Control your ancestors and create an immortal family starting from the Eastern Han Dynasty

Chapter 181 Changes Arise Again, Rapid Changes (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
The entire harem was a scene of bloodshed and violence.

Even Gu Yi couldn't help but pay attention to this struggle, wanting to see what could be considered a classic palace intrigue in the entire history.

The Tang Dynasty at present does not appear to be making any mistakes.

Under Gu Jing's influence.

The court officials dared not participate in the power struggles within the harem, nor did they dare to break the long-standing rules of the Tang Dynasty.

Gu Jing's iron-fisted approach, coupled with the complete leniency shown by Changsun Wuji and others, had instilled a deep sense of fear in everyone.

A relative balance has been achieved among the various political parties.

At least for now, it seems that the Tang Dynasty has no chance of making a mistake.

It is worth mentioning that Li Shimin's actions at Lingyan Pavilion before his death finally became widely known.

He painted flowers on Gu Quan's portrait.

People all over the world are speculating about this.

Some say that Gu Quan was the Ghost-Faced General who helped Li Shimin at the Xuanwu Gate Incident, and later became a great general who fought across the entire northern and western battlefields.

Some say that Li Shimin did this because Gu Quan had failed to help him during the power struggle between the two palaces, and he harbored various grievances against Gu Quan.

Perhaps it is precisely because of the stability of life in the Tang Dynasty that this matter has caused such a great stir.

Even people in the imperial court have begun to discuss this matter and are subtly trying to find out more information.

But the Gu family remained silent throughout.

Some people wanted to prove Gu Quan's innocence, but no one dared to go against his last wishes.

As the Gu family remained silent, the dispute spread far and wide.

Of course, this was just a minor incident.

Gu Jing naturally wouldn't pay attention to such trivial matters, but instead always kept his sights on the entire world.

In fact, what the Tang Dynasty truly needed today was not territorial expansion, but internal assimilation, integration, and institutional reform.

We should replace military force with economic prosperity and cultural excellence to control all sides.
We will then borrow the strength from all directions to contribute to the prosperity of the entire nation.

In short, it was about adding bricks and tiles to the grand foundation laid by Li Shimin for the Tang Dynasty.

This is also the consensus among the current court officials, and they are acting accordingly.

Now everyone's attention is focused on the Western Regions, including Gu Jing, who wants to take advantage of the current peace in the Western Regions to develop commerce on a large scale.

In fact, trade between the Western Regions and Kyushu has never been very stable over the years.

The reason is quite simple.

That is, there are simply too many rebels within the various small countries.

To develop commerce, a stable environment is essential, something that the entire Western Regions has failed to fully achieve in recent years.

Now is a crucial moment.
Chang'an, the Hall of State Affairs.

Although Emperor Li Zhi was not present, the court officials were still discussing the Western Regions in a very heated manner.

With piercing eyes, Chu Suiliang, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, slowly surveyed the assembled officials, his sleeves fluttering slightly as he smiled warmly: "Gentlemen, the Western Regions are now pacified."

"The legacy of Emperor Taizong is within reach; this is truly the bedrock for the eternal stability of the nation."

"Gentlemen, please speak freely if you have any good ideas—let's follow the example of the Zhenguan era! Today, we will discuss national affairs together."

The smile on his face was very natural.

There was not a trace of intimidation in his expression.

Upon hearing this, the ministers nodded in agreement, and a murmur of discussion immediately arose.

This is the Tang Dynasty court today!
There is no single dominant entity, nor is there an absolute dictator.

People from all sides have come up with a diverse range of ideas.

This certainly has many advantages. As long as the foundation of the entire court can be stabilized, and Emperor Li Zhi does not deliberately become incompetent, it will be difficult for the Tang Dynasty to deteriorate directly.

"Now that the Western Regions are pacified, we should quickly send envoys to gather all the tribes and register them in the Tang Dynasty's register!"

"Indeed! The Western Regions have long suffered from turmoil. We should register the people and govern them to prevent any resurgence of such thoughts!"

“This is absolutely unacceptable. As you all know, the Western Regions are in turmoil. If we force the barbarians to register as citizens, wouldn’t that be forcing them to rebel again?”

"Where do these barbarians come from?! Under heaven, all land belongs to the emperor! Since they reside on Tang soil, they should be loyal subjects of the Tang Dynasty!!!"

"."

Discussions and murmurs continued to rise.

Gu Jing also came.

Seeing the differing attitudes of his ministers, he turned to Changsun Wuji beside him, cupped his hands, and asked, "Grand Commandant, what do you think of the strategy for the Western Regions?"

