Li Qin personally led a large army south to conquer the enemy.
At the end of the sixth year of Xuanwu, the Jin Hufu Rebellion was quelled, and Jin Hufu's head was cut off and hung on the city wall of Jinling.
In the early part of the seventh year of Xuanwu, Li Qin personally led a well-prepared army to launch a three-pronged attack on Liu Sixiu in Bashu.
One group, led by Zhou Wentong and Zu Zhilong, launched an attack on Hanzhong.
They sailed up the Yangtze River and attacked Sichuan and Chongqing.
We traveled from Yunnan and Guizhou, then crossed the mountains to enter Sichuan and Chongqing.
Li Qin personally arrived in Chang'an to take charge. Bashu had been managed by Liu Sixiu for many years, and the Shu Road in Bashu was inherently difficult to traverse.
The war to conquer Bashu lasted for nearly two years, ending in the ninth year of Xuanwu's reign. During this period, countless amounts of money and grain were consumed, and Li Qin even increased taxes on wealthy families in Jiangnan three times.
It can be said that they almost squeezed the wealthy and powerful families in Jiangnan dry before they could raise the money.
Liu Sixiu was escorted to Chang'an and executed by slow slicing, while his entire clan was exiled to the north of Liaodong.
During this war, Zu Zhilong was stripped of his official position and military power on the pretext of poor performance in battle, and his title was reduced to the Earl of Pingxi. He was also given a house in the capital to live out his retirement.
From then on, the various vassal kings, whom Li Qin had always regarded as a thorn in his side, were basically pacified.
The land of the former Great Wu was now completely under his absolute rule.
In the thirteenth year of Xuanwu's reign, the well-prepared navy set sail from Goryeo to attack the Japanese islands, taking the first step in the Great Exploration.
In the same year, Li Ruwen was made crown prince with the recommendation of the ministers, and Li Ruwu was made a prince by Li Qin.
In Li Qin's edict, Li Ruwu was first announced as a prince, and Li Ruwen was later announced as the crown prince.
At the same time, Li Qin bestowed his former residence in the capital upon Li Ruwu, allowing him to make connections with officials.
In the fourteenth year of the Xuanwu reign, the Japanese islands surrendered under military pressure.
In the seventeenth year of Xuanwu's reign, the islands of Southeast Asia were successively captured. Li Qin began to organize people to put chains on the Japanese islands and transport them by boat to plantations in the Southeast Asian islands to work.
Meanwhile, in order to strengthen control over the islands of Southeast Asia, Li Qin launched a campaign to conquer Annam, which was submitted to him the following year.
In the nineteenth year of Xuanwu's reign, the steam engine was finally invented and improved, and began to be used. Li Qin looked at the rows of steam engines, lost in thought. After returning to the palace, he placed his hand on the dragon throne and sighed helplessly.
In the twentieth year of Xuanwu's reign, the Tatar tribes in the northern deserts, under constant pressure from Li Qin, submitted to Li Qin, the Tatar Khan. In the same year, Li Qin turned his attention to the Western Regions and the Tibetan Plateau.
In the twenty-first year of Xuanwu, Li Qin appointed his third son, Li Ruci, as commander and Qi Duchen as deputy commander, leading 20,000 elite troops and 30,000 Tatar cavalry, a total of 50,000 troops, to conquer the Western Regions. At the same time, he conscripted more than 900,000 laborers to transport supplies for them.
In the twenty-fourth year of Xuanwu, the Western Regions were pacified, and in the same year, the Tibetan Plateau submitted a petition to submit to the emperor. Li Ruci was then granted the title of Prince by Li Qin.
In the twenty-fifth year of Xuanwu, Li Ruwu caught a cold, but it persisted for a long time, and he eventually died at the end of the year. In the same year, his third son, Li Ruci, was granted the title of Prince.
In the twenty-sixth year of Xuanwu's reign, Li Qin appointed his sons as kings and sent them to govern the newly opened territories in the South Seas.
Only Crown Prince Li Ruwen and his third son Li Ruci remained in the capital.
In the thirty-second year of Xuanwu's reign, Empress Zhuang Xiaoyu passed away.
In the thirty-third year of Xuanwu, Li Ruwen was deeply worried about the expansion of Li Ruci's power and the decline of his power after the death of his mother.
At the end of the thirty-third year of Xuanwu, Li Ruwen launched a rebellion, but it was discovered by Li Qin, who had been preparing for it. In the end, he was deposed as crown prince and demoted to a commoner.
In the 46th year of Xuanwu's reign, Li Qin fell seriously ill and summoned Li Ruci to the palace. After the position of crown prince had been vacant for more than ten years, Li Ruci was officially appointed as crown prince.
At this time, the Tang Dynasty's overseas territories had reached the far west, and it was also expanding eastward on newly discovered continents. At the same time, it was migrating the continuously born population overseas to alleviate the conflict between population and land in China.
In his final moments, the ailing Li Qin sat on the dragon throne, looking down at Li Ruci, and thought about the ever-evolving technology.
Furthermore, technological changes lead to changes in production relations, giving rise to new interest groups that will inevitably seek their own power. Can Li Ruci suppress them?
What does his future hold?
What will the future hold for the Tang Dynasty?
Was it the collapse of the imperial system following a fierce power struggle?
Or did they compromise and the emperor's position become a nominal one, thus prolonging the reign?
Only God knows.
However, one thing is certain: with the continuous development of science and technology and changes in production methods, production relations will change, thereby altering the economic foundation.
Once the economic foundation that ensured the continuation of imperial power was altered, the collapse of imperial power was inevitable.
The more he went on, the more he could feel the relentless march of history and his own powerlessness before it.
But those are things for another time to come for him.
Li Qin sat on the dragon throne, placed his hand on his imperial seal, and slowly closed his eyes.
(The End)
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