The Great Tang General

Chapter 9: Meeting Li Bai and He Zhizhang at the Willow Bank

Outside the Left Prime Minister's Mansion, Pei Huang, Pei Zhou and their nephew each had a short horse with a brocade saddle and a golden saddle.

They all had a servant with them.

Li Xuan rode a horse, controlling the speed of the horse, weaving through the alleys and walking side by side with them.

Their first stop was Qujiang Lake, southeast of Chang'an.

From the street on the east side of Pingkangfang, go straight south.

Qujiang is named after its winding water flow. It is not only a place for common people to enjoy the spring, but also a place for princes and nobles to have fun.

During the Sui Dynasty, only royal family members and nobles were allowed to enter Qujiang, which was the royal forbidden garden.

In the Tang Dynasty, common people were allowed to enter.

Li Longji loved to come to Qujiang and renovated it.

Xingqing Palace has a special imperial road that leads directly to Qujiang River.

The Imperial Road, also known as the "Jiacheng", is a closed space separated by tall city walls. It is the exclusive passage for the emperor to enter and exit Chang'an.

The imperial road of Qujiang can even lead directly to the Daming Palace in the northernmost part of Chang'an.

A few days ago during the Shangsi Festival, Li Longji hosted the "Qushui Liushang" in Qujiang and enjoyed himself with the ministers.

After the flower-watching event began, many visitors gathered in Qujiang to admire the flowers.

Those high-ranking officials looked down on the common people and the wanderers, and the officials who managed Qujiang divided the area specially for them.

Some dignitaries pursued elegance and took pleasure boats to enjoy music and singing, and some even went to the island in the middle of Qujiang Lake to drink.

After arriving here, Pei Huang and Pei Zhou immediately joined the group of rangers who were there to see the flowers and horses. They "roamed around" among the thousands of flowers, drank fine wine, and were unrestrained and uninhibited.

Sometimes I act in a free and easy manner and sing loudly.

The common people watching from afar envied these romantic knights, but flower horse riding was not a game that ordinary people could afford to play.

Li Xuan tied his horse at the stable and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Qujiang alone.

Qujiang Lake covers an area of ​​more than 1,000 acres. In addition to the emperor's exclusive palaces such as Furong Garden and Ziyun Tower, there are also Xingyuan and Ci'en Temple in the west, and Leyouyuan and Qinglong Temple in the north.

The pool is surrounded by pavilions, terraces and attics, with lush flowers and trees swaying gracefully.

Poets in the Tang Dynasty wrote hundreds of poems in Qujiang, such as Du Fu's "Peach blossoms follow the falling poplar blossoms, yellow birds and white birds fly at the same time", "Butterflies fly through the flowers, dragonflies skim the water and fly slowly", and Han Yu's "Qujiang River is full of flowers and thousands of trees are full of flowers", which are true portrayals of the scenery of Qujiang.

The surface of Qujiang Lake is vast and tranquil, with willow trees along the riverbank zigzagging along the lake bank, forming a "willow bank".

It is the season when willow catkins are flying like smoke and fog, accompanied by the sound of pipa coming from the island in the middle of the lake, which intoxicates tourists.

When Li Xuan arrived at Liu'an, countless people had already gathered there, and no one wanted to miss the best time.

But Li Xuan noticed that the "liveliness" of the willow bank here was obviously a bit excessive.

"May I ask, sir, why are there so many people gathered here?"

Li Xuan asked a man wearing a hat.

"I heard that he was the son of the right prime minister. When he learned that He Jian and Li Bai were coming, he wanted Li Bai to recite a poem to liven up the atmosphere. But Li Bai refused, so he was surrounded and not allowed to leave."

This man seemed to be there to watch the fun. He was also a scholar and his attitude could be seen from the way he addressed him.

He Jian is the famous He Zhizhang. In the 26th year of Kaiyuan, He Zhizhang was granted the titles of Prince's Guest and Secretary General. Until now, people of his time respectfully call him "He Jian".

He and Li Bai have the same title as Li Shizhi, one of the Eight Immortals of Drinking.

"Thank you!"

Li Xuan thanked him and immediately squeezed forward.

He was overwhelmed with emotion. He had just met Wang Wei yesterday, and today he met the immortal poet Li Bai and the mad scholar He Zhizhang from Siming.

