Chapter 30 10. Nobility and humbleness: virtuous virtue does not need golden branches and leaves

In the process of selecting talents, the rulers of the Tang Dynasty made great progress compared with the previous emperors. The specific performance is that they did not take into account factors such as origin and family status when measuring a person's value. Think more about his abilities and actions.This can be said to be a breakthrough for the era when the concept of family status was serious in feudal society; especially for the rulers of Li Yuan and Li Shimin who came from aristocratic families, it is even more possible to select and reuse talented people beyond the concept of family status. It is said to be the improvement of ideological understanding.

In the feudal society, the nobles controlled the government, and there were very few officials from poor backgrounds, and even fewer were able to enter the core of the ruling group.Since the Sui Dynasty, due to the imperial examination system, some civilians have been able to pass the exam and get a chance, but in the complicated officialdom, compared with the powerful family with a strong family background, their status cannot be compared.Many nobles have been officials for generations. Li Yuan's ancestors have held high positions for many generations. Tang Jian, Yuwen Shi and others who were at the same time as him were also nobles for generations.Among them, Xiao Yu's identity is particularly prominent.

Xiao Yu's grandfather was Emperor Xuan of the Later Liang Dynasty, and his sister was the empress of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. If he was nobler than his birth, Xiao Yu, as the queen of the emperor, would probably not lose to anyone.And he was good at learning and reading since he was a child, and he was very talented. At a young age, he held an important position in the core of Emperor Sui Yang's rule, participated in important affairs, and helped Emperor Yang make many important decisions.Although he also understood Buddhist principles deeply, he was unavoidably a bit arrogant at a young age, and he even disapproved of angering Emperor Yang for admonishing him.When Emperor Sui Yang was determined to attack Goryeo, he insisted that Goryeo should be abandoned and the Turks should be guarded first. As a result, Emperor Sui Yang was furious and was relegated to the small place of Hechi as a county guard.

Xiao Yu is famous for his integrity, outspokenness and filial piety, so when Li Yuan established the Tang Dynasty regime, he was also very important to him.Not only because of his character, but also because of his noble birth, he has been a golden branch and jade leaf for many lifetimes.As soon as Xiao Yu arrived in the Tang Dynasty, he was granted the title of Song Guogong, awarded Doctor Guanglu, and worshiped as Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.And Xiao Yu did not disappoint Li Yuan, and actively participated in the preparation of the new dynasty.Among the civil and military men of the Manchu Dynasty, Xiao Yu was the most familiar with the national codes and court rituals. He worked tirelessly and paid great attention to political affairs, which won Li Yuan's trust.

In "Xuanwu Gate Change", Xiao Yu also strongly supported Li Yuan's abdication to Li Shimin.But when Li Shimin became the emperor, Xiao Yu found that the people standing beside him were all from poor and lowly backgrounds. He stepped forward and made contributions to Li Shimin's road to becoming emperor and was reused.These people whose origins were very different from Xiao Yu's were working with him, which made him very uncomfortable, thinking it was an insult to his noble status, and for a time he was unwilling to discuss matters with Fang Xuanling and others.Li Shimin couldn't laugh or cry at his mentality, but Xiao Yu had a strong character, and Li Shimin had nothing to do with him.

For the Qingming politics in the early Tang Dynasty, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui played a very important role. They suggested that Li Shimin pay lightly and pay less, and live with the people, so that the people who have experienced the war can slowly resume production.Li Shimin agreed to this, but Xiao Yu scoffed at the proposal and said contemptuously: "It's true that parents are what kind of people they are, so they can say what kind of words. What these lowly grassroots think all day long is to save the court from In addition to taxes, the prime minister will really think about them! In this way, will your family be able to collect a few more buckets this year?"

As soon as these words were said, those officials who came from aristocratic backgrounds covered their faces and laughed, while Fang Xuanling and the others were so embarrassed that they didn't know what to do. Li Shimin smiled and said: "The prime minister is planning for the people, and this is also the well-being of the people!" Xiao Yu said: "Since ancient times, the common people have provided for the imperial court. Now they try not to support them. What should the imperial court eat? Besides, in the past, the emperor rewarded a thousand households so that the ministers could eat and clothe themselves warmly and devote themselves to state affairs. Now that the tax has been reduced, even if the emperor rewards ten thousand households, I am afraid that the ministers will have to go to the fields to cultivate food to eat, so how can they have the heart to be loyal to the country?"

No one except Xiao Yu dared to say these words that were directly disrespectful to Li Shimin, but Li Shimin was not angry when he heard Xiao Yu's accusation, and just asked the ministers to go back and think about it.Not long after, Fang Xuanling's proposal was widely promoted and received wide acclaim in various places.And Xiao Yu's objection didn't seem to have the slightest effect, which made him very uncomfortable. Tang Jian, who was an official in the same dynasty as Xiao Yu, was actually from a wealthy family. His grandfather and Li Yuan's grandfather were called "Eight Pillar Kingdom". Friendship.Tang Jian kindly advised him: "Now Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others are deeply favored by the emperor, and they are meritorious ministers who support the emperor. My lord, don't be too hostile to them, or they will make the emperor unhappy." Xiao Yu He sneered and said, "Will I be afraid of them? This group of people are just catkins flying around with the help of current events. When the wind stops, they will still return to the dust where they should go. Now flying to the clouds is just a Temporarily, they have no foundation, how can they last long?"

