Established a millennium family since King Wu defeated Zhou

Chapter 937: All the Ways, States, and Countries in the World
In the Lingyan Pavilion, lifelike portraits of people were hung in the pavilion. Li Shimin personally hung the last portrait of Luo Xuanye on the Bagua Gan.

In the painting, Luo Xuanye is wearing a crown facing the sky and bright light armor. He is holding a horse in one hand and a horse stall in the other. He is majestic and heavy.

Li Zhi, dressed in princely attire, followed Li Shimin.

Time ticked by, and after thinking about it for a long time, Li Shimin breathed out softly, "Slave slave, I have basically done everything I have to do. The most important thing next is to teach you how to be a good king.

You see, the people hanging here are all my heroes. I cannot achieve what I have today without these people. In the future, you will also have so many wise ministers and generals to assist you in your great achievements.

I have ordered that all the governors, governors, governors, and noble relatives in the world come to Chang'an to worship me and you. I also announce something that I have thought deeply about. You should read it carefully and understand it carefully. "

……

In the Taiji Hall, all the prime ministers were shocked by what the emperor said, especially Luo Xuanchen, who was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, and felt that a storm was coming.

It's probably because of what Li Shimin said - "The Imperial Master once taught me that if this country were a human being, the official system would be like a skeleton. Whether the human being is standing upright or weak and unable to straighten up, all depends on it. Official system.

官，
Out of the earth.

If there is a state, there will be a governor, if there is a county, there will be a county magistrate, if there is a governor's office, there will be a governor, and so on.

On June 30, Ambassador Xuanwei returned to Chang'an and reported various affairs to me and the ministers. You should still remember it.

I have been thinking about it for a long time and decided to re-divide the supervision areas of all the world's roads to avoid collusion between the Xuanwei envoys and the local governors.

At the same time, the governors' histories of all the states in the world were reorganized, and some governors' histories were merged, added, and transferred to feudal states. "

How can this not shock everyone? It is very difficult to adjust administrative planning on such a large scale.

Almost before Li Shimin finished speaking, Wei Zheng asked directly: "Has your Majesty ever thought about the following issues?
After the re-division of states and counties, how to transfer land registers and household registration lists in county offices and state capitals?
If the registered soldiers belong to two states, how will their land be distributed? "

Luo Xuanchen responded: "The abolition of officials is a trivial matter, but now almost all state and county affairs recorded by the Ministry of Civil Affairs will be drastically changed. The Ministry of Civil Affairs is short of manpower, which may delay the subsequent imperial examinations and official selections."

Fang Xuanling also advised: "His Majesty said that he wanted to change the governor of the state into a feudal state. Does it mean that he wants to divide the state into feudal states? Isn't this a policy that has been rejected?"

All the prime ministers basically opposed Li Shimin's approach, thinking that it was simply looking for trouble. This is no longer the Sui Dynasty. After two political division adjustments in Wude and the early Zhenguan years, the current prefectures and counties have become stable. It needs to be adjusted and re-divided.

Li Shimin said calmly: "I will not make major changes to the prefectures and counties, so you don't have to be so panicked. What I want to adjust is the supervision area at the Dao level. For example, Jiangnan Dao will be divided into Jiangnan East Dao and Jiangnan West Dao." Road, Jianghuai Road is divided into Huainan Road and Huaibei Road.”

He paused for a moment, and none of the prime ministers said anything. The state and county system is the fundamental local system of the country. Any change would be very troublesome. Even just changing the name like Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty would lead to the revision of a large number of official documents. , if the emperor does not touch this fundamental system, then it will not be a big problem.

As for the Dao above the prefectures and counties, this is not an administrative level, it is just a temporary supervisory area. Although these prime ministers who are familiar with history all know that in the Han Dynasty, Zengzhou was only a supervisory area, and the current Dao, Functionally, they are exactly the same, but in the end, the state gradually acquired administrative and military functions, and eventually became the highest administrative level above the county. The final outcome of Dao is probably the same, but at least at this moment, Dao is indeed not So important.

