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

Chapter 433 On Success and Failure

Chen Zhan was not surprised when he heard Zhang Annian's answer, and even thought, "As expected."

When the previous emperor was in power, he was worried about his son, so he gave the most elite part of the "Daozu" that only the Emperor of Dayu could control to the Prime Minister "Chen Zhi" at that time.

During the Wansui period, for some unknown reason, Chen Zhi did not transfer the control of the Taoist soldiers to the emperor.

Until now, the control of the Taoist soldiers is still in the hands of the Chen family.

Now it is under Chen Zhan's control.

It is ridiculous that he is the emperor but does not have the power to deploy his personal guards. Therefore, it is not surprising that Zhang Annian is eager to take back his own power and even wants to "threaten" Chen Zhan for this.

After all, Zhang Annian has too few soldiers to mobilize now.

He urgently needed a guard that was loyal, trustworthy, and capable of execution to ensure his own safety - especially when Yang Jian and others had almost made it clear that they wanted to rebel.

Chen Zhan nodded directly.

Although he didn't know why his father didn't hand over the Taoist soldiers to the little emperor, Chen didn't lack this, so he said directly: "Okay."

He took out a token from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Annian: "Your Majesty, can you rest assured now?"

Zhang Annian, who was playing with the token, finally put his heart at ease. He looked at Chen Zhan and said, "Prime Minister, you are going to see Yang Wenda next, right?"

"I just don't know if he can get Chen's promise?"

Chen Zhan did not answer.

After a moment's silence, he looked at Zhang Annian and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. As long as your political struggle does not involve foreign races, the Chen family will never interfere."

"The Chen family will not participate in political struggles. This is customary."

It is indeed a common practice.

After all, for the Chen family, it doesn’t matter who is the emperor, it just depends on which emperor is better for the people.

Zhang Annian stared into Chen Zhan's eyes, and finally said, "It is just as the attendant expected. Chen has never been loyal to Zhang."

There was a hint of emotion in his voice: "People always say that Chen is loyal and protects the country and the people, but in my opinion, Chen is just a traitor who pretends to be loyal."

Zhang Annian's voice was cold: "Whether it is the Qin or Han Dynasty, or the current Dayu, they are nothing in your eyes. The imperial court has shown kindness to your Chen family, but you treat it as normal."

He was almost gritting his teeth.

"How has Zhang done any favors for you, Chen? Don't you feel any guilt at all now that your family and country are in great trouble?"

"A traitor to his master!"

A traitor?

Hearing this word, Chen Zhan looked at Zhang Annian in surprise, with a puzzled look on his face.

"Betraying the Master?"

"Who is the master of Chen's family?"

He looked at Zhang Annian and felt that the little emperor's brain was really not very well. He wondered if he had been frozen in the cold palace.

"Your Majesty, when did Zhang become the master of Chen?"

"Besides, what is the meaning of grace as high as a mountain?"

"Is the current glory of the Chen family a reward from your Zhang family?"

Chen Zhan stood there, recounting the achievements of the Chen family word by word: "If there was no Chen family, how could there be Dayu? How could the Emperor Zhang sit firmly on the throne?"

"Do you think this country belongs to one family, the Zhang family?"

Chen Zhan looked at Zhang Annian as if he were a fool, but he did not feel much anger in his heart. After all, there were many fools like him in historical records, such as the Han emperor who wanted to assassinate Chen.

And it was precisely because of that emperor that the Han Dynasty continued to decline and eventually lost its territory.

Chen Zhan said with emotion: "After being the emperor for so long, do you think that the world belongs to your Zhang family? The notes of our ancestors are indeed right. People who become emperors will become inexplicable."

"The world belongs to everyone in the world, and it has never belonged to you, the Zhang family."

"That is all I have to say, Your Majesty."

He took out another item from his sleeve, which was his "Prime Minister Seal": "When I read history books in the past, I always felt strange. Why did the Qin Dynasty fall into chaos after my ancestor resigned at the end of the Qin Dynasty? And when it came to the Han Dynasty, that fool was able to force my ancestor Zhu Lou to resign."

"Now I understand."

Chen Zhan was quite contemptuous of Zhang Annian.

"Chen Zhan resigned."

