A Millennium Aristocratic Family Starting from the Shang Dynasty

Chapter 698: Enfeoffment and restraint

The Liaodong Kingdom was conquered, but it was not easy to govern it. First, it was located in the north, with a cold climate and four thousand miles away from Chang'an, the heart of the empire.

Li Shimin knew very well that when the Tang Dynasty was strong, this was the land of the Tang Dynasty. Once the Tang Dynasty weakened, there would most likely be problems here.

He not only has to think about the present, but also the future.

Even now, after the Liaodong Kingdom is conquered, it is not easy to govern this place except for the state-controlled states and counties.

The sky is high and the emperor is far away, so he can guess what the powerful locals below will do, even the state and county officials here. After all, in the eyes of many people, being an official here is basically equivalent to being assigned.

Then how can these officials manage the place well when they get here? It is very likely that they will join forces with local powerful people to make money.

Li Shimin was a little worried. There were many places like this in the Tang Dynasty. Under his rule, the Tang Dynasty was at its peak and its prestige was great. Officials from all over the country did not dare to slack off at all. But one day, he, the Holy Emperor, would become the emperor. Khan will pass away, and will his son be as capable as he is?
Li Shimin knew very well that although his prince was good, he was still far behind him.

In order to solve this problem, Li Shimin read a lot of history books, and then invited Wang Xuanjing to ask.

After hearing Li Shimin's inquiry, Wang Xuanjing said: "Your Majesty, this problem has always existed since the day Zhuxia was established."

"The Rebellion of the Kings of Liu and Song Dynasties."

"It seems that this enfeoffment system is doing all harm but no good, but it depends on the situation. Southern Xinjiang and Liaodong are too far away from the Central Plains. If you want to control them, you can only control them during the heyday of the dynasty, and the cost is staggering. Many of these places are It belongs to the Tang Dynasty in name, but is actually Jisi Prefecture. The state cannot collect taxes from here, and even has to pay subsidies. "

"During the Shang Dynasty, in order to solve this problem, almost every generation of Shang kings would migrate. Bo moved to Xiao, then to Xiang, and then to Geng. It lasted for nine generations. Such frequent migrations were just In order to control the land of the Shang Dynasty."

"It wasn't until Pan Geng moved to Yin that the Shang Dynasty became stable. However, this prosperity could only last for a while, and eventually the country would gradually decline."

"I have to say that King Wu of Zhou is still very courageous, and his younger brother Zhou Gongdan is also a great sage. They entrust the princes of the world, and let the Zhou family, in-laws and those heroes who follow them enfeoff to all parts of the world."

"After that, the Liu Song Dynasty divided the vassal states and wanted to defend the central government with their clans. As a result, the world was in chaos for two hundred years, and was finally unified by the former Sui Dynasty."

"In this way, the Zhou Dynasty could control these places through the princes. The Zhou Dynasty prospered for more than two hundred years, but this also caused the princes to become stronger and stronger, while the Emperor of Zhou continued to weaken, and finally died in Huai."

"Your Majesty, if that's the case, why not re-confer these places to the vassal kings and use them as barriers?" Wang Xuanjing said.

"Seal the vassal kings to guard the vassal fence." Li Shimin hesitated.

"In the Zhou Dynasty, King Wu of Zhou defeated Shang and became the lord of the Xia. However, the Zhou Dynasty also faced the dilemma of the Shang Dynasty."

"But if we ignore it, if the barbarians get bigger in these places, they will invade the place again. We cannot give up."

"Daqian learned the lessons of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, implemented the system of prefectures and counties, and at the same time divided the princes in remote places. In this way, he conquered the world for four hundred years, and finally perished due to natural and man-made disasters, and the neighboring princes."

"This system seems to be a recipe for disaster today. It caused the central government to decline and gave the princes an opportunity to become stronger. But in fact it was the most appropriate system at the time."

