Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

Yuan Qi frowned and said, "This... His Majesty is a wise ruler, one in a thousand years. His holy heart is unfathomable, and ordinary people cannot fully fathom it. However, in my opinion, Your Highness has the best opportunity. His Majesty is a decisive man, and after plotting all winter, he must have already made a decision. If I am not mistaken, His Majesty will definitely summon Your Highness within two months to test Your Highness's intentions."

Li Tai's fists clenched suddenly.

He keenly realized that the judgment of his most intelligent strategist was probably correct.

"I, Yuan, would like to offer you eight more words, which I hope you will keep in mind."

"Alright, I will remember this well."

"Too obsequious, like a fool."

"This... does the gentleman mean for me to play dumb?"

"There is no need to pretend to be stupid. Just follow the emperor's wishes when you are presenting your memorials. Do not say anything wrong because you are anxious."

"Just like in an ordinary family, if the father is shrewd and the children are dull-witted, they can often get by, and even live harmoniously and happily. But if both father and son are equally shrewd and calculating, then they will inevitably have to separate and live separately."

Li Tai exhaled a breath of stale air and burst into laughter.

The anxiety in my heart has finally vanished without a trace.

……

The nights in early spring, March, were slightly chilly.

Inside the thatched hut, under the light of an oil lamp, Li You sat at a wooden table, writing furiously.

Sesame oil lamps, also known as lamps fueled by sesame oil, were the most common type of lamp used by people in the Tang Dynasty. Sesame had already entered the Central Plains during the Han Dynasty and was cultivated in various regions. Because sesame oil is more fragrant and doesn't have the strange taste of rapeseed oil, people in the Tang Dynasty preferred to use it. Besides being used for cooking, it also had an important purpose: as fuel for lamps.

Of course, sesame oil was quite expensive at the time. Ordinary people probably couldn't even afford to use it for cooking, let alone for lighting lamps. However, within the rebel army, only Li You needed to use it. The others basically worked from sunrise to sunset and didn't need lamps.

Li You has many things to think about and arrange. He also needs to record some memories and knowledge from his past life as soon as he recalls them. Therefore, it is common for him to be busy until late at night.

During the past winter, Li You first gave his rebel army a name, "Huang Chao Army," after Huang Chao, the leader of the rebel army at the end of the Tang Dynasty, with the intention of annihilating powerful families and resisting oppressive government.

Consequently, the "golden-armored general" who was originally used to incite the people of Shandong to rebel also had a specific affiliation. Li You specifically named him "General Huang Chao" and commissioned someone to paint and frame his miraculous appearance to inform the entire army.

These measures may seem like shamanistic rituals, but they have actually been very effective.

With their exclusive titles and the accolades of divine generalship, the morale of the army was greatly boosted. Everyone was even more convinced that the cause they were fighting for under King Qi was absolutely righteous and could truly save the people from suffering.

Li Youxian did these two things first: one was to summarize his previous actions, and the other was to be inspired by the heroes of Water Margin.

The story goes that Song Heisan, a lowly official, short and stocky, a convict and outlaw, was utterly weak and illiterate. He ended up sleeping in a dilapidated temple one night and miraculously obtained three volumes of celestial scriptures from the Goddess of the Nine Heavens. Upon waking, he was able to command heroes, act on behalf of Heaven, and accomplish great deeds. While this is a fabricated myth, it highlights the importance of legitimacy in its creation.

Of course, stories can be used to fool people, and Li You knew in his heart that there was no such thing as a "golden-armored general".

Huang Chao was a real historical figure.

In other words, these mystical things might fool others, but they couldn't fool Li You himself.

While morale and cohesion are important, what's even more crucial is to steadily accumulate resources, seize more territory, and build a stronger army.

However, Li You was also thinking about another problem.

Why did Huang Chao insist on eliminating the aristocratic families? Would the country progress after the aristocratic families were wiped out?

After careful consideration, Li You seemed to have vaguely grasped something.

He stopped writing, tapped his left middle finger on the wooden table for a moment, then pulled out a blank sheet of paper and wrote two large characters on it.

"noble."

Upon seeing these two words, Li You breathed a long sigh of relief.

