The Tang Dynasty started from saving Empress Changsun

Chapter 287 Declaring War
"Bang." Wang Zhuo slapped the table and roared, "How unreasonable, how unreasonable, Ru Zi'an dare to insult my Wang family like this."

Then he said dissatisfiedly to everyone: "I have already said that Zixiao needs to be on guard against wolf ambitions, but you just don't listen. Now that you are well, people will directly bully you."

Zheng Song frowned and said: "I never thought that it would be Zixiao Temple who was the first to wave the flag."

Lu Xiu said: "I don't think it's strange, the first princess is not so good, I guessed where Chen Jingke fell."

"What I didn't expect was that he would end up at the beginning of the game. If I were to change it, I would definitely wait and make a move at the critical moment to ensure the maximum benefit."

Wang Zhuo sneered and said, "He doesn't know where he came from, how could he have such a high level of wisdom."

"It is estimated that at this time he is proud of himself as a vanguard, and he will be appreciated by that person."

Cui Qianhan said: "We must give him a head-on blow so that people will know that our gentry cannot be bullied."

Lu Xiu nodded and said: "I agree with Brother Cui's words, we must teach Zixiao Temple enough lessons to make an example of others."

Everyone unanimously passed the decision on Zixiaoguan, and then began to discuss how to deal with the opponent.

Public opinion attacks are naturally indispensable, but this is not enough. More direct and profound lessons must be given to the other party.

Wang Zhuo is the most active of all, and almost all the poisonous schemes are thought of by him.It can be said that he almost talked about methods other than sending people to assassinate directly.

It's not that he has a bottom line and is unwilling to assassinate, but that he knows that if he kills Chen Jingke in Beijing, he will directly hit the emperor in the face.

At this time, they were not ready to completely tear their face with the emperor.

Just when they were discussing the most lively, "Tuk Tuk Tuk" knocked hurriedly on the door, and everyone who was disturbed couldn't help frowning.

Wang Zhuo's face turned cold, and he said, "Say, what is it?"

A servant's anxious voice came from outside the door: "My lords, the sage just announced in the court hall that he will establish schools in all states and counties of the Tang Dynasty to recruit children from poor families and ordinary people."

For a moment, the room could hear the sound of falling needles.

……

The emperor decreed to establish government schools in all states and counties across the country, and all sons of good families could enroll.

The news shocked the world.

Then the people boiled instantly, shouting long live my emperor.

But the high-level leaders were completely opposite. After a day of silence, memorials against this matter flew to the palace like snowflakes.

"How can the knowledge of the sages be taught lightly, huh...these people's sage books have been read into the dog's stomach, and they have forgotten what Confucius taught, no matter what?"

"The people can let them know, but they can't make them know... Opening up the wisdom of the people may not be conducive to the long-term stability of the court... This reason is not bad."

"But they forgot that this sentence can also be interpreted as: People can, let them know; if they can't, let them know. Let's clarify these two meanings first, and then talk about this matter."

"It would be costly to build so many schools, and the imperial court would have to conquer disobedient ministers and build the Yellow River... It may not be possible to build another school, so it is recommended to postpone it."

"This reason is the best, and it uses a delaying strategy, which is more convincing than the previous two reasons."

Li Shimin kept complaining about the memorials in his hand, most of them didn't even have annotations, and he threw them into the basket aside after reading them.

These memorials will not be destroyed, but all records will be kept in the archives for future tracing.

Changsun Wugou poured a cup of tea and put it in front of him, said: "I guessed that there would be people who would object to this, but I didn't expect there to be so many people."

"Usually these people are very loyal, and there is no sign of being bought by the gentry at all."

Li Shimin's face turned gloomy immediately, and said: "Yes, I still underestimated the hidden power of the gentry, and so many officials were bribed by them unknowingly."

"Fortunately, they have been in business for a short time. These people have relatively low positions and cannot directly affect the government. If they are given another 20 years, the consequences will be disastrous."

The eldest grandson Wugou sighed and said: "Yes, if they complete the layout, my royal family may really become the second Sima family."

What they didn't know was that 20 years later, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian relied on the power of the gentry to defeat the Guanlong Group headed by Changsun Wuji in one fell swoop.

