Sky Curtain: The Overlord Charges into Battle, Shocking Emperors of All Dynasties

The powerful families you imagine are concerned with politics and care about the people's livelihood, but in reality, they kill people when they're happy, and seize your land, wives, and daughters by trickery and force.

Follow-up comment: Just kidding, I'll kill you even if I'm unhappy.

Follow-up comment: The country is suffering from a severe drought, and the emperor not only refuses to provide disaster relief but also raises taxes. He raises taxes only on your side, not on others.

Follow-up comment: Want to become an official and change your fate? You have books, but no one teaches you; you won't even understand them.

Follow-up comment: Even if you participate in the imperial examinations, the candidates are from aristocratic families, the invigilators are from aristocratic families, and the examiners are from aristocratic families. What do you have to compete with?!

Oh dear, how could this aristocratic family be so wicked?!

The common people under the canopy, as well as some small and medium-sized landowners, already felt a suffocating atmosphere enveloping them just by looking at these words.

Unable to breathe, unable to break free.

As the screen above said, if the candidates and examiners stand together, how can the game even play?

"I refuse to believe that there isn't an emperor in the world who dares to fight against the powerful families, or an official who will stand up for us!"

A slightly immature, angry voice rang out from the crowd, carried by a man in a faded, starched robe.

Although he was thin, his eyes were very bright, unlike the numb eyes around him.

The youthful spirit between his brows drew sighs of admiration from those around him.

Still young.

"Child, you're too young. The waters here are too deep for you to handle!"

The middle-aged man beside him was earnestly advising the boy, as if he were advising his own child.

"I'm a few years older than you, and I've met more people and officials than you. I just have one question for you."

Although the boy was somewhat unconvinced, he still bowed respectfully.

"Please teach me, sir!"

The elderly and middle-aged men who gathered around looked expectant, while others clasped their arms, wanting to hear what insightful opinions he might have.

"If you were to actually go and file a complaint with the authorities, how would you respond to the question, 'Who is there in court, accusing this official?'"

Upon hearing this, the surroundings fell silent, as if a flock of ducks had been choked by an invisible hand.

The boy's pupils contracted sharply, his mind reeling, as if he had never considered what to do in this situation before.

Still clinging to illusions about the world, he experienced the harshness of society for the first time.

"Sigh, this is what aristocratic families are like, this is reality."

...

Many emperors were also furious with it.

These powerful families completely disregarded the emperor, banding together to oppose the court. In fact, the majority of the court officials were from these aristocratic families.

How can a country be governed by these insects?

In the early Han Dynasty,

Liu Bang reached behind him with his right hand and scratched his back, rubbing off the dust.

"What powerful family? What local magnate? I've never heard of them before!"

"Since you've already put them under your nose, you can't possibly cause any more trouble."

Liu Bang was well aware of the influence of the nobles of the six former states in the local areas.

Basically, after the Chu-Han Contention ended, the direct royal families of the six states were all wiped out, leaving only collateral branches that became local powerful clans.

Liu Bang showed no mercy to these people, forcibly relocating them to Chang'an and Guanzhong, severing their connection with the local area, and abolishing their hereditary privileges.

"These powerful families always boast about their ancestors. If your grandfather knew who their ancestors were, he'd strip them of everything, and see how they ever build up their thousand-year-old lineage again!!"

Liu Bang smugly wiped his hands, clearly very satisfied with this method of revenge.

Since we've mentioned powerful clans, what exactly enabled them to control Chinese politics for a thousand years, and where did it all begin?

The noble bloodlines that these powerful families always boast about, when traced back to their origins, mostly turned out to be the lowly people they themselves claim to be.

After the Zhou Dynasty implemented the enfeoffment system and the patriarchal clan system, blood ties became the foundation of power, and knowledge and power could only be passed down through blood and swords.

Either you are born noble, or you defy fate through war.

