Chapter 131: A Professor was Dumbfounded by Zhang Ye’s Questions!
Ignoring the whispers and doubts of many audience members.
Zhang Ye was calm and composed, saying, “Zhou Yu was a very loyal and heroic character. When he was 24, he was appointed by Sun Ce as the ‘General of the Household Who Establishes Might’ and started to gain credit and make contributions. In the same year, he and Sun Ce, who were the same age, married the beauties, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao. It can be said that Zhou Yu enjoyed success from a young age and was riding the crest of success. He was good-looking, and he did things well. Back then, in Wuzhong, he was addressed as Zhou-Lang. The meaning of the word Lang refers to a young lad, but there is an intention of praise in it. In a place like Wuzhong, Sun Ce was called Sun-Lang, and Zhou Yu was called Zhou-Lang. If translated, they will be ‘Stunner Sun’ …and ‘Stunner Zhou’.”
What?
Stunner?
Xiao Lu and Xiaofang exclaimed!
Quite a number of the female audience could not help but laugh!
Was this talking about the Three Kingdoms? Why were there modern phrases?
“So, think about it…” Zhang Ye looked at everyone, “Zhou Yu was already ‘General of the Household Who Establishes Might’ in his twenties. He had married the prettiest babe as his wife. It could be said that in the arena of combat, politics and romance, he was well accomplished. So why would he be jealous of others? It was more likely that others would be jealous of him!”
Babe?
Even babe was used?
Many people nearly fainted. Many people were amused!
“In fact, the historical Zhou Yu was a very magnanimous person.” Zhang Ye carried on, “Chen Shou once said that he was a broad-minded person. His contemporaries’ ratings of him were also very high. Liu Bei’s appraisal of him was that he was magnanimous. Jian Gan’s appraisal of him was that he was graceful, so if one was to say that Zhou Yu was a very spiteful person, it is a great wrong!” Ma Hengyuan’s program that had been abolished had even said that Zhou Yu was a petty person, but this was refuted by Zhang Ye. Furthermore, he had reason, and his arguments were referenced from the passages in the books. The Face Smacking Specialist vibe was at full flare!
The audience was skeptical.
Ma Hengyuan believed that Zhang Ye was speaking nonsense!
The two surnamed Xu guests completely disagreed with Zhang Ye’s view!
Zheng Ye laughed, “Some people might disagree, but I can certainly say that the novel, ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, is not history. Why is Zhou Yu’s image so different from the impression that we have? Why are we both familiar and unfamiliar with the historical period during the Three Kingdoms? There are three reasons.
There are three images regarding the history of the Three Kingdoms. The first comes from historical books. Mainly, it is the image recorded in history. It is the image mainly advocated by historians. This image will be called the ‘Historical Image’. I want to make it clear that the Historical Image does not mean historical fact. This is because historical records are not necessarily reliable. The second is the image from artistic works. I call this the ‘Artistic Image’. The third one is made from the legends and belief that the common citizens have. I call this the ‘Civil Image’.”
People listened and thought at the same time.
“As such, this can already explain why Zhou Yu’s image is so different from what we have in mind. This is because everyone has an image and evaluation of a person. Once this image is formed, some people would not be able to accept other images. If you say he is different, you will say that isn’t right. You are wrong. So when we see some historical dramas, there will always be an audience member in the comments saying, ‘Aiyah, this Zhou Yu doesn’t seem right’.”Zhang Ye seemed to look at Ma Hengyuan and company and then said, “Eh, this Zhou Yu doesn’t seem right? Then have you seen.. the real Zhou Yu?”
The audience laughed again, “Hur Hur Hur Hur.”
Hu Fei was also amused. This Little Zhang!
Ma Hengyuan’s beard had went crooked from anger, but he could not refute it!
“Hence, history is not a novel, nor are the characters appearing in a literary piece of work.” Zhang Ye said, “Then for example, Zhuge Liang. When Zhuge Liang is mentioned, most people will think of the empty fort strategy first, where his military talent was displayed. But actually, all of this was described and created in a novel. Of course, there are some logic and reasons behind it and it was for a good reason. In recent years, there was a person called Guo Chong. This Guo Chong was probably a hardcore fan of Zhuge Liang.”
Hardcore fan?
The audience was amused hearing that.
However, Zhang Ye was extremely serious, “Hence, he wrote a book, ‘Bringing to Light Five Hidden Matters of Liang’. He revealed five things that most people do not know about Zhuge Liang. The third matter was the empty fort strategy. So the empty fort strategy was not seen as fabricated, and had a origin. However, we all know that the words of hardcore fans aren’t very reliable. I will solemnly tell you that the historical Zhuge Liang was an excellent politician, but his military talent was far lacking. He was in no way a military genius. As for the empty fort strategy…” Zhang Ye said a shocking sentence without any heed, “It doesn’t exist at all!”
What?
The empty fort strategy did not exist? It was all fabricated?
Ma Hengyuan immediately was angered, “What nonsense is that!?”
“How can it not exist? Isn’t that nonsense!?” Teacher Xu was also angered.
Hu Fei and Xiao Lu were also stunned. The audience doubted even more. After all, many things were already entrenched in their minds!
