Established a millennium family since King Wu defeated Zhou

Chapter 977: Tang Sixth Emperor

The palace gate fell, and there was light.

  Li Shengyi sat in the palace.

Luo Shengxi got on the carriage. The wheels squeaked as they pressed against the road. He sat in the carriage with his eyes closed to rest. He understood what his brother had just said.

Li Shengyi himself was not worried. Even if he could not surpass his ancestors in this lifetime, he would have no problem completing the established strategy step by step.

He was just thinking about the future.

He was thinking about why the Tang Dynasty would decline. To be honest, given the current situation in the world, he couldn't see that the Tang Dynasty might perish.

The Li clan is now stronger than ever before.

The Ji clan was even stronger than when the Zhou Dynasty was established.

In the past, the Ji clan occupied 70% of the land in the Zhou Dynasty. Now, the Li clan occupies 80% to 90% of the land. The land of 25,000 miles from east to west and 20,000 miles from north to south is full of Li clan members.

Moreover, the Zhou Dynasty originally had vast undeveloped areas, so later the foreign states such as Qin, Chu and Qi developed into stronger than the Ji clan.

But the Tang Dynasty was different.

Within the visible range, the Tang Dynasty has reached the end of the world in the east, south, and north. Even people can't be seen in the rest of the places. Only the west is left, but according to the news sent back from Rome in the west, that place is also almost at the end of the world.

In other words, there will not be much new land for outsiders to explore and surpass the Tang Dynasty.

Even if the Central Plains declines in the future, new heroes will be born.

However, these relatives scattered across the country still possessed enormous power. Before the heroes in the Central Plains could develop, the King of Yan in Mobei and the princes in Central Asia led their cavalry into the Central Plains.

By then, these princes will work together with the ministers in the Central Plains who are loyal to the Tang Dynasty. It can be said that the heroes from other families will have no chance to seize the world.

Soon the heroes of the Central Plains will find out that only by supporting the Li clan king can they survive in troubled times.

In the end, an emperor from the Li family will definitely ascend the throne.

Li Shengyi saw this, so he was confused.

  He once asked Luo Shengxi, will the Tang Dynasty perish?

Luo Shengxi said: "King Su said that there is no immortal dynasty in the world, as long as it was once glorious and dazzling, it's fine."

But in Li Shengyi's opinion, how could the Tang Dynasty perish if the Indochina Peninsula and the India Peninsula were completely incorporated into the vassal rule of the Tang Dynasty?

"Unless the Luo family suddenly usurps the throne, but the Luo family will never usurp the throne, then who else can be a threat?"

But it is impossible for the Luo family to usurp the throne.

Given the relationship between the Luo and Li families, the legacy of Emperor Taizong, the legacy of the Empress Dowager, and their own future legacy, it is impossible for the Luo family to choose someone from another family to assist them when they have the option of having the prince of the Li family.

You know, even though the relationship between the Luo family and the Liu family was not very close, at the end of the Han Dynasty, Ying Hou still died for the Liu family.

Given the close family-like relationship between the Luo and Li families, it is absolutely impossible for the Luo family to assist other outsiders.

The more Li Shengyi thought about it, the more headache he had. He even felt a little hallucination in front of his eyes, and his head felt like it was being pricked by needles. "What exactly is wrong?"

Luo Shengxi returned to Luo Wang Mansion.

This mansion can be regarded as a wonder in Luoyang. After it was renovated to the standards of a royal palace, no one lived in it for more than ten years, because Prince Luo Qianqiu lived in the imperial palace with the emperor.

It was not until Luo Shengxi grew up that this mansion had its own owner.

This palace covers a huge area. As the only prince of a superior rank who does not have his own fiefdom and remains in the Central Plains, living in the capital, and the only younger brother of the current emperor, the scale of the prince's palace is certainly beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

After Luo Shengxi returned to Prince Luo's Mansion, he washed up and went back to the backyard to rest.

