Chapter 194
Chapter 194
The fourth year of Yongkang, October.
It is destined to be a time that will be remembered by people.
The person at the center of the vortex is naturally Ji Yuan.
After he returned to Beijing, he spoke frankly and advised against the ownership of the Rubber Bureau.
The discussion surrounding him never stops.
One moment they say he's pitiful and doesn't know how to be an official, so why is he involved in this matter right after returning?
Look, there is no official position.
Sometimes he said he was a good official, for example, he took back the Rubber Department from the Ministry of Internal Affairs because he wanted to take advantage of the benefits.
Ji Yuan himself is a corrupt official.
But now, the truth is out.
Ji Yuan is not a corrupt official.
He had been an official for nearly ten years, and apart from his salary, he had never received a penny extra.
What’s the deal with the betrothal gift and the BMW?
That was the money he earned from selling paintings!
The calligraphy and painting circles in Beijing could hardly believe the news.
ah?
Mr. Qingtang, is it Ji Yuan?
They had met Ji Yuan before, and even praised Mr. Qingtang's paintings in front of him.
Why didn’t Ji Yuan remind them?
If a passerby asked at this moment, who is Mr. Qingtang, is he very powerful.
People in the calligraphy and painting circles will definitely scold him: "Do you know anything about painting? That's Mr. Qingtang! The most amazing painter in the past ten years, bar none!"
Actually, there is.
It’s Mr. Wu Tang.
Mr. Wu Tang's skills are even more mature, and every stroke of his pen turns into a masterpiece.
But Mr. Qingtang's paintings are more energetic and youthful, which makes people happy when looking at them.
Being able to see emotions in the painting is definitely a masterpiece.
This is the case with Mr. Qingtang's paintings.
Now tell them that Mr. Qingtang is Ji Yuan?
ah?
ah?
It’s no wonder that people in the Beijing calligraphy and painting circles are shocked, but rather, this is completely unrelated, right?
When everyone heard the news, they were all dumbfounded.
Wu Yan was one of those who were dumbfounded.
Why?
Because he is Lord Ji, no, he is a loyal fan of Mr. Qingtang!
He has no interest in politics at all, how did he get involved there!
Wu Yan's Wu family is also considered a prominent family in the capital.
As a well-known wealthy and idle person in his family, Wu Yan never liked reading and was only interested in calligraphy and painting.
He even set up the most powerful calligraphy and painting society in the capital. He was also the president of the society and invited many powerful painters in the capital to discuss with him.
About ten years ago, a member said that at the calligraphy and painting competition stage at Jianmeng Mansion, a painting was auctioned for three thousand taels of silver.
Three thousand taels is nothing to them.
But it’s different for a new painter to sell his works at such a high price.
At that time, Wu Yan stroked his beard and said, "It seems that our Tianqi country is going to have another painter."
Those in the calligraphy and painting competition arena know that the art dealers below have sharp eyes. If the painting is not worth the price, it will definitely be scolded.
However, Wu Yan did not care much about it, because he heard that the painting was called "Imperial Examination Scenes".
The paintings depicting the imperial examinations are so vulgar and devoid of any elegance.
But what the other person said aroused his interest.
"Mr. Qingtang?"
"What is his relationship with Mr. Wu Tang?"
Who is Mr. Wu Tang?
After asking, Wu Yan found out that Mr. Wu Tang also appeared in the Jianmeng Mansion's calligraphy and painting competition arena.
And after drawing a few pictures, I could never find them again.
The person who asked the question had Mr. Wu Tang's painting in his hand.
Wu Yan asked several times, but the man was reluctant to take it out.
This aroused everyone's curiosity, and after much persuasion, they finally got to see Mr. Wu Tang's paintings.
The painting skills and artistic conception are simply superb!
They actually found such a niche painter!
So what is the relationship between Qingtang and Mr. Wutang?
Some people even went to Jianmeng's mansion to look for someone, but they couldn't find anyone.
That was probably the 38th year of Huayuan. In fact, at that time, the person they were looking for was taking the imperial examination in the capital!
Wu Yan calculated the time and felt regretful.
But at that time, even if they had fallen in love with Mr. Wu Tang's paintings, they still didn't have much feeling for Qing Tang, after all, they hadn't seen the paintings.
It was not until around the 41st year of Huayuan that several paintings were circulated from Jianmeng Mansion.
The first few paintings were said to be the work of Mr. Qingtang, but the brushwork was actually not strong enough and everyone felt that he was just a name in name only.
