bullyxtreme Chapter 143 Restoration of the Feudal System?
Chapter 143 Restoration of the Feudal System?
Xu Tianyi's lips slowly curled up. Shen Haisheng's question was not simple, and he quickly understood everything.
The Shen family did not have an incompetent or foolish head of the family, but it was getting worse year by year.
Starting with Emperor Yanwu, successive wise rulers worked diligently to weaken the power of aristocratic families and attempted to reclaim their authority.
Fortunately, Emperor Yanwu died young because he used the Immortal Mask; otherwise, the aristocratic families might have been weakened even more severely.
After Emperor Yanwu set the tone of weakening aristocratic families and reclaiming their power, subsequent emperors followed suit.
The once-powerful family naturally declined year by year.
This remained the case even when the crown prince was in charge of the state.
The various noble families also sensed that something was wrong, but the Crown Prince had great prestige, the Yue family was there to suppress him, and the royal family even had a Martial Saint in charge, so the noble families naturally dared not resist.
Why did Liu Lian's father risk his life to practice that Reverse Five Elements Technique in an attempt to break through to the Martial Saint level?
Isn't it all for the sake of continuing the thousand-year glory of the Liu family of Runzhou!
Why did the Ji family of Yanzhou demand that Ji Canghai's father kill Ji Yingying just because of a single sentence from Wuchen?
All this was so that the Ji family hoped Ji Canghai could become a Martial Saint and change the Ji family's fate.
Why did the ascension of the King of Qi silence the five powerful families who clearly supported the Crown Prince?
Even though the crown prince was not dead, the King of Qi still managed to stabilize the court.
It's all because of family interests!
The powerful families allowed Prince Qi to purge the court, even sacrificing many of their direct descendants who supported the crown prince, hoping that Prince Qi would change his policies, treat the powerful families well, or even become their puppets.
In the Wuji Empire, which was in a critical condition, the Crown Prince administered a slow-acting poison, but after the Prince of Qi consolidated his power, he administered a strong medicine.
He was even more eager to reclaim power over the country.
He was ambitious and used various corrupt officials, treacherous ministers, and ruthless merchants to try to regain control of the eight states.
He even intends to gradually regain control of his wife's military power.
The effect of this move is obvious: chaos ensued.
The reason why the Shen family retreated was found: they were indulging the Valley God Cult.
Yuanzhou is no different, and Yanzhou is no different from Guizhou.
Which of the powerful and influential families is a fool?
As an arms dealer, the Shen family's intention to arrange a marriage between Shen Miao and Yue Shan is self-evident.
Many things that I couldn't understand before, are now clear.
The Shen family is now asking about their future prospects.
If I help you and you succeed in the future, what kind of future will you give the Shen family?
Xu Tianyi's lips curled up.
"Master Shen, for a thousand years, Wuji has been ruled jointly by the emperor and the scholar-officials."
This strategy is good; it can indeed ensure the stability of the empire in the early stages, while also allowing Wuji to continue its legacy.
However, over time, the conflict between the royal family and the aristocratic families will intensify.
The powerful families want to restore their former glory, even to carve out a province and appoint a king, restore the old enfeoffment system, and make the entire Wuji Empire a situation of one emperor and eight kings. They may even split the Wuji Empire into small countries that are hostile to each other and attack each other!
Any capable ruler would absolutely not allow this to happen!
The room fell silent after Xu Tianyi said this.
Shen Haisheng frowned. He had indeed had this idea, after all, Yue Shan's great-grandfather, Yue Cheng, had done it.
Yuecheng assisted Emperor Yanwu in restoring the country and was rewarded for his meritorious service by being enfeoffed as the King of Zhenguo Wucheng and granted the fief of Yunzhou.
However, not long after Yue Cheng's death, his sons were arranged to die in battle one by one, so the Yue family had only one line of succession. After Yue Jingzhi's generation, the hereditary Zhenguo Wucheng King became Shouguo Wuning Duke.
The next generation, Yue Shanbei was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Wuwei, Protector of the Nation.
Clearly, this path is also not feasible.
Upon hearing this, Yue Shan finally understood why his family's status was declining and their titles were becoming smaller.
Ji Canghai, on the other hand, had come to understand many things.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Xu Tianyi continued:
“I naturally understand the thoughts of the aristocratic families.”
But as it turns out, this was not a good idea.
When Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty unified the country and established the prefecture and county system, he standardized the written language and the width of carts, thus achieving true unity of the world.
The fact that powerful families want to divide the country is a selfish act.
If the aristocratic families were to split the Wuji Empire into dozens of small countries, each with its own language, script, and system, not only would trade be inconvenient, but they would also fight each other. Once the surrounding countries rise, the Wuji Empire would be like a pile of loose sand, and would only be defeated one by one.
For example, the Sun Wheel Kingdom, the Moon Wheel Kingdom, and the Grassland Tribe.
Once you split up, they will no longer fear or be wary of the Wuji Empire.
The Sun Wheel Kingdom's army will invade Yuzhou and Yuanzhou from the sea, while the grassland tribes will move south to Yunzhou, Runzhou, and Linzhou, and the Moon Wheel Kingdom will divide up Leizhou, Yongzhou, and Yanzhou.
At that time, the three kingdoms will join forces to annex the Wuji Empire.
The Wuji people will become slaves of the alien race.
The sinking of China was not an exaggeration.
No emperor has ever again mobilized resources from eight provinces.
There will never again be hundreds of thousands of troops conquering the world.
Selfish and self-serving aristocratic families and small states will only form loose alliances.
For example, if the Shen family were to become kings in Leizhou, and Yuanzhou were to be attacked, would you go to help them?
Definitely not. In fact, they might do something like Zhao Yi, stabbing the Huang family in the back in an attempt to take over Yuanzhou.
"Grandpa Shen, am I right?"
Shen Haisheng's body trembled, his eyes filled with disbelief.
But he also understands that this kind of future is very possible.
Yue Shan slammed his fist on the table and stood up: "This must not happen! Wuji must be unified. Anyone who tries to divide Wuji will be dealt with by me, Yue Shan!"
Ji Canghai was also furious: "Damn old man, so that's why a group of grandmasters couldn't wipe out a mere band of bandits!"
Shen Miao also spoke up: "Moon Wheel is not as good as Wuji. If Wuji is ruled by Moon Wheel, that would be disgusting. This grandma will not allow it!"
The Shen family, however, remained largely silent.
They couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.
Shen Haisheng's originally straight back now bent over.
He never imagined that the belief that had sustained him throughout his life would collapse so suddenly.
Yes, he thought that in the end, the best outcome for the Shen family would be to be granted the title of king and establish their own independent regime.
But so what? Even if the feudal system is restored, so what?
Wuji remains embroiled in internal strife.
The rosy glow on her face was gone, replaced by a paler complexion, making her look much older.
In the end, he couldn't help but turn around and look at Xu Tianyi carefully.
It was as if they had seen a lifeline.
His breathing became rapid.
"Master Xu! Since you know this, you must have a way to solve it, right?"
Xu Tianyi saw the expectant and pleading look in his eyes and immediately laughed.
"Grandpa, isn't the cooperation between the Shen family and me quite good now?"
Shen Haisheng was stunned.
He thought about it carefully, but still couldn't figure it out.
Yue Shan and Ji Canghai also perked up.
Weren't they also from prominent families?