The sun is sinking in the west, and night is falling.

But for the Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty, the bustling and noisy day was only half over. As soon as the lights came on, the whole city suddenly became hyper-excited. With the opening of night markets such as Zhouqiao Night Market, Mahang Street Night Market, Panlou Street Night Market, etc. The entire Kaifeng Mansion suddenly became the capital that never sleeps.

Wu Haogu had already left the house in No. 1 Sweet Water Lane, and was now sitting in the corner of a foot shop, drinking with Guo Jing and Liu Wuji.

In Kaifeng Mansion, there are 72 main restaurants and countless foot shops. The foot shop where Wu Haogu and others are located is the famous "Roast Pig Courtyard", which is located outside the gate of Daxiangguo Temple, and the Zhouqiao Night Market is out of the door, and the pedestrians and tourists are shoulder to shoulder, revealing an incomparably prosperous atmosphere.

The "Roast Pig Temple" restaurant is the property of the Great Xiangguo Temple, and the matter of the opening of the Great Xiangguo Temple to sell pork was known by Wu Haogu in another life, because this matter was recorded in the "Tokyo Menghualu" of Meng Yuanlao.

However, after the soul penetrated to the Northern Song Dynasty and Yuan Fu period, Wu Haogu knew that opening a restaurant to sell meat and vegetables was only part of the business operated by Daxiangguo Temple, and it was not a big deal.

There are three main big deals in Daxiangguo Temple, one is the longevity library, the so-called longevity library is actually a bank, and the gold, silver, silk and silk silk shops on the boundary body lane are the same business.

The second is to operate the market of the Great Xiangguo Temple, the Great Xiangguo Temple covers an area of very large, divided into eight courtyards, the monk's room is scattered everywhere, the middle hall can accommodate 10,000 people, whenever the people of the market, it is rented to the business travel transaction.

The third is to rent houses, Daxiangguo Temple has been continuously renovated and expanded since the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, and a large number of monks' houses have been built, but there are not so many monks to live, so some of them will be rented.

Today, Wu Haogu closed the painting and moved to the Daxiangguo Temple, but he did not rent a house, but crowded into a monk's room with his good friend Monk Fu. So the table of drinks in the "Roast Pig Courtyard" at night can be regarded as a celebration of the housewarming.

At the wine table, Wu Haogu and the others whispered about the fake painting that was about to begin.

The day before yesterday, Wu Haogu used a sketch of a charcoal body to make Guo Jing, Liu Wuji and Monk Fu believe that he could imitate Wu Daozi's painting, so now the discussion is how to imitate.

The first step is to decide what kind of portrait to paint? Is it a lady, an emperor or a Buddhist immortal?

Because Wu Haogu's character painting skills are still in the photo, it is not very good to draw without models or photos (it's not that it can't be painted, but the painting is not very good). And the model of the emperor's appearance cannot be found, and the clothes of the emperor's general are also not available.

"Ladies" are easy to find, and they are looking for them in the brothel of the Qinglou, as long as they are willing to spend money, they are not good at drawing the human body without taking off their clothes. It's just a white sketch of Wu Daozi's human body...... I'm afraid it's shocking to the world.

And to draw a picture of a lady in a dress, the style of this dress is a trouble. Compared with the current and Wu Daozi's active Tang Xuanzong era, there are more than 300 years of difference, and the style of clothes has changed a lot, and if you make a mistake, it is easy for people to see through.

Therefore, the painting of the lady was quickly rejected, and in the end, everyone felt that the monk in the "Buddhism and Taoism Immortals" was the best candidate. Because the changes in ordinary monk's clothes are not very large, there is no need to prepare special clothes.

Moreover, Wu Daozi once created a large number of murals, so he left a lot of white drawings "powder books" (that is, the bottom draft), and these white drawings "powder books" are usually not paid, or just simply write a few words, such as "Confucius statue", "Tianwang statue", and do not need to be printed.

Therefore, it is not easy to imitate Wu Daozi's style to paint "monk portraits", as long as the ancestral "old silk" and "old ink" of the martial arts family are used, and then the brushwork, painting style and the skills of later generations of characters are combined. can imitate a picture of Wu Daozi's real "powder".

And such a painting of the white drawing of the characters with the painting skills of later generations (Wu Haogu also learned the white drawing of the painting in later generations) is still "not true enough" in the eyes of the great connoisseurs - Wu Dalang wants to do strange tricks this time, not to take the route of "high imitation", but to innovate on the basis of "Wu family style", and take the road of "Tuogu deceiving people".

Wu Dalang just wanted to use the vivid white depiction of the human body and a small amount of "Wu belt when the wind" fold lines, plus the "old silk and old ink" and other old-fashioned techniques to create a quaint feeling, to suppress the big experts in the Kaifeng calligraphy and painting industry.

