Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 289 Keep an eye on Old Deng, don't let him lose points! [Seeking monthly votes]

Strictly speaking, the Tang Dynasty ended with Wu Zetian's usurpation of power.

Just like when Wang Mang usurped power in the Western Han Dynasty, the Western Han Dynasty perished.

Although it was eventually revived, it was not a true continuation of the dynasty.

This is similar to the Southern Ming Dynasty following the Ming Dynasty, but many people only remember Emperor Chongzhen as the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, while few people take the emperors of the Southern Ming Dynasty seriously.

However, if we were to discuss the true turning point from prosperity to decline in the Tang Dynasty, it would undoubtedly be the An Lushan Rebellion.

The An Lushan Rebellion can be considered the largest and most influential rebellion in history.

It directly caused a prosperous era to vanish into thin air.

This is unprecedented in history.

Because most rebellions occur at the end of a dynasty, this is the only example of a rebellion that occurred during a prosperous period, leading to a complete upheaval of the country.

So, how did the An Lushan Rebellion happen?

Leaving aside other historical figures, the military reforms of the Tang Dynasty alone demonstrate that the An Lushan Rebellion was inevitable.

It might not be called the An Lushan Rebellion, but something like the Zhang-Wang Rebellion, the Cattle-Sheep Rebellion, or so on.

In short, the military reforms from the beginning of the Tang Dynasty to the period before the An Lushan Rebellion were clearly problematic.

After listening to Li Shimin and his ministers' new plan, Li Chengqian became even more certain that their new reform plan was one of the main reasons for the An Lushan Rebellion that followed.

Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian with surprise and doubt, and spoke first: "What do you mean by the Crown Prince's words? Why do you curse my Great Tang Dynasty to perish more than a hundred years ago?"

"It's not a curse, it's a fact. If the army is reformed according to your new plan, the Tang Dynasty will perish in less than a hundred years!" Li Chengqian calmly corrected Li Shimin.

Li Shimin's face darkened immediately. He stood up from his seat and walked step by step toward Li Chengqian, looking down at him and saying, "If you have any objections to our new plan, you can raise them. But if you do not give a reasonable explanation for your statement that our Great Tang Dynasty will perish in less than a hundred years, I will severely punish you!"

"Does Your Majesty think I would joke about my own country? Or does Your Majesty believe I would fear your severe punishment?"

Li Chengqian calmly raised his head and met Li Shimin's gaze, showing no fear whatsoever.

Upon seeing this, Li Shimin narrowed his eyes slightly, and an aura of imperial power suddenly rose within him.

The other ministers present were all horrified.

"Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Highness, please calm down! Let's talk this out!"

Seeing the father and son at loggerheads, Fang Xuanling, acting as a peacemaker, once again stepped in to comfort them, saying, "Even if there are problems with this new plan, we can still revise it. It's not like we have to push it through!"

After saying this, he quickly gave the other ministers a meaningful look.

The other ministers exchanged glances and echoed the sentiment.

"Yes, Your Majesty! His Highness the Crown Prince may have some unique insights; perhaps we should listen to them first!"

"Your Majesty, please calm down. His Highness the Crown Prince only meant well for the Tang Dynasty, which is why his words were a bit alarming."

"Your Highness, please feel free to speak frankly about any problems with this new plan. Since we all want what's best for the Tang Dynasty, let's be open and honest."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Hearing the ministers' advice, Li Shimin's anger gradually subsided. He then looked deeply at Li Chengqian and said, "Are you resentful that I didn't send Qingque to the fiefdom before granting it?"

"Ok?"

Li Chengqian was slightly taken aback, thinking to himself, "What are you talking about? What does this have to do with the little fat boy?"

But he quickly realized what was happening and couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.

Li Shimin originally thought that he was opposing him because Li Shimin not only released Li Tai, but also refused Li Tai's request to be granted a fiefdom.

Although Li Chengqian was indeed somewhat disgusted when he first learned of this matter.

But upon closer reflection, there was a reason why Li Tai was favored by Li Shimin his whole life; how could he possibly fall so easily?

Unless Li Shimin loses the power of the emperor, Li Tai will not be in any real danger.

Even Li Ke and Li Chengqian are now unable to move.

Moreover, he had a hidden mission: to send Li Tai and Li Zhi to their fiefdoms. If Li Shimin sent Li Tai to his fiefdom, how would he complete his mission?

