More than an hour ago, in a private room of the Junyue Restaurant.
Inside, there were five young masters who were dressed luxuriously and had extraordinary appearances. Their nobility and elegance were clearly not something that could be nurtured by a poor family.
The five of them sat opposite each other and did not deliberately maintain the order of the seats. Among them, the young man named Xuan Ji said:
"Li Zexuan first flattened the price of books, and then he launched the Dictionary of the Tang Dynasty. Such actions are tantamount to digging at the foundation of the Shandong landowning clans. I believe that all the brothers present can see this."
"Xuan Ji is right. Since the establishment of the Li Tang Dynasty, the Shandong gentry have been suppressed repeatedly and have long lost their former glory. Now we have to pay attention to the actions of this Li Xianzhi. He is shaking the prestige of our families in the Scholarly Circle!"
A slightly older man sitting next to Xuan Ji took over the conversation.
"Ha! How can a small dictionary shake the foundation of the Shandong gentry? Cui Xuanji, Cui Shen, when have the people of the Cui Family of Qinghe and the Cui Family of Boling been so timid? "
Hearing these two people talking, the handsome young man sitting on the outside sneered discontentedly.
It turned out that the people sitting in this room today were all outstanding representatives of the five surnames and seven hopes. Cui Xuanji of the Cui Family of Qinghe, Cui Shen of the Cui Family of Boling, Zheng Huaijie of the Zheng Family of Xingyang, Lu Chengqing of the Lu Family of Fanyang, and Li Jingxuan of the Li Family of Zhao County. Now five of the five surnames and seven hopes were here. The Li Family of Longxi and the Wang Family of Taiyuan were not here.
To be able to be chosen as the representative of each family, these people naturally had their own outstanding aspects. Right now, perhaps they were still not well known because Li Yuan and Li Er, these two generations of Emperors, were doing their best to suppress the Shandong landowning households. After a few more years, many of them would stand out in the court.
For example, Lu Chengqing, who was the Prime Minister during the Gaozong period, Cui Shen. Although this person did not have many achievements in the officialdom, he later had a very powerful son named Cui Xuanzhi. This person also served as the Prime Minister during the Gaozong period. During the Wu Zhou period, in order to support the crown prince, Li Xian, to ascend the throne, he launched a coup and was conferred the title of Prince.
"Zheng Huaijie! Today is different from the past. You and I have both seen the plight of the aristocratic families. The Emperor's ambition is also clear as day. At this time, you still have high standards but little ability. Could it be that you will only wake up when we are all reduced to ordinary families? "
Cui Xuanji said with an ugly expression.
"Heh! You really have groundless fears ~! In any case, the Cui Family was a rich and powerful family that had lasted for thousands of years. Even if the current Emperor intended to weaken the aristocratic families, could he really do anything to the Cui Family? It's true that our families are being suppressed now, but I think it's just because Li Tangchu and the Li Family of Longxi want to raise the status of the Guanlong nobles. At this moment, we only need to lie low. When the Crown Prince takes the throne, we will definitely have more opportunities! "
Zheng Huaijie retorted somewhat disapprovingly.
It had to be said that although this guy was a little arrogant, he had a good grasp of the overall situation.
In China's history, aristocratic politics, or aristocratic politics, sprouted in the Eastern Han Dynasty and died at the end of the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, some people felt that the aristocratic family politics, from the Eastern Han Dynasty, through the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, gradually weakened and died out following the disappearance of the two great privileges of the economic "Occupying Farmland Shady Guest System" and the political "Nine Ranks of the Emperor System", without any rebound.
In fact, this was a great misunderstanding. Because in terms of historical facts, in China's aristocratic politics era, there were two most glorious periods. One was the Wei-Jin Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the other was the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, especially in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, aristocratic politics didn't dim. On the contrary, it strangely became glorious again.
At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the Shandong nobles were indeed greatly suppressed. First, the "Guanlong Military Group" still had a lot of power at that time. Second, the emperor deliberately suppressed them. Third, in the vigorously promoted imperial examination system, many ministers of the illegitimate family appeared. At that time, the "five families" were not used to this kind of official method. Fourth, the court officials who came from humble families were jealous.
However, after Empress Wu came to power, on one hand, she suppressed the old ministers of the Guanlong nobles and eliminated political resistance. On the other hand, she began to use the Shandong nobles. For example, Li Jingxuan, who came from the Li Family of Zhao County, was recognized by Empress Wu at this time and walked into the center of power.
After the "An Lushan Rebellion", the political center of the Tang Dynasty was rebuilt. The power to suppress the nobles was no longer as fierce as it was under Li Yuan and Li Er. The "five families" also used the imperial examination system to rise up fiercely.
For example, the Zheng Family of Xingyang. During the Tang Dynasty, it was hard to find a prime minister. However, from the middle of the Tang Dynasty onwards, there were more than ten prime ministers and important ministers.
Another example would be the Cui Family of Qinghe. In the Tang Dynasty, there were ten people from the branch house, the South Ancestral Branch, the Qinghe Main Branch, the Qinghe Small Branch, and the Qingzhou Branch. Before the An Lushan Rebellion, there were only two people who were prime ministers. After the rebellion, eight of them became prime ministers.
The reason why the nobles of Shandong were able to rise again was because of the change in the attitude of those in power. Another reason was that after adapting to the imperial examination system, the profound family tradition and knowledge of the nobles gave them a special advantage in the imperial examination.
For example, the Lu Family of Fanyang had more than a hundred people in the Tang Dynasty, especially from the middle of the Tang Dynasty onwards. This number was shocking. One must know that in the Tang Dynasty, the Jinshi examination was the most difficult. The number of people who were admitted was also very small. The Lu Family was able to have such results because of their family traditions and knowledge.
Therefore, if the nobles wanted to develop, they had to wait for the right time.
Li Jingxuan nodded and said, "Xuanji, although Huaijie's words are offensive, they are not without reason. Right now, we should wait patiently and not take the initiative to cause trouble!"
However, Lu Chengqing frowned and said, "Jing Xuan, you're wrong. Ever since Li Zexuan appeared in Chang 'an, the speed of his rise has left people dumbfounded. Everything that Qing Guanzhi has done seems to be deliberately going against us. Recently, I even heard that he wants to build some Yanhuang Academy and develop engineering. It's really absurd!
Qing Guanzhi suspects that he is a tool that His Majesty arranged to suppress the nobles! The current situation is no different from boiling a frog in warm water. If we don't take action soon, sooner or later, our foundation will be nibbled away! If the Cui Family wants to deal with Li Zexuan, the Lu Family is willing to help! "
Cui Xuanji smiled and said, "Brother Chengqing is really far-sighted and righteous ~!"
Then, he turned to Zheng Huaijie and Li Jingxuan and said, "Brother Zheng, Brother Li, time waits for no man ~! If Li Zexuan is allowed to do as he pleases, the situation of our families will be even more worrying ~! Please reconsider carefully ~! "
Cui Shen chimed in, "Huaijie, Jingxuan, I believe that with your foresight, you can't see Li Zexuan's threat. Please consider the big picture ~!"
In the current situation, three out of the five families had formed a united front. Hesitation appeared on Li Jingxuan's face. After a while, he stood up and said, "In that case, the Li Family of Zhao County is also willing to help. However, this is a serious matter. Jingxuan will have to discuss it with my father ~!"
"Of course, of course ~!"
Cui Xuanji smiled and nodded with a hint of joy.
…
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
