Established a millennium family since King Wu defeated Zhou

Chapter 1001 Separation
The world is becoming increasingly unfamiliar to everyone in it.

Since the steam age, everyone has been saying that this is the biggest change that has not happened in a thousand years.

Up to now, in the hundred years since the beginning of the steam age, the world has changed far more than in the past thousand years.

Thick smoke billows out under every blue sky, and the sky above every industrial city is gray and filled with black particles.

Hedong, the birthplace of the Tang Dynasty, is now filled with pits from coal mining. In the face of practical interests, no one wants to talk about the dragon veins that must not be touched.

The Yangtze River is full of mechanically driven ships, as well as countless overseas routes. The vast sea routes handle most of the world's cargo, and the cities with ice-free ports are more prosperous than each other.

In Luoyang, high-rise buildings could not be built at will because of the need to accommodate the imperial palace, but they can be found everywhere in these industrial cities.

The hidden dangers in the north that have plagued thousands of people in the Central Plains are no longer a problem in this era. Wool factories and widespread ore factories have brought wealth to this land that was unimaginable in the past. This place is no longer a worthless wasteland, and the cost of ruling here can finally be covered.

Especially after the reform, the economic base determines the superstructure, and the political atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty has become much more relaxed. In many provinces, private newspapers and other relaxed changes have appeared, presenting a thriving scene.

This change had already become apparent in the fourth year of the reform. How could Luo Changqing, who led this reform, not be aware of it?
How could a smart man like him not know what the consequences would be if this continued?

At this time, he really understood what "history is in an upward spiral" meant.

Some things are destined. Without reform, the Tang Dynasty would perish at the hands of those countries that reformed. After the reform, the Tang Dynasty would perish within its own country.

Luo Changqing may not know what historical materialism is.

But he could see this fact, this result, which made him feel empty inside.

Ten years after the reform, he was in his nineties.

This age is considered extremely old even in the Luo family. All his sons and nephews have died, but he is still alive.

He entered the officialdom at the age of 20 and grew up step by step with diligence. Later, he inherited the throne of King of Luo, was promoted to prime minister, and took charge of major government affairs. Seventy years of his life were spent for the Tang Dynasty.

He witnessed almost all the changes in the second half of the Tang Dynasty's steam age. He was also a witness and popularizer of the gradual transition from the steam age to the electrical age.

The depth of his feelings for the Tang Dynasty is hard to imagine for ordinary people and even most of the direct descendants of the Luo family.

He was both happy and painful about the outcome of the reform, and was torn between his conscience and his desires at every moment. However, he had no choice but to do it, to push the reform forward and to destroy the foundation of the imperial system.

...to personally dig out the foundation of the Tang Dynasty’s legitimacy.

In the Forbidden City, at Fengge Luantai, Luo Changqing gently rubbed his temples to relieve the busyness and soreness from the past few days. Now, all the people working in Fengge Luantai are Luo Changqing's confidants, and the guards quickly served him hot tea.

The people below looked up at King Luo with his head full of white hair, and many of them couldn't help but feel a little sad.

In terms of age, Luo Changqing could already be their grandfather. The current King Luo could truly be said to have been in office for a very long time. The Emperor was already very old, but in front of King Luo, he was still considered a young man.

Over the years, Prince Luo can truly be said to have devoted himself to state affairs.

People like him are destined to be recorded and praised in history.

"Your Highness Prince Luo has made great contributions to the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty today. He is no less outstanding than the famous ministers who assisted the Tang Dynasty in ancient times."

Now the ministers in the court think so, and the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty also thinks so, but only Luo Changqing himself does not think so.

"I will probably be a Luo family head who bears a bad name. I am an executioner. Have I brought shame to the family?"

Luo Changqing spread out his hands, not knowing how many people's blood was stained on them. Some of these people should not have died, but eventually died directly or indirectly in his hands.

"Successful reform? Leading the Tang Dynasty out of its difficulties?"

