The Hedong Military Group, which once had a significant impact on the entire Tang Dynasty, has long since disappeared.

Xue was sent to Tubo, and now in order to enter the mainstream society of the Tang Dynasty again and work hard in Tubo, Sima went to the Western Regions, fortunately got Xue Ping's care, and finally gained a firm foothold in that unfamiliar place, but compared to the majesty of the early years in Hedong, it has long been incomparable, and he has become an ordinary rich man in a place.

The two giants in Hedong have completely fallen.

After paying countless amounts of money and expressing loyalty to Li Ze, a new generation of Hedong wealthy families represented by the Liu family has been able to rise, and now, the Liu family has become the representative of Hedong merchants, and they have successfully entered the top group of merchants in the Tang Dynasty.

The back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, and they really beat the front waves to death on the beach.

Political struggles are like this, the winners are notified, and the losers can only admit defeat.

Looking back on the past, how can I not help but sigh Han Qi!

can sigh and sigh, when he really carefully examined the current Tang Dynasty, Han Qi had to admit that Li Ze had done something that he Han Qi had never dreamed of.

Today's Tang Dynasty, although it has not completely taken the south, but the power of a brilliant empire has been undoubtedly shown to the world. And it is this kind of great country atmosphere that makes Han Qi and Xue Ping have to be convinced, have to bow their heads, and have to become Li Ze's lackeys, serving the Central Empire in their minds.

Because, such an empire is also what they have been thinking about for a long time.

"Xue Du, the Western Regions are not calm now, the border areas have been in full contact with the big cannibal forces, at this time, can the Western Regions Protectorate allocate a large number of troops to attack Tubo?" Li Cunzhong was a little worried.

"The Protectorate of the Western Regions now has a regular army of 50,000 people, and if necessary, we can temporarily recruit another 10,000 to 20,000 reserves. Over the years, more than ninety percent of the Tang people who went to the Western Regions, whether they were immigrants, businessmen, or even buddies, were former retired soldiers. Xue Ping said: "There is basically no problem in maintaining local peace." As for the big cannibal you said, hehe, everyone has already fought each other, and they all have a very practical understanding of each other's strength. Although we really want to clean them up, and they also want to clean up us, but unfortunately, the strength of the two sides is currently between the two sides, and no one can help anyone. So, everyone has to be patient. Small-scale conflicts are indispensable, but large-scale wars are almost impossible. Nowadays, everyone is more engaged in the competition above commerce, above religion, and even above culture. ”

Li Cunzhong frowned and said: "In the religious competition, we can't have the upper hand. In Tibet, we still tried our best to get the support of the Red Sect, and only then did we slowly have a foundation. ”

"That's right, the religion of the Great Cannibals does have its horrors." Xue Ping shook his head and said, "Since we can't compete on this, we can only open another way." He talked about spirituality, dedication, the past life, and the next life, and we told the people there that no one is born to be poor, no one is born high, no one can bully others at will, and a happy life depends on us to fight for it with both hands. We help those who believe in our doctrine to get rich quickly and enjoy a good life quickly. ”

Han Qi took a sip of wine and said with a smile: "You won't tell the people there, Wang Hou will be the prime minister, you would rather have a kind of care, right?" ”

"Why didn't you tell them?" Xue Ping said indifferently: "Han Gong, you are from a poor family, and Cunzhong's background is much worse than yours, but how are you now?" ”

"Does it work?" Li Cunzhong asked with interest.

"Of course it works. No matter how devout you are to God, God will not give them food to eat, nor will you give them money to spend, but God is constantly asking them to give, asking them to sacrifice. Xue Ping chuckled: "The beliefs of the older batch are very firm, but the younger ones have a lot of room for transformation. We are preparing for 10 or 20 years or more, and we don't want to reap much fruit now. ”

"If this continues, I am afraid that it will eventually lead to conflict and war." Han Qi shook his head and said.

"At that time, who will we be afraid of?" Xue Ping's eyes suddenly sharpened: "Li Xiang never forgets the blood of tens of thousands of Tang troops in the first battle of Hengluo, how can I forget?" When that time comes, it will be time for us to take revenge and establish my position at the top of the Datang world in a war. ”

"Li Xiangxiong is a big talent, and it is rare to meet in a hundred years." Li Cunzhong sighed: "It's a pity that we don't have a local religion in Datang to help, although Taoism is a local religion, but the teachings they preach are really inconsistent with our national strategy of Datang to forge ahead." ”

Xue Ping and Han Qi glanced at each other, and Xue Ping smiled: "Cunzhong, Yixing Society, isn't it a religion in disguise!" It's just that what Yixing Society preaches and practices is not ethereal, but real utilitarian. ”

Li Cunzhong blinked his eyes, where was he gone.

