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

Chapter 368: True and False Emperor
Standing in front of the gate of Chen Mansion was the great and virtuous teacher Zhang Jue.

At this moment, Zhang Jiao had a normal look on his face, and he was not wearing any Taoist robes. Instead, he was wearing a plain robe like an ordinary person.

He stood there, very respectful.

"I heard that you passed away, so I came here to see you off for the last time."

Zhang Jue's expression was complicated and sad.

He was originally just an ordinary student who traveled around the world, but while traveling around the world, he met Chen Chengji who was also traveling at the time. Then Chen Chengji became his companion and they became both his teacher and friend, so he was half a teacher.

Later, he was given the last classic book of Zhuangzi and a military book written by an ancestor of the Chen family.

It is the combination of these two that makes the "Taiping Yaoshu" famous.

Zhang Jue gained enlightenment from these two classics and obtained the "Taiping Heavenly Book", integrating all the impermanence in the world into one and gaining enlightenment of his own.

At this time, Chen Cheng had already passed away, so Zhang Jue would naturally come.

Chen Fuzhong

Chen Zhulou looked at Zhang Jiao who was sitting in front of him and sighed softly: "Master Zhang, you came here today not just to see my father off, right? If there is anything else, please tell me directly."

Zhang Jue shook his head.

He knew what Chen Zhulou was thinking, but he certainly did not come here for the rumor that "whoever gets Chen will get the world."

Although this cannot be considered a rumor.

He just said silently: "I know what the prince is thinking, but I am not here for that."

Zhang Jue turned his head away and said, "I just wanted to see you off, sir."

He looked at the calm lake and said, "I can feel the turbulent winds and clouds in this world, and I can smell the murderous aura hidden in the wind and rain, but I don't care about these."

Zhang Jue had a proud look on his face.

He simply said: "My disciples of Taiping Dao are spread across the land of Kyushu, and there are many believers. There are also many people who are willing to follow me."

"In other words, it's not that they are willing to follow me, but they hope I can give them a chance."

"A chance to live."

Zhang Jue slowly stood up and looked at the calm lake.

"The Taiping Dao will rebel, but they will not rely on the Chen family's power. I received great favors from King An in the past, so why would I drag the Chen family into the water now?"

"I just came here to see you off, sir, and also to give the prince a reminder."

remind?

Chen Zhulou smiled and looked at Zhang Jue, his expression gradually becoming serious.

"What do you want to remind me, sir?"

Zhang Jue turned his head, his eyes full of caution.

"If the prince returns to Guandu now, I'm afraid the situation in the capital will change."

"Big man."

Before Zhang Jue could finish, Chen Zhulou waved his hand and said, "I know what you want to say, sir. It's nothing more than Cao Mengde's affairs."

Chen Zhulou's voice was very calm: "I have bought three months for the emperor and Cao Mengde. These three months are enough for them to think everything through."

"If they still decide to take action after these three months, no one can save them."

Chen Zhulou looked towards the distance.

"Sir, you gave me a reminder, so I would like to give you some kind advice."

"Cao Mengde, Liu Xuande, and many other relatives of the Han Dynasty and heroes of the world have various forces, but they can be roughly divided into several parts."

"Among the clan members, Liu Biao of Jingzhou is the leader. He occupies Jingzhou and has 100,000 soldiers under his command. He is extremely powerful."

"Among the heroes of the world, many clans in Yangzhou, such as the Lu clan in Wujun and the Zhou clan in Lujiang, all welcomed Sun Jian. The forces in Youzhou were tyrannical. Although there was Liu Yu, a relative of the Han Dynasty, they were vaguely led by Gongsun Zan, the White Horse Volunteers. There was Kong Rong in the North Sea of ​​Qingzhou."

"Of course, in addition to these, there are also some small sealed countries."

"And there are Meng De and Xuan De in the court. Even if they start fighting, it will probably just split the Han Dynasty in two. The heroes of the world will be in turmoil, and I'm afraid there will be no place for you, sir."

What Chen Zhulou said was very sincere.

Although he and Zhang Jue had only known each other for a short time, they had a long-lasting friendship, and he did not want Zhang Jue to die in disgrace.

"Why do you bother to keep going, sir?"

Chen Zhulou could see the final destination of Zhang Jiao's steps, but he wanted to persuade him.

But Zhang Jue laughed out loud. He turned around and looked at Chen Zhulou who was sitting there. His eyes were sincere and clear, without any hesitation or confusion. These eyes did not look like those of a person who had been in the secular world for many years, but rather like those of an innocent child.

He said word by word: "Donglin, I know that if I continue to move forward, I will die."

