People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 504: The True Imperial Seal

If you receive orders from heaven, will you live forever?
I believe that every Chinese person is familiar with these eight words.

Because it represents the sacred artifact - the imperial seal.

At this moment, in Chongzheng Hall, upon hearing the news, everyone opened their eyes wide and there was silence.

Only Zhao Jun looked around and saw that everyone was excited. He scratched his head and said, "It must be fake."

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured down on him, causing Zhao Zhen to quickly wake up. He sat down with a plop and said with a wry smile, "Another auspicious sign."

Today, the Song Dynasty is prosperous, the country has sufficient food, and the world is at peace, marking the beginning of a peaceful and prosperous era.

There has never been a shortage of officials and dignitaries in ancient society who flatter the emperor.

In order to show how powerful the Song Dynasty was under Zhao Zhen's rule, local government officials, dignitaries and even wealthy people have created auspicious signs over the years.

of course.

Some auspicious signs are also natural landscapes.

For example, a few years ago, Liaodong paid tribute to white wolves, white deer, and white tigers, which are albino animals.

There were also Buddha auspicious clouds that appeared in the southwest. From certain angles, they looked like colorful clouds of Buddha in the temple.

As for the appearance of the imperial seal, it caused even more commotion.

In recent years, there have been several discoveries of the imperial seal among the people, but they were all identified as fakes, which were deliberately forged by some people to please their superiors.

Therefore, although another imperial seal appeared, because of the story of the boy who cried wolf, Zhao Jun instinctively thought it was another fake.

However, after being shocked, Fan Zhongyan said, "What appeared this time is 'Mandate by Heaven, Long Live and Prosper', which is consistent with the historical records. Is there a slight possibility that it is true?"

"It's hard to say. The previous ones that appeared, 'Received the Mandate from Heaven, Long Lived and Healthy', 'Received the Mandate from Heaven, Long Lived the Emperor', 'Haotian Mandate, Long Lived the Emperor' are definitely fake."

Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "But who knows, someone might have found some clues in the Han Jiu Yi and created another one, 'Received the Mandate from Heaven, Long Lived and Prospered'."

"Well, it is indeed possible. Han Long once said that the eight characters below the imperial seal must be "Received the Mandate from Heaven, May You Live Long and Prosper". This is something that not everyone can find out, but who knows if someone has discovered it?"

"I think we should take a look. If it is true, then wouldn't the Song Dynasty have found another national treasure?"

"How can we say this? Whether it's true or not, it's hard for us to verify it. Without those instruments, we can't tell whether it's true or not. What Han Long said may happen, but even if it's only one in ten thousand, we have to wait and see."

Everyone was talking about it.

Many people think that the ancients understood everything about their time, but in fact this is not the case.

For example, "Received the Mandate from Heaven, May You Live Long and Prosperous" is the imperial seal, which is knowledge known to everyone in later generations who can use the Internet and has a little interest in history.

However, for more than 99% of ancient people, this was definitely a blind spot in knowledge.

Because their means of acquiring knowledge were extremely limited, they could only find it by reading ancient books, which took a lot of time.

Moreover, they cannot read ancient books whenever they want.

First of all, he has to be a scholar, which filters out more than 99% of the ancient people of the same period.

Secondly, even for scholars, the primary goal of most of them was still the imperial examination. They needed to read books related to the imperial examination and simply did not have the time and energy to study other classics.

Therefore, this kind of research work on ancient classics was often done by some old scholars summoned by the court.

How difficult is it for old scholars to find the corresponding knowledge from the vast amount of ancient books?

In addition, some ancient historians and recorders had never seen the imperial seal, and all they heard were hearsay, so it was inevitable that the rumors were incorrect.

Therefore, there are different records of the eight characters on the imperial seal in different historical books. It is difficult to distinguish the true from the false. The records are complicated and there are at least seven or eight versions.

The reason why Zhao Jun was certain that he was "mandated by Heaven and would live long and prosper" was because he was a student of history.

Although I am not interested in the history of the Song Dynasty, I have learned some other miscellaneous histories and have attended some open classes taught by professors.

According to some authoritative professors and veteran experts in history, the eight characters on the imperial seal must be "Mandate from Heaven, Long Live and Prosper".

The reason is that "Received the Mandate from Heaven, Live Long and Prosper forever" comes from "Han Jiu Yi" written by Wei Hong, a counselor during the reign of Emperor Guangwu, and was also recorded in "The Three Kingdoms: Wu Shu".

There is a very clear lineage of imperial seals from the end of the Qin Dynasty to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. What is certain is that there was absolutely no loss or forgery in between.