By the end of the Qin Dynasty, the chaos of war had wiped out the legitimate successors of the six states. Of these, five states attempted to restore their former power at the end of the Qin Dynasty, only to be conquered one by one by Liu Bang.

Oh open!

"Well done, Liu Bang!!"

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng patted Liu Bang heavily on the shoulder, his hand slapping Liu Bang so hard with overwhelming joy that Liu Bang staggered.

This was truly the best news he had heard since the appearance of the Heavenly Curtain, aside from being called the greatest emperor of all time.

Ying Zheng originally thought that only his Qin Dynasty was doomed.

In the end, even your six kingdoms will be destroyed!

Ying Zheng looked on with schadenfreude at the representatives of the six kingdoms' nobles in the main hall.

"You did a good job opposing the Qin Dynasty, but the good thing is that you also destroyed yourselves in the process!"

The nobles of the six states were devastated; they never imagined that their rebellion against Qin would end in such a way.

Ultimately, it was someone who wasn't a nobleman from one of the six states who seized power.

Moreover, this person understands politics better and is more ruthless!

Xiang Yu, what the hell were you?!

In war, the steel blade is the only way to break the shackles of blood ties.

Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, unified the country, and enfeoffed 143 marquises. On the banks of the Wujiang River, the corpse of Xiang Yu created five marquises.

Liu Bang once said that whoever took Xiang Yu's head would be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold and granted a fief of ten thousand households. One of the officers, a minor officer named Yang Xi, was granted the title of Marquis of Chiquan because he had seized one of Xiang Yu's thighs. This is the origin of the Hongnong Yang clan, a family that has been passed down for thousands of years.

It must be said that this may be the earliest origin of the phrase "clinging to someone's coattails." Yang happy truly managed to curry favor with Xiang Yu, and even now, many people have ancestors from the Hongnong Yang clan.

"That's not right, it doesn't make sense. Shouldn't there be seven marquises?"

"Head, torso, limbs, isn't that seven?"

"So you're saying you can just give it to me because you want it, and others can't take it? Isn't it normal to lose one or two during a fight?"

Xiang Yu listened to his men's discussion, and his vision went black.

These people actually dared to discuss it. I dare to give it to them, but do they dare to accept it?

Liu Ji, you dog, you just wait, I'm about to give the order too!

Whoever captures Liu Ji's head will be rewarded with ten thousand gold pieces and granted a fief of ten thousand households.

No, that's too much.

The thought of having to give away money and titles to others made Xiang Yu's heart ache.

Let's reward him with 1,500 gold coins and confer upon him the title of Marquis of 1,000 households.

Liu Ji's head is nowhere near as valuable as mine!

The descendants of the Yang family of Hongnong throughout the dynasties were overjoyed upon seeing this message.

What aristocratic families value most is the continuation of their lineage and the inheritance of their bloodline. Now, it's being clearly stated to them that their family bloodline will continue to exist even a thousand years from now.

It was worth it; truly a blessing from our ancestors.

Xiang Yu—oh no, King Xiang—has a powerful patron! We must cling to this powerful figure!

"Why is it that the Yang family of Hongnong has been able to continue for a thousand years? In terms of background, Yang happy was just a low-ranking officer under Liu Bang, a commoner."

"How can anyone compare to my Wang clan of Taiyuan, whose lineage can be traced back to the son of Ji Jin, the crown prince of King Ling of Zhou?"

"His lineage can be traced back to Wang Wei, son of Qin general Wang Li; which one of them is not of nobler blood than Yang happy!"

"A soldier who risked his life on the battlefield, who managed to establish a family by sheer luck, dares to be ranked alongside the Wang family of Taiyuan?"

Although the Wang family of Taiyuan was never as powerful as the top aristocratic families during the Eastern Han Dynasty, and did not produce many high-ranking officials,

They could almost be considered to be from the lower ranks of the top aristocratic families.

However, this did not stop them from looking down on the Hongnong Yang family's background in their hearts.

Or rather, the more glorious the Yang family of Hongnong was, the more they clung to their old bloodline glory!