The teacup was slowly turning in his hand, and Li Ze watched the half-human tall pines and cypresses swaying in the wind, and said for a long time: "Naturally, I thought about it, but I didn't get anything." ”

Gongsun Changming nodded, looking like he was really like this.

"I used to think that it would be good to be a prime minister like this." Li Ze said slowly: "I once envisioned a system, the emperor, can only be a symbol of the country, but has no actual rights. All authority is in the hands of the prime minister. ”

"No emperor would be willing to be an ornament." Gongsun Changming shook his head again and again: "If this is the case, then the struggle between the prime minister and the imperial power will inevitably run through the entire government, and in the end, one party will inevitably bleed." ”

"Originally, I thought I could do it." Li Zedao: "The original power of the imperial family has fallen to the bottom, and this is the best opportunity to limit the imperial power. Throughout my life, I have always been able to design and improve a complete set of such systems, but it is a pity that Xue Ping and Han Qi found a good family for the little emperor, and suddenly my wishful thinking fell into the void. If you still want to do this, then the next lawsuit with the Xiang family will be fought in the court. ”

"Li Xiang, with all due respect, even if there is no Xiang clan, this is not advisable." Gongsun Changming said: "You don't want to stand on your own behalf of Tang, but are willing to be a prime minister for the rest of your life." But is there any difference between you, the prime minister, and the power of the emperor? If there is, it's just a name. So what's next? And after you? If the new prime minister has the same powers as you, then who can guarantee that he wants to go further and simply go up on his own? Such a system is simply unrealistic. ”

Li Ze laughed: "This system, in fact, can definitely be hoped to be made, but I thought about it again and again, and during the period, I also had an in-depth discussion with Zhang Hui, Zhang Xun and other people who are knowledgeable in Wuwei Academy, and finally had to dispel this idea. Monarchs, ministers, fathers, sons, fathers and sons, our children have received such an education since childhood, and they need an emperor from the bottom of their hearts. ”

"Without the emperor, wouldn't the world be in chaos again?" Gongsun Changming was a little dazed.

Li Ze waved his hand, "I've thought of a second way." That is to use the Yixing Society as the basis to complete the absolute control of Datang. Mr. Gongsun, you can think of the Yixing Society as a party, and in fact it is exactly that. Now our army generals, local officials, more than eighty percent, are members of the Yixing Society, you all think that it is me Li Ze who controls the entire Tang Dynasty, but it is better to say that the Yixing Society is controlling the entire Tang Dynasty. From the army, to the local government, to the old people in the villages, to the business workshops, the members of the Yixing Society are all over the place, and under the order, the Yixing Society can exert incomparable energy. ”

The Yixing Society was originally an organization that Li Ze used to control his subordinates, but Gongsun Changming was not surprised. But he didn't expect that what Li Ze said next made him shocked and inexplicable.

"If that's the case, I think, is it okay for the emperor to do without it." Li Ze said to himself: "Every time the party leader of the Yixing Society naturally becomes the supreme head of the country. Now it's me, and next, you can elect a new supreme leader of the Yee Hing Society who meets the requirements. ”

Without waiting for Gongsun Changming to object, Li Ze shook his head again and said: "But I thought about it deeply, but I felt that it was a change of soup and not a change of medicine, I am afraid that it will lead to more blood and fighting, but anyone who has hope wants to fight, as you said, when you meet a capable and ambitious person, you want to live the emperor's addiction?" When he comes to power, I'm afraid that the Yixing Society, which we have worked so hard to build, will be the first one to be raised by this guy with a butcher's knife and slashed to pieces. ”

"Li Xiang is right, absolutely not, absolutely not."

"So I think about it, it's still a dead knot after all. No matter how you think about it, a dynasty always seems to be unable to avoid his final disappearance, which is really unwilling! Li Ze spread his hands and said.

"Li Xiang, you're thinking too much." Gongsun Changming said: "No matter how smart a person is, he can be counted as a god after two generations, and as for the future, God knows what kind of situation it will be at that time?" ”

"But I always want to be more ambitious!" Li Ze stood up and paced back and forth, "So I sent Xue Ping and them to the Western Regions, so that Li Cunzhong, Dai Lin and others could look at Tubo, and invest a huge amount of money to let Jin Mantang sail overseas, and when I heard that Jin Shiren had discovered a new piece of land and had gained a firm foothold, I immediately spared no effort to support them to continue to expand." I encourage ocean-going trade, vigorously carry out the knowledge of things in Wuwei Academy, and all this I do is to let us Tang people, this generation, the next generation and our children and grandchildren, be able to open our eyes to the world and have a full understanding of the world, instead of resting on our laurels and always maintaining a heart of outward victory, that is, the dynasty I have established can last longer. ”

Gongsun Changming felt that his thinking couldn't keep up with Li Ze's thoughts.

