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

Chapter 771: Feudal System (Part )
Li Shimin knew what Li Yan said. In fact, governing the country not only requires solving current problems, but also long-term peace and stability. However, when it comes to the long-term future, any small problem becomes extremely troublesome.

Because that is a place that my life span cannot reach.
Although Li Shimin was very reluctant to accept it, he had to admit that what Li Yan said made sense, and still struggled to say: "Yes, the feudal system..."

"The feudal system feels like a scourge, but it's actually not that scary, while the county system feels safe, but it's actually fraught with real crises."

Before Li Shimin could ask, Li Yan said decisively: "The county system concentrates all power in the emperor and the court, which requires a wise ruler. Once you encounter an ordinary or incompetent ruler, the world will fall apart."

"The feudal system is much more tolerant, and is mainly supported by the ambitions of the various princes. Under the mutual fear, it can last longer. Even if there is an ordinary or incompetent ruler in power, they can still hold out until the day when a wise ruler is born."

"Under the might of time, wise men should not dream of eliminating war and rebellion, which is impossible. Instead, they should focus on how to control and harness war. The top-level design should leave room for war to exist."

Thinking of this, Li Yan couldn't help but sigh at the wisdom of Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, and said, "If it is well controlled, the princes are all family members. Even if there is a dispute, the meat will rot in the pot. It is nothing more than the prince's line being replaced by the prince's line. The world will still belong to one family and one surname."

"Relatively speaking, it is much more difficult for outsiders to replace him."

"During the county system, all the rebel kings united to rebel against the court, and the royal family members of the court were lambs to be slaughtered. Just like in the Qin Dynasty, all the Ying clan members had no power. Facing the chaos in Guandong, they could only wait for death, and they were not even qualified to participate in the competition."

"Because at the very beginning, the First Emperor deprived them of the power to leave."

"The feudal system is chaotic. It's just one's own children and grandchildren fighting each other. Whoever wins or loses, only the main branch and main vein will be unlucky. The other descendants may turn around quickly, at least the whole family can survive and the bloodline can continue."

"And the ancestral temples at the time of the founding of the country were also preserved. The dynasty did not change, and the people would not be affected too much. In short, wars between kings of the same surname were always less destructive than wars between kings of different surnames."

"Wars between the same race are less destructive than wars between different races."

As soon as Li Yan finished speaking, Li Shimin was shocked. He looked at Li Yan with complicated eyes for a long time and said, "You are so young, why do you always think about war and the end of the dynasty? You can't always think of the worst!"

"Haha, Father, you don't have to think about good things, they won't go away, but you have to think about bad things, they are related to life and death."

Li Yan smiled and said, "Father is a wise ruler who founded the country, and I am not bad either. I believe that it is enough for Father to stabilize the Tang Dynasty and govern an era. Although I am not as talented as Father, I am not a fool either, so I am good enough to maintain the status quo."

"With you and I, father and son, taking over, there won't be any problems in establishing a country for sixty years."

"Then we have to consider those unfilial and incompetent descendants, and try to be more thoughtful in terms of the system to help them maintain the dynasty longer. I will not make such extravagant requests for eternal life, and I believe that the emperor does not think that the Tang Dynasty can last forever."

"But I think we can still try our best to keep the Han Dynasty and catch up with the Zhou Dynasty."

Li Shimin thought about the ruthlessness of time and sighed, saying: "Not all descendants are unfilial, there are always some like Emperor Wen, Emperor Jing, and Emperor Wu."

"Of course, according to the rules, the succession of emperors in dynasties in history is not likely to be all wise rulers, but it is also unlikely that all of them are incompetent rulers. Most of them are mediocre rulers who maintain the status quo. Moreover, there are more troubles in the middle and late stages of a dynasty, so it is already good enough to be able to maintain the situation."

Li Yan said solemnly: "Looking at the Zhou and Han dynasties, even if there are several generations of incompetent rulers, a wise ruler will appear."

"What we need to do is to make the system as stable as possible, so that those incompetent rulers can outlive their lives while in office and the country will not be destroyed, buying time for the birth of wise rulers later, just like the Qin Dynasty survived despite several generations of incompetent rulers before King Xiaogong."

"We finally made it through until Duke Xiaogong's reforms, and Qin moved eastward."

"From this point of view, the First Emperor was indeed great, but the county system he implemented failed to stabilize the situation after his death. It collapsed in the stormy and chaotic times. Even the incompetent emperor Qin Ershi could not survive it. In fact, it was a flaw in the system."

"Let alone a generation of emperors, just a few years of incompetence can destroy the accumulation of hundreds or even dozens of generations of ancestors. It's terrifying to think about it. The hidden dangers caused by this system are almost fatal. Father, aren't you afraid?"

"If the hundreds of years before the Qin Dynasty were the same, the Qin Dynasty would not have fallen to Qin Ershi, and the First Emperor would not have been able to carry on the legacy of the Sixth Emperor. I'm afraid he would have disappeared in the long river of history."

