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

In fact, there were quite a few women in the army who had designs on the Prince of Qi, and they were all vying with each other.

The problem is that King Qi has always been very busy. He had been going down the mountain for several months in a row recently. Many women were being pursued by other soldiers, and those who couldn't wait eventually gave up.

Only Yan Jiu possessed ample patience and a remarkable tenacity.

Now that King Qi has finally returned to the mountain stronghold, Yan Jiu feels that his opportunity has arrived.

When Li You was lecturing, Yan Jiu also participated very actively and often received praise from the King of Qi.

Yan Jiu naturally assumed that the King of Qi also had feelings for him.

Taking advantage of the current "marriage craze" in the army, Yan Jiu mustered up his courage and went to see King Qi.

That's what she said.

"My lord, are you aware that many of our brothers and sisters in Huang Chao's army are preparing for marriage?"

"Ah, I know about that. Everyone wants a bigger share of the land!"

"My lord, since everyone is getting married, why don't you set an example for us?"

"example?"

"Everyone else is married, but you, as the leader of this stronghold, haven't taken a wife yet. Doesn't that seem a bit inappropriate?"

Li You's heart stirred, and he stopped writing, looking at Yan Jiu.

"If you put it that way, it does seem a bit inappropriate."

"My lord, how about you marry me?"

"what?"

"Since you rescued us and brought us up the mountain, many sisters have remembered your kindness, and I especially so."

"Over time, he came to regard his lord as his own."

"As for whether it will succeed or not, my lord, give me Yan Jiu a straight answer."

Yan Jiu blushed as she looked at Li You.

Her meaning has been made very clear.

An uninvited guest, Chao Yang, who had just arrived at the mountain, came to discuss some academic issues with the King of Qi.

Unexpectedly witnessing this scene, he hid to the side, pricked up his ears, and eavesdropped on the conversation inside the house.

At that moment, the ball had already been passed to Li You's feet. Looking at the woman in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a little sad.

For some reason, Li You thought of Princess Qi, Dugu Yanran, whom he had sent back to Chang'an at the beginning of his uprising.

In the original owner's memory, the Prince of Qi was not kind to his princess, often beating and scolding her, showing no care whatsoever.

It was common for the King of Qi to spend the night with courtesans in other places when he went hunting.

Dugu Yanran accepted these things passively and dared not say anything.

Li You sighed deeply.

I wonder how Dugu Yanran is doing in Chang'an.

The best course of action would be for her to remarry a virtuous ruler, so she wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

Yan Jiu, in front of her, was a different kind of woman compared to Dugu Yanran.

She is intelligent, decisive, and daring to rebel, like a raging fire.

Moreover, what Yan Jiu said makes a lot of sense.

It was indeed strange that the King of Qi was busy arranging marriages for his soldiers all day long, while he himself was all alone.

"Alright, let's give it a try then."

"My lord...my lord agreed?!"

Li You smiled and nodded.

Yan Jiu was overjoyed. She straightened her skirt, bowed respectfully to Li You, and then went out.

Chao Yang followed closely behind and entered: "Congratulations, my lord, on the joy of finding a good match."

Li You glared at Chao Yang: "Mr. Chao, eavesdropping is not a good habit."

"Didn't we just run into each other? Miss Yan Jiu and my lord are both decisive and quick to agree on their marriage in just a few words. Meanwhile, my Liu family from Huangzhou… sigh…"

"What, that young widow hasn't agreed to your proposal yet?"

Her reply was ambiguous, neither saying yes nor no, as if she was keeping me in suspense...

"This is fishing... In my opinion, it would be better to just tie her up. With your slow and drawn-out approach, she'll be pregnant with someone else's child in a couple of days..."

"Let's not talk about her anymore."

"The analogy between the Brahmins and noble families in India that the lord spoke about the other day was thought-provoking and thought-provoking."

"I have many more questions that I would like to ask my lord for answers."

Li You keenly realized that Chao Yang had changed the title of "Great King" to "Lord".

This indicates that the person's psychology has undergone a slight change.

For scholars at that time, things like "titles" and "status" were still quite important.

"My lord, is it truly impossible for people of different surnames in India to intermarry? I believe that completely prohibiting intermarriage seems unlikely."

"There are some exceptions. For example, a Brahmin man can marry a Kshatriya woman, which is considered a 'proper marriage.' But conversely, if a Brahmin woman marries a Kshatriya man, it is considered a 'reverse marriage,' which is absolutely forbidden. Anyone who dares to do so may even face 'honor execution.'"

"Honor execution?"

"It means being publicly executed, and the executioner is usually the immediate family member of the person who committed the reversed marriage."

"Hiss... To be murdered by one's own relatives, that's truly horrific. When I listened to Buddhist monks preach before, I always thought that India valued education and was a rare Buddhist country in the world. Now it seems that they are barbarians."

"You're right, India is indeed a very abstract country."

"abstract?"

"It means strange and unusual."

Chao Yang nodded, then said, "My lord wants to break the monopoly of knowledge held by aristocratic families, but that seems very difficult to do."

Li Youdao said, "It's difficult, but we have to do it. For example, the simplified Chinese characters that I am currently promoting in the army are one such attempt."

"My lord, I have seen the simplified characters. They are indeed easier to write. If the script can truly spread, it will be a good thing for scholars all over the world."

"But the monopoly of knowledge by aristocratic families lies in their collections of books and classics. The Cui family of Boling alone has a collection of tens of thousands of volumes. In contrast, poor families have very few books. This is one reason."

"Furthermore, the collections of books in aristocratic families also contain commentaries by renowned scholars throughout history on the meanings of the classics. These are extremely important, containing new knowledge and insights that are inaccessible to us commoners. Before the annual examinations, aristocratic families would also predict the examiners' writing style preferences and compile their own 'Examples of Jinshi' for their members to study. Such internal materials are also difficult for commoners to obtain, which is the second reason."

"So, according to you, although the Four Books and Five Classics were written by ancient people, they were read according to the interpretations of aristocratic families, is that right?"

Chao Yang smiled wryly and said, "That's right. This one thing alone can completely block the path of advancement for thousands of students."

Li You slammed his hand on the table: "For this alone, the aristocratic families deserve to be killed!"

Chao Yang continued, "The drawbacks of the imperial examination system go far beyond this."

"For example, when grading papers, each candidate's name, place of origin, age, and background are all written down clearly. The examiners from the Ministry of Rites mostly do not look at the essays, but only at the candidates' social status. By doing so, a large number of poor students can be eliminated."

"Before the examination even begins, the examiners have already privately discussed and compiled a 'general list,' ranking the candidates based on their literary talent and recommendations from high-ranking officials. The number of those who pass the imperial examination each year is almost identical to that of the 'general list.'"

This was the first time Li You had heard that a recommendation letter system existed in the Tang Dynasty's imperial examinations.

As for "literary talent and reputation," unless one is a literary giant like Du Fu or Li Bai, it's difficult to definitively say which of their poems or essays is superior. There's a lot of room for "manipulation" in this regard.

Strangely enough, the imperial examination system was invented with the intention of breaking the monopoly of aristocratic families on official careers.

But according to Chao Yang, the aristocratic families quickly tamed the "beast" of the imperial examination system.

No matter how well you do in the imperial examinations, if it's still someone from my family who gets promoted, then it's no different from having no one at all.

This is what they call: "The devil may be one foot tall, but the righteous path is ten feet tall."