Wu Huaiyu discovered that Li Shimin admired the Han Dynasty, but Zhenguan ministers preferred to imitate the Sui Dynasty.
Various regulations, policies and laws were almost copied from Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. From Li Yuan and Li Shimin, to Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, to Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, etc., they also praised the distant strong men, but when it comes to reality, they still
I prefer Kaihuang which is closer.
Many important ministers in the court came from the prosperous days of Kaihuang, experienced the rule of Kaihuang, and personally experienced the collapse of the great cause. Now when they govern the country, they are naturally more willing to copy the ready-made Kaihuang model.
After all, they were separated not long ago, so many things are now available, so it is easy to copy them, and the people are willing to accept them.
From domestic affairs to diplomacy, from military affairs to finance, they are basically the same.
Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty adopted the policy of dividing and dissociating the powerful Turks of the steppe empire, uniting the weak and separating the strong, and combined with the policy of reconciliation. It can be said that it was a great success. It was low-cost and high-efficiency. The powerful Turks were destroyed during the Kaihuang period.
It fell apart, and there was a scuffle between the five sweats.
At that time, the khans in the grasslands called the Northern Zhou and Northern Qi emperors in the Central Plains his two eldest sons in the Central Plains. They were very filial and paid tribute to them whatever they wanted.
But when it came to Yang Jian, Shabolue Khan proclaimed himself a minister to the Sui Dynasty, and also gave Yang Jian the title of Sage Moyuan Khan, or simply Sage Khan.
Sha Bo Lue explained to the court its meaning: from below the sky, above the earth, and illuminated by the sun and moon, there is only the sage Khan.
The Sage Khan is higher than the Turkic Khan and is the nominal monarch of the Turkic Khan.
This can be regarded as setting a precedent.
Jieli Khan, who now dominates the grasslands, was originally just a little Khan when his father Qimin Khan was born. Just like today's Tuli, Qimin's little khan at that time was also Tuli.
The Turks were engaged in internal fighting by Yang Jian's superb diplomats such as Sun Sheng and Pei Shiju. Not only were the East and West Turks fighting among themselves, but the Ashina descendants of the eastern Turks' headquarters were also fighting each other in a bloody battle.
At that time, Qimin was not ranked in terms of strength and was not qualified to participate in the war between the Khans, but Yang Jian took a fancy to him, gave him special support, and gave him marriage to a princess. One princess died not long after he was sent there, and he immediately sent another one.
He insisted on supporting Qimin and waited for the Khans to run out to pick up the slack when both sides were injured. However, Qimin was defeated at first. Yang Jian specially sent his eldest son, Sun Sheng, Yang Su and others to send troops to meet him. They also built a city for him, recruited his tribesmen, and placed them in the Great Wall.
Determine Xiang internally.
He forcefully stabilized his position, helped him endorse, contacted various ministries, and finally sent troops, food and equipment, helping him successfully ascend to the position of Great Khan of the Turks.
After Qimin became the Great Khan, until his death, he was the loyal dog of the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty, guarding the northern border for the Sui Dynasty. Even after his son Shibi Khan succeeded to the throne, he remained loyal to the Sui Dynasty for many years, until he later became the emperor of the Sui Dynasty.
Zhi led his troops to watch the battle in Liaodong, and saw through the reality of Yang Guang's overestimation for great achievements, his high ambitions but low ambitions, and his strong external power but internal deeds. Especially after even the son of Yang Su, the god of war who was most revered by Qi Min and Ye Qi Min, rebelled against Yang Guang.
At the beginning, the Khan stopped paying attention to Yang Guang, and only then did the siege of Yanmen follow.
After that, his brothers Chuluo and Jieli successively succeeded to the throne of Khan, and they no longer feared the Central Plains.
But these have nothing to do with Yang Jian. When Yang Jian was there, who in the grassland would not show respect to the sage Khan?
There is nothing wrong with Yang Jian's grassland policy.
Although Changsun Sheng died of illness early, Pei Shiju is still there, but now he avoids taboos and voluntarily abandons the word "Shi".
The eighty-year-old Pei Ju is now a well-deserved authoritative expert on diplomacy and trade on the grassland and Western Region affairs. He is also the policy maker of the Tang Dynasty's Turkic policy from Wude to the present Zhenguan Dynasty.