Today's emperor is a little different.

After Li Shimin calmly said those words, all the prime ministers present felt that the emperor had come prepared. Everyone looked at each other secretly and sat up slowly. The atmosphere in the palace was somewhat different. .

Seeing this, Li Shimin, who was half-lying on the throne, had a smile on his lips, "I think you all understand the first question.

Now back to the second issue of lockdown.

Dear friends, I would like to ask, there were nearly two hundred states in the Tang Dynasty in the first year of Wude. How many states are there in the Tang Dynasty now? "

Although the Tang Dynasty upheld peace and did not easily start wars, it could not stand up to some neighboring countries that were too capable. After more than ten years of forced expansion, they successively killed the Mobeidong Turks and threatened the Xiyan Kingdom in the Hexi Corridor. Gaochang, which controls the passage to the Western Regions, and the Liaodong Kingdom, which poses the greatest threat to the Central Plains, now have a vast territory with more than 300 state capitals in the Tang Dynasty, far more than in the early years of Zhenguan.

Changsun Wuji replied: "Your Majesty, there are three hundred and sixty states."

Li Shimin smiled and shook his head: "Wrong, it's more than a thousand states."

what?
As soon as Li Shimin said this, everyone naturally knew what he was talking about. Changsun Wuji was talking about Neizhou, which was the Zhongyuan Prefecture directly managed by the governor, while Li Shimin was talking about Jisi Prefecture. The situation in these Jisi Prefectures was too complicated. .

Some were divided according to cities, and each city was a state. For example, Liaodong City was changed to Liaozhou, Gaimou City was changed to Gaizhou, Beisha City was changed to Beizhou, and many more.

Others, because they do not live by water and grass and do not have a city, are directly given official positions and manage each tribe according to their official positions. At the top of the official positions are the three khans who form a collegial system. This is also a grassland custom.

"The Fan people originally did not have a centralized system. Within the same ethnic group, large tribes could not manage small tribes, so small tribes often invaded. How did we deal with it later? Sirs, please remember."

As soon as this matter was mentioned, several people in the palace began to have a headache. The organizational structure of the Hu people was so bad. For example, the Turkic Khan surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and came to pay tribute, but when he turned around, the Turkic tribes invaded the border. In the end, What made Datang feel blind and speechless was that this matter really had nothing to do with the Turkic Khan.

At the beginning, Datang blamed the tribal leaders, but later found that it was not that they did not want to control it, but that they could not control it, because among the various tribes of the Hu people, everything was negotiated, and there was no distinction between superiors and inferiors, so there was no one to obey. Order.

Later, in order to solve this problem, the Tang Dynasty could only hold its nose and teach these barbarians to centralize power. In other words, it was to establish an absolute authority within their ethnic group. Anyone who did not listen to him would be beaten by the Tang Dynasty. .

All tributes and exchanges with the Tang Dynasty can only be done by this leader. The most terrible thing is that after he dies, I will let his son take over. Don't think about communicating with the Central Plains in the same way as before.

The source of the legitimacy and strength of these people was the support of the Tang Dynasty. In this way, a system was built layer by layer to stabilize the border.

This system was very successful. In just a dozen years, after the disaster hit the Fan people, they no longer went south to clear grass and valleys. Instead, they reported to the Governor's Office and asked the Tang Dynasty for disaster relief.

According to expectations, in the future, these deeply Sinicized people will be moved step by step to the interior of the Central Plains, given surnames, and then moved out with the Central Plains surnames to communicate step by step.

However, "Some days ago, the Imperial Master said something to me, which made me suddenly feel uneasy. During the Zhenguan period, there were me and all the ministers, so all policies could always go according to our ideas.

What if future generations can’t do it?
What if they collapse the current system before everything is settled?
The Imperial Master told me that we, the Tang Dynasty, were not wrong in stabilizing the borders, but we must remember that nothing in this world is perfect.

