Chapter 376 Underlying Logic
Let the King of Qi lead his army to fight with Northern Yan until they are exhausted and both sides suffer losses. Then send out the Guanzhong army to reap the harvest.

This idea came straight from Li Yuan's mind.

The Jianghuai Group represented by Li Si is currently clearly separated from the main forces in the Tang Dynasty court, namely the Guanlong clans.

Even though Li Si himself was from Guanzhong, from the Longxi Li family, and the legitimate son of the Tang Emperor.

But his roots are in Lianghuai.

Although some of his troops were generals from Guanlong, most of them were from Central Plains, Jianghuai, Qingyan and other places.

The prime minister Pei Hongde, who came up with the idea, was from the Wenxi Pei family. Although he was a prominent family in Hedong, he had actually become a member of Guanlong long ago.

The same is true for families like Liu and Xue.

So from Pei Hongde's perspective, the interest group he belongs to would not want to see the King of Qi come to power.

Now the entire east of Shan County is under the control of the King of Qi. If things go on like this, there will definitely be an interest group headed by the King of Qi, including the nobles and powerful families in the Central Plains, Jianghuai, Qingxu, etc. If the King of Qi is allowed to sit in that position, then the Tang Dynasty will inevitably shift its focus to the east.

From the perspective of the prime minister, a powerful vassal king is also not conducive to the stability of the court.

Therefore, whether in public or in private, Pei Hongde's position is the same. He does not want to see the power of the Prince of Qi become too great and influence the court, but he also does not want him to successfully seize the throne and sit in that position.

However, Prince of Qi Li Yuanhui was Li Yuan's legitimate son and was highly trusted. It would be difficult for him to directly take action to reduce the power of the vassal states.

This is because it will cause internal strife, and the people in Luoyang are not good people either. In this situation where the world is not yet unified and there are powerful enemies outside, we must be careful about the scale of internal strife.

This kind of open and aboveboard conspiracy is more suitable for the current situation.

Therefore, Li Yuan felt that the strategy proposed by Pei Hongde was just right.

In this way, both internal and external troubles could be solved at the same time, he would gain fame and the Tang Dynasty would be able to unify the world.

At the same time, he would not have too much conflict with the fourth child, which would cause confrontation between father and son.

Although he wanted to weaken the power of the fourth son, Li Yuan never thought of doing anything bad to this son, and the same was true for the King of Qin.

After all, for the future of the Tang Dynasty, no matter who becomes the emperor, the King of Qi, who has an army of 100,000 and dominates one side, will be a big problem they need to face.

Unless that person is the King of Qi himself.

However, if the King of Qi came to power, the major families in Guanzhong, who were the most fundamental shareholders of the Tang Dynasty, would definitely not agree.

This is what is difficult.

Li Yuanhui was not aware of what Li Yuan and Pei Hongde were discussing, and had no idea that he had become a target.

But even if I knew, I wouldn't care too much.

The east and west ends of the Qiaohan Road, Chang'an and Luoyang, can actually be seen as a whole, but can also be seen as symbols of two major groups.

Shandong gentry and Guanlong family.

The mountain here is not Taihang Mountain or Taishan Mountain, but refers to the aristocratic families in the vast area east of Xiaoshan Mountain, mainly including the Longxi Li family, the Zhaojun Li family, the Taiyuan Wang family, the Fanyang Lu family, the Qinghe Cui family, the Boling Cui family, the Xingyang Zheng family, the Langya Wang family and the Langya Yan family, the Lanling Xiao family, and the Hedong Pei family.
Yes, the Longxi Li family is a Guanlong family, but they are also considered to be a part of the Shandong gentry. However, the Guanlong family is more of a military family after the Xianbei Murong family entered the Central Plains. Among them are Han gentry, such as the Jingzhao Wei family, the Du family, the Wugong Su family, the Fufeng Dou family, and the Ma family, but most of them are Xianbei nobles.

Including Yuwen, Lu, Mu, Lou, Duan, Wanqi, Ruo, Dugu, Yu, and Murong. These families are deeply rooted in the army.

