The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 1188 Li Yan's Enlightenment (I)

Any strategy has both advantages and disadvantages.

Throughout history, any emperor who has all the power in his hands can easily accomplish extraordinary feats. However, this high degree of centralization can also put a country in danger. Once the king fails, there is no way to recover.

The destructiveness it brings to a country is also astonishing.

The huge power vacuum caused by the old age or death of such powerful figures is like the collapse of a dam with a huge drop in height, which will inevitably bring a strong impact to the previously seemingly stable power structure. At the least, the country will be weakened, and at the worst, the imperial power will change hands and usher in a major reshuffle.

Hu Hai and Zhu Yunwen were both incompetent emperors, but they had to face the most severe situation.

On the surface, what Ying Zheng and Zhu Yuanzhang left them was a dynasty as stable as Mount Tai, but in fact it was hiding a huge crisis.

It was for this reason that Liu Bang could not wait to establish the emperor, empress, and crown prince at the beginning of the Han Dynasty, and enfeoffed the Liu kings in various places. It can be said that the Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, but Liu Bang did not learn from Ying Zheng in the distribution of imperial power.

The environment in which the first few generations of emperors in the Han Dynasty lived was very stable. There were the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, the Empress, the Crown Prince, the princes of the royal family, the relatives of the emperor, and even the eunuchs. The emperors of the Han Dynasty dispersed the imperial power that was concentrated in one person to a large group of people around the emperor.

The emperor was at the core and used this huge group to restrain civil officials and manage the entire world.

The mutual restraint among so many interest groups basically ensured the stability of imperial power.

Under such circumstances, the emperor's personal authority and power declined.

To some extent, it can be regarded as a unique group leadership. Although this model is not developed enough, it is sufficient for a unified dynasty that seeks stability and is considered to be very advanced, as it can prevent a tyrant from ruining the country.

For the ministers, it stopped them from targeting the emperor personally, because simply killing the emperor would not solve the problem of power redistribution.

The group of representatives of imperial power, mainly the Grand Empress Dowager or the Empress Dowager, can calmly appoint another one. When they decide who to appoint, they will only consider their own interests.

The dissipation of power brought about by the emperor's death can only benefit them and will not return to the hands of the ministers, unless the ministers eliminate the entire group, which is impossible.

Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, exerted the remaining strength of three generations and personally broke this solid power structure, pushing the Han Dynasty to its peak and establishing immortal achievements. But he forgot that the groups surrounding the emperor were both a constraint and a protection for the imperial power.

For a wise ruler, these groups are the shackles that restrict his freedom; for a mediocre ruler, these people are the Great Wall that protects the imperial power. The emperor needs greater wisdom and vision to break free from the shackles and control this group.

From another perspective, this eliminates the risk of a mediocre ruler causing chaos in the country, but it cannot hinder the rise of an wise ruler.

It is precisely this model that makes the Han Dynasty far more stable and lasts longer than the Qin Dynasty.

This is where the complexity of history and reality lies. Some things or institutional models are really hard to say whether they are right or wrong, and there is no absolute right or wrong.

One person's treasure is another person's mustard grass; one person's honey is another person's poison.

It is precisely this uncertainty that requires personal vision and ability to adjust at any time, so that society's resources will not be fixed and will always be in motion.

The highly centralized imperial power was like adding wings to a tiger and icing on the cake for war maniacs with great talents and strategies like Ying Zheng and Liu Che, but for young men who had just grown up like Hu Hai and Liu Fuling, it was like a bloodless poison that killed people.

If they did not have such great power, if they had Empress Dowager Dou, Queen Wang, Emperor Dou Houzhu and others around them, with such layers of "restraints", perhaps they could have lived a few more years and gained the precious time and experience needed for growth.

When faced with restrictions, young people tend to only see the harm and not the benefits.

If Liu Che had not had Empress Dowager Dou's "restraint and protection", it would have been difficult for him to grow up safely, let alone take over power and achieve great things. If Guangxu had not had Cixi's "restraint and protection", it would have been more likely that he would not have been able to fly freely, but would have died earlier.

Shunzhi always regarded Dorgon as a thorn in his side and wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. He wanted to dispose of his coffin and mutilate his body after his death to vent his hatred. But after Dorgon died, he did not serve as the Taiping Emperor for many years and died with him.

These are the truths that Li Yan gradually realized after being in the core of power for decades, especially in the past six months when he took over the throne of the Tang Dynasty and began to govern the country. This is also the reason why he indulged Empress Zhangsun and Haitang and did not force the harem not to interfere in politics.

