Chapter 892 The National Master is truly worthy of being the National Master!
All the Hu peoples call out to the Khan, and the Tang Dynasty is as powerful as the sky!
Envoys from various vassal states danced in the Taiji Hall, with Han music and Hu music mixed in the hall. Li Shimin took the initiative to step down from the throne. Holding Jie Li on his left hand and Luo Xuanye on his right hand, he took the initiative to dance the Hu dance in the hall.
"The King of Su, the King of Su, has great power!"
"The King of Su, the King of Su, is infinitely bright!"
"King Su, King Su, grant me good fortune!"
Tian Khan enjoyed himself with the people. The envoys and kings in the hall held hands and formed a circle, kicking and spinning in circles and singing loudly.
Especially those rulers from the Western Regions, they sang in unison, "Supreme Su Wang Tian Shi Zun, Most Noble Su Wang Da Tian Zun, we ask you, pray to you, and hope that you will bless our king, the king of kings in the Western Regions, the Khan favored by the Emperor of Heaven!"
…
Some of the envoys from various countries were thousands of miles away from Chang'an, so they returned in a hurry. Some envoys asked others to go back and stayed in Chang'an directly. The Tang court also valued these people.
It seemed as if countless Hu faces appeared in Chang'an City overnight. The people of Chang'an City had already learned that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty had become the Khan of Heaven, and they felt endless pride in their hearts.
In the Taiji Hall, a group of important officials of the empire were still discussing these foreign vassal affairs. Li Shimin attached much more importance to these foreign vassal affairs than the prime ministers had expected. The reason for this was that the prime ministers turned their attention to Luo Su, because he was the national teacher.
When the Tang Dynasty conquered the Winter Turks, the imperial teacher did not intervene openly. When the Tang Dynasty handled state affairs, the imperial teacher did not intervene openly. But this time when the various Hu people entered the capital, the imperial teacher came out.
The last time it came up was when the national policy of the Tang Dynasty was being formulated. One can imagine how much importance the national teacher attached to this matter.
Luo Su held a emerald green staff in his hand. He looked at the prime ministers in front of everyone. The future of the Tang Dynasty would rely on these people. He said solemnly: "The affairs of the world are in the hands of the king, the affairs of the king are in the hands of the prime minister, and there are three levels of prime ministers in the world."
After hearing this, all the prime ministers in the hall immediately sat up straight, wanting to listen to what the imperial teacher said about the third-class prime minister.
Li Shimin was also quite curious and asked, "What do these three prime ministers think? Please ask the Imperial Master to help me and the ministers solve this puzzle."
Luo Su said calmly: "The lowest-ranking prime minister can see the needs of the court, ensure that the court's supplies are not scarce, and handle most of the problems that arise in the court. The country will not decline drastically due to human mistakes."
Hiss~
The first sentence shocked everyone. It was already very difficult to ensure that the country's supply was not insufficient, and he was also able to deal with the problems that arose. Is this just the lowest prime minister?
"A mediocre prime minister can foresee the potential crises in the world in advance and leave a warning to future generations, or solve the problem himself."
Now everyone understood. This meant that those who are good at fighting do not have great achievements. However, there was one thing that puzzled everyone.
"Master, since you have foreseen the crisis in advance, why don't you resolve it in advance?"
"Yes, Imperial Master, most people cannot see the crisis, so they can only let it go. Now that they know about it, they don't deal with it. What's the logic behind this?"
Li Shimin also asked: "Please ask the Imperial Master to clear up my doubts. I am actually very confused about this. Isn't it irresponsible to leave this question to future generations?"
Luo Su smiled and said, "This is the best prime minister, who has a broad vision of the world. He does not look at the world from the inside or from below, but from above the nine heavens. He has choices in his mind and will not try to solve all problems.
More than 1,600 years ago, when King Su established the feudal system and the patriarchal system, did he ever think that they would collapse later?
Thought about it.
It is recorded in our Luo family's classics.
But King Su still had to implement it, because things in this world are always changing. The best prime minister looked down on the world from high to low, and thus understood the laws of the development of affairs. So when he was in power, he understood that those things that seemed extremely dangerous on the surface did not endanger the world, and those that were not very conspicuous would eventually destroy everything.
Come, let me show you how.”
After a while, a large wooden water tank was carried in from outside. A bucket was placed in the water tank. The lower half of the bucket was in the water tank, and the bucket was full of water. Everyone in the hall gathered around and looked at the water tank and the bucket, wondering what Luo Su wanted to do.
