The banquets of Chu State are generally not much different from those of Wei State.
Also in the spacious lobby, there was a bronze furnace cauldron placed in the center. The Yangyu clan's servants filled the furnace with charcoal fire one after another, making the furnace burn so brightly that no one could feel that it was still winter.
"Your Highness, be careful if you burn it."
Seeing Zhao Hongrun approaching the bronze cauldron and squinting at the inscriptions and pictures on the outside of the cauldron, Yan Mo quickly gave a signal for fear that the charcoal fire would burn King Su.
"Hmm." Zhao Hongrun nodded in response to Yan Mo's kindness, then pointed at the furnace and asked curiously: "When I was in the Wei Dynasty, I saw similar inscriptions many times... It is said that they came from Chu State?"
Yan Mo thought for a while and said: "In fact, Chu State was the first to use bronze vessels..." As he said, he saw Zhao Hongrun's surprised expression, so he explained with a smile: "Chu State has few iron mines, but bronze vessels
The ore is rich, and the armaments of the Chu State more than a hundred years ago were all made of bronze. It is not that the last general praised the homeland, but the bronze smelting technology of the Chu State is probably not comparable to that of the Wei Dynasty..."
"oh?"
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Yan Mo suspiciously.
Seeing that Zhao Hongrun didn't believe it, Yan Mo didn't care. He pointed at the bronze cauldron in front of him and said, "Can your Highness see how many bronze ornaments are put together in a cauldron like this?"
"Piece together?"
Zhao Hongrun squinted his eyes and watched carefully.
Although he also understood that such a large furnace cauldron could not be smelted from a single piece of copper ore, the problem was that he really could not find any trace of the pieces. This bronze furnace cauldron seemed to give him a sense of completeness.
The feeling of oneness, as if they were one from the beginning.
Seeing this, Yan Mo took a step forward, tapped several parts of the furnace cauldron with the hilt of his sword, and said: "These two buckles are made together, and here, the four-cornered Temtem are also made together.
,...and the legs at the bottom of the cauldron, these are all pieced together."
He casually pointed out several jointed parts, but Zhao Hongrun looked left and right. He couldn't see any traces of jointing at those locations.
In this regard, he could only nod and agree with Yan Mo's words: Chu State's bronze smelting was indeed at the pinnacle, and was not comparable to that of Wei Dynasty.
"It's a pity that bronze is still inferior to wrought iron..."
Yan Mo shook his head in dismay. Zhao Hongrun could more or less guess what he was feeling in his heart at this moment.
Indeed, Chu's bronze smelting reached its peak, and the weapons it produced were nothing compared to Wei's advanced wrought iron armaments.
If the Chu State dared to use this outdated bronze smelting technology to make weapons, I believe they would be beaten to the ground by the Wei State's army.
Because of this, it is said that Chu State is also improving its iron smelting technology. Unfortunately, Chu State has too many restrictions in this regard.
The main reason is that there are too few iron ore bare ores, or the reserves are insignificant. Or they are deep underground and cannot be mined with the current mining technology of Chu State. No more than Wei State, there are many iron ore bare ores.
It is not only easy to mine but also has large reserves.
As for the second limitation, the Chu State's state system led to insufficient resources for them to invest in iron smelting technology. Many nobles and princes were reluctant to invest this money in the development of iron smelting, and even blindly believed that bronze was better than wrought iron.
Better, or unwilling to throw away the old tradition.
This is similar to the Wei Dynasty, which refused to eliminate backward chariots. It believed that chariots were a weapon for the founding of the Wei state and an inheritance from past generations. They should not be discarded.
What's the result?
They had to wait until they were beaten to the ground by the Korean cavalry, and then those stubborn Wei people held back their tears and locked the chariots in the warehouse and began to form cavalry.
It is undeniable that sometimes changes in times often require severe setbacks before some people abandon the old system and develop new technologies.
This is true for the State of Wei, and it is also true for the State of Chu.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun suddenly lost interest and began to look at the furnishings and decorations in the house.
