mtl008 Chapter 356 Buying Words
Chapter 356 Buying Words
Tao Shu and Tao Yu were also very curious. Who could it be that they didn't even prepare for the imperial examination and went out to play with others? When Tao Yuan pointed it out, a light bulb suddenly lit up in their heads and they looked at Min Xi and Yun Ji in disbelief: "Could it be true?"
Tao Yuan shouted, "Really? Are you really going on an outing with His Majesty?"
Yun Ji nodded: "Although this matter has passed, we should try not to make a fuss about it, so that people with ulterior motives will not use it to make a fuss."
The three Tao brothers nodded vigorously: "We understand, we will never say anything nonsense!"
Yun Lin looked up at his two brothers and said, "I won't say anything nonsense."
Min Xi raised his hand and ruffled his hair: "What a good boy!"
Tao Yuan lowered his voice and said, "Tell us what's going on."
Yun Ji gave a brief account of what had happened, in a dry manner, just like his style of expression. His articles were also in a similar style, with more substance and less nonsense.
Tao Yuan was not satisfied and wanted to ask a few more questions, but Tao Yu interrupted him: "Don't ask about the affairs of the royal family."
Tao Yuan made a face and stopped asking about it.
Knowing that Min Xi and Yun Ji were close to the emperor, Tao Shu and Tao Yu did not plan to go back, and stayed to have a sumptuous dinner and spend the night at the Yun family. The main purpose was to get close to Yun Ji and Min Xi and get closer to them.
At night, the brothers talked for a long time by candlelight. Min Xi saw how knowledgeable the son of aristocratic family was. He was well-versed in everything.
Yun Ji could not compare to this. After all, he learned a wide range of things and had to spend a lot of time practicing martial arts when he was young. He was not like the Tao brothers who grew up surrounded by books and read classics, history, miscellaneous studies, operas and novels.
Min Xi felt that he was still too shallow compared to them. Of course, he was not inferior, after all, he also had advantages. He knew things that the Tao brothers might not know, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, various foreign languages, and engineering.
After the imperial examination, they stopped studying and gave themselves a break. Even if they were lucky enough to pass the imperial examination, they would not worry about failing the palace examination. There was only a certain ranking order, and whoever the emperor chose would be very manipulable.
Yunji followed the original plan and painted a picture of Songshan Mountain for the emperor. Since he was going to paint, he had to paint at least a few pictures, some in ink and some in color.
While Yun Ji was painting, Min Xi was drawing his mechanical drawings. He had been planning this for a long time and had many things he wanted to try, but he hadn't decided what to do first, so when he picked up the pen, he had no idea where to start: should he design a gun or a steam engine?
The principle of the steam engine is very simple, but what kind of power should the steam engine be used for? Will it be used on ships or looms? Min Xi has not yet decided. No matter which one, it is a big project that needs to be realized bit by bit.
So for the time being he just drew the drafts as he pleased, just as a practice. Besides, drawing with a brush was really inconvenient and difficult to use, and could not be used for drawing.
Min Xi decided to get himself a set of rulers first, and then some pencils. Pencils are convenient for drawing, and if you make a mistake, you can erase it and start over. As for erasers, you don't have to worry about it, you can use steamed buns.
Min Xi thought of many ways to make pencils. He tried to add lead powder to ink, but finally gave up because the lead powder was poisonous. Later, he changed to coal, ground the coal into powder, added clay, and then rolled it into thin strips and clamped it between wooden blocks. Although it was a bit rough, it was barely usable, but the color was a little lighter. He tried to add ink to it, but the color of the charcoal sticks with ink was dark enough, but it was difficult to erase, so it could only be used to draw finished pictures.
Min Xi was tinkering around there every day, and Yunlin, who had not yet had a teacher and could not go to school, would play with him. The two brothers' hands got black every day, and sometimes even their faces. Yunlin found it very funny.
Yun Ji didn't know what Min Xi was doing, but he knew that he always did things in moderation, so he didn't care about him.
When he finished a few drawings, Min Xi's pencils and rulers were ready, and he was using them to draw on the paper. He decided to try to make a steam engine first, and as for what it could drive, he would design other application parts according to needs after the steam engine was completed.
In Min Xi's understanding, the principle of the steam engine is very simple, that is, burning fuel to generate enough heat energy, and then using this heat energy to drive other machines. In fact, when it was actually done, he realized how huge the project was. All the parts and materials needed for it needed to be solved by Min Xi himself, and all the structures also needed to be designed by him. It would probably take at least a year or two to complete.