Unexpectedly, after a while, someone said that the painting was fake and was counterfeited, and it was really on the way.
Their calligraphy and painting society is wealthy, so naturally they bought it again.
The picture of the scenery of Dianzhou Prefecture shocked them greatly.
The appearance and architecture of Dianzhou Prefecture are different from those of the capital. With just a few strokes of the painting, a world they have never seen before was outlined.
It’s so beautiful and full of artistic conception.
It turns out that this is Mr. Qingtang’s masterpiece!
It can be said that from that time on, Mr. Qingtang's paintings would be taken out for appreciation every time their calligraphy and painting club gathered.
But whether it is Mr. Wu Tang or Mr. Qing Tang, they are both so low-key that they don’t seem like real people.
No one knows their true identity.
In fact, I heard that in the 44th year of Huayuan, someone had already guessed the real names of these two people and even verified them.
However, all those who knew the truth tacitly agreed not to tell anyone else.
It seems that Mr. Wu Tang has a very bad temper. If this is revealed, he will stop writing.
Who can accept this?
Mr. Qingtang is even more low-key, and even his temper is unknown to others.
Fortunately, he has sold more paintings in recent years.
Some people also speculated that he might have encountered some difficulties, so he sold several excellent works in a row.
At this time, it was already the first and second year of the Yongkang period.
Unfortunately, after this period, Mr. Qingtang became low-key again in the painting world.
Until now, in the four years in Yongkang, not a single painting has been sold.
"Mr. Qingtang, we can tell from his paintings that he must have traveled a lot and made very detailed observations of the local customs and landscapes."
"He can easily describe the scenery of Sichuan and Chongqing, the scenery of Hanzhong, the desert, and the Gobi Desert."
“And we can see that his paintings are becoming more and more vigorous, and have a kind of striving mood.”
"It's so rare, it's really so rare."
"In the contemporary painting world, only he and Mr. Wu Tang can be called the best!"
These are the words that Wu Yan boasted about at the banquet in the capital.
Not even half a month has passed.
A good friend came over in a hurry and said to him directly: "Mr. Qingtang! He is in the capital!"
It was already past noon, and Wu Yan had just woken up. He was still dazed, and subconsciously held his friend's hand: "You're not lying to me, are you?"
"Who lied to you!"
"Really! Mr. Qingtang is in the capital, and you know him!"
Who is it? !
"Ji Hanlin! Ji Yuan!"
???
What a joke!
Ji Yuan is not a poor scholar who only knows how to handle official duties.
The article is well written and the handwriting is excellent.
But drawing? Can he?
It turns out that Ji Yuan not only knows how to do it, but is also very good at it.
He is the most low-key and most famous person in the painting world in recent years.
Wu Yan almost cried when he looked at the book "Snowy Night in Suzhou" which he had bought with great difficulty.
It turned out that this snowstorm was indeed the snowstorm in Suzhou.
In the heavy snow, a tall steam engine stood in the distance, and miners were returning home in groups of three or five.
It is solemn and full of life atmosphere.
It turns out they are all realistic.
These are the scenes that Lord Ji saw.
He has always liked this painting and always felt that he could see vitality in paintings of ice and snow.
It turned out to be Lord Ji’s painting, no wonder.
That seems normal.
Wait a minute.
Some time ago, it was said that Ji Yuan was corrupt, so he had money to give a betrothal gift to his wife.
But if you calculate it this way.
The time when Mr. Qingtang's paintings were circulated in large quantities was the time when he was about to propose marriage to his wife?
ah?
It turned out that Mr. Qingtang did have something going on at home, and it was a major event in his life.
The three betrothal gifts, plus a few BMWs, were all earned by Mr. Qingtang from selling paintings.
A painting of his could be sold for seven or eight thousand taels of silver.
How can I make that little money just by selling a few paintings?
Do you understand the value of Mr. Qingtang?
People can earn that much money just by selling a few paintings.
And if Mr. Qingtang is willing to continue painting, they can offer him 10,000 taels of silver!
Do you not believe in Mr. Qingtang's ability, or do you not believe in our wallets?
But Wu Yan quickly reacted: "It's broken."
broken?
The other people in the calligraphy and painting club were all confused. What happened?
"Given Ji Hanlin's reputation, ten thousand taels of silver may not be enough to buy his paintings."
“It’s definitely not available.”
Everyone gasped.
yes!
This is Ji Hanlin! Ji Yuan!
These veterans in the calligraphy and painting circles are very knowledgeable about calligraphy and painting works.
Whether a painting is valuable or not depends not only on its painting skills and foundation, but also on its artistic conception and the meaning it conveys.