Make friends from far away and attack those close to home, unite the weak and separate the strong. This has always been Pei Ju's policy, and it has always been supported by the court.
At the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, it also had a relationship with the Turks. Before Chuluo Khan became the Great Khan, his wife was the daughter of the Li Tang clan. However, after the death of Shibi Khan, in order to inherit the throne, according to Turkic tradition,
Princess Sui Yicheng adopted her sister-in-law and stepmother as Ke Dun.
The grandson of Qimin Khan, who is now Jieli's nephew, Tuli Khan, was previously granted a marriage gift from the Sui Dynasty and married a Sui Huainan princess. However, during the Weiqiao Alliance last year, Li Shimin specially gave a royal cousin as a gift.
Conferred the title of princess, and the marriage is of great benefit.
The monarchs and ministers of the Tang Dynasty did not feel any psychological pressure on the matter of making peace with the barbarians, and they did not think it was a problem.
Because from the strong Han Dynasty to the strong Sui Dynasty, they all pursued the policy of peace and marriage.
It's just that the Sui Dynasty's marriage policy had a more proactive meaning than that of the Han Dynasty. In the early Han Dynasty, marriages were often beaten to a somewhat embarrassing state, and they had no choice but to make peace in order to recuperate and prepare for war.
However, the Sui Dynasty's marriage-making initiative was an important part of their military and foreign policy. They used marriage-making, canonization and other means to win over the leaders of the Turkic nobles.
For example, when Yang Jian hated Dulan Khan's daughter, she was originally a daughter of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and a pro-Turkish princess. Later, Yang Jian changed her title to Princess Dayi. However, Princess Dayi always cherished the old dynasty and secretly had an affair with Nili Khan of the Western Turks.
He wanted to unite and rebel against the Sui Dynasty, so Yang Jian wanted to kill him.
The Sui Dynasty specially sent Pei Ju to secretly contact Dulan's younger brother Tuli Khan Rangan, saying that he would marry the princess to him, but only if he killed Princess Dayi. Tuli then slandered his brother Dulan and threatened to kill Dayi.
Princess.
Afterwards, the Sui Dynasty fulfilled its promise to marry the princess to Tuli, but secretly sent someone to slander Tuli and kill him just for himself and the Sui Dynasty, and even had the ambition to replace Dulan.
Dulan and his brother Tuli then turned against each other and conquered each other. The Turkic civil war resumed, and both sides suffered losses in the end.
The Sui Dynasty finally took action to support Tuli, who was beaten to the point of becoming a lost dog, and killed Dulan and turned him into a great Khan.
Compared with the marriages of the Han Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, and even the marriages of the Northern Wei, Northern Zhou, and Northern Qi, it was absolutely brilliant.
It's just that Wu Huaiyu has always been somewhat resistant to the marriage.
He felt that the princesses who were getting married were very pitiful. Whether it was Zhaojun leaving the fortress or Princess Wencheng entering Tibet in history, even if most of these golden branches of the Central Plains Empire were not the real daughters of emperors, they were still royal princesses and conferred princesses.
When you go to a barbarian land, the customs and customs are completely different. Some people even marry old men who are decades older than them. What's more,
The customs of the barbarians are very different from those of the Central Plains. For example, the system of step marriage means that after the death of the father, the wives and concubines are inherited by the sons and younger brothers.
For example, when Yang Jian married Qimin Khan's second daughter-in-law, Zhizhi, became a princess, he married Qimin successively, and his sons Shibi, Chuluo and now Jieli.
There were many marriages in the Tang Dynasty, not only with the Eastern and Western Turks, but also with Tuyuhun, Tubo, Kumoxi, Khitan, etc.
In Huaiyu's eyes, marrying someone is as shameful as paying tribute.
Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, many tributes have been paid to the Turks. Regardless of whether it is in name of mutual trade, rewards or remuneration, in fact many of them are tribute in nature.
Just like the Weiqiao Alliance last year, why does the emperor keep silent about the Weiqiao Alliance now? Because he is deeply ashamed of it.
Jieli paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty with some sheep and horses, and the emperor gave some gold and silk in return.
