Dress to be a celebrity

After all, Huan Yuanniang's letter was not delivered to her grandfather.

The king of Zhou's sentence "Women in the harem are not allowed to interfere in politics" reminded her: she is now the concubine of the king of Zhou, and she only needs to be filial to the emperor and concubine, and manage the affairs of the palace well, so that the king of Zhou can feel at ease in the previous dynasty.If the power of the Huan family is involved at every turn, Concubine Xianmu and His Royal Highness Zhou Wang will also feel that she is showing off her family background and has no self-consciousness to be a royal daughter-in-law.

If something happened to Ma Shangshu, the King of Zhou would definitely rescue her in person. All she did was to fulfill her duties as a bride and do good deeds to Weng Gu, so as to add a little more weight to His Highness King Zhou in front of the Holy One.

But the best things in the world must be respected to the emperor first, and the things in their Chonghua Palace are also gifts from the gods, and it would not be very interesting to offer them up.Fortunately, she was also good at needlework when she was in her boudoir. Now that the Holy Majesty is old again, it is better to embroider a Buddhist scripture and present it.

It happened that the eldest aunt Li was ordered by her father-in-law to come to see her in the palace, so she asked her aunt to find the scriptures copied by famous masters in the previous dynasty and use them as embroidery samples for her.

Mrs. Li saw that she hadn't been tortured, but that Concubine Xian and the King of Zhou treated her better than before, so she couldn't help chanting Amitabha: "It is because of the Buddha's blessing that my sister has such a good fortune. Good mother-in-law and husband-in-law. Tomorrow, I will ask your uncle and brothers to go to the market to look for scripture scrolls. You embroidered them one by one, and you have some Buddha nature in your home, and you are also protected by the Buddha."

She knew that Yuanniang was doing well in the palace, so she felt relieved, said goodbye to her niece and came out, just in time for King Zhou to come back, so she hurriedly avoided the road and saluted.

The king of Zhou was very polite to the concubine's parents, he raised his hand to wake her up, talked about the temperature and temperature, asked her if she had a good time talking with Yuan Niang, and asked her to come to the palace to accompany the concubine if she had nothing to do.

Mrs. Li thanked the king for her kindness, and also told the king of Zhou that the princess said that she would prepare needlework for the Shengshou Festival.The King of Zhou said: "I, the husband-in-law, should look for this matter. How can I trouble my uncle and aunt? Auntie can go back and rest at ease, and I will naturally find the only masterpiece in the world for Yuan Niang."

Mrs. Li thanked him repeatedly for his care for Yuan Niang, left the palace with peace of mind, went back and told her husband and son about the matter, and said: "Although His Royal Highness Zhou Wang wants to find books for the concubine, I think the matter was ordered by the empress herself. , it’s just a scripture, we as uncles and aunts can’t pretend nothing happened, it’s better to send someone to look for it.”

She also wanted to take this opportunity to release her youngest son.

He did something wrong at a young age, it's been a few years, and there are many Song Zhuangyuan adults, how can he always care about it?At worst, ask him to pay a gift to the Song family after he is released, and Song Zhuangyuan's father is working under her husband, so he will not show his boss some face?

But she only tentatively said, Huan counselor flatly refused: "Now that something happened to the Ma family, it's hard to guarantee that we won't be implicated. Our family should have less right and wrong. Don't you know Brother Wen's stubborn temper? He doesn't listen, he doesn't listen to beating, he looks very much like our father... Alas, it's a pity that he doesn't look like him because of his talent and learning. You drag him to make apology to Song Zhuangyuan, and you don't know whether it is to make amends or to get revenge."

However, Yuan Niang's idea of ​​embroidering Buddhist scriptures as a birthday gift is not bad. If he can find a copy of the "Miaofa Lotus Sutra" written by the Tang Dynasty, his father can also use it as a birthday gift.

Counselor Huan ordered his son to search for the scriptures slowly, and the king of Zhou also planned how to get a good scripture for the princess.

It’s not necessary to use the Han and Tang scriptures—the fat and solid fonts are labor-intensive and eye-inducing to embroider. It’s not as good as the Song Shi style, which is in fashion today. The strokes are delicate and can be embroidered with one or two stitches.Moreover, Song Sanyuan had never written Buddhist scriptures, so if he had to print a special one, it would be no worse than the famous scriptures of the previous dynasty.

It's just that it's elegant to invite everyone to write and print books, but it's boring to force others to do it with the status of a prince.Fortunately, he had met Song Shi before, and he was somewhat cordial, and he had a very close relationship with elder brother Yuanniang, so it would not be abrupt to find him to print a scripture based on Huan Yushi's face.

