"If there were historians who could write straightly at that time, in their eyes, how would my merits and demerits as a queen be written down?
In the end, will I still be forced to erect a wordless monument to prove myself? "
The memories of the past suddenly came to mind, Lu Fei thought with emotion.
As time passed, she admired the historian in front of her for his fearless character, and winked at Shusun Tong, who was looking at him with an unbearable expression.
As a great scholar, Shusun Tong saw that the emperor was having a hard time becoming a historian, so he eagerly prepared to give a bitter remonstrance. After receiving the Queen's approval, he walked slowly to the historian's side, complacently picked up the purple frost rabbit hair brush from the mess, and gently Shaking away the remaining ink on the pen barrel, he seemed to ask vaguely,
"what's your name?"
"Dong Wangzhi."
Shusun Tong carefully twisted the rabbit hair in his hand and said lightly,
"Oh, my surname is Dong.
Dong Hugong, the Taishi of Jin State, is your ancestor, right? "
As soon as these words came out, the whole hall was in an uproar, and even Liu Ji couldn't help but frown, and looked at this young man who was neither humble nor arrogant again in shock.
Dong Hu was the Taishi of Jin State in the Spring and Autumn Period.
***
In the second year of Xuangong's reign, a major event occurred in the Jin Kingdom: regicide by a minister:
In September of that year, Jin Linggong took the opportunity of a banquet to ambush the soldiers during the banquet, trying to wait for an opportunity to get rid of Zhao Dun, the powerful minister of Jin.
Zhao Dun escaped by chance, but did not run far. He only hid in the Jin Kingdom and was suspected of plotting secretly. His younger brother Zhao Chuan led his troops to attack and kill Jin Linggong, and welcomed Zhao Dun back to the capital.
After Zhao Dun returned to the capital, he did not punish Zhao Chuan for regicide, but took advantage of the situation and made Jin Linggong's uncle the king, which was Jin Chenggong.
Later, this ups and downs of the palace battle was accurately written down by Dong Hu, who was the Taishi at the time, and turned into five striking words -
"Zhao Dun killed his king" and announced this to the courtiers.
Later, Confucius, who learned about this incident, praised Dong Hu as a good historian of ancient times. His calligraphy was not hidden, and he relied on his own judgment and reasoning, and his pen was as straight as a knife. In one fell swoop, he exposed the hypocrisy that Zhao Dun had worked hard for many years.
Now that he has met a descendant of the Dong family, the emperor's intentions will probably be thwarted today. However, Dong Hu's reputation spread far and wide, so Liu Ji probably did not dare to kill the historian rashly to vent his anger.
Lu Pheasant was surprised, but gradually relaxed, and just watched quietly to see if Shusun Tong could bring about a calm result from the embarrassing deadlock.
Shusun Tong rolled his eyes and asked patiently in the same earnest and seductive tone as he usually taught Liu Ying,
"You must be familiar with Zhao Dun's regicide.
Let me ask you, who killed Jin Linggong? "
Dong Wangzhi pondered for a moment and answered word by word,
"The man was killed by Zhao Dunzhi from his younger brother Zhao Chuan, but the act of regicide was ordered by Zhao Dun himself."
"Very good. Your answer is impeccable. It shows that you put a lot of thought into it."
Shusun Tong stroked his good beard, nodded frequently, and handed the pen to him.
"So, the straight writing that Confucius praised not only means truthfully recording everything that happened in front of you, but also going through the layers of fog to see the true nature of things, right?"
"yes."
"Then, if Dong Huruo had written arbitrarily at the beginning of the incident, he would have written the appearance of 'Zhao Chuan regicide' and let the culprit behind the scenes go, right?"
"...Exactly."
"In this way, the matter between Your Majesty and Li Zhi today is not over yet,"
Shusun Tong suddenly turned around and walked quickly back to Liu Ji.
"His Majesty was delighted with the separation of branches and asked Changsha whether this fruit could be grown.
The queen tried her best to persuade her, saying that the fertile land of the people was far better than the emperor's appetite.
