Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 155: Supplementing Yuan History from the Perspective of Global History

After coming out of the palace, Zhang Xiao didn't stay long and walked to the Hanlin Academy.

Now that I have received the emperor's instructions, I must hurry up and get ready to work.

But as soon as he entered the door, Zhang Xiao saw a familiar figure.

"Brother Dong, long time no see." Zhang Xiao greeted Dong Qichang.

"Brother Zhang Xian, long time no see." Dong Qichang said.

"Your Majesty said that my officer has been reinstated, so I will naturally return to the Hanlin Academy. I am just going out here. I don't know if there is still a seat for me."

"Of course there is. Your original seat has not been moved. It has been reserved for you."

"That's great, otherwise I wouldn't know where I would be sitting. What do you think, Brother Dong, can you help me? I'm writing another novel now."

"Novel illustrations, right? No problem, I'll take care of it. By the way, I almost forgot. Wang Cifu told me that if I see you, I'll tell him. I'll go over and tell him now." Dong Qichang said goodbye and left.

"I understand."

"Mr. Ge, it stands to reason that there is no problem if this is indeed the case. If Timur's affair is limited to the borders of the Western Chagatai Khanate and the Ilkhanate, there will be no problem, but Timur's conquest has already gone too far. , has become the second Genghis Khan. Now Timur's descendants have gone to India to establish a new dynasty, so the Timur Kingdom is still listed separately. But now the Eastern Chagatai Khanate still exists, and there are others in southern Xinjiang The Yarkand Khanate established by the descendants of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, Minglue, according to what you said, you don’t want to include King Shunyi and the Khans of the Chahar tribe in the New Yuan History. You have to be careful. Be cautious." Wang Xijue warned.

"Oh? According to what you said, the Timur Kingdom can also be written in the history of the Yuan Dynasty? After all, the Timur Kingdom replaced the status of the Western Chagatai Kingdom and the Ilkhanate."

"Mr. Ge, it's like this. The system of the Western Yi countries is very different from ours. Their monarchs can rule multiple countries. After the monarch's death, the territory under his rule can be divided into several pieces for his sons and daughters to inherit. For example, in "The Song of Cide" written by Xiaguan before, the old king divided the land he ruled into three, and made his three sons kings. Even his daughter was granted the title of a city and became the lord of it. The same is true now for the Franchi Kingdom and the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V, the leader of the Franchi Kingdom, made arrangements for his funeral before his death. He gave the Franchi Kingdom to his son and the Holy Roman Empire to himself. The younger brother. So now both countries are from the same family, but they are independent of each other. Of course, the actual situation is far from that simple, I will briefly say so now." Zhang Xiao explained.

"Mr. Pavilion, I understand that I should be more general than detailed. I should focus more on the heroic resistance of the Ming army and people, but don't overly describe the Mongolian invaders."

"After the founding of the People's Republic of China, although there were great victories like the Battle of Yuerhai, there were also several major defeats. There is nothing to hide about this. But it is one thing for everyone to know, and it is another thing to write it down in history books. Since you want to write about the history of Oara and Tatar tribes in the New History of the Yuan Dynasty, then first, do you also want to write about Anda’s story?”

"Although there are many countries in the West, it is good to be considered a big country. Logically speaking, there is also a Holy Roman Empire, but now the Holy Roman Empire and the Franco Kingdom are ruled by the same family, the Habsburg family, so The history of the Holy Roman Empire will then be written together in the Franco Kingdom."

"Minglue, what are you talking about? When we compile history, we naturally have to tell the truth. Your Majesty is not Tuoba Tao, and you are not Cui Hao. It's okay to write this part, but it doesn't necessarily have to be written in the final document. The official history is so detailed, but it must be submitted to His Majesty. As long as you don't imitate Cui Hao and carve inscriptions randomly, you can write boldly. If you don't have the character to compile history, what's the difference between the Ming Dynasty raising ministers like us and puppets and adobe? If it's all based on To arbitrarily criticize historical figures or even distort facts based on personal likes and dislikes is compiling dirty history, but it will be infamous for thousands of years." Wang Xijue said somewhat unhappy.

"Oh? What does it mean to rule by the same family?" Wang Xijue had some questions.

"When you say this, I roughly understand that it is difficult to write about France. Neither France nor the Holy Roman Empire are small countries. There must be a lot to talk about. But Europe is also It’s not just these countries, I look at the map you drew, there are also Poland, Russia, Sweden and so on.”

