Chapter 54 Thunderstorm

"'Pingdi Huo Lei Tie Heng Yu' is to neatly arrange the double-headed nails in order to form a group, the grass rope is half-tied and half-embedded, and the outer cover is soft to form. Then use the nitrate as the center of the group, and rub the fire sickle as the fuze "Pingdi Huo Lei Tie Heng Yu" landed from a high place, and when the fire scythe hit the ground, sparks popped out, ignited the nitrate and exploded, and the double-headed nails were shot out of the target." Zhang Jindai is very familiar with this killer weapon, because he was in the world when he was young. He worked as a doorman in Jiuliuhou Mansion for a while.

"It sounds very simple from what you said, but I didn't expect it to be so powerful." Zhao Kuangyin sighed. "No, I'm just speaking in general terms. In fact, this thing is very complicated to make, especially the part where the fire scythe is used as the fuze. It is said that there is no proper technique to ensure the production of a good 'level fire thunder iron rain' Every one can explode, and it is not easy for one out of five or six to succeed. I saw that there were seven or eight kites hanging on the kite just now. The mechanism of the single-line kite control should be to throw seven or eight down together. .But in the end it seems like only one exploded."

At this time, the surrounding smoke and dust have completely dissipated, and you only need to search a little bit deliberately, and you can see other black round lumps rolling down not far away. "Several of them fell together. Fortunately, this thing is not very effective. Otherwise, if so many explode together, it will be a question of whether the door can block it." At this moment, the chill in Zhao Kuangyin's heart still persists. "You said just now that the murder weapon belongs to Nanping Jiuliuhou's Mansion. Could it be that they would venture here to assassinate me for a few hundred taels of gold?"

"Probably not. Maybe they are also greedy for gold, but they dare not offend Da Zhou. After weighing it, they will never do such a stupid thing. But the Jiuliuhou Mansion restricts people and weapons, but the killing weapons they made It can be bought with money." What Zhang Jindai said was right, the "Fire on the Ground, Thunder and Iron, Rain on the Ground" cast by the assassin just now was really bought from the Jiuliuhou Mansion. Nanping Jiuliuhou Mansion is an extremely subtle organization, run by Hu Guodong, Jiuliuhou's brother-in-law, Wang Gaobaoxu of Nanping.Hu Guodong originally made a living as a folk juggler, but later castrated himself in order to make his family prosperous and wanted to work as a eunuch in the Dazhou Palace.However, it was not accepted by the Great Zhou Palace, so it was mixed into the Nanping Palace of Jingzhou.Later, he dedicated his younger sister to the King of Nanping, and then he got the title of Marquis of Jiuliu, and he was in charge of all matters in the mansion of Marquis of Jiuliu.Those who knew the inside story revealed that Hu Guodong's younger sister was actually a replacement hairpin bought from Huhuli.

Jiuliuhou's Mansion is a Nanping official institution, and it should have nothing to do with assassination, but what it does is almost the same as assassination.Nanping is a small country squeezed among the big powers, and it has no complaints with anyone among the big powers.Since several big countries trust him, once there is something that cannot be handled by himself, he will entrust Jiuliuhou Mansion in Nanping to do it.These things include assassination, stealing secrets, and so on.In order to better do the work entrusted by those great powers, Jiuliuhou's Mansion keeps recruiting strange talents from all corners of the country to develop all kinds of strange weapons.And as long as the price of the developed weapons is right, they will also be sold to other big countries and Jianghu organizations for use.This is not only to please those big countries, but also to prove the effectiveness of the weapons developed.So in general, Jiuliuhou's Mansion should be equivalent to a combination of assassination organizations, spy agencies, and arms manufacturers and sellers.It is precisely because of this that several big countries have many secrets and handles in the hands of the King of Nanping, which makes such a small country still indestructible under the watchful eyes of all the powerful.