But after lying in bed, I couldn't fall asleep. The last question Li Shengyi asked kept appearing in my mind.

The answer he gave at the time was vague, but it contained his concerns.

He didn't know whether the Luo and Li families would still be so close in the future.

Logically speaking, after these 1,700 years of historical experience and lessons, future emperors of the Li family will not be alienated from the Luo family, so the world should be worry-free.

But when Li Shengyi asked that question, he felt panic in his heart and didn't know what was going on.

and.

As the head of the family, Li Shengyi certainly knew the reason why Luo Shi did not become king.

In the most ancient time, that is, when King Wu of Zhou first wanted to pass the throne to King Su.

The Luo family cannot accept this, otherwise there will be a crisis of extinction of the family line.

In every era that followed, the Luo family treasured those artifacts and luck and never used them.

But when Ancestor Luo Su came into the world, the situation changed. Ancestor Luo Su clearly said that Ancestor Su Wang was about to wake up.

Although the exact time is still unknown, it is no longer the tens of millions of years that the family imagined.

The family has more leeway and can be more open about its actions.

According to the plan of Luo Su’s ancestor, the Luo and Li families were united.

It's not just to restore Luo's foundation, there is another purpose.

If the future is seen as a sea of ​​suffering that is difficult to cross, then the Tang Dynasty is a ship that can cross the sea of ​​suffering. The Luo family will ride on this ship and reach the other side of infinite light.

Luo sat on this ship and constantly blessed the Tang Dynasty ship, just like now.

This is a mutually beneficial thing for both parties.

Luo Shengxi sat up suddenly and frowned deeply. The Luo family had been adhering to the ancient teachings for more than a thousand years, but the situation changed after Luo Su was born.

The main thing is the change in the relationship between the Luo and Li families.

After the Luo family and the Li family merged, the Luo family became more powerful than ever before without ascending to the throne.

In one dynasty, there were so many dukes who possessed the title of king, and even the top-ranked king.

The family's reputation has almost reached its peak.

In his hand, he holds an invincible artifact.

It has never been seen since the fall of King Kang.

He is truly the second best in the world, and this second best does not depend on a particular family head, but on an entire family.

Just as Li Shengyi has confidence in the strength of the Li clan, the current Li clan is the most powerful royal family in history.

The Luo family is the most powerful noble family in history.

It's not just about reputation, it also includes various hard powers.

It can be said that even if the nine clans were exterminated, the Luo family could not be wiped out. Moreover, the Luo family was different from other families and had a strong cohesive force.

But since the Luo and Li families are so close, some things cannot be so free.

For example, when they were in Bang Zhou, the Luo family never gave up the Zhou emperor no matter what.

The same is true for the current Tang Dynasty. It is impossible for the Luo family to help others dig up the roots of the Tang Dynasty.

It is impossible for the Luo family to sit back and watch the demise of the Tang Dynasty. Instead, they must try their best to save it. Back when Emperor Taizong was in power, Luo Su said that because of Emperor Taizong, even if the Mandate of Tang fell, the Luo family must make it revive again.

Later, there came Emperor Sejong and the current Emperor Mingguang, and the relationship between the two sides became too close.

Luo Shengxi and Li Shengyi are twin brothers, and they are a little bit different from the King of Martial Arts and the King of Su back then.

The blood of Emperor Taizong flows in the veins of Luo Shengxi.

I can't get away!

Luo Shengxi fell down, closed his eyes, and decided not to think about it anymore. He would take things one step at a time. The Tang Dynasty still had at least a few hundred years of national fortune left. Thinking about these things now was a typical case of worrying about nothing.

He, Luo Shengxi, does not have enough wisdom to solve this problem, so he can only wait for the wisdom of Luo's descendants.

……

In the spring of the fourth year of Mingguang, the emperor issued an edict.

