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

Chapter 353 The Emperor's Plan Failed

There was a lot of silence on Chen Zhulou's face.

What does the emperor want to do?

From the time Zhang Ze entered the capital to the time Liu Bei was recognized as a descendant of his ancestors, it seemed as if there was a big hand pressing on the lifeline of all this.

Whose hand is this?

Chen Zhulou seemed to have made a judgment.

He just stared at the magnificent palace in the distance, with a hint of confusion and helplessness in his eyes.

Cao Cao seemed to have noticed something, but he just drank the wine in the glass in a dull manner.

Wine makes me sad.

Each of the three people has his or her own thoughts and emotions. Everything seems to have changed, yet nothing seems to have changed.

After a long while, Chen Zhulou just sighed and said, "Xuan De, you don't have to think so much. Now that the emperor values ​​you, isn't this a good thing?"

He said jokingly, "If this hadn't happened, I'm afraid that by the time you finish your studies, you'll be able to become the head of a county government at best."

Chen Zhulou looked at Liu Bei and patted him on the shoulder: "Anyway, this is a good thing."

For some reason, Liu Bei saw disappointment in Chen Zhulou's eyes.

After Chen Zhulou left, Liu Bei looked at Cao Cao beside him and asked in a low voice: "Meng De, this..."

Cao Cao didn't say anything, just remained silent.

Perhaps silence is the best answer.

Chen Zhulou walked on the streets of Chang'an City, with a look of fatigue on his face and body.

In fact, the reason for this tiredness was very inexplicable. He didn't know why he was so tired. It obviously had nothing to do with him.

As the next generation head of the Chen family and the current prince of An Kingdom, he can actually ignore everything and do things according to his own wishes and his original insistence.

Doesn’t the current trend of the situation exactly match his expectations?

The emperor set up a plan to get rid of the treacherous officials and regain power.

At this time, the emperor must use the Chen family, even if he wants to support a "royal family" to check and balance the Chen family. Even if the emperor is unwilling, the Chen family's power will not be reduced.

He was just a little confused.

This is a kind of confusion of "going with the flow".

What is the most terrifying thing about human beings?

The most terrifying thing is not poverty, not being powerless, not being as tired as an ox or a horse all day long, but having no goals to move forward, no inner faith, living like a walking corpse, drifting with the tide.

This is "bewilderment".

Sitting casually at a small stall on the street, Chang'an City has developed well in recent years.

A bowl of noodle soup was served, steaming hot.

After gulping down the noodles, Chen Zhulou threw the money on the table and continued strolling on the streets of Chang'an.

Why bother thinking about things you can’t figure out?

there's always a solution to any problem.

He also wanted to see what the emperor wanted to do and what he could do.

At this time, Chen Zhulou was not completely disappointed with the emperor, or the Han emperor, or the Liu emperor.

If the emperor could be good to the people of the world and the common people after taking power, then what would it matter if the Liu Han Dynasty lasted another two hundred years?
With this thought in mind, Chen Zhulou walked into the darkness of the shadow and kept moving forward.

Autumn of the fourth year of Guanghe.

When everyone thought that the Zhang Ze case was over, and when all the noble families thought that King An might give up and change his laws, a big drama took place.

Someone in the court impeached the Ten Eunuchs and brought up all the old accounts.

The person who impeached was called Dong Zhuo.

Chen Zhulou was standing in the crowd. As one of the eight captains, he was naturally qualified to attend the court, but he did not say a word. He just watched everything happen silently in the dark.

Since the summer of the fourth year of Guanghe, when the emperor recognized Liu Bei, Chen Zhulou seemed to have noticed something and seemed to be preparing for something. He did not say a word during the court sessions every day, and even when asked, he did not say much.

Chen Chengji continued to handle state affairs as usual.

In just a few months, people's living conditions improved.

After all, anyone who wants to bully the locals must have a backer above. King An has just come to Kyoto to take charge of the government, so no one dares to test him at this time.

Because they all know that temptation is just one word.

dead.

No one wants to be the first bird to stick out, nor the chicken to be killed.

When Dong Zhuo stood up to impeach the Ten Eunuchs today, everyone, including Yuan Feng and Yuan Ji, suddenly raised their heads. They looked at the figure standing in the center of the hall with confusion on their faces.

What does it mean?
It was like throwing a stone into a calm lake, and ripples instantly appeared on the surface of the lake.

