I

Zhao Kuangji set off in a carriage, followed by several palace guards, and arrived at a mansion west of the Forbidden City.

He came to see his classmates, both of whom like to raise dogs.

The classmate's family members welcomed him warmly, but they were a little unhappy because the prince was behind his back.

"Brother, let's go to the dog farm and play together." Zhao Kuangji shouted as he ran into the inner courtyard.

Zhan Shao walked out of the study dejectedly: "Your Highness, go alone, I still have to study at home."

Zhao Kuangji smiled and said: "With your grades, you will definitely be able to get a diploma, but public-funded students don't even think about it. Anyway, your family is rich, and after you get a diploma, you can go to college at your own expense."

"well!"

Zhan Shao sighed: "My three beloved dogs were all killed by my father. They stewed them into dog meat soup, pretending that it was mutton soup. I drank two large bowls and ate several pieces of dog meat. That night I had to Knowing the truth, I felt so sick that I vomited out all the jaundice water."

"How can this, this, this... be like this?" Zhao Kuangji couldn't believe it.

Zhan Shao said: "There are three months left before the high school graduation exam. My father asked me to study hard and not waste any more time. I will wait until after I go to college. Your Highness should not come to see me again during the holidays in the future."

Zhao Kuangji shook his head and said: "No wonder I just met your father-in-law. Although they greeted me with smiles, they always made me feel a little uncomfortable. That's all. You can prepare for the exam with peace of mind and wait until after graduation to find someone to play with."

"Feel sorry!"

Zhan Shao bowed his hands and sent the prince's gift out the door.

When Zhao Kuangji came to the street, he was too lazy to take a car and took his mangy dog ​​for a walk.

He didn't want to go to Meizizhou. There was no team he liked in today's Cuju competition. He had long been tired of watching Suwashe's performances, and Xunwashe did not dare to go, otherwise the accompanying guards would definitely complain.

After thinking about it, he turned around and headed to the Hanlin Academy.

Although Zhao Kuangji was fond of having fun, after he entered middle school, he often went to Hanlin Academy and Qintian Academy. As long as he is interested in something, he will study it painstakingly for a while, and then do other things when he loses interest. When he was twelve years old, he became obsessed with astronomy and even went to live in Purple Mountain. He went to the observatory in the middle of the night to learn stargazing.

Many scholars from Hanlin Academy and Qintian Academy were Zhao Kuangji's teachers.

The prince comes to ask for advice, who dares not to teach him carefully?

Most scholars are secretly proud of this. The prince's teacher said it sounds good. As long as Zhao Kuangji came, he would put down his work and concentrate on imparting knowledge. Unfortunately, they were destined to be disappointed. Zhao Kuangji's enthusiasm for learning never lasted more than three months.

This guy learns things very quickly. He can master what others learn in a year in two or three months. Then I stopped thinking about making progress, kept doing things here and there, and one day I suddenly remembered and went to study for a few days.

At first, Zhao Kuangji amazed scholars, but now he only makes people speechless and sighing.

After arriving at Hanlin Academy, he went straight to the Painting and Calligraphy Hall. Zhao Kuangji planned to study painting today.

But I saw that the small courtyard of the calligraphy and painting museum was crowded with people, as if something big happened today. Zhao Kuangji suddenly became energetic, handed the mangy dog ​​to the guard, ran inside excitedly, caught the person in front and asked, "What's going on today?"

The man obviously knew the prince, and he quickly bowed his hands: "Your Highness, does he know that there is a fight scheduled in the painting academy?"

"There are a lot of fights, and you often fight each other." Zhao Kuangji said.

The man explained in detail: "When the calligraphy and painting museum was established, His Majesty asked him to study the combination of Chinese and Western painting methods. This painting method is divided into two schools. One school is dominated by the former dynasty clan Zhu Mou'an, and the other is led by the Thai and Western scholar Li Zhicheng. Who among them Not being convinced by anyone, they made a fight five years ago and asked each other's proud disciples to draw one."

"What kind of painting requires five years of fighting?" Zhao Kuangji became more and more curious.

The man explained: "Use a combination of Chinese and Western painting techniques to draw a map of the city of Nanjing. One person painted Changganli, and the other painted Loujiangli. There is also an agreement on the width of the painting, which is three feet wide and fifteen feet long."

The name Changqianli is very old and often appears in Tang poetry. The allusion of "childhood sweethearts, childhood sweethearts" comes from this. It is located outside the south city wall of Nanjing. Although it is located outside the city, it is the most prosperous street market in Nanjing.

As for Loujiangli, it was a name only found in the New Dynasty of Datong. The address is also outside the city, but it is next to the northwest city wall and the north city wall. The entire area is the Yangtze River dock area. There are no large shops, but there are small stalls and hawkers everywhere.

"I'm coming!"

But I saw several people walking out of the painting academy, led by the former Ming Dynasty clan member Zhu Mou'ao and the Western missionary Li Zhicheng, who were clearly divided into two groups.

They did not fight in person, but their disciples took action: one was named Zhu Da and the other was named Tang Fu.

Zhu Mou was already over seventy years old. He stood on the steps, stroking his beard, and then cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency, please go first."

"It is better to obey orders than to be respectful!" Li Zhicheng, except that he looks like a foreigner, his accent and movements are the same as those of a Chinese.

Li Zhicheng's beloved disciple Tang Fu took out the work and asked his disciple to hold the scroll while he slowly opened the painting. The huge painting, one meter wide and five meters long, which took five years to complete, appeared in front of everyone bit by bit.

