Chapter 351

The next day.

Villa backyard.

Gu Shanhe flipped the skewers, oil dripped onto the charcoal, and a flame flared up with a hiss.

Liu Bang dodged: "I almost got burned!"

"Gaozu, please stand further away," Gu Shanhe said without even looking up.

Ying Zheng sat on a folding chair, holding a skewer of roasted mantou, eating expressionlessly.

Liu Che and Liu Xiu squatted by the grill waiting for chicken wings.

Li Shimin was cutting watermelon, his knife skills were good.

"Immortal Master Gu, you said the first place is revealed today?" Li Shimin asked.

Gu Shanhe nodded: "Correct, the last one."

Liu Bang said: "I guess it's Li Bai. The Poet Immortal, he must be the finale."

Liu Xiu said in a low voice: "I also think it's Li Bai."

The sky screen lit up.

This time it was different.

The golden light did not pour down, but was like someone spilling a jar of ink in the sky, the ink color spread out, and then turned into broken gold.

A white jade wine pot hung in mid-air, next to it a wolf-hair brush, the tip still dripping ink.

Gu Shanhe turned off the grill. The five people put down what they were holding and looked up.

The opening poem floated out—

【Wine enters the bold intestines, swallowing the sun and moon, the brush shakes the stars and moves a thousand autumns.

Half a life of madness, half a life of dreams, the eternal green lotus is the first class.】

Liu Bang finished reading and slapped his thigh: "I told you! Li Bai!"

Li Shimin smiled: "Brother Zheng won."

Ying Zheng was expressionless, but the corners of his mouth moved.

The sky screen broadcast sound penetrated the past and present—

【Eternal Poet Immortal: Li Bai. The top figure on the peerless poet list.】

The barrage exploded—

【Barrage · Modern Netizen】: Li Bai!! Well-deserved!!!

【Barrage · Tang Dynasty Netizen】: Brother Taibai! You have finally reached the top!

【Barrage · Song Dynasty Netizen】: The Poet Immortal is first, who dares to disagree?

On the sky screen, the image unfolded.

Not a palace, not mountains and rivers, but a wilderness.

A teenager rode on a horse, with snow-capped mountains behind him.

【Character introduction: Li Bai, courtesy name Taibai, styled Qinglian Jushi. Ancestral home Longxi, born in Suiye, grew up in Shu.】

Liu Bang said: "Suiye? Where is that?"

Gu Shanhe said: "Western Regions. It is not within the territory of the Great Tang now."

Liu Che frowned: "Born in such a far place?"

"His father was a merchant, and he moved the whole family back to Shu."

"Li Bai grew up in Sichuan since he was a child."

Liu Xiu said: "No wonder his poetry doesn't have that rigid taste."

"He didn't grow up in the rules of a noble family since he was a child."

The sky screen continued—

【Identity: Tang Dynasty romantic poet, wandering knight, literatus, Hanlin scholar.】

【Honored by later generations as: Poet Immortal, Wine Immortal, Poet Knight.】

Li Shimin said: "Wandering knight? He was also a knight-errant?"

Gu Shanhe nodded: "He was very good at fighting when he was young. It is said he killed people."

Liu Bang's eyes lit up: "I like this! Not many literati can fight."

Ying Zheng glanced at him: "You like everyone."

On the sky screen, the image of Li Bai when he was young—wielding a sword to leave the country, saying goodbye to his relatives and traveling far.

Leaving Shu, passing through the Three Gorges, going down to Yangzhou.

Drinking, making friends, writing poetry, and fighting along the way.

【Era background: Kaiyuan Prosperity.

The most prosperous period of the Great Tang, ten thousand nations coming to pay tribute, and the literary style was open.

Li Bai was born at this time, and he traveled through the mountains and rivers all his life.】

Liu Che sighed: "If my Great Han also had this kind of open atmosphere, it wouldn't have..."

Liu Xiu added: "Martial Ancestor, the Great Han is not bad either."

Liu Che did not reply.

On the sky screen, the image turned to Chang'an.

Li Bai stood at the gate of the palace, his clothes fluttering.

He Zhizhang stood opposite him, finished reading 'The Difficulty of the Road to Shu', widened his eyes, and shouted—

The sky screen restored the scene: 【He Zhizhang: Sir, you are an immortal banished from heaven!】

Liu Bang said: "Banished immortal? An immortal banished to the mortal world?"

Gu Shanhe said: "Correct."

"When He Zhizhang saw Li Bai for the first time and read his poetry, he felt that this person could not have been written by a mortal, he must be an immortal from heaven who was banished."

Liu Che smiled: "This evaluation is high; it's not praising him for writing well, it's saying he is not human."

