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

Chapter 758: Learning from History (Part )

Li Shimin said in a calm tone: "How should I know? Countless benevolent and wise men throughout the ages have been discussing these issues. So far, they have concluded various reasons, such as diligence in government, love for the people, and being close to the wise and staying away from the villains. There are too many to count."

"But the dynasties you mentioned, such as Qin, Wei and Sui, may not have failed to do so."

"But the difficulty is that it is easy for one generation, but difficult for successive generations. Even two or three generations can't make it through. Who can help?"

Li Yan smiled slightly. He had more reference samples, so he knew that this problem had not been solved until later generations. In the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, countless benevolent and wise men racked their brains and spent their whole lives studying to solve this problem once and for all.

In the long river of time, the old and the new replace each other, and one follows another. What will happen in the future, only God knows?

Li Yan sighed, and then said: "The problem you mentioned is unsolvable. Human life span is limited and we cannot live forever. The continuation of the country requires the succession of emperors from generation to generation, and it cannot be decided by a wise and holy ruler."

"As more people take over, there will be all kinds of people. Generally speaking, they can be divided into three types: wise rulers, regular rulers, and incompetent rulers. A dynasty will prosper if it has a wise ruler, but will weaken if it has a regular ruler, and will perish if it has a incompetent ruler. No one can guarantee that the rulers of future generations will always be wise rulers."

"Forget about the wise emperor. It's hard to avoid the emergence of incompetent emperors. The destruction of a generation of incompetent emperors to the country could be fatal."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin also felt a deep sense of powerlessness. He could decide the previous generation and control the next generation, but he was powerless over the next generation and beyond. Even if he came up with a set of imperial Ming ancestral precepts, he wouldn't be able to restrain them?

There are too many variables.
Thinking of this, as an emperor, the most powerful man in the world, Li Shimin was helpless.

Li Shimin simply ignored the unsolvable question and asked, "Is this what you want to talk about?"

"No, what I want to say is that I have discovered that whether or not one can stabilize the country when it is founded actually has a huge impact on the long-term inheritance of the country."

Li Yan also put aside the issue of the long river of time, and spoke of his feelings with a spirit of excitement: "It was because Emperor Gaozu of Han stabilized the first three generations of the founding of the country that the country went smoothly afterwards. It was only later when a weak and incompetent ruler appeared that the country was lost."

"But with the influence of the previous two hundred years, the future generations only needed a wise person to reshape the world and continue the country, so it lasted for another two hundred years."

“And those that failed to stabilize the first three generations during the founding period basically died out, either being replaced or falling apart.”

"A day's plan begins in the morning, and a year's plan begins in spring. This shows how much influence a country's foundation has on future generations. So I think the key to whether a dynasty can survive for a long time actually lies in the foundation laid by the first few generations who founded the country."

Li Yan's point of view made Li Shimin's pupils shrink, his eyes flickered continuously, and his mind frantically thought about the situations of various dynasties in history. After a long time.
hiss.
Li Shimin took a breath, his expression suddenly became excited, and he agreed excitedly: "Hey, you didn't say that I haven't noticed it, it seems that there is such a situation"

"The Qin and Sui dynasties both perished in their second generations; the Cao Wei dynasty was similar, Cao Pi and Cao Rui died early, Cao Fang and Cao Mao were just puppets, existing in name only; the Shu Han dynasty perished in its second generation, and the Eastern Wu dynasty was similar; the Western Wei, Eastern Wei, Northern Zhou, and Northern Qi dynasties during the Southern and Northern Dynasties did not last long, with the longest lasting no more than 20 to 30 years."

"The Southern Dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen were all short-lived dynasties."

"Let's not even talk about the Han Dynasty. The two Jin Dynasties that followed lasted a total of 155 years, with 15 emperors. The Northern Wei Dynasty lasted 150 years, with 15 emperors as well."

Li Shimin spoke faster and faster, and his eyes became brighter and brighter. He had a feeling that the problem of the continuation of his dynasty, which had been bothering him since he ascended the throne, might very well be solved, which made him more and more excited.

Seeing that Li Shimin was being led by him and fell into deep thought, Li Yan did not interrupt him.

He knew that in terms of spiritual practice, this was called enlightenment and was a great opportunity. If he could gain something, it would be of great help to the future governance of the country.

It seems that Li Shimin also attached great importance to the inheritance of the country. He had been fighting in wars and running around just after he became an adult, so it was impossible for him to read too many history books. It is estimated that after completing the ultimate goal of his life, he had greater pursuits, so he worked hard to study history.

