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

Chapter 418: Eliminate All Evil

Chen Jiaozhou put down the teacup in his hand with a smile on his face, and then looked at Ye Ping in front of him.

"Mr. Ye."

"Do you need me to tell you the rest of the story?"

At this moment, Ye Ping's brows were filled with a series of complex expressions including surprise, anger, fear, panic, etc. His hands clenched involuntarily, tightly gripping the handle of the chair.

A "ho ho ho" sound came from his mouth and bloodshot appeared in his eyes.

"You said."

Ye Ping almost squeezed out these words from between his teeth.

"Let me die and understand."

Chen Jiaozhou shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Okay, since you said so, then I will tell you a good story."

"A story about how the Ye clan brought about their own destruction."

He thought for a moment, organized his words in his mind, and then spoke slowly.

"As I said just now, the Ye family relied on their merits in supporting Emperor Muzong to ascend the throne and killing the then Crown Prince Li to successfully occupy the Lingnan area and become the King of Lingnan in name only."

"And after Emperor Su ascended the throne, he wanted to get rid of the King of Lingnan."

"why?"

"Because no emperor would like a person who holds the handle of his ancestors - he holds the handle of my father, not mine, it's none of my business."

"So, Emperor Su began to think of ways to get rid of the King of Lingnan."

"But he never accomplished this in his entire life, because Emperor Muzong gave the Ye family too much power, to an astonishing degree, and he had no suitable reason to deal with the Ye family."

"Before Emperor Su passed away, he once looked for the then head of the Chen family, hoping that Chen could help Dayu to eradicate the Ye family and bring peace to the world."

Chen Jiaozhou shook his head and said, "It's a pity that the Chen family didn't want to get involved in this matter at the time. On the other hand, the Ye family was actually quite good at the time and also maintained the safety of the Lingnan area."

"If the country is in trouble, the Chen family will naturally not stand idly by - but the people are living a good life. It is not in line with the Chen family's concept to clean up the mess for Dayu and Emperor Mu and get involved in the internal strife of Dayu."

"So Chen ignored the then Emperor Su."

"After the previous emperor ascended the throne, he asked the Chen family for help again, but the head of the Chen family still didn't want to get involved."

"But the late emperor was smarter than the Su emperor in that he knew that if he wanted the Chen family to help him, he had to first let the Chen family see the "corruption" and "decline" of the Ye family. Only when they saw that the Ye family was a threat to the people of the world and the lives of the people, would they be willing to help him."

"So, the late emperor gave up the idea of ​​letting the Chen family wipe out the Ye family, and invited the then head of the Chen family to serve as prime minister. This was customary, so the head of the Chen family did not refuse."

“It was only after the head of the Chen family entered the court that he discovered something was wrong.”

"Why did the path that was originally set quietly undergo some fundamental changes?"

“Although it seems that we are still following the path set by Emperor Taizu Wu, that is just a cover. In fact, we have begun to move towards another path.”

"This is something that Patriarch Chen cannot tolerate."

"After investigation, the head of the Chen family discovered that it was Emperor Muzong and the "Ye Clan" who were secretly influencing Dayu."

Chen Jiaozhou glanced at Ye Ping and whispered, "You are not wrong. It was what you did that made the head of the Chen family suspicious."

In order to strengthen the power of the Ye family in Lingnan and in the court, Ye Ping secretly trained a group of scholars.

Of course, Ye Shi cannot serve as an official in the court, but it also does not say that Ye Shi’s disciples cannot serve as officials in the court, right?
Of course.

The upper beam is not right and the lower beam is crooked.

Whatever the Ye family is, the disciples they train will naturally be of the same kind.

So this immediately aroused the vigilance of the head of the Chen family.

After taking a sip of tea, Chen Jiaozhou continued, "So, I listened to my elder brother and came to Lingnan to serve as a governor."

He sighed: "To be honest, I am a very kind person and I don't like killing people at all."

"The purpose of killing those people from the Ye family was to make you restrain yourself."

"But after those people were killed, not only did you not restrain yourself at all, but you became even more rampant and did many things in secret."

"After seeing this situation, the late emperor discussed it with my eldest brother and found a descendant of the Sima family and asked him to cooperate secretly to set up a trap."

