Start with a photographic memory and build a memory palace

Chapter 218: Companions, Like-minded
……

After saying goodbye to Li’s house.

Wu Wen's thoughts were still immersed in the conversation he had just had with his master Li Chunfeng.

Zhao Tuo, I didn't expect that this historical King of Nanyue had such secret information.

Return to Yang Mansion.

After Wu Wen tidied himself up a bit, he rushed to Chongren Hall for the banquet.

When he arrived, nearly half of the invited ministers had already arrived.

Li Shimin had already been sitting upright on the dragon couch, tasting fine wine, enjoying the singing and dancing, and chatting and laughing with Changsun Wuji and others beside him.

Seeing Wu Wen coming, Li Shimin happily raised his glass and said with a loud laugh: "Marquis Dingxiang is here, no need to be polite, come and take your seat!"

Wu Wen bowed as he was told, and glanced across the table. He actually saw Master Zhu Jiu, so he quickly walked over to him and sat down.

"Awen!"

"Master Jiu!"

As soon as he sat down, Wu Wen couldn't help but ask, "Master Jiu, why are you here too?"

Master Zhu Jiu smiled and replied, "Your Majesty sent someone to pick me up early in the morning."

Hearing this, Wu Wen thought to himself: What was Li Shimin's intention in specially inviting the Ninth Master to attend the banquet?
"Awen, I haven't seen you for several years. How are you doing in the north?" Mr. Zhu Jiu asked with concern.

"I'm fine. How about you, Master Jiu? Are you okay?" Wu Wen responded.

"Of course I'm fine too!" Master Zhu Jiu laughed heartily, "Since you've made great contributions, I've also benefited from it and received rewards from the court. Now my life is so comfortable!"

After a long separation, Wu Wen and Zhu Jiuye had a great conversation, and the topics mostly revolved around each other's lives and experiences.

Soon, all the invited guests arrived.

At this time, the slightly tipsy Li Shimin suddenly stood up, raised his glass and said to everyone: "I invited you all here today to share this happy time with you as the monarch and his subjects."

He paused, glanced at the crowd, and continued: "Now the Tang Dynasty is becoming increasingly powerful, all thanks to the concerted efforts of our monarch and his subjects. Come, let us drink this cup together!"

Led by Li Shimin, everyone raised their glasses and drank the wine in one gulp amid singing.

Li Shimin, who was in high spirits, ordered again: "Come here, play the "Breaking the Formation Music"!"

Following his order, the dancers who were dancing in the center slowly retreated, and another group of dancers came in one after another.

At the same time, the musicians on one side of the hall began to play new music.

Various musical instruments intertwined together to play a magnificent symphony.

Just when everyone else was fascinated and enjoying the singing and dancing.

However, Wu Wen had no intention of appreciating the graceful dance moves of the dancers. Instead, he closed his eyes slightly and listened attentively to the "Pozhen Music".

He keenly realized that this piece of music was extraordinary, not only in its harmonious melody, but also in its inspiring power.

The musical frequency, rhythm and tone of this piece blend together to form a unique tune, as if heaven and earth are one, forming a special range of sound.

In this range of sound, people's emotions and spirits will be invisibly infected and influenced.

This shows that the person who composed this piece of music had extremely high attainments in music and had even come into contact with the way of sound waves.

The song is over.

The lingering sound still echoes in the hall.

Li Shimin picked up the wine glass again, with a heroic smile on his face, and said loudly to everyone: "Come on, my dear ministers, today the emperor and his subjects are having fun together, everyone drink to your heart's content!"

As everyone was drinking and enjoying the lively atmosphere of the banquet,

Wu Wen quietly stood up from his seat and walked towards Wei Zheng.

"Uncle Wei!"

"Wu Wen!"

Wei Zheng was about to pick up the wine bowl, but he saw Wu Wen raised his hand to signal him, and then asked: "Uncle Wei, I have something to ask you."

"Oh? What's the matter?" Wei Zheng put down the wine bowl and looked at Wu Wen gently.

"Do you know who composed the song 'Pozhen Music' just now?" Wu Wen asked.

"Pozhen Music" was originally the military music of the Tang Dynasty, but what he just heard was very different from what he had heard before.

"That's it?" Wei Zheng smiled and replied, "Your Majesty wrote the lyrics himself, and Lü Cai recomposed the music."

Lü Cai? When Wu Wen heard this name, information about this person quickly emerged in his mind.

Apart from the discussions and entertainment at the Hongwenguan, he didn't know much about it.

So Wu Wen asked Wei Zheng for more information about Lu Cai.

Wei Zheng saw that Wu Wen was so interested in Lü Cai, and a hint of curiosity flashed in his eyes. Then he introduced it in detail:
"Lü Cai is from Qingping, Bozhou. He likes books on yin and yang, medical skills, etc. He has a wide range of interests, including music, literature, history, and geography."

