Li Tan was walking on the streets of Fengxiang Mansion. Li Mi beside him looked at the familiar streets and casually told a few stories about how he and the emperor planned to counter the rebellion in Fengxiang Mansion.
Li Tan listened with great interest. After arriving in Lingwu, he was sent to Longyou and had never been to Fengxiang Mansion.
Li Mi stayed with Li Heng in Fengxiang Mansion for a long time, planning many major counterinsurgency events together.
When he entered the Fengxiang Mansion's palace, Li Tan did not sit on the dragon chair in the main hall, but came to the side hall.
Li Mi was very surprised by this move.
During his time in Longyou, Li Mi's "growth" was also rapid.
He not only reads various newspapers every day, but also absorbs a lot of nutrients from various "evil books" written by players.
Li Tan was also surprised by Li Mi, an ancient man's strong learning ability.
When he first arrived in Longyou, Li Mi was still talking about Confucian classics.
Now he can talk about various political systems and dabble in various political trends of thought. His suggestions are no longer limited to Confucianism. Sometimes Li Tan even suspects that this guy is a time traveler.
Li Mi's views on the King of Yue were also very complicated.
During this period of time in Longyou, I had more contact with players, which further solidified my view that the King of Yue was the number one "rebel".
In Longyou, those who entered Chang'an's "King Qin" were the most moderate factions.
There are some retro-style people who are calling for the restoration of Zhou rites.
There are cabinet factions who are clamoring to abolish the prime minister.
Some wanted to restore the feudal faction.
These are still within the scope that Li Mi can accept. These political opinions are also found in history books. Even if it is a cabinet, this thing is actually similar to the internal dynasty established by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It is to weaken the power of the prime minister and the external dynasty, and use a team of secretaries to help
The emperor manages the empire.
This method was of no use. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, the emperor's secretaries became prime ministers, and Shangshu Ling became the real prime minister. It did not change the lively scene of the Eastern Han Dynasty where powerful ministers, relatives, and eunuchs came in endless streams.
The following thoughts were beyond what Li Mi could understand.
There are constitutionalists who advocate a virtual monarchy and a republic, advocating the formulation of a constitution, turning the emperor into a mascot, and letting cabinet ministers manage the country.
Of course, these constitutional monarchists also said that it would be difficult to get it right in one step, and they could wait until the son of the King of Yue to start.
Some even among the constitutional monarchists felt that it was too backward. Some suggested that the King of Yue should abolish the royal family and proclaim himself President of the Tang Dynasty, creating some sort of presidential system.
They believed that the King of Yue had made great contributions to the country. The King of Yue could serve as president for life, but future presidents would have to be elected.
These thoughts are simply unbelievable. Among the many rebels in Longyou, the King of Yue is already the most loyal.
After all, the emperor is his father.
Li Mi was very surprised that the King of Yue did not directly sit on the dragon chair in the Fengxiang Mansion Palace.
After sitting down, Li Tan asked:
"Migong Mi, you said that my father is working hard at night in Fengxiang Mansion, planning counter-rebellion matters with you important ministers day and night. He also loves and cares for his ministers, why is he not as good as my grandfather?"
Li Mi was stunned for a moment and looked at Li Tan.
Li Tan recalled:
"You said that my grandfather was greedy for money and lust, and was lazy in political affairs. He was also mean and ungrateful. He would kill the ministers who followed him at will. He also had no physical affection for my father, his son. How could he create a prosperous age?
?”
Li Tan's question immediately silenced Li Mi.
He has experienced two dynasties, and he was a court official when he became emperor.
To be honest, Li Heng is considered a reliable emperor in the old Li family.
He rarely killed ministers. Even if Fang Guan was defeated, he would just let him leave the court and go to Hexi to serve as a military envoy.
Before this expedition, Li Mi also visited Fang Guan. Now the old man grows flowers in Longyou every day and lives a very comfortable life.
He can be regarded as knowing people well and making good use of them. There are no treacherous ministers in the court who are despised by the world. When he appoints Guo Ziyi, he can be regarded as trustworthy in his employment.
Guo Ziyi also suffered several defeats, but the emperor did not punish him severely and gave him the troops to suppress the rebellion.
He is not even a lover of luxury. When he was in Fengxiang Mansion, the Queen was still weaving. Li Heng only enjoyed it a little after returning to Chang'an. He did not overhaul the palace like his father. There are still many palaces in Taiji Palace and Daming Palace that have collapsed.
It hasn't been repaired yet.
But even so, Li Heng was not a good emperor.
Li Mi was now well-read and had a deep understanding of the theories of the "virtuous ministers" around the King of Yue.
If you ask him to talk about the laws of historical cycles, land issues, military issues, population issues, and annexation issues, he can talk eloquently.
But these things can only explain why Li Heng was incompetent in quelling the rebellion, but they cannot explain why there was a prosperous age under Li Longji.
Li Mi thought for a while, finally took a deep breath and said:
"Maybe it's because of the emperor's benevolence."
