introduction:
Fang Xuanling, a powerful general under Emperor Taizong of Tang and Li Shimin, was also a famous politician of the Tang Dynasty. In his life, he experienced many ups and downs, and in the face of the tyrant Sui Emperor and the Qin king Li Shimin, he finally chose to follow Li Shimin and establish his own great cause. His father was originally an official of the Sui Dynasty, and under his father's teaching, he kept in mind the desire for self-cultivation, family unity, governance, and peace in the world from an early age, and made many efforts for it.
Fang Xuanling
At the age of eighteen, he had already passed the Sui Dynasty's imperial examination and achieved good results in the jinshi and the first. As an official of the Sui Dynasty, he did not choose to continue to serve the country and maintain the rule of the Sui Dynasty, but after Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, led an uprising, he chose to follow the ranks of Li Yuan's second son, Li Shimin, and was willing to follow Li Shimin until he established a great cause.
After choosing to follow Li Shimin, he wholeheartedly assisted Li Shimin, gave him advice, and selected a group of real talents, so that Li Shimin's subordinates would be full of talents for a while. Even after this, he also single-handedly plotted the change of Xuanwumen, successfully sent Li Shimin to the throne, so that Li Shimin successfully ascended to the throne, after Tang Taizong succeeded to the throne, Fang Xuanling was also named the Duke of Xing by the emperor for his dragon service, mainly responsible for helping the emperor deal with the affairs of the dynasty, but also responsible for summarizing and consolidating the materials of the past. The materials compiled by Fang Xuanling also provided great convenience for future generations to study the history of the Tang Dynasty.
Du Ru obscure
During his reign, he and another minister of the Tang Dynasty, Du Ruyi, helped each other, learned from each other's strengths, and jointly assisted Tang Taizong in establishing the Zhenguan Dynasty. Because he is good at thinking about problems, but he hesitates to do things repeatedly and cannot easily make decisions. On the contrary, Du Ruyi was decisive and suitable for choosing the best from many ideas, so the two of them often cooperated to assist the emperor together, and history also called them "Fang Mou Du Duan", becoming a model for future generations of prime ministers to learn. Because of his outstanding merits, Fang Xuanling was also included in the Ling Yan Pavilion by Tang Taizong and was respected by posterity.
In the "Fang Xuanling Monument", Yun: Sage Tongde, Junchen Xiezhi. The dome is flat and the seclusion will be. Ge Yi from Xia, Qiang Rong Kou official.
The family is prominent, and only wants to follow the people of the world
According to historical records, Fang Xuanling was born in a family of eunuchs in the Sui Dynasty, and his family history is prominent, even dating back to the Northern Wei Dynasty. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, his grandfather and father also held important official positions in the Sui court, so they were also famous in their hometown. His father was a well-known local scholar, who was only eight buckets old, and people often came to his home to visit him and ask him for advice.
Growing up in such a background, Fang Xuanling was familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics since he was a child, and the scholar's father had a particularly great influence on him. Under his father's instruction, he was able to write articles very smoothly and had a general understanding of the books left by the ancient sages. In addition, he also inherited his father's good calligraphy and was very good at writing lishu. Such Fang Xuanling naturally participated in the imperial examination organized by the Sui Dynasty after becoming an adult, and successfully passed the entrance examination, so he also held an official position in the Sui Dynasty court.
Perhaps the hero is useless, when Fang Xuanling entered the Sui Dynasty court as an official, he happened to encounter the reign of the Sui Emperor, due to the brutal rule of the emperor, resulting in the people of the world living in a poor life, and peasant uprisings in various places.
Li Yuan, Duke of Tang
Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, was one of the representative figures, and after fully understanding the situation in the world, Fang Xuanling was unwilling to follow such a emperor as the Sui Emperor, so he decided to defect to Li Yuan's second son, Li Shimin. Obviously, this was also a correct decision, he was not reused under the Sui Emperor, but he fully exerted his talents under Li Shimin.
After deciding to follow Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling defected to Li Shimin in Weibei, and because of his outstanding talent, he was reused by Li Shimin, and repeatedly ordered him to follow him on expeditions. Because he was good at giving advice and strategy, he held a position in the Qin Dynasty. It should be pointed out that this Fang Xuanling is also a person who knows en tu bao.
