Chapter 22 abandon hegemony and choose the kingly way

At the beginning of Li Shimin's ascension to the throne, although the country has long been pacified, and the Tang Dynasty has gone through nine springs and autumns, what Li Shimin took over from the ancestors is still a country that is waiting to be rebuilt. One; before the war is quiet, the mulberry farmer is salty; after withering, the hunger and cold are severe." ("Quan Tang Wen" Volume 2) In other words, after years of wars in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, the population shrank sharply and the social economy was severely damaged. Although ordinary people had escaped the clutches of war and death, they still lived in the shadow of hunger, cold and poverty.

After the chaos, how to seek healing? If the thousands of years of Chinese imperial civilization history are regarded as a curve of ups and downs, then the Tang Dynasty at this moment is undoubtedly at the bottom of a 400-year-long decline channel—since the fall of the Han Empire in 220 AD , this ancient land groaned and swayed in the dark years of the three kingdoms, the chaos of China, and the disputes between the North and the South. It was not until 589 AD that Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian destroyed Chen that the Chinese Empire returned to the track of great unification. The ideal was rekindled in people's hearts.However, Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, who was so successful and militaristic, brutally ruined this once-in-a-lifetime historical opportunity.He has only been in office for more than ten years, and the ideal of a prosperous age is like a fantasy dream. After a short period of excitement, it is completely shattered, and the land of China once again fell into the abyss of blood and fire.

But at this moment, can the Tang Empire, which has risen rapidly from the ruins of the Sui Dynasty, learn the historical lessons of the Sui Dynasty's demise, establish a clean and efficient government, be prepared for danger in times of peace, work hard to govern, and rebuild a solid rise on the basis of great unification? Channel, rebuild a prosperous and powerful empire comparable to the Han Dynasty?Or still implement strong rule, indulge in extravagance and indulge in violence, repeat the historical mistakes of the Sui Dynasty, and make the ideal of a beautiful prosperous age short-lived again?

This is a historical topic before Zhenguan monarchs and ministers. Standing at such a turning point in history, what kind of method should the new Li Tang government headed by Li Shimin choose to govern the world has become the most urgent problem to be solved. For this reason, as early as the end of the ninth year of Wude, that is, a few months after Li Shimin ascended the throne, the monarchs and ministers of the Tang Dynasty launched a crucial discussion on the future governance method. To be precise, this is a debate. The topic was raised by Li Shimin.He said: "After the great chaos of my dynasty, I am afraid that the people will not be easy to accept enlightenment; I am afraid that it will not be easy to achieve results if we want to rule the world."

Wei Zheng was the first to express his point of view: "Otherwise. People who have been stable for a long time are prone to arrogance, and arrogance is difficult to cultivate; while people who have been in chaos for a long time are sad, and distress is easy to manage. For example, a hungry person finds all kinds of food delicious. The water feels good to drink." Li Shimin said: "Only a wise man has been in power for a hundred years before he can get rid of the tendency to be cruel and murderous. After the great chaos, how can it be as easy as you said to achieve great order in a short period of time?"

Wei Zheng replied confidently: "Those who rule for a hundred years are mediocre rulers, not sages. If a wise ruler governs with one heart and one mind, and the four sides respond, I believe that great governance is not too difficult, and success in three years is too late!" Li Shimin nodded frequently, deeply convinced. However, Wei Zheng's point of view was immediately refuted by most of the prime ministers. The leader is You Servant She Feng Deyi. He said in an almost mocking tone: "Since the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, people's hearts have become more and more deceitful, so the Qin Dynasty only ruled the country with severe punishments and strict laws, and the Han Dynasty also had to mix kingly and domineering. How can one be able to educate without desire? Wei Zheng is a scholar who is ignorant of current affairs, and if he believes in his false theories, he may bring chaos to the country!"

Faced with Feng Deyi's harsh accusations, Wei Zheng did not show any weakness, and responded calmly: "When the five emperors and three kings ruled the country, the people also experienced chaos for a long time, but they could still be educated. If you practice the emperor's way, you will achieve the emperor's career, and if you practice the king's way, you will achieve the king's career. Everything depends on the efforts of the emperor. Examining various historical records, in the past, the Yellow Emperor fought more than 70 battles with Chi You, and the world was extremely chaotic. After defeating Chi You, the world was peaceful; after that, Zhuanxu punished Jiuli, and Shang Tang expelled Xia Jie, King Wu's crusade against Shang Zhou, didn't they all create a peaceful and prosperous world after the great chaos in the world? If the ancients are honest and simple, and the later generations are full of deceit, then until now, the people should all have turned into ghosts and ghosts. How can the ruler educate and govern? ?”

