Huang Ting

Chen Duo searched for a long time and finally chose a Pisces jade pendant carved from fine mutton-fat jade, and the sculptor also deliberately left a little yellow outer skin at the fish eyes for a finishing touch, making the two fishes look more beautiful.

He has become more agile and has some signs of transforming into a dragon.

Looking at the appearance of this jade pendant, Hu Xiuwu knew that it must be very expensive.

But seeing Chen Duo's delighted eyes, Hu Xiuwu could only sigh, and then asked Gao Yue to translate to the store and ask the store to bid.

Gao Yue asked the store the price, but the store did not answer directly. Instead, he asked his men to take out a scale, put the golden-eyed Pisces jade pendant on one end of the scale, and then placed a weight of equal weight on the other end.

I took off the fish pendant.

Then he placed forty-nine identical weights on one end of the scale, and then said to Gao Yue with a smile, his store only accepts gold, and as long as the gold brought out by Hu Xiuwu can balance both ends of the scale, this jade pendant is the one.

His.

Simple and crude.

The situation in the Western Region is chaotic, with many countries coexisting, and even the language is not unified, let alone currency. Therefore, in addition to barter for goods, only gold is accepted for transactions here.

Gao Yue translated the store owner's words to Hu Xiuwu. Hu Xiuwu took a deep breath and did some math in his heart.

To get this Pisces jade pendant, Hu Xiuwu would have to spend at least five kilograms of gold!

The store asked for a high price, but Hu Xiuwu didn't counter-offer.

After wandering around Wang Kaixuan's shop for so long, Hu Xiuwu is no longer the kid who just came down from the mountain. He has some understanding of the price of antiques.

If such a jade pendant, which is warm and smooth, as creamy as grease, and of extraordinary workmanship, was transported to Chang'an by the Gao family, it would not be a problem to exchange it for a hundred times the gold.

If it were in modern times, the value would have quadrupled, and it would have been possible to buy a courtyard ten times larger than Hu Xiuwu's small courtyard house.

However, Hu Xiuwu was short of money now, and there was so much gold there. He carefully scanned his ghost tomb inside and outside, looking for anything else that could be sold for money.

Dried meat, water, scattered copper coins, the scroll found on Shan Zeng's body...

Alas! Is this? It should be exchangeable for some money now, right?

Hu Xiuwu put his hand into his pocket, pretended to take out a bulging bag and threw it on the other end of the scale, directly tilting the scale towards him. No matter what was in the bag, at least his weight would be far away.

Super weights provided by the store.

The shopkeeper curiously opened the bag and found that it was not gold, but a round bag of silver beads with a smooth surface that could even reflect his face.

In this bag are the steel balls that Hu Xiuwu used to launch from the Ghost Tomb. The steel balls he used were bought in a hardware store and used to make ball bearings.

The bearing steel used in this kind of steel ball is one of the most stringent steel types in all steel production. It has high and uniform hardness, good wear resistance and toughness, and good anti-rust properties.

In addition to being used as ammunition, these steel balls can also be used to forge knives. This was something Hu Xiuwu only learned when he accompanied Yu Baiyuan to visit Zhang Duan.

In Zhang Duan's knife forging workshop, in addition to the shaped iron blocks, there were some steel balls and several sections of old-fashioned rails. At that time, Hu Xiuwu was very curious about the function of those steel balls.

As a swordsman and a close friend of master swordsman Zhang Duan, Yu Baiyuan is also very familiar with the raw materials for sword forging.

He explained to Hu Xiuwu the use of these steel balls. He put the steel balls into an iron container, filled them with steel powder to fill the gaps, and finally put them into a forging furnace to smelt into a steel billet. He took out the rough billet and melted the surface while it was hot.

Pry off the iron container.

After repeated cutting, welding, and beating, you can get a piece of Damascus steel in the modern sense.

In order to better let Hu Xiuwu understand this kind of steel, Yu Baiyuan, who was familiar with it, found a short knife made of this kind of Damascus steel for Hu Xiuwu in Zhang Dui's house.

The blade is covered with intricate patterns and looks more like a work of art than a murder weapon, and the hand-forged Damascus steel is expensive.

