Chapter 39 9. Historian: the person the emperor fears most

Anyone who has become an emperor has always had two beautiful but absurd wishes, one is to live forever, and the other is to be able to live forever.Such a wish is actually not too exaggerated. Don't ordinary people hope that this kind of pride can be maintained forever when they are proud?Therefore, the emperor is just expanding the mentality of ordinary people a little bit.But when they expect the glory they enjoy to last forever, many people tend to fall into sideways, trying to realize this desire through some heresy, such as harmful and unhelpful methods such as fairy medicine, which can only end this situation as soon as possible. Flashy life.

After Zhao Kuangyin created the Great Song Dynasty and pushed it on the road of steady development, he once had such a strong desire in his heart, but throughout his history, it seems that no emperor can live forever.After getting rid of such unrealistic wishes with rationality, he began to devote more energy to his second wish: the country will last forever. Seeing the scene of peace and prosperity in the Song Dynasty, although it can't beat "Zhenguan" and "Kaiyuan", Zhao Kuangyin is still full of pride in being able to have such a scene after decades of war.He said to Zhao Pu: "Emperors have always hoped that they could enjoy such glory forever, so that this kind of life will never end, but they never think about what other people think. Maybe he is the only one who has this desire. Alone, while everyone else around you expects this kind of day to end sooner rather than later."

Zhao Pu said with a smile: "Your Majesty has already defeated all the emperors of the previous dynasty. It is difficult to realize one's wish, but if it is the wish of some people, or even the wish of a country, then it is very difficult to realize it." It's not that hard anymore." Zhao Kuangyin said: "According to what you said, even if I hope that Jiangshan can be in Zhao's hands forever, it is impossible?" Zhao Pu said: "Yes, if this is just His Majesty's wish, then maybe this wish can be realized within the time you can control. But beyond the scope of your control, how can you guarantee that this wish can be realized?"

Hearing his bold reply, Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help smiling, and said helplessly: "Ever since I had the idea of ​​occupying the world, you have been by my side all the time. All these years, all my thoughts You can understand it at a glance. That's why you dare to speak to me like that, otherwise, even Guangyi wouldn't dare to say that." Zhao Pu said: "Because I understand that what Your Majesty wants to hear is the truth, not flattering nonsense." Zhao Kuangyin said: "Then tell the truth, what should I do to make the world last forever when I can't control it?"

Zhao Pu said: "The founding monarchs have always been virtuous monarchs, because he has a heavy responsibility, so he dare not relax, and if he is not careful, it will lead to a catastrophe, so he always keeps himself vigilant. But after a country is established, , the successor has not experienced such cruelty, and does not know the hardships of gaining the world, so he will gradually slack off. Over time, if the king does not restrain his desires, the country will become chaotic, and the country can only change hands." Zhao Kuangyin said: "You are right. It is precisely because of this that the world will not be stable due to the passing of several surnames. Most emperors who ruined the country seem to have this problem."

Zhao Pu went on to say: "Therefore, if you want your Majesty's country to last forever, and the Zhao Dynasty can rule the world forever, it is necessary to let the successors understand a truth: the world is not easy to come by, and the emperor must always restrain his desires and words and deeds. Only in this way can the goal of eternal life be achieved.” Zhao Kuangyin said: "The successors didn't participate in the war to build the country, and they didn't know the dangers involved. How could they understand the hardships? What's more, the king is the master of the world, and who would make mistakes in their words and deeds?" Dare to point it out?"

Zhao Pu said: "We can now know the deeds of the previous dynasty through the pens of those historians. Through them, they record the emperor's words and deeds, successes and failures, and warn future generations. If the successor wants to know the deeds of the predecessors, he can only use historical materials. And The historian also has an important responsibility, and that is supervision." Zhao Kuangyin asked: "Isn't it a joke to let a historian supervise the emperor?" Zhao Pu said: "People who are historians must be upright and upright, and they must make fair judgments about the right and wrong of the emperor. Just because he is a monarch, he should not be intimidated by his authority and be unjust. Will submit. Only such a person can be a qualified historian, and only such a person can really play a role in supervising and deterring the emperor. Because later generations judge whether a generation of monarchs is wise, based on the pen in his hand .”

Zhao Kuangyin nodded and said, "If you want to pass on the Zhao family forever, it seems that you really need to find a historian to supervise the emperor." Under the suggestion of Zhao Pu and others, Zhao Kuangyin was determined to re-establish the system of historian supervision, and let the emperor be the supervised person.Although he himself was born in the army, he was willing to be restrained, precisely because he considered whether the Zhao family's country could be passed on forever.Although this system had existed in the previous dynasty, the chaotic Five Dynasties had already abandoned this tradition.If you don't want to repeat the same mistakes, you can only go back and strengthen this practice so that the emperor can't do whatever he wants.

