Tang Taizong Li Shimin is the Ming Emperor in the history of our country, during his reign, he made great efforts to rule, so that the world was peaceful and the people were healthy, thus creating the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, known in history as the "rule of Zhenguan". But in fact, the reason why Li Shimin was able to achieve such a great achievement was inseparable from the assistance of a sage, who was Fang Xuanling.
Fang Xuanling's family was prominent, and his birth was even more of a family of scholars, and his father, Fang Yanqian, was studious, proficient in the Five Classics, and was a famous scholar in Wei and Qi. And Fang Xuanling has also heard about it since childhood, he was brilliant at a young age, he was able to write poetry, Fang Xuanling read the history of the classics, and also learned his father's good calligraphy, especially good at grass, and later Fang Xuanling, who was only eighteen years old, was even more a jinshi, and successively served as a lieutenant of YuQi and a lieutenant of Kuicheng County.
In the last years of the Sui Dynasty, when there were frequent wars in the world, when Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, led his troops into the pass, Fang Xuanling went from Weibei to join the Qin king Li Shimin, he followed Li Shimin many times, advised him, and served as a member of the Qin Royal Palace. Later, fang Xuanling repaid Li Shimin's kindness, and he wholeheartedly planned military and political affairs.
But every time the warlord forces on one side were destroyed, the people in the military camp wanted to search for goods first, but only Fang Xuanling first thought of collecting talents, he placed those who had strategies or were brave and good at war in his own shogunate, and privately made friends with them, thus recruiting many talents for Li Shimin.
Fang Xuanling served Li Shimin for more than ten years, during which time he has been in charge of the affairs of the military camp, and it is he who has helped Li Shimin win successive victories in battle, and at that time, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan also praised Fang Xuanling, saying to the people around him: "Fang Xuanling is a clever person and can take on heavy responsibilities. Every time he talked about affairs for King Chen of Qin, he would definitely be able to understand people's psychology. Even if they were thousands of miles away, it was as if they were talking face to face. ”
In the ninth year of Wu De, Fang Xuanling participated in the planning of the Xuanwumen Rebellion, thus successfully helping Li Shimin to seize the imperial throne, and afterwards Li Shimin praised him for "planning and planning, fixing the merits of the society", and later Li Shimin discussed the merits and rewards, and Fang Xuanling was awarded the title of Duke of Xing for his merits.
After Li Shimin ascended the throne, although Fang Xuanling held a high position of power, he still thought of danger in times of peace and made great efforts to help Emperor Taizong better rule the world, and Fang Xuanling attached great importance to the rule of officials, he believed that the problem of official governance was the foundation of governing the country, and the honesty of officials was the key to governing the country.
On the issue of selecting and promoting officials, Fang Xuanling implemented the strategy of simplifying administration and reducing the number of redundant officials, which greatly reduced the state's expenditure; in addition, Fang Xuanling's practice of reducing officials improved the problem of the large number of officials and the shortage of the people since the end of the Sui Dynasty, greatly improved the efficiency of the officials between the imperial court departments, and also reduced the burden of the people, so people in later generations took Fang Xuanling as an example for the sages.
In addition, Fang Xuanling not only streamlined officials, but also made certain changes in the revision of laws and orders, Fang He adhered to the idea of "reviewing and determining laws and orders, with leniency as the purpose", simplified the laws, and removed the strict torture laws left by the Sui Dynasty. Moreover, since Fang Xuanling changed the law, the laws of the Tang Dynasty have not changed much in hundreds of years, which shows the great contribution of Fang Xuanling.
Although Li Shimin was the Ming Emperor who pioneered the rule of Zhenguan, it would have been difficult for Li Shimin to achieve such great achievements without Fang Xuanling's wholehearted advice and advice, and it was these policies and laws formulated by Fang Xuanling that enabled the people to live and work in peace and contentment and live in peace. When later historians commented on those prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty, they all recommended Fang Xuanling first, which also shows the high status of Fang Xuanling.