Chapter 21 First Meeting Ma Zhou

Li Ke and Xiao Baozi walked and stopped, looking at this and that from time to time. While Li Ke was fully appreciating a piece of porcelain, Xiao Baozi suddenly said in Li Ke's ear: "Your Highness, do you think that isn't Mr. Chai?"

Li Ke followed Xiao Baozi's arm and happened to see Chai Zhewei walking towards him surrounded by several generals. Li Ke couldn't help but wonder, why did he always meet Chai Zhewei when he left the palace twice? He felt that this was definitely not a coincidence, or someone told Chai Zhewei, or Chai Zhewei was interested in inquiring about his whereabouts. Li Ke was not very familiar with Chang'an and was bored that Xiao Baozi, as an eunuch, could not take him around to wander around. How could he be unhappy when he saw Chai Zhewei at this time?

Chai Zhewei obviously saw Li Ke, and while shouting for the third brother, he walked a few steps to Li Ke. Li Ke joked: "Zhewei, how can I meet you in the East or West Market every time I leave the palace? Is this God's will or is it artificial?"

Chai Zhewei wanted to be told by Li Ke very much, and he was a little embarrassed and said embarrassedly: "It must be God's will that I asked me to meet the third brother in the West City." Then he clasped his fists and said: "Congratulations to the third brother for being named King of Han. The third brother is mostly in the West City today. If you see anything you like, just take it. It can be regarded as my brother's congratulations to you."

Li Ke felt that Chai Zhewei looked a bit like the Tai Sui of later generations, and she looked like she was rich. However, he was also moved by Chai Zhewei's ability to treat him like this. Looking at this hardcore confidant, Li Ke felt a little sad when he thought that he would embark on a path of no return in the future. Since ancient times, the winner was the king and the loser, and the enemy was the enemy, and the one who achieved the Tao was the god of the god of the god of the world. Therefore, in the future, Li Ke's success or failure not only concerns himself, but also involves anyone around him. He cannot make any mistakes, and can only succeed or fail. At least he cannot let the people around him be hurt.

When Chai Zhewei saw Li Ke silent, he thought he was angry about what he said just now, so he explained: "San brother, you don't know anything. Although you have nothing in the palace, you can take out a thing a hundred or even a thousand times better than here. However, the things here are also unique. Especially the rare things bought from Hu merchants in the Western Regions, which are more interesting."

When Li Ke heard Chai Zhewei say this, he knew that his expression just now made him mistakenly think that he underestimated the things in the palace. So he laughed and said, "Zhewei, even if it's okay, it's not too late for me to move out of the palace in two days. Today I mainly want to try the fine wine in Chang'an City. I don't know if you have any good places to go."

When Chai Zhewei heard that Li Ke said he wanted to drink, he immediately became interested and said to Li Ke: "Jiankangfang is a place where fine wine is available, we can go there to drink."

Li Ke has always wanted to taste what the best wine in Chang'an is like to see if he can make some wine to make some money, so he asked this question. Hearing Chai Zhewei saying that Jiankangfang produces fine wine, he couldn't wait to go to Jiankangfang with Chai Zhewei.

The two of them came to a restaurant in Jiankangfang. Chai Zhewei seemed to be a regular customer here and was very familiar with the shopkeeper. When the shopkeeper saw him coming in, he hurried over and said helplessly: "Young Master Chai, I'm sorry, there is no private room now, so I can only live in the hall to drink."

Chai Zhewei obviously didn't expect the shopkeeper to say this, and he felt that he was too embarrassed to face. Just as he was about to have an attack, Li Ke hurriedly said: "Since that's the case, then let's be in the hall. Anyway, this place is relatively spacious and there is nothing wrong with it."

Seeing that Li Ke had said this, Chai Zhewei couldn't say anything else, so he glared at the shopkeeper and said, "Get the best wine in your store."

Li Ke chose a table by the window, and Li Ke said to the shopkeeper: "I wonder if the best wine in your store is the best wine in Chang'an City and even the entire Tang Dynasty?"

When the shopkeeper saw Li Ke’s question, he carefully explained: “Young Master, the shop was passed down from his ancestors and has been operating a restaurant for several generations. So, today it’s better to stand up and rely on wine. Don’t worry, I will bring you the best Huajianzui in the store.” After the shopkeeper said that, he saw that Li Ke had anticipation, so he hurriedly ordered the waiter to buy wine and food, and he stood carefully behind Chai Zhewei. He had seen the Five Tigers and One Tai Sui back then. Although he didn’t know Li Ke’s identity, Chai Zhewei was the eldest son of the prince-consort of the dynasty and was not offended by his little hotel owner.

