My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 481 The Cultural Heritage of China: The Discovery of Dunhuang Manuscripts!
——[Simulation Start]——

The memorial on managing the Western Regions was sent to the cabinet.

This memorial was discussed and approved by the five departments of the Secretariat and the Chancellery, and it received the attention of the Grand Secretariat.

Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji agree with your proposal and believe that karez wells can be dug in Dunhuang to restore Yangguan and Yumenguan. If the reclamation in Dunhuang is successful, then the plan to manage the Western Regions can be launched.

Zhang Juzheng opposed allocating the court's financial and material resources to the Western Regions, believing that the court should focus its efforts on maritime trade and promote fiscal reforms.

Zhu Dashou was also worried about the ethnic and religious problems that would arise from the expansion into the Western Regions.

The cabinet failed to reach a consensus, and the six ministries and nine ministerial offices did not propose any other solutions to the Western Regions issue that could persuade the cabinet to reach a consensus.

The cabinet could only send all the ministerial proposals and memorials to the palace.

When the memorial was sent to the inner court, the Longqing Emperor was interested in your plan, but he felt that the plan was too ambitious and that even the cabinet did not support it, so he rejected your memorial.

——[Simulation End]——

[Remaining Prestige: 6800.]

To fully approve your memorial proposal, you will need to pay 1000 prestige points. Do you wish to pay?

Su Ze sighed. Even with the prestige of all five branches of the Zhongshu Menxia, ​​he still failed to pass and had to pay an additional 1000 prestige points.

Su Ze knew that this was already a discounted price.

If I were to submit a memorial on my own, I would probably need even more prestige points.

After all, the "Memorial on Managing the Western Regions" was a strategic plan of national importance, so it was impossible for it to be approved so easily.

Given the current health condition of the Longqing Emperor and the division within the cabinet, it would be difficult to pass such a memorial.

It is important to understand that managing the Western Regions was a shift in the imperial court's policy, requiring a significant investment of manpower and resources, and necessitating the coordination of various tasks.

Such a shift in national policy usually only occurs during periods of relative stability in the court and relative national strength.

But Su Ze couldn't do anything about it; policies also have a window of opportunity.

The Huozhe, who occupied the Western Regions, were utterly defeated and routed by the Wushen people, who had absorbed the military technology spilled over from the Ming Dynasty.

The Wushen people, as henchmen of the Ming Dynasty, did not have enough tribes to occupy these territories.

Now the Ming Dynasty can occupy Dunhuang without losing a single soldier, and has ample time to construct water conservancy projects and defensive fortifications.

The cost is minimized at this point.

If we wait until the technology spreads and the local regional forces are reunited, it will be much more difficult to occupy the Western Regions again.

The governance of frontier regions cannot be judged by economic costs; no great power can only calculate economic gains.

Su Ze decisively chose "yes".

[Ding! Prestige has been deducted. Please submit a memorial in real life. The simulated settlement will be carried out after the memorial is executed!]

[Remaining Prestige: 5800.]
-
Outside Jiayuguan Pass.

Sun Gao, the prefect of Lanzhou, sighed as he stood on the city wall of Jiayuguan.

To assist Liu Bing, Sun Gao, the prefect of Lanzhou, followed him all the way from Lanzhou to Jiayuguan. It was through his personal coordination that the Wushen people were able to travel from Lanzhou to Jiayuguan.

After the siege of Jiayuguan was lifted, the Wushen people continued their advance along the Hexi Corridor, defeating the Huozhe army at Dunhuang, and then marched towards Hami.

Sun Gao remained in Jiayuguan to continue coordinating between the imperial court and the Wushen people.

After completing his routine patrol, just as Sun Gao was about to return, dust suddenly rose outside Jiayuguan.

Sun Gao returned to the city wall and saw several Han cavalrymen.

Upon seeing the attire of these Han cavalrymen, Sun Gao immediately ordered the side gate to be opened and let them in.

Sun Gao personally descended the city wall and saw these Han cavalrymen, who were his personal guards, assigned to Liu Bing by himself to serve as his bodyguards.

"Has Lord Liu sent any message back?"

These close-quarters cavalry also served as messengers between Sun Gao and Liu Bing, relaying any important military intelligence Liu Bing possessed.

But this time, these cavalrymen were very strange.

The leader said:
"Lord Sun, Lord Liu has instructed us to stay in Dunhuang and wait for the Wushen people to return five days later to report back. Please take some men and go to Dunhuang in person."

"?"

"Lord Liu said that this matter concerns the preservation of our cultural heritage and that you must lead your troops there in person."

Sun Gao was dumbfounded, but no matter how he questioned the cavalrymen, they only brought back this one sentence.

Sun Gao hesitated for a moment.

trap?

According to the news, the Wushen people have all gone to attack Hami, an important town in the Western Regions and one of the few large oases in the region with lush vegetation, making it an ideal place to accommodate the Wushen population.

The Firemen have been defeated, and there are no more enemies left in the entire Hexi Corridor.

