A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"No rush."

Wei Zu said calmly.

"Before taking any action, we must first reach a consensus to ensure that His Majesty and I work together towards the same goal and achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"What are Your Majesty's governing principles? What are Your Majesty's goals? How does Your Majesty view the aristocratic families and the common people?"

Li Shimin took a deep breath. He knew this was Wei Zu's test for him. If he answered correctly and gained Wei Zu's approval, Wei Zu would do his best to help him.

If his answer cannot gain Wei Zu's approval, he will only receive partial support.

"I have always taken the fall of the Sui Dynasty as a lesson, and I know very well that the key to governing a country lies in ensuring the well-being of the people."

"My governing principle is to bring peace and stability to the people and the nation."

"In politics: appoint people based on merit, regardless of their family background; use the imperial examination system to select officials and break the monopoly; humbly accept advice and govern together with the ministers."

"Economically: equal distribution of land and reduction of taxes, encouragement of agriculture and sericulture; elimination of extravagance and cost-saving, without disrupting the farming season; wealth stored among the people, so that the people are prosperous and the country is strong."

"In terms of culture: promote Taoism, Confucianism, and the law, let all schools of thought coexist, promote education, and rectify customs."

In diplomacy: "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the earth, all people are the king's subjects. I demand that all nations pay tribute!"

"My goal is the Great Way, where the world is a commonwealth. We will select the virtuous and capable, and cultivate trust and harmony. Therefore, people will not only care for their own parents and children, but ensure that the elderly are cared for until their end, the able-bodied are employed, the young are nurtured, and the widowed, orphaned, lonely, and disabled are all provided for. Men will have their roles, and women will have their homes. People will not hoard goods, nor will they withhold their labor; they will not use their strength, nor will they work solely for themselves. Therefore, conspiracies will not arise, theft and rebellion will not occur, and outer doors will not be locked. This is called the Great Harmony."

Wei Zu smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and gestured for Li Shimin to continue.

Li Shimin was somewhat unsure of Wei Zu's thoughts, but he knew that sincerity was the key to victory, so he continued to speak according to his own heart.

"My teacher once taught me that the people are like water, and the ruler is like a boat. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it."

"Shimin wholeheartedly agrees."

"The people are the foundation of the state. When the foundation is firm, the state is at peace. The way of a ruler is to first care for the people. The people must not be deceived, and the will of the people must not be defied. One should follow the way of Heaven and obey the will of the people in order to achieve long-term stability and peace."

"If one exploits the people to enrich oneself, it is like cutting off one's own flesh to eat; one will be full but die."

"Powerful families have their advantages, but they also have their disadvantages."

"Prominent families have a long tradition of scholarship and produce many talented individuals. Most people from such families are well-educated and reasonable, and can bring peace to the local area."

"However, powerful families and clans, with their deep-rooted ties based on marriage, monopolize official careers, leaving no way for commoners and those from humble backgrounds to rise in rank. If this continues, there will inevitably be widespread resentment and public discontent."

Li Shimin glanced at Wei Zu's eyes, recalling that the Wei family had always seemed to be targeting the aristocratic families, gritted his teeth, and spoke his true feelings.

"However, the benefits cannot outweigh the drawbacks; the drawbacks far outweigh the benefits."

"Powerful families are like termites on a dam, gnawing away at it day and night, and it will inevitably collapse sooner or later."

"The greed of aristocratic families is like the endless seabed, never satisfied. If they wish to usher in an unprecedented golden age, they must be eliminated."

"If we take the wealth extracted from the people by powerful families and return it to the people, we will surely bring great order to the world."

"I intend to destroy all the powerful clans in the world, promote the imperial examination system, popularize education, and gather the talents of the world to govern the world."

Wei Zu nodded slightly, roughly understanding Li Shimin's current political inclinations.

"Your Majesty, have you ever considered what would happen if there were no powerful clans in the world?"

What if there were no powerful and influential families in the world?

Li Shimin was slightly taken aback and fell into deep thought.

