Crowned the New Han Dynasty

Chapter 374 Tuoba Yulu
"Brother Chen, this painting of yours is really wonderful!"

At the same time, in a well-decorated house, there was a man dressed rather strangely, looking at a painting, sighing and praising it.

The reason why he was dressed strangely was because although he was wearing clothes from the Central Plains, the clothes did not fit him properly. When he moved, he often shrank his neck and shrugged his shoulders. It was obvious that he was not used to this outfit.

At the same time, you can also see some decorations made of small bones on the hems and cuffs of the clothes. Some are directly sewn on the clothes, while others are tied with a short thread and hang down, following the arms. It swayed and swayed, looking nondescript.

However, Chen Zhi next to him understood that in the eyes of the Xianbei people, this kind of nondescript clothing was actually a kind of beauty of clothing. It was like in later generations, when many foreign clothes were introduced into the Central Plains, they had to be adapted to local tastes. Just like aesthetic modifications, the clothes on the person in front of me are actually in the same situation.

Xianbei people often use bone ornaments as decoration in their daily life, thinking that this is a beautiful expression, so when wearing Chinese costumes, they also feel that such decorations are the icing on the cake, without realizing it at all. In the eyes of the Central Plains people, this change is superfluous and nondescript.

"However, this also reflects from a certain angle that the hunting industry of the Xianbei people, at least the Tuoba Xianbei, has reached a certain height, but they have not yet completely escaped the influence of slavery."

Thinking like this, Chen Zhi became modest in response to the man's words, and praised Tuoba Xianbei's artistic achievements in pottery painting, making the other person smile.

Yes, the person standing in front of Chen Zhi and praising the painting is none other than Tuoba Xianbei, and he is the official envoy of this Xianbei envoy named Tuoba Yulu, the leader of Tuoba Xianbei. Lou's nephew.

This man is tall, has a majestic face, and has a thick beard, but his voice is not rough, but has a strange rhythm. His Chinese Mandarin is very standard, and he is also good at Central Plains etiquette. When he first arrived, he gave Hongxun The officials at the top and bottom of the temple were deeply impressed and praised him as a man of virtue.

Of course, this way of etiquette is compared to other frontier barbarians. If you meet the etiquette masters of the Central Plains, there will definitely be a lot of mistakes in their eyes.

However, when it comes to foreigners, Chinese people tend to relax their standards and are always strict with themselves and lenient towards others.

After Tuoba Yulu arrived in Luoyang, as soon as he rested, he hurriedly made a request——

He wanted to see Chen Zhi.

At that time, Chen Zhi was running back and forth between Honglu Temple and Taichang Mansion. He had a lot of errands to do. Whether it was the arrangement of the painting review, the training of the chariots during the appraisal, or the arrangements for the Honglu Temple's reception of envoys, Chen Zhi had to make arrangements for it. Worry about it——

I would like to add a word here. The reason why Zhao Min, the great emperor, paid special attention to Chen Zhi was because Chen Zhi had sent him a letter of proposal, which mentioned the reception specifications, greeting occasion, manpower formation and other matters.

In fact, some people have noticed these matters in the New Han Dynasty and the two Han Dynasties before it. As an external institution, Honglu Temple maintains close contact with Taichang Mansion. It has done a good job in etiquette and specifications. Etiquette is supposed to show the majesty of a great power. , an important means of demonstrating legitimacy that no one dares to despise.

However, compared with the formalism and detail-oriented habits of later generations, the hospitality of this era still seems a bit rough, crude, and even crude.

After all, the etiquette of later generations, no matter which country, has been accumulated for hundreds of thousands of years, and at the same time integrated the characteristics of multiple countries. Differences in material and spiritual pursuits also amplify this difference.

Therefore, as soon as Chen Zhi's proposal was sent up, Zhao Min saw the value, and asked Chen Zhi to inquire. After the two talked, Da Honglu immediately made a decision and asked Chen Zhi to lead people to arrange and complete the details. .

As expected, Chen Zhi completed the job to his satisfaction, so Zhao Min changed his previous attitude, regarded Chen Zhi as his arm, and wanted to entrust him with important responsibilities. Unexpectedly, his plan was disrupted by a transfer order from Deng Meng, and he was very angry. .

Now, under the quarrel between the two nine ministers, Chen Zhi had to coordinate and take care of both sides. The burden was not as heavy as usual. So when Zhao Min asked him what he meant and asked if he would like to receive the Tuoba Xianbei envoy, he Da Honglu thought that Chen Zhi would refuse, but to his surprise, he actually agreed.

When the news came back to Tuoba Yulu, the envoy Tuoba was immediately overjoyed. After he arrived, he also heard some rumors and knew that Chen Zhi was busy with official duties, so he was mentally prepared, thinking that Chen Zhi would reject his request. However, he was very grateful to Chen Zhi for the unexpected surprise, but he also knew how to advance and retreat, so as not to delay Chen Zhi's time too much. He always calculated the time and invited Chen Zhi to come out.Today, he invited Chen Zhi in the name of drinking tea and visiting friends. His friend Chen Zhi also knew him and had some discussions and exchanges with him. He was a celebrity in the capital and a master of calligraphy and painting. , Zhao Yuan.

