Chapter 45 chapter Five
The feudal emperor was above the general public through a strict political network; and in the dark, there was a huge network of "fate" and a pair of invisible huge "devil palms" above the feudal emperor.
This huge net and "devil's palm" is the feudal regime.
For thousands of years, it has been an ubiquitous "God", high above the heads of every Chinese people, and no one can escape its shadow and alienation castration, all are victims of this system.
Even someone as wise as Emperor Taizong of Tang could not escape this catastrophe.
The most unpredictable thing in the world is the human heart, which is always changing with the passage of time and the environment.The so-called morality, conscience, benevolence and righteousness are also invisible and intangible things. They can only rely on the individual's conscious efforts and self-regulation to move towards kindness and beauty.Not only the external environment and things can change them, but deep down, there are two opposite and different selves—human nature and animal nature, which are constantly fighting for a long time.If animal nature prevails, those morality, conscience, benevolence and righteousness will disappear without a trace like a cloud of smoke in an instant.
Therefore, the inner self-restraint seems very mysterious and ethereal to the emperor in power.Apart from piously praying for the grace and dew of the Ming Lord, people could not control the emperor's gaffe and madness at all.
Tang Taizong is not a god, he is also a human being with the seven emotions and six desires.In his heart, there is also a struggle and contest between two forces.The difference is that he always allows the humanity, conscience, and faith in his heart to prevail.
However, as time goes by, the tense bowstring of walking on thin ice and conscientiously will inevitably relax, and the devil will take advantage of it; in addition, often reveling in the great achievements made in the early years of Zhenguan, it is inevitable to be complacent and forgetful.Once a person cannot face himself calmly and objectively, he will do many things that are irrational and even incomprehensible to himself.
The most commendable thing in Tang Taizong's life is the policy of accepting advice he enlightened. It is this policy that has continued to "change flavor" with the changes of time, and has gone through a transition and transformation—from "guiding people and making words" to "Pleasantly follow the admonition", first changed to "reluctantly accepted the admonition", and then changed to "the will is difficult to settle".
As far as the relationship between Li Shimin and Wei Zheng is concerned, it is not as close and harmonious as described and described by later generations.Wei Zheng was originally the main figure in Li Jiancheng's East Palace "think tank". After the Xuanwu Gate incident, Li Shimin asked him severely: "Why do you alienate my brother?" There will be no disaster today." Li Shimin thought that he was a rare talent and couldn't bear to harm him, and in order to appease the Shandong political group and stabilize the power he had just seized, he appointed him a junior official of Zhan Shizhu, with the status of advising doctor .
Since then, Wei Zheng has become a member of Li Shimin's ruling group, and has been increasingly appreciated and relied on by him.As a former opponent, Wei Zheng could only express his loyalty to Tang Taizong through the unique way of admonishing him.
No matter who you are, you like to listen to some words of compliments, and you are always not so happy about criticism and accusations.This is the unalterable inherent nature and chronic disease of the whole human being, not the weakness of any individual.Advising is to restrain Li Shimin, and the imperial power is supreme and unshakable. If you talk too much, it will inevitably make Li Shimin unhappy.
In the sixth year of Zhenguan (632 A.D.), Li Shimin returned to the inner palace after a dismissal, and he couldn't help saying angrily: "Wei Zheng, a farmer, always picks stabs. I will find a chance to kill him one day!" Hearing this, he hurriedly tried to persuade him: "As the saying goes, the king is wise, and his subjects are upright. Now Wei Zheng is upright because of His Majesty's wisdom!" Some ingenious persuasion saved Wei Zheng from a fatal disaster.
Gradually, Wei Zheng also felt the subtle change in Li Shimin's attitude, and wanted to withdraw from the center of the political whirlpool, and repeatedly asked to be dismissed from office on the grounds of "eye disease". "It's hard for Emperor Taizong to disobey it, but he worshiped the special advances and still knew the affairs of the family." After that, he participated in the government as a loose official.
Wei Zheng is naturally aware of the deep-rooted weakness in human nature, and his advice is mainly based on his unique insight, loyalty and integrity.Even so, he had to take chances as if he was playing a side ball, and be cautious as if he was stepping on a wire rope.Advisers can only restrain the emperor through language, but the emperor holds the power of life and death of the admonisher.
