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

Chapter 459: Flowers in Bloom
Li Shimin looked at Li Yuan, who was also feeling somewhat guilty, with an incredible look. He was in a state where everything was buried in shock.

He was like the catkins flying in the sky, not knowing where to go.

"What do you mean by what you just said?"

Li Yuan looked a little uncomfortable, but he still said, "I say, seeing that you have been married to Changsun for many years and have no children, why not adopt your eldest brother's child as your eldest son."

"After all, they are all Li blood. It's much better than you being childless for many years, isn't it?"

As he spoke, Li Yuan's speech became much smoother.

He sighed, "I told you before that your eldest sister-in-law has a pretty cousin who is willing to marry you as a concubine, but you said you didn't want to."

"But Changsun has been childless for many years. Isn't this a threat to you?"

"You are now a duke, after all. How could you not have an heir for so long?"

Li Shimin almost laughed out of anger. He looked at Li Yuan and said, "Father, I am not even thirty yet. So what if I don't have any offspring? Who in the capital can say anything?"

"Besides, I have only been married to Guanyin for a few years. Isn't it normal that we don't have children?"

"Father, if I were to adopt my eldest brother's child under Guanyinbi's name as my eldest son, wouldn't that mean I'm taking over the title of the eldest son?"

Having said this, Li Shimin suddenly stood up, as if he understood something.

"So this is what father intended?"

"Let your eldest brother's child take the title of my eldest son, and then after I am a hundred years old, your eldest brother's child will inherit the position of Duke Tiance?"

"Is it?"

Li Yuan was furious at the angry and accusing tone. He also stood up suddenly and looked at Li Shimin and said, "What do you mean your eldest brother's child? If this child is adopted by you, then he is your child, right?"

"As for the title of Duke, do you think your elder brother would be interested in it?"

"It's just that I saw that you have been childless for a long time, and you and your wife are all alone in Liaozhou, so I thought of giving my child to you to be adopted to accompany you two."

"You say that as if your elder brother covets your title!"

Li Shimin was speechless. He stood there and sighed deeply.

"Yeah."

"You are not after my title. If I were a fool, I might actually believe what you said."

He looked indifferent: "Duke Tang, my title and inheritance, as well as my offspring, have nothing to do with Duke Tang."

"The late emperor personally ordered me to open a government office."

"His Majesty's bestowal of the title of Duke upon our country has nothing to do with you or the Crown Prince."

"It would be better if the Duke and his son don't set their sights on me."

After saying this, Li Shimin turned away.

Li Yuan stood where he was, the anger in his eyes becoming even more intense.

At this time, he had already forgotten what his teacher "Chen Zhan" had said to him. If he continued to be biased like this, the relationship between the father and his two sons would definitely get worse.

Under the poplar tree in the backyard
Li Jiancheng stood there, looked up and looked at the bird's nest on the tree trunk.

A bird flew over from a distance with a "bird's egg" in its mouth, and then pushed all the other eggs in the bird's nest down, carefully placed the egg in its mouth into the nest, and then spread its wings and flew away.

After a long time, another bird flew over with a worm in its mouth.

It wailed as it looked at the bird eggs under the tree, and finally looked at its only remaining "offspring" and continued crying.

The second year of Daye.

The emperor ordered the construction of the "Grand Canal". The Grand Canal started from the capital Luoyang and was dug all the way to the elegant areas of the south of the Yangtze River. No one knew why the construction of the Grand Canal was suddenly started.

Later, news gradually came out from Kyoto.

It seems that the emperor wanted to go south to enjoy the flowers, but because there was no canal transportation and he hated the rush of horse-drawn carriages on the highway, he ordered the construction of the Grand Canal.

When this news came out, the whole world was shocked.

No one knows why the "benevolent" King Jin before he ascended the throne became what he is today after he ascended the throne.

People finally came to the conclusion that the King of Jin was a hypocritical person, and he had only pretended to be a hypocrite in the past in order to gain the throne. His current appearance was his truest self.

In the same year, for some unknown reason, Emperor Daye suddenly became very fond of seeking immortals and asking for the way, and he invited many alchemists into the palace. Although he did not set up a separate project in the imperial examination to allow these alchemists to pass the examination and become officials like Emperor Wansui did in the past, the fact that he directly appointed alchemists also caused dissatisfaction among many people.