Li Yan's words instantly made Li Shimin feel cold all over and he shivered uncontrollably.

Yes
The establishment of the system should have taken into account the existence of incompetent rulers and wars. If even one generation of incompetent rulers cannot survive, there will be no chance to rectify the chaos and create a new world. "Father, if you have no law at home and no people, and no enemies and foreign troubles outside, the country will always perish; then you will know that life is born in worry and death in comfort."

"In fact, from another perspective, the existence of those local princes with the same surname is also a constraint and hidden threat to the emperor in the court. As long as the emperor is incompetent, the court will be in chaos, favor treacherous ministers, and do whatever he wants."

"The local barbarian kings can take over at any time. In that case, the court will not allow an incompetent emperor to take the throne, but will choose the most outstanding and outstanding one to lead everyone to compete with the princes, and even work hard to reduce the barbarians."

"It's a competition between teams, a struggle between groups."

"In this situation, internal factional struggles and consumption will be reduced to the lowest level. The Hundred Schools of Thought in the Spring and Autumn Period was a shining pearl of vigorous cultural development under the fierce competition of major countries. However, after the unification of the country, this active vitality will be gradually suppressed and suffocated."

When Li Shimin heard this, his eyes sparkled with a light that had never appeared before. It was obvious that he was rethinking the feudal system and the county system, and no longer rejected them one-sidedly as before.

Li Shimin's expression had relaxed. He laughed and cursed, "Nonsense! How could the court choose an incompetent emperor to ascend the throne?"

"Of course not. If the aristocratic families control the government and choose an incompetent emperor as a puppet, then the emperor's power may be distributed among the aristocratic families, which is more in line with the interests of the aristocratic families."

"And those aristocratic families occupy almost 80% of the middle and lower-level officials in the court, and even the military is no exception. Relying on such dense tentacles, the strength of each of their families is comparable to that of the princes."

"No, it should be said that what we are practicing now in the Tang Dynasty is the feudal system, but those princes are not from our Li family."

"It's the Five Surnames and Seven Families, the Guanlong Aristocratic Families."

"During the Western Han Dynasty, princes like Han Xin and Peng Yue were still outside the Great Wall. Their power and territory were clearly separated from the power and territory of the imperial court. The imperial court met with a wise and capable ruler, with a strong military and sufficient financial resources, and could pacify the country with a single move of the army. "

"However, these aristocratic families are connected to the imperial court by blood and are almost inseparable from it."

"It is more difficult to deal with and eliminate them than the local princes who are fighting openly with swords and guns. If you are too gentle, it will be useless because their numbers and strength are far greater than that of my father. If you are too ruthless like Yang Guang, you will only lose the strength of the Tang Dynasty."

"While the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman gains."

"The best scenario is that we will repeat the mistakes of the Sui Dynasty, change dynasties, and the noble families will nominate a noble family to be the emperor again. If the two sides are evenly matched, both will suffer losses, the national strength will be weakened, and the northern barbarians will benefit. This will be the situation of the Northern and Southern Dynasties when China was submerged, and our Li family will be the sinners of history."

"At that time, his crimes were even more serious than Yang Guang's. He might have been nailed to the pillar of shame in history and infamous for eternity. At least the mess of the Sui Dynasty was made much better because our Li family took timely action and cleared up the mess in a short period of time."

"I'm afraid that Father doesn't have a better solution. He can only spend time and effort to solve it bit by bit over a long period of time. But how can Father alone handle such a large group of people?"

"The most likely possibility is that the imperial power was hollowed out by the aristocratic families, and the Li family became a royal family in name only, and they found an obedient person to take the throne."

Well.
Hearing this, Li Shimin's expression, which had just relaxed, turned gloomy. He knew that what Li Yan said was not unreasonable. If his Li family was not a royal family and did not want to meet a strong and wise emperor, it would be most appropriate to support someone like Sima Zhong of the Western Jin Dynasty to ascend to the throne.

After struggling for a long time, Li Shimin asked with complicated eyes: "You are the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty. The world I conquered will be handed over to you sooner or later. I cannot but consider your opinion. So, do you want to implement the feudal system like the Han Dynasty?"

"No, I am thinking of a dynasty with three levels of coexistence: the imperial court, the princes of the surname Li, and the princes of the opposite sex."

"Oh?"

Li Shimin's interest grew, and he asked curiously, "What do you mean by three levels coexisting? Please explain it in detail. If what you said makes sense, I, the emperor, may consider it."

"You know, although you are smart, you are still too young when it comes to the court and the noble families. Some things are not as simple as you think. You should speak out your ideas, even if the timing is not right and they cannot be implemented."

"If I can plan ahead, or when you succeed to the throne in the future, I can build on the foundation laid by my father and make the Tang Dynasty more solid."

(End of this chapter)