Diqin Designer

Chapter 396: The Tang Dynasty is in decline, and the Yellow King is about to emerge (History of the Tang Dynasty)

"After Wang Wei was pardoned, he continued to serve in the court, but was demoted to the position of Prince's Assistant. However, he was soon promoted again and appointed as a scholar in the Jixian Hall, and later moved to the position of Prince's Assistant and Secretary of the Central Secretariat. In the first year of Shangyuan, he was transferred to the position of Shangshu Youcheng!"

Hearing Li Nian's words, Feng Quji said with emotion: "Although Li Bai, Du Fu, and Wang Wei lived in the same era, their paths were completely different."

It is obvious that Li Bai and Du Fu were as talented as Wang Wei, but their fates were so different. Du Fu was unsuccessful in his official career, lived in misery, and eventually died of illness on a boat; Li Bai might be better than Du Fu, but not by much.

Li Nian said: "This is called birth determines destiny. Although Du Fu's ancestors were also rich, how can they compare with Wang Wei? The Wang family of Taiyuan is one of the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Clan. Although it is a branch, it is better than Du Fu and Li Bai. Moreover, the branch Wang Wei belongs to is not worse than the main branch. His mother was from the Cui family of Boling, and it is said that his wife was also from the Cui family of Boling."

"Although the Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families had been suppressed by Emperor Taizong, Emperor Gaozong, and Empress Wu, their influence cannot be underestimated. Wang Wei, who came from such a family, would have been treated as a guest of honor in most places in the Tang Dynasty at that time. This was also the main reason why An Lushan did not kill him after he was captured by the rebels in Chang'an, but instead sent people to welcome him to Luoyang and forced him to serve as an official."

Meng Tian smiled and said, "An Lushan must have thought that after finally capturing Wang Wei, a famous and well-born son of an aristocratic family, he must make good use of him. Not only would he not kill Wang Wei, but he would let Wang Wei live a good life, so that the aristocratic families of the Tang Dynasty could see his attitude."

Li Nian said: "In the spring of the second year of Shangyuan, Wang Wei requested to be stripped of all his official positions and return to the countryside. In May, he submitted a letter of thanks. In July, he passed away peacefully at the age of 61."

"The Immortal Poet, the Sage Poet, and the Buddha Poet, these three outstanding poets in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, all witnessed the glory of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, and also witnessed the tragic scene of the collapse of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, and all suffered the impact of the An-Shi Rebellion."

"Speaking of which, the Anshi Rebellion also has something to do with Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, because among the rebels in the Anshi Rebellion, in addition to the rebellious Tang army, there were also many soldiers from other races..."

The First Emperor thought about it for a moment and recalled that Li Nian had mentioned this before. He asked, "Were these foreign tribes moved into the Tang Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Taizong?"

Li Nian nodded: "That's right! In the third year of the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, it was established by the Shiwei and Khitan tribes and governed in Yingzhou. During the An Lushan Rebellion, the Khitan and Shiwei followed An Lushan in the rebellion!"

"Although not all foreign races will rebel, and there are even many foreign races that are quite loyal to the Tang Dynasty, and their people have become the pillars of the Tang Dynasty and are used by the Tang Dynasty, such as Gao Xianzhi, Li Guangbi, Geshuhan, Ashina She'er, etc. Gao Xianzhi is a Goguryeo person, Li Guangbi is a Khitan, Geshuhan and Ashina She'er are Turks, but our Great Qin should still learn from the Tang Dynasty!"

"We must not be careless in dealing with foreign races, otherwise the An-Shi Rebellion might not happen in Qin. I have never believed that we should exterminate all foreign races. This is not allowed and cannot be done. However, all foreign races in Qin must obey Qin's laws and abide by Qin's rules. We must not let them govern themselves and do whatever they want."