Therefore, after figuring everything out, Li Chengqian quickly felt relieved when he told Li Shimin to release Li Tai and refuse to grant him a fiefdom.

However, Li Shimin's current assumption that he opposed Li Tai because of Li Tai is simply overthinking things.

But Li Chengqian said somewhat speechlessly, "Whether or not to send Qingque to her fiefdom is His Majesty's business, and has nothing to do with me!"

"So what exactly do you want to do?" Li Shimin asked, narrowing his eyes.

Li Chengqian glanced at him, then frowned and said, "I want the Tang Dynasty to be on the right path."

What is the right path?

"It's hard to say, but it's definitely not the path you're on now."

"This"

The officials, upon hearing the conversation between the father and son, couldn't help but sigh.

Li Shimin pursed his lips, then turned and walked towards the throne without saying a word, saying as he went, "I heard that the Academy of Sciences is preparing to open? At the end of this month?"

"Yes!"

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Your Majesty and all civil and military officials will be invited to attend!"

"Yes, I will attend! Now tell me, what are your thoughts on military reform? I would like to hear your opinion."

After saying this, Li Shimin turned to look at Li Chengqian and said calmly and indifferently, "After all, you will one day possess this country like your father, won't you? My Crown Prince!"

"This"

Li Chengqian's heart stirred, and he couldn't help but look around at his ministers.

The ministers exchanged glances and immediately bowed to him, saying, "Please enlighten us, Your Highness!"

"Alright, if Father allows me to participate in the military reforms, I will never allow such a thing as regional warlordism to happen!"

Li Chengqian said helplessly.

Just as Li Shimin implied, this country would be his sooner or later.

Even if Li Shimin intended to use the matter of reforming the army to scheme against him, he had no choice but to accept it.

Because now is indeed a good time to reform the army, even if it offends some people in the military, it will definitely benefit the future of the Tang Dynasty.

Fang Xuanling asked with a puzzled look, "What does the Crown Prince mean by 'regional separatism'? Our new plan doesn't imply that!"

"Yes, Your Highness, are you mistaken? How could we possibly allow regional warlordism to occur!" Hou Junji frowned and questioned, "We are very clear about the lessons learned from the Sui Dynasty!"

"No! You don't know! You just think you know, but you don't know at all!"

Li Chengqian gave Hou Junji a cold look, showing no liking for the guy.

He immediately looked flustered, unsure of how to respond.

At this moment, Wei Zheng, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up again: "May I ask Your Highness, when you mention the regional military governors, are you perhaps worried about those independent military organizations?"

"Not bad!"

Li Chengqian directly admitted: "Your new plan has a very easily overlooked drawback, which is that after abolishing the governorships, you will disband the soldiers in the governorships and distribute land to them so that they can become ordinary citizens. But you have not considered that this method is only applicable to the present and not to the future."

"Because now is the time when the empire has just been established, we have a lot of land and we don't have to worry about land distribution. But as the empire continues to develop, the population will increase and land consolidation will become more and more serious. At that time, do you still think there will be enough land to go around?"

"If there is not enough land to distribute, the existing system will soon collapse. At that time, if the court wants to continue to maintain the operation of the army, it must reform again. Since the Fubing system has failed, it should switch to the recruitment system. The recruitment system, combined with the independent military institutions you set up, will eventually form the regional military governorships."

"The country relies on the power of the regional military governors to resist foreign enemies and maintain national stability. However, the power of these regional military governors will also grow. Once a regional military governor colludes to rebel, the country will fall into great turmoil, or even perish."

"This"

The ministers were stunned when they heard this.

Even Li Shimin was stunned and stood there at a loss.

In fact, the combination of the militia system and the equal-field system in the early Tang Dynasty was a very desirable state.

The soldiers of the Fubing (府兵) usually engaged in agricultural production in their hometowns, received military training during the off-season, and took turns serving as guards in the capital.

When war breaks out, they are called up to fight, and they prepare their own food and weapons.

When the war ends, the soldiers disperse to their respective prefectures, and the generals return to the same court.

It is a perfect model of 'integration of soldiers and farmers'.

During the Zhenguan era, there were more than 800 military training prefectures, most of which were located near the capital. There were more than 200 prefectures in Guannei Circuit, and more than 500 prefectures in Hedong and Henan Circuits, accounting for about 80 percent of the total military force.

These military commands were normally under the command of the Twelve Central Guards and the Six Guards of the Eastern Palace, creating a top-heavy situation. This avoided the drawbacks of military generals wielding too much power and also facilitated the court's control over the four directions.

