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

Chapter 420 Things that must be implemented
It was very quiet inside the Tiangongsi, and the moonlight shone in the peaceful courtyard like flowing water.

Some shadows of bamboo and cypress fell on the ground, like algae in the water, flowing silently, while Chen Xiao strolled in the Tiangongsi and then walked to the innermost place.

As soon as I entered the door, a wave of heat rolled in.

The deepest part of Tiangongsi hides the secret between the emperor and Chen, or rather, the secret between the emperor and Chen Xiao.

Countless craftsmen are making "weapons" day and night. This is a weapon that does not have any sharp edges, but can undermine the power of some aristocratic families in a short period of time, but will not make the aristocratic families overly vigilant.

He is not as sharp as a weapon, but He is equally indestructible.

A man who looked like the head craftsman saw Chen Xiao coming, with a slight smile on his face, and came forward and said, "Si Qing, why are you here?"

He pointed to the busy crowd in the distance and said, "We are sorting it out, working day and night."

As they walked, he introduced to Chen Xiao the things piled on both sides.

"What is placed here is the 'woodblock printing' mold that will be circulated among the people in due course, and what is placed here is the 'movable type printing' stuff that has already been prepared. Once everything is ready, we will wait for the order from His Majesty and you, and then these will be circulated among the people."

Chen Xiao nodded slightly, looked at the craftsman and said, "How are the scriptures, documents, and some objects that His Majesty sent over earlier?"

The chief smiled and said, "In reply to the temple minister, everything has already been prepared."

"Because we have made preparations in advance, most of the books and classic works that can be circulated among the people have been secretly printed and can be distributed to the people at any time."

"According to our current speed, it will only take half a year to make these documents cheap."

Chen Xiao nodded slightly, and then asked again: "To what extent can the price be controlled?"

The chief calculated in his mind and said with certainty, "About a hundred or so dollars a book."

More than a hundred dollars for a book?

Chen Xiao sighed.

In fact, this price was a little beyond his expectations. After all, a hundred or so yuan was a huge sum of money for those poor people.

But he also knew very well that compared to the current price of books, a hundred or so yuan was already cheap enough.

A hundred years ago, Chen's predecessors created "paper", an alternative carrier of knowledge, which to some extent replaced bamboo slips and silk and brought down the price of books.

In the Pre-Qin period, the price of books was so high that they were worth thousands of gold.

By the end of the Han Dynasty, the price of books had reached dozens of gold coins, which can be said to have depreciated dozens of times.

Nowadays, you can buy a book with just a hundred or so coins?
This is a great thing.

You know, even for an ordinary family, after working hard for a month or doing manual labor, they can earn a hundred dollars or so, and they can always save some at the end of the year and use it for their studies.

This is a "sage" move.

A hundred or so coins is a perfect price. Even if the aristocratic families want to monopolize the books, they cannot do so, but at the same time, it is a price that does not make people feel that "knowledge" is very cheap.

Chen Xiao nodded and looked at the man: "Remember, the things here must not be leaked."

He said solemnly: "If it is leaked, you know the consequences."

The man nodded quickly: "Don't worry, we have a lot of Taoist guards here, not even a fly can fly in or out, let alone a human?"

Chen Xiao nodded in satisfaction, and after inspecting the Tiangongsi again, he left with peace of mind.

The heat in the Tiangongsi continued, and the bright moon in the sky still shone brightly on the earth.

Chen's Mansion
Chen An sat in the courtyard, the light wine in his cup reflecting the dim moonlight.

Chen Xiao walked in briskly. Seeing Chen An sitting there, he was suddenly a little surprised. He walked forward and sat next to Chen An: "Father, why don't you rest so late?"

After taking a look at Chen Xiao's condition, Chen An sighed and said, "Isn't it because I'm worried that you've become wild after going to Jiangnan?"

He said slowly: "I know what you are thinking, but at least finish that thing."

"When you're done, just hand Chen over to your brother."

"It's not like Chen has no precedent like this."

Chen Xiao nodded indifferently: "I understand, father."

