In essence, the so-called governing the country means tearing down the east wall to repair the west wall, treating the head when it hurts and the foot when the foot hurts.
In a huge empire, I don’t know how many incidents and problems will occur every day. Some are good and some are bad. Some may not be solved and can only be delayed. Some are easy to solve and can be solved by killing people. Others cannot be delayed or cannot be solved.
Solve it immediately, as this kind of problem is often a big trouble.
What Prince Teng said was quite troublesome to Li Qinzai.
On the surface, the problem of more than a dozen states and counties resisting the planting of sweet potatoes does not seem to be a big one. The worst case scenario is that the court abandons these dozen states and counties and does not plant them. For the huge Tang Empire, these dozen
The sweet potato output of the state and county will not be greatly affected.
But, that's just an appearance.
From the perspective of Li Zhi and the imperial prime minister Gongqing, more than a dozen states and counties resisted imperial decrees, which was a big problem.
It may not be that serious to say that they rebelled, but they actually resisted centralization of power and resisted the emperor's edict. This was an act of disobedience.
How to solve?
Li Zhi issued an edict to dismiss all officials from more than a dozen states and counties?
If governing the country was so simple, everyone could be an emperor.
Today, the emperor and the elites still govern the world. To be precise, in Chang'an City or the Guanzhong and Gyeonggi areas, the emperor is the undisputed boss. Anyone who dares to disobey will join a good family in the next life.
But outside the Gyeonggi region, the emperor and local clans were basically in the form of joint-stock companies. Of course, the emperor was still the undisputed chairman, and other local clans were the major shareholders.
Under normal circumstances, shareholders must abide by and implement the executive orders of the chairman.
But if the shareholders have objections to the chairman and decide to join forces to resist the chairman's order, and they all come together to collect shares, and the chairman's shares are less than 51%, this situation is not easy to say.
.
Members of the aristocratic families must lie down in Chang'an City, and whatever the emperor says will be done.
But at the local level, the influence of aristocratic families on the landlord class and the common people was actually greater than the imperial power.
In most cases, local officials did not dare to resist the edicts issued by the Chang'an court and could only cooperate and implement them honestly.
But if the clans were resentful of the Tang Dynasty and wanted to resist, it would be really difficult for the imperial decrees to be implemented locally.
This is the current situation in Jiangnan Lingnan Province.
The nobles joined forces to resist the imperial decree, but they could not be said to have rebelled, even though what they did was indeed an act of disobedience.
Because this place has a soft confrontation with the central court, which has happened in every dynasty.
From King Wu's attack on Zhou, to the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion in the Han Dynasty, the Eight Kings Rebellion in the Western Jin Dynasty, etc., they all actually started from the soft confrontation between the local governments and the central government.
At the beginning of the incident, there was no real evidence and because the local power was too large, it was inconvenient for the central court to deal with it.
It is unrealistic to blame local officials. The clans have been running the place for hundreds of thousands of years. There are inextricably linked relationships between the local officials and the clans. Or the officials are the clansmen’s former servants. If the imperial court touches them, it will also follow them.
There is no difference between the moving gate valve.
We can't scare the snake, for fear of forcing the local clan to rebel, but we can't let it go, for fear that the clan will become powerful in the local area. If things go on like this, the court will really lose control of this area.
A small incident of promoting sweet potato cultivation triggered such a serious and complex crisis after a little thought.
Li Qinzai has a headache.
It was not without reason that Li Zhi and Empress Wu vowed to weaken the power of the aristocratic families throughout their lives. They had caused too much harm to the Tang Dynasty.
But the couple had been working hard for a lifetime, but the results were not great. Until the death of Empress Wu, the power of the family still existed.
In Chinese history, when did the aristocratic families really decline?
It's a bit ironic to say that it was Huang Chao who did it.
That's right, it's that evil star descending from the sky, the rebel Huang Chao who wears golden armor all over the city.
The rebel army is sweeping across the world. It doesn’t matter what royal family members you have, or how powerful your family is, if it falls into my hands, it will be chopped into pieces.
No matter how powerful the family is in the local area, or how many elites come from the family, in Huang Chao's eyes, they are all like two-legged sheep. The only difference is that the meat is thick and the meat is tender.
Huang Chao was able to accomplish what the central court had failed to achieve despite several generations of gentle fire and gentle governance.
Realizing the seriousness of the matter, Li Qinzai's expression became a little solemn.
"It's a bit tricky, and it can't be solved by questioning a few officials." Li Qinzai said with a wry smile.
Prince Teng glanced at him and hummed: "What do you think? If it can be solved by simply accusing a few officials who resisted the government order, would I have to rush all the way back to Chang'an from Jiangnan?"
"These dozen states and counties have been monolithically managed by the prominent families in the south of the Yangtze River. Most of the state and county officials come from the prominent families in the south of the Yangtze River. Their resistance to planting sweet potatoes is the result of the instructions of the local clans."
"If we only remove these officials, we will still treat the symptoms but not the root cause. The imperial decree will still not be implemented. On the contrary, it will intensify the conflict between local clans and the imperial court, and the gains outweigh the losses."
Li Qinzai pondered for a long time and suggested unconfidently: "What if a tough official went down to inspect and supervise the planting of sweet potatoes? For example, Liu Rengui..."
King Teng said dissatisfied: "What do you mean? Isn't my head strong? No matter how big officials are sent, they will still be useless when they get to the local area. The interests of local forces and officials are entangled too deeply. Anyone who gets there will be tied up.
, can’t do anything.”
Li Qinzai sighed and said: "It seems that this matter can only be reported to the emperor. Let the big guys discuss and decide. A weak and delicate flower like me can only be kept in a greenhouse. The strong winds and waves outside are too scary...
…”
Prince Teng showed a disgusted expression and said coldly: "If you want to stay out of the matter, I'm afraid it won't be that easy."
"When I returned to Chang'an, I didn't even go back to the palace, but came to your house. Why do you think that is?"
"Back in Chang'an City, you deposed hundreds of people from the eight prominent families in the south of the Yangtze River. You were the one who offended them. Sweet potato cultivation cannot be promoted in the south of the Yangtze River. You are the culprit."
As he spoke, Prince Teng's tone suddenly became low and hoarse, and his eyes became deeper, like a domineering CEO staring at a weak and helpless little girl.
"You light the fire, and you put it out yourself."
…………
Tai Chi Palace.
Li Qinzai and Prince Teng were sitting in the main hall, looking helpless.
Li Zhi and Empress Wu frowned deeply. The couple glanced at each other from time to time, seeing the same look in each other's eyes.
The look of helplessness in someone who wants to kill someone but can't lift the knife.
"Your Majesty, this is probably what happened. I was hampered everywhere in Jiangnan Road. State and county officials were lazy and passive and did not cooperate with me. Farmers in various villages were also deceived and refused to plant new grains. I was struggling in Jiangnan and Lingnan.
It’s too difficult.” Prince Teng smiled bitterly.
Li Zhi's expression was ugly, he was silent and lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking.
For a long time, Li Zhi gritted his teeth bitterly: "These noble families are becoming more and more emboldened. They dare to disobey the government's decrees. If this continues, won't it mean that they will recruit troops to rebel!"