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

Chapter 946: Born in Adversity, Died in Comfort

It would be a real disaster if no one knew how to fight anymore.

When he thought of this, Li Shimin broke out in a cold sweat and secretly blamed himself for being so confused. It was such a simple truth, but he couldn't even understand it among the scholars.

Seeing that Li Shimin had figured it out, Li Yan smiled and said, "As long as I can control the grassland, I won't launch such a large-scale invasion, and the Tang Dynasty won't have to worry too much. But only you know this, and you can't tell those ministers."

"They must remain vigilant at all times and not leave the safety of the country to chance."

"Starting next year, I will allow the southern grassland tribes to continue to invade the Tang Dynasty. But don't worry, these are local wars that serve to train the army and generals."

"Of course, this need is mainly for the Tang Dynasty."

"The grassland environment is harsh. In the process of fighting natural disasters, everyone is a natural warrior. Their fighting power will never weaken. I will use it to help you train the army. The annual expenditure will be paid by you, the Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin was completely relaxed at this time, and pretended to be angry and said, "How can this be justified? You come to attack my Tang Dynasty and still ask me to provide military funds. Is there such a thing in the world?"

"Hahaha!"

Li Yan smiled cheerfully: "In fact, this kind of war has another benefit. Once the trade is opened, the trade volume between the two sides will increase sharply. Both you and I will collect taxes, and the amount will definitely not be a small number. At that time, the two countries will set up tax collection departments in the four border towns of the trade."

"The benefits of trade are huge. A single order cannot control it. This is to prevent the noble leaders of our two countries from smuggling and evading taxes through other places."

"So we have to start wars on other borders, kill people and burn people, use the way of guarding the border, implement military control in a just and legitimate way, strictly prevent smuggling and tax evasion, and drive all transactions to the four border towns."

"When the time comes, I will kill those who are inconvenient for you, and you will kill those who are inconvenient for me. Everyone has this need, and you don't want a large amount of tax revenue to be escaped by the noble families, right?"

Li Shimin was stunned when he heard this, his face became heavy, and he nodded silently.

So that's how it is. If Li Yan hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten that the two countries share a border, and smuggling can be done everywhere along the thousands of miles long border.

Through war, we can first train soldiers and generals; secondly, we can eliminate those who engage in private transactions to ensure a stable source of finances; thirdly, we can cover up the dirty cooperation among people in private through confrontation.

It’s really a good idea!

Li Shimin was excited. If those noble families could make use of the Turks, why couldn't he? Judging from the attitude of the Right Wise King, as long as he discussed it properly, he could easily manipulate those noble families.

The prey and the hunter are not fixed either, and can be interchanged at any time as long as the wrist is high enough.

When the clouds clear away, the sky becomes clear and huge opportunities emerge.

For the first time, Li Shimin saw the hope of completely resolving the problem of the aristocratic families. He felt satisfied and had stronger confidence in the future.

As long as the Turks do not launch a large-scale war in the next few years, he can completely free himself up to solve the problem of the aristocratic families.

As expected, he was a hero who had fought his way out of the foreign tribes. Seeing that Li Yan had so many ways, Li Shimin was moved, and then asked with some inquiry: "Well, do you have any good ways to deal with the nobles?"

From a certain perspective, the wealthy and powerful families are both their own subjects and thieves.

It was really not a good idea for an emperor to ask the enemy chief for a solution. Li Shimin felt a little embarrassed, but for some reason, although this Right Wise King was an opponent, he gave Li Shimin a feeling of trustworthiness.

Once the two sides reach an agreement, the Tang Dynasty will be able to reduce its strength. Without external constraints, it can focus on reforming internal affairs and dealing with the problems of aristocratic families.

Perhaps the aristocratic families also felt the crisis, so they ran to the grassland and sought help from the Turks.

In the next few years, the Tang Dynasty will not be peaceful, and greater conflicts will erupt. Therefore, Li Shimin does not want to miss this opportunity and wants to strive for maximum power.

Li Shimin did a good job in popularizing paper and promoting knowledge. This was the real way to disintegrate the aristocratic families, and it was an open conspiracy. Only by introducing more scholars and scrambling for them would resources be dispersed.

However, this method takes too long and it is difficult to see significant results in a short period of time.

In the final analysis, the aristocratic families tried every possible way to concentrate resources and form economies of scale to counter the imperial power.

Then the emperor had to find a way to do the opposite. Whether it was the feudal system or land reform, the purpose was to disperse the resources and no longer concentrate them in the hands of one family.

Thinking of this, Li Yan said: "In fact, I have said before that a person's greatest enemy is himself, and the one who can truly defeat a person is also himself."

“Similarly, fortresses are always breached from the inside. In the end, only aristocratic families can defeat aristocratic families. You still have to think of a way from this aspect.”

"Are you talking about training new families to fight against the old ones?"

