On the first day of the new year, there were very few people on the streets of Youzhou City in the early morning.
The soldiers were still sticking to their posts. When Zhang Tie entered the city gate, that soldier just threw a glance at Zhang Tie for a short while before letting Zhang Tie enter Youzhou City.
In Taixia Country, the ceremony of washing hands in a golden basin was also a very solemn ceremony, which symbolized "completely retiring". Generally, two kinds of people would hold this ceremony: first, the important figures in unofficial non-governmental organizations in Taixia Country, who would hold such a ceremony of washing hands in a golden basin when they retired, which meant that they would make a clean break with the past; second, some senior professionals in Taixia Country such as sword forgers, rune instrument masters, appraisers, etc., who would hold such a ceremony of washing hands in a golden basin, which meant that they would not return to their old professions in the future; instead, they would live in seclusion.
The first kind of people and the second kind of people had one thing in common, namely, those who could hold such a ceremony of washing hands in a golden basin were all well-known and admired in the local areas or in the professions. If it was any other Tom, Dick, or Harry, they would wash their hands. If they didn't want to do it, they could just leave. Naturally, no one would remember them.
Wang Wu was a local bully in Youzhou City. Of course, the one who knew about Zhang Tie's movement and had the left grand justice grant Wang Wu a Brain Shattering Pill must be in Youzhou City. If that person was in other prefectures, they could not respond so fast.
Today was the first day of the new year, the 900th year of Black Iron Calendar, the beginning of a new era. It was indeed a good day for Zhang Tie to wash his hands in a golden basin.
...
Zhang Tie wandered in the streets of Youzhou City alone like taking a walk. The map of Youzhou City appeared in Zhang Tie's mind, including some regions on the map. Some regions on the map were being removed from Zhang Tie's mind one after another. Zhang Tie just followed the optimal route that he had sorted out in a split second and wandered in the remaining regions.
Although Youzhou City was large, its planning was very orderly. Besides the jia plantation area, the location of government agencies, the residential areas of commoners and the industrial and commercial areas, there were not many places left. There wasn't much of a difference.
The snow had stopped today, and the sun had begun to reveal a small part of its smiling face in the sky. The weather was also good.
After wandering in Youzhou City for over 2 hours, Zhang Tie knew that he had found it.
That place was less than 15 miles away from Huaiyuan Mansion. It was close to Fengyang Lake in Youzhou City. There was a 5-mile willow bank beside the lake. It had a nice scenery. Here. It was also the gathering place of the rich in Youzhou City. What attracted Zhang Tie's attention was a prominent manor and courtyard in this rich area. It had an area of almost 700 mu, and the vermilion high wall outside the manor took up one-third of the street outside.
It was the New Year. Moreover, the sky had just turned bright, and many shops were not open today. Outside the manor, there was an endless stream of horses and carriages. A large number of servants dressed in neat clothes began to busy themselves outside, greeting the incoming guests. Another airship directly entered the airship airport behind the manor. After landing, it dropped off the passengers and flew away.
It was the most boisterous place in Youzhou City today.
"Today is the day that the master will retire. There are at least eight hundred guests, if not a thousand. They are all influential people. Be alert and don't make any mistakes. After today, Steward Zuo said that everyone will be rewarded with three gold coins." A person who looked like a steward shouted arrogantly at the side door outside the manor, directing the servants to send the prepared ingredients from the outside into the mansion's kitchen from the side. At the end of the ceremony, they naturally couldn't let the guests come to watch their performance with empty stomachs. It was also reasonable for them to eat and drink to their heart's content. "Have Jiang Si and the others, who went to Lin Jia Village to get fresh venison, returned?"
"Not yet."
"Take two people to take a look along the way. Hurry up, the kitchen is still waiting for them. We're going to cook two dishes tonight with venison and deer blood. Don't delay it!"
"Yes, sir!"
After hearing this, Zhang Tie turned around and entered a teahouse on one side.
Like pubs and restaurants, this teahouse was still open for business as usual even though it was the New Year. Zhang Tie came here not too early or too late. However, there were already many people in the teahouse.
