Read Chapter 7048 of the novel Charismatic Charlie Wade free online.
Chapter 7048
“It was Master who lied?! Why did Madam Wade say that?!”
Maria’s face was filled with surprise and confusion.
Margaret asked Maria, “Senior, do you know anything about Meng Changsheng’s life?”
“For example, when was he born and when did he die?”
Maria blurted out, “Master was born in Chang’an in the first year of the Linde reign of the Tang Dynasty.”
“Which was 664 AD, and died in 1663,”
“Which was the second year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty?”
“Exactly one thousand years ago.”
Margaret shook her head and said,
“I had people look up a lot of ancient books and materials in Chang’an.”
“Because Meng Changsheng was a Jinshi and had served in the court,”
“Some official historical books have records of him.”
“According to the official historical records,”
“Meng Changsheng was indeed born in the first year of the Linde reign.”
“However, this contradicts what the Taoist priest said,”
“So I asked some tomb raiders to search for clues in the ancient tombs of the Wu family from the Tang Dynasty.”
“After over a year of searching, until Senior and Charlie went to the Shiwan Mountains, we finally found a document from over a thousand years ago from the Wu family.”
“It states that the 16th-generation grandson of the Wu family at the time was named Meng Sheng.”
“With the courtesy name Changming.”
“He was born in the second year of the Qianfeng reign of the Tang Dynasty.”
“Which was 667 AD.”
“The surname, name, and courtesy name all match.”
“I believe this Meng Sheng is Meng Changsheng!”
Maria’s eyes widened, her expression no longer calm.
She blurted out, “Madam Wade, do you mean that Master changed his birth date?”
“He deliberately changed his age by three years?”
“Yes!” Margaret nodded and said,
“Based on what I have found, it should be so.”
Maria frowned, “But this doesn’t make sense!”
“I once talked to you. You once met an old man by chance.”
“The old man’s ancestor was a servant named Jiang who was accepted by the master at the beginning of his cultivation.”
“Even the old man said that the master was born in the first year of Linde.”
“I think the master was less than a hundred years old at that time.”
“It is impossible for him to start planning things a thousand years later so early.”
“Besides, some scholars in the Tang Dynasty would spend a lot of manpower and material resources to bribe examiners and change their age in order to take the boy exam.”
“Some officials would do this to delay retirement.”
“I will first analyze human nature.”
“Meng Changsheng’s original name was Meng Sheng, with the courtesy name Chang Ming.”
“Later, after practicing Taoism, he changed his name to Meng Changsheng and called himself Changsheng Jushi.
This is like a businessman who was originally named Meng Sheng and later changed his name to Meng Facai.”
“But the word Changsheng sounds more reasonable.”
“It has a sense of ethereal beauty, so it seems less vulgar.”
“But in fact, its underlying logic is the same as names like Meng Fa Cai and Meng Dang Guan.”
“The younger generation feels that people who can change their innermost thoughts into their own names must have very strong inner desires and are definitely not the kind of people who have no desires or demands.”
Maria agreed and said, “Mrs. Wade’s analysis is indeed very reasonable.”
Margaret continued, “When Meng Changsheng passed the imperial examination and entered the court as an official, the emperor was still Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi.”
“Emperor Gaozong of Tang changed his reign title fourteen times in his lifetime.”
“His wife Wu Zetian later ascended the throne and changed her reign title seventeen times in her lifetime.”
“As for Emperor Gaozu of Tang and Empress Dowager Tang, they changed their reign titles seventeen times.”
“Emperor Gaozong used only one reign title, and other emperors generally used one or two.”
“Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu Zetian frequently changed their reign titles.”
“It’s said this was because they were both devoted believers in Taoism and the I Ching.”
“And each reign title held special significance for them.”
“This was likely due to their frequent use of the I Ching and the Eight Trigrams for divination.
She then added, “I had someone calculate Meng Changsheng’s birth date and time in the first year of Qianfeng.”
“It doesn’t bode well for his career, nor will it significantly impact the country.”
“Given his birth date and time, and Emperor Gaozong’s deep faith in Taoism and the I Ching, he wouldn’t have many prospects for advancement.”