Chapter 419

Su Qiao gave the down-and-out sailor a meaningful look and said, "I'll give you one hundred taels; you can collect more strange plants or their seeds during this time. I will come back then."

Hearing Su Qiao's words, the sailor-vendor's eyes turned even bluer.

The whole man was no longer as decadent as before; instead, he was extremely enthusiastic, wishing he could go collect seeds and plants to make money right now!

It was no wonder his change was so great; the amount given was simply too much.

Just for an unknown potted plant, he had earned one hundred taels.

He was very clear about the purchasing power of one hundred taels in the Great Ming.

For him, it was absolutely a large sum of money!

Moreover, he believed that according to the noble's request just now, after collecting the seeds and plants, he would definitely earn even more money.

This was a rare opportunity for him to get rich!

He cheerfully packed up the items on his stall, picked a direction, and ran off.

Su Qiao, having received the potted plant, held it in his hand and examined it carefully.

Confirming he had not misseen it, he then handed it over to Sun Youxu, "Hold it well; this thing is very important!"

"What is this thing? Do you know it?" Zhu Di asked curiously.

Su Qiao nodded and explained, "These are two very important plants. This one, currently bearing green fruit, is the tomato; after ripening, it becomes red fruit. It can be eaten raw or stir-fried, and the taste is very good."

"The other plant is called peanut; it can be pressed for oil. The taste is good, and its oil yield is much higher than that of rapeseed oil, and it is also very nutritious."

Zhu Di and Liu Rushi and the others looked at them curiously and carefully, as if trying to discern something from the tomato and the peanut.

"Alright, we have been strolling for most of the day; let us not return at noon but find a place to eat," Su Qiao proposed.

Zhu Di and the others did not object.

At this time, their stomachs were almost empty.

"Let's go; that place ahead looks good; let's go try it."

Entering the restaurant, the waiter, seeing Su Qiao and the others' attire, immediately ran over to greet them.

"Noble sirs, do you wish to eat?"

"Yes, are there private rooms upstairs?"

Su Qiao nodded and said.

"Yes, there are two private rooms left; you have come at the right time!" the waiter nodded repeatedly, saying, "Noble guests, please follow me inside!"

The group followed and went up to the second floor.

The two private rooms were empty and adjacent; just right for Su Qiao and the others to have one room, and the other Embroidered Uniform Guard escorts to have one room.

After entering and taking their seats, Su Qiao and Zhu Di ordered several specialty dishes and then waited patiently.

"It is already October, and November is coming soon; yet it is still so warm here. If we had not come out and were still in the capital, it would probably be snowing by now, wouldn't it?"

Liu Rushi was pouring tea for Su Qiao and Zhu Di on the side.

She did not, because of Zhu Di's status, stand aside and serve them like a palace maid or female servant.

272, Emperor Yang of Sui was a good emperor!

Even Ma Kui and the others had climbed onto the table.

At first, Ma Kui and the others were quite apprehensive; even with Zhu Di's orders, they dared not sit at the table.

After all, Zhu Di was Emperor Taizong Wen!

However, after many times, especially since Zhu Di habitually ran around with Su Qiao.

Even occasionally, the two exchanged words in argument.

In their hearts, they no longer took the matter of sitting at the same table to heart.

"The south is warm and moist with much rain, and the duration of sunlight is longer; the north has shorter daylight hours in winter, so the south has always been warmer than the north."

Su Qiao continued Liu Rushi's words.

"Yes, precisely because the south is good, that is why Emperor Yang of Sui went to Yangzhou three times back then, caring only for pleasure and ruining the Jiangshan!"

Zhu Di said nothing, but Su Qiao shook his head on the side, saying, "Rushi, in front of Your Majesty, your comment is wrong."

"Ah?" Liu Rushi looked blank, not knowing where she was wrong.

Zhu Di, who had not spoken until now, opened his mouth to explain then: "It is said that Emperor Yang of Sui went south of the Yangtze three times, indulging in luxury and debauchery, disregarding court affairs and the people of the world, greedy for pleasure and acting recklessly, thus causing the Great Sui Jiangshan to fall; all this is the history books fooling people!"

When he said this, Zhu Di glanced at Su Qiao and said, "It seems you, Su Qiao, understand this quite well; then you speak. If I had not read some true historical materials before, I might really have been fooled."

Zhu Di asked Su Qiao to speak, and Su Qiao did not refuse.

"Emperor Yang of Sui, Yang Guang, whether in operas or in history books and unofficial histories, has been set up as an image of a stupid and lawless tyrant; actually, this is entirely due to later history books misleading; the saying goes: 'The victor becomes king, the loser becomes a bandit!' History books are all written by the victors."

With these words of Su Qiao, not only did Zhu Di nod in appreciation.

But everyone else in the private room also felt their previous thoughts overturned; many of their past ideas had been refuted!

"Then is Emperor Yang of Sui not a tyrant?"

Su Qiao smiled and shook his head. To say Yang Guang was not only not a tyrant, but rather a very wise emperor with great ambition!"

Emperor Yang of Sui is not a tyrant, but a heroic ruler?

What kind of theory is this?

Everyone in the private room, except Su Qiao and Zhu Di, all looked utterly confused.