Nowadays, the Khitans, Turks and other tribes around the Tang Dynasty are making progress at an unimaginable speed because they are too close to the Tang Dynasty. They can double their power almost every ten years.

It won’t take more than a hundred years to go from the Xia and Shang state to the Tang state. I’m deeply worried. "

The Imperial Preceptor actually told the Emperor about this. After hearing the words, Lifan Ling pondered and said: "Your Majesty, what the Imperial Preceptor said is indeed reasonable. When I have been in contact with the Ban people over the years, they are almost the same as the Han people. But I thought, There is no problem with this policy now. Compared with all previous dynasties, the borders of the Tang Dynasty are more stable, and there are almost no wars with those tribes. "

Li Shimin stretched out his hand to stop Li Fanling's subsequent remarks, "Of course I know that the current policy is almost the best, but I feel that if we can go up and add a few more guarantees, it will be even more foolproof.

Since ancient times, in terms of strong local control, there has been no one better than enfeoffment.

The last hope of the Qin Dynasty was for the Emperor to help Su confer the title of princes. If he had not met such gods as King Zhaosheng, King Xiang, and Emperor Gao of Han, the Qin Dynasty might not have perished.

The princes of the Han Dynasty also successfully suppressed the local area for more than a hundred years.

Up to now, our Tang Dynasty has successively established three kingdoms: Qin, Yan and Qi.

Within the Central Plains, there have always been some places that are difficult to reach by the king's orders. All the ministers know that, such as central Guizhou, the land of Nanzhao, and Lingnan, which have been under the control of the central dynasty since the Qin Dynasty.

But in fact, counties and counties were established on only a very small amount of flat land. In those countless mountains, there were countless local people who did not obey the king's orders and even often besieged county offices.

In the northern Fan tribe, there are still disputes from time to time. Moreover, what if one day the emperor of the Tang Dynasty is unable to control the Fan tribe?
Among the three kingdoms, Qin is too far away, and no letter has been sent yet. Yan and Qi, as well as the old land of Gaochang in the Western Regions and the old land of Western Yan, what should I do if I have evil thoughts?
I remember that during the Han Dynasty, there were vassal states established in kingdoms, some vassal states established in counties and counties, and some vassal states established among barbarians. This is what I want to imitate.

It was my attempt to establish the town of Liaozhou in Liao Kingdom.

I want to carry out this system and seal off the heroes, clan members, etc. in places where the emperor's orders are difficult to reach. "

After Li Shimin stopped talking, the prime ministers in the palace exchanged views with each other. Luo Xuanchen sighed slightly in his heart. With this enfeoffment, the imperial examination system would basically be killed within a hundred years.

Because when nobles leave town, what they need is not literati. In other words, the status of literati will be very low. If their status is low, they will not be attractive.

Society is moving upwards. Previously, Luo Xuanchen believed that the imperial examination would change the world situation because he saw that other things such as being a soldier, doing business, etc. were not as good as studying for the imperial examination.

But the nobility pays attention to the inheritance of blood and the old friends of disciples to maintain their status. The literati can only deal with some matters of sword and pen.

But enfeoffment was a national policy of the Tang Dynasty, and he couldn't say anything.

Fang Xuanling asked thoughtfully, "What your Majesty said is that the states whose taxes can cover their expenses should remain unchanged, and the states with key positions should remain unchanged, and then those states that are difficult to control will be hereditary enfeoffments and let the heroes guard them. "

"Of course!"

Li Shimin looked at everyone, and the prime ministers also looked at him.

……

In August, the Tang Dynasty was very lively. Cars and ships, governors from various states, came to Beijing to report their duties. Governors stationed in various places also returned to the capital. Li Xiaogong and Luo Xuanyun, the four major governors of the Senior officials also returned to Chang'an from the various governorates.

