Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 55 Winning Hearts (2)
Mrs. Wang nodded and said, "He's so smart, he'll be able to teach him as soon as he's taught, and he'll almost finish reading Qianjia's poems. I'm afraid I won't be able to teach him by then."

"Just hire him a teacher at that time."

"You give me so much money, and my parents are always sick..."

"Don't talk about it." Wei Zheng interrupted Wang's words: "No matter what, I will spend money to hire a teacher for Aman. You go, I..."

Seeing Wang leaving with understanding, Wei Zheng calmed down, reached out and picked up the pen again, but at this moment, Wang came in again in a panic and said, "The Duke of Qi is here to invite you outside." After hearing this, Wei Zheng hurriedly put down the pen in his hand and wanted to go outside.

When Li Shimin became the crown prince, he appointed Changsun Wuji as the prince Zuo Shuzi; when Li Shimin became the emperor, he promoted Changsun Wuji to be the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and was granted the title of Duke of Qi.Wei Zheng was about to go out when Changsun Lieji came in after Wang.Seeing Wei Zheng, he looked at his tired face carefully, looked at the stack of open books piled up on his desk, and glanced at the stack of manuscripts he was writing on the desk, then turned his eyes away On a bowl of rice and a plate of green vegetables, after a long, long time, I raised my head, looked at the dilapidated roof, and shook my head sadly.After a short pause, Changsun Wuji said to Wei Zheng:
"My lord, please go to see the emperor with me."

Although Wei Zheng didn't know the purpose of Sun Wuji, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, at this time, he clearly felt that something must have happened to him, and the emperor might send him to investigate him.In addition, Wei Zheng also felt that Changsun Wuji was full of kindness towards him.Even so, Wei Zheng still had a lot of questions in his heart, but it was not convenient for him to open his mouth, so he could only silently follow behind Changsun Wuji.The two of them entered Taiji Palace from Chengtianmen, walked through the "former dynasty" and came to the "inner court".

In front of Liangyi Hall, Changsun Wuji stopped, turned back and said to Wei Zheng: "Master Wei Zheng, please wait here, let me report to the emperor, and call you again." After that, he went in without waiting for Wei Zheng's reply.

150,

Li Shimin had been waiting in the hall for Zhangsun Wuji's reply, and when he saw him coming in, he only stared at him, urging him to speak quickly.It was the first time that Changsun Wuji saw Li Shimin being so anxious about a subject, he couldn't help but secretly praised Li Shimin's good eyesight in his heart.He smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, if Wei Zheng accepts bribes for personal gain, I'm afraid I'll be a suspect too."

After going through so many ups and downs, Li Shimin already has many loyal and trustworthy people around him, but in the depths of Li Shimin's heart, there is no one who is more reliable than Changsun Wuji.This is not only because Changsun Wuji is the elder brother of Empress Changsun and his brother-in-law; more importantly, Changsun Wuji has spent the longest time with him, the friendship between them, and Changsun Wuji's courage, talent and respect for him. His loyalty has gone through many tests.Because of this, as soon as Changsun Wuji's words came out, Li Shimin was greatly relieved.

It turned out that just now, a minister sued Wei Zheng for accepting bribes for personal gain.Based on his intuition, Li Shimin didn't believe it at all, but he still had to ask the Minister of the Ministry of Officials to go and ask in person.

"I didn't ask Lord Wei, nor did I tell him that a minister had sued him." Changsun Wuji continued.

"You didn't ask him?" Li Shimin's face became serious.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty." Changsun Wuji knelt down on both knees.

"Get up, I didn't blame you, I just want you to explain the reason."

"Master Wei's house is just four bungalows. Except for the utensils that ordinary people have in the house, there is nothing valuable. He uses the best one as a study, but the roof is dilapidated. He eats Yes, just a bowl of rice and a plate of green vegetables, books piled up on the desk, manuscripts being written..." Changsun Wuji couldn't help shaking his head when he said this, and said in a low voice: "Wait a minute, I bumped into it all of a sudden and saw it with my own eyes. Master Wei was originally in the East Palace, and he was also highly regarded. After all these years, if he is greedy for money, how can this be the case? Therefore, I will not ask."

"Don't ask, okay! You don't need to ask." Li Shimin was moved by the truth when he heard this. He seemed to be telling his eldest grandson Wuji, and he seemed to be telling himself.After a short pause, he added: "He is working hard for my national policy, and I really want to see him now."

