The emperor sent these people seemingly to discuss with them and wanted to open schools in places under their influence, but in fact he did not give them any room for choice at all.

After Lu Mu left, the person next to him couldn't help but lower his voice and said, "This is too much!"

Who says it isn't? If this thing is really done, then their current transcendent status will completely cease to exist.

but……

"Now that things have come to this, what can you do? At least they sent someone to inform you. They have already done their best." Although this was more likely because the current emperor did not want to cause any more disputes, it still gave them time to prepare.

Thinking of this, the head of the Lin family couldn't help but reveal a slightly sarcastic smile.

“What a great trick.”

Seeing that the master of the family did not seem as furious as he had imagined, perhaps he was quite angry when Lu Mu was here just now, but after a while, the master of the family had obviously calmed down. He had an inexplicable bad premonition in his heart, and the man was startled and could not help but speculate, the master of the family... would he just accept it like this?

"What else can you do?" As if he saw what the other party was thinking, the head of the Lin family asked back.

"Of course we should unite with people from other families to resist. If so, even His Majesty will have to retreat." Everyone in the world knows that at least 60% of the scholars in the entire Great Zhou have direct or indirect relationships with these families. The emperor has taught several good students, but in the end he is weak and cannot completely control all the territories.

The man blurted out without thinking.

The head of the Lin family commented on this with just two words -

"Innocent."

How naive.

He did not say anything else afterwards, but just told the man to call all the other people in the tribe who could be named to the main courtyard.

The man wanted to continue asking, but when he saw the patriarch's cold gaze, he didn't dare to say anything and just did as he was told.

When this news was announced, the entire main courtyard was unsurprisingly in an uproar. A large group of people came and went in the main courtyard, making it as lively as a market outside, and they were talking about all kinds of things.

Some insisted on resisting to the end, thinking that if their attitude was strong enough, His Majesty would definitely revoke his order. Some felt that the situation was hopeless, so they might as well take advantage of this opportunity to quickly gain some benefits, at least to properly settle the next generation of the clan. Some were wavering, sometimes thinking that this was reasonable, sometimes that was reasonable, so they kept changing their minds. Some were even more afraid of His Majesty's power, thinking that they could not fight against him, so they simply gave up and focused on saving their lives...

Scholars are also human beings. As long as they are human beings, they will have selfish desires, will make choices, and their thoughts in their hearts will be different.

Looking at this scene, the truly smart people among them have now closed their eyes and have to accept reality.

There are so many voices within the Lin family alone. It is conceivable that even if several noble families really meet, they will be nothing more than a pile of loose sand. Instead of spending this time, they might as well think about how to preserve the family's honor to the greatest extent.

Since His Majesty wants to open a school, he must need teachers, right? Although it is frustrating to resist but still try to contribute, this is the only way.

The family heads who responded to Lu Mu and others in this way all had some secret thoughts in their hearts. As the saying goes, Heaven, Earth, the Emperor, Parents and Teachers are the most important. The students taught by them may not be able to be used by them in the future just like they are now.

However, when Ye Shuo saw them make such a request, he immediately understood what they were planning and couldn't help but snort in laughter.

In modern times, he has never heard of a few people who can use the word "loyal" to their teachers. Being close is possible, but being loyal... they are probably dreaming.

As each batch of seedlings grows, if a few clans cannot maintain their competitiveness, it is only a matter of time before they are eliminated.

Even if the major families are unwilling, they have to admit that the days when they can get credit for nothing are gone forever.

Then he thought that the establishment of the school had just begun, and Ye Shuo was indeed short of manpower and teachers. Since they all came to his door, he might as well make good use of the free labor.

Thinking of this, Ye Shuo added another condition - rating.

Even teachers are divided into levels. Otherwise, wouldn't it be unfair to capable and good teachers to put those who are capable and talented together with those who deliberately drag their feet?

After these words were spoken, several family heads who had originally wanted to take advantage of the situation and had no intention of teaching their students properly gnashed their teeth in hatred.

If you want to be ranked, you have to show results. If you want to get results, you have to teach with your heart. If the quality of students within the influence of their family is not good, it will be regarded as their incompetence. And how can an incompetent person have the nerve to take their place?

After exchanging a few moves with the emperor from a distance, several family heads were completely exhausted, and the result of taking a step back was retreat after step. In the blink of an eye, more than ten years had passed, and the once extremely glorious families gradually declined and could no longer become a force to be reckoned with.

As time went by, female officials gradually appeared in the court. Speaking of this, Dingning was still a little dazed. At first, she thought that even if the school recruited female students, the situation might not be optimistic. But what she didn't expect was that there were indeed not many girls enrolled, but it was much better than she imagined.

Later Dingning discovered that the common people also knew about women becoming officials. The first group, namely Zou Wu and others, were like signposts. With them standing in the court, the common people gradually discovered that daughters were not inferior to boys if they were well educated. As for the issue of girls getting married in the future, it seemed that it was not unsolvable. The female marquis had given birth to two children now. As for the children's biological father... I heard that he was a young man with some abilities, good looks and intelligence, but I heard that he was not in good health and rarely showed up. He fell ill a few years ago and died without knowing it. The marquis was extremely sad and it took him a long time to get over it.