After all, everyone has worked hard to pass the exam and become an official. Why can you sit in a position that they can't sit in and enjoy the wealth and glory that they can't enjoy just by chanting a few spells and taking some pills?

Rumors are spreading all over the world.

Menxia Province

Officials on both sides were busy, chatting quietly while they were busy.

An official was walking hurriedly not far away, and everyone who passed by called him "Minister Yuwen". This person was one of the two top officials of the Menxia, ​​the Left Minister Yuwen Huaji.

Yu Wenzhi pressed his forehead, with a look of frustration on his brow.

"Minister Pei, please try to persuade His Majesty."

He sat down beside Pei Ju and whispered, "Your Majesty has issued another decree, saying that a road should be dug from Kyoto to the northern border. Currently, nearly one million civilians have been mobilized to build the Grand Canal. If more people are mobilized, I'm afraid the people of the world will not be able to bear it."

Pei Ju put down the memorial in his hand, looking even more tired than Yu Wenzhi.

"Do you think I don't want to dissuade His Majesty?"

He smiled bitterly: "I have already advised your majesty."

Pei Ju pointed to his forehead, where there was a scar that had not yet healed. "This was caused by the cup that Your Majesty threw at me after listening to my advice. It has not even healed yet."

"How dare I continue to advise?"

Yu Wenzhi also frowned, with a thoughtful look on his face: "Your Majesty has become more and more abnormal in the past two years. When he was in the palace before, although he was a little stubborn, he was able to listen to what was said."

"But why is it that now you won't listen to anything I say and your temper is getting even more violent?"

He whispered, "I heard that several bodies were pulled out of the palace yesterday. They were all killed by your majesty."

Pei Ju also shook his head.

He is not pretending, but he really doesn't know.

"Will it be"

He speculated: "Is it related to the elixir that Your Majesty has taken in the past two years?"

Pill?

As soon as Pei Ju said this, both Yu Wenzhi and Pei Ju were stunned. Then, it was as if a flash of lightning passed through their hearts. They both silently recalled the time when Yang Guang changed, and then their expressions suddenly changed.

Yang Guang's temper has indeed become more irritable since he took the elixir.

Yu Wenzhi hesitated: "Aren't the pills that Your Majesty has taken in the past two years all made by the alchemists that Your Majesty trusts very much? Even the people from the Tianshi Mansion are not allowed to participate in it."

"Do you still have the golden elixir that His Majesty gave me last time?"

After hearing Yu Wenzhi's words, Pei Ju's eyes flickered but he did not answer.

Yu Wenzhi laughed: "Sure enough, you didn't eat it either."

"Let's take the things to Zhang Anshi? He will definitely be able to tell the composition of these pills."

"In short, we can't let Your Majesty continue like this!"

Having said that, Yu Wenzhi stood up directly.

Pei Ju's expression also changed. He stood up as well, but his first destination was not home.

He felt that he knew the reason for Yang Guang's change.

Guandu Chen family
Chen Zhan was sitting in the courtyard. In front of him sat Chen Ping, and next to him sat Chen Ruohan, who had rarely returned.

Chen Ping was a disciple of the contemporary Mohist school, but he did not become a Mohist master. It was not because he was incapable, but because he himself was a lazy person and was unwilling to take such a position.

The Mohist school has changed from a loose organization many years ago to a "tight" organization today. Juzi of the Mohist school has always served as the Minister of Tiangong Temple, and is also one of the Thirty-Six Ministers.

"Third Uncle, Your Majesty has mobilized so many civilians. Is this the path for our Chen family?"

"Of course, there is a price to pay for struggle and progress, but the ones who should pay the price should not be the civilians, but those of us who want to move forward. If we blindly let the civilians sacrifice, what kind of descendants of the Chen family are we?"

Chen Ping looked at Chen Zhan with some disappointment. He felt that Chen Zhan had lost the faith of the Chen family members.

Chen Zhan just smiled and said, "Haven't the civilians recruited for the Grand Canal arrived yet? Or even started yet?"

He stood up and looked indifferently in the distance.

"Don't worry, this time's conscription of civilians is different from the previous ones."

"This will be the beginning of a different system, and also a way for the Chen family to change the dynasty."

Chen Zhan turned his head and looked at Chen Ping: "On the contrary, how is your Mohist research going? Is it as described in the ancestor's notes?"

