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

Chapter 490 Chen's Cheap Merchant
Fang Xuanling was right. After today, Chen Yu's theoretical explanation of "the way to be an official" should be circulated throughout Chang'an. What will make paper even more expensive in Chang'an is that after Chen Yu's victory today, more "speculators" in Chang'an city will begin to print more of Chen Yu's "realistic" theory.

Therefore, “paper will be expensive in Chang'an”.

Knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle. Those people did not pay attention to Chen Yu's ideological theories before, but now that they know that this ideological theory can really be used to establish a new school of thought - and be passed down for a long time, they will definitely start to pay attention to it.

The crowd gradually dispersed, and Fang Xuanling and Chen Yu walked together to a room somewhere in the Imperial College that was specially set up for lecturers to rest.

A little "incense" slowly burned in the room. Fang Xuanling silently poured tea for Chen Yu, then sighed and said, "You shouldn't have said that. In addition to that method, there are many other methods, right? Even if you think that method is the best one, you shouldn't have said that."

Fang Xuanling was referring to the remarks made by Chen Yu about businessmen, which would cause some trouble to Chen Yu.

Chen Yu chuckled. He looked at Fang Xuanling and said, "Uncle, do you think what I said is wrong?"

There was a hint of coldness in his brows: "Back then, our ancestors proposed not to relegate craftsmen, merchants and other professions to the lowly lower nine classes. It was not for the sake of these people standing on top of the people today and showing off their power."

"Our ancestors have always believed that all people are born equal, and all professions are the same, doing the same things, providing sufficient nutrients for the stable operation of the world."

"But now, those businessmen are trying to stand on top of the people."

"Do you know how serious the land annexation is in the Tang Dynasty today? The people of the Tang Dynasty almost have no land of their own to cultivate!"

Fang Xuanling remained silent.

He is actually in charge of this part of the Ministry of Revenue's responsibilities, so he is actually the person in the entire Tang Dynasty who knows best how serious the land annexation is here.

After making enough money, those businessmen began to find ways to buy fertile farmland and occupy the land. This is the problem brought about by private land ownership, but it is a serious problem.

Only at the end and beginning of each dynasty can the problem of land annexation be completely resolved, because the establishment and destruction of a dynasty is often accompanied by the collapse of part of the power.

But the fall of Dayu, Sui and Jin did not bring such an ending.

Because their downfall was too smooth.

And what Chen and the emperor are preparing to do now is to wipe out all of this with the force of thunder when the Tang Dynasty is just established and the powerful have not yet formed an unbreakable alliance, and when you are in me and I am in you, and everyone is colluding with each other's interests.

Chen Yu looked at Fang Xuanling's silence, then laughed and said, "I know Uncle Fang is worried about me, but you don't have to worry, this matter was not proposed by me."

There was a hint of confusion in his expression: "This was proposed by my father and grandfather together."

"This is also Chen's attitude."

Chen Yu sighed slowly and said, "Just wait and see. There will be more news about this matter coming out in the next few days."

Fang Xuanling felt relieved after hearing this. In fact, he was not trying to protect the businessmen. He was just worried about Chen Yu's safety and reputation. Chen Yu's reputation was not yet good enough to bring down a social class.

If he said such words lightly, it might make some people dissatisfied and then damage his reputation among the people.

But if Chen Zhan and Chen Ruohan both felt this way, then things would be different.

The bottom line is, Chen Yu is not important enough.

Chen Yu is not even the crown prince of Zhenguo yet, he is just a simple crown prince of "Anguo".

This is due to the special nature of the Chen family's title.

The current head of the Chen family will be conferred the title of "King Zhenguo", while the eldest son of the Chen family, the heir of the Chen family, and the head of the next generation will be conferred the title of "King Anuo".

Therefore, the next generation heir is both "King An" and "Crown Prince of Zhenguo".

Only these two identities combined can represent the Chen family.

Chen Yu is just a "Crown Prince of An Kingdom". Even if he is the eldest son, he may not necessarily become the next King of An Kingdom, or even the next King of Zheng Kingdom.

Chen Zhan is different.

Who is Chen Zhan?

This ruthless man who had experienced Emperor Wansui in the late Yu Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang of Sui, and Emperor Dade of the Jin Dynasty was a veteran of four dynasties. He had many students and followers all over the world.