Li Shimin
In his view, Li Shimin is his Bole, and in order to thank Li Shimin for his kindness, Fang Xuanling is more dedicated to assisting Li Shimin. If you want to unify the world, then you must have the talent of a general, every time Tang Taizong destroys the dividing power of one side, when others are vigorously searching for rare treasures, only Fang Xuanling will make friends with those truly useful talents, and move them with affection and understand them. After establishing a good relationship with them and becoming friends, he persuaded them to work for Li Shimin together.
For example, after defeating Wang Shichong, Fang Xuanling thought that Zhang Liang was "wise and resourceful", so he recommended him to Li Shimin and became a general of the Qin Dynasty. Even Du Ruyi, who later became known as Fang Mou Du Duan with him, was reused after Fang Xuanling's recommendation.
With his help, Li Shimin became acquainted with a large number of truly talented ministers, which greatly enhanced Li Shimin's strength, which also laid the foundation for his later rise to the top of the world. After Fang Xuanling showed his talent, Li Yuan's eldest son Li Jiancheng, who was also very red-eyed at the time, had such a talent, and repeatedly threw an olive branch to him to try to bribe him, but each time he was rejected by Fang Xuanling. No matter how much others tried to please him, he was not moved, and still wholeheartedly assisted Tang Taizong, such a situation until his death.
Remove obstacles and help Emperor Taizong ascend to the throne
The process of unifying the world is long, and the time it takes to become an emperor is also a long time. After several years of hard work, Li Yuan finally overthrew the corrupt Sui Dynasty and established the Tang Dynasty, thus unifying the world and becoming the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty. After Li Yuan became emperor, Li Shimin was crowned king of Qin, and this situation lasted for more than ten years, and Fang Xuanling also followed Li Shimin for more than ten years, for him to be born and died.
In the Qin Dynasty, he was mainly responsible for advising on the affairs of the Qin King's army, and was responsible for the management of official documents. As a talented person, Fang Xuanling is very smooth every time he writes a sonata, the text is simple, and it is easy to understand. Even Tang Gaozu Li Yuan admired him very much, often telling the people around him that he was a candidate worthy of a heavy position. It is precisely because there are too many capable people around Li Shimin that it poses a huge threat to Li Jiancheng, the hidden prince. So he used a ruse to send Fang Xuanling, Du Ruyi and others to other places together, thus weakening the power of the Qin King's side. At that time, Li Shimin did not want to tear his face with Li Jiancheng, so he could only tolerate it everywhere, and this situation did not change until the ninth year of Wu De.
According to historical records, when Wu De was in the ninth year, Li Jiancheng, the prince of Yin, watched Li Shimin's power grow, whether in the court or in the people, the prestige that Li Shimin possessed seriously threatened his position as crown prince, in order to consolidate his position, Li Jiancheng wanted to launch a palace coup and kill Li Shimin. Unfortunately, the news leaked in the middle of the way, and Li Shimin unexpectedly got the news. So he gathered the courtiers around him to discuss the method of cracking together, and finally under the persuasion of the eldest son Wuji, Fang Xuanling and others, he decided to act first, so he planned to launch the Xuanwumen Rebellion, eliminating Li Jiancheng, the Prince of Cain, and Li Chengji, the Yuan King.
In this way, the only son that Li Yuan could entrust with a heavy responsibility was Li Shimin, the King of Qin, and Li Shimin was therefore made crown prince by Li Yuan. And it was precisely because of his participation in the planning of the xuanwumen change that he helped Li Shimin to seek the throne of the emperor, and Li Shimin praised Fang Xuanling for his "planning and planning, and fixing the merits of the society".
Li Shimin stills
Because of the merits of the dragon, after Li Shimin ascended the throne as emperor, he began to discuss the merits and rewards according to the custom. Fang Xuanling also received his own rewards, and was made the Duke of Xingguo by the emperor, and from then on, he followed the emperor's side to assist him in ruling the world together. Tang Taizong Li Shimin himself knew that the reason why he could be called emperor was mainly thanks to the assistance of all the heroes. After he consolidated his rule, in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, he ordered someone to build the Ling Yan Pavilion with his own hands, including the twenty-four meritorious servants who had contributed to him and being enshrined by future generations, and this Fang Xuanling seemed to be among them, and ranked fourth.
