Chapter 943 The crisis of the country
Today's Chengqian made Qin Lang feel disappointed.
Qin Lang noticed the change in Chengqian, and he believed that Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji must have discovered it a long time ago. Why did Prince Shotoku Chengqian change so much? Qin Lang felt that puberty cannot be simply used to determine the conclusion. From the time he became a prince at the age of eight, it was smooth sailing for Chengqian.
After a detailed conversation with Wei Chang, Qin Lang was able to confirm that Cheng Qian's change was not sudden, but changed little by little in the past few years. That Prince Shotoku was no longer just the dissatisfaction of Kong Yingda and other famous teachers of Confucianism in the Eastern Palace. Many of his behaviors were indeed deviant.
If it continues like this, I'm afraid it will get worse and worse. Even Li Shimin can't control the situation and it will be difficult to clean up.
Is it possible that history has so-called inertia?
Chengqian finally changed?
Is he going to become a deposed prince in the end?
Qin Lang shook his head, it was difficult to accept such a fact, not to mention that he did have a teacher-student friendship with Cheng Qian, even the Qin family's bets on Cheng Qian over the years made Qin Lang unable to bear such a loss.
If Chengqian falls, the Tang court will be in great turmoil.
No wonder Li Shimin had previously revealed his dissatisfaction with Chengqian in front of Changsun Wuji, Qin Qiong, etc., and said that he lacked tempering, and even loved Li Tai, another first prince, in the past two years. Is this because Li Shimin is really disappointed in Chengqian and is planning to train another successor, or is he planning to use Li Tai to stimulate Chengqian?
The princes are getting older, but the ones who can really threaten Li Chengqian's status are the two direct brothers and one concubine brother, Wei Wang Li Tai, Jin Wang Li Zhi, and Wu Wang Li Ke.
Li Tai and Li Zhi were both born to the eldest grandson empress, with the same mother as the crown prince, while Li Ke was born to Concubine Yang, who has also been known as a virtuous king in recent years. In addition, his mother was a princess of the Sui Dynasty, and the Yang family of Hongnong was in the court. The power in the court is also very strong, even in the harem, there are several Concubines Yang and Concubines Yang.
The princess concubine Li Shimin chose for Chengqian was the Wugong Su family, the great-granddaughter of Sui Dynasty Prime Minister Su Wei, and the daughter of Su Dan, a scholar at the time.
The concubine Wu who was selected for Li Ke was his cousin, the niece of Concubine Yang. Yang Yu, the father of Concubine Wu Yang, was the son of Yang Shigui, the younger brother of Yang Xiong, king of Sui Guan, and Yang Gongren and Yang Shidao, the prime ministers of the current dynasty, were the sons of Yang Xiong. Therefore, Li Ke's father-in-law was the same grandfather as Yang Gongren and Yang Shidao. cousins.
The Yang family of Hongnong was not only the royal family of the Sui Dynasty, but also the Guanlong family clan, and they were married to other clan clans. For example, Yang Xiong's Guan Wangfei was the granddaughter of Changsun Zhi, and his second concubine was the Taiyuan Wang family. Another example is that Yang Xiong's third daughter married the Yan family, and her daughter entered Li Shimin's palace, and she became Concubine Yan De.
Concubine Yan De and Concubine Yang are actually cousins.
Other daughters married Doulu family, Li family, etc. It can be said that the Hongnong Yang family had marriages with almost all famous families.
Li Ke's Wu Wangfei Yang's family background is even stronger than the martial arts Su's family, and the relationship between Li Ke and Hongnong Yang's family is even closer.
What's more, Li Shimin married Hongnong Yang as Princess Wu for Li Ke, and then gave him the daughter of Lanling Xiao.
The Tang emperor’s harem had one empress, four concubines and nine concubines, etc., while the prince had the crown prince, prince Liangdi, Liangyuan, Chenghui, Zhaoxun, Fengyi, etc.
