Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 479 Barbarians and China

"Into the Central Plains to become the emperor?" Jin Renwen was taken aback when he heard the words, then shook his head and smiled wryly: "Sanlang, you really have no taboos in what you say, Goguryeo is a land outside the Great Wall!"

"So what?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "More than 100 years ago, didn't the ancestors of the emperor of this dynasty also ride horses and herd sheep in Wuchuan? Not to mention the emperor of this dynasty, the same is true for Yuwen's family and Gao's family, but one is in Wuchuan and the other is in Huaichuan. Shuo, is there any difference between the Rongdi in the Six Towns and the Rongdi in Liaodong? The Murong clan in Yan State is also in Liaodong, and they didn't stay on the top of the mountain all day long to build a mountain city!"

After hearing Wang Wenzuo's rebuttal, Jin Renwen was speechless.Thanks to modern compulsory education, many readers instinctively use the boundaries of modern nation-states to divide the various ethnic groups in ancient East Asia. Silla, Baekje, and Wa, which were built on the territory of other modern countries, belong to "theirs". As for Goguryeo, which straddles Chinese and foreign countries, it has become the hardest hit area for historians of the two countries.

But readers have forgotten a very simple fact. There were no such modern nation-states in ancient East Asia. Using the standards of modern nation-states to divide the ancient East Asian world is tantamount to cutting foot and fitting shoes.For example, according to current history textbooks, the Tubo people are a minority separatist regime within the historical territory of our country, while Vietnam is an equal neighbor.But in the eyes of people in the Tang Dynasty, it was just the opposite, because Tubo was an enemy country for most of the time in the Tang Dynasty, and at most it was called a vassal. However, the central and northern part of Vietnam is the Jiaozhi County of the Tang Dynasty, one of many counties, and has no relationship with Fujian and Jiangxi. the difference.

For the ancient East Asians, the Son of Heaven of the Central Plains was not only the emperor of the Central Plains, but also the undisputed ruler of the entire known world, the king of kings, and the smaller rulers on the edge of the other side had to submit to him, Tributes were paid in exchange for the emperor's recognition, imperial edict, and protection, and the emperor was also obliged to establish an order that ensured the survival of both the strong and the weak.Countries are not equal sovereign states, and there is no sacred and inviolable territory, only the order and conflicts under the concept of destiny.

But from another perspective, the position of emperor of the Central Plains will not be monopolized by a certain family or a certain nation. Anyone with enough force, prestige, wisdom and ambition can overthrow the previous emperor and ascend to the throne become its successor.This point has also been recognized by the ancient Chinese, that is, "the way of heaven has no relatives", God has no relatives, and treats everyone equally, and the destiny will not always favor one family and one family name. However, once the destiny changes, there will be wars everywhere, and it is impossible to get a commoner.Xiaobangzhou could destroy the big city merchants and become the co-lord of the world; Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, won the world for four years with a commoner's three-foot sword. Naturally, Tuoba and Murong could also take off their sheepskin jackets, put on brocade clothes, and step on white felt Enthroned as the emperor.

The reason why Wang Wenzuo looked down on Goguryeo was not because they were barbarians—it’s okay. Everyone’s ancestors were barbarians. Didn’t the Zhou tribe also mix among Qianghu before they settled down to the Qishan Mountains to farm?At that time, there was no difference between them and Rong Di, who was herding sheep and roaming the fields. Who could be more noble than Ji?It is that he concentrates on being a barbarian from generation to generation.The same neighbor who started in Liaodong, the Murong family recruited Han refugees early on, planted land and repaired water conservancy, and exploded the population. If they had the opportunity, they entered the Central Plains and became emperor; the Goguryeo people counted from the Western Han Dynasty, and the founding of the country has nearly 800 years. In history, however, the prefectures and counties of the Han Dynasty could not be ruled. The main population area was in the mountainous area of ​​southern Liaoning, and the Liaohe Plain, which had the most fertile land and the best agricultural foundation, was left undeveloped there, and precious manpower and material resources were spent on building mountain cities. superior.As a result, the thicker the armor, the worse the beating. He survived Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty but Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, and was eventually uprooted.

"Then Saburo, if you were the king of Goguryeo, how would you govern the country?" Jin Ren asked with a smile.

"Don't miss the farming season, build water conservancy, build city walls, reward farming and mulberry, and increase household registration. Of course, it goes without saying. The most important thing is to send expeditions to explore waterways and reach merchants far away to fill the treasury!"

