Everyone knows that Wei Zheng, a famous minister of the Tang Dynasty, was very principled in his work, and sometimes even dared to directly confront the emperor. Wei Zheng's outspokenness made Tang Taizong Li Shimin very appreciative, calling Wei Zheng a mirror for him. In fact, in the Sui Dynasty, the previous dynasty of the Tang Dynasty, there was also such a minister, who was appreciated by Emperor Wen of Sui because of his outspokenness, and he was Zhao Qi.
Born at the end of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Zhao served as the Dali Zheng of the Dali Temple of the Sui Dynasty, equivalent to the current president of the Supreme People's Court. During zhao's reign, because of his fair handling of affairs and the uprightness of law enforcement, the judicial work throughout the Sui Dynasty reached an unprecedented level of honesty and honesty.
Moreover, what zhao Qi was even more admirable was that he dared to speak out against The Sui Emperor Yang Jian, and sometimes even spared his life for the sake of principle.
In the early Sui Dynasty, there was a man named Xin Qi, who was very interested in the study of Bu Xiaozhi, so he had to achieve an "auspicious" in all aspects, and he heard that wearing red clothes could be official and prosperous, so he put red pants on his body. However, Emperor Wen of Sui hated this kind of learning and thought that this kind of nonsense was easy to cause disaster, so he planned to kill Xin Qi.
However, according to the law at that time, Xin Qi could not be sentenced to death, and Zhao Qi directly rejected Emperor Wen of Sui's decision. Emperor Wen of Sui was furious, and there were still people who didn't carry out my decision? Am I not the boss of this country? However, Zhao Yu argued according to reason, and the two quarreled fiercely, and it was best that Emperor Wen of Sui got up and left in anger. The next day, Emperor Wen of Sui personally apologized to Zhao Qi and admitted that Zhao Qi was right.
On another occasion, someone violated the ban to mint inferior coins and used them to buy goods, causing bad money to become popular within a certain range. When Emperor Wen of Sui found out, he ordered that all the mints be killed.
Zhao Shu objected, saying that although His Majesty wanted to use severe punishment to suppress the current trend of private coin minting, according to the current law, these people would not die of crimes, and hoped that His Majesty would be able to deal with them according to law.
Emperor Wen of Sui said, I am the emperor, I am the law, and it is so determined.
When Zhao Qi saw Emperor Wen of Sui playing a rogue, he himself also played a rogue, and consumed the emperor not to go down to the dynasty. Later, Emperor Wen of Sui turned around and returned to the palace, and Zhao Qi chased him all the way to the door of the palace, bitterly speaking, grinding and chirping, and finally surviving so that Emperor Wen of Sui had no choice but to agree to Zhao Qi's opinion and act in accordance with the existing laws.
Because Zhao Qigang is not right, it is inevitable that he will offend some people. At that time, there was a subordinate official in the Dali Temple, named Lai Kuang, who was very resentful of Zhao Qi, and secretly wrote to Yang Jian to falsely accuse Zhao Qi of enforcing the law and wronging innocent people. Emperor Wen of Sui sent someone to investigate, and it was found that Lai Kuang had deliberately framed him. The subordinate falsely accused the chief, which made Yang Jian very angry, and immediately ordered to kill Lai Kuang.
What was surprising was that this time, Zhao Qi, as the victim, actually stood up again.
Zhao Wei is still a cliché, pointing out that although Lai Kuang is guilty, sin does not lead to death, and then there is a bunch of habitual truths. Yang Jian was angry, thinking that I was angry for you, but I was taught a lesson by you. The sleeves flicked off and gone.
When Zhao Qi saw that he couldn't walk, he shouted from behind: "The minister who has come to Kuang will not say anything, but the minister has other things to play with His Majesty." ”
Emperor Wen of Sui believed that this was true, so he let Zhao Yu follow him into the inner palace and asked him what was wrong.
Zhao Wei said, "I have three serious sins, please deal with them your majesty." As the first in command of Dali, the minister did not take good care of his subordinates, he broke the law, sin one; his subordinates broke the law, the minister could not persuade His Majesty to deal with it according to the law, crime two; what the minister said was still a matter of coming to the open, afraid that His Majesty would not let him say it, before he deceived His Majesty into entering the palace, crime three. ”
When Emperor Wen of Sui heard this, he was overjoyed. The empress next to her also admired Zhao Qi and ordered someone to give two glasses of wine. In the end, Emperor Wen of Sui agreed to change Lai Kuang's death sentence to exile.
Zhao Died at the age of sixty-three, and Emperor Wen of Sui "wept over it." Because Zhao Qi was outspoken and daring, some people later commented that if he was still alive, the Sui Dynasty would not necessarily perish so early.
But I think that view is debatable. There must be ministers who dare to advise, and there must also be kings who are consulted, just like Wei Zheng and Tang Taizong, Zhao Qi, and Emperor Wen of Sui. How the Sui Emperor treated his courtiers is recorded in history, and if Zhao Qi lived to the time of the Sui Emperor, the end would have been very miserable.