Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 488 (Extra Chapter) Thousand Years Later
Time flies, and thousands of years have passed in the blink of an eye.

The world was divided and united, the nobles, the wealthy, and the common people rose and fell, the rebellious armies fought endlessly, and the rise and fall of prosperity faded in a flash.

"Now that I am scattered, I recall the past Han Dynasty... Time is short, but peace lasts... Emperor Guangwen had the merit of restoring the Han Dynasty three times, but he still could not hold the imperial examinations, compile the "Hanji", and cultivate the land!"

"Otherwise, how could he be so respected?"

A middle-aged man wearing a hair scarf, riding an old horse, and accompanied by two tall followers, crossed the Wei River and arrived at the foot of Mount Li.

He shielded his eyes from the dazzling sunlight with his hands, looked up at Mount Li, and saw the faint smell of incense on the mountainside. He couldn't help but sigh.

Over the past thousand years, countless scholars and dignitaries have come to pay homage to Huiling on Mount Li.

Even after the collapse of the Han Dynasty more than 700 years ago, there were still many emperors, ministers, and people who highly respected Emperor Guangwen.

When emperors of all dynasties conferred titles upon their ancestors, they all understood that their ancestors' subsequent success was due to their filial piety and integrity as well as their imperial examinations.

In addition, Emperor Guangwen, as a benchmark for the emperor, was like a mountain pressing in front of him, becoming the goal that later wise rulers pursued.

How could the rulers of each dynasty not send people to guard Huiling and build temples for the common people and scholars to worship?

It was because Emperor Guangwen spent more than ten years compiling the "Han Ji" and vigorously promoted simple burials, using clay figurines and engraved inscriptions to preserve ancient books, replacing various utensils and gold and bronze, that countless classics of the sages were preserved.

For hundreds of years, if scholars wanted to become officials, didn't they just have to copy some volumes of "Han Ji", study them diligently day and night, and then pass the imperial examinations to stand out?

In this way, as long as one has a loyal and filial heart, one will certainly be grateful for the kindness of Emperor Guangwen.

After the fall of the Han Dynasty, some officials proposed posthumously conferring the title of Saint King on Guangwen, which caused headaches for later rulers.

The prophecy of the Han Dynasty's golden sword was enough to make people fear him like a tiger, so how could they possibly confer the title of Saint King on him, making it difficult for the Liu family to get rid of him?

Thinking of this, the middle-aged man sighed, handed the old horse to one of the attendants, and straightened his clothes. He saw the lush pine trees on both sides of the stairs standing tall and straight. He pointed at the pine trees and asked with a smile: "Old man, I have seen many places where trees have been cut down along the way, but Mount Li is densely covered with vegetation, but it doesn't look like it was newly planted. Could it be that when the rebel army occupied Guanzhong a hundred years ago, no trees were cut down here?"

Hearing this, the old man's wrinkled face suddenly frowned, and explained sullenly: "Sir, you don't know, the rebel army has occupied Guanzhong for many years, so how could they miss the opportunity to cut down trees in Mount Li? The trees in the Qin Mausoleum not far away have also been cut down to make arrows."

"The reason why Huiling has so many pines and cypresses is that we, the village guarding the tomb, moved them back from other mountains by boat..."

Now it was the middle-aged man's turn to frown and ask in confusion: "Old man, as far as I know, the reconstruction of the Han Mausoleum has been decided long ago, and the court has also allocated a lot of money from the Ministry of Revenue. Although Huiling is the mausoleum of Emperor Guangwen of the Han Dynasty, it has benefited the people. And now the Confucianism is even stronger than the previous dynasty, so how can we let the people pay to plant pine and cypress?"

He looked at his father-in-law in astonishment. His dynasty ruled the world together with the literati, and many of the subjects studied by the literati came from the "Han Ji". Moreover, the imperial examinations had been implemented for a thousand years, but the subjects of the examinations had not changed much. They were still rites, laws, calligraphy, mathematics, history, agriculture, medicine, and strategy. As for riding and archery, swords, and the art of war, they were tested on military men.

At this moment, the admiration for the Han Dynasty should be far greater than that of the previous dynasty, so how come even the repair of Huiling Mausoleum was not carried out properly?

I'm afraid there are some daring officials who are interfering...

The middle-aged man couldn't help but clench his palms and pondered.

