Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 59
For another old minister, Pei Ji, Li Shimin has always treated each other with courtesy.Once Li Shimin went to the suburbs to worship heaven, and he was invited to be promoted to Jinluo with his eldest grandson Wuji.But Pei Ji didn't live up to it, and wanted to believe the gossip, someone came up with a book and sued him.Li Shimin had no choice but to dismiss Pei Ji from office for the crime of deceiving the public, cut off half of the fiefdom, and returned him to his hometown.The matter is not over yet, Pei Ji, who has returned to his hometown, is praised by people in his hometown for his "talent" and for being the son of the emperor.Pei Ji was happy when he heard that, but was exposed by a slave who suffered a crime and sued the court.After Pei Ji knew about it, he was worried about being punished, so he killed him to silence him. Before the saying of "talented" was understood, Pei Ji committed the crime of murder again.Li Shimin had no choice but to deal with him, so he was exiled to Jingzhou.After arriving in Jingzhou, Pei Ji had a late luck and caught up with the Shanqiang rebellion. Pei Ji led the slaves to calm down bravely.After hearing this, Li Shimin believed that Pei Ji had contributed to the chaos, so he ordered him to return to the court as an official.But Pei Ji had no life to bear it, and when the imperial edict arrived, Pei Ji died of illness.This year, Pei Ji just passed his sixtieth birthday.Li Shimin was sad and emotional, and posthumously presented him as the governor of Xiangzhou, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and the Duke of Hedong County.This is also a later story.

When Li Shimin just came back from the banks of the Weihe River, although Pei Ji, Xiao Yu and other old officials were still there, after the discussion on "gains and losses in governance since ancient times" started, Li Shimin already knew that these old officials had a different understanding of his own strategy for governing the country, so he I alienated them early in my heart. Although I treated them well on the surface, I no longer reused them.Therefore, when Li Shimin returned to the court, the first thing he did was to discuss meritorious deeds and rewards. He wanted to boldly list the contributions of the counselors Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui as the first, and entrust them with the important task of prime ministers to jointly take charge of the government.

To a certain extent, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui's qualifications are relatively junior, they are just officials in the former Qin Palace.What's more, there are still many officials in the original Qin Palace, such as Changsun Shunde, Hou Junji, Li Ji, Yin Kaishan, etc., who were before them.However, judging from the credits established in the past and the abilities they have demonstrated, they are indeed unmatched.Li Shimin was sure of persuading the people in the former Prince Qin's mansion.What is difficult to convince is that the former ministers of the Supreme Emperor Li Yuan during the Wude period were all relatives of the emperor and were born in prominent families. In comparison, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui are much different.

Fang Xuanling's family has nothing to be proud of. They all rely on their own learning and become officials if they are excellent.Du Ruhui's grandfather, the biggest official was only the minister of the Ministry of Industry in the Sui Dynasty, and his father could only be the governor of Changzhou.Now if they want to be the prime ministers of the dynasty, there will naturally be some discussions.However, to govern the country well, it is necessary to use the most talented people.Thinking of this, Li Shimin issued the imperial decree decisively:
"Appoint Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui as prime ministers, and jointly take charge of the government."

After the imperial decree was read, there was an uproar, but Li Shimin never expected that the loudest voices were actually many generals, especially his uncle Huaian Wang Li Shentong and Xiao general Yuchi Jingde.They even despised the imperial power, and the court expressed great dissatisfaction.

Li Shimin looked at them quietly, chewing slowly on all kinds of feelings, ups and downs.He didn't say a word, just wanted them to finish what they had to say.

16
Li Shentong, named Shou, is the younger brother of Li Yuan's father. Because Li Yuan raised an army and was hunted down by Emperor Yang, he had to run to Zhongnan Mountain to avoid disaster.In the mountains, he lived a very difficult escape life. He had no food, so he asked his son Li Daoyan to go down the mountain to beg for food.It wasn't until Li Yuan's third daughter, Princess Pingyang, arrived in Zhongnan Mountain that she responded to Li Yuan with the princess and was appointed as the general manager of the Guanzhong Road.Li Yuan captured Chang'an, worshiped Li Shentong as General Youyiwei, and named him King Yongkang.Later, Li Shentong followed Li Shimin to pacify Liu Heita, and saved Li Shimin's life in a fierce battle, so he was promoted to General Zuo Wuwei.

