Chapter 309 Extra Chapter: The Post-Da Ding Era Extra Chapter...
modern.
The atmosphere in the high school classroom was tense.
"Hongming, recite Taiyuan's coronation memorial." The teacher's tone was emotionless, as if he were a machine, precisely pointing out Hongming's name.
Amidst the expressions of relief or relief from his classmates, Hongming stood up, inwardly cursing, but still dutifully reciting: "In the late years of Hongren, Emperor Taiyuan..."
The most annoying thing is this "Thai Kingship Table"!
It was long and tedious, and written in classical Chinese. Not only did we have to memorize the whole text, but we also had to extract the meaning of each word.
The reign of Emperor Taiyuan was a pivotal turning point in the transition from classical Chinese to simplified characters in ancient China. Yet, this memorial, written by Grand Secretary Cao, the Minister of Rites during the Taiyuan reign, is deliberately written in classical Chinese to showcase his skill!
He wrote it in a dazzling style, adding annotations to all sorts of obscure and rare words, making it a nightmare for high school students to memorize... This report begins with the ascension of Emperor Taiyuan to the throne, detailing his previous achievements, the official titles he bestowed upon his trusted confidants, and the life stories of these trusted ministers.
The entire text is nearly a thousand words long. How can someone write so much?!
But to be fair, I wonder how many people are thankful that this table was written by Minister Cao when Emperor Taiyuan ascended the throne, and that it didn't include Emperor Taiyuan's achievements in the second half of his life, otherwise it would be unbearable!
"Grand Tutor Wu was appointed Grand Academician of the Zichen Hall, and his son returned to the capital and was appointed Prefect of Luoyang City..." Hongming recited until his mouth was dry. As he recited, he cursed inwardly, wishing that his name also contained the character "Ming" and that Emperor Taiyuan Qi Chengming would make things a little less difficult for him.
He was multitasking so much that he just kept repeating it off-key.
The teacher in front visibly raised his eyebrows: "Hmm??"
But instead of getting angry, she tapped the blackboard: "Hongming, concentrate! This isn't a history class. The Taiyuan Coronation Table is a must-know topic for this semester's exam. Make sure it's separate from the history texts you've memorized. If you mix them up on the exam, you'll get no points!"
Hongming sat down with his head bowed and eyes downcast.
The reign of Emperor Taiyuan of the Dingchao Dynasty marked a significant turning point in the transformation of their Central Plains culture from weakness to prosperity. It was also the era of the restoration of a unified territory and the longest-lasting feudal dynasty to date. It was a unique era, a time of vigorous scientific development, explosive progress in all walks of life, and the emergence of talents. It was a time of flourishing talent, intellectual brilliance, and countless outstanding individuals.
No matter what subject you study, you can't avoid this special era, especially the terrifying all-around genius Emperor Taiyuan and his group of ministers.
Many of the systems and policies clearly defied the logic of historical development, yet the succubus Emperor Taiyuan somehow managed to bewitch his ministers, who, despite internal and external troubles, stubbornly followed him through obstacles to achieve their inventions and innovations. Many of these high-ranking officials even betrayed their own interests, families, and social classes.
This terrifying appeal and unwavering leadership are rare in history, and the reason for it remains a mystery to this day.
Hongming has been obsessed with memorizing history textbooks lately, and to make matters worse, the shadow of Emperor Taiyuan is constantly looming over his other subjects. Mathematical symbols, chemical formulas, physics equations—the very first chapter of his high school geography textbook begins with the story of Emperor Taiyuan unifying the four directions!
His physics lessons were like a never-ending lecture: this formula was derived during the Dingchao War, this one too, that one too. He had to memorize it all, and do practice problems with it!
Ah! That damned Emperor Taiyuan, what's the point of all those inventions?!
The physics teacher once remarked:
"To this day, we still do not know how Dingchao created the legendary weapon of mass destruction, the 'fire arrow.' Its outrageous power is clearly recorded in the 'Dacheng Benji,' which describes how it could kill a million soldiers from a hundred miles away in a quarter of an hour... But unfortunately, this method of making it has been lost. The modern fire arrows we make are powerful, but they require very high-quality steel pipes and welding techniques, which Dingchao did not have."
Leaving aside the physics teacher's bewilderment, the history teacher was even more distressed:
"It is said that when Emperor Taiyuan was still a prince, he personally compiled an extremely thick and voluminous work, in which every recipe was a new invention. This book encompassed a vast array of inventions and creations, scattered like stars in the sky. Several autobiographies of Taiyuan's officials in their later years confirm that this book was not written by anyone before. However, when Emperor Taiyuan gave it to his officials to copy and study, he insisted that it was a secret and unique copy kept by the royal family..."
