Spoiler History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 640: There is envy but not much
"How is this... different from Cao the thief?"

In Luoyang City, Zhang Fei, who couldn't sit still, stood up and walked back and forth twice, but he still couldn't get rid of the depression in his heart, so he simply asked repeatedly:
"When we raise an army in chaos, we should aim to pacify the people!"

"With such tolerance, it is no wonder that you have lost the support of the people of Yizhou, and there are righteous soldiers!"

There was no reason for Zhang Fei to get angry at his elder brother and the military advisor, so he still faced the light curtain, and the light curtain would not give him an answer.

Liu Bei patted his thigh silently, thinking of the fertile fields of Yizhou. Although the people there were thousands of miles away from the capital, they were willing to die when they heard about the national crisis. Many of them handed their sons over to him, hoping that he could soon make the world as stable as Shu.

Later generations also said that three million Sichuan troops fought against the invaders and saved the country, and hundreds of thousands of them were buried in a foreign land, which shows the integrity of the people here.

But it was precisely because he had personally walked along the Jinniu Road that Liu Bei understood more clearly the dangers of Yizhou.

If there is chaos in the Central Plains, there will surely be people with obvious ambitions who will cede Yizhou in an attempt to establish themselves; on the contrary, if the Central Plains is peaceful, the people who are causing chaos in Yizhou will probably take the longest to be pacified.

As for how to solve the problem of Yizhou...Liu Bei looked at Kong Ming.

Kong Ming blinked, and then guessed:
"My lord, do you want to follow the example of later generations and use the cement to build a smooth road from Yizhou to Guanzhong?"

"Kong Ming knows me too."

Kong Ming shook his feather fan. He was not surprised that his lord had such an idea, because after the formula of cement made from iron slag was finalized, the first places to use it were Jinniu, Baoxiang and Qishan.

The road surface is still ordinary rammed earth, but wood will be used as the frame and cement will be filled in dangerous and easily damaged places to complete the road. In this way, the repaired Shu Road can still be used even in heavy rain, and the two places will not be completely cut off. However, if you want to gallop on horseback without hindrance, it is still a bit difficult. It is reasonable for the lord to have this idea.

but……

"Such a...spectacle is difficult to handle at the moment."

After using a phrase that is often used in later generations, Kong Ming sighed and said:
"My Lord, this is what you want to do to bring about the great governance of Shu. The manpower and resources it will consume are far beyond what we can imagine at this time."

In the final analysis, if it is true as later generations said that Zhuya is the only place with volcanic ash around China, then slag can only be used to make cement in the Central Plains. However, with insufficient manpower and scarce iron ore, where can there be enough slag?
Therefore, in order to realize the lord's wish, we must either find a large iron mine to mine, set up iron smelting offices throughout the country, smelt all the iron ore for use in engineering and agricultural tools, and use the slag to make cement.

Or we could build a fleet to visit Zhuya and check whether the volcanic ash is easy to obtain.

But the prerequisites for both are obvious, and both require peace in the world.

Liu Bei obviously understood the meaning, so he nodded and his eyes became firm again.

On the other side, Lu Su's face was full of interest:
"Yide didn't question Zhao Da and Zhao Er?"

"Hey..." Zhang Fei shook his head and sat down again.

"What else can I say? The reputation of Zhao Da's 'forgiveness' has been passed down for a thousand years. People in the past two thousand years have known that he was willing to massacre a city and protect his cannibalistic relatives. Who knows, it may be passed down for another thousand or ten thousand years in the future, so that future generations can learn from it."

"What if I scold him and he feels happy again? What should I do?"

Zhang Yide spoke clearly and leisurely:
"Instead of blaming him, I would rather return to Zhuo County and recruit the Han men with the surname Zhao to join the army."

"If I lead the way and imitate the champion Hou Yinma Hanhai, it can be regarded as the best of both worlds."

[The first stage of the Song-Mongol War, from the Duanping invasion of Luoyang to the death of Cao Youwen. Then to Meng Gong's three-layer defense line against the Mongols, and Yu Jie's governance of Shu with numerous mountain cities.

One person who cannot be avoided is naturally Song Lizong.

