A live-streamed Chinese language lesson under the sky—the ancients were taken aback.

"Hello everyone, I'm Yu Yan Bu Zhi."

A clear female voice descended from the sky, its pronunciation precise and clear, carrying an indescribable lightness.

Unlike her previous heavy talk about the An Lushan Rebellion, when she opened her mouth, it was as if she were chatting with an old friend, with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Our Dynasty's Demise video series has reached its third episode."

This time, we'll talk about the Song Dynasty.

As soon as he finished speaking, a string of densely packed words suddenly floated across the sky, moving from right to left like countless fish gliding across the screen.

【Here it comes!】

[Front row!]

[Song Dynasty...]

[Little Song, it's here, it's here!]

Today was another day I was driven crazy by the history of the Song Dynasty.

In a side hall in Bianjing, the emperor and his ministers stared wide-eyed.

The words floated by so fast that they couldn't see them all, but a few words still flashed into their eyes: "blood pressure," "low blood pressure," "furious," and "gospel."

I recognize all the characters, but they look very strange when put together.

On the sky, he sighed, his tone helpless, yet carrying a hint of "you know what I mean."

"Ah, the Song Dynasty."

Another barrage of comments floated across the screen, neat and orderly, all sighs.

【Hey……】

【Hey……】

A sigh

[Song Dynasty fans, don't run away, let's sigh together!]

The Song Dynasty, I would call it the most conflicted dynasty in Chinese history.

Zhao Kuangyin, his face grim, asked, word by word, "What is she sighing about?"

No one could answer the question, and all the officials in the hall stared at the sky, filled with doubt.

He continued, his words flowing freely as if he were discussing something trivial:

"The history of the Song Dynasty is very friendly to people with low blood pressure."

"Because reading the history of the Song Dynasty can raise your blood pressure anytime, anywhere, and cure the ailment instantly."

From top to bottom, from the founding of the dynasty to its fall, there are countless trivial matters in the imperial court that could make you furious enough to vomit blood.

She paused briefly.

"Everyone knows about the problems of the Song Dynasty: its poverty and weakness, the humiliation of Jingkang, the precarious peace in Lin'an, the Fengbo Pavilion incident..."

"But," she changed the subject, "we'll leave those aside for now and talk about the good aspects of the Song Dynasty."

The large screen suddenly lit up, and a long scroll slowly unfurled.

The scenes depict the streets, rivers, bridges, and city gates of Bianjing, unfolding inch by inch.

In the market, vendors carried their wares on shoulder poles and called out their wares, boatmen poled their boats, carriages and horses passed by in great numbers, and pedestrians thronged shoulder to shoulder.

Teahouses, taverns, cloth shops, and pharmacies stood side by side, their banners fluttering in the breeze.

Boats ply the waters beneath the bridge, while crowds throng the bridge itself; even the expressions of donkeys and horses grazing with their heads down are vividly portrayed.

"Along the River During the Qingming Festival"

Her voice came from off-screen, filled with heartfelt admiration.

Painted by Zhang Zeduan, a painter from the Northern Song Dynasty, it is one of the ten most famous paintings handed down in China.

The scroll, which is more than five meters long, depicts 814 people, more than 60 livestock, 28 boats, more than 30 houses, and more than 170 trees in Bianjing City.

There were also countless people pushing carts, carrying loads, riding horses, and riding in sedan chairs.

This is just the number that can be counted in the painting.

"What about outside the painting? Outside the painting was the most prosperous city in the world at that time, without exception."

Its prosperity wasn't something imagined or fabricated; it was built layer by layer through solid, substantial efforts in water transport, handicrafts, commerce, and the service industry.

Her voice became serious:

"We say the Song Dynasty was awkward and stifled, but you can't deny that it was indeed wealthy, it was indeed prosperous, and it was indeed a time of great prosperity."

So in today's first episode, we'll first clarify the fact that "the Song Dynasty was indeed a good time."

As the image zooms in, the city of Bianjing in the long scroll seems to come alive, with faint sounds of vendors hawking their wares, carriages and horses, water flowing, and people echoing through the streets and alleys.

In a side hall of the Daqing Hall, Zhao Kuangyin stared intently at the painting.

He recognized those streets and alleys.

That straight street stretching out into the sky, the wooden arch bridge spanning the Bian River, the boats under the bridge, the cars on the bridge.