On the twenty-third day of the first month of the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (AD 643), Wei Zheng died of illness at the age of sixty-three.Before his death, Tang Taizong betrothed his daughter Princess Hengshan to Wei Shuyu, son of Wei Zheng, as his wife, and received the highest honor a minister can get.Li Shimin missed it even more, and wrote a sincere memorial poem:
However, only three months after Wei Zheng's death, he was involved in a treason case that was exposed.Li Shimin immediately became suspicious of this "mirror". Thinking of his many outspoken crimes during his lifetime, an uncontrollable and inexplicable anger arose in his subconscious. Destroyed Wei Zheng's tombstone written by himself.In this regard, Mr. Chen Yinke once wrote sharply in the "Jinmingguan Series Manuscripts First Edition": "Fortunately, it was discovered after Yu Zheng was dead, otherwise he would be killed together with Zhang Liang and Hou Junji, and the stele of the servant who terminated the marriage is still alive." It's a light punishment."
If Wei Zheng, the admonisher, hadn't died three months early, no one can guarantee that he will die.
There is no power to restrict power, and the "evil of human nature" deep in the ruler's heart is restrained only by admonition, and its effect is really minimal.
Once Wei Zheng died, Tang Taizong couldn't listen to harsh words, and his thoughts and behaviors began to decline.He no longer puts people's livelihood first, is proud and complacent, and is very happy; he also abandons the frugality of the past in life, building large-scale construction projects, wasting people and money; the most serious thing is that he followed the footsteps of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, laboring on an expedition to attack Goryeo, and embarking on the road of militarism.
Most of China's emperors are half-heroes, which is a kind of "destiny" determined by the feudal regime.In the Tang Dynasty, Tang Xuanzong Li Longji was the most prominent. In the first half of his life, reforms and bad governance led to a great situation of Kaiyuan Zhongxing;Although Li Shimin is not as serious as Li Longji, he is also a bit "anticlimactic".
Emperor Sui Yang's three expeditions to Goryeo suffered heavy losses, which directly led to the collapse of the Sui Dynasty.Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty learned from the lessons of the previous dynasties and had friendly exchanges with Goryeo, Silla, and Baekje on the Korean Peninsula, and they all paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty.Although the three countries continued to conquer each other, Tang Taizong always maintained a cautious attitude and did not easily intervene in the Korean civil war, but only sent envoys to mediate.
In September of the 17th year of Zhenguan, the envoy of Silla reported to Li Shimin that the alliance between Baekje and Korea cut off the trade channel between Silla and Tang Dynasty.Li Shimin sent officials to mediate and warn, but failed. In order to let the little barbarian country know the power of the Tang emperor, he resolutely issued an edict to personally conquer Korea.
At the beginning of the war, the Tang army conquered many cities, but was blocked under the city of Anshi, and suffered heavy losses.When winter came, it was cold and cold, so Tang Taizong had no choice but to order the troops to retreat, but returned without success.
Li Shimin, an almost invincible general, "trapped the small barbarians with the people of the world" in his later years, ended his military career through a defeat, what a pity!
Only then did he think of Wei Zheng, and he couldn't help saying regretfully: "If Wei Zheng is here, I won't be able to do anything!" He immediately restored Wei Zheng's reputation and erected a new tombstone for him.
In fact, Fang Xuanling made a note about this before his death, to the effect that the civil strife in North Korea should not be involved in the affairs of the Tang Dynasty. It can be said that there is no name for the teacher, even if he wins, it is "the one who gains is small, and the one who loses is big".
However, Tang Taizong couldn't listen to it at all.Without mandatory restraint, admonition at this time has become a dead letter, and only the emperor's unpredictable personal likes and dislikes and emotional tendencies play a decisive role.
Tang Taizong's half-hero, the mistake of the Eastern Expedition to Korea is an obvious example.
The later period of the Zhenguan reign was far worse than the earlier period. Ma Zhou said that in the later period of Zhenguan, "official corvee service, roads followed one after another, (common people) brother and brother return, beginning and end. Those who are far away travel five or six thousand miles without a break. "
The biggest setbacks in Li Shimin's life were the failure of the Eastern Expedition to Goryeo, and the pain of losing his parents and children.
