Chapter 104: The Rule of Yanxing, the Arrival of a Prosperous Age (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Only those who have truly experienced chaos know how precious a stable life is.

——This is exactly the state of the Great Han now.

There are simply too many legends about Gu Chen.

Passed from mouth to mouth, the impact his death has brought upon the Great Han is truly fatal.

Zhuge Liang sensed this.

After careful deliberation, Zhuge Liang submitted a memorial to Liu Chan, requesting that he change the reign title.

In this current era.

A change of reign title signifies a renewal of all things.

Regardless, he must resolve the sorrow currently felt by the people of the Great Han.

The Great Han is currently on the rise, and absolutely no turmoil can be allowed to occur.

After hearing of the severity of this matter.

Even though Liu Chan was unwilling to completely erase the Zhangwu Prosperous Age established by Liu Bei and Gu Chen, he had no choice but to change the reign title for the sake of the world.

In fact, in Gu Yi’s eyes, the current Liu Chan has changed somewhat compared to the one in original history.

This may be because the situation has changed; Liu Chan no longer needs to face so many crises, and he appears to be more sentimental.

The sixteenth year of Zhangwu, the seventh month;

Liu Chan performed sacrifices in Luoyang to the late emperors of the Great Han, as well as to Gu Xi and Gu Chen.

Subsequently, he officially announced the change of the reign title to "Yanxing."

The meaning—

The Great Han shall flourish!

Furthermore, a general amnesty was declared across the realm.

This move did indeed disperse some of the sorrow brought about by Gu Chen’s death.

After all, no matter how unwilling the people were to accept Gu Chen’s passing.

The person is already gone;

——All that remains for them is to continue moving forward.

Gu Yi did not choose to rush into manipulation.

To him, this is indeed the most suitable time to manipulate for the sake of the world.

There is no need to worry about anything else.

Utilizing the perspective of a modern person to increase the Great Han’s productivity and overall level is something Gu Yi is still capable of doing.

——But for the Gu family.

This is not a good time for manipulation.

After all, the Gu family is currently at its peak; looking across the entire world, there is no one who can threaten the Gu family, and the Great Han is thriving.

Manipulation at such a time would only be adding flowers to a brocade for the Gu family.

The true significance is not great.

Moreover, with people like Zhuge Liang and Zhang Hua alive.

Even if he were to manipulate personally, could he really surpass them?

The consumption of a full three hundred thousand achievement points would be extremely painful for Gu Yi.

He needs to find the most suitable time.

And Gu Yi has also been constantly observing the situation of the entire world.

The impact brought by the third revival of the Great Han is too great, and with Gu Chen, who could resist historical correction, now dead, Gu Yi does not believe the world will remain this peaceful.

Time passed in a hurry.

The arrangements Gu Chen made within the Great Han court were far too thorough.

And with Zhuge Liang, that pillar of heaven, still present.

No turmoil occurred within the Great Han, and everything was moving in the right direction.

Zhuge Liang’s ability in internal affairs needs no further mention.

Especially after being educated by the Gu family, the current Zhuge Liang’s abilities are even greater than before.

At least in terms of water conservancy;

Zhuge Liang can be said to have completely inherited Gu Kang’s original talents;

As the national strength of the Great Han gradually recovered, Zhuge Liang began his second large-scale reform of water conservancy.

He set a multi-year plan.

——Spreading bit by bit from the capital region to all parts of the world.

This line of thinking was already extremely advanced.

The emergence of the Gu family ultimately accelerated the liberation of people and thought, which had a huge impact on the development of the entire Nine Provinces.

——What truly surprised the people of the world was Deng Ai.

Ever since Gu Chen traveled throughout the Shu region and handed the water conservancy maps for governing Shu to Deng Ai.

Deng Ai had been working tirelessly to initiate various reforms in Shu.

He is a person extremely eager to achieve merit;

Although the current situation no longer allows him to fight on the battlefield, he is also suited for managing water conservancy and guarding a region.

Gu Chen had long since seen the problems in Deng Ai’s personality.

He left him with many restrictions.

This move also prevented Deng Ai from causing other incidents, allowing him to be more devoted to water conservancy.

