Chapter 523: My family will be responsible for your reputation after your death!
"Taishigong, Emperor Xiaohui should have a chronicle."
Luo Qing looked at Sima Qian very seriously and said, "Let's listen to Qing's words.
You are writing a general history, so there should not be a vacant imperial lineage, because that means the Mandate of Heaven is hanging in the balance!
Except in the turbulent times of the late Zhou Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty, the old Mandate of Heaven had already perished and the new Mandate of Heaven was still rising, but it had never dominated the Chinese people.
For example, when Qin Shihuang destroyed the Zhou Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty had not yet completely conquered the world; or when Qin Shihuang died, the second emperor Hu Hai died, and Emperor Fusu was in power.
King Xiang unified the world and all the people in the world paid tribute to him. The Mandate of Heaven had already appeared. Emperor Gaozu established the Han Dynasty, and all the Chinese people became one family. The Hunyuan region was unified, and the Mandate of Heaven was in the hands of the Han Dynasty.
Empress Gao is the regent, and the queen is in power!
After Empress Gao passed away, Emperor Xiaohui took power and King Luo Wen never served as regent. Emperor Xiaohui had both the Mandate of Heaven and real power, so why could he not be included in this chronicle?
Emperor Xiaohui had the temple name of Renzong, which was confirmed by King Zhaosheng, approved by King Luowen against all odds, and recognized by King Suhuangtian. It would be bad if such an emperor could not get his own exclusive chronicle.
I am your subordinate, so please think twice."
After Luo Qing finished speaking, he bowed deeply to Sima Qian. To the Luo family, Emperor Xiaohui had a very special status.
Because of his unlimited trust, the family had a second undisputed regent, a fake emperor who could depose and enthrone emperors!
Moreover, King Luo Wen treated Emperor Xiaohui no less than his own son. If he knew that Emperor Xiaohui lost his own chapter in the chronicles because of him, King Luo Wen would probably feel regretful.
As a descendant of the Luo family, protecting our ancestors is what we should do!
Sima Qian was silent for a while after hearing this. He was a very smart man and understood the implicit meaning of Luo Qing's words. He bowed in the direction of Chang'an, because King Luo Wen was not buried in Zhaocheng, but in Chang'an.
Then he said in a deep voice: "My lord, you are right. If a benevolent and righteous ruler like Emperor Xiaohui cannot obtain this chronicle, future emperors will no longer care about the way of benevolence and righteousness.
Moreover, the current emperor, who is only six years old, has a chronicle. It would be unfair if Emperor Renzong Huizong did not have one.
Recording history is not only about recording contemporary events, but also about letting future generations learn from it. Qian Hui praised Emperor Renzong more in the Chronicle of Emperor Xiaohui.
Qian has a request. There is no chronicle of King Luo Wen. Whenever Qian thinks about it, he feels regretful. Could he add more stories about King Luo Wen in the chronicles of Empress Dowager Lü and Emperor Xiaohui?
Qian believed that in the twenty years after Emperor Gao's death, it was difficult to tell who was superior and inferior among Empress Dowager Lü, Emperor Xiaohui, and King Luo Wen.
Qian thought that this period was truly brilliant, with the presence of Empress Gao, King Luo Wen, Emperor Xiaohui, and many of the founding heroes of the Han Dynasty. Qian did not want to merely list the events, but wanted to pass on the stories to future generations, just like the Records of King Xiang.
In this way, Qian can focus on writing the policies and imperial edicts of King Luo Wen during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen in the Biography of the Marquis of Dong'e, with the main focus on recording events. "
Sima Qian wrote history in two parallel styles.
One is about what happened in a certain year and month, and what decree the court issued. It does not record the cause and effect, but only puts the result to tell you what happened.
The other is to write down every detail, not only the cause and effect, but also to figure out the psychology of the people involved, and write the events in a magnificent way while conforming to historical facts.
Although Sima Qian was a scholar, he had a heroic spirit. The articles he wrote can still inspire people thousands of years later, and can even make people feel infinite affection or malice towards a person they have never met after reading the history books.
This is Sima Qian's ability!
Naturally, the Luo family would love this, as King Luo Wen has been the pride of the entire Luo family for thousands of years.
Luo Qing immediately said, "Of course you can. If the historian wants to know more about King Luo Wen's deeds, the Luo family still has King Luo Wen's handwritten notes."
Sima Qian was quite excited when he heard this. The person he admired most in the Han Dynasty was King Luo Wen. Or it could be said that all the top ministers of the Han Dynasty admired King Luo Wen. Now that he could learn about King Luo Wen's life in detail, he must put all his energy and effort into writing down King Luo Wen's great achievements, making King Luo Wen flesh and blood and the embodiment of all beautiful and just virtues.
Seeing this, Luo Qing smiled again and said, "Taishigong, the history book you wrote about the Han Dynasty, the Luo family will present a copy to the Han court, so that the nobles and the royal family can see what the emperors of all dynasties and the meritorious officials were like in the annals of history, so as to encourage themselves."
Sima Qian took a deep breath when he heard this. The history book had to be published after all, and this was no trivial matter.
Because although Sima Qian avoided mentioning the truth for the sake of the respected person, he did not compile any materials for the respected person. Although the wrong things were obscure, they were all written out clearly.
In particular, there is a summary evaluation at the end of each biography.
If Sima Qian had met a king like Qin Shihuang who was unwilling to be evaluated by his subjects, he would not have enough lives to kill.