"If we allow them to retain their original customs and habits and govern themselves, they will always remember that they are foreigners, not the people of the Qin Empire. When the Qin Empire is strong, they will behave themselves and praise the power of the Qin Empire. But once they find an opportunity, they will attack the Qin Empire fiercely!"

"This kind of situation also happened in the past during the Han Dynasty. The Wuhuan, Xiongnu, and Qiang were moved into Han territory. During the turmoil at the end of the Han Dynasty, they also caused trouble for the Han Dynasty. However, despite the chaos, the Han Dynasty was still strong enough to defeat them. I have only one idea for the foreign races: it is not necessary to exterminate them, but it is necessary to eliminate their customs and culture, so that they can truly become the people of the Qin Dynasty, rather than being in the Qin Dynasty with different hearts!"

The First Emperor and others listened carefully to Li Nian's words. The First Emperor solemnly stated: "At least in my lifetime, the Great Qin will not repeat the mistakes of the Tang Dynasty."

After hearing the Emperor's assurance, Li Nian said, "The Tang Dynasty's policy towards ethnic minorities not only affected the An-Shi Rebellion, but also the Tang Dynasty and even the dynasties after the Tang Dynasty. I remember that I mentioned before that there was a country called 'Liao' during the Northern Song Dynasty, which was founded by the Khitan people."

"Of course, we should not be too strict in governing the foreign races and not treat them as human beings! The Tang Dynasty will allow some foreign races to rebel, and sometimes it is because they are too persecuted. We must be moderate and let the foreign races identify with the Qin Dynasty and regard themselves as Qin people!"

"In fact, many of the foreign races around Daqin are of Chinese descent, but they have forgotten where they came from. Daqin is now the legitimate Chinese nation, and we have an obligation to remind them."

This gives Daqin a reason to target the surrounding ethnic minorities. We are all one Chinese family. Now, as the eldest brother of the Chinese family, Daqin has the responsibility and obligation to let other brothers and sisters remember their ancestors and join the big family.

This was not the first time that Li Nian emphasized the dangers of foreign races. The First Emperor and others understood that Li Nian was worried that the Qin Dynasty would not learn its lesson, so he mentioned it to them repeatedly so that they would remember it.

"The An-Shi Rebellion caused the Tang Dynasty to decline from its heyday, and the people's livelihood was in decline. The wealth accumulated during the Kaiyuan heyday was lost, and the people were plunged into dire straits. In addition, the power of the military governors increased greatly. Although there were loyal ministers like Guo Ziyi, how many military governors were like Guo Ziyi?"

"The Panzhen separatist situation in the Tang Dynasty has gradually formed, and the Tang Dynasty's jurisdiction over the local areas has been severely weakened. At the same time, the withdrawal of troops from the Western Regions and the border to quell the rebellion has also caused the Tang Dynasty's influence in the Western Regions to decline, and a crisis has occurred in the border areas. In addition, the Anshi Rebellion gave Buddhism an opportunity to revive!"

"The revival of Buddhism is foreseeable, but in times of turmoil, some religions will develop more rapidly. The An-Shi Rebellion accelerated the revival of Buddhism. In the late Tang Dynasty, there were a large number of Buddhist temples. Their land was not taxed, and monks were exempted from taxes and labor service. A large number of people became monks and nuns to avoid taxes and labor service."

"So, in the fifth year of Huichang, Emperor Wuzong of Tang, Li Yan, issued an order to abolish Buddhism, investigate all temples, confiscate hundreds of thousands of hectares of fertile land, 150,000 slaves, force 260,000 monks and nuns to return to secular life, and release more than 500,000 men who worked for the temples. This was also called the 'Huichang Persecution' by Buddhists!"

"But Li Yan died in the sixth year of Huichang. After Emperor Xuanzong Li Chen ascended the throne, he ordered the revival of Buddhism. Although the Tang Dynasty revered Laozi Li Er as its ancestor and established Taoism as the state religion, Buddhism also had a profound influence on the Tang Dynasty, especially after Wu Mei. Emperors Suzong Li Heng, Dezong Li Shi, and Xianzong Li Chun all believed in Buddhism, and the poet Wang Wei and his family all believed in Buddhism."

