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

Chapter 518: The Sound of Argument

Listening to this rebellious son talking about fairness, Chen Chen almost wanted to laugh out loud. He looked at the person in front of him and said with disdain: "You think it's unfair? But in fact, what you said is the most unfair thing."

"Why are you able to enjoy things that others cannot enjoy as soon as you are born?"

"Do you know how many people in the world don't have what you have?"

"Most people in the world can't have it, and you're already above everyone else."

"After you were born, neither your parents nor you had to worry about making a living. You had no worries about food and drink. You didn't even have to think about what you wanted to eat or what you didn't want to eat. You didn't even have to think about what you could eat to survive. You could even be picky and decide what was unhealthy for your body."

Chen Chen pointed to the distance and said, "Let's not talk about anything else. Just talk about the beef you eat every day. In the Tang Dynasty a thousand years ago, or even hundreds of years ago, when machines had not yet been invented to replace the power of cattle, a cow was more precious than a person. People would rather let a person die of exhaustion than a cow."

“Even now, how many people in the world cannot afford to eat beef?”

"The Tang Dynasty has a total population of 600 million, and now it can barely ensure that everyone can have food to eat. In some places, some people who cannot afford food even die of starvation because of poverty. They eat cheap animal feed just to survive."

"Just being able to eat the beef you like every day is enough to surpass half of the population of the Tang Dynasty."

"Do you think this is fair? Is this fair to those people?"

"And what is this luxury you speak of?"

Chen Chen wanted to laugh out loud. He looked at this rebellious son and said, "What do you think luxury is? Do you think being a superior is luxury? Do you think the life of the Chen family's children today is not luxurious?"

"Let's not talk about wearing gold and silver, that's too vulgar. Nowadays, which of the Chen family's children doesn't live a life of plenty? Even those who don't work, do you think wearing gold and silver, or even living in a huge palace is considered luxurious?"

"you are wrong."

Chen Chen was high up, looking down at his child, the one he had raised and who had grown up crooked without knowing when, "The children of the Chen family today are living the most luxurious life."

"Because they don't have to rush around for a living, they don't have to consider whether this thing must be done. All they need to consider is one thing - do I like to do this thing?"

"The Chen family's children have the most luxurious thing in the world - freedom without worries about food and clothing."

"Throughout history, how many people in the world can do this?"

"Let's not talk about the distant past. Let's talk about the few noble families that are second only to the Chen family. Most of their children have to work hard for the future of their families."

"Even His Royal Highness, the eldest prince of the royal family, had to go to the battlefield for the future of the Song Dynasty, for his own future, and for the future of the Zhao family. He wanted to hone himself on the battlefield, but he died on the battlefield in the end."

He looked at the child in front of him with disappointment and asked, "What about you? Have I ever asked you for anything?"

"Besides asking you to obey the law and not violate the law and conscience, have I ever asked you to do anything else? Have I ever asked you to be diligent and support the entire Chen family, so that the Chen family can continue to stand at the top of the family?"

"What did Chen ask of you?"

"And now, you are here shouting about injustice, but allowing you to continue to exist in this world is the greatest injustice to this world, to the other Chen family members who abide by the law and conscience, and to those who died because of you."

After saying this, Chen Chen slowly exhaled, and he looked very determined. He didn't want to listen to the person in front of him anymore, nor did he want to listen to those so-called fair or unfair words.

He waved his hand slowly: "Take these people to the prison, I will personally report to His Majesty and have them publicly executed!"

Yes.

Even at this point, the Chen family headed by Chen Chen still did not choose to cover up the "family scandal" and deal with these people on their own. Instead, they handed over these people, who could be said to be scandals for the Chen family, to the emperor, letting the emperor follow the procedures and deal with them according to the law.

Countless roars and struggling sounds came from behind Chen Chen. They were all the voices of Chen Chen's eldest son. He never expected that his father would actually kill him. He was Chen Chen's eldest son, the eldest legitimate son!
He is the current King An and the current Crown Prince of Zhenguo.

How could he endure such humiliation?
The east wind was blowing in the distance, but it was like a sharp blade in front of Chen Chen, dissecting his heart bit by bit. Everything seemed so ordinary and dull, but at this moment Chen Chen didn't know what to do.

In the fifteenth year of Kaibao, the last snow of the twelfth lunar month slowly fell. At the end of this month, something happened that was enough to shock everyone in the Song Dynasty. That was Chen's "self-cleansing".

In fact, this was not the first time that Chen had self-purged, but it was definitely the most serious one, because this time, the contemporary King An and the Crown Prince of Zhenguo also died in the purge.
What kind of solemnity is this?

All the noble families in the world were shocked.

This purge lasted for quite some time, and the entire Chen family lost a lot of "rotten meat" in this storm. The population of the five direct branches of the Chen family even dropped sharply, with nearly one-fifth of the population dying in this purge, not to mention the side branches.

Amidst these struggles and hideousness, Chen regained her original holy appearance.

He is still the Chen who is admired and respected by people all over the world.

Zhen Wang Mansion
The 30th day of the twelfth lunar month.

The New Year's Day is slowly approaching. It is the last day of the year and people are looking forward to reunion and waiting on this day, but many people in the Chen family will never have the chance to reunite again.

In the courtyard

A wintersweet slowly floated down and landed beside Chen Chen. In front of him was a pot with a little flame underneath. Countless dishes and meat in the pot were slowly floating, stirring up their own colors.

Chen Zheng sat in front of him.

"Father."

He sighed, a little hesitant and puzzled, but finally asked: "Why are you so opposed to Chen's claiming the throne? This may not be a bad thing for the world."

Chen Zheng actually had no intention of becoming emperor, he just didn't understand it because in his opinion this was not a bad thing.

