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

Chapter 339: The Chen family was in a panic and was as angry as thunder!

The world was divided into two parts, one was the Xin Dynasty and the other was the Han Dynasty.

The Xin Dynasty usurped the throne, while the Han Dynasty was blessed with the best of both worlds, time, place and people.

The group of people who surrendered to the Xin Dynasty in the past now saw that the situation was not good and began to contact Liu Xiu secretly, hoping that Liu Xiu could leave a place for them.

Of course, Liu Xiu’s answer was a very affirmative “no”.

In fact, Liu Xiu did not want the ministers of the previous emperor's time, because few of the ministers of that period were truly loyal to the Han Dynasty.

Otherwise, no one would have stopped Wang Mang from usurping the Han Dynasty.

Weiyang Palace

Wang Mang sat there, his weathered face reflected in the broken and bent bronze mirror in front of him. The eunuchs knelt beside him, not daring to move.

"Let the army press forward."

Wang Mang closed his eyes and his emotions were fluctuating. He didn't know what he was thinking, but he knew that what he saw in the mirror might really come true.

Will I be overthrown by a man named "Liu Xiu"?
At this moment, Wang Mang just felt like laughing inside, and he felt like a naughty child who was being teased by fate.

"So, this was destined to happen?"

His face was grim, and his whole body was trembling: "So, who decided all this?"

Wang Mang looked at the bronze mirror that he once treasured and smashed it hard to the ground. The bronze mirror made a clanging sound, and all the eunuchs around, inside and outside the hall, knelt on the ground, not daring to say a word.

The change of emperor actually has little to do with them.

Wang Mang walked to the bronze mirror, looking a little bewildered: "So, the future I saw was all fake? Those things in the future will never come true, right?"

“Is the dream of Datong finally going to collapse?”

He sat on the ground with a distracted mind, looking like a wandering soul.

Before the war.

All the troops of the Xin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty have gathered in Kunyang.

Liu Xiu at this time is different from the previous Liu Xiu.

In the original history, Liu Xiu had only 50,000 soldiers and horses, while Wang Mang on the opposite side had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses. In this battle, because of the "meteorite" falling from the sky, Liu Xiu was later called the "Great Mage".

At this time, inside the big tent

Liu Xiu frowned slightly, looked at Chen Chong in front of him and whispered, "Are you sure?"

"In the next few days, there will be changes in the celestial phenomena, and falling stars will fall into the New Dynasty's troops, causing great damage to the enemy's vitality?"

Chen Chong nodded slightly to show his confirmation. He was actually also surprised by this incident.

"Your Majesty, it is indeed so."

"According to what I observed at night, I'm afraid it will happen within half a month."

"And the place where the star fell is where the troops of the New Dynasty are stationed now."

Liu Xiu stood up, with a little thought in his eyes: "Why did such a sudden change happen? How can I use such a thing to bring me the greatest benefit?"

When Liu Xiu heard about the falling stars, the first thing he thought of was not "Great, this is a punishment from heaven" or "This is truly the destiny for me".

What he was thinking about was how to maximize the effect of this matter.

After a moment, Liu Xiu smiled slightly, and he turned his head to look at Chen Chong: "Brother Zu, I often hear people say that the Emperor of Taoism is a fairy god, and can control the heavens. He is actually the Lord of the Heavenly Emperor."

"I wonder if I can ask Brother Zu to confess his identity in the next few days, and then offer sacrifices to the Emperor in the army and tell the Emperor the truth."

"Like Wang Mang, a traitor, he disregarded the will of heaven, usurped the Liu family's destiny and deceived God."

"The Emperor and Heaven will certainly punish the New Dynasty."

Chen Chong was slightly startled, and then suddenly reacted, with a faint smile on his cheek, and then he replied: "Since Your Majesty has said so, I will naturally do my best."

Although it seems that Wang Mang's power is even stronger now, in fact, the people of the world have already leaned towards the Liu family when they learned that the Liu kings were plotting rebellion.

Because the emperors before Liu did such a good job.

The three consecutive prosperous periods of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Yongyuan had made the people of the world remember the Han Dynasty. They all felt that the Han Dynasty was the destiny of the country. How could the people at this time turn to Wang Mang, who usurped the Han Dynasty?

Unless the Han Dynasty committed suicide repeatedly, the dozens of emperors who appeared in succession were all incompetent and foolish.

Otherwise, the Han Dynasty would remain strong forever, and no one would dare to challenge Liu's status.