South city wall, Zhongshan Temple, glazed pagoda, restaurant, charcoal market, sheep market, cattle market, pig market, stage, optical shop, leather goods shop, cloth shop, bank, ships, carriages, sedan chairs... There are also countless figures painted on them. Boatmen, sedan bearers, scholars, believers, envoys, merchants, clerks, actors, audiences...

At that moment, I couldn’t count how many people there were or how many buildings there were.

But they are all painted vividly. If you look closely, you can even see the different expressions of the characters.

Zhao Kuangji kept pushing forward, and no one else dared to fight. This guy actually got close to the drawing paper, took out a magnifying glass from his pocket, and praised: "Detailed and meticulous, great painting skills!"

Hearing the prince's praise, both Li Zhicheng and Tang Fu couldn't help but smile proudly.

Li Zhicheng raised his hands and said, "Mr. Bagui, please."

Zhu Mounao smiled slightly, and Zhu Da also began to show his paintings.

Zhu Da's painting is equally meticulous, but the expression is slightly different. He focuses more on the characters. The faces are not painted in detail, but the expressions are vivid with just a few strokes, and the movements are also lifelike. Some characters' movements are even slightly exaggerated.

Every scene is particularly exciting.

One place was a crane on the dock. Suddenly a rope broke and the container overturned and hung while being evacuated. The foremen and coolies around them panicked. Some people are shouting, seemingly asking them to quickly put down the container; some people are holding their heads to avoid it, fearing that the box will hit them; some people are rushing to the crane winch, trying to stabilize the container to prevent it from falling...

One is outside the north city wall to the east, which is where King Jin got fed up. The food stalls there were very lively, with some squatting, some standing, and some sitting, all eating. Others were waiting in line, looking back and joking while waiting. Some diners patted their stomachs and stretched out their fingers to talk to their companions, seemingly showing off that they had eaten five bowls of rice. There were also people who were holding their rice bowls in one hand and half-broken newspapers in the other, leaning to the side as if they were asking for help with words they didn't know.

At one point, a large ship arrived in Beijing, reached the middle of the river, and was about to dock. On the deck stood a group of scholars rushing to take the exam. Some of them held their heads high and talked loudly, some pointed to the dock and shouted excitedly, and some were holding books in their hands as if they were reciting poetry.

One place was in front of Dinghuai Gate, where dozens of envoys from foreign countries were in a daze looking at the towering towers. Several foreigners knelt down to worship on the spot, while the Chinese next to them looked at them with contempt.

The two paintings are not only different in technique, but also in different painting materials.

Zhu Da uses silk to paint, which is calm, simple, thick and dark in color.

Tangfu is painted on paper, which is elegant, noble, bright and colorful.

Zhao Kuangji stood there and looked at them for a long time, but he couldn't tell which one was better. He could only say that each had its own merits. These two paintings neither belong to traditional Chinese painting methods nor are very different from European paintings. They can be regarded as two mature and different schools that combine Chinese and Western painting.

The artists from the Painting and Calligraphy Museum were all present at the moment, and scholars from other museums next door also came after hearing the news. The small courtyard was packed with people, and people were buzzing and commenting. Some said that Zhu Da painted better, and some said that Tang Fu's painting skills were better.

Even calligraphers and painters who are not used to Western painting techniques were shocked by these two paintings.

Zhao Kuangji had learned calligraphy and painting a long time ago. He was just ordinary and had just started. At this moment, he bowed to the two painters, and regardless of whether others agreed or not, he directly performed the apprenticeship ceremony: "I admire the profound skills of these two gentlemen, please feel free to teach me."

Zhu Da didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had taught the fifth prince for two months before, but he couldn't find anyone to teach him. At this moment, I could only return the gift with my hand, not daring to refuse, but my heart was unwavering.

Tang Fu was a little excited and replied: "I don't dare to be His Highness's teacher and learn from each other."

Zhao Kuangji laughed happily, stopped talking to the two teachers, and continued to appreciate the two paintings. First, I used a magnifying glass to take a closer look, and then I stepped back to see the overall effect. No matter how far or near I was, I couldn't find any flaws. This further strengthened his determination to study painting, but even Zhao Kuangji himself could not guarantee whether he could persist for three months.

The Hanlin Academy was bustling for a whole day, and the next day two generals sent two paintings to the palace.

Zhao Han was very happy after seeing this. He promoted Zhu Da and Tang Fu to doctors and gave them some gold and silver. Then, let the Painting and Calligraphy Museum of Hanlin Academy take the painting back. If you want to copy it, you can do it. After a year, it will be sent to the palace for hanging.

The news spread quickly, and a large number of scholars came to the Hanlin Academy to ask for appreciation.

Qian Qianyi, who has decided to retire this year, feels proud. It was decided that the two paintings would be put on display on the first and fifteenth day of each month, but only famous literati would be allowed to enter, and they could only be viewed from a distance collectively. If you want to get closer, you can see them one by one.

The few folk literati who were lucky enough to appreciate the paintings blew the two paintings to the sky after leaving the Hanlin Academy, saying that Wu Daozi would be able to paint like this after he was resurrected.

The literati praised it and naturally spread quickly. Only half a year later, relevant news even appeared in Guangdong and Beijing.

These two new styles of painting, which combined Chinese and Western styles, suddenly gained a foothold and attracted more and more students. They were collectively known as the "Jinling School".