I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 426 History is as sharp as a knife
Spring, March 3rd.

Prime Minister Wei Wan wrote a letter saying that he was old and ill and wanted to return to his hometown.

The emperor forbids it.

mid March.

The prime minister once again wrote to resign.

The emperor added a seal to it, but it was not allowed.

The next day.

The prime minister resigned again.

The emperor sighed, hid his face several times, and finally agreed.

On April 6, the emperor wanted to appoint Zhao Wan, the imperial censor, as prime minister, but the courtiers criticized him a lot.

However, when the emperor asked Weixinhou, Lang Zhongling and Zongzheng, they all said Zhao Wanke.

Therefore, Wan is the new prime minister. There have been seventeen prime ministers since the Han Dynasty, but he is not a marquis.

On April 17, Marquis Jianling left the capital, and the emperor sent envoys to carry it out.

……

"Father, are you writing history?" A childish voice sounded from behind Sima Tan.

Closing the book in his hand, Sima Tan turned around and said with a faint smile: "My father is not writing history, but checking the records of these days.

They are the most primitive materials, but they are too crude and cannot be directly put into history books. They need to be polished by the writer before they can be finalized. "

Historians often have family traditions.

My father took over the position of Taishi Ling from my eldest father, and he continued to serve as Taishi Ling after my father retired.

If there are no accidents, his eldest son Sima Qian will also inherit this position and faithfully restore the past and record the present with a historical pen.

Even though he is just a child who has not yet reached the age of dancing, Sima Tan doesn't mind teaching him more.

It will be beneficial to keep these words in mind for future appointments as Taishi Ling.

Sima Qian listened attentively and asked sincerely, "So what I just said, how will my father choose to write history books in the future? I heard people say that the new prime minister was just a white man a few years ago, but now he is a white man. The official of Ten Thousand Stones should be a very powerful person, and there will be a lot written about him in the history books, right?"

Sima Tan smiled and said, "Father doesn't know the answer now.

Prime Minister Zhao had only been in office for ten days, and he had not made any achievements or made any mistakes.

And history books pay attention to conciseness. If there are no profound events behind them and people who have no impact on the current situation or the future, then it is not worth recording in the history books.

If Prime Minister Zhao does nothing during his tenure, then the most I can do is write his name in the history books, so as not to leave any gaps in the order of Prime Minister's replacement and cause misunderstandings for future generations.

If he did something earth-shattering and made the world sigh and praise his actions or policies, then maybe I would write a biography specifically for him.

Of course, if you hear those words outside that "a man suddenly rises in white and becomes the prime minister", just listen to it. If you read more history books, you will find that this is not an achievement worth astonishing.

It only took ten years for Taigong Wang to change from a fisherman to a Duke of Qi.

It only took two years for Marquis Wenzhen of Yangxia to change from a garrison soldier to a lieutenant.

The great ancestor was originally a commoner, but he rose up with his sword drawn, unified the world, and ascended to the throne in just over four years.

So do you think that it took several years to transform from a white body into a prime minister, and it is still so incredible that it deserves to be praised in the history books?
Ah Qian, there is nothing wrong with you listening more to outside voices.

But don't let those words affect your judgment. We historians hold a pen in our hands and a scale in our hearts.

Those achievements that are worthy of praise should not be discredited just because you hate the person involved.

Those behaviors that should be criticized should not be turned a blind eye just because they are the decisions of the emperor and important officials in the court.

The most important thing that a historian must insist on in his life is to write straight and straight. "

Sima Qian was stunned for a while, then lowered his head in shame.

He pursed his lips and replied: "Father, I understand.

I will read more history to gain more knowledge, and then try to judge what the outside world says, which ones are right and which ones are wrong. I will never be like today again, talking nonsense without thinking for a long time. "

He secretly clenched his fists.

My performance in front of my father just now was indeed too impetuous.

I will never make such a mistake again!
After all, their family has been serving as historians for several generations. It has become a kind of inheritance, and it also carries a heavy responsibility.

Sima Qian didn't want to live up to it.

Seeing his son's serious attitude, Sima Tan smiled with satisfaction and said, "If you think so, my father believes that you can become an excellent historian in the future."