"I know the rules of Jiuliuhou's Mansion that limit people but not weapons, but the rules are not dead. If a certain country comes forward, they will still send people to assassinate the bureau. In addition, it depends on what is said. As for the killer weapons, some excellent killer weapons are afraid that the production skills will be stolen, even if they are sold, they have to arrange facilities for them to release. This is actually a hired killing, but it’s just a claw and no pocket.” Zhao Kuangyin’s body In order to inspect the front of the Great Zhou Palace, many confidential and important events were personally operated or participated in, so I often dealt with Nanping Jiuliuhou Mansion, and I have a very clear understanding of their background.There are even some hidden truths that even Zhang Jindai, who was a resident in Jiuliuhou's Mansion, doesn't know.

"My lord, do you mean to say that the assassins were set up by experts from the Jiuliuhou Mansion? And they were hired by other countries? I'm afraid this is unlikely." Zhang Jindai didn't believe it, but he didn't believe it. . "Why is it impossible? I came up with three strategies to save the predicament that the Great Zhou was facing. I also made a second-hand strategy to assassinate the border officials of the Shu Kingdom as a last resort, and then went to Jiang Zhongzhou in person to open the private road between the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Great Zhou. If these news get out, there is a possibility of assassinating me in Southern Tang and Shu Kingdoms. Before I thought about it a little less, I always felt that the few Xiao Xiao who were against me in the DPRK did not spare a lot of money to prevent me from returning to Beijing to take my life. But now I think about it. In fact, they don't need to spend at all, as long as I disclose what I say and do, someone will do these things for them." Zhao Kuangyin's thinking became clearer and clearer.

"The first few stabbing rounds should have been true or false on purpose to make me relax my vigilance. You look at the two pockets blocking the way out, plus such a powerful 'fire on the ground, thunder and iron rain', what they want Forced me to tear down the fence and escape from the black pine forest or Guangshipo. From this we can see that there are more powerful claws waiting for me in those two directions than these three assassins. Fourth-rate roles are comparable. In addition to Jiuliuhoufu, of course there are other top assassination schools in the world with such momentum and strength. But apart from Jiuliuhoufu, which was entrusted by a certain country, which top assassination sect is there? Does the Xingmen faction have a reason to assassinate me?"

Zhang Jindai also felt more and more that Zhao Kuangyin's analysis was very correct, but the analysis and inference were just observations, and there was still no reliable evidence to prove that it was the Jiuliuhou Mansion who trapped the people like him. "My lord was right just now. As far as I know, Jiuliuhou's Mansion sells killing weapons really not very casually. At most, they only give enough for one kill and another kill. Similar to the 'Pingdi Huo Lei Tie Heng Yu' kind of kill The total number of weapons sold at one time will not exceed 20, and only two or three of them can explode. This is mainly because they are afraid that they will not be used in the stabbing after buying them back, but will be disassembled and used in the production skills. Realized it. Just now the assassins outside the camp only released one plate kite's 'Floating Fire, Thunder and Iron Rain', but not several board kites at the same time, which means that the number of 'Flat Fire, Thunder and Iron Rain' in their hands is only enough for one at most. Kill or kill again. Judging from this point, I don't think they are from Jiuliuhou's residence."

Zhao Kuangyin thought about it, and felt that what Zhang Jindai said was not unreasonable.But just as he was thinking, the groans and painful sounds around him suddenly turned into panic and fear cries. "It's coming again!" "It's not good, hurry up and hide!" "There are so many, mother! This is dead!" Zhao Kuangyin suddenly looked up and saw five or six kites flying towards the barracks from a distance. In the city of Bianjing, above the imperial hall, Chai Shizong sat motionless in front of the dragon table, like a stone sculpture.His eyes were always on the dragon case, but his eyes were scattered, and he couldn't know which memorial he was looking at.