Then, His Majesty said——"
He winked at Liu Ji. Liu Ji suddenly understood, stroking his hands and smiling,
"Yes, yes, of course I accept advice with an open mind, follow the good deeds, and am determined not to accept any more rare toys from the county.
Then, I not only praised the queen, but also ordered the historian to record the incident specifically so that my descendants would always remember it. "
***
Liu Ji cleared his throat and deliberately raised his voice and said,
"Since I came to the throne, I have been sparing no taxes, lightening the corvee, repairing the system internally, and pacifying the Rong and barbarians externally. I have been frugal and rested with the people. All these are to do some practical things for the people.
I have been carried away for the moment and have almost forgotten my original intention. Fortunately, I have a queen who is kind and virtuous, diligent and frugal, and provides timely advice and advice, and is a good assistant to me.
Give the Queen—what to give, I will think of it later.
Did you remember everything about the Dong family? "
Dong Wangzhi looked like he was falling into the clouds. He held his pen and looked at the emperor blankly, stunned.
Dong Hu's pen and Taishi's bamboo slips have always been the model for historians to be unyielding. Just now, the emperor was furious. He had already made up his mind to make a good historian who would risk his life to live up to the glory of his ancestors.
Unexpectedly, after Shusun Tong and Liu Ji sang and sang, the situation suddenly changed, and he became a little at a loss.
The emperor has changed his mind and issued an order to prohibit the counties and states from donating rare treasures. This is obviously a good thing that benefits the country and the people. However, it feels a bit strange and seems to go against the right path he has pursued throughout his life.
Others could only see the two thick eyebrows on Dong Wangzhi's pale face tightly knitted together, but his neck was still straight, obviously still hesitating.
Lu Zhi sighed softly, moved over, and whispered to the young figure who was as solemn as the wind under a pine tree,
"After all, you are too young and don't know that a person's life is very long, and you don't have to kill yourself to become a benevolent person.
Could it be that the beauty of a gentleman's adult life is not the benevolence that Master calls it? "
These few words were gentle and calm, almost inaudible, but to Dong Wangzhi's ears, they were like the Sanskrit sounds of immortal words, deafening and enlightening.
***
He was so shaken that he couldn't help but look up to find the source of the sound, but he saw the queen's plump cheeks, her face as calm as usual, and her lowered eyes that seemed to see everything, all filled with compassion for her talent.
Thunder and dew, spring breeze turning into rain, are all benevolence.
"...I understand."
Now that the queen had spoken, Dong Wangzhi could no longer introduce herself. He got up from the ground in a slightly embarrassed manner, looking at his nose and heart, standing on one side, not daring to raise his eyes again.
Lu Pheasant glanced left and right, and the palace people swarmed up, mopping the floor, picking up things, and the messy corner of the hall returned to normal.
"As for the return gift to Zhao Tuo in the future,"
As Lu Pheasant spoke, he leaned down, picked up the copper patterned book knife with his own hands, and placed it gently on the table in front of Dong Wangzhi.
Dong Wangzhi bowed and looked down at the corner of his robe that was stained by ink stains. He felt that his chest was so empty that he couldn't touch it. He suppressed his emotions and sat back down at the desk, picked up his pen and began to memorize silently.
"As for the return gift, I have already ordered Dong Zhishi Ling to do it."
"Oh, what do you think of the queen?"
"In addition to a set of gold and silver utensils, cotton wine and rice, a few pieces of unique brocade are added."
"Silk brocades are common gifts, so how can they be any different?"
“What I mean by distinctive is the weave on the brocade.
This time, I ordered them all to weave grape patterns. "
Liu Ji was confused,
"Grape streaks?
Can Zhao Tuo recognize grapes? Isn't that a specialty of the Western Regions?
If Liu Jing hadn't brought some wine from the Western Regions from the Xiongnu this time, we wouldn't have seen such fruits. "
"Although we don't recognize him, I dare to say that Zhao Tuo definitely recognizes him."
A smile appeared on Lu Pheasant's lips,
"Your Majesty, don't forget that Zhao Tuo was not born and raised in the south, his hometown is Zhending in Changshan.
It's not far from the Xiongnu at all. "
