Diqin Designer

Chapter 391: Let’s Talk About Xuanzong Again (History of the Tang Dynasty)
After defeating the Donghu and Yuezhi, the army returned triumphantly. Many of the Qin people actually did not know what this meant, but this did not prevent them from being happy about the victory of the Qin.

Xianyang also lifted many bans today, allowing the people to express their happiness more freely. Qin people waving small national flags can be seen everywhere on the streets, playing folk instruments at that time, and dancing to celebrate...

Xianyang is extremely lively today, as if it were a festival. The same is true in the Qin Imperial Palace, which is filled with a cheerful and festive atmosphere.

When the banquet, singing and dancing were over, it was already late at night and many ministers left with unfulfilled interest. Only Qin Shi Huang, Li Nian, Wang Wan, Wang Jian, Feng Jie and others were left in Zhangtai Palace.

Seeing that these few people were left behind again, Li Si, Zhao Gao and other ministers felt unwilling. Having reached their position, they knew that the fewer people there were, the greater the power. Your Majesty and the small group formed by these people were the highest power group in the Qin Dynasty, but they were excluded from this small circle by Your Majesty.

It was obvious that more than a year ago, His Majesty valued and trusted them very much. At that time, Li Si believed that he could definitely replace Wang Wan and become the next Prime Minister of Qin, and Zhao Gao also felt that he could be promoted further and gain the trust of His Majesty.

Although it cannot be said that he does not trust them now, and His Majesty still entrusts them with important tasks, it always feels that the trust and respect they have for each other are not as good as before. Not to mention compared with Wang Jian and his son, and the Meng brothers, even Feng Jie and Feng Quji are not as good as them.

Li Si and Zhao Gao reflected on themselves and felt that they had done nothing wrong. But why did His Majesty not trust and respect them as much as before?
This change seemed to have occurred after that person arrived at the palace, and it was most likely related to that person, but they really couldn't figure out how they had offended that person?
Moreover, they occasionally dealt with that person, and he did not show any hostility towards them, and was even quite friendly to them.

This made Li Si and Zhao Gao confused. They really couldn't figure out what secrets were hidden in it. As for finding out the news in the palace or framing someone and bringing that person down, they would regain the trust of the emperor themselves...

Li Si and Zhao Gao are both smart people. Your Majesty trusts and respects them even more than they did before. If they dare to frame him in front of Your Majesty, they will definitely be in trouble.

And if it is really related to that person, then Wang Jian and his son, the Meng brothers, Wang Wan, Feng Jie and others are likely to stand on that person's side. If they want to deal with that person, it is equivalent to confronting several top ministers.

But what comforted Li Si and Zhao Gao in their disappointment and worry was that Wang Jian and his son, Wang Wan, Feng Jie and others were not immediately selected into that small group, but were in the second batch. If that small group wanted to expand its membership again, they would most likely be selected.

But even so, they still felt disappointed. The earlier they were selected, the more His Majesty valued and trusted them. Being placed in the third batch, later than Wang Jian, Wang Wan and others, showed that their status in His Majesty's mind was not as high as these people.

Watching Li Si, Zhao Gao and other ministers leave, Feng Quji said, "Given the personalities of Li Si and Zhao Gao, I'm afraid they will be unwilling to be kept by Your Majesty again!"

The others immediately understood what Feng Quji meant by this. This was a reminder to His Majesty that these two might resort to extreme measures if they were unwilling to give in, such as targeting those who they thought were keeping them out of their circle...

Meng Tian snorted coldly and said, "So what if I am unwilling? Considering what they did in later history, Your Majesty did not immediately execute them. This is already a great grace from heaven!"

The First Emperor said: "I have made a decision about the matter of Li Si and Zhao Gao. You can rest assured that they will not cause any trouble."

After hearing the words of the First Emperor, the others stopped talking about the matter. Seeing that the others did not speak for the time being, Li Nian looked at Wang Ben and Meng Tian and said with a smile: "Speaking of which, Li has not yet congratulated the two generals individually today, so I would like to congratulate the two generals on their great victory and the glory of our Great Qin!"

Wang Ben looked back at Li Nian and said with a smile, "Thank you for your congratulations, sir! However, sir, do you have any gifts for me?"

Li Nian was stunned by this, but Wang Ben was definitely not asking him for silk, satin, beauties, or jewelry as a gift. He must have other ideas. He asked, "What gift do you want, General?"

Wang Ben smiled and said, "When I was in the grassland, I often thought of one thing, and I was very curious about it. What happened to the Tang Dynasty later? Why was Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty considered to be 'a good emperor, but he lived too long and died too late!'?"

"Every time I think about this, I can't stop. This is also the reason why I can return victoriously. I am afraid that I will not be able to return and will never hear about what happened later. Can you satisfy my curiosity today?"

This was not a lie. Wang Ben was indeed very curious about what would happen to the Tang Dynasty afterwards, but it was not as exaggerated as he said. Because he wanted to hear the follow-up, he worked hard to lead his troops to victory.

