The gifts given by the commander Wang were all the Shangguan of the five armies and the Ministry of War. Naturally, it was not just a matter of sending people to the capital. As the eldest son, the eldest son of Wang Dagong is enough to represent his father, and he has to personally deliver this gift to each government.
When the group officially entered the capital, it was already late in the twelfth lunar month. The capital and surrounding states and counties were all snowed, and the canal was frozen, allowing horses to gallop past. He was in that heavy snow and entered the capital by car from Dongzhimen.
The flying snow is like a thin curtain covering the eyes, and there are few pedestrians on the official road. The surrounding businesses and people are all closed, and the beggars are huddled in the doorway and other sheltered places, hoping that this heavy snow will stop soon. Down. In the silent heavy snow in the sky, there was a horse-riding team coming from the snow, accompanied by the neighing of the horses, and passed them in a blink of an eye.
Wang Xiangzhen opened the curtains and looked out, but his vision was blocked by snow flakes, so he couldn't see who the horse was flying past. So he simply knocked on the carriage and called the personal soldiers who followed outside to ask, "Who is galloping in such heavy snow?"
The personal soldier pressed his body to the cold window frame and whispered, "The one in red and white cotton armor, I think it's Jin Yiwei."
Jin Yiwei? On this official road to Beijing, in such weather, only Jin Yiwei can gallop with flying horses. I don't know which guardhouse it belongs to, but unfortunately the weather is bad, otherwise I can go down and make friends under the name of Xie Qianhu.
He sighed, pulled the curtains and continued onwards, but he did not know that someone in the Jinyiwei team who just passed by also asked, "Whose family is that team just now? Why did you enter Beijing in such a heavy snow?"
A school captain behind him replied, "I came to Beijing to give a gift. The boxes of the cars behind have the words 'Xingtun Right Guard Commander King'."
The person who asked the question nodded and sighed with a smile: "With such heavy snow driving the convoy on the road, Commander Wang's heart is really hot. I don't know who would be lucky enough to have his family come to post."
A man in red next to him said, "I'm looking forward to him sending it to the Hou's residence of Huaining. It's a pity that my father knows that it is Jinyiwei, not the governor's residence of the army. The king's commander's gift probably won't reach my house."
"What?" The man turned his head and glanced at the Wang family's motorcade through the wind and snow, and asked with a half-smiling smile, "Is there anything the prince can't get, and wants to send it to the guards in Qian'an and other small county towns? "
"Xie Qianhu went to Jiujiang for a few months, and only cared about the emperor's errand, but he didn't know what was going on in Beijing, right?" The grandson Yingjue of the Hou Shi of Huaining rubbed his nose and said cheerfully: "The Qian'an side Cui Meiren came out, and she made a good drawing paper. The beautiful people on the paper looked like they were drawn, and the colors were vivid and vivid on the paper. She also printed a color embroidered portrait book, and the four beauties in the book printed that The beauties on the beauties are all romantic..."
He chatted nonstop, wishing he could tell those beauties to life for others to see. Xie Ying shook his head and reminded him with a smile: "Sir, watch the road carefully, it's not stubborn to fall in this snowy day."
Only then did Sun Yingjue look up at the road, but he didn't have any serious business in his mind, but asked him: "Didn't you go to Qian'an in August? At that time, I didn't hear about any famous beauties in Qian'an? Suddenly a Cui Meiren appeared, could it be that she moved from another place?"
Cui Meiren...
He had met a man surnamed Cui in Qian'an, and if he said that he looked good... But that man could be said to be a proud, loyal and upright man, how could he not be the beauty that Sun Shizi always wanted
He shook his head and said with a smile, "When Eunuch Gao and I went there, I never heard of any beauty making notes. Maybe it was just a random name given by the merchant, so that people would be willing to buy notes just for this fancy name? The prince should go back to Beizhen Fusi with me to hand over the account book of the Jiujiang two banknotes customs clearance, and then go home and enjoy the beauty with peace of mind."
Xie Ying threw the team that passed by the wrong shoulder on the road, and it didn't take long for Xie Ying to throw it behind her head, and instead focused on handling the indiscriminate collection of official grain in Jiujiang Prefecture. Jiang Zhong's case.