"We will return to Guandu in a few days. If there are any young men in the court who want to stay, Chen will not force them to resign;"

"Your Majesty, you value it."

Even though he felt speechless about this little emperor who seemed to have some serious problems with his brain, Chen Zhan still maintained the last courtesy.

Resigned from office.

When walking out of the Qinzheng Hall, Chen Zhan was almost surprised, because he did not expect things to go so smoothly. He thought that according to the little emperor's thinking, he might need to pretend to be nice to him for a while.

Unexpectedly, just by going to the palace, I would be free from all trouble.

After leaving the palace, Chen Zhan did not hesitate at all.

He needed to see with his own eyes what kind of person Yang Jian was. If Yang Jian was okay, then he would not be responsible for the rest of the matter. If Yang Jian was not okay, then he would still be busy.

Chen Zhan sighed helplessly.

"It's really troublesome. How come so many problems happen to appear in my generation?"

Over the past hundred years from Emperor Jianwu to the present, the Chen family has had several generations of patriarchs. The lives of those patriarchs were what Chen Zhan hoped and envied, to be able to live in peace and quiet.

Yang Mansion
Chen's carriage stopped at the gate of the mansion. Chen Zhan got out of it and took a look at the plaque hanging high.

Yang Jian and Dugu Jialuo had already been standing in front of the door waiting. Although they could not leave the Yang Mansion, they knew very well about the internal affairs of the dynasty - for example, the emperor and Chen Zhan had a dispute and the two had a big fight.

Of course, they didn’t know what happened afterwards, after all, their people had been driven out at that time.

Chen Zhi killed a group of people at the beginning, but he only killed that group.

A powerful official like Yang Jian who was at the peak of his power would always have people coming to him for support.

"The Prime Minister has come to visit us, and I am really rude for not being able to come and greet you from afar."

Yang Jian was very humble at this time. After all, he had not yet sat in that position and truly controlled the power.

Chen Zhan's expression remained unchanged. He just looked at Yang Jian and said, "I haven't seen Wenda for a long time. How has Wenda been these days?"

Yang Jian didn't seem to understand the meaning of Chen Zhan's words. He just laughed and said, "Everything is fine, everything is fine."

He led Chen Zhan into the Yang residence, then looked around at the chickens and ducks he raised, pointed to the vegetable garden and said, "When I was busy in the past, I was sick all over. Now that I'm suddenly free, I feel much better."

"Raising chickens and ducks is a peaceful life for me. Taking care of the vegetables in the fields from time to time makes me realize the hardships of life."

Yang Jian's words were full of emotion, and there was not a trace of "dissatisfaction" with being imprisoned in disguise during this period of time. Instead, he was open-minded everywhere, which made people feel very good about him.

Chen Zhan glanced at Yang Jian, and then said, "Brother Wenda is indeed open-minded. However, Brother Wenda was waiting in front of the mansion today. I guess he already knew that I was coming today."

"Brother Wenda, do you have anything you want to say to me?"

Yang Jian's expression did not change. He just looked at the lush green fields and said, "I have gained a lot from farming these past few days."

"Farming is a difficult task. You need to pay attention to watering, fertilizing, and pest control. You also need to turn the soil from time to time to allow vegetables and grains to absorb enough nutrients so that the dishes can grow."

"Agriculture is the foundation of a country."

Chen Zhan looked at Yang Jian and said, "I never thought that Brother Wenda would have such thoughts. I am really ashamed of myself."

He smiled and asked, "Brother Wenda, you have worked so hard to cultivate only this one piece of land now. If you want to cultivate more land in the future, how will you manage it?"

Yang Jian said without hesitation: "Of course I will give it to my subordinates to expand more farmers and do my best to allow more people to have land to cultivate."

Chen Zhan shook his head: "Brother Wenda is indeed experienced."

He looked at Yang Jian, and a trace of worry suddenly appeared in his brows: "This allows Zhan to ask with confidence."

"Zhan has something to ask, I wonder if I can ask Brother Wenda for advice?"

Yang Jian quickly said, "Brother Fangsheng, do you have any questions? If I can help you, I will definitely do my best to help you."

Chen Zhan then said, "My family has a lot of assets, and all matters are managed by the farmers under my command, which is why several large villages have been formed."