And now—

The arrangements in the Shu region have reached the time to bear fruit.

This seems to be a signal.

Representing that the Great Han’s period of prosperity has truly arrived.

Although the roads in the Shu region are treacherous, it has been called the Land of Abundance since ancient times.

With rebellions avoided, the powerful clans resolved, and water conservancy projects repaired, the development of the Shu region has been extremely rapid.

This has brought unimaginable help to the entire Great Han.

The current configuration of the Great Han court can definitely be called the absolute peak.

Zhuge Liang, Zhang Hua, Yang Hu, Zhong Hui, and a host of others who have left their names in history, including the seventh-generation descendants of the Gu family.

These people will utilize the national strength of the Great Han to its peak.

Without affecting the stability of the overall situation, they will continuously develop the overall national strength of the Great Han.

——Until the third year of Yanxing;

"Elementary Learning" had already completely spread throughout Guanzhong, including Jizhou;

This is perhaps your best era.

An emperor with Liu Chan’s personality, combined with this group of highly capable ministers.

With the correct direction already determined.

A dynasty will naturally develop rapidly.

Zhuge Liang and the Gu family descendants are both keeping a tight grip on official conduct, although their deterrent power is far inferior to that of Gu Chen back then.

But with this group of people present.

There will not be any major problems with the official conduct of the Great Han.

And the move to conquer the barbarians before Gu Chen’s death brought even more time for the entire Great Han to develop.

In just a few short years, the entire Great Han has taken on a brand-new look.

The reduction of the poll tax greatly promoted population growth.

And in this era, progress in population represents progress in productivity.

Land reclamation; water conservancy; stability of trade routes.

Under various systems conducive to development.

In just a few short years, the entire Great Han felt brand new.

Until the fifth year of Yanxing;

——The population of the entire Great Han has approached forty million, not far from the peak of the Later Han.

Compared to the population of the Nine Provinces after the great chaos in original history, it is more than double.

Of course, there are many factors that caused this.

It is not only because Gu Chen cleared away the chaotic world in advance, avoiding continuous loss of life.

It is also related to not allowing powerful families to hide large numbers of people.

However, even if one sets everything aside.

It is enough to show just how astonishing the current development speed of the Great Han is.

Gu Yi has been silently watching all of this, not feeling much surprise in his heart, but rather feeling extremely calm.

In fact, this is the normal phenomenon.

With the current court configuration of the Great Han, even he feels it is a bit too formidable.

With these people exerting their utmost effort.

How could the Great Han not be prosperous?

Moreover, Gu Yi could be certain that this was not yet the peak of the Great Han.

Once the national strength of the Great Han truly reached its peak.

The Western Regions, which were gradually slipping out of control;

and even the currently undeveloped south would all enter the field of vision of these people.

This is the unavoidable conflict within human nature;

—something no one can escape.

This was destined to be an era of magnificent development;

an Emperor with the personality of Liu Chan was destined to allow his ministers to reach an unprecedented peak of courage in their work.

As the national strength continued to develop;

in the seventh year of Yanxing, through the discussions of this group of talented people, the matter of encouraging childbirth was also brought up.

Giving birth to offspring would allow for an exemption from half of that year's taxes.

If this had been done in the past, it would have been absolutely impossible to succeed.

After all, the national strength of the Great Han was insufficient to support such expenses.

It also included the fact that the poll tax was far too heavy.

But now, things were different.

With no wars for many years, a focus on developing national strength, and the reduction of the poll tax, these various policies were enough to allow the Great Han to initiate this system.

Once this matter was announced, the whole world was shocked!

Giving birth to offspring could exempt one from taxes?

To the common people of the world, this was absolutely a piece of good news they had never imagined before.

At the same time, the seventh-generation descendants of the Gu family also took action regarding the laws of officialdom.

Based on the laws of the Later Han, and according to the current situation and development background of the Great Han, they made various reforms.

They proposed laws such as "Labor Redemption" and "Righteous Act Redemption."

Using labor to offset prison sentences;

and allowing for reduced sentences for reporting powerful clans who violated the law or hoarded land;

the core of which was, naturally, aimed at the aristocratic clans.

