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

Chapter 760: Learning from History (V)

Just ask yourself, in this world, what kind of profession would make a person worry about being killed by others all day long?

I guess it was the emperor, because he had the most, so he was afraid of everyone who approached him, didn't dare to trust anyone, and doubted everything.

The emperor can be said to be the most insecure profession in the world.

Therefore, Li Yan understood Li Shimin's current situation very well. He didn't even dare to let his favored concubine stay by his side when he slept at night.

Li Yan also knew that Li Shimin was in his prime and he was still weak, so Li Shimin would trust him.

But no matter how confident he is in himself and no matter how good the relationship between father and son is, when he grows old and he grows up, he will inevitably end up in the situation of the elderly Kangxi and the late Liu Che. He will become suspicious of everything around him, and even the crown prince will become a key target of prevention.

However, that is a matter for the future.

Now Li Yan can open his heart and talk to Li Shimin, the famous emperor of all ages. In the past, Li Yan always wanted to enrich and grow himself, and then realize his political ambitions and complete his tasks after he succeeded to the throne.

But thinking about it, he realized that he was still a bit conservative. Li Shimin still had nearly twenty years to rule. If he just accumulated strength during such a long time without doing anything, it would be a bit of a shame for him to come here.

We can learn from others' experience to polish our jade. We don't necessarily have to rely on ourselves to complete a task. Wouldn't it be better if we could borrow some strength?

Li Shimin was in his prime, and his life was full of ups and downs. He experienced brilliant achievements from conquering the world to ruling the world.

During the short twenty years of Zhenguan, he accomplished what several generations of kings could not do. Take the Han Dynasty as an example. From Liu Bang to Empress Lu, to Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, it took four generations of kings until Emperor Wu to achieve the domineering attitude of "whoever offends the mighty Han will be punished even though they are far away."

But Li Shimin accomplished all of these in his short life. With his brilliant civil governance and illustrious military achievements, he established a country greater than the Han Dynasty and extended the empire's territory to the north of Lake Baikal in the north and to the west of Central Asia in the west.

It's a bit fatter than the picture of autumn leaf begonia.
In this case, Li Yan can completely stand in the long river of history and inspire Li Shimin to do better, using these great civil and military officials of the Zhenguan period to complete the special task assigned to him by the system.

With his own vision and Li Shimin's wisdom, broad-mindedness, courage and dominance, it might be possible for him to continue the unprecedented prosperity of the Tang Empire as long as possible.

This would determine what would happen three hundred years later and prevent the emergence of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Thinking of this, Li Yan's heart was pounding with excitement. It was true that the broader your vision, the bigger the world would be. In the past, he always wanted to support the tutors, pick up the leftovers from the Zhenguan Dynasty, recruit a few talents, fill in the gaps, and conquer the world bit by bit.

But why can't we directly make use of these wise emperors and loyal ministers in the court?

There were many outstanding and talented people in the early Tang Dynasty. Why should you seek far away and only see the trees but not the forest?

These people can be used by you, so you can start the task now.
How do you know it won't work if you don't try? Even if you fail, it doesn't matter. You are not an ordinary person. You have the support of the system behind you, and you have hooks and trump cards. The Tang Dynasty world is your trial ground. There is nothing you dare not do.

As soon as he understood the idea, Li Yan felt suddenly enlightened, his heart was excited, and he felt a sense of relief that the sky is high and the birds fly freely, and the sea is wide and the fish leap freely.

He simply let go of himself, no longer suppressed his composure, no longer played the role of a prince, no longer pretended to be cautious and timid, but instead regarded himself as a friend of Li Shimin, and the two of them began to toast each other.

If Li Shimin always treats me like a child, then my words will not carry much weight. I must strive for the qualification and status to have an equal dialogue with Li Shimin.

As soon as Li Yan let go, Li Shimin immediately felt it. This kind of equal relationship between friends was something Li Shimin had not felt for several years. He did not deliberately remind himself and really enjoyed the feeling of being both a father and a friend.

He also let go of his imperial majesty and restraints and started to interact with Li Yan.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

Both of them were a little tipsy, and it was a summer evening, with a cool breeze and a comfortable temperature, so they were both very relaxed.

"Cheng Qian, the founding of a country you just mentioned can basically continue the country for a long time if the first three generations are stable."

Li Shimin rarely picked up the wine pot, filled Li Yan's cup, and added some for himself: "This is very touching to father, father has never noticed this before. There are no outsiders today, let's have a good chat about how to pass on our Li family's kingdom forever."

Li Yan smiled and said, "Father."

"Hey"

Li Shimin frowned, interrupted Li Yan, and waved his hand: "Let's not talk about so many etiquette today. There is no emperor or prince here, only father and son. Just call me father."

"Uh" "Okay, father!" Li Yan was not shy and called out decisively.

