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

Chapter 334 Sometimes the protagonist of a story is not who you think

After several consecutive emperors lived long lives, it seemed as if the hand that held fate was no longer able to control it.

Neither Emperor Xiaokang nor Emperor Xiaocheng reigned for many years.

In the thirteenth year of Yuanshi, the emperor died.

Crown Prince Liu Xun stood on this huge stage, a stage called "Han".

The emperor ascended the throne.

The ascension of a new emperor to the throne marks the beginning of the new era, and everyone is accustomed to this custom.

When the Prime Minister's Office and many court officials selected the reign titles, the emperor, contrary to his usual practice, did not choose one from among them, but instead created one of his own with his great "literary talent".

"Divine Lord".

Therefore, the 13th year of Yuanshi actually has two official names. The first is the 13th year of Yuanshi, and the second is the first year of Shenque.

Although such behavior is not in line with common sense, no one is willing to challenge the emperor's majesty in such a trivial matter.

After all, a new official has three big things to do when he takes office, so naturally a new emperor has also prepared several big things to wait for those who don't know how to live or die to rush forward.

Although Chen Zuozhou was young in the court, he had learned everything from his uncle Chen Duobing.

He looked drowsy all day long.

In addition, the Wei-Huo group fell apart, and Huo Guang himself passed away a year before the new emperor ascended the throne, so there was almost no one in the court who could stop the emperor's massive reforms.

As for Chen Zuozhou?
The court officials who had originally placed high hopes on Chen Zuozhou gradually became disappointed.

In their eyes, Chen Zuozhou did not have the "style" of previous Chens. He spent the whole day either sleeping or resting with his eyes closed, or nodding in agreement to the emperor's orders.

The Chen family lost their power.

This seems like something everyone should know.

The emperor did not have much interest in Chen because she had already retired on her own.

Besides, he also has Chen's blood in his body, and his grandmother was even a member of the Chen family, so the Chen family was able to give up most of the power so sensibly, which made the newly-elected emperor very excited.

So, in excitement, the emperor posthumously conferred a title on Chen.

From the former great sage King Wu of Han who held the throne of the country to Chen Duobing who passed away a few years ago, they were all given titles one by one.

This time the sealing is different from the previous ones.

The current emperor conferred the title of "The Great Saint of Anguo, Wenzhengwu, Zhonglie, Chongyu Han Wang" on King Wu of Han, and added the title of "Taishang Daluotian Dedao Emperor".

Yes.

The new emperor seemed to have great faith in the concept of "gods and ghosts", and he firmly believed that he was the emperor on earth, and even the gods in heaven should respect him.

Therefore, Chen Ye was conferred the title of "Taishang Daluotian Dao Emperor".

Later scholars who studied Han Dynasty theology and the origin of Taoism also regarded Emperor Xuanzong's conferment of the title as the source of the prosperity of Taoism in the Han Dynasty.

Throughout history, Taoism has many sources, and even evolved into many immortals and gods.

But in the final analysis, whether it is the Taoist bigwigs in history or the emperors of all dynasties, they only recognize four sources and supreme leaders of Taoism.

Respectively

The first person to ascend the Jade Pure Land is Pangu Yuanshi Tianzun, the Supreme Guardian Jade Morning Avenue Lingbao Tianzun of the Upper Pure Land, and the Grand Master of the Three Religions of the Taiqing Realm, the Hunyuan Emperor, the Taishang Laojun Daode Tianzun. [Note 1]

Above these three is the Supreme Great Luo Kai Tian Zhi Fu Yu Li Han Zhen Ti Dao Jin Que Yun Gong Jiu Qiong Yu Li Wan Dao Wu Wei Da Dao Ming Palace Hao Tian Jin Que Supreme Jade Emperor Xie Xie Da Tian Zun Xuan Qiong Gao De Dao Di Jun, who is often referred to as "De Dao Xuan Qiong Gao Di Jun". [Note 2]

Among the Three Pure Ones revered by people, Laozi has a prototype, namely the founder of Taoism, Laozi Li Er of the Spring and Autumn Period, also known as Lao Dan.

The prototype of this enlightened Emperor of the Mysterious Sky is Chen Ye, the ancestor of the Chen family.

Of course, no one in the Chen family in later generations has ever acknowledged that this "Emperor of the Mysterious Sky" was their ancestor Chen Ye, but no one believed it.

