Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 310: Emperor Taizong's Love Song, How China Was Birthed [Please Subscribe]

After Zhu Yuanzhang read the poem by the later Xin Dynasty Emperor Taizu several times, his doubts about Journey to the West finally subsided. However, he could not help asking, "What stories did Nezha have in later generations?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, although the mythical character Nezha originated in the Jin Dynasty, he took shape during the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, and was basically finalized after the publication of the book Investiture of the Gods in the late Ming Dynasty."

"As for the story of Nezha, the main one is 'Nezha Conquers the Dragon King'..."

Then Liu Kuan gave a brief account of the story of "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King".

"In later generations, Nezha, like Sun Wukong, became a classic mythological figure, spawning many film, television, and animation works."

"Of course, because Nezha's image is closer to that of a teenager or child, most works with him as the core are also related to children and teenagers."

Lao Zhu nodded and asked, "So what's the story behind this fourth song?"

Liu Kuandao said, "The fourth song is called 'Riding a White Horse', which is a fictional story about Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan set in the Tang Dynasty."

"Xue Pinggui? Did you remember it wrongly? The famous general of the Tang Dynasty should be called Xue Rengui, right?" Old Zhu was puzzled.

Liu Kuan explained speechlessly, "Your Majesty, I have already said that this is a fictional Tang Dynasty story, and the protagonist is called Xue Pinggui."

"It tells the story of a poor boy named Xue Pinggui who was chosen as a husband by the prime minister's third daughter after a ball she threw to him. He then joined the army and went to fight in Xiliang. He was framed and nearly died on the battlefield, but was saved by the princess of Xiliang by chance."

"Afterwards, Xue Pinggui first became the consort of the Western Liang Dynasty, and then the King of Western Liang. However, he could not stop thinking about his first wife, Wang Baochuan, so he abandoned the throne and returned to the Tang Dynasty. With the help of the Western Liang Prime Minister, he captured Chang'an and proclaimed himself emperor, becoming the emperor of the Xin Dynasty of China."

Xue Pinggui’s story was so legendary (YY) that Old Zhu was stunned when he heard it.

After hearing this, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Such an experience cannot be found in any history books, let alone something that happened in the Tang Dynasty. It seems that the characters and backgrounds of operas are indeed fictional."

After saying that, Lao Zhu signaled Liu Kuan to go down, and he clicked on the video to listen to the song.

The video starts with an animation made by some unknown lady, but the singer is the original singer Xu Jiaying.

“No matter who I love, I never feel I’m wrong…”

Soon, it reached the climax, the part with the Minnan opera.

"I ride a white horse, passing through three checkpoints. I change into plain clothes and return to the Central Plains. Leaving Xiliang unattended, I only think of Wang Baochuan."

Prince Zhu, Empress Ma and others all nodded as they listened, and felt that this passage was indeed very poetic.

Soon, the song ended.

Since it was a fictional opera, Lao Zhu felt that there was nothing worth exploring and continued to play the next song.

The song is titled "Can't Let Go".

"It's probably another piece of love music." Old Zhu said with a smile.

Empress Ma asked, "Are you still listening to such lascivious music?"

"It's harmless to listen to it occasionally, haha."

Lao Zhu smiled awkwardly and shifted his attention to the video.

According to the small text in the video, the song is actually from a TV series called "Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin".

Now Lao Zhu was really interested.

Among all the emperors of previous dynasties, the ones he truly admired were only Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Gaozu of Han, Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Taizong of Tang.

"She is so beautiful that she can make fishes sink to the bottom of their bodies and geese fall to the ground, and the moon hides in shame the flowers. She is so beautiful that there is no place to hide..."

After just hearing the beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma couldn't help but look at each other in surprise.

If you only look at the lyrics, this song would definitely be a decadent song in the Ming Dynasty and would not be considered elegant. However, the melody and the singer's voice unexpectedly give people a sense of grandeur.

