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

Chapter 1225 Fang Xuanling's Worries
Seeing this, Li Yan hurriedly called out, "Wang De, hurry up, have someone help Duke Wei down, and call the imperial physician to come, and make sure to save Duke Wei."

Then several guards rushed in and carefully carried Li Jing out.

After such a commotion, everyone had no place to vent their anger, and they all looked at the emperor with a questioning look. Li Yan hesitated for a moment, and said decisively: "Duke Wei specializes in military affairs and is not proficient in political affairs. In addition, he is old and his mind is a little unclear."

"There are many things that he has not thought through, so please do not take it to heart."

"I hereby declare that the nobles have not betrayed me, and I will never betray the nobles. The land divided by the Turks in several areas of Shandong is illegal. The people's joining the rebellion is even more of an act of treason. The court will never be threatened by them, let alone compromise."

"I hope that all the ministers will not be suspicious of each other at this time of national crisis, and work together to quell the rebellion."

When the ministers heard this, their expressions relaxed immediately, and they all bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise, we respect your Majesty's will."

When Fang Xuanling saw this, his eyes dimmed and a look of disappointment appeared on his face.

Although he had been recuperating in his mansion for the past year, he had never neglected the affairs of state. After all, this was the kingdom that his generation had spent their entire lives building, and it was like his own child, so how could he just ignore it?

When the Turks invaded Hebei, he wanted to come out to assist the emperor, but the emperor had not made any move, so he did not have the nerve to take the initiative to go to him.

When the Turks stopped burning, killing and looting and instead targeted the aristocratic families and distributed land to the people, he saw something different. He concluded that the Turks would not do this for no reason.

Fang Xuanling was unsure whether there were any forces from the Central Plains operating in this.

The issue of land annexation in the Central Plains echoed the development of the dynasty. Even if Fang Xuanling had not heard Shi Luodie's analysis, he could have come to this conclusion based on his 20 years as prime minister in the Zhenguan period. He and Li Shimin had discussed the issue of land concentration countless times.

But this issue concerns the foundation of the aristocratic families, and the court dares not touch it at all. Even if they want to collect more taxes, it is impossible, let alone dividing the land equally and protecting the tax base?
What Li Shimin could not do was accomplished by the Turks. When Fang Xuanling saw this, he was both worried and happy, and was no longer in a hurry to step forward.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to dividing the land.

From the perspective of attacking the Tang Dynasty, the Turks had hit the weak spot of the Central Plains Dynasty, which would indeed provoke conflicts between the common people and the nobles. Once the Tang Dynasty was in chaos, the Turks would naturally be able to fish in troubled waters. It can be said that this strategy was very vicious.

From the perspective of equal distribution of land, the Turks intensified the conflict while dispersing the land concentrated in the noble families to the people. If the court responded properly, it could also properly solve the problem of land annexation.

The Tang Dynasty will be reborn and become even more powerful.

Of course, if it is not handled properly, it is possible that the world will fall into war again. There are opportunities in danger and changes in chaos. It all depends on the ability of those in power.

Fang Xuanling knew very well that the problem of the aristocratic families seemed to be in the court, with those ministers fighting for power, but the actual core was the army; and the foundation of the army was land and people, which concerned a country's most important money and population.

Now Fang Xuanling only felt regretful. If Li Shimin was in power and he was assisting in the administration, they would definitely be able to take advantage of the situation and turn danger into safety. While the overall situation in the world did not collapse, they also took advantage of the situation to solve the land problem.

Unfortunately, the young Li Chengqian is the emperor now, and his regent is the scheming Changsun Wuji, which adds many variables.

Fortunately, the subsequent changes in the situation made Fang Xuanling very excited.

It was as if there was a big hand that kept pushing the situation in a direction that was beneficial to the people. During this period, Fang Xuanling also went to Daming Palace many times to see Li Shimin. Because he really couldn't imagine that, in such a big game, besides Li Shimin, the Khan, there would be someone else who could play it?
After several overt and covert contacts, he discovered that it was not Li Shimin.

Could it be the emperor?
Fang Xuanling and Li Shimin had the deepest friendship, and Li Shimin did not hide some extremely secret things from him. Fang Xuanling knew that Li Chengqian had a brilliant discussion on politics in the imperial study in the third year of Zhenguan, and even the subsequent strategy of enfeoffment of princes to defend the border was adopted based on Li Chengqian's suggestions.

Over the years, the Tang Dynasty had been going smoothly, first conquering the Liaodong states, then the southwest, and even the snowy plateau and the vast western regions. Even Fang Xuanling sighed that it seemed that God wanted to make up for China's hundreds of years of decline.

All the national fortune accumulated over the years was returned to the Central Plains in one go, which led to the unprecedented prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.

But what worried him was that he and Li Shimin both knew that the core problem of the Tang Dynasty had not been solved. The nobles were like a shadow, firmly absorbing the empire. As the Tang Dynasty grew stronger, they also rose with the tide.

If not resolved, the giant ship of the Tang Dynasty will sooner or later be destroyed in the hands of the aristocratic families.

Just when Li Shimin made up his mind to take action against the aristocratic families, the aristocratic families took the initiative and defeated Li Shimin, causing Li Shimin to be full of resentment and unwillingness until the last moment.

