Su Chen ran back to the direction of Liuhefang, thinking that he hadn't seen the Grand Canal yet, and was only more than two miles away from his house, so he ran over to take a look.

This canal has been dug since the Sui Dynasty, and has a history of 300 years, the canal enters the river estuary, the Jingkou lock, the tiger bridge, etc., from north to south, passes through the ancient city of Runzhou, and there is quite a bit of prosperity of "3,000 miles of lights flowing near the flow of 100,000 families".

Runzhou is to rush from north to south, win the victory of mountains and rivers, Zhong Lingyuxiu, and this canal is not unrelated.

The embankment is built along the canal barrier on both sides, with a buffered slope, and willows are planted on both sides of the embankment, which can prevent the water and soil flow around the embankment and increase the flood resistance.

The river is surging, the water surface is more than 20 meters wide, some boats and painting boats flow through on the water surface, there are ships docked at the wharf, loading and unloading materials, and the slender man and the short-term worker can be seen in the distance, and they are constantly busy.

On the opposite bank of Suchen, which is the Dongcheng District of Runzhou, you can walk to the opposite bank through the cross-river arch bridge, and you don't need to take a boat.

Suddenly, he saw a sixty-year-old figure standing in the willows along the river nearby, holding a pen in one hand, painting on a drawing board, and next to that figure, a middle-aged servant stood on the side, holding a wooden plate in his hand, in which some thin pens and colored inks were placed, serving beside him.

Su Chen walked over, but because the master and servant were both paying attention to painting, they didn't pay attention to him.

A few steps behind the sketchpad that approached the two, Su Chen stopped and looked at the work on the old man's sketchpad with some curiosity.

The ink painting on the rice paper is almost finished, and the painting is a distant scene, with undulating peaks and mountains, and vast rivers with smoke and waves. The wild fishing village between the mountains and rivers, the water pavilion platform, the thatched hut and thatched cottage, the attic house, are scattered, and the layout is ingenious.

It has to be said that the painter's technique is refined, whether it is a canal, a boat, a pavilion are painted in a very detailed manner, among which in the near scene, there is a wharf, several ragged figures are carrying goods, one of the old men is carrying a sack on his shoulder, facing the north of the canal, his face is full of sadness, it seems that there is endless worry and depression.

"It doesn't seem to be the right ......"

The old man who painted was wearing a square scarf on his head, wearing a small crown under the scarf, wearing a brown spacious Taoist robe, a ribbon around his waist, carrying a pen, frowning, not very satisfied with the painting, he couldn't help but sigh lightly, but he couldn't find any problems.

"It's the wrong demeanor!" Su Chen spoke in the back.

"Who?" The old man who painted and the servant beside him turned around in surprise when they heard an outsider talking behind them.

Su Chen felt a little abrupt, and hugged his fists and said: "I took the liberty to appear under the next and disturbed the two, please forgive me!" ”

The old man in brown has bright eyes, although he is sixty years old, he has thick eyebrows, a beautiful beard, and looks elegant and handsome, very generous, and is by no means an ordinary squire and businessman.

While Su Chen was looking at him, the other party was also looking at him, and saw that he was a young man, although he was wearing cloth clothes and shoes, but his eyebrows were clear and his eyes were beautiful, and he did not look like a low-class common man.

"What do you think of this child's decaying paintings?"

Su Chen took a step forward and said: "Xiao Sheng only knows a little about painting, but Mr.'s painting skills are profound, the brushwork is fine, lifelike, whether it is in the use of the pen outline, or the ink and color, etc., there is everyone's demeanor, to say that the only thing that makes people feel inappropriate is the look of this character, a little ...... It's kind of taken for granted. ”

"Oh, what do you mean by that?" The old man was interested in listening to it, and what the other party said was exactly what he had just doubted, the overall painting was close to maturity and perfection, but it made him feel dissatisfied, and it made people sigh depressed.

Su Chen said: "Mr. is extremely skilled in brushwork, which can be excellent, and in terms of painting, there are not many flaws, at least he can't pick it out in his later life." However, the expression and movement of this character are a little wrong, or the scene is not right, just like the old man in the painting! ”

The old man in brown asked suspiciously: "The old man I painted, he was originally a toiling public, he was still doing hard labor at the wharf, his eyes looked north of the river, and he was more worried about the situation in Jiangbei and the suffering of his compatriots in Jiangbei, what is wrong with this?" ”

Su Chen smiled and said: "Mr. is highly talented, he must have an extraordinary identity, and he has an open-minded state of mind of 'worrying about the worries of the world first, and enjoying the joy of the world after the world', but it is a bit unrealistic to think that all the people are the same as Mr., and they are also worried about the country and the people." ”

The old man in brown read the words 'the worries of the world first, and the joy of the world after the world', his eyes lit up, and he had never heard such a good poem.