Li Nian began to praise Buddhism again, but hearing that Buddhism had such a profound influence on the Tang Dynasty did increase the vigilance of Qin Shi Huang and others towards Buddhism. It would be better not to introduce such a religion into the Qin Dynasty, but to spread it to other countries!

“Although the An-Shi Rebellion caused the Tang Dynasty to decline, it still lasted for more than 140 years. It’s just that there has been no emperor like Taizong and Xuanzong in the first half of his life who can revive the Tang Dynasty again.”

"Although there were the 'Yuanhe Restoration', 'Huichang Restoration', 'Dazhong Reign'... none of them could save the Tang Dynasty from decline. They can only be regarded as small revival, not great governance. Tang Xuanzong Li Chen was known as the 'Little Taizong', but it was only a title after all, and only the 'Little Taizong', not the real Taizong." "The late Tang Dynasty had many problems. One of them was the separatist rule of the vassal states. The vassal states had too much power and the central court could not control them. One of them was the eunuchs' disorderly politics. In the 15th year of Yuanhe, the eunuchs Wang Shoucheng and Chen Hongzhi conspired to kill Tang Xianzong. Since then, the six emperors Muzong, Wenzong, Wuzong, Yizong, Xizong, and Zhaozong were all supported by eunuchs, and the lives of some emperors were even controlled by eunuchs."

Wang Wan commented: "The emperor's life was controlled by the eunuchs, which shows how powerful the eunuchs were in the Tang Dynasty. If they acted recklessly, they would cause great harm."

Li Nian smiled and said, "The eunuchs' growing power has something to do with Emperor Xuanzong. During the Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong stipulated that eunuchs' positions could not exceed the third rank, which means that the fourth rank was the maximum for eunuchs and they could not be promoted any higher."

"But Xuanzong thought he had made great achievements and was very confident. He didn't care about the harm caused by eunuchs. He thought that even if eunuchs were a little harmful, they were under his control and could not cause any trouble. So, he broke the rules set by Taizong and appointed eunuchs as third-rank generals to patrol various places on his behalf and even supervise the army!"

When hearing the word "military supervisor", Qin Shihuang and others immediately thought of Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing. These two famous generals of the Tang Dynasty were killed by the military supervisor named "Bian Lingcheng".

"Having such power, officials from all sides naturally flattered the eunuchs, and the eunuchs' power expanded rapidly. In fact, Xuanzong broke the rules set by Taizong not only because of his self-confidence, but also because of Gao Lishi."

"Gao Lishi was also a eunuch. He served Emperor Xuanzong before he ascended the throne and was deeply trusted by him. Gao Lishi lived up to Emperor Xuanzong's trust and they were a good match for each other. Emperor Xuanzong naturally wanted to elevate Gao Lishi's power, but not all eunuchs were Gao Lishi."

This was another sin caused by Emperor Xuanzong. Establishing the Jiedushi could be said to be a relatively good choice under the circumstances at that time, but it is difficult to comment on whether it elevated the status of eunuchs.

At that time, Xuanzong did not have to rely on eunuchs to exercise imperial power. Before the Anshi Rebellion, he was a first-class emperor with real power and had people under his command.

"Party struggles among court officials were also one of them. The most famous one was the 'Niu-Li Party Struggle'. The so-called 'Niu-Li Party Struggle' was a party struggle between the Niu Party headed by Niu Sengru and Li Zongmin and the Li Party headed by Li Deyu and Zheng Tan. The struggle between the two sides began during the reign of Emperor Xianzong of Tang and ended during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, lasting for nearly forty years."

