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

Chapter 467: War Spreads Across the Land
The news that Yu Wenzhi had sought the throne spread across the country in an instant, igniting the ambitions of many powerful people in the world.

Perhaps in the past some people only wanted to become "kings of their own empire", but from today on, everyone's wish is to "become emperor" and annex the world.

What's more, Yu Wenzhi's "behavior" also gave some people the most appropriate excuses.

Yu Wenzhi said that Emperor Daye was killed by people around Emperor Wansui, and he was just there to rescue him, and he took the throne only when he had no other choice?

Is it for the people of the world?
This statement might be able to deceive the common people, but it is impossible to deceive the big families, especially in this situation. No matter whether this statement is a lie or not, some people will always regard it as a "lie".

Because they need an excuse.

A reasonable excuse that would allow them to gain a reputation for being righteous.

Yu Wenzhi just provided such a "step" to take advantage of the situation, and as a result, the world was in chaos and war spread across the prairie.

Taiyuan
There was a gleam of ambition in Li Jiancheng's eyes, and he burst out with unprecedented motivation.

"Father, why don't we rise up now and fight against the heroes for the world?"

"Yang Guang was killed by your brother Yuwen Huaji, and you are avenging Yang Guang. This is only natural! If you stand up now, no one can question it. We are naturally in the right position!"

Li Yuan frowned slightly, his mind full of mixed thoughts. He was always like this, with a hint of hesitation in his character.

"I want to ask the teacher."

Li Jiancheng's eyes were filled with impatience that he could not suppress: "Father! Mr. Chen has not replied to your letters for several years. Do you still think that Mr. Chen regards you as his disciple?"

He gritted his teeth and said, "In fact, many years ago, Master Chen no longer considered you as his disciple!"

As for the reason, Li Jiancheng did not say it, and Li Yuan did not say it either, because they both knew it.

Chen Zhan's family had a good relationship between father and son, and he would never favor one son over another. So Chen Zhan disliked people like Li Yuan who were so partial to him that he even went so far as to favor Antarctica. Therefore, he repeatedly admonished Li Yuan, his disciple.

But what about Li Yuan?

Not only did Li Yuan not listen, he also told Li Jiancheng many times what Chen Zhan had advised him, which further fueled Li Jiancheng's jealousy. As a result, one time Li Jiancheng directly found Chen Zhan and asked him why he interfered in other people's family affairs and whether he was meddling too much in other people's business.

Since then, Chen Zhan never cared about "other people's business" again, and naturally he never cared about Li Yuan's affairs again.

Whenever Li Yuan went to see him during the holidays, he was still cheerful, but he never said anything extra to Li Yuan.

The relationship between Li and Chen gradually faded.

This is not the first disciple to turn against the Chen family in the nearly thousand years since their rise, and he will not be the last.

Human personality is complex and changeable, and no one can fully understand another person - especially when accepting a disciple at a young age and understanding the person thoroughly.

So over the years, the Chen family has received more than one fool or ungrateful person, but the Chen family members don't care and just let them fend for themselves.

In the Chen family, whose time span can almost span space, they don’t care about these “little things”.

When Li Yuan heard Li Jiancheng's words, he finally made up his mind.

Family members know their own business. Even if he went to find the teacher, Chen Zhan probably wouldn't see him at this time, let alone give him any advice.

Whoever the head of the Chen family meets at such a critical moment could almost be the next "King of Pei", so the Chen family has always remained silent at such times - since the end of the Qin Dynasty, the Chen family has learned to remain silent.

"Then let the people below get ready."

Li Yuan's expression was firm.

Li Jiancheng pretended to hesitate for a moment, then looked at Li Yuan and said, "Father, what about Erlang..."

Li Yuan looked at Li Jiancheng, and after a long silence, he finally spoke slowly. His voice was silent but powerful, as "majestic and solemn" as if he was standing in the supreme position.

"Since Erlang has left home and doesn't want to have anything to do with the Duke's Mansion, then just do as he says."

"No need to tell him!"