Chen Ping nodded, with admiration on his face: "If it weren't for the fact that they really figured it out, I wouldn't have believed that our ancestors even knew the Mohist mechanical art, and made some reasonable guesses and ideas, and finally recorded them in their notes and passed them down."

He smacked his lips. “Is this the change you’re talking about?”

Chen Zhan shook his head: "No, this thing is just a tool."

He said slowly: "Han'er, tell your seventeenth brother, what is the difference between the two?"

Chen Ruohan held his forehead helplessly. After he was transferred to the position of "Zhongshu Ling" a few days ago, he temporarily returned to Guandu to prepare for ancestor worship. He had already told Yang Guang about his leave this time.

He thought he could rest for a while, but he didn't expect that the whole day he was either dragged by his father to discuss philosophy with his seventeenth brother, or to discuss the current policies of the country with his thirteenth uncle.

It's even more tiring than when I was in Kyoto.

Chen Ruohan poured a cup of tea for Chen Ping, and then said: "What we want to change is the "system", and what you are talking about, Seventeenth Brother, is a "tool". The system is fictitious, does not exist in the material world, and controls everything on the spiritual level."

"Tools, on the other hand, are things that are used by people and actually exist in the material world."

“They are different.”

Chen Ping scratched his head, not understanding the meaning of these words. However, after this period of "discussion", he also knew very well that he did not need to understand, because this was a test question given by his third uncle to his eldest brother, and he only needed to pretend to understand it.

So he lowered his head to sip his tea, and then said, "So that's how it is."

Secretariat

Zhang Anshi wrapped himself in a fox fur cloak. His health had always been poor, especially on such a cold winter day.

"This"

He handed the letter to the two people in front of him, and then his expression became a little solemn.

"Look, this is the letter my father wrote back."

Pei Ju and Yu Wenzhi looked at each other, took the letter and read it carefully. After a long time, they looked at each other, with a look of fear on their faces.

"This elixir actually contains an ingredient that can cause headaches?"

"It can even keep people awake at night?"

Zhang Anshi pursed his lips: "But in other words, the ingredients of this elixir can keep people "excited", "energetic" and tireless, which is also good."

His face turned red: "It can also make men excited in bed."

"It has the effect of nourishing yang."

Simply put, it can enhance sexual function and make people feel refreshed.

Yu Wenzhi and the others' expressions changed again: "What about the headache?"

Zhang Anshi said helplessly: "Headache is just some side effect. This is a side effect of all Yang-nourishing pills. It makes people excited for a long time, so naturally they will have some headaches. After all, people are not made of iron."

Yu Wenzhi sat there dejectedly: "So even if we write to His Majesty, His Majesty will not take it seriously. Instead, he will think that the Heavenly Master has said that this thing can indeed invigorate the spirit and nourish the yang and replenish the yin."

Zhang Anshi nodded: "That's right."

Pei Ju and the other two looked at each other and saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.

At this time, the palace attendant came in from outside the house with a flattering smile on his face.

"Oh my goodness, all three of you are here. This is simply great."

"Your Majesty is about to summon the officials of the three provinces, saying that there is something important to discuss, it seems to be about the conscription of civilians. Please hurry up and don't keep His Majesty waiting anxiously."

Discuss important matters? Officials from three provinces?
Although the three were confused, they made preparations, got on the carriage and headed towards the palace.

In the royal study
When the three arrived at the Imperial Study, Shangshu Tai Zuo Pushe Fang Xuanling and Zhongshu Sheng You Sheren Du Ruhui were already waiting there. After they greeted each other, they heard footsteps outside the hall.

Yang Guang came in from outside wearing thin clothes and took off his cloak as soon as he entered the room.

He winked at the attendant beside him and said, "Show them the memorial."

After receiving the order, the attendant quickly handed the memorial to the five people for circulation.

As they watched, Yang Guang said, "Mr. Chen said that I was going too far in mobilizing so many civilians at once, so he suggested that I mobilize fewer people, saying that the Mohists had invented something that could help me dig the canal without consuming so many civilians."

"There are also some suggestions about corvée."

"You three provinces should circulate it and see if Mr. Chen's suggestion is feasible?"

Yang Guang pondered and said, "If it is not too impractical, it is best to do as Mr. Chen said."

(End of this chapter)