In addition, there is also a rather tacky reputation as a painting viewer.
Mr. Qingtang, just by virtue of the dexterity of his brush, a single painting could be sold for seven or eight thousand taels of silver.
What if we add his well-known reputation?
Now that I think about it, Ji Hanlin's beautiful calligraphy is indeed related to painting.
In short, the painting skills are already amazing, and the two words "era" are added.
Not to mention ten thousand taels, even if it was thirty thousand taels of silver, there would be people willing to buy it.
Those tacky businessmen must want to hang up Ji Yuan’s paintings, since Ji Yuan is also known as the God of Wealth.
In the calligraphy and painting club, three people bought Mr. Qingtang's paintings. When they bought them, they were envied by many people.
Now I’m even more envious.
It's like you discovered a niche treasure painter and you think you are lucky enough.
Now that this treasure painter has taken off the mask, he is still a political bigwig and a literary genius known to the world.
This feeling made everyone a little confused.
But seeing other people staring at his collection, Wu Yan quickly put away his paintings: "No, don't even think about it, I bought it with great difficulty!"
"By the way, there is a banquet soon, and the Song family said they have invited Ji Hanlin. I must go and see it!"
Song family?
Which Song family?
Oh, the Song family, the former Minister of Works who had gotten into trouble?
How does Ji Yuan get there?
Given the status of the Wu family, they shouldn't go there.
If it wasn’t for Ji Hanlin!
Wu Yan won’t go either.
But is that Ji Hanlin?
It is clearly Mr. Qingtang.
By the way, isn’t his family very poor? Where did he learn to paint?
Also, Mr. Wu Tang, is it related to him?
The whole capital city was discussing this matter.
There is no need to say much about who Mr. Wu Tang is, and some people have guessed it.
This matter is also related to Ji Yuan’s marriage proposal.
He asked four teachers to help him write a letter of appointment.
The enlightenment masters, the two masters of the Five Classics.
There seems to be no need to say more about the remaining one, right?
At Ji Yuan's home.
Ji Yuan listened to Liu Bao and Chai Feng's vivid descriptions and shook his head helplessly.
He was caught off guard by this fall.
But it doesn't matter if he was caught.
How come Master Fang was also exposed?
However, the fact that everyone only talked about it now still surprised Ji Yuan.
In Dianzhou Prefecture, many people knew that he was Qingtang.
I didn't expect that everyone would tacitly agree not to mention it.
When Dong Kang from Dianzhou Prefecture came, he also said: "Everyone thinks that since you are unwilling to speak, you must have your reasons."
"Anyway, that's what my family thinks, and we've never said anything nonsense."
The Dianzhou Prefecture was deeply indebted to Ji Yuan, even though their resources were already abundant.
But Champa rice and rubber still made life much easier for the people there.
I guess they all thought the same as the Dong family. If they passed by Jianmeng's mansion, they would disturb Mr. Wu Tang and buy his paintings.
Elsewhere, just shut up.
At Jianmeng Mansion, at most, they knew that Mr. Qingtang and Mr. Wutang were master and disciple, but they would not speculate too much.
Until now.
The mask of Ji Yuan was officially unveiled.
He is not corrupt. Not only is he not corrupt, he is also an honest official.
The so-called problems that you tried hard to find out were all fake.
That was earned by Ji Yuan through his own strength!
Mr. Qingtang, this name is worth a fortune!
When Ji Yuan went to the Song family to attend a banquet, he always felt that more people were looking at him.
The master of the Song family is Song Liuqun's father, who used to be the Minister of Works and is now unemployed at home.
He knew that it was almost impossible for him to be an official again in his lifetime, and the whole family's hopes rested on his son Song Liuqun.
So when Song Liuqun said that he wanted to find Ji Yuan, everyone thought he was too risky.
After all, at that time, his family was not very friendly to Ji Yuan.
But when Song Liuqun went from Jinzhou to Suzhou to look for Ji Yuan, he really succeeded.
There were so many banquets in the capital, and Ji Hanlin didn't go to every one of them, but he chose to come to the Song family's banquet.
Moreover, because Ji Hanlin was coming, many families with higher status than the Song family sent their sons and daughters to come, and those who could not come also sent gifts.
The Song family might be getting better.
Mr. Song was very polite to Ji Yuan and mentioned a lot of things about the Ministry of Works.
He used to be the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, so he must know about this.
Ji Yuan listened carefully and it was indeed very useful to him.
What.
