Chapter 230: "Eulogy for My Nephew"

[In 2004, at an archaeological symposium in the UK, Peter Uco, director of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London, raised a topic:

Should the Chinese cultural relics collected in the British Museum be returned to China?

A British man stood up to object:

Cultural relics are witnesses of history. The greatest value of cultural relics is to record history. When we robbed China, these cultural relics were connected with the British Empire. Therefore, they are both Chinese cultural relics and our cultural relics. We have reason to preserve them.

The second half of this view can only be said to be shameless to a certain extent, but the first half is correct. Cultural relics are witnesses of history, witnessing the history of the time, and will be given new value by later history.

Just like the "Draft of Memorial to My Nephew", which is known as "the three major running scripts in the world", this memorial is Yan Zhenqing's direct expression of grief and indignation. Although there are smudges in it, it shows the richness and sincerity of emotion.

This hastily written memorial witnessed the An-Shi Rebellion, the loyalty and bravery of the Yan family, and Yan Zhenqing's life of never giving up. It also witnessed Yan Zhenqing's improvement in calligraphy.

"A Brief History of China" praised Yan Zhenqing, saying that Ou, Yu, Chu, and Xue in the early Tang Dynasty were only the heirs of the calligraphy of the two Wangs, and Yan Zhenqing in the prosperous Tang Dynasty was the creator of the new calligraphy style of the Tang Dynasty.

Yan Zhenqing himself was like a brush. He used the first half of his life to fill up the ink in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and the second half of his life to use his body as a brush, using his life of literary and military heroic deeds to write the overthrow of the Tang Dynasty during the An-Shi Rebellion.

After Yan Gong's death, "Sacrificial Essays for My Nephew" was collected by famous scholars and the royal palace, and witnessed the fall of the Song Dynasty, the unification of the Yuan Dynasty, the restoration of the Ming Dynasty, and the entry of the Qing Dynasty into the pass.

After thousands of years, the original 75-centimeter-long copybook was forcibly extended to 530 centimeters. The newly connected paper was full of postscripts, prefaces and seals from collectors of all generations, which also made the historical value of this national treasure even more abundant. 】

"Sophisticated!"

Wei Zheng respected the loyalty of the Yan family, so his face turned red with anger:

"If we follow their barbaric reasoning, we will plunder their property and people, and they will not be able to ask for it back?"

"They really don't have any face!"

Hou Junji was thoughtful:

"If we follow their barbaric reasoning, we will use weapons to attack them and we can take whatever we want?"

For a moment, he remembered what Master Xuanzang said about the country of the Western treasure owner, where people have no courtesy and morality, but only value bribes. He felt that what he said was absolutely right, and that they had not made any progress in the past thousand years.

"Wouldn't it be convenient to conquer in this way?"

Changsun Wuji licked his lips and sneered.

It's a pity that although Ying didn't know geography, he should be quite far away.

Li Shimin didn't say anything, just quietly observed this tearful sacrificial text.

As later generations said, this copybook was connected to different colored papers and became very long. The newly added prefaces and postscripts were longer and more "neat" than the sacrificial text itself, but these words were humbly listed aside, and they could not cover the brilliance of this sacrificial text with many smudges and modifications.

Calligraphy is also one of Li Shimin's hobbies. Although he is good at the two Wang characters, he is especially good at Feibai style.

At this moment, looking at this copybook with his own eyes, Li Shimin's face was full of emotion:

"Yan's sacrificial text can also be used as a sacrificial text for the prosperous Tang Dynasty."

He read out the sad and angry question of Yan Zhenqing on the manuscript.

"Father trapped and son died, the nest was overturned and the eggs were overturned, the sky did not regret the disaster, who was the poison?"

Who was the poison? Later generations did not say it clearly, but Li Shimin had his own views on military power.

From Jinwu Guards, to Imperial Guards, and then to the marching commander during the attack on Jie Li.