Li Jiancheng bowed and a hint of secret joy flashed across his face, but it disappeared in an instant.

"promise."

The first year of Changde.

The world is in chaos.

Because of Yu Wenzhi's ascension to the throne, several more princes in the world plotted rebellion.

The most influential among them should be "Duke of Tang" Li Yuan.

The slogan Li Yuan raised was very clear and straightforward. He wanted to avenge his "brother", so he rose up and opposed the rule of the Jin Dynasty.

When Li Yuan raised this banner, many people in the world fell silent.

Elder brother
This is true.

And he is a brother with a very close blood relationship.

Li Yuan's mother was the sister of Yang Guang's mother. In other words, Yang Guang was Li Yuan's cousin, a cousin that Yang Guang could not deny even if he were alive. So it was only natural for Li Yuan to avenge Yang Guang.

No one can deny this great cause.

At the same time when Li Yuan expressed his desire to avenge his cousin, another big family in Kyoto also expressed its "anger", that is, the Dugu family.

Dugu Jian initially pretended to surrender and expressed his willingness to recommend Yu Wenzhi as emperor.

After taking the opportunity to paralyze Yu Wenzhi, the scheming head of the Dugu family fled Kyoto, and then quickly rose up in rebellion, saying that his previous support was only because of Yu Wenzhi's threat, and that he was actually very opposed to the traitor's ascension to the throne, and that the previous move was just a stopgap measure.

Dugu Jian said that Yang Guang had the blood of the Dugu family, so he wanted to avenge his "nephew". This was also reasonable and justified, and could stand firm in any name, because Yang Guang's mother was Dugu Jian's sister, and Dugu Jian was also his "uncle" when Yang Guang was alive.

Who can say that it is wrong for an uncle to avenge his nephew?

Unrest in the world intensified.

However, because Dugu, Li and others rose up in rebellion, Yu Wenzhi's court was no longer able to suppress the heroes of the world, so war spread across the land and the princes once again established their own territories.

It's like going back to the end of the Han Dynasty.
No, perhaps it was even more turbulent than the end of the Han Dynasty, and seemed comparable to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

But the people lived a much better life than during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and no one dared to exploit them too much - because there was an immortal family standing there in Guandu, quietly watching everything in the world.

If anyone dares to exploit the people too much, that aristocratic family will "stand up" and quickly eat the person who dared to wake him up, like a tiger awakened from its sleep.

This has also created a very interesting phenomenon - the divided princes, to a certain extent, no longer compete with each other on how strong their "military strength" is, but instead try their best to express their "political ideas" and demonstrate their "benevolence" and "love for the people".

In later generations, there have been endless studies on the "turbulent times" of this period, but what is strange and not so strange is that there are very few studies on "war" or "military", and most of them are studies on the "culture", "economy" and "art" achievements that emerged during this period.

In this era known as the "late Sui Dynasty", a large number of outstanding literati, poets, painters, and calligraphers emerged. The culture of this stage was so brilliant that it was almost comparable to the "peak of cultural brilliance" during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

This was also the second peak of cultural prosperity in China during the turbulent times.

Corresponding to this is the development of "science and technology".

After the emergence of "explosives", people began to put the research on "thermal weapons" on the agenda. At first, people only used explosives as "tools" to split mountains and rocks, dig canals, and build some projects.

later
When a genius-like figure accidentally injured himself while using "explosives", everyone started to go crazy.

It was an ordinary night known as the "Wangwu Incident."

Wang Wu was a common corvée. When he was using explosives, he failed to control the amount and in extreme tension, he threw the explosives into the crowd.
There were more than a dozen corvées injured by the explosives at that time, and almost none of them survived.

After discovering this incident, Dou Jiande, the "separatist prince" in this area, rushed over overnight, and then appeased the many corvées. He also demonstrated his benevolence by giving a lot of "help" to the corvées who were killed in the explosion.

But after returning, Dou Jiande began to think about a problem.

While the tragic conditions of those corvee laborers made him terrified, another question also arose in his mind: what if the explosives were not thrown among the corvee laborers, but into the enemy's army?

