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

The rice is this year's new rice, and it smells very fragrant.

Everyone sat down to eat.

Yin Hongzhi took a bite of rice first; it was sweet and tasted really good.

I took another bite of meat, but it tasted like cardboard and was extremely unpalatable; I almost couldn't swallow it.

"You'er, why does this meat taste so bland?"

"Oh, Uncle, I forgot to tell you, I didn't put much salt in my food. Sanwa, go get some salt."

"yes!"

Adding some dark salt to the broth improved the taste considerably, and Yin Hongzhi was able to swallow it with difficulty.

But Li You didn't really want to eat it; the sight of this black salt made him feel nauseous.

To satisfy his body's needs, Li You only put in a tiny bit each time, unwilling to put in too much.

Little did people know that at that time, even the imperial banquets in the palace used this kind of salt.

Sometimes, the Tuyuhun would send some high-quality blue salt as tribute, and this black salt would be removed from the palace banquets.

Li You ate a few more mouthfuls of rice, then put down his chopsticks and began to ponder.

Of the four things—firewood, rice, oil, and salt—firewood and rice have already been taken care of.

The task of running the oil pressing shop has been assigned to Gao Shun and Qiu Chuji.

Thinking of this, Li You's heart stirred again.

"Sanwa, go tell Niu Qibao to come see me tomorrow."

"promise!"

Niu Qibao's family used to run an oil pressing shop, and now his skills are coming in handy.

Moreover, Li You had promised Niu Qibao that he would give him an oil pressing shop.

Next, we need to deal with the salt issue.

By filtering, cooking, and evaporating, some impurities in coarse salt can be initially removed, resulting in pure white salt.

However, this white salt still contains substances such as magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and calcium chloride.

To remove these things, you'll need to use wood ash.

Of course, even white salt that hasn't undergone the process of adding wood ash is already much better looking than the original black salt, or even the green salt that was used as a tribute to the emperor.

If you make good white salt, not only will you enjoy using it yourself, but you can also sell it for several times, or even ten times, the price.

After the meal, Li You was finally able to have a proper chat with his uncle Yin Hongzhi and cousin Yin Shaokang.

However, when a few men sit together and chat, the conversation often drifts to the topic of rebellion.

As the original owner's mentor in the rebellion, Yin Hongzhi's motives for rebellion stemmed mostly from family feuds, with a small portion also related to national antagonism.

For many reasons, Yin Hongzhi disliked the current Tang Dynasty and missed the prosperous and wealthy Sui Dynasty of 30 years ago.

People like Yin Hongzhi, though few in number, do exist.

Many nobles from the former Sui dynasty survived the massacres at the end of the Sui dynasty and are still alive today.

The Tang dynasty inherited many things from the Sui dynasty.

"Yu'er, why is your food so coarse? Is the cook incompetent?"

"No, that's not it. I issued a military order that treats all soldiers the same. Whatever the soldiers eat, I eat too. That's the rule in my Huang Chao army."

"Huang Chao's army... Is this Huang Chao the golden-armored general who gave you the dream?"

"Uh...yes, that's right."

In any case, this was in feudal times, and people were always willing to believe in myths and legends.

The stories surrounding important figures, in particular, are widely talked about and often exaggerated.

"No wonder, no wonder. I was wondering how you came up with the idea of ​​exterminating powerful families to fund the army. It turns out it was a divine revelation."

Upon hearing this, Li You's heart stirred.

"Uncle, what's your opinion on aristocratic families?"

What is your view on aristocratic families?

"It's your feeling, judgment, or opinion about the aristocratic families as a group."

Yin Hongzhi thought for a moment, then said, "A distinguished family is one that has been prominent for generations, inheriting its legacy through virtue, with its descendants continuing the lineage."

"It is true that the dynasty is hereditary and its lineage continues unbroken. The problem is that these powerful families possess the best resources in the land, yet they do not pay taxes or perform corvée labor; they only know how to provide for their descendants. What good will this do for the country in the long run?"

