The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 773: Feudal System (V)
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, if it were not for the threats posed by local princes during the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, how could the court have maintained its strong fighting capacity after several generations of peace and had so many generals and soldiers who had been baptized by the battlefield?

It can be said that the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms within the Han Dynasty was not entirely a bad thing. It was no less than an opportunity for the Han Dynasty to train its troops, and laid a solid foundation for the large-scale military expansion and expansion of borders in the subsequent Emperor Wu era.

It can be seen that maintaining moderate internal conflicts and competition is beneficial to a country's bloodiness and vitality.

If those lands that they had conquered but could not defend were divided up, they would certainly try their best to assimilate into the Han culture, because it is difficult for foreign races to be accepted by the Central Plains. The aristocratic families are well aware of this.

As long as they localize it into Chinese, the final winner will definitely be the Central Plains.

This is the method Li Yan came up with with great effort in order to complete the special task assigned by the system, to continue the Li Tang Dynasty and prevent the recurrence of the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

It can not only complete the task, but also expand the pattern of the entire Central Plains dynasty. The western and northern areas have not been able to fully realize direct jurisdiction by the court until the later industrial age because there is too little mobility, maintaining different cultures and incompatibility, so that they have always implemented their own way of governance.

What really hinders integration is not the geographical differences but the cultural differences.

For hundreds and thousands of years, different ethnic groups have been fighting each other, taking turns to gain the upper hand. In Li Yan's opinion, these wars were all ineffective, and only wars that were combined with cultural popularization and integration were meaningful.

If the Tang Dynasty is viewed as a person, the aristocratic families and meritorious veterans within it are excess nutrients and fat, which put a huge burden on this body, so much so that it has to be digested through internal strife.

Now Li Yan is taking advantage of the situation and luring these internal troubles out, thus turning decay into magic and killing two birds with one stone. He can remove the forces that are causing trouble internally and send them out to cultivate the lands that the court cannot conquer at this stage.

When the time is right, it doesn’t matter whether the inside controls the outside or the outside controls the inside.

They can all form a unified dynasty because they are all descendants of Yan and Huang and believe in Chinese culture, so they are naturally one family.

The silent and subtle influence of culture is more important than the invasion and rule of a territory. It allows all ethnic groups living on this land to have a common faith, believe in the same court, and live together under the same blue sky.

Well.
Li Shimin was stunned and looked at his son, whose face was not so mature, with complicated eyes. He did not expect that his son had such a broad mind. His vision was no longer limited to one family, but focused on the interests of the entire nation.

If this strategy alone is successfully implemented, countless lives in the future will benefit from Li Yan, and both Li Shimin and Li Yan, father and son, will have made immeasurable contributions. The Tang Dynasty will become, or even surpass, the Han Dynasty and become the second dynasty that has brought great benefits to all people.

Li Shimin's eyes gradually softened. He knew that from today on, he could no longer look at his prince as a child.

Because he had a premonition that, if nothing unexpected happened, the future achievements of this prince might far surpass his own, making the Tang Dynasty truly a great dynasty and a crown in human history.

"Cheng Qian, then how do you think this fiefdom should be divided so as to be more beneficial to the long-term future of the Tang Dynasty?" Li Shimin began to ask about specific matters again.

"Father, there is a geographical map of our Tang Dynasty in the palace. Let's discuss this with reference to the map, shall we?"

Li Yan was not humble at this time. As long as Li Shimin could accept his opinions, he might start making plans and arrangements, so he had to express his intentions fully.

Things like conferring a kingship will cause a huge response from the court officials. It is very easy to do once it is done, but it will be extremely difficult to change it. If things don't go smoothly, they will have to resort to force, so it is best to consider it more carefully from the beginning.

Li Shimin and Li Yan came to the map in the imperial study.

What was displayed in front of the two men was a wall-high map of the entire world. During the past few months, Li Yan had used the excuses of Jinyiwei's exploration and reading of ancient historical books to draw a rough map for Li Shimin that covered northern Siberia and western Central Asia.

To the east and south are some islands that extend to the sea. However, the main threats to the Tang Dynasty now are only from the north and west. The seas to the east and south are natural barriers and will have no practical significance within a thousand years.

After this map came out, it immediately became the top secret of the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin placed it in the inner study of Chengqing Hall. Apart from himself, only a few important ministers such as Fang Xuanling were fortunate enough to have it and broaden their horizons.

They were both happy and worried. They were happy that they could finally understand the "whole world" and had a clear idea of ​​all the geography and forces surrounding the Tang Dynasty. However, they were worried that when the whole map came out, they found that the Tang Dynasty, which was thought to dominate the world, only occupied a corner in the southeast.