You must know that as the eldest son, you have a calm personality and a bit of stubbornness, so you are naturally suitable to be a historian.

More importantly, he can write good articles.

However, the content written by Sima Qian is not like the splendid articles of today's Sima Changqing, with gorgeous rhetoric, but more in line with the requirements of history books, concise and accurate, but with a little more flavor, describing the characters It has to be expressive.

About two years ago, Sima Qian saw the records on his own documents and pointed out that he could change a few words in them to make the content more streamlined without affecting the original meaning.

Looking at the points pointed out by his son, Sima Tan felt that they were indeed right.

Although I only slightly changed the position of the words and added some modifications, it made all the characters "alive".

Since discovering that his son had such a keen talent, Sima Tan, although he did not tell anyone else, was determined to let him inherit the position of family historian.

"I will work hard." Listening to his father's praise, Sima Qian raised the corners of his mouth, nodded seriously, and then said, "Father, what do you mean by the biographies you just mentioned? I don't seem to have heard of it. Please ask my father to explain. Confused."

Although his father told him to read more history books, Sima Qian had actually read through almost all the history books of his family's predecessors.

However, he didn't quite understand the meaning of the biographies.

After all, in literature and classics, the meaning of "Zhuan" generally refers to "Zuo Zhuan".

But my father’s words obviously didn’t mean this.

Sima Tan rubbed his chin, "This... is because my father wants to use a new form to compile history books. Well, history books in the past were often narrated according to country or time.

From the time of Qin to the founding of Han Dynasty by Emperor Gaozu, the world has been unified, and it makes no sense to compile it according to different countries.

The difficulty in writing according to time is that there are too many important things happening at the same time. If you compile it simply according to time, the perspective may be too complicated.

Especially in the late Qin years, rebel armies from all over the country rose up. King Wulie of Chu destroyed 300,000 Qin troops in Julu, and Gaozu also fought with the Qin army in Nanyang County.

If it were written according to the chronology, I am afraid that in just one or two months, dozens of wars would have to be written. If any mistakes were made during the transcription, it would probably cause a lot of trouble to future generations. Therefore, my father was thinking about whether he could use the life of a single character as the main line to write his biography. By recording his experiences, he could write about the history of that time. "

The idea didn't just come out of the blue.

Their family had been compiling history for generations, so Sima Tan naturally wanted to integrate the information and write a history book for the Han Dynasty.

It's just that he didn't write, but he discovered the problem as soon as he did.

That is, the originally existing national style and chronological style were completely unsuitable for recording the history of the Han Dynasty.

Without previous experience, Sima Tan has been trying to solve this problem in various ways over the years. The last way he came up with was to express history through individual characters as he just said.

But this method was too novel, and he didn't know if it could be accepted by the world.

So he hesitated.

The contents currently written in the history books are still in the chronology of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. As for the proposed biographies, they have not been written at all.

Of course, this is also related to his writing power.

Sima Tan's first attempt was to write a biography of Marquis Wenzhen of Yangxia. It was okay to start writing about the life of the character. After all, there was a wealth of information preserved in the palace, and there were many discussions among the people about Marquis Wenzhen of Yangxia.

But when it came to writing the dialogue, he couldn't figure out how to write.

It seems like nothing is right no matter how I write it.

So he temporarily gave up on this task, just tried to collect detailed information, and then pinned his hopes on his son.

After all, Sima Qian had the power to turn corruption into magic by slightly revising his own article.

If he maintains this standard throughout his history writing in the future, he believes that the history book written by his son will be an unprecedented history book.

Reaching out and patting Sima Qian's shoulder, Sima Tan said, "Didn't I say a few days ago that I would take you out for a walk in your free time to gain some insights?
Historians not only need to record what happened in the palace, but also need to consult past materials.

If we have the opportunity, we need to go on-site inspections to see with our own eyes the places where those historical events took place, and to ask the nearby residents and those who experienced them.

In this way, we can better restore the content of history and ensure the authenticity of the records we write. "

Although he was taking his son out for a walk, he couldn't help but write history.

Sima Qian, on the other hand, was not bored by his father's preaching. Instead, he nodded thoughtfully.

After a while, the father and son, who had tidied up a little, planned to go out.

