Like Zhao Rong and Qin Hui, the two flatterers who were thinking about it, Tong Guan felt a little uncomfortable after seeing the rare coral given to Cai Jing by Zhu Xie. Even if he was not angry, he felt a little unhappy.

This is not surprising. It is mainly because Zhu Xie had also received great favor from Tong Guan. As mentioned earlier, although Zhu Xie and his father took over Cai Jing's thigh, at the beginning of their father and son, they relied on Cai Jing to personally go through Tong Guan's path, seeking Tong Guan forged fake military origins and fake military merits for the Zhu family father and son. With the status of a career, Cai Jing had the reasons and excuses to promote Zhu family father and son to the throne. So strictly speaking, Tong Guan's kindness to the Zhu family father and son was actually not inferior to Cai Jing at all.

It is precisely because of this that when he saw Cai Jing celebrate his birthday, Zhu Xie not only found excuses to come to pay his birthday thousands of miles to pay homage to him, but also presented a rare coral tree in the world with both hands. He also recalled that when he celebrated his birthday more than two months ago, the Zhu family father and son just sent someone to give a symbolic gift. Tong Guan's heart was naturally a little angry. He was both angry with the ungratefulness of the Zhu family father and son, and also envied Cai Jing's keen eyes to recognize people. He was able to discover talents like Zhu family father and son in the vast sea of ​​people - he knew how to repay kindness and did not forget his roots, and he also knew how to please the kindness.

Fortunately, after all, he was a person who had been with the imperial palace for many years in the officialdom of the court. Even though he felt a little unhappy, Tong Guan still did not vent his dissatisfaction in public. After returning to the back hall of Cai Mansion, Tong Guan still talked and laughed as usual. He treated Zhu Xie, who had surpassed his level and came to the back hall, and his words and deeds were the same as usual. He quickly forced himself to forget this little unhappiness.

After a while, the banquet finally began. According to the banquet habits of this era, the Caifu birthday banquet held in the back garden was also accompanied by singing, dancing and juggling. There were several dishes for each drink of wine. There were naturally countless delicacies and delicacies of mountains and seas, and there were also some luxurious dishes that even Tong Guan rarely saw.

The dishes are so luxurious that even Tong Guan is rarely seen, of course, let alone the poor master Huang Shang, who can't even afford a house in Kaifeng. When a side dish that seemed to stir-fried fermented black beans was placed in front of Huang Shang, Huang Shang, who came to Cai's house for the first time to attend a banquet, could not help but whisper to Tong Guan sitting next to him: "Doer, did you serve the wrong dish? How could you serve the rough dishes like fried fermented black beans for the birthday party of Xianggong Cai?"

"Rough dishes?" Tong Guan almost laughed out loud when he heard this, and whispered: "Yanshan, then you can taste it. If you taste it, you will know if it is a rough dish."

Out of curiosity, Huang Shang really picked up a chopstick of fermented black beans and tasted it in his mouth. As a result, he only chewed it for two bites. Huang Shang immediately found something wrong - not only did the fermented black beans have no taste at all, but on the contrary, there was a special meaty taste, which was crisp and chewed, and the taste was extremely delicious, especially Huang Shang had never seen before. So Huang Shang couldn't help but pick up another chopstick, and then asked, "What kind of fermented black beans is this? Why is the taste so special?"

"This is called salted bean curd, which is one of the favorite dishes that Xianggong Cai likes to eat." Tong Guan explained with a smile: "The reason why the taste is so special is that these small fermented bean curds are actually made of the gizzard of the oriole. A yellow curd can only make one salted bean curd."

The poor master Huang Shang was completely stunned. He looked at the fermented black beans on the plate again. Huang Shang couldn't help but scream in a low voice: "My God, this dish actually requires hundreds of yellow birds! I have been an official for half a lifetime and have eaten it, but I have never heard of such a dish before!"

"This is what Mr. Cai did."

Tong Guan smiled, but couldn't help but remember the days when he was in commanding troops in the northwest frontier. At that time, as the commander, although he did not suffer much, he would never dare to squander like Cai Jing for the sake of his military morale. He would eat chicken tongue soup and yellow gizzard every day. A crab only took a little yellow crab roe bread. Sometimes he had to pretend to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers and eat the same meals as middle and senior generals.

Immediately afterwards, Tong Guan, who had been a little unhappy before, couldn't help feeling even more unhappy, and said to himself: "It seems that when you have the opportunity, you have to knock Cai Yuanchang again. I go to the frontier to supervise the army and command the troops, eat and drink sand, but he hides in the capital and delicacies every day. The gifts I receive on a birthday are heavier than what I receive. What do you mean?"

He felt a little unhappy, and Tong Guan couldn't help drinking a few more drinks. He quickly felt anxious, so he said guilt to the officials in the same seat and hurried to the cleaner and tidy thatched cottage in Cai's house than ordinary people, and solved his physiological problems under the gentle service of several beautiful maids.

