The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

Chapter 336 South of the colorful clouds, the value of rattan armor

Gaoyang Restaurant, the top five main restaurants in Tokyo.

The so-called official store must first have a wine-making license issued by the imperial court. Dasong Wine Brewing is a franchise operation, and it is extremely difficult to obtain official certificates.

Secondly, all the main stores have Cailou Huanmen, that is, brothels.

Thirdly, the main store must have all the three-way layouts from scattered seats to private rooms to flower pavilions, and can receive guests with any needs.

To put it bluntly, the main store is a large restaurant that includes a brothel.

For a main store, the review process is extremely difficult, and the management is extremely strict. It is a place that needs to go through rigorous review before it can be established and operated.

There are only 72 main stores in the entire Tokyo city.

Gaoyang Zhengdian is located in the east of Daxiangguo Temple, below Panlou Street, which is a vast three-story restaurant.

It is not like Fan Lou, which is surrounded by circles, but only one wide building covers all businesses.

If you want to say which one is the largest on the first floor of the main store in Tokyo, then Gao Yang is the first.

Zhao Tong only brought Zhang Xian here, not because other people in the mansion could not believe it, but because the fewer people who knew about meeting the Dali envoy, the better.

Zhang Xian is Xiaoniang's younger brother, and he is also considered as half of his disciple, so Zhao Tun brought him here.

Before coming here, he had carefully told Zhang Xian how powerful this place is, Zhang Xian naturally understood the joints after hearing this, and became cautious.

When they arrived in front of Gaoyang Building, the two dismounted. The receptionist in the store had already greeted them.

I saw that this building is deep and spacious, with gorgeous layout, there are hundreds of scattered seats on the first floor, and the stairs to go upstairs alone are enough for four seats, distributed in four directions.

It was not until noon at this moment, and there were not many guests in the scattered hall. The young servant who led the way at the side bowed and asked, "Are the two young masters on the first floor, or..."

Zhao Tong said indifferently: "Go to Caiyun Pavilion on the third floor."

The third floor of Gaoyang Zhengdian is full of flower pavilions, and customers are usually only served at night, and it is still early at this time, so they are all empty.

Although there were very few people who were going to enter the Flower Pavilion this morning, the young servant saw many people on weekdays, so he invited the two of them to the third floor without showing any surprise.

Zhao Tang has been here once before, and he knows that Caiyun Pavilion is in the back, and there are no other guests at the moment, so it is peaceful and quiet.

After entering the pavilion, he ordered some food and wine, and then quietly waited for the messenger sent by Duan Yichang.

About a quarter or so later, there were footsteps outside, and the woman in charge of Huage led the three of them in.

Zhao Tang couldn't help but be taken aback when he saw that the leader of the three was a snow-colored white-clothed woman with lotus steps.

This woman is slender, with a slender waist, and as soon as she enters the pavilion, there is a scent like orchid and musk deer.

Seeing this, Zhao Tun couldn't help touching his chin, why did Chang Yi send a woman over to talk about the matter?This is also a bit too insecure.

It's not that he thinks that women are necessarily inferior to men, but that women are more attractive. From Dali to Tokyo, there are thousands of mountains and rivers all the way. Men can't guarantee that they will be safe. Who knows if a woman will be safe? What danger.

The woman wore a veiled hat on her head, shaped like a bamboo hat, with white veils hanging down around her, making it impossible to see her true face clearly.

The two who followed were an old man and a middle-aged man, both of them were tall and tall, walking like a dragon and a tiger, and they had fists and feet on their bodies.

At this time, the lady in charge of the pavilion retreated out, Zhao Tong gave Zhang Xian a wink, Zhang Xian immediately went out and stood guard outside.

Zhao Tun's eyes fell on the woman again, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

The woman's veil moved, as if she was looking at the door of the pavilion, and then she spoke in a low voice, but it was embellished: "But His Highness King Qin is in person?"

Zhao Tang glanced at her and nodded slightly.

The woman seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then took off her veiled hat, revealing a shy and beautiful face, and said politely: "Duan Siyan from Dali, I have met His Royal Highness King Qin."

Seeing that his appearance is as bright as a spring flower, as beautiful as an autumn moon, the peach blossoms are shining brightly, he couldn't help asking: "Who are you, Duan Yichang?"

