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

Chapter 425 A fatal blow

Xie Xuan and Wang Xianzhi looked at each other, and both of them heard something from Chen Xiao's words.

"What do you mean by this, Brother Chen?"

Xie Xuan even moved closer to Chen Xiao, with amusement and curiosity in his eyes. After so many years in Kyoto, he was no longer the "romantic young man" from Jiangnan. He became less "cool" and "gentle", and instead picked up some of Chen Xiao's bad habits.

Wang Xianzhi has completely learned Chen Xiao's laziness and curiosity.

Chen Xiao yawned and said, "From the seal making technique to the Jianwu Ceremony, everything is linked to one another. Your Majesty's efforts over the years - including the efforts of the late emperor and Emperor Suzong - will eventually yield a result."

He laughed sarcastically, holding the wine glass, and walked to the window.

The living beings below were walking back and forth, and all the figures looked like ants, working hard.

People's faces showed haste and numbness.

All of this developed in the decades after Emperor Muzong.

Emperor Muzong wanted to prove himself so much that many of the policies he implemented were actually like adding fuel to a raging fire, frying everything to a high level and then squeezing countless energy out of it.

During the reign of Emperor Suzong, many historians and political scientists thought that would be the beginning of a prosperous era, but what they never expected was that Emperor Suzong had already done his best just to maintain the development of the Emperor Muzong period. Even in the later period of Emperor Suzong, the economic situation in Dayu once fluctuated.

This situation became even more obvious when the previous emperor came to power.

Many people accused the late emperor of being incompetent, and many people also blamed the late emperor for the decline of Dayu's economic environment in the past ten years. This is very biased. Even those in the Chen family who looked down on the late emperor would not say such things.

Emperor Suzong, the previous emperor, and even the current emperor were only cleaning up the mess during the reign of Emperor Muzong.

"Look—"

"How difficult is the life of the hundreds of millions of people in this country?"

Chen Xiao had a sarcastic smile on his face.

He looked at Wang Xianzhi and Xie Xuan and asked, "Youdu, Zijing, do you two remember what you saw when you first came to Kyoto and went to Lu's mansion?"

Wang Xianzhi frowned slightly. That was a memory he didn't want to recall.

It is full of absurdities and fallacies, but also full of realities.

Xie Xuan's condition seemed to be much better than Wang Xianzhi's. He looked at Chen Xiao in front of him and asked in a low voice: "What does Yaoyou want to say?"

Chen Xiao smiled and said, "The trouble with aristocratic families has never been about the so-called "too noble" or "too powerful" points from the beginning. I believe Zijing and Youdu can see that."

"Why can the Lu family be so arrogant? The reason is simply because of the official selection system of the imperial court."

"Whether it is the 'Cao Ju System' of the previous dynasty or the 'Nine-Rank System' of the current dynasty, their essence and core problem are the same, that is, who holds the power to select officials, and what do we rely on to select officials."

"For example, in the previous dynasty, the power to recommend filial and honest people was almost entirely in the hands of a few major Confucianist families, such as the Hongnong Yang family, the Runan Yuan family, and so on, so they could have countless officials under their wing."

"Of course - Chen is also one of the beneficiaries."

"But at least the previous dynasty's official selection system still required a 'show'. Even if it was a show, even if it was a fake name, you still needed to have a reputation and this 'show' to be recommended as a filial and honest official."

"This promotes the development of talent to some extent and also ensures a certain fairness."

"Because even if you are poor, as long as you are ruthless and have a few classmates and friends, you can still become famous and then someone will recommend you."

"That's why the Han Dynasty lasted so many years."

"And what about Guochao?"

Chen Xiao's mouth was filled with sarcasm: "This dynasty employs Zhongzheng officials, who almost completely decide the selection of officials. Just as you have seen - they can point to a person at random and tell him to go find so-and-so, and you can become an official."

“Isn’t this system ridiculous?”

"This is putting power above the preferences of certain people, and naturally someone will flatter them."

