mtl008 Chapter 624 Distributed
Chapter 624 Distributed
It is easy to destroy a country but difficult to govern it; it is easy to conquer the world but difficult to rule it. For the Han generals with their explosive martial prowess, destroying the surrounding small vassal states was very easy; once they got there, they could basically sweep through everything in their path.
But what happens after the country is destroyed?
The army cannot remain stationed indefinitely and can only withdraw. After the withdrawal, the small states that were destroyed will establish new rulers and rise again. The Han Dynasty will destroy them again, and they will rise again, in an endless cycle.
There is only one way to break this vicious cycle: to abolish the local chieftain system and integrate the conquered small states into the Han Dynasty's governance system and its territory.
However, this requires the formulation of sound governance policies, as well as the sustainability of these policies. This period must last at least two hundred years, during which policies cannot be changed frequently or abandoned upon the death of the leader. The most convincing example of this is the governance of Yunnan by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Historically, Yunnan began to become independent in the mid-Tang Dynasty, splitting into the Nanzhao Kingdom. In the Song Dynasty, it became the Dali Kingdom. Although the Yuan Dynasty destroyed Dali, it did not change anything due to a lack of effective governance. By the time Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, established the Ming Dynasty, Yunnan had been separated from the Central Plains for six or seven hundred years, forming an independent culture and script, and had completely lost its connection with the Central Plains.
Faced with this deadlock, Zhu Yuanzhang first used iron-fisted methods to suppress the rebellion by force, and then carried out large-scale migrations, moving Yunnan people to the interior and vice versa. By replacing people in Yunnan with other people, he continuously increased the proportion of Han people in the area. He also ordered his adopted son, Mu Ying, to guard Yunnan for a long period of time. After nearly three hundred years of efforts by the Mu family, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the problem of barbarian rebellions at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty had become a problem of street fights that could be easily quelled by county magistrates. This shows the power of the policies personally formulated by the Ming Taizu.
During the Spring Festival, with nothing to do, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang spent most of their time pestering Guan Xing to tell them about later history. As a result, they already knew the historical context from the end of the Han Dynasty to before Guan Xing's time travel, but they were unaware of the minor details.
Liu Bei frowned and said, "Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's method is indeed good, but wouldn't it be tantamount to a disguised enfeoffment? Can this be done?"
Liu Bei had some reservations about the enfeoffment, because the situations in the Han Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty were different.
The Han dynasty inherited the Qin system, but the Qin dynasty only lasted fourteen years. In other words, the Han dynasty was built on the ruins of the Qin dynasty's conquest of the six states. Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang had come from the Warring States period and was all too aware of the dangers of the enfeoffment system.
More importantly, at the beginning of the founding of the country, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang implemented a policy of parallel prefectures and counties and enfeoffment in order to maintain national stability. Later emperors fought against the enfeoffment system in order to strengthen central power, which even triggered the Rebellion of the Seven States.
Nevertheless, the enfeoffment system was not abolished. Even after the restoration of the Ming dynasty under Emperor Guangwu, many prefectures and kingdoms still existed. Subsequent emperors made great efforts to gradually eliminate these prefectures and kingdoms, which were essentially states within a state.
Therefore, the Liu family was very wary of the issue of enfeoffment and avoided it if possible.
Guan Xing understood Liu Bei's concerns and continued, "We must analyze specific situations and not apply formulas rigidly. Now that we know about the successful case of Emperor Taizu of Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang, governing Yunnan, let's talk about the negative case of Emperor Chengzu of Ming, Zhu Di, failing to govern Annam."
"After Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di) conquered Annam, he did not send a duke to permanently garrison it like his father had done. Instead, he sent an official to govern it. Emperor Yongle initially sent an official named Huang Fu to Annam. Huang Fu was well-received by the people of Annam because of his effective management, but he was recalled to the court not long after arriving in Annam..."