There are more than a dozen memorials spread out on the dragon case, which are very neat and arranged one by one by Chai Rong himself.He has carefully read these memorials several times from last night to now, but every time he reads them, he feels more worry and anxiety. Most of these notebooks are about the soaring price of food and salt in the market and the shortage of food and pay in the army. In addition, there are newly submitted military newspapers about the border provocations of the Northern Han and Liao countries.It should be that the two countries have already learned of Da Zhou's current predicament, so they are ready to take advantage of the danger again.The centipede is dead but not stiff, let alone these two worms are not dead yet. In addition, there was an epidemic report from Weinan Road, saying that a strange epidemic disease was found that was spreading rapidly among livestock. The cause could not be found out, and there was no cure for the disease.Now, although a large number of sick livestock are massacred and buried, it can only suspend the speed of transmission.In order not to exacerbate the panic of food and salt shortages, the epidemic has been closed.However, the closure cannot last long, and livestock and animal husbandry are related to many aspects of the Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Households, and Ministry of War, so I ask the court to come up with a proposal for disposal as soon as possible. A group of ministers headed by Fan Zhi stood in front of the dragon case. These people had stood with their heads bowed for a long, long time, and those with poorer physiques had sore backs, trembling legs, and cold sweats on their heads.But even so, none of them dared to show their atmosphere, for fear of disturbing the "stone sculpture" behind the dragon case by a little carelessness.Because this "stone carving" will turn into a furious dragon at any time, a furious dragon that can breathe fire. I don't know how long it took, "Stone Carving" finally let out a long sigh.This made the group of people below who were almost unable to stand secretly relieved, because sighing is better than breathing fire after all. "Zhao Dianjian hasn't returned to Beijing yet?" Chai Rong asked softly. Fan Zhi hurriedly replied: "Not yet, but I have already ordered the guard camp in the outer city and the Changting Post Station. Once you find that Mr. Zhao has arrived, even if it is midnight, let him go directly to the palace to see the emperor." Sejong nodded, Fan Zhi's actions were not inconsiderate, he had already asked people to wait more than a dozen miles outside of Tokyo, and sent someone to meet Zhao Kuangyin in the direction where Zhao Kuangyin might return. "It's been a while since the Golden Dragon Royal Card was issued. Maybe Zhao Dianjian encountered something unusual on the road." Chai Shizong seemed to be talking to himself, and he seemed to be discussing with Fan Zhi. "I also find it strange. I heard that General Jiuzhong was stockpiling food in the Jiangdu area before. The time when the Golden Dragon Royal Tablet was delivered to Jiangdu, plus the time when Zhao Dianjian returned to Beijing, it should have been as early as a month before. Arrived. Could it be that General Jiuzhong was not found in Jiangdu, or did he encounter some difficulties and obstacles on the way back to Beijing?" Fan Zhi replied. Chai Rong sighed again, it doesn't matter what happened to Zhao Kuangyin now, he just asked because he felt something strange.The current situation can no longer wait, really can not wait any longer. "How is the monitoring situation of Buddhist temples in various places?" Chai Rong asked again. The commander of the Ministry of War's guards and guards made Li Chongjin take a quick step forward: "Your Majesty, those temples and monasteries may have heard something. Although the Ministry of War has sent letters to the garrisons of all states and counties to monitor the temples and monasteries within the territory, there is no reason to prevent them from continuing to move." finance." "You can't study the Buddha quietly, search and listen to the world's teachings, but if you have property, you will protect it with all your heart and don't give up. I don't think they are people who really serve the Buddha. They just use the name of the Buddha to collect property. So this It's better to take the opportunity to break this way, so that the people of the world will not be bullied for a long time." When Chai Rong spoke, he patted the dragon case lightly, although his voice was not loud, it made a group of ministers tremble in fright. "The emperor means..." Li Chongjin wanted to ask but stopped. Chai Rong didn't speak, and remained silent for a long time, and his eyes returned to those memorials.And all the ministers had no choice but to cooperate with this silence again, forcing themselves to maintain their exhausted and uneasy state. However, the silence this time was quickly broken, and Chai Rong stood up resolutely after only freezing for a while, and at the same time, with a wave of his dragon robe sleeves, he swept all the memorials spread out on the dragon case to the ground , and then spit out a few words with a solemn face and firm eyes.Although it was only a few words, even though it was said in a calm tone, the ministers heard it like the morning bell shaking. "Designate to destroy Buddha and get money."