It was not until nearly the end of the year that he saw the convoy of Naxingtun Youwei again, and then he recalled the encounter that day. But this time, it was no longer a meeting in the middle of the road. The convoy stopped outside the gate of Xie's house, and the servants unloaded things from the car, which seemed to be sent to his house.
Unexpectedly, he said casually on the road, "I don't know who is lucky enough to receive a gift from his family." Today, conductor Wang's boxing gift was delivered to his own door.
But he has never had any friendship with the people of Xingtun Youwei. He is a thousand households in front of Jinyiwei, and there is nothing worthy of making friends with the command of Sanpinwei. If it is said that there is a person in Qian'an who can talk with him in a ceremonial manner, it should also be...
"Cui Xie."
When Wang Xiangzhen met, he immediately followed the military etiquette and said with a smile, "Cui Xie is my brother, and I heard a few days ago that I was going to Beijing to give a gift, so he asked me to come and present a gift to Lord Qianhu on his behalf. This is a gift. I have also admired your lord for a long time, and I have been a bad guest today, so please come here uninvited, please forgive me.”
He was afraid that Xie Qianhu would not be able to remember Cui Xie's name, so he added: "My lord should remember my brother Cui, he is the son of Cui Langzhong of the household department, that is, the lord and Eunuch Gao arrived a few months ago. The righteous citizen of the county rank."
The corners of Xie Ying's mouth were slightly raised, and she smiled softly: "Of course I remember. It was the honor I asked for him personally, how could I not remember."
When they were at the Tongzhou Inn, it was their Jinyiwei who went out of business to get the young man involved, and they almost ended up with him in order to capture and kill the demon. After Cui Xie was rescued, he didn't hold any grudge at all, and he always thought about him as a savior, always wanting to thank him for something.
He grew up in Jinyiwei, and he was used to seeing the world, and he had never seen such a kind and gentle person who still thought of repaying others when he had nothing. But if it is said that Cui Xie is soft and kind and can be deceived, he is also very strong when he is under the sword of Xu Zu Shi of the White Lotus Sect, and he can also take down the servants who back the master with thunderous means...
This may be the so-called gentleman.
He couldn't be such a person himself, and he didn't want to see such a little gentleman being bullied, so he tried his best to obtain an imperial edict for the other party, so as to protect him for one or two. Now it seems that what he has done before is still useful. That Cui Gongzi seems to be doing well
Wang Xiangzhen made friendship, gave gifts, and left the Xie residence satisfied. Xie Ying asked someone to remove the heavy gift from him, and left the small box alone. When he opened it, he saw a scroll of paintings, a book and a box of small notes printed with flowers, fruits, musical instruments, and playthings. . Everything on the note is colored, as beautiful as drawn, making him think of Cui Meiren's note that the Prince of Huaining said at a glance.
This Choi can't be Petui, right
However, when he met Cui Xie twice, he never heard of what kind of paper he would make, maybe he just bought it in the store. That book was not a printed book, but was neatly copied on the lustrous paper. It was a collection of pairs of sentences extracted from the four books, which was quite literate and elegant.
Last time, he said that Cui Xiaogongzi should learn to write poems and write well, so did he send this sage's writing
The smile on Xie Ying's lips deepened, and after reading the collection of couplets, she opened the last scroll in the box. The bright and colorful figures in the painting almost jumped out of the paper. The first time he saw it, the three words "Cui Meiren" flashed in his mind - only such a painting can be regarded as "the color is vivid and vivid on the paper". words.
Could it be that Cui Xiaogong created a book-printing shop by himself, under the name of a beauty? It's time to get a few beauties and see if they were made by the same person.
He calmed down, took a closer look, and realized that the person in the painting was himself.
The person in the painting is very similar to him, but he is more handsome and more precious, with a gentle smile in the corners of his eyebrows and eyes. The facial features and stature may be different because of the portrait, but the expression and charm are all exquisite and vivid, like a mirror cut out and spread on paper, and his photo is spread there.
Xie Ying looked at the characters in the painting for a long time, then moved his eyes to the inscription, and saw the words "On the thirteenth day of the twelfth lunar month in the Renyin year of Chenghua, Cui Xie painted in Ju'anzhai", and a small seal of Zhu Qiao was engraved on the bottom. "Cui Xie's seal" four characters.