And what about Chen Ruohan?

Chen Ruohan is an even more powerful guy.

He entered the court through the imperial examination system during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui. He later fought battles in the east and the west, occupied Liangzhou, and resisted the Western Regions. Now he is the only chief commander of the three provinces!
He is also in charge of the general affairs of three provinces!

He also has countless students under his tutelage.

You should know that the special examinations and the imperial examinations in the first, second, third and fourth years of Zhenguan were all presided over by this person!

In addition to being the emperor's disciples, those disciples are also Chen Ruohan's disciples!

And now, those disciples are either serving as officials outside the court or in the three ministries within the imperial court. The lowest official rank among them is already the fifth rank!
What's more, there are a large number of Chen's disciples
Legalists, Confucianists, Mohists, Taoists, and Pragmatists.

Why is it that this time when Chen Yu traveled from south to north, except for the Confucianists who had a slightly larger number of people, the rest of the people just made a quick visit and then quickly retreated?

Because damn, many of these schools are disciples of Chen!

Chen's descendants are all over the world!

These are not empty words!

Looking at the relaxed Fang Xuanling, Chen Yu looked at him helplessly and said, "It's just that I didn't expect that I would meet Uncle Fang first today. Is this also what His Majesty has prepared?"

Fang Xuanling just smiled cheerfully, then looked at Chen Yu and said, "It was indeed arranged by His Majesty."

"Just wait."

He smiled like an old fox: "In the next few days, several old guys will come to debate with you. Their purpose is to cheer you up and accumulate reputation."

Fang Xuanling glanced at a certain place in the east, then sighed and said, "The people there have arrived. Although he is not a great scholar, he has a good ancestor after all. His ancestor's status in Confucianism is three points higher than that of the Chen family in Confucianism. It is roughly similar to the authority of the Chen family in the Legalists and Pragmatists."

Chen Yu raised his eyebrows: "Kong family?" "They can't hold back?"

Fang Xuanling sneered: "After all, Kong Yingda is still here, and he wants to win the title of "Duke Yansheng" for his ancestor."

"He doesn't even take a piss to look at his own appearance. Even the ancestors of the Chen family didn't have such a great title as "Duke Yansheng". How could Kong Zhongni have such a great reputation?"

When Fang Xuanling said this, it did make sense.

After all, in this version of history, the Chen family has had a much stronger status than the Kong family over the past thousand years.

Chen Yu just shook his head: "The ancestor already has the reputation of being an enlightened emperor. Although this reputation does not sound like a human, but rather like a first-class immortal, it is indeed a great reputation."

Fang Xuanling laughed dumbly: "To borrow a phrase from one of the Chen clan's ancestors, what is the relationship between the enlightened emperor Chen Ye and the Chen clan's ancestor Chen Ye?"

He looked at Chen Yu and said earnestly, "This is also what His Majesty meant."

"Your Majesty needs a realist to govern the world as the core of the Tang Dynasty, but he also needs Confucianism as a moral bottom line for realists to promote. So Confucius will probably get the title of "Duke Yansheng", but Your Majesty does not want him to dominate the world alone. Otherwise, if it is said that the ancestor of the Chen family is not a saint yet, but Confucius became a saint first, how can Your Majesty save his face?"

"But compared to the Kong family, your majesty is still willing to give the Chen family some "freedom", such as the title of "Saint". "

"The Kong family will definitely be the Duke of Yansheng. Your Majesty will not give the Kong family any extra choices or ask for their opinions."

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"Your Majesty means"

At this point, Fang Xuanling, who had been talking nonstop just now, suddenly seemed to become mute. After a moment, he sighed and said, "Your Majesty's meaning... Forget it, I will just tell you his Majesty's original words."

Fang Xuanling coughed lightly, then pinched his throat and spoke in Li Erfeng's tone.

"What is that Confucius? He is the Duke of Yansheng, so the ancestor of the Chen family must have a more outrageous title! A title that is more outrageous than his! What the hell is a duke! I want to give the ancestor of the Chen family a title of a holy king!"

"Tell that brat from the Chen family to come up with an impressive title for me! This is his own ancestor! How can I care if he doesn't care about it himself???"

