Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 478: Deer in my pocket
As soon as Chen Ruohan finished speaking, Li Shimin looked at Chen Ruohan with a look of great disdain, a look that was probably similar to "How could you think of me like that", filled with full of disdain.

"Cough cough."

Chen Ruohan coughed lightly, then looked at Li Shimin and said, "Your Majesty, I thought you still had some sympathy for him, didn't I?"

"after all."

Chen Ruohan stretched out his voice, with some inexplicable meaning: "After all, he is still your father."

He smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I am not bringing this up for no reason. Think about what will happen after the unification."

Chen Ruohan spread his hands and said, "Yesterday, Hongda came to my house and talked to me about something."

"Hongdae asked me, 'Your Majesty, are you ready to unify the world?' I felt strange when I heard this. Hongdae is not the kind of person who would care about this matter. Why did he suddenly ask this out of nowhere?"

"Hongda asked me, after the unification of the country and the struggle for supremacy in the Central Plains, how should Your Majesty treat the Southern Tang Emperor and his son?"

"I thought about what happened in the past few days, so I wanted to ask Your Majesty."

Chen Ruohan straightened his clothes and looked up, looking at Li Shimin and asked, "Your Majesty, how should you treat the Southern Tang emperor and his son?"

Li Shimin fell into silence.

He really hadn't thought about this issue.

After all, he had just established Chang'an as the capital and was still building Chang'an City. The capital was temporarily still in Luoyang City. It could be said that his "Tang" was in a situation where it had just been established. How could he have thought of launching a war to unify the world so quickly?
But how to treat the father and son of Nan Tang is indeed a huge problem.

This is not like it is now, where we can just disobey the orders of the Emperor of Southern Tang.

After the unification of the world, the Southern Tang emperor and his son would certainly no longer be emperors. So there were generally two treatments for the surrendered emperor. The first was to make him a duke and give him some face. The second was to kill him to put an end to it once and for all and prevent future troubles.

If the title of Duke is given, the father is the Duke and the son is the emperor?
This must be recorded in history books, and it cannot be compared with the current struggle between the father and son of Southern Tang and Northern Tang for the world. This is a dispute over "orthodoxy" and "propriety".

So kill Li Yuan and Li Jiancheng?
This is a heroic achievement that can be recorded in the history books. If Li Shimin really did this openly, then in the future it would be just like in the original history. No matter how great the prosperity Li Shimin created, he would be known as a tyrant in the history books.

Because he killed his father and brother.

Li Shimin frowned slightly, looked at Chen Ruohan and said, "Cheng Tao, what do you think?"

A light flashed in his mind. Chen Ruohan would not speak without a purpose. He came to him at this time and said so many things to him, so he must have his own intentions.

Perhaps there is already a solution to this problem?

Thinking of this, Li Shimin's expression was filled with a hint of anticipation.

Chen Ruohan smiled, looked at Li Shimin and said, "How about emulating Emperor Taizu Gao?"

Emperor Taizu Gao?
This word still has a very clear reference today. It refers to only one person, and that is Emperor Gaozu of Han.

Because in history there is only one person with such a title, Liu Bang.

The founding emperor who started from scratch is called Taizu, and the one who founded the country with the help of his ancestors' legacy is called Gaozu.

The one with great merit is called the ancestor, and the one with great virtue is called the clan leader. This is the nature of the temple name.

So generally speaking, the first emperor of a country is "Taizu".

Liu Bang regarded Liu Taiweng as the Supreme Emperor. Logically speaking, he was already the second emperor in terms of righteousness, but he himself was the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, and Liu Taiweng was just a respectful "Second Emperor" without any substantial merit or status.

Therefore, people generally call Liu Taiweng the Emperor Retired.

Liu Bang was called Taizu Gaohuangdi.

At this time, Chen Ruohan's intention of mentioning the title of Taizu Gaohuangdi was very obvious. Li Shimin looked at Chen Ruohan with some dissatisfaction. He was really unwilling to give his cheap father the title of "Grand Emperor". There was no other reason, he simply felt that Li Yuan was not worthy of it.

Who the hell is Li Yuan? He treated him like that and still expected him to respect him as the emperor?

Moreover, he had previously said that he did not recognize this father, but now he respects Li Yuan as the emperor emeritus. Isn't that contradicting himself?
Chen Ruohan seemed not to notice Li Shimin's look, and just said to himself: "If we follow the method of Emperor Taizu Gao, honor our father as the emperor, and then simply let him enjoy wealth and glory, then everything makes sense."

