Chapter 23: Xiao Bai's Story Two

  I used to be quite prejudiced against people like him, as the saying goes: "Three generations look at food, four generations look at clothes, five generations look at articles." This guy's clothing was ordinary but of high quality, and his speech and demeanor had a natural air about them. At first glance, you could tell he was from a noble family, but looking at his behavior, it was vastly different from those lazybones who didn't know the difference between hard work and leisure, or as the saying goes, "When there's famine in the land, why not eat meat?" He also didn't have the arrogant attitude of those from prominent families. To me, he showed great respect, like a teacher would, and had some stubborn qualities, like a cockroach. When I had the chance to call him over to do chores under the guise of "the master has work for the disciple," it was hard for him not to get angry, but he still wore a somewhat bashful yet sincere smile on his face. The boss called him very diligent, and as the saying goes, "Don't hit someone with a smiling face." With this kind of flattery, I had no choice but to acknowledge it, resulting in the current state of affairs.

  Then in the following days, I began to suspect that he was using the name of a teacher to come to my place and cheat me out of food and drink. I absolutely wouldn't let him call me "teacher" or "master", not for any reason, just because I didn't want to be called old, since his age wasn't much different from mine. So I replaced "master" with the more general term "Old Big".

  As I saw him flash a slightly shy smile, I recalled the scene of his self-introduction. He called himself Li Shu, and as soon as I remembered it, I got angry again. This surname Li is nothing special, according to my common sense, there are too many people with this surname in this era. This is one of the characteristics of the Tang Dynasty, where emperors like to bestow their royal surname on others. From top officials to low-ranking clerks, from high-ranking generals to ordinary soldiers, even from high-ranking courtiers to ordinary civilians, all have the surname Li. Those who won battles were rewarded with the imperial surname, and those who were defeated and conquered were also given the surname as a symbol of imperial rule. As a result, the Li family is spread all over the world, and their origins can be found in the vast deserts and mountains. It's so complicated that even after hundreds of years, it's hard to verify the true origin of the royal surname.

  But he actually dared to say that I could just call him "Uncle" and that would be enough. Call you Uncle? I'd lose big time! On the spot, I gave him a stern look and a good scolding, which left him at a loss, holding his head in pain on the ground, crying out in agony. "You little brat, how dare you take advantage of me? I'll let it slide this time because of Little Girl's sake, but don't think about making me call you Uncle again, or I'll beat you up! What's a name, anyway? It's just a code name. Who cares who you are? From now on, I'll just call you Xiao Bai." And so, this code name was recognized by everyone, and despite his repeated protests being ineffective, plus my brainwashing, he had no choice but to silently acknowledge it with a pinch of his nose, although he looked very unwilling.

  It seems that Xiao Bai is very interested in my affairs and has a lot of questions. When he gets annoyed, it's only natural to take out his frustrations on him first. (But I don't know how many people present have similar thoughts, after all, this controversial officer obviously hides too much that needs to be discovered.) However, fearing the unpredictable behavior and methods of this superior, no one dares to overstep their bounds. Now someone is willing to take the initiative to come and stir up trouble, isn't it just perfect to push the waves and help them along?

  He was clearly from a good family but looked very short of money. When I told him that he couldn't listen to my lectures for free and had to pay extra for unnecessary questions, he obviously couldn't afford it. He got hooked on my lectures and refused to leave, so he ended up using his belongings as collateral, signing an IOU, and managed to stay (heh). The jade pieces felt warm and smooth to the touch, definitely worth a lot of money.

  In contrast to the little girl's fondness for myths and legends, he was interested in my fabricated Western travel notes and historical anecdotes, especially the stories of Socrates, Aristotle, Archimedes and other so-called Western sages, as well as their academic ideas. This was probably also an anomaly at that time.

  I took a jade pendant from him and asked for its price, which was worth three questions. This guy thought for a moment and actually asked about the history of Qin Dynasty. Oh my god, this is a long story to tell. He seemed to understand that it's worth the value.

  "The capital of Qin Dynasty was anciently known as Rome, founded by two brothers who were abandoned by their parents and raised by a wolf mother. During the Western Han period, the chief official named Caesar held military power and abolished the Senate. The first king," then there were the struggles for position between the three giants before and after, and the shocking romance with Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, the great slave uprising of Spartacus. There were also war histories, Gallic Wars, Conquest of Persia, and so on until the invasion of Xiongnu.

  His face changed color as he listened.

  Although the monarchs of Rome have their gains and losses, this guy is not a mere ornament, he actually has some real talent and substance. The questions he raised in recent days would stump others, "Do you know how the Qin Dynasty perished?"

  Then I began to tell my own version of the rise and fall of the Great Qin (Roman Empire). "The fall of the Great Qin was due to external troubles, including the invasion of the Huns and other barbarian tribes. However, it started with internal strife, as eunuchs conspired with the imperial guards. The emperors of the Great Qin were not hereditary, but initially elected by the nobles. Later, however, they became tyrannical and paranoid, relying on eunuchs to maintain their power. As a result, eunuchs gradually gained control over the imperial guards and dominated court politics. They received favor from the emperor and became increasingly corrupt, with insatiable desires for wealth and power. When their demands were not met, they would often stage coups, killing the old emperor and installing a new one. This led to frequent changes in the throne, with emperors being overthrown and replaced by others. In some cases, even the imperial title was sold to the highest bidder. Many usurpers emerged from the ranks of the palace guards. The constant power struggles and assassinations weakened the empire, leading to a situation where multiple claimants to the throne vied for power, with provinces declaring independence and the central government losing control. The country's fortunes declined, and even its own military became unreliable. In desperation, the empire turned to barbarian tribes such as the Goths, Vandals, Saxons, Allemanni, Franks, and Gauls for help, recruiting them into the army. These barbarian soldiers were brave and skilled in battle, rising through the ranks to become officers. They eventually followed the example of their predecessors, seizing power and dominating the government, or holding the emperor hostage. The country was torn apart by internal strife, and naturally, it collapsed. This was the case with the Western Roman Empire, which fell three hundred years ago when its last emperor, Romulus Augustus, was deposed by Odoacer, a Germanic king." My listener let out another sigh of regret, without suspecting that I had fabricated parts of my account. His already pale face turned even whiter, and I felt a thrill of satisfaction in my heart.

  Sorry, thank you for the concern of all readers. Recently, there have been many meetings and conferences, such as party affairs work meetings and system retirement old staff work meetings, which have filled my brain with things like "three representatives" and "two musts". It's really hard to have a complete thought, let alone new updates. An old saying "The Nationalist Party has many taxes, the Communist Party has many meetings" is deeply felt, especially since I'm also doing assistant political work. Last week, I was lucky enough to have some free time and my unit organized a trip to Beijing for tourism. After adjusting, the feelings I got can only be summarized in three "big"s: "place big", "things big". The buildings that have been around for years are all spacious, with high doors and deep courtyards, and people and things are all tall and large. As for "temper big", it's probably a characteristic of the imperial capital, where everyone has a bit of official air. The legacy of planned economy makes service consciousness far inferior to that in the south, especially near the old Beijing city area. Fortunately, I didn't catch up with the sandstorm, but I did experience the scenery of "spring city without flowers flying everywhere". On the last day before boarding the plane, I also caught up with the first case of SARS in Beijing, which had a bit of a taste of good things happening after twists and turns. Obviously, this is a bit off topic, but in my opinion, as the capital, Beijing's history is too long, accumulating countless historical cultures, but also exhausting geographical resources. Although it's not possible to move the capital, for the sake of survival environment and future considerations, it's necessary to divert some population.