Not only was Li Shimin shocked, but everyone else also cast surprised glances at Li Jue.

The reason is simple: his words were terrifying!

In fact, both the ministers present and Emperor Li Shimin were very clear about one thing: the Tang Dynasty would inevitably be replaced by another dynasty.

All they can do now is extend this time as much as possible... by a few hundred years.

However, if there were a way to ensure that all subsequent dynasties would use the term "Tang people," they would be laughing all the way to the bank.

Even hundreds of years after their death, their descendants can still proudly say that their ancestors did something great, something that influenced future generations for hundreds of years!

"Grandson can give it a try..."

"Give it a try..."

Li Shimin was somewhat disappointed upon hearing this, but after his initial disappointment, he realized that Li Jue's statement was reasonable.

After all, who can guarantee what will happen hundreds of years from now?

What are your plans?

Li Jue pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Your Majesty, first of all, we must establish one thing through the law: whether the Tang Dynasty belongs to our Li family or to all the subjects of the world."

Li Shimin was displeased when he heard this, thinking to himself, "Why is this grandson still holding onto this matter?"

Did he not know that the Tang Dynasty would one day belong to him?

"Grandson, this isn't important, is it?"

"Your Majesty, this matter is extremely important, as it directly concerns every aspect of the Tang Dynasty."

"Grandson, to give you an inappropriate example, if the Turks were to conquer Chang'an, and the Turkic Khan promised the officials and people of the Tang Dynasty that they would continue to live the way they had always lived, and even that the imperial property and land would be distributed to them, do you think the subjects of the Tang Dynasty would still rebel against the Turks?"

"this……"

Li Shimin somewhat understood what Li Jue was trying to say, but he simply couldn't accept it.

"Does the rule that the Tang Dynasty belongs to all its subjects mean they can protect me and Chang'an?"

"Your Majesty, it is the duty of every citizen to protect their homeland. However, there is a great difference between protecting whose country it is, whether it belongs to them or to a particular family or clan!"

Li Jue's words were extremely jarring to Li Shimin, but Ma Zhou, Liu Ji, and others found them like heavenly music.

The eldest grandson actually possesses such extraordinary thoughts?

"Your Majesty, you don't need to worry about your position being damaged. In fact, this is just part of the reform."

"After establishing the identity of the Tang Dynasty, we also need to carry out nationalist education so that the people of the Tang Dynasty know what ethnicity they belong to, thereby establishing their sense of belonging."

"nationality?"

When Li Jue said this, not only was Li Shimin stunned, but even Ma Zhou, Liu Ji, Chu Suiliang and others were completely dumbfounded.

In fact, people in ancient times did not have a concept of ethnicity or nation.

Not only did it not exist in ancient China, but it also did not exist in other countries in the world.

For example, the Turks never considered themselves as a nation; they only cared about their own tribe.

Therefore, the Turkic people were plagued by internal conflicts, which eventually led to their split into the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates.

The true awakening of national consciousness began after World War I. During this period, people gradually examined themselves from multiple dimensions such as culture, language, and writing, established themselves, and thus developed national consciousness.

The people of China finally realized the difference between themselves and other ethnic groups, and took up arms to defend their national independence.

However, in ancient times, when there was no national consciousness, both ordinary people and scholar-officials had a very unified attitude towards dynastic changes, seeing it simply as a change of emperor.

The Tang Dynasty was very powerful at the time, but for the people, compared to the Sui, Han, and Qin Dynasties, it was just a matter of having a different emperor surnamed Li.

What Li Jue wanted to do was to change all of this, to make the people of the world truly realize that the dynasty they lived in was not just a dynasty, but also a nation, a country, and a symbol.

However, this is a difficult task and may require more than ten or even several decades of effort.

Li Shimin pondered for a long time before speaking with a hint of uncertainty.

"Li Jue, is the ethnic group you mentioned somewhat similar to the tribes of the Turks?"

Li Jue shook his head upon hearing this.

“Reply to Aung, a tribe is a tribe, and an ethnic group is an ethnic group.”

"A nation is one that has a unified written language, a unified cultural heritage, and a shared set of ancestors."

"A commonly recognized ancestor?"

"The Qin and Han dynasties?"

Li Jue nodded upon hearing this, then shook his head.

"The Qin and Han dynasties can be considered, but we can go further back, for example, to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors..."

"The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors?"

"If that's the case, then the Tuoba Xianbei can also be considered part of the Han Chinese..."

Li Shimin's ancestors had Xianbei ancestry, and he immediately became interested upon hearing Ma Zhou's words.

"What's going on? The Xianbei are also considered part of the Han Chinese?"

"Your Majesty, the Xianbei ancestors were descendants of the Yellow Emperor, and should rightfully be considered part of the Chinese lineage!"

"oh?"

After Ma Zhou's words, the others also started to chime in.

"Your Majesty, the southwestern tribes can actually be considered descendants of the Han Chinese, because their ancestor was Chi You, the one who fought against the Yellow Emperor..."

"Strictly speaking, the Tuyuhun people also had close ties with the Chinese."

"The Shang people originated here, and the Zhou people who followed also originated here. Their ancestors should all be related to the Qiang people..."

Li Shimin listened to everyone's words and suddenly his eyes lit up.

"Is Goguryeo also related to China?"

"I once heard someone tell a story about how Gija crossed the sea to the east and established Joseon..."

Li Shimin wasn't very well-educated, and he only knew this story from others. But Ma Zhou and others immediately filled in the blanks for him.

"Your Majesty, this is indeed true."

"It is said that after King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang Dynasty, Emperor Xin's uncle crossed the sea to the east and established the Joseon Dynasty, historically known as the Gija Dynasty. Later, the Gija Dynasty was replaced by the Wiman dynasty, which established Wiman Joseon. Its territory included present-day Goguryeo, Jinbeon, Imtun, Okjeo Buyeo, and other places. Later still, Goguryeo rose to power, but the present-day Korean Peninsula is no longer the same as the place where the goddess of beauty once was."

"During the Qin and Han dynasties, Jumong, a man from Buyeo, established his kingdom at Heshenggu City, and Goguryeo first appeared in historical records."

"The royal family of Goguryeo has changed hands several times over the past six hundred years..."

When Li Shimin heard that Goguryeo had been established for over six hundred years, he was slightly shocked.

"It's unbelievable that such a small country as Goryeo has existed for over six hundred years, spanning the late Han Dynasty and the Wei and Jin Dynasties..."

Ma Zhou smiled dismissively upon hearing this.

"Goguryeo was confined to a corner of the country, with no powerful states around it. Even if there were some internal problems, they could be quickly quelled, which is why it survived for a long time."

"In comparison, the Central Plains is a land of plenty, rich in resources, and blessed with outstanding people and heroes. It is normal for it to be more prone to war."

"But the Celestial Empire will always be the Celestial Empire, and small countries will always be small countries."

"Even though Goguryeo, with its high mountains and treacherous terrain, blocked Emperor Yang of Sui's three personal campaigns, Your Majesty's army will surely be able to pacify it in one fell swoop once it arrives!"