Near the Nine Immortals Gate of the Daming Palace, there is a five-story attic with cornices and beams. It is magnificent. Together with the surrounding buildings, it covers an area of about 20 acres. The official name of this attic is Hanguang Pavilion, but
It also has another name in the palace, called Hidden Sword Tower.
The Hidden Sword Tower was named after Emperor Li Longji, who loved collecting famous swords and collected thousands of famous swords in his lifetime.
When the emperor's grandson Li Yu ascended the throne, the Hidden Sword Tower gradually evolved into another function. It became a secret samurai institution directly belonging to the emperor Li Yu.
The royal secret warrior organization has existed since ancient times, but it has different names in different dynasties, such as Cao Cao's School Affairs, Meihua Internal Guard in the early Tang Dynasty, Imperial City Division in the Song Dynasty, Jinyiwei in the Ming Dynasty, and Dongchang, Xichang, and Blood Drops in the Qing Dynasty.
Wait.
Throughout the dynasties, when the struggle for imperial power was more intense, this kind of secret warrior organization would appear.
Li Yu had no choice but to build the Sword Tower. After he ascended the throne, Emperor Taizu Li Longji manipulated the situation behind the scenes for another year before his death.
In this year, Li Longji has made all arrangements for his funeral, and even confirmed the subsequent crown prince of the East Palace. The twelve generals who hold military power were appointed by Li Longji himself.
In addition, a 100,000-strong Shenzhen Army was established, commanded by Yu Chaoen, the military observer of the world, Li Fuguo, the chief internal officer, and Cheng Zhenyuan, the prosecutor of the third palace, were also appointed by Li Longji. These three eunuchs were actually
Monitoring the emperor Li Yu, let the Tang Dynasty continue to move along the route arranged by Li Longji during his lifetime.
Li Yu built the Hidden Sword Tower for self-protection. The maids who served him and his concubines were all female warriors trained by the Hidden Sword Tower. They personally protected the emperor and his concubines.
In addition, the Hidden Sword Tower also has an outer building. The outer building is mainly responsible for various actions outside the palace. Many outstanding male warriors are under the jurisdiction of the outer building. Gan Yu is an outer building warrior.
Also because the Emperor Li Yu established the Hidden Sword Tower, Yu Chaoen, Li Fuguo, and Cheng Zhenyuan also established their own secret warrior organizations, which gradually merged with the forces of the three princes, forming a fight for the right to inherit the throne.
Of course, it can also be said that the three princes Li Yufeng established the Tianyuan Tower, Tianqing Tower and Tianying Tower with deep intentions, allowing the three of them to form a power to seize the direct heir, thus making Yu Chaoen, Li Fuguo and Cheng Zhenyuan
They formed a confrontation for the princes they supported.
This was a very clever imperial technique, which allowed Li Yu to get rid of the control of the three eunuchs to a certain extent, allowing them to kill each other.
The owner of the Hidden Sword Tower is none other than Aunt Gongsun. She has been the personal bodyguard of Emperor Li Yu for twenty years and is the person Li Yu trusts most. He appointed her as the deputy general manager of the palace and named her the owner of the Hidden Sword Tower.
It's just that Aunt Gongsun is nearly seventy years old. Her role in the Hidden Sword Tower is more of a spiritual existence. Her disciples and grandchildren are responsible for the operation of the Hidden Sword Tower and various affairs. She has already
Just ask.
At this time, a slender woman in black, holding a silver medal in her hand, swung towards the guard in front of the door and walked directly into the Sword Hidden Tower. The woman in black was called Wang Jianying. She was originally a little palace maid, and was regarded as her granddaughter by Gongsun. Now she is
Being trained to be the leader of the third generation.
Wang Jianying's master was Li Twelve Niang, Gongsun's eldest disciple. In the second year of the Dali calendar, the poet Du Fu watched Li Twelve Niang's swordsmanship and wrote the famous "Sword Art".
She went directly to the third floor, knelt down and saluted a room with gauze curtains, "To inform the master, this disciple discovered Yang Yu in Qingxu Temple this evening."
After a while, a soft voice came from the room. Although the voice contained vicissitudes of life, it was still pleasant to the ear.
"Jian Ying, I know that Yang Yu returned to Qingxu Temple. I approved his return, but your mission is not to keep an eye on Yang Yu. Do you understand?"
Wang Jianying muttered in a low voice: "What's the point of observing him? He's poaching all day long. Two days ago, he broke into the inner garden and cut off ten deer antlers and sold them for money. He's just a poaching ranger, but I haven't seen him have any abilities.
, Master asked me to observe him, isn’t it a bit overkill?”
At this time, the gauze curtain was lifted, and an old woman in palace attire walked out. She had a high bun and a half-sleeved skirt. The old woman had kind eyes, but she could see the beauty of her youth. She was exactly what she once was.
Gongsun Auntie, who is famous all over the world for her swordsmanship.
Aunt Gongsun sat down in front of the soft couch and took a cup of tea from the maid. She took a sip of tea and said with a faint smile: "Don't underestimate me, my nephew. I summon Wang Jin to present it to the emperor."
The Wolf King's skin was hunted by him in the Yinshan Mountains. That wolf is the god of the grassland. I saw its fur, and I can't even think of killing it without my peerless martial arts."
Wang Jianying was surprised, "Could he be the one who summoned His Highness?"
"Probably not. They just met by chance on the way to the grassland. My nephew turned the grassland upside down. One man burned Xue Yantuo's logistics camp. More than 1,500 people were burned to death or shot by him.