Wei Hong was an advisor to Emperor Guangwu and was always by the emperor's side. It is very likely that he had seen the imperial seal with his own eyes, so his records are the most credible.

The Book of Wu was a classic book compiled under the order of Sun Quan. After Sun Jian obtained the imperial seal, he gave it to Madam Wu for safekeeping. Sun Quan was raised by Madam Wu all his life, and it is possible that he had seen the imperial seal when he was a child.

In comparison, other classics are often historical materials after the Eastern Han Dynasty. The authors themselves were not close to the emperor and had never seen the imperial seal with their own eyes. Naturally, they are not as credible as Wei Hong's "Han Jiu Yi" and "Wu Shu".

Therefore, with this evidence, it is easy to determine that except for this version of the jade seal, all others are fake.

But no one expected that this time there would actually be an imperial seal with the inscription "Mandated by Heaven, May you live long and prosper forever" appearing. This was truly something that no one could have imagined.

If it is fake, then it seems that these people who took so much effort to create the auspicious sign are quite capable. They were able to look through the classics and find the most likely version among countless ancient books.

But no matter whether it is true or not, you still have to see it to know. Zhao Zhen asked Wang Shouzhong: "Shouzhong, where is the jade seal?"

"The Luoyang magistrate has sent someone to Bianliang, and he is now waiting outside Xihua Gate for an audience."

"Go there in person."

"Yes."

Wang Shouzhong backed out and closed the door.

"Luoyang. Hmm."

After Wang Shouzhong left, Zhao Jun pondered and said, "From what you said, it's possible that this jade seal is indeed real. Of course, it's only a slight possibility. More than 99% of the time, it's a fake."

Fan Zhongyan asked curiously, "What do you mean? Why are you so sure that it is most likely a fake?"

"Because there are generally two versions of the imperial seal in the historical community. One is that the seal disappeared at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the other is that the imperial seal disappeared in Luoyang after Li Congke, the last emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty, set himself on fire."

Zhao Jun explained: "I am more inclined to the former. After all, since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there have been multiple records of imperial seals with different versions. This shows that since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, in order to compete for orthodoxy, a large number of imperial seals have been forged. For example, by the time of the Northern Zhou, Northern Qi, and Southern Chen, they each had one, and there were three or four seals circulating outside. The total number of real and fake seals is as many as seven or eight. Therefore, the real seal is likely to be lost, otherwise the seal would have been transferred between so many countries and it would be impossible to distinguish the authenticity."

"Then do later historians think any of them are authentic?"

Zhao Zhen asked hurriedly.

Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "It's not clear, but the academic community generally believes that the seal from the Northern Zhou Dynasty may be the real one, because it matches the imperial seal recorded in the Han Jiu Yi. Later, the Sui Dynasty unified the world and obtained all three seals, including the Northern Zhou seal. It was inherited from the seal obtained by the Northern Wei Dynasty from Yecheng."

"Well, if that's the case, two of the three jade seals confiscated by the Sui Dynasty were obtained by the Tang Dynasty. After that, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Li Congke burned the jade seal passed down from the Tang Dynasty in the Xuanwu Tower, and the imperial seal has been missing since then."

Yan Shu added.

Of course, they are not unaware of these things.

But unlike Zhao Jun, he does not interpret it from a historical professional perspective to explore its authenticity.

"But the academic community only suspects that the seal from the Northern Zhou dynasty is authentic, and cannot be completely sure. After all, the way the Northern Wei dynasty obtained the seal was too strange, as it was found in a temple in Yecheng. This contradicts the record in the Book of Jin that the seal was first in the Western Jin dynasty, then passed to the Former Zhao dynasty, the Later Zhao dynasty, and Ran Min, and finally the Eastern Jin dynasty defrauded the seal from Ran Min."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "If we look at the characteristics of the jade seal, the one from the Northern Wei Dynasty is more similar. It was later acquired by the Northern Zhou Dynasty. After Yang Jian usurped the Northern Zhou Dynasty, it was returned to the Sui Dynasty. But judging from the consistency of the official historical records such as the Records of the Three Kingdoms, the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, and the Book of Jin, the one from the Eastern Jin Dynasty is the orthodox one. That is, Cao Pi obtained the jade seal from Emperor Xian of Han, and then it was respectively owned by the Western Jin Dynasty, the Former Zhao Dynasty, the Later Zhao Dynasty, Ran Min, and finally the Eastern Jin Dynasty. But the jade seal of the Eastern Jin Dynasty does not conform to the "Han Jiu Yi", which is a deviation in history."

"Is there such a thing?"

Everyone was surprised.

Although they were all well-read scholars, they had not necessarily read these history books. Even if they had, they had not really conducted in-depth research to explore the contradictions contained therein.

