The family banquet in Qionglinyuan finally turned into a high-standard and grand royal banquet. The great thing about the grandness was that people came in a relatively uniform manner, and basically everyone including Emperor Liu came.
Originally, Emperor Liu was spending the summer in Qionglin Garden, with only Concubine Zhou Yifei accompanying him. Even the queen was unwilling to disturb them, and stayed peacefully in Kunming Hall, a kind of out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach.
As soon as Liu Jia came back, Concubine Hui, the mother-in-law, naturally came, and the queen was also invited out of the palace by Emperor Liu. After hearing the news, the concubines in other palaces also moved their bodies and moved to Qionglin Garden. As for the other princesses, they naturally wanted to express their gratitude to the eldest sister who had always taken care of them when she returned to the capital.
As a younger brother, Liu Shu came earlier. As for the other brothers, they all came after hearing the news in Kyoto. Seeing that everyone was so active, Emperor Liu took advantage of the situation and asked everyone to gather together. It was lively and lively. He even specially asked some of Li Jilong's siblings to come together.
Li Chuyun gave birth to three sons and three daughters, but only the eldest daughter actually grew up. As the eldest son who inherited the family title, Li Jilong was arranged by Emperor Liu to lead the army in Northern Xinjiang in recent years. The responsibility of raising his younger siblings was left to the married one. The eldest sister.
This family dinner was very lively, with singing and dancing in full swing. Emperor Liu was also very happy and couldn't help but drink two more glasses of wine. However, it was difficult to find the warm and harmonious feeling before.
Although everything he saw and heard was full of joy, Emperor Liu always felt a sense of estrangement and alienation, including his concubines and sons, who seemed to be acting out.
People are still the same people, not much has changed, but people's hearts have changed. Even the person next to you, even the direct blood relative, is difficult to see clearly.
Being alone, Emperor Liu had never felt like this before, and he was even immersed in the superficial harmony. However, as he got older and gradually became more leisurely, the loneliness of being alone in danger became more and more profound. It was so cold that it could almost reach the bottom of my heart. The more people gathered in the house, the stronger the feeling became.
Late at night, Qionglin Garden was quiet. The water of Jinming Lake rippled under the moonlight. There were wind chimes tinkling among the waterside pavilions. The atmosphere was one of harmony and tranquility.
The slightly drunk Emperor Liu was in high spirits, so he specially called the prince Liu Yang and his son-in-law Li Jilong to have a drink and talk under the bright moonlight and the cool breeze by the lake.
"In the past two years, the tribal naturalization policy implemented by the imperial court in northern Xinjiang has caused great repercussions. I have also received many reports here. The summary given by the Political Affairs Hall is that it is progressing steadily.
However, they were only sitting in the court, and I was only sitting in the capital. After all, the specific situation cannot be revealed by those memorials!
You have lived in Shanyang and Monan for many years, and now you are back from the north. You just want to tell me about it! Emperor Liu asked Li Jilong, playing with a well-made wine glass in his hand.
When talking about business, Li Jilong was always calm, but after hearing this question, he hesitated for a moment before replying: "I am in Monan, deployed under Tiandu. I am mainly responsible for leading the army, managing the army, and eliminating bandits. My responsibilities are Military, this clan’s naturalization policy, I’ve only heard about it!”
"You are fooling me!" Emperor Liu said after hearing what he said.
"I don't dare!" Li Jilong immediately stood up and cupped his hands.
"Sit down!" Emperor Liu waved and gestured to Li Jilong, then looked at him and said: "Lead a group of soldiers and horses, protect the people of a place, and ensure peace in a territory. If you don't even understand the people's sentiments in the territory, then you can't What kind of environment and what kind of people are there?"
Perhaps because he felt that the tone was a bit harsh, Emperor Liu narrowed his eyes again, looking drunk and hazy, and smiled: "Tell me, speak boldly, don't feel any burden. There are only three of us here, and we are all a family. Neither am I." I want to listen to your opinion on the naturalization policy. I just want to know from a side perspective the current situation of the tribesmen in northern Xinjiang. Don’t feel that you are overstepping the limit..."
"Yes!" Li Jilong breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what Emperor Liu said. In fact, when it comes to caution, Li Jilong is much better than his father. He is a general in charge of the army. Even in Monan, which is mainly military, he would not dare to interfere in local administration rashly, especially since he is the son-in-law of the emperor and a relative of the emperor. , let alone being suspected of acting recklessly because of his power.
