Chapter 133: The Prophecy of the Golden Blade, Yang Jian!

This is a brilliant, magnificent age.

After many years of chaos, the land of the Nine Provinces has finally ushered in a modicum of peace.

The two Lius of the North and South stand in opposition—

And whether it be Liu Yu or Liu He.

Being able to emerge from among so many warlords is enough to demonstrate their extraordinary nature.

But precisely because of this;

To completely pacify the entire world is a difficult task for both of them.

The sky cannot have two suns, let alone two warlords surnamed Liu.

This dispute will not end.

And compared to the past, this struggle will be even more protracted.

The first year of Yongchu.

Liu Yu ascended the throne in Jiankang, the state name remained Han, and the era name was changed to "Yongchu."

Even though the world has been in great chaos until now.

The name of "Han" still rings loud; this can be seen simply from the fact that for all these years, the warlords have all been of the "Liu" clan.

A de facto rule lasting over six hundred years.

The impact this has had on the Nine Provinces is something no one can erase.

At the same time, Liu He also proclaimed himself Emperor, changing the era name to "Changjing."

Compared to Liu Yu.

As a descendant of Liu Chan, he only holds more of an advantage.

Both sides sent invitations to the Gu Shizi at almost the same time, as far as the current world is concerned.

If one of them could obtain the Gu Shizi.

Then it could be said that they would have the ability to unify the entire world!

Although the Gu Shizi is increasingly declining.

The prosperous age that the Gu Shizi brought when they were in power still remains in people's hearts!

This is the importance of the Gu Shizi.

But would the Gu Shizi ever emerge from seclusion?

From the moment the Gu Shizi chose this path at the very beginning, it was destined to remain in seclusion.

Gu Yi would even less allow the Gu Shizi to take action now.

He had observed both Liu Yu and Liu He.

Not to mention Liu Yu.

This Liu He is also quite extraordinary, worthy of being called a hero of the current age.

If they could obtain the help of the Gu Shizi, both of them would have the opportunity to unify the world, and perhaps even create another prosperous age.

But what of it?

Even if he were to manipulate the technology of this era for another revolution, once again increasing productivity.

This would ultimately only be on the surface.

The foundation of a feudal dynasty will not change; when the time comes, chaos will emerge once again.

And as the days of the Liu clan holding power grow longer.

This will cause the people of Huaxia to lose the most precious resilience in their bones, and the entire Nine Provinces will develop along completely different threads.

And the Gu Shizi will also bear the weight of this.

Not only might the family descendants become more ordinary, but even their most basic reputation will change.

If it truly reached that point—

Having already exhausted all his achievement points, what could he possibly change?

All that would remain for the Gu Shizi is total defeat and destruction!

The Nine Provinces need change.

History also needs different heroes to stand out and create their own myths on this land filled with countless legends.

This is the core of historical development.

Gu Yi does not need to take action; with the ancestral teachings and family righteousness he had Gu Ye repair back then.

The family descendants will also follow all of this.

They will not choose to take sides for the family during this sensitive period.

This move made the situation between the two even more deadlocked.

Liu Yu is indeed extraordinary.

Compared to Liu He, his bloodline is actually much further removed, but the fact that he could reach this point today demonstrates his ability.

The importance of the hearts of the people is especially prominent at such a time.

Being able to gain the support of more commoners means having stronger military forces and grain supplies.

He spared no effort to restore the policies of the past, and used this to declare his attitude toward the Gu Shizi.

But Liu He is not a fool either.

On the contrary, occupying the north gives him a greater advantage.

—The ancestral land of the Gu Shizi is in Julu!

This gives him more opportunities to perform superficial gestures, and both sides competed under these circumstances.

At the same time, their friction never ceased.

But that is how chaotic times are.

When heroes rise together, it is not too difficult to destroy a warlord.

But the current situation of the North and South has already been established.

And since the talents of the two monarchs are not much different, it is not so easy to directly decide the winner in such a situation.

Gradually, both Liu Yu and Liu He discovered this point.

Upon realizing that they could not unify the world in a short time.

They immediately carried out a series of reforms centered on national strength and state policy.

Rectifying the administration and suppressing powerful clans;

The things the Gu Shizi once did were well implemented by them.

Besides this, both men also displayed their own methods.

Competition promotes progress.

This is true in any era.

The two Hans of the North and South, according to their respective geographical conditions, constantly developed their own industries.

Even Gu Yi had to admit.