And in the distance, there's a corner of the eaves of Xuande Gate.

That was Bianjing, the capital of the Song Dynasty.

It was the place he took over from the Later Zhou dynasty and personally designated as the capital.

But the Bianjing in the painting was not the Bianjing he knew.

The Bianjing he knew had just experienced the continuous warfare of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The chisel marks left by the Later Han army when attacking the city were still visible outside the city walls. The shops on both sides of the Imperial Street were sparse and closed their doors as soon as the sun set.

Since ascending the throne, he has been thinking every day about how to rebuild the military and pacify the various countries. He hasn't even bothered to replace the tiles on the Daqing Palace.

But the Bianjing depicted in the painting was more than ten times more prosperous than he knew.

In the morning, there was a stall selling tofu pudding at the street corner, directly opposite the military patrol station.

The man carrying charcoal at the bridgehead had once walked on that stone slab.

The banners fluttering outside the tavern even bore the names of neighborhoods he recognized.

That was Tokyo under his rule.

No, it was even more lively, more orderly, and more prosperous than the Tokyo he ruled.

Xue Juzheng was stunned, his mouth agape, and after a long while he finally managed to say, "This...this is truly my Bianliang?"

"Yes." Zhao Pu's voice trembled slightly. "It is Bianliang, but this Bianliang is bigger and more prosperous than our current Bianliang. The style of the city gate tower is even more magnificent than ours."

Lu Duoxun murmured, "This...how is this possible? Our dynasty has only been established for a little over ten years, the treasury is not abundant, and all industries are waiting to be rebuilt. If this painting is truly from later generations, then when was it painted?"

"Of course not now," Zhao Kuangyin said. "It should be Bianjing under the rule of the descendants of the Song dynasty after me."

He paused, his eyes still fixed on the boundless prosperity depicted in the painting.

Shi Shouxin grinned, wanting to laugh but not actually doing so: "Isn't this a good thing? Your Majesty, look at this street, it's no worse than Chang'an back then."

We worked so hard to build this family fortune, and now that our descendants live like this, we can rest in peace.

Zhao Kuangyin did not respond.

He could clearly see the bustling city of Bianjing in the painting, with boats shuttling under the bridge and crowds thronging the bridge.

But for some reason, he always felt that there was an indescribable emptiness hidden in the deepest part of the painting.

He couldn't explain what it was.

Bianjing was situated in a strategically important location, lacking any natural defenses. This matter had been weighing on his mind, and now, seeing the undefended capital in the painting, that unease resurfaced.

The scroll is magnified on the sky, allowing people to see every detail clearly.

The scroll is displayed starting from the far right.

Distant mountains, fields, caravans of donkeys carrying goods, and travelers on their way.

The early spring mist had not yet dissipated, but there were already scattered vendors on the dirt roads outside Bianjing.

The screen slowly pans to the left.

More and more people arrived.

Water carriers, firewood sellers, donkey drivers, fortune tellers.

The tea stalls along the street were packed with people.

Several porters rested under a tree, while a peddler chased after a child.

Zhang Zeduan's perspective and structural analysis are amazing; every inch of his work is captivating when magnified.

Since I was a child, whenever I saw this painting, I've had only one thought: I want to go inside and explore it.

Were ordinary people in the Northern Song Dynasty really this leisurely?

Urban life was already this rich nearly a thousand years ago.

……

Ying Zheng's first reaction upon seeing this was: Where are the city walls?

He looked at it for a while and found that the city gate in the painting was not defended at all, and there was not even a decent guard in sight.

Several gatekeepers huddled together, basking in the sun.

Ying Zheng frowned: "This is the capital of the current dynasty? The defenses are so lax?"

He felt almost instinctively uneasy for the city called "Bianliang".

Liu Che's attention was drawn to the ships.

He figured it out: the canal transport system.

The boats on the Bian River are carrying grain.

He squinted, trying to count how many ships were in the picture.

Then he sneered: "With such developed water transport, the river is almost blocked, yet the capital city has no shortage of food and clothing."

I just don't know if this grain is for feeding the soldiers or for supporting idlers.

Li Shimin's gaze, however, was fixed on the people.

There are 814 characters, each doing their own thing.

He wasn't just watching the spectacle; he was observing the order.

Finally, he softly uttered, "What a magnificent scene of a prosperous age."

He paused for a moment, then added four more words: "Peace has lasted too long."