What if you don’t get into the Ministry of Industry, wouldn’t all these words have been in vain?
Ji Yuan just smiled slightly and didn't comment at all.
"Ji, Ji Hanlin."
Wu Yan suddenly felt that he was stuttering.
Having been a wealthy and idle man for more than 30 years, he rarely sees such a thing.
But Wu Yan was really curious and he wanted to hear the answer from Ji Hanlin.
"Are you really Mr. Qingtang?"
After this question was asked, the banquet suddenly became much quieter.
Everyone, who were already distracted, looked over secretly.
Ji Yuan, is it really Mr. Qingtang?
In fact, everyone knows the answer.
The royal family had long since stopped talking about Ji Yuan's corruption, and it was obvious that they had an answer.
But knowing the answer and telling Ji Yuan the answer are two different things.
Ji Yuan found it funny, thinking it wasn't a big deal, he nodded and said, "Yes, I am Qing Tang."
"It's named after my master. My teacher is Mr. Wu Tang. His paintings are beyond the reach of his students in their lifetime."
???
Brother, you are too modest!
Wu Yan opened his eyes wide and asked the question that everyone wanted to ask: "Mr. Qingtang, do you have any calligraphy works recently? Can I see them?"
What Wu Yan meant was whether he could buy your paintings, but it was not easy to say it directly in public.
Unexpectedly, Ji Yuan said directly: "These paintings are just to solve the current difficulties. I guess they won't be needed in the future."
???
Can you say that again?
Ji Yuan will definitely not sell paintings anymore.
Before it was made public, the value of the painting was still calculated based on the artistry.
Now that he has gained fame, he is afraid that the price will go up to a sky-high level, and he does not want to earn that money.
Besides.
Now that I have a wife, I really have no place to spend the money.
If you need money in the future, can you open another account?
Ji Yuan said it calmly, but Wu Yan was shocked.
Not selling anymore?
You said you won’t sell it anymore?!
How can this be possible?
He only had one masterpiece of Mr. Qingtang's in his hand, how could that be enough?
He could pay more money!
Wu Yan was so anxious that he jumped up and down, and he couldn't hold back his words.
When Ji Yuan heard him say that seven or eight thousand taels for a painting was indeed too cheap and that he could add more money, he was confused.
"I sell one of my paintings for three thousand taels."
“It never sold for more than eight thousand.”
In fact, Ji Yuan felt guilty about selling it for three thousand.
But his subordinates who helped him sell the paintings all said that as soon as the paintings were taken out, they were sold immediately, and the other party couldn't wait to stuff the banknotes into his hands.
At that time, I sold a few paintings one after another, and stopped when I had enough for the betrothal gift.
It has never been sold for eight thousand taels.
Wu Yan opened his mouth wide.
ah?
Did he get double the amount of paintings?
Although it is worth it, it is not as worthwhile as buying it directly from Epoch Times.
Ji Yuan and Wu Yan looked at each other and both knew what was going on.
Damn art dealer.
Ji Yuan hesitated for a moment and said, "Forget it. I'll give you one later. You don't have to buy any more."
Wu Yan was just about to say that he could give money!
But Ji Hanlin's reputation made him shut up.
Wu Yan discovered that he had previously said that he looked down on people like Ji Yuan who were full of benevolence and righteousness, and he also couldn't stand the fact that he was busy all the time and didn't know how to enjoy himself at all.
But in his heart, he had already determined that Ji Hanlin was different from others. He was a true gentleman who did what he said.
Wu Yan blushed, saluted towards Ji Yuan, and said excitedly: "Okay, Ji Hanlin, whatever you paint, I can do it too."
The other people in the calligraphy and painting club were so jealous that their eyes turned red.
They want it too!
They want it too!
"I bought my painting for nine thousand taels. Can you give me two? If not, I will buy them."
"Master Ji, if you are free, please come to my house. I also have a BMW. Would you like to send another betrothal gift?"
The era took a half step back.
Not really, really not.
Ji Yuan suddenly thought of something and coughed lightly, "You can ask for my teacher's paintings. He has a lot of paintings, but he is just too lazy to show them to you."
Master Fang, who was leisurely drinking tea in Jianmeng's mansion, felt a chill on his back.
He had no idea that his favorite disciple was "diverting trouble to others"!
Ji Yuan's trick is useless at this moment.
Because people from the calligraphy and painting society said.
We want them all!
Who says you can only appreciate one person's paintings!
We want all the paintings from both you and your master!
Ji Yuan was firm in his attitude and only gave away one painting. He would never sell or give away any paintings again.
