Chapter 54: Break Before Standing: The Great Peace Dao

Unlike the passing of the previous emperors.

Liu Zhi's death did not cause much of a stir in the world of today.

And who would care?

For the common people of the great Han today, only when the threat of death is lifted will they care about anything more.

The Emperor's passing holds not the slightest value to them now.

Luoyang.

After a gap of three years, Gu Xi returned to the city of Luoyang once more.

He was already nearly eighty years old.

Yet his entire being seemed to have gained a touch of vitality, and even his hunched frame appeared to have improved somewhat.

That's right, Gu Xi no longer wished to die.

He had already seen through everything.

He planned to stake everything on one final throw for the great Han.

This shift in mindset did have its effect.

He first went to pay his respects to Liu Zhi, then went to meet the current Emperor.

—Liu Hong.

Liu Zhi's death was bound to cause an imbalance of power.

The eunuchs who had once followed Liu Zhi in their abuses of power had long since been subjected to a severe purge.

The scholars' fury had been bottled up for far too many years.

This was the clever part of Liu Zhi's plan.

He had deliberately arranged things this way so that Liu Hong, the new sovereign, could quickly secure his throne by purging the eunuchs.

It was indeed a very good method.

Liu Hong tacitly approved the scholars' counterattack, which earned him a decent reputation among them and also helped him secure his throne.

But perhaps Liu Zhi had said something to him.

He was just like Liu Zhi.

When facing Gu Xi, his attitude was extremely warm, and he humbly positioned himself entirely as a junior.

Yet he showed not the slightest intention of inviting Gu Xi back to court.

And this time, the scholars' attitude had also gradually changed.

The fickle nature of human hearts can be seen in this very thing.

In the scholars' hearts today, Liu Hong was completely different from the Liu Zhi of before.

He had given these scholars hope.

Under such circumstances, these court officials and scholars no longer wanted Gu Xi to return to court as urgently as before.

Human hearts have always been this way.

When this news spread once more from Luoyang, reactions across the realm were enormous.

The new sovereign's attitude.

It was as if it had snuffed out the last flicker of hope they had, and disturbances arose one after another across the land.

But the scholars' rising momentum swiftly crushed these rebellions.

The situation across the realm once again returned to that brink of collapse.

What surprised Gu Yi was that Gu Xi truly had no particular moves.

He had assumed.

That Gu Xi would ultimately take that step.

Seize sole control of the court, and with his greatest effort, fight once more for the entire realm.

After all, he had already grasped the root cause of the current situation.

Yet Gu Xi had truly quieted down, even more so than before.

He stayed within the Champion Marquis's residence, teaching the sixth generation of the Gu clan, and no longer even met with court officials or scholars.

This truly left Gu Yi utterly astonished.

The Champion Marquis's residence.

Gu Xi was explaining his deeply considered thoughts to the sixth generation of the Gu clan.

The sixth generation of the Gu clan were all no longer young in age now.

Although none of them had yet entered court as officials.

Each and every one of them could already offer unique insights into the current state of the court.

This was where the strength of the Gu clan's education lay.

Listening to Gu Xi's explanation, Gu Wei was silent for a long time, then could not help but frown and ask: "Grandfather, if this matter truly proceeds as you say, will it not be aimed at our Gu clan?"

He had already forgotten the words he had spoken in his childhood.

Now, already influenced by the limitations of his era, Gu Xi had only just brought up surveying fields and restricting the great clans, and he had already thought of this point.

"What our Gu clan seeks has never been a momentary gain."

Gu Xi's expression did not change in the slightest as he looked at the few before him and answered: "Just as in the past, when our ancestor, the Loyal and Martial Marquis, returned to Hebei, and the Wencheng Marquis delegated great authority."

"If this matter is never resolved."

"I foresee it will surely become a great calamity in the future, and even our Gu clan will not be able to escape it."

"Moreover, our Gu clan's ambition spans ten thousand generations."

"What is there to care about in a momentary gain like this?"

His expression was utterly serious.

Over this period, he had thought about this issue more than once.

The common people would never endure such treatment indefinitely.

If things remained this way, given time, their fury would destroy everything.

Upon hearing this, Gu Wei immediately fell into deep thought.

The other Gu clan youths were the same.

Only after a moment did they nod one after another, as if understanding the underlying principle.

"Grandfather."

Gu Wei frowned slightly and spoke solemnly: "I believe this matter is not as easy to accomplish as it seems."

"Across the realm, powerful clans are seizing land."

"Even our own Gu clan is among them."

"But will other great clans possess the resolve to cut off their own limbs, as our Gu clan has?"

He truly is a gifted child.

Just like Gu Xi in his youth, his perspective on any matter was exceptionally precise.