Enfeoffing vassal kings would lead to rebellion in later generations, but not enfeoffing vassal kings might mean that there would be no later generations; allowing the harem to interfere in politics might lead to the decline of imperial power, but for those without harems, the dynasty might be shorter. Keeping eunuchs and relatives would leave a bad name, and for those without eunuchs and relatives, the dynasty might not last long.

The fall of dynasties and the death of monarchs in history all have various reasons. Some died because of stupidity, some died because of diligence, and some emperors died precisely because they were too smart and capable, and their ministers felt uneasy.

The imperial power and the power of the ministers are like a seesaw. If you are strong, I will be weak. Conversely, if you are weak, I will naturally become strong. Sometimes, strengthening yourself means weakening your enemy.

Therefore, there has never been an absolutely correct model in the world that can be used once and for all. Everything depends on the specific situation and the right medicine for the right condition. This is also the biggest obstacle to the long-term inheritance of the country.

No matter how correct the model designed by the emperor is, it cannot cope with the complex reality of the monarchs of varying quality from generation to generation.

If power is highly centralized, there is a fear of encountering a mediocre ruler who is ambitious and will bring disaster to the country; if power is dispersed, with a large harem, foreign relatives, and eunuchs, there is a fear of encountering an wise ruler who will restrict the country to death.

Li Yan sighed deeply. Life in this world is so difficult. It is impossible to have everything!

Afterwards, Li Yan thought about his mission and the aristocratic families that he was about to eliminate, and he became confused again. The aristocratic families were the cornerstone of the Tang Dynasty, but they were also an obstacle to limiting the emperor's centralization of power.

Li Yan had always been thinking about how to eradicate them, and he had even started planning it more than a decade ago. After returning to Chang'an and ascending the throne, everything he did was to pave the way for this. But when he really started to kill people everywhere and saw the corpses all over the ground, Li Yan was a little shaken.

It's not that I'm too soft-hearted to do that, but is it really the right thing to do?
Perhaps the fact that the Tang Dynasty could last for nearly three hundred years in history was also due to the contributions of these aristocratic families, who restricted the imperial power. But at the same time, they also protected the imperial power, this thought suddenly flashed through Li Yan's mind.

The Song and Ming dynasties did not have the aristocratic families that are now comparable to the kingdoms within the kingdoms, nor did they last for 300 years. The Tang dynasty was always a situation where the king and the horse shared the world, and it was trembling, but it also reached the top of the feudal dynasty's lifespan.

I can't just look at their harmful side, I also have to consider their beneficial side to the country. For a moment, Li Yan's previous firm determination was shaken a little?
The aristocratic families are full of talented people and are the strongest pillar of the Tang Dynasty. If they are suddenly destroyed, who will support this vast country?
Common people or children from poor families?
Once they surge onto the stage of power, perhaps it won't take many generations for them to become the new powerful elite?

Li Yan knew that from the deepest pursuit of human nature, the ultimate demand of most tenants was not to pull down the landlords to equalize the rich and the poor. Instead, they wanted to become new landlords and bully others like the landlords bullied themselves.

The high welfare enjoyed by landlords is brought about by exploiting others. Once this encroachment stops, the landlords will become ordinary people.

If you make the rich and powerful poor and leave them to struggle in the fields, they will still be pitiful. Within three generations, they will become "honest and loyal" kind people; if you promote some honest and kind people to become rich and powerful, they will be high above.

It won’t be long before they will abuse their power and bully the people.

In order to protect their own interests, they will also oppose the emperor and the people. They will be no different from the previous powerful people. This is the natural attribute of the class and will not change because of anyone's morality.

Looking back over time and from a broader perspective, we can see that the sources of the powerful are all from the common people who once made great efforts to make progress. And the common people today are all the descendants of the former powerful who have fallen into poverty.

History is a stage. You finish your song and I come on stage. After I finish my song, he comes on stage next.

It's the same play, repeated over and over again.

Who should he attack and who should he save? Can he really get the fairness and justice he wants in this way?

If Li Yan insists on going his own way and beats this group of people, it will only be a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution. The people who are supported will eventually go the same way as the current group of people, which is meaningless.

This is not something that can be solved by simply changing a group of people. It is determined by human desires and is something engraved in our genes.

Just as the problems of nomadic peoples were unsolvable in the era of cold weapons; and the desires of human nature are unsolvable in any known era.

Throughout the ages, in every dynasty, there has always been a powerful class, but the scale of these noble families in the Sui and Tang dynasties was a little too large. This was not their fault. The Hu people went south, the land of China was lost, and the country was without a master. They were also motherless children and could only rely on themselves.

In the wild pursuit of survival, they naturally developed a rebellious character and lawless tyranny. If it weren't for this wildness, I'm afraid that even this little bloodline of the North would not be able to survive, and would be devoured by the wanton barbarians.

(End of this chapter)