Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 200: Ten Miles of Chang'an Square! Trampling on the Bones of the Nobles! [Long Chapter, Please Give Me a Monthly Vote]

"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! 'Entertainment Weekly' is out today, bringing all the latest news from around the city! 'The Crown Prince will execute the officials of the Five Surnames and Seven Families at Goujiling in the East Market today!'"

"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale!"

Hearing what the newsboy was shouting, many passing scholars were shocked and gathered around the newsboy.

Even the people around were curious about the contents of the newspaper.

Soon, the newsboy was surrounded by people.

Then an old scholar said, "Young man, are you telling the truth? Is the Crown Prince really going to execute the officials of the Five Surnames and Seven Families at Dog Ridge in the East Market?"

"Yes! Why? What crime have they committed to deserve being beheaded in public?" asked a scholar who knew the Five Surnames and Seven Families.

The newsboy said with a smile, "You can find out the details by buying a newspaper. It's only ten cents!"

"Why is it so expensive?!"

Bai, who had bought newspapers before, exclaimed, "I remember you bought the Tang Daily for only five cents!"

"Yeah! I also bought the Tang Daily. How could you, little kid, still lie to me?"

A poor scholar was filled with righteous indignation.

But the newsboy continued with a smile, "You may not know, but the 'Tang Daily' is sold every day, and its main content is about the current affairs of the imperial court. Meanwhile, the 'Entertainment Weekly' is only sold once a week, seven days apart! Furthermore, the newspapers cover the latest major events in various places, as well as strange and bizarre things happening in the surrounding areas. Naturally, the price is different given the wide range of content!"

"So that's it!"

The sensible scholar was immediately convinced by the newsboy's well-reasoned words. He immediately took out ten cents and said, "Give me a copy of Entertainment Weekly!"

"okay!"

The newsboy happily took the ten cents, then took out a newspaper from his cloth bag and handed it to the scholar.

Seeing this, the others didn't hesitate to call out to the newspaper boy: "Give me one too!"

Although the price is indeed twice as expensive as the Tang Daily, the words on it are obviously more than the Tang Daily, and there are similar illustrations, which is definitely worth the money.

After all, there were very few books in this era, and most of the books were in the hands of aristocratic families. It was difficult for ordinary people to get paper with words on it, let alone a newspaper with so many words on it.

Therefore, the people's enthusiasm for buying continued to rise, and it didn't take long before all the newspapers in the newsboy's cloth bag were sold out.

Those literate scholars also unfolded the newspapers and checked the contents as soon as possible.

The rest of the illiterate people, after buying the newspaper, would immediately find someone who could read it to them.

After about a minute, a scholar exclaimed, "So the previous riots by the disaster victims were actually related to the officials of the Five Surnames and Seven Families! They really deserve to die!"

"Let me see!"

A friend of the scholar snatched the newspaper in disbelief and looked at it carefully.

It would have been fine if I hadn't read it, but once I did, I was filled with indignation: "National parasites! National scum! What the newspaper said is absolutely right! Let's go! Let's go see how those shameless scum die!"

Soon, people in the area were attracted to the execution ground by the content of the newspaper.

Similar scenes, large and small, appeared one after another in every corner of the capital.

Soon, a long queue formed at the Goujiling execution ground, and it was surrounded by people from Chang'an who came from all directions to watch the show.

At the same time, at the execution ground of Goujiling.

Li Chengqian sat high in the main seat, looking at the people of Chang'an below the execution platform with great interest.

Although this was not the first time he had seen so many Chang'an citizens, he still found it very interesting that every time he did something, there were so many Chang'an citizens showing up to support him.

"Your Highness, it's almost noon!"

Dali Temple Minister Dai Zhou said to Li Chengqian next to him.

Li Chengqian nodded, and Dai Zhou immediately raised his command arrow and shouted, "Bring the prisoner in!"

Yunduan, who served as the temporary executioner, raised his hand and waved the black flag in his hand.

The rumbling horse-drawn carriages slowly passed through the crowd, bringing seven officials from the five surnames and seven noble families to the execution ground.

Seeing this, the people suddenly cheered: "Death to the dog official!" "Scum of the country!"