Why didn't Liu Bing explain clearly, and instead waited until the Wushen people were far away before asking him to go there in person?
Sun Gao couldn't understand it, but he trusted Liu Bing, so he gritted his teeth, handed over his deputy, and led two hundred cavalrymen out of Jiayuguan to Dunhuang.

Led by his personal guard cavalry, Sun Gao galloped for three days to reach the ancient site of Dunhuang.

Dunhuang City was abandoned during the Jiajing era and later became a place for some merchants to stay overnight.

As the Fire Warriors became increasingly radical, trade in the Western Regions declined, eventually turning the city into a desolate wasteland.

However, the imperial guards did not lead Sun Gao into the city, but instead went to the Mogao Caves outside the city.

Sun Gao knew about the Mogao Caves.

The last glimmer of light for the Mogao Caves was during the Yuan Dynasty. Since then, the Mogao Caves have not been repaired or maintained.

Coupled with the decline of Buddhism in the Western Regions and the desertification of Dunhuang, the city of Dunhuang itself was abandoned, and the Mogao Caves were buried in the sandstorm.

The personal guard cavalry said to Sun Gao:
"After capturing Dunhuang, the Wushen people set up camp in Mogao Grottoes, and their army was stationed there."

Sun Gao nodded. Compared to the abandoned city of Dunhuang, the Mogao Grottoes could still withstand the wind and sand.

"Lord Liu wants me to lead Lord Sun to a grotto."

"Lead the way!"

Led by his personal guard cavalry, Sun Gao quickly arrived at the grotto.

This is an unremarkable grotto, but due to years of disrepair, a lot of sand and dust have accumulated inside.

Sun Gao was puzzled. Why did Liu Bing go to such lengths to lure him to this grotto?
He used a whale oil lamp to probe and quickly discovered several marks.

These markings were also the markings he and Liu Bing had agreed upon.

When the Wushen army was advancing, Sun Gao and Liu Bing agreed on such markings to make it easier for the Ming army to catch up.

Upon seeing the familiar markings, Sun Gao ventured deeper into the cave, where he discovered that it seemed to hold a hidden world within.

Upon closer inspection, Sun Gao discovered a crack that allowed people to pass through.

He gritted his teeth and peered into the crack.

Everyone rushed forward to help, and Sun Gao squeezed into the crevice, then had someone hand him a whale oil lamp.

What Sun Gao then witnessed was astonishing!
Under the light of the whale oil lamp, Sun Gao saw the books piled up throughout the entire cave!
Some of these books were stored in boxes, some were bound into volumes, and others were silk books scattered on the ground. The entire cave was filled with all kinds of books!
Sun Gao finally understood what Liu Bing meant by sending someone to deliver a message to him in such a mysterious way, saying something about "the location of cultural heritage".

It must have been that Liu Bing accidentally discovered this library cave when he was stationed at Mogao Grottoes with the Wushen people, but Liu Bing was also afraid that the library cave would be destroyed by the Wushen people.

So he sent his personal guards with a message, instructing them to excavate the books after the Wushen people had left.

Sun Gao's eyes widened in disbelief!

Scholars and officials of the Ming Dynasty had a tradition of collecting ancient books. Some rare Song Dynasty editions could fetch astronomical prices.

So-called rare books are nothing more than printed books.

But what Sun Gao picked up at random were Tang Dynasty scriptures copied onto silk scrolls!
This isn't just a room full of books, it's a room full of treasures!

Sun Gao was also a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and naturally, he was a book lover. Upon seeing so many ancient books, Sun Gao immediately began to read them.

Most of the texts here are Buddhist scriptures, which is to be expected.

The Western Regions were a place where Buddhism flourished, and Buddhism in the Central Plains was introduced through the Western Regions.

Starting from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, merchants and common people began to carve the Mogao Caves, a practice that continued until the Yuan Dynasty.

However, the sheer number of Buddhist scriptures here still startled Sun Gao.

These are not Buddhist scriptures from one era. From the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, Dunhuang has experienced so many wars, the chaos of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the transition from Sui to Tang, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and the great chaos at the end of the Song Dynasty. If these scriptures were placed in the Central Plains, they would have been lost long ago. But in this corner of Dunhuang, these Buddhist scriptures have been completely preserved.

Sun Gao was not a Buddhist, but looking at the mountain of Buddhist scriptures, he could only sigh and say that if it weren't for the Buddha's blessing, how could so many Buddhist scriptures have been passed down?

"Zhizhou!"

The guards outside the cave thought Sun Gao had encountered some accident and kept calling out.

Sun Gao then snapped out of his reverie, called out to let everyone know he was safe, and prepared to leave before having the Buddhist scriptures moved out.

However, Sun Gao stumbled and tripped over a book box.

Sun Gao then realized that the book box had been deliberately moved to this location; it must have been placed here intentionally by Liu Bing.

Sun Gao opened the book box with a puzzled look; inside was a silk scroll.

"Zhang Huaishen's Transformation Text"?
Sun Gao quickly determined that it was a silk manuscript from the Tang Dynasty.

