Chapter 44 Chapter Four

China's feudal autocratic rule, in the final analysis, is a kind of family rule, and has a long tradition of more than 4,000 years.Since Dayu's son Qi usurped the throne and established the Xia Dynasty and broke the abdication rules, until the last emperor Puyi stepped down in the late Qing Dynasty, it was always a change between families.If the Sui Dynasty had not collapsed, it would have been dominated by the Yang family.The same was true in the Tang Dynasty. The Xuanwu Gate did not change the bloodline of the Li family. The difference was that a lucky individual in this family climbed to the throne of power.In the history of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian, an unharmonious "note", also appeared, changing the name of the country to Zhou.However, with her aging and death, she soon returned to the original body of the Tang Dynasty.This is the so-called "family world" and "orthodox" concepts that are deeply ingrained in the minds of Chinese people.

In the eyes of all feudal emperors, personal interests are family interests, and family interests are also national interests.The reason why those rioters, rebels, and coup plotters covet the throne is that they are pursuing personal interests first, then family interests, and finally they may pretend to consider national interests. The feudal emperor has the honor of ninety-five years, has the supreme power, and integrates legislation, justice, and administration. No one can compete with him, and there is no legal clause to regulate and restrain him.The emperor is the majesty, the sacred, the law, above everything else.Without restraint, power will inevitably expand infinitely and be arrogant, leading to short-sightedness, blindness, darkness, corruption, and decay.At the end of the dynasty, all kinds of social crises reached the point of irreconcilability, and things will turn against each other. Only when the old regime is completely overthrown and a new dynasty is established, can there be some new turning points.Over time, there was an unstoppable power expansion, power corruption, and then violent revolution like a storm.

And every change of dynasty in history is also a typical model of "changing soup without changing medicine", a seemingly familiar and endless cycle process, which has not touched or changed the feudal autocratic regime itself.The ancient Chinese feudal society staggered along the track of this vicious circle.If it weren't for those blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners who came to knock on the gate, shook the country with the power of strong ships and sharp guns, and awakened the people with science and democracy, they might still be immersed in the dream of the feudal old empire and indulge in self-indulgence, in a cycle that has been repeated for thousands of years. Glide leisurely on the inertial orbit.From this, it is not difficult for us to understand why Indian Buddhism has prevailed in the land of China. One of its main ideas - the theory of circulation and the solidified autocratic regime are compatible.

Tang Taizong established his indestructible and stable position with his rule of Zhenguan, and was regarded as the wisest and greatest emperor in ancient Chinese history.Even he cannot fundamentally change the feudal regime itself, and can only do some "work" such as tinkering within the framework of his ability.It is impossible for him to change the "family world" model at the expense of family interests, it is impossible to change the centralization of imperial power and lifelong system at the expense of personal interests, it is even more impossible to formulate strict laws and regulations to restrict his own political rule, and it is impossible to change the corresponding feudal bureaucratic system .Perhaps, he never thought about touching or changing any state system at all, at best he only thought about how to consolidate and continue his family rule.

This is also the blind spot of thinking of all ancient Chinese people! The reason why Tang Taizong was praised by later generations for being wiser than all the emperors is that there were many factors that came together to form a powerful force at that time, which constituted a substantial constraint on imperial power. One is psychological pressure, which mainly comes from the change between Emperor Sui Yang and Xuanwumen in the previous dynasty. The psychological constraints of morality and faith were very important to ancient kings and social governance.It is really hard to imagine that a king who spends money in a timely manner and "even if there is a flood after my death" can benefit the people.Feudal emperors did not have strict and substantial external constraints, only spiritual awe and self-restraint could play a role to some extent.

Li Shimin once witnessed the once-prosperous Sui Dynasty being completely overthrown by the peasant revolution under the tyranny of Yang Guang. So capsize." He is one of the few kings in history who put the general public in an important position.Because of the many similarities with Emperor Sui Yang, Tang Taizong was cautious, walking on thin ice, for fear that the shortcomings and fate of Emperor Sui Yang would repeat itself.Without the brutality of Emperor Sui Yang, there would be no Li family and his throne. In this regard, Li Shimin benefited from Yang Guang's brutality; at the same time, Yang Guang was an indelible burden in his heart. We have to take him as a frame of reference, compare and compare from time to time, find out the internal defects and personal negative factors of Emperor Sui Yang, and do the opposite.In this way, Emperor Taizong of Tang achieved the effect of turning decay into magic, turning the obstinacy and inferiority of Emperor Sui Yang into his own excellent character.From a certain point of view, without the brutality of Emperor Sui Yang, there would be no wisdom of Tang Taizong.