As soon as he walked to the door, Sima Qian half-turned his head, raised his head, and said to his father: "Father, if I want to be a good historian, do I need to have more experience? For example, I should visit various places in the Han Dynasty in the future. Look, go visit the descendants of those famous people and check out the ruins of those battlefields."

"Huh? If you have the chance, of course you should do it." Sima Tan said casually without thinking too much.

However, after hearing this reply, Sima Qian's eyes became serious, and then he buried his head, not knowing what he was thinking.

……

The two of them had no destination in mind for their trip this time, they were just walking around casually.

However, Sima Qian would always ask questions when he saw something special, and Sima Tan would also patiently reply and answer his questions.

So when Sima Qian saw several people who looked like scribes walking together at the city gate, as if they had traveled a long way to Chang'an, he asked curiously: "Father, these people don't look like officials, but they don't look like merchants in their clothes." .

So why did they come all the way to Chang'an? "

No wonder he had such questions.

After all, in this era, most people stay in their hometowns, and few people travel thousands of miles away from their hometowns.

Except, of course, businessmen and officials.

"They are probably talented people who have been promoted by the imperial examination." Sima Tan guessed, and then explained to his son, "You know the exam that Taixue held to recruit doctors not long ago, right?"

"I know, it was very lively at that time." Sima Qian responded. There were not many interesting things in Chang'an in winter. The Imperial College exam had been hotly debated in Chang'an for a long time.

Sima Tan smiled and said, "This examination is to recruit doctors of Imperial College, who are now the masters of the capital.

Of course, this does not mean that the abilities of these talents are mediocre. They are also people in the local area who are highly praised for their talents and conduct. "

Sima Qian pursed his lips and said, "Then I must study in Taixue and learn a lot of knowledge. If I have the opportunity in the future, I will also go to Taixue to study with these talented people and accept the teachings of those doctors."

Just as Sima Tan was about to praise his son for his ambition, he suddenly remembered something.

When I was in the morning court a few days ago, I seemed to have heard a letter from Senior Chen, saying that he wanted to expand the enrollment of Taixue and recruit some children from near Chang'an, so that they could enlighten themselves in Taixue and receive long-term instruction.

His Majesty seemed very moved at that time.

However, Prime Minister Wei happened to write a letter and wanted to resign, so the matter was shelved and not mentioned again.

But now that Prime Minister Wei's matter has come to an end, if Senior Chen is serious, he may discuss the matter again.

If His Majesty agrees to expand the enrollment scale of Taixue, children will also have the opportunity to enter Taixue and receive the teachings of those doctors.

Then Sima Qian meets the age requirement!
As a family of historians, Sima Tan understood the importance of education very well. If he could enter Taixue, he would have the best education in the entire Han Dynasty, which would also be a help in writing history books in the future.

He touched his son's head and said, "Aqian, if there is a chance for you to enter Taixue, I will help you fight for it. If you really get in, then I hope you will work hard and not fall into the trap of our Sima The reputation of the family is enough.”

"Yeah." Sima Qian nodded obediently.

If I had the opportunity to study at Taixue University, I would definitely study the classics diligently without my father's advice.

After all, writing history cannot be written in a day or a month.

It requires years of accumulation and half a lifetime of energy to find information and correct the authenticity.

Finally, all the hard work was turned into words and fell on paper.

The history pen is as sharp as a knife.

As the "sword wielder" in the future, Sima Qian will need to use all his efforts and strength to make the sword he swings accurate and gorgeous.

It will be a perfect knife with no room for error.

----

Tai Shigong was in charge of the Heavenly Officials but did not govern the people. His son called him Qian.

Moved to Longmen, cultivated the sun of rivers and mountains. At the age of ten, he recited ancient Chinese prose, entered Taixue, read all the classics, and was praised by Chen Taixue many times.

When he was twenty, he finished his studies and went south to visit Yangxia, travel across the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, go to Chu State, explore Yu's Cave, peek into Jiuyi, Fuyuan, and Xiang. He wanted to go to South Vietnam, but was unable to do so due to fighting. Wen and Si were visited in the north, and the capitals of Qi and Lu were discussed, and the legacy of Confucius was observed. The villages were shot by Zou and Yi; ——"Historical Records·Tai Shi Gong's Preface"

(End of this chapter)