"After Liu Taiweng became the emperor, did he desire power in the court?"

"I think there may be some."

"But until the day Liu Taiweng died, did he have any influence over the power of the imperial court?"

Chen Ruohan looked at Li Shimin and said meaningfully, "I think this is not the case."

Power? Glory?
Li Shimin seemed to be suddenly enlightened by Chen Ruohan. For a man like Li Yuan, what else in this world could he desire?
Prosperity and wealth?

There may be some, but they certainly won't be too many, because even if Li Yuan honestly serves as the Duke of Tang, when the future monarch unifies the world, he will still be the Duke of Tang.

So what is it that Li Yuan cannot give up? What is it that he is willing to fight for even if it means giving up his stable life?

It's power.

If this is the case, the most appropriate and cruel way to treat Li Yuan is to put Li Yuan in the position of "emperor emeritus" and let him watch helplessly as "power" is held in the hands of his most hated second son.

As for interfering in the court?

What qualifications does a king of a fallen country who can only survive by relying on the emperor's grace and enjoying the honor of being the emperor have to interfere in the court!
At this time, even the so-called filial piety is useless!
Because Li Shimin had already fulfilled his filial piety to a certain extreme degree - honoring such an immoral person as the Supreme Emperor, isn't this more benevolent and filial than Emperor Taizu Gao?
If anyone in the world refutes this, then the first person they will have to deal with is not Li Shimin, but the Liu family of the Han Dynasty! And they will also have to deal with the Cao family!
why?
Because he wanted to refute this matter, thinking that what Li Shimin did was wrong and unfilial, the first person he wanted to attack was Emperor Taizu Gao, and attacking Emperor Taizu Gao was like attacking the ancestor of the Liu family!
The Liu family is not extinct yet, how can they bear to see someone attacking their ancestors like this?
If they could really watch helplessly without saying anything, then the Liu family would no longer have the dignity to use the words "descendants of Emperor Gaozu" to justify themselves.

As for the Cao family?

Although the Cao family claimed to be emperors for a period of time, they still consider themselves to be Han ministers! After all, the Wei emperor returned the government and the throne to the Liu family emperor! To the Han Dynasty!
Those people who attacked Emperor Taizu Gao were actually attacking the Han Dynasty, weren't they?

If the Cao family doesn't help the Liu family, how can they claim to be loyal subjects of the Han Dynasty in the future?
But after Cao and Liu were eliminated, the matter was no longer so easily resolved.

No one wants to face a huge family with a history of 400 years - or perhaps even more than 400 years. The Liu family of the Han Dynasty was the emperor for 400 years, and after the end of the Han Dynasty, they established a hermit family. How many years has Dayu lived? More than 300 years!

With more than seven hundred years of history, it is almost comparable to the Chen family!
Faced with such a behemoth, who dares to move?
Therefore, as long as the name of Emperor Taizu Gao was involved, Li Yuan could only be kept in the deep palace by him, and survive with only a name. This was the greatest punishment for Li Yuan.

but.
Li Shimin looked at Chen Ruohan and asked, "What about the Southern Tang prince? How should we deal with the Southern Tang prince?"

In fact, when Li Shimin asked this question, he already had the answer in his mind, but he still wanted to ask Chen Ruohan to verify whether his idea was correct.

Chen Ruohan was actually very aware of Li Shimin's behavior, so he just smiled, looked at Li Shimin, and said softly: "Your Majesty, do you still remember the Prince of Jin and Prince Li?"

Prince Jin! Prince Li! This has almost become a proper noun as well.

Li Shimin's smile became even more wanton. It was obvious that he and Chen Ruohan had reached the same idea, so he smiled and said, "How could I not remember them?"

So he sighed and said, "I guess Cheng Tao is saying this now because the court is ready to unify the world?"

Chen Ruohan stood up at this time and looked at Li Shimin very respectfully.

His voice was solemn and low: "Your Majesty, the world has been divided for a long time. Now that the orthodoxy of the country has been established, why not take advantage of the situation to directly destroy the Southern Tang and then unify the world?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, after conquering Southern Tang, Chang'an City can be initially built."

