Riding the wind of rebirth

The attitude of the Gu family for generations was correct; otherwise, if they had rushed into launching the project, the subsequent work might have been delayed for a long time.

It's not even out of the pot yet, so adding more meat and vegetables is perfectly acceptable.

As for the suggestion that Zhou Zhi's teacher and uncle originally set out to make the study of ancient Shu music his doctoral topic, in the face of these new major research topics, it can only be postponed for now.

Each of the five major topics can be divided into many sub-topics, but among all the major topics, only the last one, the reconstruction of Middle Chinese phonology in the Tang and Song dynasties, is Zhouzhi's "core business".

However, the remaining few cannot be said to be completely unrelated to him. In the field of programming, regardless of which research group's needs, only he currently has the ability to transform the scholars' ideas into a language that programmers can understand, that is, to turn the requirements document into a technical solution and project plan.

Besides, the "Collected Rhymes Annotated Edition" embodies the hard work of several generations of people in our school, so it's impossible for him not to help his teacher and uncle do the job well.

The remaining three topics are all related to the reconstruction of Middle Chinese phonology to varying degrees. The collation of modern phonological achievements and the collation of Qing Dynasty elementary classics represent a comprehensive summary and verification of modern phonological achievements.

The evolution of the standard rhyme scheme of Mandarin during the four dynasties, when traced back to the Song Dynasty, actually marks the beginning of his personal research project: the reconstruction of Middle Chinese phonology during the Tang and Song Dynasties.

In other words, he can't escape any of these topics.

Fortunately, Professor Gu told him that as long as he did a good job in management and system architecture, and made some achievements in his own research topic, he could get a doctorate.

If you feel unsure, then follow your teacher and uncle to work on the collated edition of the Jiyun. Anyway, he had previously worked with Master Gu on the collation of his grandmaster's Jiyun Commentary, so he was very familiar with the work on the Jiyun and could get started quickly. Getting a doctorate in that group would be a piece of cake.

This brought out Zhou Zhi's stubbornness. "It's just the reconstruction of Middle Chinese pronunciation from the Tang and Song dynasties, right? Do you really think I'm afraid to tackle this tough problem? That's it! The *Jiyun* dictionary will be a side project, and the Tang and Song pronunciation will be the main project—let's do both!"

Once the students from the agricultural university returned to the base, several research groups were established, and the corresponding computer technology groups were properly coordinated, and all work officially commenced.

In September, when schools across the country reopened, Zhou Zhi and his group drove from Lianhe Township to take Li Yijia and Huang Ruishan back to school for registration.

This time they chose the western route, passing through Mianning, Shimian, Yingjing, Yazhou, and finally returning to Chengdu.

There are many places worth seeing along the way. Mianning is located in the Panxi Grand Canyon area and is the starting point of the Anning River Valley Economic Corridor in the autonomous prefecture. It used to be the granary of Anning River and a major national grain production county and a major pig export county. Now it has become a key development area supported by the government. Large slogans such as "Demonstration Field of So-and-so" and "Demonstration Orchard of So-and-so" can be seen all over the vast plains along the road.

Shimian has Meng Huo City and Anshunchang. Meng Huo City was a defensive fortification built by a minority leader to resist the Han army coming from the north. Now only ruins remain, covered by wild grass and flowers. The smoke of war has long since dissipated. Now it has become a place frequented by yaks and natives who search for caterpillar fungus.

Anshunchang became even more famous. Shi Dakai suffered a defeat there, while the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army seized the Luding Bridge, crossed the natural barrier in one fell swoop, and opened up a new world.

After crossing Xiaoxiangling, you will arrive at Yingjing.

"Huh? Why is there a sign here for 'Hometown of something'?" Mai Xiaomiao found it strange. "Didn't they say that Mianning, which we just passed through, is the hometown of something?"

"Zhuanxu, these two characters are still a bit unfamiliar to Xiao Miao, aren't they?" Huang Ruishan said with a smile.