The old father-in-law had no idea what the other party was thinking. He thought the middle-aged man meant that the matter of Huiling should be handed over to the court and it was not the turn of the people to repair it themselves.

After all, the people are the people and the officials are the officials.

The old man's face changed slightly, he straightened his back and snorted coldly: "Others may not be qualified to build a mausoleum for Zhongzu, but the ancestors of our village made a promise to Zhongzu that Han and Qiang would always be close relatives, and there is a Han document to prove it."

“They moved to Huiling during the Han Dynasty. They have guarded the tomb longer than those noble families, so why couldn’t they repair the tomb?” Their Qiang tribe was given the surname Liu by Emperor Guangwen, the ancestor of the tribe. Generations have lived and multiplied here. Whenever there were troubled times, they would use Mount Li, which is dozens of miles long, as their city and rely on the Qinling Mountains behind them. As long as any rebels dared to attack Huiling, they would hide in the mountains and forests and launch sneak attacks day and night to cause chaos.

At that time, no one knew where the country of the future was...

The middle-aged man was slightly surprised. He didn't expect that the guide he found was a descendant of the Qiang tribe. Ever since the Han people assimilated the Hu people, countless Hu people have taken Chinese names. In just a hundred years, the Hu people have become proud of being Han people. Today, many of the barbarians in the mountains in the south were migrated from outside during the previous dynasty.

But he changed his mind and laughed, "So that's how it is. Fortunately, my ancestors have guarded Huiling for many years. Otherwise, there would be greedy people who would do shameless things and steal. Please accept my greetings!"

After saying this, he bowed and saluted.

"Sir, this is wrong. Our ancestors received favors from the Han Dynasty, so it is only natural for us to guard the tomb of Zhongzu."

"Besides, it is only a small contribution. Thanks to the foresight of my ancestor Emperor Guangwen, who did not place precious treasures in the mausoleum, it has been spared from disaster for thousands of years and has been preserved to this day."

The father-in-law quickly waved his hand and said with a smile.

Historical records have long recorded that there were only pottery figurines and the complete volume of "Han Ji" in Huiling. However, not much of "Han Ji" was lost, and about two-thirds or so of it are still circulating in the world.

Everyone in the world loves to save face, and will not plot against others just for a few volumes.

There are only ignorant thieves and bandits who want to take advantage of the troubled times.

These idiots may not even be able to find Hui Ling's true location, so they can be easily dealt with.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man could not help but nod his head repeatedly, and he agreed with this statement.

Then he walked a dozen steps, tilted his head and asked with a smile: "I heard that the former Emperor Taizu also came here to worship the Hanzhong Ancestor. I wonder if you know about this, old man?"

Hearing this, the old man immediately stroked his beard and said with a proud smile: "When I was young, I heard from my elders that the former Taizu used troops very similarly to Zhongzu. He was fond of cavalry and liked to scout the enemy in battle. He unified the world in ten years. Except for his lack of civil governance, everything else was the same as Zhongzu."

"I heard that this emperor admired Emperor Guangwen very much and had visited Huiling three times. There are pines and cypresses planted by him at the foot of Mount Li. It's a pity that they no longer exist. Otherwise, you would have seen them... Time really flies by."

The old man sighed as he spoke, and suddenly slapped his head, laughing and said, "Oh, look at my memory, I almost forgot to ask for your surname. May I ask how I should address you?"

He is so old that he forgot to ask the official's name after walking for such a long time. Judging from his clothes and the muscular entourage, he must be of extraordinary status, perhaps a high-ranking official in the court.

"No need to be polite, sir. It just so happens that Emperor Guangwen rose up in Qingzhou, and I am also from Jinan Prefecture, Shandong. My surname is Xin, sir. You can just call me by my surname."

Mr. Xin smiled amiably, then looked around the mountainside, filled with emotion.

During the Jianxing period, many people held high positions and were granted titles of nobility and appointed as generals at a young age.

This has attracted countless envy in later generations. Since ancient times, there have been many good horses, but there have been few good horse trainers.

Who doesn’t want to meet such an emperor?

Ministers want to assist such a king, the people want to meet such a king, and the emperor with aspirations also wants to become such a king.

Looking at the mountains, the middle-aged man sang with emotion: "Thinking back to those days, the soldiers were armed with swords and spears, and they were as fierce as tigers..."

(End of this chapter)