Chang'an City rarely gathers so many high-ranking officials at the same time. Everyone knows that this is not a simple gathering of officials. Chang'an, no, there must be major changes in the Tang Dynasty, so the emperor summoned so many high-ranking officials back to the capital. .

The changes in the Tang Dynasty in recent years have been so drastic that it can be dizzying to see. Ever since King Qin went out to establish a vassal and a kingdom, the whole world has been experiencing one major event after another, as if the emperor was in a hurry to do something.

Hundreds of high-ranking officials of fourth rank and above appeared in Chang'an, hundreds of princes, and almost 90% of the high-ranking officials in the entire Tang Dynasty were here.

This makes the scholars in Chang'an very excited. In other words, scholars all over the world are rushing to Chang'an now.

Although the Tang Dynasty is now promoting the imperial examination system, in the past few years of Zhenguan, the power of the traditional aristocrats has continued to recover, so the recommendation system has become more prosperous than the imperial examination. In the process of the development of the Tang Dynasty, the noble families, as well as the traditional Guanlong and other The high sect, while making great achievements, also grabbed a lot of profits, and almost controlled 70% of the official positions.

This is almost doomed. After all, every time a war is won, a reward will be given. This reward will make the aristocratic group continue to expand. If the Liaodong Kingdom was not personally led by Li Shimin, it would expand even more.

Scholars are all trying hard to hope that they can be appreciated by some powerful people and then directly enter the official career. It would be better if they could start from the rank of official.

Li Shimin, who was sitting in the palace, was naturally aware of the hustle and bustle in Chang'an. He was very happy. He stood on the palace wall and smiled with Li Zhi and said: "This is the Tang Dynasty. Talents are emerging in an endless stream. In the future, your main responsibility is to bring talents together." Selecting people from among them, entrusting them with the affairs of the state, and knowing people well is what a king should do.”

Wave after wave of high-ranking officials appeared in Chang'an, and the people of Chang'an would comment on these officials from different states. Some were ridiculed and shabby, and they looked like poor states at first glance, while others, such as Suzhou and Yangzhou, would attract admiration. An old hymn goes like this: "Return to see the emperor, the emperor is sitting in the bright hall.

Zhixun twelve turn, reward hundred thousand strong. "

Now that the emperor is sitting high in the hall, there are more than a few hundred people entering the palace. There are hundreds of officials alone, as well as relatives and relatives at the level of princes and princes, as well as many heroes who have no longer been in charge of the affairs. They all appear at this moment. In the palace.

Even the spacious Tai Chi Hall cannot accommodate so many people.

From the Taiji Hall to the outside of the hall, countless people stood in rows in various official uniforms. Among these people, the high-ranking officials who used to be cheered and supported are now only the lowest-ranking officials.

The most shocking thing is the governor of the state. The governor of Shangzhou is from the third rank. Of course, there are not many in Shangzhou. Even the governor of Xiazhou is a high-ranking official below the fourth rank. Especially since the governor controls the government affairs of a place, he is a well-deserved official.

Among the people, the county magistrate is called Bailihou. In a county, he has almost absolute power of life and death. As for supervision, even in Ji Zhao's era, it was often not spread, let alone in ancient times. Under such communication conditions, being able to monitor basically depends on luck, even for county magistrates, let alone governors who manage at least a few, or even more than a dozen counties.

But the glorious governor of the past can only be queued at the end of the queue at this moment. Here, almost nothing the emperor says can be heard, and can only be repeated by the singer.

The steps in front of the Taiji Palace are full of people. At this moment, the steps are like white jade steps, emitting light. That light represents power. Whoever is closer to the palace will have more power. that power.

At the end of that palace is the supreme emperor with almost unlimited power.

As long as he can gain the emperor's trust, he can, like Wei Zheng, rise from a white body to prime minister and become one of the most powerful people in the world.

"Boom!"

A clear sound sounded in the palace, which was the bell that symbolized the beginning of the court meeting. Everyone who had been whispering to each other just now quietly stood back in the queue.

