The literary era since 1979

Chapter 79 A Thunder on the Ground
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Fangyan was not idle either.

He began to visit acquaintances in Yanjing City. Naturally, the first stop was the Shen Yanbing family, who were closest to him and closest to him.

But when I went to pay New Year's greetings, I found out that Shen Yanbing was hospitalized again.

Upon hearing the bad news, Fang Yan ignored his original plan to pay New Year's greetings and rushed to Yanjing Hospital without stopping.

I saw Shen Yanbing lying on the bed with a thin oxygen tube inserted in his nose. He was holding a magnifying glass and browsing the information in his memoirs.

"teacher!"

Fangyan walked in quietly.

"I knew you would come."

Shen Yanbing pointed to the empty seat beside the bed and said, "Sit down."

"Your hospitalization is such a big deal..."

Fangyan opened his mouth.

"I was the one who told you not to let Shen Shuang, Xiao Man and the others. There's no need for everyone to spend the New Year with me in the hospital."

Shen Yanbing disagreed, "And it's not a big problem. It's just an old problem. Just breathe some oxygen."

"You're fine."

Fangyan felt relieved.

"Did you bring the sample copy of People's Literature?"

Shen Yanbing put down the magnifying glass.

Fangyan nodded, took out a sample book from his bag, and said that according to the established editing plan, he would go to northern Shaanxi at the beginning of the year.

"It would be nice to go to northern Shaanxi."

Shen Yanbing smiled and said, "When People's Literature is published, it will be a good opportunity to stay away from Beijing and avoid the limelight. Besides, the literary circles in northern Shaanxi have a special affection for Qin Shi Huang and the Qin Dynasty. Perhaps your The Splitting of the Great Qin will get a good response there."

Fang Yan hesitated to speak, "Teacher, I'd better go later, you here..."

"Don't worry about me. I won't go see Ma Kesi until I finish my memoirs!"

Shen Yanbing patted his shoulder and said, "Take good care of yourself."

…………

With the end of the Spring Festival holiday, the first issue of People's Literature in 1981 was finally officially released.

"Grandpa, it's time to eat."

Bai Ruoxue walked out of the kitchen and shouted towards the living room.

Bai Yaoshan was motionless, holding a magazine in his hand, his face sometimes solemn, sometimes excited, and he kept muttering:
"Interesting, interesting."

"Grandpa, it's time to eat!"

Bai Ruoxue urged with a smile.

"No hurry, no hurry, let me finish reading this paragraph first."

Bai Yaoshan watched with great interest.

"You have been reading this People's Literature for many days. What kind of work can make you so fascinated?"

Bai Ruoxue took a closer look.

"It's a very interesting novel. Ruoxue, you should take a look at it too." Bai Yaoshan handed over the People's Literature.

Bai Ruoxue flipped through it curiously.

When I saw the title, "The Splitting of the Qin Dynasty", I was very surprised.

When I looked at the author again, I never expected that it was in dialect!

Then he took a breath and said, "Grandpa, you have been saying that his writing is interesting. What is so interesting about it?"

"What's interesting is that it's clearly reform literature, but it's wrapped in the guise of historical literature."

Bai Yaoshan smiled and said, "I use the history of Qin Xiaogong's reforms and Shang Yang's reforms to express my attitude and views on reform. What's more interesting is that it also coincides with the current international situation."

"what?"

Bai Ruoxue blinked in surprise.

"You have always been interested in the international situation, right? You must read this novel. It is worth reading."

Bai Yaoshan stood up and walked towards the restaurant.

“Does he really write so beautifully?”

Bai Ruoxue looked at the author's signature and murmured.

After finishing the cleaning work after dinner, I spent the whole afternoon reading "The Qin Empire", turning the pages one by one.

From the great battle between Qin and Wei at Shaoliang, when Duke Xian of Qin and Ying Quliang were surrounded, to the court changes when Ying Quliang was established as the new king of Qin.

From Gongsun Zuo being captured and Shang Yang going to rescue him, to Gongsun Zuo hoping that the King of Wei would kill Shang Yang before his death, and reminding Shang Yang to flee from Wei, to going to the Jixia Academy, where he discussed and exchanged ideas with the other two of the three schools of the Legalists, Shen Buhai and Shen Dao.

He made a bet based on the reforms of Qi, Han and Qin.

There was no debate with Mencius about "good or evil human nature", and Bai Xue and her emotional line with Shang Yang were directly cut off.

Bai Ruoxue didn't feel much sense of historical incongruity when watching the present. Apart from the fictional plots such as the bet at the Jixia Academy and the man saving Gongsun Zuo alone, the story basically developed in line with the historical trend.

What comes to your face is a heavy sense of history.

But amidst the heaviness, an uplifting spirit occasionally bursts out, frequently pointing out that the Qin State was in a "time of great contention."

It seems that China is undergoing a major change that has not been seen in a century.

Without reform and strengthening, the Qin State would perish! Especially when I saw Shang Yang and Qin Xiaogong meeting for the third time and talking about the paradigm of a great power, my blood boiled and my heart was excited.

