Chapter 5 Chapter 5: Li Shimin, who is recommended by people who know people in the court, eats locusts for the people

Manage the officials well, and everything else will be fine.Xiao Yu is one category, and Wang Junkuo is another category.But this does not hinder the whole. Generally speaking, recommending good talents is the most important thing. Du Yan, the imperial historian, was honored to be one of the recommenders.The person he recommended was Wai Lang Di (sound: bottom) Huaidao, a member of the Ministry of Criminal Justice.Li Shimin is a very embarrassing person and a very cunning debater.Du Yan reported that Li Shimin taught him a good lesson. Ask: "Tell me, why you recommend him." Du Yan replied: "Di Huaidao was the head of the Ministry of Officials at that time. When Emperor Sui Yang wanted to go to Jiangdu for a visit, he summoned all the officials to ask if it was possible. None of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty dared to say no. He was the only one who objected. I saw this personally. "

Li Shimin looked at Du Yan with his eyes, making Du Yan feel guilty.He let out a "hmm", took a deep breath and said, "You just said...you were also there when Di Huaidao spoke out?" "Yes, Your Majesty." "That is to say, you didn't appeal!" "At that time, my official position was relatively small, and I knew that even if I made a suggestion, it would not be accepted, and if I failed, I would lose my life in vain, so I didn't say anything." Li Shimin smiled coldly and said: "Ai Qing knew that Emperor Sui Yang would not accept advice, so why did you still do things for him? Did you not give advice when you did things for others, did you dereliction of duty? You were an official in the Sui Dynasty, so you can say that your official position is small. But later you became an official with Wang Shichong, and you are a high-ranking and famous official, why didn't you give advice?"

Du Yan was completely scared, and his face was covered with sweat, "I gave Wang Shichong advice, but he didn't listen!" Li Shimin laughed loudly and said: "If he is a sage, he will humbly accept your advice and will not perish; if he is a thug, he will kill you because of your faithful advice. How can you still stand on my side alive now?" In front of you? Tell me, what's going on here?" ... Faced with Li Shimin's clever questioning, Du Yan, who has always been eloquent, had nothing to say.For people like Li Shimin, the intelligence of his subordinates can only be overshadowed.Seeing Du Yan standing there not daring to move, Li Shimin asked in a calm tone: "From now on, you can follow your own ideas, can you give advice?"

Du Yan immediately bowed deeply and said: "The minister is willing to die!" Zuo Pu shot vacant, waiting for candidates. And You Pushe, the eldest grandson Wuji, is also undergoing various tests. Changsun Wuji is the elder brother of Empress Changsun, but most people are puzzled, thinking that the gap between the two brothers and sisters is too great.Empress Changsun has a pretty waist and Liu Yemei, while Comrade Changsun Wuji is 1.5 meters tall and weighs 150. He is a typical fat man.But when it comes to talent, I believe few people can match him.In addition to all-round talents in civil and military affairs, Changsun Wuji is also a qualified legal expert and politician.The relationship between him and his sister and Li Shimin couldn't be better, so many people gossip about him being the right servant.

Foreign relatives intervening in politics have not come to a good end since ancient times. Someone in the court came up with a secret performance, specifically accusing Changsun Wuji of being too honorable and favoring him, and asked Li Shimin to be careful. On the second day, Li Shimin convened a meeting of all the officials, and he said straight to the point: "Changsun Wuji has made a lot of contributions. To me, he is like my relatives. The so-called sparse relatives, new and old, things There must be something wrong, someone gave me a secret report yesterday, and it was said that this is the case. I advise you not to say any more, I use Wuji to use sages, not relatives, I do not accept what you say!"

Li Shimin was determined to let Changsun Wuji shoot as his right servant, but Li Shimin was not crazy.It's not that he didn't consider the consequences of foreign relatives interfering in politics, but he has already formulated countermeasures.It is not all good for foreign relatives to have certain power, at least it can restrain the abnormally bloated clan power before.I think that the reason why Li Shimin is so eager to want Changsun Wuji to be a right servant has a lot to do with Changsun Wuji's personal character. Changsun Wuji was deeply influenced by Gao Shilian, he was knowledgeable and reasonable, and he was not surprised by favor or disgrace.

It is his life creed to be full as a warning. In this way, no need for others to tell, Pushe Changsun Wuji himself didn't want to do it.Because he knew that this time he followed the trend, and if he was a little careless, there would be two results waiting for him: suspicion or accusation.Suspicion must be the suspicion of the emperor. Once Li Shimin is suspicious of a person, the consequences can be imagined; but too much honor and favor will make all the officials dissatisfied, and the consequences will not be much better.The fate of the relatives in the Han Dynasty let Changsun Wuji know that he must not accept this official rank as if nothing had happened.

