Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 3: Is the Xuanwu Gate Incident about to begin?
"Your Highness, please calm down." Changsun Wuji knew what Li Shimin was most worried about.

It's not that they're afraid they can't defeat Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji.

Rather, if he were to ascend the throne, he might not be able to lead the Tang Dynasty to prosperity, but instead follow in the footsteps of Yang Guang.

He somewhat regretted bringing Wen He before the King of Qin.

If this boy's words cause the King of Qin to lose his ambition, wouldn't that allow the Crown Prince and the King of Qi to succeed?

“Your Highness, regardless of whether what this boy said is true or not, even if it is true, that is a matter for the future. Today, Your Highness should consider the matter at hand.”

Changsun Wuji cupped his hands and said.

“I agree with Changsun Wuji on this point,” Wen He nodded.

It's not without reason that Changsun Wuji later became a regent.

"You brat, I am older than you, how dare you call me by my name?" Changsun Wuji raised his hand and slapped Wen He on the back of the head. The latter reacted quickly and shrank his neck to dodge.

He quickly stepped back, smiling sheepishly as he apologized, "I'm sorry, we didn't have as many rules as you do in our time, and no one used courtesy names anymore; we all used full names."

"Hmph, judging by your age, you're about the same as Chong'er. Calling me 'uncle' is already a favor to you." Changsun Wuji stroked his beautiful beard and snorted.

Do you want me to call you uncle?

How shameless of you to try and take advantage of me!
Wen He scoffed inwardly, ignoring Changsun Wuji, and said with a smile, "I think we get along quite well, so why don't I call you brother?"

"puff!"

Li Shimin, who had been deep in thought, suddenly laughed: "Hahaha, Fuji, is he going to be your son?"

"You brat, what nonsense are you spouting!" Changsun Wuji felt no joy at gaining an advantage; he had a bunch of sons at home, and he didn't need another one.

But Wen He was even more confused.

When he came to his senses, he wanted to slap himself.

Those despicable people of the Tang Dynasty, calling their elder brother "father" for no reason.

It’s a loss!

"Uh, I meant elder brother, not father," he quickly explained.

But Li Shimin seemed not to hear him and laughed even harder.

Changsun Wuji shook his head speechlessly, but seeing the former smiling so happily, showing no signs of being dejected, a great weight was lifted from his heart.

"Your Highness, please stop laughing. Let's get down to business," he said helplessly as he stepped forward.

Li Shimin laughed so hard he almost fell over, and it took him a while to recover. But when he looked at Wen He and Changsun Wuji standing together, one tall and one short, one big and one small, in his eyes, the two of them actually looked quite compatible.

"You two really do look like father and son."

"Your Highness!" Changsun Wuji said solemnly, then glared at Wen He, blaming him for his earlier careless words.

Wen He rolled her eyes at him, snorted, and turned her head away.

"Alright, alright, enough joking around, Wen He." Li Shimin stopped laughing and looked seriously at Wen He, who was standing to his left.

Sensing the change in Li Shimin, Wen He understood that it was time to get down to business.

"If you truly come from the future, then I ask you, if you were here, even if the Tang Dynasty could not last for a thousand generations, could it surpass the Former Han Dynasty?"

"Huh?" Wen He didn't expect Li Shimin to ask her this.

He didn't think he was better than Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui; he simply had the advantage of being a later generation and had foresight in his understanding of history.

So he pondered for a moment, shook his head, and said, "I don't know."

Li Shimin remained silent.

Changsun Wuji remained silent.

Wen He thought the latter would react with the same fury as before. "What about the drawbacks?" Changsun Wuji asked.

Wen He shrugged and said, "Actually, there are many reasons for the fall of the Tang Dynasty. Some of them I think you should know, such as land annexation, the power of aristocratic families, and class contradictions, etc."

Li Shimin was naturally aware of these things.

He is not the emperor yet, but the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat is the prime minister, and he must be able to see these things.

In fact, after Li Shimin ascended the throne, he tried his best to weaken the powerful families, but with little effect.

It wasn't until Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) and Empress Wu Zetian came to power that the power of aristocratic families was significantly weakened.

Then Huang Chao stormed Chang'an, which completely wiped out the powerful clans.

"You just said that Li Longji caused the Tang Dynasty to decline from its peak. I wonder what he did?" Li Shimin pondered for a moment and asked.

Unexpectedly, he turned the topic directly to Li Longji, which put Wen He in a difficult position.

He pondered for a moment and said, "There are many, but the reason that led to the outbreak of these conflicts is the regional military governors."

"Impossible! What kind of regional military governorships does our Great Tang have!" Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Changsun Wuji.

“That’s right. Our Great Tang Dynasty uses the Fubing system, so how can there be any regional military governors?” Li Shimin nodded.

Wen He's lips twitched slightly as he smiled and said, "The corruption of the equal-field system led to the collapse of the militia system. In addition, as the Tang Dynasty expanded its territory, it needed to station troops in the northeast and northwest for extended periods. The Tubo, Turks, Xi, Khitans and other groups took turns harassing the Tang Dynasty, which resulted in soldiers spending longer periods on the border, and it even evolved into a lifelong system."

"In the tenth year of the Kaiyuan era, Li Longji implemented a conscription system and handed over the local salt and iron taxes to the military governors, giving them complete control over both military and political affairs. Later, the Tang Dynasty experienced several rebellions, the imperial army was exhausted, and the regional military governors became increasingly powerful. In the end, even the emperor had to listen to the military governors. Tell me, how could the dynasty not perish?"

The late Tang Dynasty was essentially a replica of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, except that the emperor was not held hostage to command the feudal lords.

"However, this was just the fuse. In fact, the Tang Dynasty had problems with its system from the very beginning, and the key to the problem largely stemmed from the powerful clans and aristocratic families. In addition, the Tang Dynasty was plagued by frequent internal strife in its later years, which led to the rise of foreign powers. Chang'an was captured six times."

He shrugged after he finished speaking.

As someone from later generations, he was merely an observer of the rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty, so he spoke of these events with remarkable ease.

The two men who heard him say this were drenched in cold sweat.

"Your Highness." Changsun Wuji's voice trembled. Even when facing thousands of troops, he had never felt such fear and trepidation.

He looked at Li Shimin, who was also trembling, but there was no fear in his eyes, only anger.

"Snapped!"

Li Shimin slammed his palm on the table, stood up abruptly, and his lips gradually curled into a wide smile as he burst into laughter.

"Your Highness, what are you..."

Changsun Wuji was startled. Could it be hysteria?

Li Shimin waved his hand at him and pointed to Wen He: "Fuji, don't worry. I'm not so easily frightened by something that hasn't happened yet. But I do understand why Heaven sent this kid to me."

"what?"

Wen He was surprised.

I myself don't know why the heavens sent me to the Tang Dynasty, but you do?
Li Shimin ignored his surprise and took a few steps forward with his hands behind his back.

“Fuji, send someone to tell Xuanling and Keming to come to the mansion tonight, and also secretly search for Shubao, Yizhen, and Jingde.”

"Oh ho, is the Xuanwu Gate Incident about to begin?"

As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking, he heard a gasp from behind him.

He and Changsun Wuji turned around in surprise, only to see Wen He staring at them with wide eyes, her face full of joy.

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(End of this chapter)