Jinting Han people

Chapter 54: Reuniting with the Noble Sons (4k)

"Hey, isn't this a way to ward off disease?"

When Liu Xian stepped into the third school building, someone called him immediately. Liu Xian looked and saw Shi Chao waving at him.

Seeing this, Liu Xian also smiled and nodded to him.

After visiting Jingu Garden and witnessing Shi Chong's extraordinary brutality and Shi Chao's usual indifference, Liu Xian felt a barrier between him and Shi Chao and could no longer restore their previous close relationship.

Therefore, in the following period of time, although Shi Chao invited Liu Xian to hunt and have fun as usual, Liu Xian basically declined on the grounds of preparing for his coming-of-age ceremony and getting married.

But Shi Chao has a rough and generous personality. So far, he has not noticed Liu Xian's estrangement and still treats Liu Xian as usual.

He walked towards Liu Xian, patted Liu Xian's shoulder, and said with a smile: "You are newly married recently, so I don't want to disturb you. So, is your bride a fierce woman or a beautiful woman?"

Shi Chao's attitude was so close that Liu Xian couldn't be too indifferent. After all, they had known each other for so many years and their friendship still existed. He couldn't help but jokingly replied, "If my wife hears you say this, you might never be able to enter my house again."

"Haha, what's there to be afraid of? A true man's home is the world. Where's your former heroic spirit?"

As he spoke, Shi Chao pulled Liu Xian's arm and walked into the room. He then said to his former companion, "Come on, come on, look who's here?"

Are there any people he knows? Liu Xian was a little puzzled, but after looking over, he suddenly realized: they were all old friends!
Gathered near Shi Chao's original seat were five young men, most of them dressed in Confucian robes, tall hats and wide belts. They had all changed significantly from their former selves, but their faces still held traces of their past. Liu Xian quickly recognized them: from left to right, they were Zhang Wei, Chen Zhi, Jia Mi, Xun Chuo, and Pei Gai.

Well, among the young men who went hunting in Wan'an Mountain back then, the only one missing was Wang Zhou who had a sword fight with me.

The first to greet him was Zhang Wei. His face flushed red as he raised his glass and said with a smile, "Biji, it's been a while since we last met. Let's have a drink together."

The smile on Liu Xian's face froze. He then noticed that they were drinking openly in the school dormitory, with several plates of fish sashimi, vinegar celery and other side dishes placed beside them.

As the nation's highest institution of learning, the Imperial College was a dream destination for students everywhere. Ordinary students likely viewed it with a sense of pilgrimage. But as the saying goes, yearning is the furthest distance from understanding. For the children of noble families, the Imperial College was within easy reach and naturally less serious. But Liu Xian had never expected to see Shi Chao and his group drinking and having fun there on his first day.

Now Liu Xian finally understood what Ji Shao meant by the decline of academic spirit.

Facing the wine glass offered to him, Liu Xian politely declined, "It's still daytime, and getting drunk would be unbecoming. Let's talk about it tonight."

After hearing this, the others laughed and said, "What a hypocrite."

Some people didn't even recognize Liu Xian. Jia Mi was half awake and half drunk at this time, his eyes blurry. He looked at Liu Xian for a long time and asked the others, "Who is he?"

Liu Xian took the initiative to answer: "Brother Jia, you are so forgetful. Four years ago, you gave me the Zhaowu Sword!"

Jia Mi frowned, his beautiful, womanlike face revealing an enchanting expression. However, after thinking for a moment, he found nothing. He shook his head and said, "Well, I've given away so many things, hundreds if not thousands. How can I remember them all?"

Liu Xian was speechless, and Chen Zhi quickly reminded him, "That's the Prince of Anle who once challenged Wang Hutou to a sword fight and defeated him. He's now called Liu Huai Chong."

"Oh!" Jia Mi suddenly realized something, slapping the table and laughing, "I remember now, that's what happened!" He pointed outside and said, "Where's Wang Zhou? Didn't Wang Hutou say he wanted to compete with him again in the future? Where is he?"

