The news of Li Yuan's death and Li Shimin's killing by his own generals soon spread all over the world with Tang Feng, although it caused sighs from people all over the world, but some people still had some doubts about Li Yuan's death. It's just that none of these can change the general trend, that is, Li Xin completely pacified the world, and the Central Plains returned to the rule of the imperial court.

Of course, Li Xin did not return to Chang'an like this, he stayed in Yecheng, and ordered Li Xuanba, the Duke of Cao Guo, to help Li Yuan's coffin go to Longxi, and Li Yuan will be buried in the ancestral tomb of the Li family in Longxi, which can be regarded as a return to the roots.

The reason why Li Xin stayed in Yecheng was not only to command the generals to pacify Hebei and Shandong, but more importantly, because of the Shandong family, the Shandong family was deeply rooted, and the land, salt industry, officialdom, academies, etc. were united to form a huge interest group.

"Although the Shandong family is in the hands of the Li family, it has been hit hard, all the private soldiers have been extracted, and there may only be some family members in the family, and they will definitely not be able to compete with the Tang Dynasty in terms of military strength, but Your Majesty should not forget that the most powerful thing in the Shandong family is not the private soldiers, nor the money, but the interests. Shandong families intermarry with each other, although there are some entanglements and disputes, but the interests are entangled with each other, and if they want to deal with a family, in fact, they still deal with a family. Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng and others walked with Li Xin on the side of the Zhanghe River, looking at the scenery by the Zhanghe River.

Spring has arrived, the willow trees next to it have sprouted, the air is fresh at this time, and Li Xin's favorite thing is to go on an outing in the wild with a few courtiers. Now is also the time to take advantage of the leisure time, it will be like this.

"What Your Majesty wants to deal with is an interest group, the Shandong family has been grouped, of course, they are always grouped, whether it is in the previous dynasty or the Li family, it has formed a force, and even the court does not dare to underestimate each other." Wei Zheng also said: "But because of this. The minister suggested that His Majesty must smash such an interest group, why did the previous dynasty perish, in addition to Yang Guang's good deeds and abuse of people's power, it was more caused by these Kwantung families, and what Your Majesty should do is to reduce the influence of the Shandong family on the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise, His Majesty will become the second Yang Guang. ”

A wry smile appeared at the corner of Li Xin's mouth, but Jing Jing and the others glanced at Wei Zheng dissatisfied, this Wei Zheng was too bad at speaking. If you can say such a thing, aren't you afraid that Li Xin will be angry?

"Wei Zheng has a point, in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, there were many rebellions in Shandong, and a few cities could raise tens of thousands of troops, isn't it a joke? Behind these rebels is more or less the figure of the Shandong family, even if you don't say it, I know it. Li Xin waved his hand and said, "It's just that the Shandong family is coming soon." The Zheng family, the Lu family, Boling Cui, Qinghe Cui, and even the Gao family of Bohai all gathered in Yecheng, saying that they were here to meet me. In fact, I think it's just about maintaining the current situation, the Shandong family is still the Shandong family, and the court is still the court. The Maison wields worldly power. The imperial court needs the service of the family. ”

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely not good, the family is just carrion. They are attached to the imperial court on weekdays, absorbing the imperial court, but they continue to destroy the imperial court, if one day the Tang Dynasty declines, these families will be the first to rebel. Wei Zheng Zhengrong said: "The minister thinks that if you want to get rid of these families, the first step is to limit their people, and the second step is to limit their fields." ”

"Oh, what do you mean by restricting people?" Li Xin suddenly became interested and asked curiously.

"The so-called restriction of its people means to limit the number of its population, and the number of members of any family shall not exceed fifty, and there shall not be any private soldiers. At the beginning of the Li family, the private soldiers of the major families were constantly transferred, which was actually for this purpose. Although the Li clan is now extinct, the minister thinks that this order to abolish the private army must be issued to all families. Wei Zheng said loudly.

"Yes, there must be no private soldiers, and I Datang will not allow the existence of private soldiers anywhere." Li Xin nodded.

"Second, limit its fields, this is what His Majesty is doing in the whole country, and Shandong must not let go, the Shandong family occupied a large amount of farmland when the Li family ruled Hebei and Shandong, and these farmlands are all over Shandong, Hebei, and even Youzhou, Your Majesty must first forcibly order these families to return to the land of the Li family, and then use various methods to continuously weaken the land occupation of these families." Wei Zheng said: "These big families, on weekdays, crisscross Shandong, where there are many fish and meat people, Your Majesty can punish the children of these families according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, or destroy their side branches, or take everything they have." Your Majesty occupies the righteousness, and it is impossible for these families to oppose it. ”

Li Xin frowned slightly, if the family clan is so easy to defeat, for thousands of years, it will not affect generation after generation, until the end of the Tang Dynasty, the peasant uprising of Huang Chao and others and the political chaos of the five dynasties and ten countries have completely disappeared in the long river of history, Wei Zheng's two methods look good, but they can only solve the problem for a while, not the root.

"Your Majesty, the third is the academy and the imperial examination. This is a long-term process. Wei Zheng seemed to see Li Xin's suspicions, and said: "The reason why the Shandong family is very powerful is because there are too many scholars in the Shandong family, they encourage the scholars, and even subsidize these scholars, and then once these scholars pass the imperial examination, they will definitely repay these families, so the minister thinks that His Majesty is to teach and educate people, increase investment in the children of the poor family, and implement academies everywhere in Shandong to subsidize those poor students." The minister knows that even if it is a big family, every family must be a rich and noble family, and there must be poor children. The loss of these poor children is equivalent to cutting off the foundation of the Kwantung family. ”

"Anything else?" Li Xin was already interested and asked curiously.

"Discord! Of course, these families intermarry with each other, but in the face of absolute interests, any intermarriage is useless, Your Majesty in these families, choose one or two good women to accept, the family will inevitably cause filth, and the two women fight each other in the palace, once again play a role in discord, the Kanto family, its heart is not in harmony, how can they deal with the court together? Wei Zheng said again.

"Fifth, mercantilism. Supporting the first and second families, suppressing other families, this financial gap is enough to change the balance of power of the Kanto family, the interests of the Shandong family are only so big, if this family is divided, there will definitely be other families will be less, and the two sides will definitely have contradictions. Wei Zheng admonished again.

"Wei Zheng is old and seeks the country, and I am very relieved. The decree added Wei Zheng as the counselor and the ambassador of Shandong. After Li Xin heard this, he couldn't help but clap his hands and say. (To be continued.) )