Luo Su came to the bucket, pointed at the water in the bucket and said, "If this is the fate of a dynasty, the moment the water runs out, the country will perish, then I will do this."
As he spoke, he pulled out the wooden strip that blocked the small hole in the barrel, and water immediately flowed out into the water tank. Luo Su said, "This hole may be caused by the failure of the war or the construction of a large-scale project. In short, the country is beginning to decline. You are all very talented people, and you must be able to plug this hole.
But, look.”
As soon as Luo Su finished speaking, everyone heard a loud bang. It turned out that a big crack appeared at the bottom of the wooden barrel, and all the water in the barrel quickly flowed into the water tank.
“In a place you have never seen, there is actually something far more dangerous than this hole, but it is hidden so that no one can see it.
The best prime minister, who is above the nine heavens, can see these things, so he is always committed to repairing these things. Of course, repairs are just repairs, and they can never be restored to their original state. When one day they can no longer be repaired, then it will be completely over. "
Li Shimin stared at the empty barrel and fell into deep thought. After a long while, he said, "This is not just about the prime minister, isn't it the same for the king as well?
Imperial Master, I have learned from your teachings."
While Luo Su was reasoning with everyone, his thoughts went back to the distant past. He remembered his previous reform, which was to make some repairs on the foundation of Bang Zhou, but in the end he failed to replace the foundation of Bang Zhou, so the problems of Bang Zhou finally broke out, but were delayed for some years.
Everyone in the hall bowed to Luo Su, who waved his hand and said, "It's not over yet, what is the world?
The world refers to all countries and forces that may have an impact on you, and you must take them into consideration.”
After saying that, Luo Su stretched out his hand and lifted up another bucket of water next to him, and then poured it into the broken bucket, "Although the bucket is broken, as long as there is a constant supply of external replenishment, the country will not perish.
In the same way, even if you repair the inside of a barrel perfectly and there is no internal force to destroy it, if I hit it hard with a hammer, the final result will not change and the country will still perish. "
Luo Su's actions shocked everyone again. This kind of thinking was something no one had thought of before. It was a broader thinking that broke through the traditional Central Plains thinking.
"To rule the world, you must have a perspective of the world, and the world refers to the dynasty, as well as all the countries and forces around it that may have an impact on the dynasty. You must take all of them into consideration. This is called being a sage within and a king without!
Anyone who treats people outside the Central Plains with arrogance will eventually be bitten back. If you do not pay attention to the barbarians and Hu people whom you look down upon, those Hu people will burst out with power that you can hardly imagine.
You can show contempt through your actions, but if a prime minister or a king shows contempt from the bottom of his heart, it is really ridiculous. "
Luo Su's extremely vivid demonstration deeply touched Li Shimin and the prime ministers.
The others sat back at their seats, and the servants carried the wooden barrel down. Luo Su, holding an emerald green scepter in his hand, paced slowly in the hall. He was quite tall, and this was the first time that everyone looked up at him. He was as majestic and heavy as Mount Tai.
Luo Su pondered and said, "I attach great importance to the Four Barbarians. More than 20 years ago, after I came to the world, I traveled around with Xuan Ye and Xuan Jing. I stayed in the Central Plains for a short time, but traveled all over the rest of the Four Barbarians.
What were the Huns like during the Han Dynasty?
They used bone weapons and arrows, and the iron armor was obtained from areas further west in the Western Regions. At that time, the Xia Dynasty was at its strongest, and they were able to inflict a devastating blow to the Xiongnu.
But this is no longer the case. Almost all the Hu people have fairly high technology.
Their spiritual civilization was far inferior to that of other Chinese states, but militarily they were already highly armed. When they were fighting against the Turks, they must have felt that during the Han Dynasty, the biggest problem was that they could not capture the Huns. As long as they engaged in a head-on battle, the Huns were no match for the Han army.
But now, the Turks are not afraid of a head-on battle with the Tang army. Li Jing's defeat of the Winter Turks was a victory of strategy and tactics, a victory of diplomacy, but not a victory of individual soldier quality.
Especially in terms of cavalry, the Turks and even the Huihe people in the Western Regions are very strong. There are also many of these Hu cavalry in the Tang Dynasty army. Everyone who has used them knows how useful they are.
What does this prove?
In terms of military strength, Zhu Xia no longer has an overwhelming advantage, and this is almost an inevitable process, because even for the Luo family, smelting technology has not made any major progress in many years.
What should we do in this situation?
To gain everything through countless wars?"