When talking about famous generals of the Southern Song Dynasty, people often compare Meng Gong and Yue Fei.

Yue Wumu was suspected and was murdered by the emperor and his ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty at that time; Meng Gong was trusted by Song Lizong and was in charge of defense for nearly fifteen years. Comparing the two, one can't help but sigh.

However, there are also statements in the History of Song Dynasty that Meng Gong was not only thinking about defense. In 1246, Fan Yongji, a Mongolian official in Henan, hoped to return to the Song Dynasty and was willing to help the Southern Song Dynasty recover Henan. He also took the initiative to hand over his son as a hostage to show his sincerity.

Meng Gong was overjoyed, but the Southern Song Dynasty was still dreaming that Mongolia would not move south, and did not realize that Mongolia's temporary cessation of hostilities was only a temporary end to the first phase of the war. So in the end, Lizong rejected Fan Yongji's request to return to the Song Dynasty.

Meng Gong was so angry that he vomited blood and lamented, "I have spent 30 years pacifying the people of the Central Plains, but now I cannot fulfill my ambition." He died of illness in less than half a year.

Fan Yongji, who offered his son as a hostage, was rejected by the Southern Song Dynasty and soon came to light and was executed by the Mongols.

From this point of view, even if Yue Wumu knew Meng Gong, he probably wouldn't be too envious.

Another explanation that is more common is the temple name of Li Zong.

The temple names of the emperors of the two Song dynasties are mostly special. Except for Taizu, Taizong, Gaozong and Xiaozong, the others were unprecedented in the previous dynasties, such as Zhenzong, Renzong, Shenzong, Yingzong, Zhezong, Qinzong and so on.

It may seem a bit confusing at first glance, but since temple names are different from posthumous names, they do not have to follow the posthumous name rules. In addition, the thing the Song Dynasty had the most was scholars, so basically all of them have sources. Here are two examples.

For example, if we follow the posthumous name law, Song Shenzong is "a god that the people cannot name", but Confucius said in the Analects, "Great is the monarch Yao! Only the Heaven is great, and only Yao follows it; so vast that the people cannot name it." Although we are not familiar with it in modern times, to the ancients, Shenzong is a proper noun for Emperor Yao, so it is definitely a compliment.

Another example is Ming Rangzong, whose temple name was originally Shenzong. If this temple name really contained derogatory meaning, it would not have been removed.

As for others, the temple name of Zhezong comes from "Three Generations of Philosophical Kings", while the temple name of Yingzong comes from "The Way of the Great King, and the Hero of Three Generations".

Similar to these two is Ming Huaizong. His original temple name Sizong also comes from "Qinming Wensi" in "Shangshu", which is one of the four virtues.

Therefore, there is a saying that Neo-Confucianism flourished during the reign of Emperor Lizong, and that Emperor Lizong himself also liked Neo-Confucianism, so the literati gave him the name Lizong. This is definitely a bit out of context.

Records of the Southern Song Dynasty stated that when the temple name was being discussed, there were five alternative names: Jing, Chun, Cheng, Yun, and Li. The one finally decided on was Song Lizong. However, someone stood up and said that the private temple of Jin Aizong had the name Lizong, and it was too unlucky to use the same name, so it was changed to the homophonic Lizong.

As for Li Zong's love for Neo-Confucianism, this is actually the least important thing.

Moreover, Neo-Confucianism during the reign of Emperor Lizong of Song had already suffered a heavy blow and could only be said to be recovering. However, it would be wishful thinking to say that it could influence the emperor's temple name.

The most powerful period of Neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty was during the later years of Zhu Xi. Zhu Xi, who was a top academic figure at the time, got in touch with the retired emperor Song Xiaozong, and successfully made the School of Mind, Yongjia School, Yongkang School and other schools of thought that sought common ground while reserving differences stand under the banner of Neo-Confucianism, preparing to eliminate malpractices and eradicate ills.

But we all know what happened later: the Empress of Emperor Guangzong of Song caused trouble, Emperor Guangzong of Song went crazy, and Emperor Xiaozong of Song died of depression due to lack of care.

The reform that could have been a turning point for the Southern Song Dynasty was aborted.

(End of this chapter)