Chapter 1454

Wu Zhao's phoenix eyes swept toward Gao Yang, holding a cup of hot tea in her hand, and said, "Minister Gao, I will state first, I am not a curious person; if you don't want to talk about this emo matter, then don't."

"I will not force you."

"But if you are willing to talk, I can also listen a little and help you solve your worries."

Gao Yang, hearing this, looked happy and bowed to Wu Zhao, "I thank Your Majesty."

"But this matter is hard to speak of, so I'd better not say it."

Wu Zhao: "..."

She secretly regretted it in her heart; she had forgotten that Gao Yang's skin was too thick, and her words likely played right into his hands.

But since she had already spoken, she couldn't take it back.

So, she thought of serious business and said to Gao Yang, "I have another matter on this trip that I want to discuss with Minister Gao."

"This matter makes me extremely angry!"

Gao Yang sat on the stone chair beside him, drank a cup of warm tea, and asked Wu Zhao curiously, "What has Your Majesty encountered?"

Wu Zhao said, "Pei Wen of the Shandong Pei clan, who holds the position of Prefect in one region, has very high seniority!"

"This person embezzled thirty thousand taels of silver for disaster relief, which was discovered by the Western Depot, and the evidence is conclusive!"

Gao Yang raised an eyebrow, feeling inexplicably guilty.

After all, in terms of embezzlement, the amount of thirty thousand taels was just a drop in the bucket for him.

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said calmly, "Your Majesty is furious because of embezzlement?"

Wu Zhao had no idea what Gao Yang was thinking and nodded, "That's right."

"But that is only one aspect!"

"What makes me even more furious is that the evidence against Pei Wen is conclusive and his crimes are unforgivable, but when I wanted to issue an edict to deal with him, officials from all over the place submitted memorials one after another to speak for him!"

"Among them, there is no lack of important court officials!"

Once these words were spoken, a look of surprise appeared on Gao Yang's face.

He pondered for a moment and asked, "May I ask Your Majesty, what special status does this Pei Wen have?"

Wu Zhao was surprised by Gao Yang's reaction speed, but she explained, "Pei Wen is a famous Confucian scholar in Da Qian, and the Pei family is a powerful clan that has occupied Shandong for three hundred years, with ten thousand volumes of books in their collection!"

"At the same time, the raw materials for the best Xuan paper and sage books in Da Qian are also sixty percent controlled by the Pei family!"

Gao Yang, hearing this, nodded immediately, "Since Your Majesty puts it that way, then I understand."

"If it is because of this, then it is not strange."

Gao Yang's light tone aroused Wu Zhao's curiosity.

"Why is this not strange?"

Gao Yang smiled and said, "Has Your Majesty heard of the 'Preface to Sending the Changancheng Wicked Son Gao Yang' written by my father some time ago?"

"'Preface to Sending the Changancheng Wicked Son Gao Yang'?"

Wu Zhao murmured, her expression strange.

Shangguan Wan'er beside her also twitched her mouth; this 'Preface to Sending the Changancheng Wicked Son Gao Yang' was deeply loved by the scholars of Changancheng, especially the poor scholars, who worshipped it as a masterpiece and read it day and night.

Even after this 'Preface' came out, Gao Feng's reputation improved significantly.

Wu Zhao was no stranger to this.

Wu Zhao nodded, "That's right, I have heard of this 'Preface', but was it really written by Minister Gao? And not by you, Gao Yang?"

Gao Yang shook his head, "Your Majesty, that is not important; what is important is the content. Is Your Majesty familiar with it?"

Wu Zhao nodded.

She had a deep impression of this 'Preface'; although she came from wealth and hadn't studied in such hardship, she felt the spirit of the path of learning and the unyielding will from the text.

Gao Yang looked straight at Wu Zhao and continued to ask, "Then has Your Majesty heard of 'drilling a hole in the wall to steal light'?"

"'Drilling a hole in the wall to steal light'?"

Wu Zhao frowned.

"Conditions are hard, to the point of drilling a hole in the wall to steal light—this is the path of learning for many poor scholars!"

"But I must say, 'drilling a hole in the wall to steal light' is still fortunate."

Wu Zhao looked surprised, "This is still considered fortunate?"

Gao Yang said firmly, "Because at the very least, they have books to read, but too many poor scholars have no books to read at all."

"Because the original copies of sage books are all in the hands of the major noble families of the world; they monopolize the sage books, which is equivalent to monopolizing culture."

"Even if we take a step back, even if poor scholars have sage books, sage books are obscure and difficult to understand; a slight difference in a sentence leads to a thousand miles of error, and without the annotations of a great Confucian, it is impossible to glimpse their meaning!"

Wu Zhao's pupils shrank, and her face turned ugly; she understood Gao Yang's meaning.

Gao Yang continued, "If at this time, a great Confucian teaches selflessly, annotating and explaining the classics, what does Your Majesty think will happen?"

Wu Zhao's fair fists clenched, and her eyes looked extremely ugly.

She continued, "Minister Gao, continue."

"Others think this is a transaction; perhaps even those poor scholars who have received favors will think so."

"A poor scholar enters the court, he should have been cautious, careful at every step; once he makes a mistake, he is doomed."

"But on the contrary, having received the favors of a great Confucian and having been admitted as a disciple, even if he makes some small mistakes, nothing will happen, because he has many fellow disciples all over the world."

"They don't show their strength usually, but once something happens, they will twist into a rope and take care of each other; and who does Your Majesty think is at the end of this rope?"

Gao Yang's voice was very soft, but what he said went straight into Wu Zhao's heart, filling her with chills.

"Are you saying Pei Wen? Is it like this?"

"He... gathered a faction?"

Gao Yang nodded, "That's right, although I am only guessing, it should be about right."

"The Pei family has ten thousand volumes of books, which is their confidence; not to mention the price of Xuan paper, which is far beyond what ordinary commoners can afford, just the sage books are hard to own."

"Even if they have sage books, the annotations will become the second hurdle."

Shangguan Wan'er couldn't help but say, "Gao Yang, can the friendship between fellow disciples be so selfless?"

"This can't be, right?"

Gao Yang smiled, "Lady Shangguan, what selfless devotion? You think too highly of them; it's just driven by interests."

"The court relationships are complex; fighting alone is not as good as huddling together for warmth."

"Today I protect you, tomorrow when your seniority is enough and you are promoted, you will take care of my descendants; this is just human nature!"

"Your Majesty can regard it as a 'scholar faction' force, a new emerging force in Da Qian besides the noble families, foreign relatives, eunuchs, and powerful clans—of course, I am talking about Da Qian."

Shangguan Wan'er fell into silence.

Wu Zhao also scanned Gao Yang and took a deep breath.

The scholar faction force Gao Yang mentioned gave her a warning in her heart.

Pei Wen is not difficult to deal with, but what worries Wu Zhao is, how many people like Pei Wen are there in the world?

How many powerful clans like the Pei family are there?

The monopoly of sage books, the high price of paper, the rise of scholar factions—these are undoubtedly new parasites of Da Qian!

Wu Zhao said seriously, "Minister Gao, do you have a method to curb them?" ===== CHAPTER 1456 =====