Throughout the dynasties, anyone who claimed to be a "true immortal" said that they had received teachings in a dream from the "Emperor of the Mysterious Sky". Of course, because of the Chen family, they did not dare to say it too obviously, for fear that the reincarnated true gods in Guandu City would kill them directly.

When theologians of later generations studied history, they always regarded the fact that Emperor Xuanzong worshipped the "Taishang Daluo Tiandedao Zhenjun" as a treasure, using it to prove that the name of the Chen family as a "mythical family" had already spread during this period.

And in fact
When Liu Xun appointed Chen Ye as the Supreme Daluotian Emperor, he didn't have any other extra thoughts, he was just "happy".

Come as your heart desires, go as your heart desires.

It is because I am happy that I confer the title of God. As for the others?
He couldn't care less.

Yes.

People always think that the protagonist in a story will conform to their own imagination, but sometimes, the protagonist in a story has his or her own life, emotions, and... is not what you think.

For example, the current emperor, Emperor Xuanzong in the historical story "The Old Sword and the Deep Love".

Someone in later generations once commented on Emperor Xuanzong, and this comment was very pertinent.

"In terms of his merits, he was a ruler who revived the country; in terms of his crimes, he was a ruler who brought disaster upon the country."

Offsetting merits and demerits can often only happen in "non-reality", where the emperor offsets the merits and demerits of his subjects and then lets them live a good life. Such behavior cannot happen in reality, or in other words, cannot happen to a real emperor.

Because his merits and demerits are all what he has done.

God will not erase the crimes he committed because of his achievements, so the decline of the Western Han Dynasty actually had its roots in the time of Emperor Xuanzong.

What did the original version of Emperor Xuanzong look like?

Born in prison and grew up in the palace, his character had already been distorted. But under such circumstances, he was still able to restrain his inner desires. After getting rid of Huo Guang, he took control of the government and implemented the strategy of revival.

However, it was also this Emperor Xuanzong who indulged in pleasure in his later years and forcibly placed the crown prince, who had no moral integrity, on the throne.

The so-called deep friendship for an old sword does indeed mean a deep friendship, but it is the people of the world who bear the responsibility of this deep friendship.

With Chen's version, what does Emperor Xuanzong look like?
He is even more unscrupulous than the original version.

The search for immortals and the way to enlightenment also began earlier than the original version.

Peach Blossom Spring
Chen Ye just lowered his eyes when watching this scene. At this moment, he was in a very mysterious state. The long river above his head that spanned countless time, space and time was rushing endlessly, as if it was going to merge into one with him.

His breathing was like thunder, his eyes were like lightning in the sky, and his breath was like a strong wind.

He sat high above the entire Peach Blossom Land and just sighed softly.

“People always think that the protagonists in positive stories are just like what they imagine, honest and kind, but the reality is often not the case.”

At this time, Chen Ye met the protagonist in "Old Sword and Deep Love".

But it’s better not to see this side.

He closed his eyes again and began to fall into a deep sleep.

The struggle with fate and history is at a most critical juncture.

Chen Ye wants to change something, change some history that he doesn't want to see, so he needs to accumulate strength and, through subtle changes, secretly deal a fatal blow to this "history" that has only temporarily failed.

He wanted history to go completely in the direction he wanted after that blow.

When Chen Zuozhou woke up from his sleep, his face was filled with confusion and disbelief. He seemed to have dreamed of his ancestors.
It was the family ancestor Chen Ye who had been worshipped as the "Great Lord of Heavenly Dao"! It was at this time that Chen Zuozhou, who had previously had some opinions about the head of the family, completely believed what the head of the family had said before, that death was not the end of the Chen family!

He also completely believed another thing.

The ancestors of the Chen family are the destiny!
After having this idea, Chen Zuozhou's behavior not only did not become more rampant, but became more low-key. He was more like a "clay Buddha" than before. He even resigned neatly in the seventh year of the Divine Rank.

The emperor thought this was Chen's custom, so he agreed without hesitation.

However, when the emperor took the next customary step and asked the current head of the Chen family to enter Chang'an City to serve as prime minister, he was rejected.

The current head of the Chen family said that he was seriously ill and could not leave Guandu City.

After many attempts, and even going to Chen's house in person without telling the court officials, the emperor finally discovered something.

There was no longer any minister from the Chen family in the court.

Chen left the court completely.

The fact that the emperor was visiting Chen could not be concealed from some people in the court, and those people were expecting the emperor to bring back a result.

The result is simple: Chen is going to close down.

