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

Chapter 943: Pressure Step by Step
In the original drama, Li Chengqian only knew that he was in dire straits and was being pushed towards the abyss. Until the moment he was deposed, he did not see through the situation and thought that it was his father and brothers who had been forcing him.

What Li Chengqian didn't know was that dealing with Li Shimin would not solve the problem at all. Dealing with the aristocratic families was the most crucial step in ascending the throne.

Otherwise, even if Li Shimin passed the throne to him, he would be pushed down by others.
Li Shimin also saw through the situation and went through all the difficulties and obstacles, so he had no idea about the situation of his eldest son.

He did not blame his son, even though his son joined forces with the generals to rebel?

He did not take any ruthless action, but simply stripped Li Chengqian of his title as crown prince and sent him to Qianzhou to end his life.

He knew that Li Chengqian was also a pitiful man, just a chess piece with no control over his fate.

In such a situation and position, whether it is Li Chengqian, Li Ke, Li Tai, or Li Zhi, they are all pawns. Without peace and tranquility, and unable to withstand the arduous responsibility of fighting against the aristocrats and taking back the imperial power, they will have to be eliminated.

Exiling him to Qianzhou was Li Shimin's last act of protection for his son as a father.

Now Li Yan knew that the so-called avoiding the emergence of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms proposed by the system task was to solve the nightmare of the aristocratic families that had plagued the Central Plains dynasties since the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

There's no way around it.
At the beginning, Li Yan thought that his opponents in the fight for the throne were other brothers, but later he found out that the real opponent was the emperor; later, Li Yan thought that his opponent was the emperor, but facts once again overturned his cognition.

It turns out that his real opponent is the aristocratic family, a giant that has been hiding behind the scenes for thousands of years.
Li Yan's eyes flickered under the tiger-head mask, and he felt very depressed.

Damn it, I hid everywhere, even on the grassland, but I still couldn't escape this ghost. Li Yan didn't want to confront the nobles from the bottom of his heart. No matter how much Li Yan despised them, he was still afraid of the nobles' strength.

That's why he hid behind the scenes, hoping that Li Shimin, the greatest emperor of all time, would solve this tough problem instead of doing it himself.

The difficulty of the aristocratic families lies in the fact that they have long been connected with the Central Plains dynasty by blood, and even if their bones are broken, their tendons are still connected.

To be an enemy of the nobles is to be an enemy of oneself.

Moreover, Li Yan had a vague premonition that the ambitious Li Shimin could not solve this problem for him, and the obstacle of the aristocratic family would eventually appear in front of him and engage in close combat with him.

It now appears that the candidate for succession nominated by the aristocratic families is still Li Tai.

Li Chengqian and Li Ke, the two oldest, were the pioneers of the king from the beginning. However, during the more than 20 years of the Zhenguan period, Li Shimin also took a certain initiative and carefully used Li Tai as a cover to secretly cultivate Li Zhi.

At the last minute, Li Tai was replaced by Li Zhi.

The reason why Li Zhi was able to ascend to the throne smoothly was that the difference between him and Li Tai was not that big. Generally speaking, both were within the range of choices for the aristocratic families, but Li Tai and Li Zhi were options for different factions within the aristocratic family group.

Li Tai was supported by the old-established aristocratic families represented by Xiao Yu, while Li Zhi was supported by the new noble families represented by Zhangsun Wuji.

Li Shimin's victory was not a victory of imperial power over the aristocratic families, but a victory of the young faction within the aristocratic family group over the old forces.

No matter who comes to power, it is a victory for the aristocracy.

However, everything in the world has its own laws of operation. Everything will turn to the opposite extreme, and everything will decline after reaching its peak. No one can do whatever they want, and no one can lose their natural enemies!
The common people represented by the imperial power and the powerful class represented by the aristocratic families are originally contradictory. They are interdependent and mutually restrictive. Neither side can eliminate the other.

When one party completely loses the power to restrain itself, the opposing party will also be unable to exist safely.

The same is true in history. The aristocratic families were extremely greedy and defeated the royal family.

But in the end, it was dragged down by its endlessly bloated and huge body, and suffered a backlash, ushering in the Huang Chao Rebellion, resulting in "foxes and rabbits walking on the Taiji Palace, thorns growing in front of the Qiyun Palace; the inner treasury was burned to ashes, and the bones of the nobles were trampled on the streets!"

Both sides lose.
The aristocratic family was ultimately defeated by themselves.

The results are exactly the same as those of the struggles between imperial power and aristocratic families at the end of the Han Dynasty, the end of the Jin Dynasty, the end of the Song Dynasty, and the end of the Ming Dynasty.

After thinking this through, Li Yan sighed deeply, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness. The struggle between the imperial power and the power of the aristocracy is probably a part of the historical cycle, and it may even be a very important part.

But what good can it do if you understand it?
The more clearly he saw, the more helpless Li Yan became about the manifestation of the desire that was deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Li Yan understood all this and actually knew how to break the impasse. However, he knew clearly that even if he could break the impasse, it would only bring about a temporary reshuffle. When he left, it would not be long before history would return to its original state, and the eternal entanglement between the two major forces would continue.