Loud curses echoed like a tsunami, violently stirring up the ten-mile-long streets of Chang'an.

These officials from the five surnames and seven clans felt fear and panic for the first time in their lives.

The rotten eggs and vegetable leaves thrown from the west made them pound on the prison van and roar angrily: "We are innocent! You troublemakers!"

"Where is the etiquette and law in this way? We want to see His Majesty!"

"Whose order is this? This is outrageous!"

Facing these people who were still shouting wildly even though they were about to die, Li Chengqian couldn't help but say with some amusement, "It seems that the Dali Temple officials didn't torture them when they were trying them!"

"This"

Dai Zhou heard this and said with embarrassment, "They confessed their crimes honestly, so they didn't receive any major punishment!"

"Ah!"

Li Chengqian sneered, then said indifferently, "They probably think that even if they confess all their crimes, they won't be sentenced to death, right?"

"Uh"

Dai Zhou was speechless for a moment.

But then Yunduan shouted again, "Bring the prisoner to the scaffold!"

Soon, seven officials from five surnames and seven families were taken to the execution platform in a disheveled state.

"Announce His Majesty's decree!"

Dai Zhou gave a loud reminder, and a palace servant came over with the imperial edict.

"The Emperor of the Great Tang orders: The traitors Lu Yuanling, Cui She, Wang Gui, and seven others have plotted treason, gathered a crowd to rebel, deceived the emperor, and assassinated the Crown Prince. These crimes are blatant. To uphold the law and vent the public anger, these seven individuals are sentenced to death by beheading!"

After he finished speaking, Dali Temple Minister Dai Zhou asked in a deep voice, "You have suffered this extreme punishment, which is the justice of heaven. What else do you have to say?"

"Dai Zhou! How dare you lie to us! You will not die a good death!" Wang Gui said angrily.

The whole place was in an uproar!

But Dai Zhou remained calm. "It's written in black and white, the evidence is irrefutable, and you've signed it. How can you say I'm lying to you? Don't you know what you've done?"

"Humph!"

Cui She snorted coldly, "Of course we know what we did, but didn't you say that this matter would be left to His Majesty to decide? Why are you suddenly going to execute us?!"

"Yes! We don't believe that His Majesty will execute us?!" Lu Yuanling also echoed.

These words left Dai Zhou speechless.

Li Chengqian, however, laughed: "For the crimes you have committed, why do you think His Majesty won't execute you? And who gave you the courage to be so arrogant on the execution platform?"

"you"

When Lu Yuanling and others heard this, they were choked and speechless, and they just kept shaking.

However, Li Chengqian didn't finish his words: "Oh, I see. You are all officials from aristocratic families. Everything you do is related to your family, right? So, you rely on your family's influence to do whatever you want and ignore the laws of the country, right?"

"I, we."

When Lu Yuanling and others heard this, they didn't dare to respond at all.

Because if they responded in front of so many people, their family's reputation accumulated over hundreds of years would be implicated, which would be more painful for them than killing them.

However, their lack of response does not mean that Li Chengqian will shut up.

But then Li Chengqian added, "You have no regard for the laws of the country and have instigated the victims to rebel, causing the country to fall into danger. You deserve to be nailed to the pillar of shame and be cursed by the world!"

After saying this, he shouted: "Where is the historian?"

"The historian is here!" Chu Suiliang stood up and shouted.

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "Let their crimes and their families be recorded in the annals of history. Let them and their families be infamous for eternity!"

"What!?"

When Lu Yuanling and others heard this, they were struck by lightning and their minds went blank.

They never imagined that Li Chengqian would be so cruel.

However, before they could react, an indignant voice was heard from the crowd.

Several scholars in white stood out from the crowd in anger, shouting, "Your Highness, this is going too far! Even if they are wrong, there is no need to implicate their family!"

"That's right! Every family has its share of scoundrels. Your Highness, the Crown Prince's actions are unbecoming of a wise ruler. We must protest to His Majesty!"

"If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he will definitely be a tyrant! We will no longer serve as officials for your Li Tang!"

"Yes! Your Highness the Crown Prince is not satisfied with killing people, he also wants to destroy the reputation of other families. Such a ruthless extermination is not the behavior of a wise ruler!"

