Tang Taizong Li Shimin's Wenzhi martial arts have been enjoyed by people since ancient times, and they are praised and praised. The academic community has positively affirmed his great talent and great contribution to Chinese history.
The prosperous and prosperous "rule of Zhenguan" made Tang Taizong Li Shimin pass through the ages, and during his reign, he recruited talents, knew people and made good use of them, and meritorious and meritorious generals abounded. In order to prevent the habit of heroes breeding arrogance and pride, Li Shimin has a set of imperial techniques for controlling ministers, that is, "grace and power are combined, and rigidity and softness are harmonious."
A strong empire is inseparable from outstanding talents, and outstanding talents need the wisdom of the emperor to manage, today, we will take a look at how Li Shimin used the art of emperors to deal with the relationship between monarchs and subjects.
In 630, the general Li Jing defeated the Eastern Turks and made great achievements. When he returned from victory, Li Jing, who was full of joy, originally wanted to ask for merit and receive a reward, but he did not expect it, but he was fiercely played in front of Li Shimin, saying: "Li Jing has no military discipline, and after the great defeat of the Turks, he let the soldiers rob the Turks indiscriminately. ”
This news was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, which made Li Jing, who was full of joy, suddenly feel cold to the bottom of his feet, worried. Originally, the soldiers had been out on the battlefield for a long time, and it was not a big deal to win a battle and take some booty from the enemy, and they could not make a big fuss, not to mention that with such a great achievement in counter-rebellion against the Turks, taking some booty was nothing, but some people liked to borrow the topic to play and manipulate right and wrong.
Li Jing was uneasy, and his heart went up and down: This matter can be small or big, saying that if it is small, it means that the soldier violates discipline, and the punishment will be punished; if it is big, it means that the general ignores military discipline and indulges the soldiers to rob and rob indiscriminately, and even if it is imprisoned, the future will be ruined. Li Jing was terrified and had the courage to meet the emperor, lest a catastrophe come.
Seeing that Li Shimin looked majestic, according to the facts of the participation, he did not ask about the number of people who fell down on him, and did not mention anything about his battle achievements, and Li Jing also blindly prostrated his head and apologized. After returning home, Li Jing often couldn't sleep at night, afraid that one day he would suddenly suffer an accident. Soon after, Li Shimin summoned Li Jing again.
This time, Li Shimin changed his attitude from the last time, telling Li Jing not to pursue his mistakes anymore and to reward him for his merits. Understanding the emperor's intentions, Li Jing's heart that had been hanging on finally let go, he was inexhaustible, and he had a feeling of seeing the sky again. Li Shimin immediately awarded Li Jing an official reward, and in a short period of time, he was rewarded with knighthood one after another, and the gap between before and after made Li Jing sigh with emotion and sigh endlessly.
He really felt the emperor's "grace and power", and from then on, he added a cautious heart.
Later, after another great victory, Li Jing was framed again, and with the experience of the last time, Li Jing closed the door, cut off contact with people, and behaved plainly, even if he returned his innocence, he was still the same. This is the role that a meritorious minister must choose under the art of the emperor.
Here, let's look again at what happened to the minister Wei Chi Jingde.
One day, Li Shimin feasted on the ministers of culture and military affairs, and the officials enjoyed the palace dance while drinking freely, and everyone was smiling and interested. However, the minister Wei Chi Jingde always had a straight face, and it turned out that he felt that a minister's merit was not as high as his, but the seat was above him, so he began to go mad and angrily rebuked this minister with the strength of the wine.
The minister was afraid of sweeping everyone's Yaxing, so he repeatedly tolerated it, at which time another official sitting next to him gently advised him. Who knows, Wei Chi Jingde did not eat this set, and punched this official with a fist with Venus in his eyes, and his nose was blue and his face was swollen. A lively feast was thus disturbed by Wei Chigong, and many ministers did not even have time to figure out what was going on.
At this time, I saw that Tang Taizong Li Shimin had left the table in anger, and everyone was also sullen and unhappy.