These two definitely count as heroes of this era, but it is precisely because of this that the difficulty of their unification was intensified.

The road to becoming an emperor has always been a lonely path, allowing only one person to walk it.

Time passed in a hurry.

Liu Yu and Liu He attacked each other in these chaotic times, with both sides having their victories and defeats.

Disputes raged across the world.

No matter how extraordinary these two emperors were, they eventually fell to the passage of time, passing away one after another while harboring infinite ambition.

Time is ruthless—

Even the greatest heroes, no matter how extraordinary their aspirations, will dissipate in the passage of time.

And with the passing of the two.

The world ushered in a rare, brief period of peace.

Whether it be Liu Yu or Liu He.

Both men placed great importance on the education of their heirs; their heirs were all capable people who fully inherited the state policies they had formulated for the country.

But they were also different from them.

These two did not have such a strong desire for unification.

They were more focused on domestic development; according to them, even if they started a war, it would only affect national strength.

Now that the strength of both sides was close, it was better to wait.

It is precisely because of this.

—A peaceful age returned to the Nine Provinces.

But how long could this last?

Not every emperor can inherit the will of their ancestors; this has nothing to do with education and is entirely due to personality.

Especially at a time when the world is divided in two like this.

There will always be an ambitious emperor who will restart this war of unification.

The great war began again.

But under the current circumstances, unless one is a hero of the ages, how could one pacify the world?

As time continued to pass, the drawbacks of the feudal dynasty were once again displayed in full.

Both sides gradually shifted into a contest of who could be worse.

With the departure of the crowd of enlightened monarchs and virtuous ministers, history seemed to return once again to that anchor point.

It is just that—

This time, no figure like Gu Chen appeared who was capable of suppressing an entire era.

The entire world, following the gradual withdrawal of the Gu Shizi, was returning to the path it was originally supposed to follow.

Although there was still the influence brought by the Gu Shizi within this.

But these were only minor matters.

Regarding major events, history was gradually converging.

The dynasties of Liu Yu and Liu He did not last long.

The emperors were incompetent, and the administration was corrupt;

Serious problems that only appear in the final years of a dynasty descended upon their dynasties very early on.

The world also evolved once again from a North-South struggle into internal attrition.

The lesson of history is that it never learns its lesson.

Warlords from all four directions vied for the imperial throne during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and turmoil rose again in every region.

If there was any difference, it was that they all bore the surname Liu.

Whether they were warlords who rose up on their own, or puppets controlled by others.

The surname "Liu" seemed to have become an admission ticket.

Only with this admission ticket could one participate in this struggle and create a legend of one's own.

But the chaos of the world still had not ceased.

Gu Yi never once took action, silently watching the Gu Shizi and silently watching the world.

They sensed the changes in the human heart from all sorts of clues.

As the world remained unsettled.

A question hidden deep within people's hearts was finally raised again.

"Why is it that only those with the surname Liu can rule the world?"

This was absolutely a major breakthrough.

Facing a world that remained in chaos, the ambitious heroes belonging to this era were finally unwilling to be controlled by others and thought of this point.

The world had been in chaos for many years, and warlords with the surname Liu were as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river.

If the Liu surname truly still had the protection of Heaven's Mandate, why was the world never at peace?

Various rumors emerged one after another.

This naturally brought up the Gu Shizi, under the fermentation of various rumors.

Finally, someone spoke of the matter of the Liu clan abandoning the Gu Shizi and losing Heaven's favor.

There were people deliberately spreading this matter, but no one ever took that step.

Even if people with different surnames emerged.

They would still crown themselves with the outer garment of the Liu surname; everything still required time.

Dynasties constantly alternated.

Although this series of dynasties all upheld the name "Han."

But under the continuous chaos, it seemed to be getting further and further away from completely unifying the world.

Yet where there is chaos, there will be order.

Finally, someone stood out amidst the changes of the era.

The second year of Daxiang.

Northern Han.

Yang Jian looked at the emperor playing with palace maids in the imperial palace, a trace of disgust flashing through his sharp eyes.

"Trash!"

Although the person inside was the emperor of Northern Han, he still did not hide his disgust for him.

As a minister entrusted with the orphan of Northern Han, the most powerful Left Chancellor in the court, he had also repeatedly performed military exploits over these years.

Yang Jian's power within Northern Han was incomparable to others.

He naturally did not care about this little emperor who only knew how to play.

Yang Jian was truly very angry.

