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

Chapter 513 Overturning [End of this Volume]

The incident in Qianzhou was just a simple test from beginning to end, and the one who was sacrificed was just a "Cui family".

The Cui family was barely considered a first-rate family in the early Tang Dynasty, but as time passed, it had become a third-rate family and almost fell into a "poor family". It was only later that the Cui family had a son who was not bad in appearance and talent, and could even be said to be excellent.

Unfortunately, the head of the Cui family did not have a long-term vision.

At that time, the son of the Cui family was the top scorer in the imperial examination and had a bright future, but he was favored by the eldest daughter of the late emperor, Princess Taiping.

Afterwards, Princess Chengping requested the emperor to grant her a marriage with the son of the Cui family. However, the late emperor was not a foolish ruler, so he first asked for the opinions of the son of the Cui family and the head of the Cui family.

This is a rare move by a wise ruler.

Of course, it was also because this young man of the Cui family was indeed talented and the emperor at that time liked him very much, so he wanted to use him and naturally did not want him to marry the princess. After all, there was a law in this dynasty that the prince consort was not allowed to interfere in politics - similarly, the princess was not allowed to interfere in politics either.

Princess Chengping appears to be very noble simply because she was favored by the late emperor.

The Cui family disciple disagreed and wanted to refuse, but the Cui family master was not a short-sighted person. He agreed to it directly and threatened to commit suicide with his wife. In the end, the Cui family disciple had no choice but to accept it.

This is how he became a royal consort. Later, the Cui family member was depressed all his life and died early, leaving only the Princess Chengping and a child.

Taiji Hall
Li Cheng looked indifferently in the distance, with a hint of regret flashing across his face.

He knew that those people's temptation had not ended yet, or had not officially arrived yet, and Cui was just an appetizer.

If they were to see the court's dilemma, they would surely flock to it.

Like a greedy hyena.

He stroked the scroll in his sleeve lightly. It was a "book" passed down from the time of Emperor Taizu Li Shimin. It was said to be a collection of miscellaneous notes written by Emperor Wansui, the last emperor of the Dayu period.

Li Shimin passed down this book and left a family precept that all the emperors of the later Tang Dynasty must read and study this book carefully.

“Which direction will things go in?”

Li Cheng raised the corner of his mouth in a slightly sarcastic arc, he was a little curious about this matter.

The seventeenth year of Longwu.

The border of the Tang Dynasty.

The wind was blowing on the mountain. The Tang soldiers were fully equipped and guarding the border, and also checking to see if there was any invasion.

When the wind blows, countless grasses bow their heads.

Soon, only this sound was left on the grassland. A little afterimage appeared from a distance and then quickly approached.

"bump--"

A gunshot rang out, symbolizing the outbreak of war. Countless smoke began to spread at the border. Soldiers rushed over from the distant mountains. Everything seemed to disappear and reappear.

The war broke out silently.

The seventeenth year of Longwu, spring, March 3rd.

Many small and big countries on the border of the Tang Dynasty all launched attacks on the Tang Dynasty. They believed that the Tang Dynasty had occupied the top position in the world for too long, and they wanted to use war to get what they wanted!
This is also a problem left over from the Tang Dynasty.

Tai Chi Hall
The faces of the courtiers of the Tang Dynasty were filled with anger. How long had it been since anyone dared to provoke the Tang Dynasty? How long had it been? Those people had forgotten the majesty and power of the Tang Dynasty, so much so that they dared to provoke the Tang Dynasty.

This is a shame for the Tang Dynasty!

In just a moment, this war machine that had been lying dormant for decades, almost a hundred years, started moving frantically again!
The spring of the seventeenth year of Longwu passed in the flames of war.

Soon, the summer of the seventeenth year of Longwu arrived.

Amid the heavy rain, the Tang Dynasty encountered new difficulties.

The aristocratic families within the Tang Dynasty were preparing to cause chaos. They tried to overthrow the Tang Dynasty regime and then devour it while the Tang Dynasty was dealing with those foreign forces.

As for how to treat those warring countries after swallowing up the Tang Dynasty?
That’s all for later.

In the face of interests, they have forgotten everything.

Among them is the Kong family.