After hearing the emperor's imperial decree, Li Shentong didn't dare to disrespect the emperor, but walked straight in front of Fang Xuanling and yelled loudly:

"What merit do you have, dare to occupy the aspect?"

Yes, that's a good question!I have been thinking about this question, and I have thought about it for a long time and a lot.Li Shimin said to himself in his heart.He finally set two standards, which are: talent and virtue.For these two criteria, he made a more detailed consideration:

Officials below the sixth rank should take the four basic standards of body (majestic appearance), speech (discernment and correctness of speech), calligraphy (calligraphy and beauty) and judgment (excellence in literature and science).On this basis, according to the three standards of morality, talent and labor, the selection is carried out step by step.As for the officials above the fifth grade, they should be evaluated according to their political achievements, and finally the emperor himself will make a decision.Although Li Shimin was so hungry for the selection of officials, he was unwilling to lower the standards for selecting talents because of this.He believes that only by strictly measuring according to the requirements of talent and virtuous ability can we truly achieve: "Do not avoid relatives when promoting internally, and do not avoid enemies when promoting externally", so that all truly talented and virtuous people will come to serve as the leader of the Tang Dynasty. Xingsheng sacrificed his life.Li Shimin thought, thought, and finally considered the selection of local officials.

Local officials directly manage and deal with the people on behalf of the country. Their quality and attitude directly affect the people's impression of the country.As a result, Li Shimin's requirements for them were lowered a little, and it was decided that the county magistrate should be recommended by officials above the fifth rank in the capital, and the governor should be selected by the emperor himself.

In order to choose a good governor, Li Shimin wrote the names of the governors across the country and their related information on the screen in his study, and recorded their merits and demerits in a timely manner based on various information, as an important reference for future assessments.In addition, he also considered that local officials had to go to Beijing to report on their duties at the end of each year, and their political performance would be assessed by the Ministry of Officials with full authority, and finally decided to upgrade or downgrade according to the level of peace.

In addition to these selection and assessment measures, Li Shimin also began to consider using the imperial examination system implemented in the Sui Dynasty to increase the number of ways to select officials and expand the scope of choices, providing ordinary scholars with better opportunities to become officials , making it more reasonable than the original recommendation system.Regarding the matter of appointing officials, Li Shimin really thought a lot and thought very carefully, but he didn't expect that when he announced the opinions he thought he had considered maturely, the reaction of the military officers would be so strong.

In fact, Li Shimin should think of this question first, because Li Shimin is very aware of the tradition of emphasizing martial arts and despising literature.This tradition has been handed down since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it has not changed much.This is a very normal phenomenon. The world must be won by force. The so-called winners are princes and losers are thieves. This has been true since ancient times.As a result, when a new country was first established, almost all its ministers were from the army, experts and heroes of war.Hi!How could I have forgotten this question?Li Shimin asked himself in his heart.

Yes, these people have made military exploits and shed a lot of blood and sweat for the establishment of the Tang Dynasty.These people are very good at fighting, and they are all first-class warriors on the battlefield.However, they are no longer so expert in governing the country and handling government affairs.This is really this moment and that moment.Also for the sake of the country, Li Shimin had to make some people feel wronged at this time.For Li Shimin, this is also a very sad thing, and it is still a very difficult thing!How many people know such inside information!
However, Li Shimin had to do this, otherwise he would not be able to govern the country well.When Li Shimin thought about these things, he had a solid idea of ​​how to deal with the turmoil in front of him.With a slight smile on his face, he looked at his ministers quietly.

16
Li Shentong scolded Fang Xuanling sternly, because he was the younger brother of the Supreme Emperor, Fang Xuanling just looked at him, then closed his eyes, and ignored him.Yuchi Jingde, who was at the side, saw this, and was annoyed in his heart. He stepped forward and yelled at Fang Xuanling again, saying:

"King Yongkang asked you something, why didn't you answer?"

Hou Junji, who was beside Fang Xuanling, was in a hurry, and came to stop Yuchi Jingde and said, "General, please speak slowly."

As soon as the words fell, Li Shentong reached out and grabbed Hou Junji:

"Who are you, dare to speak here?"

