I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 115: Sharpening the Knife to Xiang Xuanling

Before Song Shen finished his Thomas Maneuver, the bell for the end of get out of class rang in the classroom.

All the students were teleported back to their respective real worlds on the spot before they had time to express their opinions and suggestions.

Tang Dynasty, the ninth year of Zhenguan.

Ganlu Temple.

Li Shimin raised his head from his seat, and before he could adapt to the difference in space, he staggered to his feet and prepared to rush out, and almost fell.

Fortunately, on the one hand, Empress Changsun was worried about him and always stayed by his side, and on the other hand, there was carpet on the floor, so it was not easy for him to fall.

So Li Shimin just stumbled and was pulled back by Empress Changsun, and nothing serious happened.

"Erlang, what's wrong with you? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Empress Zhangsun supported him with great concern:
"If there is something really urgent, and if it doesn't happen today, there is no need to rush right now. Take your time."

Li Shimin took two deep breaths before he calmed himself down a little.

After taking a deep breath, he pointed at several officials on the ground:
"Guanyin, please ask them. Although this incident today is not going to happen immediately, I will be worried even if it is delayed for a moment."

"It's really...it's really important!"

"Don't stop me, I'm going to find someone to do it right now!"

Inside the hall, Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and Cheng Yaojin looked at each other in bewilderment.

Of course, they also knew why His Majesty was so excited and so excited to prepare for this matter immediately.

To be honest, Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling could also be considered as members of the aristocratic families, but they were far from reaching the level of the Five Surnames and Seven Families.

Fang Xuanling's great-grandfather was the General Zhenyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, his grandfather inherited an official post in the Northern Wei Dynasty and served as a chief clerk, and his father was a famous scholar in Wei and Qi. The Fang family had served as officials and scholars for three generations, but the well-known Qinghe Fang family still could not hold their heads up in front of the Five Surnames and Seven Families.

Fang Xuanling's wife was from the Lu family of Fanyang, one of the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats. Anyone who was not from one of these seven families would be considered marrying up. The fact that Fang Xuanling was henpecked had spread far and wide, and even the common people knew about it.

Zhangsun Wuji's family background was not bad either. He was from the Xianbei noble family of Henan Zhangsun, and his family was a senior official of the Northern Dynasty. Even if his ancestors were more successful, like Fang Xuanling, even if he was one of the biggest contributors to the Xuanwu Gate, he did not dare to say that he could compare with the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Clan.

As for Cheng Yaojin...

Cheng Yaojin's origin has been mentioned before. His current wife is a daughter of Cui from Qinghe, one of the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats, but that is her second marriage. His original wife, Sun, has passed away, and his current wife, Cui, is even a few years older than Sun. It is not a big deal for a widower to be together, and that is why he, a duke from a humble family, can marry a woman from the Five Surnames.

If we count, among the three most trusted ministers present here, two of them have married women from the five surnames, and the remaining one is Li Shimin's brother-in-law.

Judging from the small, how many people in the court come from aristocratic families?

Even though the Tang Dynasty had just begun to unify the country, there were many meritorious officials in the court, and not so many officials from the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Families. However, as long as one had some ancestors that made some sense, they would try their best to curry favor with these seven families. Many of them might not be in the court, but they were truly everywhere.

It is easy to imagine how difficult it would be for Li Shimin to cut off the educational resources monopolized by the aristocratic families.

Emperor Li II found that these beloved ministers were all silent, especially his eldest brother-in-law's eyes revealed his disapproval of his anxious attitude, so he calmed down a little and thought.

Seeing that they were all silent, Empress Chang Sun asked again:
"Why don't you first talk about what you want to do, and then slowly work out a charter?"

"Your Majesty has been on the throne for so many years, and he has rarely been so reckless. I am very curious about what happened to make Your Majesty so excited."

Li Shimin sighed.

He had finally come to his senses and realized that printing might cause a lot of trouble, and it was not easy for the three people below to intervene, so he looked at his wife.

"The thing is like this..."

After a few words, he roughly summarized what happened in today's class, and then Li Shimin said:
"Guanyinbi, do you know how important printing is?"

"It's not just about books. If the court has any documents to send to the local areas, with movable type printing, we can print all kinds of documents quickly and in large quantities. For the court alone, it is a hundred benefits and no harm."

"But look at them. They don't even dare to voice their opinions because they are afraid of the Five Surnames and Seven Families..."

"I don't think these nobles are wrong, I just feel tired."

Yeah, how can you not be tired?
Even before the printing technique was spread to Ganlu Palace, several people in the palace were already afraid. This was not because they were timid. If they were really timid, they would not have followed His Royal Highness the King of Qin to start the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

It is precisely because they are smart and courageous enough that they can truly sense the upheavals that printing technology will bring.

