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

Chapter 470: Mistake on Mistake
Dou Jiande was very anxious at this time and he had begun to be afraid.

In other words, he was not starting to get scared, he just knew that he was going to die. The threat of death had enveloped Dou Jiande, and even made him unable to think seriously.

But...it's still as the saying goes.

Danger and death will not disappear because of your fear, nor will they be delayed because of these emotions of yours.

One urgent report after another was sent from outside the city, and that group of "soldiers and guards" had already approached the capital of Dade, where Dou Jiande was.

At this time, Dou Jiande had already fallen into madness.

He began to think of ways to save his life - such as finding a way to prevent Chen from acting rashly.

Then, an extremely crazy idea appeared in his mind, and gradually took root and grew slowly, until finally Dou Jiande had no other thoughts left, and only this crazy idea remained in his mind.

Didn’t the Chen family use the “banner” of the people to attack us?

Then
He thought of a way, a way to tie all the people in the city to himself and make them inseparable.

Dou Jiande laughed, and his laugh was very wild.

He didn't know whether this method would work, but he knew that even if it didn't work, as long as he did this, it would deal a fatal blow to Chen's reputation.

He has gone crazy.

Youzhou
The soldiers under Li Shimin were ready to launch a counterattack against "Zhongsun Xie" at any time, and many affairs in Liaozhou were already under his control.

When he came to Youzhou and had a very good relationship with Chen Linan - and was given part of Youzhou's military power, everyone understood Chen Linan's choice. Chen Linan chose Li Shimin.

So what if Chen Linan cannot represent the Chen family’s attitude?

With Chen Linan around, those people already have a "back door".

At that time, if Li Shimin failed, they could also say to the new emperor: "I did not choose Li Shimin, but Chen Linan, Chen Linan of the Chen family!"

Then, in order to ensure his own "legitimacy", the new emperor will not do anything to them but will accept them instead.

Apart from not having the ability to follow the dragon, their lives will not be in any danger.

Betting on Li Shimin became a risk-free, profit-only thing - anyone who was a gambler would want to bet.

In Liaozhou, the five counties of Liaozhou were originally under the control of Zhongsun Xie. But when Li Shimin gained a foothold in Youzhou, the prefect of Liaodongnan County, "Guanshan", contacted Li Shimin directly.

Guanshan and Li Shimin were old acquaintances. When Li Shimin was full of vigor and vitality and escaped from home, he took refuge with "Guanshan" in Liaodongnan County, and thus earned his first "merit".

It was precisely because of his military achievements against Goguryeo in Liaodong that Li Shimin became a new upstart in the capital, was awarded the title of "Hou Tian Ce", and then step by step reached his current position.

It was expected that Guanshan would contact Li Shimin.

He was originally a disciple of Chen, so it was naturally impossible for him to sincerely follow Zhongsun Xie. He was just pretending to be friendly with Zhongsun Xie temporarily just to gather information under Zhongsun Xie and be ready to support Li Shimin at any time.

County Magistrate's Office
Li Shimin stood there with his hands behind his back, looking at the persimmon tree in front of him, with a slightly melancholy look on his face, like a lonely and desolate person.

The persimmon tree is full of fruits in autumn. The fruits hang on the branches, fully demonstrating their "existence". When the autumn wind blows around, countless leaves fall.

The ground was covered with leaves, shining golden yellow.

"Alright, alright—"

"What kind of sad and sorrowful words are you going to post again? Go back to your own mansion and stop making things difficult for a persimmon tree like me all day long."

Chen Linan, who was sitting next to him, yawned and cursed at Li Shimin.

Ever since Li Shimin received the news from "Zuwei" that Chen's men had begun to attack Dou Jiande, he has been running to his small courtyard all day long, looking at the persimmon tree and feeling sad about the passing of spring and autumn. He even pretended to be melancholy and wrote several poems about autumn and the persimmon tree.

Chen Linan didn't know much about poetry, but he felt that if these poems could be passed down to later generations, people in later generations would think that Li Shimin was an illiterate.

Li Shimin turned around and looked at Chen Linan, with helplessness on his face: "You, I'm just thinking about something, right?"