Moreover, the dispute between Liu Xiu and Wang Mang has reached this point, and it is indeed time for both sides to express their stance.

Although Chen didn't care about the merit of following the dragon, he didn't want to be on the wrong side.

Nine years after the founding of the country, King Liu Xiu of Han and Wang Mang of the Xin Dynasty fought a decisive battle in Kunyang.

Before this battle, a family that had previously been neutral stood up.

It was Chen.

The next head of the Chen family, the current prince of the Kingdom of An, "Chen Chong", appeared in Liu Xiu's sight, and this Chen Chong turned out to be the counselor "Chong Chen" who had always been by Liu Xiu's side.

When this truth spread throughout the world, everyone looked at it with awe.

Some people thought that Chen made the same choice as she did at the end of the Qin Dynasty, secretly helping Liu Xiu until Liu Xiu's power was established.

Some others were really confused, wondering why Chen did not stand by Liu Xiu openly and honestly earlier.

After all, given the Chen family's prestige and power, if they had stood by Liu Xiu's side openly and honestly earlier, then how could Wang Mang have a chance to appear?
The new dynasty will never exist!

When Wang Mang learned about this, he was furious. After all, he was preparing to send troops to besiege Guandu City in order to force Chen to surrender to him.

All the people who followed Wang Mang were stunned when he gave this order.

But they were too late to stop Wang Mang from issuing this order.

Then a very funny scene appeared in the court. All the ministers who had praised Wang Mang before changed their faces and seemed to be indifferent to Wang Mang.

In the ninth year after the founding of the country, the emperor's edict to besiege Guandu City was issued, and Wang Mang's confidants led the army towards Guandu City.

The records of this incident in history books are also very interesting.

"Ninth year after the founding of the country, November."

"The false emperor's favorite minister led his army to Guandu, hoping to force Chen to surrender."

"After three days on the journey, all the soldiers in the army knew about it."

"On the fourth day, more than half of the soldiers had fled."

"On the sixth day, only a few thousand personal soldiers remained and did not leave, while the rest all left."

"When they reached Guandu, his personal soldiers captured the favored minister and presented him to the Chen family."

"At that time, King An angrily declared in front of Guandu City: Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, which was intolerable to heaven and earth. He therefore offered sacrifices to the heavens, reported the matter to his ancestors, and sent down heaven's punishment to help the crown prince ascend the throne." - Kunyang in "Book of Han·Chen Shijia"
Chen Chong was dressed in gorgeous clothes, standing on the altar, with a look of slight respect on her face.

At this time, the sky was covered with dark clouds, as if a basin of ink had been poured on it. A few drops of rain fell on the earth, soaking the dry earth thoroughly again.

Everything seems to be as it was originally.

Chen Chong recited the words of sacrifice and prayer respectfully, and a wisp of green smoke slowly floated up along with the sound of the recitation.

"Rumble--"

The sound of thunder continued, and everyone around remained silent. Liu Xiu stood in the distance, watching the scene respectfully, and the others around him also looked at this place in awe.

They didn't know whether this so-called sacrifice was useful, but they knew that if they dared to show any disrespectful look at this time, the King of Han would kill them immediately.

The several bodies lying on the ground are proof of this.

"Rumble--"

The thunder in the sky became heavier and heavier, and finally all the thunder merged into a series of raindrops.

It rained heavily.

In the big account

Liu Xiu's hands were covered with dust and he sighed softly, "Guan Du should be fine now. My people have received the news."

Speaking of this, Liu Xiu looked quite strange.

"I have received news that the general who led the troops to Guandu City was tied up by his personal soldiers and then handed over to King An. King An killed this man and sent his head to Wang Mang."

"Wang Mang was furious when he learned about this, but he did not dare to continue to play any tricks on Chen."

There was a strange smile in his eyes: "He is scared."

Chen Chong nodded slightly: "Yes, he is afraid."

Liu Xiu relaxed his shoulders and looked at Chen Chong. He seemed not to be afraid of the eldest son of the Chen family. He just asked curiously, "In fact, I know that there are many disciples of the Chen family in the world, but I still want to know how many of these counselors under my command are disciples of the Chen family?"

He looked at Chen Chong calmly, and Chen Chong was sitting opposite him, as if she didn't notice anything.

After a long while, he just smiled and said, "What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Liu Xiu pointed at the list on the table, then pointed at his forehead and laughed out loud: "I don't know these, but I know another thing."

