Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, led his troops to conquer the world in his early years and made great contributions to the unification of the Tang Dynasty. After he ascended the throne, he created the famous "Government of Zhenguan", opening up territories externally and accepting advice internally with an open mind. Strictly practice frugality, light corvee and low taxes, so that the people can recuperate, all ethnic groups live in harmony, and the country is peaceful and the people are safe. Li Shimin's literary and martial arts throughout his life were regarded as a model for future generations.
Li Shimin's first wife, the eldest grandson Queen, had three sons. After her death, Li Shimin's eldest son, Crown Prince Li Chengqian, and his second son, King of Wei Li Tai, competed for the right to inherit the throne. A coup took place. Li Shimin was heartbroken and deposed these sons. The two sons made Li Zhi, the third legitimate son of Jin Dynasty, the crown prince.
Li Zhi had a gentle personality. Emperor Taizong and the ministers were very worried about the prince's ability. So before his death, Li Shimin personally wrote an "Emperor's Model" based on his political experience and passed it to Li Zhi as a demonstration sample.
"Emperor's Model" has 12 chapters, which are divided into monarchy, marriage establishment, seeking talents, judging officials, accepting advice, eliminating slander, admonishing profit, advocating thrift, rewards and punishments, farming, military training, Chongwen.
Li Shimin said in "Emperor Model" that the most important thing for a king is his magnanimity. Only by having the ambition to embrace the world can he accomplish something. As a monarch, you must have a mind that embraces the universe and swallows all things. To keep the ministers in awe, one must have deep moral character and be as stable as a mountain. If you are frivolous and incompetent, people will naturally not take you seriously.
If a person always has anger in his heart, he cannot be just. There is sorrow and fear in the heart, and there is no way to be impartial and righteous. Only by completely abandoning personal happiness, anger, and fear, taking the world's worries as one's own worries, and taking the world's interests as one's own interests, can one be as calm as a mountain and as unpredictable as an abyss.
In Li Shimin's view, the most important thing for a country manager is to select people for officials, rather than appointing officials based on people. It is a kind of wisdom for a skilled craftsman to use wood. Straight wood can be used to make chariot shafts, while curved wood can also be used to make wheels. All in all, you can make the best use of everything and waste nothing.
A wise monarch chooses talents just like a carpenter chooses materials. A wise man uses his strategy, a foolish man uses his bravery, a brave man uses his power, and a timid man uses his prudence. . In the eyes of a good carpenter, no piece of material is waste; in the heart of a wise king, there are no talents that cannot be used, only talents that have been placed in the wrong place.
"Emperor Fan" also pointed out that in order to govern the country, we should try our best to eliminate the bad habits of luxury and luxury, and encourage and urge people to concentrate on farming and weaving. Only by eradicating the flashy bad habits caused by industry and commerce can the people return to the fundamental path of attaching importance to agriculture, and social customs will become simple again.
If everyone has a heart of benevolence and righteousness, the way out for merchants and villains who are greedy for money and profit will forever be cut off. If this is the case, we have captured the fundamentals of farming. Use severity to restrain snobbish people, and use benevolence to caress loyal and upright people. This is the key and core of controlling customs and controlling the world.
As a ruler, you should treat the people as your sons, but your leadership skills should still be based on kindness and power. Since there are some who do good and some who do evil among the people, they should be treated with severity and benevolence. Giving benevolence can make people do good deeds, and can also make customs pure. Wherever the kindness reaches, people feel as warm as if they were bathed in the spring sun in the harsh winter. Establishing majesty can make bad people fearful, and it can also make all subjects in the world as docile as oxen and horses in the shaft of a chariot. The bad guys will no longer dare to do evil if they feel the sword under their feet and the thunder above their heads!
Therefore, only by the mutual use of grace and power can the people have something to rely on for their actions and a basis for their actions. If the two are used improperly, the administration may be unfair and the rules may be lost. The art of grace and power consists of one being strong and the other being soft. Only by taking both into account, using generosity to support the strong, and using generosity to support the lenient, can we create a good situation in which the government is harmonious and the people are harmonious. Once the king's reputation is established, people will not dare to violate the criminal law. If the emperor wants to win the trust of the people, he must also obey orders and prohibitions, be true to his words, and bear fruit in his actions.
Finally, Li Shimin concluded: "If you advocate virtue and practice virtue extensively, the emperor's career will be peaceful and you will be safe; if you do wrong things willfully and arbitrarily, then the emperor's career will collapse and you will be vulnerable. Losing one's life. The foundation of a country often grows slowly but quickly. The throne is hard-won and must be cherished!"
The book "Emperor Fan" is a highly condensed summary of Li Shimin's life experience in governing. . Although the text is short, the words are powerful and beautiful. It shows the perception of life and the world by a generation of British monarchs. It is also a summary of the life experience of a founding monarch who immediately conquered the world and ruled the world.
The article is full of philosophical language, which either hits the mark or reveals a secret. Not only does it have a far-sighted vision, but it also implies a profound and thorough theory. Some extraordinary words of wisdom can only be spoken by a great man like Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Many ideas in "Emperor Fan" have a very important reference role and can stand the test of time.