"Tailiu Xian Zhou, The West Garden leads to the talent." This is the beauty praise that Li Shimin gave to Fang Xuanling, saying that he was a talented person. In fact, Li Shimin was good at composing poems, and among the hundred poems, many capitals were given to Fang Xuanling.
During Li Shimin's reign, the court opened up a wide range of speeches, and people compared Li Shimin to sages such as Yao Shun.
But inside and outside the Tang Government, the person who can see through the most real Li Shimin must not be Wei Zheng, who is good at speaking, and perhaps only Fang Xuanling knows the true appearance of Li Shimin the most.
The relationship between him and Li Shimin can better reflect the way of getting along with the current superior-subordinate relationship. And Fang Xuanling's heartfelt words on his deathbed actually expounded the essence of the monarch in his heart in that era.
Fang Xuanling's picture book
Fang Xuanling was born in 579 and died in 648. In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, he was already an official to the prime minister, and his descendants honored Fang Xuanling as the first minister in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, which shows the high degree of respect.
Fang Xuanling is an outstanding politician and historian in the history of our country. He was born in a famous family and received a better education from an early age. During the Sui Dynasty, the family held an important official position, and his father was Fang Yanqian, a powerful minister of the Sui Dynasty.
The family's prominent official eunuch background also made Fang Xuanling more qualified to broaden his horizons from an early age. His father also attached great importance to Fang Xuanling's education and cultivated Fang Xuanling's interests in being diligent and studious. In his childhood, Fang Xuanling had already passed through the Five Classics, and Fang Xuanling liked to debate, and had many famous teachers in Shandong and other places.
Public Image of Fusang
Shandong is also the ancient city with the strongest Confucian thought, and to a certain extent, Fang Xuanling was deeply baptized by Confucianism. But Fang Xuanling is not only a boy who loves to read, he also loves riding and shooting, and at the age of 18, he also won the lift, became a jinshi, and was later promoted to a feather lieutenant.
By the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world was in complete chaos. At this time, Li Yuan led his troops into the pass, and under the chaos of the world, Fang Xuanling decided to defect to Li Shimin.
Fang Xuanling went out with the King of Qin, and was a staff officer and in charge of books. In the early process of starting a business, Li Shimin had a good feeling for Fang Xuanling, and even openly praised the ministers, saying that he was a good helper with a difference. Whenever the battlefield ushers in the good news of great victory, many generals will think about how to divide up more gold and silver treasures to fill their own pockets, or to raise their own fame, so that the world is famous, so that future generations will favor.
Li Shimin said that it was Fang Xuanling who was more obvious to these soldiers. He said that he didn't seem to look at anything, he didn't value gold and silver treasures, nor did he value his posthumous name, but just wanted to collect a large number of talents everywhere at the end of the war, so that these capable people could be used by the King of Qin and Emperor Taizong.
If Li Shimin values a boss, Fang Xuanling is a subordinate. Then the subordinates who can recruit a think tank for the boss will be reused. In fact, Fang Xuanling really recommended countless talents that could be used for Li Shimin, including Zhang Liang and so on.
Fang Xuanling first made friends with those who admired the talents after winning the war. Then he talked about the beautiful scene of Tang Zhihong's great cause, and finally introduced these capable people for Li Shimin's use. Xue Shuo, Li Daliang, Du Ruyi, and so on were all matchmaking Li Shimin through Fang Xuanling, and finally had an earth-shattering political achievement in Tang politics.
But according to Fang Xuanling's words, everything is just to repay Li Shimin's kindness. Therefore, when Li Shimin was only the King of Qin, Fang Xuanling did his best to follow the King of Qin, planning military and political affairs for him, and pacifying other warlords outside the central government.
Folk portrait of Tang Taizong Li Shimin
Before the change of Xuanwumen, Li Shimin was just a wronged person who thought that he had not been elected as the crown prince by his father. At this time, Fang Xuanling had always encouraged the King of Qin to be diligent and thrifty in politics, and constantly mastered the major affairs of military planning. Therefore, For Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling's helper is equivalent to a kind of spiritual encouragement in the early stage.
Li Yuan had also been in the court, praising the courtiers thousands of miles away, and Fang Xuanling, who had never spoken directly to himself. Dao: This person is always able to judge the situation, and he can analyze things from the perspective of human psychology. Even though he was thousands of miles away, I still felt as if he could always communicate with people face to face, and he grasped people's psychology and human nature very accurately.
And Li Yuan's words actually very objectively pointed to the biggest shining point of Fang Xuanling's body, he is indeed a capable person who is good at understanding human nature.
Statue of Wei Zheng
Here we have to mention Fang Xuanling's way of getting along with Li Shimin, and when many people read the history of the Tang Dynasty, what they see is the relationship between Wei Zheng and Li Shimin.
In the process of speaking, Wei Zheng will pay attention to three major methods. First, put forward the stakes of the matter. Second, taking Yao Shunyu as an example, he urged Li Shimin to absorb more suggestions from others. Third, Wei Zheng explained to Li Shimin the difference between Ming Mingjun and Ming jun, and encouraged Li Shimin to open up his speech.
In these three aspects, Wei Zheng knocked on the side to stabilize his position where he could speak more, and at the same time avoided the situation that Li Shimin would be greatly moved by his own words.