"Your Majesty, the chaos of the Liu and Song Dynasties was caused by the fact that the vassal states were too strong and the central government was fighting for power for a long time, and their strength was weakened."

"At that time, all the countries that the Liu Song Dynasty enfeoffed were within the borders of Zhuxia. Many places were completely sacred lands. Enfeoffing these places was the only way to bring disaster!"

"Today's enfeoffment is to enfeoff the kings to southern Xinjiang, Liaodong and other places where there are many barbarians and barbarians and the central court cannot control them. The imperial court occupies the rich lands of the Xia and has sufficient soldiers and food. Those vassal states "How can they be opponents?" "More importantly, when these feudal kings go to these barbaric places, the barbarians will not be obedient. If they want to subdue the barbarians, they must rely on the central court, so naturally they can only protect the fence. ”

Li Shimin listened carefully to Wang Xuanji's method and kept weighing it in his mind. As a generation of British masters, Tian Khan, Li Shimin quickly made his choice.

After Wang Xuanjing withdrew, Li Shimin called his third son, Li Ke, over again.

In fact, among Li Shimin's dozen sons, the one who most resembles him is not the prince Li Chengqian, nor the smartest King of Wei Li Tai, but the inconspicuous third son Li Ke.

Li Ke was brave, brave and intelligent, but unfortunately he was born to Emperor Sui Yang's daughter, Concubine Yang. If he were the daughter of Empress Changsun, he would be more suitable to be the crown prince than Li Chengqian.

"My son pays homage to his father!"

Looking at the majestic and heroic Li Ke, Li Shimin saw a bit of his own shadow in him. Unfortunately, his biological mother destined that he would never have the chance to inherit the throne.

Li Shimin felt pity in his heart and asked with a smile: "How have you been studying your homework recently? I asked you to follow the prince in class, have you studied seriously?"

Li Ke replied: "My children are not lazy. We study in the morning and practice martial arts in the afternoon. The teacher also took us to the military camp to experience and practice with the soldiers."

"It seems that you have learned well." Li Shimin smiled.

Then Li Shimin took out several maps and pulled his son to his side: "Since you have learned about marching, you also know these maps."

Li Ke carefully identified the three maps. One was a map from the Zhou Dynasty, one was a map from the Daqian period, and the other was a map from the current Tang Dynasty.

Among them, the map of Daqian is the widest, more than one-third larger than that of Datang. The Western Regions, Yunnan-Guizhou, Mobei, and Liaodong are all marked, and these places are all vassal states or surrenders.

On the map of Datang, these places are only in name. Of course, in addition to these, even the map of Daqian does not occupy a large area on the entire map. There are also large and vast areas on this map, such as Tianzhu, Guishang, Southern Xinjiang, etc., and Zhuxia areas are three in a row. Not even a fraction of it.

"how?"

"The Tang Dynasty is too small, but the outside world is very big!" Li Ke replied.

"Yes, the Tang Dynasty is too small, and there is still a lot of land outside." Li Shimin sighed: "These places are too far away from the Central Plains, the roads are difficult to travel, and they are full of barbarians. I also want to incorporate them into the Tang Dynasty, but how can I govern them? ?”

"This"

"I plan to entrust this place to you. I will allocate the land, population, and wealth here to you, and leave some officials and troops to assist you. I will also move tens of thousands of Tang people to you and make you the king here."

Li Ke naturally knew the difference between the actual feudal vassal state and the Shiyi vassal state. One was just a name, and the other was a vassal state. There was a huge difference between the two.

Hearing this, Li Ke was enveloped in a huge surprise and couldn't believe his ears.

"Don't be too happy too early. This is a bitter cold land, with barren land, numerous mountains, and barbarians everywhere. There are also barbarians in the north. The people don't speak Tang language. It's not here to enjoy it. If you are not careful, you may even die and the country will be destroyed. ”

"Children are not afraid of difficulties!" Li Ke said without hesitation. He understood that this was the biggest opportunity in his life and he must seize it.

(End of this chapter)