Chapter 367: The Tang Dynasty Changes to the World (Part 2)

"Condition?" Zhang Huan suddenly looked at Cui Yuan with some vigilance. Cui Yuan was different from Pei You. When he and Pei You proposed to stop the army, the Pei family was defeated in Hebei. People were in panic. He took preconceptions and controlled the Pei family under his own ideas. Cui Yuan could think calmly. Judging from his promise without hesitation, he must have thought about this matter carefully. With Cui Yuan's scheming calculation, his small condition must not be that simple. Even if it is simple, there must be a deep meaning behind it.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huan said without saying a word: "Please tell me Ge Ge!"

Cui Yuan looked at Zhang Huan deeply. From the moment when Zhang Huan's eyes changed, he knew that Zhang Huan's heart was already alert. He had been in politics for decades and had a very thorough understanding of almost every political enemy. If the officialdom was like a battlefield, then he would be able to know himself and his enemy, and never be defeated in a hundred battles. The same is true for Zhang Huan, from his initial contempt to his hostility toward him, and finally paying attention to him. Although he had fallen in the crisis caused by the family civil strife, it did not mean that he did not care about the changes in the situation in the court. In recent years, Zhang Huan rose in Longyou, gradually eroding the territory and expanding his strength. If this is the case, it means that he is still a big warlord, just to seize the throne and reach the top of the Nine Five.

But from the time Zhang Huan fought against Anxi, Cui Yuan immediately realized that he had encountered a talented and strategic leader of the revival, and would even set a precedent for the Tang Dynasty. For this reason, Cui Yuan began to fall into the contradiction between the family and the world. From the century-old history of the Tang Dynasty, the interests of aristocratic families have always been irreconcilable with the interests of the world. It is a great threat to the imperial power. From Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian, the Tang Dynasty spared no effort to weaken the power of the aristocratic families, although in the nuclear power.

The court was successful at the level of power at the heart level, but the aristocratic families emerged in a large number of talents and always firmly controlled the Tang Dynasty. Once the court was in a weak position, the aristocratic families would come and control the power. After the Anshi Rebellion, it formed the aristocratic government. Now, the Tang Dynasty seems to have reached an era of strong trunks and weak branches. Should it go through a cycle, the aristocratic families lie dormant again, or be destroyed from this? For this reason, Cui Yuan's heart was filled with many contradictions and confusions.

As the leader of one of the largest families in the Tang Dynasty, it is his unshirkable responsibility to safeguard the interests of the family. He must always consider the interests of the Cui family. Whether he abandoned the position of right prime minister and devoted himself to repair the family's loopholes; or starting from a century-old plan to compete for Zhang Huan's harem for the Cui family, thereby affecting his succession to the throne, these are all specific manifestations of his consideration for the Cui family.

But as a politician, he needed to consider the overall interests of the Tang Dynasty and devote himself to the prosperity and strength of the entire dynasty. During his ten years in power, he thought about it and thought about it. At the same time, he was also very clear about the contradiction between the aristocratic families and the world. The most typical contradiction is land. The aristocratic families have endless desire for land. They need a large amount of land to support the army. In this way, the annexation of land and the maintenance of slaves will intensify the conflicts at the bottom, seriously affect the fiscal revenue of the court, and shake the ruling foundation of this dynasty.

So when Zhang Huan asked him what the most pressing question was at present, he answered that it was a kind of helplessness to treat it without doing anything. He knew the root cause of the problem? But he also hoped that Zhang Huan would use a gentle way to solve this root cause.

Now is the time for him to face it. He hopes to exchange a small request for the Cui family's abandonment of the army. Zhang Huanzheng listens quietly!

"My Cui family is in Qinghe County and Shandong, and there are nearly 200,000 hectares of land in Hedong. In order to cooperate with Zhang Shangshu's military land system, my Cui family is willing to contribute half of the land to the court as the basis for granting land, but I also hope that the court will give us a promise to ensure that the rest of the land exists as the Yongye field of the Cui family."

Cui Yuan paused for a moment, then smiled slightly and said, "Of course, as a thank you to Shangshu Zhang for your support, the Cui family is willing to present the most beautiful daughter to Shangshu Zhang as a concubine."

Cui Xuezhu's peerless appearance flashed through Zhang Huan's mind, of course, just a flash of time. At this time, his focus was not on women, but on Cui Yuan, he had touched the core interests of the aristocratic family - land.

Zhang Huan walked slowly in the flower pavilion with his hands behind his back, thinking about this problem he had to face. Frankly speaking, although the land annexation problem was serious, whether to seize the land of these big families would not have much impact on the plan to grant land. In recent years, the Shuzhong Rebellion, the Xiangyang Rebellion, and the Central Plains Rebellion, the fertile fields he had in his hands were no less than one million hectares, and there was also the vast land in the Western Regions. It should be said that re-giving land was not a problem. At least his military farmland system could be implemented nationwide, so relatively limited land, abolishing slavery system and increasing the number of self-cultivated farmers were the top priority. If no one cultivated land, what is the use of their family's land?

But the essence of the problem is not how much land the aristocratic family occupies, but how to control the huge power of the aristocratic family. Zhang Huan is very aware of this. Weakening the aristocratic family cannot be completed in a short time, or even in a year or two. It is a long-term, all-round weakening process, and even his harem is also a battlefield for competing with the aristocratic family.

After repeated weighing the pros and cons, Zhang Huan suddenly laughed and said, "How many people can the Cui family have? Do you need to support them with 100,000 hectares of land?"

