Chronicle of Emperor Jing

Four months later, they finally arrived at the place of exile.

The journey from the capital to the place of exile, even if there are old and weak women and children in the team, three months is enough.The three of them are all young and middle-aged, but they walked for a full four months. There are many reasons.

They looked around and stopped and stopped along the way, so I won’t talk about the delays. At any rate, the passing ox carts and horse-drawn carts helped them catch up. The most important reason is that the person who led the way later became Wei Yan.

Let a person who is not familiar with the road lead the way, and the result can be imagined.Fortunately, when he was in Jizhou, the official road was well-connected, and Wei Yan could not go wrong.Later, when they entered Youzhou, the places they passed were mostly barren mountains and steep mountains, and it became a common occurrence to take side roads. Once they even wandered in the mountains for several days. In the end, even the two guards were dizzy and could not distinguish things. .If it wasn't for a mountain hunter who came out later to help them lead the way, they would have almost given birth to the idea of ​​falling into the grass and taking root as a bandit.

In this way, after countless times of rushing and getting lost, the three finally arrived at a certain mine in the exile.

After the handover, Wei Yan did not experience any embarrassment.The official in charge of the mine took his hot potato carefully, and his routine lectures became very polite. Hearing what the official said, as long as Wei Yan didn't come to trouble them, they would never come trouble him.

Such a situation, of course, is due to the relationship between the Wei family and the emperor's influence, which has already infiltrated here.There may be people in this world who don't love money and are not afraid of power, and there may be people who will take risks for profit, but people in this world always have various things they care about.

From the beginning of the establishment of the royal guards, they have been doing shady activities. It is their strength to exploit other people's weaknesses. The secret guards led by Zhao Shi naturally know how to use both soft and hard methods to achieve their goals.

The mine allocated Wei Yan a clean single room for him to live in. The fat servant who took care of him all the way and taught him how to deal with all kinds of trivial matters in life also helped Wei Yan clean up the room and gave him some instructions. It was only then that he said goodbye to the skinny guard and left with great concern.

In this way, Wei Yan started his hard labor career in the mine in the extreme north.Of course, compared to other ragged and unkempt exiles, his job is still very easy.

This mine is mainly engaged in the mining of white jade, and there is also a small handicraft workshop for some white jade carvings.As soon as Wei Yan arrived, he was assigned to a handicraft workshop and helped a master craftsman.

This old master, surnamed Yuan, is skilled in craftsmanship and very kind.Wei Yan's daily work is just to help him carry the stones, polish the carved finished products, and clean up the place where the carved things are arranged.Wei Yan has never done these things before, but he is not stupid, and Master Yuan is also kind. After teaching him once or twice, Wei Yan can do it decently.

Two months later, Wei Yan began to learn carving under the guidance of Master Yuan.Master Yuan’s perception of life is “It’s better to have a skill than to have gold and silver in your family”. There will be a day when the wealth of Wan Guan’s family will be wiped out. If you learn a handicraft, you will have food wherever you go. Skilled exiles are also in a better situation than those without skills.

After observing for two months, he saw that Wei Yan is an honest person who works conscientiously, endures hardships and stands hard work. It shouldn't be difficult to teach, so I plan to accept him as an apprentice.

Although the emperor said that he would let Wei Yan go back in the future, no one can predict what will happen in the future at this time and at that time, and it is not a bad idea to plan for the worst in everything.At this time, seeing Master Yuan's great love, Wei Yan solemnly paid homage to his teacher and began to learn the craft seriously.What Master Yuan said is quite right, if you have a skill, even if you really can't go back in the future, life here will be easier.

After a while, a merchant ordered a stone lion. Master Yuan looked at several stones that Wei Yan had picked, but was not satisfied, so Wei Yan accompanied him to the quarry to pick them out.

"I guess there is a piece in the No. [-] mine that is suitable. Why don't you go in and have a look, Master Yuan?" Master Yuan can be regarded as one of the top sculptors in this mine. Seeing him come in, we will soon get to know each other. The steward came over to greet them. After asking Master Yuan's request, he thought for a while and said to them.

"Master, please wait here. I'll go in and find a way to get it out." The No. [-] mine was very deep, and Wei Yan was worried that the master's joints would be unbearable, so he volunteered to get the stone out.

What happened later was a bit mysterious, and there were different opinions. Except for Zhao Shi, who was in charge of the trial, the truth of the facts was probably only known to the emperor.

Not long after Wei Yan went in that day, there was an earth-shattering rock cracking sound outside, and the violent vibration of the earth shaking and shaking the mountains collapsed the entrance of the No. [-] mine.

When Zhao Shi received this news, he even wanted to die.The emperor's beloved was lost here for no apparent reason, and the emperor was afraid that he would lose his mind.Of course those who followed him wanted to go down to accompany him, but as for the rest of the mine, they might not be able to escape either.

