Chapter 214
Right, if there is time in the future, maybe I should run a newspaper and control the mouthpiece of public opinion. I would like to see who would dare to speak ill of me then. I could expose them in minutes!
For civil officials, this was a way to kill without shedding blood!
Feng Tang mainly aimed to strike at Zhang Tingji, and in passing, he indiscriminately blasted Xu Qian and Huang Shouping. His verbal barrage lasted for the duration of a whole cup of tea.
Yue Fuguang smacked her lips, wondering why her mouth felt so dry!
[Master, this Zhang Tingji is Feng Tang's sworn enemy. He comes from the Zhang family of Jiangnan, a family of officials for generations, completely different from the grassroots Feng Tang.]
Feng Tang: Lord Artifact, is it possible that there is a more elegant name for grassroots called 'humble origins'?
He carefully peeked at Yue Fuguang's expression. The Junior Preceptor surely would not despise his humble origins and refuse to take him as a subordinate.
"But I find Feng Tang more pleasing to the eye."
Feng Tang: Tears are about to fall!
Wu Yong: Hmph, the Junior Preceptor definitely finds me pleasing to the eye too.
He looked down at his plump belly and sucked it in hard. Hmm, he had lost weight!
[Indeed, Little Zhu also finds this Zhang Tingji an eyesore. The Zhang family has survived for hundreds of years, and it is not just because they have money and people.
It is also because they are quick to kneel. The successive family heads have a magic weapon, which is marriage alliances.
The Zhang family is good at reproducing, and their children and in-laws are spread all over the Great Yan Dynasty.]
"Little Zhu, what do you mean by being quick to kneel?"
[It means that in the final years of a dynasty, their Zhang family can always catch the last train of the new dynasty at the final moment.
This was the case in the current dynasty, the previous dynasty, and even further back.
The Zhang family even had a great-aunt who entered the palace in the previous dynasty. She was deeply favored by the last emperor for several years and even bore him a son and a daughter.
The son died along with the fall of the Tong family's dynasty, but the daughter changed her name and surname, entered the Zhang family as a Zhang daughter, and later married into an official family surnamed Tong.
This can be considered a disguised continuation of their branch of the Tong family bloodline.
Master, guess who her grandson Tong Jiye married later?]
"Jiangnan, could it be related to Sima Jing? Speaking of Sima Jing, do you know how Bao Qianjun is doing now?
The emperor still does not know about his cousin's wild ambitions. The Bao family will not repeat their past mistakes, right!"
[Master, during the time you warned them about the assassins kidnapping the bride, did you not indirectly remind them to be careful of the south?
Looking at Elder Lord Bao's demeanor, it seems the Bao family will be fine for now.
However, the person Tong Jiye married is indeed somewhat related to Sima Jing. His wife comes from the Shen family, the same Shen family as Shen Wanchuan.
After the Sima family's Great Wei fell, the successor was Shen Wanchuan's grandson. The Shen family's empire changed hands again in less than twenty years.
This new master is Tong Jiye's son, Tong Chengzong, whose state title was 'Great Zhou', historically known as the Southern Zhou.]
Hearing this, everyone else fell silent for a moment, except for Xu Qian, Huang Shouping, and Zhang Tingji, who were still arguing.
Especially the noble families—they never imagined that the Great Zhou, which their ancestors had overthrown, would be restored over a hundred years later. Although it sounded like the Great Zhou established by the Tong family's descendants was confined to a corner of Jiangnan, they had ultimately managed to restore their nation.
"This dynastic change is really frequent enough. In less than a hundred years, the empire changed hands three times. The Tong family's century-long restoration effort actually succeeded in the end. This outcome is much better than that Murong Fu!"
[Murong? Master, how did you know that the Tong family was replaced by the Murong family? This dynastic change is like an old lady's foot-binding cloth—long and stinky. We can talk about it in detail when we have time.]
Seeing the officials below who could not help but frown just like her, Yue Fuguang chuckled inwardly. It seemed that everyone's imagination was quite good; the mention of a foot-binding cloth made it seem as if they could actually smell it.
