On the podium, Li Fan looked calm.

"Let's start with the background of Marco Polo, who was born on September 15, 1254 and died on January 8, 1324.

The reason why he is well known to us Chinese people is because of the book "The Travels of Marco Polo" dictated by him.

It is recorded in our history books that Marco Polo was the first Italian traveler to travel to our country and to the countries of Asia.

Based on what he has seen and heard in China for 17 years, he told a beautiful myth that shocked the Western world, and it was the first work in the history of mankind in which Westerners perceived the East, and it opened the mysterious door to the East to the whole of Europe.

This is Marco Polo and the value of this book!

Let me tell you a little more about the process of the birth of "Marco Polo's Travels". ”

Li Fan briefly introduced this, "Marco Polo's Travels" was originally called "million", because the word million is often mentioned in the book to highlight the prosperity of the Yuan Dynasty.

Marco Polo had one characteristic, he was illiterate. Illiterate can still write a book, because after he returned from the Yuan Dynasty, he had the experience of being captured and imprisoned, and it happened that a fellow inmate was a writer, named Rustich, so they dictated a record to form this travelogue.

Li Fan said: "I will tell you now why Marco Polo is a liar and why this book deceives the world.

Point 1: Marco Polo claimed to have traveled in China for 17 years and visited many regions on behalf of Kublai Khan, but there are no chopsticks, Chinese medicine, tea, brushes, foot wraps, the Great Wall and other things with Chinese characteristics in his travelogue.

It's as bizarre as it is when we first see people of other colors or when we first see Westerners eating with knives and forks, and it's a bit incomprehensible that isn't mentioned in the travelogue.

Point 2: What kind of image does Marco Polo make himself into in his book? He said that he is the emperor's most iron little brother, grasps domestic and foreign affairs and taxes, and has represented Kublai Khan in many countries, etc., such a good person, I think of a character similar to him at this moment, please look at the big screen!"

On the big screen, photos of Wei Xiaobao and his seven wives appeared in film and television dramas.

After the audience laughed, Li Fan said: "I'm sorry, this photo is wrong, Wei Xiaobao has seven wives, but Marco Polo didn't, Marco Polo only took the opportunity to get a wife after the book was published."

Everyone, pay attention, such a bullish person, such a pivotal person in the history of the Mongol Empire, but there is not even half of his name in the historical materials!

And he also said that he has been the prefect of Yangzhou for three years, and the local chronicles of Yangzhou have been digging three feet into the ground, and he has never found this person.

Point 3: Xiangyang artillery offering.

Everyone is familiar with the plot of Guo Jing guarding Xiangyang.

Historical records record that Kublai Khan went to Persia to recruit gunsmiths, created an incomparably powerful 'return cannon', and successfully conquered Xiangyang City, which had not been conquered for five years. The return cannon here is the catapult.

Of course, this matter was also put on Marco Polo himself.

Point 4: He made a fatal mistake in the book, he even thought that the crown prince at that time was the son of Kublai Khan, which is very wrong, according to the time period that accompanied Kublai Khan, the prince at that time was the grandson of Kublai Khan!"

The scene exclaimed:

"Wow!"

"This is a big mistake, a mistake to lose your head!"

"If Zhen and Kublai Khan are so iron, powerful ministers and favored ministers, how can such a low-level mistake occur?"

……

Li Fan continued:

"The fifth point is that the city of Thornton, that is, Quanzhou, was the most prosperous foreign trade port in the world at that time, and the port was always home to hundreds of large ships from Arabia.

At that time, there were a lot of people in Thorn City, and the people were the general name of the various ethnic groups from Central and Western Asia in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, the Yuan Dynasty had a four-level ethnic system, namely the Mongols, the Semu people, the Han people and the Nan people.

At that time, the 'mayor' of the city was an Arab, and there were at least three cathedrals and seven splendid mosques in the city at that time.

As a result, when he arrived in Thornton City, he didn't mention it at all.

……

The book is basically full of problems, and its rhetoric is nothing short of extravagant! It is a glorious description of the prosperity and power of the Yuan Dynasty at that time. It even affected Columbus.

However, in my analysis, this book is more like a book written by a person full of fantasies about the East.

