Chapter 1159: Untitled

The top-tier aristocratic families of the current Liu Han Dynasty, besides possessing a powerful foundation, also require strength. The foundation is simple: possessing a history of several thousand years or even longer, a long-standing family Inheritance, and sufficient influence within the Imperial Court.

As for strength, it is naturally martial power; individual martial power is also necessary.

Otherwise, relying solely on the official prestige of the Imperial Court would actually be greatly discounted. If the Imperial Court were at its peak, then even if you were merely a mortal without strength, as long as you held a high-ranking official position in a province, there would likely be no local forces daring to defy you.

After all, you represent the Imperial Court, and a single decree from the Imperial Court is enough to wipe out a scholar-official clan.

However, once the Imperial Court declines and the central deterrent force is greatly reduced, then without strength, even if you rely on the influence of the Imperial Court, the family will gradually decline.

This is still an extraordinary era; a single Refining Spirit Realm expert is enough to have a great impact.

The Liu Han Dynasty has a full one hundred and eight provinces; practitioners at the Refining Spirit Realm are considered the pinnacle within a province, and in many provinces, there are not even any Refining Spirit Realm powerhouses.

The Zhang Clan is able to become the greatest clan in Yanmen and the top-tier scholar-official clan in Bingzhou precisely because of the emergence of Zhang Hu.

Otherwise, the Yanmen Zhang Clan of the past only had influence within Yanmen Commandery and was merely a local scholar-official clan.

But ever since Zhang Hu rose to prominence, the Zhang Clan leaped to become a province-level family, and in the context of the entire Liu Han Dynasty, they can also be considered a first-rate scholar-official clan.

Of course, among the first-rate, they belong to the lower end.

Because the Zhang Clan's foundation is insufficient; despite having one martial powerhouse at the Refining Spirit Realm, the Zhang Clan is lacking in other aspects, especially regarding their foundation and influence within the Imperial Court.

Regardless, the righteousness of the Liu Han Dynasty still remains.

Some first-rate families may not have a Refining Spirit Realm expert and only have Golden Core practitioners, but they have held high-ranking positions in the central and local governments for years, and their influence on the Imperial Court and the local regions is immense.

For example, the Wang Clan of Taiyuan in Bingzhou; the Wang Clan has not had a Refining Spirit Realm powerhouse for several generations, but they are the recognized number one scholar-official clan in Bingzhou, and within the Liu Han Dynasty, they are also considered an old-money, first-rate scholar-official clan.

They not only have extremely high influence in Bingzhou, but they also have influence in the center of the Liu Han Dynasty.

They have produced several of the Three Dukes, and currently, they still have a high-ranking official whose status is comparable to the Nine Ministers.

There are also several high-ranking officials and dignitaries serving as Provincial Governors in the local regions; such influence is far from what the Zhang Clan can compare to.

Although the Zhang Clan has also developed over these thousand years, most of their members have come from the military, and the highest rank attained was merely a Wupin General at the border.

And that was not even a general at the center.

Regardless, local generals naturally cannot compare to central generals.

Zhang Hu himself is the Commandery Commandant of Yanmen Commandery, considered the second-in-command of a commandery, and the Zhang Clan has produced many such Commandery Commandants.

However, their influence is limited to the few commanderies and counties around Yanmen Commandery.

Compared to an old-money family like the Wang Clan that spans several provinces, they are still quite inferior.

Of course, Zhang Hu alone is enough to elevate the Zhang Clan into the ranks of first-rate scholar-official clans, and with just a few hundred more years, the Zhang Clan could also gradually influence Bingzhou and the surrounding provinces and commanderies.

By then, it would not just be the military; the Zhang Clan could also reach into the local government offices, and only then could the Zhang Clan become comparable to an old-money, first-rate scholar-official clan.

This is the role of a powerhouse.

Although some families lack a foundation, as long as a powerhouse appears, they can quickly bring the family to a higher status, then slowly develop and increase their foundation; in a few hundred years, they might be able to catch up.