The First Emperor said: "We have been fighting for nearly forty years, which is half a lifetime for one person and a long time for a country. Instead of using their energy to strengthen the country, they are fighting for power and forming factions to attack dissidents. This is consuming the potential for national progress and the opportunity for national strength! They should be executed!"

If anyone dares to do these things under his nose and waste the Qin Dynasty's forty years of development, he will definitely order these people to be executed!

Li Nian said: "Party disputes are difficult to ban, but they must be controlled to a certain extent, so as not to deplete the country's vitality and hinder national progress. The Niu-Li faction dispute was out of control. The dispute has developed to the point where they want to win over the other party even if it harms the interests of the country. That is, 'I may not win, but you must lose.'"

"The consequences are naturally serious. The already damaged imperial court has lost its prestige again, allowing local vassal states to rise faster. The imperial court's policies have also become chaotic and disorderly due to the dispute between the two parties. Yesterday, the Niu Party controlled the court and made policies. Tomorrow, when the Li Party comes to power, it will overthrow the Niu Party's policies."

"In this way, the imperial court's policies change from day to day. How can it have prestige? Moreover, if officials want to be promoted, they have to choose a party to cling to. If they don't cling to one, it will be difficult to be promoted. Once they cling to one, they will have to compete with the other party. How many officials can work with peace of mind?"

Wang Wan and others nodded solemnly. When this kind of party struggle develops to the end, it will no longer matter who is right or wrong. As long as you propose it, I will oppose it, and if you oppose it, I will support it, causing chaos in the entire court and bringing disaster to the country.

Li Nian continued, "In the future of Daqin, there will inevitably be people who form groups and fight with each other, but we must draw a bottom line and set limits so that they cannot be crossed."

After hearing what Li Nian said, Wang Jian and others complained in their hearts, it is not only in the future that people will form groups, they still exist today, not to mention others, those who are in the hall now also have their own factions and groups, only you don't seem to have any group.

No, this kid has his own faction, which is even bigger than theirs. The craftsmen, alchemists, and scholars under him can all be considered to belong to his faction. It's just that this kid doesn't often go to court, nor does he participate in the struggles among various forces in the court.

However, no one would bother to provoke this kid. Everyone knew that His Majesty trusted and respected this kid, and anyone with a clear mind would not want to provoke him.

Li Nian didn't know what Wang Jian and the others were thinking, so he continued, "Due to various factors, the government of the late Tang Dynasty was in chaos and the government was extremely corrupt. These would eventually affect the people of the Tang Dynasty."

"The social unrest and heavy taxes made the lives of the people of the Tang Dynasty increasingly poor, and many people had no choice but to become refugees. Even if Wang Xianzhi, Huang Chao and others had not launched an uprising, there would have been others who would have dragged the Tang Dynasty into destruction. And Huang Chao would have revolted..."

Li Nian said: "This is related to the fact that the aristocratic families were still in power and political corruption. Although the aristocratic families have been suppressed, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. The channels for advancement in the Tang Dynasty are basically controlled by these people. They can appoint anyone they want as an official. Otherwise, even if someone is twelve dou of talent, the world is in need of two dou of talent. If they say that he cannot be an official, then he cannot be an official!"

"This is also the main danger of aristocratic families and nobles. After they occupy high positions in the government, they block the path for others to climb up and get promoted. Although the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty have changed compared to the Sui Dynasty, with more subjects and more people admitted, they are still affected by the candidates' backgrounds."

"Even if one's family background is not good, one still needs a recommender from a prominent family, such as an important official, a princess, or a prince, and Huang Chao doesn't have any of these!"

"Huang Chao is from Yuanju, Caozhou. His family has been engaged in the business of smuggling salt for generations. Although this family background can make Huang Chao worry-free about food and clothing, it is not even comparable to those noble families!"

How can you, a stinking salt contraband seller, be compared with us, the five surnames and seven families, and the royal family?
Even if you lick my boots, I think your saliva is dirty!
(End of this chapter)