The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 231
After Liu Wenjing, Chen Shuda, and Xiao Yu retired, only Li Yuan, Li Jiancheng, and Li Shimin's father and son were left in the Ganlu Hall.

Li Yuan walked around the hall for a few times, then turned around and said, "I have two matters to discuss with your brothers."

"Father, please speak!"

The two brothers saluted.

"The matter of forming an alliance with the princes of the world to fight against Yang Tong is far away. Whether it can be achieved is still a matter of opinion. Even if we can form an alliance, but in the long period of negotiation, can we hold Guanzhong? Is it necessary to move the capital?"

The capital is the political and cultural center of the country and the political hub where the country's highest ruling group controls the country. From the perspective of politics and military affairs, Guanzhong is located among the four passes, with Hangu Pass, Tongguan, and the Yellow River natural barrier in the east, Qinling Mountains in the west, and the entrance to the southwest. At the mouth of Shugu, there is Sanguan, which is dominant; in the north is Xiaoguan, which guards the main route for nomadic peoples to invade the south; in the southeast, there is Wuguan, which can lead to Jingxiang; , Four passes are arched and guarded, and pass fortresses stand everywhere. It is precisely because of the favorable location in Guanzhong that Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui and Tang were selected as Dingding places.

However, since the Sui Dynasty, with the changes in ethnic relations in the west, the sharp increase in the population of Chang'an, the degradation of the Guanzhong Plain and the ecology of the king, and the increasing dependence on southeast water transport, the unfavorable factors of establishing the capital in the Guanzhong Plain are also increasing rapidly. Its political status began to decline!
But now, what Li Yuan considers most is the military angle.Although there is Xiaoguan in the north, Yang Tong can still take the mountain path if he really wants to break in. Because of the previous incident of burning the palace city, Yang Tong took the path, which made Li Tang hard to guard against.

Since the unfavorable factors in Chen Shuda and Chenming Guanzhong, the matter of moving the capital has firmly taken root in Li Yuan's heart.Coupled with the fact that the alliance is far away, Li Yuan really has the heart to move the capital.However, since ancient times, moving the capital has been a major event involving all aspects, and it needs to be decided after careful consideration. Therefore, Li Yuan only discussed the feasibility with Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin.

Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin showed serious expressions after hearing the words.

For a long time, Li Jiancheng mused, "The capital of the country is the heart of the four directions and the foundation of the country. The only advantage in Guanzhong is the terrain, but now the east and north are forcing the invasion of the Sui Dynasty, and the west and Bashu are suffering from Tuyuhun. The advantages of Guanzhong no longer exist, but we The Tang Dynasty flourished in Guanzhong, and the generals and soldiers in Guanzhong worked hard. If the capital is moved, the soldiers will think that the court is afraid of the Sui Dynasty, which will inevitably cause turmoil in the army, and we rely heavily on the nobles in Guanzhong. If the capital is moved, they will be the first to refuse. If the Sui Dynasty comes, How can I, Tang, stop me?"

Although Li Jiancheng also wanted to move the capital because of the issue of military power, he knew that he must not move now!So against moving the capital.

"What does Erlang think?" Li Yuan was a little disappointed, and turned his gaze to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin pondered and said: "Brother is right, moving the capital will weaken morale, and the upper and lower will be separated. Moving the capital will do great harm to our Tang Dynasty, and it is definitely not a good choice."

Smart politicians link their own interests with the interests of the country, and make the people feel that supporting the emperor is equivalent to supporting their own politicians. Only then can they truly make the country prosperous and strong, and be loved by all people.How can a country become prosperous and strong if it harms the interests of the country for the sake of one person's self-interest.

Undoubtedly, the Li brothers are all brilliant. They have fights, but they have always put the interests of the Li Tang Dynasty first, and they will never do things that harm the interests of the Li Tang Dynasty for their own personal interests.

Li Jiancheng also said: "Xun Yu, who was called 'My Zifang' by Cao Cao, once said: 'Those who are good at using soldiers don't think about victory, but about defeat first'. My son thinks that we should also think about the bad side, although we can't Move the capital, but it's good to be prepared for everything! The terrain of Bashu is more steep than Guanzhong, and there are convenient water conservancy and fertile plains. We might as well choose a place there for backup. The terrain is competing with the Sui Dynasty."

Li Yuan smiled with satisfaction: "In the past, Liu Bei set the throne in Bashu and achieved the glory of Shuhan! This is indeed a treasure land."

Li Shimin frowned when he heard this, but he didn't object. He advocated offense, but he also knew the truth of being prepared.

"The second question!" Li Yuan said in a deep voice, "From your point of view, what are the fatal flaws in my Tang Dynasty?"

Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin felt tense, and after a long time, Li Jiancheng said, "Father, this topic is really too big. I really don't know where to start."

Li Shimin nodded in agreement.This proposition is really too big, before Li Yuan expresses his own ideas, there is really nothing to talk about.

Li Yuan thought for a while, and said in another way: "Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the national strength and military strength have been declining day by day. Do you two know the reason?"

