Song Gexing

Chapter 239: In prosperous times, it is natural to repair books

Three days later, the envoy of the Liao Kingdom visited Zhao Fang, and while presenting the letter of credence, he was very grateful for the justice of the Song Dynasty.

As a famous minister of the Liao Kingdom, Yelv Renxian was certainly not brainless, but Zhao Fang's severe punishment of Gao Zunyu this time made him unable to have any doubts.

It's not that Zhao Fang is too powerful, but that the two countries have been in contact for hundreds of years. He knows the Song Dynasty very well. Except for the first 50 years, the Song Dynasty would treat the Liao Dynasty forcefully, and then he would be tolerant.

Zhao Fang's approach this time was also a forbearance, which made him think that it was due to the inertia of the Song people, and he had no doubt that this was a deliberate show of weakness by the Song Dynasty.

This is also related to Yelu Renxian's relatively straightforward character. If it were a treacherous person like Yelu Yixin, he would probably be suspicious.

The negotiation went smoothly. After the meeting, things went back to Honglu Temple. The two sides started negotiations on the border issue. The Liao Kingdom originally came with the idea of ​​​​compromising this time.

The two sides finally agreed that the land in Henan that originally belonged to the Liao Kingdom and was occupied by Xixia did not need to be returned, but the occupied land in Hebei was returned to the Liao Kingdom.

The Song Dynasty also agreed that this division would be more convenient for management. The Jiuqu Yellow River has a large bay between Song, Liao and Xixia, which is the uppermost right side of the "Jiu" shape.

Originally, Song, Liao and Xia all occupied a bit of it. Later, the Liao Kingdom's bit was eaten by Xixia, and Song and Xia shared the land of Henan.

Now that everything belongs to the Song Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom actually has no choice. Firstly, the place is not big, and secondly, it cannot be defended across the Yellow River.

Only during the ice period of the year could the Liao Kingdom pass directly, otherwise it would be troublesome to take the waterway. This is why the powerful Liao Kingdom was defeated by Xixia here and lost its land.

Xixia couldn't defeat the Song Army here, because the Song Army was already in Henan, and there was a steady stream of reinforcements, which could be reinforced at any time.

Because the rear is Taiyuan Prefecture, which is heavily guarded by the Song Dynasty. Let alone Xixia, even the Liao Kingdom does not dare to attack Taiyuan. That place can only be captured with a heap of human lives.

When the Song Dynasty was founded, the Liao Kingdom was defeated many times, regardless of whether the elite soldiers or generals were strong. However, it took more than a year to attack Taiyuan, and this was under the premise that there were only a few thousand troops left in Taiyuan City.

When the Kingdom of Jin was founded, those troops were hailed by later generations as Jurchen, who were less than ten thousand and invincible, but you can see that when they attacked Taiyuan, more than ten or twenty thousand died.

It was still not defeated, but Taiyuan became an isolated city, and it was taken after it ran out of ammunition and food.

Of course, this is related to the destruction of the original Taiyuan City. If it was still the original Taiyuan City, I am afraid that the Jin Kingdom could only look at the city and sigh.

The brainless Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty demolished the entire city after conquering Taiyuan and moved it to a new location to build a new Taiyuan City. This is also the reason why the Jin Temple in later generations was located far outside Taiyuan City.

Because Taiyuan City, thought by Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, had a dragon spirit, every general who guarded Taiyuan in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties established an independent country here, so it was demolished.

A 2000-year-old ancient city has just disappeared into history. It was a city built during the Zhou Dynasty when King Zhou Cheng, Tongye, ennobled his younger brother as the Marquis of Jin.

Song Taizong has always been blackmailed by later generations, not without reason, this guy is a monarch with a broken head, a typical example of giving up food because of choking, and not thinking about making progress.

Half a month later, the Liao envoy had returned to the north for many days. Sima Guang's letter was so vast that it was difficult for scholars to read it all. It was necessary to take the essence and compile a biography-style history book to facilitate students to have an overview of major historical events.