—Simply put, it was to place a shackle upon the aristocratic clans.

It did not explicitly forbid the aristocratic clans from annexing land, as the imperial court could not block the normal transactions of the common people.

But this law did detail specific tax regulations.

Below one hundred mu, the tax remained at one-thirtieth;

but above one hundred mu, the taxes would become increasingly higher.

It also stipulated commercial taxes.

It even included detailed regulations for officials in various regions, including details such as demotion and dismissal.

It even proposed building a great wall in Luoyang, calling it the "Wailing Wall."

A "Drum of Grievances" was set up beneath the wall, and those who beat the drum to voice their grievances would have them recorded by specialized officials, with the best hundred entries included in the "Record of Heaven's Listening" to be presented directly to the Emperor.

Although, looking at it from the current perspective, this set of brand-new laws still had many shortcomings.

But what was undeniable was—

this was also a tremendous step forward for the current Great Han.

This matter was destined to be earth-shattering.

Laws are absolutely the foundation of a dynasty.

With the personality of Zhuge Liang, he naturally would not decide on this matter directly, but he also understood how important it was.

He gathered the ministers in Luoyang to discuss it for several days.

The Great Han of today.

It was already common for ministers to discuss state affairs throughout the night.

The long night of conversation between Liu Zhuang and Gu Kang in the past had, after all, influenced many things.

At such a critical time, the role of this group of talented people was fully manifested.

Regarding this set of brand-new laws to be implemented in the Great Han, everyone had their own unique insights and offered their own suggestions.

This matter was debated for several months.

It was not until the eighth year of Yanxing that the matter was finally settled.

Subsequently, Zhuge Liang decreed that officials in all regions should popularize the laws of the Great Han, and left the laws in an increasing number of "Book Collections," stipulating that every student must keep the laws firmly in their hearts.

Upon hearing of this matter.

The aristocratic clans, who had gradually forgotten Gu Chen, naturally found it difficult to accept such regulations.

A dynasty is destined not to have only light.

Even when Gu Chen was alive, he could not completely sweep away all darkness, let alone now that Gu Chen had been dead for many years.

Immediately, some people submitted a memorial to Liu Chan, impeaching Zhuge Liang and the group of ministers who participated in the matter on the grounds that altering the laws of the Former Han violated filial piety.

These people were still quite clever.

Knowing Liu Chan's feelings for Gu Chen, they deliberately avoided the Gu family descendants.

But what they did not expect was—

the usually very gentle Liu Chan was actually enraged because of this!

The target was not, as they had imagined, aimed at Zhuge Liang and that group of ministers.

But at them!

Liu Chan almost executed everyone who participated in this matter, finally having a bit of the feeling of an Emperor.

This matter exceeded everyone's expectations.

No one could have predicted that an Emperor like Liu Chan would be so bloodthirsty.

And was Liu Chan being unfilial?

In the name of filial piety, why did it result in such implication of others?

But then these people learned the reason.

The officials they impeached were all on the "name list" that Gu Chen had left for Liu Chan.

Upon hearing of this matter.

Everyone in the world who was dissatisfied with this matter fell silent.

Even though Gu Chen had been dead for many years;

—he was still able to suppress the world to the point where no one dared to have ulterior motives.

Under these circumstances, the "New Law" of the Great Han also spread rapidly throughout the world.

This matter was also a gradual process.

The tenth year of Yanxing;

the fourth official examination of the Great Han began once again.

Although the Great Han had been flourishing for these years, the official examination was still the matter that most stirred the hearts of the people.

The successive spread of "Elementary Learning" and "Book Collections."

Was also destined to make the workload of this matter become larger and larger.

But Zhuge Liang and the others, including the seventh-generation descendants of the Gu family, still chose to review it personally, and their attitude toward this matter was extremely focused.

Not only did they want to comfort the spirit of Gu Chen;

they also wanted to investigate to what level the overall standard of the common people had reached under these various systems.

Time is an invisible blade; they were no longer as young as they were in the beginning.

Compared to the past.

The results of this examination were much better.

Selecting talent from the whole world was simply much better than selecting talent from the aristocratic clans.

In fact, there were already quite a few commoners during the third official examination.

With the increase in scale.

