Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 56 Winning Hearts (3)
It's a bit mean, but it can represent the old people's heart in Qin Wang's mansion, it seems that it can only be so.Thinking of this, Li Shimin said: "Since that's the case, let's do it this way. Let Wang Gui and Wei Zheng handle the specific matters. The scene must be grand."

On the second day, under the single-handed arrangement of Wang Gui and Wei Zheng, the former staff members of the former prince Li Jiancheng, the funeral was held in an unprecedented grand manner.The Yiqiu Gate on the west side of the Autumn Hall, since it was completed, has had such a lively scene for the first time.

The new emperor Li Shimin came to the Yiqiu Gate on the west side of the Autumn Palace, and expressed his grief in pain.Those who were ordered to come to participate, the former officials of the Eastern Palace and the Qi Mansion, were all moved when they saw it.The new emperor Li Shimin finally dilutes the resentment left in the hearts of the two brothers and staff with his tears.From then on, from the outside to the inside, the rage caused by killing brothers and sisters gradually calmed down.

As the later records of "Zhenguan Zhengyao" said: "At the beginning, the party of Xiyin and Hailing conspired with hundreds of thousands of people to kill Li Shimin. The matter was peaceful, and they were brought back to the left and right. The mind is clear and there is no doubt."

15
Taiji Hall is the place where the emperor mainly listens to the government and observes the government. On weekdays, on the first and 15th of every month, the emperor first comes to this hall to meet with the officials and observe the government.Or, important events such as the emperor's ascension to the throne, canonization of queens, princes, kings, and princesses, and banquets for tribute envoys were held in this hall.Today, it is not the first and fifteenth day of the lunar new year, nor the usual important events, but a big discussion on "the gains and losses of governance since ancient times" presided over by the emperor himself.

As the courtiers of the Tang Dynasty, today is undoubtedly the happiest day.The emperor wants to discuss politics, and all the ministers think they are full of knowledge, and this time they have carefully prepared, they seem to think that only what they think is the most correct, and some even think that, As long as you speak your own words, you will be able to surprise everyone.

Li Shimin was aloof, looking at his courtiers, seeing their excited expressions different from the past, he secretly applauded the discussion he had decided in his heart.A heart that was originally expecting could not help but get excited. When there was no sound below, Li Shimin's heart also calmed down. He glanced at the officials, and then said slowly:
"Everyone here has seen the demise of the Sui Dynasty, and the prosperity of the Sui Dynasty. No one can deny that, as long as we go back 15 years, what a powerful empire the Sui Dynasty was once At that time, the Sui Dynasty was not only powerful in military, but also strong in economic strength. The food reserves alone were enough for 50 years, 50 years!"

Li Shimin became excited when he spoke, and looked at the ministers with shining eyes. "At that time, when merchants from the Western Regions came, Emperor Sui Yang did not want to do business with them, but to show off the wealth of the Sui Dynasty to them. Emperor Sui Yang not only entertained them with the best wine, but also rewarded them with the best wine when he left. The value of goods is more than ten times more than that of property. How powerful the Sui Dynasty was at that time! However, it took only five years for Emperor Yangdi to disintegrate this vast and powerful empire. He I also ended up in a tragic end. Why is that?"

Having said this, Li Shimin stopped suddenly, quietly waiting for his lovers to talk.

"The military power of the Sui Dynasty was still very strong eight years ago." Xiao Yu got up and spoke first: "In the first year of Daye, Sui general Wei Yunqi defeated the Khitan army and captured more than 27 men and women. Preventing and delaying the rise of Khitan became stronger; in the third year of Daye, Emperor Yangdi sent troops to destroy Tuyuhun, and opened up the land from the east coast of Qinghai Lake in the east, to the Tarim Basin in the west, from the Kuruktag Mountains in the north, to the Kunlun Mountains in the south for thousands of miles. The territory was still managed by the prefecture and county system, so that it was brought under the rule of the Sui Dynasty. In the second year, when Emperor Yangdi arrived in Zhangye, the monarchs and officials of the [-] countries in the Western Regions came to court one after another to express their submission. Until the sixth year of Daye, Emperor Yangdi mobilized active and reserve soldiers across the country on the grounds that "Goguryeo was originally a land conferred by Jizi (the uncle of King Zhou of Shang), but now he does not follow the rituals of his ministers." He lost because of improper employment. From then on, in the eighth year of Daye, Emperor Yang of Sui ignored the opposition of the people, the weakened national power and the poverty of the people, and reconquered Goryeo. From now on, it will no longer be possible to clean up the situation.”