"I have some kinship with these village heads. They grew stronger day by day, and finally even hindered the lives of the people in the Chen family's fiefdom. One of the village heads even relied on his status to boss the other village heads around, and he was not even very respectful to me."

"But he is an elder in the family. I don't know how to deal with him."

Chen Zhan looked at Yang Jian and asked, "May I ask Brother Wenda, if Brother Wenda encounters such a thing, how should he deal with it?"

Yang Jian's heart trembled, and his mind immediately thought of his in-laws' family, the "Dugu clan". This was Chen Zhan asking himself what he would do if he became "wealthy" and the Dugu clan became a "powerful family".

Dugu Jialuo on the side also watched this scene in silence.

Yang Jian thought for a long time, and finally said softly: "If it were me, I would definitely handle it impartially."

His expression remained unchanged: "In private, you may be able to address me as an elder, but when it comes to official matters, where is the elder or junior? It's just the master and servant in official matters."

Chen Zhan nodded: "I see."

He said with emotion: "Brother Wenda is right, I was confused."

Chen Zhan stood up, looked at Yang Jian and said, "I will go back and deal with this servant, so I won't stay here any longer, Brother Wenda."

Yang Jian also stood up with Chen Zhan and sent Chen Zhan out of the mansion.

When they were in front of Yang's house, Chen Zhan seemed to have remembered something: "Oh, right, Brother Wenda."

He said with a smile: "I have resigned from the positions of Prime Minister and Minister of the Central Secretariat. Now I am just an ordinary person like Brother Wenda. Brother Wenda, please don't call me the wrong name."

After saying this, he got on the carriage and drove away.

Yang Jian stood in front of the gate of Yang Mansion, looking dazed.

He was muttering to himself some passages from the Book of Qin and the Book of Han.

"In the first year of the Second Emperor's reign, he resigned in anger."

"Afterwards, the world was in chaos."

"At that time, King Zheng entered the palace and resigned from his post."

"Afterwards, the Han Dynasty was divided into two."

Yang Jian turned around and looked at Dugu Jialuo who was standing there, a smile flashed across his brows.

"Chen resigned."

"Do you know what this means?"

Dugu Jialuo walked up to her husband and put the clothes in her hand on him.

Of course she knows.

This means that her husband is one step closer to the supreme position.

Chen's Mansion
Chen Feng and others who received the news all gathered in the King Zhenguo Palace. Everyone looked at Chen Zhan with confusion, but a few of them were somewhat excited.

They all knew the news that Chen Zhan had resigned.

I also learned that Chen Zhan was driving to the Yang residence.

"Brother, are we going back to Guandu?"

Chen Ling had a happy look on his face. He had been living in Guandu. After suddenly coming to the capital city Luoyang, he always felt that he was not used to anything and it felt strange.

So after hearing the news that Chen Zhan had resigned, he ran the fastest.

"Brother, how did your conversation with Yang Jian go?"

Another person who seemed a little calmer was Chen Feng.

He frowned and looked at Chen Zhan and asked, "Looking at your expression, it seems that Yang Jian is not a good choice either?"

Chen Zhan shrugged.

“It’s really not a good choice.”

"He was playing tricks over there, and when I asked him how he was going to deal with his mother-in-law, the Dugu family, he was silent for a long time before telling me that he would handle the matter impartially."

Chen Ling scratched his head. He was a typical person who was obsessed with "technology", so he really didn't understand these things.

"Didn't Yang Jian say he would handle this impartially?"

Chen Feng glanced at Chen Ling speechlessly: "The key is to remain silent for a long time. If anything requires a long time to consider, it means that he is not willing to do it."

"For example, if my elder brother tells you now that he wants you to continue to be the right servant of the Shangshutai, what will be your answer?"

Chen Ling was silent for a moment: "If big brother says so, then even if I am reluctant, I have to continue doing it."

Chen Feng asked again: "Brother, what do you say if we all resign and return to Guandu?"

Chen Ling said subconsciously: "Of course that's good."

As soon as he said this, he understood the meaning of "long silence" and immediately looked at Chen Zhan and asked, "Then what should we do?"

"Stop Yang Jian?"

"But that little emperor is obviously not a good guy either."

Chen Feng also felt a little emotional. He said quietly, "If this fool can tell that something is not a good thing, then it really is not a good thing."

(End of this chapter)