Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 60 Unifying the Frontier (1)
16
Li Shimin fulfilled his promise. After forming an alliance with Jieli Weishui, he managed his empire hard in accordance with the quiet and inaction national policy of succession.When ordinary people can enjoy peace and greater freedom thanks to the blessing of the emperor, they burst out with great creativity.It is this creativity that, in just a few years, has developed a country that is "vast thousands of miles away, cut off from human habitation, deprived of chickens and dogs, and poor roads" into a wealthy empire.By the third year of Zhenguan, the Tang Empire was already: "Business travels wildly, there are no more thieves, the prison is always empty, horses and cattle are spread in the wild, and the outdoors are not closed. It is also frequently rich and rich, with three or four dollars for rice, and travels from the capital to the mountains. Biao (the land of Guangdong and Guangxi today), from Shandong to Canghai (East Sea), does not give grain, but takes it from the road. Entering the Shandong village road, travelers passing by will be generously treated, or there will be bequests when they are distributed. This All of which have never existed before.”

In the past, scarcity was the most precious thing, and the state treasury was empty, which is gone forever.In the Great Tang Empire, business travelers appeared in the country. No matter where they went, they were served with hot soup and hot meals. The whole society was stable and prosperous, and the country's granary was also full of stored grain.Li Shimin didn't stop there, he wanted to make his Tang Empire more prosperous and stronger.In order to attract more talents, Li Shimin carefully arranged the imperial examinations since the early Sui Dynasty.He stood on the high city tower, looked at the candidates who came from all over the country, and said happily:
"All the good talents in the world come to serve me, and the Great Tang Empire will definitely prosper like never before!" The words were full of pride.

There are two kinds of scientific examinations that Li Shimin decided at this time: one is regular examinations, which are held regularly; the other is mandatory examinations, which are held temporarily by the emperor.Those who pass the exam will be promoted if they have an official position, and those who do not have an official position will be awarded official positions after being assessed by the Ministry of Officials.

In addition to scientific research, Li Shimin also ordered to streamline the organization.As early as the Sui Dynasty, there were as many as 580 officials in the central government. After Li Yuan established the Tang Dynasty, it was basically the same.After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he felt that there were too many officials in the central government, so he ordered Fang Xuanling to take charge, adjusted and streamlined the organization, and finally determined that the number of officials in the central government was only 640, which was a full reduction of more than three quarters of the original number, which greatly saved the expenditure of the central government.

In order to strictly govern local officials, Li Shimin also divided the country into ten regions according to the geographical situation, namely Guannei, Henan, Hedong, Hebei, Shannan, Longyou, Huainan, Jiangnan, Jiannan, and Lingnan.Then, a customs watcher was selected from the high-ranking officials in the capital to patrol the four directions and assess the local officials to determine rewards and punishments.

Li Shimin does not allow others to change the governance policy discussed and formulated, but he will never be arbitrary in the specific implementation methods.He handed over the country's important military and political affairs and the right to appoint and dismiss officials above the fifth rank to the prime ministers' meeting, and the elites of these countries came up with preliminary opinions, and after fully listening to everyone's opinions, they made the final decision.It does not make itself dictatorial, but also effectively prevents a few ministers from authorizing and chaotic governance, and fully exerts the collective wisdom of the Chinese people.

On the issue of governing the country, Li Shimin, who rode a war horse all the way, was able to give up the arrogance, pride, Conceited and selfish, absorbing the wisdom and experience of the elite group around him to the maximum extent, he finally did a very good job and achieved unprecedented success.

Li Shimin with a happy face, surrounded by his ministers, slowly came down from the city.Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, and with surprised eyes, he followed closely a twenty-eighth woman at the foot of the city wall and beside the willow tree.Empress Changsun next to him saw this, smiled slightly, followed Li Shimin's gaze, and couldn't help being surprised.The queen herself is naturally beautiful, and she has presided over the harem for so many years, and has seen many stunning beauties, but she has never seen such a beautiful woman.When she was surprised, she heard Li Shimin's rapid breathing.I've been with him for so many years, and I've seen him nervous about state affairs, but I've never seen him get so nervous because of a woman!Although Empress Changsun was jealous and uncomfortable, she still patted Li Shimin on the shoulder and said:

"Your majesty, my concubine will let you have a look."

Li Shimin was startled again, and when he came back to his senses, he saw Empress Changsun's gentle gaze, and nodded in embarrassment.It was not the first time that Empress Changsun handled this kind of matter for him.Love is a human feeling, and it always belongs to two people. No man in the world can fall in love with more than one woman.Whether it is the polygamy of the emperor or the rich, it is just a hobby and a physical need to vent, which is why they have relationships with multiple women.As an emperor, except for a very few who can persist in humanity, most of them have no love at all.Fortunately: Li Shimin belongs to the very few people who can persist in humanity, but his love is no exception, and it has always been only with the eldest grandson empress.Because of the absurd franchise of imperial power, Li Shimin, as the emperor, can have multiple women at the same time unscrupulously, satisfying his hobbies, research, experimentation and venting in all aspects of women, which makes the other half of his love - the eldest grandson queen - only Can yield.