Take measures to consolidate the rule of Emperor Taizong of Tang
After holding a high position, Fang Xuanling still did not relax his requirements for himself, nor did he pamper and be proud, and he was willful in the favor of the emperor. Instead, he suggested many measures to the emperor to consolidate The Tang Taizong's rule. One of the most important points is the abolition of redundant officials and the streamlining of institutions. At his suggestion, Emperor Taizong of Tang promptly dismissed a large number of officials who only knew how to covet pleasure, thus appointing a group of good officials who really did things for the people and for the imperial court.
In this way, to a certain extent, the efficiency of the work between the various departments of the imperial court was improved, and the financial expenditure of the state was saved and the burden of the people was reduced. In addition to official management, Fang Xuanling is also very good at repairing code decrees. Because before Emperor Taizong of Tang ascended the throne, he was responsible for sorting out ancient books in the Qin Dynasty, so he was also very handy at repairing laws. After Tang Taizong became emperor, he was faced with the phenomenon that the legal system was incomplete shortly after the establishment of the state, so he ordered Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi to jointly formulate laws.
Stills of Fang Xuanling
The laws he revised, all adhering to the principle of "reviewing and determining laws and orders, leniency and peace", simplified complex laws and regulations, and also abolished many of the harsher laws and regulations since the Sui Dynasty, thus gaining the support of ordinary people. The laws he single-handedly formulated were also used by later dynasties, and there were no major changes throughout the Tang Dynasty.
In February of the third year of Zhenguan, Fang Xuanling was re-created the Duke of Wei by Emperor Taizong of Tang, serving as Shangshu Zuo's servant and putting him in charge of supervising the revision of the state history. Fang Xuanling, who treated every post with due diligence, naturally gained the respect of his subordinates, so he was quickly revised in the collation of the history of the country. After the revision of the history of the country was completed, he was also entrusted by the emperor with the responsibility of summarizing the history of the Tang Taizong period, and among these summaries were books such as the Records of Emperor Taizong. As we all know, Fang Xuanling was a man of insight and talent, so during his tenure as an official in the imperial court, he selected many talents for the emperor, and appointed people on merit, not because of the status of others and despise others, so people called him a good minister.
Records of Emperor Taizong
In the eleventh year of Zhenguan, due to his outstanding merits, he was deeply valued by the emperor and was crowned the Duke of Liang by the emperor. In Fang Xuanling's bumpy life, he first experienced not being reused by the tyrant Sui Emperor, but later was discovered by Tang Taizong Li Shimin, who has since worked hard to assist the emperor, so that he later achieved a prosperous world. Even if there is talent, there must be the existence of Bo Le, otherwise it will only be like Du Fu, Su Shi and other people who will not encounter depression and end up.
epilogue
In the New Book of Tang, it is recorded: "Fang Xuanling was a country, and he was diligent and strong at night. Let the public exhaust the festival, do not want to lose a place. There is no jealousy, and it is good to smell others, if you have it. Mingda ruled, and the edge was decorated with elegance, and the law was punished, and the service was lenient. Do not look up to others by their own strengths, and do not seek preparation for others, although they are lowly and lowly, they must do their best. Or to be let go of things, but to be feared for sin and to be intolerable."
Indeed, Fang Xuanling is an upright and selfless person who distinguishes between right and wrong. He will not relax his demands on himself because he is in a high position, or use the power in his hands to achieve some private purpose. On the contrary, he would reflect on whether his actions were conducive to the development of the Tang Dynasty from a high position, and how could such a courtier who had both talent and a correct understanding of his own status not be admired? How could it not be reused by the emperor?
It is no wonder that later generations regarded him and Du Ruyi as a model of good looks, and collectively called them "Fang and Du". Throughout history, all dynasties and dynasties have not lacked people who have achieved great merit and shocked the Lord, who can correctly position themselves, neither attracted by more power, nor nostalgic for the life of gold and jade, which is not easy.
In fact, in Fang Xuanling's life, his most prominent merit was to assist Tang Taizong Li Shimin in establishing the Zhenguan Dynasty, so that the social economy, political situation, ideology and culture of the Tang Dynasty were developed, and it really benefited the people. The materials he presided over compiling and repairing have also become important historical texts in ancient Chinese history, which has provided great help for future generations to study the history of the previous dynasties. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, there were many talents, and this Fang Xuanling was able to stand out in it with his own talents, so it can be seen that he must have skills that ordinary people do not have, and it is no wonder that he is revered by later generations as a model for prime ministers.
Resources:
New Book of Tang and Biography of Fang Xuanling
Zizhi Tongjian Vol. 195
"Fang Xuanling Monument"