Those people were sitting in a circle around the patio of the teahouse. They were eating snacks and eating melon seeds and peanuts while listening to a person in long robe and mandarin jacket telling a vivid story with a fan in front of a small table in the center of the teahouse. Oh, no, in the words of Taixia Country, the story that adults listened to on such an occasion was not a story, but a storytelling.
As it was Zhang Tie's first time to come to such an entertainment place in Taixia Country, he didn't know what to order. Therefore, he just told the waiter vaguely.
"Alright, you look unfamiliar. It must be your first time coming to our teahouse, right? The cost of our private rooms is different from that of the private rooms outside. Here, we charge an extra 50 copper coins per hour for private rooms. You can stay here until the teahouse closes. Let me make this clear to you first. Our teahouse operates in good faith, and we don't cheat either the old or the young!"
"Hmm, no problem, go ahead!"
The waiter left. After a short while, he came back with a pot of tea and some dishes of snacks. After putting them on the table, he asked Zhang Tie if he needed anything else. After Zhang Tie nodded, he exited the room and closed the door for Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie leisurely took a piece of tea cake and ate it as he listened to the discussions of those people in the teahouse. When he finished the tea cake and heard almost all the discussions, Zhang Tie finally knew the background of the "altar head" of Heavens Reaching Church who was going to wash his hands in a gold basin today.
The one who was going to wash his hands in a gold basin today was surnamed Jiang. Everybody called him Master Jiang. This person was famous in Youzhou Province, even across the Northeast Military Region.
According to the guests in the teahouse, Master Jiang was born in a blacksmith clan. Since he was 8 years old, he had been helping his father in the blacksmith shop. Since he was 8 years old, he had shown a very high talent in casting. When he grew up, he became a craftsman apprentice at 12 years old and a craftsman at 16 years old. His craftsmanship surpassed that of his father. When he was 20 years old, he had already become a copper hammer craftsman. In the remaining 100-odd years, Master Jiang constantly promoted to a silver hammer craftsman, a gold hammer craftsman, a mithril craftsman and a secret rune craftsman. 4 decades ago, Master Jiang promoted to a major craftsman.
If a person could promote to a major craftsman on the road of rune instrument manufacturing, he would be famous everywhere. Even in Taixia Country, such a person would not be a nobody.
Before promoting to a major craftsman, Master Jiang served as a junior supervisor in the Generals and Crafts Administration of Tongzhou Province. After promoting to a major craftsman, Master Jiang became the commander of the Generals and Crafts Administration of Tongzhou Province. After serving as the commander of Tongzhou Province for almost 2 decades, Master Jiang resigned and became free again.
After his resignation, Master Jiang didn't become idle; instead, he became more famous. He often produced fine products. Additionally, as Master Jiang specialized in casting weapons, especially swords, a lot of people came to ask Master Jiang to forge weapons for him every day. As a result, Master Jiang became more and more famous over these years.
Master Jiang's hometown was in Youzhou Province. After Youzhou City was established, Master Jiang moved to Youzhou City and settled there.
At this moment, the greater part of the industries in the craftsmen's street in Youzhou City belonged to Master Jiang or his apprentices' apprentices. It was imaginable how influential Master Jiang was in Youzhou City.
Last year, when Master Jiang was 149 years old, he declared that he would wash his hands in a golden basin this year. From then on, he would not touch any casting tools anymore. He wanted to cultivate his mind and comprehend the laws of nature so as to make a further progress on the way of rune instrument manufacturing in his remaining years.
Today was the day when Master Jiang held the ceremony of washing his hands in a golden basin. Therefore, the entire Jiang Mansion became busy.
Major craftsman — — Zhang Clan, which was famous in Waii Sub-continent for its rune instrument manufacturing, only had one major craftsman!
After knowing the background of this person, Zhang Tie became thrilled at once. Because Zhang Tie knew that he had caught a big fish this time... Astronomy? Novels are better and updated faster!
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