Li Shimin asks for word

Li Shimin originally wanted to take away the"Inscription of a Crude House" that Zhang Nuo had just written, but Zhang Nuo refused to let him.

Come on, I finally wrote something that satisfied myself. I purposely kept it to frame it and show off later. Your Li family is a wealthy and magnificent family. How can you hang an inscription of a Crude House?

This is not showing off, this is embarrassing.

What you call a humble cottage is like a luxurious mansion compared to my place!

After Zhang Nuo sternly refused, Li Shimin began to playfully ask for something else.

"Brother, you are truly gifted in poetry and literature. Today, you must write two meaningful lines for me that I can hang in my study!"

"Brother not only brought your sister-in-law today but also your sister-in-law sister, so you must give me face!"

Zhang Nuo was both amused and frustrated by Li Shimin's shameless behavior. It wasn't that he couldn't come up with something, but his mind was filled with too many ideas, and he didn't know which one would suit Li Shimin's request.

"Li, how about this? I promise to write it for you. Just tell me what message you want to convey, and I will do it on the spot according to your request!"

Li Shimin was a little surprised to hear Zhang Nuo's confident words.

He had already made it clear that he wanted something to hang in his study, and he expected a certain level of quality.

But Zhang Nuo was still able to say that he could write it on the spot. Li Shimin was intrigued by Zhang Nuo's confidence.

After a moment of contemplation, Li Shimin slowly began to speak.

"Brother, this year I officially took over the family business from my father. But this sudden responsibility is not only difficult, but I also worry if I can support this family business in the future."

Li Shimin stopped speaking here and looked at Zhang Nuo intently.

Zhang Nuo pondered for a moment, walking slowly around the hall with his hands behind his back, while quickly searching for a suitable poem in his mind.

He needed to express the feeling of confusion and worry, but he couldn't just give up. He also had to convey hope for the future.

After just a few steps, Zhang Nuo found a very suitable poem, quickly returned to his desk, closed his eyes, and began to think about how to write it down.

Calligraphy is not just scribbling, especially for longer texts. The font and size must be planned beforehand, or else the writer might run out of space midway and have to write the later characters smaller.

When Zhang Nuo was about to start writing, unexpectedly, Hongyu took the ink stick from Xiaomei's hand and used a spoon to scoop out a small amount of water into the inkstone. She began to grind the ink stick slowly but evenly on the inkstone.

The Xiaomei was stunned for a moment when someone took the ink stick from her, but after seeing Hongyu's skilled technique, she realized that the beautiful young lady was teaching her.

To be honest, as a child from a poor family who couldn't read, Xiaomei only knew that grinding ink required water and force, but she didn't know what the appropriate concentration of ink was.

Zhang Nuo was also not very particular, otherwise her ink, ground by herself, would be useless in the hands of others.

Soon, Zhang Nuo finished drafting and picked up her brush, dipping it in the ink and writing the three characters "The Hard Road" directly on the paper.

This time, Zhang Nuo did not write in running script, as it was for Li and it was better to be more formal. His regular script was the most commendable, after all.

But he didn't notice that Li Shimin's face changed as soon as he saw the three characters "The Hard Road"!

The words he had said before were buried in his heart, and this was the first time he had spoken them in front of others.

This year, he officially became the emperor. Whether he became emperor actively or passively, he was already sitting in this highest position.

Of course, he was proud and confident, but deep down, he was most nervous and uncertain.

He was worried that he couldn't do the job of being an emperor well. If he really messed up, would future generations say he was not legitimate and useless?

And what he often lamented in his heart was "The Hard Road".

Before he could even express his admiration, Zhang Nuo wrote the first 36 characters of this poem in one breath.

"Ten thousand casks of wine are emptied in a row, precious dishes worth ten thousand coins are served. Unable to eat or drink, the sword drawn, the heart is lost in confusion, gazing in all directions."

If it weren't for fear of disturbing Xiao Zhang's shopkeeper, Li Shimin really wanted to shout for the shopkeeper.

This was his daily life as an emperor.

Even if he was frugal, his life was still top-notch. It was exactly as Xiao Zhang's shopkeeper wrote: "Ten thousand casks of wine are emptied in a row, precious dishes worth ten thousand coins are served."

But in reality, he often started thinking about other things while eating, and couldn't figure out why.

He didn't know what Xiao Zhang's shopkeeper was thinking. Clearly, he didn't know his identity or his daily life, but what he wrote was as if he had seen it with his own eyes.

And at this point, Zhang Nuo continued writing!

"Ice blocks the Yellow River and snow covers the Taihang Mountains. In leisure, fishing in the clear river, suddenly boarding a boat and dreaming beyond the edge of the sun."

Li Shimin was almost in tears when he saw this. He quickly grabbed the hand of Empress Chang sun and held it tightly to calm down a little.

These two sentences summed up his thoughts perfectly. When he first ascended the throne, he wanted to make a grand plan, but he was immediately faced with the threat of Jie Li pushing straight towards Chang'an.

Now that Jie Li's problem has been solved and the treasury is empty, it's impossible to launch an attack.

It's just too difficult.

Furthermore, the shopkeeper Xiao Zhang used two allusions in the latter part.

One was about Jiang Taigong and Lv Shang fishing in the Wei River, and then helping Zhou to overthrow Shang; the other was about Yi Yin dreaming of riding a boat passing by the sun and moon, and eventually helping Shang to overthrow Xia.

This was exactly his dream, wasn't it?

To defeat the Turks, drive away the Xiongnu, conquer Goguryeo, and make great contributions to the country. Xiao Zhang had truly written what was in his heart.

But when Li Shimin saw the next sentence that Zhang Nuo wrote, he sighed deeply,

"It's hard to travel, it's hard to travel, there are many diverging roads, where are we now?"

Yes, he wanted to stabilize the people's hearts and enlighten their minds, expand the territory, and clean up the rivers and seas. He had many ideas, but didn't know where to start.

Li Shimin hesitated a bit here.

All the grievances in his heart were written by Xiao Zhang in just a few dozen words, and it explained his complex emotions.

But he had previously said that he would hang this piece of calligraphy in his study. If the courtiers saw it, would they think that the emperor was too frustrated?

However, before he could complain, the last sentence was also written by Zhang Nuo in one breath.

"There will be times when the winds and waves are rough, and the sails will be set high to cross the vast sea."

It's done! Just the last sentence alone had changed the whole tone of the piece from melancholy and frustration to a beautiful blessing from Xiao Zhang to Li Shimin, and also Li Shimin's determination.

Only after seeing Zhang Nuo's inscription "Presented to a friend in Chang'an in the golden autumn of the ninth year of Wu De", Li Shimin suddenly shouted,

"Good!"