Absi's tribe was slaughtered with blood, and Governor Absi was also killed by him. Even the emperor was full of interest in him, but you actually think he is boring?"
"But I haven't seen him display any martial arts! Does poaching deer antlers in the inner garden count as a display of martial arts?"
Aunt Gongsun smiled slightly and said: "He is just a dragon lurking in the abyss now. Once the time is right, he will roar for nine days."
"Disciple understands, Master, should our Hidden Sword Pavilion recruit him? I am worried that the other three families will recruit him."
"He is not even tempted by the chief warrior of Tianying Pavilion. How can he be so easy to win over? The time is not yet ripe now. When the time is ripe, I will personally go and meet this close disciple of my junior brother."
Wang Jianying bowed and said: "Master, my disciple's surveillance mission has expired. Does it need to be extended for another five days?"
Aunt Gongsun thought for a moment, shook her head and said: "Forget it, if he finds out that he is being monitored, it will make him disgusted, so we will temporarily stop monitoring him."
"Disciple, obey the order!"
Wang Jianying retreated, Gongsun Auntie put down the tea cup, pulled out the sword from the wall, turned a sword flower on her wrist, and said to herself: "Has he really mastered the master's nine sword styles?"
She stood up on one foot, raised her sword above her head, pointed forward, and remained motionless.
If Guo Song saw this move, he would definitely be shocked. This move is exactly what he has practiced for many years to catch Zhong Kui's ghosts.
........
The morning after Gan Yu showed up, Li An sent a boy to look for him and tell him the news.
Guo Song hurried to Wubenfang, and as soon as he entered the door, Li An walked up to him and smiled: "Two news, one is good, the other is a little regrettable, but it is also good news, which one do you want to hear first?
"
"Let me tell you the good news first!"
"The good news is that I sold two diamonds. I offered Princess Xinping 6,000 guan, and she agreed without blinking an eye. It was twice as expensive as the market price. For the time being, I was taken advantage of, and there is yours.
His Royal Highness King Lu bought the white tiger skin for five thousand guan, and I will give you a thousand guan later."
Guo Song was a little worried, "Isn't he going to dedicate it to the emperor?"
"You are right. King Zhao presented the white wolf skin to the emperor. King Lu was anxious and ran to me. He happened to see the white tiger skin. He took a fancy to it at a glance and wanted to buy it as a gift to his father.
There's nothing I can do about it. Of course, I bought it on the grassland and won't betray you."
"Let him do whatever he wants! Let's talk about the slightly regrettable news."
"The slightly regrettable news is that I found a liquor store for you to transfer, but I'm sorry, the store is not in the East Market, but in the West Market Liquor Store."
"In the West Market!"
Guo Song scratched his head, this is indeed a bit regretful!
"Actually, there are no liquor shops in the East Market. The liquor shops are all in the West Market. There are eleven shops in total. If you want it, make it today, otherwise it will be snatched away by others. This opportunity is rare. If you want
There are a lot of people in this shop, so I only reserved it for one day because I know the city supervisor."
"Okay! Let's go take a look now. I'll invite my senior brother and his wife to go with me. They are partners with me."
"I know they live in your house in Xuanyangfang. I met them yesterday. Your senior brother seems to be good at martial arts. He even lifted a rockery stone weighing four hundred kilograms."
Guo Song chuckled and said, "He is just a weakling with no martial arts skills. Let's set off now."
The two got on their horses, and Li An took two followers with him to Xuanyangfang. Gan Lei's family had moved to Chang'an the day before yesterday, and they had been cleaning the new house these two days. Li Wenyu liked Guo Song's house so much that he couldn't help it.
Gan Lei vowed that he would definitely buy one when he got rich in the future. From ancient times to the present, women have always had a soft spot for houses.
When the couple heard that they had found a store, they immediately picked up their children and went to see the store together. Although they were in the West Market, Li Wenyu didn't care. She wanted to start a career in her heart, and she was not afraid of the hard work.
Not long after, everyone arrived at the West Market. As soon as they entered the gate of the West Market, a noisy and lively atmosphere rushed towards them. The West Market sold all kinds of commodities that were closely related to the lives of ordinary people. They were much better than those selling luxury goods.
The city is more lively.
There was a heavy flow of people, and there were oxcarts pulling goods and wheelbarrows pushing goods everywhere. They kept shouting, 'Borrow the light! Borrow the light!'
All kinds of goods are grouped together and are called trades, such as rice trade, livestock trade, color silk trade, cloth shop, tea shop, wine shop, etc.
The liquor store they were going to was located in the northeast corner. It was a hundred-step-long corridor, paved with open tiles, and large two-story shops on both sides. There were six shops on the left and five on the right, all with big signboards. It was very spectacular.
The entire corridor was filled with a strong, slightly sour smell of rice wine.
Now the imperial court still allows private wine making and selling. In the late Tang Dynasty, wine was taken over by the government and the wine shops in the West Market disappeared.
Li An whispered to Guo and Song: "The owner of this shop is named Lu, and he is from Wuxing in the south of the Yangtze River. His father passed away and wanted to be buried back in his hometown. His mother didn't want to stay in Chang'an, so he had no choice but to move his family back to the south of the Yangtze River, so he sold the wine shop.
The price is 10,000 guan. Don’t bargain. He still has two years of rent and his business is good. The market price is at least 12,000 guan. He was in a hurry to sell it and transferred it cheaply. It’s really impossible to live in this village.
This is the store.”
Guo Song and Gan Lei both nodded. For such a big shop, 10,000 yuan is indeed not expensive.
At this time, Li An pointed to the signboard of a shop on the right, "That's it, Jiangnan Chun Winery."