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

Chapter 349 Father and Son (Part )
Chen Zhulou stood there with a normal look on his face, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Many court officials, and even Cao Cao, were observing the Crown Prince of An State and the newly appointed Captain of the Upper Army.

Cao Cao saw Chen Zhulou's appearance at a glance, but he was not too surprised. He was not like the serious fool on the street. He had already guessed Chen Zhulou's identity.

After all, he was the commander of Chang'an. How could he not know all the powerful and wealthy children in Chang'an City?

Suddenly, a young man with an air of nobility appeared, expressed his incomprehension of his own behavior, and even spoke for King An.

How many people like this are there in the world?
Combined with the news that King An brought the Crown Prince of An to the capital, it was natural and easy to guess the identity of this person.

He intended to make friends, and his purpose was naturally scheming.

What can I do if I want to join the Chen family when they are famous all over the world?
First, he tried to impress the contemporary King An with his knowledge and moral character so that he would accept him as his disciple.

Second, make friends with Chen’s disciples and then ask them to introduce you.

Third, get to know the Crown Prince of An and let him consider you as a friend. If the next generation of the King of An considers you as a friend, who can say that they are not in the King of An Chen's camp?
This was Cao Cao’s plan.

Of course, this seems to be a conspiracy, but in fact it is an open conspiracy.

He seriously wanted to join Chen's camp in order to save the Han Dynasty. This goal was the same as Chen's.

So Cao Cao was not afraid that Chen would blame him for this.

A gentleman.

You can deceive them with tricks.

He planned in his mind that after the court session, he would pretend that he had just recognized the Prince of An Kingdom, and then use this opportunity to make friends with him and visit him regularly.

However, at this time, after Chen Zhulou returned to the ranks of ministers, he glanced at him, and then a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

He said in a low voice, "Captain Cao, how are you?"

Cao Cao was shocked. He looked at Chen Zhulou with a somewhat bewildered look, but in an instant he understood everything, and then smiled and said, "I hope you are well."

Regardless of whether Chen Zhulou "deliberately" wanted to know him, regardless of whether Chen Zhulou knew his purpose from the beginning, when Chen Zhulou reminisced with him at this time, this was the time for Cao Cao to formally express his attitude and join the Chen camp.

No need to hesitate.

After the court session, Chen Zhulou deliberately paused for a while, and as expected, he saw Cao Cao.

Cao Cao walked up to him, with a calm expression on his face, and asked in a low voice: "When did Master Zhulou know about this?"

Chen Zhulou just smiled at Cao Cao and asked calmly, "What are you talking about, Captain Cao? I don't quite understand."

He smiled and looked at the scattered clouds in the sky from afar: "Life is so unpredictable. This is as it should be, isn't it?"

"Captain Cao?"

Cao Cao looked at Chen Zhulou's expression and didn't know what to say for a moment.

At this moment he finally understood one thing: this twelve or thirteen-year-old Prince of An Kingdom was not as simple as he seemed.

At this time, Chen Zhulou had already walked away.

A sentence was left behind: "See you tomorrow at the tea stall and wine shop."

An Wangfu
Chen Chengji began to deal with the government affairs in the court. The affairs around him made him feel even more tired.

Chen Zhulou quietly appeared in the study room. He sat there casually and asked, "Father asked me to come here. Is there something wrong?"

Chen Chengji put down the government affairs in his hands and pushed several memorials to him: "These are all impeachments of the Ten Eunuchs by many officials from noble families and poor families. I hope I can handle it impartially, stand up for the people of the world, severely punish the Ten Eunuchs, and completely eliminate them."

"Even the general sent a letter, saying that he was willing to cooperate with Chen to get rid of this person who brought disaster to the country and the people."

"What do you think?"

Chen Zhulou held a half-eaten fruit in his hand and yawned: "Whether it's the Ten Attendants, General He, or the noble families, none of them really care about the people. They just want to use this incident as a pretext to complete their own political struggle."

Instead, he looked at his father and said, "How to deal with it depends on what kind of result father is going to get."

Chen Chengji sat there, looking at Chen Zhulou. He looked at his son, and the smile in his eyes was something Chen Zhulou could not understand.

"So what kind of result do you think I should want?"

"Peace and tranquility? Or what?"

Chen Zhulou sat there, silent again. He really didn't understand his father's thoughts. He didn't understand it from the beginning.

The snow outside the window falls lightly on the ground, it is another winter snow.

The "Qilin Jade" in Chen Chengji's arms felt slightly warm, and it also made Chen Chengji's mind very clear. He knew his son too well.

He sighed softly, looking into the distance as he moved himself under the eaves and looked at the Chen Zhu Building with snow falling all over the sky.

What kind of person is Chen Zhulou?

This is a very complex issue.

But it just so happens that Chen Chengji is one of the few people who knows the answer to this question.

If you look at it from the perspective of an outsider instead of a "father", Chen Zhulou is a very outstanding person.

In other words, Chen Zhulou was a very outstanding child from aristocratic family.

To expand a little bit, Chen Zhulou is a very outstanding "ordinary" child of aristocratic family who can be trained as the next generation head of the family.

He is excellent. Very good.

He surpassed all the previous heads of the Chen family. Chen Chengji even had a disrespectful thought that even his ancestors back then might not have been as "smart" as Chen Zhulou.

In Chen Chengji's opinion, Chen Zhulou's "talent" can be described as "like a ghost or god."

He could babble when he was half a year old, and could speak complete sentences when he was one year old. When he was three, he did not play like other children, but started to learn to read. By the time he was five, his self-control was so strong that he could even recite some political science and Confucian classics.

When he was eight years old, Chen Zhulou read the classics of various philosophers and immersed himself in this Zhushen Tower.

The ancestor who realized the truth and created political science took several years to read all the books in Zhushen Building and then formed his own thoughts, but Chen Zhulou had already done it two years ago.

Are you smart?
Extremely intelligent.

Both civil and military.

But it is precisely because they are too smart that this is a huge problem.

Why?

Because at the age of eleven or twelve, Chen Zhulou, who was already extremely intelligent, missed the biggest "growth point" compared to the previous Chen family heads. Before he had his own thoughts, he did not travel around the world. In other words, Chen Zhulou's "learning" and "knowledge" were separate.

To put it in the simplest terms, if the Chen family was an ordinary first-class family in the world, then Chen Chengji would definitely be very excited at this time, because having such an heir means that the Chen family can prosper for at least three more generations.

Unfortunately, the Chen family is not an ordinary first-class family in the world.

Chen wanted to change people's lives subtly and make their lives better and better.

The people-oriented Chen family does not need a successor who is high-handed and extremely smart.

Were the previous generations of Chen family heads mediocre?

mediocre.

But what have these mediocre family heads done in the past nearly two hundred years?

The aristocratic families throughout the world were suppressed to prevent them from frantically annexing land, giving the people a chance to breathe.

He strongly supported his children in joining Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, etc., especially encouraging them to join Mohism, and even encouraged them to become "craftsmen". It is precisely because of this encouragement that craftsmanship is not a humble profession today.

The biggest difference between the present Han Dynasty and the original Han Dynasty is that the original Han Dynasty had more obvious restrictions on the four classes of "scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans", while this version of the Han Dynasty is different and very open.

In the past one or two hundred years, many outstanding "craftsmen" invented many "tools", some of which were farm tools, while others made life more convenient for ordinary people.

Food, clothing, housing and transportation are all included.

This is also the reason why, even though the Han Dynasty today is still ruled by an incompetent emperor, with corrupt officials, foreign relatives, and eunuchs interfering in government affairs, the people still have not launched the "Yellow Turban Rebellion".

These mediocre heads of the Chen family are not smart, but they don't have to be smart. As long as they care about the people of the world, there will naturally be smart people to help them accomplish what they want.

Smart people can easily go astray.

Chen Chengji put down what he was holding and decided to have a heart-to-heart talk with his son.

He walked to Chen Zhulou's side and looked at the clean and tidy snowflakes falling on the ground.

"Zhu Lou, today there are only you and me, father and son, here."

He looked into Chen Zhulou's eyes and said in a very gentle voice, "If you have anything to say, why don't you and I talk it out."

"Only by talking it out can you untie the knot in your heart."

Chen Chengji touched the top of Chen Zhulou's head lightly, feeling the warmth, and smiled: "You know, father is naturally dull, not as smart as you."

He jokingly expressed his regret: "Children as smart as you are rare. Perhaps you are a gifted unicorn from heaven."

"If you don't tell me what's hidden in your heart, even if your father tries to guess, he won't be able to guess it, right?"

Chen Zhulou looked at the snow piled up in front of him, his mind full of thoughts.

Chen Chengji was not in a hurry either. He just sat there and waited calmly.

He is stupid, or not very smart, but he knows that as long as he can talk it out, there will naturally be smart people who will think about what needs to be thought about.

After a long silence, Chen Zhulou buried his head between his knees and spoke softly: "I don't understand why my father trusts the emperor so much and cares so much about the people in the world. You clearly know that this incident is most likely designed by the emperor to use you to eliminate the dignitaries in the court and then force you away."

“Isn’t this the case with all the kings of all ages?”

"They wanted to use Chen, but they were unwilling to trust Chen; they doubted Chen, but they had to trust Chen."

"Among all the Chen family heads throughout history, is there any one who was a good ruler and subject, and had a good end?"

He raised his head, and the precocious Chen Zhulou had tears in his eyes. He was so smart that people forgot that he was only twelve or thirteen years old. How could a child from an ordinary family who was still in elementary school at this age suffer such a scene?
He is just an ordinary kid who is too smart and trapped in this "smartness".

Sometimes, wisdom needs to be washed away by time before it can enable people to understand the truth of this world.

Chen Zhulou's voice was choked with sobs and his face was filled with tears. At this moment, he looked like a child rather than an "adult".

He was just a child.

"Father."

"The Chen family has been passed down from our ancestor Chen Ye to the present day, having gone through the Qin and Han dynasties for five hundred years. As the first family, what does the Chen family not have?"

"We are noble and high above everyone else, so why should we get mixed up with the common people?"

"Perhaps you think that the people's hearts and minds are very important, but we can just protect the Chen family and continue to implement policies that are good for the people."

"Now the court is in turmoil, and the tolerance of the people of the world towards the Emperor Liu has reached a certain limit. You have made arrangements in advance and taught Zhang Jiao the art of peace. Given time, the world will surely be in turmoil, and the source of the turmoil must be this way of peace."

"By then, if the Taiping Dao shows signs of decline, my Chen clan can raise an army to protect the Han Dynasty, and then take control of the government once again."

"At that time, the world was washed away by the Taiping Dao, and the power and money of the noble families were consumed. When the Chen family came forward to reform, the resistance would naturally be much smaller."

"And if the Taiping Dao successfully overthrows the Han Dynasty, that would also be a good thing."

"The Chen family can integrate into the Xin Dynasty just like they integrated into the Han Dynasty. At that time, the political situation is unstable, and the Taiping Dao will become the emperor as a commoner. By then, you will be Zhang Jue's teacher, the emperor's preceptor."

"Just as Emperor Gao needed the Chen clan when he founded the Han Dynasty, Zhang Jue also needed the power of the Chen clan."

"The Chen family can take this opportunity to reorganize the world."

"This way there will be much less resistance."

Chen Zhulou looked at his father and asked, "Why do you have to throw yourself into this chaotic court at this time?"

"Father, this is not a good thing for Chen."

Chen Chengji just smiled faintly, then raised his head: "Lou'er, I understand what you just said."

"But."

"Do you know how many innocent people will die if you do this?"

"I also want to protect the stability of the Chen family, but is the stability of the Chen family more important than the stability of the people of the world?"

He looked at Chen Zhulou with regret, and then asked: "Lou'er, look into my eyes."

"Look me in the eyes and answer me."

Chen Zhulou subconsciously looked into Chen Chengji's eyes, which were a pair of eyes as calm as lake water.

"What is the Chen family's ancestral motto?"

(End of this chapter)