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

Chapter 432 What Happened in the Six Dynasties
In the eleventh year of Wansui’s reign, the weather was very cold.

Chen Zhan was sitting in the courtyard of his home, with several members of the Chen family sitting beside him, all of whom were sighing.

This generation of Chen's descendants is very strange.

Most of them did not have the talent for politics - instead, their talents in other areas were very obvious, such as Chen Feng who barely served as the Grand Marshal.

Chen Feng's talent lies in Mohist mechanical engineering. He is the youngest Mohist genius in the entire Dayu. Many of the things he created shocked the world. The agricultural tools he created in the past few months even promoted the development of agriculture.

This is not easy.

You know, since the Mohist disciples of Dayu created new farm tools nearly a hundred years ago, Dayu's agricultural technology has reached a very advanced level, and it is very difficult to go further.

But Chen Feng managed to take Dayu agriculture a step further.

The same was true for the other Chen family members who filled vacant positions among the Thirty-Six Lords. Some of them came from farming families and increased grain production again, while others promoted water conservancy projects.

Most people neither like government affairs nor are good at them.

Spring hasn't quite arrived yet.

The spring of the eleventh year of Wansui was still very cold, but the fire basket was still burning in the yard to make the temperature in the yard acceptable.

Everything is so normal.

Chen Zhan looked at the Chen family members around him and explained the government affairs issues to them bit by bit. These were just ordinary things to him.

With just a few words, he was able to resolve all the government affairs that had been piling up for several days.

This is also the reason why the descendants of the Chen family are willing to accept these big troubles - if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up; although they cannot solve the government affairs themselves, there are people who can solve them.

Amidst the bustle, a servant came over in a hurry.

He said something in Chen Zhan's ear. At first, there was calmness in Chen Zhan's eyes. Later, the calmness was gradually stirred up by the wind and slowly turned into countless ripples.

The Chen family members around also noticed it, but no one asked.

They can't solve the problem that this person can't solve either.

After the boy finally finished speaking, Chen Zhan sighed, turned his head and looked at everyone and said, "Let's stop here today. I still have some things to deal with."

He said apologetically, "As for the backlog of government affairs, you can sort them into different categories and place the particularly urgent ones in my study. I will deal with them when I return."

Having said that, he stood up and walked straight out the door without even having time to pack up or change his clothes.

The carriage swayed, and Chen Zhan's thoughts swayed with it.

The servant brought two pieces of news.

To sum up, it is actually a piece of news - two people want to see him.

First, the emperor; second, Yang Jian.

Chen Zhan pressed his forehead and slowly relaxed his brows.

He was not surprised that Yang Jian wanted to see him, but why did the emperor want to see him?
Did something happen that he didn't know about?
The carriage was swaying, and the curtains on the side were slowly rippling open. Outside the carriage, the setting sun in the distance was slowly setting. The orange-red flames illuminated everything, and half of the sun fell from the distance.

People walked on the streets, living peacefully.

Yang Mansion
Yang Jian looked at the letter brought by the servant with a smile on his face.

Beside him, Dugu Jialuo gently massaged his shoulders to relax Yang Jian's extremely tense spirit - Yang Jian was about to face a "war", which was related to whether the Dugu and Yang families could stand in the supreme position.

Naturally they had to be careful, extremely careful.

The success or failure of Yang and Dugu's desire depends on this one move.

There was only one obstacle in front of them, and that was the Chen family.

Yang Jian patted Dugu Jialuo's hand and smiled: "Don't worry, can't I, Your Majesty, and Chen Shi make a decision?"

"Just wait and see. When Chen Zhan enters the palace this time, he will definitely be furious."

He sighed lightly: "In fact, I also did not expect that Your Majesty would do such a thing."

"When I encouraged that eunuch, I just thought that His Majesty would hesitate for a moment and then half-heartedly push and pull. I never thought that he would take such a step into the abyss."

There was still a hint of undispellable sadness in Dugu Jialuo's brow.

"But if we do this, wouldn't that be a plot against the Chen family?"

"Will Mr. Chen be angry?"

