Chapter 38 Chapter 37 Qingtai Sword

Back in the house, Old Liu measured the Changqing Sword again with a measuring tape.After the rust was removed, the sword was 102 centimeters long, the blade was 71 centimeters long, and the width was only 2.9 centimeters. It was completely slimmer in size than the rust lump just now, and lighter in weight. Rust down. Under the strong light of the iodine-tungsten lamp, Zhang Guozhong took a magnifying glass to identify for two full hours before he could roughly see the seal characters engraved on the blade of the sword. It turned out that these characters were really not decorations, but the real life experience of the sword .On the hilt of the sword, Zhang Guozhong also found two seal characters surrounded by auspicious dragon patterns - Qingtai, which seems to be the real name of the sword.The contents of the seal characters engraved on the body of the sword are as follows:

In the summer of the eleventh year of Taizu Hongwu, I presented the divine sword of immortal dew in the Xiaoyao Cave of Dahong Mountain to the sage. Shengyue, Feng Ruren, bestowed three hundred gold and two thousand silver, and gave it the name "Duan Nian". Gong Xue was born in Yanzhou. In the autumn of the second year of Yongle, Yuan Zhanzhong, the imperial censor, was sent by the emperor to give me the job of casting swords, which must be used by the crown prince.Since ancient times, the blade makers have regarded the sacred order as their great glory. I know the weight of this responsibility, and I will use the fairy dew in the Xiaoyao Cave to pick up the sword to repay the holy grace.

However, the fairy dew in Xiaoyao Cave is a gift from God, the moon is not enough to collect it, and twenty dendrobiums of fairy dew are gathered for a sword. I will forge a sword in three years to repay the holy grace.In the autumn of the third year of Yongle, I felt pain in my body, so I asked the imperial doctor to cut it, and the doctor said: "No more records."I am terribly mournful, not because of death, but because of my husband's death and the lack of sage's kindness. I want to find out the truth about Feng Youlin's restoration of the sage in order to seek the sage's forgiveness. My wife Yang Mengshi heard about it and said: "It's better to cast a small blade in it and make up for it later. Holy how?Therefore, the young sword with fifteen dendrobium extracts of Xianlu was used as the base, and it was supplemented later.Those who read this article, and the fate of meeting me, are confidants!

It probably means: In the summer of the 21st year of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1378), I used the dew in the Xiaoyao Cave of Dahong Mountain to temper a divine sword and presented it to the emperor. I have three hundred taels of gold and two thousand taels of silver, and named this sword "Duannian". Yushi Feng Youlin took the (Duannian sword) and beheaded (corrupt official) Gong Xueyou in Yanzhou. In the autumn of the second year of Yongle (AD 1404), the emperor sent Yuan Zhanzhong, the censor, to find me and give me the task of casting a sword. (This sword) will be used for the crown prince's enthronement.Throughout the ages, swordsmiths have regarded the emperor's entrustment as the highest honor. I know that this matter is of great responsibility, so I plan to quench the sword with the dew of Xiaoyao Cave to repay the emperor (trust).

However, the dew in Xiaoyao Cave is a gift from the heavens, and it takes less than one hu to collect in a month, and 20 hu of water is needed to temper a sword, so I am ready to spend three years forging a sword, in order to repay the emperor's kindness .In the autumn of the third year of Yongle, I felt pain in my body, and I went to an imperial doctor (for me) to check my pulse. The imperial doctor said that I would not live for a year. (After hearing the news) I cried a lot, not because I was afraid of death, but because I was afraid that I would not be able to complete the entrustment of the emperor. I wanted to find Yushi Feng Youlin and tell the emperor the actual situation in order to ask for forgiveness. My wife Yang Mengshi (After listening to my thoughts) Say, how about casting a small size (sword) as a base, and after you die (by me) I will make up the size for you, how about it?Afterwards, I (while still alive) tempered a (smaller) sword with fifteen hu dew.Anyone who sees this (inscribed text) must be someone who is destined to me, must be my confidant!

"According to the above, this long love sword, no, it should be the Qingtai sword. It is indeed two swords, one inside and one outside. The inside one is the true level of Yang Guyun's sword casting!" Zhang Guozhong picked up the sword and pointed at it. He nodded, as if he had taken advantage of it, that's good, he lost a sword for nothing, and became a confidant with the ancient swordsmith master. "It seems that this Yang Guyun is quite confident in his wife's level!" Old Liu turned off the iodine tungsten lamp, and kept stroking his mustache, "Guozhong, according to the engraving on the sword, this Yang Guyun is still Ever forged a sword called Duan Nian, and the censor used this sword to kill corrupt officials?"

