Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2646 Still Vigorous in Old Age 30.0
Chu Han smiled slightly and nodded to Shen Haolin and Shen Cha.

“That’s the crux of the matter. The more perfect and irrefutable the evidence, the more it proves that there are many hidden tricks involved and that it is extremely unreliable.” He put away his smile and sneered. “At that time in Jiangnan, besides the Prince of Jing’s Mansion, several other families were also affected. Without exception, they all had close ties with the Song, Shen, Xue and Xia families.”

“I know.” Shen Cha nodded, thought for a moment about the files she had read before, and said, “In the previous dynasty, these families, though inconspicuous, were still considered established families with some foundation. It was only because of their merit in supporting the emperor that they became well-known to the public and became the new elites of Jiangnan.” She looked at Chu Han, “That should be the main reason they are being attacked, right?”

"Yes!" Chu Han picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and said, "Those powerful families who were prominent in the previous dynasty have long been accustomed to their high status and the fact that everyone had to live at their beck and call. Although the previous dynasty has fallen and they have retreated to Jiangnan, this is still their stronghold, the place they have cultivated for hundreds of years. They can lose the capital and the court, but they will never allow others to covet their own territory. Therefore, when a powerful family supported by the new dynasty rises in Jiangnan, these centuries-old families will slowly start to use their methods."

"With such a strong foundation in Jiangnan, why are they afraid of these rising stars?" Xue Ruitian looked at Song Yaojia and Xia Chen, then at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, and asked with great confusion, "But even for the new elites of this dynasty, it would be difficult to truly rise to power, right? Are they so lacking in confidence? That shouldn't be the case; it's quite different from their usual style."

"If that ban hadn't been issued, there shouldn't have been this problem."

"A ban?" Xue Ruitian thought for a moment. "A ban on aristocratic families taking the imperial examinations to enter officialdom?" Seeing everyone nod, he sighed softly and said, "Indeed, in the early days of the Great Xia Dynasty, this ban caused quite a stir. But these aristocratic families that made a fuss were merely the scapegoats pushed out by families like the Wang and Xie. They lacked strength and foundation, and most importantly, they had no military power. So, their fuss was essentially pointless." He paused and said, "The powerful aristocratic families behind the scenes realized that this path was not viable, so they took action against the newly rich?"

"I suppose so," Shen Cha nodded. "The foundation of those powerful families lies in their access to officialdom. The more people they have in the court, the more the Emperor will hesitate to act against them, just like in the previous dynasty, where the powerful families could do whatever they wanted, and the royal family had no power at all. But they found that this path was blocked, so they were definitely unwilling and resentful. That's why they took action against the new elites. Coincidentally, these new elites in Jiangnan all support this ban, so their actions can be considered justified."

"These people are so petty. So what if they can't be officials?" Song Yaojia rolled her eyes. "They're doing just fine as they are now, why bother!"

"You always have to fight for yourself, right? It's because we know this method won't work that we have to settle for second best, which has led to one impersonation incident after another, and eventually to the situation in Ningchangguo."

Chu Han watched the children discuss with admiration. He was quite surprised that they had guessed seven or eight parts of the truth from just a few words.

It's not that these children aren't outstanding, it's just that these events happened many years ago. Their parents and grandparents weren't even born when these events occurred. They were from an era they didn't experience firsthand, yet they were able to reconstruct some facts based solely on the case files and the clues they provided. How can you say they aren't outstanding?
Although he had been paying attention to them and knew they were quite good, his focus was primarily on the two children from the Duke's mansion. After all, he and his elder brother had promised several emperors that the Jing Prince's mansion needed a reliable successor—someone of good character and strength, someone who wouldn't be blinded by the power of the Jing Prince's mansion and do something they shouldn't. Ever since the Jing Prince's mansion made its name known, they had been searching for a suitable successor for many years without success. They were about to give up when the two bright and beautiful children from the Shen family appeared before them.

"Grand Uncle?" Song Yaojia looked at Chu Han's expression and found that he was lost in thought, so she called out to him.

Upon hearing Song Yaojia's voice, Chu Han immediately snapped out of his reverie, smiled at him, and said, "It's nothing, just a bit of a感慨 (feeling of mixed emotions, including nostalgia and reflection). The student surpasses the teacher. At your age, we might have been a little clever, but we weren't this clever."

“Grand Uncle, you’re overthinking it. We’re not clever, we just have no other choice.” Song Yaojia and Xia Chen exchanged a glance. “Back then, it was just the powerful families pushing things along. Although the Jing Prince’s Mansion disappeared, its influence didn’t collapse. But it’s different for us. We can’t operate covertly; we can only stand here openly like a target. Besides, we’re not clever either. We still haven’t figured out why Master Falian is targeting us. Is it because of this place?”

"It's true in a way, and it's not entirely true in a way," Chu Han gently shook his head. "Looking at the current situation in Great Xia, only the Shen family, the Xue family, Commander Liu in the south, and Commander Lu in the southwest are truly capable of guarding the border. However, Commanders Liu and Lu cannot be transferred from the southern coast and the southwestern border to the north, so only the Shen family and the Xue family can guard the north. His goal is not to stay at sea permanently, as that would be unacceptable to him. Therefore, he wants to find a place on land, and he has chosen Jin. The reason he is targeting you is because if Great Xia's defenses here are too strong, the place he has finally set his sights on might be taken away, which is something he doesn't want to see. So," he looked at Xue Ruitian, "your family is just an excuse for him to eliminate future troubles. If he can find a breakthrough through your family and take down the strongest defender in the north, then he will have no worries."

“The eldest prince is the heir to the Jin Kingdom, and if nothing unexpected happens, he should naturally become the King of Jin. But with him around, he won’t become Master Falian’s puppet, so…” Shen Cha sighed, “This is truly a malignant tumor, and it can’t be left unremoved. But…” she lowered her voice and said, “I heard that he has someone behind him.”

"Yes!" Chu Han nodded. "It's true that he has someone backing him, but we don't know who it is."

"A prominent family in Jiangnan?"

"It shouldn't be!" Chu Han shook his head gently. "Perhaps there are others we don't know about."