Even the Kong family was one of the several great families that put forward the initiative. When they united together, they had long forgotten the so-called principles and loyalty. All they could think of in their minds were money and power.

These aristocratic families are the "cancers" that have been passed down throughout the long river of history, and they are also the families that lurked around and sucked blood from the Tang Dynasty. Some of them had intermarried with the Li Tang royal family, and some had helped an emperor ascend the throne during the hundreds of years of the Li Tang Dynasty. But no matter what, such families could not be tolerated by the Central Plains of China.

In the 17th year of Longwu, the seven families of Qin, Zhao, Zhang, the Three Lius, and Cao reacted quickly, united together, and began to encircle and suppress these families - this was not a simple task.

Although the power of these seven families is enormous, creating trouble and calming down trouble are two different things.

For example, what should you do if you want to create a huge panic?
It's very simple. You can spread explosive news among the crowd and create a massacre. But what if you want to appease these people? You have no way but to appease them slowly.

For example, what would it take to create a wildfire?
All you need is some kerosene, a forest of trees, and a small flame, and then the fire will automatically burn everything to ashes.

Therefore, even if these seven great families became powerful to a certain extent, they would not be able to pacify the people in a short period of time.

For a moment, the Tang Dynasty was like a woman who had taken off her gorgeous veil, standing on the street, allowing everyone to look at her.

The originally mysterious and prosperous Tang Dynasty was suddenly plunged into war. What those aristocratic families wanted to do was not to destroy the Chinese land, but to make the Li Tang royal family unable to take care of themselves, and then they could take the opportunity to ascend to power.

As for how to divide so many families?
This is so simple.

Just bring up a new family.

"Chai Rong" appeared at this time.

Chai Rong himself was a very simple person. His family was not a powerful force, but he was good at seizing opportunities. In the tenth year of Longwu, he became a governor of a place in the Tang Dynasty and had military power in his hands.

In the eyes of those families, "Chai Rong" is a better choice than the Li Tang royal family, because they themselves do not want to be emperor, and the Li Tang royal family is too disobedient. So how great would it be to let Chai Rong replace Li Tang, and then create a world that is governed together with the aristocratic families, or even governed by the aristocratic families?

Just like the "Emperor Wen of Wei" Cao Pi, he promulgated a system like the "Nine-Rank System" and governed the world together with the aristocratic families. How great would it be? They could regain power and stand at the top of the world again.

They were not greedy this time. Among the nine Da Zhong Zheng officials, except for one from the Chen family, they only needed to occupy six of the remaining eight, and they could still leave two for the emperor.

Where is Chai Rong?
Chai Rong accepted the proposal and expressed his willingness.

Of course, no one knows what he thinks in private, but the key issue now is that those aristocratic families and Chai Rong reached a temporary agreement.

They began to rebel.

Chai Rong and others occupied Jiaozhou, Guangdong Province and other places. In the 18th year of Longwu, they established the "Great Zhou" and proclaimed themselves the Emperor of the Great Zhou.

This is an open rebellion.

What about the Tang Dynasty?
The Tang emperor also reacted very quickly. At the beginning of the 19th year of Longwu, just three months after the so-called Great Zhou was established, the Tang army arrived to suppress the rebellion and destroyed the so-called Great Zhou with thunder and lightning.

It only took six months.

but

It took him six months.

In mid-August of the 19th year of Longwu, the rebellion of the Great Zhou was finally ended. This suppression of the rebellion completely exposed the "exhaustion" of the Tang Dynasty, which was equivalent to the final boss in the game having his health bar exposed.

Because under normal circumstances, it would take the Tang Dynasty half a year to deal with such a small rebellion?

Half a month is enough.

If it lasts more than half a month, I'm afraid the emperor will be furious.

But now, the Tang Dynasty has to deal with foreign forces, such as the Austrian Empire, the Egyptian Empire, the Indian Empire, several empires in Central Asia, and several empires far away in Europe are also joining in the fun.

The Roman Republic had long since split into four or five countries, but these four or five countries were now united.

Their purpose is also simple.

Strangling the Tang Dynasty.

When a whale dies, all things come to life. The Tang Dynasty is the whale that has monopolized the world's top resources for too long. As long as this whale is killed, their small empires can stand up completely.

When there is no hope, of course they dare not do anything.

