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

"The Prime Minister is of noble character."

Wei An bowed to Wang Mang, for Wang Mang was now worthy of this bow.

Wang Mang gave a bitter smile. "If it weren't for the Wei family, I might not have made this choice."

Wei An immediately understood his meaning, but this could not deny Wang Mang's sagehood.

"Sages judge by their actions, not their intentions; if one judges by their intentions, there are no sages."

"Even our Wei family, while ostensibly acting in the best interests of the people, is actually doing so for the sake of the Wei family's thousand-year legacy."

"The world is bustling, all driven by fame; the world is in turmoil, all chasing after profit."

"It has always been the same from ancient times to the present."

"If everything were as the Prime Minister had considered, a thousand years from now, the Prime Minister would surely be remembered as a sage by future generations."

"Thousands of years later, if a figure like the First Emperor were to appear again, sweeping across the various states of China and unifying the world."

"At that time, the Prime Minister's status in history will be no less than that of Qin Shi Huang."

Wei An sighed.

"Perhaps."

Wang Mang revealed a look of longing; that was Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor to truly unify the world.

Why did later heroes risk their lives to unify the world instead of remaining stagnant, occupying one or two provinces, and establishing themselves as kings?

It is because Qin Shi Huang planted the seed of unification in the genes of the Chinese nation.

Therefore, the Chinese nation is a unified whole, rather than a collection of fragmented countries.

"Throughout history, those who advocate reform have never met a good end."

"I hope that if I lose power in the future, the Wei family will send my descendants to their fiefdom."

"Let them establish ancestral temples abroad."

"As the head of the Wei family, I promise the Prime Minister that the royal family will definitely have a share in the future vassal states."

"The Wei family will also provide support at that time, whether it is in terms of talent, resources, or the people."

Wei An promised.

Every step the Chinese nation takes to grow stronger, the Wei family's fortunes will also grow stronger; the Wei family has embraced the non-feudal system.

No one can stop him, Wei An said.

"it is good."

With the Wei family's promise, Wang Mang had no more worries.

"When I got back, I began to spearhead the reform of the royal land system."

"No."

But Wei An refused.

"Has the Prime Minister ever trained a donkey?"

"Never trained him."

Wang Mang asked in confusion.

"Donkeys are extremely stubborn animals."

"If you want to train a donkey, whether you gently persuade it or whip it, the effect is not very good."

"But if you hang a carrot in front of a donkey while it's being trained, the donkey will be very obedient and will go wherever you point it."

"The feudal system is like this carrot."

"If you, Prime Minister, were to implement reforms directly, you would inevitably face opposition from the entire nation."

"But if you use this carrot to entice them and show them a way out, they will definitely not hesitate to sacrifice some domestic interests under the temptation of the carrot."

"Including the construction of the imperial highway, especially the one leading to Xizhou, I guarantee that no one will dare to embezzle funds."

"All the powerful families in the world are watching closely. Anyone who dares to obstruct the construction of this road will be torn apart by the other families."

"Only after the Prime Minister declares that the country's rule is stable once all these roads have been completed will the official enfeoffment process begin."

"Even for the other three, countless people will keep an eye on things for you to prevent overdue payments due to various reasons."

After being singled out by Wei An, Wang Mang suddenly realized what was going on.

As expected, experience matters. Even with his knowledge from later generations, he couldn't see things as clearly as people in this era.

The most powerful prime minister of the dynasty visited the Wei family, which had been the most powerful family in the Han Dynasty for nearly 200 years. Countless people in the entire city of Chang'an lost sleep, desperately trying to find out what the two were discussing.

With the encouragement of their friendship, the news that Wang Mang was going to push for reforms reached these nobles.

Especially the most important one: after the other reforms were completed, Wang Mang would promote the revival of the feudal system.

However, like the Western Zhou Dynasty, the fiefdoms were granted to foreign territories.

But that was still a real feudal state.

No domestic fiefdom can compare.

After learning of this news, almost all the nobles went on a frenzy to find out more.

I would like to obtain more detailed information.

There's no smoke without fire.

Everyone believed that there must be a reason for this news to spread, and even a powerful family like the Wei family could not resist such temptation.

At least one branch of their direct lineage will be set aside to establish their own fiefdoms elsewhere.

With the Wei family's ambitions stirred up, coupled with their own desires, they could easily rally a large following and this matter would definitely be accomplished.

This is a fiefdom, with its own ancestral temple.

It would be so much better to be a king and a tyrant outside. If you can be a king and a tyrant outside, why would you want to be a subservient subject here?

As for the difficulties of going out to assume their fiefdoms, they had already overlooked them, blinded by enormous profits.

The Great Han Dynasty is now at its zenith, invincible in the world. How dare those scoundrels outside oppose the Great Han Dynasty?

The only reason I'm keeping you around is because I can't rule you.

Now I'm all ready to go and get my hands on a fiefdom. I'll just wash my neck and wait to die.

The next day, more people attended the court session than during the New Year's grand court assembly.

Everyone was waiting for the topic of Wang Mang to come up.

Those with keen senses have already noticed that the Wei family has still not appeared in court, and it is estimated that the news of the enfeoffment system will not be officially announced today.

"I have heard that natural disasters in the Spring and Autumn Annals serve as warnings to rulers. This year, the planet Jupiter has deviated from its course, and the earth has shaken and rivers have overflowed. These are warnings from Heaven to the court. I have received Your Majesty's grace and am filled with trepidation day and night, fearing that my virtue is unworthy of my position and that I may bring harm to the people. In the past, the Duke of Zhou received the mandate of Heaven to establish rites and music. If we do not change our laws and reforms now, how can we answer Heaven? How can we secure the state?"

The message from the many ministers in the court, when translated, boiled down to just four words: "I want to implement reforms."

Moreover, it was modeled after the Duke of Zhou.

What is the Zhou Dynasty most famous for? The enfeoffment system.

The Central Plains of today, the core of the Han Dynasty, are all lands conquered by the feudal lords of the Zhou Dynasty.

Does the next sentence refer to the reform and enfeoffment?

Wang Mang glanced at the ministers in the court with a half-smile, his eyes seemingly carrying a peculiar meaning.

"The Zhou Li states that the well-field system was equalized and there were no two prices in the market. This was the way of the sage kings of the three dynasties. Now, powerful families are annexing land and the people are displaced. Is this not a departure from the ancient teachings? I wish to follow the policies of the former kings and restore the system of rites and music. This is not for the purpose of reform, but to restore the past in order to correct the current ills."

"The policy is the same: all the land under heaven belongs to the royal family, and the people of the world cultivate it for the royal family, taking 29% of it as payment. Without the prime minister's permission and without the prime minister's seal, local officials cannot forcibly collect it, and the people of the world cannot trade it."

Those who could enter this court all possessed considerable land.

Even the most honest officials will have some degree of corruption.

However, those who can attend the court assembly are already the most outstanding officials in the entire country.

The land was important to them, but not that important.

The important thing is power.

But getting them to agree so easily isn't that simple.

The gazes of many high-ranking officials of the court turned to Shi Kan, Wang Mang's father-in-law.

Wang Mang had anticipated this scene and had instructed his father-in-law to act according to his instructions.

Shi Kan stepped forward and asked Wang Mang, "May I ask, Prime Minister, what are the other reforms?"