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

Chapter 374 The Test of Chen Zhulou [Updated, please subscribe]

For Cai, everything she wanted was about to be destroyed by this old man Liu Biao.

Why did she marry Liu Biao?

Is it because Liu Biao is a hero? Or is it because she is attracted by his heroic appearance?

No, neither.

The reason why she married Liu Biao was simple, because Liu Biao was the lord of Jingzhou, and Cai needed to have a relationship with such a lord of Jingzhou in order to gain control over Jingzhou.

The relationship between Liu Biao and Cai was never one-sided, but rather both parties needed each other.

Liu Biao needed the support of these aristocratic families, and the Cai family also needed some "special" support to occupy the top position of the aristocratic families and then develop their own power again.

Now, Mrs. Cai thought that since she had served Liu Biao for many years, Liu Biao would leave the land of Jingzhou to his son "Liu Cong", but she never expected that Liu Biao was still thinking about his eldest son Liu Qi!
He was even willing to contact Chang'an City because of Liu Qi!

There was a hint of resentment in her eyes. Since Liu Biao did it on the first day, then don't blame her for doing it on the fifteenth!
A conspiracy is spreading in Jingzhou City.

The fourth year of Chengtai, winter.

The health of Liu Biao, Lord of Jingzhou, is gradually deteriorating, and he might not survive the winter. Upon hearing the news, the three major forces are all ready - to wait until Liu Biao, Lord of Jingzhou, passes away and then prepare to take control of Jingzhou.

Everyone knows that as long as they can control Jingzhou, they will be able to use Jingzhou as a stepping stone to conquer the world in the future.

When there was still no movement in Chang'an City, Cao Cao in Langya had already led his troops to the battle, traveling almost day and night, and then stationed in an area under their control outside Jingzhou, eyeing Jingzhou covetously.

However, the movements in Langya City could not be concealed from Chang'an City.

In Chang'an City, in the Prime Minister's Mansion

Liu Bei sighed softly. He looked at the letter in front of him with a hint of melancholy on his brow.

In fact, Liu Biao had been kind to him. If it weren't for Liu Biao, he would have been busy dealing with the Sun family who came from Jiangdong. Now it was time for him to repay this favor.

Zhuge Liang on the side looked helpless: "Prime Minister, this is not the time to hesitate."

"If we don't completely take Jingzhou now, once Cao Cao or Zhang Jiao takes Jingzhou, the Han Dynasty will be in danger!"

Liu Bei just lowered his head and continued in silence.

Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Wei Yan and Huang Zhong all sat there in silence. They didn't understand these things as well as Zhuge Liang, so they could only remain silent.

Liu Bei stood up slowly with his hands behind his back.

He said softly, "I have already promised Jing Sheng that as long as Jingzhou surrenders, we can make his son Liu Qi the governor of Jingzhou. Then, won't Jingzhou be under our control?"

"By then, Jingzhou will also belong to the imperial court."

Even though history is different, even though Liu Bei's situation at this time is different from his original situation, Liu Bei still made the same choice.

In fact, Liu Biao had clearly stated in his letter that he was willing to hand over Jingzhou to Liu Bei and the imperial court, and he could even ask the imperial court to send someone to serve as the governor of Jingzhou.

But after much thought, Liu Bei decided to make this choice.

Should Jingzhou be recovered?

want.

Is Jingzhou going to be completely snatched away from Liu Biao and his son?
No.

The penniless Liu Xuande back then would not have snatched Jingzhou from Liu Biao. Now that Liu Bei has become the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty and has been conferred the title of the Wise King, he naturally would not snatch Jingzhou from Liu Biao.

It is true that half of Jingzhou was divided among three forces, but it was different from what everyone imagined.

At the beginning, Liu Bei led his troops to help Liu Biao resist Zhang Jue and Cao Cao's army, because in Liu Bei's eyes, Liu Biao was a relative of the Han Dynasty. Even though Liu Biao ruled a certain area at that time, he was still a relative of the Han Dynasty.

Since he is a relative of the Han Dynasty and has not explicitly stated that he wants independence, the imperial court has an obligation to save him.

Later, Liu Biao saw that he could not resist Zhang Jue and Cao Cao, so he deliberately narrowed his sphere of influence and gave part of his power directly to Liu Bei who came to support him.

This is the best choice for Liu Biao.