When Wu Zetian came to power by himself, he directly brought the power of the gentry into the center, and the two joined forces to completely bury the remaining forces of the Guanlong Group.

The gentry has a long tradition, and the most indispensable thing is patience.They have plenty of time to plan from the subtleties, such as funding talented scholars, such as using clan girls to win over geniuses.

Although Li Yuan and Li Shimin were very wary of the gentry and consciously kept their power out of the center, it was almost difficult to be detected by people using this method of moistening things silently to infiltrate little by little.

This kind of layout can last for decades. If you can't see the results yourself, your children and grandchildren will always gain something if you continue to do it.

In the previous life, they did wait until the day of harvest.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, there were 520 four prime ministers, and 170 of them came from noble families, which is almost one third.

Among them, there are 78 of the five surnames and Qiwang, and 61 of the Guanzhong gentry. It is conceivable how powerful they are.

Someone might say, isn't there still two-thirds left, that's fine.

Don't get me wrong, the remaining two-thirds are not nobles in the family world, but they are definitely not commoners.

Either the spokesmen were trained by the gentry, or the prime ministers were from a powerful family that was inferior to the gentry, and there were very few prime ministers who were born as civilians.

It's just that there was an accident in this life. Under the influence of Chen Jingke, a traverser, Li Shimin decided to attack the gentry.

Originally, the gentry were not willing to reveal their true strength easily, and they used people who were on the bright side before.

But once the Xuezheng system came out, they couldn't hold back any longer. This was killing them.Don't care about whether the people who have been wooed before have the right to speak, let them stand up and speak out.

Then there is the present situation.

In the first few days, it was only the officials in central Beijing who protested against the academic and political system, and soon the local officials also began to protest the matter.

The reasons for the opposition of those local officials are simpler. The locals are too poor to support the establishment of schools, so the saints should think twice.

Seeing these memorials, Chen Jingke couldn't help feeling chills in his heart.

He had already overestimated the power of the gentry, but only now did he realize that the other party was far more powerful and terrifying than he had imagined.

All the gentry in the world add up, and even their servants are less than 2, but they can influence tens of thousands of people.

The key is that most of these people are scholars and state officials.

No wonder Li Shimin had been hesitant to make a move before. If he did it without any preparation in advance, the consequences would be disastrous.

Fortunately, they used the closure of the country as a bait to win over nobles. There is a saying that only a free system can defeat a system. If you learn and apply it, only a group can fight against a group.

Li Shimin looked at the secret letter in his hand and said: "There are changes in Shandong and Jiangnan, but fortunately I ordered the general to sit in the area in advance, and those people are afraid to really raise troops."

Chen Jingke said sincerely: "Your Majesty is wise, that is you, if you were someone else, the world would be in chaos."

Li Shimin heard his praise from the heart, and said happily: "Haha... now you know why I waited until now to do it."

Chen Jingke said: "Understood, I thought things too simply. I didn't expect the gentry to hide their strength so much. What are you going to do next?"

Li Shimin said: "It is actually the poor families and local big families who benefit the most from the government school. They are on the court's side in this matter. I plan to use their strength to establish the government school system."

"Although the power of the gentry is huge, it cannot be compared with the poor families and big families all over the country. With their support, the establishment of official schools will be unstoppable."

Official education is not compulsory education, and Chen Jingke is very clear about this truth from the beginning to the end.

Those who are able to go to government schools are basically from poor families and rich local families. Ordinary people can't even afford to eat, so how can they have the capital to study.

Of course, it doesn't mean that ordinary people don't have any chances, it's just that the chances are relatively slim.

But there has never been absolute fairness in this world, and Chen Jingke can't change this.

What he can do is to do his best to let the knowledge go down, so that more people have the opportunity to get in touch with advanced knowledge.

At least in name, the academic and political system stipulates that all good families can enter, which is a huge improvement compared to the time when the gentry monopolized learning.

So although Chen Jingke was helpless, he was not depressed.Let more people get in touch with knowledge first, and cultivate more scholars.

Then find a way to increase productivity. Only when productivity is improved can we have the capital to engage in compulsory education.You can't become a fat man with one bite, and everything is done step by step.

