Chapter 4204: Divide the world
The green mountains are vast, misty and rainy, the mountains rise and fall like dragons, the rivers rush like ribbons, and in the distance there is only the misty silhouette of Xianyang Palace. In the past, the Qin Dynasty unified the world, and strong men swept across the Great Wall. The golden armies and iron horses in the dust of history were washed away by the rain, leaving only the glorious Tang Dynasty and thousands of miles of rivers and mountains.
At the moment when the dragon gate separated, the era belonging to His Majesty Li Er had come to an end.
It was at this moment that an era that should not have appeared in this time and space slowly began to unfold.
The river of history has forked and followed a completely different path, running mightily and never turning back.
……
In front of the Dragon Gate, Li Chengqian and a group of princes, princesses and the late emperor's concubines knelt on the ground, crying loudly and heartbreakingly. There were countless people who fainted, and there was a cloud of sadness.
Li Xiaogong and Li Yuanjia looked at each other and waved their hands to order the hundreds of chamberlains and maids who came randomly to come forward and help the crying people up. Li Xiaogong said in a deep voice: "The late emperor is buried in the sky. The sun and the moon are without light. We are all sad, but the enthronement ceremony will be held later, so I ask you to express your condolences and not delay the important event, otherwise the late emperor’s spirit in heaven will also blame us.”
But the sound of crying still continued.
Some people grieve over the death of the late emperor, and will never be able to see each other again. Some people depend on the late emperor to live, and from then on they are either trapped in the harem or practicing in the royal temple. They are lonely and desolate and unable to control themselves. Some people even just show off, with tears streaming down their faces, but they don’t think so in their hearts...
There are all kinds of things in life.
After another delay of nearly half an hour, all the relatives of the emperor stopped crying, walked down the mountain from Zhaoling, got into their cars, and returned to Chang'an City along the same route.
At this time, Chang'an City's flags were fluttering and gongs and drums were ringing. It was completely different from the previous gloomy atmosphere. Although the "Hundred Cavalry Division", the Forbidden Army, and Jingzhao Prefecture patrols still blocked all the streets, they did not prohibit people from going out, especially those adjacent to Zhuque. In all the streets, people gathered in front of the gates. When they saw the prince entering the city on a chariot from the Mingde Gate, they couldn't help but make a loud noise.
The cries of "Long live the new emperor" and "Long live the prince" are endless.
Although the people love His Majesty Li Er more, after all, times have changed. Prince Li Chengqian's reputation as "kindness" and "forgiveness" has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Even if he is worse than His Majesty Li Er, the people can accept it if he settles for the second best.
Nowadays, the Tang Dynasty is strong and prosperous, and all industries are prosperous. With Ren Jun, who loves the people like a son, everyone's good life can be considered stable.
On the contrary, if you encounter an ambitious and extortionate king, that will be everyone's tragedy...
For ordinary people, they don’t care about dominating the world and surrendering all the barbarians. No matter how great the reputation is, it belongs to the king and the ministers in the temple. The people in Guizhou suffer the most. Every word of Shuo Jin's achievements is watered with the blood and built with the bones of the common people.
The common people don't quite understand what family, country and world are, as long as they can live peacefully...
By the time Li Chengqian returned to Wude Hall, it was already the end of time.
Since leaving the city early in the morning, he was already hungry after a long day's work, so he gave a banquet to all the princes and ministers, and ate in the Wude Hall and the side hall on one side. The ministers had their meals and left in a hurry, or returned to their respective government offices to prepare for tomorrow's enthronement ceremony, or some older ones simply went home to rest, their bones almost falling apart...
Li Chengqian called Li Ji, Li Xiaogong, and Fang Jun to the back hall. After bathing and changing clothes, they came out to meet each other.
The four monarchs and ministers were kneeling on the mat in front of the window. The autumn rain was gurgling outside the window, and the rainwater condensed on the leaves of the flower trees, rolled down, and splashed into the soil.
Moist and cool air blows in from the window, and a pot of hot tea is filled with mist. Fang Jun holds the pot and pours the tea.
Li Chengqian took a sip of tea from his teacup, but hesitated for a while.
The other three people looked at each other, and they were all a little confused. Li Xiaogong then asked: "I wonder what your Highness's orders are?"
Li Chengqian pondered for a while, and then slowly said: "In the past few days, I have often thought about it. King Wu of Zhou divided the eight hundred princes, and finally unified China and established the Zhou Dynasty for eight hundred years. It stands to reason that Qin Shihuang unified the political power and implemented the system of prefectures and counties. The top and bottom are united, and the inside and outside are one, but two generations died... Which one is better and worse among the enfeoffments and counties? ”
The three of them were a little stunned, why did they mention this?
When I thought about the emperor, I realized that the Crown Prince was probably under a lot of pressure from the random promises made by the King of Jin. He was afraid that the civil and military officials in the DPRK and China would be attracted by the reward offered by the "feudal side", so he also wanted to ascend the throne. After that, the world was entrusted.