"Explore the waterways and trade with merchants?" Jin Ren asked suspiciously. The ancient world was basically an agricultural society, and the development of agricultural production determined the survival of the entire country.Ancient China has been engaged in agricultural production for thousands of years, and has already had very mature experience. Simply put, the ruling class should not mess around in the busy seasons of spring and autumn, so that farmers have enough time to do a good job in agricultural production, and organize farmers in slack time. Engage in large-scale water conservancy and other project construction, promote new technologies by rewarding outstanding agricultural producers, and increase tax and labor income by increasing household registration.What Wang Wenzuo said earlier were common goods in ancient China, as long as he was a prefect or county magistrate, he would know, but what he said later was relatively rare. Agriculture is the foundation and business is the end. This was the consensus at the time.It is indeed rare to emphasize business like Wang Wenzuo.

"Yes!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Although the Liao land has a vast land, the climate is bitter and cold, and the population is large and young. No matter how much you can develop agriculture, it cannot compare with the land in the Central Plains. Therefore, agriculture alone is definitely not enough. And there are many swamps and dense forests. , the transportation is inconvenient, but there is also an advantage here, that is, there are several large rivers, winding and winding, stretching for thousands of miles, connecting with the sea, and there is an endless land to the north. There are many treasures such as fur, amber, rosin, beeswax, etc. Many Rongdi are simple, brave and brave. If you build ships, pay a lot of money to reward men, let them explore the sea route, set up merchant stations along the way, and sail regularly. Use the porcelain, medicine, brocade and satin of the Central Plains to exchange with the local treasures of Rongdi. If I live among them, I will surely become very rich, and the treasury will be full without any taxation from the country, so that I can recruit Rong and Di as troops, so why would the country be unhealthy!"

Jin Renwen listened to Wang Wenzuo's words, pondered for a long time, and finally sighed: "My father spent half his life on the matter of destroying Baekje and reviving Silla. People in the country think that there is no hero in ancient times. Compared with your plan, Sanlang Wake up, it's just a child's play!"

"Hehe!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Brother Renshou thinks highly of my younger brother. Your father has done the work, but I am just drawing on white paper. How can it be difficult? If I wait until I finish this matter Now, it's not too late to praise me!"

"But Sanlang, have you ever thought that if, as you said just now, the Liao land is vast and fertile, and the soldiers and horses are strong, it may become a disaster for the Central Plains for a long time!"

"Yes, there is indeed such a possibility!" Wang Wenzuo nodded calmly.

"Then Saburo, you still want to do this?" Jin Ren asked, staring at Wang Wenzuo's eyes like arrows.

"Of course!" Wang Wenzuo laughed.

"What's the reason?" Jin Ren asked: "As far as I know, Saburo, you are not the kind of person who doesn't love your parents!"

"Hehe!" Wang Wenzuo laughed: "Of course I love the state of my parents, but I look farther than others. Brother Renshou, you are familiar with the history books of our country. You should have read "Gongyang Biography", right?"

""The Legend of Gongyang"? Of course I have read it!"

"That's good!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "In "Gongyang Biography", there is a saying 'Nanyi and Beidi have friendship, and China is like a thread'. Who is the Nanyi in it referring to?"

"Of course it's Chu!"

"That's right. From the perspective of people in the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chu State whose capital was located in the area around Jiangling was the Southern Yi, an out-and-out enemy Yidi. But in the Warring States Period, Chu State was one of the Seven Heroes. At the end of Qin Dynasty, Chu State The land is the main force of the anti-Qin uprising army, and Han Gaozu who established the Great Han was even a Chu person, and by that time no one would regard the Chu people as barbarians anymore, and the Chu people have already become part of the Great Han, right?"

"Yes!" Jin Renwen was also a smart person: "You mean, even if the Liao land becomes stronger because of you in the future, it will become a part of the Tang Dynasty in the future? A short-term enemy will make the Tang Dynasty stronger?"

"Yes, but at that time it may not be the Tang Dynasty, maybe it was another dynasty, but this land will eventually be integrated with the Central Plains. The Mohe, Khitan, and Tie Le will eventually be connected with the Han family in the Central Plains! Maybe the middle There will be twists and turns, but the result is certain!"

"Sanlang, you're thinking too far!" Jin Ren asked with a smile: "I'm afraid this will not only be decades or hundreds of years, but it may not be 300 years or 400 years. By then, you and I will have died long ago, right? "

"Yes, but we will have sons, and sons will have sons, and sons' sons will have sons, right?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "There is no shortage of children and grandchildren!"

"That's true!" Jin Ren asked with a smile: "Sanlang, your energy really amazes me. It's good that others can take care of your own generation. You actually thought of something so far away!"

"Actually, I'm not the only one who thinks too far! Brother Renshou, you have stayed in Luoyang and Chang'an for so long, what do you think about these two cities?"