However, all of this is based on the premise of the 'equal-field system'.

During the reigns of Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu Zetian, the country was stable, the population grew rapidly, and the commodity economy developed in tandem. This led to increasingly serious land annexation, with nobles, officials, gentry, and wealthy people constantly using their power and wealth to annex land.

This made the national policy of "land allocation based on population" difficult to implement, leading to increasingly impoverished farmers and a growing number of people fleeing the area.

When the number of bankrupt farmers reaches a certain scale and they all become tenant farmers, the equal-field system fails.

The biggest impact of the failure of the equal-field system was the depletion of manpower for soldiers.

These soldiers, who used to provide their own food and weapons, had neither the financial means to purchase military equipment nor the motivation to fight.

Therefore, it was not until the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang that the Tang Dynasty had to switch to a system of recruiting soldiers.

What is a volunteer military system?
To put it simply, the state provides equipment, pays military salaries, and recruits soldiers to fight.

This system did solve the problem of manpower shortage, but it also created new problems, namely financial pressure.

In the past, a country could afford to fight a war with just ten million yuan. Now, a war can't be fought without a hundred million yuan.

Therefore, a country may reduce its investment in certain unnecessary areas or in certain wars.

The consequence of this is that, for example, the Protectorates established in the early Tang Dynasty were specifically for supervising the foreign tribes defeated by the Tang Dynasty. If the court's military expenditure was high in a certain year, this part of the expenditure might be reduced.

Once this expenditure is reduced, those alien races will rise again.

For example, if the imperial court wants to concentrate its resources on a single battle, it will increase the military expenditure for that battle, while other smaller battles will naturally be reduced.

But if the pay is reduced, everyone will think, "I'm fighting on military pay, how much money is it worth risking my life for?"

Therefore, if many small battles are lost, the crisis will never end.

Of course, this is not to say that the conscription system is bad.

In fact, this situation also occurred in the Tang Dynasty at the end of the period when the Fubing system collapsed.

Especially during the later years of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, the Tang Dynasty faced constant border crises.

It was common to see situations like, "The Yan and Dai states forced the Xiongnu to invade, and Ba and Shu suffered from the Tibetan threat." and "The beginning and end of Qin are now incomplete, with only the area between the Three Auxiliary Regions remaining."

During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, this situation became even more severe, which led to the implementation of a conscription system.

While the border crisis was indeed resolved in the short term, it also gave rise to the concept of the Jiedushi (military governor).

The implementation of the Jiedushi system changed the border defense forces from the original method of combining local troops, border troops, and fubing (military units) to local recruitment.

Therefore, it will be possible to dedicate troops to this task.

They gradually evolved into the private armies of generals and commanders, whose combined numbers were several times greater than the army controlled by the imperial court.

At that time, the Tang Empire had a total of 570,000 troops, while the military governors had 490,000 troops under their command, accounting for more than 80% of the country's army.

How terrifying is this?
It's so scary!
Therefore, the emergence of the Jiedushi (military governor) inevitably leads to chaos in the country.

Li Chengqian would absolutely not allow such an unreasonable system to be born.

Even though Li Shimin's new plan was only one of the reasons for the creation of the Jiedushi (military governor) system, Li Chengqian still rejected it.

But then he spoke again: "So, my opinion is that if we are going to reform, we should do it as comprehensively as possible. Even if any system will become deformed in the later stages, we should control the harm of the system within a certain range and prolong the life of the empire as much as possible."

"Yes, what the Crown Prince said makes sense. It was I and my ministers who did not consider this carefully."

As if realizing something, Li Shimin nodded solemnly and said, "When the Sui Dynasty fell, various warlords fought each other, resulting in a large amount of abandoned land. That's why the court allocated land to the soldiers. Now it seems that the land allocation can only be maintained for a period of time and cannot continue indefinitely, unless the territory of the Tang Dynasty continues to expand. There will eventually be a day when there won't be enough land to go around."

"If there is not enough land to distribute, the soldiers will have no reliable source of weapons, equipment, and food. This will make it impossible to guarantee their enthusiasm for fighting."

"Yes, once soldiers lose their fighting spirit, it is almost impossible to win a battle!" Fang Xuanling sighed in agreement.

The remaining officials looked at each other and remained silent.

Clearly, they were all swayed by Li Chengqian's words and realized that the previous new plan did indeed have problems.