Chen Zhi laughed and said, "Changyuan is joking again. Didn't Wang Hutou get a certificate of rank last year and go to the palace to serve as a palace guard?"

"Hey! Spoils the fun! Spoils the fun!" Jia Mi emptied his glass and said to Liu Xian, "You really don't want a drink?"

Liu Xian still shook his head slightly, and advised with good intentions, "This is supposed to be a place for gentlemen to cultivate themselves. As the saying goes, a gentleman is cautious about what he cannot see and fearful of what he cannot hear. However, wine and sex can make one's mind blur. This goes against the teachings of sages. You'd better be more careful."

"Ha, unexpectedly, a true gentleman has come!"

Jia Mi was obviously drunk. He stood up and leaned over to look at Liu Xian. His behavior was so presumptuous that Liu Xian was quite at a loss.

He came within half a foot of Liu Xian, examined his features, nodded, and said, "You have a nice appearance." Turning back to his companions, he smiled and said, "It's a pity that you don't understand the joy of life!"

Jia Mi filled another glass of wine, took a sip, and then picked up a paper fan from somewhere. He smiled and said, "If the way of a gentleman was effective, how could the Han Dynasty have fallen? You should have understood the joy of life sooner."

He slowly put his right hand flat, covered his face with a paper fan, placed his left hand on his knee, and sang "Ximen Xing" aloud.

"Out of the west gate, I walked and thought: If I don't have fun today, when will I?
If you want to enjoy yourself, you should do it in time."

"Good! Good! Good!" Several people nearby cheered. Jia Mi was handsome to begin with, and at this moment he was drinking and singing. His sleeves gradually fluttered like butterflies, and he even started dancing in public. His dance was light and graceful, which matched his beautiful appearance, and made Jia Mi look more unrestrained, uninhibited and suave.

At this time, Jia Mi threw away the paper fan and his eyes met Liu Xian. The more he danced, the louder his singing became.

"How can I sit here in sorrow and depression, waiting for the next moment?

Drink fine wine, roast fat beef, and please do what pleases your heart, so that you can dispel your sorrow and worry."

As he sang this, Jia Mi's interest grew. It was clear that Liu Xian was no longer in his mind. Instead, he was enjoying himself in the middle of the school building:
“Life is not even a hundred years long, yet we often worry about a thousand years.

The days are short and the nights are long, why not go out with a candle?
Unless you are the immortal Wang Ziqiao, it is difficult to predict your lifespan.

Human life is not made of gold or stone, so how can we predict how long we will live?
Being greedy for money and thrifty will only make you a laughing stock in later generations."

The beautiful dancers and unrestrained singing drew cheers and applause from the crowd.

Jia Mi was quite content. He had been pampered since childhood, and he could get whatever he wanted. His peers never dared to show any disdain for him. Even the other princes had to give him some leeway for the sake of the Crown Princess and the Princess of Qi. So no matter where he was, he was unrestrained and straightforward in expressing his feelings until he was satisfied.

It was the same now. When he finished dancing, he poured another glass of wine, handed it to Liu Xian, and asked, "Are you feeling drunk, Huai Chong?"

Liu Xian was speechless. He could tell that the other party was determined to drink today.

It seemed that this young Duke of Lu was arrogant and that if he offended him, his future career would be difficult. He could have a few drinks, but it wouldn't hurt him to have such bad relations with these noble children just after entering the Imperial Academy. He still had a long career ahead of him in the officialdom.

Liu Xian consoled himself in his heart: Be humble and modest, be humble and modest. Besides, even Ji Shao didn't care about me, so I really had no reason to act arrogantly.

Thinking this inwardly, Liu Xian's expression remained unchanged. He took the wine cup from Jia Mi's hand and drank it all in one gulp. After drinking it, Liu Xian lit up his clean wine cup, and the noble sons all cheered.

Shi Chao laughed and said, "Biji, after visiting my sixth uncle's house last time, your drinking capacity has increased!"

Xun Chuo said, "How could a dignified prince of Anle not be good at drinking? It's said that when the old Anle competed with Emperor Wen in drinking contests, he always won or tied, never losing."

