Chapter 548: Beginning of the Troubled Times [On Scholars]

As for other differences, there might be some other differences.

But it is not like Aeryon learns about the Han dynasty in detail.

He like historical stuff but it is not like he is historical nerds. It is more that he knows about some matters in history compared to the common people.

After all, learning history would not make you rich.

But those who learns history all knows, that the one praised in the history books are not always virtuous and wise and the one that are reviled in history books are not always evil and incompetent

The reason why the Yuan family is powerful in Yan is not only because they have so many officials and disciples all over the world.

But because they control the market of employment of the job in the court

There are eunuchs in the court that they could cooperate with.

Which is a bit ironic considering that they use the banner of eliminating the eunuch to save the emperor.

But nothing is weird.

There is only different position depending on the times.

And it is not only the eunuchs.

The Yuan family have the high-ranking officials in the court that could protect them, they have the support of officials who are dissatisfied with the emperor as thugs to guard them, party members in the opposition make a name for the Yuan family.

The more they fight with the opposition, the more famous they became

The direct branches of the family all are high officials and the side branches of the illegitimate children all have devoted soldiers and powerful arms

No matter how various forces fight, no matter who wins or loses, whichever the way wind blows, the Yuan family stand to gain and profit

This is the approach of a family with great foundation.

Those who are dissatisfied with the emperor, dissatisfied with the eunuchs, dissatisfied with the relatives of the emperor, scholars or local tyrants, or frontier generals from humble backgrounds, will therefore gather under the only safe door of the Yuan family.

It is because the Yuan family has been doing this for several generations, taking advantage of all sides and standing firm in the struggle, so they are the leaders of the gentry, and that is why they have three dukes in four generations.

The answer to their power is to confuse the cause with the effect.

This kind of gentry leader, the famous family in the world, can command the world.

The only person they cannot command directly is the emperor.

Therefore, they will use the world to command the emperor – intercepting the grain transport, cutting off the roads, controlling the grain, mastering the prefectures and counties, winning over the generals… all like this.

And the so-called famous family is to first find a noble name, make up a great story, package it with various rituals, and then spread it widely, so that a certain family will gain extremely high reputation.

Then use the reputation to seduce the disciples, control the future of people by controlling public opinion and inviting each other to seek fame, induce people to pass on the name of integrity and righteousness, make people unable to betray in the name of loyalty and filial piety, and control people’s life and death and behaviour in the name of rituals – until they control all the prefectures and counties, until no one dares to resist them with their names.

Look at the Five Pecks of Rice Sect

Rice is used to join the sect, rice is used to spread the sect, rice is used to coerce people not to leave, and rice is used to control the life and death and actions of the believers.

Those who disobey will have no rice to eat, and those who oppose will be the public enemy of all believers, and their property will be seized by the masses – this is the Rice Sect.

Replace rice with another name, and it is the so-called Mingjiao

The Five Pecks of Rice Sect has never been able to represent Taoism, Taoism follows nature, and the Five Pecks of Rice Sect has never had a natural way from beginning to end, but a ghost way.

The Mingjiao has never been Confucianism.

It just uses the name of Confucianism to deceive people and control public opinion.

This is also another ghost way formed after the castration and tampering of Confucianism.

What does this show?

It shows that the gentry has never been best at governing the country, but manipulating public opinion.

The pen is in their hands, and the right to interpret is in their mouths.

They praise each other as “virtuous and famous” people – even if each of them has thousands of servants and slaves, more private soldiers than county soldiers, and more armor than the imperial guards, they are still “virtuous and famous” people.

And what they said was certainly more credible than eunuchs or common people in the eyes of most people.

After all, eunuchs are born with a stigma, and common people have no right to speak.

So, these people said that the disaster of the Yan Dynasty was caused by the emperor’s stupidity, the eunuchs’ abuse of power, and the interference of relatives in politics

Anyway, it was not a problem of the gentry family.

During the persecution of the party period, many scholars could not be officials, and they were even more resentful.

They encouraged thirty thousand scholars to slander the court and the emperor in Luoyang.

At that time, everyone from the ministers to the officials was afraid of the derogatory public opinion of these scholars, so that the court could not govern, and no officials or generals dared to show up.

The current online flaming and hate comment, and how many people could be affected by them and influenced by them

Now think of them as the famous family of Yan controlling the gentry with trolls and comments

Whoever is not tolerated by the gentry will be sprayed as a thief who brings disaster to the world.

If you are accused of bringing disaster to the country and the people, your descendants will never be able to turn over

This is much more powerful than online hate comment

Who is not afraid?

Even the emperor is also afraid.

Many of the rituals that seem unreasonable to modern people were mostly invented by these aristocratic scholarly families to restrain and control the princes.

The rich and famous families gained power because of their reputation and made profits with their reputation, so they were called famous families.

The real aristocratic families have been accustomed to using their reputation to confront the emperor.

In the eyes of the real rich families, the imperial power is not supreme, but their set of rules is supreme.

Controlling the world with reputation and using the world to control the emperor is their way of thinking.

And the way they do that is none other than using pen as their weapon. And the whole world could easily be deceived.

It is good that in the Steppe, such thig did not yet develop. Though Aeryon sometimes wondered, whether it was easier to gain power in that kind of society….but then Aeryon shakes his head

“If I was there, the pursuit of power would be hard for me to achieve.”

If he was born a peasant or a farmer family, it would be hard for him to achieve anything. Of course, if it was troubled times, there is a chance that he could become something

But even in his world, only the initial time was a time for common people to make advancement. When Wei was established, all the government officials come from aristocratic families

Story books could not be believed. If he was born in Yan, even if he had all kinds of knowledge in the future, this knowledge would not benefit him instead would harm him

There is intellectual property rights in this era, and most of innovation that is found by poor people would be used by powerful people to present to the Emperor for them to gain merit

Most of those that write stories of how people in the future come to the past, show off some knowledge and be appreciated by the emperor, are just wish fulfilment story.

Because those who palsy politics, none of their hearts are bright.

How many advancement in the world is in the hands of the powerful?

There is many evidence of the nobles have many innovation stifled.

Advanced ideas, advanced innovation, it is not like there isn’t one in the world. But it depends on whether the powers that be wanted to allow it.

In the times where the imperial power and aristocratic power is paramount, showing off your knowledge of the future would not be met with such enthusiasm that one mostly would read in the novels

You would either be imprisoned, or be exploited. If you think you could make a career by capitalizing on your modern knowledge as a common person in such ancient times, think again

The people hearts are the most treacherous.

And scholars are the most treacherous of them all

…

There is also many scholars these modern days. Treacherous most of them