He made up his mind, and he didn't tell the princess, but gave her as a surprise.

In June, the imperial decree was finally issued, ordering the king of Zhou to go to the Ministry of Rites for an internship in government affairs. The first thing he had to participate in was the selection of the concubine of the two kings of Wei and Qi.

The selection of concubines was not as simple as he had imagined. It was just a few women from aristocratic families dressed up neatly and performing proper palace rituals to meet the concubines and princes. The concubine will spend countless manpower and material resources in one step:

First, girls from official families above the fourth rank are strictly prohibited from marrying, and then carefully select beauties whose ancestors and mother's family are innocent to enter the palace.After the three screenings in the primary selection, all three were selected with good appearance, and those who had no diseases or blemishes stayed in the palace to be raised and taught. After three months, they became familiar with the etiquette in the palace and were selected by the concubine.

Among them are the chariots and horses to pick up the beautiful girls, the colorful shed for the beautiful girls to rest, the steady woman who checks the beautiful girls' bodies, the food and medicine for everyone in the palace, the clothes and jewelry they accidentally took... What is more difficult is the two imperial brothers. After getting married, the mansion will be opened. The money for building the mansion, the silver taels given when the mansion was opened, the utensils, and the servants used by the mansion must all be raised together when preparing for the marriage.

silver everywhere...

At the beginning, his father delayed his marriage, and he wondered if his father was going to neglect him. At this time, he was in the etiquette department, and after seeing these cumbersome ceremonies, he estimated the price in his heart, and secretly felt that shock.

His marriage is also a small selection, which consumes more people's energy than his younger brothers', and his father even built a library for him!

In fact, although the concubine loves to read, there is a secretarial library in the palace, and Chonghua Palace has its own collection of books, so there is really no need to build a new building.His father treated him so favorably, how could he just enjoy the love with peace of mind, without thinking about his father and the court?

The building has been built halfway, if it is to be demolished, it will waste manpower and material resources, it is better to turn around and persuade the father to convert it into a short pavilion, and there is no need to store any ancient books and orphan editions, only a set of edited "Xintai Dadian" , leave it as a place to read and rest.

After he returned to the palace, he didn't go to the Chonghua Palace to rest, and first ran to the Wenhua Palace to meet him, and told him what he had realized these days.When his father heard this, he smiled and said: "The building has been built, but it has not been converted into a pavilion halfway. I don't care what books are hidden in it, and I will leave it to you, the official of the Ministry of Rites, to arrange it yourself."

The king of Zhou thanked his father for his kindness, and he didn't dare to disturb him any more. He asked how his health was, and immediately left the hall.The Emperor Xintai watched his back go away, supported him with his hand, and said "fool" with a smile.

Zhou Wang consciously got rid of the problem of the library, so he moved his mind to find Song's scriptures for the princess.It just so happened that since the new Tai Dynasty, there has been no example of a prince opening a mansion in Beijing. There are many documents to be found in the old files of the Imperial Academy, so he went to the Imperial Academy to get documents with Minister Huan.

When he entered the library bureau, Huan Shilang asked the classics official to open the library and get the documents.

The king of Zhou has a noble status, so he dare not let him do the rough work of looking through old papers. Those who find out the dusty old documents will also be read and screened by editors, editors, reviewers, etc., and pick out useful ones before submitting them to the bachelors. them.

Mr. Huan Ge took several attendants and lecturers to write a new edict. He was afraid that King Zhou would be bored while sitting, so he ordered people to serve tea and fetch new books for him to read.Now that the king of Zhou has arrived at the Hanlin Academy, if he wants to read any books, he naturally depends on people.On the pretext that he wanted to wander around the courtyard, he casually called Yang Jianxian, who had come to see off the old file, to lead the way, and left the old man's room in Huan Pavilion.

The reviewer wanted to take him to the short hills and stone pavilions with the best scenery in the Imperial Academy, but the King of Zhou refused to go, and said: "Although the Imperial Academy has a clear view, how can it compare with the one in the palace?" The imperial garden? The noble place of the museum bureau is the place where there are talented scholars and famous scholars. If this king wants to meet the champion of the current department, please review and lead the way."

Naturally, Yang Censor couldn't go against the prince's wishes, so he responded: "Song Zhuangyuan received the emperor's order to teach the nobles to learn his Song style seal calligraphy, and now he is leading some nobles to practice engraving. Why don't you come to Qiansui?" Please sit down less in the main courtyard, so why don't you call him over to see you?"

King Zhou waved his hand abruptly, and said curiously: "Song Zhuangyuan is teaching people how to print books? This king also wants to see and see, can you take me there to see for yourself?"

