The last lecture of this first volume is left to me, the unfilial son, to write! ——Liu Quansheng
...
At the top of Lingyuan City, with the afterglow of the setting sun, I climbed up the wall and looked into the distance. Apart from Qinghe Ju, Lingyuan City was ablaze with lights. I was so moved that I couldn't help but sigh.
When I was young, I had great ambitions and focused on settling the affairs of the king and the world. Now, I have spent all my youth to conquer a small county. I am already halfway through my life, but my boat has only crossed a mountain.
Thirty-four years ago, in the peach moon, I cried and fell to the ground in Lingyuan City. Since then, the clear water in Qingheju has carried all my childhood memories. Good and bad things all happened in this small courtyard.
At that time, my two elder brothers were named Desheng and Ruisheng respectively. When it was my turn, the word 'Quansheng' followed my father's greed and fell behind my last name.
Inheriting power and power, holding power to combine changes, fighting for power to seize profits, and using power for personal gain are all for the sake of power.
To revive the glory of my family and regain my power, my destiny seems to have been determined since I was born.
I don’t know whether this rebirth was right or wrong. I’ll leave the merits and demerits of my life to future generations!
...
I admit that among the three brothers in our Liu family, I am the baddest one. When I was a child, all the ideas I had about sneaking around and catching fish came from me. At that time, the eldest brother took action, I used my brain, and the second brother was punished. The whole Lingyuan was turned upside down by the three little Huangs of us, and it was impossible to live in peace.
Thinking of those careless days when I was a child, a smile appeared on my lips. Now that I think about it, it would be nice if I could spend my whole life without learning or skill, and live a carefree life with my two brothers.
If that were the case, there would be no current brothers killing each other and the family being destroyed!
In the early spring when I was ten years old, that is, twenty-four years ago, after repeated consideration, my father sent me to the Xianda Academy in Linzi County. He had already arranged a life for me. In the temple, he became famous in his middle age, inherited his ancestral business when he succeeded, and then revitalized the lintel, fulfilling his father's final long-cherished wish of "a master of the three emperors".
But I thought: This might be the biggest mistake in my father's life.
It is undeniable that this was the moment when my family and I parted ways. From that day on, I was no longer a teenager. My study career in a foreign country gradually alienated me from my family and the people in my family. The education I received also started to run counter to my father’s original intentions.
However, when I occasionally recall my teenage years and the windy summer nights, it seems that there is always an unfinished dream, a great spring and autumn dream to revitalize the family.
People learn from the beginning that not learning is unnatural. Under the words and deeds of the old Confucian masters, I appreciate the respectful words of rites, realize the harmony of music, read the vast poetry and calligraphy, and wander among the astronomical books and water, without noticing the spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Five years later, with a bit of talent and luck, I passed the final examination of the 18 subjects of the Six Virtues, Six Elements, and Six Arts at the age of tying up my hair, becoming the first person to successfully 'pass' since the 1970s.
In the same year, I was praised by the world, and my best friends Xia Qing and Deng Yan, who were classmates, were awarded the title of "Three Heroes of Quzhou". For a time, it became the talk of Quzhou. Those days were my father's happiest and most proud time. Even the letters my father wrote home were less serious and more gratifying.
If everything goes according to my father's wishes, after I finish my studies, my father will use the huge network of connections my family has built over the years and the huge connections left behind by my grandfather in the Gyeonggi court to recommend me to become an official in the court, and then step by step, he will push me and push me. Leading the Liu family to new glory.
However, my father's calculation was wrong.
What this century-old school has brought to me is not only a world of books and literature, but also the great righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period!
In the individual volumes collected by Xianda Academy, I read about the prosperous age of Xiaowu, the Southern Vietnam and the Northern Qin Dynasty, the wars of the empire, the imperial masters of the two dynasties, and also understood my father, the ambitious commander-in-chief. The hero, his ambition is not limited to the 'Three Generations of Imperial Masters'!
...
A hundred years ago, after Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Pi implemented Chen Qun's "Nine Ranks Zhongzheng System", aristocratic families have begun to emerge as a political force. During the Three Kingdoms period, the most prominent aristocratic families were the Sima family of Cao Wei and Gu Lu of Soochow. At the end of the Three Kingdoms period, the four major families of Zhu and Zhang had completely controlled the political, military, and economic lifelines of Cao Wei and Soochow, and had eclipsed the imperial power.
After the revival of the Han Dynasty, there were internal and external troubles. The wise and demonic Prime Minister Zhuge was busy with government and military affairs, and did not pay much attention to the affairs of the family. Moreover, at that time, the kings were rampant, the state pastoral power was strong, the empire's generals were bright, and the family was The wealthy people were so suppressed that they didn't even dare to breathe. In the eyes of the kings and state shepherds, they were really like watchdogs.
Forty-six years ago, the feudal princes and kings within the empire took advantage of the invasion of the Qin Dynasty by the nomadic powerful country in the north and rebelled simultaneously. Emperor Shenwu had no choice but to delegate power to the local noble families. From then on, the noble families were out of control. In the later years of Emperor Shenwu, the noble families They have shown a tendency to have a big tail that cannot be lost.
Later, during the turmoil of the change of royal power, in order to help Liu Yan win the throne among the princes, Guo Ke, Liu Yan's biological mother and the current empress dowager, colluded with the emperor's uncle Liu Qian and formed an alliance based on the Guo family. The twenty-eight most powerful families in the world all supported Liu Yan as emperor at the same time. Only then did Liu Yan become the current emperor. This event is known in history as "the twenty-eight families follow the dragon".