"This book has been lost to this day, with only fragments scattered in the tombs of the officials of the Taiyuan Dynasty. According to analysis, the total number of prescriptions was about 10,000, which covered all aspects of the lives of the people of the Ding Dynasty. What a pity... what a pity."
Hongming didn't understand his history teacher's regret. He'd heard that the protective excavation of Emperor Taiyuan's tomb was finally going to be opened to the public, and he was praying day and night that there wouldn't be any new breakthroughs. If not... well, he'd wait until he graduated high school!
The shadow cast by Emperor Taiyuan was already deep enough; he didn't want to add any more things to his load at the last minute!
And then that day came.
The national archaeological team set up an official news live stream, and the history teacher, in a rare moment of compassion, turned on the screen, allowing the students to take a break during class and watch the live stream: "Students, study hard and remember well. Decades from now, we will also be among the people who witness history."
Upon entering the live stream, the screen was filled with scrolling comments, making it almost impossible to read what was written.
"Do you think there might be Emperor Taiyuan's autobiography in the tomb? He didn't write anything in his later years." His deskmate nudged Hongming with his elbow and asked curiously, "And those wildly unofficial histories, many of Taiyuan's officials believed he was a celestial being descended to earth, and that he exhibited many miraculous phenomena... These stories span the entire life of Emperor Taiyuan. Will the mysteries of those things be solved?"
Hongming was very irritable and didn't bother to talk to his deskmate.
An official expert pointed to a picture of a letter and explained: "This is a letter exchanged between Emperor Taiyuan and his seventh brother in his later years. This letter explains the final whereabouts of the family of the third prince, who was demoted to commoner status in history, and the seventh prince."
"Look at this... They volunteered to become the guardians of the Mangshan Tomb. Here, the elderly Seventh Prince once again swore that his vow would not change. Their two families would take the character 'Hong' from their father, Emperor Hongren, as their surname, and would never leave this place without permission, in order to atone for their sins of repeatedly attempting to assassinate Emperor Taiyuan..."
Hongming was stunned by this and couldn't listen to anything else.
By now, the surname "Hong" has become a very common and prominent surname in the Central Plains region, and it's considered a large local clan in Luoyang, with countless people sharing the same surname in villages and towns. But... but this explosive news is just too shocking!
So they are also of the same bloodline as Emperor Taiyuan?! Their ancestors were descendants of imperial relatives of the Ding Dynasty, but they were stripped of their surname and changed to "Hong" because they committed a crime?!
Before Hongming could recover from the shock, the archaeologists gleefully announced the next piece of bad news:
"We discovered a remarkably well-preserved copy of the complete 'Taiyuan Wanfang' among the burial objects in the mausoleum! It's a completely intact version, and it's even the original manuscript written by Emperor Taiyuan himself!! This helps us to better understand that vibrant era and has significant research value..."
Hongming was struck dumb: "...?!"
The classroom erupted in screams and wails: "What?!?!" "No! I haven't graduated yet!" "This will definitely be added to our required curriculum next semester!"
"The final chapter!!" History teacher Mu Youwang shouted, but he was crying tears of joy.
His ancestors were also famous ministers of the Taiyuan Dynasty, and it is said that they were fortunate enough to be buried in the Taiyuan Mausoleum. Therefore, he was the most concerned when the results were made public this time, and he listened attentively to hear about which chapters were missing in the main text.
But the expert in the live stream changed his tone, his smile vanished, and he showed a new photo of the manuscript:
"Does everyone remember the documents unearthed when the Li family tomb was excavated? At that time, it was generally believed that when Li's son was young, he ate hallucinogenic mushrooms on his way to Liuzhou to find Emperor Taiyuan, and almost died, which caused him to talk nonsense and think that he had been 'reborn'. Li's son believed this to be true, changed his playboy ways, reformed himself, and from then on became Emperor Taiyuan's trusted close minister..."
Hongming and his deskmate nodded involuntarily.
My history teacher told me this anecdote; it's one of the more interesting little stories that takes place during otherwise dull class time.
"..." The history teacher's brows furrowed slowly. He wondered why the expert brought up this matter in such a serious setting. He recalled the fragments passed down from his ancestors, and he had heard all the rumors and whispers in those unofficial histories.
Before Mu Wangyou could think further, the expert slowly projected dozens of densely packed words about the revised documents onto the large screen, along with thoughtful subtitles below, dropping a bombshell:
"Although we are reluctant to believe such an absurd thing, after 168 years of continuous investigation by our historians, from the first tomb of Imperial Censor Wang to the present, and based on the information gathered from the documents... including the burial items of the twelve high-ranking officials buried with him at the Taiyuan Mausoleum..."