But is such Wei Zheng really smarter than Fang Xuanling? This is not the case, if you look at it from the perspective of understanding Li Shimin, Wei Zheng may not be as good as Fang Xuanling. Fang Xuanling is more able to grasp the direction of Li Shimin's humanity and psychology, and is more able to cooperate with his superiors.
Fang Xuanling folk painting book
Li Shimin was not willing to be a generous emperor, he was not willing to listen to his words and deeds that denied himself, and he could not listen to those suggestions that ran counter to his political opinions in time. After all, under the feudal imperial system, the dignity of a country's monarch is particularly important, and it is very normal for Li Shimin to have such a violent psychology.
However, Wei Zheng did not take it to heart, and the words should still be the same, and sometimes Li Shimin would be angry and rush to the crown. Only when Empress Eldest Sun came forward to reconcile the relationship between the two, Li Shimin could make a slight concession. However, without the existence of the lubricant empress eldest son, it is estimated that the contradiction between this monarch and his subjects will become deeper and deeper, which will be detrimental to the continuation of the Wei Zheng family.
In super contrast to Wei Zheng was Fang Xuanling.
In his whole life, Fang Xuanling had never said too many things that violated Li Shimin. And Li Shimin also made many poems and gave them to him. It is said that Fang Xuanling is really a good confidant on his political path and a good friend in his life.
Statue of Fang Xuanling
So how did Fang Xuanling see that Li Shimin was a grumpy king who was unwilling to really speak widely?
First of all, Fang Xuanling had already followed the King of Qin in the early days. In the process of building a meritorious career, the two spent a long time together, and judging from the fate of others, Li Shimin was a very grumpy monarch.
It is said that once, Li Shimin invited a military minister to play against him. A morning passed, and Li Shimin did not win a few sets. So he went so furious that he demoted the minister to a local position as a petty official.
Fang Xuanling explored the psychological changes of his superiors from the perspective of human nature and psychology. Then apply the theoretical results of his own exploration to his own way of getting along with his superiors. Therefore, the relationship between the two has become more friendly, and Li Shimin has more trust in Fang Xuanling.
But Fang Xuanling was diligent and modest all his life. At the end of his life, he finally said something heartfelt, which is equivalent to the only time Fang Xuanling said in the 31 years of following Li Shimin that it may anger Li Shimin, but it is also more like a truth.
Map of the Tang Dynasty
In his later years, Fang Xuanling's physical condition was very poor, he often could not speak, and his ears could not hear clearly. Li Shimin was so anxious that he repeatedly sent many well-known doctors in the imperial capital to visit Fang Xuanling. When Li Shimin learned that Fang Xuanling's life was imminent, he personally rushed to Fang Xuanling's palace, took Fang Xuanling's hand, and said something heartfelt.
At the time of his death, Fang Xuanling finally told the truth once. He also modestly and euphemistically told his monarch that war would make a country stronger, that its territory would expand, and that from the point of view of the state, war was an inevitable means of maintaining political unity.
However, from the perspective of people's livelihood, behind the war will be the stage of suffering of tens of millions of people, and if the country can stop the pace of war, it will be the basis for the people to usher in a happy and healthy life.
At that time, Tang Taizong always wanted to conquer Goguryeo in the north. However, Goguryeo was like Xiao Qiang, who could not die after fighting, and was immediately destroyed after a dozen, which gave Li Shimin a headache.
The real annihilation of Goguryeo was actually Li Shimin's son Li Zhi, so in the process of repairing Goguryeo, the wars caused were not in the minority. Among them, there are thousands or tens of thousands of people who suffer.
Specific location of Goguryeo
Li Shimin wanted to do a good job in expanding the land area of the Tang Dynasty, which was a political ambition that an emperor should have. Logically speaking, Fang Xuanling can handle the relationship between superior and subordinate from the perspective of human nature and psychology, then he must also know that Li Shimin wants to expand his territory.
Then why did he advise Li Shimin to do what he didn't want to do when he was dying? Because Fang Xuanling was single-minded in serving the public, caring for the people, and putting the people's livelihood issues of national affairs in the first place, he knew that the minister who could really serve the country was a good minister.
There is an old saying since ancient times that when a man dies, his words are good. Fang Xuanling did not say too many words against Li Shimin in his life, and when he was dying, he only sincerely asked Li Shimin to listen to the voices of the people's hearts, temporarily stop the pace of the war in the north, and pay attention to the people's media.
I have to say that Fang Xuanling is indeed a good example of sympathy for the people.
Ling Yan Pavilion
Fang Xuanling was enfeoffed as the Duke of Liang, and Li Shimin also listed him as the Twenty-four Meritorious Servants of Ling Yan Pavilion, ranking 5th, which shows the high degree of importance he attaches. However, Fang Xuanling had been intelligent all his life, and in the end he still did not anticipate the future development trajectory of his family.
Fang Xuanling's son Fang Yi'ai and his wife Princess Gaoyang launched a mutiny. Finally, he participated in the rebellion in 653 AD, and was finally given death by sitting guilty. And Fang Xuanling of the Qingming Dynasty was also removed from the Twenty-Four Heroes of Ling Yan Pavilion because of this incident, and even among the 24 portraits on the memorial hall, there was no fang Xuanling's picture book, which was a pity.
History of the New Tang Dynasty
History of sui and Tang dynasties