After all, none of them had ever seen such a realistic white portrait, and the calligraphy and painting shop should not only look at the artistry and appreciation of the paintings, but also pay attention to the rarity of things.

And a realistic white portrait that is "unique in the world", coupled with Wu Daozi's brushwork and painting style, coupled with the effect of aging, and finally a beautiful story, this painting can basically be recognized as a rare treasure...... Even if it is not the work of Wu Daozi when his painting skills were completed in his later years, it must be the masterpiece of a certain Wumen disciple who is out of the blue.

However, before starting to create, Wu Dalang still encountered a small problem.

"Da Lang, since you have to be a real person to make a look, it's best to find a big monk with a bit of momentum to make a look."

Guo Jing and Liu Wuji were drinking while making ideas for Wu Haogu.

Liu Wuji said: "It's best to have a little Arhat momentum, a little white-faced monk like Brother Fu can't do it." ”

Guo Jing said: "In addition, the portrait of Da Lang is too similar......

"Isn't it good?" The little Taoist priest Liu Wuji has not been doing private teeth on Panlou Street for as long as Guo Jing, and his experience is naturally not as good as that of the latter, so he has this question.

"It's not bad, but it's not like a picture of a saint, and a picture of a saint is not that similar."

Liu Wuji said with a smile: "Isn't it more like a painting saint than a painting saint." ”

"I can't say that," Wu Dalang shook his head, "Painting is not only realistic, but also freehand. The portrait of the saint is half realistic and half freehand, and it is extremely expressive.

It's okay to ask me to put on his portrait, but it's not easy to imitate it. So I'm going to have a blue out of the blue and better than the blue......"

When Wu Dalang was talking, he saw Monk Fu and another person walking quickly. Together with Monk Fu is a fat monk, tall and fat, with a thick beard like a steel needle, if it is not for shaving his hair with a scar, he is also wearing a gray monk's robe, and a string of prayer beads on his chest, looking like a warrior on the battlefield.

Seeing this fat monk, Wu Haogu's eyes lit up, this monk was tall and mighty, with a big beard on his face, and he was a Vajra Arhat who slashed demons and eliminated demons. If you put him on silk cloth, it will be a "King Kong Arhat Picture" from the hands of a famous artist in the Tang Dynasty.

"Da Lang, Third Brother, Xiao Yi, come and meet my master."

It turned out that this monk was actually the monk of Monk Fu's master, the monk of the Roast Pig Academy.

"Little Bottom to meet the master."

"I've seen the master."

All three stood up and saluted the great monk.

"Haha, Master Zhidi, the poor monk Huiming is just a monk who roasts pork."

The great monk seemed to have just drunk the wine, and a mouthful of strong wine spewed out, and he pointed at Monk Fu, "My apprentice who is not a weapon told me, how many of you are painters?" ”

Wu Dalang arched his hand, "Xiao Di Wu Dalang has learned some gongbi Danqing." ”

"Okay," the great monk nodded, touching his bare head, "but do you want to find a mural in the Great Xiangguo Temple?" ”

Daxiangguo Temple is not only rich, but also spends money like flowing water. One of the biggest expenses is the expansion of the Zen temple, since the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, more than 100 years of continuous work. And the temples and Taoist temples of the Song Dynasty like to decorate with murals, in the past, when Song Zhenzong repaired the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace, he summoned 3,000 painters from all over the world, and selected 100 people to be responsible for the murals.

And the Great Xiangguo Temple is constantly working, so naturally a large number of painters are needed to be responsible for the mural painting.

"Exactly," Wu Dalang immediately responded, "Xiao Diyou is a good Buddhist statue, and I want to find a job in Daxiangguo Temple." ”

"Really?" The great monk laughed, "If you really have some ability, the poor monk will recommend you to go to the Merit Institute, so that you can also establish a foothold in Kaifeng Mansion, and there will always be a chance in the future." ”

The construction of the temple was considered "meritorious" by the monks, so the department in charge of the project was called "Merit Temple". And painting for the merit institute of the Great Xiangguo Temple is also a means of livelihood for many small painters in Kaifeng who have not yet become famous.

Because Kaifeng Prefecture is populated and business is prosperous, the housing prices are also like the metropolises in later generations, whether they are buying or renting, they are quite high. If you get a dispatch to paint murals for the temple, you can live in the temple for free, and you can also get a free meal. For foreign painters who have no real estate in Kaifeng and no net worth, it is a way to gain a foothold in Kaifeng Mansion.

However, Wu Dalang's purpose is not to save a few rents, but to ask the great monk Huiming to be a model for free.