After Li Ke and Chai Zhewei sat down, Li Ke said to Chai Zhewei: "Zhewei, don't get angry about a little bit of things. Don't make things difficult for the hotel shopkeeper. Please let him go down. Let's talk and say anything, and you are calling him over if you need it."

Chai Zhewei dared not refute Li Ke's words, and should claim that it was. When the shopkeeper heard Li Ke say this, he thanked him quickly. Soon, the waiter brought a few plates of side dishes, a pot of wine, and two cups on the table in turn, and then said to Li Ke: "Customer, this is the most famous 'Huajianzui' in Chang'an City. You two will taste it slowly."

Chai Zhewei filled Li Ke and his cup with wine, raised his glass and said, "I will first give you a cup to my third brother and congratulate me on my promotion to King of Han."

Li Ke looked at a small pot of famous wine from the Tang Dynasty in front of him, and couldn't tell where it could be called a famous wine. At least, the fragrance of the wine is not as fragrant as that of later generations. Looking at Chai Zhewei with a sincere face in front of him, he no longer wanted to hide his loss. He smiled bitterly and said, "Don't do it!" After saying that, the cup was over.

The two of them didn't say much, but they drank a lot of wine. Soon a pot of wine was drunk. Although Li Ke drank quickly, he also tasted a little about this famous Tang Dynasty wine. Although this wine did not have the aroma of a muddy wine, it was extremely soft in the mouth and had a taste. It was just a little low in the degree and was not easy to get drunk. But Li Ke knew that although the wine was good, it was no match for his later generations of Maotai, barley wine and other white wine brewed with modern craftsmanship.

At this time, it was already noon, and more and more customers came, and the store became particularly lively. One of the young men in coarse cloth clothes and indifferent appearance was very eye-catching among the well-dressed diners. Seeing his outfit, he knew that he was a poor owner, and the shopkeeper was naturally a little negligent when he greeted him. The young man knew that the shopkeeper's eyes were low, but he disagreed and shouted loudly: "Come a dou of eight liters of wine, plus a few plates of side dishes."

When the people next to him heard this, they were shocked. A bucket of eight liters of wine, is this still a human being?

The shopkeeper didn't care whether he could drink so much wine or not, as long as he sold more wine, the happier he would be. He quickly asked the waiter to bring the wine and food and put it on the young man's table. The young man didn't care about other people's eyes and just cared about drinking and eating food by himself.

Li Ke noticed him as soon as the young man entered the door, not because of his simple clothes, but because he felt a sense of arrogance and a little disdain behind the young man. Li Ke knew that such a person was not a talented person, or a great evil person. So he kept observing his every move carefully. The young man seemed to have noticed it, and looked at Li Ke and found that Li Ke was staring at him, so he said, "If you don't mind, come and drink it."

Li Ke originally wanted to observe more to see if he was really talented and then decide whether to meet. Seeing that the young man invited him to drink together, it was difficult to refuse, so he took Chai Zhewei and the young man to sit together.

The young man filled the big bowl in front of Li Ke and Chai Zhewei, then said "please" and drank it all by himself. Chai Zhewei had never seen such an arrogant person, so he wanted to get up and accuse him, but Li Ke held it down in time. Li Ke also said "please", picked up the wine bowl and drank it dry, and Chai Zhewei also became passionate and drank the wine in the bowl. In this way, the three of them drank nine bowls before giving up. Seeing that Li Ke and the two were drinking wine simply, they still couldn't get drunk after drinking nine bowls, they suddenly felt good about the two. In fact, just now, he saw that he was dressed in extraordinary clothes and the shopkeeper was in the same mood.

The man nodded and bowed, and was not angry at all. When he saw that the two of them looked at him from time to time, he wanted to ask them to drink, hoping to make them look ugly. Unexpectedly, they were not ordinary people. Although Li Ke and Chai Zhewei were young, they often had a good amount of alcohol, which made him look at them with admiration. When they met with a close friend, he couldn't help but introduce himself: "I'm dismounting Ma Zhou, don't know the names of two noble names?" Ma Zhou introduced himself in this way, and no longer despises them because they were young.

When Li Ke heard the word "Ma Zhou", he felt excited. Could it be the famous minister Ma Zhou in history? If so, looking at his clothes today, he probably has just arrived in Chang'an and has not been He Chang's disciple as mentioned in history. If so, he cannot let him go. If not, it would be a friend, and it would be fine. After a moment of pondering, he said to Ma Zhou truthfully: "Let Li Ke beside me, this is my third brother Chai Zhewei."