There were people both inside and outside the family praising him like this, and they said it from the bottom of their hearts.

But Luo Changqing didn't think so. Every time he heard it, he just smiled bitterly in his heart.

He only hoped that there was a crack in the ground so that he could crawl into it. In his eyes, these words of praise were a great irony to him.

What is the Tang Dynasty and the Emperor like today?

He knows better than anyone what his reforms will look like.

As one of the two most powerful people in the world, he was very clear that this was a reform to cope with future crises and a reform to save the Tang Dynasty from extinction. It objectively promoted the release of some social vitality, but that was all.

The internal division within the Tang Dynasty is now more serious than ever before, and it has not been so serious in the past few thousand years.

In the past, there was a strict hierarchy, but it was different from the present because essentially everyone lived in the same world, the only difference was the degree of imperial attention.

but now.

Luo Changqing didn't know how to describe it. In the eyes of the nobles in the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, with a strong army, running factories, a constant flow of goods in and out, tall buildings, and a sense of prosperity everywhere.

But in Luo Changqing's view, the Tang Dynasty is full of crises. Even in the capital Luoyang, there are people living in poverty. Even with the laws of the empire, how many people are suffering in the factories across the country?
Driving farmers off the land is naturally beneficial to the development of industry, but it is equivalent to completely depriving farmers of their last bit of assets. What if they cannot find jobs in the city?
Then they will die of hunger and cold.

The textile industry has developed to become the strongest in the world, but there are still a large number of people who can only wear clothes made of linen.

Most of the power released by the reform fell on the middle and upper classes of the empire. After all, the benefits of industrial development could never fall on ordinary workers.

The only benefit may be that the workers have more choices, and the laws followed by the empire have made them better treated than before. Some people still drive horse-drawn carriages on the various roads paved by the empire for cars.

Coming towards us are cars equipped with fuel engines.

When the two met and looked at each other, one had entered the electrical age while the other was still in the feudal age.

This does not represent a simple technical issue, but rather two different ideas.

Luo Changqing can completely defeat the conservatives at the middle and higher levels, but he cannot defeat all conservatives at the grassroots level. He can only use communications that can reach the countryside to bring about changes.

The gap between cities and rural areas has never been so huge, not only in the Tang Dynasty, but also in Rome today. The conservatives are entrenched in the countryside, forming a sharp contrast with the new school members in the city.

Of course, whether in the Tang Dynasty or in any other country, the power of cities has won a decisive victory, and the power of industrial areas is far greater than that of agricultural areas.

As long as we occupy the city and then use propaganda, we can uproot the conservative stronghold.

There was a huge split within the empire.

There is also a huge divide between the provinces within the empire and the border provinces. Penglai Province, Izu, Ryukyu and the Islands, these islands around the empire are across the sea from the mainland of the empire, and transportation is naturally not so convenient. They have always been secretly unfamiliar with the mainland of the empire.

As for provinces such as Lingbei, Western Regions, and Snow Regions, most of them are united around the empire for economic reasons. Their internal industries are very single, or they only have resources but nothing else and rely on the empire. For example, the Lingbei province is so large that it stretches from the Mobei steppe to the Arctic Ocean, but in fact its industries mainly rely on animal husbandry and mining, which cannot be separated from the empire.

However, those provinces that already had relatively complete industries, especially developed regions such as the Annan Province, always had some unpleasant thoughts in their minds. Even if governors were sent from the central government, these governors would soon be assimilated or fierce conflicts would break out.

During the Yonghe Reform, Luo Changqing was really determined to clean up the Annan Province. He almost destroyed half of the life of the Annan Province. 70% of the heavy industry was moved away. Now Annan can't even build a car.

He did not make any major changes to the light industry, which was the main source of employment, but he strengthened the supervision and even transferred one of his great-nephews to serve as governor. He wanted to completely destroy the tendencies of separatism in the province of Annan from a completely economic perspective.

