Li Shimin seemed to attach great importance to Xia Hongsheng's opinion, his expression was solemn, he sat up straight, and said to Xia Hongsheng: "Please also ask Xia Qing to come for me!" ”

Xia Hongsheng also sat up straight, and said to Li Shimin: "Your Majesty, the minister just said that the rise and fall is not something that can be decided by one person, but the comprehensive result of all aspects and everything. The minister said to His Majesty one aspect at a time. Let's start with the most minor reasons. The most important thing is the human cause, that is, the monarch's reason. ”

"Monarch?" Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, and then asked suspiciously: "What does Xia Qing mean by this?" The husband and the monarch of the country, the system of a country, the mandate of heaven, the rule of the people, the rule of the four seas, and the blessing of the world. Since ancient times, the change of countries has been due to the monarch's immorality, why does Xia Qing say that the monarch is the secondary? ”

"Hehe, Your Majesty, and listen to Weichen's words one by one, you will know why Weichen said so." Xia Hongsheng smiled and said to Li Shimin: "Let's talk about this monarch first." The founding kings of all dynasties and dynasties all started from the chaos of the world, fought in all directions, pacified the world, personally experienced the era of wars and chaos, and the people were not able to make a living, and saw the people's livelihood and hardships with their own eyes. Such a monarch is more able to put himself in the shoes of the people of the world. Whether it is out of sincerity or political needs, at least we will seriously listen to the demands of the people and seek benefits for the people in exchange for their trust and support. Later kings, the glory of their fathers is still close at hand, and with this example, most of them can continue to implement the policies and measures of their fathers that benefit the people, or perhaps in order to win a better prestige than their fathers, so they can also keep it. But the further back he went, the prince was raised in the deep palace since he was a child. Live like pigs in clover. Do not eat the fireworks of the world. Without seeing the people's livelihood and suffering, all the means he can or may have information about the outside world can only be heard, not seen. In this way, the people are just a concept in their minds, a term that must be spoken, but not a real existence. All his life experiences are confined to this deep palace, which is why there is that kind of joke of 'why not eat minced meat'. Zhuangzi once said. Well frogs can't talk to the sea, and they are confined to nothingness; Summer insects can't talk to the ice, but to the time; Qushi should not speak to the Taoist, and be bound to the teaching. That's it. ”

"What Xia Qing said is reasonable." Li Shimin nodded and said: "I have lived in the deep palace for a long time, and I don't know about folk affairs, it has been the case throughout the ages!" ”

"Your Majesty, in fact, it is still those eight words: born in sorrow, died in peace." Xia Hongsheng said to Li Shimin: "I have only fallen." I know how to walk safely. The kings of all dynasties and dynasties have gone further back. The farther away they are from the people, the people they know are only the people in the mouths of the courtiers around them, not the people who really live in this land. Therefore, it is natural that they cannot truly understand the people, and they cannot meet the demands of the people, and the people will naturally not trust their own monarch. Moreover, the more the monarch goes back, the ancestors have already died out of the things that have worked hard to conquer the world, and the previous emperors have laid a good foundation, and the later monarchs do not need to do anything, they have not experienced it, and naturally they have no corresponding ability, and they don't know how to deal with it properly. In addition, since I was a child, I have never been in the palace to get in touch with the people, this society, since I was a child, people will naturally become squeamish and become unable to eat. It's not that he is greedy for pleasure, but in the eyes of others, the life of 'greedy for pleasure' is just 'normal' in his eyes. Such a monarch is destined to be an incompetent person and will not achieve anything. ”

Li Shimin nodded approvingly, and on the side, a woman was writing hard at the desk, recording everything Xia Hongsheng said.

Xia Hongsheng paused, and continued: "This person is naturally not only the monarch, it is not enough for a country to have only a monarch, and there must be someone to put the monarch's orders into practical action. These people are the courtiers. The importance of courtiers is incomparable, because the courtiers of the Manchu Dynasty are the eyes, ears, hands and feet of the king. The courtiers who founded the country followed the emperor of the founding of the country to pacify the world and make suggestions, and they were very convinced and awe-inspiring to the king, so they were able to be loyal. And they are also people who have experienced war and chaos and know that people's livelihood is difficult, so they are often able to be honest and honest. And then the new king, because the prestige of the previous king is still there, so these courtiers often still support the king. Moreover, this world was fought by them along with the emperor, and they had a part of the strength in the founding of the country. People are always more fond of what they make with their own hands. The meals you make yourself feel more delicious, the hunting dogs you raise will be more intimate, and the objects you carefully carve are also more cherished. This world was created by them together, so they also love it even more. Therefore, the courtiers of the first few dynasties were often able to minister and minister, and they were also able to speak out and dare to admonish and ask for the people's lives. Moreover, these courtiers all stood out in the war, and needless to say the difficulties and dangers they encountered, so they were all outstanding. ”

