From the time of Emperor Taizong, the emperors of the Song Dynasty paid great attention to drawing lessons from history on political rule. In November 983, Emperor Taizong said to his ministers: "I went through the books of the previous generation and found that most of the monarchs were in harmony with each other. Therefore, all the ministers should not hide anything, and their speeches can also be adopted. As the eyes and ears of the Yuan, if there is a deficiency in governance, it should be carefully explained that the Yuan, who is absolutely not arrogant and self-respecting, makes people dare not speak. ”
Zhao Guangyi
Emperor Taizong was a diligent ruler, and in order to consolidate the foundation of the Song Dynasty's rule more firmly, he personally selected talents, interviewed them in person by summoning them to question and answer questions in person, and finally reused and promoted the outstanding. His closest confidant said, "Every time I see a talented gentleman in a cloth who is being put on, he will be happy for their parents." "Every morning Emperor Taizong would go to the Changchun Hall to go to the court, listen to the government affairs reports of the hundred officials, and then begin to go to the Chongzheng Hall to approve and read the chapters to deal with political affairs. Sometimes I was busy until noon, and I couldn't eat too late.
Today, you can still see the inscriptions and plaques written by Emperor Taizong at that time, and his calligraphy foundation is not shallow, and then through the guidance of famous masters, diligent practice, so that there will be a deeper attainment of skill, not only by his own identity and status and inscriptions everywhere. Knowing that Emperor Taizong was interested in calligraphy, some people recommended the master book of Zhao Zhou Longping, who had a family tradition in calligraphy, and Emperor Taizong was very happy to hear it, summoned him to wait for the Weiwei Temple's History Museum, and asked him to elaborate on the rhymes, and later moved to the book of Shu Lang and The Book of Hanlin.
Most of the emperors had a hobby of hunting, while Emperor Taizong's hobby was to read, write, write, and write poetry, etc., and he did not like to hunt, and this was indeed the case. In September 988, he said to his attendants: "Every time you recite the ancient people's bird famine ring, from now on, in addition to the rituals of Si Shunshi, it is not good to hunt in Jindian." "He ordered the release of all the eagle dogs and other animals raised in the five workshops, and issued an edict ordering the world not to come back to the offering." Some people still don't believe it, thinking that Emperor Taizong is just talking, since ancient times, which emperor does not like the prey of others to pay tribute. In October 992, the general folded the imperial secretary to pay tribute to some flower eagles, and Emperor Taizong immediately released them. I didn't expect that Emperor Taizong didn't say anything, but came to the truth, which can be described as a must-do, which is admirable. Emperor Taizong's attitude towards religion was basically tolerant. After the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, in order to win the strong support of all classes in the south, an appropriate policy of protection was adopted for Buddhism, which was very popular in the small southern separated countries such as Wuyue, Southern Tang, and Later Shu. Emperor Taizong felt that Buddhism "had a political background", so he deliberately advocated the construction of temples in Wutai Mountain, Mount Emei, Tiantai Mountain, etc., and also set up a translation institute in the capital Kaifeng to interpret Buddhist scriptures. The Great Tibetan Scriptures, which began to be carved and printed in Yizhou during the Reign of Taizu Kaibao, were not completed until the time of Emperor Taizong, and the first collection of Buddhist scriptures in China was printed and distributed. When the Song Dynasty was founded, there were less than 60,000 monks in various places, but by the time of Emperor Taizong, it had increased by more than 4 times to 240,000. Emperor Taizong himself had an attitude of emphasizing Taoism over Buddhism.
Laxity was the policy of Emperor Taizong's rule. However, in order to better maintain social stability, Emperor Taizong also personally handled some cases in prison. He decreed the establishment of a court of inquisition. Cases that are played in various localities must first be handed over to the Dali Temple by the Trial And Punishment Court, and after the Punishment Department has been restored, it must be submitted to the Trial And Punishment Court for careful deliberation and judgment. The Inquisition was not under the command of the Prime Minister, but was directly controlled by the Emperor. In April 981, Emperor Taizong issued an edict: "In major cases in various states, the chief officials do not personally handle them, and often the officials cannot close the cases after years of delaying adultery." Since now, the chief official has handled the case every five days, and the person who verifies the truth can make a decision. ”
In order to avoid delayed cases throughout the country, three time limits for handling cases are stipulated: 40 days for large cases, 30 days for medium cases, and 10 days for small cases, and they can be resolved within 3 days without hunting down and easy to handle. At the same time, it was stipulated that if prisoners needed to be interrogated, they must gather together with the official office to participate, and could not directly entrust Xu officials to torture and plunder. The implementation of this policy has indeed made many people applaud. In 993, a farmer on the outskirts of Tokyo ran to the government office to beat the drum, only to lose a pig. When Emperor Taizong heard this, he ordered the peasant to be given a thousand dollars to repay his pig money. The prime minister on the side was a little confused about Taizong's move, and the prime minister's surprised eyes naturally did not escape Taizong's fiery golden eyes, so he said to the prime minister: "If such a small matter also has to work hard to break the case, is it too ridiculous?" But by pushing this heart to come to the world, we can make the world free from wrongdoers. ”
Emperor Taizong summed up the experience of the eunuch dictatorship since the fifth dynasty of the Tang Dynasty, and was very strict with the eunuchs, denying them the opportunity to interfere in politics. As the eunuch Wang Ji'en (王妃恩) as an envoy to Jiannan Liangchuan, and leading the army to quell the rebellion of Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun, Zhongshu Province suggested that Wang Ji'en be appointed as an envoy to Xuanhui. Unexpectedly, Emperor Taizong did not accept this suggestion, saying: "Reading the history books of the previous dynasties, eunuchs interfering in political affairs is a great taboo for the country, so eunuchs have been strictly forbidden to interfere in political affairs in successive dynasties. The xuanhui envoy was the beginning of political participation. Only other titles may be conferred. The prime minister said that Wang Ji'en had made great contributions, and that non-Xuanhui was not enough to reward him. When Emperor Taizong heard this, he was even more angry, so he was also reprimanded along with the chancellor, and gave the name of the other official, and finally created the name of a propaganda envoy, and conferred the post of Wang Ji'en.
Several of the prime ministers appointed by Emperor Taizong were more upright and frank. Kou Zhun, who was straight by nature, once played something to Emperor Taizong, and Emperor Taizong was not happy after hearing it, so he stood up and wanted to leave, but Kou Zhun pulled on the emperor's sleeve and asked him to sit down again, until the matter was decided. Emperor Taizong couldn't help but sigh and said, "It's worthy of being the real prime minister!" ”