"After becoming officials, these people have no talent to advance themselves - in this case, they must continue to rely on the Zhongzheng officials to promote themselves, thus forming a cycle."

"Power - Preference - Clique."

Chen Xiao first proposed a "proper term", called "clique".

But Wang Xianzhi and Xie Xuan did not fail to understand, because the word "clique" actually appeared very early. For example, the Analects of Confucius recorded Confucius' remarks, such as:
Confucius said: "A gentleman is proud but not quarrelsome, and he is a group but not a party."

"Therefore, if Your Majesty wants to completely purge the current aristocratic families, you must take action against the cliques and wipe out this group of people. It is very simple to wipe out this group of people - too simple. Your Majesty has soldiers at his disposal, so just kill, kill, kill. The key issue is how to find a group of people to replace them."

Chen Xiao sighed faintly: "This involves the issue of the official selection system."

“When new things appear, they are always accompanied by the destruction of old things.”

"Youdu, Zijing."

Chen Xiao held the wine glass, as if he was worshiping God.

"I'm afraid such a day is not far away."

He turned to look at Xie Xuan and Wang Xianzhi, his voice very solemn and serious.

"Youdu, Zijing."

"If you want to realize your ambitions, then seize the next opportunity. As long as you can seize the next opportunity, you can gain the trust of His Majesty and realize your ambitions!"

Xie Xuan and Wang Xianzhi looked at Chen Xiao's appearance, and their hearts moved. Then they walked in front of him and also looked at the many rivers and mountains.

Any chance?
They will catch it.

The tenth year of Jianwu passed in the blink of an eye.

Unexpectedly, nothing happened that year. Wang Xizhi and Xie An continued to revise books, while Prime Minister Chen An began to deal with some difficult government affairs.

Xie Xuan and Wang Xianzhi, who were not optimistic about the future, took each step very steadily. Even though they were adjutants under the Secretariat, they still handled the simplest matters meticulously without being impatient or anxious.

In addition to this, they even began to read history books and the Jianwu Ceremony.

Yes, the Jianwu Code was compiled and published by the Printing Bureau at the same time, and then distributed throughout the country. The most influential of them should be the Jianwu Code, which was divided into "court laws" and "people's livelihood laws", which completely separated people's livelihood and court affairs.

The civil law is further divided into "serious crime law" and "minor crime law". He classified murder, theft, robbery and other crimes as serious crimes, and classified some conflicts such as conflicts between neighbors as minor crimes.

The court law involves some laws related to the court. For example, treason must be dealt with according to the court law, not the felony law - this is not because treason is not a felony, but because the other target of this crime is the court.

In order to compile this code of law, many Legalist sages exhausted their efforts, and several of them even turned gray in their hair.

And when the Jianwu Code came out, everyone felt that their efforts were worth it.

Of course, the first step in the code of law is to worship the founder of the Legalists - Chen Shen.

Yes, many disciples of the Legalists think that Chen Shen should be worshipped as the founder of the Legalists.

Of course, in fact, they wanted to worship Chen Ye, the first King of An, who created the Qin Law together with Shang Yang and improved it, but in the end they chose Chen Shen, the second generation of the Chen family, who also served as Sikou.

The Chen family was also very excited. They even opened the ancestral hall and used the Jianwu Code as a sacrifice to worship their ancestors.

This code of law was also highly praised in later generations.

"This is the first complete and detailed legal document in my country that is almost consistent with the modern legal code. It is the model and master version of all modern legal documents in my country."

"This code has epoch-making significance. It truly divides the ancient laws into detailed sections and at the same time, it lights a bright light in that dark era."

"Dayu existed for two hundred more years because of this code."

Above the Peach Blossom Spring

That existence, which was already extremely magnificent but still the same as a "human" - Chen Ye, slowly opened his eyes, and his eyes seemed to contain endless everything.

He is so tall and so big.

It seems to exist in every corner of this world, in the past, future and present.

