At this gathering of the five Li Ke and Li Min, it was Li Zhi who finally broke the deadlock, especially his words about his children and grandchildren inheriting the throne, which finally became the last straw in the hearts of Li Ke, Li Yun and Li Zhen, making

The three finally agreed to the idea of ​​merging the four empires. After all, they all believed in Li Min's character and would never deceive them on such a matter.

So after a year of preparation, the five emperors Li Ke, Li Min, Li Yun, Li Zhen and Li Zhi jointly issued a statement and decided to form a close alliance among the four countries, named after "China" and headquartered in Shanghai.

It was jointly managed by the five emperors.

Li Min's decision to form an alliance did not surprise many people. After all, everyone knew that the four empires came from the same origin, and it could also be seen from newspapers that the relationship between the four empires in recent years

Some conflicts often arise, and it is time to resolve them. Although forming an alliance cannot fundamentally solve the problem, it can coordinate and resolve most conflicts, especially some commercial disputes between countries. Therefore, from the time of formation, these alliances

It is welcomed by most businessmen.

The Chinese Alliance is not an alliance in name only, but has huge power. First, the four empires will send some armies, and then Li Min and the five will integrate these armies into the alliance army, which is not only responsible for solving internal conflicts

Some contradictions and conflicts are also responsible for the external development of each country. As for the remaining armies of each country, they are mainly responsible for guarding their own territories.

In addition to the military aspect, the alliance also unified and coordinated the political, economic, cultural and other aspects of the four empires. There is almost nothing to say about culture and politics. After all, the four empires came from the same source. Although in some aspects

There are some differences, but essentially there is not much difference. It is also easy to coordinate. The main reason is that the economies of various countries have considerable conflicts and contradictions.

First of all, Li Min abolished the currencies of the four empires, and instead issued gold and silver coins or banknotes in the name of the alliance, making the currency circulation smoother. In addition, he also reduced the import and export tariffs of each country, and formulated a unified industrial and commercial system.

The bill enables the entire alliance to have unified business rules in terms of law, so as to avoid some commercial conflicts, and in the event of conflicts, there can be laws to follow.

In addition to these, the alliance has also made adjustments to the industries developed in each region based on the situation in various places. For example, for Datang and Daqi, the country is mainly dominated by Han people, and various industries are also very developed.

, therefore some relatively high-end industries, such as steam engine manufacturing, firearms research, ship design, etc., most of these industries have been relocated to these two countries.

As for Tianzhu and Mediterranean, the domestic populations of these two countries are mainly dominated by local ethnic groups. In essence, Li Min and others do not have much trust in these non-Han ethnic groups, so they have restricted the development of heavy industry in these areas from a policy perspective.

, mostly based on planting and animal husbandry

and mining industry. There are also some light industries as auxiliary. In order to strengthen its rule over these two countries, the alliance strengthened the encouragement of Han people to have children and vigorously immigrated to these two countries. This increased the proportion of Han people in these two countries.

Soon, the rule became more and more stable.

However, during the formation of the alliance, some unpleasant things also happened, such as native rebellions in some weakly governed areas of various countries. In addition, the five Li Min brothers also had quarrels over some issues, etc., but these were

There are some minor issues, but in general, the alliance is still developing in a good direction, and it is becoming more and more popular among the people. Many people have accepted the idea that the alliance is higher than the empire.[

After the alliance was established, on the surface, most of the previous conflicts between the countries have been resolved. Even some conflicts that occurred later will be coordinated by the alliance, and there will be no major troubles at all. In this way,

It seems that just one alliance is enough, and there is no need to merge the four empires into one empire.

But in fact, this is not the case. Although the alliance is becoming more and more popular, within the alliance, the four empires are still independent. Each empire has a group of high-level interest groups, and they usually get along very well with each other.

Pleasant, but each group has its own interests. Whenever these interests conflict, the relationship between the two groups will drop sharply, and even hate each other. But now there are five brothers Li Min and Li Ke suppressing them, and the interest groups

They dare not let this kind of conflict break out.

But what you need to know is that the reason why Li Min and Li Ke were able to suppress domestic interest groups was mainly because they were mostly the founding emperors and had considerable prestige and power in the country. No one dared to resist their decisions, but then

As time goes by, they are slowly entering the evening

Years, God knows how long I can live. If one day they are no longer here, then in order to stabilize his rule, the emperor who has just ascended the throne will have to make concessions and compromises to domestic interest groups, and may even be assimilated by these interest groups.

As a result, conflicts between countries broke out again.

