Qin Official

"Taishi Ling..."

This was Shusun Tong's new position. He remembered the look in the eyes of the old Hu Wujing when he reluctantly handed over the keys and seals of the historical records treasury to him at the request of Chang Lujia.

"I know what you want to do." Hu Wujing said softly as he passed by him.

They all know what kind of person Shusun Tong is - a flattering, boneless Confucian who relies on kneeling and licking Wu Zhonghou to gain favor and specializes in whitewashing work.

The thin historians in the Taishi Office also stood silently aside when Shusun Tong inspected, ignoring his friendly smile.

No one knows that more than 20 years ago, Shusun Tong, who just started studying in Lu, had a dream to be a strong-willed historian like his father...

This is a very respected group in Qi and Lu, and is generally passed down from generation to generation.

In the eyes of historians, history books are sacred and cannot be tampered with at will. When a historian heard or witnessed something that he thought was important, he would record it. Ancient elixir records record honors and historical records, so it is called Danqing. When the strokes are formed one by one on the Danqing, the fact of this matter is destined that any change will be a blasphemy against history.

It was under this concept that the historians of the Spring and Autumn Period, under the powerful power of the monarchs and ministers, still stood firm and adhered to the bottom line of their profession. Dong Hu and Qi Taishi were the spiritual pillars of the historians.

At that time, Duke Ling of Jin was killed in Taolin by Zhao Dun, so Zhao Chuan, the historian of Jin Dynasty, directly wrote the words "Zhao Dun killed his king". Zhao Dun argued that it was Zhao Chuan who killed the king, not me. , Dong Hu retorted, saying that as a minister, you went into exile, ran to the border but stopped to wait for a change in the court, the king was killed, and you did not attack the regicide first when you came back. All these things are regicide. Isn't it you or who is the master? The words left Zhao Dun speechless and could only let Dong Hu write this down.

As for the deeds of Qi Taishi, it was when the powerful minister Cui Zhu killed the king Qi Zhuanggong. Qi Taishi wrote straightly: "Cui Zhu killed his king." Cui Zhu was furious and killed Qi Taishi. Taishi's two younger brothers also recorded truthfully, and they were both killed by Cui Zhu. Cui Zhu told Qi Taishi's third brother: "Your three brothers are all dead. If you want to survive, what if the king of Shu suddenly falls ill and dies?" Qi Taishi's younger brother responded that it was the historian's duty to write down the facts according to the facts. Cui Zhu was shocked by the hard-nosed historians and had no choice but to turn a blind eye and let him go.

At the same time, after hearing about this incident, Nan Shi of Qi State ran over with bamboo slips in his arms, hoping to continue to write straight books after the death of Qi Taishi's family!

Like moths to the flame, they rush forward one after another just to record the facts.

The fox pen of Jin Dong and the brief history of Qi Tai were two major victories in the confrontation between historians and powerful ministers, and they were also the pride that they passed down orally.

"It would be nice if everything in the world were so simple." Shusuntong sighed.

The first crack in this simple worldview occurred when he studied the history book "Spring and Autumn" with Confucius.

When Kong Yu talked about Confucius's principle of writing the Spring and Autumn Period: "The pen is the pen, the sharpening is the sharpening, and Zixia's disciples cannot praise it", the young Shusun Tong was a little startled.

"What should be written must be written, and what should be deleted must be deleted?"

“Isn’t it said that the history pen is like a knife, the history pen is like a knife, and the painting is already dry and cannot be changed?”

After reading through the entire Spring and Autumn Annals, he noticed more and more problems.

"The emperor was actually forced by Duke Wen of Jin to participate in the alliance, so why was it written as 'hunting in Heyang'?"

When he boldly raised this question, he was given a sharp look by the Master.

"Boy, what do you know?"

"This is the Spring and Autumn style of writing."

"It's a small talk but a big deal!"

What Confucius said was still vague. When Shusuntong talked with a disciple of the Gongyang family, his statement became much more straightforward.

"Taboo for the venerable, taboo for the relatives, taboo for the wise!"

I see! Shusuntong suddenly realized.

Confucius still had integrity. There was only one honorable person in his eyes, and that was the Emperor of Zhou. He scolded some great princes when they needed to be scolded, but whenever it came to the Emperor, Confucius was always a little tactful in his writing.

There are more sages, such as Zhou Gong, Guan Zhong, etc., who are all respected by Confucius. Therefore, things that are detrimental to sages, such as the rumor that Zhou Gong once became king and the character issues of Guan Zhong, are all ignored.

His contribution to the world is greater than morality itself, and this is enough.

As for the taboo of relatives, Confucius has always been vague about the fact that two generations of the Confucius family had wives.