Pei Gai simply started to make noises from the sidelines: "What did Xun Guannu say? Do you think Chang Yuan will lose?"

"..."

Under the crowd's urging, Liu Xian had no choice but to drink four more cups with Jia Mi, feigning defeat and admitting defeat. As soon as he admitted defeat, everyone congratulated Jia Mi and laughed at Liu Xian, as if they had already accepted him into their own group.

After going through this process, they continued to drink and chat with each other. The content of their conversation was quite consistent, that is, they all complained that they had gained nothing from the Imperial College.

As a descendant of Xun Shuang, a renowned Confucian scholar from the late Han Dynasty, Xun Chuo openly criticized the Imperial Academy's education: "It's been so many years, and these teaching assistants are still lecturing on the Book of Documents and the Book of Songs, spouting about benevolence, righteousness, and morality. What's the point? They don't even think it's outdated."

Chen Qian's grandson, Chen Zhi, also agreed deeply and sarcastically said, "Indeed, if my grandfather had considered these things back then, how could he have achieved his wealth and status today? What about the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, what about the three refusal and three refusals? They're all lies."

This statement was outrageous, but it wasn't made out of thin air. As Zhang Hua's son, Zhang Wei was well-versed in recent literary developments and immediately understood the meaning of the statement. He whispered, "Are you talking about... 'Jizhong Chronicle'?"

"That's right!" Pei Gai clapped his hands, leaned forward slightly, and said seriously, "What's written in this book is earth-shattering!"

Earth-shaking? Liu Xian had been sitting there with nothing to do, but when he heard them discussing the mysterious and famous "Jizhong Chronicle" in recent years, he couldn't help but listen attentively.

He had heard Chen Shou mention that five years earlier, in the second year of the Taikang reign, thieves had excavated a large tomb, finding bundles of bamboo strips inside. The thieves had discarded the strips, only picking up some antiques. Later, a farmer discovered that most of the strips had writing on them and reported it to the authorities. The officials were stunned to discover that the strips were actually bamboo slips from the pre-Qin period! There were dozens of carts of them!
When the news reached Luoyang, the emperor immediately ordered the Imperial Secretariat Supervisor Xun Xu and the Imperial Secretariat Minister He Qiao to take charge of the task. It took them two years to translate the text from the bamboo slips into modern Chinese. It turned out that these bamboo slips were historical records of the State of Wei, covering the period from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the reign of King Xiang of Wei, when Mencius was active. This meant a history of over a thousand years!
It's important to note that after Qin Shi Huang's book burning and burying of scholars, and Xiang Yu's burning of Xianyang, with the exception of the official Qin History and Confucius' Spring and Autumn Annals, all other historical records of the Warring States period were completely lost. Sima Qian, the Grand Historian, had to collect folk legends to compile the pre-Qin period of the Records of the Grand Historian, which naturally contained many errors. Examples of these have been disproven in later generations, including the Biographies of Su Qin and Zhang Yi and the Biographies of Fan Ju and Cai Ze.

In comparison, the discovery of a complete pre-Qin history book, especially the official history of the Wei State, is a major event in the literary world. Therefore, the reputation of this book has spread widely among scholars.

Unfortunately, its content was said to be too absurd, and the imperial court only left two copies in the Secretariat, and it was not widely disseminated. As a result, most people only heard of it but never saw it, and even Chen Shou had no chance to meet it.

When Liu Xian heard someone mention it here, he couldn't help but feel curious and asked, "Have you seen the real one?"

"Of course I have!" Jia Mi pointed at Xun Chuo and said with a smile, "After all, the Zhongshujian who is in charge of this matter is the head of his family!"

Xun Chuo was obviously very pleased with this. He held his wine glass and said leisurely, "I watched my grandfather compile it page by page myself!"

"What exactly is written in the bamboo books?"

"These are all important events from ancient times that cannot be passed down to outsiders!" Xun Chuo said mysteriously, "You know about the abdication of Yao, Shun, and Yu, right?"