It is precisely because of the clear knowledge of the above that after nearly ten years of development, the Chinese Alliance has reached Li Min's original requirements in all aspects. So on his fifty-fourth birthday, Li Min, Li Ke, and Li

Yun, Li Zhen, and Li Zhi issued a statement again, canceling the independent status of the four empires in the alliance, and the entire alliance became one.

After several days of quarreling about the country name, Li Min and his brothers finally decided to restore the country name of "Datang", because this was the country name set by their grandfather and father, and it was also the mother country of their brothers. It was also their brother's choice to adopt this country name.

Respect for grandfather and father.

At the same time that the Tang Empire was established, Li Ke, Li Yun, Li Zhen and Li Zhi jointly appointed Li Min as the emperor of the Tang Empire. Li Min did not say anything about this, and carried out the second imperial examination a few days later.

At the first coronation ceremony, he became the only emperor in history to be the founder of two empires in one person.

At the same time that Li Min ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, Li Ke, Li Yun, Li Zhen and Li Zhi jointly announced the formation of the Royal Council, and also announced the composition and powers of the council. The result not only caused a lot of discussion throughout the Tang Empire

, at the same time, the descendants of the five Li Min people also competed for a place in the parliament.

The Royal Parliament has one speaker and two deputy speakers. The first speaker is Li Zhi. After all, he is Li Shimin’s designated successor. However, the term of the speaker is also limited and cannot exceed eight years. The term of office is the same as that of the prime minister.

The same thing, except that the election of the Speaker happens to be staggered with the appointment of the Prime Minister.

As the name of the Royal Council suggests, naturally only the royal family can enter, and this royal family refers to the descendants of Li Min and the five of them. The descendants of Li Chengqian, Li You and others are not eligible to enter. And there is no hard and fast rule on the number of people in the entire council. Generally, as long as

Only the descendants of Li Min and the other five are qualified to enter.

As emperors, Li Min and the others would naturally not have only one woman around them. Take Li Min as an example, he is relatively lewd among the five brothers. In addition to the queen Wen Xin, there are also four noble concubines and Wen'er.

, Hua'er, the three concubines Lvzhu, and other women who maintained secret relationships, bringing his number of sons to twelve, and many grandchildren as well.

As for Li Ke, Li Yun and others, their sons and grandsons are even more numerous, so in the first period of the Royal Council, 117 royals signed up to join the council, but the Royal Council is related to the Tang Dynasty.

Naturally, the security of the empire is not accessible to everyone, so after rigorous inspections from many aspects, some incompetent royals were removed, and in the end there were only fifty-nine people left, plus four people from Li Ke, which was only sixty-three.

MP.

The formation of the Royal Council, in addition to containing the power in the hands of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the most important thing is to select candidates for the next emperor. Therefore, there is also a lot of gunpowder within the council. Many young people think that they are the next emperor.

Therefore, conflicts often broke out within the parliament. Later, Li Zhi ruthlessly punished the most violent ones, which made the order of the parliament much better.

The royal council's method of selecting successors had been planned as early as the China Alliance. First, the entire empire's territory was divided into dozens of regions. For example, the original Tang Dynasty was divided into the West Asia Region and the Western Region.

, Guanzhong Region, Liaodong Region

There are nearly ten major regions including Daqi, Tianzhu and the Mediterranean countries. They are also divided into Nanyang Region, Northern Tianzhu Region, Eastern Rome Region, etc. There were initially thirty-nine regions, and later with

Territory expansion, the empire's large areas have been in a state of growth.

The highest executive in the region is called the "Superintendent". As the name suggests, the power of the Superintendent is limited to administration. He only has the power to advise but not command the military. The army has its own internal system operation. And in order to prevent the dictatorial power of the Superintendent,

Each governor can only serve for four years. At the same time, a noble assembly similar to the Royal Parliament is also established under the governor. The assembly is composed of nobles living in the local area. It has the power to supervise the governor and can even remove the governor when necessary.

Government, but does not have the power to appoint candidates for governance.

At the same time, the members of the Royal Parliament went through brutal internal elimination and finally selected the twenty best people, who were then divided into groups of ten and assigned to govern each region year by year. Moreover, during the period when they were in power, they were not allowed to interact with the royal family.

If there is any contact with Parliament, everything must obey the orders of the imperial administrative agency. If someone is really unfit to serve as governor, the imperial prime minister also has the power to remove him.[

After four years, the top two people in each group will be selected based on their political achievements, official reputation, etc., and then the four selected people will go through rounds of rigorous inspections and selections. Only those who pass in the end can become

Successor of the Emperor of the Tang Empire.

