Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1209 Epilogue : The Princess Likes This Dowry Very Much

The betrothal gifts must be delivered personally by the prince consort to the east gate of the imperial city on the day before the wedding.

The royal family gave money to the prince consort to buy the betrothal gifts, and then kept them in the royal treasury, which would make it look petty. Therefore, except for the living creatures in the betrothal gifts, the phoenix crown and wedding dress, etc., all other things had to be given away.

First, the civil and military nobles who were named entered the palace one by one to congratulate the princess on her wedding. When they left, they passed by the east gate of the imperial city and took a portion of the betrothal gifts.

Next came the eunuchs and palace maids of high rank in the palace, who also had to take a share of the betrothal gifts.

Until the betrothal gifts are taken away.

In order to avoid the embarrassment of not having enough betrothal gifts, the prince consort himself and his father must send the gift list to the Zongzheng Temple in advance.

According to the gift list provided by the prince consort, the Zongzheng Temple determined the list of nobles, officials, eunuchs, and palace maids who would receive the betrothal gifts, as well as how much each person could take away.

Therefore, it is right for parents to ask their children to buy more gifts, because if the betrothal gifts are too shabby, they will be laughed at on the first day of the wedding.

But Zhu Tangxi and Xie Yan didn't care, and Zhu Tangxi was even too lazy to remind them about it.

"Saint, the Xie family's gift list has been sent to the Zongzheng Temple."

Li Chang, the consort of the Princess of Jin and the Minister of Zongzheng Temple, came forward holding a gift list.

A eunuch took it, walked a few steps forward and handed it to Empress Dowager Ye.

Queen Mother Ye glanced at it briefly, then smiled and said to Zhu Tangxi beside her, "The betrothal gift is quite generous. It seems that the Xie family has put in a lot of money."

Zhu Tangxi said: "I have seen through it a long time ago. No matter how splendid the betrothal gift is, it is not as good as living a good life myself."

"Hey, there is another piano score here, and it is placed after Wedding Dress and Wild Goose." Empress Dowager Ye felt very curious.

Prince Consort Li Chang explained, "That was the Duliu Pu compiled by Prince Consort Xie's grandfather after decades of hard work. It contains three lost ancient pieces, completes seven incomplete pieces, and records twelve of his own piano pieces."

Zhu Tangxi asked curiously, "What ancient songs are there?"

Li Chang said: "I haven't seen the real thing yet, but it is said that it contains Guangling San."

"Guangling San?" Empress Dowager Ye and Zhu Tangxi were both surprised.

Li Chang said: "That's what Prince Consort Xie said. He also said that the book has been given to Yang Linzhi, the Imperial Academy Music Master, for revision."

Zhu Tangxi hurriedly said, "Sister-in-law, quickly call Yang Linzhi!"

"Why are you so impatient?" Empress Dowager Ye said with a smile, "Just now you said that the amount of the betrothal gift didn't matter, why are you so impatient now?"

Zhu Tangxi said in embarrassment: "Oh, it's different. I don't care about yellow and white things, but this is a music score of Guangling San. Liu Lang's family used Guangling San as a betrothal gift. This matter must have spread all over the world. I wonder how many women are envious of it."

Empress Dowager Ye said, "Okay, okay, I'll do as you wish and summon Yang Linzhi immediately."

Yang Linzhi is in the Hanlin Academy at this moment, ready to come at any time.

He probably guessed why the Queen Mother summoned him, so he brought the book "Duliu Pu" with him.

Empress Dowager Ye glanced at it and handed it to the anxious Zhu Tangxi.

"Is the "Guangling San" in the book true or false?" asked Empress Dowager Ye.

Yang Linzhi said: "It can be basically determined that it is the lost "Nie Zheng Assassinating the King of Han". But whether the 'Nie song' is the "Guangling San" has never been determined, but the mainstream believes that the two songs are the same."

"Mainstream?" Empress Dowager Ye didn't understand.

Zhu Tangxi is knowledgeable: "The idea that 'Nie Zheng Assassinates the King of Han' and 'Guangling San' are the same tune with different names has been around since the pre-Song Dynasty. In recent decades, many relevant papers have been published, and the mainstream view is in favor of it. Because both tunes have been lost, no one objects. Even if someone objects, it would be impossible to prove or disprove it if they argue about it."

