Chapter 4: The Crime of Evil Rebellion

Wang Yang laughed a few times: "Have you never heard that 'usurping nobility on the mausoleum is called evil rebellion'?"

He looked at the squad leader, his eyes carrying a trace of pity and mockery, "That's right, you are just a small squad leader, what do you know?"

Momentum, it must be momentum!

Taking advantage of the squad leader's uncertain expression, Wang Yang flicked his sleeves and glared, shouting loudly:

"Those who commit evil rebellion! Kill their bodies! Exterminate their families! Confiscate their property! My family has been a noble lineage for generations! My second uncle serves as a Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary in the capital! If something happens to me, it will inevitably reach the Emperor's ears! Do you think I was joking when I said I would exterminate your whole clan?!"

Wang Yang put his hands behind his waist, his voice stern.

No one saw his palms twitching uncontrollably behind his back,

His fingertips were ice cold!

To make a lie sound like the truth, besides momentum, the key lies in details. A lie without details is like a castle in the air, known to be false as soon as it is heard.

So Wang Yang used two details here to fill in: one was the great crime of evil rebellion, and the other was his second uncle serving as a Cavalier official.

The crime of evil rebellion existed in both Han and Tang. Wang Yang knew this.

But compared to Han and Tang, he was not profound in the history of the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties. So he didn't know whether there was an evil rebellion crime in the current era. He just inferred from reason that the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties were between Han and Tang, and many rules and systems continued and were not changed. Since both Han and Tang had it, the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties probably had it too.

Therefore, he chose to use this crime to scare people. As for the specific punishment for the crime of evil rebellion, he exaggerated it to the extreme, wanting to gain the upper hand.

He was gambling,

Gambling that these soldiers didn't understand the specific articles of the great crime of evil rebellion.

As for giving the non-existent second uncle a Cavalier official position, he also had considerations.

The so-called "Yellow and Cavalier positions, must have both talent and family background."

"Yellow" refers to the Yellow Gate Attendant, and "Cavalier" refers to the Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary. "Talent" refers to character and talent, and "Family" refers to family background.

The Yellow and Cavalier positions were noble positions in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, and those who were not of high family and noble lineage could not be selected.

And the Cavalier official was an attendant close to the Emperor, which also secretly echoed Wang Yang's previous words about "reaching the Emperor's ears."

It could be considered that Wang Yang's chrysanthemum was not destined to wither. If there were a scholar-official here, they would know at once that this was a false threat. Not to mention that the soldiers catching him couldn't be counted as the crime of evil rebellion at all, even if it were really "evil rebellion," there was no reason to exterminate the three degrees of kinship.

But how would these rough soldiers know this?

They had heard of the crime of evil rebellion, often confusing it with great crimes like "rebellion" and "lack of morality," knowing only that this was a great crime that ordinary people would never have the chance to commit in their lifetime. Who knew they would run into it today?!

Hearing Wang Yang say that his second uncle was such a high official, in their eyes, he was simply a huge figure!

Even if their highest officer in the Aquilin garrison estimated that he wasn't even worth a fart in the eyes of that second uncle. If they really offended such a person, what would happen?!

At this moment, Wang Yang's image in their eyes also changed, no longer a timid and thin floating drifter. Seeing his arrogant expression and eloquent words, they really felt a momentum that could not be looked at directly.

No one dared to laugh anymore. The two soldiers who wanted to catch him retreated in a hurry. They didn't dare to say whether they would be exterminated or not, but they knew one law: "When the lowly fight with the noble, both are thieves."

So even the squad leader held his breath and thought silently.

Can't leave them room to think!

This is like advertising, as long as you open a gap, you must strike while the iron is hot and pour your thoughts into them all at once.

Wang Yang pretended to flick the dust off his sleeves, which were already frayed. If it weren't for the fact that this outfit was really too unlike anything, those few flicks of dust would really have some aristocratic demeanor:

"To tell you the truth, this young master's surname is Wang, given name Yang, and courtesy name Zhiyan. It is taken from the 'Ode of Yong' in the *Classic of Poetry*, specifically the 'Gentleman Grows Old Together' chapter. The poem says: 'Your clear and bright eyes, your beautiful and handsome face.' If I hadn't encountered bandits on the road, I would have already met the people my second uncle sent to pick me up. Would I still be stuck in this godforsaken place?!"

Wang Yang's chanting of the "Book of Songs" wasn't to show off, but to highlight his identity through this detail.

The Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties valued literature and belittled martial arts, and children of aristocratic families often valued literary meaning. Ordinary people's children had no money to hire teachers, and no money to buy books, so even if they had the heart to learn, they couldn't afford it, and even if they learned, there was almost no channel for upward mobility. This is the so-called "monopoly of knowledge."

This era was still in the era of aristocratic families, different from the rise of the commoner class after the imperial examination. If Wang Yang had traveled to the Tang and Song Dynasties, reciting this book would have no meaning.

More importantly, the last sentence Wang Yang said, this sentence seemed to be a casual complaint, but it was actually an important foreshadowing. Wang Yang hinted to the soldiers: My second uncle has already sent someone to pick me up! Even if you want to kill me to silence me, you have to consider the risks.

Sure enough, as soon as Wang Yang finished speaking, the soldiers' eyes changed. Shock mixed with a trace of awe, of course, still mixed with a little doubt.

The youth felt indignant: How come someone listens when he recites poetry, but not when I do! Isn't the protagonist me?! Isn't Du Fu's poetry better than that "Book of Songs" line of his that isn't even uniform in length?! Then he thought, so the Langya Wang clan is so powerful that it scared them all.