Benevolence?
I'm afraid Li Mi is an old fool. Does his grandfather's virtue deserve to be called "benevolence"?
If he had given his grandfather a posthumous name, he would never have given him the word "Ren".
Li Mi said:
"I say that the emperor's benevolence is his kindness to the people."
This was something Li Tan had never heard before. He turned sideways and asked:
"What's the explanation?"
Li Mi said:
"The Emperor employs people in no particular pattern. He can reuse all talents."
Li Tandian said that his imperial grandfather was indeed very good at employing people.
Among the early prime ministers of the emperor, there were ministers like Yao Chong and Song Jing who had perfect moral character and abilities, and then there were also prime ministers like Zhang Shuo and Zhang Jiuling who had outstanding moral character and ability.
Li Linfu was appointed in the mid-term, but Li Linfu's personal ethics were lacking, but his ability was indeed outstanding.
Li Linfu alone could do the work of a team of prime ministers. Even though Li Mi hated Li Linfu deeply, he admitted that An Lushan would not dare to rebel when Li Linfu was alive.
Li Linfu was able to memorize the names and backgrounds of ministers of the seventh rank and above, and could appoint hundreds of officials in one day.
Don't think that appointing officials is an easy task. Although in the Tang Dynasty, there was no such thing as the Han Dynasty where recommenders were guilty of the same crime as officials, but if the recommended person was not good enough, he would also be punished.
What's more, Li Linfu was also a treacherous minister. He was able to maintain the Tang Dynasty well with the appointed officials. There was no great famine or large-scale turmoil when Li Linfu was in power, which is enough to illustrate Li Linfu's ability.
The emperor's only failure was using the idiot Yang Guozhong.
According to the views of many key political scientists, if Li Longji had died earlier, or if he had not been a wise prime minister like Yang Guozhong, he would not have achieved his current reputation.
Li Mi asked again:
"How does the Emperor compare to the Han Dynasty?"
this?
Li Tan was stunned for a moment. His imperial grandfather looked a bit like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
During his tenure, he achieved great cultural prosperity just like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he was very happy with his achievements and liked to launch foreign wars, which was a waste of people's power.
Like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he was mean and ungrateful to his ministers. He would kill ministers who were close to him at will.
Like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he was full of distrust of his successors. If it hadn't been for the Anshi Rebellion, Li Heng's crown prince would have been deposed.
Li Mi compared the emperor to Han Wu, which seems to be somewhat similar.
Li Mi said:
"Then may I ask, Your Highness, is Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty benevolent?"
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty?
Even the craziest player wouldn't talk about Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, right?
Is Li Mi old and confused?
Li Mi said:
"Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was benevolent. His benevolence was not towards officials, but towards the common people."
"ah?"
Li Mi added:
"In other words, to be unkind to officials is to be kind to the people."
Now Li Tan heard some clues, and he asked seriously:
"Please give me some advice."
Li Mi also sat upright and said:
"When the Emperor is in power, except for Yang Guozhong, only those who are capable will be promoted and those who are incompetent will be demoted."
"Even wise men like Yao Chong and Song Jing will be replaced once they are no longer in line with the emperor's wishes."
"After a prime minister is dismissed, the new prime minister will wipe out the power of the previous prime minister and turn the court around."
"Even Li Linfu, the emperor's favorite, had his home confiscated and his descendants exiled after he was dismissed as prime minister."
Li Tan nodded. He, the emperor's grandfather, was really ruthless. Even Yang Guozhong, a relative of Ma Weipo, would kill him at will, without any kindness at all.
During the emperor's reign, the prime minister's team changed several times, and the current prime minister even bloodbathed the former prime minister's disciples many times.
Not to mention that the emperor also deposed three sons and bloodbathed the Eastern Palace several times.
Li Mi said:
"No matter how wise a person is, he will become dim after being in power for a long time. In the words of His Highness's subordinates, this is 'power distorts desire'."
"Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also regularly cleaned up the court and killed a group of powerful people every now and then. This was always able to intimidate the local area and make the officials more clear-minded."
"The Emperor is extravagant, loves to slander, and uses treacherous people, but killing powerful people can intimidate the officials and allow those behind to take the lead. This is much better than a monarch like your father who never kills ministers.
"
Li Tan looked at this white-haired old minister of his father's emperor. In fact, Li Mi was not old, he was only in his 40s now.
It's just that the average life span of ancient people was not long, and long-term hard work made Li Mi look old.
Such a person is actually saying that his father failed in power because he did not kill the ministers?
Li Mi said:
"There are only so many products in the world. If someone takes too much, the world will be in chaos."
"Kill those who hold the most and divide their property, and the world will be stable for a while."
Li Tan asked: "What if we can't separate?"
"Then wait until the world is in chaos, and someone will naturally kill them. Then there will be peace again."
Li Tan looked at Li Mi in surprise, it turns out you studied Legalism!