Yun Ji looked at Min Xi's distressed expression and asked, "What's wrong? What's the difficulty?"
Min Xi put down the pencil in his hand and pinched his nose in annoyance: "It's so frustrating, it's so difficult."
Yun Ji couldn't help laughing when he saw his expression. He raised his hand to wipe the ink that had just been smeared on the tip of Min Xi's nose.
Min Xi thought he wanted to touch her, and wanted to avoid him. It would be bad if people saw her in broad daylight. But she found him wiping her nose, and then she looked down at her hand. Sure enough, it was stained with ink without her knowing. "My pencil is really a low-quality product. It can be stained with ink."
Yun Ji took out a handkerchief, dipped it in some tea, and then helped him wipe it clean: "It's okay, just a little bit, it's already clean."
"You don't want to paint anymore?" Min Xi asked him.
"The painting has been completed. Send it to a bookstore and have it framed, and then you can send it to the palace." Yun Ji said.
Min Xi hurried to see the painting he had just finished. The last one was a colored ink painting with colors. It depicted the Songshan Mountain shrouded in clouds and mist. It looked as if he was actually there. It was so realistic: "It's a really good painting."
"It's just average, and it's a bit too mechanical. I have limited talent, so this is the only way I can do it," said Yun Ji.
"Your Majesty will definitely like it after seeing it. Because this is the scene we saw when we first climbed the mountain." Min Xi said.
"I feel relieved when you say that. Let's go to the bookstore."
The two packed up all the paintings and walked out the door. Yunlin went to the Tao family's private school again these two days. The Tao family invited a scholar to teach. The scholar failed in the exams many times. Now he is old and has not participated in the joint exams for many years. In other places, scholars still have the opportunity to become officials, but in the capital, it is difficult to become an official without connections, so he has been teaching as a teacher.
Tao Lizhi asked people to search for him in many places, and finally found a suitable candidate. Although he failed in the exams many times, he was still more than qualified to teach children. Ordinary families would invite scholars to teach, and the Tao family was a family of scholars, so naturally they had higher requirements.
Min Xi and Yun Ji got on the carriage and went to the bookstore.
This bookshop was naturally also run by his family. Calligraphy and painting were inseparable. While selling books and brushes, ink, paper and inkstones, he also bought and sold paintings and did mounting work for others.
At this time, the capital was full of scholars who had just finished their imperial examinations. In the Qinlou and Chuguan, restaurants and teahouses, bookshops and painting studios, scholars were everywhere. Yunxiang Bookshop was no exception.
When Min Xi and Yun Ji arrived, the bookstore was very busy, with people reading books and appreciating calligraphy and paintings, and some buying brushes, inkstones, and paper. Although there were many people, everyone consciously kept their voices down, so it didn't seem noisy.
No one was available to greet them, so they decided to wait and read for a while. As they were flipping through the book, they suddenly heard someone say loudly, "You are bullying customers because of your size. You should pay for damaging my calligraphy and paintings!"
This voice attracted all the attention in the store.
Min Xi and Yun Ji were shocked when they heard this and hurried over: "What's going on?"
The shopkeeper took a look and found that it was the boss and the steward Min. His face changed with fear: "Boss, this guest brought a piece of calligraphy here yesterday to be framed. The framer accidentally spilled ink on the edge of the calligraphy. We tried our best to cover the ink stain carefully, but it still couldn't be covered completely. So we thought of charging only half of the framing fee. The guest disagreed and asked us to compensate him."
Min Xi and Yun Ji took a look at the calligraphy. They found it was really well written, with vigorous strokes and a lot of style. It was very different from the popular official style. It didn't look like the handwriting of a scholar, but more like the handwriting of a warrior brandishing a sword or gun.
Although Min Xi didn't know much about calligraphy, he had written so many times that he could still read it. Min Xi looked at the guest, who looked very young, no older than them: "Sir, did you write this?"
"Yes, I wrote it myself!" The customer said in a bad tone.
Min Xi said, "This calligraphy is really well written. We just happened to damage your calligraphy, so how about this? We will buy it for whatever price you give us."
Seeing Min Xi's smiling face, the other party's anger subsided a little and said, "Give me ten taels of silver."
Min Xi smiled and said, "Okay, just ten taels of silver. Seventh brother, give me the money."