The woman said: "Yi Chang is my younger brother."

When Zhao Tun heard this and thought about it, he suddenly thought of someone, and asked, "You are Princess Zhaoqing?"

The woman was startled, then smiled shyly: "It's the little girl, I didn't expect the prince to know the name of the little girl."

Zhao Tang shook his head secretly, this Princess Zhaoqing Duan Siyan is Duan Yichang's compatriot sister, and both Duan Yichang and Duan Yichang are from the Defei Wang family.

Duan Heyu's empress is a member of the powerful and noble family in Dali, and she has nothing to do with her knees, and the concubine De is the highest-ranking concubine under the empress, so the two siblings are very favored. Duan Siyan is the only princess.

Just what is she here for?It's fine for Duan Yichang not to send someone safe for such a big event, but how could he let Princess Zhaoqing come over?

Now the Dali Duan royal family is involved in a muddled account of the power minister Gao's family. Gao Taiming, the patriarch of the Gao family, passed away. Apart from his brothers of this generation, there are still eight sons left. the worst moment.

The Duan family secretly supported Gao Taiming's second son, Lord Gao Mingliang of Chuxiong. If Zhao Tong remembered correctly, Duan Yichang married Gao Mingliang's daughter soon after, and Princess Zhaoqing married Gao Mingliang's son.

Gao Mingliang's son is called Gao Liangcheng, he has little ambition and is versatile in both civil and military affairs. After Gao Mingliang died, he invaded Chuxiong's territory.

After his uncle Gao Mingqing killed 37 rebels in Shanchan, he led the army to put down the rebellion, nicknamed "Guardian", and then took over as the prime minister of Dali.

Because his great-grandfather Gao Shengtai once usurped power from the Duan clan, changed the name of the country to Dali, and named himself Emperor of the Great China. The Gao family is orthodox, and also granted the title of Grand Duke of China from the Duan family.

This man ruled Chuxiong, including the entire Weichu area, and governed it as another military and political center of Dali. It was known as "the four barbarians and eight barbarians gathered here", and the princes from all directions in Dali all met here.

Later, Duan Yichang was able to successfully become the emperor of Dali, and it was precisely because of this high-level support.

Zhao Tong suddenly felt a bit of a headache. The Gao family in Dali has always produced many capable people. This high-quality talent and learning ability is not weaker than that of Yelu Dashi in Liao. The next Yelu Dashi.

And this period of Siyan must marry Gao Liangcheng, this is an important pawn of the Duan family, and there must be no mistakes, but at this time she actually came to Tokyo, if something happens, let alone Fujijia If the matter is going to be ruined, even his private contact with Dali is afraid that it will be exposed to the sun.

Zhao Tang frowned, looked at Duan Siyan and said, "The princess is here in Tokyo, does your lord know?"

Duan Siyan blinked her beautiful eyes, and said: "The matter of the rattan armor is a secret, so my father will never know about it."

Zhao Tong smiled bitterly, knowing that she would be wrong, but from this point of view, the fact that Si Yan sneaked out was even more solid. Duan Yichang was too unreliable in his work, so he didn't think about what would happen if there was something on the way. Consequences of missteps?
"My brother doesn't know about this either!" Duan Siyan said again with a smile.

"Huh?" Zhao Tun was a little dumbfounded now, and Duan Yichang didn't know?But Duan Yichang didn't know, how did you know about Tengjia?He also came to Tokyo to discuss.

"King Qin, don't be surprised." Duan Siyan continued: "At that time, King Qin sent someone to find the rattan armor, and my younger brother discussed it with me privately. It is inconvenient for him to do things at the moment. In fact, I sent people to find the method of making the rattan armor in the mountain tribe. , the five old rattan armors given to the King of Qin are all my private possessions."

"You mean..." Zhao Tong raised his eyebrows when he heard the words. This Dali is different from the Central Plains. The princess is not raised in the deep palace and does not go out. Her siblings support each other, and it is possible to handle this matter together, but why? She went north this time, but she didn't even know about Duan Yichang?

"I know the lord has doubts. Younger brother is being watched very closely right now, and every move will be noticed, so I was entrusted to handle this matter, so I came here by myself. By the way, I can see the beautiful rivers and mountains of Song Dynasty." Duan Siyan said , with a pair of small hands behind her back, with a delicate face.