"So, in your opinion, Your Highness, how should the court reform the army? Or, does Your Highness have a better plan?"

Just as the ministers remained silent, Wei Zheng suddenly asked a question.

Li Shimin and his ministers immediately perked up and looked up at Li Chengqian.

I thought to myself, "That's right!"

You say our plan has problems? Then come up with a plan that doesn't have problems!
"Uh,"

Li Chengqian's lips twitched, and he couldn't help but raise his hand to his forehead, thinking to himself, "These old bastards, they all want to pick up the pieces!"

However, this is a good opportunity!

Li Chengqian's eyes darted around, then he straightened up and said, "I do have a better plan, but to implement it, I need to find a suitable person to cooperate with me. Otherwise, no matter how good the plan is, it will not be able to be implemented!"

"Oh?"

Li Shimin raised an eyebrow: "Whom is the Crown Prince referring to?"

“Li Jing!” Li Chengqian blurted out.

Li Shimin's face immediately darkened.

The other ministers looked at each other in bewilderment.

Li Jing!
That was the most outstanding commander in the Tang Dynasty!

If he gets involved with the Crown Prince, what will the consequences be?
It's simply unimaginable.

Seemingly sensing the thoughts of his ministers, and in order to put Li Shimin at ease, Li Chengqian added, "Besides General Li Jing, the other twelve generals of the Guards are also acceptable, but I think General Li Jing is the most suitable. Firstly, General Li Jing has just won a battle and still enjoys high prestige in the army. Secondly, the country is now at peace, and Father Emperor no longer needs to utilize General Li Jing's strengths. Since we don't need to utilize his strengths, and we can't let him be idle, why not let him do something else? For example, abandon military affairs and pursue a career in literature?"

"This"

Upon hearing Li Chengqian's words, Li Shimin was greatly moved and immediately asked, "Do you mean to make Li Jing a civil official?"

"Yup!"

Li Chengqian smiled and nodded, saying, "A general who doesn't fight battles and doesn't lead troops would be more suited to be a civil official, such as the Minister of War. What do you think, Father?"

"His Majesty!"

Before Li Shimin could speak, Xiao Yu, who had been silent all along, stepped forward and angrily remonstrated, "General Li Jing's unauthorized mobilization of troops, which is tantamount to treason, has not yet been investigated. How can he be appointed to such a high position as Minister of War?!"

"Uh"

Upon hearing this, the ministers were speechless, but none of them stood up to refute Xiao Yu. Instead, they all turned their attention to Li Shimin and his son.

Li Shimin and his son exchanged a glance and immediately reached a tacit understanding.

"Alright, let's end today's discussion here. We can talk about anything else at the court assembly!"

Li Shimin ignored Xiao Yu and directly ordered him to leave.

"His Majesty."

Xiao Yu opened his mouth, about to say a few more words, when Hou Junji quickly pulled him back, chuckling and teasing, "With such strictness, it's a pity you're not the Crown Prince's tutor!"

"Ok?"

As the saying goes, what is said without intention may be taken to heart by the listener. Li Shimin, who was about to get up and return to the palace, stopped in his tracks upon hearing Hou Junji's words and asked Hou Junji curiously, "Duke of Lu, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was just joking with the Left Minister." Hou Junji quickly bowed to Li Shimin.

The other ministers who were preparing to leave, including Li Chengqian, also looked at them.

But then Li Shimin said in a deep voice, "What joke? I'm asking you to explain why you think it's a pity that the Left Minister of Works is not the Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince?"

"Uh, this."

Hou Junji grinned awkwardly, then glanced at Li Chengqian and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I simply feel that the Left Minister's demands on others are so strict, as if he fears they are not demanding enough. The Crown Prince's Junior Tutor is responsible for advising and managing the Crown Prince's behavior. It would be most suitable for the Left Minister to be the Crown Prince's Junior Tutor."

"Hahaha!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help but laugh heartily, then nodded repeatedly: "Good, good, well said! How come I didn't notice that!"

"Hmm, the Left Minister is indeed strict with people, and he is suitable to be the Crown Prince's Junior Tutor. How about this, let's remove Xiao Yu from the position of Left Minister and appoint him as the Crown Prince's Junior Tutor!"

"Not His Majesty."

"Alright, it's decided then. You may all leave!"

Xiao Yu: "."

Li Chengqian: "."

Keep your spirits up, Old Deng! Don't lose points, or you'll impeach that scoundrel Hou to death next time!
(End of this chapter)