Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 787: Absurd Deduction
Liang Chu turned his head quickly and saw Zhang Shou, who was smiling, standing behind him. He thought that he had been so engrossed in the lecture that he didn't even notice someone standing behind him. He felt very embarrassed.
Mr. Lin, who was giving a lecture at the podium, noticed Zhang Shou's arrival because of his line of sight. Although he did not show a happy expression when he heard someone praising his profound teaching, he was actually very happy. After all, Zhang Shou was supporting his point of view that was different from other historians, which was naturally different from ordinary compliments.
Zhang Shou originally didn't intend to speak, but when Liang Chu spoke just now, he suddenly felt something and finally spoke.
At this time, seeing that Liang Chu and Mr. Lin were all looking at him, all the students in the classroom turned around with interest, as if they were very curious about how he would continue speaking, so he really continued in all seriousness.
"Song Taizu seized the world from the hands of orphans and widows of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and there is a legend about Song Taizong who saw the shadow of a candle and the sound of an axe. Therefore, Taizong's precautions against the royal family were actually similar to those against thieves. As a result, the Song Dynasty did not learn the good royal family system of the early and prosperous Tang Dynasty, where royal family members could serve as local governors or even officials at all levels according to talents. Instead, the Song Dynasty learned the system of raising pigs in the mansions of the Sixteen Kings of the late Tang Dynasty."
"During the Song Dynasty, the throne of the royal family was inherited from father to son, but from brothers to brothers. The royal family could not take the imperial examinations, nor could they engage in business. Of course, they were either idlers or 'virtuous people'. At the turn of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu restored the country. Between the two Song Dynasties, although Emperor Gaozong of Song was the legitimate son of Emperor Huizong of Song, he was not a wise ruler for the country and the people, and was even severely criticized in the Yuan Dynasty's "History of Song Dynasty".
"But before he was crowned emperor, wasn't he also trained as a 'virtuous king' when he was young?"
"Most people today only know Feng Bo Ting. How many people know Song Gaozong Zhao Gou's Han Mo Zhi? Although he was not as good as his father, Emperor Daojun Song Huizong, in both calligraphy and painting, looking at the Southern Song Dynasty, there are really few who can surpass him in calligraphy. If this father and son were just members of the royal family, people at that time would never say that they were stupid, but would only call them wise."
"Song Huizong was extremely intelligent. He was good at calligraphy, painting, musical instruments, flowers, birds, fish, insects, Cuju, and gambling. From art to entertainment, he was proficient in everything. How could Song Zhezong not think that such a brother was a wise king who could be trusted? And Song Gaozong was not only obsessed with calligraphy, but also took the initiative to ask to go to the Jin camp as a hostage when facing a powerful enemy. If things ended there, how could he not be a wise king?"
"But the bad thing is that they eventually became emperors. Their intelligence, which should have been spent on calligraphy and painting, was spent on power struggles. Their passion was completely eroded by power, and they were in power for a long time. As a father, they destroyed half of the great country of the Northern Song Dynasty, and as a son, they completely destroyed the good situation that could have been restored, leaving behind a name that will be cursed for all eternity."
"Since one of them ruined half of the country and the other ruined his own general, who cares whether they are virtuous in other aspects?"
"But the corruption of the world is not entirely the fault of the two emperors, father and son. The military system of the Song Dynasty was established based on the lessons learned from the rebellion of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, when the military would often drive away the commander and establish a new commander. Although the country has a large number of soldiers, few of them can fight. By the time of Emperor Huizong of Song, even the troops in the northwest were far less than before, and the so-called military families were rotten to the core."
"Since Emperor Shenzong of Song, the struggle between the old and new parties has been the main theme of the court. It was like this during the reign of Emperor Shenzong, Emperor Zhezong, and it was still like this during the reign of Emperor Huizong. Even if Empress Dowager Xiang chose another member of the royal family who was a sibling of Emperor Zhezong, it would not be much better. Even if Emperor Zhezong of Song was still alive, what would he do if he saw the rise of the Jin Kingdom and its plot against the Liao Kingdom?"
"In the face of absolute interests, even if there are wise men in the court who feel that the lips and teeth are cold, which emperor can really let go of the generations of hatred between Song and Liao and the temptation of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun? If there is no alliance on the sea, there will be alliances here and there. Even if they see through it and do not send troops to help the Jin Kingdom, can the Jin Kingdom really defeat the Liao without the power of the Song army? Will they not fight?"
"As long as we don't prepare for war during the Jin's conquest of Liao, the Jin will conquer Liao and it will be Song's turn sooner or later. A Song that is already seriously ill is like an old man who is staggering. How can it be governed by hard work? There are so many complicated relationships between the upper and lower levels."
