The chat between Zhang Yue and Zhang Cai seemed like they had met a close friend, and they had the same feeling as if they had fallen into the world at the same time.
Zhang Yue is from a sparse clan and Zhang Cai is a commoner. It is inevitable that they have many things in common.
This theory of sparse tribes is actually inconclusive. For example, Zhang Yue and Zhang Heng are both descendants of Zhang Zijun.
As for Zhang Heng, he is from the lineage of Zhang Rensong, the fourth son of Zhang Zijun, who served as the Chancellor of the Southern Tang Dynasty. He had four sons, Wen Song, Wentong, Shi Lian, and Shi Qing.
Zhang Heng is from the lineage of the eldest son Zhang Wenchang, and Zhang Dexiang is from the lineage of the third son Zhang Shilian.
Zhang Heng originally settled in Zhejiang to study, and only came to study in the past two years.
Zhang Dexiang and Zhang Heng were of the same lineage. Because Zhang Dexiang worshiped the prime minister, the imperial court granted him the title of three generations, and appointed his descendants as officials, so this lineage became a prominent clan.
This is the benefit of having a prime minister in the family. Otherwise, officials will become inferior to each other and gradually become common people.
As for Zhang Yue, Zhang Zijun's other son served as minister of the Ministry of Industry of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and his fifth son Zhang Renche was in this line. Zhang Renche had seven sons, and even more were scattered down below.
However, this subject also produced numerous Jinshi, including Zhang Di, Zhang Ping, Zhang Fang, and Zhang Yu Kejia Lianjie. Zhang Fang's son Zhang Kai was also appointed as a general without taking the imperial examination because of the official status of his uncle Zhang Dexiang. Main book...
The relationship between clans is also very metaphysical. If you are an official, I will be an official, and we will be related for eight lifetimes. On the contrary, even brothers will dislike it.
When Zhang Yue and Zhang Cai were sitting side by side in front of the short lacquer table, talking side by side, they heard Jie Yuan Lin Xi look at the large seal script calligraphy in the hall and read: "Taoist, the mother of heaven and earth! What a good post!"
The professor twisted his beard and smiled.
Lin Xidao: "I heard that after Li Si in the Qin Dynasty, there was only one Li Yangbing in the Tang Dynasty in seal script; after Li Yangbing, there was only one Xu Xuan. Mr. Boyi studied under Mr. Xu, just like his son You, Zixia."
The professor smiled and said, "There are too many hearsays. My uncle Zhang Gu taught me the art in seal script under Mr. Xiao Xu, and he passed it on in seal script. My uncle from my later clan passed this method on to me."
The above bunch of names are a bit confusing.
The Mr. Xu mentioned above is Xu Kai, the younger brother of Xu Xuan. The two were extremely talented in the Southern Tang Dynasty and were called Jiangdong Erxu.
Xu Xuan, the great Mr. Xu, is of course more famous. Xu Xuan served as an official for three generations of Southern Tang Dynasty rulers with his talents, and went to the Song Dynasty many times to meet Zhao Kuangyin to beg for mercy for Empress Li.
According to historical records, Zhao Kuangyin sent troops to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty. Xu Xuan said to Zhao Kuangyin that the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty treated the Emperor of the Song Dynasty like a son serving his father. He had never done anything wrong. Why did he hit me?
Zhao Kuangyin said, have you ever heard of father and son living in two separate houses?
Once, Xu Xuan begged Zhao Kuangyin again, saying that we Li and Tang Dynasties are so submissive, and you, the Song Dynasty, cannot beat me.
After hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin was furious and drew his sword to kill the case. What crime did the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty have? Zhao Kuangyin said a classic saying below, but this is the world of one surname. How can we allow others to sleep peacefully on the side of the bed?
The Southern Tang Dynasty destroyed the country, and Empress Li was captured to Bianjing. Emperor Taizong Zhao Kuangyi sent Xu Xuan to visit Empress Li. Empress Li cried to him that I killed Pan You and Li Ping by mistake, and I regretted it endlessly.
Xu Xuan conveyed this sentence to Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. According to historical records, Empress Li was killed because of this sentence.
No matter what, Xu Xuan moved the world with his literary talent.