The emperors of the Han Dynasty were able to accept criticism from their subjects. Even if they were angry and humiliated, they would not, like some other dynasties, imprison or exterminate the entire family because of some specious remarks.
Sima Qian was wondering how the royal family would view the Sima family?
For example, among the various families written about by Sima Qian, nearly half are now top marquises of the Han Dynasty, and their descendants have passed down their legacy. So how would they view their ancestors in history books?
In the history of Ji Zhao's previous life, this historical record can be said to have had a difficult fate, because it recorded a large number of private matters in the palace, and was contrary to the mainstream ideology of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, the court did not allow it to be published, and even the princes who wanted to obtain it were not allowed.
Later, Sima Qian's grandson began to spread the book, but he died soon after, so the scope of its dissemination was very small. Until the Eastern Han Dynasty, this record of the history had a difficult fate and was not allowed to be spread until many words were deleted.
This is what Sima Qian was worried about. This is not only an honor, but also a disaster. It is a disaster that is enough to destroy the entire family.
He wrote this history book because he was driven by his duty as a historian.
Even in the Bang Zhou era, the Luo family protected the historians of various countries in the world, but that only protected the historians' power from having history altered, but it could not protect the safety of the historians themselves.
This was even more so during the Han Dynasty.
Luo Qing certainly understood all of this. He patted Sima Qian on the shoulder and said, "Taishigong, this history book was certified and proofread by Luo, and the evaluation of all the characters above is fair.
If anyone is dissatisfied, let him come to Luo Shi, Luo Shi guarantees that he can be persuaded. "
The Luo family dared to face all the revenge in this world. Even if someone was unhappy with what was recorded in the history books, they could only hold it in and watch the Luo family spread these books so that everyone in the world would know.
Sima Qian bowed and said, "Then I will trouble you, sir. I will recite the deeds of King Luo Wen and write the Chronicle of Emperor Xiaohui as soon as possible. I am very curious about why Emperor Xiaohui and Empress Gao trusted King Luo Wen so much.
The mystery of history may lie in the notes and letters of King Luo Wen."
Luo Qing had Sima Qian taken away. Looking at Sima Qian's departing figure, he didn't know for a moment whether this was the right thing to do. The notes and letters that could be made public to Sima Qian were naturally official ones. Those truly private letters would not even be read by Luo's own descendants.
Although King Luo Wen should not care too much about it, it is a private matter after all. Especially for King Luo Wen, a special ancestor who devoted his life to the Han Dynasty, the Luo family knows some things about it.
Luo Bai laughed and said, "Ah Qing, Taishigong is a human being after all. We can't persuade him, but you changed his mind as soon as you came."
Luo Qing shook his head and said, "Who in this world is not biased? It is because of the strong emotions of the Grand Historian that he was able to write such words and make this history book the best in the world.
Next year, the princes of the world will come to Chang'an to pay homage to the emperor. Qing plans to bring all the Han Dynasty chapters of the General History of the Xia Dynasty to Chang'an at that time and present them as tribute at the ceremony of paying homage to the emperor. At that time, the emperor and all the ministers in the court can see how their ancestors are recorded in the history books. "
Luo Bai couldn't help laughing when thinking about that scene. He thought again and couldn't help laughing: "The emperor and all the ministers will definitely praise it. What else can they say?
Are you saying that there are errors in the history books recorded by me, Luo?
Or is it that the history books and evaluations recorded by my Luo family are unfair? "
This is Luo's Achilles' heel. History has never been a formal subject, especially after the rise of Confucian classics. As the leader of historiography, "Luo Gong Chunqiu" should have been a classic for historians, but this book actually became a classic of Confucian classics.
This book completely goes beyond the scope of historiography, and contains countless thoughts of the two sages Luo and Kong. Now Sima Qian's book is the real classic of historians, especially the comments on the characters at the end, which greatly magnifies the role of the posthumous title.
Luo felt that this was too amazing. Even if one was unfamiliar with history, as long as one read the ending, one would know what kind of person this was!
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The princes came to Changle to pay homage. Prince Qing of Zhaogong presented a book called "General History of the Xia Dynasty". Qing said, "This book was written by Taishigong. It explores the relationship between heaven and man and covers the changes and grand occasions of ancient and modern times. It should be presented to the emperor and published throughout the country so that people can know about it, praise the merits and despise the ugliness, so that the living can be vigilant and the dead can rest in peace."
Qing presented only the Han chapter, which recorded the major events of the 150 years from the reign of Qin II, Hu Hai, to the fifth year of Emperor Lingjue. The emperor read it, and the other ministers also read it.
The Prime Minister praised him, saying, "Taishigong has the beauty of an ancient historian. He is good at arranging events and logic, and his arguments are not flowery, and his facts are not vulgar. His writing is straightforward, and his facts are accurate. He does not exaggerate the good, nor conceal the bad. After reading it, you will find it interesting like a novel, but it can be said to be a record of facts. It is truly amazing."
The emperor also sighed and said: "Gao Hui, Wen Wu Xuan, the five holy kings of the Han Dynasty, can be passed down to future generations."
The dukes, ministers and princes were all in awe.
There is a folk saying: "The emperor is glorious during his lifetime, but after his death, the Luo family will be the heir to eternity." - "Miscellaneous Notes of an Idle Person at the Imperial Academy"
(End of this chapter)
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