The Qianniu Guards, wearing Suwei uniforms and armed with bows, arrows, swords and spears, guarded the front of the palace and His Highness, looking majestic and majestic.

On the throne of the Tai Chi Hall of the Daming Palace, Li Shimin was facing the wide open door. His eyes were far away looking at the ministers lined up outside the hall. They were too numerous to count.

The next moment, as the bell rang, all the ministers bowed down and said: "Long live my emperor, may you be blessed forever!"

When all the ministers were standing in the palace with wat tablets in their hands, Li Shimin stood up from the throne and said loudly: "We summoned all the ministers to the capital probably because of a major event that affected the entire Tang Dynasty.

Since ancient times, it has never been heard that one person can rule all the nine states.

Since ancient times, I have never heard of a king who could rule alone without relying on his ministers.

I have heard that if a king treats his subjects well, he will gain loyalty.

When I often look through the annals of history, I will remember the Han Dynasty's efforts to suppress the feudal lords. I wanted to imitate it many times, but all the ministers advised me, saying that enfeoffment was the way to cause chaos. This has been the case for hundreds of years.

A few days ago, I saw barbarians from the Hengduan Mountains harassing our county and even killing the people of Tang Dynasty.

It is difficult to march in the Hengduan Mountains. The native people are unruly and difficult to control. For hundreds of years, no Central Plains dynasty has been able to control them.

I thought about it, and if we really send a large army, it will be in vain. The local people only need to hide in the mountains, and our army can only do nothing.

I have thought about this, and instead of doing this, it is better to give it to all the meritorious officials and clan members.

I heard that there are thousands of tribes in the Hengduan Mountains, all living on the high mountains and between the cliffs, elusive and mysterious.

Then I will establish hundreds of princes and kingdoms there!

Carrying armor and swords, he went deep into the area to fight for me against these bandits who refused to obey the king's rule. "

Hearing this, the princes and princes present were basically paralyzed. Many of them could no longer stand still. With such a big battle, they knew something was not going to happen. Sure enough, they were going to exile us on a large scale.

Those are useless places. Who wants to open up there? Moreover, even though the barbarians are weak when facing the Tang army, they are very powerful if they really open up on a small scale.

At the beginning, there was an unworthy flying army in Shu, which was formed by those barbarians. In the mountains, fighting those who walked as fast as flying in the mountains, wasn't that looking for death?

The more I think about it, the more frustrated I feel.

Li Shimin didn't care when he saw this, after all, his real trump card had not been released yet, "The imperial court will not accept any land and population developed, and all will belong to the princes.

In the borders I have divided, the imperial court will not take any of the land cultivated, the food grown on it, etc., and all the profits will belong to the princes.

Except for gold, silver and copper mines, the imperial court also did not want the income from other mountains, forests and fisheries, and all belonged to the princes.

I give this deadline a hundred years. I don’t know what will happen after a hundred years.

I will stamp the emperor's seal. This is an agreement between the emperor and the princes. "

Although some people are still unwilling to go, some people are moved. One hundred years, those conditions are nothing, but in these one hundred years, as long as they don't commit suicide or participate in any rebellion, wouldn't this one hundred years be nothing? Can the family continue?
Moreover, after a hundred years, no, it won’t take a hundred years at all. In a few decades, if we can really secure a piece of territory, we can completely occupy the magpie’s nest.

The reason why the chieftains are so difficult to fight is not because the combat effectiveness of the chieftain soldiers is really strong, but because the terrain there is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is a natural separatist land.

When the court is really shameless and wants to take back the land of our ancestors, we can just close the door and rely on the mountains and rivers to compete with the court.

I heard that in the southwest mountains, there are many chieftain families that have lasted for thousands of years.

Although the Central Plains is comfortable, it is indeed too dangerous, and clans can be wiped out at every turn. The political struggles are too cruel. Almost none of the aristocratic families of the Han Dynasty are still alive today.

