During the Zhenguan period, the aristocratic families, the five surnames, and the seven kings did not have an advantage in the court.
Li Tang had taken over the country with the support of the Guanlong military group, so the power of the court was in the hands of the Guanlong group.
The five surnames and seven Wangs were mostly noble and loose officials in the court, such as the censor.
Coupled with Li Er's deliberate suppression, the gentry had little influence in the court.
However, its influence among the people was extremely terrifying. This was also the reason why Li Er reopened the imperial examination later. However, because the imperial examination system was unreasonable and there was a test paper system, although there were poor families and commoners who used it to make a great leap, they were still inferior to the gentry.
In the beginning, most of the gentry families entered the official career with the help of their families. They could not adapt to the new way of becoming an official through the imperial examination, so they gave the poor commoners a chance.
However, after the Rebellion of An Lushan and Shi Lushan, the political center of the Tang Dynasty was rebuilt, and the five surnames rose again with the help of the imperial examination system. For example, the Zheng family of Xingyang was rarely seen as a prime minister in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Another example was the Cui family of Qinghe, which had a generation of Tang Dynasty. Ten of its branch families, Nanzu Fang, Qinghe Big Fang, Qinghe Small Fang, and Qingzhou Fang, served as prime ministers. There were only two former prime ministers during the An Lushan Rebellion. After the incident, they entered the Middle Tang Dynasty, and eight of them became prime ministers in succession.
The rise of the great clans was closely related to their control over the imperial examinations. After adapting to the imperial examination system, the great clans 'deep family traditions and knowledge gave them a special advantage in the examinations.
The great clans were able to control the imperial examinations mainly because of their monopoly on education. Coupled with the unreasonable system of the examination papers, they had a monopoly on the imperial examinations.
However, the emergence of movable type printing shook the monopoly of the aristocratic families in education. In addition, Qin Mo helped Li Er design the imperial examination system, which broke the social advantage of the aristocratic families.
With the spread of education, the great clans would sooner or later collapse.
Qin Mo didn't suggest Li Er to abolish the system of being a scholar because doing so would be equivalent to standing on the opposite side of all the aristocrats in the world. Even the Guanlong Group would become an enemy.
Even with the emergence of movable type printing, a large number of cheap books flooded the market, causing panic among the five surnames and seven surnames, and thus launched a counterattack.
They had no say in the court, so they planned to launch a counterattack against Li Er among the people.
So, in just one night, rumors began to spread throughout Chang 'an that a locust plague would occur next year.
The emperor wanted everyone to eat locusts to eliminate them.
Along with this rumor was the rise in grain prices.
The grain merchants in the market closed their doors as if they were doing good business.
Almost all of these grain merchants were backed by the great clans, or else they wouldn't have been able to grow so big.
It was impossible to expand a business without a strong background these days.
The great clans occupied the majority of the grain. Once they closed their doors, the price of grain rose almost three times a day. The common people rushed to buy food. The Chang 'an order reported that there were already conflicts among the common people and many people were injured.
This news also reached Li Er's ears through the winged cavalry, and he was so anxious that his mouth was bubbling.
"Order people to investigate and annihilate the three clans who spread the rumors.”Li Er was furious. More than a dozen teacups broke in the Li Zheng Hall. Several eunuchs dragged them down and beat them.
The eunuchs and serving girls were all trembling and did not dare to get close, afraid of provoking the furious Emperor.
Empress Zhangsun advised," Second Brother, why are you so angry? These eunuchs and palace maids are also pitiful people. Why make things difficult for them?"”
"Damned aristocrats! They must have done this."
The furious Li Er paced around Li Zheng Hall in frustration.
However, without evidence, Li Er couldn't do anything to them. The winged cavalry had reported that the person who spread the rumor had escaped from Chang 'an. This made Li Er feel like he had punched cotton and was so depressed that he vomited blood.
"Summon Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui into the palace for a meeting.”
An hour later, Zhangsun Wuji, Du Ruhui, and Fang Xuanling entered Li Zheng Hall.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
The three of them bowed to Li Er.