After cleaning his hands, Tong Guan wanted to go back to the back garden and continue to have a banquet. But he thought that just after he left the cottage, a young man came up to salute. Tong Guan looked carefully and saw that the visitor was Cai Jing's favorite fourth son, Cai Tao, and asked with a smile: "Nephew, are you here too?"

"Yes." Cai Taohan nodded with a smile and asked again: "Uncle, do you want me to ask someone to prepare a sobering soup for you?"

"In front of the door of the cottage, did you ask me if I drink soup?" Tong Guan was angry when he heard this, but he shook his head and said, "No need, go quickly, I'm back."

Cai Tao agreed, and when he took a step forward, Cai Tao suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked Tong Guan: "Uncle, my nephew asks more, Zhao Rong, deputy lieutenant Xuanjie of the Palace Commander's Mansion, don't you know, uncle, do you know?"

"Zhao Rong?" When Zhao Rong met Tong Guan before, he really left a very deep impression on Tong Guan, so Tong Guan was just a little stunned and immediately remembered his friend's disciple, and nodded immediately and said, "I know, what's wrong? What's wrong?"

"Uncle, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm afraid you have to discipline this General Zhao Rong and Zhao." Cai Tao replied respectfully.

"What's wrong with him?" Tong Guan asked in confusion.

"Report to my uncle, he has also come today and sat with the officials under the seventh rank in the front yard." Cai Tao said: "Not only that, he also boasted in the front yard, saying that he is the one you like, your uncle, and you will be valued soon. He also said that he is more convenient and comfortable to go to your uncle's house than to go back to his own home. He was stunned by the officials of the eighth and nineth rank, and everyone thought that uncle, you have something special to do with him."

"Is this happening?" Tong Guan couldn't help but look angry.

"I don't dare to deceive my uncle, it's true." Cai Tao quickly bowed and said, "If you don't believe me, he will be in the front yard now. You can tell if you go and take a look."

Just like Cai Tao estimated, when he heard this, Tong Guan's expression of displeasure was indeed more obvious. He nodded and said, "I understand, you can go quickly and make it convenient. I'm back."

After saying that, Tong Guan couldn't help but say angrily in his heart: "Dog meat can't be on the table! Smile brat, I looked up to you because of your master's face. I didn't expect that you are so ignorant and it's hard to thank me for your kindness, but I dared to hold on to my tiger skin as a banner! You will have such a little success in your life!"

When Tong Guan roared in his heart, Cai Tao also walked into the cottage with a smile on his face and said in his heart: "Little bastard, you actually dare to help my flatterer humiliate me in public. Now you know that I am powerful, right? With the little eunuch Tong's scrupulous eyes, I heard these words and see how he dealt with you in the future!"

…………

The poor Zhao Rong and Zhao Dalangjun certainly didn't know that the fourth son of Cai was the son who took revenge. From morning to night, he stabbed him hard in front of Tong Guan so quickly. He enjoyed a delicacy in Cai's mansion that day. After serving Huang Shang home and rested, the next morning, Zhao Rong came to Huang Shang's residence early and asked the servants of Huang Shang's family to ask Huang Shang for a day off for him. Then he was preparing to meet Qin Hui at Zhouqiao and find the gold and silver shop that could polish crystals.

Of course, when asking the Huang family's servant to ask Huang Shang for leave, Zhao Rong, who is very good at being a human being, did not forget to give the Huang family's servant a red envelope, and asked him to say more and more good words to him in front of Huang Shang, explaining that he was forced to take leave - this is also very important, because Huang Shang is Zhao Rong's last way out. If Zhao Rong's flattery opportunity cannot be successful and he cannot ask Tong Guan to support him, at that time, Zhao Rong could only be shameless and begged his teacher to come forward and ask him to take advantage of his old face to act on his official position. Therefore, Zhao Rong naturally did not dare to let Huang Shang feel unhappy at all.

Qin Hui was quite abiding by the agreement. Zhao Rong led Zhao Xiaoyi and Wu Song to Zhouqiao. After not waiting for a long time at the tea stall next to the bridge, Qin Hui led a entourage to Zhouqiao. As soon as he saw Zhao Rong, he immediately ran over and bowed, and said with a smile: "Brother I am late, so I have been waiting for you for a long time."

"It's okay, I haven't waited for a long time." Zhao Rong returned the favor and asked again: "Do you have a thirsty brother? Should you drink a cup of tea before going? Or go now?"

"I'm not thirsty, go now. My brother's big business is important." Qin Hui was still very good at speaking and asked curiously: "But brother, why do you want to find a place to polish the crystal for no reason?"

"You will know when your brother goes." Zhao Rong refused to explain and said, "In short, if this matter is done, I will naturally not forget to give it to my brother if I get the benefits."

"Then I'll make up." Qin Hui laughed and took the initiative to go forward and lead the way: "My brother comes here, I'll lead you."

The gold and silver shop that Qin Hui mentioned was actually not far from Zhouqiao. He walked east along East Street and walked two streets. Qin Hui led Zhao Rong to a large gold and silver jewelry shop. This made Zhao Rong secretly regret not asking for the place and finding it himself, which made him owe a favor to the traitor. However, at this point, regret was of no use. Zhao Rong could only thank Qin Hui, and then walked into the gold and silver shop. Qin Hui was extremely curious and hurriedly followed without mentioning it.

