Chapter 565 [Three Updates] 565

Liu Tan looked at the record of words and deeds and felt a little uneasy. "You guys can just record it, but why bother writing down who said it? Aren't you tired of it?"

Liu Ju, standing aside, said as a matter of course: "How can we not record it? How will the Grand Historian write history when the time comes?"

Liu Tan:!!!

He was completely shocked. After traveling through time for so many years, he always encountered strange things and consulted history books to figure out what was going on.

Although it has deviated far from the history books, many things can still provide some help.

And now tell him that he will also become a member of the historical records?

This feeling is really...wonderful.

Liu Tan quickly came to his senses after his initial surprise. In fact, there was nothing difficult to understand about this matter. With the things he did, if he was a civilian or an ordinary official, even with the help of the Northern Plow and the Harvester, he would have occupied dozens or even hundreds of words in the history books.

Don't underestimate these hundreds of people. The history of the flower-growing family is vast, and there are only a few people who can leave hundreds of words in history books - of course, these few are calculated based on the population size.

Therefore, officials generally want to leave their names in history.

However, Liu Tan was neither a commoner nor an ordinary official. As a prince, he was also a prince with great achievements. He estimated that he might... deserve a biography of the Northern Kings.

Liu Tan was in a daze and wanted to meet Sima Qian and read his completed book "Records of the Grand Historian".

Although everyone says that Sima Qian completed "Records of the Grand Historian" after being castrated, his family was the Grand Historian at that time, and he had been writing "Records of the Grand Historian" all the time. It's just that he completed "Records of the Grand Historian" with a strong will despite his disability, which makes it easier for people to remember him.

However, Li Ling is now reliable and should not be captured in battle, causing Chang'an to misunderstand that he surrendered.

A large part of the reason for the misunderstanding in the whole incident is that communication was not well developed in that era.

However, Liu Tan is now in charge of the Northern Border Kingdom. If something really happens, he can suppress the news first, or guarantee Li Ling first. His words should carry more weight than others, and he can also rescue Li Ling in time.

Then again, if Li Ling, with his elite troops under his command, could still be captured by the Huns, Liu Tan would really have to pack him up and throw him back to Chang'an - he was too stupid to be taught a lesson.

Out of curiosity, Liu Tan sent someone to Sima Qian to ask if he could see the manuscript. In fact, he really wanted to meet the Grand Historian in person.

However, he and Sima Qian had never had any interaction, and his sudden visit would likely cause Sima Qian to be stared at by all kinds of people - Liu Tan was now the center of attention wherever he was, and this reaction of the ministers had almost become a conditioned reflex, for fear of ignoring the King of the Northern Territory and not being able to react if something happened.

As for what might happen... frankly speaking, no one can guess, but the question is, can everyone guess that it is still the King in the North?

In order to let Sima Qian write history in peace, Liu Tan had to regretfully not cause him any trouble. He planned to find an opportunity to go to the grand court meeting and then take a look at Sima Qian - Sima Qian's official position was not low, let alone the grand court meeting, he was qualified to go even to the small court meeting.

Sima Qian was not surprised that the King of the Northern Territory suddenly sent someone to ask if he could see the history books he had written. He was even overjoyed and handed all his manuscripts to the messenger, except for the historical records of this dynasty, or in other words, except for the historical records after Liu Che ascended the throne.

In order to minimize interference, during the reign of this emperor, no one except the emperor could see the written history books.

When Sima Qian had sorted out the books and handed them to the messenger, he said earnestly, "Please tell His Majesty the King of the Northern Territory that the saying 'Using history as a mirror can reveal the rise and fall of a nation' is truly a thought-provoking statement. Your Majesty has helped me a lot, and I have no way of repaying you. If you are of any use to me, please feel free to tell me what you will do!"

The envoy was obviously a little surprised, but he was a young eunuch who had been with Liu Tan for a long time. Although he did not know Liu Tan's every word and action as well as Miao Rui and Big Gao, he was not far behind.

He smiled after hearing this and said, "Don't worry, Grand Historian, I will definitely bring it to you."

When the messenger returned, he naturally relayed the message to Liu Tan. Liu Tan was somewhat surprised: "What was his attitude when you went there?"

The young eunuch said happily, "It is very sincere and he praises Your Highness very highly."

Liu Tan looked confused, not understanding what was going on, but he was still a little alert.

If this time travel is compared to a game, Sima Qian is a very important character in the game. Putting aside whether he can be conquered or not, this person is one of the non-player characters who can keep the game running normally.

He had no friendship with Sima Qian, so why did the other party respect him so much?

Because of the halo of "Records of the Grand Historian", everyone praises Sima Qian, and occasionally makes fun of him, but never with malice.

But no one knows what kind of person he is, only that he is a man of great perseverance.