The father and son sat there, silence filled the courtyard, interweaving with the endless moonlight.

The Chinese father-son relationship has always been like this. It may be very difficult to have a heart-to-heart talk.

After a long silence, Chen Xiao spoke first.

"I know what my father is worried about, but he doesn't have to worry about that."

He smiled, with some unnecessary "laziness" in his voice: "Father, are you worried that I will be caught between the aristocratic family and the court, and be in a dilemma, like the ancestors of Zhulou in the past, and turn white overnight?"

At the end of the Han Dynasty, Dayu had not yet been established and the world was in chaos.

The aristocratic families and the imperial court were constantly fighting, the princes were divided, and Cao Gong, Liu Gong, and Chen's ancestor "Zhu Lou" worked hard in it.

Few people in the world know that the ancestor of Zhu Lou was not actually dead, but faked his death and joined the world of Dayu.

It can be said that the achievements of Zhulou ancestors accounted for at least half of the reason why Dayu was able to successfully unify the world and occupy the eight wildernesses.

Everyone only knew that the fire burned the body of the Chen family's patriarch, "Zhu Lou", and took away his unwilling soul; but only the Chen family's patriarch knew that Zhu Lou's ancestor hesitated for a long time, turned gray in the last night, and then faked his death and joined Dayu.

This is what Chen An was worried about.

But now, listening to Chen Xiao's words, it seemed that there was no excessive emotion, so the worries in my heart were relieved a little.

He shook his head and sighed, "How can I not worry?"

"Your personality is very similar to that of our ancestor Chen Fan. You like to travel all over the world, see all the beautiful scenery, and are indifferent and lazy. But your wisdom is almost the same as that of our ancestor Zhu Lou. You can even say that you are smarter."

"But it's Yaoyou."

He looked at Chen Xiao and said, "Excessive wisdom will lead to harm, and deep love will not lead to longevity."

"No father in the world would want his son to be subjected to such a 'prophecy'. All I hope is that you can live a happy life."

"Although the Chen family has always worked hard for the benefit of the people of the world, the Chen family does not force all of their children to follow this path."

"The Chen family is not a noble family, nor is it a slave of the court or the people."

The worry in Chen An's eyes was like a torrent of water, almost overflowing. He said softly: "The Chen ancestors have already told us that having a clear conscience is the most important thing. If you like mountains and rivers, even if His Majesty disagrees, you can "retire and return home" and then travel all over the world."

Chen An's voice was very calm and peaceful, hiding beneath it was a father's worry and love for his son.

"If it really doesn't work, you can fake your death like our ancestors did. From now on, there will no longer be a so-called 'Gentleman of Heaven' Chen Yaoyou in this world. You can just change your name."

There was a long silence.

Afterwards, Chen Xiao suddenly laughed. He sat there, his eyes still firm, his expression still frank: "Father, I really hope to indulge in the mountains and rivers, and I don't like these things."

"I am indeed a lazy person who doesn't want to move, and I also feel from the bottom of my heart that these things are very troublesome."

He looked into Chen An's eyes, touched his chest and said, "But when I saw the eyes of those people, when I saw this unfair world, when I saw the wishes and beliefs of Zhulou's ancestors and Emperor Taizu being trampled upon, the beating heart in my chest told me."

"No, these are all wrong!"

"He told me that this is not the way the world should be!"

"Someone in this world should stand up and change all this!"

"There should be someone in this world who has the firm belief and journey to achieve all this!"

Chen Xiao stood up. He had grown up.

"Father, this is why I persist."

"I will not feel pain because of the struggle between the aristocratic families and the imperial court, nor will my hair turn gray overnight. I am not the ancestor of Zhu Lou, and I will not choose to practice my beliefs in anonymity!"

"I am just me. I am just Chen Xiao and Chen Yaoyou."

"I am not doing this for the court, nor for the Zhang Wan who sits on the throne. I am doing this for the people of the world, for those who heard that I am a descendant of the Chen family and trusted me with everything!"

“They don’t deserve to live like this.”

Chen Xiao's voice and expression were filled with firm conviction. He looked like a burning red flame, so hot and so shocking.