Soon, the song reached its climax, and the sense of grandeur became even stronger.

"Ah~ wait till I offer you my mountains and rivers to please you, thousands of people will sing together and pass it down through the ages~ you see the distant mountains smiling and the water flowing, forever and ever the seas dry up and the rocks crumble..."

When the song finished, Lao Zhu subconsciously paused the video, but couldn't help but savor it for a moment. He then commented, "This song is truly majestic and powerful. If it were describing the love between Emperor Taizong of Tang and his beloved woman, it would be appropriate. However, the lyrics are truly disappointing—if you didn't know better, you'd think it was about King You of Zhou, who played tricks on his princes by lighting beacons."

Empress Ma burst out laughing, "You're taking it so seriously over just a song."

Old Zhu also laughed, but he also felt that he was being too serious, so he played the last song.

But the name is "Investiture of the Gods".

He remembered that Liu Kuan had said before that Nezha was basically formed after the mythological novel "Investiture of the Gods" was published in the late Ming Dynasty. Could it be that "Investiture of the Gods" was also a song adapted from "Investiture of the Gods"?

At this time, the prelude of the song sounded, and video clips appeared one after another, showing flying in the clouds, Nuwa, and fox demons. It was indeed a TV series related to gods and demons.

The video is edited based on the material of "Fengshen Bang: Fengming Xiqi", which is considered to be the best among many Fengshen series TV series in terms of actors and production. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds, many actors were replaced in the second part, and the ending was a bit bad.

“May the heavens grant me this list of gods! May the gods grant me the strength to persevere…”

After the climax of the song, the song "Investiture of the Gods" also ended quickly. Lao Zhu then felt hungry and picked up a piece of braised meat and started eating.

Empress Ma signaled the palace servants to serve the dishes - but she had experience and knew that the two of them would not be able to eat while watching the song video, so the dishes served first were cold dishes such as braised dishes and fruits, and the hot dishes had not yet been served.

After the steaming delicacies were served, Liu Ruoxue and Liu Ping'an received a signal from Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, and began to eat with big mouthfuls.

The brother and sister are also hungry.

Liu Ping'an was less than three years old and still needed help, so Empress Ma, with her rich experience in childcare, took good care of him. Of course, Liu Ruoxue was not neglected by her either and was also taken care of.

More than half an hour later, the lunch at the Zhu family was finally over.

Queen Ma knew that everyone else was getting impatient, so she asked the palace servants to quickly pack up and prepare to watch the movie.

Old Zhu led the two little ones down the imperial steps and walked slowly to Liu Kuan's side.

After handing the two little ones over to Zhu Huilan and Su Caiwei, Old Zhu asked, "How many videos have you prepared today?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, I have prepared three short videos and two movies."

"You've actually prepared two movies?" Old Zhu laughed. "That's a rare thing. Could you first tell me what these two movies are about?"

Liu Kuan was somewhat speechless and said, "If I give you any spoilers, Your Majesty will find the movie boring."

"Well, let's wait and see for ourselves."

Soon, the palace servants cleaned up the Dashan Hall and set up the "home theater".

After the Zhu family sat down, Liu Kuan called up the prepared video and started playing it.

Before the video began, Liu Kuan introduced it: "This video talks about the origin of China, or how it was born."

How was China born?

After hearing Liu Kuan's words, some concubines and children were still wondering: Shouldn't we say Ming Dynasty? Which dynasty is China?
Those who have a little knowledge of history, such as Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao, know that China is the inherent name of this land that has existed for a long time.

But they are also curious and want to know how China was born.

At this time, the first video was clicked and the title appeared in everyone's eyes——

"There was no China in the world. It was __ who created China!" [Planet Research Institute]

Seeing the familiar name of the master at the back, Zhu Biao, Zhu Di and others immediately became excited.

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　This chapter has about 2,000 words.

　　2025 is approaching, and Linglinghou wishes all our readers a Happy New Year! Happy Gregorian New Year!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)