In 617, thirteen years after the great cause of the Sui Dynasty Emperor, Li Yuan finally broke the silence and the long-brewed plan to raise an army was implemented. Li Yuan led his eldest son Li Jiancheng and second son Li Shimin to the south, crossed the Yellow River, and took Guanzhong directly. In Weibei, outside Li Shimin's gate, there appeared an elder who came to fight, this elder was 20 years older than Li Shimin, Li Shimin was short of soldiers at that time, and he was thirsty for talents, this person came to defect, Li Shimin immediately had a feeling of seeing each other and hating the late, so he let him join the army and stand by his side. This person's surname is Qiao Fang, the character Xuan Ling, is Li Shimin's most powerful think tank.
In this regard, the New Book of Tang records this:
Emperor Taizong led his troops to tour Weibei in his capacity as the Duke of Dunhuang, and Xuan Ling's staff was seen at the military gate, and When Emperor Taizong saw it, he was appointed to join the army as the marching office of Weibei Province.
Fang Xuanling's great-grandfather was a Zhenyuan general of the Northern Wei Dynasty, his grandfather was a county lord Bo, and his father was just an ordinary reader, which can be said to be the middle of the family road. But Fang Xuanling was intelligent from an early age, familiar with the history of the Scriptures, and full of strategy. At that time, Li Yuan's father and son had only been fighting for more than a month, and Fang Xuanling made three predictions: First, the Great Sui would definitely perish. Second, the Sui Dynasty was replaced by the Li father and son. Third, Fang Xuanling did not meet Li Yuan's eldest son Li Jiancheng, but directly defected to Li Shimin, because Li Shimin was the lord in Fang Xuanling's mind. Judging from the results, Fang Xuanling's three-point prediction is completely correct, which shows that this person is indeed sharp-eyed.
Although Li Shimin is rich and talented, he is troubled by trivial matters, and Fang Xuanling not only advises Li Shimin, but also diligently and earnestly handles mundane things, which Li Shimin is very satisfied with. Li Shimin once commented on Fang Xuanling:
"After Emperor Wu of Han Guangwu got Deng Yu, the disciples were even closer to each other, and since I had Xuan Ling, just like Guangwu had Deng Yu."
Deng Yu was a famous military master around Liu Xiu, and Li Shimin compared Fang Xuanling to Deng Yu, which shows the importance he attaches to Fang Xuanling. Fang Xuanling is old and heavy, his vision is relatively long-term, Li Shimin went out on the expedition, once he won the battle, the other generals all went into the city to rob the treasure, only Fang Xuanling did not want these external things, he went into the city to visit celebrities, recommend talents for Li Shimin, because Fang Xuanling believes that talent is a priceless treasure to seize the world. For example, the famous Du Ruyi was recommended by Fang Xuanling to Li Shimin.
Li Shimin has achieved great feats in battle, and people think that his famous generals are like clouds, so he will not lose a hundred battles. On the contrary, it is easy to ignore the 3 civil servants under Li Shimin's account, they are Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhan and the eldest grandson Wujie. Among them, if we talk about strategy, Fang Xuanling ranks first, and if we make a decision, Du Ruyi is even better. The eldest son Wuji is Li Shimin's brother-in-law, although he is not good at strategizing, he is a confidant. Therefore, when the crown prince and the king of Qin were at odds later, Li Jiancheng first transferred Fang and Du from Li Shimin's side before dealing with Li Shimin.
The Old Book of Tang records:
Prince Yin was honored by Emperor Taizong with Xuan Ling and Ru Obscure, and he was very evil, and he was reprimanded by Gao Zu, and yu was expelled from ru and ru obscure. Prince Yin will change, and Emperor Taizong ordered the eldest grandson to summon Xuan Ling and Ru Obscure, ordered the Daoist to serve, and sneaked into the cabinet to plan things.
However, when Li Shimin was determined to launch the Xuanwumen Rebellion, he did not hesitate to take the risk and let the eldest son Wuji invite Fang and Du to come, dressed in Taoist clothes, and secretly enter the Qin Palace to plot. This shows two things: First, in Li Shimin's mind, there is a major strategy, and there must be the participation of Fang Du and du. Second, without the detailed planning of Fang Du and du, the change of Xuanwu Gate would probably not have been won by the brute force of Wei Chigong, Hou Junji, and others alone.
Therefore, when Li Shimin succeeded to the throne, on the merits and rewards, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhan and the eldest grandson Wujie, the three civil servants, "ranked first in merit" and were directly named dukes. Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, was Li Shimin's cousin, and he believed that Fang Xuanling was a "sword and pen official", how could he be ranked in front of the military generals with a pen pole, And Li Shimin gave the example of Xiao He in the Han Dynasty, which made everyone convinced.
During the tang dynasty, Fang Xuanling served as prime minister and worked hard. Fang Xuanling was familiar with the history of the scriptures, didn't he know that after being an extremely popular subject, he should retreat in a hurry? In fact, Fang Xuanling knew. In the thirteenth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin believed that Fang Xuanling had worked hard and achieved great feats, and not only recruited Fang Xuanling's son as a donkey, but also married Fang Xuanling's daughter to Li Shimin's younger brother (a bit of a poor generation, don't mind). Fang Xuanling also made Fang Xuanling the Prince's Young Master, and Fang Xuanling thought that his power had reached the top, which was not a good thing, so he wrote a resignation overnight and handed it to Li Shimin. Li Shimin did not let him resign, and Fang Xuanling "fixed his resignation", but in the end he was rejected by Li Shimin many times.
Regarding Fang Xuanling's resignation from the government, there is a similar expression in the New Book of Tang:
(Zhenguan thirteen years) is not a few years, plus the prince young master, the first to the Eastern Palace, the crown prince wants to worship it, Xuan Ling does not dare to say, is stopped. Fifteen years as the prime minister, the female is the princess, the male lord, thinking that the power is favored by the pole, tired of resignation, the edict does not stop, Xuan Ling fixed the resignation.
Li Shimin believes that he can no longer do without Fang Xuanling, so he cannot let Fang Xuanling resign, Fang Xuanling worked for another 10 years, 10 years later, Fang Xuanling died of illness, in front of the sick bed, Li Shimin personally sealed Fang Xuanling's two sons in front of Fang Xuanling's bed, so that Fang Xuanling saw his son get the shade seal before he died.
In the later period when Fang Xuanling became prime minister, his sons used their father's strength and full wings, and finally in the tang Gaozong period, the famous "Fang Yi Ai Rebellion" occurred, Fang Xuanling's family was killed or degraded, and Fang Xuanling's tablet was removed from the Taimiao Temple. If Fang Xuanling resigns 10 years in advance, Li Shimin can approve it, and Fang Xuanling's name can be guaranteed.