They were silent, thinking about whether there was a gentler way to handle this matter. If not, then His Majesty would have to intervene using tougher means.

The Li family had only been on the throne for a short time. If the aristocratic families launched a collective counterattack, the Li Tang Dynasty might end up like many short-lived dynasties during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, or even the Sui Dynasty...

It's hard to say.

After hearing this, Empress Changsun was silent for a long time.

After a long while, she whispered:

"I do have an idea, but I don't know if it's just a woman's opinion. Would you like to hear it, Erlang?"

Li Shimin nodded.

For him now, any opinion is important, no matter whether it comes from the former dynasty or the harem, no matter who raises it, as long as someone is willing to give advice, it can give him some confidence.

Empress Changsun thought for a moment and then spoke:
"There are many advantages to being a noble family, but there are also disadvantages."

"Like in ordinary poor families, as long as there is a promising and close relative, they will naturally be protected. But the children of the noble families don't rely on a certain person, they rely on the Five Surnames and Seven Famous People. As long as they have a reputation, even if they go out to borrow money without any evidence, there will still be people who recognize them."

"Correspondingly... the protection of a poor family is enough to support a family, but this is not the case for aristocratic families. With so many children, there are always direct descendants and side branches. For example, the common ancestor of the Cui family of Qinghe and the Cui family of Boling is Cui Ye, and the common ancestor of the Li family of Longxi and the Li family of Zhaojun is Li Tan. They were also a family at the beginning, but they separated later."

"When the direct lineage declines, the side branches will naturally split up. There are also many cases where the direct lineage is rich while the side branches are poor and even destitute."

"If we select suitable candidates from the Five Families and Seven Nobles, or even other new nobles, and give priority to their family's collection of books using the printing technology, and promise them that they can get the benefits of the printing technology first, what do you think, Erlang?"

Li Shimin's face twitched.

This... is an open conspiracy!
It's so immoral no matter how you look at it.

Just as Guanyinbi said, the resources of the side branches are definitely not as good as those of the direct line, but the side branches are not necessarily incapable of producing talents. Otherwise, how did Qinghe Cui and Boling Cui develop and grow separately?
Among the five surnames and seven families, most of the side branches are ambitious and want their own family to produce a high-ranking official. As long as the resources are handed to them, they will never give up.

If they really did so, although it would be a bit like sowing discord, it would be aboveboard. After all, they were a family, and there was no wall that was impenetrable. The matter would soon reach the ears of the head of the family. The problem was that even if the family tried to stop them, they could not stop them from pursuing their careers. The benefits promised by the emperor himself had to be earned even if the family was divided.

"This... even if it makes the Five Surnames and Seven Families less powerful than before, will it support the emergence of new aristocratic families?"

Below, Fang Xuanling raised a question with great concern.

But Empress Changsun didn't need to think about it, Li Shimin took the lead and waved his hand:
"Impossible!" "Didn't you hear what Zhu Biao and Mr. Song said? In the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination and printing went hand in hand, which cut off the source of the trouble and forced the aristocratic families to withdraw from history books."

"Everything is difficult at the beginning. As long as we take this first step, and then improve the imperial examination system, scholars from poor families will be able to enter the imperial court. The advantages of the aristocratic families will no longer exist, and the court will be full of people from all walks of life, instead of being dominated by aristocratic families everywhere!"

"Speaking of which - Xuanling, I remember that your wife is not a direct descendant of the Fanyang Lu family, right?"

The corners of Fang Xuanling's mouth twitched twice.

He didn't expect that by just asking a question, he would end up kicking himself onto the chopping board of His Majesty.

Now the arrow is on the string, he has to shoot it even if he doesn't want to.

"…Reporting to Your Majesty, that is exactly the case. My wife is not from the direct lineage, but from the side branch of the Fanyang Lu family. Otherwise, with the status of my Qinghe Fang family, I cannot marry a woman from one of the five surnames."

Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction.

He pondered for a moment and said:
"In that case, then do me a favor."

"After you get home today, have a good talk with your jealous wife and tell her that I got the news that I can quickly make books and documents. I won't go into details for now and see if she is interested and wants to ask her family to use it."

"If you want, how about you, the son-in-law, take charge of this matter?"

Fang Xuanling was cursing in his heart so much that he almost burst into tears.

Li Er, you have arranged everything for me clearly, and then you ask me how it went at the end. Does it make sense?
If I say no, will you not let me?
How can it be!