The Royal Council takes a long time to select the heir to the throne. It takes several years in total. For example, the first heir selection took eight years. In the end, Li Zhi and Cai'er's son Li Hong won and became Li Min's heir to the throne.

.

In addition, Li Min and Wu Meiniang's son Li Qi also participated in this inspection, and in the end he was equally matched with Li Hong. Unfortunately, because he was Li Min's son, he was destined not to become the next emperor, so in the end Li Qi had to be chosen.

Hong served as the emperor's heir. However, in the end Li Qi was not too depressed. After selection, he entered the army and later became a decorated general in the royal family. His military achievements were tied with Li Zhen's.

The establishment of the Tang Empire caused a great sensation all over the world. Some people were happy and some were sad. Although Li Min did not deprive Li Ke and Li Zhi of their emperor titles after becoming the emperor of the Tang Empire,

The emperor is given to them as a special honorary title so that they can retain the position of emperor throughout their lives.

But despite this, some of Li Ke and Li Yun's loyal ministers still felt a little dissatisfied, even after personal persuasion by Li Ke and others. These people still held opinions on the merged Datang Empire, and even expressed dissatisfaction in some places.

It caused quite a commotion.

However, this situation did not last long. Soon, with the help of Li Ke and others, Li Min used both soft and hard tactics to quell the dissatisfaction in various places. In terms of some personnel appointments, he also strived to be impartial. After several years,

Their efforts, coupled with the previous existence of the China Alliance, also allowed these people to have a transition process in their minds. Therefore, in the end, the merger of the Datang Empire became faster and faster, and various places gradually adapted to the rule of the Datang Empire, so

An unprecedented empire finally appeared on the map of the world.

When Li Min became the emperor of the Tang Empire, he was already fifty-four years old. By the time he had been the emperor of the Tang Empire for ten years, the entire Tang Empire had completely settled down, all walks of life were prosperous, and almost the entire world had been conquered by the Great Tang Empire.

The Tang Empire was included in the rule, and no force in the world dared to oppose the behemoth of the Tang Empire. Li Min's will had the majesty of the world in every corner of the world.

However, Li Min, who was already sixty-five years old, felt a little tired. Especially as he got older, he felt that his energy was not as good as before. In addition, in the past twenty years, he had spent most of his energy on

They are all busy with government affairs and have no time to take care of themselves.

He wanted to spend time with his family, so when he was sixty-five years old, he took the initiative to request the Royal Council to abdicate. After discussions between Li Ke, Li Zhi and others, they finally agreed to Li Min's abdication, and Li Zhi's son Li Hong became the new

The second emperor of the Tang Empire.

Another ten years have passed. The time has entered the 20th year of the New Tang Dynasty. Li Ke, Li Zhi and Li Yun have passed away one after another. Of the five emperors back then, only Li Min and Li Zhen are left. Li Min before

Those friends, such as Qin Huaiyu, Cheng Hualiang, Yan Bei, Li Yong and others, also passed away one by one.

It is also worth mentioning that the three daughters around Li Min, Wen Xin, Xijun, and Jin Shengman, also died in the past two years, and they all lay in Li Min's arms, and then watched their beloved live their whole lives.

Her husband left the world with a satisfied look on his face. Although Li Min knew that this was something that could not be avoided, it still caused a huge blow to him and caused his originally healthy body to suddenly collapse.

However, when Li Min reached his seventy-fifth year old, something happened in the Tang Empire. That is, the second Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Hong, suddenly became ill. His condition was the same as that of Li Shimin and Li Zhi. They were all genetic diseases of the heart, and

To make matters worse, Li Hong's illness became more severe, with several sudden attacks in just a few months. In the end, just like Li Zhi in his later years, he could hardly see anything with his eyes and could not handle government affairs at all, so he and Li Min

Same, put forward the request to abdicate voluntarily.

Originally, Li Hong was still very young, and the royal council's examination of the next successor had just begun. Now that Li Hong was blind and wanted to abdicate, the royal council was unable to come up with a suitable successor to the emperor. This caused chaos among the top brass of the entire Tang Empire.

In places with large non-Han populations, such as West Asia and Europe, the rule has become somewhat unstable.

At this time, Li Min and Li Zhen were once again invited to serve as regents, which immediately restored the entire Tang Empire to normal. Then Li Hong, who was his equal at the time, Li Qi, took over the throne, and finally passed the Royal Council.

After discussion and voting, Li Qi passed by a narrow margin and officially became the third emperor of the Tang Empire.
To be continued...