The thousand-year-old family began with King Wu's conquest of King Zhou.

Chapter 32 Zhang Zhong

Hanzhong Academy, Zhang Clan Academy.

"Brother, wake up! The teacher is here."

Zhang Zhong, who was enjoying a rare long dream, was shaken awake. Just as he was about to lash out at his disturbed dream, he immediately put on a smile after recognizing that it was his younger brother Zhang Liu who had woken him.

"Liu, guess what I just dreamed about?"

"Brother, the teacher has arrived." Zhang Liu didn't care what he was dreaming about, he just quickly reminded him that the teacher had arrived at the school.

"I just dreamt of Duke Wenzhao!"

Zhang Liuben had already turned to return to his seat when he heard this, so he stopped in his tracks, turned back, and stared wide-eyed.

"You dreamt of Duke Wenzhao?" He lowered his voice, his face full of disbelief. "Brother, to avoid the Master's questioning, you've even brought up your ancestors?"

Zhang Chong grabbed his younger brother's sleeve and said urgently, "Who's lying to you! I really dreamt about it! He was standing in a cloud, and behind him was a huge palace with many shadowy figures inside. He even spoke to me!"

"What did he say?" Before Zhang Liu could speak, several classmates who had been eavesdropping gathered around.

Just as Zhang Zhong was about to speak, a soft cough came from the school entrance.

The students fell silent instantly and returned to their seats.

An elderly man dressed in a plain robe and holding bamboo slips slowly entered; he was the teacher who would be giving the lesson that day.

His gaze swept across the hall below, finally landing on Zhang Zhong. Seeing that Zhang Zhong looked dazed and his clothes were still somewhat disheveled, he couldn't help but frown.

"Zhang Zhong."

Zhang Zhong was startled and quickly stood up to bow: "Master."

Why are people dressed so disheveled in the ancestral hall?

"This disciple knows his mistake and begs for forgiveness, Master!"

The Master saw that he readily admitted his mistake, and his expression softened slightly, but he did not immediately ask him to sit down.

He placed the bamboo slips on the table, slowly walked over to Zhang Zhong, and looked down at the boy who had just been half asleep.

"Punishment is necessary, of course. After class, copy the *Jingzi* three times and hand it in tomorrow." The Master's tone was calm. "Just now, I vaguely heard you say outside the door that you dreamed of Duke Wen Zhao?"

The atmosphere in the hall tensed up, and the students who had been eavesdropping lowered their heads, afraid of being questioned by the teacher.

Zhang Zhong dared not conceal the truth and bowed his head, saying, "Reporting to Master, I was asleep at my desk when I dreamt of an old man standing in the clouds, with a magnificent palace behind him and many shadowy figures. The old man called himself Zhang Zhao..."

"Insolence!" the teacher suddenly interrupted sharply, his face darkening. "How dare you address our ancestors by their names?"

Zhang Chong broke out in a cold sweat and quickly bowed, saying, "Disciple misspoke! It was Duke Wenzhao! It was Duke Wenzhao who appeared to me in a dream!"

The Master stared at him for a few moments, then his expression softened slightly: "Get up and speak. What did Duke Wenzhao say to you in your dream? Tell me everything without missing a single word."

Zhang Zhong steadied himself and tried hard to recall the scene in his dream. The scene was so clear and vivid, yet he dared not speak of it.

After all, what our ancestor said was truly terrifying.

After careful consideration, he selected a short passage and cautiously said, "His Majesty said that Qin is a hegemonic state, and one day it will surely march east out of Hangu Pass and unify the four seas. The current ruler of Qin is eager for talented people and instructed me to go and join him in the future, so as to preserve the bloodline of my Zhang family!"

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the classroom erupted in commotion, especially the teacher, whose forehead veins bulged and face turned ashen.

It should be noted that the students in this school are all members of the Zhang clan, and the teacher is a direct descendant of Jingzi, the Chancellor of the Hanzhong Academy, the current head of the Zhang clan, and a leading Confucian scholar of our time!

It was truly inappropriate for Zhang Zhong to utter such words, especially considering that he was the sixteenth son of the king. Although he was born out of wedlock, he was still a prince of the country!

The students looked at each other, not daring to utter a sound. Those classmates who had just been marveling at Zhang Zhong's dream now wished they had never come over to listen to a single word.

If this gets out, even a formal greeting from the clan would be a minor offense.

Zhang Liu's face turned deathly pale. He frantically tugged at his brother's sleeve under the table, his voice low and urgent, "Brother, are you crazy! How can you say such a thing?"

As soon as Zhang Chong finished speaking, he realized he had made a huge mistake. He lowered his head, not daring to look the teacher in the eye, but his heart was in turmoil.

There's nothing we can do; of all the things our ancestors said, this is the mildest one.

The Master's face was beyond ashen.

His fingers, gripping the ruler, turned white at the knuckles, and veins bulged down his forehead. In his forty years of teaching, he had seen unruly, lazy, argumentative, and truant students! But he had never seen a member of the Zhang family dare to openly utter the words "defect to the enemy country" in the main hall of the school, in front of dozens of his clansmen!

Moreover, the person who said this was not some country bumpkin, but the son of the current Marquis of Liang!

Even if he was born out of wedlock, he still had the blood of Duke Wenzhao flowing in his veins.

