Chapter 150

Chapter 150

Han Zhang's time travel didn't come with a storage space, so naturally he couldn't bring high-yield crop seeds from the future.

However, his Plant Power could speed up the breeding of high-yield seed strains.

Moreover, the Zhao State didn't have sweet potatoes or potatoes yet.

So, back when he first arrived, Han Zhang used the excuse of collecting flower seeds to have Grandpa Han contact his old friends from the escort business, asking them to help him track down various crop seeds that weren't yet widely used. (Refer to Chapter 26)

All that effort paid off—those escorts had been everywhere and knew everything.

In the end, they managed to get several crops from overseas merchants that were being grown as 'potted plants' at the time, with sweet potatoes and potatoes being two of them.

Lately, Han Zhang had already used his Power to optimize them, waiting for the right chance to present them and score some credit.

But then that whole Chang Gongjun Jiayou thing happened, forcing him to change his strategy.

Giving the stuff to the noble families wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision.

What's the best strategy for a rebellion?

That would be: Build high walls, stockpile plenty of grain, and take your time declaring yourself king.

Everything else was doable, but the food issue was the real headache.

First, current grain yields were too low, and there wasn't much grain on the market to begin with. If he bought up grain in bulk, people would notice fast.

Second, if he tried to grow it secretly, he just didn't have enough land or tenant farmers. Where was he supposed to grow food for an army of hundreds of thousands?

So after going back and forth, Han Zhang set his sights on the noble families.

The noble families had tons of land and only cared about their own interests. Once they got high-yield seeds, they'd use them to squeeze the emperor, not to help the common folk.

Emperor Taixuan couldn't put the noble families in their place anytime soon, and they'd keep swallowing up commoners' land and hoarding the world's wealth.

Anyone with half a brain in politics could see where that was heading.

When the rich got too rich and the poor couldn't survive, that's when the deck gets reshuffled and dynasties change.

And that's exactly why the royal family was scrambling to crack down on the noble families.

Because the Zhao dynasty had been around for nearly a hundred years. On the surface it looked like a golden age, but land grabbing was already a ticking time bomb. (Counting from when Zhao Taizu proclaimed himself emperor, the Han clan was wiped out during the tail end of the wars, when several new states were fighting over territory.)

And that was Han Zhang's opening.

Giving the noble families high-yield seeds would (1) neutralize their grudge, (2) make them a thorn in the royal family's side, (3) speed up the Zhao State's collapse, and (4) let them openly 'stockpile military grain' for him—killing three birds with one stone!

Would the noble families just rob him since he was weak, or burn the bridge after crossing it?

Unless the noble families were complete idiots, they wouldn't pull something like that.

He'd already made it crystal clear he was against the royal family, and with the abilities he'd shown before, keeping him alive to annoy the royal family was way more useful than killing him.

Of course, if he'd misjudged things, he still had his Power to keep him alive—no big deal!

And it worked out—his value convinced the noble families to play ball.

Then Han Zhang and the family heads hammered out the details of how to slow the royal family down, and everyone left happy.

On the ride back in the carriage.

The heads of the Liang, Jiang, and Fei families looked at each other and grinned.

"That old fool Emperor Taixuan—smart his whole life, but dumb for one second, and let a big fish slip right through his fingers. The noble families are destined to rise, haha!"

...

Meanwhile.

After dealing with the noble families, Han Zhang didn't take a break.

He could hide the rebellion from everyone else, but not from Grandpa Han and the Clan Chief, because he'd need the two old men's support and help for a lot of what came next.

So when he got back, he pulled the two elders aside for a private talk.

After hearing him out, both old men just sat there, stunned.

Grandpa Han: He'd always known his grandson was something special, but he never thought he was this 'special'!

Clan Chief Han: He'd always known Big Brother was the family's Qilin Son, but he never thought he'd be this 'ambitious'!

"Big Brother, are you for real? Is Grandpa dreaming?"

Grandpa Han asked, still in a daze, needing to hear it again.

The Clan Chief gave his younger brother's old arm a hard pinch and asked, "Sixth Brother, does that hurt?"

Damn right it hurt!

So he wasn't dreaming!

Big Brother was actually going to rebel!

And with just a bunch of old and weak folks like them!

Han Zhang knew this sounded completely nuts to Grandpa Han and the others—like some beggar grabbing you on the street and claiming he's about to become the world's richest man.

But anyone who'd never seen a gun would never understand what a total game-changer firearms were in an era of swords and spears.

Since the guns weren't built yet, Han Zhang couldn't use them as a trump card to win the two elders over. All he could do was lay out the situation and sigh:

"Grandpa, Clan Chief, I didn't have a choice."

"The royal family is cold and ungrateful—they use you up and throw you away. When I was their blade, did they ever give me any credit? Now they've shipped me off to Yunyang Prefecture in Yan Province—a 'promotion' that's really a demotion. If it was just my career hitting a dead end, fine..."

"But to win the Crown Prince's trust, I'd schemed for the royal family and pissed off every noble family and aristocrat in the capital. Those people are just waiting for me to leave the capital so they can kill me!"