"More than fifty people left concrete records claiming that they had been 'reborn,' and without exception, they took advantage of this opportunity to become trusted ministers of Emperor Taiyuan."
The expert paused here, speaking with difficulty: "The earliest evidence of paper dating back to when Emperor Taiyuan was still an unfavored prince, left by Grand Secretary Mu Jiemu. These documents were written at different times and in various locations across the country, so it's impossible to explain them all simply by eating mushrooms, experiencing collective hallucinations, or being hypnotized..."
Mu Wangyou heard the name of her ancestor and her eyes widened: "...!"
"What the heck... This historical anecdote has come true?!"
A murmur of surprise rippled through the classroom, a cacophony of discussion erupting within it. Students exchanged bewildered glances, their faces a mixture of conflicting excitement and suppressed elation, wondering if the expert had been drunk to dare utter such a bombshell in public. Even the history teacher, preoccupied with astonishment, stared at the screen, his mind still processing this explosive discovery.
Even without reading the comments in the live stream, the expert knew how much of a shock his words would cause and how many people would question them. So, without stopping, he flipped to the next page, which was still filled with dense text, but this time it was presented page by page, enlarged so that the audience could clearly see the specific content:
"This document was left by the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue during Emperor Taiyuan's early years. It not only clearly records when he died in his previous life, but also the events that occurred in that life. The major events include Emperor Hongren's abdication, Emperor Taiyuan's ascension to the throne without a reign title, Emperor Taiyuan's unmarried and childless life, and his early death in melancholy. He decreed that a member of the imperial family should succeed to the throne, border conflicts occurred, and princes who had been deposed and reduced to commoners, with the support of the retired emperor, vied for power and influence, ultimately leading to the disintegration of the Dingguo Kingdom..."
The screen begins displaying images of other people's letters, highlighting those that are identical to the descriptions of these events in red.
Similar descriptions abound, some only recounting the early years, some only covering the middle period, while others vividly recall and lament the immense suffering of their later years… There are dozens of such passages, making them truly shocking to read.
"These... could they really be true?" Hongming didn't want to believe it, but he couldn't understand it either.
If this absurd story isn't true, how could so many officials, scattered throughout the country, some never even meeting each other in their entire lives, and many dying after Emperor Taiyuan, have conspired to fabricate a completely fabricated tale? And why would they fabricate it? There's no reason given! Even if Emperor Taiyuan ordered them to do it, how could he, then an unfavored prince, have the power to manipulate so many people?
Instead, I continued thinking along these lines...
The sudden death of the retired Emperor Taiyuan is quite intriguing. This time, Emperor Taiyuan married, repelled a coalition of several nations to unify the territory, had a daughter whom he personally raised to the throne. He remained healthy until his old age, passing away peacefully and contentedly choosing the title "Dacheng" (Great Accomplishment). It's hard not to wonder if Emperor Taiyuan was also reborn, or if his ministers told him.
...Even the reason why those ministers could be so unwaveringly loyal to Emperor Taiyuan's ideals and methods, and why they remained true to their original intentions no matter what they went through, seems to have become clear!
"Those messy things all happened after Emperor Taiyuan died. That's probably what those ministers who were collectively reborn told him," my deskmate analyzed earnestly.
"Emperor Taiyuan actually believed this nonsense!" Hongming couldn't understand it. He couldn't even comprehend why those reborn ministers dared to tell such things to an emperor. Weren't they afraid that the emperor would consider them sorcerers and have them beheaded?
"Perhaps it's because the other party is Emperor Taiyuan," Mu Youwang murmured as he joined the conversation. As a history teacher, he had a deep understanding of the Ding Dynasty in private.
"Moreover," he said slowly, finally finishing his sentence after a long pause.
"—Emperor Taiyuan and his trusted ministers were going in both directions."
...
After that day, over a dozen top trending topics were all about the newly revealed findings at the Taiyuan Mausoleum. As expected, it caused a huge uproar among the public; no one could have imagined that the most absurd historical tale would one day come true. Of course, many people in society were unwilling to accept that this ridiculous conclusion was the truth, and opinions were divided.
In response, the Thai Yuan Emperor Mausoleum Museum announced that it will open in February next year, at which time it will exhibit most of the burial objects and document copies.
Whether it is right or wrong, true or false, is for the observer to judge.
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The author says: I've never written a sequel before, so this is quite a novel experience.
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