Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 333 Time Never Forgives

After the new emperor ascended the throne, he did not make any major changes to the personnel in the court. After all, many of the arrangements made by the previous emperor for the court were based on Liu Jin's succession.

At most, after the new emperor ascended the throne, he placed a few of his own people in some important places.

this is normal.

Chen Duobing sat in the prime minister's office, always looking a little tired.

Years pass, days pass.

Days always pass by quietly in ordinary times, just like the water flowing in front of the door, and they will never come back.

The clay Buddha prime minister has to continue doing it.

The ministers in the court seemed to have noticed the changes in the court.

Chen's influence is fading, and it is Chen himself who is responsible for the fading.

Everyone noticed this, but no one pointed it out. They understood that this was Chen's usual tactic.

Everyone knows that everything will decline after reaching its peak. No one and no family can remain prosperous forever.

In this case, the best solution is to retreat while the going gets tough.

However, not everyone has the courage, conviction, and ability to retreat while the going gets tough.

Yes.

It is very easy to say "retreat at the height of one's career", but it is extremely difficult to do it.

The most important point is, if you want to quit, will the people above you or below you allow you to quit?
You, or your family, are so prosperous. If you hide in the shadows, how can the emperor guard against you? And no one in the court can have the final say, even if it looks like they have the final say.

Just as the children of Chen and politicians were eloquent in the court, students of Confucianism, diplomacy, Mohism and other schools of thought also stood in the court. Although their voices were weak, they did exist.

If you retire, where will the emperor find another you in a short period of time to check and balance the court?
Since ancient times, power has been a game of balance.

This has never changed and will never change.

In addition to the emperor, the people below are also a major obstacle.

You are standing in that high position. This is the result of the joint efforts of so many people. Now you want to quit? What about them? What about their efforts? What about their interests?
Then, a group of your former helpers will turn into evil spirits floating in the water, grabbing your ankles tightly and trying to pull you into the water.

This is why very few people at the peak of their careers throughout history have been able to retire at the height of their careers.

Before they "retired at the peak of their career", they either served as knives for the emperor, and then the emperor would give them a little face and allow them to retire and return home.

But in this case, your "value" has been squeezed out, and it is not really a matter of retreating at the height of your life. At most, you are just trying to save your life.

Either they are so powerful that the emperor has to give in, but the result is that even if they "give in", they are still secretly manipulating power, and wait until the emperor finally catches his breath - the fate that awaits such people is obvious.

But the Chen family is different today.

Chen has withdrawn many times.

Whether it was Chen's standpoint, blood relationship, or students and former officials, in short, the "cause" of this series of events was laid when Shenzi opened the school, spread Chenzi's ideas, and made the world learn "Chenxue". The "result" was obtained when the previous head of the Chen family created "political science".

In the past, Chen's "retreat at the peak of his career" would come at a price, or in other words, their power would be slightly reduced after they left.

But from then on, even if Chen withdrew, it didn’t matter.

Because the whole court was filled with Chen's disciples, and the whole world was filled with students of political science, these people were like spiders on a spider web, constantly spinning silk and weaving webs, and then relying on this huge "political web" to gain their own interests.

This "benefit" is not just "money", but is all-encompassing.

Do you like money? Do you want to enjoy wealth? Sure, join our big network. Although we won't let you embezzle the people's money, there are some wealthy businessmen among the children of politicians who can provide you with money. All you need to do is play your part in this network.

Do you like fame? Do you want to be famous for generations and show your talent? Yes, join our big network. We have countless official positions here, which can make you shine in the right place. When necessary, we can even provide some "corrupt officials" for you to become famous.

You don't like anything, just want to quietly contribute to the people? Create a better life for the people? Fight for the stability of the world? That's great, join us, we have fighters like you, and the purest politicians!

Political science and its disciples are like a beehive.

They are not particularly "glamorous", but they have a clear division of labor, which is chilling.

But the emperor is not too wary of these people, because their "Queen Bee" - Chen is their backbone, and this group of people gathered here not even for some vulgar thing like so-called interests.

