In the Blade

Du Chengfeng took the bloody sword with a blank expression.

He stabbed his subordinate to death in front of him. Was he trying to show his power? Or was he just mentally ill?

Du Chengfeng was not sure, but he did not care. Although he was a peace-loving person who just wanted to live a peaceful life, he was not very happy to see such a scene of killing, but compared with the time when he killed more than 200 Hu people, this scene was a little too small.

"Find someone to clean it up. The smell is too strong."

After casually instructing Yang Xuan, Du Chengfeng put the sword on the grindstone and started to grind it.

Clear water was sprinkled on the edge of the blade, and flowing down the edge of the sword was not only blood, but also those long-ago past.

Although this sword had only killed one person, Du Chengfeng was still keenly aware of the experience of this sword.

Unlike other weapons, this sword has a luxurious origin. The skilled blacksmith used the best steel to create this seemingly slender but extremely strong sword body. The hilt decorated with gold and silver was engraved by several craftsmen without sleep. When the brass hilt was put into the shark skin sheath, anyone would say that this is an incredible sword.

And such a good sword was made hundreds of times at a time.

It is hard to imagine that such a delicate sword would be made as a mass-produced product, but soon Du Chengfeng also knew the reason - it turned out that this batch of swords was used by the court of Dachen to reward new officials. Because the court was divided into two classes, civil and military, it was also called class swords.

To put it bluntly, this is a batch of ceremonial swords, mainly used for decoration.

Although Dachen was founded on military power, and men all had the tradition of wearing swords, most of the time, these nobles who wore class swords had no chance to draw their swords. After all, even if there is any danger, there are soldiers under his command to fight, so how can it be the turn of the nobles to draw their swords? Therefore, many nobles simply replaced the sword blades with wood chips, which is lighter, but still looks heroic.

But the grinding craftsman surnamed Wang is an exception.

Just because he has received a transfer order to be sent to Jizhou.

The grinding craftsman surnamed Wang is named Wang Gaocheng. He studied under the great sage Ruan Shantao of Yanzhou. At a young age, he was recommended to the court by Ruan Shantao in a letter. At a good age, he was about to receive a salary. Wang Gaocheng was in high spirits, but who would have thought that when the court issued a document, he was sent to the border of Jizhou to follow the army.

It was at this time that Wang Gaocheng realized that the reason why his mentor lived in seclusion in Yanzhou was because he had offended too many people in the court.

But it was too late to say anything at this time. Military orders were as firm as a mountain. If he dared to disobey orders, he would die. So Wang Gaocheng could only go back to Yanzhou to see if the mentor who had sent him into the fire pit could think of a solution.

But what greeted Wang Gaocheng was a scolding from the old man.

"As a scholar, you don't want to work hard to repay the country's kindness, and you dare to come to me to ask?"

After two slaps on the face, Wang Gaocheng realized that his respected teacher was probably crazy because of studying. He actually thought that studying was not for high positions and being romantic, but for serving the country wherever there was danger - and the border of Jizhou was undoubtedly the most dangerous place. It turned out that this ridiculous transfer order was personally pointed out by his respected teacher.

Facing such a good teacher, what else could he say?

So Wang Gaocheng could only pack his luggage and rush to the northern border.

Although Wang Gaocheng, as a scholar, still wore wide robes and sleeves, and looked like a famous official, for the sake of safety, he did not dare to change the blade to wood again - after all, in addition to being a grinder, the military order gave him another identity.

That is, as a military supervisor, secretly watching the every move of Liu Dudu, the commander of Jibei.

For things like the border army, the court had no way to deal with it. If the border army was too weak, the grassland people would come over, and no one in the court could sleep well. But if the border army was too strong... I'm afraid no one in the court could sleep well. Therefore, there has always been a tradition in the court to send grinders abroad as the second level of control over the border army in addition to the food and grass supply system.

In a sense, the importance of this position is even comparable to that of the logistics manager. After all, for the frontline soldiers, the weapons in their hands are as important as the food in their bowls. If you can't eat, you have no strength in your body, and if you can't hold a sword, you can't kill people even if you have strength. Putting the grinding craftsmen who are loyal to the court in the frontier is a reassurance for both the civil and military officials in the court.

However, Wang Gaocheng, as the person involved, could not remain calm.

The border is dangerous and the north is bitterly cold. Wang Gaocheng only feels that he is no different from those criminals who were exiled. Fortunately, this Governor Liu is still easy to talk to. He has even read a few years of sage books. He usually behaves like a famous official, and is indescribably chic and romantic. This is what Wang Gaocheng likes. The two sides soon found a common language. For a while, they went out and came in together, slept together, and became close friends who talked about everything.

Of course, Wang Gaocheng still remembered his mission in his heart, but no matter how he looked at it, Governor Liu was as unambitious as him. What he needs to worry about now is not what threat Governor Liu will pose to the court, but whether Jizhou, which is lax in military preparations, can withstand the attack of the grassland people.