"But in the late Qin Dynasty, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang started an uprising and wanted to overthrow the Qin Dynasty. Even though they did not succeed, they did achieve results. Emperor Wulie of Qin emerged and once again competed with Han and Chu for supremacy, giving the Qin Dynasty a decent ending."

"It can be said that Chen and Wu failed miserably, but who can deny their achievements?"

"The common people they led dealt the Qin Dynasty the most fatal blow. It was precisely because of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang that many subsequent events happened, and the Han Dynasty lasted for 400 years, and also the peaceful and stable life for 400 years."

"When the Han Dynasty was first established, because of the lessons learned from the end of the Qin Dynasty, many Han emperors, including Emperor Gaozu, Emperor Rendi, Emperor Wendi, Emperor Jingdi, Emperor Wudi, Emperor Chengdi, and Emperor Kangdi, did their best to ensure that the people of the world could live a happy life."

"No one can deny that part of this is due to their character, but no one can deny that part of this is because they are afraid that if they treat the people badly, another 'Chen Sheng and Wu Guang' will appear again."

Zhang Jue stood there with a solemn expression.

He said as if he had a mission: "Now the world is in decline, the Han Dynasty is in decline, and the emperor is incompetent."

"Jiao is willing to swear with his life, and ask all the noble families in the world, and ask the high and mighty Han emperor to understand that the anger of the people, even if it is just a spark, can burn the nine states to ashes!"

"Even if Jiao is disgraced in the future, even if Zhang fails to achieve success in the future, this head of his will will be used to seek credit and reward."

"I will never regret it."

“This is the wish of all people.”

"Please don't persuade me anymore, my lord."

Listening to Zhang Jue's passionate oath, Chen Zhulou fell into silence for a long time. After a moment, he nodded to show his approval of Zhang Jue.

"When do you plan to start, sir?"

Zhang Jue had a smile on his face.

"next year."

There was a sharp glint in his eyes.

"If you are born in Jiazi, the world will be prosperous."

"This year is the Jiazi year, which marks the death of the blue sky and the establishment of the yellow sky!"

Chen Zhulou sighed quietly, and finally said, "If you have made up your mind, then let's do it."

"The Chen family will not hinder a person who wants to rule for the people, nor will they become an obstacle to anyone who wants to become emperor." He seemed to be talking to Zhang Jue, or to himself, or more like he was talking to those who were about to come to Guandu to visit the Chen family.

"People of the Chen family will never claim to be emperor!"

In the past, when the Chen family was established, it was the Warring States Period. At that time, the Zhou emperor promised that the Chen family could become king.

But under all the temptations, Chen remained true to his heart.

And the ancestors of the Chen family shouted out "The Chen family will never claim to be king."

Today, the world has changed. The Han Dynasty has stood for more than 400 years, and the Central Plains also changed from Qin to Han. The emperor is no longer a "king" but an "emperor", and the Chen family was even conferred the titles of "King of Zhenguo" and "King of An" by the original Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty.

The current head of the Chen family is called "King An", and the previous head of the Chen family was given the title of King Zhenguo.

It seemed that the words that Chen would never claim the throne had long since disappeared in the long river of history. Those aristocratic families also wanted to know whether Chen still did not want to become the ruler of the world as he had said back then, or whether the oath he made back then had long since disappeared in the long river of history.

Did Chen also want to rule the world?
No one can be sure.

Even Zhang Jue was not quite sure about this matter. This was also the real purpose of Zhang Jue's coming here. He wanted to know whether Chen would proclaim himself emperor, whether he would directly depose the Han emperor and then change the dynasty.

Both Zhang Jue at this time and many visitors in the future got an answer.

That is

Chen will never claim the throne!

When walking out of Guandu City, Zhang Jue turned around and looked at the vast Guandu City with a hint of emotion on his face.

Guandu City has always stood here, and it has even developed into a powerful place equivalent to a county.

The Chen family is unwilling to get involved in the disputes of the world. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

It is said to be a good thing because if Chen's "heart" changes, then what will happen to the Chinese land and the Kyushu in the future?
Over the past five hundred years, the Chen family has been protecting the land of Kyushu like a guardian of the way.

But if this "Protector of the Way" becomes the "Son of Heaven", then everything will change.

In the capital

After the first year of Zhaoning, the emperor seemed to have lost his temper and did not take any action against Cao Cao again. Instead, he was very humble.

But both the emperor and Cao Cao knew that the war had just begun.

Different historical books have different descriptions of this period of history.

In later generations, there were three books of the Han Dynasty.

The first book of the Han Dynasty is called "Han Shu". It records the prosperity of the Han Dynasty from the original Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang to the Emperor Shao of Han Liu Min. It was written by the last historian of the Han Dynasty, "Sima Zhong", who was the 15th generation grandson of Sima Qian.