Regarding the "gift" that Wang Ben wanted, Li Nian looked at Meng Tian and asked, "What kind of gift does General Meng want?"

Meng Tian smiled and said, "It just so happens that Meng Tian also wants to know about the Tang Dynasty and Emperor Xuanzong. What did Emperor Xuanzong do to make people in later generations think that he should have died twenty years earlier?"

Li Nian said: "Since both generals want to know what happened to the Tang Dynasty later, let's use this as a gift to congratulate the two generals on their triumphant return!"

Although it was late at night, everyone in the hall was still in high spirits. They even became more energetic when they heard Li Nian was going to talk about the subsequent history of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Nian said: "The reason why Xuanzong is considered to have died twenty years earlier is because of his foolish behavior later in life. The Tang Dynasty did indeed usher in its most prosperous era during his reign, but it also declined during his reign."

Li Nian did not start by talking about Xuanzong's actions, but rather about his achievements: "After Xuanzong eliminated his aunt Princess Taiping, his throne was already secure, but the situation in the Tang Dynasty at that time was not so good: repeated mutinies hurt the vitality of the Tang Dynasty, and the government was chaotic and corrupt..."

"The Tang Dynasty that Xuanzong took over was worse than the one before Wu Mei became emperor. Later generations commented that Wu Mei 'inherited the Zhenguan era and opened up the Kaiyuan era'. This comment actually means that during Wu Mei's period, the Tang Dynasty or the Wu Zhou Dynasty was relatively mediocre and even declined."

"Of course, the Tang Dynasty still had vitality when Xuanzong took over. Even if he did not change the Tang Dynasty and just served as a ruler to maintain the status quo, the Tang Dynasty would not perish in a short time, but would continue to decline."

"However, Xuanzong was not an emperor who was content to remain content with the status quo. He had great ambitions and the talents to match them."

Although Xuanzong's behavior was rather outrageous later on, he was a truly wise and benevolent ruler in the early days and could be ranked among the top ten emperors in Chinese history.

"During the Kaiyuan period, Xuanzong showed the ability of a wise ruler. He appointed officials according to their abilities and promoted virtuous people to be prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty. Famous prime ministers such as Yao Chong, Song Jing, Zhang Shuo, and Zhang Jiuling came from this period." "Yao Chong once proposed 'Ten Things to Say' to Xuanzong, including that benevolence and forgiveness should be the first priority in politics, that meritorious service should be given to border troops, that eunuchs should not be involved in politics, that relatives of the emperor's wife should not be appointed to government offices, and that construction of Taoism and Buddhism should be stopped. Xuanzong agreed to all of them and basically implemented them."

Many times, it is not difficult to make these suggestions, but the difficulty lies in actually implementing the suggestions. If Xuanzong could implement them, it is no wonder that the Tang Dynasty regained its vitality in his hands and developed to its most prosperous time.

"After Yao Chong was dismissed, Emperor Xuanzong successively appointed Song Jing, Zhang Shuo, Zhang Jiuling and others as prime ministers. Each of these prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty was able to do their job and restore the vitality of the Tang Dynasty, even climbing to a stronger level than before, sweeping away the corruption and redundant officials, and returning to a clean and honest government."

"Before Emperor Xuanzong, people valued being an official in Chang'an and looked down upon being an official in other places. Therefore, many talented and ambitious people would rather stay in Chang'an and be a minor official than go outside Chang'an."

Wang Wan commented: "This is not a good thing. If this continues, officials in Chang'an will be redundant, while local officials will be scarce. Moreover, although officials in Chang'an have talents, they will not be able to go to the local areas to hone their skills. Their ability to handle affairs and govern will be weak. Local officials are all of shallow talent, and they may find it difficult to govern the local areas well."

Chang'an absorbed all the talents, leaving only a group of people with mediocre or even inadequate talents. These people could not govern the place well. However, there were many talented people in Chang'an, but few official positions, making it difficult for them to be honed, and their talents could not be effectively discovered and honed.

The result was that problems arose both in the local areas and in Chang'an, which eventually became a drawback for the Tang Dynasty.

Li Nian mentioned this mission to talk to the First Emperor and his ministers. He nodded and said, "So the Qin Dynasty cannot let this happen. Han Feizi once said, 'Prime ministers must come from the prefectures and counties, and brave generals must come from the ranks.' This is the truth, and Xuanzong did the same."

"In the second year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong issued a decree to select talented officials from the officials in Chang'an to serve as governors and provincial governors in the local areas, and to select talented governors and provincial governors in the local areas to serve as officials in Chang'an."

"In this way, the flow of talents between the local areas and Chang'an can be balanced, and a steady stream of talents can be honed for use by the Tang Dynasty! Of course, this requires that the government orders are not suspended and can continue to operate well."

