Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 166 Purge
Deng Yu, who was standing beside him, looked at his best friend in surprise and said, "Uncle Wen has great ambitions. The Prefect of the Guards is one of the Nine Ministers. As for marrying Xu Shiyun, it is even more difficult."

"She is the beloved daughter of General Xu Zhong. Her requirements must be high. You have to work hard."

He didn't find it strange. This was the Praefectus Imperialus! He was one of the nine powerful ministers, in charge of the palace guards. He was basically the most powerful official in the country. Xu Shiyun was beautiful, gentle, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and had a very prominent family background!
Basically, there is no better woman than her in the Han Dynasty. She is the dream lover of all men.

What's more, Liu Xiu has always been an ambitious man.

"Ah... just a passing mention. The Xu family is a centuries-old noble family. All the young men in the family are core figures in the court. I only have the surname Liu in vain." He sighed.

Liu Xiu has always been a person who refuses to admit defeat. It is not impossible for him to become the Prefect of the Guards, but it is difficult for him to marry the talented woman from the Xu family.

On the surface, the Xu family is the number one family after the Liu family, but everyone knows that the Xu family is much more powerful than the Liu family now!

Xu Hua, Xu Zhong, Xu Yuan and Xu Min were stationed in Nanyang, Hebei and Xiliang respectively, and monopolized most of the power of the Han Dynasty. Although Liu Xiang was the emperor, he had to rely on the Xu family for his survival.

Without the support of these four suns, how could he become emperor?

Such a huge gap makes one sigh.

"Haha... A real man should have great ambitions. What's impossible?" Just then, a tall figure walked over slowly, surrounded by several guards with knives.

The person who came was Li Yang who had been dismissed from his post!

"Hello, teacher." The two bowed.

"Hey, no need to be so polite. Uncle Wen, what you said is very ambitious. Yes, if you want to be an official, you should be the Prefect of the Guards. If you want to marry a wife, you should marry Xu Shiyun."

"When Chen Sheng was still a young man, some people thought his ambition was just a pipe dream, but the facts prove it. How can a sparrow know the ambition of a swan?"

Li Yang sighed twice. Although he came from a prominent family and was a descendant of the Flying General Li Guang, he was just an unpopular bastard.

In this era, bastards were no different from servants.

It was in this environment that he fought his way out! After he became an adult, he served as a bodyguard for Prime Minister Xu Hua. With his outstanding military talent, he was appreciated and began his own life of cheating!
He had made numerous military achievements and climbed to the position of General Zuo, a high-ranking general, when he was only thirty years old. He held real power and with just a stomp of his foot, the whole Han Dynasty would tremble.

As for Huo Qubing, he is too magical and legendary. He is a rare genius general in a century and it is difficult to replicate him.

But the situation could not keep up with the changes. Ruyin underestimated the enemy in the battle and was knocked off the altar by Wang Yi. His past fame was wiped out. However, Li Yang did not give up. He knew that he still had a chance to rise again!

And it was coming soon. Wang Mang's reforms in the country made people's livelihood a mess, which directly affected the interests of the powerful and thus made him despised by the landlord class.

Ordinary people who tried their best did not learn any good things. After all, their lives did not change at all, but became worse.

Today, the Xin Dynasty has been almost abandoned by all classes. A dynasty without support will perish sooner or later.

And then, it will be your chance!
"Teacher is overestimating his student." Liu Xiu said in panic.

But he also thought so in his heart, believing that he would definitely be able to become the Prefect of the Guards in the future and marry a talented woman like Xu Shiyun!

Both men and women like outstanding people, and Liu Xiu is no exception.

"Well... among these students, the one I am most optimistic about is you. You are very special and different." Li Yang's face was full of admiration.

He was telling the truth. After the scandal died down, those who had originally despised this former left general suddenly became attracted to him.

The threshold of Li's house was almost broken down.

But the person Li Yang is most optimistic about is Liu Xiu, not only because he is a timely help, but also because he is very capable.

.........

Wang Mang's reforms failed, and the ecology of the Xin Dynasty became a complete mess. Natural disasters occurred continuously, and the people were living in misery.

Because the fundamental interests of the powerful landlords were touched, even these people began to flirt with the big man next door. It can be said that they can defect immediately at the command!
The powerful people's loyalty to the Wang family is far from that level.