"The power of poor families and big local families is indeed greater, but they are like a piece of loose sand and cannot fight against the gentry, and they don't have the courage." Chen Jingke said:

"It takes a force to organize them. Only Xungui can take on this important task... So when is Guan Long planning to make a move?"

Li Shimin nodded and said: "The other side is also ready, but if they really want to make a move, they still need an opportunity."

Chen Jingke asked, "What opportunity?"

Li Shimin said: "I told you before that you need to entrust several princes and kings to win the trust and honor."

Chen Jingke nodded and said, "Are they waiting for your edict?"

Li Shimin shook his head and said: "No, it's not appropriate to make this matter public now. I sent someone to take the noble envoys to Chikuzi Island for a field trip. When they come back, it's time to do it."

Chen Jingke understood what was going on after a little thought. The average emperor really needed to use actual edicts to win people's trust.

But Li Shimin is not an ordinary emperor, his prestige and credibility are very high.As long as the nobles see the land with their own eyes, it is enough to win their trust.

After thinking this through, he said with admiration again: "It's you, it's never going to be so easy to change someone."

Li Shimin smiled contentedly, and then talked about another matter: "I'll show you something."

As he spoke, he took out a memorial and handed it to him.

Chen Jingke took it and saw that it was the memorial of Li Xiaogong, the chief of the Qingzhou Navy.He couldn't help but look forward to it, did the Navy have any big discoveries?

After reading the memorial, he couldn't help being shocked.

Someone actually summed up the various range formulas of artillery?
Although it is said in the memorial that it was deduced by referring to the formula of bow and arrow in Mochizuki's article, it is also very powerful.

Wait... He thought of something, and quickly opened the memorial to find the name of the officer who discovered the range formula.

Liu Rengui.

Chen Bu Mucao, it can't be that Liu Rengui, right?

There was a resume at the back of the memorial. He read it carefully and found that it was Liu Rengui.

The prime minister and famous general during the Tang Gaozong period, the commander of the first Sino-Japanese war in history, and the naval battle at Baijiangkou.

With fewer strikes and more victory over Fusang and the Baekje Navy coalition forces, Fusang never dared to covet the outside world for hundreds of years.

According to history, shouldn't this person be the county magistrate in Xianyang at this time?How did you become a captain in the navy?
Could it be that I was slapped by the wings of this little butterfly?That's really... something to be happy about.

Li Shimin has been watching his expression, and seeing his shocked look, he didn't think much about it, he just thought it was because of the range formula.

It was Chen Jingke who shocked them with new things before, and now Datang finally shocked him for a while, full of sense of accomplishment.

"How about this range formula? Is it accurate?"

Chen Jingke didn't explain either, and followed his words: "I don't know if it's accurate, but it's hard to think that the range of the artillery can be controlled."

"This captain named Liu Rengui is a great talent... By the way, according to the memorial, he is the Xianyang county magistrate appointed by His Majesty himself. You really have sharp eyes."

Li Shimin laughed loudly and said, "Haha... At the beginning, I just thought that he was an upright minister, and I couldn't bear to bury such a talent, so I made an exception and promoted him."

"It's just that I didn't expect him to have such a high talent in military affairs... You can see what is written in the memorial, the skill of handling ships is among the best, and the skill of handling artillery is the best in the entire army."

Chen Jingke decided to help him again, and said: "Such a great talent should be reused. Being a captain is too inferior and a waste of his ability."

Li Shimin said: "The army is no different than others, and the promotion and appointment are more meritorious. It is not good for him to be promoted rashly without merit."

"So I ordered him to lead the troops to escort the messenger to Chikushi Island. As long as he can return safely, it will be a great achievement, and I have a reason to promote him."

Chen Jingke said: "So that's the case, I was talking too much."

Speaking of this, he took the opportunity to say: "Speaking of which, I happen to have an unfeeling request, and I would like to ask Your Majesty for permission."

Li Shimin said with great interest: "Oh, let's hear what it is."

Chen Jingke said with some embarrassment: "Mr. Ying's filial piety period is about to pass, because neither of his two sons who are filial piety have yet become official."

"After all, after the founding of the country, it doesn't look good for the court to stay idle like this. So I want to get them to Baiqisi, you see..."

(End of this chapter)