Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 54 Winning Hearts (1)
14
After Li Yuan read out the last imperial edict on his throne, he looked at the officials and his own son Li Shimin, without saying a word, he winked at Concubine Zhang and Concubine Yin beside him, asking them to support him, and went back to the palace go.Seeing his father stepping down from the throne like this, down the six-step staircase that ministers could never walk up in their lifetime, walking beside him, and leaving the hall just like that, although Li Shimin felt a little pity for his father, he felt a little regretful. However, he still suddenly felt a kind of pleasure gushing out from the depths of his heart, and felt relaxed all over his body, so he let out a long breath.

This prince, no... I finally became the emperor!Under the admiring and fearful eyes of the crowd, Li Shimin stood up and walked up the six-step ladder between the monarch and his ministers.He sat on his father's old dragon chair with great excitement, holding the two mighty dragon heads tightly with both hands, and his eyes shone with brilliance.He was high above the ground, and all the officials knelt at his feet, blessing him in unison:

Long live my emperor!Long live!Long live!
He looked down at them from high above, and what he saw were the tops of their heads with strange shapes, and some of them could even see the backs with protruding spines.He felt a little funny in his heart, but his expression was still very serious.

"Everyone loves to be flat!"

Li Shimin spoke it very skillfully, his voice was full of vigor, stronger and more powerful than his father, the current Supreme Emperor.He has just turned 27 years old this year, and if he is in an ordinary family, he has just begun to enter society.But he—Li Shimin, became the emperor who controlled the officials and ruled hundreds of millions of people.For some reason, Li Shimin suddenly thought of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, and his series of great works: the Great Wall, the Grand Canal, and the battle of Goryeo.Emperor Yangdi was tired and defeated by these things.However, who dares not to admire from the heart that an emperor can accomplish such great things for the benefit of future generations in a short period of 13 years in power?Yang Jian, the father of Emperor Sui Yang, left a wealthy royal family for his son. Coupled with Emperor Yang's own courage and will, he did what he wanted to do, and he also finished himself.But now, what I, Li Shimin, have to face is a royal family that is in distress, whose hearts are still floating and rumors are still raging.He thought of his elder brother again, and the situation when his elder brother taught him how to learn archery when he was a child.well!If it wasn't for me, he would be sitting in this position.However, I didn't kill my father like Yang Guang did, but I can understand why he couldn't wait to do earth-shattering events after ascending to the throne.A person, as long as he has regrets in his heart, he will always try to make up for it.I, there are many great things I want to do now, but what I have to do now is to go further and conquer people's hearts...

All the ministers in the hall heard the new emperor's decree, and they have been "flat" for a long time, but they saw that the emperor was wandering between his mind and thoughts, and finally stopped issuing imperial decrees.None of them dared to stand up and ask, they just stood there dumbfounded, waiting for the emperor's next imperial edict.The whole hall was as quiet as if there was no one there.As for Wei Zheng, who had just returned from Xuanwei in Shandong and Hebei, he couldn't bear it anymore and winked at Wang Gui.The new emperor came to the throne, as Wei Zheng and Wang Gui, who are deeply loved but have little experience and little credit, both want to have a good suggestion to the emperor.After thinking about it again and again, the two of them came up with a good plan together and decided to jointly submit a table to the new emperor in front of the palace today.Wei Zheng himself had one more important matter to discuss, and decided to sort it out according to the priority, and first to discuss what he and Wang Gui agreed with.Wang Gui is a senior official, and the watch is in his hands, so Wei Zheng winked at him.When Wang Gui saw him, he glanced at Li Shimin, who was aloof and lost in thought, and then shook his head at Wei Zheng.Wei Zheng was in a hurry, snatched the watch from Wang Guili, stepped forward, looked up at Li Shimin and said:

"Your Majesty, I have a table to play."

After hearing this, Li Shimin woke up from his contemplation and said, "Take a look." The eunuch came down and took the watch from Wei Zheng, and handed it to Li Shimin with both hands.After seeing Wei Zheng and Wang Gui's joint name on the list, Li Shimin's heart suddenly became clear.This is a good idea, to re-appoint and bury the late prince and king of Qi, and it requires a very high standard.What a great way to kill two birds with one stone!It can not only win people's hearts, but also demonstrate the generosity and benevolence of the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty, showing how unwilling the emperor was to kill them; and how correct and imperative the emperor's politics are.For those who have died, no matter how grand and high-standard the burial is, it is in vain, but for those who are alive and still care about him in their hearts, it has absolute meaning.

"Good! Good! Good!" After reading the above list, Li Shimin said repeatedly: "What the two lovers think is exactly what I want. As for the funeral, I will ask you two to preside over it, and it must be grand."