After entering the gold and silver shop, seeing Zhao Rong dressed well, a friend naturally came up to greet him, and greeted him with a smile on his face, "Customer, what do you want to buy?"

"I heard that there are polished crystals in your store? Where are they?" Zhao Rong asked.

"Yes, yes, please come here."

The guy agreed repeatedly and hurriedly invited Zhao Rong to a counter, then took out a few boxes of polished crystal jewelry for Zhao Rong to choose. Zhao Rong picked up a string of transparent crystal beads. Seeing that the crystal was crystal clear and there was no impurity. At the same time, it was polished as a mirror, without any trace of grinding. Zhao Rong couldn't help but feel happy and asked, "Waiter, was this string of crystal polished by the master in your store?"

"Reporting to the guest, that's of course." The guy replied proudly: "Although Kaifeng City is big, in this Kaifeng City, only our Tang family's gold and silver shop master can polish such a good crystal."

"Can you take me to see your master? I want to order a few polished crystals from him in person." Zhao Rong asked hurriedly.

"This..." The guy was a little embarrassed and said, "Please forgive me. According to the rules, the shop cannot bring people into the room to see the master..."

Zhao Rong didn't say anything, but just talked to Zhao Xiaoyi next to him. Zhao Xiaoyi understood and immediately took out a regular face value and stuffed it into the hand of the guy. He said in a big way: "Hold it, my husband will reward you."

The smile of the gold and silver shop shop became extremely friendly. First, he asked Zhao Rong to wait, then ran into the back room, and soon invited a person dressed up by the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper bowed and said, "Young Master, according to the rules, our store cannot take you into the back room to meet the master directly, but Xiao Yi said that you are the buyer, so let's break an example today, please come here."

Zhao Rong thanked him, and then he followed the shopkeeper into the back hall. In a workshop in the backyard, he saw an old craftsman who was polishing crystals with white mud. Then Zhao Rong first asked the old craftsman to put down his work temporarily, then took out a piece of paper from his arms, and said, "Old man, please take a look. Can you polish a few pieces of such crystals for me? Money is not a problem. The key is that the crystal must be of good quality, must be transparent and free of impurities, and the edges must be round, just like a ball."

What Zhao Rong drew on paper was actually a pattern of convex lenses and concave translucent environment. In order to draw this picture, Zhao Rong racked his brains to create an original compass last night to draw a decent picture. At the same time, Zhao Rong was extremely worried that the craftsmen of this era would not understand their intentions and could not polish the convex lenses and concave lenses for themselves. However, what made Zhao Rong dumbfounded was that the old craftsman took the drawing and just took a look, and immediately said with great surprise: "Isn't this Huo Qi and Qiqi Far Glass? What's the difficulty? The old man never knows how much these things have been worn in his life."

"Fire Qi? Flexible mirror?"

When Zhao Rong was speechless, Qin Hui also curiously came up to look at the drawing together, and then asked Zhao Rong: "Brother, why are you not good at eyeballs? Why do you have to grind the fire and grind away? Use this crystal mirror to read books?"

"Use this kind of crystal mirror to read books?" Zhao Rong heard something was wrong and hurriedly asked Qin Hui: "Brother, I heard that there are people with bad eyes that have polished out this kind of crystal mirror to read books?"

"It happened a few decades ago." Qin Hui said carelessly: "During the Kangding period of Renzong's reign, Jingyou's famous minister Shi Qing was in charge of the prison. He had a timid (myopia) and had poor eyesight. He had difficulty in handling documents. He racked his brains to come up with a crystal to read a book. He also polished more than a dozen crystal pieces for this, named it the timid mirror. Later, it gradually spread. Many high-ranking officials and nobles with timid diseases learned to read a book by polishing a crystal to read a book."

"And." Qin Hui pointed to the convex lens on the drawings again and said, "This kind of fire-equivalent mirror was available during the Warring States Period. It can be used to make fire in the sunshine, or to read books to elderly people with poor eyesight. Ban Gu's "Xidu Fu" by the Han Dynasty, "Su Chen Liang Fang" by this dynasty, and many ancient books are recorded."

Zhao Rong was speechless, and after a while he sighed in his heart, "I am so talented and knowledgeable, and I am the great ancient Chinese!"

After sighing, Zhao Rong quickly said, "Old man, you have a good polish. Thank you for your hard work, immediately grind me with five pieces of this kind of fire-equivalent mirror and telescope. Also, the shopkeeper, I want to order a pair of silver barrels, and the drums should be inlaid with gold and pearls. The more beautiful the pattern, the better..."

PS: By the way, Shi Han was a native of the Northern Song Dynasty, not a Southern Song Dynasty as mentioned in some historical materials. In addition, it is said that Su Dongpo's sister Su Xiaomei was Shi Han's daughter. Because Shi Han died early, she was adopted as a daughter by Su Shi's father Su Xun.
Chapter completed!