Since the first year of Zhenguan, the weather had been dry for a long time without rain, and the crops had withered. The yield of wheat that had just been harvested had decreased greatly.
In the Great Tang, where productivity was low, the people depended purely on the heavens for their livelihood. The production of food was very low. When the weather was good, they could still make ends meet. However, if there was a natural disaster, there would definitely be starving people everywhere. Countless disaster victims had no choice but to sell their land and become refugees.
This was how land annexation was formed. When land fell into the hands of a few people, the people would not have enough to eat and would rebel. Then, it was time to change the dynasty.
Those noble families and aristocratic families did not care about the lives of the people. Now, this drought had become a chess piece in their game.
After the success of the gentry, the gentry officials are high and mighty. If they were defeated, the thousand-year-old aristocratic family would be defeated.
The emergence of movable type printing and the flooding of the market with low-priced books caused the five surnames and seven surnames to fall into a desperate situation.
Movable-type printing was an attack on the emperor's monopoly on the education rights of the gentry. And this drought was used to launch a counterattack.
This was a war without smoke.
Chang 'an was shrouded in a storm, especially in the imperial court.
The court session was held as scheduled. After the ministers bowed to each other and Li Er shouted for them to stand up, the eunuch's sharp voice rang out." Report if you have something to say. If not, withdraw."”
"I have a memorial." Lu Wang, the master of the Lu family, stood out.
He was not the head of the Lu family, but in the court, the Lu family held the highest position.
Li Ergao sat on the throne and looked coldly at the officials of the aristocratic families who were ready to make a move.
They finally took action. These hypocrites who were full of benevolence, righteousness, and morality kept saying that they were doing it for the sake of the people. However, when the drought came, they did not think about how to fight the drought and provide disaster relief. Instead, they swept the people into it for their own interests.
Not only did he spread rumors and raise the price of grain, but he also wanted to force the king?
Lu Wang said," Your Majesty, Guanzhong has been suffering from drought for many years. The lack of grain is a warning sign from the heavens.”
Li Er said coldly," What is the warning from the heavens?”
Natural disasters can also be blamed on me. If those ignorant people say so, then forget it. However, these well-read scholars are making an issue out of this matter. They are simply despicable.
Li Er couldn't help but burn with anger.
Since ancient times, whenever there was a natural disaster, those scholars would drag the emperor's lack of virtue into it, forcing the emperor to change a certain policy, or forcing the emperor to issue an edict of self-sin, so as to directly invite fame and spread it to the world.
However, the aristocrats had the right to control the fishing boats and were very able to motivate the people. At this time, there were already rumors in Chang 'an that Li Ersha had killed his brother and forced his father to abdicate. This was a loss of virtue. Thus, he angered the heavens and sent down a natural disaster. The emperor had to issue an edict to punish himself.
Li Er valued his reputation very much. Wei Zheng destroyed his reputation and his tombstone was smashed after his death.
At the same time, Li Er had also asked for daily life notes. Now that the aristocratic families were slandering him, it made him really angry.
Lu Wang pretended not to see Li Er's anger." Your Majesty, this is a warning from the heavens that Your Majesty has lost his virtue and that there are signs of crafty sycophants in the court. I beg Your Majesty to issue an edict to punish himself and kill the crafty sycophants to save the people of the world.”
You were the ones who spread the rumors and raised the price of grain, but now you're pushing it on me?
Li Er was about to explode with anger.
As soon as Lu Wang finished speaking, a group of officials stood out.
"Your Majesty, please issue an edict to kill the crafty sycophants and save the world.”
The boss of the Imperial Censorate was Wei Zheng, and the current situation caught him off guard.
He had no idea what had happened.
Besides the censor, there were other officials involved.
Most of these people were from aristocratic families.
Li Er's face was as cold as ice." Who are you talking about?”
Lu Wang said," Your Majesty, the crafty sycophants in the court are Zhangsun Wuji, Yuchi Gong, Cheng Yaojin, and Qin Qiong. These four people have shaken the foundation of the country. Your Majesty favors these four people, so the Emperor sent out an early warning.”
They didn't dare to bully Li Er Sha because this was his reverse scale.
The bookstores run by Zhangsun Wuji and the others were flooded with cheap books, slowly invading their foundations. Perhaps in a few decades, the foundations of the aristocratic families would be gone.
How could they be willing to see their families fall in their hands?
This was a desperate battle, and if they had a glimmer of hope to protect the privileges of the aristocratic families, they would lose everything.
Li Er was so angry that he laughed." Hahahaha, what are you talking about? Is it the foundation of the country or your foundation?"
However, they ignored Li Er's words and only said," We beg Your Majesty to issue an edict to kill the crafty sycophants.”
The cunning old man was so angry that he laughed. He felt that he had suffered an undeserved disaster. He originally thought that the five surnames and seven Wangs would directly rebuke Li Er. He did not expect that the spearhead would be directed at them.
"You said that I am a traitor of the country. I wonder what I have done that angered the heavens and the people?”The old man said angrily.
Foolish Yuchi also scolded," You dogs are the ones who say that His Majesty is immoral. What evidence do you have?”
Old Qin said," I've never done anything that angered the heavens and angered the people.”
Cui Min Gan stepped forward and reprimanded," As the Son of Heaven, Your Majesty has a connection with the heavens. The drought is a sign." As the current Duke of the country, you are running a lowly business and shaking the foundation of the country. You have provoked the wrath of the heavens and still don't know your mistakes.”
In the end, it was still the matter of movable type printing. As long as they convinced Li Er to punish the old man and the others, it would serve as a warning to others. Even if this technology was still there, no one would dare to use it.
Fortunately, Bi Sheng, who invented movable type printing, was in the Song Dynasty. If he was in the Tang Dynasty, he would have been burned to ashes by the aristocrats. This was also the reason why Qin Mo was hiding behind him.
This kind of unreasonable argument made the old man and the others speechless.
"Do you think that my steel blade is not good?”Li Er sneered.
However, these people had long disregarded their own lives for the sake of their families, so how could they care about Li Er's threat?
They only saw the interests of their families. The people of the world were just chess pieces in their eyes.
Moreover, they believed that Li Er might not dare to kill them.
Boling Cui, Taiyuan Wang, Xingyang Zheng, Fanyang Lu.
Although Li Er could kill until blood flowed, the world would also fall into chaos. They did not dare to take this risk.
Wang Gui stepped forward.
Before he could speak, Li Er stared at him coldly." Minister Wang, do you also think that the drought is a sign from the heavens and want me to take responsibility?”
Wang Kai said," I dare not. Your Majesty, please order Zhangsun Wuji and the others to close the bookstore. Don't shake the foundation of the country."”
He was much gentler.
Everyone looked at Li Er.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。