The change of Xuanwu Gate had a profound impact on the Tang Dynasty. The most prominent one was Wu Zetian. She was deeply impressed by the samadhi, and regarded it as an inexhaustible "wealth" and skillfully played with her parents and children.The most direct influence is Li Shimin's own sons.Prince Li Chengqian competed with Wei Wang Li Tai for the succession to the throne, almost repeating the change of Xuanwu Gate.The Xuanwu Gate incident has always been a deep pain in Li Shimin's heart. Of course, he could not tolerate his son's imitation, and took severe measures to resolutely suppress Li Chengqian and Li Tai.However, it left behind the irreparable psychological trauma of the pain of losing a child.
Li Shimin pursued immortality and took a large amount of so-called elixir, which resulted in abnormal death; People have never been able to witness the precious "national treasures"... These have set a bad precedent for later emperors.
In essence, the purpose of Li Shimin's rule of Zhenguan was to maintain his dominance and consolidate the Tang Dynasty.He worked so hard on it that he spent almost all of his energy.Even before he died, he was playing tricks for his son Li Zhi to sit firmly on the dragon chair.
In April of the 23rd year of Zhenguan, that is, ten days before his death, Li Shimin suddenly demoted Li Ji, who was a prime minister, to Diezhou, 1,340 miles away from Chang'an, as the governor.Then, he said to Li Zhi: "You have no kindness to Li, and I will blame him now. After I die, you should give me a servant shot, that is, He Ruen, which will kill him." After Li Zhi came to power , He obeyed his father's words, and immediately recalled Li Zhi, "Courtesy of Shangshu Zuo Pushe", and later he really became his confidant minister, and did his best for him.
One of the most prominent features of feudal autocracy is the rule of man.People's hearts are unpredictable, and accordingly, the rule of man is also marked with unpredictable colors.Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once said: "Being a minister is more important than being loyal, and those who lose money are guilty." Every emperor requires his ministers to be loyal to himself.Therefore, in the feudal society, the general phenomenon of "one man governs, one man dies" and "one emperor, one courtier" often appeared.The emperor acted emotionally according to his own likes and dislikes, and his policies had no continuity and stability. The seriousness of the "rule of law" and the stylization of laws were tantamount to fantasy in feudal society.The feudal prosperity is often like a flash in the pan, a flash in the pan, and the Chinese people are more often born in a mediocre world, struggling to live in peace, falling into war and chaos.
As far as superficial phenomena are concerned, every emperor can do whatever he wants when he is in power, and enjoy the power, majesty, money, beauties, and honor of the world.However, this seemingly enviable extravagance is often illusory, and no one can guarantee that the emperor will enjoy wealth forever.Without a sound security system, if you act as a domineering power on stage today, you may be a prisoner and a ghost under the knife tomorrow.Among the feudal emperors, one-third died unexpectedly.Not only that, the emperor's vanity has to be paid for by the life and blood of future generations.Every time the dynasty changes, there are large-scale bloody wars and brutal massacres, and the first to bear the brunt are the children of the royal family.The life severance of each descendant of the royal family is to atone for the sins of their ancestors, and the unjust souls who died one by one should cry, scold and even beat their ancestors loudly in the underworld.At the same time, most of the achievements of civilization accumulated by the previous dynasty over hundreds of years were also destroyed in the chaos of war.History, in this way, struggles with itself in a vicious circle that goes back and forth.
Restricting the power of the emperor, implementing a strict rule of law, and giving the people democracy and freedom are essentially a disguised protection and strong defense of the feudal monarch for his family.If there is a good political system in which everyone can compete and give full play to their talents, and if it is confirmed and guaranteed by the system, people will not have to use violence to destroy the decadent rule of the previous dynasty, and there will be no need for every dynasty change in the history of thousands of years of civilization. Bloody massacre.If the feudal emperors were really out of family interests, they should have changed their rule long ago.And all the emperors in ancient times, I am afraid that none of them thought of this. This is really the great tragedy of our nation.