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

Chapter 471: Competition in the Central Plains
It rained heavily and Dou Jiande was soaked like a drowned rat.

On the city wall, he looked at the many ministers around him in despair. These people used to be his confidants and the people he trusted the most, but now they have become the biggest swords that hurt him.

He no longer wanted to resist.

"why?"

"I trust you so much? How have I ever let you down?"

"Why did you betray me?"

The man who put the knife on Dou Jiande's neck just looked at him calmly and asked softly, "Betray you?"

"Lord, do you still remember why we came to you?"

Even at this time, the strategist still addressed Dou Jiande as "Lord", rather than "traitor" or any other title. There was a hint of indifference and loss in his voice.

Dou Jiande looked at this man, then glanced at the people around him.

The heavy rain falling on him seemed to extinguish the ambition in his heart and completely restore his rationality.

He remembered.

I remembered why these people would come to him.

Because he once said, "If Dou became king, all people in the world would have a safe place."

This was the promise he had made and what he had said.

But now he had forgotten it all.

Dou Jiande stood there in silence, then he sighed: "Now that things have come to this, let me have a quick death."

He looked at the people around him and said, "Now, while Chen Ruohan hasn't arrived yet, give me a quick death and chop off my head with one knife, so that I won't suffer."

The man didn't move, and neither did the people around him. Instead, they all looked at Dou Jiande with even more disappointment.

"My Lord, you will have to bear the consequences of what you have done."

"The criminal law King Zhen mentioned is the most suitable for you."

"You want to be happy now. Maybe you want to think about the past when you ordered your soldiers to slaughter the people? Do you still remember the people's cries? Do you still remember how those soldiers bullied the people?"

"While they were dying, what were you doing?"

The leader said softly, "At that time, you were happily enjoying the sound of stringed instruments and wind instruments. You were thinking about how Chen would react if you tried to test her. You were imagining how you would shock the world and make it submit if Chen became cowardly."

"The cycle of nature brings unfavorable retribution."

"Originally, these words were just words used by people like us who were born in the common people to comfort ourselves. They were originally the fantasy of the kind-hearted but powerless lower class people - but Chen turned these words into reality."

"Lord."

The man's hand was still on the long sword, while the other few people held Dou Jiande down, waiting for Chen Ruohan to arrive.

"You did something wrong, so you should admit your guilt."

There was a sound of footsteps in the heavy rain in the distance, and then a figure walked over with a slightly sad smile on his face. He just laughed softly and said, "You are right. If you do something wrong, you should admit your punishment."

"Dou Jiande, when you were testing Chen, you should have thought of the outcome today."

Chen Ruohan was holding an oil-paper umbrella, and his clothes were not wet by the rain. He quietly walked to Dou Jiande and said softly, "Do you know what the worst thing you did was?"

"You shouldn't use the people of a city to test Chen."

"You shouldn't use the people of a city to threaten the Chen family."

"The Chen family has been provoked too many times over the past thousands of years, but the Chen family has never cared. Those who provoke the Chen family will indeed pay a price, but over the past thousands of years, you are definitely the one who paid the biggest price, because you touched the bottom line that cannot be touched."

"The people and the common people."

"The Chen family needs an example, a living, bloody example to tell the world not to touch the bottom line of the Chen family, otherwise the end will be the most miserable."

After saying this, he did not look into Dou Jiande's eyes again, but turned around and walked towards the bottom of the city wall.

"The rest will be left to the guards."

"The world is in turmoil, but there needs to be a bottom line and rules."

“If there are still people who don’t understand, then Chen is willing to do something to make these people understand.”

“What can be done and what cannot be done.”

The heavy rain was still falling on the ground. The crisp sound of rain accompanied by the silent voices of people around resounded through the sky. The spies inside and outside the capital of Dade were frantically passing on the news.

This rainy night trampled the faces of many people who claimed to be "noble".

But no one dared to wipe the "shoe prints" off their face.

