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Chapter 1059 Fang Xuanling’s Mistake (Part )

Li Yan took a deep breath, put his hands behind his back and looked into the distance, and asked calmly: "Mr. Fang, I was reading the history of the Han Dynasty a few days ago, and saw this section at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Emperor Xian was in power, and Prime Minister Cao Cao was in charge of the court. In the end, the Han Dynasty lost its country and was replaced by Cao Wei. I don't know why?"

"When the minister is strong and the ruler is weak, disasters will inevitably arise. This is common sense." Fang Xuanling had not yet figured out why Li Yan suddenly turned to history, but he was familiar with history books, well versed in the ways of governing a country, and well aware of the rise and fall of dynasties, so he said subconsciously.

"Yes, what Mr. Fang said is very true. It is the same for governing a country and a family."

Li Yan smiled slightly and explained: "As the saying goes, those who are involved are confused, while those who are on the sidelines can see clearly. The old man has a very thorough understanding of state affairs, but he is so confused about family affairs."

"If the old man didn't intend to let the second branch inherit the position of the head of the family, he shouldn't have blindly supported the second branch. Since ancient times, there can't be two suns in the sky, two kings in a country, and even one mountain can't accommodate two tigers. How can there be two cores in a family?"

"If this continues for a long time, trouble will surely arise. If Gao Yang had married a descendant of the family, I think there wouldn't have been so many things happening in the Fang Mansion."

When Fang Xuanling heard this, he was shocked, as if struck by lightning, and fell into deep thought.

Think about what the Fang family was like in the past few years, with a loving father, filial sons, friendly brothers and respectful younger brothers, and it was a happy scene.

What changes have taken place since the princess married into the Fang family in recent years?
The discord between the two sons, the conflict between the father and the son, the role of the princess in it, the past flashed through his mind. Finally, Fang Xuanling clenched his fists, closed his eyes unconsciously, and looked painful.

He never expected that the root cause of the unrest in the Fang Mansion was caused by himself.

It can even be said that Princess Gaoyang's mistakes were inseparable from herself. If Gaoyang had married the eldest wife, she would have legitimately taken over the family business and managed the Fang Mansion, and she would not have been so willful and ended up in such a mess.

So that's it, the root of all this has been found.

Fang Xuanling was well-versed in poetry and books, became famous at a young age, had outstanding talents, and had a profound understanding of human nature and the world. Even the world called him a man of great strategy and judgment. It was precisely because of the consensus of the world that he was extremely confident, thinking that he would not make mistakes and could always handle all problems rationally.

Unfortunately, the cool-headed mind used in governing a country was of no help in managing a family.

When it comes to the future arrangements for his sons, he is like an ordinary old man, stubbornly hoping that each of his sons can live a good life. He doesn't want any of his sons to suffer because of his partiality.

However, he overlooked the fact that when a family becomes large enough, it becomes like a force, and it has to prioritize and distinguish between the important and the unimportant.

Not being partial is a mistake in itself; treating everyone equally will lead to multiple powers coexisting, which will lead to endless fighting and endless internal friction. No matter how strong the brotherhood is, it will collapse under the impact of huge interests.

This is determined by human nature and cannot be affected by personal likes and dislikes.

Dividing the property equally and keeping everyone fair and satisfied is only suitable for ordinary small families, or even poor families.

In a big family, some people need to be strengthened artificially, while others have to make sacrifices or even be deliberately suppressed in order to maintain the absolute strength of the main trunk. There is no such thing as absolute fairness in the world, and the overall interests are above all else.

You have to give up something in order to gain overall strength.

A strong trunk and weak branches is the correct way to ensure that large families and powerful forces remain strong and their inheritance continues forever.

Li Yan's words were like waking up a person from a dream. With Fang Xuanling's intelligence, he naturally found the root cause of the problems in the Fang Mansion easily.

He felt bitter in his heart and wanted to slap himself hard twice.

After a long while, Fang Xuanling regained consciousness, bowed sincerely, and said, "Your Majesty's words are like enlightenment. I, your humble servant, thank you very much."

"Well, generally speaking, a consort cannot marry again, even if the princess has passed away."

Li Yan looked at Fang Xuanling gently and said, "I consider that Fang Qing has assisted my father for his entire life, working diligently and day and night, and has made contributions and suffered a lot. I hereby decree to remove Fang Yiai from his position as the imperial concubine."

"Demoting him to the position of Imperial Household Secretary is a punishment for not taking good care of the princess. In two years, when the rumors have died down, you can marry him a wife and have children for him, and continue the family line for your Fang family."

Fang Xuanling was stunned for a moment, then knelt down again to express his gratitude. This time he was truly grateful to the young emperor.

Taipusi was the financial treasurer of the Tang Dynasty and the market management agency of the two capitals. It was a very lucrative job. Although its rank was lowered, it brought more benefits.

After this series of events, Fang Xuanling also found that his eldest son was not talented enough, but he was an honest and loyal family man. His second son was smart, but he was restless and, most importantly, he had great ambitions but little talent and could not shoulder the responsibility.

