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

Chapter 450: High Achievements Are Hard to Be Recognized
The establishment of the Liaodong counties is a good thing for the current Sui Dynasty. After all, the territory of China has not expanded for a long time.

The court's arrangements for the Liaodong branch counties were also simple.

This place is too barren, and no one in Kyoto is willing to come here. But since this place has become the territory of the Sui Dynasty, it cannot be excluded from the jurisdiction of the Sui Dynasty.

Therefore, after a long discussion, the court finally decided to find two or three people from among those who had made outstanding military achievements to govern the Liaodong branch county.

In the royal study
Yang Jian frowned and looked at the memorial in his hand.

For the first time, he felt a sense of being "caught in a dilemma". After all, this memorial was a list of people who had made contributions in the Sui-Gao War. He didn't know many of these people at all, but he could simply categorize them.

"Chen Linan and Li Shimin are not good enough."

Yang Jian muttered, "These two people have made great contributions, and they are from the Chen and Li families. If we let them stay in Liaodong Branch County, it would be like sending Liaodong Branch County to the hands of the Li family. And most importantly, these two great families would not agree."

After winning the war, Li Yuan was so furious that he submitted a memorial stating that his son was so ignorant that he had joined the army without telling them. He didn't want such a child at all and asked Yang Jian to punish him.

Although his words were full of disdain, Yang Jian didn't really think so.

This is clearly "protection".

Compared with Li Yuan's "disdainful protection", there was no movement from Chen's side - but this was also the reason why Yang Jian was even more wary and angry. Although Li Yuan's power was already very large, he was still afraid of him, so he wanted to submit a memorial, but Chen obviously did not have this concern.

They didn't move at all, obviously not caring about what Yang Jian wanted to do, or they firmly believed that Yang Jian would not dare to do anything.

Does Yang Jian really not dare to do anything?

Yes, he really didn't dare.

So Yang Jian crossed out the names of Chen Linan and Li Shimin from the list, and then crossed out the subsequent names one by one.

The rest are either from Guanshan or some powerful families in the local area. If these people succeed in taking over the Liaodong branch counties, then things will be really fun, as he will completely lose control over the five counties of Liaodong.

Finally, the most carefully selected.

Yang Jian finally selected three people.

"Zhong Changsun, Lu Lin, Zhuge Yun"

He looked at the people beside him and said, "Go and ask the Black Guards to investigate these three people to see if there are any political parties behind them, or if they have any entanglements with the local area."

The new governor of Liaodong branch county chose one of these three people.

The remaining two people will become "Liaodong branch county magistrate" and "Liaodong branch county governor".

Liaodong branch county
The joy of victory spread across the entire Liaodong, and countless people began to cheer, mainly the innocent Goguryeo people. They celebrated the death of the Goguryeo king and their own rebirth.

The temporary leader of the Liaodong branch county, "Guanshan", sent soldiers and officials from the yamen to tell the poor Goguryeo people about the policy of the Sui Dynasty towards the people. The Goguryeo people listened very carefully, and after listening, they all expressed their admiration for the "goodness" of the Sui Dynasty.

Yes.

During the reign of the King of Goguryeo, the treatment of these people was even more cruel and terrifying than it is today.

Liaodong branch county, somewhere on a high mountain.

Zhongsun Xie, Lu Weihong and Yun Changge stood on the mountain, looking at the countless mists emerging in the distance, with a calm look on their brows.

"Brother, the people we left behind have received news that the person is investigating the backgrounds of you and me. It is obvious that the Majesty wants to use us."

Yun Changge grinned, with a slightly wanton smile on his face.

"He obviously can't find out anything. After all, most of our growth traces from childhood to adulthood are real, and some of the "falsehoods" at the end are a mixture of truth and falsehood."

"Once the Black Guards' investigation is over, we will really have a place to stay."

Zhongsun Xie nodded slightly.

"Although Liaodong Branch County seems to be barren, it is precisely because of this that no one will compete with us."

"In this war, our abilities have been demonstrated."