Of course, hope was lost immediately this time. After all, no matter how benevolent you are or how good your reputation is, can you be better than Emperor Xiaowen of Han?
In the Han Dynasty, which had several generations of wise rulers, these powerful people would rebel at any time, so there was no need to expect them to be very sticky.

But what is giving Wang Mang the most headache is the frequent escape of refugees! These are real people, the real wealth of a country, but now they are fleeing to the Han Dynasty in the scale of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

Moreover, even if the imperial court ordered strict defense and immediate execution once discovered, it would be of no use at all.

Instead, it angered the people, and more people ran away. The soldiers did not dare to kill them privately after catching them, as there were thousands or even millions of people!

If we kill this group, there will still be a second group. If we kill them all, the entire country will soon rebel against the Xin Dynasty.

Wang Mang was deeply confused by this. He didn't know why so many people wanted to flee to the Han Dynasty. They couldn't survive before because they had no land, but I have given you land!

Even if there is a shortage of oxen and other farm tools, isn't there always credit? He has considered all the problems, even at the cost of completely offending the powerful class in order to win the hearts of the people.

The reality turned out to be the opposite of what he had hoped for. Wang Mang had always believed that the people were praising his new policies, but since the refugees could no longer hide, he also understood his true reputation.

So I fell into self-isolation.

As a legendary figure who slowly climbed from a marginal figure to the emperor, this new ancestor was not a foolish ruler who was unable to listen to loyal advice.

He had previously believed that his ministers were deliberately lying in order to block the new policy, so he did not listen to them and even became furious. He sentenced to death all those ministers who reported the truth to him, so that no one in the court or the country dared to speak the truth, and all they could hear were flattery.

Because Wang Mang believed that those flattering words were the truth!
But now it seems the opposite is true.

"Zhen Feng, do you think that the reform is really completely undesirable? If it were effective, there wouldn't be so many refugees fleeing. There have never been such incidents before the reform was implemented."

“Or rather, there are very few of them.”

In the Weiyang Palace, Wang Mang looked at his close ministers with melancholy faces, and he still didn't understand why.

Is it that it has not been implemented at the local level? But the powerful forces have been beaten so hard that they dare not show up.

Who dares to hinder again?
Obviously, this new ancestor has been in a high position for many years and does not know much about the operation of power. He believes that as long as there is no opposition in the court and no rebellion in the local areas, then everything will be fine.

It ignores the fact that middle-level and grassroots officials are also independent individuals, and they all have their own thoughts and interests.

To the point that they were completely deceived. The middle and low-level officials and even local high-ranking officials were bribed by the tyrants who had lost their land. They colluded with each other and took back double what they had lost before!

"Well... after all, it is a reform. Since ancient times, no reform has been successful. Wasn't Shang Yang's final end to be torn into pieces by five horses? Soon, the people will realize your majesty's good intentions." Zhen Feng did not dare to openly criticize this reform that was regarded as a panacea by his majesty. Like other ministers, he gave flattering words.

"You don't have to lie to me. I know the details." Wang Mang said in a deep voice, "Tell me the truth. I won't be angry."

Even if he attaches importance to reform, he dare not deceive himself, because the situation has become so bad that he has to take it seriously.

Anyone with a little political intelligence knows that the foundation of the dynasty is now shaky. Without the support of ordinary people and local powerful landlords, how can it maintain its rule?
He panicked, and he had no choice but to panic!
Zhen Feng was silent for a moment, and seeing that His Majesty was asking sincerely, he said, "Your Majesty, according to what I have seen, those tyrants who lost their land colluded with corrupt officials to collect heavy taxes, so that at least eight-tenths of the land had to be handed over in a year."

"There are countless exorbitant taxes and levies, plus the pressure from the powerful. The common people can only allow themselves to be exploited by the powerful."

"The credit loans you advocate have also changed their nature and have become more convenient for the landlords."

"As for the prestige of the powerful, you know that it is basically all abuse! They flirted with Nanyang Yanzhou, hid traitors to the Han Dynasty many times, and fought against the government."

"At this moment, Daxin is already full of refugees and thieves! I believe that it won't be long before a long-suppressed large-scale peasant uprising begins. The imperial court's military might can certainly suppress it."

"But what happens next? With someone taking the lead, other rebels will also take advantage of the situation. The powerful have only lost their land, but the wealth accumulated over a hundred years has not disappeared. In the previous rebellion, didn't they provide food, money, and manpower?"

"The time is too short to shake the foundation."

Zhen Feng simply stopped saying any nice words and laid out the current predicament the country was facing on the table.