"Want to see him?" Changsun Wuji asked.

"Yes, I just can't bear to trouble you anymore today."

"Don't bother, he's right outside the door."

"You brought him?"

Changsun Wuji nodded.

"Quickly, let him come in and see me."

When Wei Zheng came in, the first thing Li Shimin saw was a much thinner face. "Is Aiqing feeling unwell?" Li Shimin asked.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your care. Wei Zheng is in good health." Wei Zheng answered with vigor.

"Sit down. There are no outsiders here. Aiqing doesn't need to be polite." After Wei Zheng sat down, Li Shimin said again: "Aiqing, do you know why I asked the Minister of the Ministry of Officials to see you?"

"Wei Zheng is dull, Wei Zheng doesn't know, just guessing where Wei Zheng might have done something wrong?"

"Then think about it carefully, what did you do wrong?"

"I have thought about it carefully along the way, and I didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh! Then I will tell you that someone sued you for accepting bribes for personal gain! Is there such a thing?"

"I have never accepted bribes for personal gain, and a gentleman is always poor..."

"Okay!" Li Shimin interrupted Wei Zheng and said, "No matter what you say, someone still accuses you of accepting bribes for personal gain. I have no choice but to ask the Minister of the Ministry of Officials to investigate in person, but the Minister of the Ministry of Officials..." Li Shimin said this He stopped and pointed at Changsun Wuji who was beside him, "He came to see you, didn't even ask, but came back and told me that he dared to vouch for you, that you didn't take bribes for personal gain, so I believed you."

"Thank you, Majesty Long En, and thank you, Lord Shangshu, for your trust." Wei Zheng paid homage to Li Shimin, and then to Elder Sun Wuji.

"Just, do you know why someone wants to sue you?" Li Shimin asked.

"I don't know."

"Then I'll tell you, it's because of your arrogance that some people can't stand it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your advice. However, I believe that people are different, and that people have different personalities. The emperor only chooses good ministers to use people, and personality should be ignored." Wei Zheng replied.

"All the ministers advised me to use loyal ministers, but Duer advised me to choose good ministers. What is the difference between loyal ministers and good ministers?"

"To gain a good name for oneself, to make the monarch become a wise ruler, to have succession of descendants, to have unlimited fortune, is to be a good minister; to let oneself be killed, to make the monarch to become a tyrant, to lose the family and country, to have a name in vain, to be a loyal minister. In that sense, the two are far apart.”

Li Shimin listened to Wei Zheng's answer, nodded his head, and blurted out: "There are loyal ministers and treacherous ministers; there are wise rulers and foolish rulers. Aiqing, tell me, what is a wise ruler and what is a foolish ruler?"

After Wei Zheng heard this, he also blurted out an answer: "If you listen to both sides, you will be wise, but if you believe in one side, you will be faint. A king who can listen to opinions from all sides is a wise king; on the contrary, if a king only believes what someone who pleases him says, he is a wise king." Faint emperor. In the past, Emperor Yao often consulted the opinions of his subordinates, so he could understand Miao's evil deeds; while Emperor Shun was good at listening to voices from all directions, so treacherous officials such as Gong, Gun, and Huandou could not deceive him. On the contrary Qin II only believed in Zhao Gao, which eventually led to the subjugation of the country; Liang Wudi appointed Zhu Yi alone, which caused Hou Jing's chaos; Sui Yang listened to Yu Shiji's words, and the world was in chaos without knowing it. These positive and negative examples show that: the king As long as you listen to Guangna at the same time, you can fully understand the situation in all aspects, without being deceived, and become a wise king."

Li Shimin nodded frequently after listening.I thought to myself: "If it weren't for Wei Zheng, a courtier with such arrogance and personality, how could I have heard such heartfelt words?" The next day, Li Shimin was promoted to Wei Zheng as Shangshu Zuocheng.

Wei Zheng was delighted to meet a confidant, and since then he has never taken life and death, gains and losses seriously, and wholeheartedly assisted Li Shimin, saying everything he knows, and talking endlessly.

15
Li Shimin woke up and found himself pillowed on Concubine Yang's jade arm, he couldn't help smiling: "No wonder, I slept so comfortably." He sat up while talking.But she didn't see any movement from Concubine Yang. Looking back, Concubine Yang was using her other hand to lift the hand that was under the pillow.