"If we want to establish a Liaodong branch county, the person in charge must be a military commander. Only in this way can we deter the villains. Your Majesty will definitely choose someone who has made great contributions."

"Except for those people Your Majesty cannot or dare not use, we are the best choice."

He lowered his head, looked at the cliff with endless smoke under his feet, and whispered: "We can accumulate strength here, and then give the Sui Dynasty and Yang Jian a fatal blow."

There was a powerful and cold light flashing in Zhongsun Xie's brows.

"When the time comes, we can take action."

He never forgot that rainy night, nor did he forget the body of the Long Live Emperor lying on the ground.

Since Yang Jian could kill Emperor Wansui, they could also kill Yang Jian.

That night, a sentence was stirring in the minds of countless guards.

"Princes, generals and prime ministers, would you rather have the seed?"

The fifteenth year of Kaihuang.

spring.

The imperial court established the "Liaodong Branch County" in the former Goguryeo area, and the Liaodong Branch County was under the jurisdiction of the Liaozhou Province.

Because of the complexity and uniqueness of the Liaodong branch county, the imperial court did not choose to transfer officials from other places. Instead, it chose to select the head of this county from among those who had made contributions in this battle.

As for the officials of many prefectures and counties under the Liaodong branch county, they will be uniformly selected through the "Enke" examination of the Liaodong branch county. Of course, if there are officials of the Great Sui Dynasty who want to come here to serve as county heads, they can also apply.

Finally, the court appointed the heads of the Liaodong branch county - the county magistrate Zhong Changsun, the county chancellor Lu Lin, and the governor Zhuge Yun.

As for the many other heroes who made great contributions in this war, they would be rewarded after they returned to Kyoto.

On the march
Li Shimin rode on his horse, slowly following the army towards Kyoto. He looked at Chen Linan beside him and said, "Qilang, why do you have such an expression?"

"Now that we have done something great, Dad and the others won't do anything to us when we return, right?"

Chen Linan sighed deeply, looked at Li Shimin with pity, and said, "You are just too young."

Although the two of them are of similar age, Chen Linan always looks "mature and steady".

He glanced at the distant Kyoto, whose shape could be vaguely seen, and came close to Li Shimin: "I don't know what your family is like, but my brother... Haha."

"After I go back this time, my brother will definitely not do anything to me outside the city where most people can see me, but once I return to the mansion."

Chen Linan closed his eyes in pain: "If you ask me, it's better to stay in Liaodong Branch County. Although it's poor and a little cold there, you can still live well and freely." "Alas——"

He let out a long sigh.

When Li Shimin was about to say something, the city of Luoyang in the distance had already revealed its magnificent true face. At the city gate, the emperor and his ministers were already there ready to welcome him.

Chen Linan swiftly dismounted from his horse and walked to Guan Shan's side.

He carefully hid his body, but when he finally raised his eyes to look at the crowd, his eyes met Chen Ruohan's.

Just by looking at each other, Chen Linan subconsciously felt his hands hurt.

For him, his father did not take care of him much when he was young. It was always Chen Ruohan who took care of him. It is said that the eldest brother is like a father. For Chen Linan, Chen Ruohan is more terrifying than his father.

Because when facing Chen Zhan, he only needs to pretend to be pitiful, and maybe he can escape, but Chen Ruohan doesn't buy it.

Chen Ruohan wouldn't beat him or anything, but Chen Ruohan had a more clever way to deal with him.

There are many books in Zhuoshen Building, and the books in Zhuoshen Building are updated from time to time. Sometimes some manuscripts of books that are too old need certain "protection measures", so they cannot be displayed.

So how can we get today’s children to read these books?

The answer is handwriting.

Some people may say, "Don't we already have printing?"

If Chen Linan heard this, he would definitely sigh with sorrow. He would tell these people that printing technology can only print some books with copies, but there are some books that he does not have copies of!

If you want to make seals and molds, you must have a "reference object".

Where do you get the reference?
Handwritten.

After copying, you have a copy and can print it.

However, not many people would print out these rare copies, even a big book collector like Chen.

