Yang Fan had just solved a big problem, so his heart was at ease. Now he just wanted to go home to play with his baby son and enjoy the happiness of a family. However, Li Mubai was in the mood to talk and insisted on giving him advice. Yang Fan had no choice but to listen attentively.
Li Mubai said, "The aristocratic families are independent from the imperial court, but they are closely related to the imperial court. The aristocratic families are independent from the world, but they are deeply integrated with the world. Outsiders see that the children of aristocratic families are all aloof, as if they don't eat the food of the world. In fact, the aristocratic families are more involved in the world than anyone else!"
Li Mubai's unique opening immediately attracted Yang Fan. He no longer perfunctorily and began to listen carefully.
Li Mubai said, "The aristocratic families have accumulated great wealth for thousands of years. This wealth is not a treasure in the simple sense. It is not like the gold Buddha, jade Buddha, and silver arhats buried in the underground palace like the Mercy Temple. The wealth controlled by the aristocratic families is closely related to the people's livelihood and wisdom. It is the well-preserved wealth of mankind for thousands of years. It is the most fundamental power in the world!
For example, mulberry planting, silkworm rearing, cloth weaving, horse herding, crop planting … Everyone is the most humble and insignificant in the world. But what if their power is gathered together? The aristocratic families are not the imperial court. They can't use government decrees, laws, and armies to control the world, but they can use this method to accomplish it.
Countless mulberry farmers, silkworm farmers, cloth weavers, horses herders, crops farmers … Every single one of them was being controlled by an invisible thread from top to bottom. If you open a cloth and silk shop, you control all the mulberry planting, silkworm rearing, and cloth weaving. If you buy horses and sell horses, you control those horse herders. If you buy grain, transport grain, and sell grain, you control all the farmers in the world. Of course, this kind of control is very light. It is really like a thread, as long as he struggles, it will break.
Therefore, the person who controls this power doesn't rule them, doesn't collect rent or taxes from them, and doesn't force them to fight for him. These are the power of the imperial court. Through this kind of hidden control, the aristocratic families influence the imperial court through the common people, and then through the imperial court influence the world!
Everyone's voice in the world is too weak to be heard by the imperial court! If we gather their voices together, the imperial court will be able to hear them! If the Emperor issued a government decree that was detrimental to the peasants of the world, if he waited for the evil consequences of the decree to show themselves, by that time the world would have already collapsed, the starving people would riot, it would be beyond control.
As for us, we can make use of the upright ministers that we have cultivated to raise objections in the court! If the Emperor is still unwilling to change, we can make him understand the pros and cons through the fluctuation of grain prices and the shortage of grain. "
A mocking smile quickly flashed across the corners of Yang Fan's mouth as he leisurely said, "In that case, the aristocratic families are more concerned about the people's lives than the imperial court!"
Li Mubai laughed out loud and pointed at him: "You little brat, you come from a cold family, so you naturally don't like us people from aristocratic families. You always feel that we are tyrannical and prey on the common people. I knew you would say such cynical words! "
Yang Fan jumped in fright. He didn't expect that he would be able to hear the sarcasm in his words. He hurriedly explained, "Junior …"
Li Mubai shook his head and said with a smile: "All right, all right, no need to explain. This old man has lived for so long, what haven't I seen and what reason I don't understand? That's right, aristocratic families also have their own selfish motives and have to plan for themselves. But if aristocratic families are integrated into the world, perhaps they will gain more benefits, but do you think they will go against the interests of the world? "
Li Mubai turned to Yang Fan and said with bright eyes: "We have been passed down for thousands of years. We have experienced decline and prosperity, and we have learned many lessons from our painful experiences. We are not like the imperial court, which can use political power to override the common people of the world, so we know better than the imperial court what is beneficial to the world.
Of course, aristocratic families also have their own selfish motives, but who is selfless? Is the Emperor selfless or is there anyone in the world selfless? You don't? Do you not want to use all your resources to hire the best teachers to teach your children and grandchildren? When they grow up, do you not want to use your connections to pave the way for them as much as possible? "
Yang Fan was speechless.
Li Mubai said: "What we are doing is the same as each of you, as long as we can take care of the world. Do you think that by throwing aristocratic families aside and replacing them with descendants of the poor, they will have the moral character of serving the world? The world will be serving the world, and there will be no mistakes. It is impossible. If one day aristocratic families no longer exist, will the world become heaven? "
Li Mubai shook his head: "Perhaps it will not be worse than now, but it will not be better than now. If a group of peasants were to come up, it would only create a new group of nobles. No matter what he was originally, it is impossible for him to go back. If Chen Sheng and Wu Guang sat on the throne, they would not represent the peasants of the world. "
If a poor person came up, he would also have to protect his own family, to build his own power, so he would need to accumulate wealth, and he would need to make connections. These hungry ghosts, compared to those who had already eaten their fill and only wanted to save a portion of 'rations' for their children and grandchildren, were even more poor and evil.