As for the prince, under the prince and concubine, there are two children, who are regarded as the fifth rank, and ten concubines, who are regarded as the sixth rank.
Prince Ruren is considered a noble concubine, similar to Prince Liangdi.
The Xiao family in Lanling was a child of Wu Wangru. This Xiao family was also born in a prominent family, but she was the niece of Prime Minister Xiao Yu, and also the niece of Queen Yang Guangxiao of the Sui Dynasty.
From this aspect, it can be seen that Li Shimin treats the concubine Li Ke quite well. His marriage and choice of wives and concubines are all very careful.
Hongnong Yang family and Lanling Xiao family are both top famous families in the world, and both were once royal families.
In contrast, Li Ke's half-brother Li Yin received much worse treatment. As the sixth son of the emperor, Li Yin was even crowned king several years later than the other brothers. It is true that this person has been naughty and mischievous since he was a child, and he became even more unscrupulous when he grew up and left the palace.
Going in and out of the market, restaurants, brothels, competing with others, hunting with dogs and hawks, often trampling on people's crops, and even openly beating officials on Chang'an Avenue for fighting for roads.
Angrily Li Shimin scolded him that beasts are inferior, saying that even beasts can make them obey people as long as they are properly tamed, and even iron and stone can be useful as long as they are refined properly.
Li Yin was punished several times, grounded, cut off, etc., but Li Yin was as unrepentant as a stubborn stone. Therefore, Li Shimin previously granted Li Ke the title of governor of Nanning Prefecture, the fifth son of the emperor Li You, king of Qi, was appointed governor of Dongning Prefecture, and the fourth son Li Tai was appointed governor of Xining Prefecture.
But when he came to the sixth son, Li Yin, it was as if he didn't exist.
Li Shimin didn't even pay much attention to Li Min's marriage. The fiancée he engaged was neither from five surnames or seven surnames, nor from Guanlong six surnames, nor even from the family of the prime minister in the court.
Li Ke's marriage is even stronger than Li Tai's.
Princess Yan, the concubine of King Li Tai of Wei, also came from a famous family. She is the daughter of Yan Lide, the new minister of the Ministry of Industry. Married to the royal family.
The Yan family is also famous, that is, the Yan family is also a famous family of calligraphy and painting, and even a family of architectural design.
Father and son Yan Pi, Yan Liben, and Yan Lide are all famous painters, architects, and designers.
Yan Lide is currently the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. He used to be a master craftsman. His brother Yan Liben was the one who painted the portraits of the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion for Li Shimin. Both brothers were officials in the Qin Palace. Yan Liben was a doctor of the Ministry of Punishment before, and now he is a general as a young prisoner.
During the Zhenguan period, the famous large-scale civil engineering projects in the imperial court were almost all presided over by their brothers. For example, Qin Lang inspector Sikong was responsible for the construction of Xianling, Zhaoling, Daming Palace and other projects. In fact, these two brothers were responsible for the design and construction.
The Yan family is famous for its paintings, crafts, and architecture, and they have been married to the royal family for generations, and they have been dignified for generations. Li Tai, as the second son of the emperor, married the daughter of the Yan family. Ling Xiao's is definitely not as good.
As for the martial arts Su family who was born as the princess of Chengqian, it is obviously inferior.
Li Shimin has more than a dozen sons, and now the third prince Wu Wang Li Ke and the fourth prince Wei Wang Li Tai are known as the virtuous kings in the court and the public. As for the third son of the emperor, Jin Wang Li Zhi is still relatively young.
Prince Shotoku has been working for ten years, but now he has begun to rebel.
The relationship between East Palace and Taiji Palace is already somewhat tense.
Why didn't Li Shimin choose Chengqian a princess with five surnames and seven families, or the six surnames of Guanlong? It's not that I can't, but I don't want to.
Many people mistakenly think that the five surnames and seven families are superior, even above the royal family. Five surnames and seven families belong to the gentry, and the gentry are the most influential in the prosperous times of the dynasty, but in troubled times, it is difficult to protect themselves.