"Not bad!" Li Shimin nodded, and said proudly: "I am full of talents, Wen, I have Wuji, Fang Du, Wei Zheng, Gao Shilian, Yu Shinan and so on; Wu, I have handsome talents like Li Jing and Li Tao, as well as fierce generals such as Jingde, Shubao, and Zhijie. The Minister of Civil and Military Affairs has many talents! With my military merits, I was named the King of Qin by the Emperor Taishang, and I was promoted to the general of Tiance, and I am a talent in the palace of the King of Qin, unparalleled in the world! ”

Xia Hongsheng nodded, and said again: "Yes, Your Majesty." Let's look forward, why is it that whenever the country is in turmoil, there must be ministers and evil officials in charge, and flatterers gain power? In fact, it was also because the country was stable as time went by, and the difficulties faced by these courtiers were far less than when the country was founded. And the ancestors of the emperor have become a story, and the new emperor has lived in the palace since he was a child, powerless. People's hearts are oriented towards profit, and in the face of this situation, greed will emerge in people's hearts, driving them to replace the interests of the country with their own interests. To put it bluntly, they are no better than those founding courtiers who have laid down the world with their own hands, they don't have much affection for this country, the country is just a platform for them to win fame, fortune and power, so naturally they can't do their best to contribute to the court. Occasionally, a few capable ministers were also jointly strangled because they violated their interests. In addition, the monarch's ability is weak, he has little knowledge, and he does not know the real situation outside the palace, so he is naturally easily deceived. Good medicine is bitter, loyal words are contrary to the ear, those ministers and evil officials are like honey, and they are naturally more able to win the favor of the king, so that the court is in collusion, and it is naturally difficult for the court to make a difference. ”

Li Shimin pondered, Xia Hongsheng did not speak, and the only sound in the pavilion was the rustling sound of a quill pen scratching the paper.

Xia Qing's words made my heart quite shaken. However, it makes perfect sense to go. Li Shimin was silent for a while, and then said, "What Xia Qing said just now has already made me feel terrified. Don't want to, this is actually the most secondary side? ”

Xia Hongsheng nodded and said: "Your Majesty, there are many people in the world, and the monarch is closed, so let the monarch go out of the palace gate to see the people." The traitors in the DPRK and China can always come up with a way to replace these people. But there are some things that go to the roots. In fact, in the end, it was the faint monarch and the traitorous ministers who led to the collapse of the country only on the surface, and the deeper root was the land. ”

"Land?" Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, and looked at Xia Hongsheng very puzzled: "Xia Qing, land is the foundation of the country and the foundation of the society, why has this land become the cause of the country's demise?" This ......"

"Your Majesty, no matter how large a country's territory is, it is ultimately limited. However, the population will increase with the development of society. Xia Hongsheng explained to Li Shimin: "With a population, you need to cultivate and live, and whether you are cultivating or living, you need land. As a result, as the population increases, each person will be able to occupy less and less land. Under the current system, land is the basis for everyone's survival, and people rely too much on land. When the people have land in their hands, they can cultivate and get food, and they can build houses and get dwellings. The so-called peaceful residence must first have a place to live, and then there can be a place to live, and then you can be happy. But as the population grows larger and the land becomes scarcer, there will inevitably be people who will not be able to get their share of the land. The more people lose their land, the more prone the country is to unrest. Because without land, people can't live. Their food needs to be taken out of the land, their dwelling needs to be taken out of the land, and their taxes need to be paid out of the land...... But without the land, all this is gone. When all the people of the country begin to have this kind of injustice, it only takes a spark to become a prairie fire immediately! ”

Li Shimin was stunned when he heard this, a look of shock appeared in his eyes, his brows were tightly locked, but he said eagerly: "But the population is born and dies, and my Tang Dynasty is thousands of miles away, can't this land support the people?" ”

Xia Hongsheng shook his head: "Your Majesty, I don't know if you have noticed, the possession of land is unfair." This is the root cause of the lack of land for the people. An official can have hundreds of hectares of land, a wealthy businessman can also have hundreds of hectares of land, and some peasant households do not even have an inch of land. Fang Cai Weichen has already said that in today's self-sufficient economic system, land is everything. Therefore, those who have the ability will naturally expand the land they occupy. Land is becoming more and more concentrated in the hands of a small number of big landlords and big bureaucrats, while the peasants are increasingly losing their land, or even having no land at all. In order to own more land, those people will use all kinds of means, especially in disaster years, when the landlords take advantage of the land to make the peasants who own the land sell their land and property and become tenant farmers. This is land annexation. ”

"The severity of land annexation has led to the concentration of a large amount of land in the hands of a few, while a large number of people have lost their land. In this way, it will inevitably lead to the outbreak of the peasant war, and the world will once again fall into strife. A change of dynasty, nothing more than this! (To be continued......)