Reborn in the Three Kingdoms, I stole Liu Bei's uncle

Guo Jia pondered for a moment and asked the question in his mind.

"When I was in Luoyang, I saw poor young men studying at the corner of the alley. After careful inquiry, I learned that the emperor's uncle opened a school in Luoyang. Not only did they study for free, but those with excellent grades were also rewarded with food. May I ask why the emperor's uncle did this?"

Liu Yu had no doubt at all about Guo Jia's question. In that era, poor children had no chance to go to school.

For generations, they have been blessed with good fortune as long as they have enough food to eat and clothes to keep warm.

As for wanting to study, they probably wouldn't even dare to dream about it.

Liu Yu did not answer and began to question Guo Jia in return.

"May I ask Feng Xiao, what is the reason for the current chaos in the world?"

"The Yellow Turban Rebellion was caused by the eunuchs' monopolization of power. If the imperial court wanted to quell the rebellion, it had to let the governor take charge of the military and political power. This strategy was certainly helpful in quelling the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but after the rebellion was quelled, it created a situation where the princes were too powerful to be eliminated."

Liu Yu smiled faintly.

"There is another thing in Fengxiao's mind, which I am afraid he has not said out loud. That is that the emperor is stupid. The two emperors Heng and Ling. They favored villains and distanced themselves from wise ministers, which led to the gradual decline of the country."

Guo Jia nodded. It was obvious that Liu Yu's words were exactly why he didn't say them. Although he was arrogant and rebellious, he also knew to avoid mentioning the words of a respected person when facing Liu Yu.

Liu Yu turned and asked Man Chong.

"Bo Ning, what do you think is the root cause of the chaos in the world?"

Man Chong pondered for a moment, then said, "I think the world is in chaos because the laws are unclear, the laws are broken, everyone has no reverence, and they wantonly break the law. With this, how can there not be chaos and disorder?"

Liu Yu smiled faintly.

"What you said makes sense, but I don't think it's the root cause of this situation."

Guo Jia and Man Chong looked at each other, and both saw confusion in each other's eyes.

Today, the Han Dynasty has become what it is today, and no one with a discerning eye can see that it is nothing more than these few reasons.

From what Liu Yu said, this is not the crux of the problem at all.

How is this possible? Both of them are well-educated people, especially Guo Jia, who is famous for his broad knowledge.

Guo Jia was very confident about this issue. He came from a prominent family and he interacted with many famous people, including some who were capable of assisting the king like Xun Yu.

He and Xun Yu had discussed the reasons for the decline of the Han Dynasty countless times. They had argued about many other issues, but when it came to this issue, their views were surprisingly consistent.

The emperor was incompetent, the eunuchs were in power, and the external relatives were in power. All of these were the root causes of this situation.

Seeing Liu Yu with a confident smile on his face, Guo Jia saluted him.

"Would you like to hear your uncle's advice?"

"It's not a brilliant idea." Liu Yu took a sip from his wine glass and continued, "Since Feng Xiao knows about the Yellow Turban Rebellion, do you know the origins of the Yellow Turban bandits who wreaked havoc on the world?"

"Most of them were refugees. They were homeless and wandered around. They were bewitched by the Yellow Turban leader Zhang Jue and followed him to wreak havoc on the world."

"Feng Xiao is right, but why are there so many refugees in the Han Dynasty?"

"They originally had their own land and their own hometown, but because their land was annexed by the aristocratic families, they had no choice but to wander around and become refugees."

"Just imagine, if they still have land in their hands and can provide their family with adequate food and clothing, who would be willing to leave their homes and wander around, living a precarious life on the edge of a knife?"

Liu Yu's words made Guo Jia fall into deep thought.

This answer obviously surprised Guo Jia. In his opinion, the aristocratic families were not the cause of this problem, but the foundation for maintaining the Han Dynasty.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion spread across eight states, namely Qing, Xu, You, Ji, Jing, Yang, Yan and Yu, and involved nearly one million people. Why was it not quickly put down in just nine months? It was because the aristocratic families took action one after another. They used their influence in the local area and mobilized the strength of their families to force the Yellow Turban Army to withdraw from the stage of history.

It can be said that if there were no aristocratic families, the Han Dynasty would have fallen apart long ago, and there would be no way to maintain the superficial balance.

This is not surprising. Guo Jia was born into the Yangdi Guo family, one of the most prominent families in the local area. The education he received since childhood did not allow him to doubt his own identity.

Man Chong was born in a humble family, and he was aware of the power of the aristocratic families. When he saw the aristocratic families' arrogance before, he was angry, but he didn't think much about it. Now, after hearing what Liu Huangshu said, he felt like the clouds had been cleared and the sun had appeared.

Seeing the two of them in deep thought, Liu Yu smiled faintly. It was obvious that his words just now made them feel a little difficult to understand.

This is not surprising. Although they are wise and the best of this era, it is obviously a big challenge for them to break away from the limitations of the times and look at the problems.

It would be difficult for Liu Yu to convince them in a short period of time. Since Liu Yu raised this question, he was confident that he could make Guo Jia surrender.

Silence. After a long period of silence, Guo Jia's voice rang out in the hall.

"Uncle Emperor believes that the root cause of the troubles in the world is the aristocratic families?"

Liu Yu shook his head.

"After Emperor Guangwu restored the country, the original intention of rewarding meritorious officials was to govern the country together with the ministers. The aristocratic families at that time played a very crucial role in stabilizing the local areas."

"Whenever there was a famine, they would take out the grain stored in their homes to help the people, and their reputation for virtue was praised throughout the countryside."

"Today, the aristocratic families are still the same aristocratic families. When encountering a famine, they will not provide food to the people, but take the opportunity to annex land and oppress the people. Why is this? The root cause is that people's hearts are in chaos. If you want to pacify the world, you must first win the hearts of the people. Only by practicing benevolence and righteousness, maintaining loyalty and filial piety, eliminating the bandits and supporting the Han, can you win the hearts of the people and bring peace to the world."

Liu Yu slowly expressed his views and finally outlined his own political direction.

Bring peace to the world and save people’s hearts!

Liu Yu's analysis made Guo Jia nod his head repeatedly. It must be said that Uncle Liu's insights were indeed unique.

He thought about it carefully and felt that what Uncle Liu said made sense.

Whether he admits it or not, the current aristocratic families are completely different from those during the reign of Emperor Guangwu.

Perhaps the times are too long ago, and the virtuous nature of the aristocratic families has disappeared.

Maybe it is really like what Liu Bei said, it is the human heart.

The confusion among people’s hearts has caused the virtues of courtesy, tolerance, trustworthiness, sensitivity and kindness, which originally existed in society, to lose their soil for survival.

In this soil where people's hearts are in chaos, countless intrigues and countless open and secret struggles will inevitably arise.

Only by reshaping this soil can the most beautiful flowers be produced.