Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 79 Shattering all dreams

Chen Qingsi was digesting the news he got from King Luo Bin.

Xu Zimu also sent his own assist and said: "My father also admired Magistrate Ji very much before and praised his courage and talent in the letters. All the servants sent by the imperial court were assigned to Magistrate Ji. Of course, after County Magistrate Chen took office, my fickle father began to praise Magistrate Chen instead."

As he spoke, he laughed, and then said: "This time my father learned that I was here to visit County Magistrate Chen, and he asked a certain person to listen in and test whether Magistrate Chen had any new works coming out. He is very interested in the magistrate's masterpieces. My love for it is not inferior to that of Brother Guangguang, especially the song "Dapeng" which I couldn't put down, and I wrote many copies of it at home."

After he finished speaking, there was some expectation in his eyes.

King Luo Bin's eyes were even brighter.

Chen Qingsi's poetic talent is unparalleled, but there are too few works. There are only two excellent works, which will be choked by those who don't like it enough.

Chen Qingsi had a very good impression of Xu Yushi. In addition to the fact that he took good care of her, another reason was that he married his granddaughter to Li Bai, who was Li Bai's grandfather.

Li Bai was a prodigal son who was still unmarried at the age of 27.Xu Yushi loved Li Bai's poems and his talent, so he asked Meng Haoran to be a matchmaker and married his granddaughter to Li Bai, becoming his first wife.

This old guy has historically been very fond of Li Bai's poems. How about borrowing them?
Such an idea flashed through my mind, but I quickly rejected it.

Master Xu Yu had to cry about being poor. Although Li Bai's official career was not smooth in his life, he was never very poor.His poems are all powerful and inconsistent with his own ideas.

Why not?

He sighed slightly and said: "When spring plowing came, I saw the gaunt body of an elderly farmer in the village, with his face facing the loess and his back to the sky. I had an idea for a moment, and indeed I stumbled upon a poem."

His eyes were deep, and he said with a bit of compassion: "It's noon on the day of hoeing, and the sweat is dripping from the soil. Who knows that every grain of food on the plate is hard work."

Anyway, I’ve already played one song by Li Shen, so I’ll just play another one too, so as not to get stuck.

When Xu Zimu heard the song "Compassion for the Farmers", he was stunned for a moment, and then he couldn't help laughing.

His father complained more than once that Magistrate Chen was good at everything but loved to complain and cry about poverty. This poem seemed to have the meaning of crying about poverty. He was looking forward to his father's expression when he received this poem.

King Luo Bin thought about each word word by word, his eyes shining brightly.

This poem is too simple and straightforward, but it is these straightforward and simple words that have the greatest impact on people.

Especially the poets of this era like to show off their skills. They use gorgeous and profound rhetoric to pile up fake and empty palace poems, which are flashy and unreal.

On the contrary, the two articles "Compassion for the Farmers" both use the simplest words to express their inner thoughts: the previous article used the saying that there is no idle land in the world, and farmers are starving to death to expose the reality of Jiangnan. Sweat is connected with grains of food, and vivid images and reality are used to expose problems and explain truths.

The difference cannot be calculated based on reason.

King Luo Bin thought to himself: Sir, he talks lightly, but he has actually challenged that rotten thing in the best possible way. How can I, a general who charges into battle, be behind Sir?
His fiery eyes were full of the intention to cause trouble.

Chen Qingsi felt a chill down her spine inexplicably.The three accepted Chen Qingsi's invitation and expressed their willingness to stay in Qingxi County for a few more days.

King Luo Bin was very reluctant to say goodbye, but he also knew that as the head of a county, Chen Qingsi had a heavy responsibility and could not be too nagging, so he said goodbye with great reluctance.

After Chen Qingsi sent King Luo Bin, Xu Zimu, and Fu Jiamo away, he immediately called Jiang Chen: "Ji Wen of Tonglu County was favored by Xu Governor, and the labor arrangements assigned by the imperial court to Muzhou were transferred to Tonglu County. You go and find out. Come on, what did Ji Wen ask these laborers to do? This matter must be carried out in secret and no publicity is allowed."

Jiang Chen didn't know about Ji Wen's evil deeds yet, but he acted steadily and took orders without saying a word.

A trace of joy flashed in Chen Qingsi's eyes and she asked: "Ti Gan, God has been kind to us. A huge opportunity is right in front of us, but we almost missed it."

Shi Wuzi looked puzzled.

Chen Qingsi carefully gave Shi Wuzi some guidance and said patiently: "Any news has a meaning behind it. Many things are hidden in the smallest details. It depends on whether you can discover it."

Shi Wuzi hurriedly bowed: "Student is stupid, please teach me sir."

Chen Qingsi said: "Queen Wu came from a humble background, as everyone knows. Your Majesty put a lot of effort into helping her ascend to the throne. This Queen Wu is an extremely remarkable person. Even people like Luo Guanguang praised her for her motherly demeanor. The wind in the world is far better than that of the deposed Wang family. After His Majesty ascended the throne, natural disasters continued. He has always praised frugality, but the deposed Wang family did not cooperate. The most favored Xiao family was also used to a luxurious life, and it did not have the effect of uplift and deed. . Today’s emperors and empresses both admire frugality and even reject the silk and satin tribute from Jiangnan. It can be seen that in the future, frugality will be promoted in the temples.”

"What goes up must have consequences. If the emperor's officials are like this, the dignitaries in the capital will also follow suit, thus affecting the silk industry in Jiangnan, especially Su embroidery."

A flash of enlightenment flashed in Shi Wuzi's eyes. He had seen this situation before. Su embroidery was so popular in the capital that even the gentry in their prefectures and counties also liked to wear it.This Suzhou embroidery is one of the best embroideries in the world. It is so expensive that even though the squire's family cannot afford it, they still want to buy it to show their dignity.

As long as this trend does not exist, the real gentry may not care, but those who are not wealthy country gentry will definitely not buy it.

Without the meaning of showing off, the gentry will stop doing so.

"The sales volume of Su embroidery has dropped sharply, and some businessmen who specialize in high-quality silk and satin will find other ways to make money. Our Qingxi County has the advantage of tax exemption, abundant water resources, and convenient transportation. Together with Tonglu County, we are also working hard to develop the sericulture industry. Jiaxing and Hangzhou, the hometowns of silk, are very close to us. We can definitely take the opportunity to invite them to build weaving and dyeing workshops in our county to produce silk and cloth."

"Before the emperors and empresses praised frugality, they looked down on petty profits, but that may not be the case now..."

Shi Wuzi was stunned when he heard this. Even now he can't imagine how he could get such news in just a simple meeting.

Chen Qingsi narrowed his eyes and smiled: "If this happens, there is another advantage. Ji Wen is developing sericulture in Tonglu County, and we will build weaving and dyeing workshops in Qingxi County, so that they can be directly controlled by us. I don't disdain to be like him. He must be dealt with in an upright and dignified way before he uses his sinister tricks."

These words are naturally beautiful words to say to Shi Wuzi.

Ji Wen was left out in Chang'an for 20 years, and he came to Muzhou with a lot of desire. If he didn't completely crush all his dreams, he would be sorry for his vicious methods.

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(End of this chapter)