Spoiler History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 713 Historical Stage

[At the beginning of 1283, Kublai Khan finally remembered Wen Tianxiang, who had been imprisoned for three years.

The Yuan Emperor condescended to personally summon Wen Tianxiang and persuade him to surrender. He also called out Emperor Gong of Song who surrendered when the city of Lin'an was captured.

Kublai Khan's meaning was very clear. Your emperor has surrendered and is still fat and well-fed, and is about to marry a Mongolian wife. No one will say anything if you surrender.

However, Wen Tianxiang's answer was always simple:
"Why should I care about two surnames? I am willing to give you one death."

This time, the matter was straightforward. Seeing that the enemy still refused to surrender after all this, Kublai Khan decided to kill him.

The attempt to persuade him to surrender failed on the first day, and the execution order was issued the next day.

Wen Tianxiang had also made preparations long ago. On the execution ground, he kowtowed several times towards the south and said, "My mission is done." Then he died without changing his expression.

Seven hundred years have passed, and the death of Prime Minister Wen is now being discussed again. The actions of Wang Yanwu, who came from Wen Tianxiang's shogunate, have been widely criticized.

However, as we all know, the most basic point in reading history is that you cannot use the sword of today to kill the officials of the previous dynasty.

After Wen Tianxiang died, his family buried his body and found a page of his last work in his pocket, which is now called "Praise of the Belt". The last part clearly reads:
What have we learned from reading the books of sages? From now on, we will have no regrets!
From this, we can clearly see what Wen Tianxiang was pursuing. He just wanted to be worthy of what he had learned and the position he held, rather than various conspiracy theories.

The Book of Rites, one of the Five Classics of Confucianism, clearly states that a king dies for his country, an official dies for his people, and a scholar dies for his system.

In the Confucian ethical spectrum, people of different identities bear different responsibilities. The higher the position, the greater the responsibility. For example, the Book of Rites never requires the people to die for the country.

Compared with his own life, Wen Tianxiang obviously valued his integrity as the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, the top scholar, the leader of the literati, and the chief of the literati more, so he went to his death calmly without any regrets or guilt.

Some choices may not seem necessary today, but standing on the other side of the time gap of 700 years, we might as well respect their choices.

But in any case, in the year when Wen Tianxiang died, the Song Dynasty finally withdrew from the stage of history completely. 】

"Song had Wen Tianxiang, but I wonder if there is anyone in our Ming Dynasty who would sacrifice his life for the sake of others?"

Everyone in Yingtian Prefecture knew that the emperor had great respect for Wen Tianxiang, who was determined to resist the Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, when they heard the young man talking about Wen Tianxiang, they became more respectful.

Seeing the emperor sighing, the crown prince comforted him:

"Daddy wiped out the Yuan Dynasty and restored China. Later generations of Han people also respect Daddy."

"The foreign countries have invaded China again. Who knows, the one who reestablished China in the future might have imitated Dad."

"In this way, our Ming Dynasty will certainly not lack ministers who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country! We will certainly not lack rulers who are willing to die for the country!"

Zhu Biao was very confident in this inference. After all, he had experienced turbulent times and knew his father's skills.

Today, when we hear later generations talking about the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty, it is not difficult to hear the complex emotions of later generations towards the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, there is something more important. The existence of this light curtain might be to help dad correct the ills and establish a prosperous Ming Dynasty. All this shows that the Ming Dynasty founded by my dad has many desirable aspects!

As for the ministers who were related to the late Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao singled out one person:

"When later generations mentioned Li Zicheng at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it seemed that he was very concerned about the fate of our Ming Dynasty."

"It can be said that he is a man of integrity."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly. He believed what Zhu Biao said, but every time he thought that his Ming dynasty was not as prosperous as the two Song dynasties, he felt a little upset.

"So in the ninth year, we built a shrine for Wen Tianxiang next to the Beiping Prefecture School."

"This move is to let Wen Tianxiang see that we Han people have finally restored our own country. If Prime Minister Wen is still alive, there is nothing to worry about."

"Fourth!"

Zhu Di was startled by the sudden name-calling, but he had been listening attentively and knew what he should say at this moment:
"When I get to Peking, I will definitely offer sacrifices to my father!" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, then said in silence:

"Wen Tianxiang was born in Jiangnan and died in Beiping. Although he could not be buried in his hometown, fortunately, both places are now under the rule of the Ming Dynasty."

"When the fourth brother arrives in Peking, he must remember to hold formal sacrifices in spring and autumn, every year, so that the scholars in the north will remember that the Ming Dynasty has been unified again, with no distinction between north and south."

"The scholars in Jiangnan should be willing to bury their bones in Beijing, and the scholars in Beijing who have achieved success in learning should also be able to regard Jiangnan as their hometown."

Empress Ma slowly smiled, and the kings, ministers, and Jinyiwei all bowed in agreement.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang still felt a little unsatisfied when he spoke of this, because deep down he felt that if he wanted to balance the north and the south, then moving the capital was imperative.

Otherwise, the south has a large population, abundant mulberry fields and waterways, and is close to the capital, while the north has only severe cold, border enemies and is very far from the capital.

Whether from the perspective of the short-term goal of governing the north and the south, or considering future enemies from the sea and the most important issue of Japan's economic strategy, the issue of moving the capital needs to be taken into consideration.

But this matter is so serious that it is not appropriate to discuss it here in a big way.

And thinking of this, the emperor still had a question:

From the history books that this young man had read, had he never thought of moving the capital?

So did they move or not? If they didn’t move, why?

If it was moved, some previous inferences about Ming history would seem to need to be rethought.

……

Now it was Zhao Kuangyin's turn to feel empty inside.

The fall of Lin'an, the destruction of Yashan, and the death of Wen Tianxiang were all far less tragic than the Jingkang Shame.

However, it is still hard not to feel sad when hearing the words "The Song Dynasty has completely withdrawn from the stage of history."

China has a history of thousands of years, starting with the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and is still slowly advancing to the next generation.

But everything about Zhao Kuangyin ended here.

From then on, China's prosperity had nothing to do with the Song Dynasty or Zhao Kuangyin.

When people in later generations mention Song, they will still remember that Song bullied orphans and widows, that it was difficult for Song to recover Yanyun, and all kinds of regrets. They will also remember that these regrets were finally resolved by a man named Zhu a hundred years after the fall of Song.

But looking back, when Zhao Kuangyin returned to Bianliang from Chenqiao wearing a new robe, he was also full of ambition.

When he visited Zhao Pu on a snowy night and discussed the empire with him over a warm glass of wine, he also vowed to finally unify the country in this chaotic world.

He once said privately that he wanted to become a wise ruler like Emperor Taizong of Tang, who did not whitewash his merits or faults and only wanted to record his achievements in history.

Why should others be responsible for resolving these regrets and shames?

Later generations would say that poets are fortunate when the country is in misfortune, but is it possible that the poetic atmosphere of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty was also due to the country’s misfortune?

Apparently he was not the only one who had similar thoughts.

"Master Zhao, when will the Northern Expedition set out?"

"I grew up in the south of the Yangtze River, but now I want to follow the army north to take a good look at the mountains and rivers of China!"

"If the Tang poets could write heroic poems about the frontier, why can't I, Li Yu, write some?"

(End of this chapter)