Liu Xian nodded. Who wouldn't know that? Speaking of ancient history, the most fascinating story is the abdication of the three emperors Yao, Shun, and Yu. They were not attached to power, but for the sake of the people of the world, they gave up the throne to each other. This is how they survived the flood that swept across the nine provinces and the subsequent unity of the Chinese people.

Unexpectedly, Xun Chuo said categorically: "These are all fake!"

Fake? Liu Xian was startled, then listened as Xun Chuo continued, "The Bamboo Slips say: 'In the past, when Yao's virtue declined, he was imprisoned by Shun. Shun imprisoned Yao in Pingyang and took the throne from him. Shun also imprisoned Yao and blocked Dan Zhu, preventing him from seeing his father.'"

"It's clearly stated here that the abdication of Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun was actually no different from what's happening now. Emperor Shun, like Emperor Xuan and Emperor Wu of Wei, simply launched a coup, imprisoned Emperor Yao, and forced him to abdicate!"

Seeing Liu Xian speechless, Xun Chuo was very proud and said to the others, "You all know that Yi Yin exiled Taijia, right?"

This is a story that everyone is familiar with. Yi Yin was the imperial tutor of the Shang Dynasty and assisted Shang Tang in establishing the Shang Dynasty. After Shang Tang's death, Yi Yin assisted three generations of Shang kings, namely Wai Bing, Zhong Ren, and Tai Jia. He can be said to be a veteran of four dynasties and the most virtuous prime minister.

According to the Records of the Grand Historian, after King Taijia of Shang ascended the throne, he disobeyed his ancestors' teachings, acted arbitrarily, and disregarded Yi Yin. Yi Yin imprisoned Taijia in the Tong Palace and lectured him for three years until he reformed. Yi Yin then took him back and continued to rule as King of Shang. This is a truly remarkable story of friendship between the emperor and his prime minister.

At this time, Xun Chuo said: "That is also fake!"

"The Bamboo Slips say: 'Yi Yin banished Taijia to Tong and established himself as king. In the seventh year, Wang Qian came out of Tong and killed Yi Yin.'"

"What wise minister or mentor? Yi Yin was nothing but a villain who usurped the throne and was eventually killed by the king!"

Xun Chuo became happier and happier as he spoke, and then he went on to tell the truth about the "republican administration" and "two kings coexisting" in the Zhou Dynasty. No wonder it was the same as the previous story, that is, he described all the virtuous policies and beautiful stories in ancient times as power struggles and petty intrigues of the ancients.

Finally, he concluded, "The teachings of Confucius and Mencius are truly deceiving and stealing reputations. I believe that the Jizhong Chronicle is the true truth of the world! In the past, people often said that people's hearts have changed and the world is declining. This is simply bullshit! We are also human beings, and so were the ancients. Why do we think that people today do bad things while people in the past did good things? It's nothing more than praising the past and despising the present, hoping to appear different."

After saying this, he felt very pleased with himself, thinking that he had spoken some profound truths about the world and that he had seen through the social reality of the past three thousand years.

But at this time, Liu Xian asked, "Then Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei are also fake?"

Xun Chuo almost choked when he heard this. Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei were figures from decades ago, and many people had witnessed their loyalty and righteousness. Even the emperor praised them, so it was difficult for him to deny it.

But seeing the looks his companions gave him, Xun Chuo felt he couldn't admit defeat, so he simply said disparagingly, "They mistakenly believed in the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and ultimately perished, their country destroyed, and their ambitions unfulfilled. If they truly understood the current situation and knew when to follow and when to follow, wouldn't they have lacked wealth and glory? A true man accomplishes great things by using any means necessary! Isn't it obvious who is winning and who is losing now?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone shouted, "That's right, that's right!" They also praised Xun Chuo with laughter, saying, "Official slave, what a talent! Official slave, what a talent!"

Liu Xian said nothing, but instead watched the group of nobles toasting each other. He drank another glass of wine in silence, thinking to himself:

"Now, is there really a result of who wins and who loses?"

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(End of this chapter)