Resign! He knew it was useless to beg Li Shimin, so he found his sister Guanyin's maidservant. Empress Changsun knew why her brother did this, and she supported him.For this reason, she spent a lot of time talking with Li Shimin.Let Changsun Wuji shoot as a servant, Li Shimin was determined.In the end, Changsun Wuji couldn't hold back him, and directly threw out his sister as his trump card.It is well known that Li Shimin loves his wife.The wife blew the pillow wind every day, saying that the eldest grandson Wuji must be removed (it can be seen that the pillow wind is also good).Only then did Li Shimin decide not to promote grandson Wuji, but to let him "open the third division of Yitong".Open a mansion and set up your own mansion; Yitong Sansi has the same status as the Sansi.

To put it simply, it is the prime minister who has nothing to do. From the end of the Sui Dynasty to the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, after several wars, many scholars refused to come out to serve as officials due to the brutality and lawlessness of most small courts.There are very few people as arrogant as Du Yan. Knowing that Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty liked hermits, he went to Taibai Mountain to live in seclusion with his friends.Later, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty knew that Du Yan's actions were not indifferent to fame and fortune, but for fame, so he became furious and exiled him to Lingnan.After amnesty, Comrade Du Yan was honored to return to the court.It can be seen that in the ruling world, very few people are willing to live in seclusion, and living in seclusion is also an expert who sees through the world.Since the troubled times of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, everyone lived in seclusion for the sole purpose of saving their lives.

Many important positions in the government are left unoccupied. In order to relieve the pressure, the governments of various states and counties have adopted a very modern method-replacement of officials with red cards. The meaning of "replacement teacher" is almost the same as that of "replacement teacher".I give people 600 yuan a month, let them support me when I am busy, and go home to farm when I am free, which is very informal.There is no way to make up the official, and the attitude of handling things is "whatever you like".So, for anyone, this is not the desired result.