Empress Changsun quickly returned to Li Shimin's side, and said softly, "Your majesty is really discerning. The closer you get to her, the more beautiful she is, and there is a faint scent of fragrance on her body. Dare I say, she is the absolute number one beauty in the capital." !"

"This..." After Li Shimin said this word, he looked at his queen eagerly.

"Her surname is Zheng. She is the youngest daughter of an official in the capital. She has just arrived in the year of Doukou. The concubine knows the address of her home and has told her herself. This afternoon, I sent someone to deliver the dowry. Tomorrow, Your Majesty will You can bring her into the palace and prepare her as a concubine."

"Thank you Queen."

"I am ashamed to be a concubine."

"I really thank you." Li Shimin said, holding Empress Changsun's hand.

"Let's go back." Empress Changsun smiled slightly, she didn't want the emperor's sincerity at all.

16
Hope is a beautiful thing, waiting is an embarrassing pain.The emperor also felt the feeling of ordinary people who long to see their sweetheart in love.Li Shimin has been waiting in embarrassing pain ever since he heard what Empress Changsun said.He's already tasted too many beauties, but that doesn't stop him from having a strong desire for a newfound woman.

The hot blood of a man longing for a woman rolled on his body, making the emperor, who was quite composed, restless.This is a strange and frequent occurrence.A man keeps finding a woman in his life who is better than all the women he has ever been with.However, that doesn't seem to be the case.This new discovery, after getting it, immediately feels that it is very ordinary, not better than the previous one.But at that time, it was believed that new discoveries absolutely surpassed all previous ones, which was completely misled by people's instinct of longing for new ones.

Li Shimin was thinking about the beauty who fell in love at first sight, he seemed to be able to see her radiant and moist body when he closed his eyes, and even seemed to smell the fragrance of that body.This made him restless, so he walked to the middle study room.

According to the official system at that time, Zhongshu, Menxia, ​​and Shangshu were collectively called the three provinces.Its responsibilities are: issuing orders, reviewing, and executing.Specific responsibilities: The Zhongshu Province is the institution that the imperial court issues imperial edicts and books, and has the decision-making power of "Zuo Tianzi governs the big government and makes general judgments and saves troubles"; the Menxia Province is responsible for reviewing and deliberating the document policies issued by the Zhongshu Province. There is no problem Then sign and release, if it feels inappropriate, the original annotated can be returned, also known as "refuting" and "returning".These three provinces not only restrict each other, but also have real power, so the governors of the three provinces are all prime ministers.

Fang Xuanling was drafting an official document on dealing with an official's bribery, when he saw the emperor arriving, he hurriedly stood up to greet him.After the emperor and his ministers gave a big gift, Li Shimin waved to him: "Get up!" After speaking, he went straight to the case, picked up the official document, carefully read a few lines, and asked coldly:
"You write such an official document yourself?"

When Li Shimin stepped into Zhongshu, Fang Xuanling could see the anxiety on his face, knowing that there must be something unpleasant in his heart, so he reminded himself to be very careful, and when he heard Li Shimin's question, he smiled all over his face answered:
"Your Majesty, this is an official document written by the minister. If there are any flaws, please express it clearly."

"Flaws? A joke!" Li Shimin suddenly changed his face, furious: "My prime minister, to write such an official document, there will still be flaws and omissions, do you think I'm blind?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down, I...please forgive me." Fang Xuanling knelt down in front of Li Shimin, looking up at him in puzzlement.

"Forgive me? In fact, I don't know what crime I committed."

"I beg the emperor to make it clear."

"Okay, I'll tell you: I'm not an ordinary copying and sending and receiving secretary, but one of the few prime ministers in the dynasty. As long as you are a scholar, you can do copying and sending and receiving. If you only know how to do it all day For this kind of thing, I need a place from a hundred miles, a thousand miles, a thousand miles to promote you to be the prime minister?"

After saying that, without waiting for Fang Xuanling to reply, Li Shimin hurried out of Zhongshu.When he came to the Thousand Corridor, he walked back and forth a few steps. He thought of his father Li Yuan, and walked west.

After Li Yuan gave up the throne to his son, apart from occasionally attending court ceremonies that required him to appear, he never intervened in government affairs, and became a truly retired emperor worthy of the name.Li Shimin called Li Yuan the Supreme Emperor, which originated from the title Qin Shihuang gave to his father, King Zhuang Xiang, after he became emperor.Li Shimin was originally worried about his father's failure to make himself the crown prince, but now things have changed, when he suddenly found out that he also made his eldest son Chengqian the crown prince, and his father was moved to the narrower Da'an Palace on the west side of the palace. In his heart, sometimes he would miss his father, and often after he criticized his father's original relatives for too many thrones, he would miss his father in his heart.

