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

In the second branch of the Cui family, the first branch of the Cui family, and the Anping branch of the Cui family, clan schools were established, which were schools specifically for the children of the Cui family.

With the foundation of the most prestigious family in the world, these three clan schools could be regarded as the top institutions of learning at that time, but they were private and not open to the public.

The school-aged children from other branches of the family had to go to the clan school every day to study various classics under the guidance of the elders who were well-versed in scholarship. They studied from Chen Shi (7-9 AM) until Shen Shi (3-5 PM), and were given a day off every ten days.

The older members of the Cui clan, aside from a few who served as officials or traveled for further studies, mostly stayed in Boling City or on their estates outside the city. Their daily work consisted of either teaching the younger members of the clan or pursuing their own studies, writing books and establishing doctrines, and so on.

Each member of the Cui family possessed a collection of books.

The largest library was located within the residence of the second branch of the Cui family, but its exact location has not been determined.

During their intelligence gathering, the soldiers also encountered some interesting phenomena.

Not everyone in Boling City lives in peace and prosperity; there are also impoverished households.

These impoverished people idle away their days, doing nothing productive.

Some even learned the "skill" and went around stealing.

One of the thieves hadn't mastered his skills, and while he was stealing, he was spotted by the Cui family students who were on their way home from school. As a result, all the students chased after him to catch the thief. After he was caught, the hot-blooded Cui family students swarmed him and gave him a good beating.

A kind-hearted elderly person nearby, seeing that these young men were behaving recklessly and fearing that the fight might escalate to the point of causing death, quickly instructed a junior member of the Cui family to fetch help from the sixth branch of the Cui clan. Finally, an elder member of the Cui family arrived, stopped the juniors' actions, and sent someone to take the pickpocket to the authorities.

The Boling government imprisoned the thief. According to the law at the time, the value of the stolen goods did not exceed the value of a foot of silk, so he was to be punished with "sixty strokes of the cane".

Seeing that the man had already been beaten so badly, the official ordered him to receive another sixty strokes of the cane and then immediately demanded payment. However, Heaven, being benevolent, spared the man's punishment and threw him into prison to fend for himself.

Unexpectedly, this guy had a few accomplices outside who managed to bribe the government and get him released.

Huang Chao's soldiers saw this and thought these thieves might be useful, so they captured them and sent them to Li You in the dead of night.

"Do you want to live or die?"

"I want to live! I want to live!"

"Then answer me clearly! Who is the leader of your gang?"

"It's Master Liu from Yannan Street; we're all under his jurisdiction!"

"You lead the way, take my soldiers, and capture Liu San. If anything goes wrong, your two companions will be dead, understand?"

"I understand, I understand!"

Half an hour later, Liu Sanye, who was sleeping soundly with a woman in his arms, was dragged up by Huang Chao's army and brought before Li You.

"You're Liu San?"

"Yes, yes, sir, let's talk this out..."

"Did you train these thieves?"

"Not bad, hero..."

"So, you're saying your thieving skills are pretty impressive?"

Liu San blinked: "Young master, is there some treasure you desire but cannot obtain, and would you like me to fetch it for you?"

Li You chuckled: "You're quite clever, aren't you? I need you to steal a few books from the Cui family. Can you do it?"

Upon hearing this, Liu San hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Two hundred strings of cash, I'll take the job! May I ask whose books you want to steal?"

"The library of the second branch of the Cui family."

"A library? No, no, no, I can't take that job. It could cost lives!"

"Someone died? Really? Could it be that serious?"

"Young master, you may not know this, but others have tried to take advantage of the library before, but they were caught and killed by the guards of the Cui family, and the matter was not even reported to the authorities."

"Has someone wanted to do this before?"

"About twenty or thirty years ago, when I was just a small-time thief, I heard it from a big-time thief from somewhere else bragging."

Li You thought to himself, "There are actually like-minded people here."

This also shows that not only him, but others also realized the importance of the classics collected by aristocratic families.

"If we can't steal from the library, then let's steal the books that the various members of the Cui clan have hidden away. I'll give you five hundred strings of cash."

"Five hundred strings of cash...that's acceptable!"

Upon hearing the price, Liu San's spirits lifted.

This guy seems to be a really rich person; not only did he not try to lower the price, he even asked for more money. He's a good customer.

"Chao Yang, tell him which books he wants to steal."

"promise!"

While the investigation was underway inside the city, Gao Shen and his men outside the city were not idle either. They sent soldiers to infiltrate the Cui family's manor to search for the books.

Ultimately, it was discovered that most of the Cui family members, even in their manor outside the city, were always engrossed in their studies and diligently reading.

Of course, not everyone is a top student. Some guys are extravagant and dissolute, spending all their time with their concubines and behaving like complete scoundrels.

Even the most prestigious family in the world cannot guarantee that everyone will be studious; it is only natural that some bad apples will appear.

After discussion, Li You decided that it would be difficult to take action in the city due to the large number of people and eyes. Instead, he would first select a Cui family manor owner outside the city with a rich collection of books to see if he could gain anything.

Huang Chao's primary targets were "examination books" with annotations by renowned scholars throughout history—in other words, the "prominent schools" of Confucianism. While other books also had value, they were of little use in attacking powerful families.

In life and in work, we must focus on the primary contradictions.

Ultimately, Huang Chao's army selected a farm owner named Cui Chong, who was very fond of learning. His study in his country house contained hundreds of books.

The seasoned thief Liu San, having received a deposit of 250 strings of cash, and with the cooperation of Huang Chao's soldiers, chose a day to sneak into Cui Chong's farm.

This person is indeed capable, and successfully entered Cui Chong's study.

Unfortunately, the aforementioned Confucian examination manuals were not among Cui Chong's collection of books.

To prove that he had entered Cui Chong's study, Liu San took two books from inside and brought them to Li You.

Opening one of the books, four large characters were prominently displayed on the title page: "Essential Techniques for the Common People".

Li You sighed and said, "This is a truly excellent book! Liu San'er, I'll give you another five hundred strings of cash. Go to Cui Chong's study and steal the entire set of the 'Essential Techniques of the Qiming'!"

Upon hearing that there was more money to be made, Liu San was overjoyed and went to carry out the order.

Li You then opened the second book, on which were written two large characters: Lunheng.

The *Lunheng* is a philosophical work by Wang Chong, a thinker of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Judging from the two stolen books, Cui Chong seems to prefer studying miscellaneous books rather than focusing solely on the imperial examination manual.

Everyone has different hobbies, so the books they read will naturally differ as well.

Of course, this is based on the premise that someone has books to read and books to choose from.

Those children from poor families only had a few Confucian examination guides at their disposal, and even those were censored versions. You had to read them whether you wanted to or not, because you had no other choice.

Having received a commission from the King of Qi, Liu San once again sneaked into Cui Chong's study.

By the light of the fire, he carefully searched through the bookshelf and tucked several copies of "Essential Techniques for the Common People" into his pocket.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard footsteps outside the study.