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

"Mr. Chen, your point is very interesting." Xiao Yu, who had remained silent until now, suddenly had an idea. "If, as you say, we can achieve peace with other nomadic tribes through economic ties, and then gradually infiltrate them without war?"

"How could that be?" Chen Huai'an was speechless. "The other nomadic tribes haven't submitted. For them, why would they trade for something they can seize?"

"Unless our Great Tang becomes incomparably powerful, they will definitely use force to seize what they can."

"As for the Khitan tribe, our Great Tang Dynasty was invincible."

"Therefore, this method is effective."

Xiao Yu paused for a moment, then fell silent.

Indeed, in the end, the world is a dog-eat-dog world. How could there be such a simple way to solve external threats?

If that were the case, Chen Huai'an wouldn't be thinking about preparing for war against the Eastern Turks.

"Explain in detail how to use economic ties," Li Shimin said calmly. "Personally, I think Huai'an's method may not be completely ineffective against other nomadic tribes. Perhaps we can give it a try when we get through these two years, when the weather is favorable and the Tang Dynasty is prosperous."

Chen Huai'an nodded, but didn't say anything.

Interoperability is a good thing in itself, and there's no need to oppose it.

"The so-called economic ties are actually quite simple: set up border markets where the Khitans would exchange horses and furs for Tang dynasty ironware, silk, tea, and grain."

"Everyone gets what they need."

Chen Huai'an said, "But there is a very interesting point here, which is that the things of the Khitan are valuable to us, but not necessities, while our things are irreplaceable to the Khitan."

"Ironware, salt, and grain are absolutely indispensable."

"When exchanging goods becomes the norm, the Khitans will exchange horses, furs, and livestock with us for the necessities of survival, and their economy will become deeply dependent on our Great Tang."

"Once economic dependence is established, it is not easy to break free politically."

"Heh..." Du Ruhui laughed, "I think I understand Mr. Chen's plan."

"Having achieved political assimilation and economic ties, the next step will be cultural infiltration, right?"

"We established village schools in various Khitan tribes and sent Confucian scholars from the Tang Dynasty to teach there. Together with the first batch of Khitan noble children who enrolled, they promoted our script and basic classics such as the Analects and the Classic of Filial Piety."

"Finally, intermarriage should be encouraged, as this is the most thorough way to assimilate. Once intermarriage reaches three generations, bloodlines and cultures will be completely integrated."

"Yes," Chen Huai'an agreed. "That's exactly what I meant."

"Actually, there are a few more steps to follow, namely legal unification and military assimilation, which involves reorganizing the Khitan tribal troops into the Tang Dynasty's military forces or foreign troops, and organizing, training, and equipping them according to the Tang Dynasty's military system."

"The sixth, and final step."

"Unified household registration!"

"Once this was accomplished, the Khitans became Tang people, the interests of both sides were fully aligned, and they truly became one of their own."

"..."

Fang Xuanling exclaimed, "Hearing your words is worth more than reading books for ten years!"

"However, this is something that cannot be accomplished in a few years; it will require several generations to complete. But its significance is extraordinary, and the benefits are substantial enough that it is indeed worth doing slowly."

"Moreover, this matter only requires some effort in the initial stage; we can take it slowly and do it little by little later."

"I have no objection."

"I have no objection either," Du Ruhui said.

"Your Majesty, I second that Mr. Chen's method is feasible." Wei Zheng pondered for a long time before expressing his support.

Neither Changsun Wuji nor Xiao Yu had any objections.

Li Shimin nodded: "Then... let's follow the old rules. Xuanling and Keming, you are responsible for coming up with the specific plan and perfecting all the details, while Huai'an is responsible for overseeing the overall direction."

Fang and Du: "..."

Both of them were numb.

No, why are there still just the two of them?

You can't just target one person to fleece, right?

But since Li Shimin had already made his statement, the two had no choice but to agree.

Chen Huai'an glanced at the two of them silently. This matter was quite complicated and not so easy, but the outcome would definitely be good. The effect of assimilation was far better than control by force.

Many things that happened in the Tang Dynasty later were established during the Zhenguan era.

Therefore, Chen Huai'an must provide some guidance on many matters.

Otherwise, the Tang Dynasty might repeat the same mistakes.

Although today's event may seem like just a small-scale surrender of the Khitans, it carries significant meaning.

The arrival of envoys from all nations in the fourth year of the Zhenguan era was not far off.

"......"

"Mr. Chen, what are you thinking about?"

As evening fell, the ministers emerged from the Ganlu Hall. Wei Zheng, seeing Chen Huai'an standing there gazing at the sky, couldn't help but ask him curiously.

A lot has happened recently, and many things require special attention.

Therefore, there are many meetings, and they last for a relatively long time.

In particular, the things Chen Huai'an proposed today seemed more and more feasible to everyone after thinking about them, so they talked about them for a long time. At the same time, there were also the purge of the Lu and Zheng families, the construction of the Yellow River dike, and the response to the locust plague.

"What are you thinking about?" Chen Huai'an glanced at him. "Do you think our current system of conscripted soldiers combined with the equal-field system is a good system?"

"What do you mean by that?" Wei Zheng's expression turned serious. "Does Mr. Chen believe that our current equal-field system and militia system are problematic?"

"No system is perfect; every system has its problems." Xiao Yu appeared beside them at some point and turned his head to say, "Don't forget, the equal-field system and the militia system weren't unique to the Tang Dynasty."

"The equal-field system began in the ninth year of the Taihe reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and went through the Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, and Sui Dynasties. By our Tang Dynasty, it had been implemented for more than a hundred years."

"The retired emperor issued the Equal-Field Edict in the seventh year of the Wude era. After Your Majesty ascended the throne, you simply implemented it comprehensively, along with some omissions and deficiencies."

"The Fubing system originated during the Datong era of the Western Wei Dynasty, went through the Northern Zhou and Sui Dynasties, and had been implemented for nearly a hundred years by our Tang Dynasty."

"His Majesty is merely refining it before making it widely available."

"But you must understand that the fact that these two systems have survived so many dynasties proves that they are indeed feasible, but the fact that all these dynasties have collapsed also proves that they have problems."

Wei Zheng's brows relaxed: "What you say makes sense."

"But...didn't we already address the shortcomings?"

Xiao Yu shook his head: "Filling in the gaps only means there are no problems now; it's hard to guarantee that problems won't arise later."

"In my opinion, it would be more appropriate to grant fiefdoms."

"The Zhou Dynasty enjoyed a long reign because it enfeoffed feudal lords to protect the Zhou state; the Qin Dynasty abolished the feudal system and implemented the prefecture-county system, which resulted in its demise after only two generations."

"Therefore, enfeoffing members of the imperial family and meritorious officials, allowing them to inherit fiefdoms and serve as a shield for the central government, is the only long-term solution."

"..."