If the Taiyuan uprising was caused by the Li family seizing power from Yang Guang, then the Xuanwumen change was Li Shimin seizing power from his father and brother.For Li Shimin, the change of Xuanwumen was not only the glorious beginning of his life when he climbed to the peak of power, but also a kind of guilt that haunted him all the time, a nightmare that he couldn't get rid of.From a moral point of view, Li Shimin must be condemned by God, and the legitimacy of his regime is even more questionable.If the ancient Chinese society practiced not an autocratic rule, but a democratic regime; if it was not a feudal rule of man, but a legal regime, he could ascend to the throne through peaceful means such as elections and competitions.Of course, this is just an impossible assumption. The feudal hereditary system has never cultivated and selected successors based on talent and virtue.

"For the son of heaven, if there is a way, people will push him to dominate, and if there is no way, people will abandon it." Apart from tampering with historical records, he can only work hard. He is a "righteous person" and was "pushed to be the master" by the world, which proves that he is a legitimate, reasonable and legitimate heir.Father and brother are a shadow in his heart that cannot be erased, and they are also a kind of supervision and promotion for him to step into the sun and go to glory. Precisely because the bloody way of seizing power is not authentic, Li Shimin is most afraid of other people's irresponsible remarks, and also attaches the most importance to his records in history books and the evaluation of him by later generations.It is impossible for him to block the people's tongue and talk behind their backs; it is also impossible for him to completely tamper or completely distort the basic historical facts of the Xuanwumen Incident, but to explain this incident more satisfactorily, which will help his "correct" status; It may affect the evaluation of him by later generations. Only by being diligent, conscientious, establishing political achievements, and creating a prosperous age can he be recognized and praised by people.

In addition to the invisible psychological pressure, Li Shimin also set up a tangible external restraint quite enlightenedly.That is, on the premise of not changing the feudal autocratic regime, it changed the domineering style of the emperor inherent in this system, humbly accepted the opinions of his subordinates, and changed Emperor Sui Yang's refusal to take the initiative to accept advice, which has become a good story in history. Because some people came to remonstrate, the emperor's words and deeds were under the supervision of his subjects, and his arrogance and extravagance were restricted; Li Shimin accepts advice with an open mind, can learn from others' strengths, find the correct way to solve the problem, and avoid many mistakes and losses.

Li Shimin always created a relatively relaxed, gentle, and harmonious atmosphere for his ministers' advice, advocated the belief that "the speaker is innocent", dispelled his ministers' concerns, and gave corresponding material rewards. Among them, Wei Zheng, the censor who made the most comments, dared to offend Yan Zhizhi, ranging from major national decisions to trivial matters in personal life.Li Shimin also regards him as a mirror, always showing his shortcomings and mistakes.Wei Zheng was even more outspoken, and tried his best to "tell everything he knows, and talk endlessly".Over time, even Li Shimin, the emperor, had an instinctive fear of him, for fear that some mistakes would make him grasp the "handle".

Once, Li Shimin packed his luggage and was about to leave the palace to go hunting. When Wei Zheng entered the palace to play something, he stopped immediately.Wei Zheng said: "Didn't Your Majesty want to go hunting in Nanshan? The guards outside are ready, why don't you go?" Li Shimin said: "I was going, but I was afraid that you would say that I was too lucky, so I canceled it temporarily. the plan.” Another time, Li Shimin got a beautiful harpy eagle and liked it very much. He was playing with it in his hand when he saw Wei Zheng approaching from a distance.He was afraid that Wei Zheng would know that he was playing with things and lost his ambition, so he stuffed it in his arms and hid it.Wei Zheng came to play, of course he also saw the emperor playing with birds.Since the emperor didn't want him to know, it was inconvenient for him to reveal it.Li Shimin was listening to him playing, while worrying about the bird in his arms, he nodded endlessly to socialize.Wei Zheng was about to finish playing, but he still stayed there talking endlessly about what he had to do.After a long time, the bird was suffocated to death in Li Shimin's arms. It can be seen from this that Li Shimin's acceptance of advice is not a symbolic decoration, but a real level of goodness.Opening up, the monarch and his ministers are studying and discussing "governing the way" almost every day.If Li Shimin didn't open his mouth and take the initiative to accept advice, he wouldn't be so brilliant. In the long list of emperors of all dynasties, he was just a very mediocre and ordinary one. Montesquieu pointed out in "The Spirit of Law": "All those who have power use power until they meet the limit." Knife-edged" for best results.This is Li Shimin's "treasure book" of success, but it is a pity that it was not promoted by future emperors as experience, let alone carried forward.Even he himself did not rise to the level of rationality and wrote the book "Emperor Fan" written for the prince in his later years, summarizing all his ruling experience.