Luo Shengxi, Prince of Luo, was given the additional responsibility of being the Prime Minister of Fengge Luantai, the Grand Commander of Yangzhou and Jingzhou, and was ordered to supervise all military and political affairs south of the Yangtze River. Wherever he went, it was as if the emperor was in person, with the power to act at his discretion. He could execute people first and report to the emperor later if they were below the rank of prince.

The world was shocked.

The last time the Tang Dynasty issued such an outrageous decree was during the reign of Emperor Shizong, when the emperor ordered Prince Luo Qianqiu of Luo to go to war and conferred him the title of Grand Marshal of the Army of the World.

Now there is a person in charge of all military and political affairs south of the Yangtze River. To put it bluntly, even the Li Tang royal family could not get such an order. One can imagine the status of the Luo family in the Tang Dynasty.

……

Luo Shengxi took a magnificent ship from Luoyang along the canal directly to Yangzhou.

Although this time he is in charge of all military and political affairs south of the Yangtze River, Luo Shengxi himself is very sensible. He will cross the Yangtze River directly from Yangzhou, and then only strictly investigate the Jiangnan East Road and Jiangnan West Road. He will not go any further west.

After Luo Shengxi came to Jiangnan, he hardly stayed in Yangzhou and did not give anyone the opportunity to show his courtesy. He drove directly to Suzhou.

As the head of the Luo family, since there is a branch of the Luo family in Jiangnan, there is no need to go anywhere else.

When Luo Shengxi arrived in Suzhou, a few people were walking out of the Prince of Gusu's Mansion. Judging from their attire, they were also nobles. They glanced at Luo Shengxi's car from a distance, but because Luo Shengxi did not bring the imperial envoys with him, they did not recognize him.

When we arrived in front of the mansion, we saw a few large gold-plated characters written on the plaque: "Built by Imperial Order: Gusu County Prince's Mansion."

Although the Prince of Gusu and the Prince of Zhou are both princes, the Prince of Zhou is an iron-hat prince while the Prince of Gusu is not. The title inherited by the Luo family in Jiangnan today is the Duke of Gusu.

However, it can still be claimed as the Prince of Gusu's Mansion to the outside world.

Although the title is not high.

Especially in a dynasty like the Tang Dynasty where dukes were everywhere, it seemed even lower.

But this is precisely a good thing. A title does not have any power except for a salary. Although the title of Duke of Gusu is lower, as compensation, the power of the Jiangnan Luo family in Suzhou is guaranteed.

After Luo Shengxi stepped into the mansion, Luo Chengyun, the current head of the Jiangnan Luo family, hurried out to greet him.

Luo Shengxi asked casually: "Who was that person who just left the house? I saw that he looked a little indignant."

Luo Chengyun was stunned when he heard this, and then said with a little disdain in his tone: "He is from Lanling Xiao's family. His name is Ding, and he is also the head of one of the famous branches of the family."

"Oh?"

Luo Shengxi knew that in Jiangnan, the Xiao family had a very high status, not much worse than the Luo family. "Zijing seemed to be very disdainful of him. How could such a person be allowed into the mansion?"

Luo Chengyun sighed, and then said meaningfully: "He was not a well-known figure in the Xiao family before, but later, with the help of his wife's family and his own abilities, he achieved some success, and many things in the Xiao family were handed over to him.

Luo and Xiao have cooperated a lot, so we have quite a lot of contacts. I didn't expect that after this man achieved success, he actually abandoned his old wife and married a new one, who is said to be Lu's daughter.

I will never let him set foot in Luo's house again."

Luo Shengxi was not interested in these things, and Luo Chengyun knew it, but he still said it. Luo Shengxi understood that Luo Chengyun was hinting at something, something that was not easy to say out loud.

"Zijing, are there many connections between your family and the Xiao family and the Jiangnan gentry in some matters?"

Luo Chengyun whispered: "Living in Jiangnan, how can I stay out of it? There are some things that I can only watch and cannot say. It's already difficult not to participate."

Wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes. When you are born in the rivers and lakes, there are some things that you cannot control. Some officials have already used up all their energy just to avoid corruption. It is really difficult to expect them to bring peace to the world.