The Zhang Clan originally had this intention.

As long as no accidents befall Zhang Hu, a powerhouse at the Refining Spirit Realm martial Dao primordial spirit level—even if they cannot live as long as a Taoist practitioner at the Refining Spirit Realm—can live for two or three thousand years without any problem.

Even if their cultivation in the early stages might have damaged their origin, they can still live for at least a thousand years regardless.

With a thousand years of time, leading the family with a Refining Spirit Realm expert can definitely make the family a cut above the rest.

The Refining Spirit Realm is already considered a hegemon-level expert in the Jiuzhou of the Liu Han Dynasty; one Refining Spirit Realm expert is enough to give birth to a first-rate family.

In the Liu Han Dynasty, how many first-rate families are there? At most a hundred, and most of them have survived since the Great Qin.

That the Zhang Clan reached the first-rate within a thousand years shows the overbearing nature of this Refining Spirit Realm.

If even the Refining Spirit Realm has such powerful influence, let alone the Earth Immortal Realm.

The Earth Immortal Realm is enough to influence a nation.

Whether they are Taoist practitioners, martial Dao powerhouses, or the demon race or Barbarian Race Sacrificial Priests, those at the Earth Immortal Realm are all at the level of national protectors.

The Liu Han Dynasty is the strongest in Jiuzhou, followed by the Barbarian Race, and then the Nanyue and several other foreign races.

As for the demon race and spirits, they still exist in Jiuzhou; after all, they are always present among the mountains and rivers.

But the spirits of Jiuzhou naturally cannot amount to much.

The Liu Han Dynasty has the largest number of Earth Immortal Realm experts; whether it is the dynasty itself or some hidden powers, there is no lack of Earth Immortal Realm experts.

Especially on the side of the Taoist Sect; the Taoist Sect is most adept at hiding, from the Taoism of the Pre-Qin period to the Taoist Sect of today's Jiuzhou.

Although most of the Taoist Sect's forces have already pulled out of Jiuzhou, that does not mean the Taoist Sect has completely withdrawn.

They still left behind parts, as well as some lucky individuals who obtained the Inheritance of the Taoist Sect.

In this regard, the Taoist Sect always seems to have a bit of a hobby: leaving some Inheritances in the mountains and rivers for people to discover, inherit, and embark on the path of cultivation.

That Zhang Jiao is one of them.

As a national-protector-level power, once any scholar-official clan can give birth to such a person, even the Liu Han Dynasty would not dare to be negligent and would directly grant them the title of Duke.

There is no saying here that only the Liu Clan can be called a Duke.

When the Liu Han conquered the world, they also enfeoffed many Dukes, among whom the most famous were the Twelve Dukes.

Those were the fierce generals who followed the Liu Han to conquer the world, and some even reached the level of martial Dao Earth Immortal.

After the Liu Han won the world, they did not take action against these dukes of different surnames; at most, they reduced some of their military power.

They did not even manage to achieve the "releasing military power with a cup of wine," and many dukes still controlled a certain amount of troops.

For example, Yuanzhou in Beidi; that is the territory of a duke, with a whole province as the other party's territory.

Of course, Yuanzhou is located on the border, directly facing the Xiongnu of the north, so it cannot be considered a good territory.

But regardless, it is also very large; a province has a full nine commanderies and at least ten million people.

The Imperial Court only collects one-tenth of the taxes from here, and the remaining taxes are collected by the Duke's mansion.

This is also a large sum of wealth.

Of course, the Imperial Court will not bother with resisting the northern Xiongnu, and it is entirely up to the Yuan Duke's mansion to handle it.

The current Yuan Duke is already the sixth generation; the original old Duke disappeared long ago—whether he died or left, no one knows.

However, the Prince of Yuan's Estate has always been stationed in Yuanzhou, and can be considered one of the most important forces of the Northern Border Army.