He did not even have the desire to see the emperor; after cursing, he turned and left, departing the imperial palace.

He ordered his confidants to be summoned.

As an entrusted chancellor, he possessed the authority to establish his own office.

And his charisma and ability directly attracted a group of confidants loyal to him.

In fact, Yang Jian had long been very dissatisfied.

His father, Yang Zhong, had been a great contributor to Northern Han, completely incomparable to those few incompetent rulers.

In this era of great chaos, he still had to take orders from others.

All that was missing was a surname.

The Chancellor's Mansion.

The confidants arrived one after another, and as soon as they entered the hall, they noticed that Yang Jian's expression was wrong.

"Why is the Chancellor angry?"

Everyone was Yang Jian's confidant, and there was nothing to hide, so they asked directly.

"I just went to the imperial palace!"

Yang Jian did not hide it either, speaking directly while staring intently at them: "His Majesty knew I was coming, yet he was still frolicking with palace maids."

"This is an incompetent ruler!"

The atmosphere in the hall changed instantly.

Hearing such words from Yang Jian, no matter who it was, they would feel terrified.

But after all, these people were his confidants.

Especially those military generals who had fought great victories with him, they asked directly: "What does the Chancellor intend to do?"

"Hmph!" Yang Jian snorted coldly, his eyes sweeping over the crowd, his voice like iron, "The world has been in chaos for many years."

"Since the Li Emperor, the various Lius have taken the stage."

"But how is this world?"

His expression did not waver at all, as if he had been thinking about this question for a very long time: "The fighting has yet to cease!"

"I aspire to pacify the world in my lifetime and rebuild the state."

"But if this incompetent ruler is on the throne—"

He did not continue, but the meaning in his words was very obvious.

"Does the Chancellor wish to do what Huo Guang did?" someone immediately asked.

Depose the emperor!

This was something only a powerful minister like Yang Jian could do.

But a trace of disappointment flashed in Yang Jian's eyes, though he still nodded:

"For the sake of the world, it should be so!"

Hearing this, the crowd was silent for a moment, then immediately nodded.

Yang Jian then immediately told everyone his plan.

After the discussion was finished, he waved his hand, signaling everyone to leave, but kept his most valued strategist, Gao Jiong.

"Does the Chancellor have something else to say?" Gao Jiong seemed to have expected it, but did not point it out.

Seeing through things without speaking of them—that is what a smart person does.

Yang Jian did not hide it either, staring intently at Gao Jiong, and said directly: "Zhaoxuan."

"I do not understand."

"Why must this emperor be someone of the Liu clan?"

He spoke very directly.

Although Gao Jiong had long guessed it, his expression could not help but change slightly.

"With the world in chaos until now, is there not one among the Liu emperors capable of pacifying the world?"

"Does this not mean that the Liu clan has already lost Heaven's Mandate?"

"Hmph!"

Yang Jian snorted coldly and slowly stood up: "Think back to the time of the former Qin; were there any Liu warlords among the ten thousand states of the world?"

"The Gaozu Liu Bang was no ordinary man, able to rise from such a background."

"Yet, looking at the Liu heroes of the world today."

"How many have the spirit of the Gaozu and Guangwu of the past?"

His tone paused slightly; at this moment, he happened to walk in front of Gao Jiong, and under Gao Jiong's astonished expression, he continued with a few words:

"I often think—"

"Without the ability of the Zhaolie Marquis, would even the Zhongzu Zhaowu Emperor truly be able to pacify the world again?"

"Ever since the Li Emperor rejected the Gu Shizi..."

"Where in this world can one see that the Liu clan is chosen by Heaven?"

"Spanning north to south, they are all mere petty villains!"

———A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering declaration!

Although people's hearts had been gradually wavering over these years, this was the first time Gao Jiong had heard someone even mention Liu Bei.

His expression was extremely complex.

Even though he had long since made thorough preparations, at this very moment, his heart was still difficult to calm.

But Gao Jiong was likewise no ordinary man.

He simply remained silent for a moment, then immediately bowed toward Yang Jian; without asking what Yang Jian intended to do, he firmly made a promise:

"No matter what the Chancellor intends to do, I am willing to accept your command."

"Even if the undertaking does not succeed, I do not fear the disaster of extermination."

His voice was also resonant and firm.

Yang Jian’s eyes suddenly brightened; he immediately grasped Gao Jiong’s hand and laughed aloud, saying:

"Good!"

(End of chapter)