National Division

Chapter 61 Rhino Horn

As soon as Peacock King Ming arrived, snakes and insects ran wildly on the west mountain. When Qi Jun went up to the west mountain, he saw dead snakes and insects everywhere on the way from the bottom of the mountain to the Perak cave.

"How can there be so many snakes and insects here?" Although Qi Jun is not afraid of these things, they are everywhere, and they are a little creepy, especially some snakes and insects are not completely dead, and their claws are still shaking slightly. There was a chill on the back.

"When the thunder strikes, the snakes and insects will be seen." Zhibai treated these snakes and insects indifferently, he stretched out his foot and kicked one of them away without changing his expression, "There are stinging stings in the solar terms, the emperor knows what it means, right?"

This Qi Jun replied like a stream: "It is said in "The Collection of 72 Hous of the Moon Order" that everything comes from an earthquake, and the earthquake is thunder, so it is called Jingzhe, because the stinging insects are frightened and run away."

Zhibai nodded: "Your majesty is really knowledgeable. Jingzhe is the stinging insects that are startled by thunder. Since then, snakes and insects have prospered. It can be seen that there is a connection between thunder and snakes. Therefore, this mountain is the treasury of Thunder God. There are also more insects."

Qi Jun smiled and said, "No matter how knowledgeable I am, I'm not as knowledgeable as you are?"

Zhibai turned around and made a face at him.The guard next to him hurriedly lowered his head, wishing he could paste the words "I'm not here" on his forehead.The emperor does not call himself "Zhen" but "I", and the national teacher dares to make faces at the emperor... This, this is when the late emperor was alive, Ma Mingzi did not dare to be so contemptuous!

But he hadn't finished thinking about it yet, the national teacher had already said something astonishing: "You should think about it first, if these stones don't work, how will you deal with the disaster?"

The guard was sweating even more.Although he is Qi Jun's bodyguard, after all, as a man, he can't enter the harem without permission. I really don't know that the national teacher and the emperor get along so casually, even almost disrespectful.As for the matter of the stone that the national teacher said, he ignored it. In short, the national teacher is a heavenly man, and the emperor is not an ordinary person. As a subject, he alone does not know what these two people are talking about.

Qi Jun didn't pay attention to the guard's sweat, Zhibai said that he was very worried: "What if it doesn't work?"

Zhibai is not sure.All the thunderbolt points picked up from the cave were reduced to ashes, and now they are re-picked from the river beach.Although there were many white stones on the river beach, nine out of ten of them were washed into an oval shape by the river water. Qi Jun led five hundred imperial guards and a hundred followers, lined up along the river bank, and it took two full days to get together. There are five hundred white stones with sharp corners, but whether it will work or not is really unknown.

Leaving the guards on the hillside, Qi Jun and Zhibai carried the white stones on their backs and walked down the valley. When they looked up, they were stunned. The cave seemed to have been struck by lightning and split open.The surroundings of the cave were originally barren of grass, but now it is even better, with a radius of tens of feet turned into scorched earth, which is quite similar to the time when Baili's catastrophe was known, but the degree of disaster is less severe.

"This, this is—" Qi Jun vaguely guessed something, but couldn't explain clearly, so he could only turn his head to look at Zhibai.

Zhibai looked inside and out of the cave, and murmured, "It's a fluke."

Qi Jun was a little puzzled: "A fluke?"

Zhibai glanced at him: "If the emperor leaked that matter that day, I'm afraid the punishment will fall on the emperor."

Qi Jun looked at the charred cave wall, he felt a slight chill on his back, and couldn't help but think of the day when he knew Baidu Jie: "But these thunderbolt points..."

Zhibai lowered his head and thought for a while, then sighed: "Throw it away, the caves are all destroyed, and the Leibu will not come to take the thunderbolt."

Qi Jun frowned: "In this way, the rain in the second half of the year is afraid...Since this is the case, people will have to dig more wells now, and next year we must plant drought-resistant crops and reduce taxes..." A series of calculations When I got down, I had to smile wryly, "I'm afraid I'm troubled. Even if this year is over, there will be next year and the next year..." Leibu abandoned this place. Who knows what impact it will have on the rain in Shandong?

