0p0 Chapter 258 Su Shi's Circle of Friends
Chapter 258 Su Shi's Circle of Friends
After the video finished playing, Lin Ke reappeared in the live stream and continued, "Considering the historical context, Su Shi had already been in exile in Huangzhou for four years."
"Zhang Huaimin had just been demoted, so Su Shi went to Chengtian Temple to find him for a night stroll only to comfort his friend."
Su Dongpo: What night is without a moon? I only lament that the people are not always here!
Zhang Huaimin of the Northern Song Dynasty: ( ??????????? )
"If you were to use a single image to describe Su Shi's circle of friends, then take a look!"
All those in the crowd saw a picture appear on the screen, and at that moment, the phrase "a tangled mess" popped into everyone's mind.
This is incredible! He actually knows so many people!
Good heavens! Their social relationships have never been this complicated in their entire lives! I truly admire them!
Su Shi from another timeline was also stunned; the network of relationships on this map was even denser than a spider web!
He's already made so many friends?!?
……
Back to the live broadcast room.
"Here's an interesting anecdote about Du Shenyan and Su Weidao from the early Tang Dynasty literary scene."
"In the early Tang Dynasty literary world, there was a group of poets who were described as having 'four qualities in literature.' Among them, Du Shenyan was rather arrogant. He once said that his calligraphy was far superior to Wang Xizhi's, and that in terms of literature, people like Qu Yuan were only good enough to be his subordinates!"
"How about that? Pretty arrogant and haughty, right? That's why he looks down on people of his generation."
"At that time, there was an official named Su Weidao who was in the same position as him. Once, when the Ministry of Rites was assessing officials, Du Shenyan, one of the assessors, said: Su Weidao is doomed!"
Those who heard this were quite curious. Why would someone say that? It's just an assessment, isn't it?
"As a result, Du Shenyan looked at me with a 'you don't even know this' expression before arrogantly explaining: 'If Su Weidao saw my article, wouldn't he be ashamed to death!'"
"Although Du Shenyan spoke of Su Weidao in this way, the two had a good relationship. He even wrote poems for Su Weidao, but Su Weidao's official career was much better than his."
"It is worth mentioning that Du Shenyan had a descendant named Du Fu, who was later regarded as the Sage of Poetry."
"As for Su Weidao, he also has prominent descendants, namely the three Su brothers: Su Xun, Su Shi, and Su Zhe, who are his tenth and eleventh generation descendants."
The optimist Su Dongpo: Wow!
A bystander from the Ming Dynasty commented: "These few lines show that later generations were quite successful, hahaha!"
A spoiled young master from the Tang Dynasty: This relationship goes back so far, from the Tang to the Song Dynasty... I never imagined that Su Weidao and Du Shenyan were good friends!
A scholar-official from the Han Dynasty: These two are quite amusing!
……
Hearing this from another timeline, Du Shenyan raised his eyebrows smugly. He never expected his grandson to be named the Sage of Poetry!
As expected of him, hahaha!!!
Su Weidao, however, didn't think that much about it; he just felt that the eleventh generation descendant was too far removed from the family!
However, he was very pleased that the three Su brothers were his descendants. After all, he had heard about their achievements from Miss Lin before, but he had not expected that they would be his descendants!
……
Studio.
Lin Ke continued, "On another note, although Su Shi had a vast circle of friends and was known as a social tyrant by later generations, he also had people he didn't get along with, such as Wang Anshi."
"Everyone knows Old Wang, but there are also many anecdotes about him. For example, he doesn't like to bathe, and several books from the Song Dynasty describe him as a slovenly man."
"For example, some books say that he: ...did not wash his face or clothes, etc. It is said that once when he was in court, Emperor Shenzong and other ministers saw lice crawling in the old king's beard and laughed without saying a word. The old king was very puzzled, what's going on? What are they laughing at?!"
"It was only later, when someone told him, that he found out he had lice in his beard!"
"However, this louse was also a subject of poetry in ancient times. Many people regarded it as a symbol of the Wei and Jin style, so there are still quite a few poems with it as their title."
