Xu Fenglei shook his head.
"no way!"
He flatly refused and said,
"This "Preface to the Lanting Collection" is a national treasure that Your Majesty attaches great importance to. Even I had to talk about it before asking to have a look."
"I haven't even copied and studied yet. How can it be your turn to read it? What if I mess it up with my hands and feet? Go, go, go back to the palace! The Ministry of Industry has nothing to do, right? Do you want me to send you another one? Do you want a mission?"
After saying that, Xu Fenglei turned around and left.
When he turned his head, the two brothers suddenly became anxious.
"Bu Zun! Bu Zun...don't be like this!"
Yan Lide quickly stepped forward and blocked Xu Fenglei's path, and said with a smile,
"Copying and studying... we can definitely do it together! You also know how cautious the two of us are. How could we possibly damage a national treasure?"
"Don't worry! The most we can do is take a look and appreciate it. We will never get close, let alone touch it!"
"Please, give me a chance..."
Yan Liben also had a look of hope in his eyes.
Xu Fenglei crossed his arms.
"Ah……"
He hummed softly,
"If you two use your stubborn energy for work, the various projects of the Ministry of Industry will not advance so slowly."
"I ask you two, when will Chang'an Academy be completed? I don't want an ambiguous answer, I want a precise date!"
Yan Lide looked bitter.
"Minister, you also know that this school is not just a school. It also includes medical school, agricultural college, engineering college, etc. The engineering college covers the largest area and has the largest building area. It has jurisdiction over mathematics, astronomy, geography, water conservancy, etc. , physics institutes, these are what you requested and must be built.”
He said helplessly,
"How can this entire academy complex be completed so easily?"
"Based on the current progress, I will tell you the truth, at the earliest... it will take another 20 months to be completed."
Xu Fenglei's expression changed.
"20 months? No! I can't wait that long!"
He said decisively,
"I'll tell you a number! I'll give you another 12 months! That's one year."
"The construction must be completed before June next year. I plan to start school in September! Three months to recruit students is already very tight. No matter how little it is, it will be impossible!"
Brothers: "???"
"Bu Zun! Isn't this too difficult?"
Yan Liben couldn't help but said,
"The construction period has been cut in half at once. How can this be completed?"
"It can't be done, it can't be done, it really can't be done!"
This request is too outrageous!
"Can't do it? If you can't do it, can't you develop your fighting spirit and work overtime?"
Xu Fenglei sneered and said,
"Now you still have time to copy "The Preface to the Lanting Collection". Obviously you still have a lot of free time, and you still have leisure time to cultivate your sentiments."
"It can be seen that 20 months is a lot of spare time!"
"It's only 12 months. If you can't do it, don't come to my place to enjoy the autumn breeze. Go back!"
These old guys, if you don't force them, they will be able to take care of themselves.
What I value the most is this school project, I must hurry up!
The two brothers looked at each other and saw the helpless look in each other's eyes.
What else can they do if they have such a leader?
"Hey! Since the minister insists on doing this, my subordinates can only do their best to do it..."
Yan Lide sighed softly, cupped his hands and said,
"The worst case scenario is that I will overdraw my body and stay up late every day to catch up on work... I will use up those 8 months."
When Xu Fenglei heard this, his expression softened.
"That's right..."
He patted Yan Lide on the shoulder and said with a smile,
"Sometimes, if you don't push yourself, you won't know how much potential you have."
"I believe that when you see the completed Chang'an Academy in one year's time, you will definitely feel a sense of accomplishment."
Yan Liben; "..."
Yan Lide; "..."
That's nice to say, why don't you push yourself?
He just kept his mouth shut and didn't do anything, leaving all the work to us brothers!
Naturally, these inner complaints cannot be said in person. On the outside, you have to show a respectful look.
This is the fate of being a subordinate!
But Yan Liben handed over his hand again and said:
"Minister, we have gritted our teeth and agreed to your problem. In that case... Then you can always take out the "Preface to the Lanting Collection" and have a look at it with us, right?"
"To be honest, according to your harsh requirements, after I finish reading it today... I will never have the chance again. I will have to devote myself to the project."
He spoke sincerely, and Xu Fenglei nodded.
"Okay, I can show it to you, but I still have one condition -"
Yan Liben's old face fell.
Are there any conditions? It's endless, right?
"You said, you said..." he said weakly.
Anyway, with such a leader in the stall, he would accept his fate even if he was squeezed...
