[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten":3,"chapter-simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-222":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Simulated to Reality: I Once Looked Down Upon Ten Thousand Ages?",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2347237,4587,"Chapter 222: The Hearts of the Five Nations, an Unsolved Puzzle","simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-222",222,"\u003Cp>Gongsun Pingxi and Gongsun Zhongshu were distant cousins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Gongsun clan was the most renowned scholarly surname in Da Chu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When mentioning Bai Lu Academy, one of the most famous schools in the world, students could not help but feel reverence, for its last three heads of school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All came from the Gongsun noble family, demonstrating the depth of its scholarly tradition and academic prestige.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Ke, upon reading this, suddenly recalled the five-nation conflict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Imagine the countryside: those who could read and write were few and far between, like phoenix feathers or unicorn horns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All great clans possessed libraries; indeed, anyone with a private library was a great clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knowledge was monopolized by the elite!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Gongsun family had effectively bet on both Qianyuan and Da Chu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It made Yu Ke think of another family that had bet on three nations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was an era of entrenched aristocratic clans; imperial power was merely the strongest of these clans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The realm itself rested upon the rise and fall of these families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Ke continued flipping through the Han records.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first name that met his eyes was the current emperor of Han.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuwen Yan!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This young emperor, having ascended the throne eight years ago, finally shattered the eunuchs’ shackles, reclaimed imperial authority, and transformed from a puppet into a true Son of Heaven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Han had suffered two centuries of eunuch tyranny, with the Divine Strategy Army under the control of the Grand Eunuch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In court, eunuchs could draft edicts and dismiss ministers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the emperor had to bow to their will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, governance grew corrupt; the Grand Eunuch called himself “Ninety-Nine Hundred Years,” equating himself with emperors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The records detailed how imperial succession was manipulated by eunuchs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five generations of Han emperors had failed to break free from the two-century-long eunuch dictatorship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Han’s ruling power was firmly held in the hands of eunuchs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Think back then!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The former emperor of Han could not escape the eunuchs’ curse; driven to despair, he died in depression, leaving no heir to succeed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At his deathbed, his eyes filled with tears, he cried in anguish: “I shame my ancestors! Past rulers were constrained by feudal lords—I, however, fell into the hands of household slaves, eunuchs!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three days after the emperor’s death, the eunuchs slowly and leisurely arranged the funeral, as if the nation’s greatest matter were but a child’s play.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A state cannot be without a ruler; at that time, the Grand Eunuch Han Zhong held supreme power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He casually selected a distant branch member of the Yuwen clan to continue the dynasty, and coldly instructed the imperial messenger:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bring the tallest one to the palace!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The messenger’s cry echoed before the thirteen princely mansions:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bring the tallest one! Bring the tallest one! The tallest one shall enter the palace and become emperor!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, the crowd was bewildered; then someone suddenly understood and pointed to Prince Ying:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Prince Ying is tall! Prince Ying is tall! He’s the tallest—he must be the one!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prince Ying was hastily brought into the palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tallest” did not mean physically tall—it meant oldest in age.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A ridiculous misunderstanding, laughable and absurd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Han Zhong paid no mind; he merely smiled faintly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It doesn’t matter. Whoever becomes emperor is but my puppet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That Prince Ying was Yuwen Yan!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet no one had anticipated!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This Prince Ying was a man of hidden brilliance and grand strategy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For eight years, he bided his time, quietly gathering strength, waiting for the moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside Ganlu Temple, he struck like thunder, personally slaying the all-powerful Grand Eunuch Han Zhong, ending Han’s two-century-long eunuch dictatorship in one blow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reclaiming imperial authority, he planned with foresight, pushed bold reforms, established a cabinet to balance court factions, and firmly controlled the military to consolidate his power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuwen Yan, as a youth, was obsessed with Daoism; in middle age, he embraced Buddhism, making it the state religion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Ke gently stroked the pages, silently pondering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Han was vast and flat, dotted with lakes, renowned as the “Land of a Thousand Lakes,” blessed with Detianduhou  geography; its territory even surpassed Chu’s, making it one of the five nations’ richest lands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In past years, under eunuch rule, the economy stagnated; Han was the weakest among the five nations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After ascending the throne, Yuwen Yan vigorously pushed reforms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Ke gently turned to the second page of the record.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xian!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was currently Han’s Grand Marshal, also honored as Grand Tutor; at sixteen, he topped all three imperial examinations, ranking first, a genius whose path should have been smooth and swift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, facing eunuch tyranny, he chose a different path—wandering mountains and rivers, retreating from the world, traveling among the states.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when Yuwen Yan killed Grand Eunuch Han Zhong and reshaped Han’s politics did Li Xian return home and open a private academy to teach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuwen Yan, hearing of his virtue, personally visited him in humble attire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At thirty-six, Li Xian rose to become Han’s Grand Marshal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before leaving, Li Xian gave his students one final lesson, smiling at the Confucian scholars in his classroom:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Studying can bring peace to the realm!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xian began dedicating himself to reform.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Externally, he actively pursued marriage alliances with Chu, strengthening their alliance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Internally, he carried out sweeping reforms to allow the people rest and recovery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He reformed the imperial examination system, reopening upward mobility for humble-born scholars and valuing talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also encouraged grain production to secure the people’s livelihood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More profoundly, Li Xian advocated relocating the capital to Ji’an.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He suppressed local aristocratic and noble clans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He established marketplaces in Han and Chu, issued new currency, introduced “large-denomination silver notes,” and elevated the status of merchants!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He strengthened ties between Han and Chu, promoting economic and cultural prosperity between the two states.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These measures, among others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within a few years, Han transformed from its former corruption into a land of revival.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Ke closed the four records, his mind at ease. Han’s development had unfolded exactly as he predicted, confirming his thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had not even bothered to read the names of the current commanders in the three armies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no need to look further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The records contained the major events and figures of the past few years in each state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slowly closed his eyes; with his ability of 【Discerning Talent】, he felt as if he had walked alongside each of the men he had just read about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Empress, Tuoba Shu Yi, Gongsun Zhongshu, Yuwen Yan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fate of the realm gathered upon these men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And in recent years, all they had done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was one thing!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lu Chen” smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dou Gu saw this, deeply puzzled—why had the Young Protector not thoroughly examined the past battle records of the three generals before closing the roster?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This sudden action surprised him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In contrast,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Fu and others’ eyes gleamed with anticipation; they knew the Young Protector, with his years of glorious victories and lofty prestige, could surely perceive the situation and find a way to break the enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Cheng sank deeper into thought, staring intently at the map’s deployment of the three enemy forces, striving to find a flaw or hidden advantage in the complex battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, facing this overwhelming tide, three flawless offensives, he racked his brain but felt only despair—no glimmer of hope could be found.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Cheng’s lips curled in bitterness—it was an unsolvable situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Jinyu stood silently behind Lu Chen, scrutinizing every page he had flipped through, leaving no detail unexamined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Desperate to piece together a strategy from these “pieces of information.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite her utmost effort, her mind remained chaotic; she, too, felt powerless against the crisis before them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a dead end!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1290,"2026-06-21T01:33:00.595Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","72ecc684bbf6ed7752782e9b26438878c83944b700fdf9272f1367b20125a6a7","simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-223","simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-221",728,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsimulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-cover.jpg"]