Yang Linzhi said: "Even if it is not Guangling San, it is a great achievement for Prince Consort Xie's grandfather to have found and completed Nie Zheng's Assassination of the King of Han. Moreover, this piece of music has been completed so seamlessly that you can't tell which part is the original piece and which part is added later."

"Can you mend it like this?" asked Empress Dowager Ye.

Yang Linzhi said: "I may be able to do it, but it won't happen overnight."

Queen Mother Ye was a little curious: "How could such a great man remain anonymous for so many years? He doesn't even have a name."

Yang Linzhi said, "Your Majesty, the grandfather of Prince Xie was also famous in Luoyang. Mr. Xie lived in Prince Tao's mansion for several months. During that time, Prince Tao often entertained guests and always asked Mr. Xie to play the zither to entertain them. I was also invited and I admire Mr. Xie's zither skills very much."

Zhu Tangxi said with a smile: "Is there any piano skill in the world that Yang Hanlin admires?"

Yang Linzhi said: "Although I am proficient in dozens of musical instruments, my playing skills on those instruments are not top-notch."

What makes Yang Linzhi truly amazing is his development and mastery of music theory, as well as his composition, arrangement and conducting of large-scale banquet music.

Simply put, he is a musicologist, composer, and talented director of large-scale symphonies and musicals.

Zhu Tangxi asked: "How would Mr. Xie's piano skills rank in the Hanlin Academy?"

Yang Linzhi recalled carefully: "I only heard Mr. Xie play the zither once, and I have forgotten it because of the long time. But I was extremely shocked when I heard it at that time, and the lingering sound is definitely true."

Zhu Tangxi smiled when he heard this and thought: Liu Lang's intelligence and talent are passed down from our ancestors.

Empress Dowager Ye took the music sheet and continued to flip through it. She said with a strange expression, "Isn't Huaxu Yin a ci tune? How did it become a guqin piece?"

Yang Linzhi had a constipated expression on his face: "I am not knowledgeable enough to judge."

In fact, Yang Linzhi suspected that the old man surnamed Xie was very bad, so he composed the piano piece "Hua Xu Yin" by himself and then attributed it to Huangdi.

Obviously, this piece of music is extremely well composed and can become famous all over the world just by this piece of music, but that old man insisted on pretending to be an ancient person to amuse everyone.

Hey, just play!
The tune of "Hua Xu Yin" is very recent, it was created by Zhou Bangyan during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty.

But the legend of "Hua Xu Yin" comes from "Liezi".

Based on the story in "Liezi", Xie Shizhang composed a song called "Hua Xu Yin" and then said that this was the one composed by Huangdi.

Why did he do this?
Of course it depends on how many people will admit it.

According to Xie Shizhang's original plan, he intended to publish the book at his own expense in two years and then give it to some old friends of status.

Now that the grandson is going to be the prince consort, it is even more interesting, and he can be sent directly as a betrothal gift. I am afraid that there are many people who are snobbish and really promote "Hua Xu Yin" as an ancient divine song.

Ancient times bullshit, "Yin" is a Yuefu theme and can be traced back to the Han Dynasty at most.

This is another explanation. Bang Xie was the one who promoted Zhang, so he could claim that this song was composed by an ancient Han Dynasty person who pretended to be Huangdi. Well, a song from the Han Dynasty is of course an ancient song.

Doing so will not disrupt your grandson's wedding, but will only make it more talked about.

And Xie Shizhang himself can also express his infinite ridicule towards the world in this way.

Yang Linzhi said stubbornly, "This book also contains Yangguan Sandie. Mr. Xie did not say that this is an ancient song, but he wrote that it was created by himself from a qin song."

Hearing this, Zhu Tangxi came to the Queen Mother and flipped through the music score, and soon burst out laughing: "Does this old Mr. Xie have a grudge against the late zither master Liu Hanlin?"

"I really don't know." Yang Linzhi replied.

Liu Hanlin, who had been dead for several years, was the one who rejected Xie Shizhang's paper. Half of the musicians in the Hanlin Academy today were his disciples.

Liu Hanlin recomposed the lost "Yangguan Sandie" based on folk songs and the style of zither music popular in Hami.