Upon hearing this, everyone present immediately looked over.

Although Gu Jing was seated in the second seat.

However, no one dared to underestimate his status, and they understood that this was because Gu Jing was a generation below Changsun Wuji.

"We should follow the example of Lord Gu in the past," Changsun Wuji said slowly after a moment of contemplation.

—He was referring to Gu Yu.

In fact, all the reconnaissance of the barbarians in the surrounding areas over the years by the Tang Dynasty was done by Gu Yu.

Although many things have been improved.

But fundamentally, it was Gu Yu who pointed out the direction for the Tang Dynasty.

Seeing the doubts on the faces of the assembled officials, Grand Commandant Changsun Wuji slowly rose, his gaze unfathomable, and swept across the room: "The Western Regions have just been pacified; we should proceed with caution."

"Neither be hasty nor miss the opportunity."

"As Master Gu once said—"

“Use force to intimidate their courage, use profit to divide their power, and use propriety to transform their hearts, then all directions can be at peace.”

"The way we should follow today should also be the same."

"The tribes of the Western Regions are now afraid of our military might. At this time, we should guide them with benefits."

"In my opinion, a dual-registration system is feasible."

“Those who retain their original household registration in their homeland and are registered in Tang will be granted benefits—reduced taxes and lenient trade restrictions.”

"In this way, we can both control their minds and promote commerce, thus facilitating the flow of goods and services. This is a good strategy that benefits both Anxi and Tang."

His tone was very calm.

Upon hearing this, the assembled officials all fell into deep thought.

Even Gu Jing was the same.

Changsun Wuji's abilities are beyond question, and under these circumstances, Gu Jing could not possibly be his equal.

But Gu Jing reacted quickly. After pondering for a moment, he nodded in agreement.

That is indeed the case in the current situation.

The Tang Dynasty has done more than enough for the Western Regions.

The dual-track system was designed so that the people of the Western Regions could gradually accept the system of the Tang Dynasty, and now it is time for it to bear fruit.

Moreover, this move is driven by profit and in line with the will of the people; how could it not succeed?

There was silence in the hall.

The ministers were all carefully considering the possibilities.

Of course, there are also stubborn dissent. In any era, there is no shortage of people who are used to sticking to the old ways and are unwilling to change a country's policies.

However, this matter was brought up by Changsun Wuji himself, and Gu Jing had already agreed.

In reality, there was no possibility of reversing this situation.

They still have the opportunity to offer their advice.

But it's impossible to change anything now.

After the matter was finalized, Changsun Wuji immediately formulated a series of procedures and then sent them to the Western Regions.

—The time for change has come again.

Gu Yi also noticed this, and was not too surprised by it.

In the original history.

In reality, the Western Regions were far less developed than they are today, but after the Tang Dynasty's conquest of the Western Turks, the Silk Road experienced a massive boom. And now?
Although the business has been developing, it has not actually experienced a large-scale boom.

This can actually be interpreted as the Tang Dynasty having been controlling it all along.

Everything from the dual-track system to the departments that handle currency exchange indirectly inhibits business development, coupled with the small-scale disruptions of recent years.

It naturally evolved into this state.

This does not mean that current development is inferior to the original history.

In fact, it's quite the opposite.

Today, the foundation of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions has completely surpassed that of all previous dynasties and the original history. All of this is just laying the groundwork for a long-term and formal rule.

This is something that is completely incomparable to the original history.

Now is the time to push forward once again.

This task was also very difficult to accomplish.

The most crucial issue is that the Western Regions were originally a situation of multiple states coexisting.

At its core.

Getting the people back into the Tang Dynasty's system would be an extremely troublesome matter, something that would have been impossible in any other dynasty.

But things are completely different now.

Over the past few decades, the Western Regions have been plagued by numerous conflicts, both large and small.

Now is the time when we fear the Tang Dynasty the most, and only now can we accomplish this task to the greatest extent possible. Even if it is slow, it is not a big deal.

Once the conditions of the Tang Dynasty are presented, these people, who have already received some education, will make their own judgment.

The target of this operation is the entire Western Regions.

The Tang Dynasty court naturally couldn't allocate too much resources to nourish them.

After several days of negotiations.

Ultimately, the only option is to offer these individuals some tax reductions or exemptions, including commercial taxes.

These are things Gu Jing doesn't need to worry about.

However, Gu Jing still transferred the power of the Censorate to the Western Regions to supervise these officials, as well as to ensure the stability of commerce and other matters.

In addition, he even focused his attention on the foreign exchange department.

—Now that the decision has been made to begin large-scale development.

Then all of this was inevitable.