If there is nothing else, don't disturb them.

After discussing with his courtiers and trusted ministers, the emperor came to a conclusion.

Chen can do whatever he wants.

Anyway, they can't force Chen.

Besides, Chen still has the title of king of the Han Dynasty, so isn't that even simpler? Just treat Chen as an ordinary king.

Guandu City was regarded as the fiefdom of the Chen family.

When the emperor heard what his adviser said, he felt that it seemed to be true.

Although the Chen family did not have a fiefdom, wasn't Guandu City equivalent to the Chen family's fiefdom? In this case, we can just regard Guandu as the "Chen State".

So the world continues to turn.

Chen's departure seemed to prove one thing to the world, that is, the world can continue to function without anyone.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was the tenth year of the Divine Lord. During this year, the emperor established many new official positions, aiming to strengthen centralization, imperial power, and limit the power of prime ministers.

His queen, the other protagonist of the story, "Xu Pingjun", also died of illness in this year.

Xu Pingjun left a child for Liu Xun, who was very much favored by the emperor. When he was just born, he was made the "Crown Prince".

The prince was born in the sixth year of Shenjue and is now four years old.

However, the prince's health was very poor, perhaps because he had contracted some illness during the queen's pregnancy. The royal physician said that the prince only looked weak, but there would be no big problem if he was nursed back to health.

Liu Xun believed it.

As time passed, the court officials gradually got used to the days without Chen, or rather, they began to like the court without Chen.

After all, no one likes to have a giant standing on their head all the time, even if this giant has no interest in destroying themselves.

Time is always unforgiving. In the thirteenth year of Shenque, Liu Xun noticed some changes in the people around him, but he did not want to see these changes, so he took action to clean up the court.

At the end of the seventeenth year of Shenque, the emperor finally felt tired of this era name, so he changed the era name to "Ganlu", which was the first year of Ganlu.

The streets were very busy, with many Hu people coming and going.

Ever since Emperor Xiaokang decided on many matters concerning the Protectorate of the Western Regions, the Hu people from the Western Regions have often come to Chang'an to enjoy the wealth and splendor here, and the emperor and the nobles had no other thoughts about it.

As long as you can pay, the wealth of Chang'an City will be open to you.

The people of Chang'an also learned something from the lives of the Hu people, and life went on.

Peach Blossom Spring
Chen Zhan stretched himself and barely came back to consciousness from his sleep, then looked at the water mirror with a confused look on his face.

What year is this?

The shadow of time is reflected in the water mirror.

It was the twenty-third year of Manna.

Twenty-three years of sweet dew?

Chen Zhan looked a little sleepy. He adjusted the water mirror beside him and looked at Fan Su.

He counted on his fingers and couldn't help smacking his lips.

"Good boy, this emperor is still alive, eh?"

The emperor was only a young man when he ascended the throne, and now he has been on the throne for forty years! !
"This is almost as bad as King Zhaoxiang back then. I wonder what kind of person he is?"

He lowered his eyes to look at the mundane.

The common people still lived and worked in peace and contentment, but the court was somewhat chaotic.

Chen Zhan frowned and looked towards the direction of Guandu City.

"What did Chen do?"

"Why has the court become such a mess?"

He was a little dissatisfied.

At this time in Guandu City, inside the Chen family mansion.

The current head of the Chen family is quietly studying the classics in the Zhushen Building. The ancestor did not say how long the Chen family needs to lie dormant, but the ancestor once said that the Chen family will see the "opportunity" when they need to emerge.

He also said that "opportunity" is like a torch in the darkness.

So, Chen is still lying in wait.

Of course, the fact that the world can now live and work in peace and contentment even though the emperor has been in power for forty years and has begun to favor treacherous eunuchs is also due to Chen's efforts.

Although the Chen family has withdrawn from the court on paper, their disciples and former officials still stand in the court.

Twenty-five years of sweet dew.

The emperor is seriously ill.

The emperor ordered King An to enter Chang'an City to assist the crown prince.

Why is it the Grandson?

Because there is no crown prince who can serve for forty years in this world. The crown prince died several years ago.

Xuanzong also hypocritically conferred the title of "Huai" on his son, which was Emperor Xiaohuai.
Although the court officials at that time found this a bit ironic.

But in any case, in the 25th year of Ganlu, the young emperor ascended the throne.

Change of era name: Yongyuan, which was the first year of Yongyuan.

(End of this chapter)