"So, maybe the war between Song and Jin can be delayed, but it is hard to say who will win. After all, the Jin Kingdom is a new tiger that is determined to make progress, but what about the Song Dynasty? Even though there was internal strife in the Jin Dynasty during the later period of Wuqimai's reign after the death of Jin Taizu Aguda..."
"Even if there is internal strife, the Jin army is enough to beat the so-called famous generals and elite soldiers of the Northern Song Dynasty over and over again. The most important thing is generals like Yue Wumu. The emperors and civil officials of the Song Dynasty can tolerate him for a while, but not for a lifetime, even if they are replaced by other monarchs and ministers besides Song Gaozong and Qin Hui. This is the system, a tradition for hundreds of years, unless..."
Zhang Shou said this, but he smiled and pointed at the students' heads one by one: "Unless you think that at the end of Song Huizong's reign, when the Jin Kingdom destroyed the Liao Dynasty and then led its army to invade the south, you suddenly possessed Song Huizong, or later Song Gaozong. You knew the power of the Jin Kingdom in advance, and you were able to do your best to turn the situation around."
For this last topic, Zhang Shou simply revealed his deepest evil taste without any concealment. When he said this, the bunch of noble children were shocked at first, and then everyone showed an interested expression. Zhang the big guy even slapped the table and said, "This is interesting! If it were me, I would have reused Yue Wumu without thinking twice!"
Only Mr. Lin on the podium was somewhat dumbfounded. He agreed with at least 70% of what Zhang Shou had said before - people often lamented about the two emperors Huizong and Qinzong, as if the situation in the Northern Song Dynasty would definitely be reversed if someone else was in power, but he did not agree at all.
But what the hell was Zhang Shou’s last words?
Suppose you could go back to the last years of Emperor Huizong, transform yourself into the Daojun Emperor, and then turn the tide when the Jin army invaded the south?
This was simply wishful thinking. Their military was far inferior, and there were a lot of treacherous ministers in power in the court. More importantly, according to his research over the years, those military generals at the turn of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty were actually not that good!
Each of them has more shortcomings than advantages, and those who can fight have a lot of problems! Except for the famous Yue Wumu... Yue Wumu still has problems, and he is as stubborn as a stone in some aspects. While his achievements are greater than his master, he also violated two taboos of Song Gaozong. Since ancient times, emperors have been selfish, how can he tolerate it?
No, no, the most important thing is, how could Zhang Shou let his students make such an assumption? This is really ridiculous! Doesn't this subvert the relationship between the emperor and his subjects? And this student, the big head monk, really dared to say, do you think that if you reuse Yue Wumu, the world will be prosperous? Do you think that the other civil and military officials at that time were all wooden, and could the emperor reuse Yue Wumu alone?
Mr. Lin was feeling angry and shocked, but he even had an impulse to go back and deduce. Unexpectedly, Zhang Shou said with a smile, "Mr. Lin's lesson just now was very insightful, and since you are quite interested, why don't we do this, um, no more jokes, and treat this as a collective assignment for Banshan Hall."
"You can divide into four groups. One group will study Song Huizong, one group will study Song Gaozong, and the other two groups will naturally start with the Jin Dynasty, based on the military strength and manpower of Song and Jin during the Huizong and Gaozong periods. In this way, two groups will fight against each other, and whoever finds ways to defeat the other will be the winner."
"The conditions are very relaxed. Teams can be formed freely, with no limit on the number of people. Whoever wins... well, I'll write down the process of this deduction and debate. I'll ask Lu Sanlang to compile it into a book and ask the teacher to write the preface himself!"
At this point, Zhang Shou looked at the bewildered Mr. Lin with a smile and said, "Mr. Lin is an expert in Song Dynasty history. How about being a judge?"
"Well……"
Mr. Lin was immediately very confused. This turned an absurd hypothesis into a real deduction and debate! According to his usual character, he would never agree to it. But in the imperial examination, passing the imperial examination was like reaching the top, but he was particularly fond of Song history, so he finally agreed to come to Banshan Hall to teach history, but he felt that agreeing to be a judge seemed to be very interesting.
Before he made a decision, the student of Mr. Baisha who was watching the fun beside Zhang Shou suddenly said, "Mr. Zhang, when I read history books before, other historians wrote about the transition between the two Song dynasties, either sighing or angrily accusing, as if as long as Emperor Huizong and Emperor Gaozong of Song Dynasty could cheer up, they could turn the tide. Isn't that the case?"
"Of course not. You know, it's easy for future generations to talk back when they look back on history. Just like many people nowadays often curse so-and-so in the court as treacherous and incompetent when they are directing the country, as if they could solve all problems if they were in power. But in fact, if they sit in the position of cursing incompetent and greedy people, they will only become more greedy and incompetent."
