Chapter 388: Descendants of the Zimo

Liu Zheng was truly stunned for a moment.

Xie Zhen had already made his point very clear.

You, Governor Liu, what is it you want by going to Liangshan?

Stationing troops also means you want to completely control that place. So, are you stationing troops truly to guard the southern gate for Chuan Shu? In truth, Xie Zhen understood in his heart that this sworn brother of his had immense ambition. Although he did not know where his ambition lay, or how he could bury his ambition in a place like Liangshan.

But he also knew.

What Liu Zheng wanted was to completely control Liangshan, not merely to station troops.

Liu Zheng took a deep breath; it seemed that to be able to achieve final victory in the complex struggle for succession in Chuan Shu, Xie Zhen was indeed no ordinary person.

Forbearance!

He had always been practicing forbearance, and only today, when he had truly become the Shuzhou King, could the depth of his character be revealed.

He could not help but laugh: "How does my elder brother instruct me?"

Xie Zhen laughed heartily, turned back to order his civil and military officials to all withdraw, and only then pulled Liu Zheng onto his own Horse Carriage, his expression slightly excited: "Mandarin will take you to a place!"

Liu Zheng's curiosity was piqued, and he did not waste words.

This time, Xie Zhen only brought his two personal guards; it was clear that this matter was meant to be private.

They twisted and turned.

On the road, the Horse Carriage was even swapped for an ordinary one; the Shuzhou King's carriage must have been too eye-catching. This made Liu Zheng feel even more conflicted; could it be that this Xie Zhen was keeping a little mistress on the outside?

Who would have thought.

He had actually guessed correctly.

Finally, after a full hour, the carriage entered a residence through a back gate. The scale of the residence was not a bit inferior to the Liu Mansion in Liangzhou.

Inside the residence, there were rockeries and flowing water, pavilions and towers, and weeping cherry and willow trees.

After getting off the carriage, the back gate was closed.

"His Highness is here!"

Just at this moment, a voice of surprise, in broken and stiff Chinese, suddenly came from the garden. Upon hearing it, Xie Zhen's eyes revealed excitement and nervousness, and he did not forget to glance at Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng looked toward the sound and was instantly stunned.

He saw a rather beautiful woman walking out of the garden, holding a small boy by the hand. If she were an ordinary woman, that would be one thing...

However, this woman possessed a certain exotic charm. How to put it... she was indeed very beautiful; regardless of her features, temperament, or figure, she made one feel quite amazed. Yet, her skin was rather dark, which also made her eyes appear very bright, and her teeth were extremely white.

A black person?

No, no, no.

She was certainly not a black person; the contours of her facial features should still be Longyan.

Yi!

Liu Zheng suddenly remembered Jike Junyi from later generations... This woman was simply much more refined than Jike Junyi.

More importantly.

The small boy she was holding by the hand at this moment had slightly fairer skin, but no matter how one looked at it, the space between his brows and his eyes clearly held the shadow of Xie Zhen.

This...

What is this situation?

Liu Zheng was startled.

An illegitimate child?

"Ah!"

Seeing a stranger arrive, the woman was also startled, but fortunately, Xie Zhen hurried over, laughed happily, picked up the small boy, and affectionately kissed him.

An illegitimate child...

It was confirmed...

Liu Zheng was conflicted; what kind of karma had he created to come and watch this scene?

Xie Zhen brought the woman and his son inside with Liu Zheng. Along the way, Xie Zhen could not hide the loving gaze he held for this woman... Liu Zheng knew that Xie Zhen had a legitimate wife. When he was still the Crown Prince of Chuan Shu, the Old Shu King had already arranged a marriage for him with a local Powerful Clan.

Liu Zheng had even met his sister-in-law yesterday in the name of being a brother.

Yet today...

Xie Zhen gave the woman a look, and she went down to make tea. Xie Zhen picked up his illegitimate child and said with a wry smile: "Second brother, Ashinuo is from Liangshan..."

Liu Zheng nodded, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and calmed his shock.

Xie Zhen's next sentence left him dumbfounded.

"Ashinuo is the daughter of a Liangshan Zimo. She was first enfeoffed by Longyan in Liangshan, then came to Shuzhou as a hostage. Later, the Zimo's status was challenged by the Black Yi, and her father was killed by the Black Yi in the process, so she could never go back..."

"What?"

Liu Zheng's eyes lit up.

Zimo?

Having studied Liangshan for a long time these past few days, he naturally knew that "Black Lords" referred to the local chieftains of Liangshan. For a long time, the Black Lords were the supreme rulers of Liangshan. After them came the four ranks: Black Nobles, White Nobles, House Slaves, and Public Slaves.

And Nuhe were the Black Yi.