Liu Tan thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure it out. He decided to put the matter aside for the time being, or to take a look at the historical manuscripts that had already been written, and then find an opportunity to talk to Sima Qian.

If you want to chat with someone, you should start with what he is interested in.

When Liu Tan had nothing to do, he would lock himself in his room and read history.

Not to mention, as soon as he took a look, he found that the current first edition of "Records of the Grand Historian" was actually quite different from the one handed down to later generations.

At this time, Sima Qian had not experienced any setbacks, and his personality and mentality were extremely positive and sunny, so he was quite ruthless in his words... and his writing.

What Liu Tan was most concerned about was the biographies of the princes. The thrones of some princes were hereditary, such as the King of Huainan and the King of Hengshan. Sima Qian merged these two thrones into one biography, recording the succession of the two thrones and the various deeds of the successive Kings of Huainan and Hengshan.

Sima Qian showed no mercy at all just because the other party was a member of the royal family. He wrote in a very merciless and derogatory manner.

At the beginning, Liu Tan read the book with the mentality of reading a professional book, but later he felt as if he was reading a storybook, and he would laugh out loud from time to time at the other party's witty remarks.

However, Liu Tan guessed that Sima Qian dared to write this way because of Emperor Wu of Han's instruction, or perhaps Emperor Wu of Han simply turned a blind eye.

In any case, the emperor certainly cannot stand the good words of the princes. They are all so powerful, so where would the emperor put his face?

Therefore, Sima Qian was particularly free in these records, and Liu Tan could even see Sima Qian's growth trajectory through the order of these biographies - as he grew older, Sima Qian basically changed his habit of speaking in a superficial way, but his words became sharper, not sarcastic, but rather truthful and to the point.

Liu Tan guessed that the ones that were circulated in later generations should have been revised by Sima Qian, so many words were deleted.

To be honest, he still felt it was a pity. If it had been like this when he was memorizing the text, he would definitely not feel any pain.

After reading the biographies of the princes, he took a look at the Annals as a whole.

The records in this chapter are similar to those in later generations. I think Sima Qian's records in this chapter were more serious.

However, there are some discrepancies, and the biggest discrepancy is in the Qin Dynasty.

As we all know, Sima Qian was a Qin black, so throughout the book, the First Emperor was badly criticized.

Moreover, Sima Qian wrote from the perspective of an outsider, which seems very fair, but he described some of the harsh policies of the First Emperor in great detail, and his achievements... were just a few dry lines.

The more Liu Tan looked at him, the more serious his expression became—and he gradually became angry.

However, what made him most angry was that he could not say it. It had not been many years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, and people were still very secretive about the previous dynasty. If they mentioned it, they would inevitably mock it by saying that it died in the second generation or something like that.

Liu Tan couldn't even find anyone to complain to!

Oh, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it cannot be found. At least Lu Xuan can definitely find it.

Lu Xuan was a foreigner. Although he had read many books and was deeply influenced by Chinese culture, he could not gain a deep understanding of history in a short period of time. Even if he could, he could only look at these things from the perspective of an observer.

In fact, it is similar to Liu Tan's situation. Liu Tan is now accustomed to life in the Han Dynasty. When the Han people and foreigners are put together, he will naturally subconsciously protect the Han people.

However, when comparing the Han Dynasty in the long course of history, Liu Tan will automatically become an objective third party.

Oh, maybe it’s not so objective. These days...how many people are not hypocritical?

Because the First Emperor was being slandered, Liu Tan felt quite bored for a moment and put down the book directly, but he did not intend to say anything to Sima Qian.

If the other party doesn't change even after he has told him, he might even need to receive a loving education from his father himself because of this.

Forget it, it’s not worth it.

The First Emperor flew bravely and took responsibility for any accidents.

But after all, he had read the other person's book, so Liu Tan thought about it and wrote a couplet for him: The masterpiece of historians, the Li Sao without rhyme.

Signed by Lu Xun.

Well, this is exactly what Mr. Lu Xun said.

As for who Lu Xun is, which everyone is wondering about, Liu Tan has no intention of explaining it. As for when Mr. Lu Xun appears in the future... I hope he won't have any doubts.

Liu Tan's handwriting is very precious nowadays. After all, it is hung in Weiyang Palace and Pepper Room, but not in other places. As for the beauty salon... he originally wanted to hang his own handwriting, but seeing that his work has been snatched away by the emperor and empress, he can't let the beauty salon receive the same treatment as Weiyang Palace and Pepper Room, right?

So he could only ask others to imitate his painting and then hang it in the beauty salon.

It is conceivable that this handwritten piece of his might become a family heirloom of Sima Qian.

Liu Tan had the book and the letter delivered together. Not long after, the eunuch came running back and said, "Your Highness, something bad has happened. Princess Yi'an has beaten the Grand Historian."

Liu Tan: ???