The Tang Dynasty is one of the most powerful dynasties in history, and since ancient times, there has been a strong Han Dynasty and a Tang Dynasty. It is undeniable that the emergence of the Tang Dynasty made the Western Regions realize the strength of the Central Plains Dynasty, and it was precisely because of the emergence of the Tang Dynasty that the Western Regions were under the administration of the Central Plains Dynasty for the first time. It should be known that the Tang Dynasty set up a capital protectorate in the western region, so the western region was under the administration of the Tang Dynasty.
Because of this, the territory of the Tang Dynasty continued to expand, and during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, the territory of the Tang Dynasty reached its maximum. It's just that people today think that Li Zhi is relatively cowardly, but in fact, such a view is very wrong. Having said that, Li Zhi's ability to create the largest territory of the Tang Dynasty has a lot to do with Li Shimin's foundation.
Without Li Shimin's zhenguan rule, it would be almost impossible for Li Zhi to develop the Tang Dynasty to another peak. Li Shimin was one of the finest emperors in history, and even Li Yuan, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, did not necessarily have the great merits of Li Shimin. In the process of Li Yuan's conquest of the world, Li Shimin's merits were the greatest, and even Li Yuan's rise to the army was under the advice of Li Shimin.
It is undeniable that if Li Shimin had not suggested that Li Yuan raise an army, I am afraid that Li Yuan would still fight for the Sui Dynasty again. During Li Shimin's reign, the development of the Tang Dynasty reached a peak in all aspects. After that, the Tang Dynasty appeared in a prosperous situation, but Li Shimin's throne did not come from the right path, but this did not affect him as an emperor for thousands of years!
Li Shimin was a famous emperor in ancient history, and like other Ming Emperors, he was also a model of thirst for talents. As early as the process of conquest of the world, Li Shimin continued to attract talents, so that he had the capital to launch the xuanwumen change later. Without the full support of these people, I am afraid that Li Shimin would not have been able to launch the Xuanwumen Revolution at all.
Li Shimin also attaches great importance to talents, that is to say, Li Shimin is very sorry for talents. During Li Shimin's reign, he discovered many talents, all of whom were high-ranking officials Houlu, followed by famous young people. Wei Zheng is the best representative, in addition to Wei Zheng, Ma Zhou is also one of them, comparatively speaking, the name Ma Zhou has no reputation in history.
It's just that the person next to Li Shimin used to be a poor boy, and he was humiliated by a county order, and after Ma Zhou's promotion, he began to clean up the former county order, and now it seems that Ma Zhou's approach is a model of "a gentleman's revenge, ten years is not too late". In the history books, there are several early records of Ma Zhou, saying that Ma Zhou's parents died since childhood, and he was poor and poor and had no one to rely on, but he loved to learn very much.
As for how Ma Zhou grew up, who brought him up, and who helped him, there is no record in the history books. When Ma Zhou was twenty years old, he ended his difficult life, and at this time Ma Zhou was a poor boy, so he had a job, that is, a teacher. Ma Zhou is familiar with reading "Poetry", "Books", "Spring and Autumn", etc., so there is ink in his stomach, and letting Ma Zhou be a teacher is equivalent to beating flies with cannons.
However, Ma Zhou's ideal is not to be a teacher, and his actions reflect this. Ma Zhou's superiors satisfied Ma Zhou and called Ma Zhou over to criticize him at every turn, and later Ma Zhou couldn't bear it, went to Junyi County, and found the county commander Cui Xian, who not only did not arrange a job for him, but also humiliated Ma Zhou. After being humiliated, Ma Zhou chose to go to Chang'an.
Ma Zhou begged and came to the vicinity of Chang'an City while hurrying, and when he was resting in the tavern, Ma Zhou saw that the second child of the tavern did not greet him. In taverns, Ma Zhou is very drinkable, and in this case, people gradually get to know Ma Zhou. Because of this, Ma Zhou met the military general Chang He at that time. Chang He was a military general and also very fond of drinking, so later Chang He and Ma Zhou often drank at home.
A lieutenant general like Chang He was basically not in wartime, and his life was not bad. During Li Shimin's reign, he put forward the idea of introducing talents to the imperial court, so Ma Zhou entered the imperial court through Chang He's introduction. From the sixth year of Zhenguan to the eighteenth year of Zhenguan, Ma Zhou went from Zhimen Province to overseeing the imperial history, Zhongshu Sheren, Counselor Dafu, Zhongshu Shilang, zhongshu ling, which was Ma Zhou's career promotion.
From another point of view, Ma Zhou's promotion speed is unimaginable, and even Chang He, who recommended him, was shocked. Cen Wen once commented on Ma Zhou like this: Ma Zhou talks about things a lot, cites the scriptures, deliberates on ancient and modern times, and the articles he writes cannot be added or subtracted. This is Ma Zhou's skill, in addition, Ma Zhou has repeatedly given advice to Li Shimin.
These opinions are of substantive significance, such as abolishing hereditary inheritance, sacrificing the temple, strict rewards and punishments, advocating frugality, resting with the people, restraining the king of the domain, and so on. Ma Zhou became the prime minister, and also gained the trust of Li Shimin, the next step is to take revenge, he found the Junyi County Ling Cui Xian, did not humiliate him, just smashed his rice bowl, so that Cui Xian is no longer a county order, but an ordinary people.