"If there were no powerful clans now, there wouldn't be enough manpower to govern the world, and the world would surely descend into chaos."

"However, eliminating all the powerful clans in the world will be a long process, enough time for more official schools to be established and more outstanding scholars from the common people of the Tang Dynasty to be cultivated."

"Isn't this wonderful?"

"No."

Wei Zu shook his head, his gaze somewhat wistful.

"At first, I thought the same as His Majesty, but later, I discussed it with my father, several uncles, and several elders of the clan."

"Power is there. If all the powerful families in the world are eliminated, new groups will naturally seize that power."

"If all the powerful clans in the land were wiped out, and all officials were selected from ordinary people through the imperial examination, how many people would still be able to maintain their integrity?"

"The Wei family once conducted experiments in two foreign countries. In one country, the aristocratic families controlled the country completely. In the other, a member of the Chen family proposed the Nine-Rank System, which stipulated that the lower ranks had no aristocratic families and the upper ranks had no poor families."

"The other country completely eliminated aristocratic families, and as mentioned before, all officials were selected from ordinary people through the imperial examination system."

"Your Majesty, do you know the outcome?"

"I don't know, please tell me, senior brother!"

Li Shimin was extremely interested in this result and quickly said...

"And that's how it turned out!"

Wei Zu sighed.

"The country that practiced the Nine-Rank System was rapidly weakened. The foundation of the country was completely hollowed out by powerful families. Of the country's 30 troops, 28 were paid for nothing. The rich feasted while the poor froze to death on the streets."

"In the end, it was easily destroyed by a small country in the surrounding area, which was only 1/10 the size of this country and was extremely weak."

"Those powerful families that emptied the country's coffers, in times of crisis, not one of them will return the wealth they squandered, nor will any of them be willing to open a path for the people to rise, even when the country is on its last legs."

"This is the inevitable result after powerful families come to control the world."

Li Shimin was terrified upon hearing this result.

He absolutely would not allow this situation to occur in the Tang Dynasty, he absolutely would not allow it!

At this moment, Li Shimin's desire to kill the powerful families in the country reached its peak.

"Senior brother, what about the other country?"

"With no powerful clans or aristocratic families in the world, and officials selected from among the common people, there will surely be a clean and efficient government, with officials acting in the best interests of the people, creating a prosperous and peaceful world."

Li Shimin asked with expectant eyes.

Wei Zu looked at Li Shimin with a complicated expression, shook his head, and said in a complicated tone.

"That's not the case."

"After being ordinary citizens for a long time, when they suddenly become officials and experience the taste of power, more than 9% of them lose their original intentions, become corrupt and lawless, and line their own pockets. They exploit the people even more severely than those officials from aristocratic families."

"They frantically plundered the people's wealth, lavishly decorating their mansions, all to declare that they had shed their peasant status and become high and mighty masters!"

"Then they began to collude with different schools of thought, forming factions and fighting for power, even in the imperial court, opposing for the sake of opposing, without any regard for whether the matter was beneficial to the people or the country."

"Then, in secret, they also plundered the people, determined to squeeze every last drop of profit from them."

"In the end, the king of that country became so poor that he couldn't even afford the military expenses. He sold all the rare treasures passed down from his ancestors to fill the gap in the military budget."

"As a result, less than three percent reached the army."

"The outcome for a country without military spending is predictable."

Ironically, on the day the city fell, the entire court of officials rushed to surrender.

"On the contrary, those low-ranking officials preferred death to surrender and sacrificed their lives for their country."

"The most ironic thing is that the officials and civil servants rushed to surrender but were refused. On the day the city fell, the gold and silver treasures found in the entire capital were dozens of times more than the country's annual tax revenue at its peak."

This ending was like a bolt from the blue, shattering Li Shimin's beautiful illusions, and his throat tightened slightly.

"How could this happen?!"

"Shouldn't these aristocratic families have been wiped out?"

"Of course not!"

"The aristocratic families should naturally be completely wiped out, and this class should be eradicated entirely."