Ma Zhou was also shocked when he heard Li Ke's name. He did not expect that this young boy was the King of Han of the Tang Dynasty, the grandson of Emperor Yang of Sui, and the current third prince Li Ke. The young man beside him was the figure of Chai Shao, the prince of the Tang Dynasty. No wonder the shopkeeper was extremely respectful to the two. But he was a little surprised and came back to his senses. He stood up to salute Li Ke, but Li Ke stopped him and said, "Brother Ma, there is no need to make a statement about this, and you don't need to stick to etiquette here. Since meeting is fate, we will be close friends and will not return without getting drunk."

Ma Zhou was not a stupid person. He knew that Li Ke was unwilling to be exposed, so when he saw him say this, he stopped politely and said, "Since that's the case, I'm rude."

Seeing his calm performance after knowing his identity just now, Li Ke was convinced that he was Ma Zhou, a famous minister in history. Because he wanted to make friends with him, he began to be intimate when speaking. Seeing that although Li Ke was a prince, he did not show off his airs and was easy-going to others, he no longer restrained himself when speaking.

During the chat with Ma Zhou, Li Ke knew that Ma Zhou did have a tortuous but legendary life experience as described in history. He was born in a poor peasant family for generations. His parents died when he was young, and he was lonely and lonely. However, he was very studious and had a talent for saving the world. However, he was bold and strange by nature, so he was not understood by the people around him. He first served as an assistant teacher in Bozhou because of his governor Da Xishu. He was scolded by Da Xishu for "drinking mellow and not teaching every day." He left Bozhou in anger.

After leaving Bozhou, Ma Zhou first went to Caozhou and then went to Bianzhou again. In Junyi County, Bianzhou, Cui Xian, who served as the magistrate of Junyi County, once insulted him severely. Later, Ma Zhou arrived in Mizhou and met Zhao Renben, the first noble man in his life. Zhao Renben was a rich man. Seeing that Ma Zhou was outstanding, he didn't know whether it was due to charity or investment intentions, but in short, he funded Ma Zhou's large amount of money and helped Ma Zhou enter Guanzhong west and seek a career in the capital Chang'an.

However, the Ma Zhou in history was still in Bozhou in the first year of Zhenguan, while the Ma Zhou in front of Li Ke had arrived in Chang'an before the first year of Zhenguan, two years earlier than the time in history. Perhaps this is God's will.

As the topic deepened, the content of Li Ke and Ma Zhou's discussion became more and more widespread, and they became more respectful to each other. An hour passed quietly. Xiao Baozi looked at the sky outside the window and knew that it was inappropriate for Li Ke to leave the palace for a long time. It was time to go back. He was beside him whisperingly reminding him that it was getting late. Li Ke also knew that he could not stay outside for a long time now, so he asked Ma Zhou directly: "Brother Zhou, what are your plans for coming to Chang'an this time?"

Ma Zhou heard what Li Ke said, and wanted to recruit him with the intention of attracting him. He was happy that he had come to Chang'an to seek a career. Now the Tang Dynasty is still the world of the gentry, and it is difficult to enter the officialdom without anyone recommending it. Being able to get Li Ke's recruitment is also a shortcut to join the officialdom. So he replied truthfully: "I want to try my luck and see if I can get a job and return home in glory."

Ma Zhou's answer was not at all artificial. Li Ke could feel that he had the idea of ​​entering his Han Palace to do things. He was overjoyed and directly invited him, "Why, Brother Ma comes to our palace for a while and then decides to find a job for Brother Ma in the future." Li Ke is so direct because Ma Zhou once served as He Chang's door in history and knew that he also wanted to recommend it through others.

Why didn’t Ma Zhou know that it was Li Ke’s invitation, so he simply agreed: “Since that’s the case, I dare not obey orders.”

Seeing that Ma Zhou agreed to his invitation, Li Ke was in a good mood and drank a few more drinks with Ma Zhou. Looking at the sky, he really couldn't stay there, so he asked Chai Zhewei to give Ma Zhou ten taels of silver and asked him to arrange for Ma Zhou to get off the inn. Chai Zhewei had already seen Ma Zhou's extraordinary talent from the words Li Ke and Ma Zhou talked, and Li Ke invited Ma Zhou to work with the palace, and he knew what this meant. So, he patted his chest and agreed readily. Then, Li Ke told Ma Zhou to stay in the inn for a few days first, and waited for a few days to move into the Han Palace, and then asked him to go there. Ma Zhou did not refuse Li Ke's arrangement and generously took the money.

Only then did Li Ke say goodbye to Chai Zhewei and Ma Zhou and leave with confidence.
Chapter completed!