"Obey!" Wang Gui and Wei Zheng ordered to thank you.

"As for the posthumous title, I ordered Shangshu's left and right servants Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui to discuss together, and then heard about it."

Wei Zheng was overjoyed when he heard this, and was about to play another important matter of his own. He only heard the emperor was already talking about the appointment of a queen and prince, so he shut his mouth and looked at the emperor, but he was thinking about what he was going to play. matter.And Li Shimin, who is aloof, is also thinking about what happened to him yesterday.

14
The beauty of autumn lies in its maturity. Whether it is the bright autumn moon, the green forest, the pine nuts in the mountains, or the golden chrysanthemums all over the city, there is a kind of maturity everywhere. The 27-year-old emperor Li Shimin is still in the summer of his life, but he is walking in the beautiful maturity of autumn.The golden fruit of life is coming.After he became emperor, he immediately enjoyed the supreme power of the emperor.He changed his father's reign name of Wude to Zhenguan.The eighth year of Wude became the first year of Zhenguan, and the 13th year of Daye was also the first year of Wude.People who become emperors do not allow others to have the same characters as their names, so Li Shiji, who was originally Xu Shiji, had to be changed to Li Ji.

Although he never put much thought into chasing women, after he became emperor, there were more and more women around him.So many that he couldn't even count them.This is his fault, but not his fault, because this is what the imperial power stipulates to do.However, if the power of the emperor is taken away, the emperor is just an ordinary person.The same is true for lust. Although there are countless women, there are only two or three women who really feel good.In addition to Changsun's family, it is Concubine Yang.

Concubine Yang was once the jewel in the palm of Emperor Yangdi, born with beauty and noble temperament.Coupled with being smart, docile, and understanding, she is really a woman that men like.Although Li Shimin's new emperor was very happy, the pressure from the emperor was also very tiring. At this time, the Changsun family was just pregnant with the later emperor Li Zhi, and Li Shimin came to rest at Concubine Yang after he left the court.

"Now, the former subordinates of the Eastern Palace and the Qi Mansion have all been appeased, and the old ministers of the court and my former bureaucrats have all been promoted one by one. It should be for these women's titles." In my arms, I still think about the big things of the country.

"Look, what kind of title will I give you?" Li Shimin suddenly turned around, leaned on Concubine Yang's breast, and asked while looking into her bright eyes.

Concubine Yang experienced the tragic death of her famous father, so she is naturally very indifferent to fame and fortune, and she is also aware of her situation. Hearing Li Shimin's sudden question, she smiled slightly and said:

"You should delete the eldest grandson sister as the queen, and make Chengqian the prince."

"You really think so?"

"When did the concubine deceive the emperor?"

"Okay, it's up to you. I will make Changsun the queen, make Chengqian the prince, and you, Wei, Yan, and Wang will be wives, and I will also make your son Li Ke who was born for me. King Wu..."

Li Shimin wanted to continue talking one by one, but Concubine Yang hugged him gently, and put her small red mouth on his.After kissing for a while, Concubine Yang said sincerely:

"The concubine hopes that the emperor should tell the eldest grandson sister about the important affairs of the country. The concubine only hopes that he can concentrate on serving the emperor."

Li Shimin listened, his eyes tightly covered her, and he remained silent.He likes her body more than her heart.He thought of Chengqian and Li Tai, who were born for him by the Changsun family. Both of them were excellent under the Changsun family's teaching.Chengqian has just turned eight years old this year, and he is already very alert and intelligent, and he is reasonable in handling some ordinary trivial matters.Li Tai is even more talented in writing and extremely smart. He is not yet seven years old, and he can already write neat poems and prose.Alas, a child is taught by his mother, and half of choosing a wife is to teach the child.This Concubine Yang, isn't it the same?Li Ke, whom she gave birth to for me, was only seven years old. He was dignified, bold and open-minded, benevolent and honest, and really resembled his mother when he mentioned his own childhood... Thinking of this, Li Shimin was complacent and blurted out:

"My sons are all upright men."

"If their father is like this, the emperor's children will naturally be like this." Concubine Yang opened her beautiful eyes and looked at Li Shimin affectionately.

"In this case, I will be another son with you!" Li Shimin said, and he went deep into it.

147
Naturally, the emperor's speech should count. What he said to Concubine Yang yesterday needs to be fulfilled today.Li Shimin discussed with Fang Xuanling for a few words, and immediately announced his canonization of the royal women and children.The whole court agreed over and over again, Changsun and Li Chengqian, one became the queen and the other became the prince, and both of them received the congratulatory speech of a thousand years.Li Shimin was about to announce the disbandment of the dynasty, but Wei Zheng played again.