The three-sided state is the most stable state. Since the control of Cao Cao and Zhang Jue cannot be resisted, another force will be introduced again to allow them to continue to stand on three sides.

It has to be said that Liu Biao was indeed an old fox who had been dominating the world for thirty years, and this choice did make Jingzhou stable for a period of time.

The only thing he hadn't anticipated was probably the end of his life.

This is something that no one can control. Even the members of the Chen family cannot control how long they live while they are alive.

After a long sigh, Zhuge Liang knew that he probably had no way to shake Liu Bei's choice.

Once Liu Bei made a choice, he was always very firm.

So he could only say: "Even so, we should lead the troops and leave, right?"

"According to the current situation, the forces in Jingzhou are complex and changing, and the things Liu Biao and the Prime Minister have agreed on are likely to undergo new changes."

Zhuge Liang pushed the letter in his hand in front of Liu Bei: "The spy wrote that Langya seems to have reached some kind of agreement with the Cai family, similar to the agreement reached between the Prime Minister and Liu Bei."

"If we don't go, I'm afraid Liu Cong will become the lord of Jingzhou."

Liu Bei looked at the contents of the intelligence report and frowned slightly, with a serious expression.

"It would be great if all these noble families could be like the Chen family. It's a pity that there is only one Chen family in the world."

He stood up, and after a brief thought, he said, "Han Sheng and Wen Chang are familiar with Jingzhou. How about I lead the troops this time, and Han Sheng, Wen Chang, and my second brother go with me?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the handsome young man standing next to Zhuge Liang could not help himself.

"Prime Minister, I want to go too."

"Take me with you, take me with you."

The person who spoke was "Jin Ma Chao".

At the right time, Guan Yu also spoke up. He thought for a moment and said, "Brother, since Meng Qi wants to go, take him with you."

There was a hint of smile on his face: "Young people always want to achieve success."

Seeing that Guan Yu also agreed, and Ma Chao rubbing his hands nervously, Liu Bei laughed and said, "Okay, then take Meng Qi with you."

He raised his head and looked towards the distant Jingzhou City: "Just this time, maybe I can still see my old friend."

Cao Cao expressed the same sentiment as Liu Bei. He also met his "old friend" in the city of Jiangxia County.

He sat on a roadside stall with a bowl of wine in his hand, feeling quite emotional.

Given Cao Cao's status, almost no one would allow him to sit here and drink so casually.

"Donglin, I haven't seen you for many years. Are you doing well?"

Chen Zhulou sat in front of Cao Cao.

Even though he had resigned from office and returned to his hometown many years ago, Chen Zhulou still had that faint aura of nobility that made people unforgettable at first sight.

He just smiled and said, "My body is just like that." "Bian Que always said that it might be the winter of the past few years, but he never told me when exactly it was."

Chen Zhulou tilted his head and looked at the soldiers coming and going in the Jiangxia County City, with a hint of melancholy in his eyes.

"When the world is in turmoil, the common people always suffer the most."

Cao Cao, however, did not take it seriously: "It is only after suffering hardships that one realizes how hard it is to have stability."

He was silent for a moment and then said, "It is rumored that the Yellow Turban Rebellion has something to do with the Chen family. I just don't know if this is true?"

Cao Cao tested it cautiously.

Even after so many years, when the saying "He who controls the Chen family controls the world" is no longer popular in the world, people still fear the power of the Chen family.

Chen is like a dormant tiger, hiding in this mundane world.

If one day this tiger suddenly wakes up and stands by someone's side, then the turmoil in the world can be quelled almost instantly.

Chen Zhulou glanced at Cao Cao, a mocking arc appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Meng De, after all these years, you still haven't learned to ask honest questions to your friends."

He didn't seem to care about Cao Cao's question, and simply answered: "Neither in the past nor now."

Chen Zhulou said word by word: "Zhang Jue rebelled simply because the Han Dynasty was divided into many parts, and the people under the sky lived a hard life. He saw the suffering of the people, so he wanted to ask the high and mighty people and the emperor of the Han Dynasty who was sitting upright."

"Is the suffering of the people due to the people's fault?"

He sighed and continued, "So, Zhang Jue's uprising was entirely due to his heroic spirit and his compassion for the people of the world."

"Even though the Chen clan is on the side of the common people, this time the Chen clan did not take action. It was simply Zhang Jue's heroic act."