"Chang'an? Luoyang?" Jin Renwen frowned, and after thinking for a moment, he replied: "I have never seen such a great and prosperous city, and it is even more unimaginable that there are two such cities! And Chang'an Compared with Luoyang, Jincheng, Pyongyang, and Sibi are just small villages!"

"You said just now that you have never seen such a great and prosperous city!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "Actually, there are cities in this world no less than Chang'an and Luoyang, at least once!"

"There have been?"

"Well, the capital of Qin Dynasty is Xianyang, the capital of Han Dynasty is Chang'an, Luoyang, Yecheng, and Jianye, but they were all destroyed by the flames of war!" Wang Wenzuo sighed, the candle flames danced in his eyes, as if the burning city, his The voice became low and soft, a bit like a dream: "Actually, apart from Tang Dynasty, there are also magnificent cities in distant places no less than Chang'an and Luoyang: Babylon, Rome, Athens, Alexandria, Nineveh, but they finally It was also destroyed by the flames of war and turned into a pile of ruins for future generations to pay tribute to!"

Infected by Wang Wenzuo's words, Jin Renwen was speechless for a while, and then asked after a while, "I've never heard of these cities, how do you know?"

"When I was in Chang'an, I found a few books when I went to the Sogdian merchant's synagogue. The stories of these cities were all read from the books!"

"Yeah!" Jin Renwen was silent for a while, and sighed: "Everything in the world has an end, even Chang'an Luoyang has that day. Although this is lamentable, but you and I are mortals, and there is nothing we can do!"

"That's not necessarily the case! It's impossible for Chang'an and Luoyang to live forever, but it's not difficult to prolong it for a few more years!" Wang Wenzuo said: "The rise and fall of the world is nothing more than the descendants forgetting the hardships of their ancestors in starting a business, being extravagant and lustful, and eventually declining. Today, the Tang Dynasty The power is so strong that it is far ahead of the previous dynasty, but the speed of arrogance and extravagance of the younger generation is also far faster than the previous dynasty, Brother Renshou thinks what I said is right?"

Jin Renwen nodded, there is nothing to argue about this point.Compared with the founding emperors of the Han Dynasty, the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Li and Tang's founding ruling group may have the highest background-except for a few people who made meritorious deeds with martial arts, Li and Tang's founding ruling group almost changed the same as Sui and Northern Zhou. wave people.The advantage of this is that the ruling group has rich military and political experience, and the country can quickly recover from the wars at the end of the Sui Dynasty and expand outwards, achieving a series of victories.The downside is that this wave of people are almost all n-generation nobles, they are deeply rooted, and the speed of corruption and extravagance is also frighteningly fast.Even during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, which was famous for the rule of Zhenguan, a large number of palaces were built and lands and wealth were rewarded to noble clans. Real political and economic reforms, financial constraints, and finally brought about such a big event as the Anshi Rebellion.

"Then what consequences do you think this will have?" Wang Wenzuo asked.

"This——" Jin Renwen frowned: "Sanlang, there is indeed a style of extravagance in Chang'an and Luoyang, but which country doesn't have this kind of thing? Anyway, you have seen it too, Prince Renhou Mingrui. If you are not used to it, you can bear it for a while, and when the crown prince ascends the throne, you will have great power at that time, so what you want to do is not easy?"

Wang Wenzuo shook his head slowly, his eyes were cold, and he seemed to be a different person from his usual gentle and amiable.

"Sanlang, what do you mean? Don't you trust the prince?"

"People change, especially the prince surrounded by everyone in the palace!" Wang Wenzuo said: "Besides, even if the prince can really keep his original intentions and trust me after he ascends the throne, I'm afraid I can't do anything!"

"Why do you say that?"

Wang Wenzuo pulled out the dagger and asked, "Although this dagger is sharp, can it cut to the handle?"

"Of course not? What do you mean?"

"It's very simple. Even though I have great power, the people who execute my orders are all rich and noble people in Chang'an. If I want to change all this, I will definitely refuse to do what I want. In the end, not only will I not be able to accomplish anything, I am afraid that I will lose my life." !"

Jin Renwen looked at Wang Wenzuo's face, and suddenly sighed: "Sanlang, why do you say that, you were never so frustrated when you were in Baekje Wa Kingdom!"

　I got off work a little earlier than expected today, so I rushed to finish writing this chapter, please forgive me for the shortcomings!
　　In addition, one more thing, Weber is already a middle-aged man, with a lot of work and life affairs, and writing books is just a side job.Once the work gets busy, there will definitely be a suspension of updates, I hope everyone will forgive me!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)