"The first code?"

Chen Ye's voice echoed in this space, and endless black and dark yellow aura lingered around him.

This is indeed an event worth remembering.

He lowered his eyes, as if he could see how everything in the world works.

The huge river above Chen Ye's head roared and surged again, as if trying to break free from Chen Ye's restraints, but the endless light contained in the code bound the river firmly behind Chen Ye.

"Fate wanted to change this period of ancient history again and destroy Dayu once again, so fate created "Muzong" and "Yeshi", which made Dayu's steps deviate and become more similar to the Jin Dynasty in a sense."

"And if it weren't for the efforts of the three successive generations of Emperor Suzong, the current Dayu would be in a state of extreme chaos, with disputes among the aristocratic families, followed by the separatism of the princes, and then the conquered barbarians would start a war again."

"On that day, this completely distorted period of ancient history will return to "normal" again, becoming the era of the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China and the chaotic Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the sky will become dark again.

"The efforts of Zhang Wan and his two grandchildren, as well as some insignificant struggles of the Chen family, have once again diverted history that was originally intended to return to the 'right path'."

With just a brief glance, Chen Ye saw the "black hand" hidden in this history.

The long river of destiny, or the "corrective nature of history" or "history", he has not disappeared. He wants to change the ancient history that has been revised again and let the ancient history develop along its original trajectory.

That’s why “Mu Zong” and “Ye Shi” appeared.

Chen Ye sighed deeply, and his voice echoed in this space: "I've said it before, man can conquer nature——"

"Even without the Chen family, according to the current trajectory of fate, Zhang Wan will still do these things, but it will be more difficult for him, but he will still make the biggest change in the end, and Dayu can persist for another hundred years."

He tapped his fingers lightly in the river of water, and then silently closed his eyes again.

"How many times can you use your power like this?"

Chen Ye is waiting.

He is unwilling to shed his "human" nature and become a metaphysical "Emperor" or "Heaven", so his struggle must appear in human form.

When will this struggle end?
The moment ancient history entered modern times, this period of struggle came to an end completely, because all the ancient history had been overwritten, just like a complete "restoration" of a computer.

The old things have been covered up and disappeared without a trace, and new history will appear and cover the old things.

The emergence of new things will inevitably be accompanied by the change or even the demise of old things.

Rise from the ruins and be reborn from the ashes.

The autumn of the twelfth year of Jianwu was a very bleak autumn.

As the emperor gradually consolidated the power of the aristocratic families into his own hands in recent years, the lives of the people became much better, and those big aristocratic families quietly retreated.

They understood clearly that the final blow prepared by the emperor would definitely come.

Before coming, they need to be prepared to deal with it.

The noble families all knew this, but what they did not expect was that this time would be exceptionally long.

They waited from the tenth year of Jianwu to the twelfth year of Jianwu, and from the twelfth year of Jianwu to the fifteenth year of Jianwu.

at last.

In the autumn of the 15th year of Jianwu, they suffered this "fatal blow".

The emperor wants to reform the official selection system.

But - this blow didn't seem that serious or fatal.

This made all the noble family children feel like they had come up empty handed.
Lu's Mansion
Lu Nian's face was calm. These years of "imprisonment" made him seem very calm.

But at this moment, after listening to what Cui, Li, and Yang said, his expression gradually became strange and "confused".

"You mean to say that the emperor is willing to let the noble families still hold the position of Da Zhongzhengguan, but just want to abolish Xiao Zhongzhengguan."

"Although the Dazhongzhengguan still have their original functions, they will be restricted in the positions they can decide."

"For example, powerful positions such as the Minister of the Secretariat, the Thirty-Six Ministers, and many county governors can no longer be decided by the Grand Chancellor, but some positions that do not have much real power can be decided by us?"

Yang Xiu also looked strange, and he nodded.

"According to your majesty's original words, we must select capable people to do the work, and as for the less important ones, you can do whatever you want."

(End of this chapter)