"Hehe, well, saying it this way, you probably won't believe it; then I will give some examples for you to analyze."

Saying this, Su Qiao began to explain, "Let us first talk about his three trips to Yangzhou!"

"Actually, Emperor Yang of Sui's three trips to Yangzhou were not really just for play; every trip to Yangzhou carried political purposes."

"Yang Guang, in his early years, served as the administrator in Yangzhou; at that time it was called Governor; he governed the military and political affairs of Yangzhou. Regarding Yangzhou, he could be said to be very familiar with it, considering it his second hometown; this is one of the reasons why he went to Yangzhou again and again in his later years."

Also, one must consider the situation of the Great Sui at that time; during the Six Dynasties period, the south of the Yangtze was ruled for over four hundred years; one could say the power of the former dynasty had fully developed here and was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people!

"After Sui Emperor Wen Yang Jian destroyed the Chen Kingdom, he wanted to shift the political center toward the Guanzhong region — that is, Luoyang, Chang'an, and the like."

"But the Jiangnan noble families were not happy about it. They felt that they, the Jiangnan noble families, were noble, with lineages stretching back hundreds or even thousands of years — truly an aristocratic bloodline of noble heritage. Even if they only paid lip service while defying him in secret, Yang Jian saw it wouldn't work, so he sent his third imperial prince, Yang Jun, to Jiangnan to govern."

"Don't be fooled by the Jiangnan gentry acting all high and mighty — behind the scenes they've been undermining quite a few court policies. But after all, this realm is the realm of Great Sui. Faced with certain pressures, even if they wanted to resist, it wasn't easy. The whole of Jiangnan has always been in a state of unrest. On the surface it's Great Sui's territory, but underneath, those clans are so deeply entangled and rooted that it's never been peaceful."

Liu Rushi felt that today she had truly learned something.

Hearing these secret tales — things she could never have heard before — her brows curved into a gentle arch, her slender jade hand propping up her snow-white chin as she listened quietly.

At this moment Zhu Di also spoke up: "That's right. Back then the southern gentry were really formidable. They maintained a delicate balance with the court — sometimes the court even had to compromise on certain things behind the scenes."

"Huh? I thought the Emperor and his court were awe-inspiring throughout the realm, their word as weighty as nine tripods — wouldn't they be afraid of the Emperor beheading them?"

Liu Rushi was, after all, a woman of the pleasure house — even if she was sharper than the average scholar.

But her breadth of vision wasn't all that much greater either.

To openly question the deterrent power of imperial authority — even Zhu Di found it hard to explain.

It was Su Qiao who stepped in to explain: "Rushi, you should say it's because you don't understand how formidable the gentry were back then. Those gentry, those noble families — many of them had lineages stretching back a thousand or several hundred years. The famous Five Surnames and Seven Hopes, for instance, were passed down all the way from the Shang and Zhou dynasties."

"Their foundations aren't something ordinary commoners can comprehend. Put it this way — because their lineages were orderly and continuous, they controlled eighty percent of all the ancient texts and rare editions in the realm. Scholars who wanted to study all had to go to their academies to learn."

"Back then, paper and the cost of study were all quite expensive. Studying at a noble family's academy meant you'd be considered a disciple of that family — and in this way, they controlled the great majority of scholars across the realm. The Jiangnan noble families were much the same."

"From this, you can deduce how many officials in the court belonged to the noble families."

"And that's only the court — there were also merchants, people in other trades, all carrying the shadow of the noble families."

At this point, Su Qiao paused for a moment.

But Liu Rushi and Ma Kui and the others all gaped open-mouthed, unable to close their jaws for the longest time.

They hadn't expected to hear such detailed secret tales — it completely refreshed their worldview.

Especially the foundations and vast power of the Sui-Tang era noble families — it left them utterly dumbfounded!

It was as if they were seeing this world anew!

Liu Rushi stole a timid glance at Zhu Di, then asked Su Qiao in a small voice: "So do those noble families still exist today?"

"Some do, but they've been weakened far too much — there's almost nothing left. After all, emperors throughout the ages have treated them as a thorn in their eye, a splinter in their flesh. After repeated weakenings, plus the Empress and the previous dynasty's great purges, today's noble families no longer have that kind of power at all. Instead, they've gradually shifted toward becoming merchant families."

At this moment Zhu Di's eyes held a scrutinizing, puzzled expression as he sized up Su Qiao.

"These are all considered palace secrets — ordinary people could never get access to them. Su Qiao, how do you know all this? Could it be that you're also of noble family descent?"

Hearing this, Su Qiao hurriedly waved his hands: "Your Majesty, this subject is no noble family — purely a son of the countryside. As for these matters, this subject read them in ancient texts and unofficial histories."

As if he could tell them that in a later age, information would explode and Baidu would have everything!

273, Treasure Guess!

"Fine, let's get back to the main topic. As for the noble families, I actually know a bit more. The palace secret histories record that in the tenth year of Kaihuang, a great upheaval — or rather, a great rebellion — occurred in Jiangnan. Yang Jian dispatched Yang Su to mobilize a large army to suppress it. The instigators of the rebellion were remnants of the previous dynasty, and using this rebellion, they deliberately bloodily purged many Jiangnan noble families."