It has to be said that after excluding the bronze utensils, many furnishings made of lacquered wood, and the numerous domestic slaves, the lobby of the Yogi Ichi clan is actually just the same, and it is hard to see what else has superior conditions.
Although, if those bronze vessels and lacquerware were sold to the Wei State, they would be very popular items.
At this time, Yang Yantao came to Zhao Hongrun and saluted respectfully: "Prince Su, the wine and food are ready."
Zhao Hongrun glanced back, and happened to see the servants of the house carrying lacquered wood trays, bringing up dishes one after another, and placing them on the twenty-one tables in the hall.
The process of serving food was monitored by Wei soldiers from Junshui Camp, so Zhao Hongrun did not worry about anyone poisoning the food.
"General Baili and Qu Cheng, why aren't they here yet?"
Zhao Hongrun glanced towards the door a few times.
I remember that when he decided to stay and eat at Yangyanyi's house, he had already sent someone to inform Bailiba and Qu Cheng.
Of course, Yan Mo was also asked to send someone to notify Qu Cheng, and asked Qu Cheng to inform the clans in the inner city. If the clan leaders of those clans were more discerning, they should quickly come to the mansion of the Yangtou clan and ask Zhao Hongrun to deal with it.
Give them a serious blow.
Just as Zhao Hongrun was muttering, Bailiba arrived with his generals, and what surprised him was that Cao Jie was still among them.
"General Cao Jie, when did you come to Runan?"
Cao Jie laughed and hugged Zhao Hongrun's fists. Before he could speak, Bailiba explained for him with an approving look on his face: "Your Highness, you don't know that this boy saw you when Xiong Tuo's army attacked our Yanshui camp.
There was no chance to harass Xiong Tuo's army, so he planned to attack Xiong Tuo's grain and grass, and then went to Suiping County. He also cooperated with Xu Yin from Fenxing fortress to severely damage Biyang Lord Xiong Qi's army..."
When Cao Jie heard these words, he smiled and said: "It just happened to be the right time... It's embarrassing to say that a certain person planned to sneak attack Xiong Tuo's food and grass, but lost his way and ran to Fenxing fortress. Then
General Shi Mo was also shocked..."
Good guy...
Zhao Hongrun couldn't laugh or cry.
You must know that he has already learned from Yan Mo and others that Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, was first transported to the front line of Yanling via Shangcai. Then, after Xiong Tuo gave up Shangcai, he turned to Ru River for transportation by ship.
to Chen County, and then transported by land from Chen County to the front line.
Chen County is obviously in the southeast, but Cao Jie and his group of cavalry actually went to the southwest. No wonder there is no news about this cavalry team in these days.
"Your Highness, don't be surprised. This is not without gain. As the saying goes, there are mistakes. When I led the cavalry to the vicinity of Fenxing Fortress, I happened to encounter Xu Yin, the general of Fenxing Fortress, leading his army to fight with Xiong Qi, Lord of Biyang.
So I made a quick decision and ordered my whole team to sneak attack Xiong Qi's main formation. Guess what?"
Seeing the excitement on Cao Jie's face, Zhao Hongrun guessed casually: "Did you catch Xiong Qi?"
For a moment, the excited expression on Cao Jie's face froze, and he stared at Zhao Hongrun with his mouth open. After a while, he said sadly: "Well, Xiong Qi was captured, and then Xiong Qijun was defeated..." After finishing speaking, , he glanced at Zhao Hongrun again with some resentment.
I just said it casually...
Looking at Cao Jie's resentful eyes, Zhao Hongrun felt that he was a little innocent. After coughing, he asked Cao Jie about the situation at Fenxing Fortress.
As for Cao Jie's meritorious service, Zhao Hongrun did not mention it. After all, the Junshui Camp was not a Pingyang army. In the future, Baili Ba would discuss his merits and reward them.
"Fenxing Fortress has sent troops."