In order to select talents, Li Shimin ordered that all incompetent officials should be dismissed, leaving space for the wise men. Substitute teachers and coordinating staff from all states and counties will gather in Chang'an, and interviewers from the province and ministry will ask questions face-to-face. prepared by.On this day, a secretary reported, "Your Majesty, Chang'an is not good." There has been a severe drought in Guanzhong for more than eight months, and the price of rice in Chang'an has skyrocketed.If these people come again, eating will be a problem. What should I do? Take your time, let's talk about the selection of officials next year?Li Shimin decided that next year's affairs will be said next year, and this year's affairs will be done this year.If Chang'an can't do it, let them go to Luoyang; if Luoyang can't do it, let them go to Bingzhou.Fortunately, Luoyang was not affected by the disaster, so after the imperial decree, a large group of talents went to Luoyang, the eastern capital, and the scene was particularly spectacular.More than 7,000 people were waiting for interviews. After days and nights of investigation by the Ministry of the Ministry, they finally got positions with the same ability as themselves. Someone asked: "Why does the imperial court want so many people?" The answer was: "This is not sent to the imperial court, but to the states and counties." How many people are there in the court? Now there are several thousand, and Li Shimin plans to lay off a number of staff for the court. After the layoff, the number dropped to one-tenth of the original number. The operation was a little big, and the plastic surgery was so complete that even his own father couldn't recognize him. Fang Xuanling is the main official in charge of layoffs, and he is very effective.He knew that what Li Shimin meant was: the official is to win people, not to have too many people.In a matter of days, he merged irrelevant departments and cut redundant staff.Under Fang Xuanling's repairs, there were complaints from civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty (of course there were also cheers). According to complete statistics, there are only 643 officials left in the entire Chang'an City.Li Shimin's goal has been achieved, and the selection of sages has long been finished, so sages are allowed to fill the vacancies of officials. The Order of Seeking Talents played a big role. A hunk named Liu Ziyi caught the attention of Li Baiyao from Zhongshushe. According to Li Shimin, if you find those talented and upright people, you must report them, otherwise you will be dereliction of duty and you will be scolded.Liu Ziyi fits Li Shimin's standards too well. The biggest characteristic of this person is that he likes to scold others. Anyone who associates with him knows that if he scolds people head-to-head today, tomorrow, the person scolded by him will be moved to tears. This shows that although Liu Ziyi swears, he swears with reason and evidence, he swears with care, he swears in a moving way, he swears with style and humanity. So, the friend went to Liu Ziyi again the next day to reconcile, and Liu Ziyi scolded again. After scolding, the friend cried again, and reconciled after crying. This is Liu Ziyi. Li Baiyao strongly recommended him, saying that Liu Si's uprightness is rare. Li Shimin decided to meet him and called him to Beijing. If Liu Si didn't come, Liu Ziyi's mother was old, so he had to wait until after serving the old man.Later, Liu Ziyi's mother died, and he became an aide in Wu Wangfu.Liu Ziyi's incident gave people the inspiration to recommend sages, and for a while, it became a fashion to promote sages in court.However, even so, there was one thing that still had to upset Li Shimin. Guanzhong famine. Don't think that if the world is peaceful, it will be peaceful through singing and dancing.Up to now, the drought has caused all the grain fields in the pass to be out of production, and the people sold their children and daughters, and not a few died of starvation.Finally, Li Shimin ordered to open a warehouse for relief.Among the officials there were objections. The food used by the court was used to prepare for emergencies. In case of a siege, it could be used to last for a few months at least.After the disaster relief, what if the Turks heard that there was a surprise attack? Ha ha! Li Shimin laughed, and he said to Wang Gui, the servant of the Huangmen: "In the fourteenth year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign, there was a severe drought in Guanzhong. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty did not allow relief, but let the people go to Shandong to beg for food. In the year of Daye, the reserves were enough to supply the world for fifty years. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty felt that the world was rich, so he was extravagant, leading to his perdition. What I mean is, let the savings in the warehouse be enough to spare for the famine years. What's the use of having more? Storage is originally used to save people. How can you stay there and harm people!" When the warehouse was opened, the common people shouted long live. Li Shimin is not stupid. The granary can't meet the needs, and Li Shimin will not really empty the granary. To a certain extent, he still makes the people eat everywhere.This month, the imperial court decided to take out all the gold, silver and treasures in the treasury to redeem those children who had to be sold.Some of the people were ecstatic, and some were inexplicably sad, hugging each other and weeping on the road. In order to appease the common people, Li Shimin issued an edict to amnesty the world. The edict said: "If the Niangu is rich, the world will be safe, and the calamity will be removed to preserve the nations. This is what I wish, and I am willing to be generous." Perhaps it was because the gods were truly moved, and when the edict was issued, it began to rain in Guanzhong.However, what is unexpected is that an overwhelming disaster is approaching step by step.This is the time to test Li Shimin, and it is also the time to test the people of Chang'an.Disaster, if you want to come, come together! There must be locusts in a long drought, and a severe drought has triggered a catastrophe of locusts.Thousands of locusts swept from all directions, engulfing the sky like dark clouds, and they rushed to the fields and gnawed away all the vegetation.All edible things disappeared from everyone's field of vision. The locusts have the courage to be a rascal and whom to be afraid of. After eating and drinking, they lie on the grass roots and treetops one by one, refusing to move, and chew everything until there is nothing left. After the heavy rain, the locusts did not go away, they stayed. They are pests, pests that no one dares to mess with.The ancients didn't know locusts like they do now. We can treat anything we can eat as a delicacy on the table.But at that time, locusts were like the roundworms of today, and the people only felt disgusted with them, and they didn't like them.If you really can't understand what locusts were in the eyes of ancient people, just think about the maggots in the cesspit. The locust became attached to Li Shimin when he took several ministers to the imperial garden. He caught several locusts, pinched them, pointed to them and said: "Food is the most important thing for the people. You eat the sky. Do you dare to eat my intestines and stomach? (The people depend on grain for their life, and you eat it, rather than my lungs and intestines.)" He opened his mouth and was about to put it in his mouth. When the minister saw this, he was so disgusted that he almost vomited, and stopped him: "Your Majesty, that is a dirty thing. If you eat it, you will get sick!" Suffering, why are you sick?!" He stuffed a few locusts into his mouth and swallowed them without chewing.The locusts themselves have eaten, but the way of eating is quite different from Li Shimin.Pull out the head together with the locust's intestines and stomach, wash it and fry it in oil, the taste is quite good. At the beginning of Li Shimin's ascension to the throne, Guanzhong encountered such a great disaster, but if the monarch and his ministers are one body, the monarch and the people are of the same heart, calm like Li Shimin, no matter how difficult it is, what can we do with people?Some experts once said that Li Shimin was just showing off, and I think so too.However, we must first understand that if a person wants to express his position, he has to rely on acting.Writing is a show, acting is a show, visiting is a show, giving a ring is a show, a wedding ceremony is a show, and being active is a show. Although most of the shows are deliberate, they are also a kind of ritual. isn't it? Those who are sincere for the people, first benefit the people, and then make a show, and the show is to boost morale. Those who pretend to be the people first put on a show, then put on a show, and put on a show to fool the people.