Xu Xuan was sent as an envoy to the Song Dynasty for the first time. Everyone in the Song Dynasty had heard of this talent. The ministers in the court were worried that their eloquence was not as good as Xu Xuan's and they were timid and did not dare to deal with it. Zhao Kuangyin angrily said to you cowards, I have a solution. So Zhao Kuangyin found an illiterate person to accompany him. At first, Xu Xuan's poems were as sharp as the clouds, and all the Song Dynasty officials were astonished. However, the people accompanying him nodded no matter what Xu Xuan said.
As a result, Xu Xuan talked to himself and was defeated due to dry mouth and tongue.
As for Zhang Gu, he studied with Xu Xuan and Xu Kai successively, and learned everything he could from him, including the seal script that Xu Xuan was most proud of. Zhang Gu passed the imperial examination in the second year of Kaibao's reign and ranked first in the imperial examination of the Southern Tang Dynasty, that is, the number one scholar.
However, the Southern Tang Dynasty fell in the ninth year of Kaibao, and Xu Kai died of fear when the Song army besieged Jinling the previous year. After the fall of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Zhang Gu refused to serve in the Song Dynasty because he was "deeply favored by the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty". He helped his teacher Xu Kai's coffin to return to his hometown for burial and lived in seclusion.
As for the professor, he studied in Zhanggu. Because the teacher hated the Song Dynasty, he had no intention of taking the imperial examination and becoming an official.
I heard that when Zhang Dexiang became prime minister, he had planned to serve as Professor Yu, but he declined.
During the reign of Huangyou, even the current official Song Renzong heard about the reputation of the professor from his close ministers, and ordered him to go to Beijing to serve as an official. The professor also refused to go away because he was ill.
Later, when the imperial court wanted to engrave stone scriptures, they had to use seal script, so the professor was called to Beijing again. After the professor resigned and was not allowed to go to Beijing to carve a stone scripture, the imperial court wanted to grant the professor the post of general supervisor for the third time, but still declined.
There are scholars like Xu Xuan and others like Zhang Gu. There is also the professor, who is not a relic of the Southern Tang Dynasty, not to mention that the Southern Tang Dynasty has been dead for a long time. He has no hatred for the destruction of the Song Dynasty, but he was ordered by the teacher to refuse the imperial edict three times and refuse to serve.
But the professor is not a stubborn person. He has taught the Zhang family's disciples the art of tribute examination in Nanfeng Academy for more than ten years.
According to Zhang Yue's knowledge, the stone scripture carved by the professor was called the Jiayou Stone Scripture by later generations, also known as the Two-body Stone Scripture, written in both regular script and seal script.
Carving stone scriptures into scriptures is a cultural event. In order to correct errors in the textual transmission of scripture meanings, the Han Dynasty was the first to carve stone scriptures and use a single font called official script. During the Cao and Wei Dynasties, stone scriptures were also carved in three scripts: ancient Chinese, small seal script, and Han Li, which were called the Three-Body Stone Classics.
In the Song Dynasty, the stone scriptures were carved at Taixue in regular script and small seal script. The small seal script was carved by the professor. The professor's reputation as a calligrapher went down to posterity, and he finally resigned and returned home. He neither betrays his master's inheritance nor his master's destiny.
The professor's name is Youzhi and his courtesy name is Boyi.
Lin Xi complimented him several times, and then said with a tone of regret: "Unexpectedly, after Li Si, after Li Yangbing, the seal script was handed down to the world because of you. I wonder which disciple in the hall got the true inheritance from you?"
Professor Zhang Youzhi smiled and shook his head and said: "Nowadays, seal script is not used for tribute writing. It has long been stopped and will not be passed on anymore."
Lin Xi also said with regret: "What a pity."
Zhang Heng said with a smile: "Sir, brother Zizhong wants to learn seal script, why not teach him."
After listening to Zhang Heng's words, Zhang Yue saw all the students in the hall showing mysterious smiles.
Zhang Yue asked Zhang Cai, "Is there anything fishy?"
Zhang Cai smiled and said, "You'll know just by listening."
Zhang Youzhi said: "Oh, does Jie Yuanlang want to learn seal script? That's really serious. Why should I be so precious about it?"
Lin Xi's face flashed with joy and she said, "Students are all ears."
