"Well~" Li Yan's face immediately darkened when he heard Wang Kuang's words. After he traveled to the Tang Dynasty, he spent Jin to unite many people with his interests. The core of the interests is that industry and commerce bring huge profits. The reason why industry and commerce are so prosperous in the Tang Dynasty can be said to be mostly from Li Yan's hands. It is no exaggeration to say that industry and commerce are actually the foundation of Li Yan's establishment and his lifeline. Whoever dares to develop industry and commerce is actually unable to get along with Li Yan and the interest groups behind him.

"They really have such courage?" Li Yan asked in a deep voice. He had already done enough investigations about the five surnames and seven hopes, knowing that sooner or later there would be a life-and-death conflict with the other party. After all, the other party represents the core interests of the traditional scholar class and the large landlord class, while Li Yan represents the interests of emerging industrial and commercial masters. These two classes have been competing for manpower, material resources and other aspects since their birth. However, due to cultural reasons, industry and commerce have been vigorously suppressed by the scholar class and have no chance to develop.

Fortunately, Li Yan, an alien, has vigorously developed industry and commerce for his own interests with his special identity and advanced technology. This has led to a vigorous and upward trend in the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, he also took advantage of his natural advantages to continuously sell out various industrial and commercial profits, and lured the emerging aristocratic class of the Tang Dynasty around him, forming an interest group with rapid expansion of strength. Countless courts or private parties have immeasurable influence. Li Yan is the direct representative of this interest group. If it weren't for the special relationship between Li Yan and Li Shimin, he would have been killed by Li Shimin, the Emperor of Tang.

However, the traditional scholar interest group headed by the Five Clans and Seven Wangs can't help but start a war against the emerging industrial and commercial master group represented by Li Yan. It is no exaggeration to say that if this matter is not handled well, it may trigger a turmoil that will affect the entire Tang Dynasty, and even shake the foundation of the Tang Dynasty.

"Your Highness, they actually had no choice but to force them. Because if they don't take action, they will probably never have a chance again." When Wang Kuang heard Li Yan's threatening words, he smiled bitterly.

"Oh? Why is this?" Li Yan heard Wang Kuang's words. There seemed to be a flash of inspiration in his mind. He seemed to have caught something, but he couldn't figure it out for a moment. So he was too lazy to think about it again and asked directly.

"Why should your highness ask clearly? Isn't it just the fields and population?" Cui Yu also spoke at this time, and revealed the key point in it in one sentence.

Fields, population! Li Yan suddenly understood why the five surnames and Qiwang could stand for nearly a thousand years without falling. In addition to the large population of the clan, the biggest reason is that they occupy a large number of fields. These fields are the foundation for the survival of the aristocratic families, and each family occupied a thousand hectares of land. Of course, it is impossible for aristocratic families to cultivate so many fields. Instead, they rented them to countless poor farmers to collect land rent. They rely on these land rents to support the children of the clan to study and become officials, and provide convenience for the children of the official family to annex more land. In this way, a cycle is formed, making the influence of the aristocratic families increasingly greater, and more farmers born with them, and finally formed a pattern of the current situation where the five surnames and Qiwangs are spread all over the Tang Dynasty.

However, the emergence of Li Yan broke the current situation. Because of the rise of industry and commerce, the poor farmers who live by renting land have a second better choice, that is, they do not need to spend any costs. As long as they have a healthy body, they can enter factories or merchants to work. Although the monthly wages they receive are as much or less, they can at least support themselves, and even a few people at home work can not only support the whole family, but also have some surplus.

At the beginning, due to factors such as the lack of ideas and job opportunities, there were not many people willing to work in the factory. Li Yan had a deep understanding of this. The first one he ran a brewery in Chang'an. At that time, most of the factories were slaves from various governments. Later, when the scale expanded and recruited people from outside, he spent a lot of effort. He finally recruited all the people.

However, as Li Yan promoted various industries such as cement, coal, and food processing, various factories were everywhere in Datang. At the beginning, there was indeed a shortage of labor, but later, as Li Yan was the first to increase the treatment of workers, the workmanship could truly support the whole family, and other industrial and commercial owners followed suit.

Under the generous treatment, many poor families with vision put down their hoes and started to work in factories. Although there were also incidents of arrears of wages, most workers' lives were indeed much better than before. Everyone was not fools. Seeing that neighbors who were like themselves had eaten white rice and thin noodles, they were still eating wild vegetables and steamed buns, they naturally felt unfair. The so-called "not worrying about being weak but not being equal" is the reason.

After comparison, people who used to treat work and business as a low-key business also gradually let go of their prejudices. In order to have a few good meals at home, they began to try to find work in the factory. After tasting the sweetness, they naturally no longer want to pick up a hoe to dig out food from the soil.

However, with more people working, fewer people farming. Influenced by traditional concepts, the first people to go out to work were poor farmers who had no land or were not enough to support their families. These farmers used to make a living by renting the fields of large farmers. Among them, the five surnames and Qiwang are the biggest landlords. Therefore, when there are more people working, they are the first to be affected.

