Chapter 325

"Let's make it a hundred; ten is too few!"

Lin Yang nodded, raising the standard from ten to one hundred!

The people of the Han Dynasty wouldn't study hard without a little incentive!

However!

Lin Yang wasn't prepared to give much!

He needed talented literati!

Not a group of clerks who could just read and write!

If they didn't take control of their own destiny, they shouldn't expect to rise from the bottom!

"Once all the pinyin is taught, my lord, you will start selling the dictionaries, right?"

Pinyin alone wasn't enough; when pinyin was combined with the dictionary, that was the real fatal blow!

By then!

Those noble families would definitely react!

"My lord, are you prepared for this?"

Guo Jia, Zhou Yu, Cheng Yu, and the others were exceptionally solemn!

Pinyin, when taken alone, was something neither the common people nor the noble families understood!

But once the dictionary came out, even the stupidest noble family would understand its value!

This thing was cutting off the roots of the noble families!

Xuzhou and Yangzhou would very likely trigger a huge upheaval!

One had to know that the lower and middle-level officials in Xuzhou and Yangzhou were all from noble families!

Without these people, how would Xuzhou and Yangzhou function!

"This matter is the key reason I called you all here!"

Lin Yang had grain, troops, and generals, but he didn't have civil officials he had cultivated himself!

Don't underestimate the noble family officials in Xuzhou and Yangzhou!

If these people all quit!

Lin Yang could very well become a commander without an army!

Various issued decrees wouldn't be able to pass smoothly!

His territory would fall into chaos!

Once the noble families took the opportunity to rebel, Lin Yang could be overwhelmed!

For a moment, everyone in the room fell silent!

The things Lin Yang brought out this time had too great an impact!

This wasn't just cutting off the foundation of the noble families in Xuzhou and Yangzhou!

This was offending all the noble families of the Han in one go!

"My lord, I want to know, if these dictionaries and pinyin are all popularized, where will we noble families go?"

Gu Yong was silent for a moment and asked the most fatal question!

They followed Lin Yang to conquer the world!

It was to become powerful ministers in the future!

As a result!

Lin Yang had brought this out!

Once popularized for fifty or sixty years!

By then!

The talents of the entire Han would emerge like bamboo shoots after a spring rain!

They, the noble families, would have no advantage at all!

Why would they still support Lin Yang!

If he didn't know Lin Yang wasn't that kind of person, Gu Yong would have been ready to quit!

Supporting Lin Yang to power had no benefit for the Gu family!

"After Chinese characters and pinyin are popularized, I will establish a four-level selection system: village exams, county exams, commandery exams, and national exams!"

"Rankings will not be based on background, but only on talent; those with outstanding talent can be granted official positions!"

Lin Yang looked at the five people present, and their faces all turned ugly instantly!

Lin Yang also knew who he was offending with this move!

This way, the noble families of the world would have no advantage at all!

Officials of the Han Dynasty were often recommended as 'Cultivated Talents' to hold office!

These people were basically all from noble families!

Now, rankings would be determined by literature, regardless of background!

This would offend the noble families to death!

"However, you are all noble families who have defected to me; how could I treat you poorly!"

Noble families couldn't be eradicated; at least in this feudal dynasty, that was the case!

Who would follow him, Lin Yang, to do things without benefits!

"All noble family members who have defected to my command will have a special noble family assessment; pass it, and you can become an official!"

Saying this, Lin Yang separated the noble families from the ordinary humble scholars!

There was no other way!

If he didn't separate them, the noble families under his command would have no advantage!

"My lord, this probably won't stabilize the noble family members!"

Cheng Yu frowned; among those present, only he could remain calm at this moment!

Guo Jia was a descendant of the Yingchuan Guo family, Gu Yong was a descendant of the Wu Jun Gu family, Mi Zhu was a descendant of the Xuzhou Mi family, and Zhou Yu was a descendant of the Lujiang Zhou family!

All were famous noble families or wealthy giants!

Only he, although also a famous scholar, was not from a famous family!

The solution Lin Yang gave!

In Cheng Yu's view, it was far from enough!

Noble families were all greedy!

Such a small benefit was far from enough for them!

"Yes, my lord, noble family members could originally allow their descendants to obtain good development through family inheritance!"

"Your condition is actually no different from having nothing!"

Gu Yong couldn't help but shake his head at this moment!

The solution Lin Yang gave was a privilege the noble families already possessed!

And what Lin Yang was taking away was the transcendent status and privileges the noble families had possessed for hundreds of years!

Noble families were greedy; how could they be satisfied!

And!

This group of people would become powerful ministers in the future, could be enfeoffed, and bring blessings to their descendants!

But many ordinary people in noble families couldn't reach that step at all!

No matter how you look at it!

They were all losing out!

Hearing Gu Yong's words, Lin Yang frowned!

One of the reasons he wanted to deal with the noble families!

Was that the current talent selection system was problematic!

In original history, the Sima family created the Nine-Rank System, causing great disaster for the people of China!

The idea that noble families ruin the country was basically indelible in Lin Yang's mind!

Not to mention that saying from later generations!

There are no thousand-year dynasties, but there are thousand-year noble families!

This was something Lin Yang absolutely could not allow!

"Fengxiao, Gongjin, Zhongde, Zijhong, Yuantan, there are no outsiders here!"