Li Ji frowned and said: "The so-called general trend of the world is like a mighty river, moving forward inexorably. The enfeoffment system was adapted to local conditions in ancient times, so it created the Zhou Dynasty for 800 years. By the time of Qin, not long after the six kingdoms were conquered, It was not fully domesticated, and the First Emperor went on a military rampage, attacking Baiyue in the south, resisting the Xiongnu in the north, repairing Afang, and building the Great Wall. In just ten years, In the remaining years, the country's power was completely depleted, and as a result, war broke out everywhere and heirs died. However, His Highness cannot think that the enfeoffment system is superior to the county system. Even the late emperor once offered great rewards to meritorious officials and enfeoffed the world, but in the end he was unable to do so due to various reasons. If you don’t quit, I hope that your highness will not have any wild ideas and lay the foundation for chaos in the country.”
The implication is that political systems are constantly improving over time, and systems that have fallen behind and have been eliminated can never be applied again. Only by constantly innovating and gradually improving can we have a system more suitable for governing the world.
Li Xiaogong also advised: "The emperor of the Han Dynasty killed the White Snake to rule the world, and also imitated the ancient times to enfeoff clans and vassal regions. As a result, a 'Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms' was caused. Although it was quickly put down, it laid many hidden dangers. In the end, he relied on the 'Tianfa Order' Only then did the Sima family usurp the Wei Dynasty. In the past, the artifacts were lost due to the lack of military power of the Cao Wei clan. He was also the king of the great feudal clan. Only then did the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" occur, which disrupted the foundation of the Jin Dynasty... Your Highness, time has changed and the feudal system has long ceased to exist. It became an imperial policy.”
After the Xuanwu Gate incident, when His Majesty Li Er ascended the throne, he wanted to reward meritorious officials and establish a vassal world. However, he was dissuaded by Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and others, and finally withdrew his orders.
There is a word to describe this kind of thing in later generations: turning history back...
Seeing that his thoughts were blocked, Li Chengqian felt a little depressed and subconsciously looked at Fang Jun. Although he only mentioned a few words, he thought that due to the tacit understanding between him and Fang Jun, the latter could understand his thoughts and support them.
Fang Jun happened to raise his head and looked at Li Chengqian. When he saw the other person's gaze, his heart moved. He lowered his head and thought about it, and felt that he should understand the reason why Li Chengqian mentioned the enfeoffment system so abruptly.
Fortunately, he had thought deeply about this topic and tried to analyze the deeper things in it.
After pouring tea for Li Ji and Li Xiaogong, Fang Jun considered it and said: "What Yinggong said is good: adapt to local conditions. The moon waxes and wanes, the tides rise and fall. There is nothing perfect in the world, let alone one that can last through the ages. There is no need to change the system. Whether a certain system can strengthen the country only depends on whether it is adapted to local conditions. ”
After a pause, his thoughts became smoother, and he started to talk eloquently: "King Wu conquered Zhou and established the Zhou Dynasty, enfeoffed eight hundred princes, and continued the state for eight hundred years. Why? It should be noted that at that time, transportation, economy, military, etc. were extremely backward. , these vassal states are spread all over the world, and many places are simply uninhabited and barbaric lands with barren land and sparse population. These vassal states are different from On the feudal side, it is better to say that it is reclaiming wasteland for the Emperor of Zhou...and this is the point. The vassal states have almost endless land to reclaim. As the territory expands, the population gradually increases, and the wealth skyrockets, they are naturally willing to respect the Emperor of Zhou. As the leader of the Communist Party, who is willing to rebel? It may take several years to go to the capital..."
It was obviously the first time for the other three people to hear such an argument. After thinking about it carefully, they couldn't help but nod their heads.
For those vassal states, instead of rebelling, they must cling tightly to the lap of Emperor Zhou in order to get more support from the central government and better develop and build their own feudal states.
Li Jicai was quick to think, drew inferences from one example, and said: "By the time of the Warring States Period, all the land that could be cultivated had been cultivated, and there was no room for leisurely expansion between countries. Under collision and friction, long-term melee was inevitable."
Fang Jun smiled and said: "There is no wiser person than a heroic man!"
Li Ji glanced at him, snorted and ignored him.
Li Chengqian asked: "Then when the Han Dynasty divided the world, why did it lead to internal disasters?"
Fang Jundao: "For the Emperor of Zhou, the territory he can actually control is not very large. When he enfeoffs the princes, he actually enfeoffs them to the outside and screen the center of the vassal state. But when Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty enfeoffed the clan, he enfeoffed it to the inside. The so-called role of the central vassal state is to enfeoff the lords. It's not not said at all, but it's formed "How can I allow others to snore on the side of the bed?" In those days, Chen Sheng, Wu Guang and other poor families dared to say, "Princes, generals, Xiang Ning, have the guts", let alone the kings of the clan passed down by the great ancestor, the same was true of the Jin Dynasty, civil strife, It makes sense.”
Li Ji frowned in thought and did not interrupt.
Li Xiaogong said: "According to your opinion, the defeat of the Han and Jin Dynasties was due to the enfeoffment within, rather than the problem of the enfeoffment system itself?"
Li Chengqian was faintly excited. (End of chapter)