Li Shimin thought carefully on the sidelines. The Tang Dynasty did have glory. For a period of time after entering Guanzhong, the national power was far higher than that of the Sui Dynasty. However, after losing Bingzhou, it was oppressed by the Sui Dynasty. Just admit it, because in the war, Li Tang never won a round.But Li Tang's core was not damaged, and after acquiring Bashu, there was no shortage of money and food, but it was strange that the national strength and military strength were declining day by day.He also often wondered what went wrong, and what caused Li Tang to fall from the peak to the bottom so quickly.

While Li Shimin was thinking about it, Li Jiancheng said: "I also often think about these issues. From my point of view, my Tang Dynasty's bad government is not because of corrupt officials, nor is it because of natural disasters, nor is it because of several defeats. Tang's discord is the root cause."

Li Yuan frowned and said, "People are not in harmony?"

"Exactly!" Li Jiancheng nodded.

Li Jiancheng said: "The people here are not in harmony, not because the soldiers are not brave and the officials are not effective, but because of the contradiction between the family and the people!"

"The conflict between the aristocratic family and the people?" Li Shimin also became interested. He focuses on the army, not politics. He is far inferior to Li Jiancheng in this regard!

"That's right! The Sui army's invasion and natural disasters are not to be feared. What is terrible is the conflict between the aristocratic family and the common people!" Having said this, Li Jiancheng said to Li Yuan: "This contradiction has existed since ancient times. The common people are also used to being exploited and oppressed by aristocratic families! But since Yang Tong launched a series of policies to benefit the people, he has had countless debates with the aristocratic families. , Taiyuan Wen’s, and Wen Xi’s Pei’s secret letters were published to the world, which caused the people to see clearly the face of the aristocratic family, and the people also awakened, and thus took a hostile attitude towards the aristocratic family! All the debates ended with Yang Tong winning a big victory, and Yang Tong represented the interests of the bottom class. If he wins, it is natural that the poor family, common people, tenants, and servants will win! Now that they have won, then the poor family and the All kinds of contradictions accumulated by the common people for nearly a thousand years broke out! Yang Yu has no family and family under his rule, and has no influence on him! But the influence of other princes is fatal."

"Let's not talk about other princes, let's take Guanzhong as an example. In terms of population distribution, rich and powerful families account for only [-]%, while poor people account for [-]%. Hands, their various bad deeds have been confirmed in Yang Tong's words, and because of this, poor families and ordinary people have no doubts about Yang Tong's various predictions that are not good for them. The servants of the family believed that the only way to survive was to go to the Sui Dynasty. In addition, the Sui Dynasty’s policy of benefiting the people caused a sensation in the world, so a large number of people went over mountains and mountains to go to the Sui Dynasty every day. Even those who stayed were suspicious of the master’s family. How can you do your best when you start something?"

"The aristocratic family lives in the same place with the common people, tenants, and servants, but there are great contradictions. The common people, tenants, and servants account for [-]% of the population in Guanzhong, and these [-]% have a great affection for the Sui Dynasty. Once the national calamity comes, these people who suffer The group oppressed by the aristocratic family must have an indifferent attitude towards the life and death of my Tang Dynasty, because in their view, Li Tang, who valued the aristocratic family, is a violent dynasty. Only when the Sui Dynasty overthrows them can they live a good life !"

No matter whether Li Jiancheng is in "Old Book of Tang", "New Book of Tang" or "Notes on Daily Life of Datang Entrepreneurship", he is not as unbearable as in novels and film and television works.

Li Jiancheng in the Romance was a fabricated character to set off Li Shimin's magnanimity. In fact, Li Jiancheng is quite powerful.In the early days of Li Tang's founding in history, because there were few major generals, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin each led an army as a forward. The two brothers fought side by side, and their military achievements were [-]-[-]!After becoming the prince, he almost always assisted the emperor in handling government affairs. During this period, Li Jiancheng seldom led troops to go out to fight. Therefore, his military ability was much weaker than that of Li Shimin.Later, Liu Heitai led the Turkic army to rebellion in Jizhou, and Li Jiancheng won a complete victory in Weizhou. He captured and beheaded Liu Heitai. It took only one month before and after, which shows that Li Jiancheng also has military talents.

In history, because of Li Jiancheng's excellent skills, Li Shimin was forced to be passive and restrained everywhere, life and death.If it wasn't for Li Shimin to turn things around at a critical moment, launch the Xuanwumen Incident in advance, and lock the overall situation, Li Shimin must be the one who died.

How can such a person who can force Li Shimin into a desperate situation be a fatuous and incompetent person?

What he said now convinced Li Shimin.

Li Yuan glanced at Li Jiancheng gratifiedly, and said solemnly: "The conflict between the noble family and the people at the bottom has already endangered the peace of our Tang Dynasty! What's more frightening is that even if the noble family sacrifices some interests to remedy it, it can't be saved. My own image, because the people living at the bottom, what they need is the land that belongs to them only to pay food to the court! I really want to follow the people's will and wipe out the powerful and powerful in Guanlong!"

The undisguised murderous intent in Li Yuan's voice shocked Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin.

(End of this chapter)