"Since Cao Gong's thorn, let's go to Taichangqing's mansion tomorrow to deliver it?" Guan Yu took a general look at the letter of introduction written by Cao Cao, and suggested it straightforwardly.

Li Su hurriedly asked Guan Yu to calm down: "Don't be impatient, it's too anxious to go now." First, the eldest brother has just left Beijing and returned to Zhuo County, and he hasn't done anything yet, so he will help him brag first, which is easy to be despised.

Moreover, other preparations for the eldest brother to promote righteousness and filial piety have not yet been made. In the past few days, I have finished writing the manuscript of "Xiaoyilu" first, and I am not busy with engraving and printing for the time being.

We shouldn't be able to leave Beijing in five or six days, and we still have time. It's best to wait until the letter of reporting the thief in Youzhou has also arrived, and Zhang Chun's rebellion has completely become a matter of common concern to the whole court, and we will visit again. ”

The official document sent by Fu Zhu and Liu Bei was only from the Jizhou Assassin History.

And Youzhou Assassin Shi Taoqian, so far he hasn't made much trouble about the thieves in Youzhou and reported it to the imperial court. After all, Youzhou was affected later, Tao Qian was caught off guard, and he tossed it all over the place, and when he figured out the situation, he was at least four or five days later than the people of Jizhou.

Moreover, Youzhou is further north, and the messenger on the road quickly delivers the news, and it has to walk two or three days longer than the one starting from Jizhou.

Guan Yu didn't understand these officialdom doorways, so he had to listen to Li Su, he just reminded: "If you come to ask for a meeting, you have to make an appointment at least three days in advance, and it is not certain that others will not see you, but you have to remember to set aside time." ”

Li Su was stunned for a moment, and immediately expressed his humble acceptance.

It's also strange that he has passed through this month, and he hasn't gone through the procedure of "officially submitting a famous assassin/letter of introduction to meet dignitaries". The celebrities I saw before were either coincidental or had urgent military situations that could be cut in line.

So much so that Li Su has not yet gotten used to the normal "slow life" communication and visit etiquette of the Han Dynasty's dignitaries.

It is true that he has to set aside a few more days for Liu Yan to decide whether he wants to see him or not.

……

That night, Li Su looked up some materials again, wrote "Filial Piety Record" for a while, and then went to sleep.

Because he had completely given up confidence in his calligraphy, Li Su wrote things faster, and he didn't care if the words were ugly or not, anyway, he had to ask someone to copy it before the final engraving.

After getting up the next day, he took Guan Yu to wander around Luoyang City, and went to Taixue to hang out first. But now that he is too learned, and no one reads, he finally caught a few people talking, and wanted to ask if he knew any famous calligrapher, and people didn't talk to him.

So after a morning of shopping, nothing was gained.

It's a little familiar with a handful of readers, but none of them are celebrities, and they are all tricks that have never been recorded in history.

When he was tired of shopping, Li Su returned to his residence, wrote a book to rest for a while, and then went out to surf in the afternoon after dinner.

Guan Yu saw that he had found nothing, and he was afraid of making a mistake, so he suggested during the meal: "I see that those celebrities and rotten Confucians are also very high, sour and rotten, and I asked them about the news, but I didn't miss the big thing."

Since I am just looking for someone with neat writing, I think it is better to go back to the Zhen family's business name and ask them about the business - the Zhen family's business in Beijing, since it is in the business of selling paper, can't you recognize a few words that are well written? ”

When Li Su heard this, he put down his chopsticks and felt that Guan Yu was right.

As a wealthy businessman, it is estimated that it is still difficult for the Zhen family to make friends with high-ranking officials and nobles, but as a source of intelligence, it must be competent.

If you sell paper, you can meet many customers who know calligraphy, and if you sell horses, you can meet customers who know the martial arts of bows and horses.

"Yun Chang has a clever plan, I'll go to the Zhen family business to ask after dinner." Li Su agreed with kindness.

Guan Yu's temper of "arrogant doctor", I didn't expect it to be quite helpful and refreshing to do this.

……

After the meal, Li Su immediately went to the Zhen family business and found the steward.

The name of the steward of the firm is Zhang Liang, and he is the son of Zhang Quan, the chief housekeeper of the Zhen family. Since Zhen Yi's death, the Zhen family was ruled by her mother, Zhang, and she sent her mother's henchmen and servants to the position of managing money and business.

Li Su's papermaking order a few days ago was also handled by Zhang Liang himself.

Seeing Li Su coming to the door again, Zhang Liang was also very polite: "What does Mr. Li have to do?" It will take some time for your batch of paper to be shipped, and now it is still being washed and washed. ”

Li Su went there to one: "I'm not here to ask for paper, but I want to ask you if there is a carpenter here who will give it to you, and whether you know any good calligraphy in the capital and are willing to pay money to help people write." ”

Zhang Liang thought for a while: "The carpenter is good to say, what is calligraphy?" ”

It turns out that there is no such term as "calligraphy" today.

