Thinking about the current political situation of the court, Yang Jian sorted out his thoughts. The Guanlong gentry clans were a great helper for the establishment of the Sui State, and even a great helper for the establishment of the Zhou State back then. But since they could help, they could also help.

Yang Jian was confident that he had a way to suppress these family members, gentry, and powerful people, but what should his son do? Can he suppress it?

All forces are mixed up. Today's loyal ministers may be the heroes of the new dynasty tomorrow. If Emperor Wu of Zhou Yuwen Yong did not die young, then the current loyal minister of the Sui State may still be the pillars of the Zhou State.

Yang Jian is now in his prime. He feels that he can live for at least ten or twenty years, but how to avoid the deposed and enthroned children and grandchildren by powerful ministers in the future and turning the country into other people's things is a long-term issue that needs to be considered.

The first thing to be affected is that the aristocratic families control the selection of officials. Forming clans and private interests must be cracked down, and the selection system of officials must also be reformed. This is the strategy to remove the firewood from the bottom of the pot.

Otherwise, no matter how the selection is, the selected ones will be children of aristocratic families or clan members. How can this continue?

Suppressing aristocratic families requires a force, foreign relatives, eunuchs, and royal family. The experiences of various dynasties and generations over the past few hundred years show that these forces are simply unreliable. Yang Jian himself is the foreign relative, so he needs new power, that is, a poor scholar.

Otherwise, if the emperor is alone, if the balance of power in the court is accidentally broken, it will easily lead to problems, let alone the young emperor ascended the throne and will be finished sooner or later.

Give poor scholars the opportunity to be selected so that their official careers are closely connected with the court, not benefiting from family background or protection, but are much more loyal to the court.

That's it, but it's not that easy to do. The selection of officials and the Nine-rank Zhongzheng broke the upward channel for poor scholars, and the system of recommendation is not much better.

When a scholar is selected, he does not know how to write. When a filial and honest man is selected, his father lives apart. He is as simple and innocent as mud, and a high-ranking general is as timid as a chicken.

No matter how good the recommendation system is, the talents selected in the end are such waste. If Yang Jian wants to strengthen the imperial power and suppress the aristocratic families, he must select talents through appropriate systems so that poor scholars have the opportunity to become senior officials.

He thought for a long time and had a thoughtful thought. The new selection system and the recommendation system were different. Yang Jian called it the imperial examination, which was to open an imperial examination to win a scholar.

No matter what your background is, you have to take the exam if you want to become an official. The court selects officials through the exam. Only by having real knowledge can you pass the exam and become an official.

Is this enough? No, the key is to the exam. If you want to pass the exam, you must have knowledge.

The reason for knowledge is that the aristocratic families have the advantage of their financial resources. The aristocratic families have clan studies, so they can afford great scholars to teach classical knowledge. Children in the clan do not have to work hard for their livelihoods, and they can always concentrate on their studies since they are enlightened.

Where can poor people have such good conditions?

What's more, studying is expensive. Asking a teacher to teach at home or go to a school to study, it costs money and food. The pen, ink, paper and ink, which consumes daily, is not low in total.

It can be foreseen that if the imperial examination is held, even if the academic exam is taken in the first few years, the poor family may not have passed the children of aristocratic families. Therefore, how to reduce the cost of studying is the key to the successful implementation of the imperial examination.

Yang Jian already had a plan to promote official schools in prefectures and counties to give poor scholars the opportunity to study. As for how to reduce the cost of studying, the key lies in books.

The dissemination of knowledge requires books, and the circulation of books depends on hand-copying, which is the so-called commission book. Therefore, a book is not cheap, and practicing calligraphy requires paper, and paper is not cheap. If these two problems are solved, the cost of reading can be effectively reduced.

But just as he was trying to solve it, someone had already solved it.

Little bastard, I and you are endless!

Even after six years, Yang Jian became famous when he thought of someone. Nearly three years ago, he sent someone to Shannan to save his daughter Yang Lihua, but failed. Later, after reading his daughter's letter, he did not send anyone to Xiyang City.

