaurant in the city."
"Actually, the son can visit with his father..."
"Forget it, if you disagree with others and start arguing with others, shout and scare people, and make sophistry and lies, your father can't afford to lose this person." Dong Junya shook his head, gave his son some money to help him, then turned and left.
.
"But I clearly won..." Dong Zhuo said to himself. Seeing that his father was far away, he turned around helplessly and looked at Guzang, or in other words, Wuwei City.
————
Wuwei is located in Xiliang, but the scenery is different from that of the Central Plains. Because it is surrounded by flat Gobi desert and the wind and sand are quite violent, the surrounding city walls are built extremely high. There are also many wind-blocking walls in the city to block the wind. Therefore, there are markets, residences, military camps,
Shops, workshops and farmhouses are also divided into blocks, which are very easy to identify.
Wuwei opens a large market four times a month for merchants from the Central Plains to exchange goods with the Qiang and Hu. It is called a small market on weekdays. Although there are no merchants from far away, there are also traveling merchants and scattered tribes trading here.
This time Dong Zhuo went to the market to find an excellent saber. Although the rangers and scholars all admired swords, that narrow weapon was not suitable for the strong Dong Zhuo. The weapon he had always used was
The "Prison Knife" obtained from a prison warden in Yingchuan was densely covered with fine teeth, enough to intimidate prisoners. However, if used for chopping, it would be easily damaged.
After returning to Liangzhou with his father, he was very fond of the broad sabers of the Qiang people, so he deliberately made friends with many young masters of small Qiang tribes. However, they did not have any extra good swords in their hands, so they made them at will and gave them to the tribesmen.
Those Dong Zhuo certainly looked down upon.
Dong Zhuo heard that in addition to the sword-making masters from the Qiang people, Dong Zhuo could occasionally find them in Han markets, so while his father was visiting friends, he came to try his luck and save some for himself.
The money I got and what my father just gave me should be enough to buy a good knife.
Dong Zhuo was walking in the still deserted market just after the big market. Along the way, he avoided the outstretched hands of several thieves without leaving a trace.
It's ridiculous, he thought. He had already mastered this method when he was still in Yingchuan. Although he is tall and strong, he is not stupid. If he wants to, he can even focus on himself when those less skilled thieves focus on him.
When they were carrying them, they in turn took away their belongings.
However, there are some problems with this. If they just give in, it's okay. If they gather together to cause trouble for him, and then they are all knocked down, and finally the news reaches his father's ears, he may do what Confucius said.
Like, "I don't know the taste of meat in March".
After several failed attempts, the little thief gradually dispersed and no longer paid attention to this difficult problem, and Dong Zhuo also arrived at the blacksmith shop in the market.
To his disappointment, the weapons here were still mainly flashy swords, as well as heavy long-handled broadswords and guns. The rest were farm tools. Maybe a wood-cutting ax could barely be considered a weapon?
"Don't be ridiculous, young man. If you can make such a good sword, how can I open a blacksmith shop here?" When Dong Zhuo asked, the blacksmith waved his hands: "It's just for repairing and strengthening things with higher quality."
I don’t dare to get my hands on it either.”
Thanks to the revival of spiritual energy, in addition to beasts, vegetation, and other materials such as minerals and stones, materials such as minerals and stones have also changed. When handling the sword without using the corresponding high-level materials, ordinary items are fine, but if its quality is excellent or above,
They will be broken into scrap metal in an attitude of "I'd rather be broken into pieces than broken pieces of bricks".
Dong Zhuo also knew this and did not force it. He just handed his sword to the blacksmith: "Then let's repair and strengthen it. To what extent can it be done and how much money will it cost?"
"This..." The blacksmith weighed the prison knife twice and frowned slightly: "Its quality has been reduced to 'broken'. With my skills, I can repair it back to 'ordinary'. If you want to upgrade it to 'excellent', you need to
With additional materials, success cannot be guaranteed, but it can at least ensure that it will not break."