"Trust you as much as you trust me. I will never let you down for the rest of my life!"

"You are like the green mountains, and I am like the pine and cypress. Even if we are crushed to pieces, I will never let you down."

Seeing the emperor and his subjects working together to reform, Bai Ruoxue turned the page, only to find that the next page was a new novel. She turned it back again and saw a line of small words in the lower right corner, which roughly said something like -

To find out what happens next, please see the following explanation.

"How can it be divided into two parts?"

"And they deliberately cut it off here, how could they do that!"

Bai Ruoxue was so angry that she slapped the table.

I looked up and saw that it was already dark outside the window. I was shocked and said, "Oh no! I haven't made dinner yet."

"Ruoxue, come out and eat."

"Grandpa, I..."

"I eat the food you cook every day, so let's change the taste today and try grandpa's cooking. It may not be worse than yours. Try it."

"Eh!"

Bai Ruoxue took the initiative to get the bowls and chopsticks for the grandfather and grandson.

"How was "The Great Qin Splitting"?"

Bai Yaoshan put a piece of radish meatball into her bowl.

"Grandpa, I have read novels about the Qin Dynasty and reforms before, but this is the first time I have seen it written like this."

When this was mentioned, Bai Ruoxue immediately became interested.

When discussing the impressions of ancient dynasties, people often think of the "Han" as the "Mighty Han", the "Tang" as the "Prosperous Tang", the "Song" as the "Weak Song", and the "Ming" as the "Strong Ming".

As for "Qin", all dynasties have reached a consensus:

Tyrannical Qin!

But what is shown in "The Rise of the Great Qin" is how a "weak Qin" that was bullied and insulted by the Wei State gradually became a "strong Qin". This breaks the current mainstream cognition!

"He wrote about more than just the story of the Qin State."

Bai Yaoshan smiled and said, "It's clearly using the past to illustrate the present."

"Grandpa, for example, Shang Yang's visit to Qin State is a report on the lives of Qin farmers..."

"And the 'horse theory' that Duke Xiao of Qin told Shang Yang about black horses and white horses is similar to the 'cat theory' I've heard of."

The grandfather and grandson ate and discussed at the same time.

For example, when Wei attacked Qin, Qin had no choice but to cede land in exchange for peace.

People like Bai Yaoshan who lived from the modern times could not stand hearing the word "ceding land" the most, especially when they saw Wei State entangled with the five Shandong States and preparing to divide up Qin State. They would immediately think of the picture of the great powers dividing up the Qing Dynasty. It was simply humiliating.

"Just like what's written in the book, 'You just follow the story, you've already taken our land, and now you're destroying our country. This is too much, too much.' It's so true!"

Bai Yaoshan said indignantly: "Back then, we trusted others too much to uphold justice, just like we trusted Shang Yang and Gongsun Zuo, and placed our hopes on others to take back Qin Island. In the end, we realized that a weak country has no diplomacy, and even no dignity."

"Just like the dialect said through the mouth of the King of Wei."

Bai Ruoxue said: "You are weak, so you have no right to speak. You can only wait to be the fish on someone else's chopping board."

"That's right. Either you sit at the table or become a dish on someone else's menu." Bai Yaoshan said with nostalgia, "At that time, your grandfather was just like the old Qin people here, 'The old Qin people, let's go to the national crisis together'. I was full of blood. Otherwise, I wouldn't have rushed into Cao's house with my classmates that day and burned down the building."

"Grandpa, you are right!"

Bai Ruoxue couldn't help but sigh: "He is not writing about the Qin State at all."

“When combined with the international situation, it becomes even more interesting.”

Bai Yaoshan narrowed his eyes into slits.

The State of Wei was defeated by the State of Qi in the Battle of Maling and the Battle of Guiling, and went from prosperity to decline. Could this be the result of two extremes of victory and defeat?

Qi defeated Wei and established its hegemonic position. It took advantage of the civil strife in Yan to plunder Yan. Finally, Yan led the five countries except Chu and ended Qi's hegemony.

If Qi is America, Chu is Europe, Yan is...

"The Rise of the Great Qin" becomes more interesting the more you watch it.

"I never thought that he could write such a profound and rich work at such a young age. It's incredible."

Bai Ruoxue felt the same way.

"After talking about the advantages, it's time to talk about the disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage of "The Great Qin Splitting" is that it is divided into two parts, which is too unethical!"

Bai Yaoshan curled his lips.

"Grandpa, you are so right!"

Bai Ruoxue rolled her eyes and said, "I think the next part must have been in the editorial department of People's Literature. How about you ask Grandpa Huang to see if he can get you a sample copy?"

"Forget it. Don't trouble your Grandpa Huang with this kind of thing. This book is tainted with gossip and it's likely to cause a big stir."

Bai Yaoshan shook his head and laughed.

"Big commotion? Is it because of vindication of the tyrannical Qin?"

Bai Ruoxue was very confused.

“This is only part of it. The key is reform.”

Bai Yaoshan's eyes sparkled, "This book is like a thunderbolt, it will blow up the heavens, shake the earth, and turn the world upside down."

(End of this chapter)