But in fact, Li Shimin knew very well that just after he succeeded to the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, he was beaten by Jie Li, who then bought and sold him by force, and paid tribute and protection money.
Making marriage, paying tribute, ceding territory, paying indemnities, and professing vassalage are actually the same shame for the country and the world.
From the perspective of kings and courtiers, some things are just helpless temporary expediency, but from the perspective of subjects, they are shameful, very shameful.
The court meeting is over.
The emperor specially kept Wu Huaiyu and gave him meals.
Dine with the emperor, a simple lunch working meal.
After the meal, give tea.
"During the court meeting just now, you seemed to be in a bad mood. You seemed to have a lot of things to say, but why didn't you say anything in the end? What did you want to say?" Li Shimin asked.
"Your Majesty, I traveled all over the world. He once told me that in the very far east, east of the sea, there was a dynasty called the Ming Dynasty. It is said that their ancestors were descendants of the Yin Shang. When the Yin Shang was defeated, one of the dynasties
The troops who were conquering Dongyi in the east, under the leadership of a Yin Shang clan general, boarded the fleet. They wanted to go south to Ouyue to look for opportunities to make a comeback, but they encountered a storm and drifted with the waves. They followed the trade winds and currents, and finally drifted to
They landed on the far east coast of the sea, established city-states, cultivated fields, and established diplomatic relations with the local indigenous people. Slowly, after many generations of hard work, they became a large dynasty with the name Ming."
"When the Ming Dynasty arrived in Haidong Continent, the number of people was not large, and they faced many fierce indigenous tribes and alliances. However, the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty had already established an ancestral precept."
"What ancestral teachings?" Li Shimin asked curiously. Because the corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers and other crops presented by Wu Huaiyu were said to come from Haidong Continent and were collected by his master, Li Shimin had no doubts about the Haidong Ming Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, the ancestral precept left by the Ming Taizu is,
No reconciliation! No compensation, no cession of territory, no tribute!
The emperor guards the gate of the country,
The king dies in Sheji!
It was by relying on this ancestral precept that the Haidong Ming Dynasty survived in that foreign country, defeated powerful opponents one after another, and finally established a powerful Ming Dynasty, even though this Ming Dynasty had experienced several powerful alien races.
Invasion, even reaching the capital city several times,
But the emperor never went out of the capital to patrol. Even if there was an emperor who led hundreds of thousands of troops on an expedition and was defeated and captured, the empress dowager of the capital immediately and the ministers appointed another emperor, and then the emperor personally held the sword and sat on the city wall to defend, and the world
Troops from all walks of life entered the capital to serve the king, and finally defeated the invading enemy."
"At that time, the king of the barbarian kingdom who had captured the Emperor of Heaven once made conditions for the city, demanding cession of territory, compensation, marriage, vassalage and tribute, and then returning the Emperor to the Emperor and immediately retreating.
But they would rather establish another emperor than cede territory to their relatives, pay indemnity, pay tribute and become ministers."
Li Shimin was shocked when he heard this.
"Is the Ming Dynasty still there?"
"It has been one thousand and forty-six years since Ming Taizu officially established the Ming Dynasty."
"Older than the Zhou Dynasty?" Li Shimin couldn't believe it. "How did they do it?"
"According to my master, the Ming Dynasty actually went through thirteen dynasties in these more than a thousand years."
"Thirteen Dynasties?"
"Just like the Early Han Dynasty and the Later Han Dynasty, whenever the Ming Empire was in danger, a clan would eventually rebel against King Qin, quell the chaos, and then reestablish the court. In this way, for more than a thousand years, thirteen dynasties arose one after another, all of whom were descendants of Zhu Taizu of the Ming Dynasty.
Descendants as well."
"Ming Taizu's surname is Zhu?"
"Well, the Yin and Shang clan led their tribes to drift to the Haidong Continent, and it took more than six hundred years to develop. One of them took the surname of Zhu from their fiefdom. Later, around the time of King Weilie of Zhou Dynasty in the Warring States Period of the Central Plains, Zhu Taizu established the Ming Dynasty.
It has lasted more than a thousand years and thirteen dynasties."