I've almost finished my work for tonight, time to go to sleep.

The hut was very simply furnished, with a wooden bed, wooden tables and chairs, and a wooden stove.

Li You felt as if he were Robinson Crusoe, stranded on a desert island, struggling to survive in a cave.

The only two valuable items in the thatched hut were the sesame oil lamp and the bronze stove on the stove rack.

This bronze censer was not a prize seized by the Zheng family, but rather it was discovered in the study of Governor Pei's residence at the beginning of Li You's uprising, and has been kept there ever since.

Li You initially used it to boil water for drinking, but later he simply used it to cook meat.

There's not much else in the Tongbai Mountains, but there are a lot of wild animals. Li You gets to eat meat every now and then, mostly wild boar meat.

Although the ingredients were available, the only seasoning they could get their hands on was salt, and it was the kind of inferior salt mixed with impurities, so the cooked meat was not tasty and could only be barely swallowed.

After cooking many batches, Li You simply stopped adding salt and just boiled them plain, which he could still eat.

The conditions are tough, but you'll get used to it.

Given Li You's status, he could have easily given himself special treatment, but he didn't.

This brings us to another matter that Li You strongly advocated: that the food, clothing, and daily necessities of officers and soldiers be standardized and that no special treatment be given to them.

This system was extremely strict, and Li You himself had to abide by it.

Only through fairness and impartiality can we unite people's hearts and minds.

Interestingly, in the early Tang Dynasty, the government did not monopolize the salt industry, so there were many private salt producers. The quality of salt varied from prefecture to prefecture, so it is not surprising that Li You could only eat inferior salt, because it was simply impossible to obtain high-quality salt.

However, Li You also recorded this incident and marked it carefully.

Since there is demand, there is a market. We can try to reform and manage the salt industry to earn military funds and wealth.

But this matter can only be done later.

King Qi stretched, took one last look at the word "noble" before preparing to go to bed.

But then they heard someone knocking on the door.

"My lord, are you asleep? I've prepared water for you to wash your feet."

"Oh, it's the third child. Come in!"

Then a boy, about half a year old, came in carrying a wooden bucket filled with hot water.

This person was none other than Wang Sanwa.

His brother became the stand-in for the King of Qi.

Because of this incident, Li You felt guilty, so he kept Wang Sanwa by his side and took good care of him.

Wang Sanwa roughly guessed that his brother had probably met with misfortune.

After the initial sadness, he gradually adapted to life in the mountains.

Rebellion is indeed a risky business, and from March of last year to March of this year, not only Li You, but even a lowly henchman like Wang Sanwa has witnessed countless deaths and separations. Although he is young, his heart has gradually hardened. Currently, Wang Sanwa is in charge of Li You's daily life, essentially acting as a bodyguard to his superior.

"Third child, how's your memorization of the multiplication tables I taught you coming along?"

"My lord, I can only memorize up to 49 now. I just can't remember the rest no matter how hard I try."

"Oh, you're quite capable. Don't rush, you're already better than most people in the army."

Actually, the multiplication table isn't anything particularly profound; it existed as early as the Spring and Autumn Period.

The problem is that people at the bottom of society rarely have the right to education, as this is basically monopolized by aristocratic families. Even if they do receive an education, mathematics is not a highly valued subject.

For this reason alone, the aristocratic families should be killed.

Li You discovered through careful observation that his soldiers, and even some of his generals, lacked even the most basic mathematical calculation skills, or had no concept of numbers at all, which was actually a very frightening thing.

Thus, the initiative to promote multiplication tables throughout the entire army was launched.

Li Youshun also passed on the knowledge of Arabic numerals.

So-called Arabic numerals are actually an invention of the Indians, and should more accurately be called Indian numerals.

Indians are actually intelligent, but their thinking is just too abstract, which is why they can't build their own country well.

Of course, learning is a long process.

Let's take Li You's four generals as examples again. Yan Hongxin could quickly memorize 9 x 9 = 81, Zan Junmo was at 7 x 7 = 49, Liang Mengbiao could barely reach 3 x 7 = 21, and Yan Hongliang didn't care at all.