After thinking about it for a while, Li Jilong replied: "In the eleventh year of the founding of the Bao Dynasty, the 20,000 Khitan tribesmen newly attached from Mobei were dispersed, reorganized, and registered. Some of them were placed in Monan and assigned pastures, and some were inside. It was moved and placed in the prefectures, counties and towns under the jurisdiction of Shanyang Road, where it lived mixed with other ethnic groups and was directly governed by the local government.
Because these Khitan people were newly attached and their hearts were unstable, the imperial court implemented this policy strictly, and the local garrison also cooperated with the supervision and restraint, so no major turmoil was caused. Even so, some leaders and chiefs still chose to resist and fled, and I was ordered to do so. He led his troops to pursue and suppress, and he hunted down thousands of people that year.
Later, Moge's lost troops were split and reorganized, which also aroused resistance and even armed confrontation. Wei Tiandu deployed himself to lead the suppression and wiped out more than two thousand rebel troops..."
"I can't even read these reports. Tell me what you think!" Emperor Liu waved his hand and said.
Li Jilong continued: "Since His Highness the King of Jin was stationed in Yunzhong in the north, he has carried out comprehensive military and political joint actions, and the results are remarkable. Up to now, the Khitan, Xi, Dangxiang, and others who were originally placed in Monan and Shanyang areas have Tuyuhun and many northern tribes have all been dispersed and placed under the imperial management system.
However, the total number of these tribes is hundreds of thousands, and in less than three years, they have been implemented to the present level. There is no doubt that some hidden dangers have also been laid. "
Speaking of this, Li Jilong paused and looked at Emperor Liu carefully. Seeing this, Emperor Liu remained calm and said, "Why did you stop? Keep talking. What are the hidden dangers? I'll also hear what you generals think about this matter!"
Li Jilong said: "First, although these tribal people are dependent on the Han, they have maintained their nomadic living habits for more than ten years and still accept the rule of their tribal leaders.
Nowadays, they are completely broken up and turned into prefectures and counties, which are directly managed by the Han government. For Han officials, they need to withstand the test of managing foreign races and herdsmen, and these tribes and tribesmen also need a longer time to get used to the rule of the imperial court. This process will not be short-lived and will take a certain amount of time to run in. Once the running in is not done well and people's hearts become unstable, it will lead to even greater turmoil.
Secondly, the tribesmen are easy to control. After being separated from their leaders and nobles, although their living customs will be affected and they will have many discomforts, they can also own their own property, livestock, pasture, and land, as long as local officials can comfort them. , one day, they will be able to become loyal subjects of the Han Dynasty.
However, those leaders and chiefs who have been deprived of power and regard their people as wealth are difficult to convince. Even those who actively seek refuge will still harbor resentment in their hearts. What the imperial court did was to completely cut off the foundation of their rule over the subordinates, which would cause them to hate the imperial court with gnashing of teeth.
Now they are safe and sound, but they are frightened by the authority of the imperial court and afraid of the imperial military front. Once something happens in the north and the border becomes unstable, these original tribal leaders will definitely cause trouble.
In order to alleviate their grievances, the imperial court also retained a large amount of their property. Some of these people moved to cities and towns in the heart of the north, and some were hired as officials to assist the government in governance. Even if the tribe was dispersed, they had no regard for the original The people still have a certain influence, so we have to be vigilant about this matter.
Thirdly, the imperial court dispersed and reorganized the northern tribesmen, which certainly strengthened the government's direct rule and management, but also caused various ethnic groups to gather together. Their living habits, cultural customs, and religious beliefs were different, which made it easier to Cause conflicts.
The people newly assigned to prefectures, counties and towns are outsiders. Whether they can be accepted by the original people and whether they can integrate into them are also difficult.
As far as I know, in the past two years, civil security in various parts of the north has continued to deteriorate, with frequent disputes and even armed fights, resulting in casualties..."
"You still say you don't understand. Are you clearly stating the shortcomings of the imperial court's policy? There are three in one list!" After hearing what he said, Emperor Liu chuckled.
Li Jilong hurriedly said: "I have little knowledge, and I am just trying my words!"
"You don't have to be humble!" Emperor Liu's face showed no worry because of Li Jilong's statement. He said calmly and calmly: "It's not that the local officials can't see what you mentioned, and the court doesn't understand it either. However, , for so many years, every policy issued by the imperial court often had mixed benefits and disadvantages, and there was never a policy that had all benefits and no disadvantages.
As long as the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, or the court can overcome the disadvantages and it can be beneficial to the court's rule, then what should be implemented must be implemented! "
Emperor Liu had already said this to Liu Yang.
