The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 957 Changsheng Temple

Wei Dezheng said indifferently: "If the emperor loses his power, he can still be a puppet. But if our clan loses the power to control the emperor, then we will be wiped out by the imperial power, and our descendants can only be common people who are at the mercy of others. What is the difference between living and dying?"

Wei Ting quickly sat up straight: "Yes, uncle, I remember it."

"Okay, don't worry about this anymore."

Wei Dezheng said, "Just do your job. The clan leader and other clans will take care of Li Shimin's affairs. To be frank, with such a big issue, not to mention you, even I have no say."

"How to deal with it depends on the decision of the patriarchs of these dozen or so aristocratic families."

"Don't stay here for long. Go back to Chang'an after lunch and don't attract Li Shimin's attention."

Wei Ting replied honestly: "Yes, uncle."

On the other side, after the court meeting in Chang'an City was adjourned, Li Shimin returned to the imperial study in Chengqing Hall as usual.

Wang De hurriedly called several palace maids and eunuchs, holding the toiletries prepared in advance, and went forward to carefully help Li Shimin change out of the dragon robe and crown he wore for court. Then he helped Li Shimin wash his face simply, and finally changed him into a comfortable casual robe.

Li Shimin waved his hand and everyone retreated.

He walked out of the inner room, sat down in front of the imperial desk outside, took a few sips of the hot tea, and began to deal with memorials.

Before he had even finished reading a memorial, Fang Xuanling hurried over.

After greeting each other, Fang Xuanling sat down on the brocade stool and said with a worried look on his face, "Your Majesty, many officials from aristocratic families took leave today and did not attend the court meeting. The remaining officials were also not in the mood to discuss matters. Tell me, is it my proposal that has caused them anxiety?"

Li Shimin put the memorial down casually and said in a relaxed manner: "Xuanling, you are the Prime Minister. It's just a piece of advice. Don't worry so much."

"I also saw today that nearly one-third of the people in the court were missing."

"Actually, this is nothing strange. Many clan leaders of noble families live in various places in the interior of the country. It is normal for those officials to discuss this with their clans. Besides, isn't this just a proposal?"

"It hasn't been implemented yet. At most they are boycotting together. It's no big deal."

Fang Xuanling thought about it and it was true. Combined with the previous feudal system, the aristocratic families actually benefited the most.

The vast and boundless new territory west of the Tang Dynasty can be roughly divided into three areas.

One is the snowy plateau adjacent to Hanzhong Shu, where the altitude is high, the air is thin, the living environment is harsh, and the conditions are extremely difficult;
The second is the area from the Hexi Corridor to Gaochang in the Western Regions, which is the most prosperous area on the Silk Road. Located between the north and the south, it has a suitable climate and four distinct seasons. Although there are also large areas of Gobi and desert, it is closest to the Tang Dynasty and is the connecting area between the Central Plains and Central Asia.

A small half of the more than fifty countries in the Western Regions are located on this road.

Finally, there is the distant western part of Longyou, including Anxi, Pamirs, Tocharian and Dayuan, which are connected to Central Asia. It is a vast territory with many countries. The habitable area is no less than that of the Central Plains, and it has great potential for expansion.

The Hexi Corridor has the best terrain, and the Tang Dynasty kept it to control the western part, without granting it to other countries.

All that can be taken out are the snowy plateau and the western regions.

At the beginning, Li Shimin wanted to divide the royal family into the Western Regions and the noble families into the snowy plateau.

But Fang Xuanling pointed out incisively that the conditions in the Snowy Plateau were too harsh compared to those in the Central Plains, and the aristocratic families simply looked down on it. If everyone refused to accept it, the feudal system would be meaningless.

Moreover, this place is closest to the Tang Dynasty. If the noble families become powerful here and dominate the country, they can march south to conquer the Central Plains, and their momentum will be unstoppable.

For defensive strategic considerations, it is best to assign the royal family here.

In contrast, the royal family was subject to strict restrictions in the country and had no choice. Although the environment of the snowy plateau was harsh, at least there was an independent kingdom, and the princes of the royal family would certainly agree to it, as it was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

After the Li family has established themselves here, they can effectively defend against the powerful aristocratic families in the Western Regions.

Finally, after much consideration, dozens of princes and dukes of the Li family were distributed across the snowy plateau, while the Western Regions were given to the aristocratic families and meritorious officials and generals.

With such a big piece of cake, the aristocratic families should make some concessions to the royal family. Fang Xuanling thought about it and felt that it should not be a big problem, so he put aside his worries.

In the following half month, the noble family was very active and the contacts were very close.

In particular, Cui Minglin, the patriarch of the Cui family, invited all the major families in Guanzhong to celebrate his 80th birthday.

The patriarchs of the Five Surnames and Seven Families and the Eight Great Families of Guanlong took the opportunity of the birthday to hold a consultation. Outsiders had to know what they talked about. However, after the birthday, the whole Chang'an City was obviously agitated, and the air was filled with an invisible smell of fireworks. Just when Li Shimin was a little anxious, during a court meeting, someone from aristocratic families brought up Fang Xuanling's proposal again. Li Shimin originally thought that everyone would oppose it, and thought that if the aristocratic families strongly opposed it, it would be temporarily shelved.