In an instant, the place was filled with noise and bustle.

The emperor sat on a high platform and looked down at Chen Chengji who was sitting below.

At this moment, Chen Chengji was like an old man, with his eyes closed, as if he had fallen asleep and entered a dream.

There was a flash of cruelty in Liu Hong's eyes.

He wanted to kill Chen Chengji.

But the murderous intent disappeared in an instant, because he didn't dare and couldn't.

He asked slowly, "What do you think?"

The many ministers in the audience seemed to have already made plans, and some of the censors spoke before the children of noble families and the followers of the Ten Attendants began to speak.

The people who came out this time were even more surprising.

General, He Jin.

A person who has become completely invisible since King An Chen Chengji came to Beijing.

When such a person speaks, his voice is as loud as thunder.

"Your Majesty, I think that if it is true as General Dong said, the Ten Eunuchs have committed serious crimes and violated the law many times, and they must not be forgiven lightly."

"And what General Dong said involves military affairs in Xiliang. I wonder if General Dong has any concrete evidence?"

Dong Zhuo raised his head, with a look of misery on his arrogant face. He then took out a lot of evidence that he had prepared long ago from his arms and spread it on the ground for everyone to read.

“This is evidence of guilt.”

After it was circulated among everyone, even a shrewd and calculating head of a noble family like Yuan Feng felt a little bit reluctant.

Xiliang is indeed bitter.

And the Ten Attendants did more than that. Liu Hong no longer had the heart to listen, he just looked at Chen Chengji who was sitting there.

Many of the Ten Attendants had secretly submitted their letters of surrender to him and truly became his people.

He set up this trap, invited the King to the capital, and had someone implicate Zhang Ze, and then threatened the lives of the Ten Eunuchs and others. His purpose was to truly control the power in his own hands.

And now.
If the Ten Attendants died, then everything would be in vain.

But at this point, does he dare to continue to protect the Ten Attendants?
Liu Hong didn't dare.

Because if he protected the Ten Attendants, then Chen, who had already sharpened her sword, would take action.

Before Chen took action, everything could still be salvaged. If Chen really started to take action, then everything would be irreversible.

He closed his eyes.

"Pass on my imperial decree, with Liu Bei, the Chief of the Imperial Guards, to lead a thorough investigation of the case of the Ten Eunuchs."

"If it is true as Dong Zhuo said, then..."

"The three clans of the Ten Eunuchs and their followers will be exterminated, and all of them will be killed!"

After saying this, Liu Hong stood up and walked towards the harem.

At this time, Chen Chengji, who had been closing his eyes as if he was asleep, finally opened his eyes. He sighed, looking at Liu Hong's back, feeling infinite emotion in his heart.

From the moment Liu Hong asked him to come, he knew there must be something wrong.

But after arriving in Chang'an City and seeing Liu Hong clearly, Chen Chengji knew that he could not let Liu Hong's plan come true.

The Chen family didn't mind making a raft for the emperor to cross the river.

He didn't mind removing Chen's raft after the emperor crossed the river. After all, rafts were meant to be used. As long as it could allow the people to live a better life, it would not be the first time that Chen had made a raft.

When the young emperor was interfered with by the aristocratic families, relatives and eunuchs in turn, and was even controlled in the harem and could not issue any orders, didn't Chen stand up and hold the sword to protect the country? When the little emperor grew up, didn't Chen Linwu still return to Guandu?

But Liu Hong was definitely not the filial emperor of that year.

Filial piety to the emperor's heart, character and talent were all top-notch. The head of the Chen family at that time, Chen Linwu, had great trust in Filial Piety to the emperor's talent and character, and firmly believed that he could bring peace and tranquility to the people, so he was willing to be this "raft".

And what about the emperor today?
What kind of person is the current emperor Liu Hong?

In Chen Chengji's sleeves were all the information collected by the people of the Black Ice Platform. The selling of official positions and titles was not actually done by the Ten Eunuchs, or it was not done by the Ten Eunuchs in the beginning.

At the beginning, it came from the hands of the emperor.

The emperor agreed and even encouraged the Ten Attendants to sell official positions and titles, because the emperor needed money. He needed money to enjoy himself, to win people's hearts and power, so that he could defeat the empress dowager who disliked him.

When the empress dowager was still alive, the current emperor had no power at all.

At that time, Chen was too lazy to take care of such trivial matters.

