In life, we like to simply divide people into good people and bad people, but people have two sides. In many cases, we cannot simply characterize a person. As the title says, Li Bai is a well-known romantic poet, but he also wrote heroic works of "killing one person in ten steps and leaving no trace in a thousand miles". Yan Zhenqing is a calligrapher we are familiar with, but he also wrote during the Anshi Rebellion He commanded 200,000 troops and horses to resist the rebels of An Lushan and Shi Siming in the hinterland of Hebei for several years.
Limited to the limitations of the knowledge we accept, many people in history have been simply labeled by us with a certain label, but aside from these facial recognition, we will find that they are unknown (or not known to most people). Below I will take stock of the other sides of some of the characters we are familiar with.
Zhao Gao: Qin Dynasty legal expert and calligraphy expert
Speaking of Zhao Gao, usually the first thing we think of is the image of a treacherous minister who forged Qin Shihuang's posthumous photos, called a deer a horse, and brought disaster to the country and the people. However, Have you ever thought about: Why did Qin Shihuang and Li Si trust Zhao Gao so much? This shows that Zhao Gao must have real talent and hard work.
Zhao Gao was originally a member of the Qin clan. He was implicated because of his mother's crime and grew up in the Hidden Palace (a place where prisoners were imprisoned). In this environment, Zhao Gao did not accept the situation, but studied hard, especially mastering the law.
Later, Qin Shihuang discovered Zhao Gao's talents and promoted him to the rank of CRRC Magistrate and was responsible for educating Hu Hai.
"Historical Records? Biography of Meng Tian": "The King of Qin heard that Gao Qiangqiang was well versed in prison laws, so he promoted him as an order of the Zhongche Mansion. Gao had a private affair with his son Hu Hai, so he was sentenced to prison."
Zhao Gao was not only a legal expert in the Qin State, but also the main implementer of the unified writing system of the Qin State.
After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he suffered from the different scripts of the six countries and inconvenient communication, so he began the work of unifying the scripts.
The "Preface to Shuowen Jiezi" written by Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty records: "When the first emperor of Qin began to rule the world, Prime Minister Li Si Nai played the same tune, and dismissed those who did not agree with Qin Wen." Si wrote the Cangjie chapter. The CRRC government ordered Zhao Gao to write a love story. The great historian ordered Hu Wujing to write a learned chapter. They are all based on the large seal script of Shi Zhen, or they may have been slightly modified, so-called small seal script. ?
The seven chapters of Li Si's "Cangjie", the six chapters of Zhao Gao's "Yuanli", and the seven chapters of Taishi Ling Hu Wujing's "Bo Xue" are the standard copybooks across the country. Our Chinese characters today are completely inherited from these three calligraphy works.
Zhao Gao was able to take on the task of unifying writing thanks to his extremely high attainments in calligraphy.
Wang Qing of the Northern Wei Dynasty lists fifty-nine calligraphers in the Qin, Han, and Wu dynasties in his "Ancient and Modern Writings", including Zhao Gao. Yang Xin of the Southern Dynasties said in his "Ability to Write Names from Ancient Times" written by Yang Xin of the Song Dynasty that Zhao Gao was good at seal script. In the "Dazhuan" volume of Zhang Huaiguan's "Shujuan" in the Tang Dynasty, it says: "Zhao Gao is good at seal script." Taught Hu Hai, the youngest son of the First Emperor, to calligraphy. ?
Modern scholar Li Kaiyuan praised Zhao Gao in his book "Resurrection of History: The Collapse of the Qin Empire" as "a first-class calligrapher, philologist, and a professional proficient in law. His physical fitness Tall and strong, with superb riding skills and extraordinary martial arts, he is a rare talent with both civil and military skills in the Qin Empire's court."
Isn't this side of Zhao Gao surprising?
p>Zhang Shijie: Born as a Jin man, later became a Yuan general, and finally died for the Southern Song Dynasty
In the 12th century, the Mongols rose up on the Mongolian Plateau, starting a countdown to the decline of the Jin Kingdom and the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty. There is one person who has a very special experience in this historical change. He is Zhang Shijie, one of the "Three Heroes" in the late Song Dynasty (the other two are Wen Tianxiang and Lu Xiufu)
Fan Yang (now Zhuozhou, Hebei). ) The Zhang family has always been a prominent local family. There have been fierce men like Zhang Fei in history. Zhang Shijie is also a member of the Zhang family in Fanyang. He was born in the last years of the Jin Kingdom.
When Zhang Shijie was born, the Jin Kingdom had entered its final stage. At this time, the Mongols began to rise.
In 1213 AD, the eighth year of Emperor Taizu of the Yuan Dynasty (Genghis Khan), the first year of Jin Zhining, and the sixth year of Jiading of the Song Dynasty, the Mongols went south and there was chaos in Hebei. Zhang Shijie's uncle Zhang Rou organized an armed force. The neighbors defended themselves, and the Jin State appointed him to stay in Zhongdu and know the affairs of Daxing Prefecture, and lead the local resistance against the Mongols. Five years later, Zhang Rou was defeated and surrendered to the Mongols.
Zhang Shijie has been serving under his uncle Zhang Rou.
Later Zhang Rou led his troops south to exterminate the Jin Dynasty. While stationed in Qizhou, Zhang Shijie committed a crime. At that time, the Kingdom of Jin was already in doom, and Zhang Shijie had no choice but to hide his name and abscond to the Southern Song Dynasty.
Because Zhang Shijie had been serving in the army before, he came to the Southern Song Dynasty and became a member of the Song army. In the Southern Song Dynasty, because of his bravery and strategy, Zhang Shijie was appreciated by the famous Southern Song Dynasty general Lu Wende (the man who abandoned Xiangyang in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". The real situation is that Lu Wende guarded Xiangyang alone for six years) and was promoted along the way.
After the fall of the Jin Kingdom, the Mongols began the war to destroy the Song Dynasty. The Mongolian army going south included Zhang Rou's tribe. At this time, another general emerged from Zhang Rou's tribe? Zhang Rou's nine sons and Zhang Hongfan, Zhang Shijie's younger brother.
Everyone knows the result. Zhang Hongfan led the Yuan army to fight a decisive battle with the Song army led by Zhang Shijie at Yashan. The Song army was defeated. Lu Xiufu carried the eight-year-old Song Dynasty emperor Zhao Bing (bǐng) on ??his back. He jumped into the sea and died for his country, and the Southern Song Dynasty was destroyed.
At this time, Zhang Shijie did not commit suicide, but wanted to find Zhao's descendants and establish him as emperor. However, when Empress Dowager Yang heard that Zhao Bing was dead, she jumped into the sea and committed suicide.
Zhang Shijie knew it and looked up to the sky and sighed: "I am the Zhao family, and it has come to an end. One king died, another king was re-established, and now he is dead again." Before I died, the enemy troops retreated, and the Zhao family was established to preserve and worship Er. If this is the case, it is not God’s will! ? ("Continuation of Zi Zhi Tong Jian") Later, Zhang Shijie also jumped into the sea and died for his country, and a generation of famous generals and loyal ministers fell since then.
Zhang Shijie’s loyalty to Zhao and Song Dynasty can be seen from the sun and the moon. He has no way out. His uncle Zhang Rou is a prince, and his younger brother Zhang Hongfan is the commander-in-chief of the Yuan army. During the years of resisting the Yuan Dynasty, his family His relatives have been urging him to surrender, but Zhang Shijie remains unmoved. What is lamentable is that the decisive battle between Yuan and Song Dynasties turned out to be a decisive battle between two brothers.