"The emperor is also for the thousand hectares of wheat, for the harvest of the people..." Zhibai couldn't bear to see him blame himself like this, "If the emperor doesn't come to steal this thunderbolt tip, the thousand hectares of wheat will be destroyed right now. It’s incomprehensible, and you’re talking about eternity. What’s more, you can’t say what will happen in the future. If the wind and rain really do not adjust, the soldiers will block it, and the water will cover it.”

What he said made Qi Jun frowned slightly: "What you are talking about is just doing your best."

Having said that, after all, Qi Jun felt a heavy burden on his mind, far less excited than he was when he saw thunderclouds and no rain yesterday.In the past few days, the wheat has been harvested quickly. Even poor families have to cook new wheat rice and use new wheat noodles to make steamed buns. The village smells sweet and delicious.

The people in the village were simple, and when they heard that the emperor was here, they all came in with eggs, chickens, ducks, and new wheat rice. Qi Jun collected them all, and rewarded them with money as a price. The local weather and climate and fields and the like.The words of the village elders are inevitably vulgar, but when it comes to farming, they are much more familiar than the officials.

After talking for a while, Qi Jun mentioned the matter of sorghum, and an old villager said: "Indeed there are, the son of the old man pulls his feet. When the big merchant came to harvest the sorghum last year, the boy even pulled his feet. The old man I heard from him that it seems to be going to the northwest. The child earned a lot of money just by pulling his feet in those few days, which is equivalent to the money he earns in a month on weekdays. If you want to come, you have to pull your feet when the time comes."

Qi Jun raised his eyebrows slightly: "Is the old man's son here today? I want to see him."

The village elder hurriedly said: "Yes, it's just that he hurt his foot the day before yesterday, and it's hard for him to move—"

Before he finished speaking, someone beside him said: "Go and summon him, the emperor wants to summon him, even if he is carried, he will be carried—"

Qi Jun waved his hand, got up and said: "Since I'm injured, I can't move. It just so happens that I also want to visit the people's house. Please ask the old man to lead the way. There must be a lot of work in the countryside, and the rest of you don't have to follow."

The village elder was so flattered that he hurriedly got up and led Qi Jun to his house, and countless envious and jealous eyes were shot from behind his back.

When the farm is free, it is still early and the laborers are working in the fields. However, walking in the village is not lonely. From time to time, you can hear dogs barking, chickens crowing, and pigs snoring.The village elder's residence was not far away. When Qi Jun and others walked to the gate of the courtyard, they heard a clucking sound of chickens inside. The courtyard walls were just mud walls with turf sandwiched between them, low and short, a little Stand on tiptoe to see inside.I saw a four or five-year-old boy grabbing something black and running out of the backyard with a flock of chickens. The twenty or so chickens were frightened by something, flapping and screaming, and running around. Rampage.

The village elder saw it from outside the wall and yelled: "You son of a bitch! It's itchy again, wait for your father to heal and see if I can slap you!"

Unexpectedly, the boy stuck out his tongue when the adult came back, and hurriedly hid the things in his hand behind his back, and walked towards the corner of the wall.When the chickens that had already hid in the corner saw him coming, they thumped desperately and went to other places as if they had seen a ghost. Look at what to change oil and salt! If you don’t beat your skin for a while, you will get itchy, and you won’t even think about having new clothes after the New Year!”

As he spoke, he pushed open the chai gate and asked Qi Jun and others to come in. The boy suddenly saw so many well-dressed people, his eyes widened and he was stunned. Zhu: "I knew you turned this thing out again, didn't you call it throwing away last time?"

The boy retracted his hand vigorously: "It's fun..."

The village elder snatched it with all his strength, and was about to throw it over the wall: "What are you playing! Go gouge out the wild vegetables, or you won't be able to eat pork at the end of the year!"

"Wait a minute, old man!" Zhibai suddenly took a step forward, "Can you show me that thing?"

"Hey, hey——" The village elder didn't know his identity, but seeing that the guards were respectful to him, he also knew that he must be an important person, so he quickly handed over the things in his hand.

