The Taoguang Garden in the palace city is adjacent to the Hongwei Hall where the four empress dowagers are. The small and medium-sized buildings, pavilions and pavilions in the Taoguang Garden are surrounded by windows and secluded rooms. They are connected to each other and are extremely elegant and beautiful.

There is an undulating sloping ridge to the east, surrounded by green water flowing from Jiuzhou Pond at the foot of the ridge. There are luxuriant flowers and trees on the ridge, and there are several pines, thousands of green bamboos, and some fruit trees. Going further in, there are also

There is a small temple.

In addition to the two empress dowagers who believed deeply in Buddhism, they went to recite Buddhist rituals from time to time. This small ridge has also become a favorite place for children to play. The so-called separation of generations is also well reflected in Yang Tong's family.

The children felt that their grandmother and great-grandmother would let them do anything. They were not as serious as their mother, so they naturally became close to the four queen mothers. As long as the weather was good, several older children would come here to play. Yang Chong, Yang Jun, Yang Dai,

Yang Yue and Yang Wei often ran around in their mother's arms, wanting to play on the slopes with their brothers and sisters, but they were too young and couldn't even walk, so they had to watch helplessly as their brothers and sisters were enjoying themselves.

There is a pavilion on the lush green slope with red flowers and willows. Next to the pavilion is a rushing stream. The gurgling water drives a water wheel to rotate at a constant speed. Bamboo tubes pour the cool stream water into an elevated tower in a circular motion.

Above the wooden trough, the gurgling stream water flows out and pours right on the umbrella-shaped roof of the Xuan Hall.

The water spreads in all directions, and then hangs down from the rain eaves like a curtain, forming a crystal curtain of water. It separates the inside and outside into two worlds. It is extremely cool inside the hall and hot outside.

There were two cups of tea inside the pavilion. Yang Tong and his grandmother, Empress Xiao, sat across from each other and talked in low voices.

Occasionally, the childish laughter and laughter of children can be heard at the foot of the mountain, but it is Yang Xifang who is playing with his younger brothers and sisters, including Yang You's children. Yang Tong is a bit laissez-faire towards his son, although he has strict academic requirements.

, but usually they are not treated as eunuchs, and they are educated by noble masters.

At a young age, Yang Zheng and Yang Rong were already naughty. They also learned martial arts from their mother and aunt, and were very agile. They would climb trees from time to time, like unruly monkeys.

Yang Xifang was also led astray by her brothers. If Gong'e wasn't paying attention, she would tuck up her skirt and climb up the tree on both hands and feet. When Gong'e looked around blankly and called "Princess" everywhere, she had already sat down.

On the tree, I wiped the peaches or plums I picked casually from around me with the corner of my skirt and started to eat them.

After Da Xiao took a sip of tea soup, he said: "Dong'er, I heard from Xiao Wu that you have been so busy lately that you haven't even returned to Fengyi Palace. How come you have time to come here today?"

There was a small stove next to the stone table, with a tea pot on it. Yang Tong sifted another cup of tea for his grandmother and said, "Grandmother, I have encountered a huge trouble now, and I have to ask you for help."

"I'm not paying attention to national affairs now, what can I do to help you?"

What Empress Xiao said is absolutely true. She and Empress Xiao have completely "retired". They usually help Yang Tong take care of the children, read books, and from time to time combine their own life insights to write elegant essays, or just

Write a letter to Yang Guang who is in Meishan. And Yang Guang, the literary and elegant old emperor, is even more romantic. He writes travel notes and love poems from time to time and sends them back. The life of the three 'old' people now is ordinary and warm.

This made Yang Tong's wives extremely envious.

"I can definitely help!" Yang Tong said with a smile: "You have been the emperor's daughter, the emperor's daughter-in-law, the emperor's queen, and now the emperor's grandmother. Every time you change your identity, you are closely related to the general trend of the world.

"The rich and colorful life and the rich and colorful experiences are incomparable to us younger generations."

Empress Xiao laughed when she heard this: "What happened?"

Yang Tong put down the tea can: "A major case has occurred in China recently. Unscrupulous officials from Dong County stole more than two million shi of grain from Baima Warehouse through tunnels. According to the court's follow-up investigation, it took less than half a year."

Empress Xiao lost her voice and said: "How much?"

Yang Tong said categorically: "More than two million stones, or even more, and the imperial court is not aware of it."

Empress Xiao didn't believe it: "If so much grain is put together, it would be a huge mountain. And the time is so clear, how could the court not be aware of it?"

"This major case was caused by the Zheng family in Xingyang, and many officials from Dongjun were involved."

"That's no wonder." Empress Xiao returned to her previous calmness.

"Huh?" Yang Tong was stunned, and then asked: "Royal Grandma, what are you??"