The reason is simple.
Ji Yuan was very cautious about not being able to use his fame to make money.
Such a cautious person can also keep a lot of money out of his house.
That he is greedy for money?
Are you all right?
The royal family was most embarrassed at this moment.
They shouted slogans loudly, thinking that Ji Yuan was the same as them, the only difference was between big corrupt and small corrupt.
Who knows, they are not afraid of your verification at all.
The more we investigated, the more we realized how innocent he was.
This incident even made Jiyuan's reputation even more famous.
The emperor is too lazy to care about the Duke anymore.
In addition to promoting the Wang family and giving them a Hanlin official position, he was also sent to the Supervisory Yuan, which was considered a promotion of a capable person.
The official position of Ji Yuan was also officially confirmed.
The third-rank official of the Ministry of Works, Left Vice Minister.
Although, everyone has been prepared for this.
But when I heard the imperial edict, I was still a little dazed.
Twenty-five-year-old Vice Minister of Works.
Who would dare to believe that he was a third-rank official at the age of 25?
But if this person is Ji Yuan, it seems reasonable.
Whoever can achieve his results can also sit in this position.
Ji Yuan was wearing a purple official uniform.
There was a gold and jade belt with thirteen buckles around his waist, and a peacock was embroidered on his official uniform, which looked particularly different.
Other officials wore purple official uniforms and were at least 40 years old.
The current Minister of Works, Lord Hong, is forty-three years old this year, which is already extremely young.
So nothing can be seen from the official uniform with peacock pattern.
The era is different.
He is handsome, with an extraordinary appearance, and the peacock pattern embroidered on him makes him look even more elegant than usual.
It’s okay if he doesn’t smile, but when he smiles, he looks so dashing no matter how you look at him.
It is said that clothes make the man, but it also depends on how the clothes are worn.
On October 16, the newly appointed Minister of Works, Ji Yuan, went to court again.
Everyone in the Ji Yuan Dynasty nodded with a smile. Even the emperor had to say that it was really a good thing to have such young talents in the court.
But the first memorial that Ji Yuan handed over made him unable to sit still.
Because the era provided the method of making rubber tires and the establishment of the future steam department.
Although he was unemployed at home, he was not idle.
The Rubber Department was moved to the Ministry of Industry and needed to be reorganized.
A lot of preparation work is also required to set up the Steam Department.
Don’t worry now, everything has been handled by Jiyuan, just follow the steps!
The two departments must be properly handled before the beginning of this year.
Many people are vaguely aware of it.
The Ministry of Industry, which was originally one of the top six ministries.
Maybe it will become the leader among the six departments in the future?
The Minister of Works had already read Ji Yuan's document and had nothing else to say except nodding.
What Ji Yuan said, could it be wrong?
Moreover, according to the plan of the era, after the department is established, large-scale infrastructure construction can be carried out.
That was his specialty.
By then, I will definitely be able to show my skills.
Besides, he also had a part in what Ji Yuan did, so can he also get some credit for it?
The ministers of other ministries looked at the Minister of Works with envy.
This person seems to have good luck?
The Minister of Works was originally a lucky chancer, and everyone thought he was going to be replaced, but unexpectedly, Ji Yuan came to be his subordinate.
Maybe he can really keep this position?
Everyone's eyes turned to Ji Yuan again.
Then I thought of his reputation in the painting world and his actual abilities.
Why aren’t people like this one of us?
After Ji Yuan finished speaking, the emperor nodded slowly. His words were well-reasoned and he had no choice but to nod.
So far.
The Rubber Bureau has finally returned to the Ministry of Industry, and its taxes will officially enter the national treasury.
After four years, this matter was finally finalized.
Duke Zhao and Duke Chen looked extremely unhappy.
But they had no solution.
Who made them do such a stupid thing? Not only did they fail to bring down Ji Yuan, but they also made his reputation even better.
They are trapped in their own web.
The tax revenue from the Rubber Bureau will go into the national treasury, and the trend is unstoppable.
Now that this piece of fat meat is gone, they hate Ji Yuan to death.
But there is nothing I can do about Ji Yuan.
Who made this the era? This is their nemesis.
Who among them could compare to the 25-year-old Vice Minister of Works!
Wait, they did that to Ji Yuan.
Ji Yuan will definitely fight back, right?
Ji Yuan is not someone who can afford to suffer a loss!
Ji Yuan looked at them with a smile.
Isn't this nonsense?
He who does not seek revenge is not a gentleman.
However, he doesn't need to take action himself to avenge this grudge.
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