Among the Shandong gentry, families such as the Pei, Liu, and Xue families in Hedong had been rooted in Jingzhao for a long time, so they were also accepted into Guanlong.

For the current Li Tang, the officials in the court and the generals in the army are mainly wealthy families in Guanlong, but there are still a large number of Shandong gentry among them.

However, in the decades since the Murong family took power, the two sides have already merged to a considerable extent and can actually coexist.

However, because the famous Qinghe Cui, Fanyang Lu, Zhaojun Li and other famous families are currently under the rule of Northern Yan, the Shandong gentry are not as powerful as the Guanlong nobles in the court.

If Li Yuanhui had the support of Shandong gentry, it would be easier to deal with, but his biggest problem was that the troops under his command were composed of Jianghuai warlords and generals of commoner origin, which determined the confrontation between the two sides.

Because before Jianghuai, almost no decent nobles were seen. This place was often used as a battlefield during the struggle between the north and the south, and the people were tough, but the big nobles needed cultural inheritance.

Therefore, to the north of the Huai River, there were the Xie family of Chenjun, the Huan family of Qiaojun, the Yuan family of Runan, the Zhou family, the Chen family of Yingchuan, the Xun family, the Guo family, and the Yu family.

South of the Yangtze River, there are also Jiangzuo surnames such as Gu, Lu, Zhu, Zhang, and Wuxing Shen. Although they may have risen from military affairs, they eventually became aristocratic families with family heritage. Even if they are not as famous as the aristocratic families in the Central Plains and Shandong, they are still aristocratic families after all.

Only in Jianghuai is there a place with scholars, but there are no prominent families taking root here.

The place where Li Yuanhui really started his career was Jianghuai.

The most core army under his command now belongs to the Left and Right Guards, and its main troops come from the three counties in the Huainan area.

The most prominent among them is the Zhang family of Wucheng Hou, which is currently considered as an in-law. Although the head of the family was granted the title of marquis in the previous dynasty, he is just a local tyrant and a salt merchant family, not a famous family, let alone a prestigious county.

In addition, whether it was the surrendered generals of Wagang or the Xuzhou rebel army, their main components were not of peasant origin.

So in fact, except for the Duan brothers, Lou Jun, several brothers from the royal family, and cousins ​​from the Dou family, as well as Yu Zhongheng from the Yu family in Guanzhong, Dugu Ying from the Dugu family in Luoyang, and Murong Wuji and Murong Sanzang from the royal family of the previous dynasty, all the generals under Li Yuanhui were from humble families. They were not even from humble families, because they did not even have a family.

Zhu was a monk before him, Chang Yanheng and Liu Ju were bandits, Xu Qiande, Tang He and others were farmers, Yin Gong, Zhou Ben and others were tyrants, and the Zhang brothers were salt merchants.
This is the underlying logic of the nobles' refusal to support the King of Qi. It is even more important than etiquette and geography.

Li Yuanhui, who had experienced ten years of ups and downs, certainly understood. If he had been with Li Yuan, even if he had been at his side, worked hard, and even charged into battle, he would not have achieved the achievements and team he has today. Even if he could be more easily accepted by the Guanlong nobles, he would not have surpassed his second and third brothers in prestige and achievements.

By then, these powerful families will still be the same and will not support me.
At this moment, Li Yuanhui was wearing a fox fur coat and a felt hat, and was walking side by side with his second and third brothers.

The three brothers were talking and laughing, with guards leading the way in front of them, their personal guards behind them, and Li Yuan's carriage not far away.

Li Yuan, who had discussed things with Pei Hongde, lifted the curtain and took a look. He could hear the fourth and third brothers talking and laughing from a distance.

Prince of Jin Li Xuanqing has always been known to be strong and taciturn, except when he is with his brothers and sisters, he is always talking and laughing.

Li Yuan looked at the third and fourth sons who were talking, and the second son who was silent but smiling, and sighed: "Since ancient times, brothers in the imperial family have been suspicious of each other, but my sons."

"They are such good brothers, there will be no more of them in the future."

(End of this chapter)