He sat casually beside Chen Linan and said, "But you, don't you worry about the safety of those guards at all?"

"Even if the guards have such thunderous means, which are not like those of ordinary people, Dou Jiande will definitely not surrender. The most likely thing he will do is to jump off the wall in desperation. What should the guards do at that time? What should Chen do?"

Chen Linan held his chin and said, "How to do it."

Li Shimin glanced at Chen Linan and said, "Of course, how to wipe out Dou Jiande!"

"I guess that Dou Jiande will eventually tie the safety of the people in the city to himself, and then let Chen make a choice - to destroy him and let the people in the city die with him, or to let him go and let the people in the city live."

“That’s definitely something he would do.”

"Because he has explosives, which can kill a large number of people quickly in a short period of time."

"And if Chen chooses to let Dou Jiande go, then it will be the end. In the future, not only Dou Jiande, but also a large number of other people will choose to use this method to threaten Chen. What should Chen choose?"

"If the Chen family chooses to reject Dou Jiande's request, then it will be the end. The death of an entire city's citizens will be enough to deal a fatal blow to the Chen family's reputation. The people will collapse! They will not care that it is Dou Jiande's fault - because Dou Jiande is dead, they blame Dou Jiande for not being able to vent their anger, or even if Dou Jiande is dead, they dare not blame Dou Jiande."

"Who can they choose to complain about, to blame?"

"It's Chen."

"Some people would say that if Dou Jiande had not wanted to test Chen, he would not have chosen to massacre the city; and if it had not been for Chen's final choice, the people of that city would not have died."

"They will throw all the dirty water on Chen."

"And the rest of the princes will also take advantage of the situation, because they are afraid of the Chen family, so they will take the opportunity to slander the Chen family and want to destroy the Chen family's reputation."

The worry in Li Shimin's eyes was not fake.

Chen Linan stretched, then looked at Li Shimin and slowly said, "Okay, don't worry so much."

He smiled and looked in the distance: "As early as the moment the "Guardians" set off, Chen had already "taken action". This move was not only made by the guards in the open, but also by all the forces in the dark."

At this moment, Chen Linan was like a sleeping tiger waking up.

There was a sharp light in his eyes, like a sword drawn from its sheath, like the sharpest knife in the world!

Chen Linan said softly: "Anyone who dares to provoke the Chen family will face the most terrifying thing - they will know that provoking the Chen family and testing the Chen family will be the most wrong thing they have ever done in their lives."

"What's even more wrong is those who are still stubborn after Chen's Thunder Operation."

Chen Linan's body was extremely cold: "They will know."

"Adding insult to injury, what kind of punishment is this!"

Dade City
outside the city gate

The "Guards" have arrived, but there has been no movement.

Not to mention the people of the capital and the spies around, even Dou Jiande and others in Dade capital felt very confused, but they also seized this time to continue to make "arrangements". Dou Jiande's "arrangements" were very crazy. He had people place "explosives" all over the city and sent his "confidants" to wait. As long as the soldiers and guards started to attack the city, these people would immediately ignite the explosives!

By then, the entire capital of Dade will go up to the sky along with the gunpowder!
The power of such a huge explosive is enough to blow up the entire city! All the people will not be able to escape!

When the "arrangement" was almost completely successful, it was already the sixth day.

A group of "foot soldiers and guards" rode over from a distance. Leading them was not the leader of the foot soldiers and guards, but the "eldest son" of the Chen family, the next head of the Chen family, the current Crown Prince of Zhenguo, and King An - His Royal Highness Chen Ruohan.

Chen Ruohan raised his head and looked at this scene with a hint of "peace" in his expression.

He looked at the capital of Dade. Someone beside him stepped forward, holding something in his hand, and shouted at the capital of Dade: "His Royal Highness King An is here in person! Quickly let the traitor Dou Jiande come out to answer!"

King An?
The guards on the city wall were all looking at the man riding a horse coming down below. Was that man the eldest son of the Chen family?
Is that person the next head of the Chen family?

