Chapter 250 : Tan Mo Astonishes
More attention was now being paid.
Being a history consultant was just like being an adviser.
The scriptwriter, on the other hand, actually had to link everything together in a logical manner and had to link it in such a way that it became an interesting story that would be loved by an audience.
The scriptwriter had to actually understand every part of the history in order to portray it accurately in the script.
Not to mention the dialogue… Some of it could be traced back to historical texts, but most of it had been created by the scriptwriter herself.
After all, only a few lines were recorded in historical texts.
How could they record every word that was spoken?
Even if there ever had been a more complete dialogue, it must be gone by now. This was the history of antiquity.
The consultant might be able to inform the scriptwriter of a bit of dialogue that was recorded in antique texts.
But the large part of it is up to the scriptwriter herself.
So the history consultant of “Legend of Wei and Jin” was definitely good, but the scriptwriter was even better and had been showered with words of praise.
Tan Mo was a patient girl.
The Tsinghua students weren’t expecting this. Director Liu obviously thought highly of Tan Mo.
That was the truth, and it wasn’t up to them to decide whether they wanted to believe it or not.
Before, Tan Mo had slapped their school of language by beating them so badly in the Ancient Text Competition.
Now it turns out that she is also an expert on history.
Remembering their previous words of praise, they all felt extremely awkward.
Before, they had looked down on Tan Mo, but now they had just been told that Tan Mo was the actual expert.
“So do we have enough credentials to exchange with Tsinghua now?” a Beijing University sophomore asked in a mocking tone. He was called Lei Junxing.
The whole Tsinghua group had contorted looks on their faces.
Hao Yidan looked irritated, and she asked Tan Mo, “Tan Mo, since you are the consultant of ‘Legend of Wei and Jin,’ then when we asked earlier, why didn’t you say anything? You made us go to ask Professor Zhao instead.”
Tan Mo hesitated for a moment and then said with a questioning look in her eyes, “If I had said that I was the consultant of ‘Legend of Wei and Jin’ earlier when you asked, would you have believed me?”
The Tsinghua students were quiet for a moment.
No, they would not have believed her! Not for a moment!
She was from the school of finance. Who would believe that she was the history consultant of “Legend of Wei and Jin”?
“If Director Liu hadn’t been the one who said it himself, even if Professor Zhao had said it, wouldn’t you all have thought that Professor Zhao was lying to you?” Tan Mo held onto her little shovel and dug another hole and waited for them to fall in themselves.
“Quit making things up!” Qu Yuanqi said quickly. “We never thought that.”
Although Professor Zhao was a professor at Beijing University, that didn’t mean that they wanted to get on his bad side.
“But even after Director Liu told you guys, you all seemed like you didn’t want to believe it still.” Tan Mo lowered her head sadly.
“No, we didn’t!” Hao Yidan’s voice was raised high, to the point that it became sharp.
Tan Mo hid behind Director Liu and said, “Whatever you say…”
Hao Yidan’s face hardened.
How could there be someone like her? She was so irritating!
Professor Zhao looked on silently.
How come that sounded somewhat familiar?
Tan Mo hid behind Director Liu and sneaked a look at Professor Zhao. When they made eye contact, Tan Mo winked and mouthed the words, “Shen Jingyi.”
She’d learned it from Shen Jingyi.
She wasn’t the one who’d made it up.
Professor Zhao had nothing to say.
“Now, should we still continue the exchange?” Professor Hu asked quietly.
Yang Guangyuan stepped forward and said to Tan Mo, “Tan Mo, since you are the history consultant of ‘Legend of Wei and Jin,’ it is obvious that you are good at the history from the Wei and Jin periods. So I won’t ask you anything regarding that period of time.”
He paused for a moment and continued, “Weizi was the eldest son of Emperor Ying, stepbrother of late Emperor Zhou. Zhou succeeded to the throne, and soon the country’s system of government fell, but Zhou continued in his foolish ways. Weizi attempted to advise Zhou, but Zhou would not listen. Meanwhile Bo Cang of West Zou, in the name of government reform, took over the Li State. Weizi feared that the destruction would soon spread to themselves, so he told Zhou what had happened in Li State.”