The second book of the Han Dynasty is called "Guan Han Ji", which records the story from the original Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang to Emperor Xian of Han Liu Xie. It was written by "Sima Kang", the cousin of "Sima Zhong", the last historian of the Han Dynasty and the first historian of the Wei Dynasty.

The third Book of Han consists of two volumes, namely "Old Book of Han" and "New Book of Han", together they are called "History Book·Han Ji". This book was written by the first historian of the Yu Dynasty.

Among the historical records in the three books of Han, many records between Emperor Gaozu of Han Liu Bang and Emperor Ling of Han are roughly the same. Even if there are some differences, they are only slight changes and there is not much controversy.

But when it came to writing about "Emperor Ai of Han" Liu Xie, "Emperor Shao of Han" Liu Min, and "Emperor Xian of Han" Liu Xie, the three books began to have almost irreconcilable contradictions.

Many historians in later generations have tried to study the records in these three books, and each has his own opinion.

Among them, "History Book of Han" has the most supporters.

There are two reasons.

First, many records in this history book can be found in the other two books.

Second, the author of this book is an ancestor of the Chen family, and his perspective is very "fair", not biased towards the "Liu Han" or "Wei Han" at the time. In addition, there are many records in the Zhuoshen Building of the Chen family, so this history book is also regarded as an official history book.

This is how the Book of Han describes what happened in the second year of Zhaoning.

"In the second year of Zhaoning, Chen retired and the wise king took over the throne."

"In the autumn of the second year of Zhaoning, it rained heavily and stars fell to the ground like rain. This was a sign of a great disaster."

"At that time, the emperor was seriously ill in the Weiyang Palace and could not leave his bed."

"The wise king Liu Bei, the great commander Cao Cao, and the secretary Lu Zhi were in charge of the government."

"Winter of the second year of Zhaoning, the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month."

"The emperor suddenly recovered from his illness and summoned all his ministers to see him."

"Not long after, the emperor was in danger and fainted in the Weiyang Palace."

"At the hour of Hai, the emperor will die."

"The will says: Let the prince "Min" be the new emperor and ascend the throne on a chosen day."

"At that time, Cao rebelled and took the Prince of Hongnong with him to rebel. He made a presumptuous discussion on the government, saying: The emperor is young, and when the emperor was seriously ill, he only summoned the wise princes. This may be because the wise prince wanted to use the emperor to control the princes."

"The virtuous king held up the edict and rebuked him, but Cao the traitor had long been plotting evil, and he led his troops in rebellion, and in Langya, Qingzhou, he welcomed the King of Hongnong as the false emperor."

"And the wise king took the emperor to Chang'an to succeed to the throne."

"At this point, the two Han dynasties coexisted."

"Some say: Liu Han, Cao Han."

"Taishigong said: The name of the wise king was recognized by the world, but the intention of Cao was known to everyone. In the early years of the Ping Dynasty, Cao took the opportunity to rise up, but he did not think of the emperor's grace and actually committed treason. This is called wolfish ambition."

"His name is Cao Han, but he is actually Cao the thief."

In the Book of Han, this record was also known to people in later generations, and Cao Cao was described as "ambitious and wolfish".

However, in "Guan Han Ji", this period of history has a different description.

Before the sentence "last will", the descriptions were almost the same, nothing more than that the emperor was seriously ill.

After this sentence, there are different records.

"In the second year of Zhaoning, the emperor died."

"At that time, Liu Bei was rampant and held the government in his hands. He refused to allow the ministers to see the emperor and trapped the emperor in the Weiyang Palace."

"The emperor died at the hour of You, but Liu the traitor said that the emperor died at the hour of Hai."

"At that time, the emperor was a civilian in Chang'an. He was young and had lost his mother."

"The traitor Liu wanted to control the government, so he forged an imperial edict to establish the emperor and his people."

"In ancient times, wise emperors passed the throne to their younger brothers after their elder brothers died. This was the rite of the Zhou Dynasty and the rite of the great way."

"The thief Liu forged the imperial edict to plot against the whole country, which was for his own benefit. Although he was nominally a relative of the royal family, he was actually a descendant of the fifth degree of mourning, and he attempted to steal the sacred artifacts of the state."

"At that time, there were many people in the court preparing their own factions."

"In this time of crisis, Duke Cao bravely fought against the enemy and made Prince Hongnong the emperor. However, the enemy Liu was too powerful and Duke Cao was no match for him. He had no choice but to flee with the emperor and ascend the throne in Langya."

"The world may be like the two Han dynasties."

"Said: Pseudo-Han, Han."

(End of this chapter)