The emperor made a strong adjustment today, promoting the eldest son to a higher position and strengthening his power, while the second son was marginalized and had no good food and clothing from then on. In addition, without the princess's interference, the future structure of the Fang Mansion was completely straightened out.

Although the second son was demoted, he could not deny his guilt for the princess's death. After this blow, he would no longer be as arrogant as before, and would not challenge his brother's position. However, the eldest son was promoted because of the loss of the second son. If I explain it to him, the eldest son will know that he took away the opportunity of the second son. From then on, he will be more tolerant of this younger brother.

All in all, the Fang family not only suffered no losses from this princess incident, but also gained a lot. It was truly a blessing in disguise.

After understanding the root cause of the problem, with Fang Xuanling's wisdom, he was naturally able to prescribe the right remedy and make adjustments.

Until Li Yan left, Fang Xuanling was still full of guilt. He was a meritorious official of the emperor, but he did nothing for the emperor. Now he was deeply indebted to the new emperor. Fang Xuanling secretly made up his mind to do something to repay the emperor.

In the following days, the court entered the autumn harvest phase, and Chang'an sent people to all directions to supervise the harvest and collect taxes. The taxation of the Tang Dynasty, mainly grain, began in mid-August and ended in mid-October every year.

While the whole country has been busy in the past two months, the court has become more harmonious.

As long as all departments fully cooperate, clean up the major granaries in the capital area, prepare to receive new grain, and dredge the rivers, we can ensure smooth transportation channels.

Li Yan also personally inspected the granaries in various places every day, was responsible for logistics, and listened to reports. After being busy for a while, he was completely free.

Finally, Li Yan came to a conclusion that the affairs of the court seemed complicated and there seemed to be a lot of things. The court had so many departments, each with its own functions. As long as the departments followed the rules and performed their duties, the world would naturally be peaceful.

As long as the major factions in the court do not cause trouble for each other, there will be no major events in the Tang Dynasty throughout the year.

On this day, Li Yan specially summoned the five chief officials of the three provinces to discuss matters in Chengqing Hall. After everyone sat down, Li Yan dismissed everyone, sat behind the imperial desk and said: "Everyone, today we will talk about daily government affairs. I summoned everyone here mainly to discuss matters related to the long-term stability of the Tang Dynasty."

When the chief officers heard this, they looked at each other and perked up.

In fact, not to mention that a new emperor appoints new ministers, even a new official will still have three things to do!

Every newly appointed official will have a different set of policy ideas and governance strategies, let alone the emperor?

In the court game some time ago, all the ministers participated in it actively or passively, hoping to use the situation to pressure the emperor, delay the process, or lower the emperor's expectations and ensure a smooth transition between the two generations.

Of course, this is also because Li Yan has been away from Chang'an for a long time and has not formed a team of his own in the process of succession. If it is a normal succession, the crown prince will need at least a few years to start preparing for the succession.

Naturally, there will be a whole set of subordinates, and these people will start to adapt and adjust several years in advance until the day when the prince ascends the throne.

If the king knows his subjects and the subjects know their king, naturally there will be no accidents.

Li Yan's situation was somewhat special, and the time for adaptation was too short. At most, Li Yan had only been back in Chang'an for a month, and he had already been the emperor for half a month, and he had not yet recognized all the officials in the court.

During this period, several important officials in the central government gave the new emperor a lot of tasks every day. They wanted to divert the new emperor's attention and make him not be distracted by the tedious court affairs and not impulsively burn three fires.

However, they did not expect that everyone was busy with the autumn harvest these days, and a moment of negligence gave Li Yan the opportunity to seize the opportunity.

Seeing the nervous faces of the ministers, Li Yan smiled casually: "Don't be nervous, everyone. Although I have been on the throne for a short time, I am not an autocratic emperor. During this period of time, there was no matter that I did not discuss with you adults before handling it."

"Today, we called everyone here not so much to discuss business as to let us, the monarch and his subjects, take advantage of the time we have to chat, strengthen our relationship, and increase our understanding of each other."

"Let me make it clear first. In the imperial study today, everyone can speak freely. No one is guilty of speaking. Let's work together for the future of the Tang Dynasty and make long-term plans."

Li Yan spoke casually, and seemed to want to create a relaxed atmosphere, but the officials still looked serious. Those who could get to this position were all experienced and experienced, so how could they let down their guard just because of Li Yan's words?

No matter how weak he is, Li Yan is still the emperor, and they cannot ignore the emperor's opinion.

Looking at each other in bewilderment, Changsun Wuji, as the chief minister, stood up cautiously and was about to speak. Li Yan quickly stretched out his hand to stop him: "Master Changsun, didn't I tell you that today we are just having a casual chat, no need to be so formal."

"I have already said that when any minister speaks next, you don't need to stand up to reply, nor do you need to bow. Just sit down and speak."

"If that is the case, then we, the ministers, have overstepped our authority."

Zhang Sun Wuji's expression also relaxed. He sat down and said with a smile, "I don't know what the emperor wants to talk about today. I haven't prepared anything."

(End of this chapter)