Hou Junji followed Li Shimin long before Taiyuan raised troops.He and the emperor are like brothers.As soon as Li Shimin became emperor, he was named Lu Guogong, with a thousand households in the city.Hou Junji, who had always been proud of himself, couldn't help that Li Shentong looked down on him so much, so he couldn't help breaking free from Li Shentong's arm, saying:

"Above the hall, why can't I speak?"

Li Shentong was a bit older at this time, and his strength was not good enough. He stretched out his hand to catch Hou Junji again, but he was already powerless.Seeing this, Yuchi Jingde stretched out his hand and grabbed Hou Junji again.For Li Shentong, Hou Junji still has a few considerations, because he is Li Shimin's uncle after all, but he respects Yuchi, even though he is brave in battle and has made many achievements, Hou Junji still has no fear.After Yuchi Jingde grabbed hold of the front breast, Hou Junji threw his fist and hit Yuchi Jingde's outstretched arm.Seeing this, Yuchi Jingde also swung his other fist to fight back.For a moment, the two were fighting upwards.

"Come on!" Li Shimin shouted suddenly.Both sides stopped their hands for a moment.A dozen mighty guards came rushing to stand in the hall waiting for Li Shimin's will.Seeing that both sides stopped, Li Shimin looked at Li Shentong and Yuchi Jingde majestically, and after a while, he waved to the guards, telling them to withdraw immediately.

"How decent!" Li Shimin's face turned red and his neck became thicker. This time he was really angry: "Since he has great military achievements, he is senior and high-ranking, he complains, disturbs the order of the celebration, and dares to punch people!" Having said this word by word, Ling Li's eyes focused on Li Shentong, and Di Di said solemnly: "Uncle, when you first raised the flag of righteousness, you were the first to advocate, and later in the battle with Liu Hei , you have saved my life. However, when you led the army alone, you never won. Either the whole army was wiped out, or you fled in the face of the wind. Xuanling and Ruhui followed me to the north and south, and fought How many victories? They have strategized for me, and their strategies have never been miscalculated. Now, I judge meritorious deeds and rewards, not clan titles. Why are they not the first? They should be the first! Who can compare with them. You He is my uncle, a noble relative of the country, and my savior. However, how can I use these personal favors instead of rewarding the country's merits?!"

Hearing this, Li Shentong was terrified and didn't dare to argue any more. He was dejected and quietly exited the hall.Watching his uncle leave, Li Shimin turned to Yuchi Jingde, and said softly than before:
"I read "Hanshu" in the past, and saw that almost all the founding generals of Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, were killed. I was very dissatisfied with Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty. I have secretly made up my mind to learn from you, try my best to protect the heroes, and never kill indiscriminately. However, nowadays, the generals often take credit for themselves and break the law. I remember you for your bravery in battle and your repeated military exploits, so I will never hold you accountable. No Thinking about it, you still dare to act in front of the court and don't take me seriously, do you want me to change my original intention and think that it was not Gaozu's fault that Gaozu Liu Bang killed generals Han Xin, Peng Yue and others?!"

Yuchi Jingde was shocked when he heard this, he knelt down on the ground and said repeatedly: "Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

"Thinking of your past achievements, I can forgive your crimes." Li Shimin looked down at Yuchi Jingde and said, "But you must understand: there are only two kinds of rewards and punishments in major national affairs, and you can't do both. Repeatedly, there are also many mistakes, please cherish and love yourself so as to ensure your life's glory and wealth."

After hearing this, Yuchi Jingde thanked you again and again, and said emotionally: "Thank you, Your Majesty Long En, from now on, I will cherish myself and be loyal to Your Majesty."

Li Shimin listened and smiled with satisfaction.

After this turmoil, the military generals can all understand the emperor's painstaking efforts, and each enjoys his own peaceful life.In the third year, Li Shentong died of illness, and Li Shimin rushed to worship, crying very sadly.Yuchi Jingde was conferred the title of Duke of Wu, and later of Duke of E. He was enshrined as governor of Xuanzhou and allowed hereditary succession.At the same time, many rewards were given to Yuchi Jingde.Among them, there are more than 73 pieces of silk and silk alone.He also ordered Yuchi Jingde to seal [-] households, the same as Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui.Unexpectedly, Yuchi Jingde, who lived a prosperous and peaceful life, was worried about his short life, and finally believed in alchemy, longing for a long life, and never went out again until he died of old age.He died at the age of [-], which is a later story.

(End of this chapter)