Qi Jun was thinking about the batch of sorghum, glanced at Zhibai's hand, and walked into the house.Taking a quick glance, he only saw that the thing looked like an ox horn, but it had been aged for a long time, and a thick layer of stains had accumulated on it, even the original color could not be seen.

Sure enough, the village elder's son had sprained his foot. He was sitting in the house, taking some straw and twisting the straw rope. When he heard that the emperor was here in person, he was so scared that he threw himself on the ground and kowtowed.Qi Jun called him up, greeted him to sit down, and then asked about the sorghum in detail.Unexpectedly, this person knew the details: "At first, Caomin thought that if he could make money from this business, he would go there too, so he asked carefully along the way, and he knew that this merchant's business was very big. Not only did they buy sorghum in Shandong, but also tea and silk were shipped to the north.” After this person asked, he knew that the business was far away, and it was not something a peddler like him could afford, so he gave up. Just pull the foot.

"Tea silk..." Qi Jun pondered, "Could it be that these things were also purchased in Shandong?"

The village elder's son shook his head and said, "According to the grass folks, it's not true. These things should have been shipped from the south. Although the grass folks don't have much knowledge, the tea leaves needless to say, even the silk doesn't look like ours. What I can weave is very beautiful."

After Qi Jun finished his questioning, he nodded, asked someone to reward the family with two ingots of gold, and told him not to spread the question today.The father and son were overwhelmed by the flattery, and quickly knelt down to thank him. The son repeatedly promised that if the merchant came again, he would report this to the yamen, and then sent Qi Jun out with tears of gratitude.

After Qi Jun finished talking, he realized that Zhibai hadn't come in at all. When he went out, he was squatting in the middle of the yard, fetching a small basin of water with the boy to wash the horn.At this moment, most of the stains on the horns have been brushed off, and under the sun, it actually reveals a luster similar to amber.Hearing Qi Jun come out, Zhibai looked up at him and said, "Your Majesty, shall we buy this thing?"

Before Qi Jun could speak, the village elder hurriedly said: "A piece of broken ox horn, the emperor can take it if he wants it, and buy whatever he wants."

But the little boy was not very willing, and cried with a sad face: "Grandpa, this is mine..."

"Hey!" The village elder hurriedly raised his hand and slapped him, but he was not willing to use force, "The child is ignorant, the emperor don't care about him."

The little boy was teary, but stared at the horn, obviously very reluctant.The guards next to him rushed to bring him some broken gold and silver picks, but the children of the farmers had only seen copper coins and didn't know what gold and silver were, so they didn't pick them up. reluctant.

Qi Jun hesitated for a moment, took off a jade pendant from his belt and handed it over, and said with a smile, "Do you like this?"

This is a piece of Zichen Pei, only the size of an apricot, and the jade is pure white with a touch of blue and a little black.The jade craftsman has unique ingenuity, carving the blue color into a dragon, and the black color into a little mouse running and playing on the dragon's tail, all of which are vivid.When the child saw it, he was immediately attracted by the little mouse, put his finger in his mouth and nodded.Qi Jun then took his hand and put the jade pendant in his hand: "I will exchange this for your horn, will it work?"

The little boy thought about it, and after all, it was still a new and interesting toy, so he took it with one hand, and shrank behind his grandfather to play with it.Although the old man in the village didn't know the goods, his son had seen some things, and said hurriedly in shock: "Don't worry, your majesty—this jade pendant is worth old money, this child is ignorant—"

Qi Jun smiled slightly, and waved his hand: "This ox horn is his favorite thing, so it's only appropriate to exchange it with his favorite thing. Needless to say, it's a good fortune for Zichen to wear it in the hope that his son will become a dragon." "The mouse is a child, one dragon and one mouse, that is, hope that the child will become a dragon. It is not only the hope of the parents for the son, but also the meaning of blessing safety because most of the people pass away at the time of Zi Chen.This thing is still his childhood thing, it has been around for more than ten years, now it is not necessary, it is just a habit, but it just happened to come in handy.

