At the beginning of the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, a national Hanlin Painting Institute was established. In the first year of Yongxu of Song Taizong), the painting institute was located in the east of Xuande Gate in Bianjing. In the first year of Xianping of Song Zhenzong, the painting institute was moved to the outside of the right door of the Great Interior.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Hanlin Painting Academy set up four positions such as painting Xuezheng, art Xue, Gihou, and waiting for the edict, and those who did not get the position were called painting students.

Li Nan followed an old eunuch in a red robe and walked quickly into this royal painting academy that brought together the famous painters of the Great Song Dynasty.

I saw that on both sides of the road, there were golden-armored guards who were more than 1.75 meters tall, tall and strong, and their eyes were shining, Li Nan had experienced a lot of killings, and his physical fitness and five senses were also higher than ordinary people, and at this time, he actually felt a huge threat from these standstill guards.

Seeing Li Nandong's appearance, the elderly eunuch hurriedly reminded: "The official family is in the palace, be cautious in your words and deeds for a while, don't invite trouble to yourself." ”

As the saying goes, he had to bow his head under the eaves, Li Nanke didn't have the confidence to kill from this heavily guarded Tokyo City, so he had to respond: "Thank you Lord Yang for reminding you." ”

The two came to the main hall of the academy, Li Nan glanced at it, and saw a middle-aged man with clear eyebrows, wearing a straight-legged black gauze head, wearing a scarlet shirt, and outstanding temperament.

On both sides of the hall, in addition to the elite guards, there were more than 20 people of different ages and dressed in various official mansions, and they all had a bookcase in front of them.

Remembering what the eunuch said just now, Li Nan hurriedly lowered his head and followed him to the palace to stand still.

Without waiting for Li Nan to salute, Zhao Ji took the lead and said aloud: "Li Nan, it's been a few days since Fan Lou said goodbye, I don't know if you have any new words?" ”

Li Nan bowed his hand and said: "Weichen Li Nan, thank you for the help of the official family that day!" ”

Zhao Tingzhi and other courtiers who were sitting on the side also came to watch the battle this time, and when they saw that Li Nan did not kneel, they immediately wanted to take the opportunity to punish the crime.

It's a pity that he didn't wait for him to speak first, Li Nan continued: "There are no new words, but I saw a pearl plum blooming in the courtyard yesterday, and I was moved to make a new poem. ”

Zhao Ji, who is very fond of poetry and songs, heard this, and immediately said with great interest: "Come on, let me and your family have a taste." ”

Li Nan smiled and recited aloud for a long time:

The north wind blows down people, and there is dust everywhere.

Hu Er froze to death under the Great Wall, who believes that there is no spring in Tokyo?

This poem is plagiarized from the crown of the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and the whole poem does not have too high artistic conception and artistic attainments, but it is one of the top ten famous poems in history.

The first three sentences talk about the sinister environment of the barbarian land, and the last sentence touts the warmth of the Song Dynasty under Zhao Ji's rule.

Zhao Ji immediately stroked his palms and smiled: "Hahaha, good poetry, indeed good poetry!" Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think of Li Nan's new work? ”

Although many courtiers know that this is a sycophant poem, but now the saints are applauding, who dares to do anything with him?

Li Nan's good brother Cai You's father, Cai Jing, who was idle at home after being demoted, also came to the academy today and took the lead in praising it: "The contrast between the front and back of this poem is stark, the poem uses the title plum to write about the current situation, the realm is broad, the meaning is far-reaching, it is really a rare masterpiece!" ”

Although Zhao Tingzhi and the others secretly scolded Li Nan, a flattering villain, they didn't dare to annoy Zhao Ji, so they could only laugh and say: "Good poetry! ”

After appreciating the poems, Zhao Ji remembered what was going on and said to Li Nan: "You have a talent for poetry, I have seen and heard it with my own eyes. However, recently, many people have said that your painting skills are unparalleled in the world, and I am very curious, so I recruited you today to compete with the talents of my Hanlin Painting Academy. ”

Of course, Li Nan didn't want to compete with others, and the purpose of his coming to Tokyo was not to compete for useless fame, but if he rejected Zhao Ji in public, it would definitely be a bad idea.

Seeing Li Nan's hesitation, Zhao Ji suddenly said: "By the way, I heard that you like gambling and fighting, then today I will set up a lottery for you, if anyone wins after three competitions, I will agree to him a request!" ”

Hearing Zhao Ji Jinkou Yuyan say this, Li Nan was overjoyed in his heart.

I sent more than 100,000 yuan of silver to Cai Jing, isn't it to seek a real official position, now with Zhao Ji's promise, if he wins today, this will save a lot of trouble, and he will be in place in one step.

Thinking of this, Li Nan immediately replied loudly: "Wechen is willing to compete with all the talents of the art academy!" ”

Seeing that a literary event was about to be staged, Zhao Ji smiled happily: "Hahaha, good!" Come on, pen and ink waiting! ”

Since it was decided to have a competition, it was natural to have a topic, after Li Nan sat down, Zhao Ji looked around at the ministers present and asked: "Ladies and gentlemen, who will give them the first question after three rounds of fighting today?" ”

Zhao Tingzhi, as the head of the civil officials, the prime minister of the dynasty, hurriedly responded: "Today, the official family invited us to enjoy this grand event. ”

Now that Cai Jing has lost power, there is no one to compete with Zhao Tingzhi for the time being, since he wants to come up with the question, all the ministers agree.

Zhao Ji also nodded with a smile and said, "Then the husband will come up with the question." ”

As the saying goes, poetry, calligraphy and painting are not separated, and when Zhao Tingzhi and others discussed the strategy of killing, they were also worried that Li Nan would be able to draw a few strokes, so there were follow-up plans.

At this time, there were more than ten people who participated in the competition in the painting institute in the store, and there were more than ten people who belonged to Zhao Dang, and Zhao Tingzhi had long known the type of painting they were good at, so he would grab the right to solve the problem, and now was the time to make trouble.

Zhao Tingzhi picked up the pen unhurriedly, wrote on the white paper laid out on the table, and then presented it to Zhao Ji by the eunuch, and said with a smile: "Official, what do you think of this topic?" ”

Later generations commented that Song Renzong "Although he can't do everything, he can be an official." And Song Huizong got the evaluation of "everything can be done, but you can't be a king!" This sentence expresses the sorrow of Zhao Ji's life.

If Song Huizong does not become the emperor, he will be a romantic literati like Du Mu, Liu Yong, and Tang Yin, exchange his fame for singing in a low voice, and enjoy a chic Yangzhou dream, and he will live up to the name of a generation of talents.

Zhao Ji not only created the original thin gold calligraphy, but also has a lot of unique achievements in poetry, tea ceremony, architecture, in the field of painting, is a quite accomplished painter and a very high level of connoisseurs, especially good at painting flowers and birds, the style is realistic and meticulous.

At this time, Zhao Tingzhi's question was exactly what he wanted, and Zhao Ji glanced at it and praised: "Okay!" Masao has a heart, so let's paint with this theme in the first scene. ”

Li Nan and the others looked up, only to see the eunuch holding a blank piece of paper in his hand, on which was written the word 'fine'.

After seeing the title, most of the top Hanlin painters who participated in the competition had to think carefully about the composition, and only one person started to draw without thinking.

Seeing this person's performance, Li Nan couldn't help but be a little surprised, but the Zhao Dang people who were watching the battle next to him showed a smug smile.

This middle-aged painter with an ordinary appearance is Zhang Zeduan, who is famous in Tokyo for his meticulous portrayal, precise boundary painting, bean man inch horse, and image like life.