The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 90 Style
"Oh." The old farmer said with a look of understanding, "Since His Royal Highness Prince Shou came to Qiuci, he has investigated corruption and redressed wrongful convictions. Even..." The old farmer lowered his voice, "Even the former general Gai Jiayun was imprisoned by His Royal Highness Prince Shou. Before His Royal Highness Prince Shou came, families with extra money had to hide their money, and families with beautiful wives and daughters had to hide their money. Now..."

Upon hearing this, Meng Haoran and the other two looked at each other.

They had heard about Li Ying's story before, but they had never experienced it personally and did not know that Li Ying's behavior had such a great impact.

Wang Zhihuan said to Cen Shen: "Now you know that His Royal Highness Prince Shou really loves the people like his own children."

Then he pointed at the door that Cen Shen had kicked just now and said, "Fix it well, otherwise you may have a hard time explaining it to His Highness."

Cen Shen sighed and said, "This is also my brother's fault. Why did you run away in such a hurry without saying anything? Apart from military intelligence, what else could be so urgent?"

"The fleeting meaning of a second." Wang Zhihuan replied, "We are all scholars. You should know how important the sudden meaning of a second is to us."

"Okay." Cen Shen had no choice but to go and repair the door.

Wang Zhihuan asked the old farmer about plowing, while Meng Haoran, who was standing beside him, was thinking about something in silence.

The three of them worked and thought like this until late at night. When Wang Zhihuan finished the painting and Cen Shen repaired the door, they left together.

At this time, the moon was high in the sky, and there was still a hint of chill in the late night spring breeze.

Wang Zhihuan and the other two were walking on the deserted street.

Cen Shen suddenly said, "We have finished the painting, and now it is a beautiful night outside the Great Wall. Why don't we take advantage of the moonlight to enjoy the scenery outside the Great Wall?"

"Okay." Wang Zhihuan nodded and asked, "Can you bring some wine?"

"I brought it." Meng Haoran replied, "But aren't you afraid that drinking will delay tomorrow's work?"

Wang Zhihuan heard this and said with a smile: "Brother Meng is not worldly and has a noble character. I thought Brother Meng would not stay in this officialdom for a few days, but I didn't expect Brother Meng to start worrying about official affairs."

Meng Haoran said: "If I want to flatter the superiors and engage in intrigue, I really can't do it for a few days, but if I can really do something for the people, why should I be afraid of death?"

"Dafu has nothing but praise for His Royal Highness Prince Shou, otherwise I would not have come here." Wang Zhihuan smiled, "I have been running around seeking a job, and I have also resigned and returned to my hometown. What I wanted was to be able to display my talents and do things for the people. Now that my wish has been granted, it is time to rise up."

When Cen Shen heard the two men sighing, he said, "Forgive me for speaking frankly, but you two brothers have sighed too much. In this situation, we should just climb to a high place, look far into the distance, drink wine and write poetry."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhihuan and Meng Haoran glanced at Cen Shen at the same time, shook their heads and smiled, saying, "Listen to my brother."

The three of them climbed up to a high place and drank.

Cen Shen said: "The music of foreign lands makes me sad. There is no need to play the Qiang flute or the Hujia. I sit and watch the moon over the mountains tonight, thinking of killing the knights wandering in the border town."

What Cen Shen recited was a poem about the frontier written by Meng Haoran last year, entitled "Liangzhou Ci".

Meng Haoran smiled after listening to it, and recited another poem "Liangzhou Ci" written by Wang Zhihuan a few years ago: "The Chanyu looked northward at the clouds, slaughtered horses and offered sacrifices on the altar several times. The emperor of the Han Dynasty is now so powerful that he refuses to marry and return."

Next, Wang Zhihuan should have read Cen Shen's poem, but Cen Shen was young, so Wang Zhihuan wanted to tease him and said to him, "We three hit it off right away. Reciting old poems is good, but it seems that we don't have talent. My brother is well-versed in classics and has great talent. Why don't you recite one?"