"At that time, the rites and music were broken, the royal family was in decline, and the princes often invaded the king of Zhou. This was the shame of the king of Zhou. He was humiliated for no reason. No one wanted it, so the sages tabooed it. However, the Spring and Autumn Period did not pretend to be beautiful, nor did it conceal evil. It was unique in words. Use time to consider to express praise and criticism, and show the truth in taboos..."

This so-called word of praise is probably similar to the "innuendo" of later generations. It is the secret code of the bad old nine, a tacit secret code, the ability to curse people without using curse words, and the ability to bully the illiterate upstarts.

But these praises and criticisms are hidden in various places in the book. For example, "Zheng Bo Duan Yu Yan", the word "ke" has a profound meaning. The Master expanded on this word and talked to Shusun Tong and others for three days...

"It's really difficult for ordinary people to discern praise and blame." At that time, a disciple raised this question and was glared at by the Master again.

"History, is it for ordinary people to see?"

That's right.

From that time on, Shusuntong understood that history certainly did not exist for the masses.

History is in the service of His Holiness.

At that time, there were two employment routes for Confucian students in Lu. One was to continue teaching in Qilu and receive Shu Xiu. The second is to go south to the Chu Kingdom, become the retainers of the ancient nobles, conduct sacrifices for them, and compile the family histories of each family...

As a private historian, if you want to secure your job, you have to learn to be smarter. No matter how many dirty things you see in those noble families, whether you are picking up ashes or raising a brother-in-law, you have to turn a blind eye. And keep one thing in mind:

"There is no wrongdoing by the master!"

I don’t know what to write and what not to write. I’m already unemployed.

When the new head of the family comes to the throne, if he proposes to revise the family history of Shiben, he must obey the order obediently.

"And this so-called Qin Taishi Ling, to put it bluntly, isn't it also writing history for the Ying family?"

It's not that Shusun Tong looks down on people. In terms of ritual and music culture, Qin is far inferior to the Six Kingdoms, and the same is true in history.

In Shusuntong's view, the writing style of "Qin Ji" is still in the era when Confucius wrote "Spring and Autumn", or even worse. It does not indicate the sun and moon, and the text is too simple, making it not readable at all.

Moreover, he was a doctor of Qin in the past, and he knew that the Qin kings in the past dynasties did not have the tradition of respecting history. Historians always remember happiness but not sorrow. When they encounter a big victory, they will be happy to write about it. When they encounter a tragic defeat, they will just jot down a few words or even skip it, as if it never happened.

As for the history books of the Six Kingdoms that spoke a lot of bad things about the Qin people, they were all burned. Hei Fu only dared to save poetry books and Baijiayu, but could not save these sensitive documents.

Of the twelve princes' history books, only one single copy is kept in the Yushi Mansion. And unlike the various schools of poetry and calligraphy, even doctors cannot read these history books of the Six Kingdoms casually, so only Tai Shiling himself can look through them.

It was now much cheaper for Shusun Tong.

After he had people copy everything from the old historian's house, and brought back the copy of "Qin Ji" that had been taken out of the official office privately, Shusun Tong laughed.

"The history pen is as sharp as a knife. You, an old man, say it nicely, but in fact, it is not the same as being taboo among the venerable!"

…

Most historians are old-fashioned and do not use more convenient paper, so they have to copy on bulky slips. This volume is about the death of the First Emperor, Hu Hai's succession to the overthrow of the process:

In the thirty-seventh year, he went to Hengshan County and fell ill. He spoke harshly about his death, but none of the officials dared to talk about his death.

The illness was so good that Prime Minister Li Si and others died suddenly and said: "We have a long way to go and the ministers are afraid that the ministers may have plots. Please appoint the crown prince as your successor."

He said: "Yes."

Then he made a plan and said: "Since ancient times, emperors have succeeded to the heaven and established the emperor, and have governed the Huan area. They must establish Yuan Chu and Mao Long as the capital of the country, so that Mian Zongshe can rest without borders. I will sweep Liuhe and make the world a unified one. I will abolish feudalism, establish prefectures and counties, and achieve great governance." According to the customs, the nine states follow the wind, and they all abide by the rules, be harmonious, and encourage. Later, they respect the law, always govern the world, and the boat does not tip over. However, they also work hard day and night, remembering the thousands of miles of mountains and rivers in the Qin Dynasty, and the 26th ancestral temple entrusted them with the most important things."

"My eighteenth son, Hu Hai, has been studying Dharma for several years, and he has never made any mistakes. He is compassionate and kind, despising wealth and favoring scholars. He debates with his heart and speaks with his mouth. He knows the Dharma and respects his scholars. None of the disciples of Qin can do this. He can be his heir. In the middle spring of the thirty-seventh year, Bingyin granted Hu Hai a book of treasures and established him as the prince. He would care for the army on my behalf, so as to maintain the lineage of eternity and tie the heart of the four seas."

