I Can Control My Ancestors-Chapter 281 - 7: The Reign of Yanxing, the Arrival of Prosperity
Even with their help, the ending is destined to remain unchanged.
The fifteenth year of Yanxing;
The conflicts in the Western Regions finally came to an end.
Gu Wei eradicated the anti-Han forces in Yanqi and the Shule Kingdom, reinstating pro-Han leaders as kings and successively reclaiming the Western Regions’ states.
The hostages from the Western Regions’ states were brought back to the capital.
From this year on, the Great Han completely surpassed the Later Han.
Whether in national strength or in population and territory, it surpassed the peak period of the Later Han.
Gu Yi had been observing all of this, and he was somewhat surprised by it.
Although he had long anticipated that with the joint governance of these capable individuals, the national strength of the Great Han would develop extremely rapidly.
But he had not imagined.
Everything would proceed so smoothly.
Yet the smoother it seemed, the more uneasy Gu Yi felt in his heart.
History’s correction is constant.
The emergence of the Gu Clan... the establishment of Yan Han has already completely deviated from the original history.
Whether in terms of dynastic transitions or the emergence of systems, massive changes have already appeared.
Could the correction just disappear like this?
Moreover, most critically—
Gu Yi remembered clearly that in the original history, during the Three Kingdoms period and the early Western Jin, there were numerous disasters in Kyushu.
This was one of the main reasons for the significant population decline back then.
Although Gu Chen ended the chaotic era prematurely.
But the dynasty may change, how could the weather and celestial signs be affected?
Even though the Great Han had experienced some disasters over the years, compared to what the original history recorded, there were far fewer.
Gu Yi could not believe that the celestial signs would suddenly change for no reason.
Although the current influence of the Gu Clan was vast, enough to change the celestial phenomenon.
How could that be possible?
This matter is bound to have undergone some changes.
Although Gu Yi does not believe that with Great Han’s current foundation, natural disasters could really harm it.
Yet he still felt a strong sense of unease in his heart.
For this reason, Gu Yi paid even more attention to the successive births of the Gu Clan’s eighth-generation descendants.
A stable world indeed can stimulate population growth.
Even the Gu Clan is among them.
Compared to the previous population predicament the Gu Clan faced, the number of the eighth-generation descendants far exceeded Gu Yi’s expectations.
But there were few whose talents were outstanding.
The only one worth Gu Yi’s attention was a young man named "Gu Ye."
It’s not because his attributes were exceptionally good.
Compared to the seventh-generation descendants, his traits could only be considered average.
What truly caught Gu Yi’s attention—was mostly due to his character.
Perhaps because of the great changes in the world, the Gu Clan’s once-cherished values of imparting teachings by example had diminished among the eighth-generation descendants, whose characters were much more unrestrained.
The ancestral teachings all the family’s descendants once revered and followed became less significant to these offspring.
This is definitely a risk for the Gu Clan’s plan for enduring legacy.
In any case, Gu Yi must take action.
Even if it means improving the internal environment of the Gu Clan, he must reestablish the Gu Clan’s faith in this generation!.....
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"The rule of Yanxing stood as a turning point from chaos to order, initiating the first comprehensive development phase in our nation’s medieval period.
After ending the fragmented turmoil at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The Yan Han Court implemented a "people-oriented" state governance strategy, restoring the economy through policies like light labor taxes and encouragement of agriculture and sericulture, increasing the nation’s cultivated land area more than threefold compared to the chaotic period, and the population continued to climb at an average annual growth rate of 1.2%.
Politically, an examination and evaluation system was established, pioneering a selection mechanism centered on the populace, setting the precedent for the future imperial examination system;
During this period, the "Yanxing New Law" was formulated, establishing the legislative principle of "virtue over punishment," with clauses like "kinship concealment" and "reduced punishment for the elderly and young" influencing later legal codes for over a thousand years.
The "external Confucianism, internal legalism" governance system formed during this period laid the basic characteristics of future legal systems, and its governance experiences of "lenient punishment and simple administration," "emphasizing agriculture and promoting education" provided a model for successive prosperous eras."
——"People’s Education Press History Textbook (Seventh Grade, First Semester)"