There is no telling how many people from the Jiangnan Luo family live in Jiangnan and depend on the Gusu County Prince's Mansion for survival. If they really cut off contact, they will not be able to survive.

Luo Shengxi understood this.

So he didn't ask much, but just pointed to the south and asked, "How much do you know about what's going on there?"

In fact, Luo Shengxi didn't have high hopes. After all, if he really knew about it, such a big thing should be reported no matter what.

As expected, Luo Chengyun shook his head and said, “Before, I only knew that many aristocratic families in Jiangnan were smuggling materials to the Song State, but I didn’t know anything else. Now, the aristocratic families in Jiangnan basically don’t play with their families.

But now we know what they are doing.”

After the main branch of the Luo family returned south, the status of the Jiangnan Luo family changed. Especially as the main branch of the Luo family became stronger and stronger, Jiangnan became more and more vigilant against the branches of the Luo family, believing that these branches were spies stationed by the main branch of the Luo family in various places, which was indeed the case.

So it became a custom in Jiangnan.

There are some things that the Jiangnan gentry don't talk about and the Luo family doesn't ask about.

If the Luo family really wants to ask, then war will break out. Even a family like the Xiao family, which has always had a good relationship with the Luo family, will get involved.

With the connections of the Jiangnan Luo family, they knew about the incident in Song State almost immediately after it was exposed, almost exactly the same as the imperial court.

Luo Shengxi was not surprised by this. After all, even if there was no main branch of the Luo family, the Jiangnan Luo family was still one of the most powerful families in the world. It had been passed down for more than 400 years and had always been a top family. There were very few who could compare with the Jiangnan Luo family.

"Then Zijing, where should I start investigating this matter?"

Regarding the matter of Song State, for the imperial court, the fact that the powerful and wealthy in Song State had undermined the King of Song was actually a trivial matter. It was one thing that the emperor was far away and difficult to deal with, but the most important thing was that there were foreign enemies in Song State, and the situation in Indochina Peninsula was different from that of Penglai at the beginning.

For the imperial court, the most important things were the Jiangnan gentry and the Andong military governors, who actually had direct connections with the vassal states, from economic connections at the beginning to military connections later.

With such a close connection, are these people now loyal to the imperial court or to the State of Song?

Luo Chengyun hesitated for a moment, and then said firmly: "Start the investigation from the Xiao family. The affairs in Jiangnan can never avoid the Xiao family."

Luo Shengxi nodded slightly. In the Jiangnan area, the Xiao family really has deep roots. The Xiao family must be deeply involved in the affairs of the Song State.

"Master, if you want to investigate the Xiao family, you still have to use some methods. In recent years, there is a very popular thing in Jiangnan, that is, going to Southeast Asia, and many people from the Xiao family have gone to Southeast Asia.

The Xiao family holds a very special status in the Song State."

Luo Shengxi glanced at Luo Chengyun and said, "Tell me more about it."

As they talked, the two of them had already walked into the hall. Luo Chengyun poured Luo Shengxi a cup of tea first, and then said: "I didn't think much about it at first, I just thought they were going to Southeast Asia to do business. After all, even if it's smuggling, there are often normal caravans as a cover."

The difference between smuggling and normal business lies in whether taxes are paid and whether the court allows it. Many things are banned by the court, and smuggling involves these things. But for normal business, the court does not care and only collects taxes.

Of course, with the entire South in collusion, the border trading ports are basically a blank slate.

Maybe the smuggling was carried out openly.

Luo Chengyun didn't feel anything about smuggling, nor did he think there was anything wrong with it. As long as it wasn't smuggled to aliens, the Jiangnan Luo family would always turn a blind eye.

Luo Chengyun continued, "But now that we know, it can be matched with some things. The Xiao family and many other Jiangnan nobles should be betting on both sides between the court and the Song State. They may have a lot of power in the Song State, and even transported private soldiers to the Song State to form an army in the name of protecting the mineral resources.

