Hear what Gu Anping said.
Li Shimin's eyes lit up.
He looked directly at Gu Anping and said, "Mr. Gu seems to be very prejudiced against the aristocratic family."
"I'm so prejudiced."
"A dynasty that lasts for a hundred years, a family that lasts for a thousand years."
"For them, a dynasty change is just the rise of another dynasty."
"In their eyes, there is no such thing as a loyal king and a patriotic man who cares about the common people."
Gu Anping clasped his hands behind his back and said contemptuously: "Everything they do is just for the continuation of their own family."
"yes."
"Through marriages and other means, aristocratic families have tied up and linked up a rather large network of interests."
"What's more, they are like separatist vassal kings in the local area, collecting money and training troops."
Li Shimin also followed suit and said, "But what these people train to protect is always only their own interests."
"of course."
"The dangers of aristocratic families were actually clearly demonstrated hundreds of years ago during the Eight Kings Rebellion in the Western Jin Dynasty."
Gu Anping said angrily: "In order to gain more benefits from the Eight Kings Rebellion, many northern aristocratic families even tried to collude with foreigners to lure barbarians to join the civil war in the Central Plains."
It can be said that the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty was entirely caused by the chaos in the aristocratic families.
Even the later Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms and the dark age of the Han people were all started because of them.
But when the Han people in the north were either rising up to attack like Ran Min, or were being devastated, what were these aristocratic families doing?
All the aristocratic families moved their whole family to the south of the Yangtze River to continue enjoying themselves.
While waiting for the rise of the next unified dynasty, they will still appear and continue to suck the blood of the dynasty to prosper their own families.
Thinking of this, Gu Anping shook his head and sighed: "If the family is not eliminated, it will be trouble in the future."
"To put it in an alarmist tone, perhaps one day in the future, the foundation of the Tang Dynasty will be broken because of the noble family."
In fact, history does go this way.
Why did Huang Chao say the words "The incense array reaches Chang'an, and the city is covered with golden armor", and then raised troops to rebel against the Tang Dynasty?
Isn't it because of the oppression of the noble family?
Otherwise, how could this guy do nothing else but pull out those squire families and slaughter them after raising the army?
But these words sounded a bit unpleasant to Li Shimin's ears.
After all, Li Shimin was the current monarch.
He looked directly at Gu Anping and said: "Although the aristocratic family will bring harm to the country, it will not be to the extent of shaking the foundation of the Tang Dynasty, right?"
"Old Li."
"To be honest, I thought you were a very smart person."
Gu Anping looked Li Shimin up and down and said, "But today, it seems like I'm blind?"
Hearing this, Cheng Yaojin's face turned dark.
Is this guy drifting off, or is Li Shimin unable to lift the knife?
He actually implied that Li Shimin was stupid in front of Li Shimin?
And Li Shimin's expression was not very good-looking either.
He looked directly at Gu Anping and said, "Then tell me why the aristocratic family shook the foundation of the Tang Dynasty?"
Gu Anping didn't hesitate and said directly: "It's just because of two words, monopoly."
"monopoly?"
Li Shimin looked puzzled.
The same is true for Cheng Yaojin.
Cheng Yaojin said: "What does the family monopolize? Food?"
"It's knowledge."
Gu Anping put his hands behind his back and said, "After all, whether you want to be an official or do big things, you must at least be literate."
"But what is the current situation?"
"Books are expensive in the market, and children from ordinary families simply cannot afford them."
"And if you want to study, you have to borrow books from local aristocratic families, then copy them and study them at home."
"It can be said that within the scope of the Tang Dynasty, as long as you are a scholar, you must be inextricably connected with the aristocratic family."
When he said this, Gu Anping's face inevitably showed a sad look.
To be honest, as a person from later generations, as a person with higher education.
He didn't like the trend of the times very much.
Especially in this fashion, not everyone can read.
"But we now have an imperial examination system."
Li Shimin frowned and said, "We can also select many talents through the imperial examination every year."
"So what?"
"In the imperial examinations of the Tang Dynasty, the quotas were mainly in Chang'an. If you are not a child of Chang'an, it is difficult to even get a candidate ticket."
"Secondly, there is an exam every year. Non-Chang'an candidates must pass the preliminary exam every year and then enter the Chang'an final exam."
"If you fail the exam, you have to return to your place of origin to prepare for the exam next year."
"But Lao Li, you have to know how inconvenient transportation is in our day and age."
"Just say that it took me more than half a month to travel from Youzhou to Chang'an City by carriage."
"I spend most of my time on the road, so how can I have time to study?"
"Candidates who fail can only seek help from aristocratic families, or seek refuge with high-ranking officials."
Gu Anping's smile became even more contemptuous: "What will be the result of this? Will the imperial family be in chaos? Or will the officials collude?"
Li Shimin was silent.
Cheng Yaojin also fell silent.
Gu Anping was right.
This is the case in the Tang Dynasty now, and it may be even more serious than this.
Some people, even Li Shimin, did not dare to attack them easily.
And this slowly triggered a vicious cycle.
The aristocratic family supports the children of poor families, and the children of poor families give back to the family after they become officials.
Gu Anping was extremely helpless about this.
It is not false at all to say that Li Tang's country was born in sorrow and died in happiness.
The enlightenment of the Tang Dynasty was born in the wrong period.
A period of prosperity for aristocratic families.
Of course, there is an imperial examination system that can select talents across the country.
But the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty was truly the most unfair imperial examination in all dynasties.
In this regard, Li Bai once said helplessly: "I don't want to be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households in my life, but I hope to get to know Han Jingzhou."
Bai Juyi once said: "Living in Chang'an is not easy..."
Even when the Tang Dynasty fell, there were very few examples of civilians becoming prime ministers through imperial examinations.
And what is the final outcome of this?
Huang Chao said: "When autumn comes on September 8th, I will kill all the flowers after they bloom. The incense array will penetrate Chang'an, and the whole city will be filled with golden armor."
Then he conquered Chang'an City in one fell swoop and burned everything in Chang'an City.
Then……
The prosperous Tang Dynasty also came to an end.
When he said this, the scene of Chang'an City being destroyed in raging fire even appeared in front of Gu Anping's eyes.
Gu Anping and Li Shimin sighed together in a tacit understanding.
Li Shimin looked up at Gu Anping and said, "Mr. Gu, you really have a long-term vision."
"Actually, monopolizing knowledge is not the biggest thing."
"This matter can be solved as long as our Majesty can make up his mind."
Gu Anping said shaking his head.
Seeing this, Li Shimin raised his eyebrows: "Then what's the biggest thing?"
"The biggest thing is the land."
Gu Anping looked at Li Shimin and said, "Our current land is controlled by aristocratic families."
"I went to Jiangnan before and found out that most of the land in Jiangnan is controlled by aristocratic families."
"After the aristocratic family takes control of the fields, they will rent the fields to the people at low prices for planting and living by collecting rent."
"But..."
Gu Anping shook his head and said: "Their lowest rent is 50%."
After finishing speaking, he looked at Li Shimin and said, "Old Li, you are so smart, don't you know what this means?"
