Chapter 10: Name Card

"What the hell is going on with you! Didn't you say he must be fake?"

After sending Wang Yang away, Squad Leader Xue lost his temper, and learned the tone of Clerk Wang, pinching his throat and saying:

"And said 'Would I joke about this kind of thing?' As a result! Not only did he make a joke! It was a huge joke! If you want to die, don't drag me with you!"

Clerk Wang had a bitter face: "Didn't I think his uncle was a Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary? Who knew it was a Cavalier Attendant! I heard that there is a Langya Wang clan among the Cavalier Attendants of the imperial court, maybe it's his second uncle."

After thinking about it, he said: "Could it be that he heard this news somewhere and deliberately deceived people?"

Then he shook his head: "Should not be. 'Advance smoothly and reach the position of the Three Dukes,' and 'aristocrats and commoners do not sit together,' these words can't be made up by ordinary people!"

Squad Leader Xue knocked on the table: "I say, do you have a clue or not!"

Clerk Wang paced back and forth: "This is hard to say, really hard to say. But it's better to believe it than not. If you really offend the Langya Wang clan, then you and I..."

Squad Leader Xue said anxiously: "Then what do you say?"

Clerk Wang said: "There are two choices now, one is that we report according to the normal procedure, and the other is that we verify it ourselves."

"Then report it." Squad Leader Xue had a headache when he heard "verify," fearing that he would make a fool of himself again like just now.

Clerk Wang said: "The squad leader has thought about it, if we report it, it will be reported to the Yellow Banner Leader. At that time, the Yellow Banner Leader will definitely come to pick up the person himself, and we won't be able to touch it anymore!"

Squad Leader Xue sat up straight: "Can't touch it? Say it clearly, what do you mean?"

Clerk Wang's eyes were bright: "This is the Langya Wang clan! A figure you won't meet in several lifetimes. Let alone us, even the Yellow Banner Leader, even the Garrison Commander of the entire Aquilin garrison, even if they squeeze their heads, they won't be able to see him. You and I have no roots and no foundation, and we will be like this until we die. But if we can climb the big tree of the Langya Wang clan—"

Squad Leader Xue's eyes lit up, and then dimmed: "But, but the problem is, can they look down on us?"

"If it's ordinary, they naturally won't look down on us, but he is in trouble now, and it is the time when he needs our help."

"Help? How to help? We don't have the ability to send him to Jiankang to find his uncle!" Squad Leader Xue was frustrated.

Clerk Wang waved his hand: "We naturally don't have the ability to send him to the capital to find his relatives, but we still have the ability to go to Jingzhou City."

Squad Leader Xue was confused: "You said Jiangling? What's the use of going to Jiangling?"

"Didn't I just come back from Jiangling? I heard that a Langya Wang clan member came to the city a while ago, named Wang Tai. He is a great figure! He used to be a high official in the Situ Mansion! His father and grandfather were all Three Dukes and Nine Ministers! It is said that his brother-in-law is the Emperor's brother, the Prince of Nanxuzhou, and the Prince of Jiangxia, Xiao Feng! That is our Prince, if calculated according to seniority, he still has to call him uncle!"

(Note: Explanation of the use of the title "Prince" see Chapter 15 chapter note)

"Really?!" Squad Leader Xue had an expression of hearing some political secret, "What official position did he come to Jingzhou to do?"

"Not to be an official, seems to be here to recuperate? Or maybe he has property here. Anyway, he didn't live in the New City, but lived in the Northwest Jiucheng. Civil and military officials in Jingzhou City, aristocratic families, and gentry visited in a constant stream, but they were all blocked out. I heard that even the young master of the Hedong Liu clan visited and didn't see him! We can just take this little young master to visit, as long as we enter the Wang family's door, this status..." He smiled happily.

Squad Leader Xue was confused: "Status? It's not buying slaves, what status are you talking about?"

Clerk Wang smiled:

"This is a metaphor, my squad leader! The famous scholar Li Ying of the Eastern Han Dynasty enjoyed great fame, and guests who could ascend his hall were all called 'climbing the dragon gate,' and their status increased greatly since then! If we can 'climb the Wang gate,' the truth is the same. If Wang Tai thanks us for saving his clan member in danger, that would be even better!

When the time comes, just say hello to the officials in the prefecture, won't we soar into the sky? Besides, aren't we going to verify the truth? Just send him there for that Langya Wang clan to verify, whether it's true or false, can't he see it? It also saves us from worrying."

Squad Leader Xue was happy: "Good, good, good! Those who have read books are different!" But soon he thought of one thing and was embarrassed: "But what if this little young master refuses to go?"

Clerk Wang's eyes turned cold: "It's simple, since the fake monk dares not see the true Buddha, then we don't have to go to Jiangling!"

The two discussed and came to find Wang Yang, saying that there was a Langya Wang clan member living in Jiangling City, and expressed that they would escort Wang Yang to Jiangling at dawn.

Wang Yang was alert as soon as he heard it. Clerk Wang's words sounded good, calling it "visiting relatives," but in fact, it was to verify his identity. If the Wang Tai in Jiangling City was really a Langya Wang clan member, then if he saw him, wouldn't he expose his disguise?