Their goal is to make the Han Dynasty better and allow the emperor to better rule the world!

What kind of sentiment is this?
The emperor did not understand this sentiment, but emperors of all dynasties respected the "sentiments" of the Chen family and the group of people around them, and were even willing to provide convenience for them.

Oppose?

The emperor is not mentally ill.

They should do their job. If they make some contribution in the end, can they escape from the emperor?
No.

In the end, the history books will only say "In a certain dynasty, the emperor was wise and appointed a certain minister, who made certain contributions to the world. The emperor was truly tolerant and had a reputation for recognizing people."

There are more and more complicated affairs in the court.

Liu Jin sat in the court and looked at the people below, and each of his smiles was deepened.

He smiled and looked at Chen Duobing who was sitting at the front row.

Shake his head and sigh.

He always felt that his uncle was the smartest person in the entire Chen family over the years, and it could even be said that he was wise but appeared foolish.

Huo Guang didn't have to do anything, he got everything done.

In the end, the credit also goes to him as the prime minister.

Isn't this a better way?
Compared with his father, Liu Jin is more "inactive", or rather, not inactive, but willing to "delegate power". He sits on a high platform with a fishing rod in his hand, delegating power to these "outstanding" ministers to shine.

And he is a real emperor.

Chen Duobing, who was sitting in the audience, quietly raised his head, glanced at the emperor sitting there, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

The current emperor seems gentle and kind, and seems easy to talk to, but in fact he has the legacy of Emperor Wu in his bones.

However, the current emperor is better at "disguise" than Emperor Wu.

Chen Duobing's eyes were a little hazy. He felt that compared with the previous emperor, Emperor Wu and Emperor Jing, the current emperor was more like the Emperor Wen, whose "good reputation" was still spreading in Chang'an City.

Emperor Wen, that is a myth.

Even though the three dynasties of Emperor Jing, Emperor Wu, and Emperor Kang have passed and we have entered the present era, and countless years have passed, the common people in Chang'an still remember the benevolence of Emperor Wen. It was not until this time that Chen Duobing could not help but sigh.

He is still not as good as his father.

His father was right.

The time for Chen to retreat is, must be, can only be, and must be now.

After leaving the court, Chen Duobing hammered his shoulder.

He felt that he was getting older and his body couldn't take it anymore.

Time never spares anyone.

When later history books wrote about the reign of Emperor Xiaocheng, they were inevitably scratching their heads, because for them this reign was really difficult to describe.

You say this dynasty is good, but the emperor is like a clay sculpture who rarely speaks; the prime minister is even nicknamed "clay Buddha" by the people, as if these two are just puppets in the hands of the "powerful minister".

But if you say this dynasty is not good, right? The emperor was able to implement benevolent policies, and the people almost returned to the peace and happiness of the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing. Emperor Wu and Emperor Kang continued to fight foreign wars, expanding the territory of the Han Dynasty to an unprecedented level, but at the same time, the treasury was somewhat empty.

It took only five years for this dynasty to fill the national treasury again.

That "powerful minister" was respectful from beginning to end, no matter if it was to his clay Buddha boss or the clay emperor. Even after the first prime minister "Chen Duobing" passed away, the powerful minister Huo Guang did not take over the position, but respectfully asked the next generation head of the Chen family to serve as prime minister.

After being rejected by the head of the family, he invited "Chen Zuozhou", who was very famous at the time and also a member of the Chen family, to serve as the prime minister.

From the beginning to the end, if his opinion was contrary to that of Chen Duobing or the emperor, Huo Guang would respectfully withdraw his opinion and think about whether he had really done something wrong.

If they found that they were indeed not wrong, they would respectfully write to the emperor or Chen Duobing to ask for guidance.
He was also very strict in disciplining his own clansmen. If ordinary nobles violated Han law, Huo Guang would deal with them word for word according to the law, without showing mercy or increasing the punishment.

Sometimes, the families of these people are even allowed to pay money to atone for their crimes in accordance with the law - of course, they are only some unimportant charges.

