Chapter 131 Li Qingzhao's Girlfriends
The White Snake's mansion is naturally very large, with rockery, flowing water, pavilions and towers in the front hall and backyard, and flowers in three seasons out of the four seasons.
In terms of the unity of man and nature and garden architecture, the Song Dynasty reached its peak in its five thousand years of history. Compared with the skyscrapers built with molten steel in later generations, it was more than ten times stronger.
Song Huizong originally had no chance of becoming emperor, so he indulged himself early on, indulging in sensual pleasures. Later, by chance, he became emperor, but his extravagant habits did not change. Instead, they worsened under the persuasion of Cai Jing, Liang Shicheng, and others.
These people are truly eloquent, quoting classics and scriptures. "Fengheng Yuda" originally described a state of peace and prosperity, characterized by abundance and prosperity. Cai Jing, the leader of the Six Traitors, deliberately misinterpreted the Book of Changes to curry favor with Emperor Huizong of Song. The phrase "Fengheng, Wang Jiazhi" implies "great and capable of annexing and controlling."
The core idea is that now is a peaceful and prosperous age, and the emperor should act like an emperor and spend his money freely. Otherwise, he will appear shabby and stingy, and outsiders will be dissatisfied, thinking that we are easy to bully and unworthy of this peaceful and prosperous age.
We are not spending money for pleasure, but to show the strength of our country through spending money, so that foreigners who come to Song as envoys will feel scared.
Cai Jing also misinterpreted the phrase "Only the king does not know" in the Book of Changes, saying that the emperor should not be too concerned about his spending.
Liang Shicheng's theory is even more ridiculous. He deliberately misinterpreted Fan Wencheng's words "Be the first to worry about the world's worries, and the last to be happy about the world's happiness." He meant that now that the world is finally at peace and prosperity, "Your Majesty should be the last to be happy about the world's happiness."
Song Huizong was like someone offering him a pillow when he was sleepy, and he immediately hit it off and began to live a luxurious life with peace of mind. Song Huizong liked the stones from the south of the Yangtze River, so he had them transported to Bianliang City with great effort, manpower, material resources, and huge amounts of money.
Hao Jing, a Yuan Dynasty scholar, once wrote: "Wansui Mountain stretches across the nine provinces, yet the Bian River embankment still brings sorrow to thousands. Many nations have perished in the Central Plains since ancient times, but who knew the fall of the Song Dynasty was due to stone?"
What the emperor likes, his subjects will like even more. In the city of Bianliang, the homes of the emperor's favorites were all built to be extravagant, or perhaps to be more precise, to be luxurious and sophisticated.
Artists just like this. These popular young artists all want to get the approval of Song Huizong, and many of them bring Taihu stones to their homes in the name of Song Huizong.
Li Qingzhao was a regular guest at the Bai Mansion and did not need a doorman to lead the way. She walked through the wide plank road and the long corridor and met three women riding horses in the pavilion in the garden.
"Okay, you guys, you start playing without waiting for me to come. Do you take me, the gambling king of Bianliang, seriously?" Li Qingzhao walked into the pavilion in two steps and sat down next to Bai Qiannuo.
"White Bodhisattva, please send someone to get a pot of wine. I'm so thirsty and have been sweating all morning." Li Qingzhao did not consider herself an outsider at all. While speaking, she skillfully rolled the dice and joined the battle.
Da Ma is a chess game that was popular throughout the Song Dynasty. It is similar to the flying chess of later generations, but more complicated.
It's the kind that Lü Ziqiao in "Love Apartment" particularly likes. To what extent does he like it? For flying chess, he would even gallop on a horse.
In the Song Dynasty, up to five people could participate in a game of Da Ma, which was a game of competing for the first place.
There are chess pieces and a chessboard. Each player has several chess pieces. They start from the starting point, roll the dice, and move the chess pieces according to the number of points on the dice. The winner is the one who moves all his chess pieces to the end point first.
The chess pieces in each player's hand are obviously different from each other, but the pieces in everyone's hand are exactly the same. The chess pieces are mostly made of copper and are called "Da Ma Ge Qian" or "Ma Qian".
Most horse coins are made of fine copper, meticulously crafted, and are extremely exquisite. They typically have the name of a horse written on one side and a horse image on the other; or the name and image of a horse appear on one side, with the same image on the other.
The horse names used are mostly taken from famous horses in ancient times, such as "Qianli", "Chidian", "Zhuifeng", "Luer", etc.
The path in horse racing is more complex and winding than in flying chess, with more obstacles and challenges along the way. Because so many people participate, the small chessboard also exudes the momentum of thousands of horses vying for the lead.
Li Qingzhao was particularly fond of gambling games, and she enjoyed them to the point of neglecting food and sleep.
For this purpose, Li Qingzhao also wrote the "Preface to the Horse-Driving Picture".
"Virtue leads to understanding; understanding leads to omniscience; concentration leads to mastery of all things...Broadness is nothing but the art of striving for the first place, and so it is achieved by those who specialize. I am naturally devoted to broadness; I indulge in what is called broadness day and night, often forgetting to eat. Yet, throughout my life, no matter how much I learn, I have never failed to make progress. Why? Because of concentration."
Li Qingzhao said that she had read books on all kinds of subjects, and this was not an exaggeration. She had a very wide range of interests.
As for the lesson Zhao Huan taught, it was just a warning and no one could understand it at all.
The maid brought a small pot of wine, and Li Qingzhao took it and drank it all in one gulp, looking very heroic.
"Alas, who would have thought that Tokyo's most talented woman would be such a drunkard? How foolish the world is!"
"You have a White Lady who says I'm kindhearted, and outsiders don't know me. Behind closed doors, I'm always researching disgusting vegetable juices and forcing others to drink them!"
Li Qingzhao retorted with a smile, and it was obvious that the two had a good relationship.
"You two are really enemies. You are so old, but you are still like children and don't recognize each other. If you make fun of me, I will make fun of you too." The woman who spoke was called Wang Yao.
She was wearing a white long gown, with light eyebrows, phoenix eyes, skin as delicate as snow, a plump figure, and a dignified and calm expression. Her clear and bright eyes seemed to have some kind of magic that made people intoxicated. Even the faint sadness between her eyebrows was very charming.
"Mrs. Qin is jealous. Come and let your sister comfort you." Li Qingzhao moved closer to Wang Yao and quickly kissed her on her red lips.
"Hahaha, little widow, I know you're lonely and cold. It's okay, let's sleep together tonight..."
"You, are being a hooligan again..."
Wang Yao, the daughter of Wang Shiyong, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, was the minister who was obsessed with saving up his own money. She was very good at mathematics, or at least she could do mental arithmetic very quickly.
She came from a scholarly family and had learned the Three Obediences and Four Virtues very well. Unfortunately, when it came to love, she had no control over it. She tried desperately to find love, but in the end she married the daughter of a businessman who ran a restaurant, which made Wang Shiyong very angry.
He could only hold his nose and accept it. The man's surname was Qin. He was quite rich and treated Wang Yao very well. Unfortunately, he was short-lived and died within two years. He also did not allow Wang Yao to have children.
Alas, Wang Yao got a huge fortune for free and returned to live in the palace.
"Everyone, everyone, when are we going to paint? I have a customer who wants to see you guys painted by name. It costs 5,000 guan. How many customers do I need to take on to make that much money?"
"Today's expenses are all mine. Now that we've had enough fun, let's go paint."
"Mr. Zhao, you only know how to make money. You're almost worth a million, and you're alone. What do you need so much for?"
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