Although he was empty in his heart, he didn't show it at all on the surface, and immediately agreed calmly. Seeing Wang Yang had no fear, Clerk Wang and Squad Leader Xue were even more convinced of his identity as a member of the Langya Wang clan, thinking of the opportunity to climb a first-class high family, they were happy in their hearts.

Clerk Wang immediately ordered people to send the prepared pen and ink, and said respectfully: "Please write the name card, young master."

A name card is also called a name post, similar to a modern business card. In the Six Dynasties, when visiting, one had to submit a name card first, also called "throwing a card."

Wang Yang had learned calligraphy since he was a child, and he had been copying calligraphy books since he grew up, which counted as more than ten years of work. He first learned Tang regular script, then running script, and even won a not-so-small award, so he was not afraid of writing.

As for the writing method of name cards prevalent in the Six Dynasties, he also knew it, and even saw the real name card unearthed from the tomb of Zhu Ran, a general of the Wu Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms period, so he was not unfamiliar with the format.

Clerk Wang was a bit excited. He had long heard that the calligraphy of the Langya Wang clan was wonderful, and famous masters came out of it. This time he finally had the opportunity to see it!

Wang Yang picked up the pen, and seeing Clerk Wang waiting and watching, he gathered his spirit and wrote: "Same clan Wang Yang bows again, asking about your daily life; Langya, courtesy name Ziyan."

He used all his life's strength to write these dozen characters, which were strong in brushwork and full of ancient style!

Wang Yang was quite satisfied with the last stroke, and looked at Clerk Wang who was a bit stunned, thinking: It seems that his calligraphy shocked him! Not bad, not bad, these ten years of calligraphy books were not copied in vain.

Looking back at the name card, he suddenly thought that although this name card was written in accordance with the habits of the time, the problem was that his identity was fake. Not to mention that he would definitely not be found in the genealogical records of the Langya Wang clan, even the conversation when meeting might not pass.

Why not play some tricks on the name card?

Not only to leave a good impression on the other party but also to lay the groundwork for explaining his identity later.

Thinking of this, he wrote a small poem: "The road to the hometown is long, the tears on the sleeves do not dry. Why ask when we meet, I ask you to report peace."

Wang Yang knew that this poem "Meeting the Imperial Envoy" by Cen Can was "completely devoid of spirit" after being changed by him, but in order to disguise his identity and pave the way, he had to let the artistic standards of poetry learning make some sacrifices.

After Clerk Wang left, he was still a bit stunned. Squad Leader Xue asked: "Old Wang, you have been like this since you saw the name card he wrote, why, is it written very well?"

Seeing Clerk Wang didn't answer, Squad Leader Xue raised

Wang Wenshu was startled and only then came to his senses.

"What on earth is wrong with you?!"

Wang Wenshu said with a puzzled expression: "This young master looks like a man who understands literature and meaning, but this calligraphy..."

"What's wrong with the calligraphy?" Xue Duizhu asked anxiously.

"This calligraphy is written too ordinarily!"

"Ah?!" Xue Duizhu clearly did not expect such an answer.

Wang Wenshu shook his head repeatedly, as if talking to himself: "Ordinary, ordinary, extremely ordinary! It's ordinary to the extreme! It's truly too ordinary! Could it be, could it be that I don't know how to appreciate it?"

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Note: The northwest of Jiangling is the old city area, and the southwest is the new city area built by Guan Yu. This layout did not change much even by the Tang Dynasty. *Records of Yuanhe Prefectures and Counties*: "The city originally had a central pavilion; the north is the old city, and the south is what Guan Yu built." Interestingly, the official website of a provincial cultural relics bureau cites the *Comprehensive Institutions* saying: "The old Han city is the old city, leaning to the northwest, stretching toward the southeast. Guan Yu built the city leaning to the southwest, and Huan Wen built the city to include them as one." It is one thing for the official website to cite it this way, but there are actually more than one academic paper that cites it this way as well. I don't know who the originator was, but the result is that another academic rumor has been formed and widely cited. Some even marked the specific volume number in the *Comprehensive Institutions*, which is impressive...

There is certainly no such sentence in the *Comprehensive Institutions*. This statement should be based on Mr. Huang Shengzhang's discussion in *The Weighing Money and Land-Reporting Slips Unearthed from the Han Tomb at Fenghuang Mountain, Jiangling, and Historical Geography Issues*, collected in the book *Collected Essays on Historical Geography and Archaeology*. It is estimated that the first person to cite it confused Mr. Huang's discussion with the original text of the *Comprehensive Institutions*.

Additionally, the use of the term "Eastern Han" was already popular during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. When writing essays at that time, parallel prose was in vogue, so the term "Eastern Han" was often used for parallel sentences. For example, Xu Ling drafted an edict for the Son of Heaven saying "At the beginning of the Eastern Han and Western Ping, the chaos of Yongjia in the Western Dynasty," and Liu Xiaochuo's preface to *Collected Works of Crown Prince Zhaoming* says: "Serving the four dukes, the Western Capital is seen as beautiful; observing the long life, the Eastern Han leaves a name." Jiang Yan's *Memorial on Expediency for Grand Marshal Xiao* says "The source rises in Western Qin, the waves cover Eastern Han," and so on; all are of this type.