Who would have thought that the entire court would unanimously agree, making the originally impossible thing actually pass smoothly.

After the court session, Li Shimin was extremely happy and said to Fang Xuanling, who also breathed a sigh of relief, "Xuanling, I have said that those noble families are not all unreasonable people, and this policy is not aimed at them."

"From a certain perspective, it is mainly to restrict the large number of small and medium-sized powerful landlords."

"Each of their families has a small country in the Western Regions that is no less than a prefecture in the Central Plains. As long as they shift their focus to the Western Regions, they can legitimately establish a vassal state. Central Asia is so large that there is plenty of land for them to expand."

"Why do so many people have to crowd into a small Central Plains?"

Fang Xuanling had not expected that this policy of cutting off the source of the trouble would be so easily accepted by the noble families. It seems that if the noble families had chosen a way out in advance, it would not be that difficult to eliminate the feudal lords.
This modern version of the Enfeoffment Order is almost an open conspiracy, making it impossible to deal with.

"Your Majesty is wise, but I think you should still be cautious."

Under Li Shimin's inquiring gaze, Fang Xuanling spoke out his thoughts that he had painstakingly thought out: "This policy is a long-term decree, and there is no rush. For now, as far as the court is concerned, as long as no one from the noble families files a complaint, we will not interfere."

"Secondly, we should implement it in small local families first to see how effective it is."

"Third, even if a noble family appeals, the court will try to persuade the family to redistribute the property, rather than using force to forcibly divide the property."

"As long as we persist in this way for a few decades, through the transition of several generations, we can slowly disintegrate those super families. In this way, we can return all the power of the country to the court. This is the real way to solve the problem."

Li Shimin said nonchalantly: "Don't worry, I am also from an aristocratic family, how can I not know the horror of those aristocratic families? Big things must be slowed down, and things will be smoothed out if they are slowed down. I will not rush to solve the problems that have accumulated for hundreds of years."

"In this case, I am relieved."

Fang Xuanling heaved a sigh of relief, stood up and bowed respectfully: "Then I will withdraw first. I still have to be on duty in the Hongwen Hall, so I will not spare your majesty."

Fang Xuanling left, and Li Shimin became a little excited. He stood up and walked around. He was no longer in the mood to deal with official business, so he called Wang De in.

"Wang De, go check on Taoist Li again. I have used up last month's medicine. If you have this month's medicine ready, bring it to me."

Wang De responded obediently: "Yes, Your Majesty, I will go right away."

"Send the medicine to Concubine Wu later!" Li Shimin gave instructions and went straight into the harem.

During the peace talks in Fengzhou in the 11th year of Zhenguan, after seeing Wu Yuanhua's stunning beauty with his own eyes, Li Shimin returned to Chang'an and could not wait to take the remaining two women of the Wu family into the harem. Both of them were given the title of talented women.

Although Li Shimin had high expectations for the two sisters after they entered the palace, their appearance was still inferior to that of the empress, and Li Shimin was a little disappointed.

However, since they were sisters from the same mother, Li Shimin could still vaguely see some shadow of Princess Wucheng. With his admiration and longing for the northern beauty, and with the two sisters serving him together, Li Shimin was still immersed in it and enjoyed the good fortune for a while.

For several years in a row, the Wu sisters continued to enjoy the emperor's favor.

Over the years, Li Shimin did not hesitate to incur huge losses and sent assassins to the Turks every year. A large part of his ulterior motive was to bring back the peerless beauty whom he had personally sent to the Turks and make up for the loss of his harem.

Even this abnormal yearning made Li Shimin miss her more and more the more he couldn't get her. Many times in the middle of the night, the beautiful figure who haunted his mind after just one sight and made Li Shimin lose his appetite, not only did not disappear with the passage of time, but became even more obsessed with her.

After Wang De left Chengqing Palace, he called a few guards, passed through the numerous palace restrictions, and left Taiji Palace.

In the northwest corner of Chang'an City, right next to the north side of the East Palace, a palace complex that is even more majestic and larger than the Taiji Palace has been completed. This is the new palace that Li Shimin built for himself, the Daming Palace.

Near the Taiye Pond of the Daming Palace, in front of a hill leaning against the water, an ancient Taoist temple stands quietly.

The abbot of the temple is a Taoist priest who came down from Mount Zhongnan, named Li Chongshan.

Although the Taoist temple is small, it has everything you need, including a shrine dedicated to the Three Pure Ones, a shrine for Taoists to study and recite Taoist classics, and, most importantly, the alchemy room where Li Chongshan prepared various elixirs for Li Shimin.

The Taoist temple was named Changsheng Temple, which greatly catered to the emperor's desire and mentality for immortality.

At this time, in the alchemy room in the backyard, an old man with white hair and a youthful face, wearing a Bagua Taoist robe, was holding a whisk in his hand. With the assistance of two Taoist disciples, he kept throwing various medicinal materials into the alchemy furnace in front of him, which was filled with smoke and fire. The whole room was filled with a strong aroma of medicine.

(End of this chapter)