After Zhao Fang received the letter, he knew at a glance that he was going to write "Zi Zhi Tong Jian". It's just that the time was three years earlier, but this is normal.

At this time in history, the Northern Song Dynasty was in chaos, and no one had the energy to do this, because Song Renzong Zhao Zhen died this year.In the past year or two before this, I had been sick often, and even went crazy saying that Queen Cao was going to rebel.

But with Zhao Fang in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Zhen is now in good health and plays with Sun Kemei every day.

Zhao Zhen is actually only in his 50s. It would be easy to die if he didn't have troubles to worry about. If he doesn't have to deal with government affairs, he won't die from exhaustion.

Not to mention the bad mood of being criticized often. The most important thing is that the existence of his son makes him have no worries, and his son is a more talented and strategic successor than himself.

In the past few years, there have been many happy events, the territory has been expanded, and Zhao Zhenjue's good days have continued. No matter how depressed he is, he can proudly go to see Taizu Taizong after his death.

"Password! Let Sima Guang take charge of editing. Tea, snacks and a rest area will be provided every day in the Secret Art Pavilion. The editing staff must not be distracted or tired."

Zhao Fang must fully support this matter. This is a good thing, and it is also a major event for the inheritance of Chinese culture. There should be no carelessness.

He didn't want to lose this glorious history book because he traveled through time, and Sima Guang's letter this time reminded him of a more important thing.

That is to compile a brilliant masterpiece similar to the Yongle Canon. This is not a great achievement for him, but also a grand event to preserve Chinese civilization.

Especially now that there are many books available, I should sort out these classics as soon as possible and publish many copies to prevent the Manchu poets from tampering with them and deleting them, and thus disappearing many good things from my ancestors.

The Yongle Dadian can no longer be found in later generations, otherwise future generations would still be able to see the true nature of the Chinese classics from there. This is because Zhu Di was a stingy man and printed two copies.

One was destroyed in the flames of war when Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, and the other was supposed to be buried with Zhu Di in the ground. Even if it is dug up, there may not be much left.

As for the "Sikuquanshu", it doesn't matter if you don't read it. It was deleted by the Manchus. Everything that was not conducive to the rule of the Manchus was deleted. It's a joke that this kind of crap is called a classic.

Of course, Zhao Fang suppressed this idea for the time being and asked Sima Guang to finish compiling "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" first, but he could start collecting private copies first.

Therefore, immediately after the imperial edict was issued, another imperial edict was issued, ordering local governments to accept donations of books from the public, pay them, and then report the expenses to the court for reimbursement.

The two imperial edicts shocked not only the court, but also the entire Song Dynasty.

Han Qi and others hurriedly entered the palace and asked why they wanted to collect books in such a big way. Zhao Fang said solemnly: "You are all well-read poetry and books, but have you ever thought about how many books were destroyed by war and disappeared among the people? If the imperial court does not preside over it, how can the wisdom of those ancestors be passed on to future generations?"

Fu Bi hesitated and said, "What the officials said is reasonable, but the Song Dynasty originally had the practice of collecting unique copies. Aren't the collections in the Secret Art Pavilion collected since Taizu?"

Zhao Fang sighed and said: "The collection you mentioned are all Taoist and Confucian classics, as well as books that expound and promote these classics. But among the hundreds of schools of thought, no one has compiled and preserved them! Isn't that knowledge our Chinese ancestors? The crystallization of wisdom?"

"Your Majesty wants to reopen the contention of a hundred schools of thought?"

Wen Yanbo exclaimed, his eyes popped out.

Zhao Fang gave him a big look and said, "What are you thinking! It has been thousands of years since Dong Zi only respected Confucianism and dismissed hundreds of schools of thought. Am I that stupid to revive a hundred schools of thought now?"

(End of this chapter)