There is probably a dock.

The head of the family should be able to guess the situation in Song State. It is too easy to train a private army. They are essentially the same model as the early Zhou Dynasty. "

Luo Shengxi nodded with a serious expression on his face. This was also a difficult point for the emperor to deal with.

Among these newly conquered territories of the Song State, many were difficult for the imperial court to control. Even in the Central Plains, which had been divided into counties for so many years, there were still so many hidden lands. In a place like the Song State, with complex terrain, numerous mountains and rivers, and a completely immature political structure.

Hidden land?

I'm afraid he would directly build manors and forts and have his own private armed forces. Except for the fact that it has no name, it is completely a country within a country. This is also one of the reasons why King Song was sidelined.

Upper decision decided by the economic background.

Moreover, there are probably many such private soldiers. The gentry in the south of the Yangtze River possess enormous economic and cultural strength. They are the first choice of the court every time they are exiled and expanded. The only thing they lack is the army, so they are easily ravaged by the royal family who have an army.

Now they have taken the initiative to go to the Indochina Peninsula, making up for the last shortcoming and directly transforming into real feudal landlords.

its not right.

Luo Shengxi came back to his senses, "Zi Jing, if you have anything to say, just say it directly. There's no need to beat around the bush about our relationship."

Luo Chengyun smiled embarrassedly when he heard this, "Master, I'm sorry, I'm used to talking like this."

"The development of Jiangnan was the result of continuous migration from the north, including the classics and culture. Our Luo ancestors also made great contributions. The history books refer to this as the migration of the elite to the south.

Although these people in Jiangnan are using some not-so-good means to seek personal gain and have the idea of ​​escaping the Tang Dynasty, they are actually migrating south again, heading further south. This spontaneous migration is actually a good thing. I hope the head of the family will understand this.”

Luo Shengxi nodded in silence, and after a long while he said: "It is precisely because of this concern that it is so difficult to handle. If it is handled too harshly, will the sea and land be banned in the future?

That is impossible. The exchanges between the imperial court and the vassal states cannot be stopped. Not only can the imperial court not stop the population from flowing south, but it must also actively cooperate, otherwise the population of the Central Plains will expand too fast. "

The surrounding vassal states serve as flood discharge areas for the Central Plains population. This is a concept that has been proposed since the time of the Queen of Heaven. The principle behind this is to divert trouble away.

It is universally recognized that too much population is not a good thing. Only the population that can pay taxes to the court is useful.

Those refugees who could not pay taxes to the court would only threaten the court's rule.

The population of Central Plains is already too large, 80 million. If large tracts of land in Jiangdong had not been reclaimed and new rice varieties such as Champa rice had not been popularized, at least 10 million of the 80 million would be refugees.

Moreover, the larger the population base, the more new population there will be. According to Luo's preliminary calculations, it is very likely that the population of the Tang Dynasty will double in a hundred years.

When he learned about this, Li Shengyi was almost scared to death.

Even if there were bumper harvests year after year, it would be impossible to feed so many people.

The Central Plains court's idea, on the one hand, was to continue to build water conservancy projects and reclaim wasteland, while at the same time stepping up the investigation of land annexation and finding things for the people to do so that they wouldn't have to think about having children every day. Another method was to migrate the population to places where people could farm, such as Penglai, Liaodong, and the Jizi Peninsula.

There is actually a very cruel unspoken rule here.

Penglai is surrounded by the sea. Even if something happens, such as a riot or refugees everywhere, as long as the ship is sailed away, it will not affect the Central Plains. Once the incident is over, it will be over.

The same goes for the Jizi Peninsula and Liaodong. As long as those roads are blocked, it will be impossible to enter the Central Plains.

Of course, the main areas of population evacuation for the imperial court now are Central Asia and West Asia.

The next major place for population evacuation is Tianzhu. That place has three harvests a year. Judging from the current situation, it can easily accommodate a population of more than 30 million. These two places can absorb a large part of the population.

