At the beginning of Li Shimin's succession, China was still facing very complicated social problems. The situation in the border areas was tense, and the upper-class members of ethnic minorities in the eastern and western Turks and northwest regions also harassed and invaded the borders of the Tang Dynasty. Due to the destruction of large-scale wars in the late Sui and early Tang Dynasties, the social economy in the mainland was depressed, and class contradictions were still sharp. Facing the grim situation, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin paid great attention to summing up historical experience, especially the historical lesson of the fall of Emperor Yangdi, and he felt the great strength of the people. Taking the collapse of the Sui Dynasty as a warning, he managed the country carefully, trying to ease class contradictions and avoid people's uprising. He said to his lieutenants, "The monarch depends on the country, and the country depends on the people. Being unkind to the people to support the monarch is like cutting the flesh of the body to eat. The stomach is full, but the body is finished. Although the monarch is rich, the country will die. Therefore, the disaster of the monarch does not come from the outside, but is caused by himself. " He also often educates Prince Li Zhi: "Water can sail or sink a ship. People are like water, and people are like boats." He believes that the emperor Yangdi's brutal practices must be changed and some policies conducive to economic development should be implemented, so that his throne can be stabilized. He pointed out: "You must follow people's desires, not people's desires". Rulers should "never forget danger in times of peace, and never forget chaos in governance". Various measures should be taken to strengthen the state apparatus of the landlord class and ease class contradictions, so as to maintain and consolidate the long-term stability of the feudal dynasty. According to this idea, Li Shimin reduced the burden on the people by reducing the penalty leniently and paying less taxes, and implemented the system of land equalization, rent-and-rent adjustment and the system of government soldiers. ?
Li Shimin's principle of employing people is to appoint people on their merits, and select talents according to their abilities. He used talents in an eclectic way and selected and hired a large number of capable officials from the central government to the local government. Li Shimin once said to Wei Zhi: "When choosing an official, you can't be careless. You used a bad guy and all the other bad guys came." