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

Chapter 352 The storm is coming

How can you let others do such a thing as flattery?

Especially flattering King An.

When Dong Zhuo learned that the Crown Prince of An State, Chen Zhulou, might be harmed, he immediately stood up and decided to personally dispatch troops and take Niu Fu with him to rescue the Crown Prince of An State.

Well, making the Crown Prince of An remember him is secondary.

The main purpose was to protect the prince of An Kingdom with all his strength. After all, the Chen family had sacrificed for the world for generations, and everyone in the world should be grateful to the Chen family. He, Dong Zhuo, was just one of them.

Thinking of this, Dong Zhuo urged his horse to gallop even faster.

Under the swagger of the night, countless murderous intentions emerged.

The turmoil in the world could not only be felt in Chang'an City, but also in other places in this troubled times.

People on the border of Youzhou have begun to feel uneasy. The conciliatory policy advocated by Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, has no effect on some of the barbarians here. The biggest barbarian among them is Gongsun Zan, who seems to be a "scholar".

Gongsun Zan advocated imposing harsh punishments on those foreign barbarians so as to make them fearful and terrified.

He firmly believed that benevolence might not make everyone obedient, but fear would definitely make everyone obedient.

But Liu Yu did not think so. He was a typical Confucian disciple and belonged to Dong Zhongshu's faction, so his relationship with Gongsun Zan became worse.

There were also some factional disputes involved.

Because Gongsun Zan's teachers Lu Zhi, Liu Kuan and others were all hybrids of political science and Confucianism, and they were inclined towards the Confucian "Gongyang School", and it was a mutated Gongyang School.

Not only in Youzhou, the situation in Beihai was not very good either. Kong Rong, who served as the prime minister of Beihai, also had a bad relationship with the governor of Beihai. However, their relationship was not as bad as that between Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu.

At this time, a young and strong soldier in Bingzhou had some conflicts with Zhang Yi, the governor of Bingzhou. If it were in the past, Zhang Yi would definitely let this minor official know how powerful he was. But now that the world is stable and King An is the prime minister, no one dares to take any risk at this time.

They were afraid of being the first drop of blood on the knife used by King An to rectify the government and punish the officials.

So Zhang Yi told the clerk.

Either he can be obedient and stay in Bingzhou to make achievements in order to get promoted. In this way, the speed of promotion can be stabilized and the safety can be guaranteed. After all, Bingzhou is close to the barbarians. According to the military power of this minor official, he will definitely not be an unknown person in the future. Or he can use his connections to send this minor official up to other people. It will depend on his own fate who he will meet at that time.

The minor official named Bu thought about it for a long time and decided that he was unwilling to endure this humiliation, so he chose the second path.

After learning of the choice of this minor official, Zhang Yi took great pains to successfully pass the trouble to one of his former colleagues, "Chen Zexi", who is now the prefect of Hanzhong County.

Who is Chen Zexi?
The current King An's descendants and nephews are from the fifth branch of the Chen family, which is the branch of the former King Wu'an "Chen Zhan". He is the eldest son of this branch and the head of the family.

When Lu Bu heard that the person he was going to follow was actually a member of the Chen family, he was very excited and moved.

He didn't expect that Zhang Yi, who had a grudge against him, would be willing to find such a way out for him. This was simply so touching.

So he led the old horse that had always followed him and rushed to Hanzhong County.

He wanted to find his own future.

When Lu Bu was on the road to Hanzhong County with hope, a big man from Jie County, Hedong County accidentally killed someone. For the Han people, who also had a strict sense of the law, this was considered a serious crime.

He felt that he had great talent and did not want to become a prisoner, so he voluntarily accepted Article 214 of the Han Law and went to Zhuo County, Youzhou, to serve as a soldier in the hope of making merit and redeeming his freedom.

However, Youzhou was not peaceful at that time. Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu each held their own ideas, so they recruited troops on a large scale.

Many people in Zhuo County also saw the changes in the situation in the world, so they were willing to join the army to seek fame.

Among these people, there is one who is very famous.

He was a wealthy local who made a living as a butcher. He was eight feet tall, but his face was a little dark, as if he had been dug out of coal.

Life is full of emotions. Perhaps talented people will always gather when the world is in turmoil.

People in Jiangdong and other places also packed their bags and prepared to leave their hometowns.

Amidst the silence and the surging darkness, a child was born in Langya County. His father named him "Liang", hoping that he would have a bright future. He also hoped that this man in the precarious situation would continue to have a "bright" future.

