An Elegy for the Prosperous Tang

If An Lushan had died, the first question would be: would the underlying conflicts within the Tang Dynasty have been resolved? My answer is no. Because whether An Lushan rebelled or died, it wouldn't have affected the collapse of the rent-and-tribute system. The second question is whether Li Longji and the upper echelons of the Tang Dynasty would change their extravagant lifestyle.

The Tang Dynasty in its golden age, a time of splendid celebration. The Tang Dynasty in its golden age refers to the period from the Kaiyuan to the Tianbao era, when the Tang Dynasty reached its peak in terms of economy, politics, culture, and military. A dirge is a song sung before a person's burial. The meaning of the title is self-evident.

Reading books here is truly a way to learn skills. It feels like I've traveled back in time, racking my brains every day to recall the Grand Commandant. I'm Bai Qi reincarnated. His military strategies are divine. Traveling back in time to the Three Kingdoms period, I read Meng Qi's new book—what a joke! If I listed the cases of the governors, Cao Cao would probably burn his own book.

Let's talk about history from the perspective of scapegoating and development philosophy. The governance of fruit or land can be simply compared to planting trees. There are those who plant trees and those who harvest fruit. Because the process is lengthy, they are unlikely to be the same people.

Having read many books, I've become obsessed with history, starting with the Tang Dynasty bricks. As I've continued reading, my critical thinking skills have grown stronger. From the initial satisfaction of salvaging a turning point, this book, rather than being a time-travel story, is more about witnessing and struggling. It offers so much clarity, constantly shattering my illusions.

Seeing that the author is considering relocating the capital and emigrating, I'd like to add my two cents. Solving the population migration problem passively comes at the cost of lives, while actively doing so comes at the cost of money, food, and more lives. Economic stimulus alone is unlikely to achieve immigration goals; on the contrary, it can easily breed corruption and be counterproductive.

Recommendation rating: 5 stars+ Recommendation reason: It has the charm of the moonlit wutong tree of yesteryear, with detailed historical research, but it does not pile up anecdotes and data. As the plot progresses, it slowly unfolds the scroll of the Tang Dynasty, allowing readers to feel the vivid warmth of historical details. At the same time, the plot avoids clichés.

In the new chapter (658), I saw that Liu Yan was in charge of finance and accounting. I happened to come across a story about Liu Yan and took the opportunity to talk about the canal transport and salt administration in some periods of the Tang and Song dynasties. This story is called "Liu Yan Buys Grain and Knows the Price Immediately."

Here's a population distribution map I recently saw from the Tang Dynasty's Tianbao era. Looking at it this way, the Tang court's constant control over Hebei was like having a super bomb planted in its heart. For every An Lushan who died, countless others followed suit.

If Li Longji had died twenty years earlier, he would definitely be ranked very high among all the emperors of China. However, his mistake was that he lived too long. Coupled with his golden partner Li Linfu, this pair of emperor and minister would definitely be ranked number one in the history of the most incompetent emperor and treacherous minister.