The farther away from the emperor, the greater the right of self-determination, so that the generals can act at their convenience.

The vast territory during the prosperous times brought the right of self-determination to the governors and garrisons that was no less than that of the princes of the previous dynasties.

The border generals became powerful, the court was corrupt, and the strong branches were weak trunks. All it took was a governor with ulterior motives to cause rebellion.

Therefore, Li Shimin was a little excited and eager to try:

The ancestors should protect the younger generations from wind and rain, so how can they ask the younger generations for perfect methods in everything?

[But perhaps Yan Zhenqing himself could not have imagined that in modern times, the unfair treatment he had suffered was suffered again in this national treasure.

"Sacrificial Essays to My Nephew" is praised as the second best running script in the world. Considering that the first running script "Lanting Preface" is said to be taken to the coffin by Erfeng, it is not wrong to say that "Sacrificial Essays to My Nephew" is the first running script in the world.

Moreover, there is a saying about cultural relics: paper can last a thousand years, while silk can only last half as long.

The paper memorial text from more than a thousand years ago is damaged every time it is displayed, and it is seen less every time.

Such a treasure of the world was voluntarily loaned out by Yizhou and sent to Japan for exhibition, which sounds nice and is called cultural exchange.

However, the Louvre will not loan out the Mona Lisa, and Egypt will not send Tutankhamun's golden mask.

The Memorial to My Nephew witnessed a national feud more than a thousand years ago, but such a treasure that is more important than Mount Tai was voluntarily sent to Xiaorizi for exhibition by several people in Yizhou with ulterior motives.

Xiaorizi and we have the same national feud.

Mr. Yan himself certainly could not have thought that after a thousand years, his memorial text could still witness the ugly face of the traitor.

This reminds us of the advice given by another prime minister, Li Mian, to Emperor Dezong when the treacherous prime minister Lu Qi maliciously framed Mr. Yan and put him in danger:

Losing a senior official will bring shame to the court.

Time has passed, and thousands of years have passed. If you use the country's precious treasure to please foreigners, why not use it to reflect yourself? 】

Everyone turned back to look at their majesty first.

Li Shimin's ears blushed slightly, and he said confidently:

"I love the treasure so much! There is also a saying in later generations that paper only lasts a thousand years."

"Without my love and care, the treasured post may have been lost in the flames of war or humiliated in the hands of thieves."

"Everyone deserves praise for caring for the national treasure!"

Changsun Wuji jumped out.

Relatives! Wei Zheng complained in his heart and then stopped caring.

Most of the Zhenguan ministers were also surprised. After all, His Majesty is still very powerful now. When he suddenly mentioned the burial, he couldn't help but let people take a second look.

What I am more concerned about is what happened to the "Manuscript of the Nephew Memorial".

Wei Zheng frowned, feeling that this junior also had his own difficulties:

"It seems that even after a thousand years, there are still many shameless people."

"This Yan's official manuscript is full of grief and anger, and every word weeps blood. In this way, he flatters his slaves and forgets his ancestors after counting the classics."

"Yizhou..." Li Jing was sitting quite close to the map, and he could reach out and touch it:

"If your Majesty wants to develop your navy, you should take Zhuya in Yizhou."

The maps of later generations were incredibly accurate, so Li Jing calculated based on them that the distance from Quanzhou to Yizhou was only four hundred miles.

Hou Junji followed the old general's thoughts and continued:

"And from this Yizhou to the northeast, there are islands every two to three hundred miles on the sea, which may be used as relays to reach the Japanese slave country."

Li Jing stroked his beard and felt that this thought was a bit far-reaching, but it was still a direction.

Since the establishment of the Maritime Administration last year, notices have been posted in various states looking for shipbuilders to build ships. Mingzhou, Dengzhou, Laizhou and other places have also made new arrangements.

By the winter of last year, a lieutenant colonel was added to the Lieutenant Colonel's Office as Supervisor, with two prime ministers and ten supervisors under his jurisdiction to take charge of all matters of the Navy.

