Chapter 1455: Chapter 74: Night Talk (Double-length) (2)
He is currently the highest-ranking mber of the school of diplomacy in the Imperial Court.
The elder’s son serves as the Pillar of the State in one place, unable to easily leave the County City, while the elder himself is not bound by such restraints. His martial arts are not strong, and his title as Pillar of the State is rely honorary, allowing him to go anywhere, so he simply wanders the world on usual days.
The old Pillar of the State does not have a large drinking capacity. Having already had so strong wine earlier in the Imperial Palace, after several rounds of drinking now, he starts feeling the effects of the alcohol. He wobbles slightly, sets the wine cup on the table to support himself, and looks at Wang Anfeng with a teasing smile:
“It’s a bit disappointing to speak like this at such a mont, but strategists like us always relish spoiling the mood when the generals are feeling triumphant, to prevent great disasters. Anfeng, don’t bla this old man for being unpleasant in my speech, but I must say this to you now.”
The elder fixed his eyes intensely on Wang Anfeng and said:
“Are you planning to enter the Imperial Court at this mont?”
The forr mbers of the Divine Martial Mansion seated nearby paused in their drinking, and pricked up their ears.
Wang Anfeng took a sip of wine and replied:
“Why does Elder Yuchi say this?”
The elder’s white eyebrows twitched, and he rolled his eyes, sitting back in his seat, laughing and cursing: “Your father loved answering questions with questions so much that people wanted to grab him by the neck and smash him against the wall. Why do you have the sa bad habit?”
His voice paused, and with so regret, he said:
“Back then, I could still wrestle a bit with your father, but now I can’t beat you.”
“Never mind, I just want to tell you that now is not a good ti to enter the Imperial Court. At this juncture, although the court appears peaceful, with noble clans flourishing, the bitterness behind the scenes is hard for others to know. After Great Qin subdued the Six Kingdoms, many noble clans were left and not eradicated. Instead, they were invited to serve as officials in the court.”
“Why do you think that is?”
This question has long had a conclusion in the world; the mainstream view is that at the ti, Great Qin used the prosperity of clans as leverage, forcing those noble clans to enter the court as officials, thereby quickly stabilizing the hearts of the people in various countries to prevent chaos.
Wang Anfeng said: “It should be to stabilize the world and avoid the chaos again.”
The elder showed a look of ‘as expected’ on his face, shook his head, and said:
“Right, yet not entirely.”
“That is only part of it. Back then, the Six Kingdoms were not defeated all at once; the process of recovering the Six Kingdoms lasted for several years. At that ti, Great Qin’s iron cavalry was full of morale after a hundred battles; who wouldn’t want to gain more military achievents? Those defeated armies were no match for Great Qin.”
“Li Wu once led hundreds in pursuit of ten thousand retreating soldiers for scores of miles.”
“In that battle, although the Great Qin army was sowhat fatigued, sweeping through those noble clans was not a problem.”
“Allowing them to enter the court was partly because the territories of various countries truly needed these people to maintain stability. Additionally, the influence and prestige of the Great Qin noble clans were growing day by day, to the point of becoming a situation almost beyond control. At that ti, nearly sixty percent of the Imperial Court officials ca from noble clans, and many of the rest had old ties with these clans.”
“Five Surnas and Seven Hopes, their disciples spread across the world, is not an empty phrase.”
“The court needs another force to balance them.”
Wang Anfeng quietly listened to the elder finish speaking, then said:
“Back then, the remnants of noble clans from the Six Kingdoms entered the Heavenly Capital to contend against the Great Qin noble clans?”
The elder stroked his beard and said: “Indeed.”
“But that is the past.”
His voice was full of sarcasm.
“Why say noble clans are ultimately noble clans, in rely twenty years, the once-opposing noble clans have already secretly interacted. A century-old dynasty, millennium-old noble clans, deeply rooted and intertwined, this is the noble clans.”
“Although Great Qin is flourishing, concerning the issue of noble clans, the situation has almost returned to what it was twenty years ago, hardly different from the past.”
“The only difference is that the current Great Qin is no longer the Great Qin of the past. With the unification of the Six Kingdoms, occupying the Central Plains, and suppressing 72 County Cities across regions, its eighteen iron cavalry routes divided across the north and south, it is not the sa as when a whole nation was mobilized to crush the world.”
The elder raised his hand to drink wine, then casually uttered words that could spark turmoil throughout the court.
“The Dynasty does not need noble clans anymore.”
“Currently, the Crown Prince, though benevolent, lacks decisiveness. With the Emperor present, noble clans will not harbor any disloyalty, but if the Crown Prince fails to control the situation, the noble clans may weaken the nation’s power, even impacting the Emperor.”
“I believe the Emperor intends to slowly expel the Six Kingdoms’ noble clans from the court.”
“Not only the Six Kingdoms’ noble clans, the secret interactions among noble clans over these twenty years will undoubtedly cause great harm to the scholar-official circles. The Emperor will hold old sentints, but if the Divine Martial Mansion enters the court now, whether invited by the Emperor or not, it will beco the most dangerous whirlpool in the court.”
“After all, three kingdoms were directly destroyed due to the Divine Martial Mansion back then.”
“The remaining three kingdoms also have ties with your father and us old fellows.”
“Moreover, the factions in the court have ford, balancing against each other.”
“If you enter the court, the noble clans of the Six Kingdoms will surely unite against you, and you will naturally beco the knife in the Emperor’s hand to cut away the rotten flesh of the Six Kingdoms’ noble clans. You have no fear facing them directly, but the sinister and despicable thods in the court, even make feel chilled.”
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