Li Su cleared his throat: "It's just that the handwriting is beautiful and neat, and it's best to be similar to the handwriting of the stone scriptures carved at the entrance of Taixue." ”

Zhang Liang understood now: "If you write beautifully and are poor, and are willing to help others write for you, Jingshi will grab a lot of them, and I will just help you find one."

However, it should be similar to those words on the stone scripture at the entrance of Taixue...... It's going to be harder. That's Cai Yilang's body, he was able to learn exquisitely with him back then, but now most of his body is in a high position, who is willing to copy it. ”

Li Su thought about it, and it seemed that this was indeed the truth.

Because it has been ten years since Cai Yong was dismissed and returned to his hometown, it means that the apprentice who followed Cai Yong to learn calligraphy in the capital was at least ten years ago in Taixue.

Cai Yong's new apprentices who have only been recruited in recent years must have lowly status, but they are all in Wu County.

For example, Gu Yong, the later prime minister of Eastern Wu, should only be a teenager now, and he served Cai Yong in his hometown in Wu County and studied with Cai Yong. Gu Yong's calligraphy is Cai Yong's own admission of "the first disciple of the family".

Including Gu Yong's "Yong" character was given by Cai Yong, allowing him to have the same sound as the teacher. The word "Yuan Sigh" was also given by Cai Yong, which originally meant "a person who was praised by the teacher".

But Li Su can't go to Wu County to find someone, if he can find Gu Yong, then he can't just find Cai Yong, why bother with that.

Li Su thought about it, and lowered his requirements: "We don't ask Cai Yilang to pass it on in person, as long as you learn it well, even if it is self-taught, just point out one." ”

Zhang Liang thought about it again, and this time he quickly had a suggestion: "If this is the case, there is someone who can recommend - this person's name is Zhong Xuan, and the character is Chang." He was studying too much before Cai Yilang went into the wilderness, so he shouldn't have much chance to pass it on in person. But he studied diligently, at least ninety percent of them were similar, and often came to me to buy paper.

He didn't leave the school until he was thirty years old, and he was an idle official for five or six years, and he never had a serious errand to make up for it, and his career was unfavorable, so he was willing to help people copy, and the price would not be too high. ”

In the Han Dynasty, if there was no vacancy in the new officials who had just been promoted to filial piety or had just graduated from Taixue, they would first be placed in the position of "Lang Guan".

In other words, Lang Guan is a group of otaku who receive 300 stone every year, and then basically have no work and stay in Beijing to continue their self-cultivation.

With the high prices of Jingshi, there is no other opportunity to reap benefits, so the whole family has to eat for a year on 300 stones, and the life is still relatively hard. If it is not from a rich family, or if you have been an official for a long time, you have to find some side jobs to subsidize the family.

When Li Su heard the name Zhong Xuan, he immediately felt that he had found the right person.

In history, Zhong Xuan is a typical late bloomer, although his official position was quite high later, but he seems to have been promoted quickly by relying on a large number of courtiers to die and vacate during the reign of Dong Zhuo and Li Guo. The entire glorious period of his career was after moving the capital to Chang'an.

Now it is still the peaceful era of Dingdu Luoyang, Zhong Miao is a poor official who needs to work, and he has not had a serious errand until he is thirty-seven or eighteen years old.

"Thanks for the pointers."

Li Su thanked Zhang Liang for his guidance, and by the way, he bought some gifts in the Zhen family's shop, asked Ming Zhong Xuan's residence in Beijing, and then sent his own soldiers to the Zhong family to give gifts and invitations.

There is no need for a letter of introduction, because Lang Guan is only an idle position of three hundred stones, and Zhong Xuan's status is not much higher than Li Su now, but he has been obsessed with more than 20 years of age, Li Su asked people to send gifts to meet, and the other party will definitely meet.

……

Sure enough, the day after Li Su gave the gift, Zhong Xuan asked the servant to return the gift, and said that he would be waiting for him at any time.

Between officials, the normal initial visit is generally to give three days' notice so that the other party has time to prepare.

Zhong Miao only let Li Su wait for one day before allowing him to take care of himself, which shows that he is also too poor to have a fight.

Li Su didn't care much, so he brought a few horseshoe gold cakes, asked his soldiers to carry a bucket of high-quality wine and a piece of deer breast, and went to Zhong Xuan to do things.

With Zhong Xuan's worth, the hard work of copying a book is estimated to be a few thousand dollars. Li Su brought so much money and wanted to make a long-term supplier.

When the new paper for impermeable rubbing is made, Li Su will have more books to print in the future, and the supply chain must be prepared first.

Moreover, the first document copied this time must be written well, because it will be shown to Liu Yan before it is printed in the future.

As the saying goes, words are like people, and when visiting big people, the first word you see for the other person is very important.