"Even without the noble families coming after me, thanks to Chang Gongjun Jiayou, my career is over, period. All those years of studying would be for nothing—I won't accept that!"

"The Zhao family started out as some nobody clan. If they can sit on that throne, why can't the Hans?"

After hearing how Chang Gongjun Jiayou had pushed him around and how the emperor and Crown Prince had taken his side, the two old men were furious too.

But Grandpa Han was worried: "Back then, the Zhao family rose because they had the right time, the right place, and the right people. But now the Zhao dynasty is solid. If we jump in rashly, we'll just be labeled rebels and traitors—no moral high ground, no support from anyone."

Clan Chief Han also nodded: "Big Brother, it's not that Grandpa doesn't believe in you, but the Han family has no money and no manpower. This is going to be really hard to pull off..."

In other words, the two old men weren't scared to try—they just weren't sure it could be done.

After all, the Han clan had never been a well-behaved bunch. Back then, they were willing to marry into the rebel leader's family, all to chase the dream of ruling the realm—they just backed the wrong horse in the end.

The old-timers of the Han clan were dead set on one thing: reviving the family and restoring its former glory.

As long as that wish could be fulfilled, it mattered little to them whether Han Zhang worked hard as an official or rose up in rebellion—they were indifferent either way.

When they first heard of Han Zhang's plan to rebel, their faces went blank, merely from sheer shock—they weren't being cowards!

"Grandpa, Clan Chief, the fact that I dare harbor such thoughts means I already have cards to play..."

To put the two elders at ease, Han Zhang laid out his entire rebellion scheme in meticulous detail.

After all, if you want to drum up investment, a few nice words won't cut it—you have to let them look over the business plan so the investors know what they're getting into, right?

Rebellion is something that could get you killed—it's a matter of hundreds of people's necks on the line. Without a clear explanation, who'd risk climbing aboard?

The three of them—grandfather, grandson, and clan chief—talked in private for a good four hours.

Though the two elders could never quite grasp how formidable the gunpowder weapons Han Zhang spoke of truly were, after hearing his entire plan, they felt that even without those guns and cannons, this venture might just succeed!

Grain—the noble houses had "helpfully" stockpiled it;

Military power—Kang Zhanxun, a son-in-law from a martial aristocratic family, could find a way;

Silver—Shen Qinglan, that gold mine, was wealthy himself and had a wealthy Jiangnan merchant family on his maternal side;

All three essential elements for rebellion were in place...

Add to that Shen's father, that "shit-stirrer" in the court, stirring the pot and intensifying the conflict between the imperial house and the noble families.

If they didn't go for it, it'd be a real waste!

Clan Chief Han's hands were shaking with excitement, his voice trembling: "Big Brother, this... how sure are you about this, really?"

"Ninety percent! The rest is up to fate. If heaven isn't on our side, then we'll flee overseas and carve out a new path!"

Han Zhang spoke with unwavering resolve.

If he had gunpowder weapons in hand and still lost, then heaven truly wasn't on his side.

Worst case, he could bolt overseas—he wasn't about to gamble with his life without a way out.

Hearing this, the two elders were instantly reassured.

As long as there was an escape route, that was enough.

"Good, we'll follow your lead, Big Brother—let's go for broke!"

Clan Chief Han and Grandpa Han, their faces flushed with excitement, gritted their teeth and nodded.

Since the boy had such grand ambitions, how could the elders hold him back?

Big Brother was right—if the Zhao family could sit on that throne, why couldn't the Han family?

Screw it, worst case they'd flee if it failed. They were well-versed in escape, after all.

Shen's father, Shen's mother, and Kang Zhanxun, who had been dragged aboard unwillingly: ...Lord help us!

With the decision made, Clan Chief Han wasted no time.

The very next day, he began summoning clan members to discuss the whole family relocating back to their ancestral home in Yanzhou under Han Zhang's lead.

They couldn't exactly shout about rebellion, so the stated reasons for the full-clan move were "going back to their roots" and "guarding against Lord Jiayou's grudge over Han Zhang's refusal to marry, lest he take it out on the Han clan."

The former reason only appealed to the clan's elders, but once the latter was voiced, the rest of the Han clan quickly nodded in agreement!

Of course—that was His Lordship! Their Han family was just a bunch of commoners; a single word from him could ruin their lives.

If they didn't flee now, when would they?

The clan members were easy to persuade; the real headache was the married daughters and married young lads.

Once the Han clan relocated, these women and lads would lose their natal family, leaving them vulnerable to mistreatment in their husbands' households.

More importantly, if Han Zhang ever rose to power, these married-out daughters and lads would inevitably be caught in the crossfire.

Clan Chief Han felt troubled.

In the end, he had no choice but to summon these married daughters and lads back to ask their opinions.

One couldn't have everything; those who couldn't leave would have to be abandoned.

But unexpectedly, nearly half of these married daughters and lads wanted to follow to Yanzhou—including their husbands and children!