After establishing a mechanism for historians to record the emperor's words and deeds and to restrain and supervise them, Zhao Kuangyin practiced himself and tried to be cautious in his words and deeds. When recording inappropriate words, he could also uphold principles and strive for truth.But as a generation of kings, he will inevitably relax himself sometimes. Once, Zhao Kuangyin played with his attendants in the imperial garden with a slingshot to shoot birds, and he got excited for a while.Just when he was happy, Li Huaizhong, the commander of the cavalry on both sides, suddenly asked to see him. Zhao Kuangyin couldn't bear to put down the slingshot in his hand, so he said to his attendant, "If there is nothing urgent, let him come back later."

The attendant passed on Zhao Kuangyin's words, and ran back after a while: "Li Huaizhong said he has something urgent to report." As soon as Zhao Kuangyin heard this, he put down the toys in his hands, straightened his clothes, and hurried out to ask Li Huaizhong if there was anything urgent to report.Li Huaizhong unhurriedly took out the prepared memorial from his sleeve, and stated what he wanted to report one by one.Zhao Kuangyin listened to it, but it was just some routine military reports. It seemed that he was deceiving himself by saying that there was an urgent report.He couldn't help but get angry, and asked Li Huaizhong sharply: "You just said that there is something urgent to report. Is this what you mean by something urgent?"

Li Huaizhong said righteously: "What I report is all military and national affairs. Although it is not urgent, but if your majesty wants to understand the army, you must listen to my report." Zhao Kuangyin said angrily: "So you can lie to me?" Li Huaizhong said: "I didn't lie, I just made a comparison. What I'm telling you is more urgent than Your Majesty flicking sparrows in the garden, right?" This rhetorical question made Zhao Kuangyin blush immediately. He was having fun just now, but was suddenly interrupted. He thought he had something important to discuss, so he was not angry; but it turned out that it was all routine affairs, and there was nothing wrong with it. An urgent matter, already a little angry.Now that Li Huaizhong asked such a question, he became even more annoyed, so without thinking about it, he picked up the jade pillar ax that was used as a paperweight on the table and slammed Li Huaizhong's face.The ax was originally just an ornament in the hands of the emperor, but because it was made of jade, it was very hard.With one blow, Li Huaizhong's mouth was bleeding, he spat out a mouthful, and one of his teeth fell out. Seeing that Zhao Kuangyin was angry, Li Huaizhong knocked out his own tooth, and silently put the tooth into his sleeve without saying a word.The followers around him were too frightened to speak out. Zhao Kuangyin sneered and said, "Why are you putting it away? Do you still want to keep it as evidence to sue me later?" Li Huaizhong said respectfully: "I don't dare to sue Your Majesty. I put away my teeth because of 'the body is hair and skin, and I receive it from my parents'. I dare not throw it away at will." Zhao Kuangyin said: "You should have understood this truth a long time ago, you don't have to come here to deceive me before you understand." Li Huaizhong said: "I understand this truth, but I also know that His Majesty's words and deeds must be recorded by official historians. Naturally, future generations will comment on what you did right or wrong." One sentence reminded Zhao Kuangyin that he looked at the followers around him, and the historian who had been accompanying him was also among them.After regaining his senses, Zhao Kuangyin remembered his reckless words and deeds just now, obviously that arrogance suddenly gained the upper hand and made him do such inappropriate things.If the official historian records it, later generations must think that Taizu was a man who was born in a warlord and could not be restrained.Thinking of this, he hurriedly grabbed Li Huaizhong and said: "I was too excited just now, what you said is right, no matter how small it is, it is bigger than me playing with a sparrow." This incident was recorded by historians and frequently appeared in the history books of later generations, which shows that although Song Taizu also had a reckless side, he was also a wise king who knew his mistakes and could correct them. mistakes and have the courage to admit them. The reason why Zhao Kuangyin did this is that he hopes that the country he has built can be passed on, and that his descendants can always carefully take over the baton passed by him, so that the country he dreams of will last forever.But not long after his death, his successor Zhao Guangyi revised this tradition.For personal purposes, Zhao Guangyi wanted to improve his historical status in the Song Dynasty. He not only made up a lot of meritorious deeds, but also took the credits of others and put his own name on them, so that the historians could revise the history of the Song Dynasty and became a famous counterfeiter.But history has always been fair. In the history of the Song Dynasty rebuilt by later generations, all these tricks and feet he did were discovered, and the truth was returned to history. It can be seen from the establishment of a historian supervision mechanism that Zhao Kuangyin is a rational and sober person. Although he has a dream similar to that of other emperors, he tries to realize it through practical and feasible methods.It's just that his successors failed to appreciate his painstaking efforts, and gave the country to others in vain.