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

Wang Zhi stopped and looked at Princess Guantao with a troubled expression. Princess Guantao also realized this. She wanted her daughter to become empress, not an empress without children.

An empress without children is utterly useless and will only be deposed.

"Let's go back and check if this is true or not. If it is, then let's drop the matter."

However, she already knew in her heart that this matter was true, after all, Emperor Jing of Han had issued an imperial edict to the whole country, so it could not possibly be false information.

It's just to have a way out.

Pity.

However, as Princess Guantao watched Wei Qing leave, a little thought began to stir in her heart again.

She didn't dare to approach Wei Qing and Wei Yu directly. She still remembered the scene of Wei Yu carrying the head of Li Ji's younger brother, which was absolutely terrifying.

But since her daughter can't marry a prince, surely marrying into the Wei family shouldn't be a problem, right?

The Wei family and the Liu family had never been related by marriage.

With the help of the Wei family, Princess Guantao can still wield immense power, and she can also use this opportunity to get closer to the two Wei brothers, who might even have a chance in the future.

Princess Guantao, filled with excitement, approached Emperor Jing of Han and made this request. Emperor Jing frowned and said, "No."

"Why?" Princess Guantao hadn't expected Emperor Jing of Han to refuse. Wasn't this a very good way to bring the Liu family and the Wei family closer together? Why would Emperor Jing of Han disagree?

Seeing that Princess Guantao was about to throw a tantrum, Emperor Jing of Han had no choice but to frown and explain, "The Wei family does not marry Liu's daughter; this is an unspoken agreement between us and the Wei family."

"Once the Wei family marries Liu's daughter, the Wei family's neutrality cannot be guaranteed."

"Since the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao, the Wei family has been an important force supporting the emperor. Over the years, the Wei family has remained loyal, so the late emperor wanted to maintain this relationship. After all, no one can guarantee that the Liu family will not produce an unfilial son who will ruin the country passed down from their ancestors. With the assistance of the Wei family, we can get through this period and wait for a capable emperor to restore the country."

"Moreover, the last unified dynasty, the Qin Dynasty, only lasted for two generations. But our Han Dynasty, including Emperor Hui, has already had four generations. The Wei family deserves much credit for this."

"The Wei family's offspring have become better with each generation, and they have long controlled the court's purse strings and a portion of the military's power, making them incredibly influential. Such prestige could potentially lead to any prince becoming emperor, which would be detrimental to both the Wei family and the Liu family."

"Even if the Wei family doesn't actively support him, but instead he marries one of the prince's sisters, it will still affect a large number of people, forcing the Wei family to deviate from their neutral stance."

"Once this stance is deviated from, subsequent emperors of the Liu family will never again have such pure trust in him."

"If the relationship between the Liu and Wei families were to break down, it would be a huge loss for the entire Han Dynasty, so this is absolutely impossible."

What Emperor Jing of Han didn't say was that they were also wary of the Wei family having a child with Liu blood, as they might then support such a person with both families' bloodlines to inherit the throne. Given the Wei family's power, would the empire truly belong to the Liu or the Wei family?

To avoid this situation, Emperor Liu and the Wei family tacitly agreed never to form a marriage alliance.

Princess Guantao was very sad. She also had the surname Liu, which meant that she could not marry the two brothers of the Wei family.

But was Princess Guantao an ordinary person? No, she was. The more you forbid her from doing something, the more she wants it.

As for what will happen in the future, what does that have to do with her? She will have turned to ashes long ago by then.

After I die, I don't care about the great flood.

The imperial edict was first disseminated in Chang'an, the city with the highest concentration of powerful and wealthy officials and nobles in the entire Han Dynasty.

It is also the region with the most serious problem of consanguineous marriage, bar none.

Almost no one wanted to believe it was true, but the solution had already been provided, and they quickly used all their connections to find out whether the matter was true or false.

These people quickly found all the information, and it was indeed true.

Based on the information about their family's ancestors, they have basically confirmed the authenticity of this matter.

The group of men looked as if their fathers had died; their faces were pale, and they discussed divorcing each other.

Ordinary wealthy families are fine, but it's difficult for officials. Their wives are mostly from political marriages, which have an extraordinary influence on their careers.

Those with titles faced even greater difficulties. For nobles like them to change their principal wives, not only did both parties need to agree, but the court, or more precisely, the emperor's decree, was also required.

The succession of these noble families was governed by very strict rules and regulations in terms of etiquette.

Emperor Jing of Han also realized this, seeing it as a crucial opportunity to win over the hearts of the people. He only needed to offer a few positions as rewards to gain their absolute loyalty.

However, this quota cannot be given out casually. If the recipient has not made great contributions, it would be a slap in the face to the emperor, a violation of the Liu clan's patriarchal system, and would shake the Liu clan's rule. That's how important the patriarchal system and rites were in this era.

The most important matters of state are sacrifice and war.

The term "祀" refers to the patriarchal system of rites and rituals.

Emperor Jing of Han then selected several ministers and feudal lords who had made outstanding contributions and had no offspring or no healthy offspring due to consanguineous marriage, and granted their requests to adopt children.

These ministers were extremely grateful to the emperor and from then on became loyal servants of Emperor Jing of Han.

Otherwise, those who are jealous of them alone could easily tear them apart.

At the same time, Wei Shou's reputation also rose rapidly in the Han Dynasty.

Even Emperor Jing of Han summoned him to the palace and asked him if he would like to become the imperial physician.

After learning that Wei Shou was unwilling, Emperor Jing of Han asked Wei Shou if there were any elixirs or miraculous medicines that could grant immortality.

Wei Shou sighed inwardly, realizing that indeed, all emperors in history could not escape the temptation of immortality.

If even the greatest emperors of all time were like this, one can only imagine how inferior emperors like Emperor Jing of Han were.

Especially since immortality truly exists in this world, and their Wei family possesses it.

As Wei Ping's grandson, he naturally had the right to know.

Wei Ping, living in the gourd world, seemed to sense something and turned his gaze here, thus transmitting some knowledge into Wei Shou's mind.

Why not take this opportunity to permanently bring the lands of Korea and Southeast Asia under the rule of the Han Dynasty?

Wei Ping believed that the emperor and nobles of the Han Dynasty would absolutely not be able to resist the temptation of longevity tonics such as ginseng, bird's nest, and shark fin.

Therefore, they will definitely keep these places firmly in their hands, and they will fight to the death with anyone who dares to make a move!

If exploration and colonization had begun from the Han Dynasty, what would the territory of China have reached?

Wei Ping couldn't help but think that it must be infinitely more prosperous than later generations!