vrcanaries Chapter 203 Solar Eclipse
Chapter 203 Solar Eclipse
"But I must say, Huo Qubing was truly remarkable back then, directly attacking the Xiongnu royal court!"
Huo Qubing, the Crown Prince of the Great Han Dynasty (proud face): !!!
"After learning of the defeat, Wei Xiao submitted a memorial to the emperor, stating: 'My subordinates, upon hearing of the approaching army, acted in self-preservation out of fear, which I could not forbid... Your Majesty may decide how to deal with them, but if you can forgive them, I will surely repent and reform!'"
"Later, officials, citing Wei Xiao's arrogance, requested Liu Xiu to execute his son, who was being held hostage in Chang'an. Liu Xiu could not bear to do so, so he sent Lai Xi with a letter to Wei Xiao:
"...If you stop now, then I can forgive you...and those stipends and titles...If you still refuse, then don't repay me!"
"But Wei Xiao still went his own way, and even accepted the official position offered by Gongsun Shu in 31 AD, which can be considered as him joining his side."
A bystander from the Song Dynasty commented: "He squandered a winning hand! But he's also a bit of a burden on his son!"
Zhu Bajie of the Ming Dynasty: Stubborn to the end!
A butcher from the Tang Dynasty: Even I know that Liu Xiu's side is more powerful, so why haven't you surrendered yet!
……
"However, this battle with Wei Xiao made Liu Xiu realize the differences in terrain and that the war could not continue in this manner."
"If Wei Xiao understands this, and then he just hides on Longshan Mountain and refuses to come down, wouldn't it become extremely difficult for us to break through this hellhole? We might even suffer some losses!"
"So, in response to this situation, he wrote to Wei Xiao many times, persuading Ma Yuan, who had surrendered, to volunteer to lead 5,000 elite cavalry to Liu Xiu. Then he tried to contact the generals on Wei Xiao's side, such as Gao Jun and Ren Hao."
"Tell them that there's no future for you there, that following Wei Xiao won't end well, and that if you abandon the darkness and join our Brother Xiu, your treatment will be amazing!"
"This was an attempt to sow discord among them. Ma Yuan wrote to Yang Guang, a general under Wei Xiao, hoping that he could persuade Wei Xiao to surrender to the Han Dynasty. However, Yang Guang did not respond. Soon after, the powerful clans in Beidi and Anding were persuaded to return to the Han Dynasty."
A lazy official in the Song Dynasty: I might as well abandon the darkness and embrace the light!
A scion of a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: If it were really that simple, those powerful clans and generals in Longxi wouldn't have instigated Wei Xiao to rebel!
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiu from another timeline also recalled this memory. If Gongsun Shu had not succeeded in the assassination, Lai Xi and Cen Peng would not have died at the hands of the assassin!
If they had also had this square screen, perhaps they wouldn't have been assassinated!
……
"Immediately afterwards, Feng Yi attacked Yiqu in the north, while Dou Rong sent troops to Jincheng. In a short time, the situation on Wei Xiao's side reversed, which is why there was the scene of him writing a letter to ask for help. To be fair, Liu Xiu was really quite righteous."
"However, Wei Xiao preferred to seek peace with Gongsun Shu, with whom he had fought several times before, rather than surrender to Liu Xiu. So in 31 AD, Gongsun Shu enfeoffed Wei Xiao as the King of Shuoning and sent troops to visit him."
"But Liu Xiu suddenly encountered a problem. As an emperor of an ancient dynasty, he would also be flustered when faced with a total solar eclipse."
"So Liu Xiu began to reflect on himself and strive to be a good emperor. His troops underwent various investigations, and with the arrival of a harsh winter in the Longshan region, all military operations were temporarily suspended."
"However, the so-called solar eclipse phenomenon has nothing to do with the emperor's virtue. As well as other natural disasters, they just indicate that the dynasty is in a state of chaos and is more prone to natural disasters in its later years."