"Hey, right? I just saw one about the birthplace of Emperor Zhuanxu, and now here's another one?"

"You'll have to ask Zhouzi about that." Huang Ruishan, being in the know, couldn't help but laugh even harder. Zhouzhi actually felt somewhat guilty towards Yingjing. Why? Because in the previous life, the people of Yingjing, citing classical texts, had seized the title of the birthplace of Emperor Zhuanxu, the legendary ancestor of Chinese civilization.

However, in this life, under Zhou Zhi's instigation, Mianning took the initiative first, and then Yingjing, seeing that things were not going well, quickly followed suit. The two counties are now arguing fiercely about which one is the real birthplace of Emperor Zhuanxu.

However, he could only keep his guilt to himself, but said something else entirely: "This matter is just a legend, and in my opinion, Zhuanxu was not just one person, but a tribe. In ancient times, we can find that many tribes chose places on the edge of a great river, with their backs to the mountains and their faces to the fields, as their breeding grounds."

"For example, Beichuan, the hometown of Yu the Great, and Pidu, the hometown of Du Yu, as well as this place, all have this characteristic."

"I estimate that this is related to the fact that at that time, society was still in a way of life that combined fishing and hunting with farming. Fishing required rivers, hunting required mountains and forests, and farming required plains, so these tribes naturally made this choice."

“Mianning is located in a plain, while Yingjing is located in a high mountain. It’s possible that the Zhuanxu tribe migrated back and forth between the two places, just like how Egg’s maternal grandfather raised horses and divided them into winter and summer fields. So, everyone has their own reasons.”

“You’re starting to serve the water now,” Huang Ruishan said. “Grandpa Chi Ri told me that it was your idea to Secretary Shi of Mianning County to research the birthplace of Zhuanxu, and you even helped him find connections, saying that Professor Kong of Sichuan University is also from Mianning.”

"As a result, when Secretary Shi tried to find out through connections, he discovered that Professor Kong was his fellow student, so he brought up the old principal."

"The former principal of Mianning Middle School was incredibly kind to Professor Kong back then. Professor Kong lived in the principal's house and finished his middle school education. The principal was like a father to him. So, Professor Kong had to write this research article even if he had to hold his nose."

“Professor Kong is still a traditional scholar and cannot tell lies.” Zhou Zhi couldn’t help but shake his head: “He left a loophole in his article, which is that Zhuanxu, as I just mentioned, is a tribal concept. Therefore, the Gaoyang tribe may have been a relatively large settlement located in the Anning River Valley and the edge of Xiaoxiang Ridge.”

"When Yingjing saw this, they exclaimed, 'Oh, Xiaoxiangling! Isn't this referring to our place?' So they put up the sign too, determined to claim the title of Gaoyang's hometown!"

"Why argue about this?" Mai Xiaomiao was a little confused.

“It’s because of the celebrity effect,” Zhou Zhi laughed. “It’s a kind of subculture. It doesn’t even have to be the hometown. As long as a celebrity has lived there, served as an official, or even passed through there, as long as they have left records and writings, that place will often be brought up and talked about.”

"The premise is that these people have a good reputation," Huang Ruishan added. "People like Qin Hui would only feel ashamed."

"Oh, now that you mention it, I remember there's a famous person in Yingjing, but his reputation isn't that great."

"Who is it?" Li Yijia asked.

“In the novel Water Margin, Wang Po tells Ximen Qing that for a man to win a woman’s heart, he needs to possess five attributes: ‘Pan, Lu, Deng, Xiao, Xian’. The ‘Deng’ in this story is related to this.”

"Richer than Deng Tong? Deng Tong is from here?" People in the Chinese department are quite familiar with this character, but Huang Ruishan always thought Deng Tong was from Shanzhou. He never expected that he was related to this place.

“No, Deng Tong was from Jiaozhou,” Zhou Zhi said. “However, the copper mountain that Emperor Wen of Han bestowed upon him is right here.”

"Wow..." (End of Chapter)