Is Yixing Society an alternative religion?

He suddenly remembered Zuo Wuwei, who was under his command.

He is Zuo Wuwei's highest military commander, but Zuo Wuwei's head of the Yixing Society is not him, but the supervisor sent by the imperial court.

Every month, Zuo Wuwei will gather all the members of Yixing Society to carry out propaganda activities, even he is no exception, such a propaganda meeting must be attended.

Today's Zuo Wuwei, more than ninety percent of the officers, are all members of the Yixing Society, and among the ordinary soldiers, Yixing members also account for a considerable proportion.

In the barracks, slogans such as the purpose of the Yixing Society were posted everywhere.

This seems to be the same as the religions that go around propagating their teachings.

The difference is that one is illusory, and the other is solidly practiced in the world. The Yixing Society does not want the people to contribute, on the contrary, they are trying to do what they can for the people. Every spring ploughing and autumn harvest, Yixing social organization manpower to help the people to take care of crops, floods and droughts, Yixing social organization manpower to fight floods and droughts.

Li Cunzhong, who has been a soldier for decades, knows very well that in the early years, soldiers and the people seemed to be born enemies, and the people were afraid of being soldiers, sometimes more than they were afraid of bandits, but now, this situation no longer exists, at least, in Ganzhou, where he is stationed, this situation has been completely subverted. The local people trusted the army and the government.

The people of Ganzhou originally believed in religion, but now, more and more people are no longer convinced, and the Yixing Society has won a decisive victory in the silent battle with religion for the hearts and minds of the people.

And this has to be said to be the hard work of Yixing Society for several years.

It seems that Xue Ping really makes sense?

Speaking of the Yixing Society, Li Cunzhong suddenly remembered the contents of some of the briefings sent to them by the Preparatory Committee after their delegation reached Chang'an.

These spaces are for all delegations to familiarize themselves with and discuss in advance. Many things in it, in Li Cunzhong's view, are simply earth-shaking, and they have had a fundamental impact on his values in this life.

"Xue Du, Han Gong, tell me, what does Li Xiang mean by this?" He looked at the two of them puzzled: "When it comes to Li Xiang's status, in my opinion, of course, it is a combination of power, a word of truth, and a word of law, but Li Xiang's current approach is really incomprehensible?" He actually wants to delegate power and give his power to Yixing Society? Is this a temptation? Should we write to Lee Sang-sang to show our determination to resolutely support Lee Sang? ”

Listening to Li Cunzhong's words, Xue Ping couldn't help laughing.

"Cunzhong, you think too much, according to my understanding of Li Xiang, this is not a temptation, but Li Xiang is ready to do this at all."

Li Cunzhong was uneasy: "I've seen ideas trying to weigh themselves, but I've never seen people who can't wait to push power out." What is this Yixing Society Standing Committee, what is the committee? I still haven't figured it out. ”

Han Qi took a sip of wine and was silent for a moment before saying, "This is what I admire most about Li Xiang." Li Xiang believes that no matter how wise and wise a person is, he cannot match the wisdom and wisdom of a group, so he believes that using a group to govern together will be more beneficial to the country of Datang than a person holding power and making a promise. He seeks the eternal benefits of the Tang Dynasty, not the interests of a moment. It is possible for an emperor to become a faint monarch, but the possibility of such a committee being completely mediocre is almost non-existent. ”

"The six members of the Standing Committee plus the emperor are in charge of the overall situation, and the 32 members participate in major decisions, and major matters related to the national economy and people's livelihood need to be approved by more than two-thirds of the people above the plenary meeting of the Yixing Society before they can be implemented." Xue Ping said slowly: "These statecraft strategies are indeed unheard of, unprecedented, and have opened a precedent for governing the country, but after I have carefully studied them, I feel that they are really wonderful." ”

"The Economic Development Commission, the Military Commission, the Discipline Supervision Commission, the Intelligence Commission, the Culture, Education and Health Commission...... Li Xiang divided the power in his hands into these committees one by one, and each member of the Standing Committee held real power in his hands, which really formed a check and balance on them. ”

Li Cunzhong said: "With Li Xiang's prestige, I don't think these people will have the courage to fight against Li Xiang at that time. ”

"It makes sense. But Lee Xiang has such prestige that can convince everyone, and what about the future? Xue Ping smiled: "When a system is formed and stabilized, the further it goes, the more its power will be revealed." Lee Sang is able to suppress everyone with his prestige, but what about the next person? ”

"Li Xiang's successor definitely does not have the ability to respond to every call again, and at that time, he can only negotiate and compromise. The emperor said that the matter of raiding the family and exterminating the clan would never happen again. Isn't this important for those of us who are a little embarrassed? Han Qi said with a smile. This in itself is the original intention of Li Xiang to design this system. ”