Following the Eunuch's shout, the envoy from Zong Sui, who was also the Fourth Prince of Zong Sui, Li Kun, brought his five attendants into Fei Cui Hall.
In Feng Yu Heng's eyes, this Li Kun was at most 1.7 metres tall and was very sturdy, he should walk the martial path and not the scholarly path. Zong Sui's people's clothing was similar to Dashun's, even looking a little like the flourishing Tang Dynasty in the official history, this made Feng Yu Heng feel nostalgic.
While she was sizing him up, that Li Kun had already walked to the ceremonial position in the center of the hall, lifting his robes, he knelt down on one knee, giving the envoy's etiquette: "The son of this vassal country, Li Kun, uh, greets Your Majesty and Your Highness the Empress, may Your Majesty live ten thousand years, may Your Highness live a thousand years, may my Dashun country prosper and have favorable weather."
Tianwu laughed loudly, "Zong Sui's Fourth Prince, you are getting better at speaking! Quickly, please rise. "
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Only then did that Li Kun stand up, then bowed and said: "In the past year, my Zong Sui, under the protection of Dashun, has been prosperous and the people are at peace, with abundant resources. Today, this lowly prince has specially brought gifts from Zong Sui to present to the ruler of Dashun, to express my Zong Sui's loyalty to Dashun as before."
As he spoke, the attendant beside him also handed a list of gifts to Dashun's Eunuch, that Eunuch then handed it to Zhang Yuan, and finally it was handed to Emperor Tianwu by Zhang Yuan.
Li Kun continued: "This year, Zong Sui's gifts are a total of one hundred and thirty eight, most of them have already been handed to Dashun's Palace Keeper for inspection, there are two other national treasures that this lowly prince has brought to the hall today for Your Majesty to inspect personally." As he spoke, he moved to the side and three attendants behind him came forward, each of them holding an item in their hands. "This is one of the national treasures, commoner's brocade. Zong Sui woven four bolts last year, all of them were brought by this lowly prince to present to Dashun. "
Upon hearing the words' Commoner's Brocade ', the men in the hall reacted normally, with only a little anticipation. However, all the women's eyes were fixed.
Commoner's brocade, Zong Sui was not able to present it during the new year last year. This year, there were a total of four bolts, and they were even brought to the main hall. Could it be that they were blessed today to be able to personally see this national treasure cloth?
Everyone stretched their necks and looked at the Zong Sui prince. This kind of reaction made Li Kun very satisfied. Thus, he purposely stalled for some time and enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention for a while.
Emperor Tianwu was a little unhappy. He wanted to urge him, but when he looked at the items waiting to be revealed after the Commoner's Brocade, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Instead, it was Xuan Tiange who became annoyed, shouting: "Hurry up! Since you've brought it to the palace, you should show it openly. If you don't want anyone to see it, then have the palace servants take it down and throw it into the storeroom. What's the point of dilly-dallying? "
This was Li Kun's first time coming to Dashun. Even though there were people who had come before to tell him about the situation in Dashun, including what kind of people were in the imperial family, what kind of personalities those people had and so on. But he still could not understand. A young girl, how did she dare to speak like this in front of the Emperor, Empress and the court officials? Was she a princess? In Zong Sui, even a princess did not have this right? He could not help but look in Xuan Tiange's direction in surprise.
Xuan Tiange frowned, "I asked you to show everyone the cloth, why are you looking at me?"
Li Kun was completely stunned by Xuan Tiange and did not want to ask who this girl was. He quickly turned around and personally lifted the cloth covering the commoner's brocade.
Commoner's brocade was even rarer than Dashun's Sichuan brocade. Just looking at the colour and lustre of the material, it gave people the feeling that it was naturally produced. There were no traces of dyeing at all. It was said that commoner's brocade was most suitable to be used as a wedding dress when a girl got married because the best commoner's brocade was bright red. When worn as a wedding dress, it would reflect a phoenix reborn from the fire under the sunlight.
Only three or four bolts of such a good thing could be obtained in a year. If the year was not good, it could not be obtained. How could it not be precious. Today, it was already very rare for everyone to be able to take a look at it. Other than praising it repeatedly, they could only look and sigh. It was something that the imperial concubines in the palace could not even get their hands on, what could the family members of the officials hope for.
But some people thought of Feng Yu Heng at this time. They heard that when His Highness Prince Yu sent betrothal gifts to the Feng family, he carried box after box of the five treasures into the Feng manor. He almost emptied the entire imperial palace's ten years worth of storage. They could not help but envy Feng Yu Heng. When they looked at the clothes that they were wearing, which they originally thought was made of the best material, they sighed once more. This truly was comparing people to death, comparing goods to goods to be thrown away!
After looking at the commoner's brocade and receiving everyone's praises and gasps, Li Kun waved his hand and the attendants immediately handed the things in their hands to Dashun's palace servants to take away.
Just as the palace servants were changing out the commoner's brocade, Feng Yu Heng saw Xuan Tianming silently ask her with his mouth: "Do you want it?"
She could read lips and immediately felt embarrassed. Before this thing could even be sent into Dashun's storage, he was already thinking about it. She somewhat understood where the cloth in her manor came from.
Helplessly shaking her head, she also mouthed back: "No, it's enough."
The other side, however, said something complicated: "Good things must all belong to our family's Heng Heng."
She let out a "pft" and laughed, "This way of thinking is very good!"
The two of them looked at each other and smiled, neither of them saying anything else.