Chen Jiaozhou smiled and looked at Ye Shi: "Are you still doubting in your heart just now, why did you check so many times, even finding all the growth traces of this "Sima Cheng" when he was a child, but didn't find any problems at all?"

"Because Sima Ben himself is a descendant of the Sima family."

"He is the genuine head of the Sima family of this generation."

"Although the Sima family is only in name only."

Ye Ping had calmed down by now. He looked at Chen Jiaozhou with a look of despair.

"Dayu is actually willing to join forces with the Sima family?"

Chen Jiaozhou was a little surprised: "Why are you so surprised? The Sima family is the Sima family, Sima Yi is Sima Yi, and Sima Cheng is Sima Cheng. These are three concepts and three people."

"Just like your Ye clan."

"You exiled your eldest son Yewu to a poor place, and you wanted him to admit his mistakes as soon as possible. He is like a rare good bamboo shoot among the bad bamboos. Sima Cheng is also a genuine good man."

Chen Jiaozhou didn't understand why Ye Ping was surprised.

Sima Yi deserved to be scolded for what he did back then.

But this does not mean that all Sima family members are bad people.

Chen Jiaozhou glanced at Ye Ping and continued, "What were you talking about? Oh, we were talking about the late emperor asking Sima Cheng to come to Lingnan to discuss things with you."

"After Sima Cheng came to Lingnan, he met you, mentioned this matter, and promised you countless benefits, including dividing the country by the river. Although you believed him, you felt that the Sima family had a bad reputation and could not complete the act of rebellion."

Chen Jiaozhou smacked his lips, as if he was surprised that Ye Ping could still despise someone with a bad reputation.

"But Sima Cheng has something on his plate—and an offer you can't refuse."

"He took out the private seal of Liu Chan, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, and the private seal of Liu Chen, the king of Beidi. He used these two seals to show that he could impersonate Liu Chen, the "prince of the Han Dynasty" who had escaped that year, and support the Han Dynasty in the name of Liu Chen."

"Your rebellion has become the restoration of the Han Dynasty and the return of the old capital. It is a great achievement comparable to that of the prime minister who single-handedly supported the Han Dynasty and continued its prosperity for decades."

"You're moved."

"So, you secretly contacted some of the descendants of the Wei, Wang, and Xie families, and tried to use the prosperous land of Jiangnan as your base, just like Dayu did in the past, first occupying Jiangnan, and then developing it as a base."

"Of course, you have another hidden idea behind your suggestion."

Chen Jiaozhou looked at Ye Ping with a half-smile: "Whether it's Jiangnan or Lingnan, they are all your sphere of influence. In the future, you can insert your "hand" into the Han Dynasty. Even if you return to the old capital "Chang'an", the emperor will definitely take some people away."

"In this way, you will occupy the south of the Yangtze River, facing the Han Dynasty across the river, and you will be able to secretly control part of the Han Dynasty's power."

"It will be convenient for you or your descendants to ascend to the throne in the future."

"To complete what the Great Yu, or perhaps the Great Wei Emperor, did back then."

“Aim for the highest position!”

"Am I right, Mr. Ye Ping?"

Ye Ping sat there, completely calm. "You're right."

He twitched the corners of his mouth, but it didn't turn into a smile.

“Who wouldn’t want to be in that position?”

"The Emperor of Wei back then was just a descendant of a eunuch, and the current Emperor of Yu is even more of a lowly commoner. They were able to sit on the throne, so why can't I?"

Ye Ping closed his eyes.

"The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit."

"Since I have fallen into your hands today, you can do whatever you want with me."

“Only a little.”

He opened his eyes and asked with a little desire: "Whether it's exile to the Far North, exile to the Western Regions, or simply being demoted to a government slave, can you give this child under ten years old a chance to live?"

Ye Ping knew.

If you are under ten years old, no matter where you are exiled or demoted to a government slave, there will not be many options for survival.

But, if not for this, I'm afraid no one in the Ye family would survive today.

His voice was urgent: "This matter is my own selfish desire, I am willing to be cut into pieces."

"The Chen family has always been kind and modest. Those children are innocent. Please give them a chance to live."

Ye Ping stood up tremblingly, and then fell to the ground.

He hoped that Chen Jiaozhou would give those children a chance to live because of the Chen family's reputation. This was the only thing he, the head of the Ye family, could do.