"Gongsun, tell me, why does a dynasty go from prosperity to decline? The founding emperors of each generation and even the second generation of emperors can be said to be elites, and the emperors of each generation are really stupid, I'm afraid there are very few, right? Just like the one lying in Zhenzhou now, can you say that he is mediocre and incompetent? He's just more than he can do. And now our little emperor is also a smart person, in Wuwei Academy, the study of various subjects is excellent. Li Zedao.

"No matter what kind of era, there are contradictions between different classes." Gongsun Changming thought for a moment and said, "It's just that in the heyday, such a contradiction was covered up. And with the continuation of the dynasty, the contradictions between the classes will become more and more prominent. It is said that people's hearts are not enough to swallow elephants, and that's it. In the Central Plains Dynasty, the biggest contradiction should actually be that the problem of land annexation has not been solved, a large amount of land is more and more concentrated in the hands of a small number of people, and wealth is more and more concentrated in the hands of a small number of people. But Li Xiang, you've solved this problem. Under the rule of the Tang Dynasty, the land under the name of each household could not exceed 1,000 mu, and the strict cascade tax system can be said to have eliminated the possibility of owning a large amount of land. From this alone, I feel that the future dynasty is promising. ”

"There is not enough land right now." Li Zedao.

"How is it possible, our officials in many places are worried about the lack of personnel." Gongsun Changming shook his head.

"That's now." Li Zedao: "Mr. Gongsun should pay attention to the birth rate and mortality rate under our current rule, right?" Since we started the census four years ago, we have added more than half a million people each year. Last year, there was a net increase of 800,000 people in the entire Northland. ”

"It seems that I heard Xia He say something!"

"In the past, there were few people, of course, because of years of war, famine, and too many deaths, but more importantly, there were too few births. When everyone can't even feed themselves, they dare to give birth to babies, and even if they do, many of them drown and abandon them. And now, life is getting better and better, and if you give birth to a baby, you can support it. And our people all believe in having more children and more blessings, as long as the economy is in time, it is a good life. Li Ze spread his hands: "So one day, our land will not be enough." ”

"That's a real problem!" Gongsun Changming suddenly realized: "So Li Xiang is looking at the outside, is he going to open up the territory and seek more land for future generations?" ”

"There's this idea!" Li Zedao: "The world is very big, but no land has no owner, so if we want our children and grandchildren to always have enough land, we must keep expanding outward, to fight with others, and to seize from others!" In the future, our empire will always maintain an ambition of outward expansion, as long as it keeps turning outward, then the internal contradictions will naturally be reduced, and as long as there is enough income externally, then it can make up for the lack of internal income. ”

"But Li Xiang, as the old saying goes, if you are warlike, you will die!" Gongsun Changming was a little apprehensive.

Li Ze smiled slightly: "So we need to always stay strong, always stronger than others." And when we are strong to a certain point, war, on the contrary, is the last choice, because at that time, maybe there will be an easier way to get what we want. ”

"Always better than others?" Gongsun Changming muttered.

"Yes, you must always be better than others!" Li Ze said with a smile: "Thinking of this, I feel that I should still be the emperor, because I need to use the prestige I have accumulated over the years in my lifetime to strongly promote the development of the country, not only land reform, the expansion of commerce and trade, but also the popularization of education and the progress of Gewu." ”

"As for my descendants, I think I can still educate my sons and grandchildren." Li Zehe laughed, "The children and grandchildren of the Li family will never be allowed to grow up in the hands of women in the deep palace, when they reach the age of studying, they will go out to study, and when they reach the age of doing things, they will go out to do things, and they will start from the bottom." Step by step, I don't think it's too bad. ”

"Li Xiang is far-sighted, and Gongsun is far behind." Gongsun Changming said sincerely.

"Actually, I've made up my mind, and I don't care about fame." Li Ze said: "So what you have to do in private, although I probably know what it is, I don't bother to care." ”

"If you can have a good reputation, you should naturally be better!" Gongsun Changming hurriedly said.

Li Ze laughed.