These are things done by historians or scholars who specialize in this field, such as Ji Xiaolan in the Qing Dynasty who created the Siku Quanshu.

Therefore, after learning about the deviations in the official history, they were very surprised.

Zhao Jun continued, "So why do I say the possibility of the real seal is very small? Because there is a high probability that the real seal disappeared in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The Northern and Southern Dynasties all carved fake seals themselves. There are as many as five or six seals in historical records. Even if one of the three seals confiscated by Yang Jian is real, the Tang Dynasty lost another one. What if the lost one is the real one? Even if the one found in Luoyang this time is the one that Li Congke got from the Tang Dynasty, what if he got a fake one?"

Everyone looked at each other and could only nod slightly for a moment, no longer holding out hope as to whether the jade seal that suddenly appeared was real or not.

Because as Zhao Jun said.

From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, seven or eight hundred years had passed. During this period, according to official historical records alone, the imperial seal was passed through various countries more than ten times.

Various real and fake jade seals appeared in the chaotic era of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, causing the imperial seal to become a huge mystery.

It is impossible to know which piece is real and which piece is fake in this era.

The only clue is the three seals of the Sui Dynasty. These three seals have clear records and origins, and are fundamentally different from other jade seals that are obviously fake.

The first of them is the imperial seal recorded in official history, which was obtained by Cao Pi from Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie. It was then passed down through the Western Jin Dynasty, Former Zhao, Later Zhao, Ran Min, Eastern Jin, Xiao, Qi, Liang, Chen and other countries.

The Sui Dynasty destroyed the Chen Dynasty, but was captured by Yang Jian. However, the words engraved on it were "Received the Mandate from Heaven, the Emperor Lives Long and Prospers", which does not match "Received the Mandate from Heaven, Lives Long and Prospers".

The second one is also recorded in official history. It was obtained by the Northern Wei Dynasty from a temple in Yecheng. It is engraved with "Received the Mandate from Heaven, May You Live Long and Prosper", which is consistent with the content of the real jade seal, but its origin is unknown and the record is not as detailed as the first one.

The third one is still recorded in official history and originated from the first imperial seal.

At the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Huan Xuan usurped the throne of Jin and obtained the first imperial seal. However, he was attacked by General Liu Yu of the Northern Army, so he forced Emperor An of Jin to flee westward. He was defeated and fled back to Jiangling, where he was defeated by the Western Army.

Huan Xuan's remnants fled to the Later Qin, and Yao Xing of the Later Qin claimed that these people brought the Eastern Jin Dynasty's imperial seal to the Later Qin. Emperor An of Jin also fled back to Jiankang, and Liu Yu claimed that the emperor brought the Eastern Jin Dynasty's imperial seal back.

Later, Liu Yu conquered Chang'an and destroyed the Later Qin Dynasty, and obtained the imperial seal that the Later Qin Dynasty talked about. However, according to the appraisal of academic personnel of Liu Song Dynasty, it was found that the jade seal was positive text, which was different from the negative text recorded, and was obviously a fake.

Therefore, the real seal is between the first and the second one, and the second one is most likely to be the one.

According to records, these three jade seals finally ended up in the hands of Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian.

The first one was passed to the Chen Kingdom in the Southern Dynasties and was obtained by Emperor Wen of Sui after he conquered the Chen Kingdom.

The second coin was first in the hands of the Northern Wei Dynasty. After the Northern Wei Dynasty split, the coin fell into the hands of the Western Wei Dynasty. The Northern Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Western Wei Dynasty, and Yang Jian usurped the Northern Zhou Dynasty. In the end, the coin naturally belonged to Yang Jian.

The third one is very dramatic. Liu Yu conquered the Later Qin Dynasty and obtained the third jade seal, so the Eastern Jin Dynasty possessed the first and third imperial seals at that time.

After the Eastern Jin Dynasty fell, the two jade seals were circulated among Liu Song, Southern Qi and Southern Liang respectively.

During the Hou Jing Rebellion, Hou Jing obtained the third jade seal owned by the Southern Liang at that time. After Hou Jing's death, his subordinates fled with the jade seal, which was obtained by the Northern Qi general Xin Shu and finally fell into the hands of the Northern Qi.

Therefore, in the structure of the Southern and Northern Dynasties at that time, the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou in the north, as well as the Chen Kingdom in the south which usurped the Southern Liang, each had one.

And they all claimed that what they had in their hands was real.

It was not until the Northern Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Northern Qi Dynasty that the third seal was obtained. Yang Jian usurped the Northern Zhou Dynasty and obtained the second and third seals. He then destroyed the Southern Chen Dynasty. From then on, the three seals belonged to the Sui Dynasty.