Li Shimin nodded with a smile, then said seriously: "Don't mention it, you didn't mention it before, and I didn't notice it either. Generally speaking, a country that can maintain stability for the first three generations can at least have a national fortune of more than a hundred years."

"If they can't keep it stable, they will basically be dead for one or two generations. Even after three generations, they will basically be puppets of powerful officials. When the powerful officials secretly change the fate of the country under the banner of justice, they will face a change of dynasty and a new dynasty."

"Why do you say this?"

Li Yan could feel that Li Shimin was trying his best to downplay the disparity in status between them and create a relaxed communication environment so that he could help him solve difficult problems.

Li Yan also wanted Li Shimin to be a pioneer and use the Zhenguan Dynasty as a test field to test some of his ideas. Together, the two of them gathered the rich talents of the Zhenguan Dynasty and used collective wisdom to complete the special tasks assigned by the system.

Li Yan had a vague feeling that it was the first three generations that truly determined the fate of a dynasty.

The plan for a day lies in the morning, and the plan for a year lies in the spring.

When a country is founded, it is full of vigor and prosperity. Everything of the dynasty is laid down at this time. If the founding of the country is good, the country's fortune will naturally last long. If the founding of the country is not good, it will barely last for several generations, and it will be difficult to reverse and change the situation.

If you want to decide the issues three hundred years later, you can't do it by yourself. By the time you succeed to the throne, perhaps everything will be finalized. The early Tang Dynasty was a gathering of talented people and heroes. It was a rare prosperous era in the thousands of years of Chinese history.

If I can't utilize their power, I'm afraid the special mission will be very difficult.

Thinking of this, Li Yan made up his mind and put aside his worries: "Father, you know that during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu introduced something from the Western Regions, which almost changed the battlefield form of later generations. Do you know what it is?"

Li Shimin was stunned. Li Yan did not answer his question, but talked about things during the reign of Emperor Wu. However, Li Shimin was not surprised. He knew that Li Yan would not speak without a purpose, and the questions he asked must be closely related to his own.

Often, the more important and core the issue is, the more it cannot be addressed too directly and has to be addressed in a roundabout way. Li Shimin was well aware of this.

But I didn’t expect that Li Yan, at such a young age, actually had such habits and concentration.

Li Shimin thought about it honestly, and finally shook his head: "Emperor Wu led a large-scale northern expedition and opened up the Silk Road. Many nations came to pay tribute, and too many things were introduced to the Central Plains. What do you mean?"

"Father, I don't know if you have noticed that before the Han Dynasty, bronze weapons dominated the military stage; in the early Western Han Dynasty, iron weapons began to be used on a large scale, mixed with some bronze weapons."

Li Yan said thoughtfully: "As Emperor Wu opened up the trade route from the Western Regions to Central Asia, iron smelting technology and steel forging technology began to advance rapidly, and steel weapons emerged. By the end of the Western Han Dynasty, steel weapons had gradually squeezed out bronze weapons, which had been popular for about two thousand years, from the battlefield, and cold weapons entered their heyday."

Li Yanyi said it smoothly, so there was less embellishment in the name and he used many later words and phrases.

Combining the meaning of the context, Li Shimin could probably understand what Li Yan meant and understand it without any obstacles.

Although he was still confused about some terms like Central Asia and cold weapons, his focus was not here, so he did not interrupt Li Yan and listened quietly.

"Father knows that this fine steel is harder than iron. Although the most common soldiers in our Tang Dynasty still use iron weapons, all officers above the rank of sergeant use weapons made of fine steel."

"Since the time of Emperor Wu, the Han Dynasty introduced fine steel forging technology from the Western Regions. Since then, the Han upper class has had high-strength weapons made of fine steel. Compared with iron weapons, it is tougher, sharper, and more flexible, far superior to iron weapons."

"And where does the fine steel come from, do you know, father?"

Li Yan began to ask questions. Li Shimin could no longer remain silent. Although he had used all kinds of weapons, he had no idea how to cast fine steel. So he said vaguely, "This manufacturing process should be known in the military supervisory department. I have not paid attention to the specific process."

"In fact, I don't know the detailed process of steel casting. It probably takes more than ten steps!"

Li Yan said frankly: "However, generally speaking, there are two processes. First, iron ore with a high iron content is mined from the mountains, and then smelted to produce pig iron. The earliest iron products are of this level."

"However, it contains a lot of impurities and is not very strong. It breaks easily, so it can only be used in some farm tools. It is also easy to be damaged if it is made into weapons."

"Fine steel is further refined from pig iron. It is forged at a higher temperature, hammered repeatedly, and then quenched at a low temperature. This process is repeated over and over again, and all the impurities in the pig iron are squeezed out step by step. Finally, fine steel is produced."

"Steel is forged through repeated tempering, and this is exactly what they mean."

(End of this chapter)