A group of people resigned from the fearful village elders, Qi Jun didn't want to stay here for a long time, got on the car and set off.Zhibai hugged the horn tightly until he got on the chariot and said with a smile: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Qi Jun scratched his nose casually: "It's just an ox horn, if you like it, how much do you want, why do you insist on this one, look at the child."

Zhibai let out a laugh: "An ox horn? Why would I need a ox horn?"

"Why?" Qi Jun was surprised, "Isn't this a bull's horn?"

"Of course it's not—" Zhibai realized after he said this, "Why, Your Majesty thought it was a bull's horn? Then, how could you exchange it with a personal jade pendant?"

Qi Jun waved his hand indifferently: "Don't you like it? It's just that even though I am the emperor, it's not good to take a child's things with my power. I have to use something to coax him."

Zhibai didn't speak for a while, Qi Jun gave him a strange look: "What's wrong?"

Holding the ox horn in his arms, Zhibai leaned against Qi Jun: "Thank you, Your Majesty." This sentence has a deeper feeling than the one just now.

Qi Jun was stunned for a moment before he understood, stretched out his hand to hug him and said with a smile: "You are welcome, how many good things you have are not wasted for me, it's just a jade pendant——" Suddenly, he got narrow minded and got together with Zhibai He whispered in his ears, "I've given you all my dragon essence, so what's a jade pendant, huh?"

If it had been someone else, they might have been teased to make their faces blush, but Zhibai's reaction was so unusual that he nodded in a serious manner and smiled: "That's true... Speaking of it, it seems that I haven't talked to Your Majesty for a long time. Double cultivation."

Qi Jun was stunned by his thick skin, and after a while he laughed and said: "I am really confused, and I thought you would know how to be ashamed."

Zhibai pursed his lips, a little dissatisfied with his evaluation: "The way of double cultivation is endowed with vitality. Although the combination of yin and yang is not common, it is not against the way of heaven. What is there to be ashamed of? It's a private matter, not to mention the word shy."

Qi Jun laughed: "Yes, yes, the teacher of the state holds the supreme theory, which is different from the world." Seeing Zhibai's pouting and dissatisfied appearance, he smiled and nodded the horns in his arms: "Then what exactly is this thing?"

As soon as he mentioned this, Zhibai's eyes lit up: "This is a rhinoceros horn!"

"Rhino horn?" Qi Jun also knew a thing or two, "Is it used for medicine?"

Zhibai shook his head again and again: "This is not an ordinary rhinoceros horn that is used as medicine! Your Majesty saw it just now, the child came out with this to chase the chickens, and the chickens ran away in fright."

"Children are always naughty." Qi Jun didn't care.

"Those chickens are not afraid of children." Zhibai raised the horn in his hand, "What they are afraid of is this! Your Majesty, this is not an ordinary rhinoceros horn, this is a frightening chicken rhinoceros."

This name was unheard of, and Qi Jun couldn't help but solemnly asked, "What is a chicken rhinoceros?"

"Look here, Your Majesty." Zhibai held up the rhino horn for Qi Jun to look at, and saw a red line running from the root of the horn to the tip of the amber horn, facing the sun and seeing it clearly and brightly, "Ge Hong" It is said in Baopuzi that Tongtian rhinoceros has a red horn like a horn, from the root to the end. The horns are filled with rice and placed in a group of chickens. The chickens want to peck them, but before they reach a few inches, they are frightened and retreat, so it may be called horror. Chicken rhinoceros. Your Majesty, this is a rare and rare thing."

"Really?" Qi Jun thought, "Is it good for your practice?"

"Ah?" Zhibai didn't think about it, and took a look at the rhino horn, "This thing can ward off dust and heat, and it can also ward off evil. It would be very auspicious if it is hung in Your Majesty's room."

As soon as Qi Jun heard that his practice didn't seem to be beneficial, he lost some interest: "It can be used to ward off dust, but it's better to put it on the observatory, and it's cleaner. Or ask someone to make something for you to use." ? I see, it would be nice to make a horn cup."

Zhibai also picked it up and looked at it carefully: "It seems to be good, but the cup is too big, I don't know how to drink." The two talked and laughed, and they didn't expect that the rhino horn would come in handy in the near future.