The only flaw was that Gu Yi felt his personality was somewhat arrogant—more arrogant than Gu Xi had been in his youth.

Upon hearing this, Gu Xi smiled: "Good."

"This matter is indeed difficult."

"That is why I have allowed court affairs to shift, showing I will not involve myself."

Gu Xi's expression suddenly turned solemn.

This time, the Gu clan youths were somewhat bewildered.

Even the most brilliant among them could not possibly fully grasp Gu Xi's deeper intent?

Facing his own descendants, Gu Xi revealed nothing: "The difficulty of this matter far exceeds anything before."

"The realm will descend into chaos."

"Only after destruction can something new be built."

His gaze grew sharp again, fixed tightly upon the gathering of Gu clan youths.

"I do not know how much longer I may live."

"But you, my descendants, must remember."

"Even if I truly die, should you ever gain such an opportunity in the future, you must carry out this act."

Everyone nodded in unison.

Only Gu Chen, barely over four years old, remained confused, his expression slightly vacant.

Gu Yi had been observing all of this closely, and his heart was deeply shaken.

Indeed, the Gu clan youths are no doubt flexible in their moral boundaries.

Gu Xi is clearly waiting for destruction to precede renewal.

In fact, this was inevitable.

The scholar-official clans of today would never support Gu Xi's land survey, let alone his subsequent restrictions on the great clans.

Moreover, this is not the most critical point.

Gu Xi also wishes to grant the common people of the realm greater opportunities, to expand the examination standards for recommendations.

This is equivalent to redistributing resources.

Should he propose this at all.

He would likely face the entire realm alone.

The current situation is vastly different from the time of Liu Xiu and Liu Zhuang.

The power of the great clans and their entangled interests far surpass those of that era.

Only destruction followed by renewal might offer a sliver of hope—clearly, this is the very reason Gu Xi disregards the court!

Gu Yi was profoundly shaken by this.

He did not know whether this plan would succeed.

But compared to the late Eastern Han of the original history, this endeavor need not be utterly hopeless!

But on one condition: Gu Xi must not die!

Yet how could Gu Xi possibly avoid death?

The Longevity Card is indeed a divine artifact.

But he is already over eighty years old.

Human lifespan has its limits; ancient and modern humans do not live equally long.

According to modern scientific inquiry, the natural human lifespan maxes out between 120 and 150 years.

Many factors contribute to this.

Modern humans consume nutritional components inaccessible to ancients.

Based on Gu Yi's estimation, Gu Xi likely would not survive past one hundred.

Could he truly live to see that day?

If Gu Xi dies, unless one of the Gu clan youths reaches his level,

Gu Yi looked again at these sixth-generation Gu clan youths, mentally reviewing each of their personalities.

He had been observing them for some time.

After all, barring unforeseen circumstances, the ones he would soon control were among them.

Among the sixth generation of the Gu clan, Gu Wei naturally took the lead.

Even Gu Xi held great regard for this grandson of his.

He believed Gu Wei would be the one to bear the future of the Gu clan.

But Gu Yi did not think so.

Gu Wei's attributes were indeed decent, but at best they matched Gu Liang's—and his temperament was even worse than Gu Liang's.

And most crucially, the coming period differed entirely from the one Gu Liang had faced.

What lay ahead was an era of great historical upheaval.

Although the Han Dynasty had already changed, Gu Yi could not ignore this fact.

When exactly was this coming period?

It was an era famed throughout the entire sweep of history, producing countless heroes and outstanding figures.

Would Gu Wei's attributes suffice?

Clearly not.

Only Gu Yi could take direct control.

What Gu Yi cared about most was Gu Chen.

Ever since using the "Wall-Breaking Card."

Gu Chen's every attribute had turned to question marks—even Gu Yi could not probe them.

The attribute changes from the Wall-Breaking Card seemed to depend on a passage of time.

Gu Chen was now four years old.

Yet he still showed no obvious change in attributes.

Compared to children his age, his current performance was indeed far inferior.

But Gu Yi had still observed certain aspects of his personality.

Gu Chen possessed an unyielding spirit.

This was an exceedingly rare trait.

It could be seen clearly from how he learned to walk.

Even after falling many times, he never cried; his youthful eyes burned with determination.

Precisely because of this, Gu Yi grew ever more hopeful for the child's future.

Compared to Liu Zhi, who had been educated by Gu Xi,

Liu Hong was vastly inferior.

He was exactly as he had been in the original history.

Indeed, having been spared the period of power struggles, his weaknesses had erupted even faster.

He began selling official posts and noble titles, far exceeding Liu Zhi's level.

And he continuously undertook massive construction projects.