This unique slave society of Liangshan developed based on family branches. It could also be understood as clans or lineages.

With the changes of thousands of years of history, the social system of Liangshan also slowly shifted from the previous Zimo chieftain's sole dominance to being gradually replaced by the increasingly powerful Black Yi.

Zimo, meaning "power," slowly declined from being the supreme ruler of Liangshan, and in the end, the population of the Zimo family branch occupied only one-thousandth of the total population of Liangshan.

As one grew, the other waned.

The Nuhe, the Black Yi, saw their population develop rapidly. In the Zimo era, the status of the Nuhe was equivalent to the Zimo's house retainers and Samurai! In actual history, from the Ming Dynasty to the Kangxi period, because these house retainers gradually grew stronger, they began to rebel against their lords. They turned the entire Liangshan region into a situation resembling the Warring States period.

At this time, the cultural backwardness and civilizational lag of Liangshan were displayed.

If at this time, the Liangshan region could have had a shogunate system like that of the Wa, then Liangshan could have been considered to have successfully transitioned smoothly from a slave society into a feudal society.

However...

None.

These Black Yi, having just turned their fortunes around to become masters, how could they still be serving you, Zimo?

Drive them away!

After these family generals drove the Zimo away, they tore the Liangshan region apart.

For instance, the Yongning She Clan, the Shuixi An Clan, the Shama, the Ma Clan, the Ale Clan, and so on and so forth...

Therefore.

The current Liangshan is actually a landscape of small, slave-owning societies fighting amongst themselves.

What Liu Zheng did not expect was.

This woman was actually a descendant of the previous Zimo of Liangshan, the Alu Clan!

Not only that...

This Xie Zhen had even hidden the Zimo's daughter away like a golden-caged beauty, and they even had a son together.

"This..."

Liu Zheng took a deep breath, and then his eyes lit up.

A descendant of the royal family!

This is a descendant of the royal family!

At a time like this, being able to have a "descendant of the royal family" was, for him, like adding wings to a tiger! Looking at Ashinuo's age, the destruction of the previous Zimo's branch was only a few years ago.

At this moment.

If he could bring the previous Zimo into Liangshan, it would be equivalent to holding an Imperial Sword in his hand; he could kill whoever he wanted!

The Zimo were the Tusi and Headmen enfeoffed by the Longyan Dynasty.

The Black Yi branches currently within the borders of Liangzhou were the ones that were illegal existences!

Liu Zheng's spirits lifted, and he asked Xie Zhen: "Brother, whatever you intend to do, just say it!"

Xie Zhen laughed heartily: "I only want the Liangshan Tusi; as for the rest, I leave it all to you, Second Brother, how about that? Quick, kneel down and call him Uncle!"

He patted his son on the head.

This seven or eight-year-old dark-skinned boy obediently knelt on the ground, kowtowed three times, and called out "Uncle" three times.

Liu Zheng hurriedly helped him up.

Good fellow...

This Xie Zhen is truly a master of seizing every opportunity!

If his son could become the Tusi, then this southern gateway to Chuan Shu could finally be truly defended!

However...

This matter was, for both of them, a case of each getting what they needed.

"Good!"

Liu Zheng laughed heartily and slapped palms with Xie Zhen to seal the alliance.

But at this moment, Ashinuo seemed to just realize what was about to happen, and she sat to the side, hugging her son and crying loudly.

Xie Zhen offered a few more words of comfort, and only then did Ashinuo look at Liu Zheng with tear-filled eyes, her gaze full of hope.

Liu Zheng promised: "Sister-in-law, rest assured, on this trip, Liu Zheng will definitely take back everything that belongs to your family!"

Ashinuo shook her head, smiled brilliantly, lowered her body, and kissed her son affectionately.

Only then did Liu Zheng say: "My brother's son is my own son; I shall do my utmost to protect his safety!"

Only then did Ashinuo set her mind at ease.

The following three days.

Proposing marriage to the Pei Family, with the Three Books and Six Betrothals.

The Pei Family agreed, and everyone was happy.

Afterwards, the 100,000 Liangzhou Army troops stationed in Jiangzhou began to withdraw one after another. Of the 100,000 Liangzhou Army troops here in Shuzhou, 50,000 also set off to leave. The remaining 50,000 intended to follow Liu Zheng into Liangshan.

On this day.

Liu Zheng officially set off, and that little dark-skinned ball named Aluba was hidden in Liu Zheng's Horse Carriage. Xie Zhen also sent a Liangshan guide named Zhemo to Liu Zheng.

Led by Xie Zhen, the whole city saw them off.

Just at this moment.

Suddenly, a man from the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce, ignoring the army, ran over covered in sweat to deliver a letter to Liu Zheng.

"Young Master, a letter from the Western Regions..."