Afterwards, Li Shimin called Wei Chi Jingde, who was worried and could not predict what kind of punishment he would receive. Only to hear Li Shimin solemnly tell him: "It is not easy for the heroes and generals to be born into death and lay down the country together. Kings and subjects live in harmony in order to share the riches and continue to produce children, but you have repeatedly made mistakes and have no royal law. The family has family rules, the state has the law, the rewards and punishments are clear, and you must not be accommodated, you had better have self-knowledge, so as not to blame yourself. ”
When Wei Chi Jingde heard this, he was frightened out of a cold sweat, and the general who had been galloping all his life on the battlefield became no longer extensive, no longer ostentatious, and did things carefully and cautiously, lest the horse lose its front hoof and be killed. Despite this, Li Shimin still talked to him from time to time.
In one conversation, Li Shimin suddenly said to Wei Chi Jingde: "Some people say that you want to rebel. Wei Chi Jingde could no longer tolerate it, took off his clothes, revealed his accumulated wounds, and said indignantly: "Now that the world is stable, his crippled body is useless, and it is really ridiculous that some people have framed and wanted to rebel." Looking at this horrific scar and the past of the bloody battlefield, Li Shimin was full of sadness, and immediately said to Wei Chi Jingde, who was full of joy and joy: "I just believe that you will not rebel before I will tell you." ”
In this way, Li Shimin performed the imperial art very measuredly, and when it should be given, it was given a gift, and when it was majestic, it was majestic, and it was always kept in place. After this conversation, Wei Chi Jingde was becoming more and more restrained, and Li Shimin was more and more pleased.
Once, Li Shimin said that he wanted his daughter to marry Wei Chi Jingde, and Wei Chi Jingde was flattered: "How noble the emperor's daughter is, how could he marry an old man who is more than half a hundred years old? Fortunately, Wei Chi Jingde was very clever, and he understood in his heart that the emperor did not want to marry his daughter to him, but only wanted to send him a signal of favor, so he hurriedly expressed to the emperor the intention of thanking the lord for his kindness, and expressed a reason why the wife of the chaff could not be abandoned, and politely rejected the emperor.
After that, Li Shimin never mentioned this matter again.
If Wei Chi Jingde had agreed to this matter in a confused way, then he would have distorted the emperor's original intentions, and in the end, if he could not marry the princess, he would still cause a commotion. When the emperor is appropriate, he will express his grace, and the heart of the minister will understand the spirit, and the relationship between the monarch and the subject can be just right.
Perhaps, it was in the midst of his dealings with the emperor that Wei Chi Jingde felt more and more uneasy, so he repeatedly asked to return home. After retiring, he began to cultivate his personality, and until his old age, he never got involved in politics again, which coincided with Li Jing's last choice.
Here, let's look at another story of "dragon's whisker soup".
Once, the minister Li Ji had a serious illness and got a recipe that needed to be crushed into a whisker to dispense medicine. When Li Shimin learned of this, he did not hesitate to cut off his beard and give it to Li Ji, who held the "dragon whisker" in his hand, thanked Shu Zero, and knelt down to thank Xie En. First of all, it is not necessary to say whether this "dragon whisker" is effective when drunk, but this gift from the emperor is absolutely effective, and Li Ji has been absolutely loyal to Li Shimin since then, and the emperor can learn from the heavens.
When Li Shimin was about to die, he instructed his son Li Zhi: "The minister Li Jicai knows superhuman, as long as he is kind to him, he will be loyal, now demote him to a foreign place, if he obeys, immediately go to office, after I die, you will reuse him, if he can't resist, you will get rid of him." ”
At this time when the throne was about to be inherited, Li Ji was suddenly deposed, and when he received this order, Li Jiding's heart turned upside down, the ideological struggle was fierce, and he could not guess the number of blessings and misfortunes. However, it is gratifying that Li Ji did not hesitate for a moment, and immediately rushed to take up a post in a foreign country, and his actions convinced Li Shimin's father and son and avoided the disaster of beheading.
Soon, Li Shimin died, and Li Zhi immediately recalled Li Jijia to the official Jinjue, and in 668, Li Ji, who was over seventy years old, still led an army to annihilate Goguryeo in one fell swoop, and finally solved the Goguryeo problem that had lasted for several generations.