But Su Chen's words made him disagree, stared at the young man, and asked, "What do you mean, don't these people have feelings of worrying about the country?" ”

Su Chen smiled and said: "Although Your Excellency is old, but his aura is extraordinary, he must be of noble birth, he has fine clothes and food in life, and he may have been an official, it is not surprising that he has this kind of feeling of worrying about the country and the people." But the gentleman didn't suffer from illness and didn't worry about three meals, so he didn't understand what the people at the bottom were thinking! The old man in the painting, since he is still doing hard labor in his old age, his family must be poor, and he can't take care of three meals, will he worry about the war in Jiangbei, the flood of the river dam, the pain of canal digging and other things? They just want to live, have food and clothing, and feed their families, as for whether Jiangbei returns to Tang or Song, the toiling people don't care. ”

The old man in brown was stunned, this was the first time he heard these words, and he had the intention to refute the Confucian scholar's remarks, but he felt that there was no way to refute it.

In his past few decades, he has studied the scholar class, the official level, the court and the temple, and he really has not experienced the thoughts of the people at the bottom.

Su Chen's words suddenly made the old man in brown feel empowered, and there seemed to be a spiritual light in his mind, and what he couldn't figure out or do all these years finally realized that he seemed to be wrong in terms of starting point.

If he is given another chance, he feels that it is time for him to change his way of thinking.

The old man in brown suddenly smiled: "You are right, Mencius was a sage, and if you are good, you will help the world, and if you are poor, you will be good alone." The old man's ambition was not rewarded, so he put his inner worries and depression on an old man of the same age. As everyone knows, the old man is of a different class and has different ideas, so it is indeed ridiculous to let the people at the bottom worry about the country and the people, and he has the same state of mind as me. ”

"Laifu, this painting, let's pull it!" The old man in brown sighed, and the more he looked at this painting, the more dissatisfied he became.

"Wait!" Su Chen stopped the servant from tearing up the painting, and persuaded the old man in brown: "It can be remedied!" ”

The old man in brown was puzzled: "How to remedy it?" ”

Su Chen took two steps forward and said with a smile: "Just change your expression." ”

"Change your expression?" The old man in brown was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized, but, at his level, one painting is just a painting, and he can paint it again at will, and his mood is already bad, and there is no need to repair it.

Su Chen took the pen in the old man's hand, and added a few faint laugh lines to the old man carrying the sack, and suddenly the whole person's mental outlook was different.

The old man in brown watched from the side, nodding slightly, although he felt that the painting was different, but he was still melancholy.

Su Chen looked at it carefully, and found that this picture of the combination of canals, mountains, and ancient cities had a larger blank area on the left-hand side, which affected the overall ratio, and said: "It would be good to mention one more poem." ”

The old man in brown was surprised, thinking that this young man was amazing, meticulous, and talented, so he had the heart to think about it, and said: "Why don't you have this son mention a poem on it and give it to the old man?" ”

Su Chen thought about it, and said with a smile: "Yes!" ”

He picked up a pen on the rice paper on the drawing board and wrote a seven-character poem: "The end of the Sui Dynasty is this river, and it has been thousands of miles to the end." If there is no water temple dragon boat matter, Gongyu will not have much merit. ”

Su Chen wrote "Bianhe Nostalgia" by Pi Rixiu in the Tang Dynasty, to the effect that the world said that the Sui Dynasty fell because of this river, but it is still flowing endlessly, so the north and south boats are unimpeded. If it weren't for the stupid things such as repairing dragon boats and patrolling the river, Emperor Yang of Sui's single exploits could be on par with Dayuzhi.

This poem, the old man in brown has naturally read it, it is not surprising, but Su Chen's thin gold penmanship, the bones are beautiful, and the fun is hazy, he has seen many calligraphy posts, but he has never seen it, and when he sees it, he likes this font quite a lot.

"The son is talented, the old man admires, I don't know the name!" The old man in brown had lowered his status and asked very politely.

Su Chen didn't have to hide his identity in this situation, and said truthfully: "Su Chen, who was born late, lives in the nearby Liuhefang, what do you call Mr.?" ”

The old man in brown smiled slightly: "The old man's surname is Han Xizai, the word uncle, and I have a detailed discussion with Su Gongzi today, which is really quite speculative!" ”

"Han Xizai ......" Su Chen's heart was a little turbulent, thinking to himself what are you doing in Runzhou, you should go to Jinling to assist Empress Li!