Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

Li Hongyun fell silent for a moment, then said, "You mean… the records related to Emperor Gaozu of Liang?"

Chuge nodded. "Exactly."

Li Hongyun might not have been as familiar with this part of history as Chuge, but, now that it had been clarified to this extent, he too could easily understand.

Currently, the historical records regarding the Xuanwu Gate Incident were generally credible.

Especially the various backgrounds involving the Xuanwu Gate Incident, such as the actions taken by the Crown Prince and Prince Qi before, and the behavior of the military generals recruited by Lord Qin during the process of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, these were all fairly reliable.

Because too many people knew about these events, even if someone wanted to change them, it would be impossible.

But that's not to say that the Xuanwu Gate Incident was exactly as recorded in the history books. After all, although the incident was significant, it did not involve many people, only a few hundred men brought by Lord Qin.

The interests of these men were tightly bound together, so some matters might be beautified, even without Lord Qin's demand.

For instance, when Emperor Taizong of Liang first saw the records regarding the Xuanwu Gate Incident in "Taizong's Record," he requested to "cut out the superfluous words and directly describe the event."

That is to say, the historians of the time also subconsciously embellished the Xuanwu Gate Incident. However, Emperor Taizong thought there was no need to cover anything up, and that recording the truth was sufficient.

So, if there indeed were parts of the records concerning the Xuanwu Gate Incident that were extremely unlikely to be recorded truthfully, which parts would those be?

Clearly, they were the portions about Emperor Gaozu of Liang.

Whether these contents were true or not, it was no longer possible to verify them. Because the truth of that time was probably something the historians dared not write, and Emperor Taizong himself was not inclined to mention, as everyone in Liang, who had firsthand experience, would deeply avoid discussing such matters.

After all, in ancient society, loyalty and filial piety were among the foremost of all virtues, and when one's own father was the emperor, loyalty and filial piety had to be united, even if this father's talents and virtues were not as significant as one's own, one could not speak recklessly about such matters.

Li Hongyun then did some simple preparatory work, and later that night, entered the game world of "Dark Sand" once again to begin his trial.

…

As the fog before him cleared, Li Hongyun once again oversaw the entire city of Chang'an from a god-like perspective.

A vast scroll, centered on the Xuanwu Gate in the north of the Imperial City, slowly unfolded,

Countless ant-like figures moved about within Chang'an, passing day and night.

Although this period had not yet reached the peak era of the Liang Dynasty, many details of city life had already begun to appear.

With the morning drums and the ringing of temple bells, residents of Chang'an started to get up one by one, leaving their districts, while various food stalls began their business on the streets.

Merchants in the East and West markets began to stock up, preparing for the afternoon's trade.

Moreover, many people left Chang'an to travel to various places, for example, many set out eastward from Chang'an, passed through perilous passes, and headed for Luoyang.

On such a canvas, a page filled with historical records appeared in Li Hongyun's view.

This page was covered with dense text, some paragraphs and sentences specially marked, seemingly as actionable options.

It seemed that one could directly modify these specific contents.

The original classical Chinese text turned into plain text that Li Hongyun could understand in the next second, and the actionable paragraphs and sentences still corresponded one-to-one.

"…The Crown Prince and Emperor Gaozu of Liang rose to arms in Jinyang,, embodying kindness, righteousness, valor unmatched, and his younger brother Prince Qi greatly admired him, becoming the Crown Prince's close comrade and partner.

"The father and sons worked together harmoniously, with the Crown Prince assisting Emperor Gaozu in governing the state and rectifying officialdom, transporting supplies, and securing swift victories; Prince Qi waged wars in the north and south, leading his troops at the forefront, and within a few years, they successively defeated other warlords, unifying the realm and establishing the Liang Dynasty.

"During the Wude era, the Turkic people frequently invaded, and the Crown Prince dispatched Prince Qi to combat them, and further rebuked Jie Li Khan with a national letter, making Jie Li Khan feel deeply remorseful, ceasing the invasions on the borders of the Liang Dynasty. Hence, Emperor Gaozu and the Crown Prince were respectively honored as 'Heaven Khan' and 'Saint Khan,' historically known as the 'Wude Governance.'

"Lord Qin, the second brother of the Crown Prince, lacked education and was idle, indulging in pleasures and hunting daily, often hunting commoners in Chang'an for sport, which infuriated Emperor Gaozu; however, the Crown Prince pleaded earnestly for him and thus he was spared punishment.

"Prince Qi repeatedly advised Emperor Gaozu and the Crown Prince to strictly discipline Lord Qin. The Crown Prince, kind and filially pious, tried to enlighten and emotionally move him, yet Lord Qin continued in his own ways, unswayed. Not only that, he also held grudges against Emperor Gaozu and the Crown Prince for their reprimands and secretly fostered criminals with ill intentions.

"In the ninth year of Wude, as Emperor Gaozu aged beyond sixty and saw that the Crown Prince was such a paragon of virtue, he planned to cede the throne to the Crown Prince and retire. But when Lord Qin heard that the Crown Prince was about to ascend to the throne, he rashly took risks, letting the secret criminals he nurtured bribe the guards of Xuanwu Gate, laying ambushes in advance to kill both the Crown Prince and Prince Qi.

"He then broke into the imperial palace, detained Emperor Gaozu, and coerced him into ceding the throne to himself.

"When Jie Li Khan heard that the Crown Prince had been killed, deeply feeling that he had failed the saintly grace of the Crown Prince, he led his troops south, approaching Wei River.

"With Lord Qin usurping the throne and losing the people's heart, the soldiers in Chang'an lacked the will to fight, and had no choice but to beg for mercy at the Wei River from Jie Li Khan, ceding the region of He Tao to the Turkic in exchange for peace, also emptying the royal treasury and scouring the wealth of Chang'an's citizens to offer up. The Turkic people looted around Chang'an for over a month before finally departing, historically known as the 'Pact of Wei River'."