He knew the history since the Qin Dynasty like the back of his hand, and was no less familiar with it than Li Yan, who came from the later generations and was bombarded with information in the era of data flow. Not only did he not get the order wrong, but he was even extremely accurate in the time and characters of some dynasties. Li Yan was secretly astonished. It seemed that Li Shimin was really busy in the palace. In just three short years, the country was either facing external troubles or internal disasters, and he also had to deal with government affairs and train successors. He actually had time to read the history carefully.

Although Li Yan is quick-witted and not as serious and focused as the ancients in reading, he knows that the ancients were not much better than the people in later generations in terms of IQ and memory. The reason they can remember so many times and names of people and places is that practice makes perfect.

In other words, Li Shimin had to read history at least seven or eight times before he could understand the successions, changes, separations and mergers of these dynasties. From the fact that he was familiar with the generations of Cao Cao's descendants and the years of the Wei and Jin dynasties, and could recite the emperors by heart, you can tell how solid Li Shimin's historical knowledge was.

Other short-term regimes must also know this.

Even Li Yan did not dare to delve into those things. For example, Li Yan could not remember the surnames of the founding emperors of many dynasties in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and he could not clearly say how many generations passed down the dynasty. He only knew that it was not a long time.

So much so that when he discussed the Han Dynasty with Li Shimin, he was very vague and summarized it with the general statement that the former Han Dynasty lasted about two hundred years, and the latter Han Dynasty lasted about two hundred years.

I had thought that Emperor Li Shimin spent his days either attending court or playing political games, checking and balancing court officials internally and resisting the Turks externally. The rest of the time he had to make sure the emperor didn't cause any trouble. As an emperor, didn't he have to be promiscuous with his concubines?

There are at least 300 beauties in the harem, if not 3,000, and dozens of top-quality ones. They are all young girls in their twenties waiting for his favor. How could he have the time to waste on books?
Unexpectedly, Li Shimin was worthy of being called a wise ruler throughout history. Not only did he establish the vast territory of the Tang Empire, he also worked hard and devoted all his energy to governing the world.

These two words are just decorative when used to describe myself, but when used to describe Li Shimin, they are well deserved.

"Cheng Qian, it seems that you have not been idle in the East Palace. Father is already over 30 years old, and he has been working hard every day to understand some history. And you are only in your teens, not to mention adulthood, and you have only been sensible for a short time, but you have studied history so deeply and can observe patterns that father has not seen."

"In terms of talent and hard work, even Father is not as good as you."

Li Shimin patted Li Yan's shoulder with approval, then his face darkened: "Those killers also said that you indulged in fun every day in the East Palace, played with the palace maids all day, slept until the sun was high in the sky, and wasted your time."

"Hmph, those people don't know your attainments in history. Only father knows that you must have put in countless hard work to be able to know thousands of years of history so well. Even on this basis, you can come up with the foresight that stabilizing the first three generations of the founding of the country will ensure the safe inheritance of the country. This is better than countless old ministers in the court."

"I dare say that among the younger generation, you are also the best."

Li Yan's old face turned slightly red and he felt a little embarrassed. He wanted to confess that those people were not wrong. He was just that kind of person. He did not want to endure hardships and was content with pleasure, arrogant and extravagant. The reason why he knew all this was only because of his accumulation over many years as a human being for three lifetimes.

Moreover, in the later era of traffic, there are a large number of bloggers commenting on current affairs, taking out the history of many dynasties and criticizing them wantonly, telling them over and over again. In order to prevent the audience from finding it boring, some make it like crosstalk, and some even make it into animations with music.

It is suitable for all ages and is popular with everyone.
But what about today’s history books?

They are all obscure classical Chinese texts without punctuation marks, which makes people dizzy when reading them. Most people have to suffer enough from nitpicking before they can learn some knowledge.

No matter what, it's not comparable to myself.
Seeing Li Shimin's face full of admiration and even a hint of inferiority, even though Li Yan was thicker-skinned than a city wall, he still felt a little ashamed at this moment.

Facing Li Shimin's undisguised admiration, Li Yan swallowed hard, a drop of sweat fell on his forehead, and said with an embarrassed look: "Father, the Emperor."

"I, your son, remember the earnest teachings of my father and mother, and feel the heavy burden on my shoulders. For the sake of the Tang Dynasty that our ancestors built through hardships and hardships, and for the well-being of the people, I dare not slack off for even a moment."

"Every day after returning to the bedroom, he would ask his maid to light the oil lamp, and earnestly study the wisdom of the ancient sages, carefully savor their thoughts, and feel their gains and losses in governing the country. Sometimes he would be so immersed in it that he would forget to eat and sleep, and only wake up from the ocean of knowledge when the cock crowed and the sky was getting bright."

"That's why I sometimes go to bed late, almost until dawn, and get up after the sun goes down. This has caused misunderstandings among people. I am ashamed!"

(End of this chapter)