Although Tang Jian made great contributions when Li Yuan raised his army, exposed Dugu Huai'en's rebellion and saved Li Yuan's life, but after the establishment of the new dynasty, he did not take pride in his merits, but obeyed Li Shimin's orders obediently.Seeing that Xiao Yu could not be persuaded, he could only sigh and said, "A person who understands current affairs will discern his own situation, understand the current situation, do the most appropriate thing, and say the most appropriate words. Only in this way can safety be guaranteed. What I can do for you is to make these suggestions, as for what to do in the future, it is all up to you.”

Xiao Yu said: "No matter at any time, I will not associate with those lowly people. This is my principle." In the future government affairs, Xiao Yu really did this. He always stood on the opposite side of Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui. He opposed all the suggestions made by Fang and Du; Big applause.At this time, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were deeply trusted by Li Shimin, so as time passed, Xiao Yu gradually became unpopular with the Qinwang Group, forming a situation of opposition to the entire Qinwang Group. One year during the Dragon Boat Festival, Li Shimin had a big banquet for his ministers, and the monarch and his ministers sat together happily.The maids presented exquisite delicacies. Wen Yanbo, who used to work for Qinwang Group, said to Fang Xuanling beside him: "When I was farming in the fields, I felt extremely excited when I could eat a rice dumpling every Dragon Boat Festival, and my brothers would be happy Inspired and overjoyed."

Fang Xuanling smiled and said: "Yes, yes, it was good to be able to eat enough at that time, where did so many delicacies come from? So now the world is peaceful, everyone can eat, it is the emperor's Supreme merit!" After hearing this, all the ministers agreed.Only Xiao Yu sneered and said, "It's just something to eat, so why are there so many things to talk about? I wonder if the prime minister has never eaten these, so now he can't help but feel a little bit overjoyed?" It was not the first time that Xiao Yu said this kind of ridicule in front of the ministers. Every time it made Fang Xuanling extremely embarrassed, but Fang Xuanling would hold back his words.Li Shimin saw that Xiao Yu was satirizing Fang Xuanling's humble background again, and he didn't want to embarrass Fang Xuanling any more, so he persuaded him: "Everyone, don't be cautious, just drink and have fun." But Xiao Yu waved his sleeves, stood up and said: "Some people don't understand the beauty of good wine, they only know how to drink. Let me be with such people, how can I have the mood to drink?" Go outside the palace gate. The banquet, which was still full of laughter and laughter, fell silent in an instant, and everyone looked at each other in blank dismay. Xiao Yu's arrogant attitude made Li Shimin's face very ugly, but it was not easy to explode on the spot.Seeing this, Tang Jian quickly said: "I'm afraid Minister Xiao is drunk. The emperor should not be offended! I offer a toast to the emperor. I wish my emperor peace in the world and a long life with the sky!" They all pretended that nothing happened just now, toasting each other. Li Shimin drank a few cups in embarrassment, and retreated to the inner palace without interest.Said to Tang Jian: "Xiao Yu is loyal and courageous. He is not greedy for money or meritorious deeds. He is dedicated to his duties, but his only character is straightforward and straightforward. It is difficult to tolerate shortcomings and disrespect to ministers. If this continues, everyone will be suspicious of each other." Suppression is not good for the court." Tang Jian said: "Maybe Fang and Du are favored by you during this period of time. He is just a little angry, and he will be fine after a while." Li Shimin shook his head and said: "If a minister is trusted because of his talent, if he wants to do this, wouldn't that mess up the court? Besides, it's not a day or two for him to do this. It seems that he doesn't want to be with Fang, Du and others. I have become an official in the same dynasty. Since this is the case, I can only make a choice. Today, you will convey my meaning to him, or you will be dispatched to Yinzhou to be the governor, or you will let him go home to spend his life. !" Seeing what Li Shimin said, Tang Jian knew that he was really angry this time, so he didn't dare to say good things for Xiao Yu again.He conveyed Li Shimin's meaning to Xiao Yu, and Xiao Yu saw that Li Shimin was determined to protect Fang Xuanling and abandon himself, so he pouted and said, "In this case, I will escape into Buddhism and stay away from these hustle and bustle." After Xiao Yu became a monk and became a monk, although Fang and Du were still very low-key, the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty also realized that the root of Li Shimin's employment was not his noble background, but whether he was really useful.Therefore, they all began to offer advice for the country diligently.Under the guidance of this concept of talent, those officials who are diligent in government and love the people are constantly promoted, even if they are born poor and humble, it will not prevent him from becoming a public minister; Rely on titles to gain a foothold.This detached view of talents has made great contributions to Tang's prosperity, reserved a large number of talents, and proposed many favorable policies, which made Tang's national strength rapidly increase.