People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1743: Marriage between the inner and outer worlds is the only way to stabilize the world
Li Xuan hugged Liu Jinyu tightly from behind and asked in a low voice: "How has your family been these days?"

Liu Jinyu breathed a sigh of relief, and then said, "The noble ladies in Chang'an City are almost knocking on my door, especially the older generation, who are even received by my mother in person."

Although Ouyang was about to become the empress dowager, she had been in Chang'an City for many years and had contact with too many people.

Liu Jinyu could block some of them, but he couldn't block most of them.

Especially those old families, the only elderly people in the family.

Even if Empress Wu was in Chang'an, she had to be received in a proper manner.

This is also one of the reasons why Empress Wu was unwilling to return to Chang'an, because her relationship with those families was really bad.

Li Xuan nodded and said, "With my wife and mother here, these aristocratic families in Chang'an will be much closer to us. Similarly, we can also know the situation of their children through our interactions with them. This is equivalent to controlling them, these aristocratic families, and the prefectures and counties they control in disguise."

Li Xuan still uses the same old tactics. I have your parents, wife, children and entire family in my hands. No matter what, you dare not rebel.

And with Liu Jinyu around, these aristocratic families, in addition to opposing Li Xuan, can also ease their relationship with Li Xuan through the relationships in the harem.

With this choice, you won’t leave too decisively.

"I thought my husband was going to imitate the Queen Mother's secret guard methods." Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan in surprise.

"Of course we have to do it." Li Xuan lay down calmly, and then said softly: "After the death of the Queen, many of the Secret Guards in various families were killed. Although my uncle is working hard to restore the Secret Guards' strength, it is a pity that it is a drop in the bucket. If we want to completely control the whole world, we still need to work harder."

Liu Jinyu nodded slightly. Whether she had followed Liu Rengui in her early years or had followed Li Xuan in recent years, she had enough understanding of the world.

If you are unable to spread your power to every corner of the world, it will be easy for you to become a blind person who is blinded by others.

For example, Li Chongjun, although he was the emperor, his orders could not even be spread beyond the palace, let alone the rest of the world.

"In fact, the thing that people who come to our house these days ask the most is about marriage." Liu Jinyu raised his eyebrows and looked at Li Xuan.

"Marriage?" Li Xuan frowned and said, "Is it Xia'er's? That's not possible. Your husband said in his early years that he would choose a talented person who is both civil and military for Xia'er. It must not be decided too early."

Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan with a half-smile. Li Xuan was stunned for a moment, then said, "Could it be Zhao'er? Zhao'er will be the crown prince in the future, so it's normal for people to pay attention to him. But it's still too early now. It's too early to talk about these things..."

Li Xuan paused, Liu Jinyu snorted coldly and said, "My husband, I'm talking about you. There are seventy-two concubines in the three palaces and six courtyards, concubines and maids, singing and dancing in the morning and night, and I don't know how many people are waiting to send people in. And my husband, you left me outside the palace, isn't it for these reasons?"

"That's right." Li Xuan lay on the bed calmly without any embarrassment, and then said softly: "Over the years, these women can be connected with the families behind them through them. In this way, you and I can use their power to extend our tentacles to every corner of the world."

"Is it the same trick used by the secret guards?" Liu Jinyu couldn't help but frowned.

Li Xuan smiled calmly, then whispered, "Madam, do you know why Emperor Gaozong's bloodline eventually died?"

"It's Empress Wu." Liu Jinyu nodded solemnly.

"There was another person in the former Sui Dynasty, just like Emperor Gaozong." Li Xuan looked sideways at Liu Jinyu and said seriously: "That person is Yang Jian."

"Yang Jian?" Liu Jinyu pondered Yang Jian's name and vaguely understood something.

"The emperor only loves one person." Li Xuan sighed and said, "Although it is the truest love in the world, it also means that we lose our connection with the noble families in the world. If something goes wrong..."

Yang Guang murdered Yang Jian, and Empress Wu killed her own children. In a very short period of time, they almost made Li Zhi extinct.

"Emperor Taizong loved Empress Wende deeply, but after he seized the throne, he was able to stabilize the country quickly, which was closely related to the people in the harem." Li Xuan sneered and said, "The fundamental reason why Emperor Taizong was able to stabilize the country quickly was because he married into most of the noble families in the world and gave birth to a large number of sons. It's just a pity..."