"Yes!" At this time, Zhang Guozhong obviously couldn't put it down for this sword. "You said that thing in the cave, could it be Gong Xueyou who was beheaded by Duannian Sword?" Old Liu's eyes rolled around, "Because these two swords were forged by Yang Guyun, so I'm afraid Wu, are you even afraid of this sword?" "It's unlikely." Zhang Guozhong frowned, "Senior brother, do you use your brain to think about this possibility?" "It's unlikely." Old Liu was also amused himself, it seems that there is no such injustice in the world.

"I'll call tomorrow to ask about the origin of this sword." Zhang Guozhong touched the two seal characters "Qingtai" on the hilt with his fingers. , if the thing in the cave is really Zhao Jinzhou, then this sword is probably related to Zhao Jinzhou." "That makes sense!" Old Liu nodded, unexpectedly, the clues to the incident were concentrated on a sword, "Guozhong, put this sword with me first, and I'll match you with one." The night passed in a flash, and the first thing Zhang Guozhong did when he got up the next day was to call Fuzhen Temple. After learning the news that there was a sword in the sword, Chen Guang was also very surprised.According to Taoist Master Chen Guang's recollection, it seems that this sword was not obtained by the master himself, but was passed down from the master's generation. In theory, this does not conform to the rules of Wudang Mountain all the time, but as a disciple, he has no right There is no need to ask the master about this kind of thing, maybe the master loves the apprentice who is not decent, and made an exception to pass it on, so no one took this kind of thing to heart.At the end of the phone call, Taoist Master Chenguang promised to try his best to find out about the origin of the sword in Wudang Mountain, and repeatedly emphasized that he must take a look at the appearance of the sword after removing the rust.It seems that the old Taoist Chen Guang gave the sword to Zhang Guozhong in a moment of excitement, but at this time he regretted it.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Guozhong drove to Lao Liutou's house, and was surprised when he entered the door. He saw that it was not Lao Liutou who was fiddling with the Qingtai sword in the main hall, but Qin Ge.Standing behind Qin Ge was the big-handed Liu who hadn't seen him for many days. Compared with the image of the herb-picking mountain man in Gansu, the big-handed Liu now has a small part of it. At first glance, he looks like a sudden rich man The local boss is the same. "Mr. Qin? Brother Liu?" Zhang Guozhong's eyes popped out of their sockets. "Sun Ting arranged for him to help us." Qin Ge pointed to Liu, "Yesterday we just got off the plane in Beijing. We wanted to stay in Beijing overnight. We received a call from Mr. The important clue came overnight." As he spoke, Qin Ge raised his eyes and squinted at Old Liu who was polishing the handle of his sword with sandpaper, as if he had seen through the deception.

"I didn't ask him to come." Old Liu Tou took the newly made sword handle and looked at it vigorously, "Bring the sword here! If it's yours, you can mess with it!" Pulling the sword from Qin Ge's hand, he put the handle on the hilt, "Guo Zhong, let's see if it fits or not?" Holding the sword with the hilt in my hand, the feel is really extraordinary. I didn't expect that my precious senior brother had such a hand. In just one night, I really made a wooden hilt for this reborn sword. I don't know where this old boy got the high-quality huanghuali wood in the middle of the night.