"Okay!" Cen Shen took a sip of wine, pondered for a moment, and said, "Drinking wine and facing the spring grass, playing the sword and listening to the night bell, now I will return to Qiuci, hanging the horn bow on the wall..."

Cen Shen drank and recited poems, and laughed out loud while reciting.

Wang Zhihuan and Meng Haoran felt something and started laughing too.

……

……

...the next day.

Li Heng had just finished his breakfast when Wang Zhihuan and the other two came to his government office together.

However, in addition to Wang Zhihuan and the other three, Li Siye also followed.

But Li Siye kept yawning and didn't look very well.

Li Heng saw Li Siye's appearance and asked, "General Li, did you not sleep well last night?"

Li Siye glanced at Wang Zhihuan and the other two and said, "Your Highness, you may not know that last night, after midnight, I suddenly heard howling coming from the mountain. I thought it was an invasion by foreign enemies, so I took my sword and went there. I didn't expect that when I got there, I found that they were the three of them reciting poems. I wanted to arrest them, but I remembered that they were officials appointed by Your Highness, and Your Highness had taught me to read more books, so I wanted to hear what they were reciting."

Hearing this, Li Heng couldn't help but smile and said, "You listened to it all night?"

"No." Li Siye shook his head. "I heard it was almost dawn, and I fell asleep out of boredom."

Li Heng nodded and looked at Wang Zhihuan and the other two.

Wang Zhihuan saw Li Ying's eyes and quickly took out the blueprint from his arms, presented it to Li Ying with both hands, and said, "Your Highness, the blueprint has been drawn. Last night, the three of us finished drawing the blueprint. We were so excited that we wanted to express our feelings. The three of us have admitted our mistakes. Please punish us, Your Highness."

Li Heng took the blueprint and looked at it carefully. The picture in front of him slowly overlapped with the vague picture in his mind. Li Heng was sure that this was the complete style of the curved plow.

"Very good." Li Heng smiled and said, "You have completed the blueprints ahead of time. There is nothing wrong with expressing your feelings appropriately. Just give the soldiers a heads-up in advance in the future."

Wang Zhihuan and the other two said in unison: "Thank you, Your Highness."

Li Siye, who was standing by, came up and asked curiously, "Your Highness, what is this?"

"Take a look." Li Heng handed the drawing to Li Siye.

Li Siye took it and looked at it for a long time, but couldn't understand it.

At this time, Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun came to see Li Heng. Li Siye quickly handed the blueprint to Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun and said, "Generals, what are the differences between these plows?"

Gao Xianzhi took it and looked at it for a moment. He immediately found the beauty of it and asked, "Your Highness, who painted this?"

Without waiting for Li Heng to answer, Wang Zhihuan said, "The painting was drawn by three of us, but we were just the pens. The conception was all your Highness's idea."

Wang Zhihuan's words were not simply to flatter Li Heng. He sincerely believed that Li Heng already knew the skill and was just testing them.

Hearing this, Gao Xianzhi exclaimed, "So Your Highness has this kind of knowledge."

They had come to this point, and Li Heng didn't know what to say, so he just said, "I just thought about it occasionally. By the way, General Wang, you guys haven't slept all night, go and rest for a while, then give this drawing to the craftsmen and have them make a prototype."

"Yes." Wang Zhihuan and the other two accepted the order and retreated first.

After the three of them walked away, Gao Xianzhi stepped forward and asked, "Your Highness, have you ever thought about weapons?"

"Yes, there are some." Li Heng smiled slightly, not allowing Gao Xianzhi to ask the next question, "But first, we need to talk about why the two generals want to see me."

"Yes." Gao Xianzhi bowed to Li Heng and told An Sishun his suggestions on the layout of beacon garrisons and the establishment of military farms at beacon garrisons.

Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun, who had been in Anxi for a long time, understood these specific matters better than Li Heng. Li Heng asked about some details and found no problem, so he agreed to their proposal.

(End of this chapter)