After cleaning up Annan Province, Luo Changqing left a clear warning: "Although the territory of the Tang Dynasty is vast, there is not an inch of it left. We dare not lose an inch of land, and we cannot give up an inch of land. If anyone dares to split, the Tang Dynasty will use his head to tell everyone that it is impossible!"

The fate of the Annan Province shocked many people. Some of them understood what it meant that it was not that there was no retribution but that the time had not come. The empire did not even allow vassal states thousands of miles away to become independent, let alone the provinces within the empire.

The reason why Luo Changqing finally resorted to this method after enduring for so long was because the ideological chaos within the empire could no longer be tolerated, and he could even allow new schools of thought to exist.

But no ideology should tolerate the division of the country and nation. Division means opposition, opposition means dispute, dispute means war, and once a war starts, it will be difficult to stop.

He cracked down on separatism with a strong force, and the authority of the central court was greatly enhanced. Then he established an education system starting from childhood to instill this idea.

These actions are not a problem in large cities, but they are still difficult in the vast rural areas because productivity has not evolved to the point where large amounts of land can be abandoned.

According to normal people's thinking, it seems that the propaganda should be infiltrated into the rural areas, but Luo Changqing did not do so.

Because he has another set of data in his hand, that is the urbanization data of the Tang Dynasty. Before the Yonghe Reform, the urbanization rate of the Tang Dynasty was about 9.2%. After ten years of reform, the urbanization rate of the Tang Dynasty has reached 25.6%. It may be limited by statistical means and not very accurate, but it is already very telling.

The rapid development of industry will drive urbanization. As long as we continue to drive the population out of rural areas and move them into towns and cities, and then strengthen the supporting facilities of towns and cities, the rest of the things will be obtained naturally.

The cost of entering the countryside is too high and the benefits do not outweigh the costs. It is almost impossible to change the countryside without destroying the economic foundation.

The complex situation within the empire made Luo Changqing feel as if he had become two different people. On his left, there was a white man telling him to pay more attention to people's livelihood and proceed step by step. On his right, there was a gray man telling him that everything was illusory and that drastic reforms without bloodshed were impossible.

The empire is facing unprecedented division, and Luo Changqing, who controls most of the empire's data, is also facing unprecedented division.

“I want to have a clear conscience.”

Luo Changqing said this, and then the gray little man looked up and laughed loudly: "What a luxurious idea, a top noble like you, who works hard for the imperial system, actually wants to have a clear conscience."

The white little man said with a sad face: "Being in your position, no black little man appeared. You have done very well. Your feet are stepping on darkness, but your body is still in the light."

Probably no one in the entire empire knows that what Luo Changqing wants is just to have a clear conscience.

Luo Changqing often envied his ancestors. Born in an era when they were powerless, they did not have these concerns. They just had to use their abilities to make the world a better place. As long as the farmers could have food to eat in the winter and the administration of officials could be clarified, that would be a prosperous age.

But this is not the case in this era.

There must be a better way in this world, Luo Changqing firmly believed. Although he always looked down on new learning, there were some things in new learning that he could not do. This was also the reason why he left a way for new learning within the empire.

If one day the path he is taking fails, perhaps he can still find a new path through the internal fission of new studies.

"Your Highness."

"Your Highness!"

It seemed as if there was a calling voice coming from the periphery of the white space. Luo Changqing slowly woke up from his distraction, and then saw several people standing two or three meters in front of him, looking at him with some concern.

"Your Highness, I and others called you just now, but you didn't say anything, so I came closer to take a look."

Luo Changqing stretched his stiff shoulders and body, and said softly, "Alas, I am old now, and my energy is not good enough after all."

This slightly bleak tone made the people in the palace feel sad again, "Your Highness."

Luo Changqing waved his hand, "You all called me the king, is there something important?"

"Your Highness, the Ministry of War has submitted a memorial regarding the military situation on the front lines."

(End of this chapter)