The king of Zhou spoke up, what's wrong with that.Yang Jian then took the King of Zhou to the study room where the Shu Jishi was studying, knocked open the door, and said in a loud voice: "His Royal Highness Zhou Wang has arrived, and everyone saluted and greeted him." Then he went to Song Shi and whispered: "Song Zhuangyuan , Your Highness is here to see your Song-style engraving, you can show it with your heart."

Song Shi smiled at him to show that he understood, and led the Shuji scholars to salute in an upright manner, and invited King Zhou to sit in the hall.The king of Zhou replied politely, and shook his head with a smile: "The king came here abruptly today, but he didn't agree with you and disturbed your learning of printing. Song Zhuangyuan just continued to teach, and the king watched from the side. It is enough to understand your curiosity."

Song Zhuangyuan also received inspections from leaders back then, and the national inspection team also... saw it on TV, and he had talked to King Zhou, so he was considered an acquaintance, so he was not too nervous, so he nodded with a smile Head: "Since the prince is interested, I should show the carving method in detail. It just so happens that the official made a new board for practicing calligraphy with hard pens, but the engraving is clearer than usual on paper. Please sit down, sir. Just explain it to the prince."

He took out the handkerchief he brought with him and wiped the tables and chairs, asked King Zhou to sit down, and asked Yang if he wanted to watch the review together.It was rare for Yang Jian to have the opportunity to see their engravings, and he was reluctant to leave, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry about me, Mr. Zhuangyuan, I will arrange for the servants to prepare tea and snacks for His Highness, and I will come and see later."

He made the arrangements first, and in Song Dynasty he ordered all the sages to return to their seats to practice separately, and he stood aside to explain the things used to the King of Zhou.

Now it has been two months since the return of the Shujishi, the Shujishi in the hinterland of the Central Plains have already returned to Beijing, and even some families are far away and have nothing to do in the village, so they come back early to sell their holidays.Now there are nearly 20 people in this studio. In front of each person is a long table with a board the size of an old-fashioned engraving block, and each has a stylus, filling the studio to the brim.

The king of Zhou was sitting at the table of the Song Dynasty, on which there was also a board and a stylus pen.He touched it with his hand, and found that the board was actually a cool and slippery slate, with a layer of wax applied on the top of the slate, and there were finely carved writing on the wax, but the handwriting was faint red.

He is also a smart person, so he guessed right away: "It turns out that Song Zhuangyuan's new engraving method is to smear wax on the stone slab, and use the wax to carve out the character marks... It is a good method, and it is indeed less laborious than carving with wood. I just don't know this. After the stone slab is carved, how do you apply ink?"

The king of Zhou really looked up to him. He hasn't produced enough nitric acid to corrode the stone slabs yet, let alone lithography.However, if the system can produce nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, etc., it is estimated that he will step into the era of stereotype printing, and will not be able to engage in slate.

He smiled ashamedly, and replied: "My minister's printing method is not to use stone plates, but to engrave blocks with waxed paper, line the white paper under the waxed paper plate, and apply ink from the top. It can’t stop the ink from soaking into the lower paper, so the words can be printed. Now use this slate—”

He pointed to the slate on the table, and asked King Zhou to look carefully at the color of the writing: "The slate is soaked with two thin layers of red and white wax, first dipped in red, then in white, and you can grasp the engraving by looking at the color of the pen when engraving." Shade. If there is still white wax in one stroke, the force is too small; if you see the color of the slate underneath, the force is too heavy, and it is just right to expose the red wax."

Throw the used wax board into the water and boil it, scrape off the melted wax and melt it into a ball, which can be reused the next day, saving labor and money.

When I was teaching Brother Huan Xiao, the wax paper I took was for my own people, so I didn't feel sorry for him. With him as the teacher teaching me, I can naturally use the wax paper to practice my hand feeling.This group of concubines is not qualified to enjoy the treatment of one-on-one small class teaching. It is difficult to find out the importance from the beginning like his senior brother, and there is not so much good paper to waste for them, so they simply soak the slate and make do with substitute exercises. Practice hard-tipped pen calligraphy first.

King Zhou's treatment was naturally much better than theirs. One-to-one teaching was available, but he couldn't teach them personally. If he wanted to practice engraving, he had to use stone slabs first.

Mr. Song stood beside him, took a stylus and lightly traced a few words on the slate, and sincerely advised: "The stencil paper is painted with white wax on the white paper, and the engraving is very exhausting. Use this slate to practice reading first." It is clearer and easier to grasp. If the prince does not give up, why not try it yourself?"