"A solar eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon, and the principles behind it are not easy to explain. For example, the place where we live is actually spherical, called Earth. In Zhang Heng's 'Commentary on the Armillary Sphere,' it is recorded that: '...celestial bodies are round like bullets...'"
Lin Ke searched for a few more pictures of the moon and pointed to one of them.
"The moon, which has been praised by many poets, is also spherical and named the Moon. This is the true appearance of the Moon. In this modern era, some of us have already landed on the Moon!"
The people in Wanchaozhong fell into an eerie silence. Judging from Miss Lin's proud demeanor, those who had climbed up must have been doing something truly remarkable, which was indeed admirable!
But where are their gods and Buddhas?! Where is Chang'e, the Moon Goddess?!
They've all disappeared!
Is all there is to it just a bumpy, uneven surface?!
……
宋朝
At that moment, Su Shi, who was enjoying wine and admiring the moon, froze. He had just written "Prelude to Water Melody".
And you're telling me that this crater is the moon?!
No matter how you look at it, it seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the beauty he used to describe Chan Juan!
Ahhhh! Lin Ke! Give me back "A Thousand Miles Apart, Sharing the Moon's Beauty"!
The other poets were filled with despair; their impression of the moon had been shattered beyond repair!
……
"The reason for a total solar eclipse is that when the moon moves between the sun and the earth, these three are in a straight line. The moon blocks the sunlight from reaching the earth, and the shadow on the moon falls on the earth."
"Generally speaking, solar eclipses are not very common. However, if an emperor happens to be in a bad position, it's easy to associate him with one."
"Actually, it doesn't really matter. We're just giving a brief introduction here. After this wave ends, I'll upload a science video to the system. You can watch it if you're interested!"
Wan Chaozhong's people: ...Thank you so much!
"Getting back to the main topic, last time the solar eclipse caused Liu Xiu to revise tax rates and other policies to benefit the people. But he never expected that just two or three months later, another solar eclipse would occur. Our Brother Xiu is probably going to be dizzy!"
Liu Xiu: Heavens above! Can't we just have some fun anymore?!
“These days, things haven’t been going well for Liu Xiu. No matter what the reason for the repeated solar eclipses, Liu Xiu can only take the blame upon himself and issue an edict of self-reproach to announce it to the world.”
"In 31 AD, Wei Xiao joined Gongsun Shu and launched a counterattack. He led 30,000 cavalry to attack the two counties of Anding and Beidi. Wei Xiao planned to take advantage of this momentum to go to Guanzhong, but was stopped by Feng Yi."
Kui Xiao: Damn it, it's you again!
"Looking at the overall situation, neither Wei Xiao nor Liu Xiu fared well, nor did they fared too badly. In short, neither the one who came up was good nor the one who went down was good."
"Afterwards, Ma Yuan continued to lobby various generals, basically outlining all the benefits and harms—the same old routine—but frankly, this approach had no effect on those people."
"Actually, it makes sense when you think about it. If they wanted to betray Kui Xiao and join Liu Xiu, they would have done the same thing when Ma Yuan came to sow discord and persuade them. Why would they need a second wave of persuasion?"
"In addition, we still have to look to Lai Xi in terms of diplomacy. He persuaded Wang Zun, a general of Wei Xiao, to surrender and was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Xiangyi by Liu Xiu. Later, Lai Xi learned of Wei Xiao's secret intelligence. So in the spring of 32 AD, Lai Xi secretly led some people to sneak past the guards and launch a surprise attack on Lueyang through the mountain road, which greatly shocked Wei Xiao."
Lai Xi: Hehe! You didn't expect that, did you!
"Liu Xiu learned that Lai Xi had captured Lueyang, a crucial area in the heart of Longxi. How could the Han generals not be excited that our comrades had taken it?"
Tang Dynasty Troll Wei Wumei: A Diplomat of the Han Dynasty!
A bystander from the Ming Dynasty: It's like divine soldiers descending from the sky! Wouldn't they be scared to death, hahaha!
A spoiled young man from the Tang Dynasty: What a pity, Gongsun Sheng sent him to be assassinated!
……