What Luo Su said were arguments and angles that Li Shimin and others had never heard of before. Without anyone noticing, almost everyone couldn't help but lean forward. Psychologically, this was a listening posture, and it was a listening posture that came from the heart.
Hearing Luo Su's last question, everyone shook their heads. Wei Zheng said directly: "After defeating the Dong Turks, the reason why all nations came to Chang'an to pay tribute is because the Tang Dynasty suffered very little loss in the war against the Dong Turks. In the eyes of any country, the Tang Dynasty has the strength to launch another war of annihilation.
But if the war between the Tang Dynasty and the Eastern Turks was like the Hundred Years' War between the Han and the Xiongnu, then other countries would not be afraid.
The Tang Dynasty can fight the Dong Turks quickly once, but it is impossible to expect such a brilliant victory every time. You all know that this war against the Dong Turks is not inevitable. "
Li Shimin stood up and looked at everyone with emotion, saying, "Yes, facing the huge grassland empire, I have always been cautious. Now that the Dong Turks have been defeated, I will never send troops to the newly rising grassland empire, whether it is Xueyantuo, Western Turks, or this or that country, unless they come to provoke the Tang Dynasty.
It is for this reason that I was so excited after you, the Imperial Master, told me about the Heavenly Khan system. Not having military service in the country, but being able to control the various states and ensure peace in the Central Plains, is what I am pursuing.
Now, after listening to what the Imperial Master said, I feel more and more that it is too difficult and unlikely to succeed to rely on military force to subdue those countries.
Imperial Master, if you have anything to say, please speak up. We, the monarch and our subjects, are all here to listen. "
Luo Su gently knocked the wooden board on the ground with his staff, and the wooden board made a crisp sound. He said in a deep voice: "War is not launched easily. Every war must have a war goal to be achieved from the beginning.
Otherwise, even if you keep winning on the battlefield, you will eventually lose everything.
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty did not think clearly about what he wanted when he conquered Liaodong. He didn't even know whether he wanted to completely destroy Liaodong or make Liaodong surrender.
If he wanted Liaodong to surrender, he had countless ways to do it. If he wanted to destroy Liaodong, he could just kill it city by city and village by village.
But he chose none of them.
On the surface, the Sui army achieved a lot of victories, but you all know the final result.
The purpose of conquering the Dong Turks was to ensure the border security of the Tang Dynasty. Now that this political goal has been achieved, everything we do next is to maintain this result.
So how do we maintain this state?
The Han Dynasty chose constant war, while the Tang Dynasty chose to play with the Hu people and establish the Heavenly Khan system.
The key to the Tian Khan system lies in an imaginary enemy!
An imaginary enemy that threatens this system.
An enemy that could cause harm to all nations.
This enemy cannot be the Tang Dynasty, so the Tang Dynasty must be strong and friendly to the outside world, that is, let everyone know how powerful the Tang Dynasty is, but the Tang Dynasty will appear as a protector.
And this enemy appeared in a country that might endanger the Tang Dynasty. This former enemy was the Dong Turks. Who will be the next country?
We don’t know now, but we all know that this country will definitely appear in the future and someone will do this.
The only foreign war that the Tang Dynasty will have to deal with next is to defeat this enemy. The Tang Dynasty should not initiate any other unnecessary wars.
If there is no such enemy for the time being, for example, now that the Winter Turks have been destroyed and a new grassland overlord has not yet risen, it is necessary to constantly publicize the crimes of the previous Winter Turks in order to continuously strengthen the necessity of the Heavenly Khan.
The Tang Dynasty must always stand with the majority of the Hu people countries. This process will last for one hundred or two hundred years. That is, the Heavenly Khan is not just you, Li Shimin. In the future, your sons, grandsons, and emperors of all generations will have to be the Heavenly Khan. "
The easiest way to forge unity is to create an enemy, hiss!
Li Shimin and others all took a deep breath. This kind of art between countries made people marvel at how this idea was come up.
But Li Shimin was very excited when he heard this. He himself became the Heavenly Khan, which was certainly worth being excited about, but the results would only be considered a real achievement if they were passed on.
Just like the first Son of Heaven, the first emperor.
The first Heavenly Khan will be remembered forever. Li Shimin’s greatest wish in this life is to remain in history as a sage king, so he is obsessed with this.
All subsequent emperors of the Tang Dynasty were given the title of Heavenly Khan, and this title was brought by me, Li Shimin!
When he thought of this, Li Shimin was so excited that he almost trembled.