Sacrifice to the ancestral temple should be just a very ordinary event. It is usually the same as every household priest sacrificial tablet. For a hundred years, the Tang Dynasty had to offer sacrifices to the ancestral temple every year. Generally speaking, the royal family organized by Zongzheng Temple to participate. When encountering some more solemn sacrifices, hundreds of officials must participate. However, this situation is very rare, and most of them only happen when the emperor ascends the throne or dies.

Today's sacrifice is the first sacrifice in Xuanren in four years. The time chosen is not the New Year or the Zhongyuan Festival, but on one day in March, such an ordinary sacrifice has touched the hearts of countless people. Not only are officials above the fifth rank in Beijing going to attend the ritual, but they are also specially placed on the court for one day. From the ritual, this is an ordinary sacrifice, but its key is the return of the most powerful royal family in the Tang Dynasty and the starting point of a new era. All the royal families and civil and military officials participating in the sacrifice will witness this moment.

As the sky was dawn, low and powerful trumpets rang over the imperial city. With the arrival of Mao Shizheng, two teams of 108 guards rushed out of Chengtianmen Gate in their clothes and walked slowly along the Anshangmen Street. Behind them a long team of eunuchs, featuring meat, wine, brocade, sword, talisman seal, various gold and silver sacrificial vessels, etc. They followed the opening guards and walked slowly. The Taimiao is located in the southeast corner of the imperial city, covering an area of ​​nearly a hundred hectares. It enshrines the tablets and sculptures of emperors of all dynasties since the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan, and the tablets of six emperors who were named princes but did not succeed the throne: Emperor Li Xian, Prince Yin Li Jiancheng, Prince Yin Li Xian, Prince Zhanghuai Li Chongrun, Prince Yide Li Chongjun, Prince Jiemin Li Chongjun, and the old prince Li Yu who had just been built and not yet enthroned.

Almost as the opening guard drove out of Chengtian Gate, all the officials of the Tang Dynasty and royal families lined up from the left and right gates to the Taimiao. Everyone stood on the empty Taimiao Square, with the royal families on the left and the officials on the right, each holding a tablet with a solemn and solemn expression. Thousands of armored warriors were lined around the Taimiao.

Today's celebrity is Li Han, Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, and the main priest is Li Qiu, the minister of Zongzheng Temple. Not far away is the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhang Huan, the Minister of War. He was wearing a black first-class sacrificial robe, a shaved crown on his head, a long sword on his waist, a jade pendant on his waist, and a purple ribbon on his face. He looked extremely serious.

"The good time is here!" As the master shouted, the big bell in the Taimiao was ringing, heavy and long, and the gate slowly opened. The two teams of sixty-four horses were dressed in guards entering from both sides of the gate, while the eunuchs of offering goods walked in quickly from the side door, holding the sacrifices and putting the sacrifices into the main hall in turn.

"Spend the sacrifice! The clan enters the interior." The celebrant shouted again. Hundreds of royal children followed Li Qiu into the majestic Taiqing Palace. In the middle of the hall was the holy ancestor Xuanyuan Emperor Li Er, who was the ancestor respected by the Tang Dynasty royal family. Behind the main hall were the temples of each emperor, each with temple names, such as Taizong, Gaozong Temple, Xuanzong Temple, etc., and there were five other Prince Temples, but a smaller temple was specially built next to the Prince Temple, which was the Prince Temple of Yu.

"Kowtow!" The emcee shouted loudly. Li Qi led hundreds of royal clans to kneel down slowly and bowed to his ancestors with the most pious heart.

"Bow again!"

"Three bows!"

The master of ceremonies Li Han immediately started the sacrifice and recited loudly: "In the late spring, in the third month of Meng, there are 417 children of the Li clan, and worship the ancestors and clans in the spirits of heaven..." Thousands of words were sprinkled, and at the end, everyone finally heard the theme of today.

"The seventh son of Prince Yu, Huan, was buried among the people at a young age, and has been around for 32 years. However, his desire to join his ancestors has not been eliminated and he has made great contributions to the country. Now the clan unanimous decision was made to allow him to return to the emperor to the Taimiao. It is said that the seventh son of Prince Yu, Huan, came to worship!"

The eunuch standing in front of the Taimiao shouted: "Therefore, the seventh son of the prince Yuzhi, Huan, came to worship!"

Zhang Huan straightened his waist and followed the leader's ceremonial strode into the side door of the main temple. He did not immediately kneel down to worship Li Er, but followed the master's ceremonial Li Han and hundreds of royal families to the temple of the former prince Li Yu. The main hall door was already open. Through the direct sunlight, Li Yu's statue could be clearly seen. This was the first time Zhang Huan saw his biological father. The whole statue was carved with white marble, with delicate brushwork and lifelike statues. Li Yu's expression was peaceful, he gently stroked his long beard, and his eyebrows and eyes were exuding a kind of conquest.

Without the shouting of the emcee, Zhang Huan had slowly knelt down. At this moment, he seemed to have forgotten his journey to return to the clan. An inexplicable emotion made him excited and made his heart start to feel pain. In the Zhang family, the days when he had not been cared for by his father since childhood, it seemed that he was still vivid in his mind. The days when he and his mother were living under someone else's roof, the indifference of countless rolling eyes came into his mind one by one. Who would have thought that his biological father would be the old prince who died tragically in the palace coup?

Although he had never remembered his father's smile, he felt that his heart had begun to have a wonderful communication with the temple. Their blood was connected. He suddenly remembered that his father had shouted at the moment of death: "My son will definitely fulfill my last wish!"
Chapter completed!