These "unique copies" include many "manuscripts" as well as "miscellaneous talks" and "miscellaneous notes" left by Chen's ancestors. These books cannot be copied by servants because the contents are very important.

The Chen family has always had special descendants to copy.

Chen Linan looked up and quietly made a number "ten" to Chen Ruohan, meaning that if he copied ten copies of the rare books in Zhushen Building, would the matter be settled.

Looking at Chen Ruohan's gentle smile, Chen Linan shuddered subconsciously, then gritted his teeth and mouthed the number "twenty". This was his limit.

It would take at least half a month to copy a book, and if Chen Linan copied twenty books, he might break his hands.

The "dangerous" look in Chen Ruohan's brows slowly dissipated, and he looked at Chen Linan and nodded slightly to show his agreement.

While Chen Linan was bargaining with his brother, Li Shimin also stiffly saw the man standing in the crowd.

The man had a "gentle" yet "ferocious" smile on his face, and his hands were gesturing subconsciously, as if he was holding a horse whip.
Li Shimin subconsciously felt some pain in his body.

Meanwhile, Yang Jian's "political show" had reached the final step. He announced that those who had made contributions in this battle would be rewarded at tomorrow's court meeting.

Hearing the word "reward", Chen Ruohan and Li Yuan in the crowd looked at each other, both feeling helpless and tired. This was also the reason why they were so tired recently.

The Chen family is still okay. They can accept any reward and they can afford it.

But Lee is different.
Li has now reached the position of "Duke", how can he go further?

The next step is "King".

Ever since Liu Bang made the "Golden Sword Alliance" with heroes all over the world, the Han Dynasty, Dayu Dynasty, and even today's Sui Dynasty, have not made any move to reward kings of other surnames except the Chen family.

Li Yuan did not think he could break this "bottom line".

So what will greet him?
It's hard to be rewarded for one's great achievements. ...

For the first time, Li Yuan felt that he might have reached the "turning point in life" that his teacher had talked about on that warm afternoon.

Yang Jian had the same complicated feelings as Li Yuan.

He really thought the same as Li Yuan did. He didn't know how to reward the Li family. After all, the Li family was already very powerful.

Li Yuan was appointed as Jiedushi and governor of Taiyuan County. With the power of Longxi, he almost became the actual controller of Longxi. He even concurrently served as a Duke!

The position of Duke is hereditary!

Dugu Jialuo appeared behind Yang Jian, pressed his shoulders, and had a gentle smile on her face.

Dugu's life was not very easy this year.

Not long after Yang Jian became emperor, he began to suppress the Dugu family. A woman's status in the deep palace is closely related to the status of her "mother's family" in the previous dynasty.

Without the powerful Dugu family, it would be impossible for Dugu Qieluo to be called the Two Saints together with Yang Jian as the original historical trajectory had shown.

However, given the power of the Dugu family, it is impossible for such behavior as "the harem cannot interfere in politics" to occur.

Dugu Jialuo's intelligence also made Yang Jian alert and at the same time feel more at ease. He still preferred to ask Dugu Jialuo for her opinions on state affairs on certain matters.

"What troubles you, sir?"

Yang Jian leaned back in his chair, letting Dugu Jialuo hold his shoulders, and expressed all his worries. Then he looked at Dugu Jialuo and asked, "How do you think this matter should be handled?"

Dugu Jialuo’s thoughts were turning.

On the surface, this question is about the "Li family", but in fact, isn't it Yang Jian's thinking on how to deal with the Dugu family?
Li and Dugu
The situation is so similar.

She thought about it for a long time, and finally laughed: "What do a woman like me know?"

"But, I feel that Erlang is Erlang and the Li family is the Li family."

"Rewarding Erlang does not mean rewarding Li."

"Your Majesty, you can just confer the title of Marquis to Erlang, and then let him set up his own residence, right?"

“That’s a good thing, too.”

Dugu Jialuo's expression turned around, and he whispered, "For a genius like Erlang, separating him from the Li family is a good thing, isn't it?"

(End of this chapter)