"Huang Fu's successor abolished the policies that Huang Fu had formulated and implemented for many years, which had proven effective, as soon as he took office. He adopted a violent rule, which forced rebellions in various parts of Annam. Later, the Ming Dynasty had to send Huang Fu to rescue Annam when the situation deteriorated. However, by then the situation was completely out of control and Huang Fu was powerless to reverse it. He was captured by the local rebels almost as soon as he arrived in Annam. The rebels did not kill Huang Fu. Instead, they treated him like children who had been wronged and finally saw their parents. They cried and complained to Huang Fu, saying, 'If you had always been the one governing Annam, why would we have rebelled?' Then they gave Huang Fu travel expenses and released him. After that, Annam broke away from the control of the Ming Dynasty and became independent."
"Your Majesty, conquering a place is easy, but assimilating it is difficult. Take Bashu for example. Qin conquered Bashu during the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, but it was not until the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin that the uprisings within its borders were completely quelled and Bashu was permanently incorporated into Qin's rule. Nanzhong used to be the Yelang Kingdom, which was conquered by Emperor Xiaowu. Emperor Xiaowu conquered Nanzhong more than 300 years ago, but even now the court still cannot truly control Nanzhong. Why? Isn't it because the court changes its orders frequently and its policies cannot be sustained for long?"
"As for Funan, if it is enfeoffed, there will indeed be hidden dangers of vassal states becoming too powerful and threatening the court. But if it is not enfeoffed, Funan will always remain Funan and will never become the Han Dynasty."
"The politics, economy, military culture and even writing of these small foreign countries are completely different from those of the Han Dynasty. If you want to govern them, you must first introduce Han culture to them and make them identify with the Han Dynasty. This is not something that can be done overnight."
“But it would be different if they were enfeoffed. The enfeoffed lords would solve these trivial problems one by one. In the future, if the court wanted to recover Funan, it would not have to face these messy problems. It would only need to destroy the lord.”
"Why did the Zhou Dynasty enfeoff its people? It was because the areas outside the capital were all barbarians that could not be effectively controlled. The only option was to send feudal lords to develop the land. After hundreds of years of conquest and development, by the time Qin conquered the six states, the feudal lords had already solved the cultural problems within their territories. The First Emperor only needed to destroy the rulers of the six states to take over all the cities and lands of the six states, instead of the Zhou Dynasty having to govern with difficulty and gradually nibble away at the land to grow stronger."
To put it bluntly, the vassal states of the Zhou Dynasty were all entrepreneurs, while Qin's conquest of the six states was plunder, directly seizing the fruits of their labor over hundreds of years.
The same applies to Funan. Its territory is inhabited by barbarians, and the Han Dynasty has no foundation there. Everything must start from scratch. In this situation, if you want to quickly conquer Funan, you need to enfeoff princes and give them absolute power. After the princes solve their problems and succeed in their endeavors, you can then destroy them. Funan will then naturally be integrated into China.
Even if Liu Bei's descendants can't do it, it doesn't matter. Don't forget that four hundred years later there will be a carbon-based life form named Li Shimin.
Our ancestors pave the way for future generations. Only when our predecessors plant trees can our descendants enjoy the shade. Only when our predecessors lay a solid foundation can our descendants soar to great heights.
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei fell into deep thought, and after pondering for a long time, he asked Zhuge Liang, "What do you think, Prime Minister?"
Zhuge Liang waved his fan and said, "I think Anguo's words make sense. Meat can only be digested if it is eaten. If it is not eaten, it belongs to others. No matter how much we envy it, we can only watch. Therefore, I agree to first enfeoff it and appoint lords to govern it permanently. Let's integrate Funan into the Han Dynasty first."
Liu Bei stroked his beard and said, "The cases of Emperor Taizu of Ming governing Yunnan and Emperor Chengzu of Ming governing Annam are indeed worth learning from. Let's do it according to An Guo's wishes and send the Duke of Ming to govern Funan permanently. As for what will happen in the future, let's leave that to future generations. But who should we send?"