The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

"How?" Chen Huai'an pondered for a moment before slowly speaking, "The first step is political integration."

"What we need to do is... bestow surnames upon them!"

"Bestow a surname?" Li Shimin raised an eyebrow, recalling a less-than-ideal example.

Luo Yi was originally given the surname Li, but later he rebelled.

However, this is ultimately an isolated case, and Luo Yi does not represent everyone. Li Shiji was also granted the surname Li, and it seems that the effect has been very good.

Therefore, Li Shimin did not object.

Changsun Wuji pondered, "You mean, bestow the surname Li upon the Khitan chieftains, and the surname Tang upon the leaders of the eight Khitan tribes, to further instill in them a sense of belonging to our Great Tang?"

"Not bad." Chen Huai'an nodded. "It is undeniable that bestowing surnames is a very effective tactic. The appearance of the Khitan people is not much different from that of people in our Central Plains region. If we want to further integrate the two sides, changing names is the first step that must be taken."

"Since ancient times, surnames have been a form of identity for people in the Central Plains. If you want to integrate, you must first have a surname. Otherwise, you will be stuck at the first step. The Khitans could not integrate, and our people would not truly regard them as one of our own."

Everyone nodded in agreement; the logic was indeed sound.

Li Shimin did not object to bestowing a surname upon someone, and instead asked, "What happens after that?"

"After being granted the surname, we need to find a way to synchronize our culture," Chen Huai'an said, taking a sip of tea.

"We can find a reason, such as the fact that the Khitans do not have a unified script or books, and arrange for the noble sons of the eight Khitan tribes to come to the court and study Confucian classics, Tang Dynasty laws, language and documents in Chang'an."

"After these people return, they will naturally become pro-Tang and Tang-influenced factions within the Khitan."

"Furthermore..." Chen Huai paused, "there is another advantage to this, which is that these people are natural hostages."

"With them already subdued, infiltrating them little by little from the top is undoubtedly a better approach, and the status of these noble children goes without saying."

"If there are enough of them, they can assimilate the Khitans while preventing them from causing trouble."

Li Shimin coughed lightly: "What hostage? Huai'an, I'm not trying to be mean, but you still don't speak politely enough. That was clearly a friendly exchange between the two countries. We helped the Khitan establish a complete cultural system."

"That's what I want to say to you."

Chen Huai'an: "..."

Wei Zheng smirked, ignoring Li Shimin, and asked Chen Huai'an, "The method is indeed good, but who will manage these noble sons of the Khitan?"

"The Court of State Ceremonies? The Hongwen Academy? Or the Imperial Academy?"

"Either is fine," Chen Huai'an replied. "It doesn't matter who manages it; what's important is that the people are brought over and taught wholeheartedly."

Du Ruhui wholeheartedly agreed: "I also think this is not important. As long as the people are sent here, it would be perfectly acceptable to set up a school or institution specifically to teach them."

"It's just a matter of arranging some teachers to instruct them."

"And then?" Fang Xuanling was getting impatient; he was increasingly convinced this method was feasible. "What should we do next?"

"After that..." Chen Huai'an smiled, "we just need to take it one step at a time and gradually implement the prefecture and county system of our Great Tang Dynasty."

"Of course, we don't want to take it one step at a time and forcefully incorporate the Khitan, otherwise it would backfire."

"First, establish counties in the areas of Khitan that are close to the Tang Dynasty, and send officials to govern them. Once the conditions are right and they have further integrated into our society, we can establish prefectures."

"This process can't be done overnight; it will take time."

The others had no objection to this, and Li Shimin didn't say anything either.

The assimilation of the Xianbei people in the past was not accomplished in one or two years, but over several decades, or even several generations.

This is destined to be a long process.

However, they are not in a hurry; this matter is entirely worth doing for several generations, or even dozens of generations.

Its significance is extraordinary.

"Now that we've covered the first step, let's talk about the second," Chen Huai'an said again.

The crowd was somewhat surprised; were those just the first step?

Thinking about it carefully, what Chen Huai'an said before was indeed the first step: political integration.

So all of the above content is included in the first step?

Understanding this, a group of officials became even more interested.

If that was just the first step, what is the second step?

Chen Huai'an didn't keep them in suspense: "The second step is... economic ties!"

"Economic ties?" Li Shimin asked thoughtfully. "Does this mean we'll make them highly dependent on us economically, or more accurately, financially?"

"That's one way to understand it," Chen Huai'an replied patiently. "We can teach them how to farm and give them some seeds."

"Select suitable agricultural areas within the Khitan territory, such as the Huangshui River basin and the Liao River basin."

"This is actually not important, since the Khitan tribe has very little land to cultivate. What we need to do is show our attitude."

"But during this period, we can recruit Tang farmers to live among the Khitans, and we can also give them some land to achieve integration again."

"We must understand that settlement is the foundation of assimilation. Without settlement, it is impossible to run schools, implement systems, or intermarry."

As Chen Huai'an finished speaking, the ministers in the hall fell into deep thought.

Settlement...is the basis of assimilation?

Thinking back to the Xianbei people of that time... it seems that's indeed the case.

If we can't even settle down, we can't run schools, implement systems, or intermarry, so how can we talk about assimilation?

Wei Zheng pondered for a moment and said, "So, the next step is economic ties, which is also the most crucial part of the second step you mentioned, Mr. Chen?"

"That's right." Chen Huai'an praised, "We've discussed this before. Our Great Tang has so many things that nomadic tribes like the Khitan need. That's why those nomadic tribes outside keep invading our Great Tang."

"This is a struggle for survival resources between the two sides, and it is unavoidable."

"But if we proactively give them resources, using resource exchange, wouldn't that both avoid conflict and foster their dependence on us?"

"..."