This time, there were over a hundred offspring of commoners who made the cut.

Although they still had some gaps compared to those aristocratic clan descendants, this gap was also destined to be narrowed by time.

When the examination results were released.

Liu Chan still followed the previous practice, taking these results and the examinees' papers to offer sacrifices to Liu Bei and Gu Chen, and then announced the matter to the world.

—As the news spread, the four directions were stirred!

Under these repeated official examinations, this behavior had already taken root in the hearts of the common people of the world.

And as this thought completely took root and sprouted.

Then history was destined only to move forward.

If anyone wanted to completely restore the era where all official positions were monopolized by aristocratic clans, the anger of these common people would be enough to destroy everything.

The thirteenth year of Yanxing;

the population of the Great Han officially broke through the fifty million mark, reaching the peak of the Later Han.

And things did not exceed Gu Yi's expectations;

when the national strength of the Great Han had completely recovered, some people turned their eyes back to the Western Regions.

In fact, there are still some countries in the Western Regions that maintain smooth trade routes with the Great Han.

However, they have already completely broken away from the control of the Great Han.

The Gu Shizi were also powerless in this matter; under the circumstances at that time, the lineage of the Marquis of Huan could not possibly have held the entire Western Regions.

Now, the national strength of the Great Han has recovered.

The group of capable people in the imperial court will naturally set their sights on the Western Regions.

First, catch up to the Later Han; then, surpass the Later Han.

This has already become one of the lofty ideals of this group of fellows.

Zhuge Liang is extremely cautious about this.

Although he also knows that the current Great Han has the ability to recover the Western Regions, he cannot help but be cautious.

This is the personality of Zhuge Liang.

After several days of discussion, Zhuge Liang first sent envoys to the Western Regions, intending to summon the various countries of the Western Regions to surrender.

But the result of the matter did not exceed their expectations.

Some small countries in the Western Regions were naturally willing to submit.

But countries like Shule and Yanqi, which have already become hegemons in the Western Regions, were naturally unwilling to accept the surrender summons of the Great Han.

Being able to govern oneself and proclaim oneself king, who would be willing to proclaim themselves a vassal?

Of course, they were also not stupid enough to actively become enemies of the Great Han.

The prestige that Gu Chen carved out for the Great Han was enough to make them wary.

They also sent envoys to the Great Han.

They stated, "We are willing to trade with the Great Han and will absolutely not make things difficult for Great Han merchants, but we are unwilling to become a vassal of the Great Han."

Liu Chan did not take this to heart.

But whether it was Zhuge Liang and the others, or the descendants of the Gu Shizi.

Their attitude toward this was extremely firm.

Although Zhuge Liang's personality is cautious, when facing a goal, he is not a hesitant person.

It was under these circumstances.

—After many years, the Great Han raised its blade once again.

Zhuge Liang was even more concerned about this expedition of the Han Army.

This battle is of great significance to the Great Han.

It does not only involve whether the Western Regions can be recovered;

It is also to take this opportunity to let the barbarians in all directions, who have been gradually stirring as time passes, see just how terrifying the strength of the Great Han is!

Zhuge Liang did not mobilize the generals guarding the four frontiers.

Instead, he made Gu Wei the commander, and with a group of generals including Wei Yan and the contemporary Marquis of Huan, Gu Yu, led an army of fifty thousand to strike directly at the Western Regions.

The outcome of this battle was naturally destined long ago.

Although the various countries of the Western Regions have developed over these years, compared to the current Great Han, they are still far, far behind.

And the most critical point is—

The actions taken by Gu Chen before his death to weaken the barbarians in all directions caused the entire Western Regions to have a completely different transformation than in original history.

In original history.

Powerful countries in the Western Regions like Yanqi and Shule all had marriage alliances with the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and others.

This would naturally increase the difficulty of recovery.

But now it is different.

The internal conflicts among barbarians like the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Wuhuan have gradually unfolded with time; they could not possibly move troops to help the Western Regions.

Moreover, the current Great Han is not the Western Jin of history.

Even if they had their help, the outcome was destined to be impossible to reverse.

The fifteenth year of Yanxing;

The war in the Western Regions came to a complete end.