"It's a pity that I ran into the Queen." Liu Jinyu sighed softly, but quickly, she looked at Li Xuan dangerously, gritted her teeth and said: "My husband also plans to give birth to a lot of sons in the future."

Li Xuan smiled, hugged her and said, "At most, we can send her to a place far away in the future, such as Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Changzhou, Shazhou, etc. By then, only Zhao'er and Ming'er will be left by your side, and that will be enough."

"Humph." Liu Jinyu snorted coldly and asked, "How many people do you plan to recruit, my husband?"

"Madam, please choose." Li Xuan calmed down and said seriously, "For the top family, the Wang family is enough. The others must wait. Jiangnan must have one. For the rest, you can choose from ordinary officials or even civilians."

"The bottom level?" Liu Jinyu was a little surprised.

"The selection of candidates in previous generations has always been the best opportunity, or even the only opportunity, for these lower-class families to turn things around." Li Xuan shook his head and said, "Of course, their parents and brothers must be carefully examined to avoid any accidents."

"My husband, are you always thinking about state affairs?" Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan in surprise.

……

Li Xuan was lying there, looking up: "My lady knows, there are 300 states and 300 governors in the world. The major families account for 30%, the royal family and military generals and nobles account for 30%, and the Confucian scholars account for 30%."

Wei, Pei, Xue, Liu, Yang, Du, Cui, Lu, Zheng, Wang.

These are the top-notch families. At their peak, one family could have more than ten civil and military officials of the third rank or above.

Of course, they have been hit hard in recent years. Li Zhi, Empress Wu, and Li Xuan have all found various ways to suppress them.

Nowadays, together with the Dou family, Dugu family, Xu family, Gu Lu Zhu Zhang and other second-rate big families, there are a total of hundreds of provincial governors, which is already a rare achievement.

Moreover, there are various conflicts and contradictions of interests among the northern and southern families and in Guanzhong and Hedong.

Next in line were members of the Li royal family, military generals and nobles, as well as the children of foreign relatives, numbering about one hundred in total, and most of them were in border states.

After that came the Confucian literati, such as Ouyang Tong and Cen Changqian. Some of them came from the imperial examination system, and some from family inheritance. Although they each had their own system, compared with the first two, they were more dependent on the emperor.

"Nothing in the world is predetermined. Ordinary civil officials, military generals, nobles, and relatives of the emperor will develop rapidly once they encounter opportunities. If a family has more than three provincial governors, it is a middle-class family. If a family has more than ten officials of the third rank or above, it is a top-class family. For example, the Wu family is almost superior to the Li family."

After a brief pause, Li Xuan said, "Of course, top families can also fall, for example, the Wu family, the Wei family, the Cui, Lu, and Zheng families, the Xue family, and the Liu family and the Wang family in the early years, all of them are like this."

Liu Jinyu nodded gently. Li Xuan continued, "What we need to do is to ensure that this passage is smooth. Ordinary people can become a family heir through several generations of business, or pass the imperial examination or join the army; and those aristocratic families who are greedy will be completely brought down to dust."

"Yeah!" Liu Jinyu responded. She looked at Li Xuan and a smile slowly appeared in her eyes.

It’s a good thing that Li Xuan didn’t become completely arrogant and lazy just because he ascended the throne.

"What do you think about Zhao'er's marriage, husband?" Liu Jinyu suddenly asked elsewhere.

"Wei, Pei, Xue, Liu, Yang, Du, Cui, Lu, Zheng and Wang, none of them can be chosen." Li Xuan said it firmly. Li Jiancheng's Zheng, Li Zhi's Queen Wang and Li Xian's Empress Wei are all examples.

A ruler who is weak and then becomes strong is on the path to destruction.

"In the future, Zhao'er's Crown Princess should be chosen from Jingxiang and Jiannan, preferably from a middle-class family, and then he can marry girls from other families as concubines." Li Xuan said it very clearly.

"Checks and balances?" Liu Jinyu nodded slightly. It would also be good for her if her daughter-in-law was not too strong.

Li Xuan sighed and said, "In fact, if there is a choice, I would rather let Zhao'er marry a girl from the Liu family. After all, the Liu family can cultivate a beautiful and intelligent woman like you, so it would be nice to have another one."

"Hmph!" Liu Jinyu smiled complacently, and suddenly turned sideways and said, "As for the other girls from noble families, you can consider them yourself, it's nothing more than connecting them to other places, but there are two girls that you must marry."