Zhang Ye said in a manner that was neither too fast or slow, “Many people are questioning this point. This is the position in the hearts of the common people known as the Civil Image I mentioned earlier. However, I still have the same thing to say. History is not a novel. Just now, the person who refuted was Professor Ma Hengyuan, right?” The cameraman immediately focused the camera on Ma Hengyuan. “You are in the field of literature research, so you research literary works. For the dissection of ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, I believe not many people in the country can compare with you. However, that is not history. This is an adapted piece of literature inspired from history. If someone still doesn’t believe me or does not agree with my view, then let me ask two questions. Guo Chong said that Sima Yi led his soldiers to attack Yangping. Back then, Zhuge Liang did not have any soldiers on hand, hence he came up with an empty fort strategy, causing Sima Yi ti retreat. That was it, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Isn’t that so.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
The audience answered.
Zhang Ye chuckled, “Then here comes my first question. According to historical records and validation, Sima Yi was stationed at Wancheng in the north of Jing Province. He was not at the battleground in Yangping. Since he was not there, how did this thing happen?”
“Ah?”
“This…”
“Is that true?”
The audience was confused.
Ma Hengyuan and Teacher Xu looked at each other and did not have a clue. They were, after all, not historians, so they could not refute it!
Zhang Ye carried on, “Then there’s the second problem. Sima Yi’s large army had arrived and Zhuge Liang was very quick-witted. He opened the city gates and got old soldiers to sweep the city gates. Then he had two children with him while sitting on the top of the city gates, singing karaoke.”
“Pfft!”
“Karaoke?”
“Haha!”
A few members of the audience were laughing in stitches.
Zhang Ye said, “What does he sing in plays? Standing on the city walls, admiring the mountain scenery, I hear noise and confusion below everywhere. Their generals are in disagreement, that insatiable Sima Yi has attacked me once again? If you are coming, so be it. I am fully prepared. The streets are swept spotless. Tasty wine is prepared to reward your victorious three armies. Since you are here, come into the city. Come! Come! Come into the city, and hear me strum the zither!”
Everyone laughed again. They felt that the way Zhang Ye acted as Zhuge Liang was too wretched!
Zhang Ye blinked and then said, “At this moment, Sima Yi was already at the city gates. He looked up and smacked his lips. In his mind, he was thinking… What’s the meaning of this bro? He’s inviting me up to sing karaoke with him? Oh, so if I go up, I’ll ended up being OK-ed (killed)? I won’t fall for this trick. Retreat!”
Everyone laughed even louder!
Zhang Ye also smirked, “Then here’s my second question. This matter does not conform to logic at all. Why did Sima Yi not dare to attack? He was just afraid of an ambush in the city. But how many people could there be hiding in the city? In the era of cold metallic weapons, it was impossible to bury a Scud missile, right? There can’t be any other weapons of mass destruction. Couldn’t he send some reconnaissance to scout ahead and check if there really was an ambush? Why should he retreat?”
Scud missiles?
Weapons of mass destruction?
The audience was once again tickled!
Ma Hengyuan and company could not say a thing. They had been rendered speechless by Zhang Ye!
Zhang Ye looked at Ma Hengyuan and said, “Also, wasn’t Sima Yi able to see Zhuge Liang? Wasn’t he hearing him playing the zither above the city gates? And he could even hear him sing karaoke. Based on this description, the distance between Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang must have been very short. Even if you were afraid of an ambush and did not dare to enter the city, why couldn’t you order an archer to kill Zhuge Liang? Why did you have to leave?” Pausing for a moment, “Furthermore, according to Guo Chong’s account, or according to ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, the difference between the military power between the two armies was highly disparate. Some said it was 200,000, while others said there was 100,000. Couldn’t you just surround the fortress? Can’t you surround the city for three to five days, trapping them inside? Why would you withdraw the army?”
No one could answer Zhang Ye’s three questions!
Everyone was listening very attentively, while others were shocked!
Even Ma Hengyuan and company could not say a thing. Every question of Zhang Ye was very sharp. Even academics like them could not figure it out!
There really was no empty fort strategy?
This was all fabricated?
Zhang Ye summarized, “So this claim of the empty fort strategy is completely unreliable. As for the others, such as the Battle of Bowang, borrowing arrows with straw boats, or praying for the eastern wind. None of these were recorded in history. However, literary works had illustrated him in an extremely exaggerated manner. Zhuge Liang became a person with divine strategy and shrewd calculations, while all the other generals became idiots. Oh, in a war, Zhuge Liang gave his orders to the army. What happened to the other generals? They didn’t even know themselves. They just went there, and played it by ear. Then, when they reached their destination, they didn’t do anything but open the military orders in the satchel. The satchel had brilliant strategies after all. Only then did they know what they had to do or what to fight. Isn’t this treating war like a game!?”
At this moment, it was unknown who first gave an applause!
Bba Bba Bba, following that, several members of the audience also began to join in the applause!
Exciting!
Really exciting!
Who said that Zhang Ye was unable to talk about the Three Kingdoms and did not know history as a host? What he said was not only humorous and interesting, it overthrew what people knew. It caused people to subconsciously be engrossed in it. And in terms of historical information, there was no problem at all. Didn’t you see Ma Hengyuan, Teacher Xu and Editor Xu being dumbfounded by the questions?
The crucial point was that after he used Zhou Yu to refute Ma Hengyuan, he had mentioned Zhuge Liang. Previously, Ma Hengyuan had mentioned how Zhuge Liang was so clever and formidable during his lecture, but in a blink of an eye, Zhang Ye had thrown a bomb. The empty fort strategy did not exist at all! Praying for the eastern wind was completely fabricated! Zhuge Liang was no military genius at all!
If this wasn’t face slapping, what was?
Zhang Ye had completely refuted the views of Ma Hengyuan and the two guests! He had ripped them to pieces!