Yang Jian stood up and stood in the vegetable garden with a hint of determination in his brows.

"Will not."

"Mr. Chen won't be angry."

He changed the way he addressed Chen Zhan: "Because Mr. Chen is a typical "son of the Chen family."

"In the eyes of the Chen family, we are nothing but ants. The common people are the truly great ones who need to be valued."

"Besides, we didn't plan anything."

"It just provided a very reasonable excuse when your Majesty was tempted."

Yang Jian narrowed his eyes.

"Wait, then."

Hall of Qinzheng

"bump--"

An extremely violent collision sounded, and a roar of anger was so loud that even the palace door could not block it. It was heard by the guards outside. Those guards subconsciously stood up straight and pretended that they heard nothing.

After a while, the attendant who always served His Majesty came out. He waved his hand, and all the guards outside the hall left following his signal.

He closed the door tightly, then stood in front of it with his head hung, pretending not to hear anything.

The dispute in the hall continued.

"Your Majesty! How could you do such a thing!"

Chen Zhan, who has always had a good temper, even lazy, was now furious like a lion. His eyes could almost spit fire as he looked at Zhang Annian, who was sitting in front of him with a calm look on his face.

"How is such a thing different from the tyrant emperors Jie and Zhou?"

Zhang Annian just sat there calmly and pointed to a place not far away: "Don't be angry, sit down first and listen to me first."

Chen Zhan looked at Zhang Annian, who looked as calm as a "dead man", and managed to calm himself down, but he became even more disappointed with Zhang Annian.

"Your Majesty, how can I not be angry?"

"Do you know what you are talking about?"

Zhang Annian's expression remained unchanged: "Of course I know."

"I feel that I have done nothing wrong, and my father deserves this honor."

Chen Zhan was about to have a heart attack when he saw Zhang Annian, who was so stubborn and didn't seem to understand anything he said. "Your Majesty, I know that you admire and respect my father very much, but what you said is still too bizarre. Where in history has a monarch ever attended the funeral of a minister and wore mourning clothes?"

"What's more, you are going to summon all Taoist priests in the world to gather in Kyoto to perform a ritual that will last for three years and build countless Taoist temples to pray for my father?"

"After this, you should even issue an imperial decree that all temples and monasteries that pray for my father will be exempt from taxes."

"Have you forgotten what Emperor Taizu did?"

"Before Emperor Taizu, temples and Taoist temples never paid taxes. It was precisely because of this that the court was so turbulent at the end of the previous dynasty. Emperor Taizu took back this right with great perseverance at the beginning of the establishment of Dayu."

"Why do you want to put it back now?"

Zhang Annian just looked at Chen Zhan and said, "No one can do anything without profit. If those temples and Taoist temples don't have enough profit, they will definitely not sincerely pray for the Prime Minister."

"So I promised them great benefits."

"In this way, my father's soul will be able to ascend to the ninth heaven of bliss."

Chen Zhan looked at Zhang Annian, who was wearing the Yin-Yang Tai Chi Thousand Character Classic robe in front of him, and listened to his words. For a moment, he didn't even know what to say.

"Your Majesty, you will make everyone in the world hate my father."

He suddenly calmed down, looked at Zhang Annian, and said word by word: "Because of my father, those temples and Taoist temples can once again occupy the fields of civilians and annex land. There is no need to wait for a hundred years. In at most twenty years, people all over the world will secretly curse my father."

Chen Zhan's eyes were filled with coldness: "Your Majesty, do you really respect my father, or do you just want this result?"

Zhang Annian looked into Chen Zhan's eyes, his voice just as firm: "I will issue an order that the people are not allowed to discuss my father. Anyone who discusses will be killed!"

Chen Zhan suddenly laughed and sighed deeply.

"Your Majesty, what do you want to do, or what do you want me to do?"

"Just say it directly."

He leaned back slightly, his expression indifferent.

Zhang Annian lowered his eyes and said in a calm voice: "I just want to commemorate my father."

Chen Zhan didn't care: "There are only you and me here now, do you still have to pretend like this, Your Majesty?"