Sure enough, it was drawn by the little boy himself. But they had only met twice in half a year, and each time they parted in a hurry, how could Cui Xie remember him so clearly
Is it a natural unforgettable memory, or is it just a particularly strong impression of him
Xie Ying held up the scroll and took a closer look, but the guards in fresh clothes and angry horses in the painting, and the pavilions and streets in the background that were half-obscured by clouds and mist were not in sight. His eyes seemed to fall on the face of the young man he met in Tongzhou five months ago through the painting, and he re-framed in his mind those bright eyes that were as bright as the morning sun, and a handsome face with some childishness.
Boys and girls are also considered to be second-class good faces in the science field. It's just that he is still young, and I don't know what he will look like when he enters Beijing in the future.
He closed his eyes, called Xie Shan, the long attendant who had been staying at home, told him to take a look at the portrait, and asked, "Is this the character on Cui Meiren's paper?"
Xie Shan stood there for a while, and didn't recover until he scrolled the picture. After sobering up, he said, "Where can you find it! How can such a painting be compared with the paper sold outside! In such a comparison, Cui Meiren is at most his sister, not comparable to his methods!"
His sister is in the capital, she is just an ordinary woman, where can she make any kind of paper.
Xie Ying lazily listened to his nonsense, and instead asked, "Have you tried the wine recipe given by Cui Gongzi?"
Xie Shan replied: "Not yet. That recipe was ordered by the master, and the master has to keep an eye on the little ones. Seeing that there is still one last steaming and brewing, it will take a new year at the earliest. If you brew for a while, you will get February. Sir, do you want to pay back the gift of the commander Wang? We still have a few jars of good soju from the south in the cellar, do you want to pack a cart for them?"
Xie Ying said indifferently: "His family's etiquette is just as it is, and you don't need to ask me. After the new year, you can go to Qian'an for me and bring something to Young Master Cui."
Xie Shan responded and asked, "But also shochu? Or give something affordable, not a small talker. Looking at this gift box and stuff, it's unlikely that Mr. Cui can afford to live."
Xie Ying shook his head and said with a smile: "You are making a lot of noise. Don't give away the soju. He is still young, so he can't eat any wine. You can only take a few jars of real Nanyang wine, two big red silk, and then go. The kitchen wants a few kinds of ham, salted meat, chicken and goose from the south…”
However, what Cui Xie gave him was home-made calligraphy, painting and paper, and he only returned some mundane things without showing his intentions. He looked down at the portrait, and suddenly remembered that the white inside was too hard, too floating, and not shiny enough, so he said, "He is a painter, and he needs some good paint. You can buy some mica in the market... No, buy a few kilograms of all kinds of paints and send them along with five strands of white silk."
Xie Shan bowed his head and complimented, "Young Master Cui's painting skills are really rare. If the emperor sees it, he can be a deputy envoy in Wensi Academy!"
Xie Ying shook his head: "What kind of reputation do you have for being an official? He is a talented person who can be ranked first in the imperial examination, so he doesn't have to be a painter. Don't say such things when you are outside, and these paintings and calligraphy are also stored in the study for me. , store it securely."
Xie Shan responded, carefully put away the box, and went out to prepare the gift to be sent.
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After the prince came to Beijing, Cui Xie also called the buddy to go to Beijing. Although he didn't want to give gifts to the Cui family's parents, he also had to give something to his grandparents who raised and cared for him, to let the old people know that he still misses them.
It's a pity that he didn't have time to print any serious books in his shop, and it's too late now. He bought two very finely printed "Diamond Sutras", and used the brushwork of a comic strip to draw the Guanyin Bodhisattva, which is based on Mr. Zuo Dapin from the TV series "Journey to the West", and had them re-bound and sent to the temple. Offered 12 taels of sesame oil, asked the eminent monk to add the names of the two old men on the scriptures and made offerings in front of the Buddha.
Only these two thoughtful gifts, plus some local nuts such as hazel, chestnuts, walnuts, a few baskets of water red pears that have been stored since the beginning of autumn, and some game sold by mountain people, can also be regarded as a generous gift. .