Luo Su was very happy today, and continued to say without stopping: "In the process of uniting the countries, the Tang Dynasty must use its outstanding art, culture, and aesthetics to conquer every Hu people who come to the Tang Dynasty, just like those Hu people in Liaodong who are completely Han people at heart.
What methods can be used in this process?
Do you remember the imperial examination system we once discussed?
I have always been thinking about whether this system has any greater role. It has expanded the scope of officials from scholars to everyone, and now it is entirely possible to continue to expand its scope. "
Li Shimin was stunned when he heard this and said, "Master, isn't it a bit absurd to let a Hu person take the imperial examination?"
Fang Xuanling agreed and said in a choked voice: "It is difficult for ordinary people to pass the imperial examination. Most of the Hu people have never read any books. How can they pass it?"
The other prime ministers nodded in agreement when they heard this. They knew that there was no way those Hu people would pass the exam. In the imperial examination, even people from poor families could not pass as well as the gentry, let alone those Hu people who had little education.
Luo Su sighed when he heard this and said, "Why can't you use your brains? If you can't pass the current imperial examination, won't you add more subjects?
There are so many subjects in the current imperial examination, so we can add riding and archery to it. Although few people in the Western Regions study Confucianism, religions are prosperous there, so we can have subjects about religion. The court can add subjects based on what they are good at.
This way they can achieve good results and no one will say anything.
The imperial court could even directly announce that in order to allow the Hu people to have more opportunities to receive the teachings of the saints, a separate examination would be specially held for the countries in the Tian Khan system to give them quotas to show the Tian Khan’s great grace.
Well……
As soon as Luo Su said this, the hall fell silent. Obviously, everyone was confused by Luo Su's words. If they couldn't pass the exam, then they couldn't pass it. Why would the court take sides? It was really unexpected.
Li Shimin also hesitated and asked: "Master, is this a bit bad?"
Luo Su asked in return: "Is the imperial examination for selecting talents for the country?"
"Of course."
Luo Su said generously: "Selecting talents for the country is for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. These Hu people came to Chang'an to study and became officials of the Tang Dynasty. After accepting the ideas of the Tang Dynasty, they will naturally be close to the Tang Dynasty after returning to their tribes and help the Tang Dynasty control his country.
And do you think I only allow the children of nobles to study?
Among every group of people who came to Chang'an to study, in addition to the children of aristocrats, there were also people from the lower classes.
After these people from the lower classes saw the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, especially after they had gained a certain status in the Tang Dynasty, they would definitely cause a reshuffle in the country if they returned to the country. "
This series of combined punches made everyone realize immediately that the National Master was definitely not something that was figured out in a short period of time. It is very likely that when the imperial examination system was fully implemented, he had already begun to consider letting the imperial examination system take root in the Hu people's area.
Luo Su's words dispelled all of Li Shimin's worries. He thought about it, and the more he thought about it, the better it felt. He couldn't help laughing out loud, and then he smiled to the prime ministers after realizing it belatedly, "I think what the national teacher said is right.
Since ancient times, people have respected the Chinese and despised the barbarians, but I love them all equally.
The barbarians have no culture. I should let the barbarians feel the vastness of the Chinese culture. The barbarians should not be born without the opportunity to learn and the opportunity to experience the classics of the ancient sages. I heard that in the Later Han Dynasty, there were tens of thousands of people in the Imperial Academy. My Chang'an should be the same.
I don't just want tens of thousands of Han people.
I also want to have tens of thousands of Hu people, let all of them read the books of sages, let all of them speak elegant language, and pass this on from generation to generation.
Proclaim my kindness to the entire Hu nation, and let all the Hu people in the world understand that it was the Heavenly Khan who gave them a chance to turn things around and become the best of the world."
Luo Su's words were subversive to the prime ministers. It was obvious that the national teacher had always been talking about such rules, but every time he did things, he destroyed those traditional concepts completely.
At least for these top students, they have never heard that assessments can be divided into regions. But for the national teacher, this does not seem to be a big deal and he puts it forward so openly and confidently.
Wei Zheng hesitated for a moment and then said slowly, "Your Majesty, Imperial Master, aren't you worried that the scholars in the Central Plains will protest against this?"
Luo Su waved his hand and said, "You can protest. As long as you are willing to take your family to those countries to resettle your household registration and live there permanently, you can take the exam according to the standards there."
Luo Xuanchen couldn't help laughing out loud, and everyone in the hall couldn't hold back any more. Isn't this just taking family members into exile? You have to know that most of these Hu people who came to Chang'an to study are going back to their country. A person from the Central Plains who has lived in those places all his life is no different from being exiled in the eyes of these scholars.