The construction of Chang'an City used a new thing developed by the Mohists, called "cement", a combination of part cement and part wood and stone. The construction speed was much faster than that of Guandu City.

Li Shimin had already experienced the solidity of cement.

Li Shimin was an absolute "pragmatist". He did not care whether it looked good or not. He only cared whether the city of Chang'an was big enough and strong enough. Under the leadership of Chen Ruohan, the city of Chang'an was similar to the city of Guandu, and some places were even more magnificent - for example, there was no imperial palace in Guandu as majestic as the one in the center of Chang'an.

This made Li Shimin even more satisfied.

"In that case."

Li Shimin stood up, looked at Chen Ruohan and said, "Tomorrow morning, we will discuss the unification issue!"

morning

Today's morning court was unusual. All the ministers felt it after entering the gate of Taiji Hall.

The first was the "King of Zhenguo" Chen Zhan, who never attended court meetings. Today he sat with his eyes closed at the front of the hall. That was his exclusive seat - and Marquis Lin'an and King An also stood there very neatly.

Then came the six ministers, followed by the many generals under Li Shimin, as well as Yu Wenzhi and others.

This unusual atmosphere made people realize something instantly. The ministers in the audience looked at each other, their faces filled with "excitement". At this moment, these people gathered together for probably only one thing.

The world is unified!
Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world has been divided for more than ten or twenty years.

Who doesn't hope for the unification of the world?

as predicted.

The court meeting had just begun and Li Shimin had just sat down when Lin'an Marquis Chen Lin'an stood up with a respectful look.

"Your Majesty, the world has been divided for a long time and the people are suffering."

"I ask Your Majesty to put the people first and issue an order to attack Southern Tang, and then unify the world, so that the nine provinces and four seas will submit, and the people of the world will be at peace, and the hearts of the millions of people will be reassured, so that China will never be prosperous again, and the nine provinces will be at peace."

As soon as Chen Lin'an finished speaking, Chen Ruohan stepped out to express his agreement, and then Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Li Jing, Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, Wei Zheng, Yu Wenhuaji and others all stepped out to express their agreement.

These were all old ministers who had served before Li Shimin established the Tang Dynasty. Their every move represented the moves of the one sitting on the dragon throne.

However, many ministers still did not agree immediately.

Their eyes were looking at the same person, the old minister sitting in front of them - Chen Zhan.

King Chen Zhan!
Li Shimin also looked at the minister who was half-closed his eyes and seemed to be asleep, and asked in a low voice: "Mr. Chen, is it time to unify the world now?"

Chen Zhan slowly opened his eyes, his pupils were still sharp.

His voice was old and muddy, but it carried an indomitable power.

"Your Majesty, the time to unify the world has long arrived."

"As Lin'an Hou said, the people are suffering and the common people are at peace."

"Now that your majesty has left, you should pacify the country as soon as possible, so that the four seas will submit and the nine states will be at peace."

Inside the hall, there was a burst of echoing voices, and everyone expressed their agreement.

Li Shimin sat on the dragon throne, which symbolized supremacy. His voice was leisurely, his eyes were calm, and his voice was firm and powerful.

"Pass on my order, order the Marquis of Lin'an to be the chief general, and Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, Li Jing and others to be the deputy generals."

"Select 200,000 soldiers and send them immediately to attack Southern Tang!"

"I order you to capture the false emperor of Southern Tang and bring him to Luoyang within half a year!"

Chen Linan took a step forward, his voice solemn.

"My lord, take the order!"

Inside the Tai Chi Hall
Li Shimin had an unconcealable smile on his face. He stroked the geomancy map in front of him, looked at Empress Changsun beside him and said with a smile: "Guanyin, the heroes of the world are competing for the Central Plains, but I am one step ahead."

"But it caused half of the deer to run away."

He sighed, his voice filled with satisfaction.

"Now, this deer has finally fallen into my pocket!"

Empress Changsun walked towards Li Shimin, straightened his clothes, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, this is indeed something worth getting excited about."

"only."

Li Shimin understood what Empress Changsun wanted to say, and just raised his eyebrows: "As for the two of you, just wait and see."

南唐
In the Taiji Palace in the capital

Li Yuan sat in the imperial study with a slightly gloomy look on his face. He had always looked like this since he started the uprising.

"Just take a look."

He pressed his forehead.

"That rebellious son has sent his troops south to capture you and me, father and son."

(End of this chapter)