When Xiao Yu said this, he coughed unceasingly, so he had to stop talking.When Du Ruhui saw it, he took the conversation away, and then said: "Prime Minister Xiao thinks that Emperor Sui Yang fought too much, and he really hit the point. I agree with it very much. At the same time, I think that, besides this, Emperor Sui Yang fought too much to satisfy his own interests. Greed, collecting rare treasures, beauties, and special products all over the country is also one of the reasons for its downfall. However, the most important thing is that Emperor Yangdi engaged in large-scale projects for personal enjoyment, including canals, palaces, and living for himself. So It hurts money and labors the people, it empties the treasury and exhausts the people." Du Ruhui shook his head repeatedly when he said this.

"The words of the right servant shoot, the minister feels the same." Wei Zheng continued: "The king depends on the country, and the country depends on the people. Carving the people to serve the king is like cutting flesh to fill their stomachs. If the stomach is full, the body will die, and the king will become rich and the country will perish. In the past when Emperor Yang first brought peace to the capital, he was dissatisfied with all the beauties and treasures in the palace. Emperor Yang was still not satisfied, he was still seeking endlessly, and he even went on to conquer other things, resorting to military force, causing the people to suffer unbearably, and eventually perish..."

The discussion was conducted with unprecedented enthusiasm, and all the officials rushed to speak.After you sing, I will appear on the stage, and the whole afternoon has never been cold for a moment.Finally, Fang Xuanling sorted out three main lessons from the demise of the Sui Dynasty:

First, extravagance and waste cost people money.Second, life is corrupt and depraved, licentious and immoral.Third, too many wars consume national power.

As soon as the results of the court discussion were concluded, Li Shimin was about to open his mouth when a servant came to report: "Turkic Jieli Khan led 20 elite soldiers to attack. The striker has broken his martial arts and intends to go south to attack Chang'an!"

Li Shimin was very satisfied with this first discussion on governance, and had prepared a lot to say, but the Turks came to make trouble.Li Shimin felt very uncomfortable. Since Fang Xuanling had already summed up the discussion, he didn't want to say anything more, so he calmly announced to the officials:

"The matter of the Turkic invasion is to be discussed exclusively by the Ministry of War and relevant personnel. The discussion that was originally scheduled for tomorrow will continue!"

15
The next day, Li Shimin gave the first lecture: "Since the establishment of my Tang Dynasty, the Supreme Emperor has worked hard to change the political decadence of the Sui Dynasty. However, when the Tang Dynasty was first established, the country had not yet been unified. In the eight years of the government, the main energy has to be used in various wars to "flatten the district and Yu" and unify the country. Due to the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, wars broke out everywhere, and the country was divided, which not only depleted the originally abundant national reserves , It also made the current Tang Dynasty, from the east of Yiluo, to Haidai, a vast and huge marsh, a thousand miles away, cut off the population, desolate roads, difficult advances and retreats, and the social situation is extremely severe. "

Speaking of this, Li Shimin paused for a while, then raised his voice, talked about himself, and continued: "Since I inherited the Datong, I have been thinking about these things. I hope to find a good way to change these social status quo, so that My Great Tang Dynasty can move toward prosperity and prosperity as soon as possible. At that time, the Turks who are still aggressively provoking my Great Tang Dynasty can only obediently bow down in this Taiji Hall." Li Shimin said here, gradually Getting excited, he raised his voice even more, and said loudly:
"Yesterday, we discussed the reasons for the demise of the Sui Dynasty. Today, the question we want everyone to discuss is: Now that all abolitions are waiting to be lifted, and all kinds of chaos are waiting to be cured. After this chaos, can it be lifted? Can it be cured?"

As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking, the courtiers in the court chattered and discussed a lot.Seeing Fang Xuanling, she also raised her voice and said:
"The emperor has raised the question, everyone can express their opinions on this, in order to repay the mighty emperor's kindness." After Fang Xuanling finished speaking, Wei Zheng stood up and said:
"A closer look at my Tang Dynasty, it is indeed a word 'chaos'. But now it is completely possible to control this chaos. One is that the chief culprit of the chaos has been eliminated. Natural nature, governing after chaos is very easy to teach. Because being in chaos for a long time is like being hungry for a long time, and teaching people after chaos is like giving food to a hungry person. Not only will he not be picky about food, but he will be full easily."