After saying this, Fang Xuanling lowered his head and hardly had the courage to look at Chen Yu's expression.

Chen Yu's expression was indeed a little strange. He looked at Fang Xuanling and was silent for a long time. In the end, he could only sigh: "Your Majesty is really, really magnificent."

He could only use the word "majestic" to describe Li Er!
Fang Xuanling laughed awkwardly: "Haha, yes."

The agarwood in the room slowly drifted into the air, and everything became blurred in the smoke.

As Fang Xuanling expected, after Chen Yu's words spread, many businessmen were dissatisfied with it, but they were more timid than Fang Xuanling thought.
Even though Chen Zhan and Chen Ruohan of the Chen family have not expressed their opinions yet, these people did not dare to publicly question Chen Yu's words. They just spread some rumors in a small range for a short time, such as "Chen Yu is the worst eldest son of the Chen family" and "Chen Yu may not have the chance to be the head of the Chen family", and then slandered Chen Yu.

But when Chen Zhan and Chen Ruohan's memorials and articles spread to the world the next day, these people changed their attitudes very quickly.

One of Chen Zhan's disciples said that when he went to visit his teacher, he saw a long article that his teacher had just written. He felt that "the article was magnificent and the aspirations it expressed were full of emotion." So he was deeply moved and specially copied down this magnificent article to spread it throughout the world.

The title of this great article is simple.

On the harassment of the Tang Dynasty and its people by some illegal traders

This article discusses the side effects of certain businessmen throughout, and in the article, some subtle insults are given to those "businessmen".

If this article was just an introduction, then the memorial from the contemporary "King of An" and "Prince of Zhenguo" Chen Ruohan was the explosive that completely made those businessmen behave themselves.

His memorial was also very simple.

The name only has three characters.

"Cheap Business Theory"

Yes.

If Chen Zhan's article was magnificent and used some vernacular that most people could understand to rather tactfully scold these businessmen as worthless, then this "Theory of Cheap Businessmen" completely nailed the businessmen to the pillar of shame!

Even later high school Chinese textbooks included an excerpt from "On the Cheap Merchants" to express "admiration" and "praise" for this article.

A famous writer in the late Tang Dynasty even called it "the most magnificent article in ancient and modern times". Even after the establishment of the Ming Federal Empire in later generations, this article still firmly sits on the throne of "the most magnificent article in ancient and modern times".

But at that time, there was another "great article" that shone brightly with it.

So what does the whole article on cheap business talk about?

To put it simply, these businessmen are nothing, and we need to find a way to deal with them. I think we should enact the following one, two, three, four, and five rules and laws to restrict these bastards.

After this article "Cheap Business Theory".
Those businessmen were completely discouraged and didn't even dare to spread rumors.

In the short ten-day period, many "rich merchants" came out to criticize those "cheap merchants". The ones they criticized and scolded the most harshly were the merchants who speculated on grain prices during the Qu Leng incident.
Those businessmen were even beaten up at their doors.

Amidst this heated discussion, Chen Ruohan's second knife, or second measure, appeared.

"Merchant Association".

Yes.

Chen Ruohan wrote a letter proposing that the court establish the "Tang Dynasty Merchants Association" and make the Tang Dynasty Merchants Association an official organization to manage the many wealthy merchants in the world so that these merchants can better serve the people and the court.

The president and three vice presidents of the "Tang Dynasty Merchants Association" were all appointed by the Tang emperor and the court. This association was registered under the name of the Ministry of Revenue and was considered an organization under the Ministry of Revenue. The president's official position was defined as "fifth rank" and the vice presidents were "fifth rank".

"Merchant Associations" were also established in various provinces, prefectures and counties, but the president rank at the provincial level was "sixth rank", the vice president rank was "sixth rank", the prefecture level was "seventh rank", and the county level was "eighth rank".

Many wealthy businessmen can concurrently serve as "honorary vice presidents", nominally possessing a portion of "power" and holding an "equal" rank.

This memorial came out.
The resentment and complaints in the hearts of many businessmen around the world have all disappeared!

They can become officials too!
Who cares if he is honorary or not, we are all family now!
What a feat!

As a result, the whole world praised Chen.

(End of this chapter)