This made Li Shimin anxious, and he wanted to trade one for one with me.

Cui Mingan said coldly:

"The betrothal gift was the threshold for a scholar to enter the family of an aristocratic family. At the same time, it was also a yardstick for the aristocratic family to measure whether the other party was a good match."

"Furthermore, the groom's family provides betrothal gifts, and the bride's family also provides dowry. This has been the custom since ancient times, and even the aristocratic families are no exception."

"If the gentry were truly after wealth, why would they need to provide a dowry? Clearly, your claim that the gentry gain wealth through marriage is utterly laughable!"

Cui Mingan cupped his hands in greeting to Li Shimin, who was seated on the dragon throne, and said:

"Your Majesty just mentioned the word 'eating.' Eating comes first, food comes second. To reverse it is foolish!"

Cui Mingan looked at Cheng Jun and sneered:

"Imperial Censor Cheng, you are using the aristocratic families as a pretext to ask His Majesty to revise the 'Records of Clans,' which is tantamount to doing what the world considers the greatest mistake. You are defying the world's will and acting foolishly!"

That was a pretty harsh pinch...

The purple-robed ministers in the hall all looked at Cheng Jun.

Cheng Jun said calmly, "Minister Cui, you said that the word 'eating' can only come before 'food,' otherwise it's just being silly. I don't agree with your point of view."

“When a toddler who has just learned to speak wants to eat, he will say ‘food, eat.’ When his mother hears these two words, she will know that the child is hungry and it is time to eat.”

"It is clear that reversing these two characters will not affect their meaning."

Cheng Jun looked at Cui Mingan and chuckled, "Isn't Minister Cui's attempt to make a fuss over these two words less skillful than that of a toddler who has just learned to speak?"

"His Majesty chose you to be a close advisor, and I was worried for His Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Cui Mingan looked at Li Shimin and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, Cheng Jun is attacking me with words, and even more so, attacking Your Majesty!"

Li Shimin frowned. "Hmm? Really? I didn't hear it."

Cui Mingan shouted, "That's exactly what Cheng Jun meant!"

Cheng Jun suddenly said, "Does Minister Cui mean that His Majesty is far inferior to you, and you are far inferior to a child who has just learned to speak, so His Majesty is inferior to a child?"

Cui Mingan glared at him, then shouted, "Your Majesty, Cheng Jun is slandering me! He's slandering me!"

Li Shimin angrily said, "You two take a step back and adjust yourselves. If it really doesn't work, go outside and have a fight before coming back in! Talk is talk, but why drag me into this!"

Cheng Jun immediately opened his palm to Cui Mingan with a smile and said, "Minister Cui, His Majesty has decreed that we go out and have a fight. Please."

"..."

Cui Mingan remained silent for a few seconds, looking at the burly Cheng Jun, who was 1.85 meters tall, and then at his own advanced age. He thought that if he went out and got into a fight, he might not be able to come back.

Thinking of this, he looked at Li Shimin.

Li Shimin glared at him and said, "Why are you looking at me like that? If I tell you to go, you go; if I tell you to die, you die?"

Cheng Jun said, "Your Majesty is right. This is what it means when the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die."

Li Shimin roared in fury, "If you say anything more trivial, I'll make sure you die along with me!"

Seeing that Cheng Jun had shut his mouth, Li Shimin turned to Cui Mingan and said:

“Minister Cui, you may say what you will, but don’t drag me into this. I only want to hear who is right between the two of you.”

"Regarding Cheng Jun's memorial to revise the 'Clan Records,' if his points are reasonable, I will grant the memorial; if your points are reasonable, I will set it aside. It's that simple!"

Cui Mingan cupped his hands and said, "Your subject understands."

Then, he looked coldly at Cheng Jun and said, "Imperial Censor Cheng, listen to my advice, it's best not to defy the world."

Cheng Jun said calmly, "Then I would also like to ask Minister Cui to take a word of advice: it would be better not to obstruct the tide of progress of the times."

Cui Mingan questioned, "I just don't understand, why is it wrong in your eyes for a scholar to want to marry a woman from one of the five noble families? How come something that everyone in the world thinks is right becomes an unforgivable crime in your eyes?"

Cheng Jun countered, "What's the difference between women from the Five Surnames and women from ordinary families? Do they have two extra legs or two extra arms?"

Before Cui Mingan could respond, Cheng Jun continued:

"Not all women of the Five Surnames are beauties; there are many women of the Five Surnames who are not as beautiful as ordinary women."

"However, if a woman who looks like a fairy in her prime, and a woman in her early forties who is not good-looking, stand together, scholars will choose the latter."

"What is the reason?"

"Do scholars lack aesthetic sense and the ability to distinguish between good and bad?"

Cheng Jun glanced at everyone in the hall and said bluntly, "To put it more bluntly, do all scholars want to marry women from the five noble families?"

All the civil and military officials stared at him, but none of them responded.

Cheng Jun knew they had the answer in their hearts, but were just afraid to say it, so he continued:

"In my opinion, scholars don't want to marry women from the five surnames, but rather they want to marry someone from that particular surname."

"Because only by marrying women from the five prominent families can they rise to become part of the aristocratic class and achieve great success!"

Cui Mingan snorted coldly: "It has always been like this since ancient times, what's wrong with it? The aristocratic families didn't become aristocratic families overnight, they were built up by generations of hard work!"

Cheng Jun looked at him and asked in return, "So, those who have established their own businesses can suppress others who are still working hard?"

"The selection system for officials included the recommendation system during the Han Dynasty and the Nine-Rank System during the Wei and Jin Dynasties."

Cheng Jun held up two fingers and said, “The recommendation system means that local counties recommend people based on their talents. But what is ‘talent’? If the county magistrate thinks someone is talented, then that person is talented.”

"Who are these county magistrates? Aren't they just members of the gentry? And aren't the people they recommend also from the gentry?"

Cheng Jun bent one finger and continued, "Then there is the Nine-Rank System of the Wei and Jin Dynasties."

The so-called Nine-Rank System involved first establishing officials in prefectures and counties to evaluate scholars, and then selecting qualified scholars to become officials.

“When the Nine-Rank System was first established, the evaluation criteria were based on a combination of family background, morality, and talent.”

"However, the position of Zhongzheng official was mostly in the hands of powerful clans and aristocratic families, and as a result, these clans and aristocratic families controlled the power of selecting officials."

Cheng Jun said in a deep voice: "As this system develops, talent and virtue are no longer valued, and family background becomes more and more important, even becoming the main standard of the Nine-Rank System."

"By the Western Jin Dynasty, the saying 'The upper class has no poor families, and the lower class has no noble families' came into being."

Cheng Jun sighed, then said:

"Starting from the Sui Dynasty, the imperial examination system was established. After the fall of the Sui Dynasty, our Great Tang Dynasty not only did not abandon the imperial examination system, but also continued to improve it, opening up a new path to officialdom for scholars throughout the country."

"If it weren't for the sudden emergence of the imperial examination system, the entire civil and military officials of our Great Tang Dynasty would probably have come from aristocratic families!"

Cheng Jun said in a strong and clear voice, "By then, I won't know whether I'm living in the Tang Dynasty or the Wei and Jin Dynasties!"