This was a policy introduced during the reign of Emperor Kang, with the aim of "increasing revenue" for the national treasury.

But if a member of the Huo family broke the law, then it would be dealt with honestly according to the law, and the Huo family would not pay any money - yes, Huo Guang clearly stated that the Huo family would not pay a penny.

Because the Huo family’s money is clean money, and clean money cannot be used to save unclean people.

These words came from Huo Guang's mouth, and were even corroborated by members of the Chen family, making them irrefutable.

The Huo family's family tradition was also boosted.

The opposite is Wei.

Before Wei Qing died, he told Princess Pingyang many things, so when Princess Pingyang was still alive, the family tradition of the Wei family was actually quite good.

After Princess Pingyang passed away, the family tradition of the Wei family began to deteriorate.

At that time, Huo Qubing was still alive. He beat Wei Deng and others with a horsewhip many times, but it was of no use. Even in the end, the brothers Wei Deng and Wei Kang would stiffen their necks and ask Huo Qubing how he, the son of a county lieutenant, could have achieved what he has today if their aunt had not been the queen.

This kind of thing might be fine if it happened once or twice, but when it happened too many times, Huo Qubing became sad.

So he no longer cared about Wei's affairs.

Under such circumstances, the two brothers became more rampant.

During the Dragon and Phoenix years, the two brothers were so bold as to tamper with the "remuneration" provided to the emperor.

After being discovered, the two brothers prostrated themselves in front of Liu Ju and cried, saying sadly that after their father passed away, there was no longer so much gold and silver in the family, so they had to do this.

At that time, Liu Ju was mindful of his uncle's kindness, so he picked it up high and put it down gently.

During the Yuanshi period, the two brothers used the same old trick again.

Did this again.

But now and then.

This was no longer the Zhenghe period, or even the Longfeng period. The current emperor was Liu Jin, and Liu Jin's uncle was Chen Duobing, from the Chen family, not the Wei family.

Wei Huo is no longer the once glorious "foreign relatives group".

This is how history books record this incident.

"In the fifth year of Yuanshi, the brothers of Duke Changping were extremely disrespectful, and the emperor was furious and wanted to kill them. At that time, the Grand Tutor and Duke Linguang Huo Guang asked for their death, but the emperor spared their death penalty out of consideration for their former relationship as Grand Marshal. However, he exiled them to Wulingyuan, where they would guard Maoling for generations, and they would not be allowed to return to Chang'an for generations." - "Book of Han·Biography of Duke Changping"

In the tenth year of Yuanshi, Liu Jin, who had been hesitant to appoint a crown prince, finally appointed a crown prince, and named him "Liu Xun".

It was also in this year that Chen Duobing, who had been in poor health, died of illness at home.

His life was not "sickly" as his name suggests. Instead, he lived a smooth life without any illness or disaster. He passed away at this age, so it can be considered a happy funeral.

After Chen Duo died of illness, the Chen family completely entered a "dormant period".

In the entire court, except for "Chen Zuozhou", the "clay Buddha" prime minister, there was not a single direct descendant of the Chen family.

The direct descendants of the Chen family are all in Guandu City.

Of course, Guandu City is only the official name of this city. People in the folk prefer to call it "Zhongmu City".

It is taken from the meaning of being in the center of the world and being the plow of all the people.

The writing of the word "牟" in the Han Dynasty was also very simple, with a horizontal stroke and a farm tool covering the bottom.

People call this place "Zhongmu" because they can farm and live here with greater peace of mind. The powerful people here will not stand high and mighty like the powerful people elsewhere and ignore their lives.

The great affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs.

By the time of Emperor Xiaocheng, a corresponding sentence had appeared.

which is

"The most important affairs of the people are farming and harvesting."

In the eighth year of Yuanshi, Jin Midi and others passed away one after another, and in the twelfth year of Yuanshi, Huo Guang, who had been working hard, also passed away.

Emperor Xiaocheng stood on the high platform, just like he did back then.

But he knew it.

This is not his time, time is always unforgiving.

(End of this chapter)