"Harmful....."
Zhao Jun sat cross-legged on the bed and said, "Village Chief, I'm afraid you saw that my diploma says I majored in History at Renmin University and wanted to test me. Okay, tell me, which dynasty's history do you want to hear about? Do you want to hear about the reasons for the dynasty's prosperity or the root causes of its demise?"
Yan Shu glanced at Zhao Zhen and the others, smiled triumphantly, and said, "Then tell me about the Song Dynasty."
"Song Dynasty? What's so good about that? Although my last name is Zhao, and according to DNA testing, the Zhao family is the ancestor of our village a thousand years ago, but my favorite dynasties are the Han and Tang Dynasties, followed by the Ming Dynasty. As for the Song Dynasty..."
"Why don't you like the Song Dynasty?"
"The Song Dynasty never achieved unification and was even subjected to attacks by northern nomadic tribes. It lacked martial virtue, and many people consider it a dynasty of eunuchs. Although I study history, I personally don't like the Song Dynasty. Could you recommend other dynasties?"
Zhao Jun's words and deeds revealed his disdain for the Song Dynasty, because he really didn't like the Song Dynasty very much.
As a passionate man, the Han and Tang dynasties were the eras that history majors like him favored. The Song dynasty, on the other hand, was too oppressive, especially the humiliations suffered by famous generals like Di Qing and Yue Fei, which made him grit his teeth every time he watched it.
So learning history is one thing, but in terms of personal preference, which boy would reject the Han Dynasty that conquered the Wolf's Lair and marched across the northern desert, and the Tang Dynasty that was at the top of the world and to like a country that was constantly beaten by the northern nomads, lacked martial ethics, and whose emperor was a bunch of idiot-like cowards?
As soon as these words were spoken, several people's faces changed immediately.
Lack of martial ethics?
Eunuch Dynasty?
Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, Cai Qi, Song Shou and others looked at each other and could see the dissatisfaction in each other's eyes.
What's the meaning?
Is it true that our great Song Dynasty is not worthy of standing among the dynasties of China?
Zhao Zhen clenched his fists even more tightly, veins on his face throbbing, and his blood pressure soared. Since he was a descendant of the Imperial Zhao Dynasty, how could he actually hate his ancestors?
This is simply a betrayal of one's roots and lawlessness!
He opened his mouth to ask, but when he saw Yan Shu shaking his head at him, he held back.
Yan Shu thought for a moment and then said, "Since you don't like it, it means you don't understand it very well."
"Old Village Chief, I don't like what you said."
When Zhao Jun was questioned about his professionalism, he got anxious and said, "I graduated from the History Department of Renmin University. I may not like it, but I still listened to the class carefully. You can't question my professionalism."
"Then let me test you. Do you know who Zhao Zhen is?"
Yan Shu would not stop until his words shocked the world.
That's a bold statement.
Say the emperor's name directly in front of the emperor.
But the literati of the Song Dynasty have always been very bold, and this is also a special period. There is no way, even Zhao Zhen’s face did not show any dissatisfaction.
Zhao Jun laughed. "Song Renzong, he's one of the few good emperors of the Song Dynasty. He was the first emperor in history to have the temple name 'Ren'. Under his rule, the Song Dynasty's economy, politics, and culture all reached their peak. Six of the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song came from his dynasty. There were so many talented people. Su Shi once said that the talents produced by Renzong's reign were enough for his descendants to use for three generations."
Song Renzong?
So my future temple name will be Renzong?
Zhao Zhen thought to himself.
Yan Shu asked curiously, "Who are the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song?"
"It was chosen in the early Ming Dynasty. It is a collective title for eight prose writers from the Tang and Song dynasties. They are Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan from the Tang Dynasty and Ouyang Xiu, Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Wang Anshi, and Zeng Gong from the Song Dynasty."
Zhao Jun spoke eloquently, "Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan were leaders of the classical prose movement in the Tang Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu and the three Su brothers were its core figures in the Song Dynasty, and Wang Anshi and Zeng Gong were representatives of Linchuan literature. The waves of classical prose innovation they initiated, which completely transformed the outdated landscape of poetry and prose, are why they are considered the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties."
"oh."
Yan Shu nodded.
Zhao Zhen and the others silently memorized the name.
Ouyang Xiu and others naturally knew that he had passed the imperial examination in the 14th place in the first class of the Tiansheng reign, and was now Xuan Delang of the Academy of Scholars. He was currently working as a proofreader in the Imperial Library and participated in the compilation of the Chongwen General Catalogue.
It is said that Yan Shu was also the chief examiner of Ouyang Xiu's imperial examination. At that time, he commented that he did not give Ouyang Xiu the first place because his writing style was too sharp. The examiners wanted to dampen his spirit and promote his talent, so they lowered his ranking.
Now it seems that he has lived up to everyone's expectations and left his name in history.
As for Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Wang Anshi, Zeng Gong and others, they did not know them. Perhaps they would appear in the future. However, it did not prevent Zhao Zhen from remembering their names, as he might be able to meet them in the future.
"The Three Su brothers, Wang Anshi, and Zeng Gong were all relatively famous literati during the middle and late reign of Emperor Renzong of Song. They were very active and well-known figures from the late Renzong period to the reign of Emperor Yingzong and Emperor Shenzong of Song."
Zhao Jun thought it would be nice to have someone to chat with while he was blind, so he spoke freely, "Especially Su Shi and Wang Anshi. Su Shi's poetry is a masterpiece of the Northern Song Dynasty, and he can be called the best of the bold and unrestrained school. Wang Anshi inherited Fan Zhongyan's reformist spirit and carried out the Wang Anshi Reform during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song."
Fan Zhongyan's reforms?
Wang Anshi's reform?
Everyone was confused. Fan Zhongyan and others naturally knew that the current prefect of Kaifeng would carry out reforms in the future.
"So to some extent, from the reign of Emperor Renzong to the reign of Emperor Shenzong, literary style flourished, and many great writers emerged. It was an era in which the development of Chinese culture could be compared with that of the Tang Dynasty."
Zhao Jun continued, "Of course, only their culture and economy are okay, but their military is far behind."
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