Thinking of this, Li Yan immediately understood the reason why the five surnames Qi Wang wanted to suppress industry and commerce. To put it bluntly, it was simply because of the rise of industry and commerce that robbed the population resources that originally belonged to agriculture and reduced the dividends of land production. This was undoubtedly extremely terrible for the aristocratic families who had been relying on sharing land dividends for nearly a thousand years, and could even be said to be fatal. It is precisely because of this that the aristocratic families such as the five surnames Qi Wang let go of their prejudices and united to suppress the industry and commerce that were eroding their interests.

After thinking through this, Li Yan was not angry but happy. Therefore, the actions of these aristocratic families gave him a gratifying signal, that is, with the development of industry and commerce, the emerging factory owners and the rapidly growing business class had already posed a powerful threat to the original scholars and landlords class, which also shows that his previous efforts were not in vain and finally laid a foundation for himself.

When Wang Kuang and Cui Yu saw Li Yan smiling, they looked at each other, unable to guess what the Prince of Qi was thinking in front of him. However, if someone else heard the five surnames and seven hopes join forces to suppress him, they would have been scared to death. Even His Majesty now had to think about this news for a long time, but he didn't expect that Li Yan would react like this after hearing this?

"Brother Wang, Brother Cui, thank you for traveling all the way to Dengzhou and telling me such important information. It is a kind and righteous act. Please bow to me!" Li Yan suddenly turned around and bowed to the two of them seriously.

"Your Highness is killing me and waiting!" Seeing Li Yan saluting to him, Wang Kuang and Cui Yu were both shocked. They couldn't hide anymore, so they had to bow and say back.

"You two are polite. This worship was actually thanked by Li Yan on behalf of the people of the world!" Li Yan stood up straight and said with a rare serious expression.

Seeing Li Yan so serious, Wang Kuang and Cui Yu also showed a serious look and looked at each other and said, "Your Highness, although we are not talented, we can still see the general trend of the world clearly. With your highness's talent, you are practicing the strategy of industrial and commercial development, and it has formed a trend of sweeping the world. The old people in the clan stubbornly want to resist this general trend with human power is tantamount to being a mantislap in a car. We are unwilling to do that kind of stupid thing, so we came to tell us in order to protect the family and the young in the future!"

Hearing the two of them very sincerely, Li Yan smiled slightly. Although these two people were very sincere, there was one thing that was that although they were also from the Five Seven Wangs, they were all suppressed in the clan. Needless to say, Wang Kuang had a bright future, but they were forced to do business as merchants. Although Cui Yu's situation was better, it must be difficult to live under the suppression of the patriarch Cui Yan, so he wanted to take this opportunity to jump into the dragon gate and exhaled his depression that had been suppressed in his chest for many years.

However, Li Yan soon discovered that his guess above was not comprehensive, because in the following conversation with the two, he soon discovered that these two people were not only suppressed in the clan, but also had another common point, that is, they were all in charge of business affairs in the clan, and had countless factories, shops and caravans under their name. They can be said to be one of the typical representatives of emerging industrial and commercial owners. In other words, the reason why they opposed the suppression of industry and commerce in the clan was actually considering their own interests.

Li Yan was a little surprised that both of them were doing business. Wang Kuang knew that he was in charge of the business of the Wang family in Taiyuan, but Cui Yu was the only son of the former patriarch. Moreover, according to the information Wu Meiniang received, there were many people in the Cui clan in Qinghe who supported Cui Yu. No matter how hard it was, he could not do the same business as Wang Kuang, right?

Li Yan thought of this and asked his confusion. After hearing this, Cui Yu laughed and said, "Your Highness, Cui is actually a mistake. A few years ago, my uncle suppressed me in every possible way. Although many people in the clan helped me, it was still a little difficult to resist. Finally, when I thought about it, I simply wanted to be self-deprecated and put down my identity to manage the business affairs of the clan. Unexpectedly, after contact, it aroused Cui's interest. Later, he met Brother Wang and had a deeper understanding of the importance of industry and commerce. In addition, his highness's promotion of industry and commerce made Cui see that in the future, industry and commerce will definitely occupy an important position, so he followed His Highness and opened a large number of factories. As for the land at home, I sold it for money and invested it in. Although the time is short, the benefits are excellent, and the costs have been recovered almost."

Although Cui Yu said it simply, Li Yan made him respect him. He was able to decisively give up the traditional land income and turn to industry and commerce as the main industry. Even Li Yan asked himself that he couldn't do this. Unexpectedly, the very feminine man in front of him was so courageous!

After Cui Yu finished speaking, he talked with Li Yan for a few more words, then became a little hesitant and looked at Wang Kuang. The other party immediately understood his thoughts, his face also darkened, but he said nothing. Li Yan saw the changes in his expressions and felt a little strange in his heart. What else did these two people seem to have to say?
Chapter completed!