As the white-robed scholars finished their words, voices denouncing Li Chengqian rose one after another from the crowd.

Dai Zhou, who was standing by, saw this and quickly whispered to Li Chengqian, "Your Highness, please don't act recklessly!"

"Ah!"

Li Chengqian snorted, but ignored him.

Because this was exactly the scene Li Chengqian wanted.

As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy ensures victory in a hundred battles. To completely overthrow the Five Surnames and Seven Families, the first thing to do is to understand their power.

Only by understanding them can we effectively target them.

Therefore, the scene before him was nothing to Li Chengqian.

When Yunduan saw the scene, his heart tightened. He quickly glanced at his subordinates, asking them to report to Li Shimin immediately.

Otherwise, if things go wrong, civil unrest could easily break out.

Imperial Palace, Ganlu Hall.

Li Shimin was discussing the locust plague with Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji and others.

Suddenly, a voice came from outside the door, reporting: "Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! The Crown Prince has caused a popular uprising at the execution ground!"

"What!?"

Li Shimin stood up from the throne in an instant.

However, before he could ask the reason, there was a noise outside the door.

"We want to see His Majesty!"

"We want to impeach the prince!"

Hearing the noise, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others looked at each other in confusion.

Li Shimin's face darkened, and he asked in a cold voice, "Who is making a noise outside?"

"Your Majesty, it's the ministers of the court!"

Wushe hurried in from outside to report.

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes slightly, then put his hands behind his back and said coldly: "Let them in!"

"But Your Majesty, they..."

"I said, let them in!"

Faced with Li Shimin's unquestionable voice, Wushe immediately swallowed his worried words.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of court ministers, led by Cui Renshi, walked in indignation.

Cui Renshi was the first to speak, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has shown disrespect for the law and openly insulted our family at the execution ground. Your Majesty, please investigate!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! People in our family committed crimes, and they deserved it, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince implicated their crimes on our family and even said that he would make our family infamous for eternity! This is really too much!" Li Zhen echoed.

Upon hearing this, the other ministers also spoke in agreement.

Soon, the whole hall was filled with noise.

Li Shimin's head almost exploded after hearing this.

At this time, Changsun Wuji hurriedly shouted: "Silence!" Not long after, the hall was as quiet as autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves.

Li Shimin raised his hand to his forehead and said solemnly, "You said that the prince wants to bring eternal infamy to your family?"

"Yes, Your Majesty! The prince's actions are not those of a wise monarch. Your Majesty, please look into this matter!" Wang Gui also stood up at this time.

Li Shimin frowned, then turned to look at Fang Xuanling and said, "Minister of the Central Secretariat, what do you think of this matter?"

"This"

Fang Xuanling thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty! I believe that the Crown Prince's action is not intended to target their family. Instead, it is intended to serve as a warning to them to cultivate talents with good moral character in the future and not to lose sight of the greater good and ruin their family's reputation!"

"absurd!"

Upon hearing this, Cui Renshi immediately retorted to Fang Xuanling, "The Crown Prince's actions are clearly intended to ruin our family's reputation!"

"That's right, he is about to go down in history! If this isn't intentional, what is it?" Zheng Shanguo interrupted with some indignation.

Fang Xuanling was speechless when he heard this.

Although he didn't know why Li Chengqian did this, he always felt that there must be something more than just a simple reason.

Besides, Li Chengqian couldn't possibly be unaware of the importance that aristocratic families attached to reputation.

By doing this, he was undoubtedly making enemies with all the aristocratic families.

Just as the atmosphere fell silent, a voice came from outside the door again: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has a secret report to submit!"

Li Shimin was slightly stunned, then he ordered directly: "Bring it in!"

"promise!"

There was a response from outside the door.

Soon, Wushe came to Li Shimin in person with the secret memorial.

Upon seeing this, Li Shimin opened the secret memorial without saying a word.

There were several hundred words written in the secret memorial, which stated all the reasons clearly and plainly, which made Li Shimin very excited.

After a long while, he finally came back to his senses from Li Chengqian's report. He glanced indifferently at the ministers present and said calmly, "You want me to investigate clearly, and I will investigate clearly for you now!"

After saying this, he immediately ordered outside the door: "Come here! Go to the East Market execution ground!"