In fact, although he is the next head of the family, the current head Chen Zhan has almost stopped taking care of things. He will only take power again if there is some major change - like this time.

This time it was the head of the Chen family who gave the order himself.

But in just a moment, Dou Jiande was on the city wall. He looked down at the soldiers below with a wild and complacent smile on his face: "Hahahahahaha, what can it do even if King An comes in person?"

"You are late!"

His expression was ferocious: "I have placed hundreds of explosives in and around the capital!"

"These explosives are connected to each other!"

"There is a huge amount of explosives buried in my city!"

"If you dare to attack the city, I will have people set it on fire!"

"By then, hundreds of thousands of people in the entire capital will die with me, Dou Jiande!"

Dou Jiande roared, "Now! Retreat immediately!"

"Otherwise I will ignite the explosives immediately!"

"The lives of the people in this entire city are in your hands, Chen Ruohan!"

"Don't force me!"

The soldiers around became a little "agitated" when they heard this. They had no idea about Dou Jiande's arrangements, otherwise how could they still be here defending the city for Dou Jiande?
But at this time, they could only look at Chen's army under the city wall with hope!

Can they survive?

The people in the city also quickly learned the news. Some people began to cry and roar, crying out their sorrow. They had no right to choose. In the eyes of these noble and powerful people, their lives were like ants.

Like dust.

Some people have become numb, sitting at their doorsteps, staring at the sky, waiting for the death that could come at any time.

Everything became very "silent" and "quiet".

Under the tower, Chen Ruohan just said softly: "The Chen family has never been threatened by anyone."

He waved his hand lightly, and the Taoist soldiers behind him were instantly ready to go!

Dou Jiande was completely crazy. He didn't care about calling out to others. He just lay on the city wall and looked at the guards below: "Chen Ruohan! Are you crazy? How dare you do this!"

"Aren't you afraid of risking the lives of the people in this city?"

Chen Ruohan was still moving forward, and the soldiers behind him were still following him, moving slowly forward, with a full sense of oppression.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha--"

Dou Jiande laughed crazily: "Okay, okay, you all think I don't dare, right?"

"I tell you, there is nothing I, Dou Jiande, dare not do!"

"Blow it up!"

His ferocious roar spread throughout the entire city wall and was heard by everyone.

"boom--"

A thunderclap sounded, and when Dou Jiande was about to burst into a ferocious laugh, he suddenly realized something.

The sound was not like the sound of explosives exploding with thunder;
But it was the real sound of thunder coming from the sky!

Thunder! Thunder!
In just a moment, countless dark clouds gathered above the sky. The sky that was brightly lit by the sun just now was instantly covered with dark clouds. All the dark clouds and thunder gathered together!
Lightning tears the sky!

"Rumble--"

Thunders sounded, and heavy rain began to fall from the sky. Countless raindrops fell on the ground, on the city walls, and on the explosives that were being burned!

The explosives instantly became soaked and became impossible to ignite!
Dou Jiande's ferocious expression froze for a moment, but he spoke again: "Do you think I didn't expect that Chen could change the celestial phenomena?"

"Some of the explosives are indoors! The heavy rain can't get them wet!"

Chen Ruohan and the guards behind him said nothing, but continued to move forward. In an instant, they "banged" open the city gate, and at this time no explosion had been heard in the capital.

What Chen relied on was not just "rain", but also people.

Countless indoor places in the city filled with explosives were now filled with "people".

There was anger in their eyes and in their hands they held buckets, bowls, water jars, and anything else that could be used to extinguish the explosives.

In front of these people, there is a "disciple of Chen" standing.

Chen's disciples are spread all over the world.

When he didn't say that he was a disciple of Chen, who could know that he was a disciple of Chen?
On the city floor.

One of Dou Jiande's most trusted "ministers" held a knife in his hand, and the knife was placed on Dou Jiande's neck.

It rained heavily.

Everyone fell silent.

On the city wall, there were the ministers who followed Dou Jiande to the end and were trusted by him wholeheartedly.

They are all Chen’s disciples.

The Chen family of Guandu has students and former officials all over the world.

(End of this chapter)