"But then again, Old Wang is not only not very clean, but once his family even thought he was sick because he didn't like to take a bath or wash his face, since his face was dark."
"What was unexpected was that after examining Wang Anshi, the doctor simply said he wasn't sick, that his face was dirty and could be washed off. But Wang Anshi remained defiant, saying, 'My face is naturally dark; how can a basin of water wash it white?!'"
"However, there is another view that because of Wang Anshi's reforms, many people in the Southern Song Dynasty blamed him for the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty. Therefore, many of the comments at the time were negative, but no one expected that such a portrayal of Wang Anshi would be passed down to later generations."
Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty: (? .?.? ?)……
Optimistic Su Dongpo: What did I tell you? Fortune's wheel turns, hahaha!
The expert farmer from the Ming Dynasty: Is he the poet who wrote "Plum Blossom"? I really can't tell!
A romantic and talented scholar from the Tang Dynasty: This might be slander! Who would be so slovenly!
……
Wang Anshi in another timeline was stunned. He had just been secretly laughing at Su Shi, and now it was his turn!
This is blatant slander!
Wang Anshi was now extremely uneasy; if he could, he would really want to ride his wheels home!
And those smiles from his "arch-enemies" are just so smug!!!
……
Back to the live broadcast room.
Lin Ke's lips curled up slightly, a smile passing across her face. She thought that her ancestors could be quite amusing at times!
"Next, let's talk about the Dengwen Drum. This Dengwen Drum has actually existed in various dynasties, and the Song Dynasty naturally inherited it as well."
"The existence of the Dengwen Drum has also led to the exoneration of some wrongful convictions. The case we are talking about this time has nothing to do with any wrongful convictions, but it is a big deal for the people."
"This incident is recorded in Li Tao's 'Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government' during the Southern Song Dynasty. It is said that one day in the early years of the Song Dynasty, the Dengwen Drum was struck loudly. Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, thought it was something very important and quickly sent people to bring the person who struck the Dengwen Drum to be questioned."
"Only after asking did he learn that a commoner from Bianjing named Mou Hui had been repeatedly beating the Dengwen Drum. When Zhao Guangyi took him in for questioning, to everyone's surprise, what he was asking for was not a grievance, but that a pig had gone missing from his home!"
A spoiled young man from the Tang Dynasty: Good heavens, I just imagined a whole drama unfolding in my mind!
The father of a spoiled young master in the Tang Dynasty: You brat! Who do you think you're following?!
A bystander from the Song Dynasty: ?_?……
Cheng Yaojin of the Tang Dynasty: Asking the emperor to help him find a pig is something no one has ever dared to do before!
……
Zhao Guangyi was speechless at Mu Hui's wailing and demanding that he find a pig. "You rushed over here in such a hurry, and this is the result?!"
Zhao Guangyi: Damn it, all that posing for nothing!
"Although Emperor Taizong of Song felt that this matter was a bit outrageous, he was still very friendly and gave Mu Hui a thousand coins. According to the market price of pigs at that time, this was enough for him to buy a new pig."
"This matter can be considered resolved satisfactorily. If there's any one victim in this case, it would probably be the prime minister at the time, who was even severely reprimanded by Zhao Guangyi afterward."
Don't bother him with such trivial matters, but you officials must listen to the voices of the people; for them, nothing is trivial!
A bystander from the Han Dynasty: Hahahaha, the only victim is dying of laughter!!!
A spoiled young master from the Song Dynasty: But if this pig goes back by itself, wouldn't Mu Hui have two? That would be a huge profit!
A romantic scholar from the Tang Dynasty: Hahaha, if he tells everyone that these pigs were bought with money given by the Emperor, wouldn't a lot of people come to see them, and he could make a profit by charging fees? Hahahaha!
Judy, the Great General Who Conquers the North: You can even think of making money from this?!
The people in Wanchaozhong were both amused and exasperated upon hearing this, as they had never heard of beating the Dengwen Drum just to find a pig.
Fortunately, the Song Dynasty emperors were relatively tolerant; otherwise, if they had been more short-tempered, who knows what kind of punishment they might have received!
……