Chapter 1054

Fang Xuanling explained to Li Er:

"Your Majesty, the Great Qin Emperor destroying the authority of the elite class, on the surface, is leading the people against the great clans.

However, in the consciousness of the people, the Emperor is the highest and most authoritative one.

If a building collapses, how can the roof remain intact?"

With this explanation, Li Er couldn't figure it out even more.

"Isn't Qin Mu an emperor?

By doing this, won't he be playing with fire?"

"Qin Mu is different!"

Fang Xuanling shook his head and sighed.

He seemed very helpless about Qin Mu's methods.

"Your Majesty, Qin Mu has a feud with the clans; everyone knows this.

Moreover, he previously abolished the status of the lowly and promoted humble students.

Reducing taxes, encouraging commerce, building roads, digging canals—all his policies are to improve the lives of the people, even at the cost of breaking tradition.

In the eyes of the people, he is a commoner emperor!"

Commoner emperor?

Li Er recalled again the time Qin Mu participated in the imperial examination in the Great Tang.

It was that time that offended him, and from then on, he established an invincible enemy for the Great Tang.

Qin Mu came from a humble background but rose strongly by his own efforts and established the Great Qin.

He could never compare to this ability and achievement.

Although Qin Mu is an emperor, he stands on the side of the people and speaks for them, which is indeed different from other emperors.

"Then what should I do?

Am I not also carrying out reforms now?

Give me a little more time, and I can also imitate the Great Qin and establish a system that can win the hearts of the people."

Fang Xuanling didn't want to discourage Li Er.

The Great Tang's actions were simply too slow.

They had long wanted to weaken the influence of the great clans and promote humble students.

But there were always many concerns that made them unable to implement it.

It wasn't until recently, when they sensed the clans' disloyalty, that they made up their minds to gradually eradicate them.

This ambiguous attitude could not be compared with Qin Mu at all.

"Your Majesty, change slowly, and things will always get better.

By the way, the clans have been attracted by the interests of those three powerful foreign countries and have each gone to make contact.

Now, the goal of dividing the clans has been achieved.

Does Your Majesty want to take action to deal with the second clan?"

Li Er hesitated.

The first time they dealt with the Wang family, they used the excuse of destroying the Great Tang's dragon vein.

Now they had finally managed to make peace with the remaining three great clans.

If they took action against the second clan so quickly, they would completely lose the clans' trust, and at that point, making peace again would be impossible.

"Xuanling, this step is very critical; we must have absolute certainty to give the three great clans a thunderous strike.

If any one of them is missed, they will surely rebel and bring great trouble to the imperial court.

I have thought about it over and over and feel that I don't have much certainty."

Fang Xuanling also knew there wasn't much certainty.

However, this was an opportunity; if they didn't use it, they might be even more passive in the future.

"Your Majesty, we cannot hesitate anymore!

Dealing with the three great clans now, although risky, can still win the hearts of the people.

As long as the hearts of the people are on the side of the imperial court, we can take advantage of the situation to complete the reforms in one go.

This is a good opportunity to catch up with the Great Qin!"

Now, because of the Wang family being executed, public opinion was in an uproar, overwhelmingly opposing the clans.

By using this public opinion, they could achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Li Er didn't really want to take the risk.

But he had an obsession in his heart, which was that he must catch up with Qin Mu and not be left too far behind.

Since the Great Qin could use a new crime to promote social change,

the Great Tang must also imitate it.

It was just that the three great clans were not easy to deal with, and to take action against them, one had to be very cautious.

"Xuanling, dealing with the three great clans in one breath is also too difficult.

How do you think we should take action to have more certainty?"

Hearing that Li Er finally made up his mind, Fang Xuanling breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Majesty, I believe it is better to use the strategy of luring the tiger away from the mountain."

Li Er was familiar with this strategy.

Last time they dealt with the Wang family, it was because Wang Jing went to Jiaozhou, and they charged the Wang family with a crime with lightning speed.

However, this time they had to deal with three clans at once, and Li Er was always somewhat uneasy in his heart.

"The power of the three clans is intertwined; even if we lure the tiger away from the mountain, it's still not enough.

They operate in Lingnan and have both troops and provisions.

They only need one letter to immediately raise their flags and rebel."

Li Er's worry was not without reason.

The clans would not have no precautions against the imperial court.

Lingnan was their foundation now, and they would surely leave a backup plan.

Once the clans raised their flags to rebel, even if they could suppress it, the Great Tang would surely be severely damaged.

Fang Xuanling thought for a moment and suggested:

"Your Majesty, I fear this matter still has to fall on the Great Qin.

I have a plan that can provoke a conflict between the clans and the Great Qin."

This was the kind of plan Li Er wanted.

He didn't have to exert any effort himself and just had to watch quietly from behind.