(One of the ways to make Damascus steel. If you are interested, you can search online for a foreign variety show called the Knife Forging Conference. It is also known as the Broken Knife Conference.)

The shopkeeper is neither a swordsman nor a blacksmith, and he doesn’t know much about metal. He didn’t see its greatest value at first. He just looked at the steel ball, which was shiny and discernible, and guessed that it would be good if it were regarded as a strange work of art.

You can buy it.

He randomly picked up two steel balls and struck them. They were extremely crisp and made no noise.

"Hundred-forged stainless steel!"

Gao Yue had no reaction when Hu Xiuwu took out this bag of steel balls. In his mind, it was normal for Hu Xiuwu, as the heir of Liuhou, to have some rare treasures.

After hearing the sound of the steel balls colliding, Gao Yuecai's expression suddenly changed.

He had long heard that a craftsman in the young manor of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had crafted a hundred-forged fine steel. It had a crisp sound, was both hard and tough, and a sword made of hundred-forged steel could cut off ten copper coins in one go without damaging it.

cutting edge.

However, it is not easy to forge hundred-forged fine steel, and the Han Dynasty is preparing for a war with the Xiongnu, so it is difficult to find this hundred-forged steel on the market.

While the store was still pondering the value of this bag of steel balls, Gao Yue quickly took the opportunity to say to Hu Xiuwu:

"Mr. Xiuwu, I paid for this jade pendant! Just give me the hundred-forged fine steel in exchange for it."

Unfortunately, his words were too late. Although the store owner was not skilled in martial arts and did not see the true value of the steel ball, someone among the guards behind him still discovered this little secret and whispered it to the store owner.

After hearing this, the store owner wrapped the Pisces jade pendant and gave it to Chen Duo. Then he touched Hu Xiuwu's chest and saluted, and mumbled a lot of Qiuci dialect. Although Hu Xiuwu didn't understand it, he could tell that the store owner's expression was very respectful.

Gao Yue also looked surprised when he heard what the store owner said. After the store owner finished speaking, he translated to Hu Xiuwu and said:

"He said: His master, Prince Gumo, is very interested in these things. If you still have this kind of treasure, you can take whatever you want in this shop."

After finishing speaking, Gao Yue explained to Hu Xiuwu with a confused look:

"Suwen, Prince Hadili, is in poor health and has been ill for a long time, so he is not good at martial arts, but he is proficient in music. I didn't expect that he would be interested in this kind of hundred-forged steel."

Not in good health? Uncle-in-law, are you kidding me?

That was a ruthless man who could assassinate Queen Jingjue alone, and still come back alive after the assassination failed. You actually said that such a person is not in good health.

Believe it or not, he can hit ten of you like this.

Hu Xiuwu complained secretly, but he also knew that Gao Yue was not a person who just spoke freely. For him to say this could only show that the current impression of Prince Gumo among the countries in the Western Regions was that of a weak man who was good at music.

It seems that Prince Gumo's first assassination of Queen Jingjue was not a spur-of-the-moment move but had been planned for a long time. Prince Gumo was given a weak character. If it didn't happen, no one would suspect him.

On people who are in poor health.

It's been planned for a long time.

Hu Xiuwu said to the store: "I can make a deal with you, but I have a condition."

Gao Yue repeated, and the store owner listened attentively.

Hu Xiuwu said: "I want to meet Prince Gumo."

The shopkeeper was hesitant because he couldn't make the decision, so he called a servant and took out a steel ball from the bag and handed it to him as a certificate, asking him to go back and report to Prince Gumo.

Then they welcomed Hu Xiuwu and the others into the inner room, served fine wine and local special fruits and vegetables from Kucha as a treat, and asked them to wait here for a while.

Hu Xiuwu was not in a hurry, and even took the time to help Chen Duo put on the golden-eyed Pisces jade. The crystal clear mutton-fat jade made Chen Duo's complexion fairer, more delicate, and lovable.

Hu Xiuwu was praised by everyone, which made Chen Duo's face turn slightly red, making him look charming and cute, without the cold look of the past. The otherworldly goddess moved the hearts of ordinary people.

High school, middle-aged bachelor, Yue:······

Gao Yue, who suddenly became restless, could only sit aside and sip the wine alone.