"Brother's idea is indeed wrong, because even if Chen sits on the throne, he will definitely not enslave the people, but will benefit the people."

"I feel that if Chen becomes the emperor, he will be able to decide all matters and suppress those so-called aristocratic families. When Chen is the only ruler and powerful person in the world, then Chen can completely let go and work for the people, right?"

"If you are worried that the head of the Chen family, or the head of the Chen family who becomes the emperor, will turn bad, then there are also the spirits of the ancestors observing and watching over him. This way, the Chen family will not become a corrupt dynasty."

"With the power of Chen's ancestors, Chen can sit on the throne forever and seek benefits for the people." "Isn't that good?"

While eating the hot pot, Chen Chen swallowed all the bitterness and sadness in his heart, then looked at Chen Zheng and said, "I know what you are thinking, but you are wrong."

He asked, "You think that divine authority plus imperial authority is the best thing in the world, right?"

"Can it guarantee both the stability and purity of imperial power?"

Chen Zheng nodded. He indeed felt so. Isn’t this correct?
Chen Chen sighed, and explained the truth bit by bit to Chen Zheng: "This is not only not the right thing to do, but also the most wrong thing to do."

"If theocracy and imperial power are combined, then it is definitely a bad thing - unless theocracy is fake, an idea created by the ruling class, and not real like Chen's."

"When true divine authority and imperial authority are combined, then no matter what system the dynasty implements, no matter whether it is called an imperial dynasty or something else, the world will become a de facto slave farm."

"Why?"

"Because when theocracy was fake, the imperial power thought it could deceive the people, but there must be people who could see through it and have the courage to resist. But when theocracy was real, even if Chen was wrong, would anyone dare to resist?"

"After that, the world actually became a place for the Chen family to confine their slaves, and the people became de facto slaves."

"So Chen cannot be crowned emperor."

"What is the meaning of Chen's existence?"

"The purpose of the Chen family's existence is to be a family of human beings, and then to observe and test the history of this world, to prevent some irreversible things from happening, and to let this long river of history move forward slowly but firmly."

"Power is not something Chen wants, but it is something Chen has."

"Chen's power is more about monitoring the rich and powerful. But when Chen becomes the emperor, who will be able to monitor Chen?"

"Ancestors?"

"Among the entire Chen family, only ancestor Chen Ye can always maintain the most fair heart. The other ancestors will more or less have some desire, but ancestor Chen Ye cannot always stay sober."

"Only Chen's current situation can keep everything fair."

"So the Chen family cannot become the emperor, because the Chen family symbolizes imperial power - but the reason why the Chen family you mentioned can become the royal family is precisely because the Chen family symbolizes imperial power!"

"What you think is the Chen family's barrier is actually the shackles on Chen's body."

"When the shackles are removed, the Chen family can become the emperor. But when the shackles of the Chen family are removed, the Chen family will no longer be the Chen family that can remain pure forever. In fact, the Chen family will perish, and what will remain is just a shell that is no different from other aristocratic families."

"So Chen cannot become emperor."

Chen Zheng listened to Chen Chen's speech and slowly revealed a look of confusion. At this moment, footsteps were heard outside the courtyard and a figure slowly walked in.

"Master, His Majesty has summoned you to the palace."

Chen Zheng put down his chopsticks and asked while packing up his things: "Did the person tell me why? Why did His Majesty summon me to the palace so late?"

The servant whispered, "Master, it seems to be because of the matter of Prince Jin."

Prince of Jin? Zhao Jiong?
Chen Chen frowned, then sighed: "I know, let's get over it."

Fengtian Hall

The dragon was scorching hot. It should have been a joyous New Year's Eve, but now it was very deserted and quiet. Only Zhao Jiong and Zhao Kuangyin were sitting there. Soon Chen Chen arrived.

There are three people here.

Zhao Kuangyin pointed to the seat next to him and asked Chen Chen to sit down. He even had some leisure time and joked with a smile: "Come on, come on, let's eat a pot together. We can also spend this year together."

What they eat in Fengtian Hall is actually hotpot.

Chen Chen didn't know what was going on, but he sat down next to Zhao Jiong and Zhao Kuangyin. Zhao Jiong knew at this time that everything was lost and his subordinates had been almost wiped out, so he was not too nervous.

It's just a matter of winners and losers. If he loses, he should accept his fate and outcome.

Zhao Jiong had already prepared for this.

White smoke slowly rose from the pot. Chen Chen said nothing. He just picked up a piece of meat roll with chopsticks and put it into the pot. The scarlet butter and chili pot instantly engulfed the beef, and it was ready in just a few seconds.

"hiss--"

In this cold winter, a bite of beef is so comfortable.

The eunuch at the side poured wine for the three people while asking the servants in the distance to serve the dishes. As they ate, the rice wine went down their stomachs, and in no time, they felt a little dizzy.

Zhao Kuangyin held the cup and looked at Zhao Jiong in front of him.

"Old Third, I haven't done anything to let you down in my life, right?"

Zhao Jiong's expression remained unchanged: "Brother didn't do anything to let me down."

Zhao Kuangyin drank the wine in the cup, and then poured himself another cup: "Renying didn't do anything to offend you, right?"

Zhao Jiong looked gloomy and sad: "My nephew didn't do anything to offend me."

Zhao Kuangyin nodded, drank the wine in the glass again, and poured himself another glass: "Then I can't understand why you want to kill your nephew?"

"You want to rebel, you want the throne, go fight for it, go fight for it. Even if you spare your nephew's life and take his arms and legs, what if he has a physical defect and cannot ascend the throne? Can't you just depose him anyway?"

(End of this chapter)