20: Chapter 20 He is the one who destroyed your Tang Dynasty

"This person is not an emperor of your Tang Dynasty."

"Furthermore, this person failed the imperial examination several times."

"In the end, he started an uprising and fought his way into Chang'an, proving that fighting into Chang'an is easier than passing the exams to get into Chang'an."

"After arriving in Chang'an, he wanted to seek support from the Five Surnames and Seven Clans, but these Aristocratic Families were so arrogant, how could they possibly support a man of humble origins like him?"

"In the end, he followed their clan genealogies and slaughtered his way through them."

"He put an end to all those millennial Aristocratic Families!"

"Including your Li royal clan."

"From then on, even those of humble origins could achieve social mobility through their own efforts."

"He is: Huang Chao!"

"So, the Aristocratic Families were ended during your Tang Dynasty, and they were ended together."

Yang Fan was tired from talking, so he went back to the refrigerator, took out two bottles of ice-cold mineral water, opened one for himself, and handed one to Emperor Taizong of Tang.

Emperor Taizong of Tang was still lost in thought at this moment.

Although he also very much wanted to be like that Huang Chao and slaughter all the clans.

But while they were around, at least the world could still function normally; if these people were all slaughtered, there would be a breakdown in the governance of the country.

Would a more chaotic era emerge?

Finally, Emperor Taizong of Tang let out a long sigh.

"Although it sounds very satisfying, it also sows the seeds of disaster."

Yang Fan nodded; Emperor Taizong of Tang was still quite rational.

"Being able to be an emperor, he certainly sees things from a longer-term perspective."

"Indeed, when a whale falls, all things thrive!"

"In just 53 years, there were 56 emperors."

"We later generations summarized this era with a few sentences."

"Everyone can get on the dining table."

"It is a real dining table: men are stir-fried to be eaten, women are boiled to be eaten, and the old are roasted to be eaten!"

Yang Fan did not continue, believing that Emperor Taizong of Tang would understand.

"I can guess some of it; the cultural foundation was too poor, governing entirely based on personal whims, how could it last long?"

A man of humble origins leaping to become emperor, in the end, lacked the heart to tolerate others and the capacity to tolerate the world!

Emperor Taizong of Tang stood up, hands behind his back, looking into the distance.

As an emperor who conquered on horseback, who hadn't seen mountains of corpses and seas of blood? The situation of people eating people was already something he was accustomed to.

Emperor Taizong of Tang was, after all, from an Aristocratic Family background; he possessed military skill, scholarship, cultivation, vision, and foresight.

Emperor Taizong of Tang thought that perhaps the matter of the Aristocratic Families should be resolved in his hands, otherwise the tragedies of later generations would still occur.

He now had Yang Fan as his great backer, knew the historical trajectory, and had a large amount of supplies; what the Aristocratic Families monopolized now was really just knowledge.

As long as he could resolve the Aristocratic Families' monopoly on knowledge, he could begin to purge them.

"Is the later generations' evaluation of the Tang Dynasty very poor?"

Emperor Taizong of Tang did not care much about his own evaluation anymore; after all, he was preparing to make a move against these Aristocratic Families, so it would be strange if these people wrote well of him.

"Not bad, top three in history, perhaps."

"It reminds me of a poem."

"The spring breeze is triumphant, the horse's hooves are swift; in one day, I see all the flowers of Chang'an!"

"The evaluation of later generations is that it was a prosperous age, a dynasty that could not possibly perish."

"Unless it destroyed itself."

"Yet it really did have its own elites slaughter its own elites, and subsequently headed towards decline."

Yang Fan was also very helpless.

If Li Longji had lived 20 years less, the Tang Dynasty's lifespan could probably have been extended by another 100 years.

"Good poem!"

After hearing the evaluation of later generations, Emperor Taizong of Tang finally felt much more comfortable.

He also had a direction in his heart.

"I want to purge the Aristocratic Families."

In just a few words, Emperor Taizong of Tang stated his determination.

He could not leave this matter to those little good-for-nothings of later generations to do.

After all, he could still wield a blade now.

Yang Fan yawned.

"How do you want to purge them? Boiling a frog in warm water, or just chopping them all off directly?"

Yang Fan believed that even if Emperor Taizong of Tang chopped all of these people off, as long as he was the emperor, the world would definitely not descend into great chaos.

After all, it was no longer the time when Emperor Taizong of Tang had just ascended the throne.

"The matter of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, I will not do; I am not that stupid."

"Tell me about your 'boiling a frog in warm water'; what I mean is breaking their monopoly on knowledge, win over a batch, and kill a batch."

"Those who submit will prosper, those who resist will perish!"

"These Aristocratic Families have been able to survive for so long because they are people who understand the times; I still need them to transition for a few decades."

Emperor Taizong of Tang's plan was to use a large number of people from humble origins to slowly replace the positions of these Aristocratic Families.

Yang Fan gave a thumbs up to Emperor Taizong of Tang's kingly aura.

This guy's presence was indeed no joke, especially that line, "Those who submit will prosper, those who resist will perish!"

"Very simple."

"The so-called monopoly of those Aristocratic Families is too simple for the current world."

"Whatever business they do, I will help you do the same, ensuring the output is higher than theirs, the quality is better than theirs, and the efficiency is faster than theirs."

"As for books, it's even simpler; our printing technology can print hundreds of thousands of books in a small factory in one day."

"Whatever books you want, it's all very simple."

Yang Fan rubbed his index finger and thumb together at Emperor Taizong of Tang.

Emperor Taizong of Tang was listening intently, and seeing Yang Fan's gesture, he looked suspicious; what did this mean?

"What are you doing?"

"Money!"

"You wouldn't want me to provide these things to you for free, would you? These things all cost money; it's not like my family owns the source!"

"Oh, gold, right."

Saying this, Emperor Taizong of Tang directly took out the remaining 4,000 taels of gold from his space.

Yang Fan directly put the gold into his space.

He looked at the gold in his space; he had sold one piece, and now there were 809 pieces, golden and glistening, very pleasing to the eye.

[10,000 tons of rice transaction successful, transaction rating C, obtained 50 transaction points.]

[Remaining 150 transaction points.]

Yang Fan smacked his lips at the C rating; it seemed that the change these grains brought to the Tang Dynasty was far less significant than when Empress Zhangsun was alive.

It seemed that to obtain a large number of transaction points, he had to bring out things that could change that era.

"Alright, our last transaction is complete."

"Let's talk about the next steps."

"Regarding that merchant business you mentioned, for me, an emperor, to do it, it wouldn't be very appropriate..."

Emperor Taizong of Tang still cared a bit about his reputation.

After all, he was often scolded by Wei Zheng.

"You can let your close royal relatives do it; in the end, if the Aristocratic Families retaliate fiercely, you can deal with your royal relatives to appease the anger."

"Then give a portion of the profits to the national treasury and let them handle the problems."

"And a portion goes into your own pocket."

"As the saying goes, a man with money is a hero, a man without money is in a difficult spot!"

"With money, you can do whatever you want."

Yang Fan said it nonchalantly.

"Those are all my closest relatives!"

Emperor Taizong of Tang said solemnly.

"Those people can be exchanged for millions and millions of money."

Emperor Taizong of Tang coughed.

He immediately changed his tune; he was absolutely not doing it for the money!

"The Tang Dynasty's empire is more important; for the stability of my Tang Dynasty, if they don't go to hell, who will?"

"Besides, they are royal family members, they have received plenty of imperial grace, so it is only right for them to contribute a little."

"Then I will go back and take stock of the things these Aristocratic Families operate; how much gold do you want?"