"You're right. Aristocratic families have indeed invested heavily in educating their descendants, but as for the country... some people don't even see the country! If the court hadn't had so many treacherous officials, Emperor Daye wouldn't have died in Jiangdu!"

In Yin Hongzhi's view, the most cunning and treacherous minister back then was none other than Li Yuan.

"Uncle, let's not get sidetracked. Let's talk about the aristocratic families first."

"The aristocratic families... since they were given a divine gift in a dream, it must be right for you to make them your enemies."

Li You said, "Uncle, the situation was urgent at the time, and I didn't think much about it. I just thought that the aristocratic families had a lot of grain and land, so I wiped out two or three of them. I didn't expect them to be so vulnerable. Logically speaking, those aristocratic families have lasted for thousands of years and shouldn't be so weak."

Yin Hongzhi laughed and said, "You'er, you wiped out the powerful families of Shandong. These people are better at educating and indoctrinating, but their fighting skills are really lacking. Even at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the major battles were mainly in the Northwest, Luoyang, and Hebei, and there were not many battles in Shandong."

"If you had encountered a family like the Wang family of Taiyuan, the Lu family of Fanyang, or those families in Jiangnan who kept private soldiers and assassins, it would have been difficult to wipe them out easily."

Li You suddenly realized what was going on.

I guess I benefited from the version update.

At that time, there were still significant differences between different regions of the Tang Dynasty.

Some regions value martial arts, some emphasize education, and some have a good economy. As for those more remote areas, they don't have any special characteristics because of their small population.

Hebei has been known for producing outstanding individuals since ancient times, and the Lu family of Fanyang is one such family.

The people of Hebei during the Tang Dynasty were skilled in archery and horsemanship, and had outstanding martial arts skills, making them very difficult to deal with. The powerful families of Hebei were also not to be trifled with.

The Taiyuan region is also known for its martial spirit; the Li Tang imperial family originated from Taiyuan.

As for the powerful families in Jiangnan, they inherited their lineage from the Eastern Jin Dynasty and have always had a tradition of "secret family affairs." Their private armies are also quite formidable.

Therefore, it is true that the powerful families in Shandong are not as strong as those in the other regions.

"Uncle, there's another question I've been wanting to ask you. Why did we launch this rebellion so hastily? We had no supplies, no reinforcements, and only controlled Qizhou before we started, leaving us with almost no chance of winning. How exactly did we plan this?"

This is actually the point that Li You finds most incomprehensible.

It's unclear what the original owner was thinking, but when Li Yougang transmigrated, he was in such a hurry that he had to scramble and crawl, and in the end, he only managed to escape by faking his death.

Yin Hongzhi found this statement quite strange.

"You'er, we originally set the date for raising troops in April, and the order I gave to the Bozhou army was also to take action in April. I didn't expect you to raise troops in March. When the letter arrived in Chang'an, I was so scared that I couldn't sleep all night and quickly packed my things and ran away."

Yin Hongzhi meant that the problem lay with Li You.

Upon hearing this, Li You began to think carefully.

Since both sides had already agreed on the time for launching the war, why did the original owner want to bring it forward?

Unfamiliar memories flashed through my mind; these were the remnants of the original owner's memories.

Li Youyi slapped his thigh and suddenly said, "I remember now. Back in March, Quan Wanji angered me. I was so furious that I couldn't hold back and killed him directly. After Quan Wanji died, I decided to go all the way and rebel."

Speaking of Master Quan Wanji, in the original owner's memories, he provided a great deal of inappropriate material.

This man offered all sorts of advice and complaints to the emperor about Li You's wickedness, and every time he did, his complaints were successful.

The original owner hated Quan Wanji to the core.

The key point is that Li Shimin actually quite liked this "strict teacher" and often rewarded him with cloth.

This mentality is similar to that of more than a decade ago, when parents liked teachers who physically punished students, believing that they were serious, responsible, and capable of producing outstanding individuals.

"Uncle, now it seems that I was indeed in the wrong."