"No need for formalities." Li Er's expression was very bad.
"May I know why Your Majesty has called us here?”Seeing that Li Er's expression was not good, the three of them looked at each other and the old man asked.
Li Er gave them the winged cavalry's intelligence report." Take a look at the secret report on this.”
After the three of them saw it, they all felt that the matter was serious.
Fang Xuanling said," Your Majesty, these rumors must be refuted immediately and the person who spread them must be arrested."”
Li Er said," This matter is an organized and planned enemy of the imperial court. The person who spread the rumors has long fled.”
"The most important thing now is to stabilize the grain price.”Du Ruhui could see the crux of the problem at a glance." Your Majesty, please open the granaries to release grain to stabilize the price of grain. Those who raise the price of grain will be severely punished.”
Li Er frowned and said," I've already ordered people to do as Keming said. However, the results were minimal. Although they had taken down a few grain merchants who had raised the price, the rest of the grain merchants had closed down. The commoners could not buy grain. In the long run, there would probably be a big mess.”
Fang Xuanling said," We can only urgently mobilize food from other places to Chang 'an.”
However, there was not enough food in other places.
" We have to clarify the rumors and stabilize the people's hearts. Otherwise, the grain prices won't stabilize."”
This was the crux of the problem. As long as the people did not believe the rumors, the grain prices would naturally stabilize.
"A long drought will lead to locusts." Li Er was depressed." The person who spread the rumor can also count the locust eggs from the ground like Qin Mo. How can the people believe it so easily?”
When the person who spread the rumor said this, the people went to the ground and found locust eggs. The terrifying number spread fear throughout the entire Guanzhong like a plague.
"This matter must have been done by those aristocrats. I didn't expect that there would be capable people among them.”Zhangsun Wuji was also frowning.
The ancients had also summarized the pattern of locusts. Although it was not as accurate as modern times, it was not far from the truth.
Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were also dumbfounded by Li Er's words.
The cunning old man explained," Qin Mo predicted the locust plague through the locust eggs in the fields. If the drought continues, there will definitely be a locust plague in June next year.”
"Is that why eating flying prawns is popular in Chang 'an?”
Fang Xuanling quickly made two predictions.
"Do you have any ideas?" Li Er looked at the three of them.
Fang Xuanling said," The locust plague is a natural disaster. It is not something that can be overcome by humans. We can only transfer grain from other places into Chang 'an in case of emergency.”
Du Ruhui nodded.
Although they were known to be able to cut off all plans in the house, they were actually helpless in the face of such a tricky situation.
"I'll leave this matter to you."
After that, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui left, while the old man stayed behind to discuss the matter.
The old cunning fellow sighed." The matter of movable type printing was carried out too hastily, causing the resistance of the gentry.”
The use of movable type printing touched the fundamental interests of the gentry, causing them to launch a fierce rebellion.
Otherwise, even if they knew about the locust plague, they would not risk offending the emperor by spreading rumors.
"Who knew that there would be a locust plague next year? It's a pity that Lin Yi's food won't be shipped back for a while.”Li Er was very regretful. If he had known that there would be a drought next year, movable type printing would have to wait until the crisis was over before it was implemented.
However, there was no turning back. Even if they stopped now, the Shi clan would not believe it. After all, they could stop this year and restart next year.
Li Er wanted to dig up the roots of the Shi clan, so the Shi clan also launched a terrifying counterattack. This was a situation where both sides suffered, and there was no possibility of reconciliation.
Although the old man and the others had ordered their trusted aides to go to Linyi to buy food, and Qin Mo's Dragon Ball had also been ordered to be carried away, they would not be back for a few months.
Distant water cannot quench the thirst of the present.
What should he do?
It could be foreseen that the aristocrats would definitely use this opportunity to cause trouble in the court.
Li Er and the cunning old man were worried to death.
Then, Qin Mo was captured by the angry Li Er into the palace. After all, he was the instigator.
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