From the execution of Cui Hao in the Northern Wei Dynasty to the exile of Cui Junchuo, the Duke of Dongjun by Yang Guang, there have been examples of attacking these so-called top gentry in all dynasties, and they were very ruthless. The gentry catastrophe.
Not to mention the Hou Jing Rebellion, which almost wiped out the famous families in the south of the Yangtze River. What Wang Xie, Gu Lu, Zhu Zhang has been depressed ever since.
So when Li Yuan was only the prefect of Xingyang in the Sui Dynasty, he was able to marry the daughter of the Zheng family in Xingyang for his son Li Jiancheng, and his sister was also married to the Taiyuan Wang family in Hedong.
After the Li family took over the world, when Li Shimin was only the king of Qin, in addition to the Changsun family, Hongnong Yang family, Qinghe Cui family, Xingyang Zheng family, Taiyuan Wang family, and Yin family, Yan's, Webster's and so on.
After Li Shimin became the emperor, almost all the so-called five surnames and seven surnames, and the six surnames of Guanlong, had women in the palace.
So as long as Li Shimin opened his mouth and said that he wanted to marry a woman with five surnames for the prince, there would be no problem, and even each family could fight over it.
The time when the five surnames and seven sects were really the most powerful in the Tang Dynasty was not at the beginning of the founding of the country, but in the middle Tang or even the middle and late Tang. The era of these top gentry clansmen, this is also the peak period of the gentry clansmen.
Especially after the Anshi Rebellion, the life of the Li family of the royal family has long been in decline, and it is very difficult. The emperor of the Li family in Chang'an sometimes cannot guarantee food, and rebellions happen from time to time. Therefore, at that time, the five surnames The Qi family already looked down on the royal family somewhat.
If the emperor said that he wanted to marry his daughter to seven families with five surnames as a daughter-in-law, those children with five surnames would escape from Chang'an as if they could escape, and they would not marry.
Firstly, at that time, the reputation of Li Tang princesses had long been discredited by such famous princesses as Princess Taiping, Gaoyang, etc., and secondly, they became consorts of the Li family. really.
The Five Surnames and Seven Families are themselves famous gentry families. Academically, they have family background and strong financial resources. Therefore, in the middle and late Tang Dynasty when the imperial examinations were flourishing, the Five Surnames and Seven Families almost occupied a monopoly position in the imperial examinations. At that time, the prime minister, It's almost like taking turns in these few of them.
What Lanling Xiao Qinghe Cui Xingyang Zheng Taiyuan Wang Fan Yanglu, etc., each family has produced 20 or 30 prime ministers, of course they are qualified enough to be arrogant.
But at this time in the Tang Dynasty, the five surnames and seven families did not have this capital. The five surnames haven't even really entered the political center, and the prime ministers haven't mixed into one, so why dare to despise the royal family?
Li Shimin just didn't want to marry a woman with five surnames for Chengqian, it's not that he couldn't.
The political status of the seven families with five surnames is not high at this time, and Li Shimin also deliberately suppressed them, and occasionally comforted a sweet date, in order to stabilize the regime.
After all, the Li family was born in the Guanlong Group, Guanzhong is the standard, and Li Shimin is relying on the help of the Shandong military upstart group to fight the world. Of course, the Guanlong Group and the military upstarts are the first. Let them go everywhere?
One more thing, Li Shimin is also very scrupulous about the five surnames and the seven families. After all, these are noble clans for hundreds of years. He doesn't want the prince's wives to be too powerful. With the same consideration, Li Shimin didn't choose Chengqian's general's daughter as the crown princess, but finally chose the Wugong Su family, who was also the prime minister's family, and also a first-class noble family in Guanlong.
Fame is enough, family style is good, people are not bad, no other worries.
It's just that Prince Chengqian doesn't seem to understand his father's good intentions, and it just so happens that he dislikes the Su family, so this good marriage that Li Shimin carefully considered and chose has become the introduction of the gap between their father and son.
(end of this chapter)