When His Majesty first came to the throne, he was busy stabilizing the government, drawing up blueprints, and thinking about his achievements in following the dragon, so he didn't pay much attention to the wanton indulgence of the noble families. During this period, some old families like me, the Liu family of Lingyuan, and some emerging families gradually emerged. They were dissatisfied with the distribution of local interests and arbitrary power of the twenty-eight families, and gradually gathered under the second prince's account, and supported the eldest prince. Twenty-eight aristocratic families started fighting openly and secretly.
When the water is full, it overflows. Four years after Your Majesty ascended the throne, twenty-eight noble families took the initiative to attack and framed the second prince. The two parties finally fought in Chang'an, Gyeonggi Province and met each other. In the end, the twenty-eight noble families narrowly won. They almost That night, he killed all the second prince's party, forced his majesty's favorite concubine and the second prince to death, and asked your majesty to appoint the eldest prince as the crown prince that night. From then on, the noble families were like princes and kings on the territory of the empire. Unscrupulously, from that time on, His Majesty began to form the twelve internal guards of the empire. Prime Minister Lu Zheng came out to play chess step by step and set out to eradicate the family.
These two incidents are known in history as the "Tian Yao Case" and "Two Sons Seizing the Heir".
It was also from that night that I quietly returned to Lingyuan City from Chang'an in the capital.
The various aspects of the twenty-eight generations of families will be explained one by one below, so Quan Sheng will not go into details here.
...
Closer to home, young people always have dreams of being in the world. After Xia Qing, Deng Yan and I finished our classes at Xianda Academy, we three brothers and three horses began to travel around the world. Together we watched the Taibai Lake, Penglai and the sea, and walked through Bashu The trail passed through the vast Gobi Desert, I drank wine by the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin, and slept in Langjuxu Mountain. I sang to the wine and showed my generosity. It was really joyful.
On the Kunlun Mountains, I met a woman named Ke Jing. She was dressed in plain clothes and white snow, and was exquisite and flawless. I pursued her repeatedly, but couldn't get her. In desperation, I swept the snow from thousands of mountains with one sleeve, filled the wine with the white snow from the thousands of mountains, and entered the heart. material realm.
Tonight, I stood at the top of Lingyuan City, facing the cold wind, trying to recall what she looked like back then, but I only had plain clothes and a white shirt.
Ha ha! It’s okay if you don’t remember it, it will save you more troubles. Sometimes, forgetting is also a kind of happiness.
...
Although wandering around the world is comfortable, you still need fame and a title. In the blink of an eye, three years have passed. The joy and excitement at the beginning of the trip have turned into depression and fatigue. In addition, at the urging of our respective families, the three brothers decided to return to the Central Plains.
When we three brothers returned from the Western Regions and arrived at Liangxin Fort in Fengzhou, we three sons met our lifelong mentor Dongfang Chunsheng. Under his instigation, the three of us drank passionately and tore off His Majesty’s poster on There are recruitment lists all over the country, riding horses and singing songs to Chang'an.
I especially remember that day when my grandfather and I walked in and out. My grandfather was seen off by hundreds of officials and returned to his hometown to Lingyuan. Under the watch of the people of Chang'an, I entered the capital in a carefree manner. Our grandfather and grandson stood at the east gate, attracting thousands of people. Thousands of chic!
If I follow the plot, I, who is extremely popular, talented, famous, and official, will eventually be granted the title of Marquis and Prime Minister, and that day will also be passed down as an unparalleled legend.
I tightened my clothes and smiled: I'm sorry, I couldn't leave such a heroic mark in the history books after all!
...
Listening to the song of the river at night, breaking plums and willows, makes people feel energetic in Chang'an.
When my three brothers arrived for the first time, they received a grand ceremony from His Majesty and were able to see the power of Heaven. In the Weiyang Palace, after I presented the "Seventeen Treatises on Shu Jia", His Majesty was so pleased that he drank with the three of me for three days and was immediately sealed. Officials give salary.
That day, I stood on the Dragon Head Plain, with a wine bottle hanging on my waist, looking down upon the imperial capital.
The scholar knew that he had been given a special favor. On that day, I held up my wine and swore: I, Liu Quan, will devote all my knowledge to your majesty in this life to help your majesty clean up the government, stir up the turmoil and raise the purity, turn the tide from the fall, and make sure that the world will be up and down.
However, the affairs of the court were not that easy to handle, and the food in the Tian family was not that delicious either.
After I entered the court, although I was full of enthusiasm, and although my father and grandfather’s disciples and old officials gave me great help, the mediation of the temple, the constraints of the family, and countless human relationships still made it difficult for me to move forward and hit walls everywhere. Many times, I was I wonder if my freedom-loving personality is suitable for working in the court?
Later, as I became more involved in the world, I realized that since I had fallen into His Majesty's net, I could not become someone else's fish. And at that time, there were too few places in that temple where Your Majesty could take me to roam freely!
Only two years after entering the court, I discovered that the power of the aristocratic families can already influence the government. As long as they unite, they can change the king's edicts at will. Four or five large aristocratic families can unite to overthrow the dynasty in a state. Government decree.
The troubles of the family have reached a point where I have to face them head-on. I began to reflect and look for countermeasures in the intricate network of relationships.
One night more than ten years ago, I suddenly woke up from my sleep. I looked out the window and saw a sudden thunder. The lightning was like a thunderbolt, tearing the night to pieces and piercing the sky, bringing great joy to the dark land of China. A ray of light.
I rushed out the door and stood up, staring at the remaining cracks in the sky.
For a long time, I laughed out loud, the heavy rain comes late, the heavy rain comes late, the heavy rain comes late!
I finally found the answer to save the empire from the way of heaven and earth.
Break and then stand!