Zhang Shou shrugged and said, "Actually, I was like this when I was a child. When I read history books, I couldn't help but put myself in their shoes and curse someone as a disaster to the country and the people. As the saying goes, bystanders see more clearly than those involved, but bystanders sometimes think they see more clearly. When I grew up, I realized that I often took things for granted."
You don't seem to be that old now, right? Just a little bit older than me. Liang Chu muttered in his heart, and quickly asked: "If they are deducing and debating later, can I come and listen? I have always been very interested in the history of the two Song dynasties."
"Instead of listening in, why don't you just randomly choose one side and join in the deduction as well?"
Zhang Shou chuckled, and before Liang Chu agreed or refused, he looked at Mr. Lin: "This is why I asked Mr. Lin to be the judge. The people in Banshan Hall have not read enough historical materials, have not done enough research, and their understanding of those characters is nothing more than hearsay and the stories in the opera. The most likely result is that they will deduce a weird result."
"Not to mention them, even some people who compile history books, when they lament about the loyalty and treachery of people, often use the style of the Spring and Autumn Period, or they may conceal the names of respected people, or even cover up the names of their favorite people, so that many people don't know that some loyal ministers who seem to be iron-willed and unyielding may be completely incompetent in military strategy, and some treacherous ministers who framed loyal and good people were also iron-willed when they were young."
"So, when they are deducing and debating about the various figures of that period, it is naturally up to you, Mr. Lin, to determine their virtues and talents. Otherwise, they will rely on their limited knowledge of Song history. I am afraid that apart from the emperor, they will only know Yue Wumu and Han Shizhong as the two capable fighters."
"The last time I was explaining history to them, I deduced with them the chances of the Former Qin's victory. But these guys knew that the wind was blowing and the trees and grass were all enemies, but when it came to the Eastern Jin and Former Qin, they only knew about Xie An, Xie Xuan, and Fu Jian of the Former Qin. They had no idea about the rest of the characters. They had to rely on me to draw a chart and list the characters to explain to them, but in the end, they couldn't deduce any further."
"They are so good that they even confidently said that they only studied the history of the two Song dynasties during their time at Banshan Hall, but not the history of the two Jin dynasties. If it was the history of the Song dynasty, they would definitely be able to grasp it well. In this case, today I will borrow Mr. Lin to see if they are just bragging."
As soon as these words came out, Zhang Dakuai and the others all laughed awkwardly, and Mr. Lin was secretly awed. Even if he had indeed studied various celebrities in the Song Dynasty, to say that he did not have any emotion|color... How could that be possible!
So, he thought about it and tried to test it out: "It might be unfair for me to be the judge alone. I have a few good friends, can they come and listen as well?"
"That's great." Although Zhang Shou had only been listening for a while, he found that Liang Chu was quite interested in the history of the Song Dynasty. In addition, someone complained to him that the kids in Banshan Hall were bored and often caused trouble. He had an idea and proposed a topic with the intention of giving the students in Banshan Hall something to do so that they would not be idle.
But Mr. Lin was going to get other people involved, so he was naturally happy to see it happen. Although it was highly unlikely that any results would be produced from war simulations these days, and even if there were results, they would not be accurate, just like when he wrote some short stories for his own amusement, it was just to satisfy himself. Just think of it as an idle person telling history, it was better than being idle!
As for the expenses of Lu Sanlang for publishing the book... if the fat guy who only wants profit learns about this, he will probably immediately give his full support, and then send a large number of people to promote it all over the streets, take the opportunity to promote his own bookstore, and then attract attention to the public school.
Liang Chu had completely forgotten that he came to visit the public school because of what his teacher said to the current emperor when he met him in Ge's mansion. Seeing that Mr. Lin's proposal was accepted by Zhang Shou, he agreed without hesitation. But he entered the Banshan Hall and sat down without any hesitation, but he made a choice that surprised everyone else.
Mr. Liang Xiaojuren actually planned to deduce from the perspective of the Jin Kingdom!
When Zhang Shou came out of Ciqing Palace, he had already learned about the incident that the emperor had caused when he went to Ge Yong from Chu Kuan, who made no secret of his well-informedness. So when he returned to the gate of the public school and learned that Liang Chu had come to see him, he guessed the purpose of his visit. Seeing that the person had completely forgotten about the business, he certainly had no intention of reminding him, but quietly turned around and went to Jiuzhang Hall.
After entering, he casually wrote on the blackboard, clapped his hands and assigned new topics, then called Lu Sanlang out and talked about the topic he had just come up with. Seeing Lu Sanlang's eyes narrowed, obviously thinking quickly, he smiled and said, "From ancient times to the present, the Song Dynasty has been famous , so people often say that our dynasty has been too harsh on scholars since Taizu. Your Majesty has picked such a topic, so why not take advantage of it to start a new topic. What exactly caused the fall of the Song Dynasty?"
