Journey to the West: Sun Wukong's Advice System-Chapter 239 - 238: Neither a Major Trend nor an Incurable Disease of the Aristocracy_2

Chapter 239: Chapter 238: Neither a Major Trend nor an Incurable Disease of the Aristocracy_2

Creating a utopian world is something we haven’t even managed to achieve today, yet he, from an era whose productive forces were still rooted in primitive agricultural civilization, dreamed of such a utopia? Far too idealistic!

Put it bluntly, that’s just foolish, totally brainless.

Who in their right mind would pick a username like, "Marketing accounts are deadly, stop defending Wang Mang already, even Qin Shi Huang unified currency. How deficient must one’s brain be to think of using shells as currency?"

God says let there be ice: "The population fell from over sixty million at the end of the Western Han Dynasty to just over twenty million at the time of Wang Mang’s New Dynasty’s downfall. If not him, then who else should be wiped out?"

In the mythological world, those Heavenly Immortals and Buddhas who needed the faith of the Human Race would probably all want to slap him to death, huh.

"Heh heh, no need to worry about that now." Sun Wukong smiled as he scratched his hand.

Wang Mang was originally meant to reign for fourteen years, but now it’s only been six, and he hasn’t really had the chance to harm the Human Race. His nonsense hasn’t actually shaken the foundations of the Human Race.

Given the rate at which Liu Xiu is conquering territories, it won’t be long before he enters Chang’an.

Looking at the responses that follow.

Wang Dahua: "Someone just mentioned above that Liu Xiu relied on the noble families to accomplish his goals, but that was in the original timeline; it’s different now,

From the host’s simulated experience, what Liu Xiu has been doing is seizing the wealth of the tyrants and distributing the land, winning a large following of peasants,

I think within the Red Han army, there must have been a rivalry between the peasant army and the noble families’ forces."

Jin Qiming now: "You’re overthinking it. How low was the cultural level of the peasants back then? Even if there are a lot of peasant soldiers joining, the ones truly in power would definitely be the well-educated noble families!"

Subspace: "You’re right. Just look at those peasant uprisings; starting from Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, which one succeeded? In the end, the nobility always reaped the benefits.

Liu Bang wasn’t nobility, but he had a group of former nobles from the Six States under him.

Zhu Yuanzhang was a beggar, but his father-in-law Guo Zixing wasn’t a peasant, so he can’t be considered a peasant uprising either.

To sum it up in one sentence, scholars who rebel might last three years without success, but without scholars, any rebellion is bound to fail within three years."

"Hmm, makes sense." Sun Wukong thoroughly agreed. When he was advising Liu Xiu in the guise of immortal Sun, he had mentioned the problem with the noble families.

The plan was to let Liu Xiu first use the noble families to achieve his goal, then deal with this deep-seated issue later.

Now that friends on Zhizu.com had brought up the issue, he was curious to see what insightful solutions everyone had.

Continuing to read the responses below.

Bearer of the Flask: "The reason the noble families ultimately doomed the Eastern Han and became a persistent problem for several generations of dynasties, is mainly that they controlled the most basic means of production in an agricultural era—land!

Without addressing the issue of land monopolization, the noble families will never disappear."

Zhuge Big World: "The statement that noble families control a large amount of land is too one-sided; for many noble families, land is just the base, not the essence."

Little Serendipity: "True, the problem of land monopoly is related to the rise and fall of dynasties, but it isn’t the reason for the existence of noble families,

They exist because they have control over upper-class resources, they control the channels to ascend, making it impossible for the commoners to turn their fortune around.

And even if the dynasty falls, as long as those noble families don’t make major mistakes, they can stand firm."

That’s why there’s the saying about dynasties lasting a hundred years and noble families lasting a thousand years."

Zhao Someone are you not: "So to solve the problem with the noble families, isn’t it just about helping the lower and middle class open the channels for upward mobility."

"Old Sun has thought the same, but how exactly do we open the channels for upward mobility?" Sun Wukong scratched his face, having pondered this issue before and considered quite a few solutions, but none seemed reliable.

Even if you wipe them all out, new noble families will emerge.

The noble families of the Human Race are like the Xuanmen Sanjiao and the Western Buddha Sect in the celestial realm, always holding the most resources.

Checking other responses, some netizens have suggested solutions.

Shakira Aida: "That’s easy, just have Monkey Brother pass on the imperial examination system to Liu Xiu. Introducing this system that breaks the monopoly of the nobility six hundred years early will deliver a heavy blow to the noble families!"

Wu Chen Layman: "The imperial examination system alone is not enough. The level of cultural proliferation is way too low. When the time comes, the offspring of noble families will still monopolize the positions of scholars, controlling upper-class resources."

Diligent Lonely Brother: "That’s an easy fix. Bring in papermaking technology, printing technique, and other elements of early industrial civilization all together, and it won’t take many years to vitalize the imperial examination system!"

