A Millennium Aristocratic Family Starting from the Shang Dynasty

Chapter 699: The establishment of a feudal state
If he could become an emperor, he would naturally not want to go to a remote and wild place to become a vassal king. But knowing clearly that he has no chance to become an emperor, then going to a remote and wild place to become a vassal king is the best choice.

Although those vassal states were a little more remote and the environment and climate were a little worse, once they got there, he would be the king, which was much better than being a caged bird in Chang'an.

Li Ke knew very well that when his father was alive, he had a good life in the Tang Dynasty, but once his father passed away, the best outcome for him would be to be imprisoned or even sentenced to death.

That's why Li Ke was so excited when he heard that his father wanted to grant him a kingdom.

"The place you are going to has many barbarians and barbarians who do not accept the king's will. It is far less prosperous than Chang'an."

"Father, don't worry, I will definitely turn the vassal state into Tang soil, the land of all Xia!" Li Ke assured.

Li Shimin shook his head and said: "These places are full of barbarians, how can it be so easy to turn them into the land of the Xia Dynasty? You must first establish a firm foothold, and then implement it step by step, organize households and people, and change customs. I'm afraid this will be your whole life." What can’t be done needs to be done by you and your descendants from generation to generation.”

"You and your descendants must remember today's words, as well as the surrounding small countries and barbarians. As long as you can conquer them, it will be considered a feudal country. As long as you and your descendants do not betray the Tang Dynasty, the Tang court will I will always support you!”

Li Ke looked at the territories on the map, his eyes shone, and then he said solemnly: "Father, don't worry, my son swore to King Haotianwen that my son and his descendants will never betray the Tang Dynasty. If you violate this oath, God will be punished." Let’s kill him together!”

Li Shimin looked at his son with great satisfaction, and then continued to teach his son: "To govern these places, you must first divide the local aristocratic families and powerful people, win over some, attack some, and eliminate some, and then support Buddhism or Taoism and use religion The power of assimilation.”

Although there were many voices of opposition from both the government and the public, with the support of Li Shimin, Wang Xuanjing and many ministers, the enfeoffment of vassal states was quickly implemented. The first person to be enfeoffed was Li Ke, who was enfeoffed to Liaodong this time.

After Li Shimin prepared to send troops to capture this place, he would entrust it to his son.

Li Shimin formally implemented the feudal system of border vassals at the Great Court Meeting, and began to enfeoff his sons to the barbaric lands around Zhuxia, Liaodong, Yunnan-Guizhou, southern Yunnan and other places with many foreign ethnic groups.

At the same time, Li Shimin also ennobled several vassal states such as Wei, Qi, and Chu, but these vassals had not yet been formally established. Li Shimin planned to enfeoff Yunnan, Guizhou, southern Yunnan, and even Jiaozhi further south.

"But religions must also be restricted and they must not be allowed to prosper too much. The country's tax revenue must not be affected. At the same time, the army must be controlled. The military system can also be promoted in these places."

Li Shimin made Li Ke King of Yan, and moved 20,000 households in Guanzhong, 3,000 soldiers, and 1,000 craftsmen and doctors to the feudal country.

Originally, the land of Liaodong Kingdom was divided into four parts. The area near Youzhou was changed to Xuantu County and Lelang County, and the rest became Li Ke's feudal state.

"With one hand holding financial power, the other hand holding military power, and then using Buddhism and Taoism to educate foreigners, we will be able to rule here as steadily as Mount Tai."

In the southwest, there are many barbarians and the roads are difficult to navigate. The cost of direct rule by the court is too high. Even if it is ruled by a reluctant government, it will eventually fall and rebel, and the land will be full of chicken feathers. Therefore, enfeoffing vassal kings became the best choice.

The ministers of the imperial court were relieved when they saw that Li Shimin was entrusting barbarian lands. The consequences of the two hundred years of war between Liu and Song also made these people afraid.

In the next few years, the imperial court recruited soldiers from Guangdong and Guangxi, and then attracted some tribes who were close to the Tang Dynasty and had accepted the culture of Zhuxia. They recruited barbarians from these tribes and trained them in Guangnan and other places for two years. Head southwest. Because the Wang family provided a lot of experience in attacking southern Xinjiang, as well as a large number of medicines to deal with the smoky land, plus adapting to the environment in advance and recruiting barbarians, the casualties of the Tang army were not large.

The biggest difficulty for the Central Plains dynasty in the southern Xinjiang is the unsuitable climate, soil and water, miasma, etc. The Wang family prepared a large amount of Artemisia annua to treat diseases, and strictly required the army not to drink raw water when going on an expedition. All water sources must be boiled before drinking.

A series of protections made the Tang army unstoppable in the southern frontier. Once the geographical advantage and climate environment were lost, the barbarians in the southern barbarians would have almost no resistance against the elites of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty did not invest many troops in southern Xinjiang, less than 20,000 in total, but it recruited a large number of barbarians. With these barbarians as auxiliary troops, the barbarians in the southwest borderland were defeated and conquered one after another.

Li Shimin began to enfeoff other sons in southern Xinjiang, which can be said to include parts of Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Myanmar, Vietnam and other regions in later generations.

After these vassal states are established, they will also follow the model of Yan State. At the same time, Li Shimin told his sons to continue to expand southward. The southern Xinjiang area was very large and could even be connected to Tianzhu. After seeing the vast land on the map, all the vassal kings who were sealed in southern Xinjiang were eager to try. .

The Wang family had long informed about Tianzhu's situation, knowing that it was equally rich but also had a weak national power. If it could be occupied, it would be no worse than the Central Plains.

Li Shimin also transferred people from Jiangnan and asked these people to follow him to join the vassal state.

In the twenty-fourth year of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty had been in power for thirty years. After thirty years of multiplication, the world's population had become comparable to that of the Sui Dynasty in many places.

Li Shimin ordered the relocation of tens of thousands of households, which will not cause a population shortage. Tens of thousands of households migrated. As long as these people successfully established themselves locally and took root, they would become the foundation of the vassal state. At the same time, he ordered that all prisoners with serious crimes in all prefectures and counties in the world, as long as they did not commit heinous crimes, would be exiled.

All these prisoners were exiled to the feudal state.

In order to allow these people to migrate, Li Shimin and the princes made arrangements, and these migrating people could obtain a large amount of farmland locally.

People who were originally civilians or even poor people in the Tang Dynasty would be allocated at least two hundred acres of land after coming to the feudal state.

It can be said that these people directly crossed the class. As for the migrating soldiers, the benefits are even greater.

Li Shimin divided Li Tai and several other princes into vassals. A large part of the reason was that he was worried that his sons would kill each other like him.

In particular, the relationship between Li Tai and the prince was the worst, and although this child was smart, he was ruthless and would not give up once he gained power. Therefore, the other princes might be able to stay in Chang'an, but Li Tai had to join the vassal.

As Li Shiming's edict was issued, a large number of troops and people began to migrate.

(End of this chapter)