Daming Military Empire

Chapter 441 The Charm of Chinese Characters

Zodiac Zhou’s lectures lasted all morning. People who understand Chinese are fascinated by listening, and those who don’t understand Chinese are also attracted by the contents of the book, and they are very engrossed in reading.

Of course, there are two hours of talking in the morning, and it is impossible for Huang Daozhou to talk for so long in one breath, and a half-hour break is arranged in the middle.

The scene became lively during the break time, because some of the allusions could not be understood literally, they had to be asked to understand, and now the people who understand Chinese in the four countries' missions became the favorites.

If you want to say who knows Chinese the best among the missions of the four countries, of course it is the Prime Minister of the Portuguese Cabinet, Shivela. He has stayed in Daming for more than ten years. That's called hard work, and ordinary scholars may not have his level.

In addition to his talent in language, he also has an even more powerful talent, that is, the talent of flattering. This flattering does not mean that he can pat anyone he catches, but depends on the effect of the shooting.

Shivira seems to have a keen sense of smell by nature, and he has a very precise grasp of when to flatter whom. For example, when he caught the emperor of the Ming Empire in the Ming Dynasty, he immediately gained a huge amount of wealth. And great prestige, before returning to Portugal, he set his sights on Joao IV, and became the number two figure in Portugal.

Now, he has set his sights on another target, which is the Duke of Uceda, the auxiliary minister of Spain. Of course, if we want to compare power and financial resources, there are many people in Ming Dynasty who surpass the Duke of Uceda, such as Xin Wang who participated in this meeting. Zhu Youjian, Zhennan Wang Zheng Zhilong, Zhu Guogong Xu Guangqi are all stronger than the Duke of Useda.

But the problem is that he has returned to Portugal now, and the person who is more helpful to his governance and diplomacy is the Duke of Useda, the number two figure in the neighboring country. Therefore, he has been close to the Duke of Useda intentionally or unintentionally since the beginning of the road. As for the relationship, the two of them have become close friends by now.

During the break, Shivira saw that Duke Uceda was still holding a book and frowning in thought, and immediately understood that he might not understand something, and he was embarrassed to ask others.

How can such a good opportunity be missed? Shivira immediately went up to talk to Useda about the content of Zodiac Week’s lectures. He naturally understood what Useda couldn’t understand, and he introduced some things that Zodiac Week did not explain in detail over again.

After Useda heard this, he immediately realized what he was doing, and his expression was beaming with joy, intending to introduce Shivela as his confidant.

In the following lectures, there was something he didn't understand. As long as he glanced over, Shivela immediately explained to him in a low voice, and the relationship between the two heated up rapidly.

In the afternoon, Huang Daozhou did not continue to give lectures, but brought all the representatives of the diplomatic missions to the newly built Guozijian, visited the winning works of the last Shengshi Daming calligraphy and painting competition, and arranged for several calligraphers and Chinese painting masters to splash ink on the spot, free for all countries. Represents writing and painting.

At this time, the differences in the degree of Chinese culture among countries became more obvious. Representatives of Spain, Portugal, the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire mostly gathered in front of the painting. Although many of them had learned Chinese, their understanding of Chinese characters There is still no awareness of artistry, so the attraction of paintings is far greater than that of calligraphy works.

The representatives of the vassal states are different. They are all selected from the envoys of the vassal states. That is to say, most of them have official positions. They are not allowed to take the imperial examination. Good handwriting is one of the keys to the examination. None of these people has practiced calligraphy diligently, so calligraphy works are far more attractive to them than paintings.

Calligraphy masters and Chinese painting masters who write and paint for representatives of various countries for free are also in the same situation. Most of the people who ask for paintings are representatives of the four European countries. After all, this era does not have as many decorative items as later generations. It is also a great deal to ask for an ink painting to hang at home. Something to save face.

Most of the representatives of the vassal states are asking calligraphy masters for calligraphy. There are not many copybooks and calligraphy training classes in this era. If you want to write well, you can buy a few calligraphy books and hang them at home, and practice them every day. Those who have no money can only rely on occasional reading of excellent calligraphy, memorize it in their minds, and then go home and practice hard.

How much is a work of a calligraphy master awarded by His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty?Not to mention that every word is worth a thousand gold, and a piece of work costs at least a hundred taels. It can be said that even high-ranking officials in the vassal state can't afford it. Today, they have the opportunity to get it for free. They are not crazy.

Those who can get calligraphy are naturally ecstatic. Sometimes even a calligrapher accidentally drips ink on the paper, or is not satisfied with the written words, and directly crumpled them into a wastebasket, and people rushed up to snatch them. !
Seeing this scene, Useda's eyeballs almost popped out of shock, and he asked inexplicably, "Isn't it just a few words, why are they so crazy?"

Upon hearing this, Shivela immediately explained in detail: "Before I learned how to write Chinese characters, I didn't know how attractive calligraphy works are, but since I learned how to write Chinese characters, I have also become like a demon. I fell in love with calligraphy works crazily. In the years in Daming, I frantically bought calligraphy works everywhere. After buying hundreds of pieces, this kind of daze got better, because now the works of well-known calligraphers in Daming are not familiar to me. It’s all there, and if you want to see someone’s, you can take it out and look at it at any time.”

Uceda looked at him as if he was a monster, and asked in surprise: "You are also obsessed! Why?"

Shivela said deeply: "If you learn Chinese characters, you will understand. When your handwriting is messy, like a dog digging it out, you will be eager to write it well. When you see the written If you see good calligraphy, you will feel spiritually happy; if you see master-level works, how do you describe that feeling? Powerful, punchy, paper-backed, etc., it's just wonderful!"

Uceda was still in a daze, he really couldn't understand that words could contain these things.

Seeing him like this, Shivira could only helplessly say: "Your Excellency, this feeling cannot be conveyed. Only when you start writing Chinese characters will you understand the long-standing magic of Chinese characters. Tell you directly, you know this How much does a calligrapher sell for a calligraphic work?"

When he finally talked about something he could understand, Useda immediately asked with great interest: "How much is it?"

Shivira immediately pointed to the calligrapher and said: "Writing casually like they are now, and writing a picture that they are more satisfied with is probably worth about 200 taels of silver. Calligraphy works are worth at least a thousand taels of silver!"

Useda was shocked when he heard the words: "A few words are hundreds of taels or even thousands of taels. These people are not crazy, right?"

Shivela said leisurely and fascinated: "No, they are not crazy, art is priceless, and Chinese characters are the only characters I have ever seen that can be written with a sense of art. When calligraphy works rise to the height of art, hundreds of thousands What is the calculation of a thousand taels!"

(End of this chapter)