Li Xuan looked at Liu Jinyu in a daze. Liu Jinyu pinched his arm hard and said, "Fifth Lady Qiongyu, and cousin Zhao Huan."

"Let's not talk about Huan'er. My uncle hasn't arranged a marriage for her all these years. I see clearly what he is waiting for. Then there is Wu Niang. The Cui family's regret for breaking the engagement made my uncle hate them so much. It will be difficult for Qiong Yu to find a good family after that. Instead of that, it's better for you to marry her." Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan and suddenly became furious. She bit his shoulder hard.

"Ah!" Li Xuan screamed subconsciously.

But I couldn't help but think of Huan'er and Qiongyu when they were still little girls.

……

In the Liangyi Hall, Li Duozuo walked into the hall and bowed solemnly to Li Xuan who was standing in front of the sand table, saying: "Your Majesty, I am Li Duozuo, the general of the Right Army Guard, and I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

Li Xuan waved her hand slightly and said, "No need to be so polite."

"Yes!" Li Duozuo stood up.

"Come and see." Li Xuan waved his hand. Li Duozuo quickly walked to Li Xuan's side and looked down at the sand table in front of him.

"This is a map of Hebei, Andong, and Silla." Li Duozuo's face was suddenly filled with surprise.

On the sand table in front of me were maps from Chang'an to Luoyang, Luoyang to Youzhou Yingzhou, and even to Andong Protectorate, and even the original Baekje map, and even part of the Silla map.

Of course, it's just the outskirts and the obvious rivers, as well as the map going straight to Silla's capital.

This is the limit of what the Tang Dynasty can do.

"The sand table of Anton and Silla, you can take it away when the time comes." Li Xuan looked up at Li Duozuo.

"Yes!" Li Duozuo immediately bowed, but then he reacted: "Your Majesty is planning to take action against Silla?"

"Yeah!" Li Xuan nodded and asked, "You came from Andong. What do you think is the biggest enemy in the battle against Silla?"

"Is it the weather or the forest?" Li Duozuo's expression became serious.

Silla was never an easy place to conquer. It took two generations of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozong to destroy Goguryeo, but in the end, Silla took advantage of the situation and rose to power.

"So, don't be impatient." Li Xuan shook his head and said, "I am ready to use ten years to completely resolve Silla. Jia Yi has a book called "On the Qin Dynasty". Go back and read it carefully.

When I met Emperor Gaozong, I also proposed to destroy Tubo. Today we build five cities, tomorrow we build ten cities... The more we build cities, the more we invade, swallowing up and displacing people. After a long time, all the land of Tubo will become Tang territory, and one will gain while the other loses...

The method mentioned here can also be applied to Silla."

"Yes!" Li Duozuo immediately understood Li Xuan's plan, to attack Silla little by little and exterminate Silla without putting too much pressure on the court.

To put it bluntly, it is still a method of losing money. The Tang Dynasty can outlast it, but Silla definitely cannot.

"Go back and write a strategy, and I will approve it. You will be the chief steward of Jilin Road and the protector of Andong Protectorate. Go to Luoyang first to mobilize troops and food. You can set off after I officially ascend the throne next year." Li Xuan looked at Li Duozuo with a serious expression.

"I obey your command." Li Duozuo bowed solemnly. Li Xuan would appoint him as the commander in the first major foreign war. He was deeply grateful for the trust he placed in him.

"Go." Li Xuan waved his hand, and Li Duozuo bowed and retreated.

……

The ruins of Taiji Hall were bustling with people.

On the side square, Wei Hongji bowed to Li Xuan who came to inspect and said: "According to your majesty's order, the Taiji Hall will be built more magnificently this time, with particular attention paid to ventilation and comfort."

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded and said, "The Taiji Hall was built in the early Sui Dynasty. For many years, due to the low terrain and high humidity, the previous emperors of the Tang Dynasty were not very happy, so the Daming Palace was built. I don't want to go to the Daming Palace often, so I am particularly concerned about the renovation of the Taiji Hall."

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I will build the first palace in the Tang Dynasty for you before the New Year." Wei Hongji bowed solemnly.

At this moment, Xu Lu came quickly from the direction of Taiji Hall.

Walking to Li Xuan's side, Xu Lu hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor's Seal has been cast."

Li Xuan suddenly turned around and looked at Xu Lu, his eyes filled with uncontrollable excitement.

(End of this chapter)