In the middle of spring, Bingyin, at night, the emperor died in the Xiling of Hengshan Mountain.

The younger son was established as the prince, returned to the court with his coffin, and moved to Anlu County with 10,000 households to secure the Lishan Mausoleum.

At first, Heifu had a rebellious intention. When he heard that the First Emperor was patrolling the south, he was afraid and even faked his death. Later, when he heard that the emperor had died, he rebelled against Yunmeng, attacked Wuchang, and caused chaos among the Jing soldiers...

Meng Xia, the prince returned to the court and was established as the second emperor. He granted a general amnesty to sinners. Li Si was made prime minister on the right. Feng Quji was made prime minister on the left. He was exempted from Zhongche Mansion and Gao was appointed as Lang Zhongling.

The second emperor was benevolent and filial, and issued an edict to increase the sacrifice of the first emperor in the temple and the ceremony of hundreds of sacrifices in mountains and rivers. The ministers were asked to respect the Shihuang Temple. All the ministers paused and said: "In ancient times, there were seven temples for the emperor, five for the princes, and three for the great officials. Although they will not be destroyed for eternity, they will not be destroyed for eternity. Today, the first emperor is the ultimate temple, and all the people from all over the world have contributed their services, sacrificed more, and prepared all the rituals. To add." Then the temple of the First Emperor was respected as the ancestral temple of the emperor.

The people of Jing rebelled heavily, and Marquis Wu Xin chose to die in Jiangling.

In this month, the second emperor granted amnesty to sinners, reduced rents and taxes, and said: "Let's start a new era with the world." He sent the Taiwei to Tongwuhou to put down the rebellion of the garrison soldiers and thieves...

Shusun Tong read it very quickly, skipping roughly the middle. Anyway, he basically criticized the rebellion in Guandong and Nanjun and praised Hu Hai's "wiseness and martial prowess". Compared with what this guy did, it was really eye-catching, but he had to read every word. Damn it, I finally got to the end.

"In the winter of the first year of the year, the second emperor killed his elder brother, Prince Gao. The prime minister Zuo cured his illness and appointed Zhao Gao to carry out the duties of prime minister and censor."

"Unable to finish his life, the rebels and Jing people entered the pass. Ziying killed Hu Hai, and the general Heifu entered the barbarian country and killed Gao..."

After reading it, Shusuntong slapped the table and said:

"That's nonsense."

"If Hu Hai really succeeded to the throne in an orthodox manner and was a virtuous, benevolent and filial man, how could he be overthrown by the new Qin people?"

Just go out and ask the people of Xianyang whether Hu Hai is a wise man and a wise man. He will definitely spit on you.

Faced with Shusun Tong's questioning, the old historian still insisted:

"The history is of literary quality and the words are detailed, there is no need to change it!"

"What's more, we have added a word of praise and criticism for what the second generation has done!"

Shusun Tong burst into laughter.

here we go again.

here we go again.

"History is not irreversible."

"Is it because you don't want the 'history' written by you to be changed?"

Is it the truth of history that they insist on, or the authority of the recorder?

"Etiquette has collapsed, morality has been ruined, morals have been ruined, and order has been lost. People who usurp and steal are classified as princes and kings; a country that is deceitful and deceitful is established and strong. This is to turn the situation around and take effect, and the next generation will learn from it. Especially Qin, the donation Courtesy was valued at the expense of war, benevolence and righteousness were abandoned in favor of deceit, and the First Emperor was also fond of victory but disliked admonishment."

"How can such a country have real fox pens written by Dong Dong of Jin Dynasty and slips written by Tai Shi of Qi Dynasty?"

"Unless we can restore the Zhou Dynasty, uphold morality, promote etiquette, and change the style of music, strings and songs."

Since everyone laughs at fifty steps, then now, as a disciple of Confucius, Shusun Tong plans to teach these Qin historians what is the meaning of subtle words and what is the spring and Autumn style of writing!

In the past Hu Hai was the venerable one.

Now Wu Zhonghou is the venerable one!

Taboo for the venerable.

Therefore, all past records are invalid!

In a word.

"You can change it, but I can't?"

Of course, you can't say that openly.

Shusun Tong made a serious face, and in front of all the historians, he refuted the records in "Qin Ji" and gave them a definite nature.

"In the words of Marquis Wu Zhong, this is ignoring the facts, tampering with the truth, and committing a taboo of historical emptiness!"

As for what historical nothingness is, Heifu did not elaborate, and Shusun Tong did not dare to ask.

"Bring me a pen."

"Get the knife!"

Shusun Tong held a knife and pen in his hand and smiled: "I will write when I am a pen, and I will sharpen when I am cutting!"

…

ps: The next chapter is in the evening.