Li Yuan seemed unwilling to forgive Li Shimin for killing his brother and brother. After the Xuanwumen massacre, although he had been silently living according to his son's wishes and never said a word against his son, he never took the initiative to see Li Shimin again.On a hot summer day, when Li Shimin urged him to go together to escape the heat, he politely refused.He no longer has the intention to go out to have fun, and only lives quietly among the few women he is already very familiar with, taking turns lying on their young and plump cleavage, enjoying his old age.

When Li Shimin arrived, Li Yuan was coughing, Concubine Yin rubbed his chest in front, and Concubine Zhang lightly beat his back behind him.When the emperor arrived, the two concubines stopped their movements. Li Yuan raised his head, but he stopped coughing.

"Are you sick?" Li Shimin asked with concern.

"It's nothing, just a few coughs."

"Father, you must pay attention to your health."

"I will." Li Yuan waved his hand as he said, and asked Aifei to serve tea for his son.

Li Shimin picked up the tea and saw his father's face was ruddy and in good spirits, so he told his father about Fang Xuanling's writing of official documents, and finally said:

"No wonder he is so busy all day, so he does all these things."

"Actually, a prime minister should be busy." Li Yuan glanced at Li Shimin, and said slowly, "Not to mention being a prime minister, even the emperor himself is busy. I have been so busy for eight years. I remember, Yang Jian, Emperor Gaozu of the Sui Dynasty, seemed to have never been idle after becoming emperor."

After hearing this, Li Shimin felt a little unconvinced, not because his father didn't see it because he tried his best, but because he had a different opinion, so he said:

"My intention is otherwise. Given the vastness of the world, the multitudes of people from all over the world have a variety of ideas, and they must be combined and adapted. All of them are discussed by a hundred ministers. The prime minister plans and plans. Only when things are stable and convenient can they be implemented. How can I get everything in one day? Arbitrarily judge one person's concerns. Let's judge ten things a day, and five of them are not in the middle. , Highly respected, the law is serious, who dares to do wrong? If the prime minister is like this, the emperor is even more."

Seeing that Li Shimin disagreed with his views, Li Yuan didn't want to argue with him any longer and changed his mind to other matters.Li Shimin sat for a while, said goodbye and went back to the palace.

16
Li Shimin bid farewell to his father and went to the east side of Taiji Hall.For the convenience of handling affairs from top to bottom, Li Shimin set up Menxia Introspection, Hongwen Museum, and History Museum here. On the west side, there are Zhongshu, Introspection, and Sherenyuan, which are the offices for the prime minister and the emperor's close officials, so that Li Shimin can consult and act according to the situation at any time. His purpose is to compose the edict of the instrument.

In front of Zhongshu's gate, Li Shimin thought about the reprimand to Fang Xuanling earlier.For a while, he still couldn't finish it, and when he walked in again, he didn't wait for Fang Xuanling to speak, and said:

"Zhongshu, under the sect, the secretary of the secrecy, they live in the place of promotion, and the appointment is very important. If the imperial edict is unstable, they must stick to it. Recently, I have only felt that the imperial edict is compliant, and I am only obsessed, so there is no one to criticize. , Is it reasonable? If it’s just an imperial edict and an official document, who can bear it? Why do you need to make a simple choice and entrust it with each other? Since the imperial edict is suspected to be unstable, you must speak out, and you must go to bed without fear. silent."

After hearing this, Fang Xuanling nodded repeatedly, and said: "What the emperor said has far-reaching meaning, and I should work hard to practice it in my future work."

After hearing this, Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction and prepared to leave.At this moment, Wei Zhengfeng came in hastily, and when he saw the emperor, he fell down and bowed down.

"I have something to report to the emperor."

"Say!"

Wei Zheng didn't speak immediately, but only turned his attention to Fang Xuanling.

"I have handed over the affairs of the country to the prime minister. If you have anything to say, you can say it face to face, and there is no need to avoid it."

"It's just that this is the emperor's private matter."

"Private matters? Did you forget that the royal family has no personal matters?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Then... the minister just said it?"

"Say!"

"It's like this. I heard that the emperor wants to accept a concubine. The woman is the daughter of Dr. Zheng in the capital. Her name is Zheng Li..." Wei Zheng stopped here and looked at his emperor questioningly.

Li Shimin couldn't help being surprised when he heard this, but after thinking about it, he realized that it's not surprising that Master Wei knew about it. Since the queen is going to send someone to deliver the betrothal gift, and the beauty will enter the palace tomorrow, it will naturally alarm many people.It's just that Wei Zheng is so clear about this matter, he also knows that the woman's name is Zheng Li... and such a thing, why bother Wei Zheng to tell me.Thinking of this, Li Shimin glared at Wei Zheng and urged him:
"Go on!"