What kind of "tragic situation" would this be?
And if it could really be used in this way, how invincible would his army be?
So Dou Jiande began to secretly study the military use of "explosives", and finally he developed a weapon called "fire gun" and "rocket".

Do not misunderstand.

This "fire gun" is not the kind of "fire gun" mentioned in later generations. It is huge in size, more like the "bazooka" of later generations, and its firing is not very stable - but it is extremely powerful and is a suitable "deterrent" weapon.

The "rocket" is even simpler. It uses a "bow and arrow" to shoot explosives into the enemy's army, thereby causing a huge impact on the enemy's army.

The "impact" caused at this time is not mainly casualties, but "deterrence", causing a huge "explosion" like thunder from the sky, and then causing the enemy's army to "mutiny".

As we all know, on the battlefield, if one side's army mutinisses, then that army is basically doomed.

Trampling, loss of combat effectiveness, etc.

After the development of muskets and rockets, Dou Jiande quickly became arrogant. He even began to think that the "Chen family" was just an "ant". With the existence of "explosives", why should he still worry about the Chen family?

The Chen family is nothing but a mere ant!
Destroyable with a snap of your fingers!

Since he no longer had any fear of the Chen family in his heart, he naturally no longer had any kindness towards the "people". He began to become a "tyrant". At first, no one noticed Dou Jiande's change - after all, in troubled times, the change of a vassal king was really not worth everyone's attention, and he was not the most powerful one.

But later, when Dou Jiande became arrogant to a certain extent, everyone noticed this person and his changes.

People really realized why Dou Jiande changed because of the "Battle of Jianyang".

The Battle of Jianyang was a decisive battle between Dou Jiande and Shen Faxing. Both of them were really angry. One of them knew that he had a hot weapon called "gunpowder" in his hands, while the other thought that Dou Jiande was just an ant and how could he dare to provoke him like this.

After all, Shen Faxing's military strength can be said to be at the top of the world's heroes, and he is someone who can compete with the Dugu and Li families.

but.
The outcome of the war was beyond Shen Faxing's expectations, as well as those of the people of the world.

In just ten days, the army under Dou Jiande wiped out the main force of Shen Faxing's army. This was a speed that was almost unpredictable - ten days. If the time for marching was deducted, wouldn't Dou Jiande's army have wiped out Shen Faxing's army as soon as they met?

That is Shen Faxing’s main force!
How could it be eliminated so easily?
After investigation, the "princes" standing at the top discovered the existence of "gunpowder". The emergence of this "hot weapon" was almost epoch-making - how do cold weapons and hot weapons fight?
Can't fight!
The fire that seemed to have fallen from the sky like a punishment from God burned all the "ambitions" of everyone to ashes, leaving only a wisp of remaining ash.

Dou Jiande became even more inflated.

In the second year of Changde, Dou Jiande almost eliminated all forces except the four forces of "Liaozhou Zhongsun Xie", "Dugu", "Li" and "Yu Wenzhi", and then occupied the entire south.

He started to become more rampant.

In the autumn of the second year of Changde, Dou Jiande established a country in Yangzhou and proclaimed himself emperor, calling himself "Emperor Dade" and changing the era name to "Baye".

In the same year, Dou Jiande led an army of nearly one million and wanted to launch an attack on the Central Plains.

During this period, he did something that could almost be described as "seeking death" - of course, Dou Jiande did not see it that way.

He carried out a "massacre".

Because the county magistrate of a certain city was unwilling to surrender to him, the "rebel who plotted rebellion", Dou Jiande announced a massacre of the city after he captured the city.

Blood was flowing everywhere.

This is a "temptation" and also a "venting".

Dou Jiande was not a fool or a stupid person. Besides wanting to intimidate some people in the world and accelerate his ambition of unifying the world, he had another idea in mind when doing this.

"Massacre in the city" was something that Chen could not tolerate.

Then
Faced with the "self" who is almost invincible with "hot weapons", and faced with such an act of "massacre in the city", how will the "Chen family" standing at the top of China's nine provinces react?
(End of this chapter)