Du Ruhui understood this very clearly and nodded in the same way:

"The navy is newly established this year, and it is appropriate to use it to capture Yizhou."

…

Regarding the "Manuscript of Memorials to My Nephew", Zhang Fei's sigh was simple:

"In this future life, writing is pretty good."

"I also want to practice calligraphy when I have time."

Mi Zhu smiled and said:

"These changes in calligraphy over the ages seem to imply scientific principles."

“The better the paper-making skills are, the lower the price of paper will be, and those who can read and write will have the time to study calligraphy carefully.”

Zhang Song was deeply moved by this. He picked up the pile of paper in front of him and flicked it with his fingers, feeling the feeling in his hands and said:

"If my lord hadn't come to Yizhou, how would we have learned about the convenience of good paper? I might have been burdened with bamboo and wooden slips."

Although we have long known that there is a master Cai Yong in the capital who writes very well, but for the vast majority of people who can only afford to use slippers and grit their teeth to use silk, buying Zuo Bo paper that does not smear the ink is a must. calligraphy? It's more or less a luxury.

Mi Zhu smiled and said:

"Paper is a thing that helps the world. It can promote literature, benefit the people, enlighten the people's wisdom, build the country, and destroy enemies and bring down thieves. The praise of future generations is worthy of its name."

Kong Ming, who had already predicted the future of paper, slowly breathed out:

"How lucky you are to have Yan Zhenqing in this Tang Dynasty."

Liu Bei shook his head, looked at Kong Ming and said sincerely:

"Yan Zhenqing is the man Tang deserves for his legacy of a hundred years."

"In troubled times, I can only sigh when I meet Kong Ming. How lucky I am!"

The two hands were held together, and Kong Ming smiled happily:

"My lord, why do you need to be so humble?"

"In troubled times, there are so many heroes, but there are so few who keep their benevolence and observe the people's hearts."

Liu Bei patted the back of Kong Ming's hand and said with emotion:

"This is the foundation for establishing oneself, and it is also the foundation for the preference of future generations. I dare not forget it."

Fa Zheng said with a smile:

"Nowadays, both good paper and mounting techniques are available. Military experts should leave more authentic works for future generations."

Kong Ming smiled and spread his hands:

"Before, the Tongguang Curtain sent the authentic works to the younger generation, but the younger generation didn't believe it."

He also said: "The style of calligraphy is not Liang's strong point."

"Compared with this, it is better to open the way to science for future generations. This is a recipe that will last forever and is thousands of times better than the original work."

"If I can return to the Western Regions in my lifetime and eliminate the Japanese invasion, I will have no regrets in this life."

Fazheng was a little envious. He was still complacent about Hanzhong's achievements, while others were already considering...

Shaking his head, Fazheng decided not to care about anything else.

For the current plan, we must first ensure that he does not die early, then restore the foundation of the Han Dynasty, and then fight for the reputation of future generations.

But then Fazheng remembered something and said:

"Military Advisor, before returning to Chengdu, Military Advisor Pang accepted a disciple in Hanzhong, named Jiang Wei."

Kong Ming’s smile froze:

"Ah? What's your name?"

[During the Anshi Rebellion, Feng Changqing, who was returning to Beijing to report on his duties, was involved, and Tongguan was beheaded.

And in Anxi, which he guarded, his achievements and fame were left behind.

Zhang Yichao, who grew up here, grew up listening to the legend of Feng Changqing. When he was young, Zhang Yichao often copied Feng Changqing's suicide notes by hand, took the late Feng Changqing as his teacher, and called himself his student.

Before being beheaded in Tongguan, Feng Changqing calmly wrote "The News of Feng Changqing's Death Express".

In this final memorial, Feng Changqing briefly reviewed the battle against the rebellion. He did not pass the blame, but took the initiative to accept responsibility, saying that he deserved to be killed.