But when they see hope, they are naturally willing to fight hard.

At the same time, many domestic forces began to "revolt". Some of them shouted slogans about people's livelihood, while others had no slogans at all. All the aristocratic families buried in the dust of history appeared.

The Ye family and the Xu family all stood up. They tried to nominate an emperor to rule this vast empire, while they themselves continued to hide behind the scenes.

All of a sudden, everything was in chaos.

Looking around the whole world, only the Chen family remained calm, as if nothing had happened.

Taiji Hall
Li Cheng sat there with a tired look on his face. He wiped his face. The whole hall seemed very quiet. He sat there as if waiting for something.

A moment later, footsteps were heard and two figures appeared outside the hall and then walked in.

Chen Xian walked in with a person, quickly and calmly.

"His Majesty."

The man took off the hood on his head, looked at Li Cheng who was sitting there, and bowed in greeting.

"I didn't expect that Chen would choose you in the end?"

After Li Cheng saw the man's face, a look of surprise flashed across his face, but in the end he sighed and said, "I never thought that this world is so unpredictable."

He poured a cup of tea for the visitor and Chen Xian, then said slowly, "In the past, the First Emperor unified the world and swept across the world, but unfortunately it fell into the hands of the Fourth Emperor. Emperor Wulie of Qin also gave this huge empire a decent end."

"Now that the Zhao family has been able to reappear and has been chosen by the Chen family to become the founder of the next dynasty, China can finally have a beginning and an end."

"It started with the Ying surname of the Zhao family, and it also ended with the Zhao family."

Yes.

The person who came was the head of the Shangdang Zhao family of this generation - Zhao Kuangyin.

The Shangdang Zhao family has been passed down for more than a thousand years. Their origin can be traced back to one of the bloodlines of the First Emperor, the child of Qin Wulie Emperor Ziying.

Li Cheng looked at Chen Xian curiously and asked, "Why don't you choose Qin?"

After all, the source of the Qin family is the true direct bloodline of the First Emperor, the Second Emperor of Qin, who is the direct son of Emperor Wen of Qin.

Chen Xian shook his head slightly: "They were unwilling to come forward again, so they chose Zhao as a second choice."

He looked at Li Cheng silently and said, "Your Majesty, have you really decided?"

"If you do this, there will be no chance of turning back."

Turn back?

Li Cheng coughed lightly, and a little blood stained his handkerchief: "How can I turn back? Before leaving, just take away all the people around here."

He seemed very free and easy.

"Just like the Emperor Wulie of Qin back then, he gave the Qin Dynasty a dignified end. I haven't had any great abilities in my life, and now all I want is to give the Tang Dynasty a dignified end."

Li Cheng raised an eyebrow: "No, it's not a decent ending."

He endured the discomfort and said with a chuckle: "I want everyone to know that even at this time, the Tang Dynasty is still the Tang Dynasty, and they cannot offend!"

The nineteenth year of Longwu.

This is the end of the Tang Dynasty.

The sound from the Taiji Hall reached all parts of the Tang Dynasty. The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty went all out, playing the Emperor Taizu's formation-breaking song and fighting, showing their powerful strength.

They are like "monks" who have burned themselves to the utmost.

Within two months, all the forces that invaded the Tang Dynasty were completely repelled. The huge giant Tang Dynasty dragged its last breath and raised the butcher knife in its hand to cripple all those countries, leaving them with no chance of recovery for a hundred years.

Then they forced those forces to sign treaties and occupied most of the resources and land.

Afterwards, the Zhang family, the Zhao family, the Three Lius, the Cao family, the Qin family, the Chen family, and the royal family united together to wipe out the rest of the aristocratic families in the country.

All of a sudden, the entire Tang Dynasty became clean.
After completing this task, Li Cheng, the last emperor of the Tang Dynasty, died.

The Li Tang royal family announced.
The Tang Dynasty's mission has been accomplished. They abandoned the throne in Chang'an City, and anyone in the world who wanted to pursue the throne could start fighting for it.

And Li returned to Longxi.

Since the end of the 19th year of Longwu, there has no longer been a country called the Tang Dynasty, and there has no longer been a royal family called the Li family.

The only one left is the Longxi Li family.

The Tang Dynasty collapsed.

(End of this chapter)