Fortunately, just like this Governor Liu who likes to talk nonsense, the grassland people in the north are all scoundrels. Although there are some conflicts on weekdays, they are only the level of horse thieves looting. This kind of thing is simply too common. Even let alone the border, even in the hinterland of Dachen, those mountain bandits and road bandits will not rob?

So just need to continue to wait. After all, Governor Liu has said that as long as he is willing to endure some time in Jibei, he will definitely ask the court to find a noble position for him where he can concentrate on studying the books of sages.

The so-called return of favors, Governor Liu treated him so well, so he naturally had to leave something for the other party.

For example, Liu Qingyun's broken horse long sword.

With Wang Gaocheng's eyes, he can see at a glance that this long sword forged in imitation of the ancient broken horse sword must have come from the hands of a former court craftsman. After all, only the craftsmen there can master the real size of this military weapon. In addition, he had heard that this knife had been sharpened by his teacher Ruan Shantao of Yanzhou, who had seen ghosts. This meant that this knife had been read in the books of sages.

A knife that had been read in the books of sages was just right for a humble gentleman like Governor Liu.

So this time, Wang Gaocheng was determined to get it.

Although this knife was said to have been bought by a folk grinding craftsman, it didn't matter to Wang Gaocheng. Strictly speaking, all the grinding craftsmen in Jizhou were under his jurisdiction, so it was natural for him to come and take a knife.

It was just that the refugee named Du Chengfeng was really annoying. He and Governor Liu had condescended to come to a place like Yangjiabao, but he didn't know to send the knife up, and even said that he saw the Hu people invading the border from the sharpening knife... How could it be possible? Isn't sharpening a matter of using sages and classics to suppress evil spirits? Does this refugee really know how to sharpen a knife?

"Since you say you have this ability, then you should take a look at what this sword has been through?"

As he spoke, Wang Gaocheng drew out the sword from his waist and threw it directly to the other party.

It was at this time that Wang Gaocheng was glad that he did not replace the blade with something wooden because the steel sword was too heavy, otherwise the refugee would have a reason to shirk responsibility.

He wanted to see how the refugee dared to tell such a big lie in front of the two noble scholars.

"So, Commander Liu, I am obviously doing this for your own good."

Looking at the long sword nailed to his neck, Wang Gaocheng's words were choked back into his throat by blood foam.

"I am doing this for your own good, why do you want to kill me?"

...

Du Chengfeng, who had sharpened the sword, was speechless for a long time.

Why did he want to be killed? Hasn't this Wang come to his senses yet? As soon as Wang Gaocheng entered Jizhou, Governor Liu was probably acting for him. Even Du Chengfeng, as a bystander, had realized that Governor Liu had wanted to kill this idiot for a long time.

As a grinding craftsman accompanying the army, he talked about abstruse things all day long, and finally thought that the military preparations of Jizhou were slack because Governor Liu had no ambition. Didn't Wang Gaocheng know to think about how many days he had been sharpening his sword since he came to Jizhou?

He pretended to flatter in order not to be constrained, but ended up with a father who didn't work. If he put himself in his shoes, Du Chengfeng would probably want to give Wang Chenggao a few cuts.

However, this experience of sharpening the sword also gave Du Chengfeng another important information.

That is, the Governor Liu in front of him was not as useless as he thought before.

"It's a pity for your friend. He was still thinking about giving you the sword until he died."

Turning the hilt of the sword, Du Chengfeng returned the sharpened sword.

Although the Banjian is good, he can't use it because it is only used to decorate bravery.

"Is this what he thought before he died? It's really a pity."

After taking the long sword, Governor Liu shook his head gently.

"I thought he was sent by some nobleman in the court to cause trouble for me. After all, they always think that we frontier warriors are rough and don't understand the principles of sages... Forget it, let's say that he died fighting with the Hu people, so that his family can also have a share of honor."

After saying this, Governor Liu turned his head and looked at Du Chengfeng.

"But the problem is that although Wang Chenggao is dead, someone still has to be responsible for the military equipment. You see..."

"No."

Du Chengfeng immediately refused.

If he only vaguely felt that he and Governor Liu were not the same kind of people before polishing the Banjian, then now, he would be even more reluctant to agree to the other party's recruitment-just because he had vaguely noticed that Governor Liu was carrying a certain feeling that he was very familiar with.

Yes, very familiar, he had felt a similar feeling from the swordsman Cui Yuan, and even vaguely felt it from Yang Sanlang.

So he would never go to the other side's tent to obey orders.

Even if he had to chop this Governor Liu alive on the spot.

"No, no, no, I'm not talking about asking you to come to the military camp, after all, you have already refused once."

Hearing Du Chengfeng's refusal, Governor Liu didn't care, but continued to talk.

"I mean, are you willing to assist the Governor's Office in preparing military equipment as a folk craftsman?"

"This..."

This time, Du Chengfeng understood.

Assisting the Governor's Office in preparing military equipment in a private capacity, in other words, can also be called outsourcing.

This time, Du Chengfeng no longer had a reason to refuse.

After all, Governor Liu gave too much.

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