Although Gu Jing was not as capable as the top ministers in court politics, he had his own ideas about judging people's hearts.

No opening should be made easily.

This is for sure.

Although outwardly he seemed to have done nothing.

But in reality, he had been secretly watching everything, and as soon as the Tang Dynasty went astray, he would immediately lead people to set things right.

They also did not neglect matters of navigation.

Although Li Chengqian did not send back any specific messages, this path still needed to be continued for the Tang Dynasty.

Although it doesn't seem like much has changed now.

But once all the plans of all parties are completed, what has been taken will not be a simple step!

The Western Regions are very stable now.

There are quite a few members of the Gu family in the Western Regions now, each holding important positions in the region and making the most of the Gu family's prestige to stabilize the surrounding areas.

It is worth mentioning that as the Gu family's bloodline grew, so did many criminals within the family.

Things are alright within the Nine Provinces.

Especially those Gu family members who have lived in Julu since childhood, influenced by the environment of Julu, each of them can be called a typical Gu family member.

Even if others are sent to Julu for unified education, they will develop different personalities depending on the length of their education.

Actually, most of them are fine.

The Gu family's wealth is immeasurable, which has already set a minimum standard for the Gu family's descendants, but it is inevitable that some people will forget everything.

And these Gu family members who were placed in different places were the majority of them.

Their positions are shown here.

Even without much power, the Gu family's status still attracted local nobles to bribe them.

This was something that could not be completely avoided.

Of course, these people still have some consideration for their family's reputation and dare not go too far, but there are still clues to everything.

Gu Jing also wants to resolve this matter.

Although this matter was indeed somewhat ruthless, Gu Jing had to do it for the long-term benefit of the entire family, in order to uphold the authority of the Gu family rules.

The fourth year of the Yonghui era.

Wu Zetian gave birth to another son for Li Zhi, and was subsequently officially appointed as a second-rank Zhaoyi.

The power struggle within the entire harem has reached its climax.

Empress Wang seemed to have finally realized how terrifying Wu Zetian was, far surpassing even Consort Xiao.

Now, she has completely let go of her hatred for Consort Xiao.

on the contrary--

The two of them have now officially joined forces and begun to target Wu Zetian.

However, this struggle was ultimately confined to the inner palace.

As for the court officials, no one would be willing to get involved in these power struggles within the harem.

It wasn't just Gu Jing who looked down on these things; the court officials shared the same sentiment. Ultimately, it was just a power struggle within the harem.

Both sides constantly vied for Li Zhi's favor.

But compared to Wu Zetian, they were ultimately far inferior.

Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) increasingly favored Empress Wu Zetian.

The two of them, on the other hand, were increasingly neglected.

Actually, Li Zhi can't be blamed for this.

The Tang Dynasty of today is completely different from the original history. Gu Yi remembers that in the original history, a large part of the reason why Wu Zetian was able to gain Li Zhi's favor was that she was able to help Li Zhi come up with ideas.

At that time, the Tang court was completely controlled by the Guanlong aristocratic families, including Changsun Wuji, and Li Zhi needed a capable ally.

And now?
The situation at court was not like that at all, and Li Zhi was happy to be a carefree emperor.

If only the two of them were a little bit smarter.

They would never be so neglected.

Unfortunately, these two women were far inferior to Wu Zetian. Consort Xiao would sometimes try to please Li Zhi, while Empress Wang neither tried to please Li Zhi nor treated her servants well, including her own family, who were all very rude.

This gave Wu Zetian far too many opportunities, and her current predicament can be entirely attributed to her own actions.

But how could they possibly accept that?
Especially Empress Wang.

She even went directly to Gu Jing, hoping to leverage the favor Li Shimin had shown her and have Gu Jing help her secure her position as empress.

Gu Jing can indeed do it.

Li Zhi listened to Gu Jing's every word.

But why would Gu Jing interfere with these things?
In fact, he was already somewhat dissatisfied with Empress Wang.

As an empress, she has not even had a child yet. How can she possibly hold onto her position?
Gu Jing is not incapable of taking action.

If it truly escalated to the point of national security, he would definitely try every means to intervene, but Empress Wang is simply not worth him doing so.

As the empress, she had no children!
And yet so foolish.

Why would Gu Jing bother with someone like that?

Gu Jing didn't care about the power struggles in the harem at all; whoever became empress was, to him, Li Zhi's own family matter.

He wouldn't interfere in matters that didn't threaten the stability of the country.
(P.S.: It's almost the end of the month, so I'm begging for monthly votes. I hope you guys can support me. I'll resume updating once the flu is gone.)
(End of this chapter)