Although people at that time said that Wang Wei was unrivaled, Li Xuan was most aware of Li Bai's "genius" and his status in later generations. Only Du Fu could compare with him.

In this era, if a poet wanted to become famous, there were only two places: Chang'an and Luoyang.

That is the place where literati from all over the world gather!

During the Kaiyuan period, although Li Bai had been to Chang'an and Luoyang, his father Li Ke was a businessman, and the "Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty" stipulated that "family members of the business community are not allowed to be scholars."

He failed to pass the imperial examination and even though he had some fame in the court and the country, it did not cause much stir.

Li Bai has always regarded himself as an achievement of "exerting his intelligence and being willing to serve as an advisor to bring peace to the world and order to the whole country", and he has been pursuing great achievements like Xie An, a famous minister of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, who "temporarily stood up for the people and talked and laughed to bring peace to the people".

Therefore, in the middle and late Kaiyuan period, Li Bai frequently visited princes and nobles, said things he didn't like to say to some officials, and presented poems to Li Longji one after another, but he was still not taken seriously.

But while Li Bai was pursuing spiritual freedom, he was also determined to make a name for himself politically. Even though he encountered many setbacks, he never gave up his political ambitions.

What really made Li Bai famous was the first year of Tianbao.

His good friend, the Taoist priest Wu Yun, was summoned to the palace and recommended Li Bai's poetry to Li Longji in person.

He Zhizhang and Princess Yuzhen jointly recommended Li Bai, and Li Bai was finally known by Li Longji and appointed as a Hanlin attendant.

Li Longji got off the sedan chair to greet him, placed food in front of him on a seven-treasure bed and stirred the food with his own hands, which made Li Bai famous overnight.

However, the impact he brought was still not as great as that of Wang Wei, a literary leader who had already become famous in Chang'an more than 20 years ago and was from the Wang family of Taiyuan.

The entire Tianbao period was a process of Li Bai's growth. With every passing year, Li Bai's reputation improved.

After the Anshi Rebellion, although the emperor was still an admirer of Wang Wei, in the hearts of folk literati, Li Bai was no less important than Wang Wei.

After Li Bai's death, the romance he left behind continued to ferment, and his majestic, elegant and unpredictable poetic style was sought after by countless literati.

For no less than a hundred years, there has been a saying in Chang'an: There were three wonders of the Great Tang Dynasty: Li Bai's poetry, Zhang Xu's cursive script, and Pei Min's sword dance.

Poetry, cursive script, and sword dance: these three things can best express elegance and romance, and satisfy the aspirations and fantasies of literati and scholars.

At that time, Li Bai became a truly "high and mighty" exiled immortal. "Stop!"

When Li Xuan was about to break through the crowd and approach where Li Bai and He Zhizhang were, he was stopped by a blue-clothed evil slave from the Right Prime Minister's Mansion.

"How dare you! I am a member of the royal family and a friend of Balang. If you dare to stop me, aren't you afraid that Balang will punish you?"

As Li Xuan spoke, he pushed away the evil slave in blue who was trying to stop him.

When the evil slaves saw that Li Xuan was dressed elegantly, had great manners, and spoke of being a royal family member and claiming to be Li Yi's friend, they did not dare to stop him for a while.

Everyone knew that Li Yi was unreasonable and he rewarded or punished his servants based entirely on his own mood.

Li Xuan saw Li Linfu's fifth son, Li Yu.

Unlike Li Yi, who was a playboy, Li Yu was quite favored by Li Linfu and was now a palace attendant. He, Li Xiu and Li Ku were all children that Li Linfu had focused on training.

There were two other people beside Li Yu, one of whom was a thin and bearded man. He was quite fawning in front of Li Yu.

This is Lu Xuan, the Imperial Censor of the Palace. Li Xuan remembered that Lu Xuan had visited Li Shizhi, but Li Shizhi looked down on him. Later, he joined Li Linfu.

Although Lu Xuan was only an official of the seventh rank, he was able to supervise the capital as the Imperial Censor. He always followed Li Linfu's lead and did things according to Li Linfu's will.

Therefore, the fourth and fifth rank officials in the court were very afraid of Lu Xuan, fearing that he would catch them and let Li Linfu know.

