The most arrogant in history

Chapter 251: So smart!

Ye Kun felt heartbroken when he thought of Xiahou Chang's massacre of 200,000 people in Xuzhou.

If this happened in the future, it would be a definite anti-humanity!

Xia Tuo clasped his fists and said, "Master Ye, since Xiahou Chang has sent an envoy, you should meet him and see what he has to say. If you drive the envoy away before they even meet, it will make people think that Master Ye is stingy..."

Ye Kun thought about it, nodded and said, "Let the envoy wait until I summon him after dinner."

Everyone continued to drink, but the atmosphere was a little heavy.

Xia Tuo said: "This Xiahou Chang is from the same hometown as me. But I have been wandering for a long time and have never seen this person."

"This man is extremely treacherous and cruel. There is no benefit in seeing him." Ye Kun shook his head and talked about Xiahou Chang's massacre of the people of Xuzhou.

There was also last year's Suanzao League and my impression of Xiahou Chang.

Xia Tuo also sighed: "Every time I cure a patient, I am very happy. But Xiahou Chang killed 200,000 people in Xuzhou with a wave of his hand. What a beastly heart he has."

He Tiantian suddenly asked: "Mr. Xia, if Xia Houchang gets sick and you can treat such diseases, will you treat him?"

Xia Tuo was stunned for a moment, then said seriously:

"I am just a doctor. No matter if they are good or bad, as long as they ask me to treat them, I will do my best."

He Tiantian frowned: "Knowing that Xiahou Chang is a bad guy, why did Mr. Xia still treat him? Wouldn't it be possible to save more people if he died?"

Xia Tuo shook his head: "I know this truth, but I can't just stand by and watch someone die."

"Tiantian, this is the difference between good people and bad people. Mr. Xia is a good person who knows how to respect everyone's life. Xia Houchang is a bad person who only cares about his own life and death." Ye Kun stopped Tiantian's questioning and said:

"Besides, even if one Xiahou Chang dies, there will always be a second or third Xiahou Chang. If we want to end this terrible situation, we can only eliminate the separatist situation of the princes and establish a unified and powerful country."

Tiantian and Xia Tuo both sighed deeply.

After the meal, Ye Kun met with Xiahou Chang's envoy.

Zhuge Feng led the messenger and walked in.

The envoy, Xiahou Xuan, was Xiahou Chang’s cousin and was in his thirties.

Coming in front of Ye Kun, Xiahou Xuan clasped his fists and saluted:

"Xiahou Xuan greets Lord Ye. My master Xiahou Chang asked me to pay my respects to Lord Ye and bring him a gift."

After saying that, Xiahou Xuan presented the gift list.

Ye Kun didn't even look at the gift list, and asked calmly:

"I heard that Xiahou Chang traveled all over the Central Plains, occupied cities, and started a massacre. In Xuzhou alone, he massacred 200,000 soldiers and civilians. It was very satisfying, right?"

Xiahou Xuan was stunned for a moment, then looked unhappy and said with a stern face:

"Those are the remnants of Huang Tian Dao, bandits and robbers, and they deserve to die. Lord Ye, you and our Lord Xiahou are each doing your own thing. It seems that it is not your turn to reprimand our Lord, right?"

Ye Kun snorted:

"After the Suanzao Alliance last year, when Xiahou Chang and I said goodbye at the south gate of Luoyang, I told him that he could occupy cities, but he could not kill innocent people. I also said that if Xiahou Chang killed innocent people, I would definitely avenge the people of the world!"

Xiahou Xuan was furious and glared:

"Master Ye, I have come all the way to see you in order to reconcile our two families and support the country together. You blamed our Master Xiahou as soon as we met, which is too much."

Ye Kun stood up and sneered, "I just said these two sentences and you are so angry. Two hundred thousand people in Xuzhou City died tragically under your swords. Who should they vent their resentment to?"

Xiahou Xuan was stunned, clasped his fists and said, "If we don't share the same ideals, we can't make plans together. If we don't agree on anything, I'll take my leave!"

"Go back and tell Xiahou Chang that I, Ye Kun, will never coexist with him. I will definitely chop off his head to avenge the people of Xuzhou!"

Ye Kun threw the gift list to Xia Houxuan: "No!"

Xiahou Xuan gritted his teeth and turned away.

Zhuge Feng was standing by, frowning and asking:

"Why is Lord Ye so angry? Xiahou Chang sent an envoy with a large number of gifts to make friends with Yizhou and take Chang'an together. Xiahou Chang is now very powerful and has swept across the Central Plains. It will be of no benefit for us to turn against him."