Fei Wuxi: "The aristocratic families were put to an end by the imperial examination system used in the Tang Dynasty. From the time when Emperor Taizong of Tang greatly opened the door to imperial examinations to when Wu Zetian established the palace examination,

within these few short decades, the number of officials of commoner background in the court greatly increased, continuously nibbling away at the resources of the aristocratic families, eventually resolving the stubborn problem of aristocratic families."

Zi Yue Wu Ying: "To be precise, the aristocratic families were dealt with during the Song Dynasty,

By then, the productive forces of society were already very high, and with the advent of movable type printing technique, the spread and popularization of culture were greatly enhanced, greatly increasing opportunities for the lower and middle classes to rise upward,

After a few generations, they would form new families, competing with the original aristocratic families."

Yun Xiao Qing Chen: "Let me summarize. The imperial examination provided a relatively fair channel for upward mobility, allowing countless commoners the opportunity to rise to become elites. However, with more emerging aristocratic families, competition is natural because resources are limited.

Compared to the past when aristocratic families almost fully monopolized cultural resources, the descendants of ruling families during the Song Dynasty, though they had certain advantages over commoners, did not widen the gap to nearly monopolize prestigious positions,

With commoners continually ascending to high positions, it is difficult for a family to remain prosperous and powerful indefinitely.

If a family continually loses in competition and cannot obtain a voice in the imperial court, then its decline becomes inevitable.

As one family declines, another rises.

That’s why the thousand-year-old aristocratic families disappeared."

"Your decline, their rise, but the class of elites will never disappear." Sun Wukong saw the problem that even the imperial examination system couldn’t solve.

However, from these netizens’ replies, it seemed the imperial examination system could indeed solve the problem of aristocratic families.

If that’s truly the case, then the human path has great potential.

[You received a new suggestion: Have Liu Xiu implement the imperial examination system to break the monopoly of the aristocratic families. Completing the suggestion can earn a Fifth-Rank Treasure Box.]

[You received a new suggestion: Upgrade papermaking technology. Completing the suggestion can earn a Third-Rank Treasure Box.]

[You received a new suggestion: Upgrade printing technique. Completing the suggestion can earn a Third-Rank Treasure Box.]

Hearing the prompt in his mind, Sun Wukong understood that these methods were indeed feasible, but the problem was he did not understand these, so he hurriedly asked for advice, and soon several knowledgeable Zhihu netizens replied.

This included the specifics of the imperial examination system, papermaking, and printing techniques, what to do, and the steps involved. The printing technique even included woodblock printing and movable type printing.

"These mundane methods are also extremely clever, extremely clever!" Sun Wukong couldn’t help but admire after reading the replies.

The netizens were indeed incredible; they could have such powerful methods without using spells or Divine Skills, truly the Great Path in its simplicity.

He continued reading the replies.

Shan Shang Chun Shu: "Unfortunately, the imperial examination system can solve the problem of thousand-year-old aristocratic families but cannot completely eliminate the elite class."

San You Product: "Buddy, you’re a bit too idealistic. We haven’t solved this problem to this day..."

Ge Dou Mei Shao Nu: "Equalizing wealth is a utopian idea, impossible to exist. Even if the level of productive forces is raised very high, the elite class still controls the most advanced resources.

Of course, once productive forces increase, it can at least guarantee the survival of the lower and middle classes."

Ren Jie Di Ling Aka Mu: "Being able to ensure relative fairness is already quite good. If the elite class begins to plunder the survival resources of the lower and middle classes, it means that society is rotten, or becoming rotten."

Liang Xia: "I suspect the person above is insinuating something..."

Ren Jie Di Ling Aka Mu: "I’m not; I didn’t; don’t talk nonsense."

Neighbor Old Wang Selling Tobacco and Liquor: "You guys are digressing. Instead of that, let’s talk about something more practical.

Following the original poster’s simulation, since Liu Xiu has also become a disciple of Sun Wukong and is a fellow apprentice with Ao Lie, why not make the Dragon Tribe the totem of the Human Race?

In this era, the totem culture of the human race should not yet be unified.

If the Dragon Tribe becomes the totem of the entire human race, it could compensate for the present weakness in the mythological end of human power,

The Dragon Tribe, no matter how weak, is still a mythological group, and there’s also a bunch of hidden ancient dragons, like Ying Dragon, Candle Dragon, Azure Dragon, and such, all extremely powerful beings from ancient times.

Moreover, the alliance of the two tribes is also greatly beneficial to the Dragon Tribe. When the human path is complete, the Dragon Tribe might even use the luck from the human path to unlock the karma shackles in their bloodline. After all, the human path goes on endlessly, far more formidable than the merits of the Buddha Sect."

[You received a new suggestion: Let the Dragon Tribe become the totem for the entire Human Race. Completing the suggestion can earn a Seventh-Rank Treasure Box.]