It turned out that Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, the left and right servants of the Shangshu, came to the emperor yesterday and said: "The national treasury is short of food, and it is difficult to calculate. If the tax and grain of the two granaries in Shandong and Hebei are really exempted, there will be a shortage of food in the coming year." Li Shimin listened. Staring at Fang Xuanling, he asked, "The situation is so serious, how should we deal with it?"

Fang Xuanling said: "According to my opinion, this year we can only ask Shandong and Hebei to pay tribute as usual, and reduce their taxes and grains next year."

Yes, at present Shandong and Hebei are the grain depots of the Great Tang Dynasty. If the tax and grain are reduced, it is really impossible to survive, and it seems that this is the only way to go.Li Shimin thought about it and nodded.When Fang Xuanling saw it, he was relieved.Said: "The minister will go to deal with this matter."

After Fang Xuanling left for less than an hour, Wei Zheng knew about it, and prepared a note overnight: "Now the emperor exempts Shandong and Hebei from grain taxes for one year. I just heard that the court will re-issue the amnesty order, saying that this year will continue to pay tribute as usual, and next year the grain tax will be exempted. If there is such a thing, it must not be..."

Li Shimin finished reading, pondered for a while, looked at Wei Zheng closely, and asked, "Does Wei Gong know how much grain we can supply in the Tang Kingdom's stockpile?"

"I know." Wei Zheng replied calmly: "I founded the country in the Tang Dynasty, fought for years, and suffered a natural disaster last year. The country's grain stocks are running low?"

"Since Aiqing is aware of this, she must think about the court and stop raising the matter of taxes and food. It's not that I don't want to do it, but I can't do it."

"Your Majesty knows, please speak out what is in your heart."

"Say it!" Li Shimin was a little unhappy.

Wei Zheng could hear it naturally, but he still said calmly: "The minister's concern is only for the prestige of the court. Your Majesty has just ascended the Great Treasure, and hundreds of millions of people are watching His every word and deed. Now His Majesty has just sent a message to the people. The first decree will be withdrawn before it is executed. This will make the people doubt the credibility of the court. Without the trust of the court, the prestige will naturally be difficult to establish. Therefore, the minister thinks that for the court, the grain tax is a small profit , short-term benefits, prestige is the big and long-term benefits. Even if the court is extremely short of food, it is not possible to use the country's prestige in exchange for food. Besides, the food shortage can be solved by other means."

This Wei Zheng!He has such a stubborn personality and such sharp words, but when he thinks about it carefully, he really has a reason.After listening to Wei Zheng's words, Li Shimin stared at him and thought.Food tax and prestige, which is more important, why didn't I think of it!Fang Xuanling never thought of it!If a wise man thinks a lot, he will definitely make a mistake!It seems that I need to listen to more people's suggestions, so that I can handle some big things correctly.Thinking of this, Li Shimin asked Wei Zheng:

"If the grain tax in Shandong and Hebei is reduced today, and there will be a food shortage in the coming year, how should we deal with it?"

"We can reduce other expenses, save money, and then send officials to Shandong and Hebei to buy grain. The people in these two places are loyal and have received the emperor's great favor. Knowing that the court is short of food, they will inevitably rush to sell it to meet the needs of the court. "

"Shandong and Hebei, although there are a lot of talents, but my feelings for the Tang Dynasty may not be as good as those in Guanzhong. When buying grain at that time, they may not be able to compete to sell grain as you said."

After hearing this, Wei Zheng knelt down and said: "I believe that the emperor should regard the whole world as his home, and he should kiss his subjects regardless of the east, west, north, and south. His Majesty believes that when the time comes for the ministers to go, if they cannot satisfy the court's rations, the ministers will voluntarily accept the crime."

Li Shimin nodded frequently after hearing this, and said happily: "Aiqing is really a loyal minister. If I don't believe in loyal ministers, who else can I trust?" It avoided a bad decision and reminded me of an interesting story I experienced myself."

When Li Shimin said this, he suddenly stopped talking, closed his eyes, and fell into deep thought.The whole hall was silent for a moment.