What he said were the most urgent matters, and he didn't mention other unimportant things.

The refugees fleeing abroad are indeed extremely harmful, but they cannot shake the foundation of the country in a short period of time. Currently, only tens of thousands of people have fled.

It is far from the point where serious injuries occur, but it is approaching, and the number of people is still increasing day by day.

Once the scale reaches 100,000 people, then we’ll be done.

"...Are you telling the truth?" Wang Mang couldn't believe that he had failed so badly.

Since the truth was revealed, he knew that it had caused great harm. Both the common people and the landlords were very dissatisfied and had been fighting against the court and refusing to carry out orders.

But I didn’t expect it to be so serious! Not only did it not change the situation of hunger, but it became even worse!
It may even shake the foundation of the country.

"Every word I said is true! You can ask other court officials about this. What they say will only be more serious! You can't help but take it seriously."

Zhen Feng bowed and spoke quickly.

Looking at the anxious looks of his close ministers, Wang Mang knew that they were all telling the truth, and that their estimates were even conservative.

Is it really such a failure? The system that I have been thinking about for half my life and thought would solve the people's livelihood problems has turned out to be a burden!

So what should I do? Abolish it immediately, rectify the grassroots, and win over the support of the people and the wealthy?

This would indeed help stop the loss in time, but Wang Mang was reluctant to do so. From the beginning to the end, he never thought that there was a problem with the reform itself, and did not consider whether it was suitable for this era.

He believed that it was mainly the grassroots and landlords who were the obstacles! Otherwise, the legendary prosperous era of Wen and Jing would have been realized long ago.

If we give up now, all our efforts will fail. Shang Yang's reforms also encountered a lot of resistance. They touched upon the fundamental interests of the ruling aristocratic class and were targeted madly.

But in the end Shang Yang was not scared off, but continued to persist. The national strength of Qin State increased rapidly and it became one of the world's top powers. It began the beginning of unifying the world with the remaining strength of six generations!
The situation I was facing was so similar. The powerful people resisted the reform, and the people did not understand it. Under various obstructions, the national strength even declined.

He believed that he must not give up! Maybe if he persisted a little longer, he would finally reap the rewards.

Maybe he still doesn't want to admit that he is wrong.

"How do you think I should make up for it?" Wang Mang asked.

Zhen Feng cupped his hands and said, "I think the reform should be abolished immediately, all the confiscated land should be returned, and relief should be provided to the victims to show the court's sincere willingness to repent."

"Local uprisings may still be unavoidable, but at least we can gain forgiveness from the powerful! Our foundation is solid."

This method is quite good and can win over the powerful to the greatest extent.

Zhen Feng also knew very well who the real master of the world was. Whether the people supported him or not was not that important. So what if they rebelled? They were just a bunch of skinny people carrying hoes and wearing thin clothes.

But if you offend the powerful, it's completely different! These people have money and food, and they can arm the peasant army.

In this way, the originally insignificant rebel army will instantly reach the level of threatening the foundation of Daxin.

In short, return the land first, eliminate the hostility of local nobles, and then slowly operate, and you can always regain the lost people's hearts.

Wang Mang frowned, a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes, as if his reform was wrong.

He was always unwilling to admit that he was wrong, and instead attributed his failure to the opposing powerful families.

"Of course, I am only giving you a suggestion. There is nothing wrong with the reform itself. We can make some minor adjustments."

"In order to increase the acceptance of the people, my second method is to clean up the grassroots and implement all the reforms that benefit the country and the people. This can also change the current situation."

Perhaps he noticed the change in Wang Mang's expression, so he spoke quickly.

Without saying a word about the previous suggestion to abolish the reform, Zhen Feng was able to rise to the position of Junior Tutor and the emperor's favorite. It seems that he has a strong ability to read people's expressions.

Although stopping loss immediately is the best option, the person in front is the emperor after all.

His own opinions did not count, at most he could only make suggestions, although his name was also associated with the Xinmang Dynasty.

But there was nothing he could do about it. He knew his Majesty very well and would never change his mind about what he had decided!
Asking so many questions is just to find some self-comfort, and it won’t change anything.

Sure enough, Wang Mang nodded: "Well... I'll do as you said and send people to rectify the grassroots. Maybe we can make up for it later."

"This is my lifelong wish, and I don't want to change it easily. Let's take a gamble."

He was still unwilling to repeal the reform measures.

(End of this chapter)