Li Shimin was startled and shook his head decisively: "From the Sui Dynasty to the previous emperor, this method was used. The result was that the new aristocratic family replaced the old one. It was just a change of soup but not the essence. After decades, it is still aristocratic politics. Can't fundamentally solve the problem?"

"No, my idea is to find a solution from within each family." Li Yan said slowly: "In fact, the way the Han Dynasty dealt with the vassal kings can also be used to deal with the aristocratic families."

"You mean?" Li Shimin's eyes jumped.

"good."

Li Yan said: "One can learn from others' experience. Isn't the Enfeoffment Order of the Han Dynasty a good idea? Let the descendants of the aristocratic families enjoy the right to distribute the family's property. Don't worry that they won't fight among themselves."

Li Yan felt secretly resentful, you prevented the eldest son of the royal family, the crown prince, from succeeding to the throne smoothly and even made him a laughing stock, then I will make sure your eldest son cannot live in peace either. You caused the emperor to fight among his own people, so I will make your families start fighting among each other as well.

Li Shimin frowned and thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "In fact, I have thought of this method, but the aristocratic families nowadays are more powerful than the princes in the Han Dynasty. They have already thought of a way to deal with the Enfeoffment Order and will pass on the absolute power of the family to the head of the family."

"Even before the old patriarch passed away, the future structure was already allocated. They are like the emperor emeritus, controlling the family through the Council of Elders, and it does not affect the transfer of power."

"Although the aristocratic family is like an independent kingdom, it is not like the imperial family where there is no two suns in the sky and no two rulers in the country. Those second sons and illegitimate sons who cannot inherit the title have no power to resist such a powerful threat."

Li Yan also sighed helplessly, the aristocratic family is not without its merits.

All in all, the aristocratic families, after thousands of years of confrontation with imperial power, have developed a more advanced survival model that is no less than the democratic politics of later generations.

It has formed an advanced talent echelon training system and a democratic decision-making system, which perfectly avoids the centralized system of dynasty monarchs in which the entire power is highly dependent on one person. This is an institutional crushing, a confrontation between the advanced and the backward. How can history go backwards?

Well.
Thinking of this, Li Yan's heart sank. Isn't that right?

The dynasties after the Tang Dynasty did indeed take a step backwards. The Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties all used Confucianism, or even the more perverted Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, to restrict thought, implement policies that make the people ignorant and weak, and shrink inward, resulting in serious internal friction that led to the collapse of China.

From the era when the king and Ma shared the world, we entered an era when the Yi and Xia took turns to be the boss and each dominated the trend for hundreds of years.

It can be said that the imperial power and the aristocratic families perished together!

Li Yan sighed. In the final analysis, all the declines of dynasties started from their invincibility.

Power needs to be restricted, and a dynasty cannot be without enemies.

Born in adversity, died in comfort, these eight words can be said to be a perfect portrayal of the life of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji.

From wise rulers to incompetent rulers, from the Kaiyuan Prosperity to the An Lushan Rebellion, the once powerful Tang Empire plunged headlong into the abyss of fragmentation and never recovered from that time until its demise. Even a generation could not survive such a short change, which further illustrates the terrible nature of human nature.

This restraint cannot be achieved by one's own consciousness, but must be constantly deterred by external powerful enemies. The role of the enemy is irreplaceable. Only under the threat of powerful enemies can the descendants of Yan and Huang unite as one and forge ahead;

Once there are no enemies, people will start to slack off.

Even becoming your own enemy until you kill yourself.

How can one allow others to sleep soundly beside one's bed? This is the way of man. All things are interdependent and restrain each other. Everything will turn to its opposite when it reaches its extreme. Everything will decline after reaching its peak. This is the way of heaven.

The laws of nature will prevail over the laws of humanity!

This made Li Yan more determined to follow the path of nature. If he really pushed the Tang Dynasty to the peak of invincibility, he might personally push the Tang Dynasty to the path of destruction.

He shook his head and collected his thoughts.

Li Yan knew that both the royal family and the aristocratic families were seeking to grow stronger, and there was no question of who was right or wrong. Positions were changing at any time. What was right today might be wrong tomorrow. What was good now might be bad in the future.

You never know when you might end up standing against the people.

However, in general, while the imperial power protects its own interests, it also seeks to maintain the stability of the country and cannot ignore the people.

However, the aristocratic families are only trying to dig into the country's walls and don't care about the lives of the common people. Moreover, their size is too huge and the common people simply cannot afford to support them.

Li Yan pretended to be helpless and hinted: "In fact, the reason why the aristocratic families are so powerful is mainly because of the top group. With them standing in front and competing with the imperial power, those smaller and more numerous powerful families cannot move."

"If we can deal with the top group, the others won't be a problem. The court will probably be able to restrain them through administrative power, and those reforms can be implemented."

Li Shimin's heart moved, and the feudal system came to his mind again.

After thinking about it carefully, Li Shimin suddenly discovered that there seemed to be a powerful force pushing him towards that path.

Looking up at the sky, Li Shimin sighed dejectedly.

It seems that this is God's will.
(End of this chapter)