Xie Shizhang used the same method to compose a piece of music called "Yangguan Sandie", and even deliberately said that he composed it after listening to Liu Hanlin's piano music.

It was almost as if he was saying it directly: Your song is so bad, I'm going to write one to compete with you.

But Xie Shizhang’s music is even better written!
After another round of questions and answers, Yang Linzhi bowed and left.

Zhu Tangxi flipped through the music book, and the more he read, the more he wanted to laugh: "Liu Lang's grandfather is really interesting. I like this betrothal gift very much. Sister-in-law, please leave. I will take it back to play the piano."

She currently lives in the palace, just waiting to get married.

"Why is Your Highness so happy? But has Liu Lang's gift list arrived?" Qingluan asked.

Zhu Tangxi shouted, "Quickly bring the zither."

The guqin was brought over, and Zhu Tangxi played according to the score.

After playing it several times in a row, I finally became familiar with it and it became smooth.

Qingluan looked at the title of the music on the music sheet and asked, "Who composed this "Yangguan Sandie"?"

Zhu Tangxi asked: "How does it compare to Liu Xingyu's Yangguan Sandie?"

Qingluan thought carefully, sorted out his words and said:
"Liu Hanlin's poem is more...more elegant and more noble. It's like when they are seeing each other off, each of them has servants following them. Yes, that's the feeling. I didn't feel it before, but now it has that meaning in comparison."

"The song Your Highness is playing at this moment is like a frustrated person about to go on a lonely journey, and his long-time friends come to see him off with tears in their eyes."

"I think there's no difference between the two songs, but I like this one better."

Zhu Tangxi smiled and said, "Liu Xing became famous when he was young, and became a zither master in the Imperial Academy in his twenties. His life was extremely smooth, so the zither music he composed was naturally more elegant and noble."

……

"Good grandson, do you want to learn piano?" Xie Shizhang began to coax his grandson.

Xie Yan blurted out: "I won't learn."

Xie Shizhang said: "Now that you are a royal consort, you will have to interact with princes and generals, so you must learn some skills in playing."

"I can just learn polo, it's more interesting than playing the piano," said Xie Yan.

Xie Shizhang was angry at his ignorance: "What's so fun about polo? Those dandy boys are the best at it. But learning the piano is different. You can pretend to be a noble scholar."

Xie Yan said: "I am a noble man, no need to pretend."

This old man kept pestering Xie Yan, and he was getting annoyed.

Xie Yan said: "I know an ancient song that is better than yours."

"What ancient song?" Xie Shizhang asked hurriedly.

Xie Yan recalled the background music of the weather forecast and hummed: "Beep, beep, beep, beep..."

Xie Shizhang's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Daiyu, Baochai, quickly bring the pen and ink!"

The two little girls quickly brought writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone.

Xie Yan hummed repeatedly, and the old man quickly wrote down the tune.

"Just this short paragraph?" Xie Shizhang was a little disappointed.

Xie Yan said: "I only remember this short part."

Who has time to listen to the full version of the weather forecast background music?
Xie Shizhang asked again: "Where did you hear that?"

Xie Yan made up a story: "On my way to Luoyang, a passenger ship docked at night. A fisherman played the flute, and the sound floated over the river."

Xie Shizhang muttered to himself, "Fisherman, at night... No wonder, no wonder, it sounds like fishermen singing at dusk!" He became excited and asked, "Which pier on the Yangtze River did you meet that fisherman?"

This scared Xie Yan. Considering the old man's love for the zither, he was probably going to run to both sides of the Yangtze River to look for fishermen.

Xie Yan said: "I went to the bow to look, but I didn't see any fishing boats. It might be a hermit who was taking a boat back to his hometown. Maybe he went to Sichuan, or maybe he went to Jiangnan."

Xie Shizhang sighed, "Such an extraordinary person, I wish I could meet him once."

In order to get rid of the old man's pestering, Xie Yan took the opportunity to dig a hole and said, "Grandfather, why don't you complete "Fisherman's Song at Dusk" based on this passage yourself."

"Yes!" Xie Shizhang suddenly had something to do.

Xie Yan went to find books to read on his own. He had to improve his classical Chinese, otherwise he would not be able to understand what he was reading sometimes.

In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed and the wedding day is approaching.

(End of this chapter)