"Master Zhang, I heard this is Zhu Yunqi's sword?" Qin Ge raised his eyes and stared at Zhang Guozhong. "This... who did you listen to?" Zhang Guozhong frowned. "Who else?" Qin Ge looked at Old Liu with a blank expression. "I didn't say that, I just said it's possible!" Old Liu's face was filled with righteousness, "Maybe, do you understand? Maybe!" "Actually, it's like this. It can't be said that this matter is impossible," Zhang Guozhong wanted to smooth things over, "I went to Wudang Mountain to visit Taoist Chen Guang, and I heard the allusion of an eight immortals suppressing demons in Wudang Mountain..." "Mr. Liu told me all these things." Qin Ge interrupted Zhang Guozhong, stood up and beat his back with his hands, "Although Mr. Liu was joking, I think the joke is not unreasonable." "Who's joking with you?" Old Liu said with a nonchalant expression, "I call it analysis!" "Hehe, good, good, analyze, analyze, I wonder if Zhang Zhang would like to listen to my analysis?" "I would like to hear Mr. Qin's opinion!" "Maoshanshu believes that people's resentment after death is because some wishes were not fulfilled in life, isn't that true?" Zhang Guozhong nodded. It seems that Qin Ge has studied Maoshanshu less since he worked with Zhang Guozhong and Lao Liu. "According to the content engraved on this sword, what do you think is Yang Guyun's greatest wish?" Qin Ge asked. "Of course it makes this sword a royal item!" Zhang Guozhong nodded. "That's the problem." Qin Ge said with a smile on his face, "I have also done some research on the development of iron smelting in ancient China. For the swordsmiths of all dynasties, the greatest glory in life is the sword they forged Yang Guyun is no exception if it can become the sword used by the emperor." Qin Ge pointed to the Qingtai Sword in Zhang Guozhong's hand, "However, the first sword Yang Guyun forged was the one named by Zhu Yuanzhang. The sword did not become the emperor's personal sword, but was given to Yushi Feng Youlin by Zhu Yuanzhang as a Shangfang sword. That's why Yang Guyun paid so much attention to Zhu Di's second entrustment, because as a swordsmith, he cast swords for the royal family all his life. There are not many opportunities for swords. If this Qingtai sword can really be used for the crown prince to ascend the throne, as the sword bestowed by the emperor, it will definitely become the sword of the new emperor. This will also fulfill Yang Guyun's greatest wish in his life. So when he knew that his time was approaching, he would not hesitate to ask his wife to complete the sword for him under the charge of deceiving the emperor. Unexpectedly, although Zhu Di did not pursue Yang Guyun's wife's crime of deceiving the emperor, he despised the sword as bad luck , and gave the sword back to Yang Guyun's wife. Master Zhang, if Yang Guyun has resentment because his wish of 'casting a portable sword for the emperor' has not been fulfilled, and his soul is not at peace, how will you get over it?" "This..." Qin Ge's words moved Zhang Guozhong's heart, "Mr. Qin, not any evil spirit can be saved to perfection. This kind of thing can only be resolved with legal affairs. The years are over." To put it bluntly, it is a symbolic practice to resolve some grievances so that they will not cause trouble and harm the Quartet.As for the rest of the grievances, let's choose a good graveyard to dissipate slowly for thousands of years. You can't force the emperor to accept the sword and have to carry it with you every day, right? "You old spy, I know what you're going to say! Do you think it was the widow who persuaded Zhu Yunqi to accept the sword? Zhu Yunqi had been emperor for a few days, and the sword was considered imperial use, so Yang Guyun's resentment disappeared. Is that the case?" The old head Liu said in Yidi, "If the Taoist Yan Shang is really Zhu Yunqi, then Zhang Sanfeng is the only one who knows his life experience, how could he tell such a big secret to someone? Widow? Do you think Zhu Yunqi's life experience can be caught and told to whom?" "I didn't say that," Qin Ge glanced at Old Liu, "I just said maybe, maybe, understand? Maybe!" "Just learn from me, if you have the ability, you can invent something new yourself!" Old Liu looked disdainful. "Senior brother, I think Mr. Qin's analysis makes sense." Although the old Liu was disdainful, Zhang Guozhong felt that what Qin Ge said was somewhat reasonable: if the man who said Shang Tao was really Zhu Yunqi, he could first explain why this sword Will appear in Wudang Mountain.The sword named by the emperor, if there is no special reason, Yang Mengshi should have been passed down from generation to generation as a treasure, and it is impossible to flow out to Wudang. Wudang Mountain, the most famous in the circle, sought a solution. Zhang Sanfeng asked for the sword and gave it to Zhu Yunqi as a favor.Of course, it is impossible for Yang Mengshi to know the whole story. Secondly, this kind of speculation can also explain why the things in the cold bone cave are afraid of this sword. Of course, the premise is that Yan Shangdao is Zhu Yunqi himself, and the cave is really the cold bone cave, and the things in the cave are really Zhao Jinzhou .In the allusion of the eight immortals suppressing demons, Taoist Yan Shang is responsible for guarding the crucial formation of the Eight Immortals, and behind the formation is responsible for guarding Zhao Jinzhou's corpse in the cold bone cave. If this sword is really Zhu Yunqi's sword, Zhao Jinzhou's corpse Of course I will be afraid. "If you know Maoshan technique so well, you should analyze and analyze what's going on in the cave!" Old Liu Tou was obviously dissatisfied with Qin Ge's analysis, "The pond is full of dead jade, and the iron statues are dressed in jade clothes from the Han Dynasty What is that?" "Well, Mr. Liu, if Zhu Yunwen studied under Wudang Mountain after he became a Taoist, then the things in the cave should belong to the Wudang School. What's the use of my knowledge of Maoshan techniques?" Qin Ge said with a slight smile. "That's right!" Hearing what Qin Ge said, Zhang Guozhong suddenly realized that even if Yan Shangdao was not Zhu Yunqi, the Niangniang Mountain is so close to Wudang Mountain, the things in the cave should have something to do with the Wudang School, and what is the cloth in the cave? What kind of formation, if you ask the old Taoist Chen Guang, will you understand?