Marco Polo had this condition, first of all, he was indeed a well-informed businessman who traveled far and wide.

Secondly, Kublai Khan's great reputation at that time is well known to the world, and the land area reached 24 million or even 33 million square kilometers during his heyday, (the land area is disputed here, some people think it is 24 million, some people think it is 33 million, and don't talk about it.) ）

As a traveling businessman, he had the conditions to learn a lot about Kublai Khan and even the Yuan Dynasty.

Finally, according to Venetian history, Marco Polo was sued in court for being sued for defrauding people of money.

This work, which was popular in the West at that time, the narrator could not find any conclusive evidence of its existence in our country, and the book was full of untruths, this more like a travelogue, but it was included in our history textbooks, we have to think deeply, what is the reason!

It can't be, we have to need this person to come to the Yuan Dynasty, right?

By the way, there is a proverb in Marco Polo's hometown, This-is-Marco-Polo! ”

The audience listened fascinated, and many people fell into deep thought.

In the audience, a student quietly asked the professor next to him: "Professor, do you think Li Fan is right?" ”

The professor frowned, "There is indeed no direct evidence that Marco Polo appeared in the Yuan Dynasty, and some historians are also trying to find evidence that Marco Polo came to China." ”

The student asked, "Why, then, does the book appear as a great traveler in the history textbook of our country without objective evidence, when there is a lot of contradiction between the facts and the facts?"

Professor: "Uh...... By the way, this book is a manuscript, and it is inevitable that there will be various mistakes in the process of copying. ”

Another student asked: "At that time, even movable type printing was invented, how could Marco Polo, such a powerful figure, and a businessman, still make manuscripts in Europe and print them directly!"

"The ......," the professor was asked.

……

On the stage, after three consecutive episodes of the program, the recording was finally completed after three hours.

"Thank you for watching today's show, and we'll see you next time. ”

Li Fan said, after bowing to the audience, he did not go back to the backstage directly as usual, but raised his feet to the audience and gently hugged the jelly in his mother's arms into his arms.

Jelly slept for two and a half hours, at this time her thick eyelashes opened slightly, and when she saw that it was her brother, she put her arms around her brother's neck, closed her eyes and continued to sleep peacefully.

Her lips subconsciously blew out a bubble, exactly the same as Li Fan's sleeping habits.

Li Fan said: "Mom, I'm going home." ”

Professor Diao, who was beside Li's mother, suddenly asked: "Li Fan, in the show, you said that Marco Polo has not been to our country without any evidence, I have a different opinion." ”

Li Fan shook his sister lightly and said, "Oh, what does Professor Diao say?"

Professor Diao said: "I recently found a record in the fragment of the Yongle Ceremony, 'Ulude, Abisu, and the Fireman went to the throne of Aruhun by way of Ma 28', which is consistent with the record in Marco Polo's Travels. ”

Li Fan said: "However, this book also records the expedition of the Yuan Dynasty and the rebellion of the king, and it cannot be said that he said a few things correctly, just say that he must have come to the Yuan Dynasty!"

These things were known to everyone in the world at that time. ”

Professor Diao nodded, "You're right!"

Regarding Marco Polo's experience and "Marco Polo's Travels", in the previous life, there was also a lot of controversy in Chinese and foreign historiography, and some historians tried to find evidence that Marco Polo had come to the Yuan Dynasty, but there was no direct evidence at all, and there were a lot of speculations.

In order to prove whether Marco Polo really came to the Yuan Dynasty, even in 1999, the United States formed a scientific expedition to retrace the path that Marco Polo had taken, but by modern means of transportation.

However, the journey was extremely difficult, and after the expedition, the 10 members of the expedition and the 22 experts who provided support agreed that Marco Polo's journey to China was "simply unimaginable".

However, even if "Marco Polo's Travels" is a "work" based on hearsay, its world influence does exist objectively and has influenced a large number of people.

Professor Diao pondered for a moment, then said, "I will continue to look for relevant evidence." ”

Li Fan smiled lightly, and then left the studio with his sister in his arms.

(PS: Some readers say that the chapters are getting shorter and shorter, well, they will get longer.) ）