Chapter 490: What is written down is called history!
"The sky above was angry and sent down heavy snow, trying to bury this sinful world. The successor, Qin Ershi, was a rare emperor in history. He saved the world with a small piece of honeycomb coal, which was half a step better than heaven..."
Tai Shida, the then Grand Historian, sat in the middle with a blank expression on his face, listening to the new Emperor of Qin reciting with his head shaking.
Generally speaking, the works recited in this way are epic masterpieces that can be passed down through the ages and make people marvel at them, such as "Li Sao" and "The Book of Songs".
And this bastard Ying Chengjiao is just talking about his own deeds! How shameless!
Zhangtai Palace, the originally heavy, solemn and black ascetic palace, has turned into an ambiguous place for flirting.
A bright red silk curtain was hung high above the head, and beautiful women could be seen everywhere.
The charcoal, known as black gold, burned slowly in the brazier until it was pitch black, shiny and smokeless, keeping the cold out.
The material used to paste the window lattices was originally expensive white woven gauze, but it was replaced with priceless, crystal clear, and colorless colored glass.
Taishida dared to swear that he had never seen such an extravagant building. It was so extravagant that even he, the Qin State's Taishi Ling who had read all the history, could not believe his eyes.
What about the wine pool and meat forest? They are all so weak, okay? Compared with Qin II, Xia Jie and Shang Zhou are not even as impressive as Qin II!
Taishida was deeply skeptical. He recorded the palace's windows in history books. Would people in later generations believe it was true? Would they think that he, Taishida, was making it up?
Anyway, before he saw the Zhangtai Palace with his own eyes, Taishida didn't believe that Liuli replaced Baisha.
Zhangtai Palace, where successive Qin kings reviewed memorials and handled government affairs, was the largest palace in the Xianyang Palace, covering an area of 2,000 square meters.
Taishida had no idea how much window lattice area there was in the 2,000-square-meter Zhangtai Palace.
He only knew that wherever he looked, there was nothing but colored glass, which almost blinded his eyes.
Are all the colored glazes in the world here? Where do so many colored glazes that are neat enough to be used as windows come from?
According to the History of Zhou Dynasty, King Zhou of Shang renovated the palaces of the Shang Dynasty, and the palace complex in Chaoge was made of pure gold.
Historians from all countries regarded it as a lie. Even the historians of the Zhou Dynasty privately said that it was a smear campaign against the previous dynasty. Where could there be so much gold?
If this is true for gold that can be melted, how much more so for glass that cannot be melted and whose shape cannot be changed?
When Taishida thought of the glittering glazed window, he couldn't help but become absent-minded.
He couldn't even care about the beautiful woman in front of him or the emperor's words in his ears.
Lying in the arms of a beauty with his chest open, Ying Chengjiao, who was praising her with an aria, glanced at Taishi Da and found that the Taishi Da was absent-minded. He stopped boasting and said leisurely:
"Taishida, what do you think of what I said?"
"I think your Majesty's words are very good."
“Excellent?”
Ying Chengjiao raised his eyebrows.
“Excellent.”
Taishida, whose surname was Taishi and who had served as Qin's historians throughout the dynasties, affirmed in a gruff voice and nodded heavily.
Ying Chengjiao sat up straight, put one leg on the bed, put his elbow on his knee, and smiled.
"Okay, then just write it like this, write it in front of me."
Taishida spread out the newly obtained paper, added ink and water to the inkstone, and ground it silently with a small pestle.
And his king, Qin Ershi, just watched him grinding ink with a smile on his face. In the past, the First Emperor always asked eunuchs to grind the ink!
An eunuch took the initiative to step forward and wanted to take over the work from Taishida, but was stopped by Ying Chengjiao in dissatisfaction.
"A dog trying to catch a mouse, how can you meddle in other people's business! How can you touch a history book that has been handed down for thousands of years? Except for Taishi's family, I don't have this honor!"
The eunuch, who had good intentions but ended up doing something bad and angered the emperor, knelt down in panic and kowtowed.
“Get out of here!
"Kneeling is not only for the elders in the family, but also for worshipping the dead! I am not your father, you kneel to me hoping that I will die soon!"
The eunuch jumped up, his face turned pale, he shook his head and waved his hands, his legs trembling.
Qin II, who was still furious, shouted loudly in the Zhangtai Palace.
"If anyone dares to kneel before me again, I will exterminate his entire clan!"
The beauties trembled, the eunuchs were uneasy, and the people in Zhangtai Palace felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, entering the coldest and most frosty days of the year.
Taishida increased his grinding speed, and the ink block quickly dissolved in the water. He wanted to leave this moody Qin II as soon as possible.
"The Grand Historian will not blame me for not letting someone grind ink for you, will he? Will you record this in the history books? This is not my fault. If I remember correctly, the Grand Historian once told me that the history I wrote does not count. Since history is so important, then isn't the ink used to record history important as well? Naturally, it can only be ground by the Grand Historian himself."
Taishida lowered his head.
"Your Majesty is right."
“It’s boring.”
Ying Chengjiao shook his head, his face full of disappointment.
"I still like your previous rebellious look. Can you recover?"
Taishida put down the inkstone and clasped his hands.
"I am terrified."
Ying Chengjiao clicked his tongue twice and waved his hands in boredom.
"Go away, stop being an eyesore. I get angry just by looking at you. Remember all my great achievements. If you fail to do anything, I will exterminate your entire clan."
Taishida wanted to say "yes", but when the words were on the tip of his tongue he suddenly remembered that the new emperor required a definite response of "yes".
Yesterday, the doctor-in-chief Zhang Han was beaten with twenty strokes of the cane for answering the question "only" and is now recuperating at home.
"……promise."
Taishida broke out in a cold sweat.
Although he had martial arts skills, he was far inferior to Zhang Han.
If he really received the same twenty strokes of the cane as Zhang Han, the position of Grand Historian would have been inherited by his younger brother.
"Your Majesty used the finest colored glass that is hard to find in the world as windows to build a building that only gods can live in. Your Majesty, do you think this record is good?"
"Hahahaha, not bad, not bad, I'll remember it like this! I'll remember it like this!"
"promise."
After leaving Zhangtai Palace, the Grand Historian's back was already soaked.
A cold wind blew and he shivered, but he felt much more comfortable than in the warm Zhangtai Palace.
He walked hurriedly out of the Xianyang Palace under the guidance of the palace attendant, without raising his head from beginning to end.
The sky in Qin has changed.
The Chang'an Jun who said harsh words but acted very gently.
When he became the Second Emperor of Qin and reached the highest position in the world, things changed completely.
He did not attend the morning court, but enjoyed music and singing every day. He turned a deaf ear to the rebellious voices rising in the six countries. All official documents were sent to the prime minister's office for approval. The once solemn Zhangtai Palace was filled with decadent music every day.
Taishida recorded all of this in "History of Qin" with praise.
It is true that historians write truthfully, but this does not mean that historians are not afraid of death and are all fools.
One can only remember while he is alive.
Only what is written down is called history.
If he wrote about the extravagance and luxury of building large buildings with glazed windows, Taishida felt that he would die and the story would probably not be passed down.
But if we change the words, we can make the tyrant emperor happily agree to record it, so why not?
However, the nature of truly terrible incidents cannot be changed no matter how the words are changed.
Soon, something happened that made Taishida tremble with fear and leave a last will, which was not generous at all. He was ready to write it down before going to his death.
The First Emperor set a date for his burial, but the Second Emperor of Qin, Ying Chengjiao, refused to allow the eldest son of the previous emperor, Ying Fusu, to return to Xianyang to attend the funeral!
