0270 Li Shimin wants to be the master of the world
Enfeoffment? The same enfeoffment as in the pre-Qin period?
"Wow..." The shock brought by this news was even greater than the world map, and the main hall became noisy again.
But soon all the voices turned into one sentence: "Your Majesty, you must not do this. This is the way to bring disaster."
Li Shimin was very pleased with everyone's reaction. If everyone was happy and excited when they heard about the enfeoffment, that would be a big problem.
Therefore, his attitude improved a lot and said: "Everyone, please be patient and listen to me carefully."
Everyone fell silent and waited for his explanation.
"These lands are far away from the mainland of the Tang Dynasty, ranging from more than a thousand miles to tens of thousands of miles. It takes half a year to go back and forth. How can the imperial court govern them?"
"This..." No one knew how to answer.
Li Shimin didn't need an answer from them and continued: "The land is here. If we don't occupy it, sooner or later it will be occupied by foreigners."
"At that time, these places will become the frontier and springboard for foreigners to invade China..."
"Don't think it's impossible. Since I can know this map, foreigners can also know it. It's just a matter of time."
"So we must occupy this place and complete our rule before the foreigners get the news... But how to govern these lands?"
"I have thought about this question for a long time and finally came up with an answer: enfeoffment."
"There is a saying that goes well, the meat must rot in the pot. These lands can be distributed to the heroes of the Tang Dynasty, but they must not be left to foreigners."
"Do you think so?"
Everyone was silent, no one dared to express their opinion easily. But deep down in their hearts, they began to think about this possibility, and the more they thought about it, the more excited they became.
After all, this is the true foundation of a feudal country for eternity. Who can refuse?
At the same time, they also fully understood why Li Shimin was so domineering today. The emperor who had the power of enfeoffment was indeed qualified to be domineering.
Who dares to be dissatisfied? Without the emperor even opening his mouth, everyone will attack him and destroy him.
If one person has less to share the pie, everyone else can eat more.
Moreover, if the emperor is pleased, if the pen is slightly tilted when enfeoffing, dozens or hundreds of miles of land can be divided.
Li Shimin deliberately paused for a while to give everyone time to think, then picked up a book from the desk and said:
"I believe you have all heard of this book, and many of you have even read it, right?"
I saw the four characters "Chinese Civilization" written clearly on the cover.
Everyone nodded. This book caused a big sensation in the small circle last year. However, everyone didn't like the opposite content, so they quickly stopped paying attention to it.
etc……
Everyone suddenly thought that this book seemed to be written by Chen Jingke of Zixiaoguan. So this map and this information could not have been told to His Majesty by him, right?
Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong had actually guessed it a long time ago, and seeing his identity exposed now, they all looked worried.
Li Shimin didn't explain much, put down the book and continued:
"Although many of the contents in this book are fabricated, there is one thing that I think is particularly good, which is that it puts forward a specific concept of Chinese civilization."
"You all still remember the war of civilizations I talked about, right? Of the five origin civilizations, only our Chinese civilization is left. The other four were all destroyed by alien races, and the traces of their existence were wiped away."
"Future generations can only get a glimpse of their past through the legends passed down orally and the remaining relics..."
"We all belong to the Chinese civilization, no matter how many internal conflicts and vendettas occur, no matter how many dynasties we have experienced..."
"The newcomers will completely inherit everything left by their predecessors, including writing, history, culture, etc., and they will also praise and remember their ancestors..."
"We will clearly remember the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, remember Dayu's control of floods, remember Boyi Shuqi not eating Zhousu millet, and remember Zhougong spitting food to the world and returning to his heart..."
"Even if the Qin Dynasty is destroyed, we will still remember that the First Emperor unified the six countries, and the cars and rails and the books and texts unified the weights and measures..."
"The Han Dynasty has perished, but we will also remember Han Emperor Gaozu's reorganization of the world, the rule of Wen and Jing, and the expansion of territory by Han Wu..."
"Even if the Tang Dynasty is gone in the future, as long as the successor is still Chinese, we will still be written in the history books..."
"If China is destroyed by aliens and the traces of its existence are erased, then everything we do today will be meaningless."
"I believe you can all clearly distinguish which one is more important... This is the fundamental reason why I restarted the enfeoffment."
Everyone still didn't respond. It wasn't that they were pretending to be serious, but the amount of information was too overwhelming and the content was too shocking. Their minds were in a mess and they didn't know what to say.
Seeing that the situation was about to be cold, Changsun Wuji, who had already communicated with Li Shimin, stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I dare to ask a few questions."
Li Shimin said: "Say."
Changsun Wuji said: "If we really adopt the policy of enfeoffment, who can enjoy the enfeoffment?"
Everyone glanced at Li Shimin, looking forward to his answer.
Li Shimin solemnly said: "Anyone from the royal family who has made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty can be granted a title. For example, all ministers have the opportunity to be granted a title."
Everyone couldn't help but get excited. Although they also believed that they were qualified to obtain a feudal state, the emperor himself said that the meaning was different.
Changsun Wuji continued to ask: "How much power can a feudal king have, and what kind of management does he need to accept from the court?"
Li Shimin said: "The feudal king can have almost all the powers of a king, including taxation, conscription, and appointment of officials...but it must also be restricted by the court."
He picked up the Chinese Civilization again and said: "The contents of this book must be known to everyone within the feudal country."
"Everyone must know that they are descendants of China and citizens of the Tang Dynasty...otherwise the enfeoffment will become meaningless."
Everyone nodded subconsciously, it was indeed the case. Now that the country was closed, they recognized the concept of Chinese civilization as never before.
Li Shimin said a few more things, such as the army cannot be recruited without restrictions, and the court will set an upper limit for the army according to the different levels of the feudal state.
The feudal states are not allowed to fight and annex each other. If there are conflicts, they should seek mediation from the court. When the court goes to war with foreigners, each feudal state must send troops to assist in the battle.
Li Shimin said: "I want the glory of Chinese civilization to spread to every corner of the world and make Datang the most powerful country in the world."
"At that time, every piece of land will be a feudal state of the Tang Dynasty, and I, the monarch of the Tang Dynasty, will be the common ruler of the world."
Everyone was a little numb to these slogans from Li Shimin's mouth.
But one thing is that at first they thought Li Shimin would become the second Yang Guang. But when the concept of enfeoffment was proposed, everyone's minds completely changed.
It's good to fight, it's good to conquer more land, the more the better. The more land you conquer, the bigger your kingdom will be.
Don’t you just want to be the ruler of the world? We will help you. As long as you abide by the agreement and divide the vassal states, we will support whatever you say.
Having said that, everyone is very satisfied. These conditions are not really conditions at all, they are too generous.
But everyone knows that things can't be that simple.
Sure enough, Li Shimin then made a painful condition for them: "All princes and kings must give up their lands in Datang."