The other part will depend on the State of Song.

There is a Red River Delta in the Song State, which is also a place that can accommodate a dense population. Without further ado, as long as it can accommodate 10 or 20 million people, the Tang Dynasty can rest assured.

It was precisely because of such political concerns that the imperial court was so cautious in dealing with the surrounding vassal states.

We must not let the vassal states feel that they are just leeks, and we must not let them feel that the imperial court will regularly purge them, because these vassal states will definitely become stronger and stronger with the influx of a large number of people.

Luo Chengyun also heard it and said hesitantly: "Master, we need to think carefully about the population migration to the south. If the population of Indochina really reaches 10 or 20 million, the imperial court will really be unable to control it."

In the classical era, before the population exceeded the carrying capacity, the more people that could be organized, the stronger the country would be.

  In fact, the imperial court may have thought about this: when India really has a population of 30 to 50 million, Song has a population of 10 to 20 million, Penglai has a population of several million to tens of millions, and Central Asia has a population of 40 to 50 million, will they still be obedient?

But what can be done?

This situation has never occurred before because there has never been a situation like the Tang Dynasty.

There were only a few people when the Han Dynasty was established, but in the last hundred years the population exceeded 60 million.

When the Tang Dynasty was founded, there were more than 30 million people. Now, in a hundred years, the population has tripled, and there are 80 million in the Central Plains alone.

The reason for this is that the society in the Tang Dynasty was too peaceful.

There were almost no rebellions in the Tang Dynasty. The economic foundation of various parts of the Tang Dynasty was basically not destroyed, and there were no man-made disasters that would cause a drastic decrease in population.

In the foreseeable future, the Tang Dynasty will have to enjoy peace for another hundred years, or even two hundred years. No one dares to imagine to what extent the population will expand.

You can't just kill people to maintain the population, nor can you proactively start a war to consume the population.

If it weren't for Luo's, this problem might not have arisen.

Without the Luo family, the population would not have been able to expand so fast, and the death rate would have been much higher than it is now. It can be said that this is a problem created by the Luo family, and in the end, the Luo family cannot solve it.

"No matter what happens in the future, what we are doing now is right, isn't it?"

Luo Shengxi stroked the chair.

He added: "The Chinese are moving forward, which is a good thing. Sometimes we should not be too concerned about the Central Plains, otherwise we will not be able to accomplish anything and achieve great achievements.

As for those who may threaten the Central Plains or the Tang Dynasty in the future, there will naturally be people to deal with them.

We occupy the Central Plains, which is the best piece of land. If we cannot resist the surroundings, then the descendants of the Luo family in the future will be too incompetent, and the emperors of the future generations will also be too incompetent."

Luo Chengyun sighed inwardly, this is the main branch. When he was in Bang Zhou, he let Chu and Qin go many times. Now it feels like he is doing the same thing.

There were things he didn't say.

But it has always lingered in his heart.

  If such a thing happened in the State of Song, would it not happen in other countries?

Now they are all princes of the Li family, but they may not be princes of the Li family in the future.

Many of the princes of the Zhou Dynasty, whose surnames were Ji, were marginalized by the royal family and the noble family, and eventually seized power.

Will he have no descendants?

Will such things continue to happen in the vassal states of the Tang Dynasty?

Allowing the surrounding vassal states to become stronger and stronger may solve the problem temporarily, but in the long run, it is not a good idea.

  Strong branches and weak trunk have always been a recipe for disaster since ancient times!

----

The double-edged sword of rapid population growth was vividly demonstrated in the Tang Empire. The emperor of the empire was delighted by the large number of newborns, which symbolized the prosperity of the empire, but was also afraid of the social resources needed behind the population. In the era of expansion, it was not noticed. Once the expansion entered a period of marginal decline, the huge involutionary era would cast a shadow on the empire. ——"The Rise and Fall of the Tang Empire"

(End of this chapter)