This means that no one was sent to Xiyang City to rescue him, but it does not mean that he did not send anyone to spy on the news. The news that came was exposed implicitly some major discoveries.

There were several books on the desk in front of Yang Jian. The reason why they were called "books" instead of the commonly called "volume" was because these were really several "books" that were bound into a book by Huangzhou booksellers.

The unique binding method is that every "page" of paper has content on both sides, which is really paper-saving, and the highlight of Huangzhou Book is not just this.

Woodblock printing is a technology disclosed by Huangzhou booksellers. First, carve the content with reverse characters on the wooden board, then brush ink, and then cover the white paper. This is the so-called "printing".

As far as Yang Jian knows, booksellers in Chang'an have begun to organize people to conduct "wood-printing". This printing technology has high cost of making plates, but it is very convenient to print books in large quantities.

The books produced by Chang'an booksellers are also bound into books, but even so, the price is still similar to those of Huangzhou books that have traveled thousands of miles away. Huangzhou books in bookstores have always been popular, so what is the problem?

The problem lies on paper.

This is not a secret in Huangzhou. The books produced by booksellers in Huangzhou are not only of good quality, but also cheap.

Therefore, books bound by booksellers in Huangzhou are cheap, and books bound into books can be easily sold with other goods. It is not a problem for merchants from all over the country to bring a few boxes of books while trafficking bulk goods.

The Sui and Zhou countries were hostile, and there were heavy troops gathering on the border, but this did not mean that they could stop the merchants' instinct of seeking profits. This has been the case for hundreds of years.

In this way, even in Chang'an, the price of Huangzhou books is very advantageous. Yang Jian sent people to buy a lot of books in Chang'an Bookstore, especially the complete set of "Hualin Bianluo" and "Xiuwen Palace Imperial View".

The binding and printing quality are exquisite. Even if you don’t read it, it is good to put the bookshelf on it. With these two sets of books in the imperial study, you will be much more powerful when you meet the ministers.

But Yang Jian was not concerned about this, but what Yuwen Wen was thinking.

According to detailed information, the "one-legged bronze man" was promoted by the "one-legged bronze man". Yang Jian felt that it was understandable that this little bastard made a lot of money by printing books, but why not keep the woodblock printing confidential?

When doing business, you naturally have to keep the key to making money as a secret. This person took the initiative to introduce the mystery to outsiders, so that the booksellers in Chang'an learned about it and wanted to come to Jiankang, Yecheng, Jiangling and other places to know the mystery of "wood-printing".

Are you arrogant and think that other companies can’t compete with you?

Or is there a better printing technique on hand?

When Yang Jian thought of this, he was a little expectant. He felt that Yuwen Wen must have better printing techniques and could print books at a cheaper cost, and this is what he always needed.

A large number of cheap books can make more people able to read books. When more and more people can read books, the monopoly of aristocratic families over knowledge will be broken, and the next step of promoting the imperial examination will be natural.

It may take ten or twenty years before the conditions for opening the imperial examination will be ripe, but Yang Jian can afford to wait. He is now in his prime and feels that it should be no problem for him to live for more than ten or twenty years.

I will do my hard work, tiring work, and dirty work. Twenty years later, when my son succeeded to the throne, the seedlings planted by me personally grew into towering trees, and my children and grandchildren can enjoy the cool under the trees.

As long as the son is successful, no, as long as he can maintain his success, the great Sui Dynasty will be passed down from generation to generation.

Thinking of this, Yang Jian couldn't help but be overjoyed. Yuwen Wen, who was helping him inadvertently, was as excited as a child who had picked up a copper coin.

"You only know how to harm my daughter, you only know how to make money by selling books, but you don't know..."

Yang Jian was shocked, and he suddenly thought of a possibility: Could it be that Yuwen Wen intends to promote woodblock printing, and the price of books is so low that it is to make more people afford it?
Chapter completed!