At this moment, he no longer worried about whether his identity would be exposed, and went directly to the door, revealed the identity of the imperial envoy, and forced the supervisor of the mine to quickly organize the prisoners and dig them out.

"My lord, this is an accident. When the mine is in operation, such an accident is very common." The manager of the mine explained tremblingly to Zhao Shi, who had a vicious expression on his face.This kind of mine collapse is very common, of course it is a lie, but once in a few years is normal.

"Whether it was an accident or not, I will investigate afterward. If you don't dig him out now, I promise you won't even need an explanation." Zhao Shi replied coldly.It's not that he wants to be alarmist, but that's the way it is.

When people were organized outside to dig, the inside was already in chaos.There are hundreds of prisoners mining in this mine.Hearing the crackling sound, someone wanted to rush out at that time, but they were too slow to react. Those who rushed in front were crushed to death in the rocks, and the people behind retreated quickly, only to save their lives.In a short while, the passage that was about 500 meters long was completely blocked by falling stones.

Wei Yan was in the depths of the mine at that time, only heard the noise, and didn't know what happened at all. When he heard the noise of the crowd coming up, the way in was blocked.

Some of the people next to them were running around in hysteria, some collapsed on the ground in despair and could not move, some gathered together to discuss what to do, some were crazy to move those rocks, and some wanted to go Find a way out inside.When faced with life-or-death danger, everyone behaves differently.

"Everyone, don't make a mess. Discuss a solution first, and then do it together. There are many people and strength. If you disperse at this time, I'm afraid there will be no way out." Wei Yan has never been trapped underground. know what to do.However, his words at this time yelled out with internal strength, and quickly calmed down the chaotic crowd.

"How to do?"

Everyone looked at each other, dazed for a while, and then set their eyes on the elders in the field.Obviously, the experience of the elderly is more important in this kind of overwhelmed situation.

"Start digging where it collapsed."

"Digging like this may continue to collapse, so dig in another place."

"There may be a way out underground."

"If no one is digging outside, how long will it take for us to dig?"

……

It's a pity that even the elders couldn't unify their opinions at this time. Coupled with the supporters of each, the scene suddenly became chaotic.As a last resort, Wei Yan had no choice but to be a person maintaining order again.

In the end, everyone finally agreed to send some people to find the way underground, and some people to get water.The tunnel dug doesn’t need to be too big, just enough to pass people. The rocks that have collapsed and acted as support cannot be moved. Try to drill holes from the side to get through.

The digging and digging inside was slow, and a crooked tunnel was barely dug out.The outside is not digging and collapsing at the same time. The only advantage is that there are more reinforcement materials on the outside, and the digging speed is faster than that on the inside.

If so, the people who were locked inside saw the sun again, and it was three days later.

When the last stone was removed, the prisoners at both ends cheered when they saw each other's hands.These three days, no matter the people inside or the people outside, life is not easy.The people inside are afraid because of the deep underground, and the people outside are afraid because of the vicious overseer.

Zhao Shi didn't close his eyes for three whole days. Even if he ate, he ate at the mine. The people inside came out one by one, but he didn't see the person he was waiting for. His heart kept sinking. As for the last time he saw Wei Yan helping someone out, he couldn't even speak.

When seeing Zhao Shi, Wei Yan was also extremely surprised, but he soon understood.It turned out that he had been taken care of along the way.He was taken care of by his family, by Zhao Shi, and by the emperor.

"This subordinate's dereliction of duty surprised Lord Hou, please punish him." After a long while, Zhao Shi was finally able to speak and knelt down.

The people outside were even more terrified. Apart from Zhao Shi, there was also Wei Yan who was terrified.To make the green-faced and long-toothed evil spirit kneel down and plead guilty, this one is probably even worse.

Wei Yan didn't speak, but just stepped forward and hugged him tightly.For the rest of his life, if that person is in front of him, he also wants to hug him tightly.

"Regarding this matter, my subordinates will give Hou Ye an explanation." Zhao Shi solemnly promised at that time, but in the end, his explanation to Wei Yan was that it was an accident.Of course, there are many accidents in this world, so it is not surprising that some people in the mine died due to accidents.

From then on, Zhao Shi blatantly followed Wei Yan.In the small handicraft workshop, you can often see the weird scene of Master Yuan's two apprentices facing each other and carving.

At the end of the year, the emperor pardoned the world, and many people had their sentences reduced, including Wei Yan.At the end of the summer of the second year, the emperor's son was born, and once again pardoned the world. After the decree arrived in Youzhou, Wei Yan began his second long journey.

This time, their destination was Jiangnan, and they were accompanied by Master Yuan.