After briefly introducing Lü Cai's basic situation, Wei Zheng could not help but sigh:

"As for Lu Cai, he does have talent, but his personality is a bit weird and he is quite conceited."

"Oh? What kind of weird and conceited thing?" Wu Wen asked curiously.

Wei Zheng explained: "I have never seen Taixuan in my life, but I understood it in a moment when asked by the emperor. I have never seen elephant play before, but I made it in ten days after trying it."

"This is what Lu Cai said. It shows how conceited he is."

"Moreover, this Lu Cai is proficient in the art of yin and yang, but he just doesn't believe in ghosts and gods."

Then, Wei Zheng gave Wu Wen a few more examples.

It is said that Lu Cai was correcting "Yin Yang", "Book of Burial" and "Book of Changes".

He used the classics to deduce and verify those divinations, and severely refuted the religious and superstitious content in the Yin-Yang books, thus establishing a unique atheistic system.

Listening to Wei Zheng's introduction, Wu Wen felt as if he had met a soulmate.

In particular, Lu Cai once said: "The sky is restored and the earth is carried, and the principles of Qian and Kun are all there; one hard and one soft, and the meaning of annihilation is auspicious. It may be formed by the way of day and night, and be affected by the generations of men and women, the three lights move above, and the four qi communicate below. This is the great classic of yin and yang, and it must not be lost at this moment."

This is clearly attributing yin and yang to natural phenomena and their contradictory movements!

"Believe in practice, not ghosts and gods! Respect the classics, but don't follow blindly!"

Wu Wen secretly admired in his heart.

This is simply an ancient version of modern materialistic thought!
After getting to know Lu Cai initially, Wu Wen suddenly lost interest in continuing to attend this boring banquet. He just wanted to get up immediately and find Lu Cai to have a good discussion with him.

However, just as Wu Wen was about to say goodbye to Li Shimin.

But Li Shimin smiled and said to Master Zhu Jiu: "You are the master of Marquis Dingxiang. He is now old enough to get married. I happen to have a daughter who is about the same age as him. I plan to marry the princess to him. What do you think?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole place fell silent, and everyone's eyes turned to Master Zhu Jiu.

Hearing this, Master Zhu Jiu was startled. Although he was nervous at this moment, he was not panicked. He turned to look at Wu Wen and asked him the question with a smile:
"I am just a country pharmacist, and I am fortunate to have Wu Wen as my disciple. As long as Wu Wen agrees, I will naturally support this matter."

Then, everyone's eyes were focused on Wu Wen.

"Marquis Dingxiang, what do you think of this matter?"

Li Shimin asked with a faint smile on his face, seemingly casually, but behind that smile was a majesty that could not be refused.

"Thank you for your favor, Your Majesty, but I have no plans to get married at the moment." Wu Wen responded bluntly, his tone firm and without the slightest hesitation.

As soon as he said this, the originally lively atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point.

Everyone present had a solemn look on their face. Even Li Shimin, who had been smiling all the time, suddenly turned gloomy.

The emperor personally asked to betroth the princess to him in front of all the civil and military officials in the court. What an honor it was, but he refused without hesitation. This was clearly a blatant challenge to the emperor's authority.

After a moment of silence, Li Shimin suppressed his displeasure, forced a smile and said:
"I was too hasty, which made Marquis Dingxiang unable to react in time. Marquis Dingxiang must think about this carefully when he returns." These words seemed to give Wu Wen a way out, but everyone could hear that the emperor had something else in his words.

After easing the atmosphere, Li Shimin spoke again:
"Seven days later, I intend to hold an autumn hunt. In addition to the princes and the sons of the ministers, I will also invite young talents from various powerful families to participate. At that time, everyone will compete together. Whoever can come out on top will be rewarded handsomely by me!"

When everyone heard the news, they responded one after another.

Everyone knew that the emperor had ulterior motives in inviting people from various powerful families to participate in the autumn hunt. He wanted to use the opportunity of the autumn hunt to suppress the power of these powerful families.

As Li Shimin stood up and left, the banquet came to an end.

Wu Wen was about to leave with Zhu Jiuye when Wei Zheng and Cheng Yaojin walked up to him.

Wei Zheng sighed with a worried look on his face, "Wu Wen, you shouldn't have rejected His Majesty so directly."

Master Zhu Jiu's face was also full of worry.

"It doesn't matter!"

Wu Wen responded nonchalantly, then said goodbye to Master Zhu Jiu and left.

Behind him, Wei Zheng and others looked at Wu Wen's departing back and couldn't help but sigh.

They knew very well that Wu Wen's refusal to the emperor this time would probably lead to unpredictable consequences.

—

Leave the palace.

Got on a carriage.

Wu Wen accompanied Master Zhu Jiu directly to the city gate.

"Master Jiu, you go back first. I still have some things to deal with. I will go and spend some time with you in a couple of days!"

