No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 25 A Yuan's Gift

[Master Taoyuan, congratulations on collecting another 10 points of cultural energy!]

Is it Li Tinggui’s ink stick?

Su Ze took out the ink stick from his body and guided the boy to nod repeatedly and said:

[This is the ink stick. This is the Eight Treasures and Five Gallbladders Medicinal Ink!]

"Eight Treasures and Five Gallbladders Medicinal Ink?"

[Yes, it's made from the ash of burnt pine wood, eight Chinese herbs, and five kinds of gallbladders, made from cow, bear, snake, pig, and fish. This ink can be used as medicine, and it also has a fragrant aroma when used for writing, and the writing will not fade over time.]

Can this thing be eaten?
Su Ze didn't dare to eat it, but when he smelled the faint medicinal fragrance, he knew that Li Tinggui's ink had become famous from the Southern Tang Dynasty to this day, so it must be of some quality.

The guiding boy said:
[Azhi likes stationery very much, maybe he will like it.]

Does Azhi like it? Is this also a gift that can increase favorability?
Then the guiding boy sniffed his nose again and said:

[It smells so good, is it a fine wine?!]

Su Ze then remembered that when he entered the Peach Blossom Spring, he was still holding the wine gourd left by Ouyang Xiu.

The guiding boy said:

[Ayuan likes fine wine, so it would be a surprise if you give it to him.]

Su Ze looked at A Yuan who was packing his bags in Youfang Pavilion. Is he a drunkard?
Su Ze called two spiritual boys and gave them the ink ingots and Shoumei wine.

The wandering crown on Ayuan's head shook, and he couldn't wait to open the wine gourd. After taking a sip, he immediately sighed:

"Good wine!"

The craftsman boy Azhi held the ink stick carefully and examined it meticulously.

A Yuan suddenly took out a picture album from the bag behind him, handed it to Su Ze and said:

"Master Taoyuan, this is for you!"

Su Ze took the scroll and opened it. It turned out to be a scroll similar to "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", depicting the various aspects of life of the people in Bianjing City.

"This is?"

"This is what I painted when I was traveling in Bianjing City!"

Su Ze unfolded the scroll, and it turned out to be a long scroll comparable to Along the River During the Qingming Festival. The characters in the scroll were lifelike, and it was a lively picture of the people.

Su Ze knew that such a painting must be very valuable, so he happily accepted it.

As expected of an orange-quality Spirit Boy! It has so many goodies!

Su Ze looked at Azhi again, only to see that this honest Lingyun boy also took out a scroll from his body.

"This is the blueprint of the ink-making workshop I envisioned. Please accept it, Master Taoyuan."

New architectural drawings?
Su Ze took the architectural drawings.

【Azhi's Ink Making Workshop】(Blue)

"My tears are dripping down by the window, so I pick up the inkstone and grind the ink."

Price: 10 points of cultural energy.

Features:

[Fragrance Ink]: Able to create high-quality scented ink sticks. (Requires pinewood spices)
[Volunteer]: Lingyun Tongzi Azhi loves making ink and he can work in the workshop while also running the paper mill.

This building is nice!
Although it is a blue building, it has two special functions. Although they are not particularly advanced functions, they are very practical for Su Ze now.

Scented ink is a very popular stationery item in the city of Bianjing nowadays. A good quality ink stick can even be sold for dozens or even hundreds of coins!
Scholars would give each other precious ink sticks, which was also a relatively elegant way of making friends and giving gifts.

I gave away a piece of precious Li Yangui ink, but gained a building that can continuously produce high-quality ink ingots, so it's also a profit.

Moreover, the [Volunteer] function can also save the cost of recruiting craftsmen, which is very cost-effective for Su Ze, who is short of cultural energy. Looking at his remaining 15 cultural energy points, Su Ze decisively chose to build [Azhi's Ink Making Workshop].

[The construction task has been issued and will be completed tomorrow! ]

Su Ze asked again:

"How can I obtain spices and medicinal herbs?"

Ah Zhi touched the ink stick in his hand and said:
"The spices needed to make ink are musk and borneol. Musk can be obtained by building a Musk Deer Garden in Peach Blossom Spring, and borneol can be obtained by growing medicinal herbs in fertile fields."

"If not, then the owner of Taoyuan can buy it from outside first."

Su Ze asked again: "What about the pine wood?"

Azhi said:

"There's one on the north mountain of Songmu Peach Blossom Spring. You can recruit a Qiao Yun boy to go to the north mountain to cut it down."

Well, the last five points of cultural energy cannot be saved.

Su Ze took down the wooden sign of Taohuawu, and soon a spiritual boy carrying a basket of firewood appeared on the river.

It's a pity that he didn't have any luck this time. This Qiao Yun boy was just an ordinary green-quality Ling Yun boy. He was honest and had no special abilities.

But it didn't matter. Su Ze asked Qiao Yun to go up the mountain to cut pine trees. He saw that the pink mist that blocked the North Mountain in the distance had dispersed to form a path, and a high mountain full of green appeared before his eyes.

How big is this Peach Blossom Spring?

Who would have thought there was a mountain hidden in the thick fog?

It seems that there are still many secrets hidden here, waiting for me to explore.

In this beautiful scenery, Su Ze leisurely studied poetry for a while, but soon gave up.

Thinking of those imperial examination essays, where one could pass the imperial examination by copying a poem or essay, Su Ze could only laugh.

The poems and essays tested in the imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty were not the five-character and seven-character quatrains, but long essays.

Changfu is a literary genre with very strict format requirements. It not only has requirements on the prosody of each sentence, but also on the entire paragraph of the fu. More importantly, it requires the use of many allusions, and it must also be relevant to the topic.

The poems and essays used in the exam are naturally essays based on assigned topics.

A child prodigy like Ouyang Xiu could compose fu at the age of ten, but he still had to hone his skills for many years before he could take the exam.

For example, Ouyang Xiu's early work "On the Misrepresentations of Zuo Shi" begins with "Shi said in Jin, a spirit descended in Shen, snakes inside fought and snakes outside hurt, new ghosts were big and old ghosts were small."

Su Ze couldn't even understand how to read, let alone how to write.

With his talent in poetry, Su Ze could only hope for the imperial examination reform after the Qingli administration next year.

Although he didn't like studying poetry, Su Ze still liked several of the original body's collections.

Printing and publishing were very developed in the Song Dynasty. Su Ze found many books that had been lost in later generations, and he read them with great interest.

Reading under the eastern fence, I leisurely see the northern mountains.

Sitting in front of Taohuawu, it was soon evening.

Su Ze silently said "go home" in his heart and returned to his own hut again.

Yanzhixue suddenly jumped down from the beam and meowed at Su Ze.

Su Ze touched Yan Zhixue's head. It seemed that the little guy was also very hungry. Su Ze took the dried fish from the shelf.

After having a meal at a stall at the corner of the alley, Su Ze climbed back into bed and took another nap. At midnight, he heard a light knock at the gate of the yard.

Su Ze changed his clothes. Two guards from the Imperial City Bureau, one fat and one thin, stood respectfully at the door. A black carriage was parked at the entrance of the alley.

Su Ze was very satisfied with Li Dutou. It was just the end of the first lunar month and the nights were cold. Su Ze got on the carriage, Li Dutou also got into the carriage, and Shou Juntou drove the carriage towards Caoshifang.

(End of this chapter)