14
"When I was very young, I liked bows and arrows very much," Li Shimin recalled, "This hobby of mine has not changed for more than 20 years. Because of this love, I have always been very keen on the research of bows and arrows. and collection, learned a lot of relevant knowledge, thinking that I have understood the mysteries of bow and arrow. However, not long ago, my self-confidence was broken." At this point, Li Shimin stopped, shook his head, and sighed. He took a breath and went on to say:
"By chance, I took more than a dozen good bows that I liked very much that I had collected over the years, and showed them to the bowsmiths in the palace. I thought it would open their eyes, gain insight, and know what is going on in the world. They are good bows. Unexpectedly, I never dreamed of them! The bowmaker, after carefully looking at my dozen or so bows one by one, said: "The bows of Your Majesty are not good bows." I heard it. , Surprised!" Li Shimin stopped here again, looked at the officials, and saw that they were almost all surprised, so he continued proudly:

"I hurriedly asked why, and the bowmaker said: 'These bows of your majesty are not made of high-quality materials.' Then he pointed to the back of the bow and told me, and said: 'Look, your majesty, the wooden hearts of these bows are all If the heart is not correct, the pulse and veins will be slanted. Although the bow with slanted veins is strong and powerful, but the arrow is not straight, it cannot be regarded as a good bow.' After hearing this, I opened my eyes and felt deeply: all these years, I have relied on force To pacify the four directions, the number of bows used is too numerous to count. I have also spent a lot of time studying bows, but in the end I still don’t know bows, and I can’t get a bow with a straight heart and a straight pulse. Now, I The enthronement time is still so short, if you want to get a righteous opinion, it is definitely not as good as bow. My views on bow are so inaccurate, let alone the principles of governing the world? Gong, the influence on me is only so great; if you don't get honest opinions, the influence on me is greater than the sky. Now that everything is being abandoned, as the emperor, I have many important decisions to make, once I make a decision If you make a mistake, the consequences will be unimaginable. These days, I have thought about this problem repeatedly, and finally came up with a solution, and I am here to tell all my loves here today, see if it is feasible?"

When Li Shimin said this, he turned his eyes to the officials again, and seeing them listening with bated breath, waiting for the next sentence, they smiled with satisfaction, and then continued:
"In order to avoid mistakes in my decision-making, I decided to hold a discussion on the 'gain and loss of governance since ancient times'. It is to let all the lovers summarize the experience of the gains and losses of governance since the Qin Dynasty, especially since the Sui Dynasty. For my Tang Dynasty Dynasty, find the best way to realize the 'Great Order of the World'. What do you think about this matter?"

As soon as Li Shimin's voice fell, there was an uproar from below, voices of praise came and went, and everyone was unwilling to lag behind, vying to express their sincere praise for the emperor's move.Especially Wei Zheng, who was overjoyed after hearing this, fell to the ground excitedly, couldn't get up on his knees, and shouted loudly:
"Your majesty is wise. When I meet such a hero, I will definitely try my best to prepare a speech for the discussion of 'government gains and losses since ancient times'."

After hearing this, everyone knelt down to express their views, and some were even so moved that they couldn't make a sound.Although everyone uses words differently, their meanings are similar to what Wei Zheng said.Hearing this, Li Shimin was also very moved, and immediately announced the disbandment of the court, and asked the officials to go back and prepare for January. At that time, they will come to the court hall to express their opinions and find a way for the Tang Dynasty to rule the world.

14
Since that day, Wei Zhengmao has not come out of his small study for three days.Every day, his wife, Wang Shi, will deliver two meals and a large pot of water according to his orders.When he was hungry, Wei Zheng ate some food, when he was thirsty, he drank water, and when he was sleepy, he took a nap. The rest of the time, Wei Zheng was reading and writing.It was the first time that he was so energetic and came to offer some suggestions for the governance of a country.

His wife, Wang, although she doesn't study much, loves her husband very much. Seeing Wei Zheng lose weight day by day, she can't help but ask him with tears on her face: "Husband, the emperor's errands must be done well, and my body must also be preserved." After hearing this, Wei Zheng put down the book in his hand, came to his wife, reached out to help her wipe the tears off her face, and said emotionally:

"You don't know, what I have done for my husband is no longer just an errand, but also a mission. When my husband was young, his family was poor, and after several times he was turned into a horse for the former prince, and then he was appreciated by him and became a guest. However, since the former crown prince had been fighting secretly with the current emperor at that time, the suggestions for her husband were all intrigues and tricks." Speaking of this, Wei Zheng smiled lightly, sighed and said: "Of course the former prince was good to me, but now, the country is unified, the people's minds are settled, and the emperor conforms to the people's minds, and even asks his ministers to find a way for him to rule. Such a wise monarch, no matter how many counselors, it is rare to meet in a lifetime .Wei Zheng was lucky enough to meet him, and Wei Zheng can no longer take care of himself..." When he said this, Wei Zheng was already in tears.Seeing her, Mrs. Wang hurriedly reached out her hand to wipe away the tears on Wei Zheng's face, nodded understandingly and said, "You are busy with important matters, I will take care of Aman by myself."

"Aman is Wei Zheng's only son. He is seven years old this year. His mother, Wang, taught him to read and write. When Wei Zheng heard his wife mention Aman, his eyes lit up and he asked, "Aman's studies in the past few days. Can there be progress? "

(End of this chapter)