The World Online

In truth, the update of the relay had plenty to do with the removal of the Super Auction Platform.

In the wilderness, even if territories wanted to trade with one another, the long distances would pose a huge problem to the size and scale of the game. Just a single trip could take half a month to a month, maybe even longer.

Such a matter was incredibly detrimental to promoting trade.

Hence, Gaia granted them the relay transport system. Merchants only needed to pay a small fee to quickly send goods to their desired destination.

In truth, this was simply a weaker version of the teleportation formation.

Of course, to the wilderness, it was still an improved escort system.

5: Removal of the outer barrier of the imperial cities so that they are completely connected to the wilderness.

Before this, the imperial cities had a natural barrier separating each city from the territories in the wilderness. This update removed this natural barrier.

With that, the imperial cities were not special presences anymore; they were simply giant cities.

At the same time, this update made it convenient for territories in the wilderness that were close to the imperial cities to trade with them. The relay system between cities would be connected.

Of course, Gaia also had a deeper reasoning behind this particular change.

From now on, the nine imperial cities would slowly stretch into the wilderness, affecting the situation either outright or in the dark.

To the Lords, this meant that they had a few more opponents to think about and plan against.

Although there were only five updates this time, every single update would have a significant influence on the wilderness.

When Ouyang Shuo saw that, many emotions filled him.

The third year of Gaia was destined to welcome many changes.

….

That afternoon, another system notification sounded out.

”World Notification: At this point, Earth Online has run for two years, so the game will release the second information piece: Aristocratic Families Rise. Fo the specific details, players please log onto the forums to check it out.”

Aristocratic families, the great and influential families related to each dynasty and era.

At the end of the West Han, a relative of Emperor Wang Mang seized the throne and founded the Xin Dynasty.

After he took the position, to lessen the conflicts between the various groups of people, he changed the system. However, this change increased the burden on the people. Moreover, many natural catastrophes occurred during his reign, which did not help the situation. Consequently, this gave rise to many large-scale peasant uprisings.

Liu Xiu, who was part of the West Han imperial lineage, joined the Lulin Uprising. He relied on the support from landowners to defeat the other uprising armies. Afterward, he established the East Han.

Those tyrannical landowners were all families of the high ranking officials. They had private land and also a large number of private troops. Liu Xiu had granted them high positions and formed familial relationships with them to recruit them. He made them the ruling pillars of the East Han Dynasty.

These people could be called the starting points of the aristocratic families.

During the East Han, the aristocratic families slowly started to control the election system of choosing officials. These elections became their personal tools to recruit scholars and form factions.

Scholars were not only loyal to their emperor but also to those who hired them, which created a situation where they had both a boss and a Lord. This set the cultural and intellectual basis for warlordism at the end of East Han.

The warlords that formed up at the end were mostly from the various aristocratic families.

The Hebei Warlord regime Yuan Shao was a four generation, huge aristocratic family. They controlled many officials and minor officials. Hence, one could say the warlordism at the end of East Han and the rise of the three kingdoms were due to the power of aristocratic families swelling up without control.

Cao Pi usurped the Zhan Dynasty and obtained the support of the aristocratic families. In order to thank them, he created a nine rank system to choose officials. Consequently, the power was gathered into the hands of the aristocratic families.

Near the end of Cao Wei’s reign, the power struggle between the emperor and the aristocratic families grew more and more intense.

Later on, the aristocratic family led by Sima Yi staged a coup and obtained the highest ruling power from Cao Wei. His grandson, Sima Yan, managed to usurp the Wei Country to build Xiji. His success was also because he had obtained the support of the aristocratic families.

After Xiji destroyed Shu and Wu Country, the power of the aristocratic families increased once more. It formed a situation where if you were from an aristocratic family, you would not fall to the position of a lower ranked official. At the same time, if you were a normal person, it would be hard for you to climb to a high rank.

After Xiji established itself as a country, Cao Wei’s power waned, so he had to grant titles and land to the aristocratic families to protect his rule.

Emperor Jinwu made the incorrect decision of choosing his idiotic kid Jinhui to succeed him. The kings were all ambitious. As such, they all thought each other to obtain the throne, resulting in the chaos of the eight kings of the Sima House.

After which, Sima Yue obtained victory and he and the aristocratic family of Wang from Langya Prefecture obtained the true power of government. Later on, Sima Yue died from illness and Wang Yan died in battle.

The Wang Family went east and cooperated with the Langya King Sima Rui. Wang Dao used various methods to unify the aristocratic families in the south. Moreover, under the circumstance where the West Ji was destroyed, they helped Sima Rui form up East Ji.

After East Ji was established, Sima Rui depended on Wang Dao for administrative matters, while he depended on Wang Dun for military affairs. This formed a situation where the Wang and the Ma families shared the power. When Sima Rui wanted to reduce the influence of the Wang Family, Wang Dao started a rebellion, forcing him to yield to Wang Dun. It became evident that a situation where the aristocratic family would decide the court had become an unpreventable fact.

The East Ji’s power laid in the hands of the Wang Family, the Qiao Country in the hands of the Hen Family, Chen Prefecture in the hands of the Xie Family, while Yingchuan was under the Yu Family. In all these places, the emperors became puppets.

Liu Yu usurped East Ji and established the Song Country. Although he was born in a normal family, he supported the aristocratic families fully. From the backgrounds of the four ministers that helped him run the country, one could clearly see this fact.

During the Southern Dynasty, aristocratic families were still the core of the various rules.

Although the sixteen kingdoms and the northern dynasty that merged with the southern dynasty were mostly nomads, they respected the interests and powers of the aristocratic families and granted them good positions.

The northern Lu aristocratic family from Fanyang, the Li Family from Longxi, the Yang Family from Hongnong , the Suo Family from Dunhuan, the Li Family from Zhao Prefecture, the Cui Family from Qinghe, and the various other aristocratic families were all doing very well in each country and kingdom.

The North Wei Emperor Xiaowen revolutionized and restored the hereditary system of aristocracy, allowing the aristocratic families in the north to grow much stronger.

West Wei Minister Yu Wentai used the conscription system to bring troops north. Especially in the pass where the aristocratic families and the Xuanbei Clan worked together and formed the Guanlong Army Group.

During the Sui Tang Dynasty, the emperors of the two dynasties both came out from the Guanlong Army. But to win over the hearts of the Shi class of people, they established the imperial exam system to choose officials. However, this system was extremely limited and aristocratic families still mostly controlled the regime.

At the end of the Sui Tang Dynasty, many aristocratic family members took charge, while people born in normal families rarely became officials.

Huangchao, who came from a humble and poor family, was not happy about this situation. As such, he started a rebellion against the Tang, occupying Chang An. Then, he fought against the power of the aristocratic families. As a result of this clash, their power that had affected and influenced China for nine hundred years was no longer seen from that point onward, and they basically stepped off the stage of history.