These things are not a secret. Many generals are like this. Looking at it this way, it doesn't seem to be a rare thing.

At worst, they can just find a son-in-law. As long as there is a promising person in the family, the family will be able to turn around. All they have to pay is three years of tuition. Just three years. If they are talented, they can continue their studies regardless of whether they are boys or girls, and they are blessed by their ancestors. Even if they are not talented, as long as they can read a few words, they will be much better than others whether they get married, have children, or support themselves. It is a good deal no matter how you look at it. As a result, the number of girls enrolled in school naturally increases year by year.

Sure enough, it is always right to follow the nobles above and do whatever they do.

In Dingning's eyes, all these were linked together, and eventually led to the current situation.

At first it was just a child's natural admiration for his parents, but now Dingning admired her father's calmness and ease more and more. In her eyes, her father and her mother were simply the most powerful people in the world. No one else could be their match. As long as her father and her mother were around, no one in this world could threaten them.

In such an environment, Dingning naturally has the confidence to do anything. She can try out all kinds of threats that she may face in the future without worrying about actually encountering danger. The more she tries, the more she will learn.

Princess Dingning, who was originally restrained by the cold words from outside, has become very different after more than ten years of tempering. Even the old stubborn people in the royal family dare not look her in the face and can only gossip about her behind her back.

There was no way. After all, Princess Dingning was the biological daughter of Ye Shuo and Yao Zhi. Given the genes of Ye Shuo and Yao Zhi, it would be difficult for their child to be unhealthy. In addition, she had been training since childhood, so Dingning's kung fu was naturally extremely powerful.

But in fact, kung fu is secondary. What the royal family fears most is the eldest princess and important officials such as Zou Wu who have always been standing behind her.

It turns out that the princesses have taken root so deeply without realizing it. When they think about the fact that more than ten years ago, a woman came from nowhere and hit it off with Princess Dingning, who was still a child at the time, even though she did not make the top three in the imperial examination at that time, she later gave up literature and took up martial arts, becoming an extremely rare Confucian general in the army. Now she has become Li Yuheng's right-hand man, and is about to take over Li Yuheng's job in the future. Those who are interested in him are naturally anxious when they see that the situation is not good.

But no matter how anxious they were, it was useless. With the emperor in charge, no one dared to say anything.

Over the past decade or so, the emperor's power has grown and he is no longer what he used to be.

Under such circumstances, on the day when Princess Dingning came of age at the age of sixteen, His Majesty sent her out for training. Even if the royal family wanted to resist, they were powerless. No matter how much they cursed, it was in vain to prevent the princesses from participating in political affairs. However, although they were stopped on the surface, those people were still doing a lot of things behind the scenes.

Ding Ning encountered more assassination attempts than she could count on her hands along the way. Fortunately, Ye Shuo and Yao Zhi were well prepared. As parents, they sent several martial arts masters of similar age to their daughter. After several life-and-death experiences, even the most cold-hearted person would have developed feelings for her.

Dingning has good character, has held a high position since childhood, and has a convincing temperament. It does not seem difficult to understand why people follow her.

Seeing that the people he sent out not only failed to eliminate Princess Dingning, but instead helped the other party, the people who were secretly watching were so angry that they almost vomited blood.

Putting all this aside, Dingning, who has already begun to gain influence in the court, came here today for another matter.

Dingning is already twenty years old this year, but she still has no children. If she does not have an heir, the power she possesses now will be like a flower in the mirror or a moon in the water. Even if someone wants to surrender, they have to consider whether it can last long.

So today, she came here to resolve this matter.

After the palace maids passed the message, Dingning walked into the hall, ignoring his two sisters who were sitting there busy writing government affairs. After paying his respects, Dingning looked at his father who was lazily leaning on a recliner while his mother was looking at him with a puzzled look.

Time seemed to be particularly kind to him. Even though more than ten years had passed, Ye Shuo's appearance had not changed much. He was still the most handsome among the five people. A few scattered fine lines added a touch of depth and charm.

No wonder until now, the Emperor is still able to bewitch the Empress Mother. I heard that the Empress Mother suffered from her beauty at the beginning and has not been able to break free from it for all these years.

Because of this previous experience, Dingning was extremely cautious about this and would never dare to follow in his mother's footsteps.

Dingning had seen a lot and knew that there were only two men like his father in the world, the one in front of him.

Noticing that his eldest daughter seemed to have come in, Ye Shuo immediately opened his eyes and was about to pick up the fruit in front of him to moisten his throat. However, the next moment, he heard Ding Ning speak and said that she had chosen a man and was going to marry him to the princess's mansion and try to have a child next year.

“Pfft…cough cough cough.”

Before he could finish his words, Ye Shuo almost choked to death.