The grandfather and grandson talked about some other things and drank about half a catty of wine each. Then Li Xiang was ready to leave. After all, it was getting late and it was getting dark. There were many different rules in the palace. Li Xiang had not met his family since he came back from the south.
"The children in my family are all growing up well, and all the gifts they deserve have been given. If this trip is not urgent, then I can stay in Chang'an City for a while longer."
Li Shimin was very satisfied with Li Xiang's family structure. Although this guy didn't often stay in the capital, he had as many children as others and now had several.
"Thank you, Grandfather."
Why are there so many people in the royal family? It’s because they can afford to marry wives. Even if you are a remote royal family, as long as you want to have children, the court will find you eighteen beauties. Anyway, if you want to have children, you can provide all kinds of conditions. Having children is the most important thing for royal family members.
"There's one more thing. The Qinghe Cui family has been working with you for a long time, and now it seems you don't need them anymore. But they still consider themselves a great family. What do you think?"
In today's Chang'an City, no one talks about the Five Surnames and Seven Families anymore. It is like a word in memory. Although it has only been a few years, people are very forgetful. Although their strength is still good within the court, they have basically gone to the local areas, and there seem to be fewer of them in Chang'an City.
Of course, the most severe decline is in business. In the past, the Five Surnames and Seven Families all held a monopoly in business. If you had a bad relationship with them, you would probably have difficulty moving forward. However, under Li Xiang's series of combined punches, the Five Surnames and Seven Families declined severely. Now, let alone monopoly, it is already quite difficult to make a living in an industry.
Of course, in addition to Li Xiang's combination of punches, the main problem is these people themselves. They don't know where they are wrong. Even if they have some other ideas, there is no way to turn them into reality now. Various things combined, coupled with the suppression of the court, there is no way for them to make a comeback.
Moreover, when the Five Surnames and Seven Families were on the decline, a lot of people who wanted to take advantage of the situation jumped out from within. Don't think that just because they were descendants of the Five Surnames and Seven Families, they wouldn't take advantage of the situation. When a big ship sets sail, countless people add bricks and tiles, but if a hole appears, the people on the ship want to save their own lives the most, and no one wants to sink with the ship.
Therefore, when Li Xiang attacked Goguryeo, the Five Surnames and Seven Clans had already begun to split internally. Li Xiang handed the matter over to the Imperial City Office. Except for the Qinghe Cui family, the power of other major families had declined greatly. Now it was less than 20% of its heyday and was just some local tyrants.
The imperial court allows these small landlords to exist, and their existence enriches our economic composition. If even they are not allowed to exist, the economy of the entire country will be affected. Therefore, as long as they can maintain their current scale, the imperial court will not continue to pursue them.
But the Qinghe Cui family is an exception. You should know that the Qinghe Cui family has always been the number one family. When Li Xiang first started to suppress them, Cui Sanye established a cooperative relationship with Li Xiang. Including some intelligence from Tubo, Cui Sanye gave Li Xiang a lot of support.
It is precisely for this reason that even if Li Xiang wants to suppress the big families, he has to leave a way out for Mr. Cui San. He told Mr. Cui San that year that either you can take over the Qinghe Cui family, or you will disappear in the long river of history like other large families.
Originally, Mr. Cui Sanye had no intention of becoming the patriarch, but after hearing what Li Xiang said, Mr. Cui Sanye had no choice but to join the fierce internal struggle. When Mr. Cui Sanye obtained the position of the patriarch of the Cui family, the entire Qinghe Cui family was no longer the same as before.
On the one hand, its strength has declined greatly, and it no longer has the strength of the world's number one family.
On the other hand, they have become dependent on Li Xiang, so they will not go against the people in the Tiance General's Mansion on major decisions. Even if they suffer losses at that time, they have to listen obediently, otherwise they will become a small local landlord like the other families.
"Grandfather, please rest assured. I will remind them of this. Third Master Cui is different from the other members of the Cui family. He won't do anything too extreme. He is also very clear about the current situation. If they go too far, I will not hesitate to clip their wings."
After hearing Li Xiang's answer, Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction, and then asked Wang De to send Li Xiang out.
In Li Shimin's eyes, the most important thing about Li Xiang is his heart. He is always in the most elite state and will not lose his rationality when thinking about what he should and should not think about. Even when facing someone like Mr. Cui Sanye, Li Xiang can still keep it clear.
During Li Xiang's growth process, Master Cui Sanye was half a teacher to Li Xiang. He not only provided various kinds of help, but also gave Li Xiang a lot of advice. However, when this person threatened the rule of the Tang Dynasty, no matter who you are, Li Xiang had to put the Tang Dynasty first, because this is your responsibility as the crown prince.
"The Cui family has been making a lot of noise lately?"
After leaving the palace, Li Xiang and Wang De walked slowly towards the palace gate. Although Li Xiang had his own spies in Chang'an City, Wang De was by Li Shimin's side every day, so he naturally knew some news that others didn't know.
"To answer your Highness, most of the Cui family are quite honest. There are only a few young men from the old hometown who are quite arrogant. However, they were beaten up by a few young masters a while ago, so they haven't been so troublesome since then. Later, this matter reached your Highness's ears. We don't know who spread it yet, but it's purely meddling."
Wang De said it very bluntly. Although the people of the Cui family were making trouble, they had been punished for a while, so it shouldn't be a big deal. The reason why this matter was brought to Li Shimin was probably because someone wanted to cut off Li Xiang's arm.
In the eyes of many people, the Cui family is Li Xiang's henchmen. If Li Shimin wants to get rid of the Cui family, then Li Xiang will definitely lose an arm. It seems that there are still some people who are restless, but no one knows who these people are.