After hearing Zhao Hongrun's inquiry, Cao Jie's pretentious look of resentment immediately disappeared. He said solemnly: "To the general's surprise, the number of troops sent by General Xu Yin this time is fifteen thousand!"
Since Yan Mo, a general from the Chu Kingdom, was present, Zhao Hongrun was not able to inquire carefully about the battle situation. After all, it was really difficult to ask the general from Fenxing fortress in front of Yan Mo how many Chu people were killed in the victory. outrageous.
Therefore, he skipped this step and asked Xu Yin about his post-war movements.
Obviously Cao Jie had also learned about the existence of Ping Yang's army, and was not surprised why the Chu general Yan Mo was here. Moreover, in order to take care of him, he also tacitly agreed not to report the results of the battle, but only briefly talked about Xu Yin Trend: "Since Xiong Qi has been captured, I believe that General Xu Yin must capture Biyang first, and then... maybe he will capture Xiangcheng."
…
Yan Mo looked at Cao Jie in surprise. After all, they, the generals of the Pingyang Army, did not know that it was not only Zhao Hongrun who was sending troops to Chu this time, but also the general Xu Yin of Fenxing fortress who had been attacked by them.
Even Lord Xiong Qi was captured...
Yan Mo sighed secretly.
After all, Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, treated him well before. Now that he learned that Xiong Qi, the king of Biyang, who supported Xiong Tuo, was also defeated by the Wei army, he couldn't help but feel worried for Xiong Tuo.
But when he thought that he had surrendered to the Wei State and helped the Wei army acquire Runan, Yan Mo's mood was very complicated, and his eyes could not help but become gloomy.
Fortunately, Zhao Hongrun had been paying attention to Yan Mo's expression. When he saw him sighing silently, he ended the conversation with Cao Jie in a few words: "Okay, let's talk about this in advance... Everyone, please take your seats. Today's banquet is for Yan Mo. General Mo celebrates his victory, and General Cao Jie receives the victory. It can be said to be a double happiness... Come on!"
With that said, Zhao Hongrun forcibly pulled Yan Mo to the chief position on the left.
Originally, according to the military rank and status, the position of chief on the left should belong to Bailiba. Therefore, when Yan Mo realized Zhao Hongrun's intentions, he couldn't help being flattered and declined repeatedly.
But this time, even Bailiba expressed his support for Zhao Hongrun: If one seat can buy a city, let alone giving up a seat, he would be very happy even if it means letting him, Bailiba, sit at the bottom.
At this time, Qu Cheng came here with Zuo Xunxi, Huayu, Gongye Sheng, and Zuoqiu Mu. After learning that Zhao Hongrun and the Junshui camp soldiers would treat Yan Mo favorably, Qu Cheng also felt that Very happy.
After all, if he wanted to gain a foothold in the Wei State in the future, Zhao Hongrun's respect for him alone would not be enough. The more Yan Mo was valued by Zhao Hongrun, the greater the possibility that the designation Ping Yang Army would be retained in the future.
Soon afterwards, Meng Wei, Pei Zhan, Chen Shi, Wang Shu and others also came to the banquet at the invitation of Zhao Hongrun, and everyone began to drink and celebrate.
At this time, Yang Yantao, who was standing in the hall, clapped his hands twice.
Immediately, from the doors on the left and right sides of the lobby, a group of young women with long plain sleeves and slender clothes slowly walked out with graceful figures.
At this time, the music also sounded, and these women danced along with the music.
These beautiful women with long sleeves and thin waists, dancing gracefully, attracted the attention of many generals as soon as they appeared.
Their eyes were like wolves that had never seen flesh in their lives, and they wanted to devour the women in front of them.
It's like I haven't seen a woman in my life...
Sitting on the main seat, Zhao Hongrun held up the wine bottle and took a sip while looking at the generals who were secretly swallowing their saliva, laughing at them in his heart with peace of mind.
He had completely forgotten that when he first met Miss Su's confidante, he stared at her so intently that Miss Su's face turned red.
His eyes at that time were actually similar to those of the generals now. (To be continued.)