"Oh? What are the requirements? When I consulted the blacksmiths in the Central Plains, they said that no other materials are needed to upgrade to 'excellent'." Dong Zhuo asked doubtfully.
"Oh, what they call 'strengthening to excellence' is probably to strengthen the weight of the blade to increase the damage, or to reduce the weight to make the movement faster, or simply to make it more gorgeous to make it more refined in appearance," the blacksmith said: "My strengthening is
It will make this sword - add 'unparalleled'."
"Oh? That's the effect of 'sophisticated' weapons, and you just claimed to be an ordinary blacksmith." Dong Zhuo narrowed his eyes.
"It's one of my skills to add 'refined' effects to 'ordinary' weapons to upgrade them to 'excellent'. Xiaolang, do you think this kind of weird weapon will be favored by unparalleled warriors?" the blacksmith spread his hands.
"Didn't you like me, the 'unparalleled warrior'? Hahaha!" Dong Zhuo laughed.
"Haha..." The blacksmith couldn't cooperate with Dong Zhuo. He laughed dryly and shouted to the back of the blacksmith shop: "Ma Teng! Stop chopping firewood! Come to the front!"
The subtle cracking sound that had always existed in the backyard was interrupted, and then a boy who was taller than an ordinary child and about ten years old came out of the backyard carrying a wood ax: "Father."
"Go find the boy from the Jia family and tell him that someone wants his 'flame jade fragment'." the blacksmith instructed.
"Here." The boy named Ma Teng glanced at the tall Dong Zhuo and walked out of the shop.
"Xiliang Ma's family? No wonder they have such skills." Dong Zhuo narrowed his eyes and looked at the blacksmith in front of him.
"It's just a side branch," the blacksmith said, handing over his hand: "In Xiamasu, I served as the captain of Langan County in Tianshui many years ago. He lost his position due to strife at the top, and his savings were exhausted, so he had to return to his old career."
"Oh? My father was also a county captain. He lost his position for some reason years ago." Dong Zhuo felt a little cordial: "I don't know what those big shots are doing. They let their subordinates deal with the lower-level officials at will. If I have the opportunity to deal with them,
They must be hung up and beaten one by one."
"Haha, I'm just talking here. If I were in the inner reaches of the Central Plains, I'm afraid that if I turn my back, I'd be sued by the ears across the wall and taken to the government office." Ma Su shook his head.
"Father, I've called Jia Xu here." Dong Zhuo and Ma Su exchanged a few words, and then saw Ma Teng leading a boy who looked even younger than him, with his eyes rolling, and a shrewd expression on his face, walking in.
"This warrior wants to strengthen his weapons. Can you take out the 'Flame Jade' that your God is unwilling to sell directly?" Ma Su said.
"It's a small piece of flame jade," the boy Jia Xu said: "If someone misunderstands what Uncle Ma said and takes me away and tortures me, can Uncle Ma create a complete flame jade to redeem me?
?”
"Don't make any noise," Ma Su mentioned Dong Zhuo's prison knife and showed it to the child: "I'm going to add the 'fire' attribute to these saw teeth. How many do you think are needed?"
"Hmm..." Jia Xu didn't look at the knife. He just looked at Dong Zhuo up and down for a long time, and then said: "Two thousand dollars."
"Yes, but the amount is too big to carry. I need to go back and change it into silver coins," Dong Zhuo said expressionlessly, but he was quite shocked in his heart. Counting his daily savings and the money his father gave him today, the total was only two thousand five hundred coins.
"In this case, I will repair the sword first, and the additional attributes will be done when the Dong family's young man comes again," Ma Su nodded and said, "The cost of repairing and strengthening will be four hundred dollars."
After years of savings were all gone, he only hoped that Wuwei would have enough opportunities to make achievements. Dong Zhuo looked at Ma Teng and Jia Xu again, clasped his fists at Ma Su, and turned to leave.