To put it bluntly, many of the exile places in the Tang Dynasty are better than Mobei, and no one really wants to go there.
After Luo Su said so much, everyone felt more and more that the foreign affairs were not simple and definitely could not be handled casually, but had to be handled with great caution.
Li Shimin stepped down from the throne and paced in the hall, mumbling: "Grandmaster, according to what you just said, I find that the complexity of foreign affairs is almost as complicated as that of the internal affairs of the Tang Dynasty. If we are not careful in managing them, we will make big mistakes."
Luo Su stood beside Li Shimin, looking outside the palace, and said in a deep voice: "Yes, around the Tang Dynasty, not counting the plateau south of the Hexi Corridor, there are about two million households and ten million people. Among these people, there are Hu people, Han people, mixed Hu and Han people, Hu people, people who have been completely assimilated to the Xia Dynasty, and people who have been assimilated to the Xia Dynasty but have never been assimilated to the Han Dynasty. It is very complicated. These people have connections with the Central Plains, but also barriers. It is so complicated that just one agency is not enough.
I suggest that Your Majesty set up a ministry within the Tang Dynasty. It can be called the 'General Yamen of the Foreign Affairs Department', or the 'Court of Lifan' or the 'Province of Lifan'. It's all fine. At least this institution should be given a structure similar to that of the Secretariat, specifically responsible for external affairs.
In the future, do not refer to those countries as "barbarians" or "barbarians". Instead, call them "outer vassal states of the Tang Dynasty" or "vassal states of the Tang Dynasty". Change should start with subtle names. "
Set up a Chancellery institution!
The Secretariat was under the jurisdiction of six ministries and twenty-four departments, and was the executive body of the entire empire. The number of officials required was unimaginable for the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel.
After all, the gap can be seen from the ranks of the heads of the three ministries. The Shangshu Ling is of the second rank, and even the Shangshu Ling's deputies, the left and right Pushe, are of the second rank. However, the Zhongshu Ling and the Menxia Shizhong are of the third rank. In terms of rank, they are only at the same level as the six ministers of the Shangshu Province.
Li Shimin nodded without hesitation and said, "What the Imperial Master said makes sense. We should set up such an institution, and officials from the vassal states should also participate in this institution. This will allow the vassal states to feel the sincerity of the Tang Dynasty.
This is not only necessary politically, but a military organization should also be set up, just like the Twelve Guards of the Imperial Army, to be able to mobilize troops from all walks of life."
Li Shimin followed Luo Su's thoughts and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that there was a way out. He couldn't help but show a hint of excitement in his tone, "You are worthy of being the national teacher I personally invited, and you are worthy of being the Duke Wen who will be remembered through the ages. You are truly the most virtuous minister and prime minister throughout history.
What do you think of what the Imperial Master said?"
When the prime ministers in the hall heard this, they looked at each other. What objection could they have?
They were still in the stage of being bombarded with a large amount of information from Luo Su and had not yet reacted. There were still some things they hadn't figured out, but it sounded very reasonable.
Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng and others all had a feeling about Luo Su, that is, the higher you look up to him, the higher he is; the more you delve into him, the stronger he becomes.
It’s not because of a single policy. If it’s a single policy, although sometimes you can feel the difference in wisdom, in essence it’s not really that big of a difference.
But the biggest difference between Luo Su and them is perspective.
They are like staggering in a long river, facing the waves and other unknown things in the river, and they don't know what they will encounter ahead.
What is in their hearts?
The road is too winding for me to walk through, and the future is bright for me to see.
But Luo Su was like standing on a dry shore, no, it should be said that he was standing on the mountain, with the winding river right in front of his eyes. He was always so leisurely.
Just like in the early years of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty needed to recuperate. It was not just Luo Su who could think of it, but Luo Su could clearly tell everyone why it was necessary to recuperate, how to recuperate, what could be done and what could not be done on the road to recuperation, and what the purpose of recuperation was.
Huang Lao has been passed down for so many years, but no one has ever been able to explain it in such a realistic and clear way, rather than just talking about empty words like Tao and nature.
The subsequent discussion on the relationship between foreign vassal states and the Tang Dynasty was truly an eye-opener for everyone. From theory to measures, almost every step struck a chord with everyone. This set of ideas could be used for a hundred years!
The most important thing is that, from these discussions, how could these extremely smart people not hear that Luo Su has a set of theories for analyzing such relations between countries.
Imperial Master, is it too late to become my disciple now? !
(End of this chapter)
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