"You and I understand each other so well that no one in this world can compare to us."

"You can fool my father, but you can't fool me."

"That's why I've never liked you."

At this time, Chen Zhan no longer called Zhang Annian "Your Majesty", and he also changed his self-reference from "minister" to "I".

Zhang Annian smiled slowly. He looked at Chen Zhan, and suddenly his aura changed, from the initial "peace and tranquility" to "violence".

Are there any good people who can survive in the deep palace?
What kind of good person could be the one who could survive in the cold palace and even "happen" to run into "Chen Zhi" and thus ask the head of the Chen family to "give him a name"?
How can a person who can survive among a group of brothers and finally successfully ascend to the throne be a good person?
He smiled slowly, but there was a deathly silence in his eyes.

"When did you see it?"

Chen Zhan didn't care at all: "At the beginning."

At the beginning?
Perhaps Chen Zhan noticed Zhang Annian's confusion, and said with a smile: "You pretended not to be very similar from the beginning. Only a good person like my father would not be able to see it."

"From the chance encounter at the beginning to the pitiful search for my father for a name at the end, it was all too coincidental."

"There are no coincidences in this world, there are only 'human arrangements'."

"You took advantage of the Chen family's reputation many times without my father's knowledge."

Zhang Annian tilted his head: "Then why don't you care and expose me?"

Chen Zhan said directly: "Because the late emperor and his many princes are not good people. If someone must ascend the throne, then this person is best you."

He said disdainfully: "Besides, do you think that just a name can make Chen's disciples open the door for you?"

Chen Zhan smiled and said, "Then you look down on the Chen family too much."

The smile on Zhang Annian's face disappeared a little. After all, anyone who thinks that someone he has used for many years turns out to be the one who has used him for many years will also have some emotional changes.

Chen Zhan didn't care about the change in Chen Annian's expression, and just said lightly: "Moreover, the other princes have the support of the aristocratic families behind them. They all want to change Dayu, so that some of the systems established by Emperor Jianwu will be destroyed and return to the state of the time of Emperor Suzong."

"This is not allowed by Chen family."

"So, in the end, I chose you."

He shook his head: "In fact, my father also saw it, but my father always felt that people are inherently good at birth."

"Your character is like this only because you have seen too much "evil" in the deep palace. So even at the end, father still wants to use "goodness" to change your "evil" so that Dayu and the people can continue to live in peace."

Chen Zhan looked at Zhang Annian: "I'm different."

"I may be similar to the ancestors of Zhulou back then."

"The world has never belonged to one family or one surname. The Liu emperor was tyrannical, causing unrest in the world and preventing the people from living in peace. That's why your Zhang family got the world."

"Now, if Zhang wants to do the same, then Chen doesn't mind helping others to change the name of the world."

Chen Zhan spoke very frankly, and he didn't even think about hiding it in front of Zhang Annian.

Zhang Annian smiled and said, "Then what's the difference between the next dynasty and the Zhang family?"

"They will continue to reform for their own power. People's hearts will change, and even the Chen family cannot influence this."

Chen Zhan's expression remained unchanged: "Everything in the world is just a private conspiracy of one family."

“This is the ultimate destination of power.”

“Nothing in the world can change that.”

"And now Chen has not found a suitable 'way forward' and cannot get out of this vicious circle of power, because human nature is evil. No matter how kind and pure a person is, once they reach the pinnacle of power and begin to indulge in enjoyment, they will be immersed in it and forget the direction they were heading in the first place."

“That can never be changed.”

Chen Zhan's voice was sonorous and powerful.

"But Chen will always be on the road, on the road to change all this."

He turned his head and said, "And all this is not something your majesty needs to worry about."

"His Majesty."

Chen Zhan changed the address to "Your Majesty" and said softly, "Now, let's talk about what Your Majesty wants."

"There's no need for us to go around in circles."

Zhang Annian looked into Chen Zhan's eyes and finally uttered a word calmly.

Chen Zhan raised his eyebrows.

"So it's for this, I thought it was for something else."

(End of this chapter)