"I obey!" Wei Zheng bowed his hands and said in a low voice, "I asked on behalf of the emperor that this woman has already been betrothed to the Lu family, and your majesty can no longer marry her as a concubine."

When Li Shimin heard this, he was furious from shock, and his gaze was on Wei Zheng.

"Your majesty, you are also a parent, and you love the people deeply. If so, you should worry about what you worry about and enjoy what you enjoy. Living in the palace and terraces, you should think that the people have a safe house; eat For delicacies from mountains and seas, one must think that the people will not suffer from hunger and cold; if the concubines are full, one must think that the people have family happiness. Now Zheng Min's daughter has long been betrothed to the Lu family, and His Majesty has brought her into the palace without further investigation. If it is spread, Is it the reason to serve the people's parents?"

After Li Shimin heard this, although he was full of anger, he couldn't break out.Because what Wei Zheng said made sense.Seeing Fang Xuanling at the side, he suddenly had a plan and said to Wei Zheng:

"The Zheng family betrothed the Lu family, can you investigate clearly? It must be nothing."

Li Shimin listened, raised his head, and stared at Wei Zheng angrily.

"I've always been very strict in doing business for the emperor, and I dare not be careless, let alone such an important matter." Wei Zheng said: "I have already investigated clearly."

"Since this is the case, why didn't she say anything when the empress told the woman? This matter must be false. Please go and find out in person." Fang Xuanling said.

"Okay, you go, go back quickly. Zhen and Wei Gong are waiting here."

Fang Xuanling took the order to leave, and after a while he brought the housekeeper of the Lu family and handed over a seal, declaring: Although we have had financial contacts with the Zheng family in the past, we have never had an engagement.

Li Shimin listened, laughed, turned his head, and looked at Wei Zheng coldly.That gaze was clearly asking: What else do you have to say!
"Your Majesty, I have made a thorough investigation. It is absolutely true that Mrs. Zheng promised to the Lu family. The reason why the Lu family denies it now must be because they are afraid that His Majesty may be disadvantageous to him in the future. The reason for this, with His Majesty's wisdom, It should be very clear, not surprising."

Li Shimin heard this, although he was furious, but it was inconvenient to explode, he flicked his sleeves and went back to the inner palace.Seeing Empress Changsun, she said fiercely: "One day, I will kill this bastard!"? ?When he was with Empress Changsun, Li Shimin seldom got so angry, Empress Changsun couldn't help but asked worriedly: "Who is your Majesty going to kill?"? ? "Except for that mule-like Wei Zheng, who else is there? He even boldly went to investigate, saying that the woman...has been betrothed to the Lu family, and that I can no longer be accepted as a concubine. I really can't stand him anymore!" ? ?After hearing this, Empress Changsun looked at Li Shimin, went back to her inner room without saying a word, changed into an elegant court dress, and came out to kneel solemnly in front of Li Shimin.

"Queen, why are you doing this?" Li Shimin asked in surprise.

"The concubine heard that: only a wise son of heaven has an upright minister. Now this Wei Zheng is not afraid that you hate him so much, and dares to speak out at the risk of death. Your majesty can have such an upright minister, which shows how wise your majesty is. The concubine is excited, proud, and happy about this! I can't help kneeling here to congratulate Your Majesty!" After the Empress Changsun finished speaking, she gave Li Shimin three nodding heads.

When Li Shimin heard this, it was as if a basin of snow water had been poured over his head suddenly, and the anger that filled him disappeared in an instant.He stepped forward to help the queen up, and said two words softly: "Thank you."

From then on, although Li Shimin was still very annoyed at Wei Zheng's direct remonstrance at times, he sometimes felt a little in awe.Once, Li Shimin wanted to go hunting in the Qinling Mountains for fun. He had all the gear ready, but he couldn't make it.When Wei Zheng asked about this, Li Shimin replied with a smile: "The reason for this is that I am worried that you will speak out in front of the ministers, so I have no choice but to give up the idea of ​​hunting for fun."

Another time, Li Shimin got a very brave harrier eagle and was very proud of it. He put it on his shoulder for fun, and when he saw Wei Zheng coming towards him from a distance, he quickly hid the bird in his arms.This time, Wei Zheng played on purpose for a long time, causing the kite to suffocate to death in his arms.

Later, all the ministers asked Li Shimin to go to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen in order to show off his merits and the prosperity of the country, but Wei Zheng was the only one who opposed it.Li Shimin blamed Wei Zheng:

"Public opposition to my conferring Zen must be because I think that my merits are not high, my virtues are not respected, the country is not safe, the barbarians are not obedient, the year is not rich, and the auspiciousness is not coming, right?"

(End of this chapter)