A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

This Yang Jian is almost a carbon copy of Wang Mang.

He was humble and polite, came from a powerful family, and was also adept at social maneuvering, with students and former officials all over the world.

He is able to humble himself and befriend geniuses from humble backgrounds, and he can also make people feel warm and comfortable when they are with outstanding people from similarly prominent families.

At the same time, he was extremely close to Taoism, studied Confucianism, promoted agriculturalism, befriended medical practitioners, and had friends from all the schools of thought.

What's even more terrifying is that the people have suffered under the rule of eunuchs for far too long.

The Yang family was the leader in eliminating the eunuchs, which brought them immense prestige and made them extremely powerful.

Taking this opportunity, all the prominent families in the world owe the Yang family a huge favor.

If it weren't for his sister marrying Zhao Gui's son, no one would know how many top families Zhao Gui would have taken to hell with him before his death.

The emperor was incompetent, and the crown prince was too young. For decades, the world only knew the emperor's name but never saw him in person.

The timing, location, and people were all on his side.

Seeing the incompetent Emperor Qianyang in the imperial court shattered his idealized view of emperors.

Instead, there is a burning ambition that can replace it.

After reading through historical records, he found an example that he could learn from.

Wang Mang of the Former Han Dynasty.

A powerful minister who wielded immense power, able to decide the deposition and installation of emperors with a single word.

Auspicious omens appear frequently, and there are even requests from the people for Wang Mang to ascend the throne.

In that era, if Wang Mang had actually ascended the throne, frankly, there wouldn't have been much resistance.

However, Wang Mang never usurped the Han throne.

Therefore, Wang Mang lived up to the image of a saint in people's hearts.

In particular, Wang Mang's re-establishment of the feudal system marked the beginning of Chinese civilization's dominance over the entire known world.

This gave Wang Mang the most exalted position in the world, second only to the Wei family.

If he were to emulate Wang Mang and achieve the same accomplishments, he could transform that status into the world's expectations and support for him.

He will one day have the same prestige as Wang Mang, with countless people yearning for him to ascend the throne and for him to bring a better tomorrow to the world.

He could then ascend the throne in accordance with this popular sentiment and establish a new empire.

The enormous profits had blinded him, causing him to ignore the potential backlash.

He ascended the throne based on this prestige and his desire to do so, but if he fails to repay the people's requests, the enormous backlash will destroy everything he has.

But he ignored all of this, whether intentionally or unintentionally, his ambition burning fiercely within him.

On his path to the throne, only one obstacle remained: the Wei family, the Prince of Zhongwu.

Yang Jian consulted all the historical records about the Wei family, and from these records, he extracted a single character: "民" (min, meaning people).

He didn't believe that any family could produce so many great sages in succession, but he believed that a family would deliberately maintain a good public image for its reputation.

He felt that the word "people" was the image that the Wei family had created for themselves.

As long as he can truly serve the people, the Wei family will be able to turn a blind eye to his actions.

Go to the grassroots level.

He had to start from the bottom and make the Wei family fully feel his love for the people.

Driven by his ambition, Yang Jian abandoned his comfortable life in the capital, resolutely bid farewell to his father, and was assigned to an extremely remote and impoverished county in the Great Qian Empire.

"Son, why did you do that?"

His father, General Yang Zhong, was very puzzled by Yang Jian's behavior.

The Yang family is already the most powerful family in the current dynasty, with immense influence. Even the emperor has to be mindful of their wishes, and if the emperor disobeys, they can replace him at any time.

Why did his son insist on taking a government post in the most remote and impoverished place, even though he didn't want to suffer?

Could it be that someone drugged his son?

"Father, I have recently been studying the classics left by King Chungmu and have been greatly inspired by them."

"My son understood the hardships of ordinary people from this. Why become an official? To serve the people."

"King Chungmu has an old saying that I think is very true."

"If an official doesn't serve the people, he might as well go home and sell tofu."

"If my son wants to be a good official who serves the people, he should start from the bottom so that he can truly understand what the people want."

"A harsh government is more dangerous than a tiger. If someone does not understand the people's livelihood at the bottom of society and then holds a high position, he can issue an order that will cause harm to countless people."

"My mind is made up, Father. Please grant my request."

Yang Zhong could see the determination in Yang Jian's eyes, but the fact that the shrewd Yang Jian could make such a decision at that time showed how deep his thoughts and cunning were.

With his deep-seated cunning, he naturally wouldn't believe his son's high-sounding words. He might not understand Yang Jian, but he certainly understood human nature.

If a person can even restrain their own desires and give up more favorable conditions to start from difficulties, then it means that this person must have greater desires and greater ambitions.

Yang Zhong gave Yang Jian a deep look. Their family already held immense power, second only to the emperor.

As for the Wei family, they are celestial beings, not belonging to the world.

Yang Jian's purpose was self-evident; above their family were only the supreme imperial throne and the aloof and righteous Wei family, the Prince of Zhongwu.

The Wei family's status has long been so high that it has no limits. In particular, the Wei family has had generations of family heads with extremely strong abilities and skills. Even the various branches have produced many powerful figures. Such a miracle has long been regarded as something other than human.

The only thing Yang Jian could covet was the throne.

Even Yang Zhong had never entertained the idea of ​​turning the Yang family into royalty.

He simply wanted his family to follow in the footsteps of the Wei family and hope to one day achieve some of the Wei family's glory.

But even Yang Zhong couldn't be sure how far they could go on this road.

His son appears to be extremely ambitious and capable.

But what about his grandson? What about his great-grandson? Can he guarantee that every generation will be a highly capable and shrewd successor?

impossible.

So he was somewhat confused, but now his son has given him another option.

To become royalty and rule the world.

Perhaps they cannot last forever like the Wei family, but at least they can leave their own page in the history books.

Even if they perish, they can still establish ancestral temples for the Yang family abroad, ensuring the continuation of the Yang family's lineage.

I thought about all that, but in reality, only a few seconds had passed.

Looking at his son kneeling before him, Yang Zhong felt a sense of aging.

"If you want to do it, then go for it."

Yang Jian looked up in astonishment. What did his father mean by this?

Could it be?!