The position of the Tang Dynasty in the "world" is equivalent to the former Jiangnan Road to the Tang Dynasty.

At that time, the area of ​​the Tang Dynasty was not very large. To the north, the upper part of the Hetao region was still controlled by the Turks. The territory inside the pass only reached Yunzhong and Dingxiang. The large area of ​​land to the north of the Great Wall was under the influence of the Turks. To the southwest, the land west of the river was no longer under the control of the Tang Dynasty, and the influence of the Tang Dynasty only extended to some areas in Longxi.

In short, the several self-governed regions in later generations no longer belong to the Tang Dynasty.

Not to mention the autumn-leaf begonia, even the rooster is far from it.

Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling could not believe it at first, but they were both well-informed people. After comparing the map with several places they knew or had heard of, they realized that the map was in line with reality and did not have too big an error.

Originally, in the eyes of many ministers of the Tang Dynasty, the grasslands in the northern part of the Tang Dynasty would not be very large. Although it was far to the west, there had only been one Hexi Corridor since the Han Dynasty. As for the vast areas south and north of the Hexi Corridor, everyone dismissed them with the excuse that the environment was harsh and not suitable for survival.

Over time, everyone subconsciously ignored the existence of those places, as if they were barren lands.

But after seeing this map of the entire world, seeing the Tang Dynasty shrunk in the southeast corner, the huge Turkic people in the north, the Tibetans dominating the western plateau, and the scene of many countries in the northwest, Fang Xuanling and Li Shimin felt extremely heavy psychological pressure.

From this perspective, the western, northwest, northern and northeastern parts of the Tang Dynasty are surrounded by enemies. If any mistake is made in any of these places, the Central Plains will be plunged into endless war.

After seeing this picture, both Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling no longer had the idea of ​​being the Celestial Empire and being the only one in the world that matters. They became more down-to-earth and handled state affairs with a more aloof yet modest and prudent attitude.

Li Yan and Li Shimin came to the study in Chengqing Hall and stood in front of the map.

Whenever Li Shimin saw this map, it was as if he saw the whole world. Every time his blood would boil in his chest and he would be so excited that he could not control himself. He secretly decided in his heart that if possible, he would conquer every place he saw and build a powerful empire that would far surpass the Han Dynasty.

"Father, according to the county system currently implemented by the court, the territory of the Tang Dynasty has actually expanded to the upper limit of effective management. Even if it expands further, there is not much room. No matter how much territory there is, it will form the situation after Qin unified the world, with the outside heavy and the inside light, which in turn will drag down the Tang Dynasty."

Li Yan stretched out his hand and drew a circle on the map, including the current territory of the Tang Dynasty. Then he pointed to the vast northern grasslands and western plateaus and said seriously: "If we want to expand further, we must implement a loose feudal system to cater to the objective survival status and actual situation in the west and north."

"And these places are not suitable for the county system with strong constraints."

"In fact, it is not that we have changed the system. The original jurisdiction has not been changed at all. It is still managed by the county system, just like a large feudal state directly under the jurisdiction of the court."

"And the territory that will be expanded again will be divided into several parts."

"In fact, the core is the county system, supplemented by the feudal system, to expand the territory of the Tang Dynasty as much as possible and reduce the surrounding threats."

"The fiefdoms I envision will be divided into three levels based on the differences in fiscal and taxation power, personnel appointment power, military power, and administrative management power within a fiefdom."

"In the lowest level three feudal states, the princes have no power at all and are only in name only."

"He is only in charge of the fiefdom, and can supervise the local administration and report to the court. The fiefdom king can enjoy certain taxes and support from the fiefdom. There are a small number of servants and guards in the palace, and he cannot interfere with the local administration."

"This way, we can send some of the royal family members in Chang'an away and give them something to do, so that they won't make trouble in Chang'an. It can also supervise the local areas and pass the burden of the court to the local areas. At the same time, the local areas will have an extra layer of scruples, so that they won't arbitrarily oppress the people without the knowledge of the court."

"Anyway, if a place stays for a long time, there will always be some local tyrants. Rather than letting outsiders take advantage, it is better to benefit the local people. These princes are actually just princes in name only, but they are actually demoted to tyrants, forming a constraint on the local government."

"Of course, there will be collusion and exploitation of the people. But in general, in the big direction, they will protect the Li family's rule, because they themselves are also members of the Li family."

After Li Yanyi finished speaking, Li Shimin nodded silently and thought of his royal relatives. They were indeed a trouble. They stayed in Chang'an City but did not hold office in the court. They enjoyed huge financial support and often colluded with each other, using their status to seize the land of the people in the capital.

If it can be brought to the local level, it will be the best of both worlds. The court will have less burden, and the local level will have more supervision, killing two birds with one stone.

(End of this chapter)