“The gentry used their influence to cultivate talents through education. After these people became officials, they fed back the gentry to which they belonged. In addition, through marriage, teacher-student and other relationships, they attracted outstanding poor scholars for their own use, and the gentry used their influence.

, send them to high positions and gain more rights through these people; once these people commit crimes, the nobles will try their best to use their influence to rescue them. If the crimes they commit are too big or they cannot be saved, they will quickly abandon them.

Instead of completely cutting themselves off, they have been doing this for generations. They have been hiding behind their backs for generations, directing their chess pieces to fight... So it is normal for the Zheng family to steal food through the unscrupulous officials they trained. I

I don’t think it’s strange.”

Yang Tong realized that the matter was not simple and asked: "So, food theft incidents have also happened before?"

Empress Xiao said matter-of-factly: "That's of course. As long as there are people, there will be disputes. As long as there are officials, there will be corrupt officials. The so-called absence of corrupt officials means that corrupt officials are either hiding too deeply, or their accomplices are investigating their accomplices. If you believe in officialdom

If there are no corrupt officials, then it would be a big mistake."

"Congratulations, Grandma Imperial!" Yang Tong nodded sincerely: "I want to take this opportunity to kill the Zheng family. Is there any way Grandma Imperial can do it?"

"Impossible!" Empress Xiao looked at her grandson who was silently full of expectations and sighed: "My child, I remember telling you before that your biggest problem is that you go too smoothly and think of your enemies too simply.

... You always think that your enemy is a soft persimmon you can pinch; you always think that the army has passed away and no grass can grow. But have you ever thought that the grass has been cut, but as long as the grass roots are still there, they will grow thicker in the coming year?

New grasses... weeds come and go every year, while the millennium nobles come and go every ten years or a hundred years. Their children and disciples have already spread all over the world and penetrated into various industries, and these are the roots of the millennium nobles. You

The Wang family in Taiyuan that was hoed out is just the Wang family on the surface, and their roots have long been integrated into thousands of ordinary people."

Yang Tong was silent for a while and then said: "You have to do it, right?"

"You must do it, but you can't rush it, let alone expect to do it thousands of years later. Otherwise, you will make the same mistake as your imperial grandfather." Empress Xiao said: "A dynasty is like

A family's ups and downs, prosperity and decline, whether it is success or failure, cannot be pinned on one person or one generation. Things that will happen a hundred years from now should be worried about by people a hundred years from now. Your Imperial Grandfather

In the past, he just wanted to arrange everything for his descendants, and you know the result. If he calms down, follows the foundation created by Emperor Gao Zuwen, goes step by step, and only does what he should do, I am afraid it will be another one.

It’s over. This is the most profound lesson, you can’t leave again.”

In order to teach her grandson, Empress Xiao unceremoniously used her husband as a negative example.

"What the Imperial Grandmother said...I know I was wrong." Yang Tong had a good attitude in admitting his mistake. He looked like a good grandson, as if he had really listened. He then asked: "Emperor Grandmother, what do you think I should do?"

Do?"

"Let me ask you first, do you think this was done by the Zheng family, or were many noble families related to the Zheng family also involved?"

"It should be the joint efforts of the Shandong nobles." Yang Tong sorted out everything, and then told Jiyin about the purchase of grain.

After hearing the whole story, Empress Xiao concluded: "Your suspicion is correct. It is impossible for one family to do it so quickly."

Yang Tong said: "If the entire Shandong gentry is involved, it will be difficult to deal with."

"You are wrong, more people are easier to deal with." Empress Xiao explained: "Thousand-year-old nobles are their advantage. In order to always maintain their superior status, their family laws are stricter, especially the national laws. They don't

Allowing anyone to discredit the family, not even the head of the family... Over generations, a famous family with good morals has been formed, and it has become a holy place admired by literati... But on the other hand, this is also their most fatal weakness. They still care about reputation like this

If they care, they will care about the family's life and death inheritance thousands of times more. Therefore, when they cooperate, they often put their own family first. Even if they do not calculate against their allies, they will have reservations. Once it comes to a life or death situation, they will

He doesn’t care whether his allies live or die.”

"Furthermore, after all, the Shandong gentry are different from Li Yuan and other rebels who directly rebelled. They are still nominally the people of the Sui Dynasty. And you are the emperor who represents the orthodoxy of the world. In terms of your control over the world, as long as there is enough evidence, you can

Clearing them out without any worries is your greatest advantage and also their greatest disadvantage. If you catch Mr. Zheng and threaten him with the issue of his inheritance, he will definitely kill Cui, Wang, and Lu without mercy.

Sell ​​out and vice versa.”