Feng Deyi suddenly became speechless, and the other opponents were also speechless.But they insisted that what Wei Zheng said was an unrealistic scholar's opinion, and it was definitely not feasible. Obviously, the point of view that Wei Zheng insists on is the core of Confucian political thought: kingly and benevolent government. This is a way of governing the world with benevolence, righteousness and morality, and insists that morality and politics are inseparable.Confucius said: "Government with virtue is like Beichen living in its place and all the stars share it." " ("The Analects of Confucius Weizheng") and the etymology of "zheng" is "zheng", which does contain obvious moral implications.Therefore, Wangdao thought emphasizes that political leaders must be sincere, self-denying and self-cultivating, and then promote benevolent government, educate all people with morality and righteousness, and govern the world; "The old man wears silk and eats meat, and the people of Li are neither hungry nor cold." ("Mencius · King Hui of Liang 1")

However, the position of Feng Deyi and others is that hegemony is the opposite of kingly way. The so-called hegemony refers to the way the monarch rules by means of power, violence, and harsh laws.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period when the Zhou Dynasty was in decline, the vassal states did not submit to the rule of the Zhou royal family at all, and competed to kill and annex with force and strategy, so Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Mu of Qin, Duke Wen of Jin, Duke Xiang of Song, and King Zhuang of Chu came into being. The so-called Spring and Autumn Five Hegemonies constituted the political theoretical basis of hegemony.Mencius said: "He who pretends to be benevolent by force is a hegemony, and he who is benevolent by virtue is a king." He believes that the fundamental difference between kingly way and hegemony is that the former uses morality and propriety to influence the people, while the latter uses power and force to suppress the people.However, "those who convince others with strength are not convinced from the heart, and power does not look ahead." Only those who "convince others with virtue" can make people "pleasing and convinced". ("Mencius·Gongsun Chou") From this, it can be seen that in the eyes of Confucian scholars, such feats as the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons are insignificant, and the art of domineering is of course despised by the vast majority of later Confucians.

In this high-level debate about the way of state governance that took place in the last years of Wude, only Wei Zheng insisted on the kingly way, while the important court officials headed by Feng Deyi generally tended to be overbearing. However, in the end, Wei Zheng won. Because he got the full support of Li Shimin. Tang Taizong Li Shimin resisted all opinions, and finally chose the Confucian benevolent government as the ideology and ruling method of the Li and Tang Dynasties.Soon after, Li Shimin publicly announced to the civil and military officials at the court meeting: "The only ones I like are the ways of Yao, Shun, Zhou, and Confucius. I think that like a bird has wings, like a fish in water, if you lose it, you will die. No ears!"