Zhao Tang looked at her, and was speechless for a while, thinking that you are really daring, if anything goes wrong, it will confuse people to death.

"Princess, please sit down and talk." Zhao Tuo thought that since everyone has come, it is useless to say anything at this time, but he was still faintly worried: "Princess has been away for a long time, won't your father Lingci be suspicious?"

Duan Siyan sat down behind the table opposite, shook her head and said: "My father and mother know that I'm going out, but they don't know that I came to Dasong Tokyo, they just thought that I went to visit Diancang Mountain."

Zhao Tong nodded, it seems that she is a wild girl, she must be used to being wild in Dali, otherwise, how could even the emperor and concubine of Dali not know about such a big matter.

At this time Zhang Xian came in and said in a low voice, "My lord, the server is here."

Zhao Tong nodded, and after a while, the food and drink were served, and he waited for people to go away. Zhao Tong filled his wine glass and made a slight respect: "The princess has worked hard from afar, and she is tired of trekking for the rattan armor. My king toasts the princess."

Duan Siyan held the cup in both hands, drank it down, then blushed and said: "King Qin is too polite, it's not hard work, not to mention that I haven't thanked King Qin for sending me a letter before, I will help you with the rattan armor."

"What did the princess say?" Zhao Tang was puzzled when he heard this.

"It's the long-term lovesickness picture. Brother went back and told King Qin about it, and King Qin immediately wrote the long-term lovesickness scroll with his own hand. It was very refreshing."

"Sauvignon Blanc..." The corners of Zhao Tun's mouth twitched. It turned out that Duan Yichang wanted the words for Princess Zhaoqing, but when did he become so forthright?What's more, Duan Yichang didn't ask him for words directly. Instead, he made a lot of careful thoughts, and even dug a hole for him to jump in.

"It's Long Lovesickness!" Duan Siyan said: "King Qin's name is well known in our country, and his poems are the most praised, but King Qin's calligraphy is rare. According to the booksellers in the Central Plains, no one can ask for it. That picture of Long Lovesickness But I am envious of many people."

"As long as the princess likes it..." Zhao Tang said coyly: "I really don't know that my own calligraphy is so hard to find, and those booksellers are just spreading rumors."

"No matter what, I can't take Qin Wang's things for nothing, so I naturally need to help with the rattan armor." Duan Siyan smiled playfully at this point, and filled himself another glass of fruit wine.

Zhao Tun looked at her, thinking that Duan Yichang had come up with a poem at that time, maybe it was also written by Princess Zhaoqing, it seems that Dali has admired the culture of the Central Plains for a long time, and people in the royal family also learned to write poems and lyrics.

He changed his mind again, is his family really so famous in Dali?What Duan Yichang said last time was not intentional flattery?

If this is the case, I will really go to Dali if I have the opportunity in the future. After all, the scenery there is good, and being admired by others is also a kind of enjoyment.

The two drank a few more cups, Zhao Tang got to the point and asked, "I wonder how the princess plans to make the rattan armor?"

He now knew that Duan Yichang was being watched by other princes, and the matter of the rattan armor would probably still fall on this princess, depending on her rules.

Duan Siyan seemed to have a plan in mind, so she said, "Although rattan armor is not used in Dali at the moment, you can't build it blatantly, and there is no secluded place to hide in the suburbs of the city, so I plan to put the rattan armor in some villages in the mountains. to make."

"The stockade in the mountains?" Zhao Tong nodded. There are many vines and tung oil in the mountains in Dali, so it can be built directly from local materials, saving the trouble of transporting materials. Avoid the risk of exposure.

"It's the stockade in the mountains." Duan Siyan nodded: "The original method of making rattan armor was also obtained from those stockades, it's not really a special secret, some old stockades always have a family that knows how to make rattan armor. "

"I know that it takes about two years to complete a pair of rattan armor, but if it is done properly, it may not be impossible to make it in a year and a half, right?" Zhao Tang thought for a while.

"According to normal principles, a year and a half is indeed fine, but that requires less rain and plenty of sunshine, but how can the weather be like this throughout the year... Maybe it can be two months earlier, but there is no guarantee." Duan Siyan pondered road.