"It's like this, why... oh." Li Shimin turned around and raised her somewhat stiff arms: "Yu..." As soon as he yelled this word, Concubine Yang blocked his mouth with her hand.

"You don't need to call the imperial doctor, you'll be fine in a while." Concubine Yang said with a smile, "I can't change your clothes for you, Your Majesty, please do it yourself."

"I'll just sleep a little longer, and it won't be too late to get up when my concubine's hands can move."

"Your Majesty, you must get up now."

"No, the important things I have to do have been arranged, and it's time for me to sleep more."

"No! Just now the queen came to report that the queen is giving birth."

"Why didn't my concubine tell me earlier?" Li Shimin said and stood up.Concubine Yang's arm can also move at this time, helping him to dress and put on a hat.

"Before giving birth, Your Majesty is fast asleep again, and this concubine..." Concubine Yang straightened the buttons on Li Shimin's chest, looking at him apologetically and said.

"It's okay, I don't blame you." Li Shimin said and kissed Concubine Yang on the face.

Li Shimin walked into the main palace, and almost bumped into Chanyuan who was rushing over.Chanyuan is the maidservant of the Changsun family. She suddenly saw a man standing in the way, she had already run a few steps, she turned her head and saw that it was Li Shimin, she knelt down and said:

"Report to the emperor, the queen is born!"

"Did you give birth?" Li Shimin glanced at Chanyuan: "Get up!" After speaking, he walked into the inner room with a few steps.Taking a chubby baby from Chanyuan, Li Shimin stared at this newborn and immature life for a long time, only hearing Changsun's weak voice, saying: "Your Majesty, give him a name."

"Name?" Li Shimin nodded. He thought of Dazhi, which the Tang Dynasty needed most, and couldn't help blurting out: "Zhi, the name is Li Zhi."

At this time, Li Shimin already had eight sons, and Li Zhi was the ninth son.As far as Empress Changsun is concerned, she has already given birth to Prince Li Chengqian and Wei Wang Li Tai. This Li Zhi is the third one, who is exactly ten years younger than his eldest brother Li Chengqian, just as Li Shimin is younger than Li Jiancheng.No one expected that the history was so similar. Li Zhi, who was ten years younger than the prince Li Chengqian, would replace the prince and become the third king of the Tang Empire after he was 22 years old!

Li Shimin named Li Zhi, comforted Changsun, came to the study, and opened "Wu Delu" again.

As early as when Li Yuan raised his troops in Jinyang, he promulgated the "Order of Leniency". There were twelve articles in the law, one of which was to treat the people well, mainly to win more people's support.After Li Yuan invaded Chang'an and became the emperor, in order to win the hearts of the people, he immediately abolished the "Daye Law" that Emperor Yangdi punished and tortured.Li Yuan ordered Pei Ji and others to follow the principle of "be lenient and simple, and take advantage of the time". After years of repeated revisions, the "Wu De Law" was officially completed in the fifth year of Wu De.Now, three years have passed in the blink of an eye, the new emperor, Li Shimin, already has a lot of thoughts about this "Law of Martial Virtue".How to revise, the imperial court has always had two views: one is that the world should be ruled by force and punishment, and the other is that the world should be ruled by leniency.Where to go, Li Shimin thought that he should study "Wu De Law" first, and then make a decision.Therefore, this book has been on the desk for two months, as long as he can spare time, he will read a few pages.

Li Shimin was reading "Wu Delu", and Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui asked to see each other for the prince's funeral.After much deliberation, they came to suggest that Li Shimin pursue the former prince Li Jian as Xiwang, with the posthumous title of "Yin"; and the former Qi Wang Li Yuanji as Hailing King, with the posthumous title of "Thorn".The two hated the prince too much, so they chose this posthumous title. Li Shimin naturally understood after hearing this, looked at the two of them with a smile, and asked, "Do you think this posthumous title is very good?"

"Very good!" Fang Xuanling replied calmly, meeting Li Shimin's gaze.

"Is there a source for 'hidden' and 'thorn'?" Li Shimin asked

"There is a saying in the Posthumous Posthumous Law: 'Hiddenness cannot be achieved, it is hidden. If you don't forget love, you are stabbed; if you are violent and have no relatives, you are stabbed.'" Fang Xuanling said.

(End of this chapter)