“This is the excerpt on Song Weizi from Shiji,” Zhou said. “‘It is Destiny! The heavens are those who decide whether or not tragedy befalls the Shang Dynasty!’ Then Weizi realized that Zhou could not be helped. He left irately, unsure what to do, so Weizi asked the Grand Preceptor and his son. The young general said, ‘Shang Dynasty has a corrupt system of governance, and its king doesn’t have his mind on governance. I am a descendant of Chen Yushang, and our family has been the king’s advisers.’ Zhou wasted his days away in the royal harem, and he enjoyed wine and goods as the system of governance fell and as the country was being torn apart. As the state fell, no one would be left out, the entire court and the entire congress were perpetrators of the state’s failure, and they would all mourn for the fall of the Shang Dynasty!” Tan Mo spoke at a slow pace. “Should I continue? Ask for any chapter and any line of ‘Shiji,’ and I can repeat it for you.”
Hao Yidan said in a hushed tone, “‘Shiji’ is the most famous of historical texts. Let’s not test her on that.”
“But ‘Shiji’ has 130 scrolls. Did she actually memorize it all?” Qu Yuanqi asked in a low voice.
“Test her on something else! She is just one person. She wouldn’t know more than all of us combined,” Qu Yuanqi said. Then he stood up and spoke in a raised voice. “During the reign of Emperor Wen, the Marquis of Dongyang, Zhang Xiang, resigned from being the royal tutor of the crown prince. The courts had to elect the next royal tutor, and they all attempted to place one of their own in that seat of power. Until Xiao Jing ascended the throne.”
“‘Shiji,’ excerpt on Wanshi Zhangshu, ninth section: the day arrived soon, and the coronation ceremony ensued, and the emperor received the formalities from his court and the congress. Fen was named the Grand Minister. The eldest son of Fen was Zijian, the second son Zijia, the third son Ziyi, the fourth son Ziqing. His sons came forth in service of the state and the emperor,” Tan Mo replied without a pause.
She didn’t think she was great at historical analysis, but she’d read a lot, and she had a good memory.
“Shiji” was a book she’d read a long time ago. Her teacher had read it to her.
“She’s not going to be tricked by ‘Shiji.’ She probably knows the entire book from beginning to end. After all, it is the most famous of historical texts,” Yang Guangyuan said in a low tone. Then he continued, “Twenty-four Histories, let’s choose something else, something that is not so well known. Nothing related to the time periods of Wei and Jin.”
“How about ‘History of Jin’? I’ve been learning that recently,” Luo Xiangwei said, and the Tsinghua group’s eyes lit up.
“Yes! That’s it!”
Luo Xiangwei stood up and said, “During the reign of the emperors, the emperors’ relatives were given titles, and Guanglu Daifu was named King of the Ge and became minister of the army. At the beginning of TianDe, Ning Mu was indicted…”
After speaking, Luo Xiangwei retreated into his group and said to Yang Guangyuan and the others with a proud look on his face, “I took out the beginning and end on purpose and repeated only the middle part. There is so much content in ‘History of Jin’ that it’s not possible for Tan Mo to have memorized it all. Even if she did memorize it all, I don’t believe that she could think of the right content in such a short period of time. She has a human brain. She’s not a computer.”
“That’s right. Look at her. She isn’t saying anything now,” Hao Yidan said, raising her brows.
“Are you all finished?” Tan Mo waited until they had finished their hushed talking and said, “Since you are all finished, I can talk now.”
The Tsinghua students looked at Tan Mo.
‘Is it possible that she actually knows the answer?’
Just as they were questioning her in their minds, Tan Mo said, “The following year, the minister of Da Zhong was indicted, and another was named to guard the capital. The name of the capital was changed to Yan, and then afterward, the name was again changed to Nanyi. At the beginning of the year of Zen Yuan, the capital was moved to West Jing. Then in three years, the capital was moved to East Jing. Then the king of Zhao ascended…”
The Tsinghua students stood there, dumbstruck.
Tan Mo turned to Professor Hu and the others and asked, “Professor Hu, in previous years, was the exchange program also just like this?”
“Yes, that’s about it.” Professor Hu nodded.