Youzhou
When Li Shimin heard the news about Dou Jiande from the capital of Dade, he stood up immediately.

In fact, he had imagined many "possibilities", but.
The power displayed by Chen was still a little too scary.

Celestial phenomena and human power.

It is rumored that in order to compete for the world, one needs "the right time", "the right place" and "the right people". In the past, people thought that "the right time" required waiting for an opportunity and was something unpredictable and uncertain. But now the Chen family has controlled the "right time" in their hands and told the world that for the Chen family, the so-called "right time" is Chen's "intention".

What’s even more terrifying is that such a family that can control the “time” even controls the “people”.

But even if the heroes, strategists, and ambitious people in the world know that the loyal "advisers" around them are most likely Chen's disciples. To a certain extent, if they do something "against the people of the world", these people will immediately become "sharp knives" to stab them. What can they do?

Could they not employ these people?
They simply couldn't tell who were Chen's disciples and who were not.

Even if they can tell, can they not use these talented people, these ambitious people? If you don't use them, naturally there will be others who will use them, and once these people are reused, they can cause great harm.

This is the scariest thing.

It is also the thing that scares the world the most.

The military strength demonstrated by Chen is secondary, the advanced technology demonstrated is secondary, and even the ability to control "celestial phenomena" to a certain extent is secondary.

"Talent and knowledge". These two things are the most important.

Li Shimin took a breath and let go of all the worries in his heart. He was not like some mediocre people who started to worry about the threat posed by Chen to him. He didn't care about it at all. After all, for him, he would never violate Chen's bottom line - and as long as he didn't violate Chen's bottom line, Chen would be the best helper.

And he is a helper who will never betray you, is always loyal, and is always useful.

With such a helper and such power, why didn't he "use" them properly? There was no conflict between what they wanted, right?

He looked at Cheng Yaojin beside him and said, "The time has come!"

Li Shimin's eyes sparkled with a brilliant light. His gaze was sharp and firm, and his voice was sonorous and powerful: "Send an order to the entire army. Zhongsun Xie of Liaozhou is plotting treason, and his crimes are countless!"

"As the Grand Commander of Liaozhou and the Commissioner of Dethronement appointed by Your Majesty, I must recover Liaozhou and then go south to fight the enemy! Avenge Your Majesty!"

Cheng Yaojin stood up straight immediately. They had been waiting for this day for a long time!

"Respect!"

Li Shimin did not stop, and continued to look at Qin Qiong and said: "Shubao, go and quietly send a message to Guan Shu, asking him to cooperate and persuade the people in the other counties of Liaozhou to rebel!"

"Within a month, I want to see the head of Zhongsun Xie of Liaozhou!"

Qin Qiong's face was also full of joy. Li Shimin's decision to conquer Liaozhou was a good thing for them and his subordinates - after all, Liaozhou was Li Shimin's base camp.

Youzhou can actually only be regarded as the base camp of "Chen Linan". Even if Chen Linan and Li Shimin are in the same group, they will always feel a little "embarrassed" on other people's territory.

Taking over the five counties of Liaozhou also means that Li Shimin is about to compete for the Central Plains!

As long as Li Shimin succeeds in sitting on the throne, all of them will be his loyal subjects. Wouldn't they be able to think about being granted titles of nobility and appointed as prime ministers?
Why don’t men carry Wu Gou!
Which man doesn’t have such ambition in his heart?

Once the wind and clouds rise, it turns into a dragon in the sky!
In the second year of Changde, it was autumn and winter.

Dou Jiande's body was still hanging on the city wall where he massacred the people. Many people who saw it would spit in that direction. In the eyes of countless people, Dou Jiande was a treacherous villain.

He can't even be considered a "hero".

Many folk "drama" performers compiled them into "storybooks" or "play excerpts" and then performed them in drama troupes.

In these stories or plays, Dou Jiande is an out-and-out villain, without even a single "excellence" in him. Even his death in the end is "very satisfying."