Even if "all the soldiers we command are mobs", even if "the Yuyang Tuqi division still kills the enemy and blocks the road".

But Feng Changqing felt that as long as his death was valuable, he hoped that his death would serve as a warning to the generals, so that they could successfully suppress the rebellion.

He also gave his final advice in his suicide note: I hope your Majesty will not take this thief lightly and never forget his words.

After death, he becomes a minister who remonstrates with his corpse, and when his soul dies, he becomes a ghost in the holy dynasty. This was Feng Changqing's last emotion.

We all know what happened later. Feng Changqing's worries came true, and Tongguan Chang'an fell one after another. I wonder if Xuanzong regretted killing Feng Changqing when he fled in panic?

This suicide note was copied by Feng Changqing's adjutant and brought back to Anxi, where it became widely known.

Seventy years later, while looking at the crisis in Anxi, Zhang Yichao copied Feng Changqing's suicide note and determined to return to the Tang Dynasty.

The "News of Feng Changqing's Death Note" handwritten by Zhang Yichao was eventually sealed in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang by his nephew Zhang Huaishen.

Another thousand years later, the Mogao Grottoes suffered disaster in the early 19th century, and a large number of cultural relics were lost.

Zhang Yichao's handwritten copy of "The News of Feng Changqing's Death Biao" flowed into France and is now stored in the National Library in Paris.

This suicide note is also like the "Manuscript of Memorial to My Nephew", which witnesses the Anshi Rebellion and the decline of the late Tang Dynasty.

It also witnessed the heroic life of two loyal ministers, and I hope it will return home one day. 】

"This Xuanzong must not have read a single word."

It's not worth it for Zhang Fei to replace this famous general.

Then he sighed:

"Fortunately, I was noticed by this discussion."

"Both teachers and students are good men!"

"I just lament that Feng Changqing died so unjustly!"

What is displayed on the light screen is Zhang Yichao's handwritten version. The handwriting is clear and neat, and it reads very smoothly.

Liu Bei also lamented:

"Who says otherwise? Such a famous general can take responsibility calmly, recognize danger, and even give advice before his death."

"It's really amazing that Xuanzong can ruin the situation to this extent."

But then he frowned:

"One book shows Feng Changqing's heart and Zhang Yichao's ambition. It is a pity that such a treasure is still lost in a foreign country."

Zhang Song quickly comforted him:

"We, the younger generation, can do it even if we reach heaven. Perhaps as he said, the day when the treasure will return home is not far away."

Liu Bei said seriously:

"If it can be like this, it would be great."

On the other side, Kong Ming was still pulling Fazheng to ask in detail:

Then why was Jiang Wei quietly taken to Hanzhong?

Unexpectedly, Pang Tong got there first?

…

"The minister of corpse remonstrance...the ghost of the holy dynasty..."

Even Wei Zheng was moved by this seal of Chang Qing's heart.

Then he whispered:

"This will be a real act of dissection."

"I only wish that I, Tang, would be less loyal and willing to die in vain."

Du Ruhui has another view:

"This Feng Changqing should be called a minister of righteousness as Nawen Shanggong would call him in later generations."

"The honor of the Tang Dynasty depends only on this generation. The majestic heart of the warriors is as fierce as ever."

There was a subtle difference in their opinions, and they looked at each other.

Fang Xuanling was thoughtful on the sidelines, and privately agreed more with Du Ruhui.

After all, Anxi has been occupied by Tibet since the birth of this discussion.

Although he is not affected by Tang Ze and does not see the Tang Emperor, he still has the heart to return to the Tang Dynasty. To say that he is loyal to the emperor seems a bit far-fetched.

Li Shimin didn't expect that the two generals he remembered had such a relationship.

So he smiled and said:

"From this point of view, this discussion is indeed worthy of the Tang Dynasty."

"The legacy of a hundred years of stability ends here."

I made up for yesterday's work, but today's work is out of line, so I revised it.