Sun Gao was so certain because the silk manuscript recorded the Tang Dynasty's Guiyi Army's recapture of Shazhou and its battles against Tuyuhun.

and many more!

Isn't this Zhang Huaishen the same Zhang Yichao, the leader of the Guiyi Army?

"The Han soldiers wielded their blades like frost and snow, and the enemy cavalry had nowhere to escape in the vast sky!"
When Sun Gao read this line of poetry in the silk scroll, he became dazed.

He seemed to have traveled across a thousand years and stood atop the bustling city of Dunhuang.

He saw the elite Guiyi Army fighting against the foreign tribes below the city walls, and heard the battle cries echoing across the city walls for thousands of years—"Return to Tang!"

Sun Gao quickly put the silk scroll away, and then he saw another copy of the "Wine Proclamation".

This is an official administrative document from a military commander of the Guiyi Army, requesting wine and water from Zhang Yichao, the leader of the Guiyi Army, to reward the soldiers who had won a battle.

Sun Gao seemed to see the Guiyi Army soldiers holding wine bowls, looking at the distant Tang Dynasty, trying to return to their homeland in a drunken dream.

Sun Gao trembled all over. He looked into the book box again, where there were household registration and geographical archives of Shazhou in the Tang Dynasty, and even a fragment of the "Tang Code Commentary", plus a pile of judicial rulings from the government at that time.

Sun Gao stood up and looked at the vast sea of ​​books behind him.

This is the essence of cultural heritage!

This is the cultural heritage that has been passed down in China for thousands of years!

The reason why China is Chinese is precisely because its cultural heritage has never been interrupted!
Sun Gao composed himself and immediately left the library cave.

Sun Gao ordered his men to immediately reinforce the entrance to the cave, and then carefully move the books out of the cave.

He then ordered his trusted confidants to fetch carriages and guards from Jiayuguan, instructing them to transport the books back to Jiayuguan intact.

Sun Gao then carried the book box that Liu Bing had discovered, tied it to his body, and rushed back to Jiayuguan with this copy of "Zhang Yichao's Transformation Text"!

Capital.

The debate over the Western Regions continues.

There was no other way; the national treasury was limited, and the Ming Dynasty needed money everywhere. The Western Regions were simply too far from the capital.

Not to mention officials, even the common people in the capital didn't quite understand Su Ze after the controversy was published in the Yuefu Xinbao.

Instead of developing the Western Regions, it would be better to build another railway for the capital.

The Fangshan Railway is already fully loaded every day, and the transportation costs for coal from Shanxi to Fangshan are also considerable.

There are already calls in the capital to build a railway directly connecting to Xuanfu.

The Western Regions are too far away.

The entire Zhongshu Menxia branch was also somewhat disheartened.

The department's first meeting was still on the emperor's desk, remaining unsaid to this day.

It should be noted that Su Ze's memorials had always been approved without exception.

Now that the five branches of the Secretariat and Chancellery have been brought in, it has been shelved for so long.

This also dealt a significant blow to the prestige of the five branches of the Secretariat-Chancellery.

However, Su Ze remained indifferent in the face of these discussions.

He simply handled his daily official duties without showing any signs of anxiety.

This earned him the utmost respect from all his subordinates, who praised him for his true demeanor as the Shadow Grand Secretary.

General Affairs Department.

Li Yiyuan, the Commissioner of the Court of State Affairs, was in a good mood.

The task of urging the ministers to deliberate was left to the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery.

The issue of the Western Regions is still debated in the imperial court, but there are not many officials submitting memorials to the emperor anymore.

With no other major events scheduled for the court recently, the Office of Transmission has been relatively quiet.

Whenever he had a moment to spare, Li Tongzhengshi couldn't resist splashing ink again.

Just as he wrote the three characters "No today", the official Xu Shuli suddenly rushed in.

"So flustered! What's the matter that you're in such a panic!"

"Prefect Sun Gao of Lanzhou urgently reports!"

Li Yiyuan's hand trembled. He felt a headache coming on whenever he heard the name Lanzhou, and quickly asked:
"Is this an urgent military situation? Then send it to the General Staff immediately!"

"No, it's a report concerning local governance."

Wenzhi?

What kind of cultural achievements could Lanzhou, that godforsaken place, possibly have?
Hearing this, Li Yiyuan calmed down.

He picked up his pen again and wrote the character "事" (shì, meaning "matter").

Then he put down his pen and said:
"What's the big deal?"

Xu Shuli quickly said:
"Sun Gao, the prefect of Lanzhou, discovered a library cave at the Dunhuang site and unearthed more than 100,000 volumes of documents from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Song Dynasty!"

"Prefect Sun also reported that among the documents were silk scrolls recording the Tang Guiyi Army, as well as a large number of household registration documents and archives of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions!"

"what!"

Li Yiyuan felt dizzy, and he exclaimed in surprise:

"How many copies did you say? One hundred thousand copies?"

Li Yiyuan tore up the calligraphy in front of him and roared:
"What incredible luck did Sun Gao have? Did he stumble upon the very essence of Chinese culture?"

(End of this chapter)