"What!?"

Cui Renshi and others were all surprised, as if they had not expected Li Shimin to go to the execution ground in person.

Is there something fishy going on?
Thinking of this, Cui Renshi and others looked at each other, and without saying a word, followed Li Shimin to the execution ground.

"Your Majesty has arrived——!"

Just as the execution ground at Goujiling was about to fall into chaos, a sudden and loud voice suddenly sounded from behind the crowd.

The white-robed scholars who were about to rush to the execution platform to save people were frightened by the voice and quickly retreated.

Soon, a path was cleared among the crowd.

And then the sound of countless people paying tribute to Li Shimin was heard.

"My son, please see your father!"

When Li Chengqian saw Li Shimin, he was the first to greet him.

However, Li Shimin snorted coldly at him, showing no intention of paying any attention to him. He turned to Dai Zhou and said, "Minister of the Dali Temple, can you tell me what is going on?"

"Return to your majesty, my lord."

"Your Majesty! We are innocent!"

"Your Majesty! We were wronged!"

Before Dai Zhou could speak, Lu Yuanling and others on the execution platform cried out for justice to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin frowned slightly, then looked in the direction of the sound and said solemnly, "What's going on?"

"Your Majesty, the evidence of their crimes is solid and there is no injustice!"

This time, Dai Zhou gave the answer directly without any hesitation.

But then Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "Since there is no injustice, why not execute him?"

"Father, it's not that the Supreme Court Minister won't execute the sentence, but these unruly people won't let me record their crimes in history."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is causing trouble for innocent people. How unreasonable!"

Before Li Chengqian could finish his words, Cui Renshi's voice rang out from behind him.

"The crimes they committed were their own fault. Why implicate our family? Does one person's misdeeds mean the whole family will suffer?"

"That's right! The Tang Dynasty abides by the law. Your Highness the Crown Prince's actions are lawless. How can we serve the Tang Dynasty in the future!" Li Shushen echoed.

The other officials from the noble families also stood up, took off their official hats and placed them on the ground.

Then they all started to troll, attacking Li Shimin and his son, and said they would go to Taiyuan to find Li Yuan, saying that Li Shimin and his son wanted to destroy the Tang Dynasty.

When Li Shimin heard these words, he was almost furious.

This is simply a naked threat.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has caused public outrage. Now we have no choice but to revoke his order!"

Fang Xuanling reminded him quietly, "These are officials from aristocratic families. Their connections are spread throughout the Tang Dynasty. If they all resign, other local officials in the Tang Dynasty will also resign. At that time, the Tang Dynasty will immediately be paralyzed."

"Your Majesty! The retired emperor once said that whoever wins the hearts of the people will win the world. The prince's actions have undoubtedly lost the hearts of the people. If you indulge him, the Tang Dynasty will no longer exist!" Zheng Shanguo said seriously.

Cui Renshi added, "If Your Majesty insists on doing what he wants, not only will we resign, but no one in our family will be allowed to take the imperial examinations anymore!"

"Yeah! Even if I take the imperial examination, I'll be framed. It's better not to take it!"

"It is better to stay away from officialdom than to bring shame to our ancestors!"

Upon hearing these words, there was a commotion in the audience.

The officials of the Five Surnames and Seven Families who were kneeling on the execution platform, ready to be punished, were so happy that they almost jumped up.

They never expected that things would take such a turn.

Originally, Li Chengqian could have just killed them directly, but he didn't expect that a stupid decision would stir up a hornet's nest.

Hahaha!
This time you are going to ruin the reputation of our Five Surnames and Seven Families. The other people from the aristocratic families will be so sad for you that how can they let you go?

And those children from poor families, if they become officials in the future, will also be afraid of being treated like this by you, so of course they will unite against the common enemy!

"How is this possible? How can you let your family members not take the imperial examination? What the Tang Dynasty needs most now is talents!" Li Shimin said anxiously.

When the people from the aristocratic families heard this, they all looked proud, thinking that Li Shimin was so vulnerable.

In this battle between the emperor and his subjects, they actually won by a crushing margin.

"Your Majesty, it's not that we don't want our family members to take the imperial examinations, but we are afraid that our family's reputation will be maliciously slandered! We really have no choice!" Cui Renshi sighed.