Zhao Tong frowned, this was different from what he thought, although none of the steps in the manufacturing process of the rattan armor could be omitted, but he felt that as long as the middle was finer, some time could still be saved.

"There is also the reason of tung oil." Duan Siyan said: "The rattan armor needs to be soaked in tung oil. Although I produce tung oil in Dali, the armor is large. If there is too much production, there is not so much tung oil to soak together. It has to be done in turns, which will delay further Some."

Zhao Tong pondered: "If there is enough tung oil, will it save time?"

Duan Siyan said: "If there is enough tung oil, even if the weather is bad, it will take about a year and a half to make a pair. It's just that the villages in the mountains are barren. Even in the city, you can't find so much tung oil."

Zhao Tong smiled when he heard the words, this is indeed the case, even if Dali produces tung oil, a pair of rattan armor is almost the size of a person, how much would it take to soak several pairs of rattan armor together?It is impossible for the stockade in the mountains to have those tung oil reserves.

He said: "There is a sequence of production, not all villages can start at the same time, if it takes two years, how many rattan armors can the princess think can be produced?"

Duan Siyan said: "My brother and I have calculated this, and there should be two to three thousand vice presidents."

"Two or three thousand copies?" Zhao Tun couldn't help but shook his head.

Duan Siyan looked at Zhao Tun with slight doubts, although she never asked Zhao Tun what she wanted the vine armor for, but since it was done in private, it must be doing something shady.

It’s just that she and Duan Yichang both believed that it was impossible for Zhao Tun to rebel. After all, with the Song Dynasty’s system, it might be easy for bandits and refugees to rebel, but it was difficult for people in the royal family to rebel, because the right of the Song Dynasty to deploy troops rested with the Privy Council. , and the Western Army was away, and the members of the royal family were restricted everywhere, and they had no chance to contact bandits and coerce refugees.

But if you don't rebel, why do you need so many vine armors?
"Ten thousand sets!" Zhao Tun held out a finger: "In two years, I will need [-] sets of rattan armor. I have just made a rough calculation. As long as one village can complete a hundred sets, it only takes a hundred villages to make it." Bring out these vine armors!"

"Ten thousand pairs?" Duan Siyan was taken aback when she heard the words, so many rattan armors are not rebellious, so what are they doing!
Seeing her expression, Zhao Tong shook his head slightly: "I use these rattan armors to do something in the west, not what the princess wants."

Only then did Duan Siyan regain her composure. One must know that Dali’s treasury income for a year is not too much. Dali has few villains and low taxes. Part of the income comes from trade with the Song Dynasty. It can be equivalent to Dali's trade income for one or two years.

At this time, the price of a normal armor of the imperial army, the cavalry is about [-] guan, the infantry is about [-] guan, and the different armors of other arms are probably in the middle.

Originally, when the Song Dynasty first established the dynasty, it was only half of these prices, but at the moment of Emperor Daojun, the cost price of the armor has directly doubled.

According to this price, if converted into silver, a pair of cavalry armor would already cost 40 taels, and a step armor would also cost 20 taels. After all, silver was no longer a one-to-one exchange rate at this time.

As for the rattan armor, it can actually be used on horseback. If the middle price of a pair of iron armor is 30 taels, plus 40% of the profit, it will be [-] taels.

According to the results of Ouyang Bei's preliminary negotiation in Dali before, if he bought 8% of the price of the iron armor, it would be [-] taels of silver, and [-] pairs of rattan armor would be [-] taels of silver.

8 taels of silver, nearly 20 guan, is a huge sum even for the Dali court.

But Duan Siyan is not sure that she will produce [-] rattan armors after two years. After all, Zhao Tun said it easily, there are a hundred villages, and each village has a hundred pairs of rattan armors. But these villages are all in the mountains, and they need to run one by one. It takes time to negotiate.

Seeing her hesitation, Zhao Tong suddenly smiled and said, "Princess came here this time, I wanted to haggle the price, after all eight taels of silver for a pair of rattan armor is not cheap, but..."

He paused at this point, Duan Siyan looked at him: "My lord, but what?"

Zhao Tong said: "If the princess can make 2 pairs of rattan armor in two years, then this king will not only not bargain, but also give the princess an extra 10 taels of silver, a total of [-] taels!"

When Duan Siyan heard the words, she couldn't help being stunned.

(End of this chapter)