"Thank you Mr. Ge for reminding me. My opinion is this. The Great Yuan Dynasty was dead when Emperor Yuan Shun fled to the grassland, but the history of the heroes of the grassland cannot be left blank. The history of King Chahar and the Oara tribe can be left alone. It’s in the records. As for the history of the King of Shunyi’s branch, if it’s not appropriate to put it in the records, it’s fine to put it in an appendix or something like that.” Zhang Xiao explained.

"Zhang Xiao, you are really showing off your talent at Honglu Temple. It's better to come back to the Hanlin Academy. I told Xu Keqing that from now on, you will have a name at Honglu Temple first, and you should work here at the Hanlin Academy. Now let's talk about your "The Rise of the Great Powers" first. As you listed before, you still need to write the French chapter, as well as the British and French chapters. Are there any other chapters to be written later?" Wang Xijue asked.

In this way, in front of Wang Cifu's study, Zhang Xiao respectfully listened to Wang Xijue's instructions.

"It's good that you know what's going on. Since ancient times, those who have compiled history have had many difficulties. We compile history to present a gift to His Majesty, not to cause trouble for His Majesty. You must bear this in mind."

"The official is guilty."

"Although Poland and Sweden are not small countries in Europe, they have not expanded overseas and have not established enough land power, so they are not included in the plan for the time being. Russia is currently in domestic chaos, its future is unclear, and its subordinates are The idea is to write about the Russian state in the history of the New Yuan Dynasty. Because although the Russian race is very different from the Mongols, the Russian state now replaces the status of the Golden Horde, and can even be said to be the Golden Horde. replacement, so it is placed in the history of the New Yuan Dynasty."

"Go on, how do you want to arrange and supplement this Yuanshi?"

"Mr. Ge, since the beginning of the Historical Records, there have been biographies of the four barbarians. The Mongolian and Yuan Dynasty's Western Expeditions opened up land transportation on the Eurasian continent. And Franji and other Western barbarian countries opened up new sea routes and opened them again. So the four barbarians in the history of the Yuan Dynasty Biographies should not just talk about the countries listed in the original history of the Yuan Dynasty, but should also include all the countries in the world. Of course, there are too many countries in the world, so we have to write about the most important ones. For some countries, it is almost enough to write the country name and the location. ”

"Huh? Are you so ambitious? Then this "Yuan History" will have more chapters." "This is just an idea of ​​​​Xiaguan. If it is not suitable, forget it." Zhang Xiao said carefully.

"No, this idea is very suitable. If you have any extra world maps and globes, please put a copy in the Hanlin Academy."

"I obey the order."

"Minglue, I have one more thing I want to remind you. Of course, I only said it in private this time. There will be no next time. Remember it if you can. If you can't, don't ask me again."

"Your Majesty is all ears."

"There is a saying in the Book of Songs that in the whole world, is it the land of the king? On the shore of the land, is it the ministers of the king. Previously, when you wrote about the Timur Kingdom and the Ottoman Kingdom, you used the term empire. Although you explained it later, Your Majesty is still very Not happy."

"It is a serious crime for me to offend Your Majesty. Do you need me to revise those two books now, and then the court will take back all the books sold?" Zhang Xiao didn't hold back for a moment, so he had to bite the bullet and say this asked.

"That's not necessary. Since His Majesty asked you to print the book just like this, you definitely don't want to worry about the title anymore. But even though you are talented, you always have to think too much when doing things."

"Your Majesty has learned a lesson."

"Minglue, you must have read "Historical Records" and "Hanshu". Zhao Tuo separatized Lingnan and Jiaozhi, proclaimed himself emperor in the south, and started war with the Han Dynasty for many years. Later, Emperor Wen came to the throne. Emperor Wen didn't want to end his life, so he sent Lu Jia. Lingnan worked as a lobbyist. After Zhao Tuo was persuaded, he gave up his imperial title and paid tribute to the Han Dynasty. But in fact, this was all superficial. Zhao Tuo still issued orders in the name of the emperor in Nanyue. Emperor Wen must also know about Zhao Tuo. Tuo's treason, but at that time Emperor Wen wanted to stabilize the government and resist the Xiongnu, so Emperor Wen just turned a blind eye to Zhao Tuo."

"Minglue, you are going to Korea as an envoy. Korea is the most obedient vassal of the Ming Dynasty. It still exceeds the regulations many times. Sometimes the court will reprimand it, but most of the time it is just invisible. Annan Kingdom is in the country. They still proclaimed themselves emperor and asked nearby countries to pay tribute to them. After the Falangji people destroyed Malacca and Luzon, in order to communicate with the Ming Dynasty, they even pretended to be the names of Malacca and Luzon to pay tribute. , wouldn’t the imperial court know about such a big thing? I just don’t want to take it seriously. Of course, sometimes I can’t bear it anymore and there’s nothing I can do about it. Just like what you wrote in Tamerlane, Tamerlane also pretended to be the prince-consort of a small country. , paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and later the Ming Dynasty envoys went to reprimand, but were detained by Timur." Wang Xijue said.