"In agriculture, Xuanzong encouraged farming and launched a campaign to check land and register households, which involved appointing officials to go to various places to check for hidden land and population, and then confiscating the land and registering the population."

"In this way, Xuanzong increased the population and cultivated land of the Tang Dynasty, and the tax revenue of the Tang Dynasty also increased, laying the foundation for the arrival of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty. The situation that was not very good was reversed by Xuanzong, and the Tang Dynasty was full of vitality and moved towards its heyday."

"In terms of military affairs, the fubing system adopted at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty was no longer sustainable by the time of Emperor Xuanzong because the equal-field system was destroyed. Emperor Xuanzong then adopted the advice of Prime Minister Zhang Shuo and changed the fubing system to a recruiting system."

Qin Shi Huang and others were not unfamiliar with the "Fubing System" and "Mubing System". The "Fubing System" had been mentioned when Li Nian was telling them about the Western Wei Dynasty, and the "Mubing System" was the system used by the Wei Wuzu trained by Wu Qi in the Spring and Autumn Period. There was nothing strange about it.

Li Nian continued, "Xuanzong adopted the recruitment system to wipe out the decline in the Tang army's combat effectiveness caused by the unsustainable government soldier system, and made the Tang army once again a powerful army that could intimidate all directions."

"After improving the domestic economic situation of the Tang Dynasty and restoring the Tang army's strong combat power, Xuanzong began to recover the lost land of the Tang Dynasty. Yingzhou and other places were recovered, Anbei Protectorate was restored, Suiye Town in the Western Regions was recovered, the Silk Road was resumed, and the prestige of the Tang Dynasty spread to the Western Regions again."

"The Tang Dynasty not only controlled the Western Regions, but also expanded outward from there, placing large areas under the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the Tang general Gao Xianzhi was already the governor of the Tang Dynasty there. If there were any countries that were not loyal to the Tang Dynasty, they would be conquered by him. The power of the Tang Dynasty was so great that the countries in the Western Regions dared not look at it."

"Gao Xianzhi also led the Tang army to fight against another powerful country at the time, the Arabs. Unfortunately, the Tang army was defeated in that battle and was unable to regain its power later!"

The Tang army during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong was actually defeated by the Arab Empire and had not yet sought revenge. This aroused everyone's interest. Given the character of the Tang people, they should not fail to seek revenge for the loss, right?
Moreover, the Tang Dynasty was still the overlord of the Western Regions at that time. If it was defeated by other countries, it should have fought back.

Under the curious gaze of the First Emperor and others, Li Nian said: "This battle was not because the Tang army was not strong enough. There were many reasons: First, the Tang army took the initiative to attack the Arabs, marched over a long distance, penetrated more than 700 miles, and encountered the Arab army in Talas."

"Second, the Arabs had long been preparing to launch an attack on the four Anxi towns of the Tang Dynasty. So after receiving the news of Gao Xianzhi's attack, they immediately organized an army of more than 100,000, while the Tang army had only 20,000."

This was indeed what Gao Xianzhi happened to encounter. The Arabs were planning to attack the four towns of Anxi and had prepared food, supplies and people. When the Tang army arrived, they could use everything they had prepared directly.

"Third, the Tang army did not fight alone in this battle, but formed a coalition with 10,000 Karluk troops. Although the Tang army was outnumbered by the Arab army, it did not fall behind. Instead, it held out against the Arab army for five days until the Karluk army suddenly rebelled and attacked the Tang army together with the Arab army, resulting in the Tang army's defeat."

This is just like the time when the Qin Dynasty sent troops to deal with the Donghu and Yuezhi, it also formed an alliance with the Xiongnu and Wusun, but the Xiongnu and Wusun did not rebel.

It turned out that the Tang army was defeated because of these reasons. It cannot be said that the Tang army was weak. They were not as good as the Arab army. They had penetrated deep into the enemy country, were outnumbered, and were stabbed in the back by the allies. It would be impossible for them not to be defeated.

This question has been answered, but there is still a question. Meng Tian asked: "The Tang army was defeated, but why didn't they ask for it back?"

Li Nian said: "Because of a large-scale civil strife in the Tang Dynasty, the Tang army stationed in the Western Regions was transferred back to the country to quell the rebellion, and only a part of them was left behind! However, even though there was unrest in the country and no one cared about them, these remaining Tang troops still held on to the Western Regions for decades."

It is another story of "Thirteen Soldiers Return to Yumen", but this time it is not the Han Dynasty, but the Tang Dynasty. Unexpectedly, the Tang Dynasty did not retaliate because of civil unrest in the country.

This answer is both unexpected and reasonable!
This civil strife occurred during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong and had a profound impact on the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty's decline was probably caused by this civil strife.

This also made Qin Shi Huang and others even more curious. What on earth did Emperor Xuanzong of Tang do to cause civil strife in the prosperous Tang Dynasty?
Did Xuanzong also learn from Emperor Yang of Sui?

(End of this chapter)