"At least in this big tent, there are now two Chen disciples!"

Yes.

His Majesty Liu Xiu, the King of Han and self-proclaimed Crown Prince, was also a disciple of Chen, not to mention Chen Chong, a member of the Chen family.

So there are now two disciples of the Chen family in this big tent.

This is something no one can deny.

Liu Xiu looked at Chen Chong and said, "I am different from my father. I don't care whether Chen wants the position under my buttocks. If my descendants are incompetent, then I will let Chen take the position."

"If my descendants are truly like me, then even if there is a 'Chen Mang' who usurps the Han Dynasty, won't there still be another Liu Xiu who will restore the Han Dynasty?"

"Brother Zu, is what I said right?"

Chen Chong did not respond to Liu Xiu's words, but smiled faintly: "Your Majesty, there is no need to test me with these words. Your Majesty should know that Chen has no interest in the throne."

"I think that Chen's previous retreat and even leaving the court several times have proved this point."

He took out a black piece from the side and placed it on Liu Xiu's table.

"Your Majesty, the Chen family is not the Wang family, and Chen Chong is not Wang Mang."

"The Chen family has been prosperous for nearly 400 years since the reign of Duke Xiao until today, which is longer than the Han Dynasty."

"During the past four hundred years, the Qin Dynasty declined and the Han Dynasty was usurped, but only the Chen family stood here and continued to prosper."

"Do you think Chen will be the next Wang Mang?"

The weird look on Liu Xiu's face disappeared completely, leaving only laughter: "Hahahahahahaha, those people should really listen carefully to what Zu Zhi said, and let them know that Zu Zhi is different from them!"

“Don’t think that everyone in the world is Wang Mang just because you experienced one.”

“This is absolutely the wrong thing to do!”

He picked up the wine glass in front of him and said, "Come on, let's drink!"

In the twelfth month of the tenth year after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was a heavy snow.

Kunming
The soldiers of the New Dynasty who were sleeping peacefully suddenly felt a strong pressure, and then when everyone woke up, they saw the stars falling above their heads!

Huge stars fell in the army tent like huge fireballs. Countless people left this world in their sleep, not knowing whether it was good or bad. At this time, the death warriors hidden in the Xin Dynasty army also understood everything and started shouting.

"Your Majesty has angered the Chen family, and the Chen family's ancestors have been punished by the Emperor!!!"

"Run quickly——"

A series of hoarse roars spread throughout the entire military camp. When everyone still had a chance to escape from the huge meteorite, the sound frightened them again. They thought of the sacrifices and prayers in the opposing army in the past few days.

"The Emperor of De De Dao is real!!!"

"Chen has brought down divine punishment!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The Chen family's reputation among the people was already extremely high, and now that the facts had happened again, coupled with what Liu Xiu had said before, it directly shocked everyone present.

After the general of the Xin Dynasty fled with his soldiers, he began to check how many people were left in the army after suffering a crushing defeat.

Amidst the despair, the general of the Xin Dynasty became even more desperate.

He brought out 150,000 men in this battle. Even if the veterans were removed, there would be hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers left. But now, there are only 20,000 or 30,000 men left?

Very few of these people died from the meteorite. Most of them lost confidence in the new dynasty after experiencing the meteorite incident and became afraid of Liu Xiu.

It's normal to have such emotions.

but.
How should I explain this to His Majesty?
"In the winter of the tenth year of the founding of the country, the emperor and the false emperor fought in Kunyang. At that time, the false emperor had gathered an army of nearly 200,000 soldiers, while the emperor had only 100,000 soldiers. The difference in strength was huge. At that time, Chen Chong, the king of An, was in Kunyang, offering sacrifices to the gods and reporting to the emperor, saying that the Wang family had tampered with the destiny of heaven and was a traitor."

"The Emperor was furious and a meteorite fell to Kunyang at night."

"The false emperor's army suffered heavy casualties, with eight out of ten dead."

"At that time, everyone in the world said: The Mandate of Heaven is for the Chen family."

"The emperor sighed and said: I am the son of Liu Chen, I inherit the mandate of heaven and the people's will. I am the left of the emperor of heaven and earth, and I am the mandate of heaven."

"The fake emperor is nothing to worry about."

"In the first year of Jianwu, he killed the false emperor in Chang'an and revived the Han Dynasty." - "Book of Han: Chronicle of Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty"

(End of this chapter)