Chen Shuda didn't take it seriously when he heard it, and said: "Wei Zuocheng's words seem to be a good analogy, but they are actually absurd. There is a sage who said that it doesn't take a hundred years to make people learn well, but it takes more than half a year to make people learn badly. Now the time is chaotic." , It has been many years, how can it be cured in a short time?"

After hearing this, Wei Zheng remembered the allusion of Confucius.At that time, in order to promote his own political views, the master once vowed to the kings of various countries: "If anyone uses me, it will only take a month, and it will be successful in three years." Thinking of this, Wei Zheng smiled slightly and said: "What Pu She said is true. From the perspective of ordinary people doing things and educating people, it is not suitable for sages and sages with very high wisdom, such as our emperor. The sages and sages with very high wisdom work and educate people, and they pay attention to establishing prestige with trust. With the same heart and mind, the results are echoed by everyone, and the progress is very fast. I said it was successful in three years, but it took a long time."

Li Shimin was very happy when he heard this, and was about to express his attitude when Xiao Yu stepped forward and accused him, "Wei Zheng is a scholar who is ignorant of current affairs. If he believes his false words, he will surely bring chaos to the country." , from the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties all the way to the Qin and Han Dynasties, and finally asked Wei Zheng: "Qin ruled the law, Han miscellaneous overbearing, all want to be reasonable but can't, how can you be reasonable but not want to?"

Xiao Yu reprimanded Wei Zheng, and several senior ministers agreed and rushed to speak.Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others stood by Wei Zheng's side, and the two sides began to confront each other.For a while, the originally peaceful atmosphere became quite intense. The usually elegant and noble ministers became blushing and thickened, and some even attacked people personally.In contrast, Wei Zheng's official Weibo account is relatively inexperienced, and his relationship with the emperor is also very short.However, he holds the purpose of not taking his own life and death, gains and losses for granted, knowing everything and saying everything, but he can also show no fear.I saw him referring to the past to describe the present, starting with the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, and using typical examples of great chaos to achieve great order, repeatedly proving his point of view that "the emperor will be the emperor if he follows the way of the emperor, and the king will be the king if he follows the way of the king". , In fact, it has developed in chaos and seeking governance in chaos. If you only say that the people are cunning and not so simple, so as to cause the current chaos in the world, it is better to educate them seriously. This will be effective. , do you think so?"

Regarding Wei Zheng's final questioning, Xiao Yu and other opponents were also speechless for a while.When Li Shimin saw it, he was secretly happy in his heart, surprised that the result of this move was far better than expected in advance.Not only did it solve the problem that "chaos" could be cured quickly, but it also discovered that there were two distinct factions among officials in the DPRK and China.One is the young reformers headed by Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui, and the other is the veteran opposition headed by Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, and Feng Deyi.It seems that in the future, I will make a big move on the issue of employing people.Thinking so, Li Shimin praised both parties for their daring to speak out, and then said slowly:
"People's views are often different. There are right and wrong, which is a public matter. Maybe there is a shortcoming to protect oneself, and avoid hearing about its mistakes. If there is right and wrong, it is a complaint. Or there is a tendency to avoid private rifts and cherish each other's face. , Know that it is not a political matter, and implement it immediately. It is difficult to violate the petty sentiments of an official, and it will be a great disadvantage to all people. Qing and others must eliminate personal interests and favor public affairs, stick to the straight way, and common affairs are mutually enlightening. Don’t be the same, you can understand The truth makes me take it from the national policy and revitalize my Tang Dynasty. After analyzing the words and principles of the ministers, I have decided to rule the world, so that China will be peaceful, and the soldiers will be subdued. How to govern, I still hope that the ministers Seriously consider it and discuss it tomorrow.”

Speaking of this, Li Shimin winked at Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling naturally understood, and said loudly: "Today's court discussion, that's all. Tomorrow, the court discussion will continue. The topic is: How to rule. Tomorrow, I will listen to your high-level opinions."

The eunuch waited for Fang Xuanling to finish speaking, and sang loudly: "Separate the court!"

(End of this chapter)