"To put it simply, there are too many people talking, and allies are unreliable." Yang Tong was explained, and he understood the reason why "more people are easier to deal with".

"That's right, so you must not be deceived by their so-called advances and retreats together, and the same spirit." Empress Xiao said: "If we are a family, it will be difficult to deal with. Because when it comes to family issues, even if

No matter how spineless the gentry children are, they will still be very brave, so brave that they will risk their own lives to protect the family's future. But if they are not from the same clan, then it doesn't matter to them. In the final analysis, every gentry child is a 'thousand-year-old'

They are just chess pieces with the name "Subordinates". From the moment they are born, their life and death are controlled by the "Millennium Nobles". This is true for men and women."

At the end of the story, Empress Xiao felt quite sad. She was the princess of the Liang Kingdom and the Empress of the Sui Dynasty. But before that, she was the daughter of the Xiao family in Lanling, and she was very aware of the bad relationship between the big surname and the big surname.

Yang Tong has now understood that the Shandong nobles are just like the Wuyue Sword Sect. On the surface, they are a whole. In fact, they are eager for the other party to be unlucky. When the other party is unlucky, they may even step on them to enhance their own status.

The concept of "five surnames and seven sects" was first formed in the Northern Dynasties. In the past, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty ranked among the top families in the world. The four surnames designated by the emperor were the Cui family of Qinghe, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Zheng family of Xingyang, the Wang family of Taiyuan, and the Li family of Longxi.

As for the honorable position, the head of the clan took a big camel and rushed to Luoyang at night, but it was still a step too late. When he arrived in Luoyang, the number of "four surnamed high families" had been determined. Finally, together with the Zhaojun Li family and the Boling Cui family, he became

After reaching the second step, the old man was so angry that he almost died.

The tradition of intermarriage within aristocratic families also began at that time, such as: the Cui family of Qinghe married the Li family of Longxi and the Lu family of Fanyang; the Li family of Zhaojun married the Cui family of Boling; the Lu family of Fanyang married the Zheng family of Xingyang;

Marriage from generation to generation of the Li family in Longxi.

During the Zhou and Sui Dynasties, the Wang family's strength was greatly reduced and they were eliminated from the top ranks and demoted to the first-class family. The Li family not only entered the top four surnames, but also ranked third. The Lu family who ranked first fell to the second, and the Cui family who ranked second

Shi was promoted to first place.

Next, the high families with four surnames evolved into seven sects and five surnames, and the competition for ranking became more intense. The Cui family of Boling and the Cui family of Qinghe, the Li family of Zhaojun and the Li family of Longxi also fought fiercely for ranking and status.

Even so, the relationship with other surnames can be imagined.

Although the Shandong nobles have always advanced and retreated together with the outside world, and they also had the obligation and affection to take care of them in addition to competition, but after Yang Tong pacified Jizhou and Youzhou, he directly let the refugees divide the Lu family, Er Cui, and the Li family of Zhaojun.

Their fields were demolished, and their ancestral houses were leveled, and they were not allowed to enter and settle down. As a result, only the Lu family, Er Cui, and the Li family in Zhaojun were anxious, and the other surnames were for Yang Tong's.

They might not be grateful to Yang Dong for your ancestor's act, and secretly applauded it, but they were not hostile to him at the time, and they did not make any suggestions to Yang Guang who was in Jiangdu.

After that, Yang Tong destroyed the Wang family of Taiyuan, the Wen family of Taiyuan, the Pei family of Hedong, and other surnames in the name of collaborating with the enemy.

After thinking about this, Yang Tong felt at ease. According to what Empress Xiao said, he wished that all the famous people would be involved in this big case, so why should he worry?

After thinking for a while, he said: "Royal Grandmother, the Zheng family is by no means the only one who has penetrated the officialdom of the aristocratic family, and these exposed county magistrates are by no means the only officials controlled by them. Now that the Zheng family has exerted its power, Cui,

The Lu, Wang, Li and other clans are obviously not content. The reason why they have not been exposed is not that they have not penetrated into the officialdom, but that the court cannot find out. Can the Royal Grandmother teach me anything?"

"There is no good way...but there is one stupid way!" Empress Xiao couldn't help but laugh when she saw that he thought he was a strategist.

In fact, Yang Tong didn't have much hope, he just asked casually. At first, when he heard the sentence "There is no good way," there was still a trace of regret on his face, but at the end, he showed a trace of hope: "

Stupid solutions are also solutions, and they are better than no solution at all!"

"Silly boy, what is your household registration for?" Empress Xiao took a sip of tea soup and said with a smile: "From the end of the Han Dynasty to the founding of the Sui Dynasty, the Central Plains had been in chaos for hundreds of years, resulting in a serious leakage of household registrations.
To be continued...