He collected rare treasures and exotic artifacts for his own amusement.

The scholar-officials would not change.

From the moment they rose, imperial authority would weaken.

But neither the imperial relatives nor the eunuchs could tolerate the erosion of imperial power.

They could monopolize power—but no one else could.

Liu Hong would never watch passively as the scholar-officials grew powerful again and threatened imperial authority.

——The party strife reemerged.

Under Liu Hong's deliberate maneuvering, the eunuchs rose again, launching a crackdown on the scholar-officials.

He successively reorganized official appointments.

He established the Palace Attendant Office to restrain the Ministry of State Affairs and weaken the scholar-officials' real power.

All of this was a replay of past events.

Moreover, Liu Hong's favoritism toward the eunuchs far surpassed Liu Zhi's.

A massive upheaval in court and state!

From the moment Liu Hong secured the throne, these scholar-officials had already fallen into a natural disadvantage.

Their struggle once again triggered administrative turmoil.

——In the fourth year of Jianning.

When the Inspector of Shan Yang Commandery, Zhang Jian, impeached the Senior Eunuch Hou Lan for harassing the people, the conflict between eunuchs and scholar-officials reached its peak.

The eunuch Cao Jie falsely accused the party members of treason.

From then on, the Party Censorship reappeared.

And this time, Liu Hong's methods far exceeded those of the former Liu Zhi—he purged party members across the empire.

The Governor of Yongchang, Cao Luan, submitted a memorial pleading for the party members' innocence and demanding their rehabilitation.

Liu Hong flew into a rage, had him arrested and brought back to the capital, where he was tortured to death in prison.

And he launched an even larger purge.

Suddenly, the entire empire was in an uproar.

The scholar-officials once again turned to Gu Xi, begging him to intervene.

At first, Gu Xi still refused to meet them.

But as more and more came, he could no longer avoid seeing some of them.

Yet how could he possibly intervene?

Summoned, they come; dismissed, they leave?

Gu Xi holds grudges.

Having decided to break and then rebuild, he could not possibly involve himself in such matters.

He simply dismissed them all under the excuse of old age.

This naturally emboldened the eunuchs further.

For a time, the entire Han Dynasty sank into gloom.

Gu Xi did not involve himself in any of this.

He even began to cultivate Qi.

Gu Yi could clearly sense Gu Xi's shift in mindset.

This shift was far too obvious.

It had taken him from being willing to face death without hesitation, to now gradually valuing his life.

He was waiting for an opportunity.

Waiting for an opportunity to utterly overturn the Han Dynasty and break, then rebuild!

Of course, he still paid close attention to the state of the realm.

Now, refugees across the Han territories were increasing dramatically—doubling in number.

What surprised him greatly was:

These refugees had not yet sparked major uprisings.

It was said a sect called the Way of Great Peace had appeared, calming the hearts of refugees across the land.

Its growth far surpassed anyone's imagination.

It had even begun to overshadow Gu Xi's reputation among the common people.

Rumors spread that the leader of the Way of Great Peace possessed immortal arts, healing the sick with talismans.

Though the imperial court regarded Zhang Jiao as skilled in civilizing the people, preventing refugees from rebelling, and held him in high regard,

Gu Xi could sense otherwise.

The opportunity he was waiting for was likely tied to this Way of Great Peace.

The scale of the Way of Great Peace.

Should any unexpected event occur, it would surely shake the entire Han Dynasty.

Gu Xi had specifically sent men to investigate Zhang Jiao.

But he had not expected—when he investigated, he was stunned.

—Zhang Jiao had come from the Gu family's private academy.

This news truly startled Gu Xi; he immediately ordered Zhang Jiao's dossier brought to him.

After reading it, he became even more certain of his inner thought.

Zhang Jiao was no ordinary man.

Indeed, on a night in March of Jianning Fourth Year,

Gu Xi suddenly received a letter.

The letter's content was simple.

"Within months, I shall restore Lord Gu to power."

Looking at the letter, Gu Xi furrowed his brows, as if he had already sensed something.

At this moment, Gu Yi was also deeply astonished.

He never imagined events would change so drastically.

He had long noticed the Way of Great Peace, but never realized Zhang Jiao had such a background.

And judging by its current trajectory,

Zhang Jiao's Way of Great Peace would far surpass its original historical course.

This was due to the Han Dynasty's increased population, and his adoption of certain Gu family methods.

These were among the reasons.

What concerned Gu Yi most was whether Zhang Jiao would act prematurely.

If he truly did,

then the historical divergence would be too great.

Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and others were still far from fully grown!

Then what would history become?

If chaos arrived, how utterly shattered would Shenzhou become?

Even Gu Yi could not fully determine any of this.

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(End of chapter)