"You two can copy it, my house will provide all the materials."
Xu Fenglei smiled and said,
"But of the works you copied, I will take away the ten best ones."
"In other words, each of you needs to copy ten copies of "The Preface to the Lanting Collection" for me. In this way, I can also collect them and give them to others in the future."
"After all, you two were considered good calligraphers in this world."
For the Yan brothers, engineering is the next best thing, and the most impressive thing is their artistic attainments.
Especially Yan Liben, who is a great painter who will be famous in later generations! The level of calligraphy is also extremely high.
If the "Preface to the Lanting Collection" he copied were placed in later generations, its value would definitely not be low, and it could easily be worth tens of millions or hundreds of millions.
Yan Liben breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.
"That's it?"
He said with a relaxed look,
"For those who practice calligraphy, it's not a big deal if they just copy it hundreds of times. The "Preface to the Lanting Collection" is so short that my subordinates can write dozens of them in one day!"
"When you become proficient in it, you can give the best ten paintings to the minister. There will be no problem at all!"
Yan Lide also nodded.
"Exactly."
He smiled and said,
"My calligraphy skills are not as high as those of my second brother, but they are not bad. If the minister doesn't dislike it, I will give him ten pieces as a gift."
This time, Xu Fenglei's smile finally brightened.
"Okay, okay, you two are very generous! Then I can't be stingy either."
He put his arms around their shoulders and said,
"Let's go, "The Preface to the Lanting Collection" is in my room, let's go watch it together!"
"As long as you read it, you will know how powerful this 'world's best cursive script' is. Even a layman like me thinks the calligraphy is really beautiful!"
"follow me……"
The Yan brothers kept up, and their hearts began to beat faster.
The expectations are already full!
…
That night.
Chang'an Posthouse.
Haomiya Qianhe looked at Inugami Mikazuchi who was kneeling in front of him, his chest rising and falling, and his face looked extremely ugly.
"That's unreasonable!"
boom!
She yelled angrily and slammed the teacup in her hand so hard that it broke into eight pieces!
"Profiteer, profiteer!"
After throwing a tea cup, she was still upset and cursed loudly,
"I just bought it today and it's not moving at all. Why can't I return it? Why not refund it?!"
Bang bang!
She hit the table with her hands to vent her anger.
"It's not that I can't return it, but Hu Shang said that I can only buy it back at the price of six hundred taels of gold..."
Quan Shang San Ri Shu lowered his head and said with an annoyed look on his face,
"He is so treacherous! If he were in Japan, his subordinates would have cut him into pieces! But now..."
He was also furious.
But there was nothing he could do. After all, he was just a Hu businessman who settled in Chang'an and didn't even have a store, so the option of destroying the store didn't exist.
You can't fight, the Chang'an Jinwu Guards are not vegetarians, and they only pursue the "Tang people first" policy, and they don't have a good look towards foreigners.
If the Japanese and the Sogdians fight, the final result must be that both of them will be imprisoned.
"Six hundred taels of gold? Why didn't he grab it? Didn't he keep saying it was worth a thousand taels of gold when he was selling it, and he wouldn't sell it even if it was one tael less?!"
Haogong Qianhe shouted sharply,
"Inugami-kun, where is this profiteer? I will send someone to find him now!"
"If he refuses to retreat, break his legs and bruise his tendons! See if he dares to be cunning under severe torture!"
At this moment, she was already murderous!
"Princess Qianhe, he may not be in Chang'an anymore..."
Quan Shang San Ri Shu said with a bitter face,
"The only thing the Sogdian sold was this bloody horse. Now that the horse has been sold, he will naturally return to the Western Regions."
"When I came down, he was already packing his packages. I guess by now... he has left through the west gate of Chang'an. It will be difficult to find him."
Hu merchants can get out of the customs on their own, but they can't!
They can only travel between Datang and Japan according to fixed routes. They are not allowed to explore other places without court certificates.
Boom!
Haogong Qianhe kicked the table leg and shouted angrily:
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
"What a damn thing!!"
She's going crazy!
I went into debt to buy a horse, but I couldn’t get it as a gift. If I wanted to return it, the other party would only buy it back at a 40% discount. Now he may have run away!
In other words, she worked hard for several days and became penniless. She also added a large amount of debt to herself. Now she still has to worry about whether to stay in Chang'an and pay for food and drink when she returns to Japan. And worry!