At this time, the bolts of commoner's brocade were taken away by the palace servants. Following the return of the women's gazes, the men in the main hall immediately sat upright. They knew that the main event was about to begin.
As expected, they saw that Li Kun take a step forward and say in a clear voice: "Other than commoner's brocade, my Dashun has a second national treasure — — iron essence!"
Once the two words "iron essence" were said, Feng Yu Heng felt that the expressions of the men in the main hall became more solemn. Everyone looked towards the two attendants behind Li Kun. Those two people were also holding something in their hands. It was larger than the commoner's brocade and seemed to have some weight. But it was still covered by a cloth and they could not see what it was.
She thought for a long time but still did not understand what iron essence was.
She heard that Li Kun say again: "A hundred years ago, the matter of my Zong Sui refining iron essence was spread throughout the five countries. Everyone knew that weapons made from iron essence cut iron like mud. This iron essence helped my Zong Sui obtain victory in many battles. The second treasure that I brought today is a set of swords made from iron essence. "
This time, he did not keep them in suspense. After he finished speaking, he turned around and took the initiative to lift the cloth.
At this moment, the grand scene of people craning their necks to take a look appeared in the main hall again. But this time, it was the men. The women did not understand this at all and did not think much of it.
But the men were different, especially those military generals. They understood the value of this thing too well. Think about it, in this era of cold weapons, when two armies faced off, one side's weapon was stronger and sharper than the other's. What kind of scene would that be? It would be a complete one-sided massacre!
Feng Yu Heng saw Ren Xifeng's father, General Ping Nan, stand up and walk around the table a few steps forward. Only then did he stand still and look straight at the swords.
At this moment, this old general's eyes were shining. That kind of gaze clearly wrote one word: I want it!
It was not just General Ping Nan. Even Xuan Tianming, Xuan Tianhua and Xuan Tianye also looked straight at it, unwilling to look away.
And Feng Yu Heng also stood up on reflex, squinting her eyes and looking at those weapons.
She finally understood. This was what Zong Sui's princess was relying on to marry Xuan Tianhua!
The princess' dowry was the method to make iron essence!
This was equivalent to directly increasing the military strength of Dashun's troops. No wonder Emperor Tianwu would agree. No wonder Xuan Tianhua would be so worried and say such things to her.
She moved her gaze away from those weapons and looked at Xuan Tianming. It was as though the other party had a telepathic connection with her, looking over at the same time. It was not just Xuan Tianming. Even Xuan Tianhua looked at her.
The moment the three people's gazes met, Feng Yu Heng knew that she had guessed correctly.
This treasure of Zong Sui caused the entire Jade Hall to be silent for a long time.
Emperor Tianwu observed the reactions of the people below alone, but he sighed helplessly in his heart. Dashun could not make such a good weapon. In the past few decades, they had tried countless times, but they still could not find the method to make iron essence.
Actually, it was not just Dashun. The other countries had also tried to make iron essence, but after so many years, they had never heard of any success.
Iron essence became Zong Sui's greatest secret.
There were also people who tried to steal it, but only after the thieves entered the country did they know that the method to make iron essence was passed down orally by the Emperor of Zong Sui. Every time it was made, the craftsmen would be gathered together and the Emperor would personally teach the method. After these craftsmen entered the secret place, they would never come out again. Until all the weapons needed were made, they would be executed in secret.
But Zong Sui was a small country in the end. It was already the limit for a small country to be able to keep such a huge secret for so many years. Emperor Tianwu understood that since Zong Sui had put out such a condition for marriage, it meant that it was already too difficult for them to keep this secret. They had to borrow the power of Dashun to help complete it. Or rather, by sharing the secret with Dashun, it was also equivalent to sharing the danger with Dashun.
Of course, the danger to Zong Sui was not much in Emperor Tianwu's eyes. It was just that in this marriage for political reasons, the other party had clearly stated that they wanted his seventh son, which really made things difficult for him.
Xuan Tianhua was a child that he could not bear to make things difficult for the most. He was also a child that understood the big picture and what universal love was. He had already made up his mind that he would not force this child to do certain things and would only follow Xuan Tianhua's own intentions. Regardless of whether it was marrying a wife and having children or the path he chose in this life, other than the throne, he would give whatever Xuan Tianhua wanted. But now … …
He looked at Xuan Tianhua and saw that the child who always had a warm expression was now filled with endless sorrow. He knew that Xuan Tianhua was not willing to marry that Zong Sui princess at all. Long ago, when Dashun received the news, Xuan Tianhua had already expressed his attitude. But when he stated the conditions for the exchange, Xuan Tianhua thought for an entire night and nodded the next day.
Emperor Tianwu had never felt heartache for any child for so many years. Even when Xuan Tianming's leg was injured like that, he did not feel any heartache and only knew how to pamper and spoil him. But Xuan Tianhua's nod that day truly made him feel heartache.
A batch of swords and knives shocked everyone.
Li Kun said: "General Dashun, please test the weapon!"
But no one went to test it. Iron essence had existed for over a hundred years, how could they not know how good this thing was. In the past, this kind of weapon was also treated as a national treasure by Zong Sui as a tribute to Dashun, but there were only around ten of them. Dashun's people could not bear to use those things on the battlefield and only did their best to research the refining method, but until now, they had not succeeded.
This time, the thing that they had been yearning for a hundred years was delivered to their doorstep.
Feng Yu Heng still remained standing, staring at the weapon made from iron essence and frowning slightly.
This kind of thing, the people of this era called it iron essence? … …
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