From then on, Li Shimin began to spare no effort to promote benevolent government, and the starting point was to reduce punishment. In November of the ninth year of Wude, Li Shimin discussed the crimes in the society at that time with his officials. Some people still did not break away from the old habit of "using heavy codes in troubled times", emphasizing that "heavy laws must be prohibited". Li Shimin immediately said displeasedly: "There are two fundamental reasons why the common people commit crimes: one is the burden of taxes and labor, and the other is the greed of officials, so they are hungry and cold, so they don't care about propriety, righteousness and shame. In my opinion, there are three antidote methods: one is to reduce extravagance and save money, The second is to lighten the corvee and pay less, and the third is to choose honest officials; in this way, the people will have no worries about food and clothing, and naturally they will not commit crimes, so why use heavy laws!" In the first month of the first year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin convened Sun Wuji, chief secretary of the Ministry of Officials, scholars from Hongwenguan, and legislative and judicial officials of the imperial court to discuss and amend the law, abolishing more than 50 hanging clauses and changing them to "breaking the toes of the right foot". ".After the revision, Li Shimin still felt that the punishment was too cruel, so he said to the courtiers: "The abolition of corporal punishment has a long history. He thought that the people’s limbs could no longer be harmed, so this law still needs to be changed.” Someone immediately proposed that the “broken right toe” should be changed to exile for three thousand miles and three years of hard labor, and Li Shimin immediately issued an edict to approve it. As the foundation of Confucian kingly thought, political leaders must take the lead in setting an example and strive to be honest and sincere, restraining themselves and restraining their desires.This is the first meaning of Confucian political thought, as the saying goes, "One person is upright, and the world is upright." In this regard, Li Shimin was not able to do it at the beginning, but experienced a huge ideological change.In the early days of his reign, Li Shimin's ruling method was the same as that of previous monarchs, and he did not reject the imperial technique of "using power to rule".There is an "anti-corruption" case that suffices to illustrate this point. In the Chang'an officialdom at that time, officials' corruption and bribery were very common.Li Shimin hated this deeply and decided to punish corruption, so he secretly sent his henchmen to "bribe" the courtiers, trying to lure officials into taking the bait, and then kill them as an example. (According to Mr. Huang Renyu, the current U.S. government also has similar practices, called "blackmail operations" - sting operations.) Once this plan is implemented, an official immediately falls into the trap.Although the amount of "bribery" was very small, just a piece of silk, Li Shimin was still furious and prepared to kill the official.Pei Ju, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, remonstrated, saying: "Accepting bribes for officials is an honest crime and deserves death; but if your majesty makes people accept bribes, you will fall into the law, and I am afraid it is not the so-called "Tao is based on virtue, and equals are based on propriety." ” (Volume 192) Li Shimin suddenly came to his senses when he heard the words, and immediately withdrew his order. After this incident, Li Shimin categorically abandoned similar practices. In May of the first year of Zhenguan, some courtiers went to Shu, asking the emperor to remove the ministers.Li Shimin asked: "Who are the courtiers you are talking about?" The man replied: "The status of the courtiers is low, so I can't know exactly who they are. But there is a way, which can be easily tested. Your Majesty, please pretend to be a courtier when talking with the courtiers." Get angry, use this to test, if you are unyielding, then you are a direct minister; if you are afraid of power and obedient, then you are a sycophant." Li Shimin waved his hands and said: "The king is the source of the country, and the ministers are the flow of the country; if the source is muddy and the flow is clear, it is impossible. The king's own deceitful tricks, how can I ask my subordinates to be loyal and straight to the king? We will rule the world with sincerity. Seeing that the previous emperors used to treat their ministers with power tricks, they often secretly feel ashamed. Therefore, although Xianqing's strategy is good, I cannot adopt it." This incident is enough to prove that after the "Wang Ba Debate", Li Shimin has indeed made up his mind to "govern the world with sincerity", so he regards the usual emperor's art as a shameful act. Of course, it is undeniable that Li Shimin did not completely abandon the emperor's art during his ruling career of more than two decades.In the process of power control, he will inevitably use some "carrot and stick" tactics, but this method is definitely much more clever and effective than blackmail. In addition to honesty and sincerity, Li Shimin's performance can also be regarded as a model for emperors of all dynasties in terms of "self-denial and restraint of desires". As we all know, in ancient China, as an emperor who ruled the world and was rich in the world, the most likely problem was indulgence; and the most difficult character to cultivate was undoubtedly asceticism. For most emperors, the biggest advantage of sitting at the top of the power pyramid is that they can indulge and satisfy their various desires. In their view, this seems to be a matter of course.One of the fundamental reasons why Li Shimin was able to stand out from many ancient emperors and become the eternal emperor widely praised by later generations is that he did a much better job of restraining desires than other emperors. In December of the first year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin originally planned to build a palace, and even prepared all the necessary building materials, but after thinking about it, Li Shimin finally gave up this plan. In this regard, Li Shimin once had a brilliant exposition.He said: "The king depends on the country, and the country depends on the people. Carving the people to serve the king is like cutting flesh to fill their stomachs. When the stomach is full, they die. When the king is rich, the country perishes. Therefore, the troubles of the king do not come from outside, but often come from the