"I cannot stand with such a traitor to the country and the people." Ye Kun patted Zhuge Feng on the shoulder:

"Mr. Zhuge, we need to broaden our horizons and see the national situation. Xiahou Chang is aiming for Chang'an, so how can he let me have a piece of the pie? He asked me to raise an army and attack Chang'an together, hoping to consume our strength. After taking Chang'an, he will go south to Hanzhong and annex Yizhou."

Zhuge Feng said: "Xiahou Xuan's intention is to let us occupy Hanzhong after we take Chang'an, and then divide the country by the river..."

"Isn't this nonsense?"

Ye Kun rolled his eyes: "Xiahou Chang's ambition is to unify the whole country, regardless of south or north. He encouraged me to send troops just to weaken my power and take advantage of it. Now that Yizhou has just been settled, how can we be fooled and send troops easily?"

Zhuge Feng nodded: "That's true. Yizhou still needs some time to stabilize."

Ye Kun thought about it, and then sent a pigeon message to Shangguan Jifu, telling him about today's events and asking him to be on guard against Xiahou Chang.

Shangguan Jifu wrote back, saying that the situation in Jiangbei had changed drastically. Xuanyuan De was defeated by Xiahou Chang and had to retreat with his 100,000 remaining troops to Shouchun and Hefei areas. He was afraid that he would not be able to hold out for long.

If Xiahou Chang defeats Xuanyuan De, Jiangbei will be the only one in power!

After reading the reply, Ye Kun wrote another long letter to Shangguan Jifu and sent it to him to comfort him.

As long as we advance steadily and capture Hanzhong next year, and then send troops to control the Hexi Corridor, we will be able to confront Xiahou Chang and slowly find opportunities to defeat the enemy.

For now, the focus is to digest and consolidate Yizhou, store food and gunpowder, and avoid unnecessary complications.

He Tiantian took some time out and used the water measurement method taught by Ye Kun to measure the density of the Zhuti silver he brought back.

The results are very touching. The specific gravity of some Zhuti silver, which will never rust, is only over nine points.

The specific gravity of pure silver is 10.49, which is far from enough.

Of course, the silver produced by some silver mines in Zhuti County is pure silver.

About half of the silver does not rust.

Ye Kun called several master goldsmiths and other experts to continue analyzing the composition of Zhuti silver.

The craftsmen conducted repeated tests through methods such as burning, forging, wire drawing, and vinegar soaking, and finally concluded that the Zhuti silver that did not rust was impure and contained impurities.

Ye Kun smiled and said, "It should contain metallic zinc and possibly some copper, so it has high hardness and brightness."

It is common knowledge that gold and silver mines are often associated with lead and zinc.

But the ancients didn’t understand.

Everyone was puzzled: "What is zinc?"

"Zinc is a white metal that is mixed in gold and silver ores, and also in some iron ores. The specific gravity of zinc is about the same as that of iron."

Ye Kun explained: "We in Dading Country cannot extract metallic zinc because when refining gold and silver at high temperatures, metallic zinc evaporates easily."

The melting point of zinc is only about 400 degrees and the boiling point is about 1,000 degrees.

The temperature for refining copper and iron is over one thousand degrees, which causes the metallic zinc to evaporate directly and float away in the smoke, making it difficult for everyone to see its true appearance.

The metallic zinc that did not have time to evaporate remained and mixed with the silver, turning into stainless silver.

The goldsmith smiled and said, "Master Ye, although this silver is not pure, it can still be used as money. Moreover, it is more popular than pure silver. So, it doesn't matter whether there are impurities or not."

Ye Kun smiled: "From the perspective of value, it is indeed true. As long as it is white metal, no matter how many impurities there are, it will not affect us spending it as silver."

In ancient times, metal was hard currency.

Gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and even mercury can all be exchanged for money.

The ancients' understanding and definition of silver is white metal!

Apart from silver, there are no other white metals these days.

It is said that more than a thousand years later during the Age of Discovery, Spain plundered several large ships of platinum from overseas and brought them home as silver.

Someone as smart as Ye Kun discovered something was wrong. This stuff was much heavier than silver and difficult to melt. It was fake silver!

As a result, the Spanish monarch was very angry, and in order to prevent fake silver from circulating in the market, he ordered several large ships of platinum to be sunk into the sea!

Now, the gold and silver craftsmen were afraid that Ye Kun, who was so clever, would announce that the Zhuti silver was fake, so they were very panicked.