Cui Yuan also persuaded him to prepare something for his father and Mrs. Xu separately - even small things such as pen and ink, ornaments, etc., people can't go wrong.
After thinking about the current social atmosphere, Cui Xie had no choice but to choose a set of Four Treasures of the Study for Cui Langzhong, a fake black silver ornament made of white copper for Mrs. Xu, and wiped off all the food that was to be sent before.
Cui Yuan looked at the four gifts alone, and couldn't help but persuaded: "It's not good to take it back like this, even if you add more, young master? Everyone at home knows that we have a bookstore..."
Cui Xie interrupted him and asked, "When I was at home, how did I go about the New Year's Eve?"
Cui Yuan gave him a puzzled look, but still said in detail: "That is to send some small things from Taocheng outside, the old lady, the old lady and the master, the lady, the second young master, the third young master and the second girl each one. , and the Xu family's young masters and cousins can also get some. The elders will naturally give them red seals, and the young masters and girls will naturally give you."
Cui Xie sneered in a low voice: "Look, in the past years, the family still gave me monthly bills and New Year's money, so naturally I have come and go. I am not at home this year, and Family Connect is like there is no such person in the family, I can think that they are already After the ceremony, can you still squeeze out the money from the bookstore and give it to them all?"
He meant it, and added a knife of white paper to the younger brother, and the younger sister packed two taels of silver and handed it over to the buddy.
The guy didn't bother to make a trip for such a thing, and even when the Cui family was hurt by the disaster, he didn't want to see the cold face of his servants, and he looked a little embarrassed.
But Cui Xie told him to close the door, beckoned him to come over, and said in his ear, "In addition to sending things to my grandparents, I want you to go to Tongzhou. I am in Tongzhou. Mengzhizhou adults and a master Liu took care of them, and they still lived in the inn in the west of the city for many days. You can send some paper and "Lianfanglu" to each of these families for me. Thank them for taking care of them in the past. It’s also a good idea to use their connections to stand in Tongzhou and slowly bring our business to Beijing.”
The guy was refreshed, got up and replied: "I can handle this matter, and I will live up to the master's entrustment!"
Although by the end of the year, their paper and books were selling better and better, but Cui Xie had already made up his mind to give gifts, and since the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, he had saved a dozen or twenty sets a day. Now the family has saved more than 200 sets, enough to give to the benefactors in Tongzhou.
That Fu Zhizhou was a proud person and might not be willing to accept his gifts, but Master Liu should still be willing to associate with him. What he wanted to make even more of was Master Liu—in the future, when there is a year for scientific examinations, he could just ask Master Liu to be the editor-in-chief and help them produce a collection of ink and ink from that year.
With books, paintings and local specialties, the guy made a trip to the capital full of passion, and came back in time for Niangener. When I left, it was full of gifts, and when I came back, it was also full of gifts. Yan Yuanwai and Master Liu of the Tongzhou Inn gave many special products, expressing their willingness to help them set up a line, so that Zhirong Study could open a branch in Tongzhou, or sell them on behalf of them. .
Fu Zhizhou refused to accept the ceremony, and gave him a couplet to encourage learning as usual, writing: "Rich and noble are impermanent, the boy should not forget the poor and the humble; the sages can be learned, but the sages can read poetry and books."
The guy looked a little embarrassed when he took out this gift, but Cui Xie was very used to his cold and hard style, and sighed: "Fu Zhizhou is really a gentleman. Put this couplet on the hall, I have to look at it every day in the future, lest After earning a little money, I become distracted and don’t study hard.”
Everyone remembered how hard he was studying all day long without touching the bed, and they didn't know how diligent he wanted to be. Peng Yan follows him every day, and he knows best what his life is like, so he can't bear to persuade him: "It's okay for the big brother to rest for two days. Isn't there four hundred and thirty-three days before the county exam?"
... How did this child talk, is this called persuading people to rest? Hearing the number of days, they all want to send the owner to the study to study!
The author has something to say: wealth and honor are impermanent, the boy should not forget the poor and the humble; the sages can learn, but the sages can read poetry and books
It is a couplet hung in Jiang Shiquan's hall in the Qing Dynasty. The original text is: "Rich and noble are impermanent, you boy should not forget the poor and humble; the sages can be learned, but I only read poetry and books."