The system continued to spill the beans, [Did I not mention earlier that one of the reasons the Zhang family survived for hundreds of years was through marriage alliances? Master, do you not want to know which families they allied with?]
At this point, some people silently lowered their heads even further. It seemed that some of their families really did have daughters who married into the Zhang family, or wives from the Zhang family.
"Did you not say there were a lot? I do not have the patience to listen. Besides, who they marry is decided by the family; it does not have much to do with these married-out daughters."
[Then I will just briefly mention a few. We will not bring up the ones who just lived peaceful lives.]
While some breathed a sigh of relief, they silently prayed in their hearts that their families would not be mentioned! Their humble households were not worthy of being brought up by Lord Artifact!
[The Zhang family's in-laws include the Sima family, though the one who married over was a concubine-born daughter, and she married a collateral branch member of the Sima family.
Furthermore, Shen Wanchuan's son also married the daughter of a cousin from a collateral branch of the Zhang family.
Next is Tong Jiye's son, Tong Chengzong, who later became emperor. From his time in the princely residence, he had a woman from the Zhang family as a concubine, and after becoming emperor, he conferred upon her the title of Consort Hui.
Master, guess who else they formed a marriage alliance with?]
Hearing this, the ruler and ministers of the Great Yan finally caught on to the pattern. The Zhang family continuously placed bets, and they bet right every single time. The known families who could ascend to the throne after the fall of the Great Yan were all in-laws of the Zhang family.
Could the Murong family be next?
The compound surname Murong was quite rare in the Great Yan Dynasty. If one really had to count someone with considerable power, there was only Murong Qian, the defending general stationed far away at the border of Jiaozhou.
Soon, their suspicions were confirmed when Yue Fuguang guessed, "Is it the Murong family's turn next?"
[Master guessed right, it is the Murong family. The future emperor of the Murong family is even a maternal grandson of the Zhang family.]
Yue Fuguang clicked her tongue, "This Zhang family is truly an ever-victorious general at the gambling table. For mortals to reach such a level, they really have some skills. These officials of the Mingxi era who only look at what is in front of them are far inferior to them!"
The ruler and ministers of the Great Yan had bitter expressions. The Little Immortal was scolding them for being short-sighted. Looking again at the few people in the center fighting like angry roosters, they suddenly felt their faces burn with shame!
[Master, let us not boost others' morale and diminish our own prestige. The reason the Zhang family can hit the jackpot every time is still by casting a wide net to catch fish.
Let alone the officials in the court, even the residences of Prince Ming and Prince Qi have Zhang family daughters.]
Wei Ping and Cai Xian's hearts stirred. The feigned-dead Prince Qi had already been secretly captured by them, and his backyard indeed had a concubine who came from a collateral branch of the Zhang family.
As for Prince Ming, who was being secretly monitored by them, it seemed he indeed also had a close senior maidservant surnamed Zhang, whose original registry was also in Jiangnan.
Looking at His Majesty's intentions, he still wanted to use Prince Ming as bait to fish out those two from Northern Li and Southern Zhao. It was said that Lan Xuan'er, in order to marry Prince Ming, was currently fighting for it with the Emperor of Southern Zhao.
Therefore, they could not reel in the net on Prince Ming just yet. However, a maidservant from the Zhang family should not be able to stir up any major storms either.
Although they thought this way, they still felt they should dispatch more manpower to keep an eye on this woman.
Emperor Mingxi looked at the eloquently speaking Zhang Tingji and sneered in his heart, but his voice was peaceful, carrying an unquestionable decisiveness as he said, "I am not superstitious about auspicious times. I want to use this 'Imperial Digging' ceremony to inform the people of the world that the imperial court values this item more than pearls and jade!
Ordering the Imperial Astronomy Bureau to choose an auspicious time is also to tell the common people of the nation that the imperial court values this item just as it values the common folk of our Great Yan.
The Great Yan has received heaven's pity and been granted high-yield fine seeds, which is the blessing of the Great Yan.
Potatoes are the life-saving food for millions of commoners."