This is also the time when the imperial seal is most likely to exist.

After the fall of the Sui Dynasty, one of the three jade seals was lost and the Tang Dynasty obtained the other two.

As to which two pieces they were, there is no record in history books, and people in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period did not have the ability to investigate.

Therefore, if Tang Chao happened to get those two fake pieces, it would be hard to say what would happen if he lost them.

Furthermore, even if the piece lost at the end of the Sui Dynasty was a fake, the Tang Dynasty obtained one real and one fake. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, when it was passed to Li Congke of the Later Tang Dynasty, another piece was lost.

Maybe the piece Li Congke took was a fake, and it really disappeared at the end of the Tang Dynasty.

So now the jade seal is in a confusing state.

After all, if you want to ensure that the jade seal that appears now is authentic, you must first ensure that one of the three jade seals is indeed authentic.

Then we have to ensure that the piece lost at the end of the Sui Dynasty is fake, and then we have to ensure that the piece lost at the end of the Tang Dynasty is fake.

Finally, we have to ensure that this real jade seal is the one that Li Congke buried under the rubble when he set himself on fire in Xuanwu Tower.

And by coincidence it was dug out by workers who were building the railway.

At this point, any normal person would know that the possibility is extremely slim.

Therefore, the initial excitement of the crowd was completely dispelled.

"Then, besides these eight characters and the missing corner, does the real jade seal have any other characteristics?"

Zhao Zhen asked unwillingly.

The fact that the top corner is missing is recorded in both "Han Jiu Yi" and "Wu Shu", which shows that it is very authentic.

Although people have not studied historical books in detail, they still know this obvious feature.

Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "In addition to this, there may be "Tianming Shishi" on the side, and "Da Wei received the imperial seal from Han" on the shoulder."

"Dong dong dong dong."

At this moment, there was another knock on the door.

Zhao Zhen said, "Come in."

Wang Shouzhong pushed the door open, walked in front of everyone, raised his hands flat, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty."

Everyone saw that he was holding a tray in his hand, on which was a black stone with a slightly swollen surface.

"Put it here."

"Yes."

Wang Shouzhong placed the tray on the desk, then left tactfully and closed the door again.

Everyone gathered around at once.

Zhao Jun saw that the stone was indeed pitch black and about the size of a palm. Not only was there gray and black residue on it, but there was even dried soil.

It was obviously dug out from the ground. The Luoyang Cultural Relics Bureau did not dare to do the cleaning work. They just did an appraisal on the words carved under the jade seal. It is hard to say whether it is real or not.

However, the carving on it is still very exquisite. Even in the dark, you can see that it is the New York Jiao Five Dragons. However, one of the dragon's horns is missing a piece and there is no gold inlay.

"Have a look."

Zhao Zhen hurriedly picked up the jade seal and handed it to Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun frowned.

After the jade seal was unearthed, it was not even cleaned. It was like the bottom of a pot, and black ash could be produced by friction.

It's hard not to think it looks fake.

"Is there any water? Come and wash yourself."

"Is this kind of thing easy to wash?"

"Yeah, what if it gets damaged?"

"Be more cautious."

As soon as Zhao Jun suggested cleaning it up, others began to object.

After all, this may be the imperial seal.

Zhao Jun laughed and said, "This thing is made of jade, Lantian jade. Even if the Queen Mother smashed it, it would only chip a corner. It's not that easy to damage it by washing."

"Then wash it."

Everyone thought so.

Then Zhao Zhen asked Wang Shouzhong to fetch a basin of water and a towel.

After Wang Shouzhong left, Zhao Jun put the jade seal in a basin and wiped it with a towel first. There was a thick layer of dust on it, and it had been buried in the soil for who knows how many years, so it had to be wiped hard to clean it.

Fortunately, jade is not like white painted walls that are difficult to wipe off if they get a little ash on them. Hetian jade is also smooth and warm, so it can be cleaned quickly.

But perhaps due to its age, it is still stained with a layer of gray, and is far from having the delicate texture and warm touch of fine Hetian jade.

But after washing, its original appearance was exposed. The seal was four inches in diameter, white and green all over, with five dragons clearly visible on it, but the edges were slightly swollen and cracked.

And on its right shoulder, there were indeed a few big words written: "Wei received the imperial seal from the Han Dynasty."

Only on the left side there is no "Tianming Shishi".

For a moment, everyone was disappointed. Zhao Zhen said dejectedly: "Although it was made very realistically and the features are obvious, I didn't expect it to be a fake."

"No!"

Zhao Jun held the jade seal in front of his eyes and examined it carefully, then he said softly, "It."

"It seems true."

(End of this chapter)