It should be noted that since Qin conquered Chencang County and Duke Wu recovered the lost territory, there have been constant frictions between the two states of Qin and Liang, with hundreds of battles of varying sizes.

Liang is now not only eyeing Chencang County, but also has to guard against Qin troops from Diebu and Danyang in Wudu and Shangyong Counties.

The Master took a deep breath, a very slow and deep breath, as if he were using all his strength to suppress something that was about to burst its banks.

He didn't roar or brandish the ruler; he simply placed the bamboo ruler slowly on the podium.

With a soft "snap," the ruler broke in two as it landed on the table.

"All instruction for today is suspended," the Master's voice was low yet icy cold. "Everyone, copy and recite the 'Loyalty and Righteousness' chapter of the *Jingzi* one hundred times. Before I return, no one is allowed to whisper or leave their seats without permission. If anyone utters even a single word about what happened today..."

His gaze slowly swept over every young face in the hall.

"Expelled from the clan and removed from the family forever."

The students in the hall felt their hair stand on end and responded in unison. Zhang Liu's hands trembled violently under the table, but he bit his lip tightly and dared not say another word. The teacher was the head of the Zhang clan and he had this right.

He cannot interfere in state affairs, but in clan affairs, even the king, as the head of the clan, must consider his opinion.

As soon as the Master finished speaking, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

Zhang Chong bit his lip tightly, his nails digging into his palms until blood seeped out, but he dared not let go.

He knew that the Master was the clan head, and he knew even more the weight of the eight words the clan head spoke: "Expelled from the clan, forever removed from the name." It wasn't a bluff; it was something that could truly be done.

Just last year, a member of a collateral branch of the family was expelled from the family register by the Master for slandering his ancestors while drunk, and was never allowed to use the surname Zhang again.

The teacher didn't look at anyone else. He simply bent down, picked up the two broken pieces of the ruler, placed them on the side of the platform, and then turned to Zhang Zhong and said, "Come with me."

……

Inside the ancestral temple, Zhang Zhao was playing chess with Zhang Quzhuo, watching everything that was happening in the academy with a sense of helplessness.

"I was just saying that Qin's ambition is to unify the four seas, and that Shu is fertile and Qin will surely conquer it, and Liang occupies Hanzhong and Qin will surely plot against it. I was telling this kid to go to Qin to make a living in the future. This kid is quite straightforward and said it in public."

Zhang Quzhuo, holding the white piece, was about to make his move when he heard this and his fingers hovered in mid-air. He shook his head helplessly: "Ancestor, you told him to go west to find a way to make a living, but he just said in court that he wanted to go and join Qin. That kid is so straightforward, it makes people grit their teeth. Sigh~"

"It's more than just a tickle!" Zhang Chengsi said, arms crossed, his tone unfriendly. "If even one person in that classroom hadn't kept their mouth shut, and this got back to their father, and the king's son publicly declared he was going to defect to Qin, what would you expect the king to do?"

Zhang Quzhuo finally placed his white piece and looked up at Zhang Zhao: "Ancestor, what exactly did you say to him? You scared him so much that even the mildest thing you could say was 'defect to the enemy country'."

Zhang Zhao remained silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on the chessboard, but he did not look at the pieces.

"What I'm saying is that Duke Xiao of Qin is eager for talented people, and Shang Yang's reforms are aimed at strengthening the state. In the future, Qin will surely expand eastward and contend for the world! Liang is Qin's greatest enemy. How can we allow others to sleep peacefully beside our bed? If one day Liang cannot hold on, let him take the Zhang family bloodline westward to preserve a thread of incense. Is it so hard to say this? Of all things to say, why did you have to choose to defect to the enemy state?"

Zhang Quzhuo paused, holding his son's hand. Zhang Chengsi also fell silent. After a long while, Zhang Quzhuo asked in a low voice, "Ancestor, is the Liang Kingdom really going to do this?"

It's no wonder Zhang Quzhuo asked that question. After all, although the current ruler of Liang is not a ruler who expands the territory, he is a ruler who maintains the status quo. Apart from his fondness for creating villains, which has led to poor health, he has no other defects.

Zhang Zhao did not answer. He placed a piece on the board, the crisp sound echoing in the hall. "Gongsun Yang's reforms abolished the well-field system, opened up the fields, rewarded military merit, and enforced strict laws. Qin's national strength is rising day by day, and it is now the most powerful state among the feudal lords. Last year, the Qin army conquered the land of Xihe, beheaded 30,000, and forced Wei to cede territory and sue for peace! It is only a matter of time before Qin unifies the four seas."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengsi immediately beat his head and pounded his chest, exclaiming, "Qin is nothing but a lowly herdsman and laborer! Why does Heaven favor him so much!"

Zhang Zhao chuckled, looking at his son's expression, and said, "The ancestors of Qin came from evil. Qin was able to survive in the most remote westernmost place, in the most barren land, surrounded by neighboring tribes. Now, the Qin cavalry is spread all over the land, conquering cities and seizing territories with unstoppable momentum. It can be said that the Qin rulers and the Qin people have worked hard to achieve this."

Zhang Quzhuo sighed deeply, looked in Zhang Zhong's direction, and asked with a puzzled expression, "Ancestor, why did you choose this child? The current head of the Zhang family has twenty-seven sons. The most virtuous and the most beloved by the people of Liang should be the Fourth Prince Gao!"