Chapter 239 is a national gift!
With the departure of Zuo Lengchan and other masters of the Songshan Sect, the power of the Five Mountains Sword Sect in the capital city dropped precipitously, leaving only the Taishan Sect disciples led by Taoist Tianmen and Taoist Wang Chengwu and the Hengshan side sect disciples.

By the way, there is also a female hero from Hengshan, who barely maintains the authentic image of Hengshan.

Liu Qing woke up in a daze. She had been tossed around by her husband for half the night, and she had no strength today. She hadn't realized that from today on, the Hengshan female knight would be the third most important person in the Five Mountains Sword Sect in the capital.

Ou Zanghua has already arrived at the Honglu Temple. There is not much work at the Ministry of Rites, which allows him to spend more time in the Honglu Temple.

Xia Sheng had been waiting for him here for a long time. When he saw someone coming in, he directly pulled him inside.

As he walked, he took out a key and handed it to Ou Zanghua, explaining: "Now, I am handing the biggest secret of the Honglu Temple to you. From now on, the Honglu Temple depends on you!"

Ou Zanghua took the key with a confused look on his face. Could it be that this Honglu Temple was hiding some unknown secret?

The two walked through the corridor and passed through a crescent door, and came to a remote courtyard with three separate rooms.

"The key in the middle is for the middle room."

Xia Sheng held Ou Zanghua's hand and said solemnly, "Some of the things inside were kept by the last Minister of the Honglu Temple, Lord Shi Chunshi. After you take a look, you and I will know."

So mysterious?

Ou Zanghua thought about it and nodded, "Please rest assured, Master Xia, I won't reveal a single word."

Xia Sheng then revealed a satisfied smile and motioned to Ou Zanghua to open the door.

After entering, I found that this was just a place to store various books. There were hundreds of bookshelves in the room.

Looking closely, I found that there were words engraved above each bookshelf.

Ou Zanghua took a quick look at Champa, Chenla, Srivijaya, Siam, Doyan, Fuyu, and Taining.
"As you can see, each bookshelf here contains information about a vassal state. Look over there." Xia Sheng pointed to the bookshelf inside and continued, "Those are vassal states that we haven't had any contact with for nearly thirty years. Since they are too far away, we don't know if these countries still exist."

"What an amazing workload!" Ou Zanghua looked around and said with some emotion.

"Nothing. This is just information recorded by historians of all dynasties. We just categorized and integrated it." At this point, Xia Sheng warned with a dark face: "Remember, the reference value of "Book of Jin" and "History of Yuan" is not great. Don't make yourself bored."

"it is good"

"Come with me!" Xia Sheng led Ou Zanghua through the bookshelves and came to a desk. He took out the key, opened the lock on the desk, took out four scrolls from it, and then spread them out carefully.

Ou Zanghua didn't care at first, but when he saw the title, his eyes widened - "The Map of the Stars Pulled by the Eunuch Sanbao as he Crossed the Ocean".

All four paintings are facing north at the top and south at the bottom. In the center of the picture is a sailing ship on the sea, surrounded by constellations with text indicating directions, names, indexes, etc.

When sailing, if there are reference landmarks such as mountains and landforms on both sides of the coast, they are easier to identify and navigation can be carried out relying solely on compass navigation.

But when the ship sails into the vast ocean, the mountains and islands on the shore are difficult to see clearly. At this time, the stars in the sky become particularly important.

And this "Map of the Stars Used by Eunuch Sanbao as Held Across the Ocean" is used for this purpose.

It’s just that Ou Zanghua doesn’t know how to use it, but it’s better to have it than not!

"What, what is this?"

Xia Sheng nodded and said with emotion: "As you can see, this is the star-pulling map that Eunuch Sanbao used when he sailed to the West. However, this was only the map from his second voyage. Lord Shi borrowed it from the Ministry of Rites and forgot to return it for a while, so it was luckily preserved."

"It's a pity that there are only these four left." Ou Zanghua sighed and couldn't help saying, "Liu Daxia is really a sinner!" "Ahem." Xia Sheng coughed twice before saying, "That's because the eunuch Wang Zhi persuaded Emperor Xianzong to follow Emperor Taizong's example and go to the West again. Liu Taibao just wanted to prevent this."

"Lord Xia is wrong. The money used by Emperor Taizong to conquer Mobei, Ping'an and move the capital was used." Ou Zanghua shook his head. Before he finished speaking, he heard Xia Sheng coughing.

"Ahem. Lord Ou, please be careful with your words!" Looking at the look on his face, it seemed that if Ou Zanghua continued talking, Old Xia would kill him on the spot.

Seeing that Ou Zanghua didn't say anything further, Xia Sheng said, "Anyway, I'm handing this thing over to you. From now on, it all depends on luck!"

"Thank you, Lord Xia!" Ou Zanghua bowed to Xia Sheng.

"Don't, you are now in a higher position than me!"

Xia Sheng shook his head and warned, "I will leave Beijing the day after tomorrow, and you should not come to see me off. You must be born bad, and you can do whatever you want, but you are not allowed to say that I taught you to do it. If I know that you say even a word, I will kill myself and my zither, and make you feel guilty for the rest of your life."

"Really?" Ou Zanghua was stunned and looked at Xia Sheng hesitantly.

You old man have some weird methods!

But he was right. If Xia Sheng was killed because of his own actions, he would feel guilty for a long time.

Then, Xia Sheng took Ou Zanghua to visit two rooms, which contained garbage tributes from various countries.
“It’s a state gift!”

Xia Sheng held a stone that looked like an eggplant and said seriously, "It was a tribute from Pegu."

"Are you serious?" Ou Zanghua was a little embarrassed. It was just a thing, and he felt that they would make a profit if they got a piece of chrysanthemum stone in return.

"Of course!"

Xia Sheng had just finished speaking when his hand slipped and the Pegu national gift fell to the ground with a "bang". He picked it up, patted it, and put it back in its place as if nothing had happened.

"Not you."

"It's a state gift!" Xia Sheng emphasized.

".As long as you like it." Ou Zanghua turned his head away. It was time for me, Da Meng, the victim, to take off the hat of being called an idiot.

When the two walked out of the Honglu Temple treasury, it was already six quarters past three in the afternoon. Xia Sheng and Ou Zanghua were strolling on the corridor of the Honglu Temple.

Old Xia said seriously: "From now on, the Honglu Temple will be handed over to Lord Ou. Lord Ou does not need to be too polite to the envoys from the vassal states. They are shameless and dare to open a dyeing room if they are given a little color."

"Is that so? Then it's their blessing to meet me." Ou Zanghua smiled slightly. He had led troops in battles before and had his own dignity.

"Ahem." Xia Sheng coughed twice and quickly added, "Don't be too harsh. We are the Celestial Empire, a country of etiquette!"

Ou Zanghua smiled and asked, "Master Xia, do you know what 'a gentleman without respect has no authority' means?"

"If a gentleman does not respect himself, he will not be respected by others?" Xia Sheng answered subconsciously.

"You are wrong," Ou Zanghua shook his head and explained to him, "A gentleman must use heavy hands, otherwise he will not be able to establish his prestige."

"?!"

(End of this chapter)