Thinking about it this way, it's really better to be entrusted to the Hengduan Mountains.

Li Shimin naturally knew that he would have this idea, just as there were some who were unwilling to give in to the Jingnan princes, but as long as most of them were useful, that would be enough.

At least this move could allow Datang to ensure long-term stability on the southwest border, and also expand Zhuxia's living space.

Moreover.

Li Shimin wanted to laugh when he thought about it. If one day, even places like central Guizhou could successfully rebel, then Datang would really die.

If you want plains but no plains, and if you want people but no people, separatist rule is fine, but rebelling and conquering the world is not a joke.

Thinking of this, Li Shimin began to ask the eunuch to read out the imperial edict that he had discussed with the Zhengshitang.

This time he was a real enfeoffment, with clan members, heroes, and relatives enfeoffing more than a hundred counties, kingdoms, and principalities in total.

The area of ​​each country is not large. The small ones only have one county, and the large ones are less than the area of ​​a state. They are basically a city or a mountain.

Sixty of them were sealed in the south, and a dozen of them were sealed on the plateau in the west of Yizhou, which was the entrance and exit of Bashu and the plateau. They were sealed there to contain Tubo.

Not only were they besieged on the Bashu side, there were also feudal states on the Qinghai Road. Those who were sealed here were basically the clansmen, complaining in their hearts but not daring to say a word.

Who can not panic when facing Tubo, and living on the plateau, it is said that life span will be shortened, now life and death are really determined, wealth is in the sky.

While many people were wailing, the ensuing enfeoffment was even worse. Li Shimin built many cities on the Hetao, and now he sealed many people there and made them half-farmers and half-herders.

Everyone knows the purpose of sealing it to the Hetao. One is to monitor the Yan Kingdom in the north, and the other is to monitor the Fan tribes who are also in the Hetao. None of them are easy to mess with. Once a war breaks out between the two sides, these small countries will It is the first to bear the brunt, and you never know when it will be bulldozed.

What's even worse is that those who were directly sealed into the Yan State were. After all, the Yan State was different from the Qin State. The Qin State was completely defeated by Li Chengqian himself. Li Chengqian almost had the sovereignty of the Qin King, but the Yan State was conquered by the Tang Dynasty. , but let the King of Yan Li Ke manage it. On the land of the Yan Kingdom, there was even an Anbei Protectorate.

Therefore, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty could reward other people with hills, rivers, and pastures on the nominal territory of Yan State.

But the emperor dares to reward, and whether the person who gets it dares to take it depends on the method. If you are not careful, it is very easy for someone to die in a place like Mobei.

Compared with the feudal states close to Tubo and Mobei, the one in the Andong Protectorate was the best, and the one in Qi State was at least not that dangerous.

As the imperial edict was read out, all the living beings in the palace looked like each other. Some people turned pale, such as Pei Ji's grandson, who was sent to Qinghai to face Tibet on the front line.

Some people are deeply grateful. For example, the descendants of the heroes who followed Li Shimin, such as Qin Qiong's son, at least were not tricked particularly badly. Some went to Qi State, some founded the country in Liaodong, and some were in the south.

When Li Shimin saw this, he couldn't help but feel a little funny.

My eldest son has all gone to explore the wild lands.

"...The messenger heard about it."

The eunuchs who read out the imperial edict were replaced by two, and finally the edict was read out. The singer outside the hall kept repeating it. These officials outside the hall felt that the sky was about to change.

So many kingdoms and principalities have been established at this time, and they are all real kingdoms and principalities. How many more official positions will this create?

Moreover, these official positions will definitely not be assigned by the court, but these princes will go with their cronies.

For example, a steward who has worked for the family for generations, or a loyal servant.

The sound of kneeling and worshiping could be heard in the hall. No matter what you think in your heart, the founding of the country is a grace bestowed by the emperor after all.

It is a good thing to turn a family into a country.

Good thing…

(End of this chapter)