When a guest sends a greeting note, the host must send a reply note whether he wants to pick up the guest or not.
If you don't accept guests, you should clearly explain the reason for doing so to the guests. After all, they sent you a greeting letter solemnly. If you can't receive guests, you have to reply to the letter and apologize.
If you are picking up guests, you must set a time for reception. The act of sending greetings may seem like taking off your pants and farting, but in fact it is a sign of respect from the guest to the host. A sudden visit can easily disturb the host.
Zhang Wenguan's greeting note stated that he came to visit because he had important matters in the court and wanted to discuss them together. As for Hao Chujun, he only said that he was here to discuss knowledge, which seemed like an excuse.
"Discuss important matters between the DPRK and China?"
Li Xian was puzzled by this sentence while stuffing his mouth with a dinner that was low in salt and taste.
Logically speaking, he is only a prince or a vassal king. How can he discuss important matters in the court with his servants?
At Zhang Wenguan's level, he can still reach the height of the adjective "important matter". It is definitely not a trivial matter, and it may be a major event at the level of an emperor.
Can a major matter of this level be discussed in private? Even if it's anxious, I'm afraid it should be sent to the palace and left to the emperor to make a decision!
Putting down the greeting card, Li Xian looked at Li Yun who was guarding the door and asked: "Li Yun, what do you think of this matter? Tell me the truth."
Li Xian had no intention of abiding by the ancient maxim of eating without talking when sleeping.
Li Yun was used to King Yong's unruly behavior from time to time, so he simply ignored it and replied: "Go back to your highness, I'll take a look at the slaves. Maybe they were ordered by your majesty to come to test you."
Although there were already speculations, hearing it from Li Yun's mouth still confirmed the answer.
This is the only reason. Otherwise, given their status, Zhang Wenguan and Hao Chujun would never be so interested in this prince. With their high position and power, they cannot easily speculate. Once they make a choice, success is fine, but failure will only lead to an instant fall into the abyss.
The food of Tang Dynasty is really unflattering. Moreover, Li Xian, who was used to eating less dinner, really couldn't eat when faced with so much dinner.
But since the leftover rice will be distributed and eaten by the servants and will not be wasted, Li Xian doesn't care.
I simply put down my chopsticks, stood up, walked behind the desk, sat down cross-legged, and started writing my reply.
"Shizhong Zhang, please give me your regards..."
After writing a few words, Li Xian tore the letter into pieces with a wry smile and threw it into the brazier.
The powerful habits brought by later generations cannot be affected by the memory of Prince Zhang Huai. When he picks up the pen to write, he naturally writes from left to right and horizontally. Even the characters he writes are in simplified Chinese.
Fortunately, in his previous life, he liked calligraphy with calligraphy and even learned regular script. He just didn't know if it would look good if he wrote like people from the Tang Dynasty.
The shape of the characters, the human face.
In this era where long-distance communication is basically trustworthy, how well one writes is a person's face.
The majestic King Yong, it would be embarrassing if his handwriting was a mess.
But fortunately, the previous accumulation is useful. Although there were no squares and only blank paper, Li Xian still wrote a reply.
Seeing that King Yong had finished writing an article, Li Yun came over, carefully took the reply aside, used a rag to absorb the excess ink on the paper, and waited carefully for it to dry.
After writing another reply to Hao Chujun, Li Xiancai remembered a very serious matter and couldn't help but ask Li Yun: "Li Yun, my king's ceremonial stick is still in Mei County and I haven't brought it back. What do you think of these two things?" Isn’t it very rude if I don’t use my ceremonial staff when someone comes to visit me?”
The ceremonial staff is also the face of a noble. When there is a formal trip or when welcoming important guests, the ceremonial staff must be used.
Li Yun thought for a while, shook his head and said: "The staff of ceremony has always been mutual. They are also foreign ministers after all. Although they hold high positions, they do not have titles. You are different. You are a prince, and it is worthy of you to use the staff of ceremony. Yes, only those with high moral character and high esteem, who started out as Dukes of the country, can do it.
In my opinion, if you use your ceremonial staff, the attendants and ministers may run away instead. If you want to show respect to both of them, just open the front door and greet each other at the front door. "
Li Xian nodded, handed the reply letter to Li Yun, and ordered him to send someone to deliver it.
Opening the main door and greeting guests at the gate are also methods. Only the head of the family could walk through the main entrance of the mansion, while the guards and other family members could only use the side entrance. As for the servants, they can only go through the back door. When you meet someone of similar or higher status, opening the front door to greet them is also a sign of respect.
Thinking of this, Li Xian couldn't help but rub his temples.
This is not a good thing in ancient times. When it comes to face-saving work, everyone from the emperor to ordinary officials will have a headache because of this. The difference between the two may be that ordinary officials and nobles have to deal with the headache themselves, but the emperor has an entire Ministry of Rites to help him with the headache.
However, being a prince also has many advantages. One of them is that you don't need to do things yourself, you just need to give instructions. For example, there were cotton beddings and buckwheat pillows on the bed at this time. He just explained clearly how to make them, and Li Yong took the order and left, and delivered the finished products in one afternoon.
Lying under the quilt, Li Xiancai finally breathed a sigh of relief.
In this era, fur quilts were still something only nobles could enjoy. However, Li Xian, who was accustomed to down quilts, always felt overwhelmed in the middle of the night.
Duck down is a bit difficult to collect, but cotton is different. Cotton was a high-end product in the Tang Dynasty, and ordinary people could not afford it. Du Fu, a master of pretending to be poor, once said, "The quilt has been as cold as iron for many years."
Whether Du Fu pretended to be poor is a matter for historians to verify, but there is no doubt that this guy is also one of the people who cannot afford cotton.
Of course, this category of people who cannot afford it naturally does not include the prince.
Lying in a warm and comfortable quilt, Li Xian tossed and turned and couldn't sleep, even though he had endured inhumane torture during the day and was exhausted both physically and mentally.
No mobile phone!
I'm used to watching short videos before going to bed, browsing Bilibili, or going to the omnipotent Baidu to search for words about things I don't understand. But now, as soon as I disconnect, I suddenly feel that something is missing in my life.
Even if you can't sleep, you have to force yourself to fall asleep, because you can't sleep until the sun is shining tomorrow. According to Li Yun's requirements, martial arts practitioners must dance to the sound of a chicken.
With no other choice, Li Yun could only recite the ancient poems he had memorized again.
These are all good things to learn from. How can people who have traveled through time survive in this era without a few poems?