The squad leader swallowed his saliva and asked tentatively: "Then... do you have any documents that can prove your identity?" His tone was completely different from before.

Wang Yang frowned and scolded: "Didn't you hear me? I met thieves on the way, and I couldn't even keep my clothes and carriage, let alone documents?"

The squad leader was embarrassed: "But there is no proof..."

Wang Yang interrupted impatiently: "Genealogical records and household registration are proof, how can you say there is no proof? You can check it if you want."

Not to mention that Wang Yang was of the Langya Wang clan, a first-class family. Even if it were a low-class aristocratic family, the squad leader had no power to check any household registration or genealogical records. Just as he was at a loss, Wang Yang yawned:

"Forget it, I won't make it difficult for you, I'll give you a proof."

He looked at the soldier named Ding Jiu and said: "You, go pick me a branch."

Ding Jiu looked at the squad leader for inquiry, and the black-faced man holding the spear said to the squad leader: "I'll go."

The squad leader nodded, and the black man walked quickly to pick up a branch, picking three in a row for Wang Yang to choose from.

The black man stopped at a distance of three steps from Wang Yang, leaned the long spear on his shoulder, bowed, and handed the branch with both hands, his attitude very respectful.

Ding Jiu was a bit displeased, thinking that if he had known, he would have gone to pick it himself.

Under the norms of modern etiquette, Wang Yang's polite language had become an instinct, and he was about to say a word of thanks, but remembering the identity he was pretending to be, he swallowed it back hard. He picked up a branch and drew on the ground.

Everyone stretched their necks to look, thinking at first he was going to write, and later feeling he was like drawing. The pattern he drew was curved and winding, with trivial textures, and small characters embedded in the middle, and the pattern was very complicated.

"This... this is... a talisman?!" The squad leader and several soldiers exclaimed.

Wang Yang threw the branch away and said: "Look clearly, this is the most authentic light-passing talisman of the Celestial Master Dao. My Langya Wang clan has passed down the Celestial Master Dao for generations, you wouldn't know this, would you."

What Wang Yang drew was a Taoist talisman from Dunhuang collected by the National Library of France. To be ashamed, this was also the only talisman he knew how to draw.

From the perspective of cultural history and intellectual history, Wang Yang was actually most proficient in Confucianism and Buddhism, and Taoism was ranked last. So the saying "most authentic light-passing talisman of the Celestial Master Dao" was completely a lie.

But the Langya Wang clan passing down the Celestial Master Dao for generations had been verified by Mr. Chen Yinke. Those soldiers certainly didn't necessarily know this, but he wanted to use these "vivid" and "justifiable" details to bluff these soldiers!

Although Buddhism and Taoism were popular in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, ordinary people had limited knowledge. Even if they barely recognized the talisman, how could they know whether the "light-passing talisman" was authentic or not?

As for whether the Langya Wang clan passed down the Celestial Master Dao, they knew even less!

They couldn't even imagine what the aristocratic families ate on weekdays, let alone the knowledge and beliefs passed down within these families.

However, they knew that children of aristocratic families often believed in Buddhism and Taoism. Wang Yang's previous eloquence and demeanor had already made them believe Wang Yang's identity a little. After seeing this talisman, they couldn't help but believe it a few more points.

Wang Yang saw the respectful and fearful expressions of the crowd, and was happy in his heart, just thinking he was about to pass the test, when two familiar and abrupt voices suddenly rang out:

"I am also of the Langya Wang clan!"

"I am also of the Langya Wang clan!"

Damn it!!!

Ten thousand grass-mud horses galloped through Wang Yang's heart!

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Note: ① In Middle Ages historical materials, "Langya" is often written as "Langye". "Shuowen Jiezi" says: "Ye, Langye Commandery. From the city, ya sound." The pronunciation of ye is the same as ya. For the convenience of writing, it is uniformly written as "Langya".

② The article by Chen Yinke verifying that the Langya Wang clan passed down the Celestial Master Dao is titled "The Relationship between the Celestial Master Dao and the Coastal Region," collected in "First Compilation of Jinmingguan Collected Manuscripts."

③ The Taoist talismans of the Middle Ages were closer to complex drawings than the simple seal script talismans in TV dramas. The talisman Wang Yang drew came from the Dunhuang Library Cave. Although it was a copy from the Tang Dynasty, this kind of talisman might not have come from the inheritance of the previous generation. For those interested in specific patterns, you can refer to Volume 33 of "Dunhuang and Western Regions Documents Collected by the National Library of France," number p. 4824.

④ Some legal historians trace the origin of the "crime of evil rebellion" to the "Ten Great Crimes" of the Northern Qi Law, which is wrong. This crime already existed in the Eastern Han Dynasty. "Book of the Later Han: Biography of Liang Tong": "In the eighth year of Jianchu, he slandered and killed two noble ladies, and framed Song and others for evil rebellion." "Book of the Later Han: Biography of Chen Qiu": "Cao Jie and Wang Fu fought again, thinking that the Liang Empress's family committed evil rebellion, and although they were buried in the Yiling Mausoleum, Emperor Wu abolished the Wei Empress and let Lady Li share the sacrifice." This matter is also recorded in "Annals of the Later Han": "The maternal family hated the Liang clan and wanted to destroy them, so they framed them for evil rebellion." This crime was inherited by the Jin Law. "Book of Jin: Treatise on Criminal Law" records Zhang Fei's "Table on Annotating the Jin Law": "Usurping nobility on the mausoleum is called evil rebellion." ===== CHAPTER 5 =====