The eldest princess looked at the nearby Guanyin statue with complicated emotions and remained silent for a long time.
As a member of the Li royal family, the eldest princess knows the dark history of this country better than anyone else.
The founding emperor once promised the four powerful families that as long as they help him win the world, each powerful family will be granted a piece of fertile land and will live with Daliang forever.
Unfortunately, history is always surprisingly similar.
After the late emperor succeeded to the throne, he naturally wanted to consolidate the throne and firmly control the entire country in the hands of the Li family. As a result, any powerful family or individual would become a potential threat to the stability of the imperial power.
The cunning rabbit dies and the lackey is cooked.
When the birds are gone, the good bow is hidden.
This is a knot that every founding emperor cannot get around, but the strength of the four major families is too strong, and they have already sensed the approach of the butcher's knife, so they join forces to keep warm and compete with the Li family. In the first ten years, countless bloody and cruel battles between party members and dissidents took place.
Both the four major families and the Li family paid a heavy price.
In the end, the two sides chose to shake hands and make peace. The four major families were dominated by the Li family, and the Li family stopped killing people. Only then did they enter a short-term peace.
The subsequent generations of monarchs generally followed the policies of the late emperor and focused on appeasing the four major families.
But in the generation of Emperor Liang, the situation once again changed dramatically.
When Emperor Liang was still a prince, he had already shown strong hostility towards the four major families. Under his repeated remonstrances, the previous emperor issued several ultimatums to the four major families, either to surrender military power or to Launch a large-scale liquidation operation.
Just when the war was about to break out, the former emperor came and Liang's national policy changed from dealing with the four major families to a power struggle between Emperor Liang and Prince Ming.
Emperor Liang, who originally had little hope, had already been crowned king, but at the last moment, he took advantage of King Ming to go to the front line to condolences the soldiers, launched a forced coup, and took the lead in seizing the throne.
Emperor Liang, who succeeded in inheriting the throne, suppressed King Ming without any affection at all in the following days, and carried out a general purge of courtiers loyal to King Ming.
It was not until the throne was completely consolidated that Emperor Liang shifted his focus from Prince Ming to the four major families of the past.
Under a series of operations and power use by Emperor Liang, the four major families continued to collapse and were eventually suppressed in the southern border. Their power could no longer touch the hinterland of the Central Plains.
Although Emperor Liang launched several bloody purges, after so many years, the public's evaluation of Emperor Liang has always been more positive than negative.
Emperor Liang may not be a good person, but he is a good king.
The wealthy families in the south, headed by the Nangong family, represented the old aristocracy. They respected slavery and emphasized the theory of blood. Although Emperor Liang also cared about bloodline, his main national policy was to appoint people on merit and restored the imperial examination system, which provided a reliable channel for domestic talents to be obtained.
Not only that, under the pressure of Emperor Liang, the powerful gentry and local warriors who were domineering in the local area also restrained themselves a lot.
The most intuitive benefit is that prices have dropped and people can at least have enough to eat.
During his reign, Emperor Liang made only two major mistakes. One was his inability to cope with the pressure of the Beidi army.
This cannot be entirely blamed on him. After all, under the influence of several generations of emperors' policies that emphasized civility over military affairs, the combat effectiveness of Daliang officers and soldiers has been deteriorating. They can no longer compare with the heroic armies during the founding of the People's Republic of China. Facing Beidi, the main strategic deployment is also focused on defense. Take less initiative.
Because Beidi's frequent harassment has indeed brought considerable losses to this country.
Second, in order to balance the forces of all parties and consolidate the imperial power, the famine disaster that should have been dealt with with all efforts was repeatedly shelved, eventually leading to a catastrophe.
If Qin Feng hadn't rushed to the northern border to improve people's livelihood, causing the northern border to absorb a large number of hungry people, I'm afraid this man-made disaster would have been even more tragic than it is now.
Apart from these two stains, Emperor Liang focused almost entirely on national interests.
As the king of a country, he puts his country first before his family. For the longest time, even half a year, he did not return to the harem, even if he was very close to it.
The wealthy families in the southern region know very well what such an emperor means to them.
Therefore, as early as Emperor Liang showed hostility, they had already begun to make secret arrangements, and finally placed Nangong Moru, the current Empress of Liang, beside Emperor Liang.
Everyone knows that Empress Daliang is easy-going, eats fast and chants Buddha's name all day long, and is kind and kind.
However, the eldest princess knew another side of the queen that was unknown to the public.
She used a trick to instigate the eldest prince to beat Qin Feng when he was a child, which led to Mrs. Qin's complaint. After hearing it from her, Emperor Liang finally decided to punish the eldest prince with military service, with explicit punishment and hidden rewards. When the eldest prince returns home in triumph, it will be the time when he becomes the crown prince.
However, as soon as the eldest prince arrived at the border, he was assassinated by the queen's men. He died before leaving the army.
The queen successfully suppressed the Lin family, but the eldest prince's biological mother, the imperial concubine Lin Wenwan, changed her temperament drastically.
The relationship between the Lin family and the Qin family has been completely forged.
Concubine Shu, Li Yuxiao's biological mother, who accidentally stumbled upon the inside story, was also silenced by the queen. Even Li Yuxiao was always pursued by the queen.
Even Wei Xiao, who was the last straw for Li Qian, was arranged by the queen.
Li Qian fell and Li Yong rose.
And today, Li Yong once again became the queen, or the victim of the wealthy family in the south.
This seemingly kind-hearted woman is actually a snake-hearted woman!
The eldest princess couldn't help but sigh: "Your Majesty the Queen, you have exhausted all your agencies. Are you trying to drive away the Li family and kill them all?"
"Even if the Li family dies, the world will not fall into the hands of the Nangong family."
Facing the eldest princess' question, the queen shook her head and said hypocritically: "You wrongly blamed me. How could I watch the Li family fall into ruin?"
"On the contrary, I will personally support the Li family and sit on the throne of Daliang forever."
The eldest prince died, Li Qian was relegated to the cold palace, and the outcome waiting for Li Yong was not much better.
The three most capable princes in Daliang were all turned into cannon fodder under the Queen's conspiracy.
And now, the queen actually threatened to support the Li family?
The eldest princess finally understood the queen's sinister intentions.
"The reason why the eldest prince, Li Qian, and Li Yong fell was not because they were too weak. On the contrary, it was because they were too strong, right?"
The queen did not hide anything and admitted bluntly: "Not bad!"
"Although the eldest prince has a rough personality, he is a courageous person. With the support of the Lin family, once he succeeds to the throne, he will be no less than the current majesty."
"Although Li Qian is short-sighted, he is a man who knows how to adapt and is good at games. Although he lost to Qin Feng, he is not ashamed!"