Only Fang Xuanling knew these things. Originally, he wanted to slowly tell Li Chengqian about these things, so that he could inherit Li Shimin's ambitions and take power back from the nobles when the power was stable and the time was right. Unexpectedly, the nobles were very careful in their actions, and the case of Princess Gaoyang's affair forced him out of the court.

Unable to carry the whole thing alone, Fang Xuanling retreated with regret.

He originally thought that he would never see the solution to the aristocratic family problem in his lifetime, but the Turks suddenly appeared and caused trouble in Hebei. After careful observation, Fang Xuanling found that the Turks did everything that he and Li Shimin wanted to do but could not do.

Including the later Turks' southward plundering and even collusion with Li You to rebel, which seemed extremely dangerous, but actually contained great opportunities.

This made him start to think again, could it be that Li Chengqian pretended to be incompetent on the surface, but was actually manipulating everything in secret? He didn't believe that the man whose vision had shocked Li Shimin at the beginning would become mediocre and incompetent after disappearing for 16 years and reappearing.

Of course, all this is based on the premise that Li Shimin is telling the truth.

In fact, Fang Xuanling was a little bit unconvinced. He had not seen the scene with his own eyes, and Li Chengqian's remarks were not something that a young prince could say. He felt that Li Shimin was building momentum for the prince and deliberately attributed the credit to Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian is like a chaos wandering between a madman and a genius. You can explain his behavior in any way you want, and it all makes sense. Just like the shadowy dragon, you say it doesn't exist, but someone comes out from time to time to prove it.

If you think it exists, but you have no real evidence, you haven't seen it with your own eyes.

His behavior could not be determined until the last moment, which was what Fang Xuanling could not understand.

As an observer, he knew very well that although this matter seemed to have both advantages and disadvantages for the Tang Dynasty, it was actually a good opportunity for the Tang Dynasty to be reborn and get rid of the aristocracy. But good opportunities would not appear out of thin air, and there must be someone behind the scenes plotting.

However, this matter was too important, and Fang Xuanling did not dare to test the emperor casually.

So after receiving the news that the court was discussing the war in Shandong in Liangyi Hall yesterday, he thought again and again and secretly went to find Li Jing. Although Li Jing had a high status in the Tang Dynasty, he was not a member of the aristocratic family. He represented the interests of the people more.

The two discussed for a whole night, and finally Li Jing decided that in the next situation, it would be better to let Fang Xuanling come out to assist the emperor. Regardless of whether the emperor was plotting behind the scenes or not, they had to push the situation in a direction that was beneficial to the country.

Taking advantage of Li You's rebellion and the dilemma of the court, they proposed to legitimately recognize the land of Shandong people. Although they also knew that the possibility of the nobles being coerced was small, this was the closest they had ever come to success in their lives.

Whoever proposed it would undoubtedly become the public enemy of the aristocratic family.

Li Jing thought about it again and again, and finally accepted this difficult potato. He was a military commander, and he had no intention of participating in government affairs. He used his poor health as a cover. If the nobles strongly opposed it, he could use his fainting as an excuse to get out of it, and also test the nobles' true attitude.

Seeing Li Jing being carried away, Fang Xuanling was disappointed. He felt it was a pity that this was the only chance to resolve the Li You incident without bloodshed, but the court missed it. At the same time, he felt angry that the country was on the verge of collapse, but the nobles still refused to give up their land.

In fact, most of the financial resources of these great families in the court now come from the caravans in the north and western regions, and the land revenue is originally small. The court needs a large number of self-cultivating farmers, more for the strategic purpose of stability, not entirely for collecting taxes.

The nobles' retention of land showed their ulterior motives.

Because only with land can people be supported, and only with people can there be food and soldiers. In the final analysis, the nobles still want to retain the country within the country, to strangle the court, to be the real master of the country, and the uncrowned king behind the emperor.

For a moment, Fang Xuanling felt a little desolate.

If the land issue cannot be resolved, the other measures will only treat the symptoms and not the root cause, and help the nobles suppress the people of Shandong. Once this war starts, it will be a protracted war, and it is unknown how many years it will take. For the Tang Dynasty, which has just stabilized, it is undoubtedly a disaster.

Seeing the faces of all the officials in the court and the emperor's clear attitude, Fang Xuanling felt endlessly confused. If there really was someone behind this matter, and if that person was Li Chengqian sitting on the dragon throne, facing this situation that even he was helpless about, how could he break the impasse?
Is it really true that the Eastern and Western parts of the Tang Dynasty will kill each other and eventually perish together?
Li Yan, who was high above, did not have the same loss as Fang Xuanling, but instead had a calm and casual look on his face. If you look closely, you can find that deep in his eyes, there is a murderous and indifferent look that does not care about the living beings.

He would never overestimate human nature, nor would he pin his hopes on the nobles' voluntary sacrifice for the sake of the country.

Compared to the kindness in people's hearts, he believes more in the steel knife in his hand.

He is an emperor, and saving all living beings requires great compassion and even more powerful means. He will not kill people because of his suspicion and jealousy, nor will he be merciful just because his opponents fall in front of him. Everything he does is for the country.

(End of this chapter)