Li Zhen echoed, "Yes, Your Majesty! We also want to do our best for the Tang Dynasty, but we are powerless!"

"Your Majesty! Please allow us to resign and retire!"

"My dear ministers, you are all the backbone of our Tang Dynasty. We cannot do without you!"

Li Shimin quickly dissuaded them, saying, "How about this? I will pardon the sins of your family members, let them reform, and serve the Tang Dynasty again in the future. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Renshi and the others smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, Du Ruhui and others were very puzzled when they saw this.
"Your Majesty, are you drunk?" Changsun Wuji asked cautiously.

Li Shimin glared at him, then turned to the crowd and said, "They are right. I must follow the will of the people!"

At this time, the audience cheered as if they had won a victory.

However, Li Shimin's next words made them fall directly from heaven to hell.

Li Shimin glanced at them fiercely, and with a cruel smile, he said calmly: "Since no one will take the imperial examination in the future, I will cancel it!"

"What!?"

Li Shimin's words were like thunder from a clear sky, shocking everyone.

Children from poor families and ordinary people were all shocked. Cancel the imperial examination?
What does this mean?
Our only path to advancement is broken?
How is this possible! ?
"Your Majesty, you can't cancel the imperial examination!"

Children from poor families and ordinary people cried out in grief, their eyes bloodshot.

Li Shimin put his hands behind his back and said calmly, "Since all the scholars are from aristocratic families, why do I still need the imperial examination? Why not just use the children of aristocratic families?"

After he finished speaking, he turned to look at Master Cui Ren: "If I don't follow the will of the people, will no one come to take the imperial examinations after the court opens them widely?"

"If Your Majesty cannot follow the will of the people, even if the imperial examinations are widely opened, the children of our family will not participate, and no scholars will participate!" Cui Renshi said confidently.

Li Chengqian laughed instantly, then spread his hands towards the crowd below and said, "Look, the people from the aristocratic families are so overbearing. My father didn't want to abolish the imperial examination system either. It's just that they feel that without their family, the imperial examination system is useless!"

Wow!
The whole place was in an uproar!

Chaos, absolute chaos, so chaotic that the situation is almost out of control.

At this time, there was a person in the crowd who was arranged by Li Chengqian in advance.

They all started roaring angrily.

"Brothers, we have been bewitched by them!"

"They are colluding with the traitors on the stage to block our path to advancement!"

"They want their descendants to become officials for generations, leaving us with no chance of advancement. Ten years of hard study are nothing but a pipe dream. We are determined to fight them."

The boy from a poor family was not stupid. When he was given such advice, his eyes turned red.

As the saying goes, depriving someone of their money is like killing their parents.

What the aristocratic families did was equivalent to killing everyone's parents.

The children from poor families went crazy, and the people who had high hopes for their children also went crazy, and they all madly attacked the people from the wealthy families.

"I'm going to beat you to death!!"

"My cousin is still waiting for me to pass the imperial examination and come back to marry her! Give my cousin back to me!!"

"My mother nearly went blind in order to support my studies. I will fight you, a bunch of traitors! How dare you deceive His Majesty!"

"Kill--!"

The children from poor families and ordinary people were all furious. They were the biggest beneficiaries of the imperial examination system, and the imperial examination was their lifelong hope.

Anyone who dares to touch the imperial examination system is equivalent to digging up their ancestral graves.

What aristocratic family, beat them to death.

Fang Xuanling and others were stunned. They had thought about how horrible Li Chengqian's methods were, but such horrible methods shocked them beyond words.

What's going on with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's brain?

Are they trying to manipulate the world's scholars?!
Li Shimin almost laughed out loud when he saw that people from aristocratic families were treated like rats crossing the street.

Li Chengqian, who was standing aside, raised the corner of his mouth slightly.

The aristocratic families are no more than this.

No wonder Huang Chao was able to trample on the bones of officials and nobles.

"Execution——!"

Following Li Chengqian's order, Lu Yuanling and others, who were originally full of hope, instantly fell into despair.

"Your Highness, we were wrong!"

"No, you just know you're going to die!"

As soon as the words were spoken, people turned around.

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(End of this chapter)