Li Shimin's eyes widened when he heard this. In the Central Plains, there were the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou Dynasties, the Han Dynasty and the Later Han Dynasty, and the Western Jin Dynasty and the Eastern Jin Dynasty. However, he did not expect that in the Haidong Continent, there was actually the Ming Dynasty that lasted for thirteen dynasties.
The thirty-seven kings of the Zhou Dynasty lasted only 791 years, and the Han Dynasty lasted 420 years. If Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty for 15 years, it was only 405 years.
Li Shimin did not expect that the Haidong Ming Dynasty would last for thirteen dynasties and last for one thousand and forty-six years, and it is still being passed down.
It is equivalent to the establishment of the dynasty during the Warring States Period in the Central Plains to the Tang Dynasty today.
"How much do you know about the Haidong Ming Dynasty? They implemented a clan enfeoffment system. Otherwise, how could the descendants of Ming Taizu continue to build the Ming Dynasty, up to thirteen dynasties?"
After Li Shimin became emperor, he has been thinking about how to make the Tang Dynasty last for generations, and at least have a four-hundred-year foundation like the Han Dynasty.
We cannot be like Cao Wei, Yang Sui or the Qin Dynasty of the First Emperor, who all died in the second or third generation.
Wu Huaiyu didn't expect to brag, but Li Shimin asked this. In fact, he just wanted to explain the unofficial ancestral sayings of the Ming Dynasty. In order to appear more awesome, he listed the thirteen dynasties of the Eastern Roman Byzantine calendar, a thousand years before and after.
Things have settled down.
Unexpectedly, Li Shimin focused on whether the Ming Dynasty was a feudal system, and then he could build it thirteen times and last for thousands of years.
Huaiyu hesitated for a moment.
As far as he is concerned, he is very opposed to the enfeoffment system of the old Zhu family. Perhaps the enfeoffment system among the kings started by Zhu Yuanzhang can indeed enclose the frontiers and screen the central vassal. However, after Zhu Dijing succeeded in seizing the throne, he immediately cut down the vassalage. In the end, it was Lao
Zhu's enfeoffment system was actually completely changed. It became an enfeoffment system for clans to raise pigs and had no power. They were not even allowed to take scientific examinations, serve as officials or soldiers, and even engage in industry and commerce.
In the end, hundreds of thousands of pigs were raised, and when the dynasty fell, they could only be slaughtered.
Many systems actually go out of shape. They may be good at the beginning, but they will eventually become bad.
Just like the enfeoffment system of the Jin Dynasty, it originally learned the lesson of Cao Wei's harsh treatment of the clan, and later the Sima family easily usurped the throne, so it enfeoffed the kings wantonly. At the beginning, the kings were enfeoffed but also restricted a lot of power, but soon the court gave them to the kings.
The king's power continued to increase and eventually lost control, triggering the Rebellion of the Eight Kings and the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty.
But looking at the expectant look in the emperor's eyes, Wu Huaiyu knew that Li Shimin was still obsessed with feudalism, and ordinary people really couldn't persuade him.
"Your Majesty, I heard that at the beginning of the founding of the empire, the great ancestor established the ancestral precepts and implemented a system of enfeoffment for the princes, but not the capital or the heart, but only the four sides, and those who surrendered to the Central Plains and implemented fetters and control.
Border areas not only guarded the frontiers for the imperial court, but also opened up territories and territories, and could also shield the central vassal. If there were changes in the central government, the local vassal kings could raise troops to serve the king."
"It is said that a policy similar to the favor order of the Han Dynasty was implemented. After the death of the vassal king, the fiefdom was distributed to his sons, instead of only his eldest son inheriting the fiefdom."
Li Shimin stroked his beard and fell into deep thought.
“Didn’t the Ming Empire grant meritorious officials?”
"Meritors with different surnames are not granted the title of king, but the highest title is the title of Duke. Only those with high merits can be given the title of county king after their death, but they cannot be inherited. Heroes with different surnames are only given fiefs, and cannot truly establish a feudal country."
"If we, the Tang Dynasty, follow the feudal laws of Ming Taizu, where will the kings be granted the title?"
"Nanzhong, Liaodong, Xiyu, Western Sichuan, Qinghai, Jiaozhi, and Qiongya Island," Huaiyu thought for a while and replied.