It turns out that Tuoba Yulu's clan brother and the son of the current Tuoba leader Tuoba Yilu - Tuoba Liuxiu is studying in Luoyang according to the usual practice. This Tuoba nobleman likes to make friends with celebrities and has a good relationship with Zhao Yuan , the two sides have frequent contacts, and Tuoba Yulu also stayed in Luoyang in the past, and he made friends with Zhao Yuan through the relationship between his clan brothers.

Of course, during this process, Tuoba Yulu inevitably heard a story about Xunmei Tower from Zhao Yuan, and learned that Chen Zhi was able to master many skills by himself and convince everyone. He couldn't help yearning for it, so As soon as Chen Zhi came, without saying a few words, Tuoba Yulu couldn't help it, and asked Zhao Yuan to take out Chen Zhi's painting, and after watching it for a while, he sincerely praised it.

"That's ridiculous, it doesn't count as a skill," Chen Zhi shook his head, "On the contrary, a hero like this is what makes people admire him. He has gained a lot from several attacks against the Xiongnu."

Tuoba Yulu waved his hand and said with a smile: "Chen Taile is the one who is ridiculous. This is not my skill. I am just using the Huns to fight against the superior country. I am just beating the autumn wind when I can't distract myself."

"You two should stop being humble to each other. I'm tired of hearing this."

The owner here, Zhao Yuan, sat on one side, looked at the two people in front of him, and laughed out loud. When facing Tuoba Yulu, a barbarian nobleman, there was no arrogance or contempt in his words. When facing Chen Zhi, the current celebrity, There is no humility or respect in this person, but it is this behavior that makes people feel that this person can be a friend.

Hearing his words, Chen Zhi and Tuoba Yulu looked at each other and smiled, feeling that they were a little closer to each other.

After the two of them stopped talking, Zhao Yuan said to Chen Zhi: "Can the people I contacted before help Shouyi be helpful? They are all good at music and painting. According to you, they are used for consultation. It couldn’t be more appropriate.”

Chen Zhi replied: "Zhang Jun and Li Jun are both talented people. With their help, Taile Department will be even more powerful and can get twice the result with half the effort."

Zhao Yuan showed a smile, nodded and said: "That's good, they are all talented, despite their daily life and debauchery, love of flirting, and being scolded by many people, but they just don't like the officialdom, so They don’t want to be officials and are happy to be carefree. A few guys are not famous enough. If they are asked to criticize and make comments, they are definitely not qualified. But if they are just helping the Taile Department prepare, it is more than enough. You don’t know , these people have been clamoring for me to recommend you since they heard about Shouyi's actions in Xunmeilou, and now they can be considered as getting their wish."

The people Zhao Yuan and Chen Zhi talked about were Zhao Yuan's friends, and most of the people who could be his friends were talented people from Luoyang City. They were skilled in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and most of them had extraordinary backgrounds. They were not the sons of officials. That is, after the duke.

In the Xunmei Building, before Zhao Yuan provoked a competition with Chen Zhi, he had mentioned that if he lost, he would fully help Chen Zhi and provide him with conveniences. This was not a false statement, and the end result was that he fulfilled his promise. When Chen Zhi inquired, he took the initiative to come forward, contact friends, mobilize connections, find consultants for Chen Zhi, and provide assistance.

After all, whether it is literary criticism or painting, if you just rely on Li Xu to prepare, you can only make some formal preparations, but when it comes to the fields of culture and art, there should always be some layout that pays attention to feeling, taste and style, otherwise He won't be favored by people in the academy. You know, these are often the things that are valued in today's world.

Therefore, the friends Zhao Yuan contacted were of great help to Chen Zhi, and they also allowed Chen Zhi to gradually integrate into various circles in Luoyang City. At least these days, there have been many invitations to invite him to banquets. A lot.

"Speaking of which, these friends of Brother Zhao are all free and easy-going people. A certain family in the North once heard that the young masters are just like you, Brother Zhao, with many beauties," Tuoba Yulu listened to the two of them. Talking about it, I couldn't help but interject, but as soon as I started talking, the topic of leaning on the red and green trees was mentioned, "I heard Liu Xiu mentioned that Brother Zhao also gave a lot of advice to people, and there are many famous people in Luoyang City. , I want to ask you for advice on how to persuade women."

"This is untrue, it is just spreading rumors." Zhao Yuan laughed and shook his head. If someone else heard these words, he would have scolded the Hu people for not being polite, but Zhao Yuan was not angry. He looked at Chen Zhi and said, Seeing that the other party showed no contempt, he continued: "Most of my friends don't like the constraints of their families, and they don't want to follow the wishes of their elders, so they want to find their own happiness. Knowing that I am good at this, I often come to ask, But I said nothing because it was not necessary."

Tuoba Yulu became confused and asked, "Why is this?"

"The world thinks that those who seek women's skills are mostly jackals. This is actually wrong. The people who really want to seek help are often kind people. They ask for teachers because they have a kind heart and are not good at provoking skills." Zhao Yuan sighed slightly as he spoke, "My friends are versatile and provocative. They are already popular. Why do they need me to comment? They ask me, just joking."

Tuoba Yulu tasted it for a moment and couldn't help but praise him. Then he thought of something and looked at Chen Zhi and asked, "I heard that Tai Leling hasn't married yet?"

(End of this chapter)