body. If a husband wants to prosper, he spends money, and when money gets rich, the wealth is heavy, and when the money is heavy, the people worry, and the people worry, the country is in danger, and the country is in danger, and the king is lost. I often think about it this way, so I dare not indulge in lust!" (Vol. 192) Regarding the social effects of Li Shimin's frugality, he concluded: "In the past twenty years, the customs were simple, the clothes were not beautiful, and the public and private were rich." In the past twenty-three years, Li Shimin has not consistently adhered to the political style of frugality and asceticism.But at least in the early days of Zhenguan, Li Shimin's performance in this area is worthy of praise by historians. While "removing extravagance", Li Shimin also made a big move to "save money", which is to vigorously streamline administrative agencies at all levels from the central government to the local government. In ancient China, there was often a saying of "ten sheep and nine shepherds", which means that the government offices are overstaffed and overstaffed, and ten common people have to support nine officials.During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, the three-level system of state, county, and county since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was changed to the two-level system of state and county, which alleviated the situation of "ten sheep and nine shepherds" to a certain extent.However, starting from the Daye period of the Sui Dynasty, "heroes rise together, support the people to occupy the land, and grow up with each other." After the rise of Li and Tang, the heroes came and returned. The number is twice that of Kaihuang and Daye." Li Shimin had noticed this problem at the beginning of his administration, "the superiors thought that there were few people and many officials, and they wanted to reform their disadvantages" (Volume 192).So from February of the first year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin implemented two major reforms: one was to merge states and counties, and the other was to eliminate redundant officials. Firstly, the prefectures and counties added during the Wude period were abolished and merged, and secondly, according to the differences in mountains and rivers, the country was divided into ten roads: Guannei Road, Henan Road, Hedong Road, Hebei Road, Shannan Road, Longyou Road, and Huainan Road. , Jiangnan Road, Jiannan Road, and Lingnan Road.This road is not an administrative area, but rather a supervisory area.Since then, Li Shimin has sent Jiandian envoys, observation envoys, and inspectors to various roads for inspections many times, "observing the gains and losses of customs, and observing the harshness of political punishment" ("Tang Huiyao"). While abolishing and merging local administrative agencies, Li Shimin said to Fang Xuanling: "Officials win people, but not too many." So Fang Xuanling was ordered to streamline the number of officials in the central government agencies.In the Sui and Yi Dynasties, there were 2,581 officials at all levels in Chang'an.After this major personnel reform, the number of civil and military officials in the central government of the Tang Dynasty was reduced to 643, which greatly saved administrative expenses and improved administrative efficiency. With Li Shimin's vigorous promotion of kingly and benevolent government, the most representative political practice of Confucianism was carried out. The Tang Empire was socially stable, economically developed, and national strength was thriving. It began to enter a historical period of unprecedented prosperity. It is said in history: "Since a few years later, the sea has been peaceful, the roads are not picked up, the outdoors are not closed, and business travelers are staying in the wild!" (Volume 192) However, this prosperity has not come easily. At the beginning of Li Shimin's ascension to the throne, he was faced with a situation of "frost and drought caused disasters, rice and grain were expensive, Turks invaded, and prefectures and counties were in turmoil".In the first year of Zhenguan, there was a famine in Guanzhong, and the price of goods soared, and the price of a bucket of rice rose to the equivalent of a piece of silk; in the second year of Zhenguan, locusts plagued the whole country; It was in such a difficult situation that Li Shimin was able to unswervingly adhere to the kingly line, "government with excellence, advocating frugality, and great kindness", and "following advice like a stream, being elegant and good at Confucianism, diligently seeking scholars, and doing business well". In the selection of officials, the reform of old disadvantages, and the revival of the system", so in the fourth year of Zhenguan (AD 630), the situation of the entire empire took on a new look-"The world is big, the exiles return to their hometowns, and the rice is only three or four dollars. Only twenty-nine people were sentenced to death at the age of death" (Volume 1); and the Eastern Turks, which had been invading the Central Plains for many years, were also conquered by the Tang Dynasty in the spring of this year. In this regard, Li Shimin was deeply encouraged.He said to the officials with great emotion: "At the beginning of Zhenguan, many people insisted that the emperor's way and the king's way must not be practiced today, but Wei Zheng persuaded me to follow the king's way; To use authority, you should not appoint a subject.' He also said: 'It is advisable to show off your might and conquer the four barbarians.' But Wei Zheng still persuaded me, saying: 'Yanwu Xiuwen, China is safe, and the barbarians submit themselves.' I adopted Wei Zheng in all In just a few short years, the suggestion of "China's tranquility, far-reaching military service" has achieved great results. The Turks have long been China's strong enemy, but now Jieli Khan has been captured without a fight, and the Turkic chiefs have even become my swordsmen. Guards, all tribes wear Chinese clothes, all of this is due to Wei Zheng!" Li Shimin's remarks not only highly affirmed Wei Zheng's outstanding contribution to the country, but also fully demonstrated that the "controversy between kings and hegemons" in the ninth year of Wude did have an unparalleled and profound impact on the entire Tang Empire. In other words, it was precisely because of this important debate about the country's major affairs that Li Shimin found a correct route for governance, leading the Tang Empire out of the dark and long historical tunnel, and finally opening the most exemplary history in ancient Chinese history. A golden age - Zhenguan.