He whispered, "We must make knowledge available to everyone, so that knowledge is no longer noble and out of reach. This is something that must be promoted!"

"And the only family in the world that can accomplish this without being openly opposed is the Chen family!"

“This is a mission I must undertake.”

Chen Xiao pressed his chest, his heart was beating.

“This is something that must be implemented!”

He once again uttered this answer in a sonorous and powerful voice.

Chen An sat there, looking at the grown-up child in front of him with the eyes of an "adult" for the first time, with countless relief in his eyes.

He whispered, "Okay."

“Do what you do, and do what you do.”

“This is what you and I should do.”

"Be worthy of heaven and earth, and be worthy of yourself."

Lu's Mansion
Another night of singing and dancing.

The Lu family of Fanyang is also one of the most famous families in the world, but unlike the Wang and Xie families in Jiangnan, the Lu family's influence covers not only Fanyang, but also Luoyang, which is the capital.

The current head of the Lu family, "Lu Nian", serves as one of the Thirty-Six Ministers, an official position of the first rank, and has a say in the entire court.

At the same time, Lu Nian was also one of the nine Dazhongzheng officials, and he could even decide on the appointment of officials from the third to the sixth rank.

Therefore, the Lu family mansion is also one of the most prosperous places in the entire Luodu. There is music and dancing every night, and carriages and horses are constantly coming here, and even passing by the road in front openly, all for the purpose of bringing endless enjoyment to the head of the Lu family.

Inside the mansion, singing began to sound slowly. Beautiful women, wearing only light gauze and revealing their graceful figures, stood in the center, slowly dancing a beautiful dance.

They have graceful figures and a subtle charm on their faces, but people with sharp eyes can find that among this group of "women", there are even a few men who look like pretty girls!

They are equally charming and equally attractive.

And naturally there are some people from wealthy families who like this among the crowd.

In their eyes, there is no so-called "male and female" distinction in this world, only "rich and poor", or in other words, for these high-ranking children from aristocratic families, male homosexuality is also a kind of "romanticism".

What could better prove their "nobility" than having a man lying under them?
Lu Nian sat at the very top, and next to him on the left and right sat a few people who were not very familiar to the children of the aristocratic families in the room.

But these two people are so graceful and charming that they have attracted many people's hearts.

A dissolute young man from aristocratic family looked at the two people with envy, and asked the person next to him in a low voice: "Who are those two people?"

"If I could get this figure and this temperament, I would be willing to die immediately if I could have a chance to have sex with her."

The man next to him glanced at the noble family boy and then at the two men, then muttered, "Looking at their temperament, they don't seem like the kind of lowly people who would come over eagerly if you throw them a bone."

"I heard people calling them 'Prince Wang' and 'Prince Xie', and saying they came from far away."

The noble family boy touched his chin and said, "You came from far away?"

They looked at each other and asked, "Wang Xie from Jiangnan?"

On the stage, Lu Nianzheng was communicating with Wang Xianzhi and Xie Xuan, with a faint smile on his face: "I already know the purpose of your visit, Brother Wang and Brother Xie have written to me."

He said silently: "I really can't understand why the Wang and Xie clans are willing to give up the position of Da Zhong Zhengguan."

Lu Nian frowned and pointed at the people dancing in the distance and said, "Have you seen these dancers?"

Xie Xuan and Wang Xianzhi looked at each other with confusion on their faces, not knowing what Lu Nian meant by bringing this up.

Lu Nian did not hesitate at all and said in a voice that did not lower: "Among the dancers, three are men, and they are well-read scholars, but they come from humble backgrounds and have no chance to become officials."

Lu Nian raised his glass and smiled, "There are two more people who want to read but can't afford to buy books."

"They wore veils like women, exposing their bodies, dancing for me, and even willingly knelt under me. What was the purpose of doing such humiliating things?"

Lu Nian laughed loudly: "It's all for my position as a senior official."

He turned his head and looked at the two of them, his expression confused: "And now, you want me to give up this position?"

(End of this chapter)