Chapter 1126: Suggestion
"Fief?" Mu Yangling’s eyes widened. "Didn’t Emperor Shizong of the previous dynasty no longer confer vassal lords?"
"The previous dynasty was the previous dynasty, and this dynasty is this dynasty." Qi Haoran said, "If the previous dynasty had vassal lords guarding the borders, Great Jin and West Xia wouldn’t have the ability to occupy a large portion of our territory."
Mu Yangling disagreed. "The reason why Great Zhou lost a large portion of its territory was because Emperor Gaozong moved the army inwards. Instead of defending against external enemies, he guarded against the commoners. In addition, Emperor Shizong valued literature over martial arts, causing there to be a lack of military talents in the army. What has this got to do with the vassal lords?"
After Qin Shihuang unified the six states, he abolished the feudal system and changed it to a county system. After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the feudal system was re-adopted again. However, it was very different from the previous one. This time, it was a combination of feudal and county systems. After a thousand years, although the feudal system had always existed, it had been constantly weakened. It was only when Emperor Shizong of the previous dynasty abolished the vassal system that the princes could enter the Imperial Court as officials but no longer be conferred vassal lands. Before the new emperor took over, the princes had to stay in the capital and not leave the capital.
Mu Yangling did not think that Emperor Shizong was right to restrict the growth of the royal family’s descendants, but he was right to abolish the vassal system.
The existence of the vassal system could easily divide a country, Han and Jin being two living examples.
Mu Yangling said to Qi Haoran, "People could become selfish over time. Haoran, I don’t approve of conferring fief. Little Treasure and Little Bear might have a good relationship now, and won’t fight each other for power. But what about their descendants? When the time comes, what if one wants to reduce power, and the other wants to obtain more power? Great Qi will definitely be in chaos. The Han and Tang Dynasty have been working hard to weaken the power of the vassal lords for hundreds of years. Emperor Shizong even risked his life to abolish the vassal system. Are we going to backtrack now and end up worse than the Han Dynasty a thousand years ago?"
Qi Haoran frowned. He really had not thought too much about it. As the Emperor’s younger brother who also had accumulated military merits, it was only right for him to be conferred the title of King and a prosperous fief. However, Ah Ling was now saying that this system was wrong.