"Your Majesty has learned a lesson."

"I am telling you this not to restrain you, but to let you understand His Majesty's intentions. Minglue, you are not at the center of the court, and you don't know many things. This time the Japanese invaded, Your Majesty was very angry. At that time, the Korean battlefield was in a stalemate. , when you were sent as envoy to Korea, the imperial court did not want to continue the war in Korea. At that time, many ministers reported that your majesty should gather a large army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, go directly to the Japanese country to invade the nest, and directly destroy the Japanese country. What happened next in Korea? The battle went smoothly, the Japanese army was defeated like a mountain, the Mongols and Jurchens in the north had some changes, and Yang Yinglong in the south was restless, so he stopped the idea of ​​​​a cross-sea expedition. Even so, the navy in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas has increased a lot. Warships, His Majesty has not stopped the construction of these ships now."

"There is such a thing. A cross-sea expedition is still too dangerous."

"His Majesty also took into account the failure of Meng Yuan's conquest of the Japanese country, so he finally stopped the plan. But you can also see how angry your majesty was with the Japanese country. The Japanese country was a country that Taizu had decided not to conquer. Now he has such ambitions. So Your Majesty talked to me. If you want to write a book, write it well and explain the situation of the Sebarians in detail. There is no need to mince words. Now the Western Barbarians are tyrannizing in the land of Nanyang. Minglue You grew up in Nanyang, so you should know better. Nowadays, many countries in Nanyang have probably been destroyed by the Western Barbarians. These countries used to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty."

"Yes, so Xiaguan suggested writing the history of the Yuan Dynasty from a global perspective. The Siyi that the Ming Dynasty faced in the past were not very different from the Siyi that the Han and Tang Dynasties faced. But now the Xiyi have opened a new sea route , so it is necessary for Ming Dynasty to look further."

"However, if we want to write about the four great Mongolian khanates in such detail and expand the biography of Siyi, then relying solely on the collection of books in the Hanlin Academy is not enough. After all, although there are some Yuan Dynasty files in the Hanlin Academy that have not been made public, But even in the Yuan Dynasty, the four great khanates had not surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty for a long time. The Yuan Dynasty's own records of the history of the four great khanates were not necessarily detailed enough. As for the many countries to be written in the Siyi biographies, the Hanlin Academy That's why it's hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. Minglue, I really admire you, how can you write so many words by yourself, have you really visited all these countries?"

"Reporting to Mr. Ge, Zhang also got some books and classics from Xiyi by chance, and also heard some rumors and stories, so he gained a little more knowledge. To compile and supplement the history of the Yuan Dynasty in this way, the current collection of books is really not enough, so I will The officer has an idea, but I don’t know if it’s suitable.”

"You can just say it, I want to hear it too."

"The imperial court can set up a new institution, called Tongwen Guan, to train talents who are familiar with the languages ​​​​of various countries and ethnic groups. Students can be found from officials, or from scholars who are interested in this. After training, they can serve as Outstanding translators can be employed by the Hanlin Academy and Honglu Temple, while the rest can also be employed in other yamen or even in the military. As for where to find teachers for Tongwen Guan, since it is just starting up, we might as well take a bigger step. Teachers can be selected in any way. The so-called masters are teachers, and those missionaries and businessmen who have traveled to foreign countries can be teachers."

"Before, the Hanlin Academy had a Seiyi Pavilion and a staff of interpreters, but it was no longer permanent. Now it is not impossible to restore it or build a Tongwen Pavilion as you mentioned. Well, if you have time, , please write a copy of the school regulations of Tongwenkan and hand it to me, and I will submit it to His Majesty if I think it is okay."

"I obey the order. After I have written the articles of association, I will immediately give them to the elder for review."

"This matter is not urgent. What I heard from Shi Dong just now is that you have written another novel now?"

"I feel ashamed to be a lower official. It's just that I have less official duties now and am just doing it for fun."

"It's okay. Writing novels is your way of earning a fortune. If you hadn't written novels back then, it would have taken some time for the court to discover such a great talent like you. His Majesty also likes to read your books. How about this? Can you tell me a little bit about the story you wrote last time?"

"Mr. Ge, what I am writing this time is the story of the Assassin Assassin." Zhang Xiao began to introduce the history of the Assassin Sect, and by the way, he briefly told the beginning story of the protagonist Altaïr.

(End of this chapter)