Spoiler History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 815 Yongle Sword

[The Qiluo characters clearly demonstrate the popular aesthetic trends during the Xuanzong period.

The women in these paintings have curved eyebrows, plump cheeks and voluptuous figures. They don't mind the so-called red and green match very much. Not only do they wear heavy makeup, but they also use rouge, black ink, and flower ornaments, etc., with the main theme of being bold and unrestrained.

This kind of aesthetic may seem inappropriate in modern times, but for the Tang people at that time, warriors showed their power thousands of miles away and foreign countries came to pay homage to them at the gate of heaven.

There was only one aesthetic standard in that era, and that was the "Tang Dynasty standard" of these gorgeous women.

From an aesthetic point of view, the Tang Dynasty did indeed well illustrate what it means to be a great power with overflowing self-confidence.

Therefore, it is no wonder that the idea of ​​"plumpness as beauty", which lasted for less than 50 years, became one of the most well-known business cards of the Tang Dynasty.

Everyone in the Ganlu Palace was fascinated for a moment.

After all, when people in the past and later generations talked about the Tang Dynasty, they often talked about its territory, its generals, its literary talent, and its prestige beyond the Great Wall.

However, this is the first time that the theory of aesthetics has been put forward so directly.

People like Empress Changsun often admired the exquisite gauze clothes and the relaxed and leisurely demeanor of the characters in the painting titled "Qiluo Figures".

People like Li Chengqian were dazzled by the words floating on the narrowing light curtain, which explained that the plumpness of Tang people was not obesity but the healthy beauty of tall and slender figures covered by loose clothes, or praised the unrestrained use of colors by the Tang people, or there were many humorous remarks in the text such as "The Tang people probably didn't understand why the moon in foreign countries is rounder".

Or, like the Yan brothers, they are carefully studying this era, which according to later history is several decades later than our own, to see what they can learn in terms of painting techniques.

Li Shimin frowned slightly and looked back at Fang Du thoughtfully. As expected, the two old subordinates also frowned slightly, with a look of wanting to say something but not being able to.

"The mentality of a great power..." Repeating these four words, Li Shimin suddenly remembered the sighs of his descendants over the defeat of Gao Xianzhi during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong.

I still remember that when later generations discussed the celebrities of the Song Dynasty, they mentioned Yelu Dashi and used him as the basis for dividing the history of Asia. They said that after Gao Xianzhi's defeat in Talas, China lost the right to speak in Central Asia, until Yelu Dashi defeated the foreign Seljuk Empire head-on with the Hu Tongmu Han style. However, China was still in chaos at that time, and the Western Liao Dynasty was eventually unable to support itself and gradually disappeared in Central Asia.

"The standard of the prosperous Tang Dynasty... the mentality of a great power... the right to speak in the world..."

Li Shimin murmured, and suddenly a question came to his mind:

"Who gave the name Asia?"

No one can answer this question, but Li Shimin seemed to have seen another battlefield that was equally cruel and invisible.

Moreover, this battlefield seems to be able to get a glimpse of clues from history books. After all, the Huns who once fought against the powerful Han in the northern desert were not exterminated, but where are the Huns now?

This discovery also made Li Shimin feel his blood boiling. After all, he was still in his early thirties and had the time and energy to make long-term plans.

Unlike the Ganlu Hall, in the Huagai Hall of Yingtian Prefecture, there are many sighs about the so-called standards of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The more you sigh, the more you can just look at the pictures. After all, there were many turmoils in the six or seven hundred years in between, making it difficult to compare.

At most, it would just make Zhu Yuanzhang pull his beard a little uncomfortably, because he always felt that although Tang and Ming were both great powers in the eyes of later generations, their styles seemed to be quite different?

But he soon put this idea aside, because the sword that was hanging in the hall a moment ago was finally brought up. [We have received a sword before, but that was an eight-sided jade-handled Han sword, and the one in front of us is obviously a Ming sword.

After all, when talking about Han swords, one of the names they are called is "the last sword used on the battlefield." Although this name may seem arbitrary, it is a good sentence to explain the difference in uses between Han swords and Ming swords.

After all, since the Tang Dynasty, soldiers on the battlefield have had many weapons to choose from that are superior to swords, not to mention that firearms were invented in the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, starting from the Tang Dynasty, swords gradually withdrew from the battlefield and began to develop in the direction of being worn as a backup. The Ming sword is no exception. Looking at this scabbard, it is obviously much more gorgeous than the Han sword. Take it out and take a look... Well, you can still see the inscription on the sword, "Made in the ninth year of Hongwu", so let's name it Hongwu Sword for the time being. Tsk tsk, I have to say that apart from its practicality, this Ming sword is really beautiful. 】

Although the words were not very pleasant to the ear, Zhu Yuanzhang still had a smile on his face. After all, he did not have many opportunities to use the sword nowadays. He mostly wore it and played with it. It would be the same if he gave it to the younger generation to enjoy.

However, even so, Emperor Ming still had to be a little more modest in his words:
"During the more than 30 years of Hongwu, how many swords have we made? Even if only one or two of them are left to posterity, it can still be considered a large number. It would be arbitrary to give our sword the name of Hongwu alone."

But the younger generation seemed to have heard his sigh and began to answer faintly.

[As for why it is called the Hongwu Sword, it is of course because the current Ming sword leader, the Yongle Sword, is named so. ]

As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang's smile suddenly faded a little, and Zhu Di subconsciously shrank his head, although he didn't quite understand why he had to do this.

[There are quite a few ancient Chinese swords still in existence today, but when it comes to representative works of ancient swords, the Yongle Sword is unavoidable.

This sword was given as a gift to the Dharma King of U-Tsang in the 18th year of Yongle. Later, it passed through many twists and turns and fell into the hands of the Qing court. Later... As we all know, the Eight-Nation Alliance plundered countless treasures of China, and the Yongle Sword was one of them.

After flowing overseas, the sword went through several twists and turns, and finally appeared at an auction and was bought by the Royal Armouries Museum in the UK, becoming the top of its collection.

However, it should be noted that this sword was a gift from Yongle, not Zhu Di's personal sword, so its preciousness should be discounted.

But even so, it is undoubtedly one of our treasures, and I sincerely hope that we can recover it in the future. 】

〖So many Chinese treasures have been lost.

Many of the most valuable treasures in foreign museums are from China, which is both ironic and sad.

If Zhu Di knew about this, he would probably be so angry that he would come back to life.

Come on, when Zhu Qizhen knocked on the door, Zhu Di was not so angry that he came back to life. When Zhu Youjian hanged himself on a tree with a crooked neck, Zhu Di was not so angry that he came back to life. A sword given as a gift is not just a sword to be worn on the body, it's not necessary.

It would be best if the national treasure could be brought back, but I definitely don't want to buy it back. Why should we redeem something that was stolen? Not only will we lose the substance, we will also lose our face.

Rather than buying it back, it is better to temporarily store it abroad to warn future generations not to forget the national humiliation and not to follow the footsteps of the Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Biao heard it clearly. When people in later generations talked about this sword, their tone was calm and the words on the light curtain were also a bit heartwarming.

Turning his head, he couldn't see his father Emperor Hongwu's expression clearly, but when Zhu Biao lowered his head, he could see that his father's hands were clenched tightly, with veins exposed.

(End of this chapter)