Li Mubai stroked his beard and slyly glanced at Yang Fan, saying: "This old man will not force you to change your mind. You are now an official, and you are about to become the master of Xian Zong. A hundred years later, your descendants will also become a large clan. If you are still alive at that time, you will also be racking your brains for their existence and development. "
Li Mubai stretched out his hand and began to draw circles on the surface of the lake, saying: "In this small circle, I will side with my relatives; in a larger circle, I will side with my friends; in a larger circle, I will take care of my fellow countrymen. You are from Hedong Dao, I am from Guannei Dao. When you two quarrel, I will help the people from Guannei Dao. You are from Tubo, I am from Tang. When you two fight, I will help the Tang people. It was like this in the past, it is like this now, and it will still be like this in the future. "
Yang Fan was speechless.
Li Mubai smiled and said: "Aristocratic families are also one of the many circles in this big and small circle. What is there to criticize? Alright, back to our topic. What kind of power are you going to control? Just now, this old man has already used rice, oil, salt, grain, and cloth as an example. Other resources such as culture, education, and officialdom are the same!
The greatest power in the world had always been hidden behind the imperial court. It could not be seen or touched, but it was actually exerting its effects. Of course, we cannot influence the Emperor and the world for everything. We are also restricted by the various powers in the world.
There are many things that we can't do. We can only influence things to a certain extent. And the Hall of Succession is to consolidate the power of the aristocratic families in hopes that our influence can be greater. Now, do you know how much power you will control? "
Li Mubai explained in simple terms to Yang Fan very straightforwardly: "Not a king, but a king!"
All along, this had been the philosophy of survival pursued by the aristocratic families. This was why a dynasty only had a short two to three hundred years of national fate, but the aristocratic families could pass on for thousands of years. They had never thought of seizing power. They only attached themselves to the regime and were relatively independent.
In order to survive, they had to constantly provide nutrients to a regime, and at the same time, absorb the nutrients they needed from the regime, living in symbiosis with it. When the regime's life came to an end, they would abandon it and find another "tree" to continue living in symbiosis.
With this philosophy of survival, China's aristocratic family politics sprouted in the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It flourished in the Jin Dynasty and the Northern Dynasty. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, it flourished again. It was not until the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms that the various forces killed each other. After a hundred years of killing, the aristocratic families were all killed. Only then did its existence officially come to an end. Only the Hall of Succession was left, continuing its low-key glory in another way.
But as Li Mubai said, the dynasties that were established afterward did not have the existence of the aristocratic families. The world did not become better, nor did it become worse. Where the Han and Tang were glorious, the Song and Ming were glorious. Where the Han and Tang were humiliated, the Song and Ming were humiliated.
An unbreakable circle, an ununtied knot. If the fundamental system did not change, the world would not change. Without the aristocratic families and other big and small "circles", the world would forever be a vanity fair …
…
The bookworm Zheng Yu was dressed in hunting clothes. When he was carrying a bow and arrows, he had a kind of clean and neat valiant charm.
He took dozens of bodyguards and a few horse carriages out of Chang 'an City and headed south.
There was food, wine, cooking utensils and tents on the carriage. It seemed that he was going to the Qinling Mountains to hunt. He would not come back without three to five days of work.
Among the children of the aristocratic families, because Zheng Yu's personality was so upright that it was almost wooden, he was never liked by the self-proclaimed romantic Cui Shi, Wang Siyuan, and the others. In these small circles of the aristocratic families, he had always been excluded.
Although Cui Shi and the others usually laughed and laughed with him when they met, and did not lack the slightest bit of etiquette and enthusiasm, he was really incompatible with them. In addition, last time at the Lu family, when he was shouted at by Yang Fan, he stammered and said that Lu Binmi had escaped in a carriage, which almost cost Lu Binmi's life. This caused an irreconcilable conflict among the aristocratic families in Shandong, and he was even more disliked by the other aristocratic families.
Therefore, on this hunting trip, there was only him and his entourage. He did not even have a friend.
When the carriages left Chang 'an City and arrived at the foot of the Qinling Mountains, it was getting dark. The bodyguards began to set up camp at the foot of the mountain.
Zheng Yu was still riding on the horse, looking at the busy bodyguards. After a long time, he turned the horse around and turned around.
Behind him, there were two inseparable bodyguards standing on their horses. The bright red sunset shone on them. One of the bodyguards was lowering his head and patting the horse's mane. The horse turned its head and intimately licked the back of his hand.
The other bodyguard sat upright on the horse's back, out of place with the surrounding environment. Although he was also wearing a bodyguard's robe, it still could not hide his arrogant temperament. The sunset shone on half of his face, and his eyes were shining in the sunset: Lu Binmi, Young Master Jiang!
Young Master Jiang, who everyone thought had fled back to Luoyang in a sorry state, or even all the way back to Fan Yang, was actually here!
…
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