"Awen, will anything happen if you refuse His Majesty's marriage proposal?" Master Zhu Jiu asked worriedly.

"It's okay, Master Jiu, don't worry!"

After Wu Wen sent Master Zhu Jiu out of Chang'an City.

While it was still light, he rushed towards Lu Cai's residence.

"Boom boom boom!"

Wu Wen walked up and knocked on the door gently.

The door was slowly opened. Since Wu Wen did not hand over a visiting card, the doorman asked indifferently, "Who are you?"

"I am Wu Wen, Marquis of Dingxiang. Is Lu Cai at home?" Wu Wen introduced himself.

Hearing Wu Wen's self-introduction, the doorman's face suddenly changed, and he quickly put on a warm smile and respectfully invited him, "My Lord, please come in. My master is at home!"

Having said that, he led Wu Wen towards the reception room.

At this time, Lu Cai was concentrating on correcting the "House Classic" in the study.

The doorman rushed in and said anxiously, "Sir, the Marquis of Dingxiang is here to visit!"

"Who?"

Hearing this, Lu Cai was slightly startled, then immediately put down the pen in his hand and hurriedly followed the doorman to greet Wu Wen.

living room.

As soon as Lu Cai stepped in, he raised his hand and saluted Wu Wen, saying, "My Lord, I am sorry for not welcoming you. I hope you will forgive me."

"It's okay. I just decided to come here on a whim, so it's a bit abrupt." Wu Wen responded with a smile.

"No, no, it is truly an honor for me that Your Majesty can come to my humble home." Lu Cai said hurriedly.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two sat down on their chairs.

After the servants served him tea, Lu Cai asked in confusion, "My Lord, is there anything I can do for you during your visit?"

Wu Wen took a sip of tea, put down the cup, and said, "Today, I was invited by His Majesty to attend a banquet. During the banquet, a piece of music called "Pozhen Music" was played. I liked it very much. I heard that this piece of music was composed by you, so I came here to discuss it with you."

Hearing that Wu Wen was here to discuss music with him, Lu Cai immediately became interested and said with a smile on his face, "It is my honor to be able to communicate with you, Lord Marquis."

Then, Lu Cai enthusiastically told Wu Wen about the inspiration and steps of his creation of "Pozhen Music".

What Wu Wen did not expect was that when Lu Cai composed "Pozhen Music", he actually borrowed from a long-lost fragment of "Guangling San" that he accidentally saw in Hongwenguan.

The inspiration gained from the fragment was actually the rebound pentatonic note.

Different from all the music in the world, "Pozhen Music" is played by playing the five notes of "Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, and Yu" in reverse, which formed this unique tone and melody.

After listening to Lu Cai's explanation, Wu Wen nodded slightly.

In fact, he had already realized this when he was listening to "Pozhen Music".

What made Wu Wen curious was how Lu Cai came up with the method of composing music using rebound five notes?

Unexpectedly, the other party got inspiration from the long-lost fragments of "Guangling San".

"Can you let me see the fragment?"

"of course can."

Lu Cai led Wu Wen to the study and took out the remaining fragments of "Guangling San" to show him.

After reading the content again, Wu Wen couldn't help but nod in praise. This "Guangling San" was indeed wonderful and worthy of being a famous ancient song.

Discuss some music-related issues with Lu Cai.

Wu Wen also discussed other topics with Lu Cai, such as "Yin and Yang", "Book of Burial", "Book of Houses", "Book of Changes", etc.

In Lu Cai’s eloquent talk.

Wu Wen discovered that he indeed had a distinct materialistic tendency in his thoughts.

First of all, Lu Cai believed that "extremely tiny primordial energy" was the origin of the world.

"Infinitely tiny energy" refers to material reality.

He believed that all tangible things were produced by invisible primordial energy.

Secondly, Lu Cai advocated that morality and principles originated from real records.

He believes that the laws of objective things mostly originate from concrete things, and theories come from practice.

Then, Lu Cai adhered to the contradictory development concept of combining firmness and flexibility.

He believed that the reason for the development and changes of the material world lies in the contradictory movement of the two opposing forces of yin and yang within the material world.

Finally, Lu Cai opposed the innate epistemology of knowing everything by nature.

He emphasized that learning should be regarded as an important way to acquire knowledge, and he himself practiced it.

After listening to Lu Cai’s many opinions.

Wu Wen immediately regarded him as a soulmate.

Although Wu Wen had studied under two masters, taught several apprentices, and also learned and communicated with many people.

But in Wu Wen's opinion, there is always an unspeakable gap between him and these people.

And after meeting Lu Cai today, Wu Wen instantly found a sense of "like-mindedness".

In Wu Wen's opinion, although Lu Cai had a gap with himself in knowledge and practice, he was very willing to discuss issues with Lu Cai.

……

(End of this chapter)