Liu Xiu said: "Martial Ancestor, what you said sounds like an insult."

"I didn't mean that."

On the sky screen, a few lines of 'The Difficulty of the Road to Shu' appeared—

【Yi Yu Xi, how dangerous and high! The difficulty of the road to Shu is harder than ascending to the blue sky!】

Liu Bang read it once, his tongue tied: "Yi Yu Xi? What kind of word is this?"

Li Shimin said: "An exclamation. Equivalent to 'Oh my god'."

Liu Bang read it again: "The difficulty of the road to Shu is harder than ascending to the blue sky."

"I understand this sentence, the road to Shu is indeed difficult to walk."

Ying Zheng suddenly said: "I built the plank road."

Everyone looked at him.

Ying Zheng stopped talking.

【Barrage · Three Kingdoms · Liu Bei】: The land of Yizhou is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

It was not easy for my ancestor to get in.

【Barrage · Three Kingdoms · Zhuge Liang】: I also experienced it when I entered Shu.

It is indeed harder than ascending to the blue sky.

【Barrage · Three Kingdoms · Zhang Fei】: Yi Yu Xi!

I, old Zhang, had the same reaction the first time I walked the road to Shu!

The barrage area was full of laughter.

The sky screen image switched.

Chang'an, the Golden Throne Hall.

Li Bai stood in front of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, neither kneeling nor bowing.

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was not angry, but asked someone to bring a chair.

【Official career experience: Served in the Hanlin Academy, summoned by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, ordered to wait in the Hanlin Academy, accompany him, and write poetry for entertainment.】

Liu Bang: "Writing poetry for entertainment? Just to make the emperor happy?"

Gu Shanhe: "Pretty much."

"Emperor Xuanzong of Tang appreciated his talent, but did not give him real power."

"Let him write poetry, not let him govern the country."

Li Shimin sighed: "This is Li Bai's greatest regret."

"He wanted to be a prime minister, but the emperor only let him be a poet."

Liu Che said: "With his personality, even if he became a prime minister, he wouldn't last long."

Liu Xiu nodded: "Martial Ancestor is right, not suitable is not suitable."

"Letting him manage the government might make him ten thousand times more painful than being a poet."

On the sky screen, the poems Li Bai wrote in Chang'an appeared—

【Clouds think of clothes and flowers think of appearance, the spring breeze brushes the railing and the dew is thick. — 'Qingping Diao'】

Liu Bang finished reading and said: "This was written for Yang Guifei, right?"

Gu Shanhe nodded: "Correct. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang asked him to write, so he wrote."

"Written well, but this is too far from his ideal of wanting to be a prime minister."

Li Bai's barrage floated out—

【Barrage · Tang Dynasty · Li Bai】:

What I sought in my life was not to write poetry, but to govern the country.

But heaven did not fulfill my wishes, I could only write poetry.

【Barrage · Tang Dynasty · Du Fu】:

My brother Taibai, unparalleled through the ages.

Your poetry is already more valuable than governing the country.

On the sky screen, the image darkened for a moment.

Li Bai walked out of Chang'an city, holding a bag of gold, his face expressionless.

Behind him was the city gate that was getting further and further away.

【Dismissed with gold: Stayed in Chang'an for less than two years, dismissed by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang with gold; on the surface it was courtesy, in reality, it was expulsion from the court.】

Liu Bang said: "Gave him money and told him to get lost?"

Gu Shanhe said: "You can understand it that way."

"Emperor Xuanzong of Tang felt that he was not suitable to stay in the court, gave him a sum of money, and sent him away decently."

Liu Che shook his head: "The emperor was also helpless."

"Wanted to use him, couldn't; wanted to kill him, couldn't bear to. Could only give money and let him go."

Liu Xiu said: "For Li Bai, this is a humiliation."

"What he wanted was not money, but an official position."

Li Shimin was silent for a while and said: "Sometimes, talent is too high, but it is a burden."

"You are too special, others don't know how to use you."

On the sky screen, the poems Li Bai wrote after leaving Chang'an appeared—

【The road is difficult, the road is difficult, there are many forks, where are they now?

There will be a time to ride the wind and break the waves, and hang the clouds and sails to cross the sea. — 'The Road is Difficult'】

Liu Bang read 'There will be a time to ride the wind and break the waves' and said: "He is cheering himself up."

Liu Che said: "Everyone is like this."

"Fired, and still have to tell yourself 'it's okay, I can find a better job'."

Liu Xiu smiled: "Martial Ancestor, your metaphor..."

Ying Zheng suddenly said: "He didn't find a better job. But he found a better self."

Everyone looked at Ying Zheng.

The First Emperor's words sounded too much like chicken soup.

But no one dared to laugh...