Zhang Youzhi said: "When you get home, take two large pieces of paper. On one large piece of paper, draw nineteen lines horizontally and vertically, intersecting them to form a Go game. Take another large piece of paper and draw ten layers of circles from the inside to the outside as an arrow target. Every day After practicing, write 30 pieces each, for a total of 60 pieces."
Zhang Yue was confused after hearing this, and couldn't help but thought, Are you kidding me?
The same goes for Lin Xi.
You're fucking kidding me.
Zhang You continued: "All square and circular lines need to be drawn in one stroke, and no repeated strokes are allowed. The thickness of the strokes and the spacing of the strokes are all exactly the same. If you have a little success, you can learn the seal method."
After finishing speaking, Zhang You turned around and said without even looking at Lin Xi, who looked unconvinced: "Bring me two large pieces of paper."
Zhang Heng on the side also seemed to have expected this step, and said in a very amusing manner: "Sir, it has been prepared for a long time."
After saying that, the two students immediately took out two large pieces of paper, each piece of paper was made of four pieces of paper. They were really prepared for this scene. Then two students each held a piece of paving and pasted it on the wall.
Zhang Youzhi didn't say a word, just held the pen and dyed the ink in the air and dropped the paper.
It didn't take long for the chessboard and archery target to be painted.
All the students stepped forward to take a look, and even Zhang Yue took a closer look. They saw that the chessboard and arrow target were indeed as Zhang Youzhi said before. All square and circular lines need to be drawn in one stroke, and the thickness of the strokes and the spacing are dense. They are all perfect, just like what the printer typeset and print out.
Lin Xi looked at these two copybooks repeatedly and couldn't help but sigh. She sighed at how expensive large sheets of paper were, and also that it was a waste of time to spend so much effort honing a technique that was not usually useful.
Lin Xi asked: "How many years will it take to get to this step?"
Zhang Youzhi was very willing to teach and said like a student: "If Lord Jie Yuan achieves this step, it will take ten years. If he only succeeds in three to five years, it will be enough."
Seeing Lin Xi's disappointed look, Zhang Cai smiled on the side, and Zhang Yue also understood. It turned out that they were deliberately using this method to tease Lin Xi. Who told you that you are so famous as Jie Yuanlang?
But as everyone knows, who has the spare time to practice seal script? Nowadays, all imperial examinations use regular script.
Zhang Yue was thinking a little at this moment, and his eyes suddenly flashed.
Lin Xixian had already given up and said: "Sir, I have been taught. I will continue to study here for a while, and then go to Beijing with Ziping to take the exam. During this period, I hope you can give me some guidance."
Zhang Youzhi said: "I am here every day to answer students' questions after the hour. Xie Yuanlang may as well come here when he has time. I will tell you everything I know."
"Thank you sir."
After Lin Xi's visit, Zhang Yue also finished his homework for the day.
Walking out of Zhoujin Hall, Zhang Yue felt that he had gained a lot this day.
After copying the book that day, Zhang Yue and Guo Lin returned home. Zhang Yue stopped reading and went to bed that day.
In his sleep, Zhang Yue came to that space again, and with a thought, two large pieces of white paper immediately appeared in the sky.
This piece of white paper is definitely bigger than what I saw during the day at the Zijin Hall.
Zhang Yue then followed suit and started drawing the chessboard and arrow targets with a pen. As expected, the results were really horrible. The lines are written like tadpoles, while the circles are even more ugly.
Zhang Yue thought to himself that when practicing calligraphy on weekdays, there is a difference between the pen used by the center and the pen used by the side forward.
The so-called chessboard and archery target drawings are all about practicing using the center pen, the chessboard is practicing uprightness, and the archery target is practicing turning. In fact, this technique can also be used when practicing regular script.
Yes, if you practice this basic skill well, it will be of great benefit to both regular script and seal script.
So Zhang Yue made some calculations in his heart.
Today's professor said that you need to write sixty pieces of paper every day, and it will take three to five years to complete it. I have inexhaustible pen, ink and paper here. If I use it for two hours, I can write more than six hundred pages a day, which is nearly ten times faster.
And the most important thing is to practice calligraphy here, so your hands won’t get sore and your pen won’t shake!
Zhang Yue thought of this and started practicing without hesitation.