Gu Wei wiped out the anti-Han forces within the countries of Yanqi and Shule, re-established pro-Han people as kings, and recovered the various countries of the Western Regions one after another.

He brought the hostages of the various Western Regions countries back to the capital.

From this year on, the Great Han finally completely surpassed the Later Han.

Whether in national strength, or in population and territory, it surpassed the peak period of the Later Han.

Gu Yi had been watching all of this, and his heart was also somewhat shocked by it.

Although he had long anticipated that with the concerted governance of these capable people, the national strength of the Great Han would definitely develop extremely rapidly.

But he had not expected.

Everything would actually go so smoothly.

But the more this was the case, the more uneasy Gu Yi felt in his heart.

Historical correction is constant.

The appearance of the Gu Shizi and the establishment of the Yan Han have completely exceeded original history.

Whether from the change of dynasties or the emergence of systems, great changes have already appeared in various aspects.

Could it be that the correction has just disappeared like this?

And the most critical point is—

Gu Yi remembers very clearly that in original history, during the Three Kingdoms period and the early Western Jin, there were no small number of disasters in the Nine Provinces.

This was also one of the main reasons for the great population decline at that time.

Although Gu Chen ended the chaotic times early.

But dynasties can change, how could the natural phenomena and celestial signs change?

Although the Great Han has experienced some disasters over these years, compared to the disasters recorded in original history, they are still far less severe.

Gu Yi does not believe that celestial signs would suddenly change without any reason.

Although the influence of the Gu Shizi is already very great now, to say it is enough to change celestial signs.

How could that be possible?

This matter is destined to have undergone some change.

Although Gu Yi does not believe that with the current foundation of the Great Han, natural disasters could do anything to the Great Han.

But there is also a deep sense of unease in his heart.

For this reason, Gu Yi paid even more attention to the eighth generation of Gu Shizi descendants who were emerging one after another.

A peaceful world can indeed stimulate population growth.

Even the Gu Shizi are among them.

Compared to the previous predicament of the Gu Shizi regarding population, the number of eighth-generation descendants far exceeded Gu Yi's expectations.

But there are not many people with outstanding talent.

The only one worth Gu Yi's attention is a youth named "Gu Ye".

It is not because his attributes are excellent.

Compared to the attributes of the seventh-generation descendants, his attributes can only be considered average.

The reason Gu Yi truly noticed him—is mostly because of his personality.

Perhaps because the great changes in the world have caused a decline in the personal instruction and verbal teaching that the Gu Shizi once believed in, the personalities of the eighth-generation descendants are much more flighty.

The importance of the ancestral teachings that all family descendants once believed in and followed has decreased for these offspring.

For the eternal plan of the Gu Shizi, this is definitely a risk.

No matter what, Gu Yi must take action.

Even if it is to improve the internal environment of the Gu Shizi, he must re-establish the faith of the Gu Shizi in this generation!

————

"The Rule of Yanxing, as the turning point for the entire world to enter order from chaos, created the first prosperous era of comprehensive development in the medieval period of our country.

After ending the separatist turmoil at the end of the Eastern Han.

The Yan Han imperial court implemented a strategy of 'putting the people first,' achieving economic recovery through policies such as light corvée and low taxes, and encouraging agriculture and sericulture; the national cultivated land area increased by more than three times compared to the chaotic period, and the population continued to climb at an average annual growth rate of twelve per thousand.

Politically, it established the system of assessment for the recommendation of officials, pioneered a selection mechanism centered on the common people of the world, and set the precedent for the imperial examination system of later generations;

The 'New Code of Yanxing' formulated during this period established the legislative principle of 'Confucianism as the foundation, Legalism as the supplement,' and its clauses such as 'relatives concealing for each other' and 'reduced sentences for the old and young' influenced the legal codes of later generations for over a thousand years.

The 'outer Confucianism, inner Legalism' governance system formed during this period laid the basic characteristics of the legal system of later generations, and its governance experience of 'lenient punishment and simplified administration' and 'valuing agriculture and promoting education' provided a model for later prosperous eras to draw upon."

——"People's Education Press History Textbook (Grade 7, Volume 1)"

(End of this chapter)