If Tang Taizong Li Shimin had known underground, he might have been proud of his dying measures, without this "grace and power", even if Li Ji was white-haired, he could still conquer Goguryeo's great military achievements. It can be seen that the rational art of emperor is not trivial, and it has always affected the overall political situation of successive dynasties.
Fang Xuanling was a famous prime minister during the Tang Taizong period, who was strict with himself all his life and worked hard, and he was such a minister who spared no effort for the country, and was often "strong and soft" by Li Shimin.
Fang Xuanling was often blamed by Li Shimin for some minor mistakes, or even suspended. When Empress Eldest Sun was seriously ill, Fang Xuanling was in the suspension period, and she persuaded Li Shimin: "Fang Xuanling assists the emperor, is modest and prudent, does his best, and does not make many mistakes, so it is easy not to give up on him." ”
In fact, Li Shimin did not really want to give up Fang Xuanling, but just wanted to snub him for a while in a timely manner, so that he could often reflect on himself, work harder, and restore him to a new position when appropriate.
Fang Xuanling's second suspension was only recalled after being persuaded by the chancellor Chu Suiliang, who also had the same advice as empress Dowager Changsun at the time: "Fang Xuanling has been working hard for decades, and if it were not for the fact that he was old and wanted to abdicate, unless he committed some serious crime, he could not abandon him." Li Shimin then let Fang Xuanling return to his position.
Fang Xuanling was suspended for a long time for the third time, and no one came to give Li Shimin a step, Li Shimin was in a hurry, and the clever machine came up with a good way: he used the excuse of playing, and he had to pass by Fang Xuanling's official residence on the way, and by the way, he took Fang Xuanling back to the palace. After such a toss and turn, Fang Xuanling understood a truth, the emperor wanted him to spur himself at all times, and he could not be proud and arrogant at any time, and understood that this imperial favor could be rewarded at any time and could be recovered at any time.
Later, Fang Xuanling always remained humble and cautious, and Li Shimin was happy in his eyes, so that when Li Shimin personally led his troops to attack Goguryeo, he temporarily handed over the power of the imperial court to Fang Xuanling. It can be seen that the trust in Fang Xuanling is unmatched, and such a big right, Fang Xuanling is also very large.
One day, a man broke in like a madman and said, "I want to report Fang Xuanling." Fang Xuanling did not say a word and let people send him to Li Shimin, who was still fighting, Li Shimin was very confused, and after interrogation, he learned that this person wanted to report Fang Xuanling, and immediately understood Fang Xuanling's intentions, and even ordered him to be killed without saying a word.
At this moment, although the emperor gave him great power, he could not act arbitrarily, so as not to be dissatisfied by the emperor. The reason why Fang Xuanling did this was to let the emperor see his innocence and loyalty, and at the same time, he also implied that the emperor, the king is the king, the subject is the subject, and he will do his duty as a minister at any time.
Li Shimin was also strong and gentle to Fang Xuanling, and gained the absolute loyalty of Fang Xuanling for a lifetime, and also enabled the monarchs to coexist in peace. A generation of heavenly arrogance Li Shimin, as the king of a country, played with power appropriately, and used the imperial technique of "grace and power" to the same extent, so that there was a situation of political clarity and chastity in which the country was rich and strong.
The mausoleum of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, located in Jiugao Mountain, Liquan County, Xianyang City, is the largest of the "Eighteen Tombs of Tang" in Guanzhong. The Zhaoling Tombs were originally built in the tenth year of Zhenguan, and were excavated for the burial of the eldest grandson empress who asked to be buried because of the mountain and could not afford the grave before her death. The mausoleum was built on a mountain, setting a precedent for the tang dynasty emperors to sleep on the mountain.
There are more than 200 funerary tombs in front of the mausoleum, including the tombs of kings and princesses of the early Tang Dynasty, as well as the burial tombs of Wei Zheng, Li Jing, Li Shixun, Fang Xuanling, Wei Chigong and other heroes.
Resources:
【New Book of Tang" and "Zizhi Tongjian"】