"Your Majesty, I am not afraid of being embarrassed. It is because everyone knows that I am henpecked. If she insists on asking, I am afraid I will not be able to stop her."

Fang Xuanling could only use his wife as a shield.

Li Shimin didn't care:
"Can't stop her? If you can't stop her, then bring her to me and ask me. If I still can't stop her, I'll let Guanyin take action. It can't be that the emperor and the empress combined can't deal with that jealous person in your family!"

"Okay, this is the temporary solution. I will give you a token to enter the palace. If there is any follow-up, you can enter the palace to meet me at any time."

"Back off, I'm a little tired."

Three ministers in the palace: ...

Cheng Yaojin glanced at Fang Xuanling with pity, and was extremely glad that he married a widow from the direct line of the Qinghe Cui family, so it was not his turn to get involved in this matter.

Fang Xuanling was very sensitive to his gaze and gritted his teeth with a sneer.

When the three of them went out together, Fang Xuanling whispered to Cheng Yaojin:

"Do you think you can escape? Once the printing technology spreads, the legitimate descendants will naturally want it too. You, the current Duke who married a legitimate daughter of one of the five surnames, will be the first to be affected."

"Zhijie, I'll be the first and you'll be the fifteenth. Don't come and cry to me then."

After saying this, Prime Minister Fang walked away without even looking at Cheng Yaojin.

Cheng Yaojin: ...

Cheng Yaojin looked at the lonely Changsun Wuji beside him with a pleading look.

The latter took a half step away from him and stroked his beard:
"I am not so lucky to marry a woman from the five surnames. This matter has nothing to do with me. Zhijie, take care of yourself."

…………

In the afternoon.

The residence of Duke Xing.

This is Fang Xuanling’s home.

"My husband is back? Why do you look so unhappy? What's wrong with you?"

As soon as Fang Xuanling entered the room, his wife, Mrs. Lu, came up to him and asked about his well-being.

When she saw her husband's grim face, she touched his hat and found that it was soaked inside and he seemed to have been sweating a lot. It was obviously not just a normal heat stroke - it was still spring, and the sun was not that hot.

After thinking for a while, Mrs. Lu took her husband back to their bedroom.

"My husband, there is no one around now. What happened to you? Why don't you tell me?"

"If it's really difficult, I can write a letter back to my parents' house and ask them to help. Don't scare me!"

Looking at his wife's worried expression, Fang Xuanling covered his face and sighed.

People outside say that he is henpecked, and even His Majesty often jokes about this matter. He was the one who spread it on purpose.

At that time, the Majesty heard that he was not interested in women when he was socializing outside, so he forced two maids on him to take home. As a result, he was kicked out by the Madam. Then the Majesty was furious and summoned Lu to see him. He scolded her for being unfaithful to her husband. He also took out a jar and said it contained poison. He asked her to choose between taking a concubine for her husband or drinking the poison. The Madam drank the poison without hesitation, only to find out that it was a jar of vinegar.

The nickname "jealous woman" has always followed my wife since then.

But only Fang Xuanling and Lu themselves knew that this matter was something they had discussed beforehand.

Let me ask you, if the emperor personally appointed two maids to be concubines in his own backyard, who knows whether they were concubines or spies?
Fang Xuanling did not dare to gamble, nor did he dare to disobey the order. Later, he could only resort to this last resort and exchange his wife's reputation for peace. If anyone wanted to put someone in his house in the future, they only had to mention the three words "jealous man" and everything would be fine.

Because of this incident, his wife's reputation among the noble ladies was once very bad, and Fang Xuanling felt very guilty.

But there is really no way today... His Majesty even said that as long as Lu disagrees, the Emperor and Empress can persuade her together, making it clear that this shield is no longer useful.

After a long silence, Fang Xuanling roughly explained the matter according to His Majesty's wishes, and even added a few points himself.

Madam Lu was from the Fanyang Lu clan, a family of scholars. Naturally, she knew as soon as she heard about this that this was an open conspiracy that would destroy the foundation of the Five Surnames and Seven Families. However, it was also an opportunity for the side branch. It all depended on her own choice.

"Why are you so sad, sir?"

"Since this matter has been decided, His Majesty has made up his mind. For a lord like him, any conspiracy or trickery will be useless in the face of an open conspiracy."

After a while, she smiled, touched her husband's graying hair, and said softly:

"You can do whatever you want. I don't mind. But - you still have to show some respect and make a fuss, otherwise your reputation as a jealous person will not be so loud."

"In a few days, tell me that I am reluctant and ask you to let me enter the palace."

"Otherwise, how could Your Majesty think that the branch of the Fanyang Lu family was so greedy that it was a good knife for him?"

(End of this chapter)