Just like Wang Mang, what he did was just a tiny ripple in history.

Forget it
We cannot control historical matters, and need to work hard to complete system tasks, or should we find ways to solve the problems at hand?
If I can live for a hundred years, I can make some impact in various aspects and extend the life of the Tang Dynasty. Fortunately, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms lasted only seventy or eighty years, which is much better than the nearly two hundred years of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

No matter what, if the nobles want the royal family to do more self-destructive and infamous things, then they have to find a way to do the opposite.

In this regard, Li Yan saw further than Li Shimin. He brought up the Xuanwu Gate incident at this time not to provoke Li Shimin, but to remind him that some things cannot be done all the time and that he should not be as reckless as a dead pig.

The Han people cannot bear so many heavy burdens.
Facing Li Shimin's murderous gaze, Li Yan said nonchalantly: "This blame can only be borne by outsiders. I let Yi Nan return to the Western Regions to let him do these dirty and tiring jobs. The Tang Dynasty can only play the role of a savior, just like in Liaodong."

"If we intervene too early, Yinan won't be able to move freely."

"Besides, many of these forces are vassal states of the Tang Dynasty. When the monarchs of these small countries ask you, the Khan, for help, will you help them?"

"If you don't save them, they will turn to Xueyantuo and hate you even more than they do the Yinan. If you save them, they will step into this quagmire and continue the situation of the Han Dynasty. Even if we spend hundreds of years, we won't be able to solve these problems."

As he spoke, Li Yan gave Li Shimin another heavy burden: "When the army returns this time, I will set up a royal tent in the Irtysh River Valley and stay there for a long time."

"What? Isn't your Khan's tent in Urge? Why do you want to set up a king's tent so close to the Tang Dynasty? I don't agree."

Li Shimin looked anxious. The Irtysh River Valley was the Junggar Basin in later generations. During the Qing Dynasty, Junggar relied on this area and had military dealings with the Qing Dynasty for more than a hundred years. It can be seen that this area is rich in resources and has a favorable geographical location, making it very suitable to exist as a political core for a long time.

This place hangs on the neck of the Tang Dynasty, and it is a vital place, a thousand miles north of Yumen Pass. If the Turks set up a king's tent here, they will definitely concentrate a large army to guard it.

The terrain here is very special. If the Central Plains and the Western Regions are the two ends of a dumbbell, the Hexi Corridor is the thin iron rod in the middle supporting the two ends. To the north is the endless grassland, and to the south is a plateau area with thin air.

The Hexi Corridor is close to the Great Snow Mountain and the Qilian Mountain, with several dangerous passes such as Yangguan Pass and Yumen Pass, and Ganzhou, Suzhou, and Shazhou lined up in a row. To the north are the Turks and Xueyantuo, and to the south are Tubo and Tuyuhun. It is the highest-level strategic throat area of ​​the Tang Dynasty.

If this place is lost, the Tang Dynasty will not only lose the Western Regions and the Silk Road to Central Asia, but will also be trapped in the Central Plains and unable to do anything.

"You are wrong. As the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, you have no control over the Turkic people."

Li Yan's face turned cold, and he said decisively: "I am not discussing this with you, but as a fellow Han Chinese, I am just telling you in advance. The Tang Dynasty now, facing millions of Turkic cavalry, dares not even cross the Yellow River, how can it care where we are stationed?"

Li Shimin was furious when he heard this, and was both angry and anxious, but there was nothing he could do.

Only then did he remember that the other party was not his subject, but the Right Wise King of the Turks. He did not need to discuss anything he wanted to do with him.

Finally, he had to persuade him tactfully: "Isn't Urge a good place? There is abundant grass and water, many tribes, and it is far away from powerful enemies. It is very safe. If you set up another kingship, it will be difficult to get rid of it. After a long time, the Turks will split up."

Li Yan knew what Li Shimin was thinking, so he flatly refused, saying, "Urge is indeed good, but after this Western Expedition, the Turkic territory has expanded by half after the annexation of Mobei and the central grasslands. Our future enemies are the Tang Dynasty in the south and Xueyan in the west."

"Urge is too far away, which is not conducive to my control of the southwest."

"I will set up a royal tent in the southwest. If Urge is the Eastern Tent of the Turks, then the Irtysh River Valley is the Western Tent, just like the Eastern and Western Capitals of your Central Plains Dynasty."

"Two centers to strengthen control over the entire grassland."

"Not only will I set up a royal tent, I will also station a large army here to manage the western part of the grassland, slowly squeeze the Xueyantuo to the southwest, and threaten the Hexi area of ​​the Tang Dynasty. I can cut off the road from the Central Plains to the Western Regions at any time."

"With such military pressure, the Yi people will follow our plan and boldly stir up trouble in the Western Regions. Then those small countries will understand the helplessness of the Tang Dynasty."

"You can also sit in Chang'an City and watch the dying with a clear conscience, which is like killing two birds with one stone."

"Wait five years, and Yi Nan will finish the work. If there is any dirt left, I, the Turks, will go and plow it again, and then the Tang Dynasty will slowly take over. Naturally, we can calmly clean up the situation and safely take the vast Western Regions into our possession."

(End of this chapter)