Chen Jiaozhou's expression did not change at all. He was neither moved by Ye Ping nor relaxed.

He just looked at Ye Ping and said, "You want to use reputation and morality to kidnap me, it will not work."

"The crime of treason is the extermination of all nine clans. This is a customary practice and we will not set a precedent just because of your Ye clan."

Chen Jiaozhou stood up and walked out amid the screams. His voice fell faintly into the ears of the three people in the room.

"You feel very pitiful now, but how pitiful were Prince Li's family and the families of the subordinate officials who were "disciplined" by you?"

"What happens today is the result of what happens tomorrow."

"Cause and effect come in cycles, and there will be retribution from Heaven."

"There has always been a god above our heads!"

Chen Jiaozhou walked into the courtyard. He turned around to look at the three people with bleak backs, and his voice was a little tired and firm: "As for reputation? The Chen family has never been afraid of rumors."

"For thousands of years, time has passed."

"The Chen family is still the Chen family."

His voice fell loud and powerful, reaching the ears of the surrounding soldiers who were originally "unbearable" in killing the Ye family's children.

“If evil cannot be eradicated, what is the difference between that and not eradicating evil at all?”

"I, Chen Jiaozhou, will bear all the consequences for this!"

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and walked outside.

There were countless autumn winds and fallen leaves in the yard, as well as the constant wailing of the Ye family.

It was just like the wailing in the mansion of the murdered Prince Li, and just like the firm yet powerless rebukes of those officials under Prince Li when they were tried day and night for forty-two days.

Causal loop.

It's really retribution.

Jiangnan
It rains a lot in this romantic place. On a small boat, just like when he came here, Chen Xiao was lying on the bow of the boat with a carefree and contented look on his face.

Xie Xuan beside him was saying something with a helpless look on his face.

"Brother Chen, why do you insist on asking me to go to the capital?"

Chen Xiao got impatient with Xie Xuan's questions, so he sat up and looked at Xie Xuan and said, "You ask so many whys, how can I know the answers?"

"Anyway, it was His Majesty who asked me to take you back."

"Do you want to resist the decree?"

Chen Xiao pointed at the river in the distance and said, "Disobeying the order will lead to death. If you want to disobey the order, just jump into the river and you can clear your name as Young Master Xie Xuan."

Xie Xuan felt a little helpless after hearing what he said. Didn’t it just disturb his sleep?
Is it necessary to say so?

just
He let out a long sigh, and then looked at the Jiangnan region in the distance, whose shape he could no longer see clearly.

The small boat was slowly moving towards the distant ferry, getting farther and farther away from Jiangnan.

Kuaiji Mountain
Wang Xizhi looked a little curious: "Aren't you worried that something might happen to Youdu when he goes to Luojing?"

Xie An's expression remained unchanged. He picked up a chess piece and dropped it somewhere on the chessboard, saving the dragon that was almost killed. He said in a calm voice, "He was originally an official of the imperial court. Going to Chang'an at this time is a promotion. I have nothing to worry about."

Wang Xizhi rolled his eyes: "You know very well that's not what I meant."

Xie An continued to play the role of a riddler: "What do you mean? I don't understand."

Wang Xizhi looked at Xie An, who was pretending to be a riddle teller, and his mind was turning over and over again. Finally, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "Have you made this plan and preparation from the very beginning?"

"When you asked Xie Xuan to pick up Chen Xiao, I felt something was wrong."

"Now it seems that you were already prepared for Xie Xuan's entry into Chang'an today."

Xie An placed the chess piece on the board, and the big dragon held by Wang Xizhi's white piece was directly cut off. He won the game.

"good."

"Master Yi, Wang Xie has been trapped in Jiangnan for too long."

"This time, your majesty is determined to eliminate the evils in Jiangnan. Isn't this an opportunity for Wang Xie to re-enter the center of the court?"

"Seizing this opportunity, Wang and Xie can transform from a great family in Jiangnan to a real 'great family'."

"If we can't catch him, I'm afraid we won't even be able to keep our reputation as a great Jiangnan family."

Wang Xizhi was undecided and finally sighed.

"Fortunately."

fine?

Looking at Xie An's puzzled expression, Wang Xizhi smiled faintly.

"Fortunately, I asked Zijing to follow."

A crisp sound of a chess piece falling was heard.

He hasn't lost this game yet.

(End of this chapter)