In the cover of night, Chen Zhulou, Cao Cao and Liu Bei rushed forward frantically, hoping to reach Chang'an City as soon as possible.

Many guards around the three men were also on high alert. After all, in the dark, it was most likely for someone to rob or assassinate them.

Some people in the capital would definitely not be willing to let them take people back like this. After all, once people go back, what they say will be beyond their control.

Cao Cao was quite casual. He galloped to a place near Chang'an city and then slowly stopped.

"This place is only more than fifty miles away from Chang'an City. There shouldn't be anyone robbing here."

He smiled and stretched on the horse's back.

However, at this moment, a sound of breaking through the air suddenly exploded.

"Whoosh-"

What followed was a series of sharp arrows as dense as spring rain!

Cao Cao's pupils suddenly contracted, and then he reacted instantly, and before the arrow reached him, he turned his head.

The arrow grazed his cheek and a trace of blood flowed instantly.

He drew his sword from his waist and laughed angrily: "Well, well, you dare to assassinate me here! I want to see who is so bold!"

The soldiers around him were already ready, raising their shields to meet the enemy. These soldiers were specially sent by the emperor because he was worried about Chen Zhulou's safety. The purpose was to protect their safety, especially Chen Zhulou's safety!
As the soldiers were fighting, Chen Zhulou and the other two were surrounded in the center. The group of people fought as they advanced, with only one goal in mind: to kill Zhang Ze!
They want to prevent Zhang Ze from entering Beijing!

Cao Cao also noticed this, and he shouted in a stern voice: "Protect Zhang Ze! This man was summoned by His Majesty, and he must not be lost!"

Although the visitors were all skilled fighters, those who followed Chen Zhulou to protect him were all veterans who had experienced many battles. As time went by, more and more visitors were killed.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the only seven or eight people left prepared to flee.

However, at this moment, the sound of horse hooves could be heard in the night, followed by a rough voice: "Don't worry, my lord! I am here!"

Under the moonlight, Dong Zhuo rode towards them with a ferocious face.

Niu Fu, who was beside him, held a spear and rode his horse to fight against those people, but he killed them so badly that they were unable to resist.

Behind the two men, some soldiers and cavalry followed and trapped these seven or eight people on the spot. Dong Zhuo simply jumped off his horse, took a look at the masked men who were being held down, then sneered, turned around and walked to Chen Zhulou.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to the Crown Prince of An."

He raised his head and smiled cheerfully: "I am late, and I am sorry to have frightened the prince."

Chen Zhulou just waved his hand and looked at Dong Zhuo with the same polite expression.

The only people who actually have military power in the capital now are Dong Zhuo and these few captains.

But unlike the soldiers under the command of these lieutenants, the soldiers under Dong Zhuo all fought their way out of the devil's den in Xiliang. "General Dong, you are too polite. This time, thanks to the general's timely arrival, otherwise these people would have fled."

He glanced at Dong Zhuo and asked, "How come General Dong is here?"

Dong Zhuo had no intention of hiding anything. He honestly told Jia Xu's guesses one by one, and then said with concern: "So Dong came directly. Even if I come in vain, it is better than the prince getting hurt."

Chen Zhulou smiled and said nothing.

After a few more words, the soldiers had already cleaned up the battlefield. Chen Zhulou turned back and said, "The injured brothers will stay here. We will slowly head to Chang'an City tomorrow. Leave a team of soldiers to protect them, and the rest will follow me to the capital overnight."

He glanced at Dong Zhuo and asked, "General Dong, what do you think?"

Dong Zhuo nodded in agreement: "Everything is up to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

in the palace

The candle on the table was almost burned out, but the people they had sent out were nowhere to be found, alive or dead. Zhang Rang knew that everything was probably over at this point.

He could only pray silently in his heart, hoping that all those people would be killed and not a single one would be left alive.

Zhang Rang closed his eyes, and the image that flashed through his mind was the domineering figure of his past.

He said with emotion: "It's the time? It's fate."

Unbeknownst to Zhang Rang, the city of Chang'an was already in chaos.

The remaining few of the Ten Attendants knew that this situation would not end well, and they had already begun to use various means.

Some tried to make peace with the aristocratic families, some went to the emperor to plead for mercy. In short, at this most dangerous moment, no one was willing to stay where they were and wait to die.

Living is a difficult thing.