Dou Jiande's death did not actually have a big impact on the situation in the world. After all, people in the world knew the end of Dou Jiande very early, and it would not be a good one.

The person who benefited the most from this farce was "Wang Shichong".

Wang Shichong's territory was closest to Dou Jiande's territory, and he was also the most suitable person to annex Dou Jiande. The force that had been beaten and almost wiped out was Wang Shichong.

At this time, after Dou Jiande's death, all the territories and forces under his command were swallowed up by Wang Shichong - and Wang Shichong also got the most important "legacy" of Dou Jiande.

The usage, production methods and formulas of "fire guns", "rocket" and "explosives".

It should be understood that even though the firearms owned by the Chen family are much more advanced than theirs, the Chen family will not actually participate in the fight for the world - so in reality, the way these gunpowders are used is still the most advanced.

With these things, you can still beat others.

Of course, after Dou Jiande's suicidal behavior and seeing his final fate, even if Wang Shichong learned the method of using gunpowder, he would not dare to be as "arrogant" as Dou Jiande.

Just when the other forces were worried, the current leader of the Mo family was quietly replaced by a member of the Chen family.

"Chen Sanping".

The first thing Chen Sanping did after taking office as Mohist Master was to convene a "meeting" of the leaders of several of the most powerful separatist forces.

Just like the "gatherings" during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Chen Sanping convened a meeting called the "Guan Du Conference" - yes, this is why the leaders of those forces were very confident to come and participate.

In Chen's base camp, who dares to have evil thoughts? Who can have evil thoughts?
There were quite a few people participating in the rally, but not too many.

The two largest separatist forces in the north were "Li Shimin" and "Zhongsun Xie", the three largest separatist forces in the Central Plains were "Dugu Jian", "Li Yuan" and "Yu Wenzhi", and the two largest separatist forces in the south were "Shen Faxing" and "Wang Shichong".

In history, this "gathering" is also called the "Council of the Seven Kings."

No one knows what Mohist master "Chen Sanping" said at the rally in Guandu, and no one knows what the attitudes of the other separatist forces are.

No one knows whether Chen participated in this rally.

This was a meeting whose details have not been recorded in history, and no one knows its specific content.

But everyone can see the changes in all forces after this rally.

Wang Shichong never used "gunpowder" in subsequent battles, and other forces also began to study the basic uses of "gunpowder", but none of them used it in war.

The "war" here refers only to the "civil war".

As for foreign wars?
According to historical records.

During this period, the largest separatist force in the north, later Emperor Taizu of Tang, Li Shimin, carried out an inhumane "expulsion" of the newly emerging ethnic group "Tartar" on the grassland.

There were two wars between Li Shimin and the Tatars, who were still separatist forces in the north. These two wars directly turned the Tatars into a nation good at singing and dancing. When Li Shimin entered the Central Plains, the Tatars were the first to send their blessings. In the eight-year-long situation of north-south division, the Tatars did not even dare to listen to the "temptation" of the southern separatist forces, and directly cut off the heads of the envoys sent by the southern separatist forces, indicating that they were at odds with this force, in order to reassure Li Shimin.

As for what kind of "firearms" Li Shimin used in these two wars to make the Tatars so scared, people in later generations do not know.

Because the record in the history books is very simple, just "In such and such a year, we fought against the Tatars and won."

The third year of Changde, spring.

After returning to Youzhou, Li Shimin decided to launch a final attack on Zhongsun Xie of Liaozhou. He was determined to unify the north first, and then compete for the Central Plains and establish his own country.

After a certain degree of "dispute" among the three forces in the Central Plains, only two were left.

One force was named "Li Yuan" and the other was named "Yu Wenzhi".

The final "battle" is about to begin between them.

This will also, to some extent, determine who will eventually rule the Central Plains and claim the title of orthodoxy.

(End of this chapter)