"This is something that will surely be remembered for eternity and even be passed down through the ages."

"Chen is not so shameless as to snatch the credit that belongs to the great and virtuous teacher Zhang Jue."

Cao Cao heard Chen's, or Chen Zhulou's, attitude from Chen Zhulou's words.

Chen, at least Chen Zhulou, supported Zhang Jue's uprising, but he could also hear that Chen had not given Zhang Jue any help for the time being.

This made him curious.

He looked at Chen Zhulou and asked, "Donglin, if it is true as you said, Zhang Jue is a saint who has compassion for the people of the world, and what he did is also like the saintly deeds of the ancient sages, then the Chen family should help Zhang Jue."

"Why haven't you taken any action yet?"

Cao Cao smiled and said very frankly: "After all, neither Xuande nor I are the ruler of the world that Chen wants."

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhulou nodded decisively. For the Chen family, Cao Cao and Liu Bei were both suitable rulers of the world.

Cao Cao was too suspicious.

Emperors of all dynasties were suspicious, which was not a fatal flaw, but the most fatal thing about Cao Cao was that he could not control his "suspicion".

Of course, this is not the most important reason.

The most important reason is that Cao Cao does not care about the people.

Yes, even though history has changed, Cao Cao still made the same choice as he made in history. When attacking a city, he chose the most cruel method.

Massacre.

For this reason alone, it would be absolutely impossible for the Chen family to allow Cao Cao to become the ruler of the world.

That would bring untold suffering.

And what about Liu Bei?

Liu Bei was indeed a very wise man, but he was too "emotional".

In other words, he was unable to put his country and the world above his personal feelings, which also made him not a good emperor.

Chen knew everything that happened in Jingzhou City.

Because when Liu Biao was looking for a partner, the first person he looked for was Chen.

All the changes today are the result of the planning of Chen Zhulou and Liu Biao.

This is a test that Chen posed to the three major forces in the world.

Zhang Jue and Cao Cao have not yet been eliminated from this exam, but Liu Bei has already been eliminated.

The order to ask Liu Biao to write a letter to Liu Bei in Chang'an City was given by Chen Zhulou.

What was his test for Liu Bei?
Chen Zhulou’s test for Liu Bei was to put “the world” above personal feelings.

As long as Liu Bei seized the opportunity, led his troops directly to Chang'an City, and then joined forces with Liu Biao to directly control Jingzhou before Liu Biao's death, and then concurrently served as the "Governor of Jingzhou", he would have passed Chen Zhulou's test.

At that time, Chen Zhulou will appear in Jingzhou City with great fanfare and become the "Prime Minister" of the Han Dynasty in Chang'an, replacing Liu Bei.

Afterwards, Chen Zhulou would use the power of the Chen family to quickly make the entire county of Jingzhou defect to the Chang'an court.

Within three months, Jingzhou will become the territory of the Han Dynasty.

after that
Chen Zhulou was fully confident that he could regain control of the world within two years, and then he would welcome Liu Bei to the throne as emperor. From then on, in addition to the New Han and Old Han, there would be another name in the long river of history.

The Eastern Han Dynasty, or rather the Later Han Dynasty!

The New Han and the Old Han both belong to the category of the Western Han Dynasty. After Liu Bei ascended the throne, he was no longer the bloodline passed down from the past. Just like the historical version of Emperor Guangwu who revived the Han Dynasty, he was rebuilding the Han Dynasty.

His posthumous title would then be
"Emperor Xiaoguangwulie".

It’s a pity that Liu Bei did not seize this opportunity.

He gave up becoming the governor of Jingzhou and chose to support Liu Qi as the governor of Jingzhou. He even promised Liu Biao that Liu Qi's son could also become the governor of Jingzhou as long as Jingzhou could be loyal to the court.

Chen Zhulou held the wine glass and sighed slowly.

What kind of person is a qualified emperor?
Of course, he cannot be a heartless person, but he should at least be a "ruthless" person.

He needs to put "the world" above everything else at all times.

For example, "Liu Xiu" in the original historical version is a typical founding emperor, because even if it is the revenge of killing his father and brother, as long as it is beneficial to the unification of the world, he can let it go.

But Liu Bei was not.

Chen Zhulou drank the wine in the cup.

This is why he did not choose Liu Bei.

Because Liu Bei did not have the heart of an emperor.

(End of this chapter)