The least anxious among the Ten Eunuchs was Zhao Zhong. He slowly came to the front of the Weiyang Palace and asked to see the emperor.

After kneeling in front of the Weiyang Palace for half an hour, he finally saw the emperor who had fallen asleep.

"Your servant, I pay my respects to your majesty."

Zhao Zhong raised his head and saw several guards standing beside the emperor, whom he had never seen before.

He was neither surprised nor angry, but just prostrated himself on the ground: "I have a great joy to report to Your Majesty."

happy event?

In the shadows, the incompetent Emperor Liu Hong pulled the corner of his mouth and pretended not to understand and said, "What is the reason for this, Mother Zhao?"

There was the same panic in his words as usual, but he did not walk up to Zhao Zhong and help him up as usual. Instead, he continued to sit on the bed.

The hazy veil obscured Liu Hong's figure and face, making it impossible to see his current complexion.

But Zhao Zhong just said: "I discovered something a few days ago. The descendants of King Jing of Zhongshan fell into the common people. Their legacy has been passed down to this generation. There is a son who worships the great Confucian scholar Lu Zhi as his teacher. He has made friends with the crown prince of An Kingdom and they have a deep friendship."

There was no panic in Zhao Zhong's words, he just said calmly: "Tonight, the traitor Zhang Rang sent people to assassinate the prince of An State. This boy has experienced life and death with the prince of An State, and they share the same interests."

"He is a descendant of the royal family. If we talk about his generation, he should be your Majesty's younger brother."

"Royal blood returns to the royal family. What a happy event!"

"I would like to congratulate Your Majesty."

After Zhao Zhong finished saying this, he continued to kneel on the ground, nodding his head and not daring to stand up.

Cold sweat kept dripping down his body.

This is his way of seeking a way out.

Zhao Zhong felt that this news could save his life.

The sound of giggling rang out, and Liu Hong slowly stood up and walked to Zhao Zhong's side. His expression suddenly became gentle. He helped Zhao Zhong up and patted his hands: "I really want to thank Zhao's mother for hearing such a happy news today."

He looked around, pointed at the soldiers and said, "You should all learn more from Mother Zhao."

Liu Hong smiled and said, "Is this person now entering the city with the prince of An Kingdom?"

Zhao Zhong's hands were held by Liu Hong, but he could not feel any warmth. He looked at Liu Hong and saw brutality, anger, surprise and a hint of indifference in his eyes.

He swallowed and lowered his head: "Your Majesty, this person has entered Chang'an and returned to his home."

Liu Hong then nodded and glanced at the soldier beside him, and the soldier understood what he meant.

The fourth year of Guanghe, late summer.

In the endless heat, a major event broke out in Chang'an City.

This major event almost overshadowed the previous discussion in Chang'an City about how "Zhang Rang" had brought shame to King An's King Chen Chengji.

The emperor discovered his cousin and wanted him to return to his ancestral home.

This man's surname was Liu, his given name was Bei, and his courtesy name was Xuande. He was a disciple of the great Confucian scholar Lu Zhi.

When the emperor saw his younger brother Liu, he was so moved that he burst into tears. He said frankly that Liu Xuande had suffered among the people and now that he had returned, he, as his cousin, must not be stingy with him. So he appointed Liu Xuande as the "Captain of the Central Army" and added him as one of the eight captains of the Western Garden.

He was appointed as "Ji Jinwu" and was in charge of the Yulin Army.

He is the Praetorian Guard who said, "If I were to become an official, I should be the Praetorian Guard, and if I were to marry, I should marry Yin Lihua."

Liu Bei was still in a dazed state at this time, and he looked a little confused and dazed.

He certainly didn't think that the emperor was kind-hearted and allowed him to return to his ancestral home. After all, ever since Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing extended their favor to the people, the descendants of the Liu family were as numerous as the sand on the ground.

He sounded nice, saying that he was a descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan. In fact, King Jing of Zhongshan had nearly a hundred descendants.

Recognize your ancestors and return to your clan?

How could it be his turn?

But the emperor acknowledged him as his "cousin" with his own mouth, and after his name was recorded in the Jade Book, he became the emperor's true brother.

Even if a new emperor ascends the throne in the future, he will still be addressed as "Uncle Liu".

These words came from the emperor's mouth and there is absolutely no way they can be changed.

Liu Bei raised his head and looked at Chen Zhulou, looking at a loss: "Sir, tell me, what does His Majesty want to do?"

(End of this chapter)