Wentang

Chapter 156 Who Owns the Power (2)

Aristocracy?Military merit system?Li Shimin felt suddenly enlightened, and all the doubts that had arisen from looking through the history before had answers in an instant.

What surprised him even more was that history was still interpreted in this way.

In the past, they took out certain events in history to analyze the pros and cons and draw lessons from experience.But no one has ever been able to interpret history from the perspective of the entire history.

Yue Shan was the first person to analyze history from a macro perspective. Li Shimin was fascinated by this completely different but more profound interpretation method.

"What about Han to Sui?" He asked impatiently.

"The situation from the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty was more complicated. The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin Law, and then carried out reforms on the basis of the Qin Law, creating a system for selecting talents based on filial piety." Yue Shan organized the language and said: "You can It is said to be a very great talent selection system.”

"The Qin Dynasty broke the aristocratic lineage system, but did not propose a new method of selecting talents. If things go on like this, either the power of the country will fall into the hands of the nobles again, or the talents will be cut off."

"Isn't there a military merit system?" Li Shimin couldn't help asking.

"Military lords are promoted to lead soldiers and fight. Let them govern one side as the herdsmen of the emperor. Can they do it? And what will they do when the world is peaceful and there is no war to fight?" Yue Shan asked rhetorically.

Li Shimin remained silent, obviously he also knew that running an army and running a locality were completely different things.Military merit can promote nobles, but there is no way to select qualified officials.

Although military nobles can train their own children, it takes time, and it cannot quench their thirst.In the end, the original nobles are still needed to hold power.

More importantly, what should we do when the world is at peace?Without new nobles, the power of the country will once again fall into the hands of another group of nobles.There is no way to fundamentally solve the problem.

In the past, Li Shimin thought Ju Xiaolian was a very good system, but it wasn't until this time that he realized how good it really was, and why Yue Shan called it great.

Its appearance marks that the country has a more feasible way of selecting talents.

Li Shimin didn't know that the Ju Xiaolian system was even greater than he imagined.Eighty to ninety percent of the countries so great in the 21st century still use this system—except that the officials elected at that time were called parliamentarians.

"Ju Xiaolian created a new way of recruiting talents for the country. A large number of people from humble backgrounds but with real talents were able to become officials, which laid the talent foundation for the great prosperity of the Han Dynasty." Yue Shan continued: "During this period , People with real talents and real learning began to grasp the power of the country and became the herdsmen of the emperor."

"Different from the pre-Qin aristocrats who were in power, I call this situation the power of learning in the world."

"Study is in power?" Li Shimin murmured.

"Yes, don't ask about family background, just look at knowledge. Those who are knowledgeable can take power, and those who are uneducated, no matter how high their family background, are just titles of nobility and have no real power." Yue Shan nodded.

"However, the system of filial piety and honesty has a big shortcoming. It is easy to be controlled by noble families, local tyrants, and clan forces."

"In the early Han Dynasty, the power of the aristocratic family was not strong. Indeed, many civilian children were elected as officials. But as the aristocratic family gradually expanded, the way to promote filial piety was controlled by them. It was up to them to choose who to choose. Calculate."

"At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Xiaolian was in name only, and all the people who were elected were the children of aristocratic families. Part of the reason for Wang Mang's new policy was to change this situation and re-open the communication between the upper and lower levels. Unfortunately, he failed."

"Emperor Guangwu had the ability to break this situation, but it's a pity that he puts too much emphasis on friendship. He ended the troubled times and rebuilt the court with the support of the powerful family, so he is very tolerant to these people.

Turn a blind eye to their behavior.So much so that the entire Eastern Han Dynasty was ruled by aristocratic families, and the common people had little chance to rise to the top. "

"Isn't this going back to the pre-Qin aristocratic bloodline system?" Changsun Wugou whispered.As soon as the voice fell, she realized that she had lost her composure, and a shy expression appeared on her face.

"Yes, the aristocratic system has risen again since the end of the Western Han Dynasty, but the pre-Qin era was inherited by blood, while the nobles of the Han Dynasty were inherited by learning." Yue Shan nodded approvingly:
"The aristocratic families of the Han Dynasty learned smartly. They knew that bloodline alone could not keep the family for a long time. Only knowledge is the most reliable way to live, so they began to monopolize high-end knowledge."

"Common people can also read and write, but paper is still a rare thing in the Han Dynasty. Books are engraved on bamboo slips, so books are very rare. Even if you are lucky and get one or two volumes of books, it is difficult to learn without a famous teacher."

"Only aristocratic and powerful families have the ability to collect books. Their children can get guidance from their parents, and it is easier to learn advanced knowledge."

"Even if there is a once-in-a-hundred-year genius among the children of the common people, he must learn from the nobles of the aristocratic family. In this way, he will become a member of the nobles and no longer represent the common people."

"So although the aristocratic families in the last years of the Han Dynasty are very similar to the blood aristocrats in the pre-Qin period, in fact, they still belong to the use of knowledge to control the power of the world."

"At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos and the old order was broken. The children of ordinary people finally had a chance to make their mark, and a large number of talented people became officials."

"It's a pity that this period of time is too short. After the Jin Dynasty, the nine-rank Zhongzheng system completely drove the common people and the children of the poor into the abyss, so that there was a saying that 'there is no poor family in the upper rank, and no nobles in the lower rank'."

"If the aristocratic families of the Han Dynasty still had scruples and wanted to show their face, then during the four hundred years from the Jin Dynasty to the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, the nobles completely tore up the fig leaf and lost all face."

Speaking of this, Li Shimin's face couldn't help twitching slightly, feeling rather uncomfortable in his heart.Because the Yuanyou Li family is a gentry family, one of the five surnames and seven Wangs, and belongs to the most shameless wave in Yue Shan's mouth.

"But no matter what, these gentry also flaunt their own extraordinaryness with their family knowledge, so it can also be regarded as mastering the power of the world through knowledge."

"So looking at the history from the pre-Qin to the Sui Dynasty, I divide the people who hold power into two categories: one is the nobles who rely on blood to control the power in the world, that is, the pre-Qin era. The other is to control the power in the world by knowledge, which is the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty."

"Papapa... wonderful, very wonderful." Li Shimin couldn't help but clapped his hands and sighed.The eldest grandson Wugou also looked at him with admiration.

Yue Shan didn't feel much complacent in his heart, these things were not discovered by himself, but were summed up by later historians, he was just a porter.

But let alone, it's really cool to use the knowledge of later generations to pretend to be an X in front of Tang Taizong and Qian Guyi.

"Sage, sister, do you want to guess why I regard the Sui Dynasty as the end of the second stage?"

　It was too difficult to write. I changed drafts seven times and wrote more than 1 words. In the end, only 404 words were deleted.Some parts are too long-winded, some think it is more appropriate to put it later, and some are afraid of writing too deep and getting [-].big head.

　　There is one more chapter tomorrow, concluding this conversation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)