The other was a middle-aged man wearing a dark green round robe with narrow sleeves, whom Li Xuan did not recognize.

Opposite Li Yu, under the willow trees by the Qujiang Lake, Li Xuan saw a white-haired old man and a middle-aged man.

The old man was He Zhizhang. Although he was over eighty years old, he was still in good spirits.

He is an old man with a very good mentality. He gets younger and younger as he gets older, and more and more indulgent. Not long ago, he did the ridiculous thing of "trading gold turtles for wine". Although he redeemed the gold turtles, which symbolized his status, immediately after he sobered up, it became a good story.

Li Bai was dressed in white, of medium build, with a sparse beard. Although he looked a little unkempt, he had an extraordinary temperament.

Especially his pair of bright eyes, which seemed to reflect the stars in the universe, deep and bright.

At this time, Li Bai proudly faced the servant of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion who stopped him. No matter how soft or hard Li Yu tried, he was unwilling to write poems for such a person.

After one year in officialdom, Li Bai found that it was not quite what he had imagined.

Although he was the emperor's "imperial clerk", he had no way to display his passion.

Li Bai considered himself to be noble and looked down upon the powerful and wealthy, and was unwilling to be associated with them.

It was this naivety that was shattered by reality in less than half a year.

Coupled with Li Yu's coercion today, Li Bai hated the rude and arrogant faces of the powerful even more.

"Taibai has no interest in writing poetry, why does Wulang force him to do so?"

He Zhizhang patiently persuaded Li Yu.

He knew best the power of Li Linfu. Although he was arrogant by nature, he knew how to protect himself. Otherwise, he would not have been able to stand firm in the political arena of Chang'an for fifty years.

"Li Bai, write a poem for the spring scenery of Qujiang. If you satisfy me, I will reward you handsomely. If not, don't even think about leaving here."

Li Yu ignored He Zhizhang's advice and warned Li Bai again.

A group of servants from the Right Prime Minister's Mansion formed an arc and surrounded Li Bai and He Zhizhang under a willow tree. They did not take any action, acting like scoundrels.

"I am not in the mood today. I am sorry that I cannot obey your order."

Li Bai looked straight at Li Yu without any fear.

He was certain that Li Yu would not dare to do anything to him and would only leave in anger.

Even if we confront each other until dark and the moonlight shines.

"Wulang paid a large sum of money to ask Li Hanlin to write a poem to express his elegant feelings, but Li Hanlin refused without a second thought. Not giving Wulang face is not giving face to the right prime minister!"

Seeing Li Yu frowning, Lu Xuan, who was observing Li Yu's expression, no longer cared about He Zhizhang. He insisted and even used Li Linfu to pressure Li Bai.

"Heh... Li Hanlin is in charge of the memorials submitted to the emperor and writes for him. He Jian is a third-rank official, wearing purple clothes and wearing gold belts. The emperor also treats him with courtesy. Who do you think you are? How dare you be so rude?"

At this moment, Li Xuan had already come not far away. He heard Lu Hyun's arrogant words and mocked him in return.

Li Xuan's sudden arrival made everyone's attention focused on him.

"Who are you? How dare you come here?"

Li Yufei is not of the same generation as Li Xuan, so he does not know Li Xuan.

As he spoke, he glanced with displeasure at the servant in the distance who put Li Xuan in front of him without his consent.

"My name is Li Xuan, and my father is the left prime minister of the current dynasty."

Li Xuan introduced himself.

"My eighth brother is still lying in bed, how dare you appear in front of me."

After learning Li Xuan's name, Li Yu became even angrier and said with a frown.

"Fortunately, Li Yi's father was the Right Prime Minister, otherwise he would be in jail now for doing such a thing. However, the Right Prime Minister devoted himself to the country and worked hard for it, but he neglected to educate his children, causing them to be ignorant and unskilled. It is understandable that we should give him some leniency!"

Li Xuan spoke in a roundabout way, as if he was muttering to himself, but everyone could hear it clearly.

After hearing this, Li Yu almost burst into curses.

Li Xuan's words have so much connotation.

Even He Zhizhang and Li Bai couldn't help laughing out loud.

The young man in front of me is not only courageous, but also eloquent.

(End of this chapter)