As long as the empress dowager didn't go too far, Chen would turn a blind eye.

If it were just this, Chen Chengji might just sigh at Liu Hong's ability. After all, even without Chen's help, he was still able to defeat the Queen Mother. This was indeed a skill.

But what happens after the Queen Mother falls?
After the Empress Dowager fell, the power of the Ten Eunuchs began to expand, so the Emperor supported He Jin again, and even secretly contacted many noble families such as the Yuan and Yang families, promising them many benefits. It was for this reason that Yuan Feng and Yang Biao agreed to help the Emperor and General He.

Ever since the aristocratic families headed by Yang Biao and Yuan Feng entered the scene, the court became strange, and the world became strange.

After all, in the beginning, the Ten Eunuchs did not dare to go too far even in selling official positions and titles. Although their people relied on their power to bully the people in the village, they did not dare to kill anyone.

but.
In order to bring the power of the Ten Attendants under his control, the emperor even secretly supported them.

It was because Yuan Feng and others saw this that they asked He Jin to summon Dong Zhuo to the capital.

Chen Chengji sighed and stood up.

He walked forward unsteadily, with a hint of sigh on his brow.

Let's rewind everything to the beginning.

The seemingly chaotic things that happened in the past few months have now been sorted out very clearly.

The current emperor had no chance of becoming emperor because he was not liked by the late emperor and the empress dowager. However, for various reasons, Liu Hong, the unpopular eldest son, eventually ascended the throne.

After he ascended the throne, the "foreign relatives" based on the Queen Mother naturally did not want the emperor to have too much power, so they kept suppressing him.

Under pressure from the empress dowager and his relatives, the emperor used the position of "Order of the Central Government" left by Emperor Wen to set up the "Ten Eunuchs". In other words, there was only one Eunuch at first, and later there were more and more.

Because one eunuch can no longer handle it.

Finally, the emperor outlasted the empress dowager, and her mother's family was liquidated.

But at this time, the emperor discovered a problem. The Ten Attendants had become too inflated in the fight, perhaps to a level that he could no longer control.

But at this time the emperor was afraid of Chen.

why?

Because the current emperor was a man who only wanted power and enjoyment. If he invited Chen, the Chen family would definitely deny his happy life. Therefore, the emperor opened Pandora's box and made deals with the aristocratic families headed by Hongnong Yang and Runan Yuan.

The aristocratic families were given more rights and local autonomy in exchange for their support.

The fight between the aristocratic families and the eunuchs became more and more fierce. The emperor discovered a problem. If the power of the Ten Attendants was all eliminated by the aristocratic families, wouldn't he be sidelined by the aristocratic families?

So he fell in love with a man who came from a very low class background and was even a butcher in the past. This man was called He Jin.

He supported He Jin, and then made He Jin's sister the queen, and personally cultivated a foreign relative force - General He Jin.

The emperor originally intended to use He Jin as a "lubricant" to achieve a balance, but He Jin was equally greedy and wanted to conspire with the aristocratic families to get rid of the Ten Attendants and then completely sideline the emperor and become a powerful official himself.

Thinking of the past events of Wang Mang, the emperor became afraid.

He began to secretly support the Ten Attendants and wantonly encouraged them to amass wealth while he secretly enjoyed himself and won people's hearts.

So the aristocratic families + He Jin fought to a draw with the Ten Eunuchs.

Therefore, the noble families and the generals wanted to overturn the table, and they planned to transfer Dong Zhuo to the capital.

At this time, the city of Chang'an was like a huge gunpowder barrel. As long as there was a tiny bit of gunpowder, the city of Chang'an would explode at any time and blow the Han Dynasty and the emperor into the sky.

So the emperor was afraid again.

At this time, he had only one solution, which was to find Chen Chengji.

With the arrival of Chen Chengji, the Chang'an City that was about to explode calmed down again. The emperor brought up the Zhang Ze incident and successfully subdued the Ten Attendants with the help of Chen's pressure.

But will King An let the Ten Attendants go?
will not.

At this time, Zhao Zhong provided a candidate, Liu Bei, who had a good relationship with Chen Zhulou.

Then the recognition of relatives event took place, Liu Bei became Liu Jinwu, and the forces in the court once again reached a delicate balance.

but.
After all, Chen Chengji was the smartest move.

The emperor's efforts were in vain.

The situation was out of balance again.

(End of this chapter)