Things were messed up to such an extent that she was hysterical and almost going crazy!
"My subordinate messed up, please punish Princess Qianhe!"
Quan Shang San Ri Shu knelt on the ground and whispered in a hoarse voice,
"I just ask Princess Qianhe not to get so angry..."
Boom boom boom!
Haomiya Qianzuru kicked the table leg several more times until blood overflowed from her toes, and then she stopped her crazy venting behavior.
"I'm not angry, I'm not angry..."
She took deep breaths and kept mumbling, forcing herself to calm down.
"I just owe a debt. I can write off this debt when I return to Japan..."
"Although I didn't meet Tang Emperor Li Shimin during this trip to the Tang Dynasty, I searched through all types of books on the Tang Dynasty. I have obtained the crystallization of China's wisdom for thousands of years. I have made a lot of money. I have made a lot of money." earn……"
"Don't be angry, huh, huh—"
Thinking like this, her emotions finally calmed down a little.
But at this moment, there was a knock on the door outside the house.
"Princess Qianhe, pharmacist Hui Ri wants to see you."
"Come in." Chizuru Haomiya carefully separated the shoes from her feet.
The madness and willfulness just now have already tasted the consequences. The nails of the whole big toe are cracked and blood is still oozing from the socks.
Waves of tingling sensations came, making her a little unbearable.
"I've met Princess, I've met Inugami-kun."
Pharmacist Huiri held a letter in her hand and whispered,
"Princess Qianhe, Your Majesty has an urgent letter for you. Please read it personally."
Haogong Qianhe was startled.
"Father?"
She wondered,
"How could he have a message? How did he deliver it?"
From Japan to the Tang Dynasty, it was extremely difficult to come in person, let alone deliver the letter.
It’s simply impossible to do it!
"It's delivered by land."
Medicine master Hui Ri responded,
"The messenger is from Goguryeo. It should have been sent from Liaodong, from Silla to Goguryeo, then to the Tang Dynasty, and finally arrived at Chang'an."
"The content of this letter must be extremely important, otherwise His Majesty would never go to such trouble to deliver the letter."
Haogong Qianhe nodded slightly.
It is indeed possible that it was passed from Goguryeo.
After all, Japan and Silla are still very close, with only a bay separating them, which is much closer than the Tang Dynasty.
But taking the land route requires passing through two countries and making a long circle, which is much more troublesome than the sea route... Is your father really in an emergency?
Wow.
Chizuru Hiromiya opened the letter and only glanced at it before her whole face turned completely gloomy.
"Princess Qianzuru...what's the emergency, Your Majesty?"
When the pharmacist Hui Ri saw this, he felt a sudden change in his heart and asked hurriedly,
"Is there something unexpected happening in the country?"
Uh-huh.
Chizuru Hiromiya threw the letter away.
"What's the emergency!"
She said coldly,
"It's just an old matter brought up again, to arrange a meeting between me and the Prince of Silla."
"My father is really thinking about this marriage. He really wants me to marry the crown prince of Silla and bring about a marriage between the two countries?"
After hearing this, Quan Shang San Ri Shu and pharmacist Hui Ri breathed a sigh of relief.
It’s not just something unexpected happened…
"Princess Qianhe, your Majesty is also thinking about the country."
Quan Shang San Ri Shu cautiously consoled him,
"Japan is an isolated island country overseas, and the only land country adjacent to it is Silla. Over the past century, the two sides have had frequent exchanges, and there have also been a lot of frictions... If we can get married, it will definitely promote the friendship between the two countries and deepen their relations. "
"By then, Japan's national power will also rise. This is a good thing..."
Pharmacist Huiri nodded after reading the letter and said:
"Your Majesty has reached a consensus with the King of Silla and is willing to enter into this marriage... This is indeed a good thing, Princess Qianhe!"
"If you can marry the Crown Prince of Silla, you will be the Crown Princess and the future Queen of Silla!"
The status of a queen cannot be considered low.
However, after hearing these words, Haomiya Qianhe's eyes showed contempt.
"Oh, Silla is just a small country. Its national power is weak and it may be annexed by Baekje and Goguryeo anytime and anywhere. What's so good about it? People in this kind of country, let alone the prince, even the king, are not It’s worthless and I don’t even care!”
She said disdainfully,
"Compared to the Tang Dynasty, the fireflies are compared to the bright moon. The difference is too far!"
(End of chapter)
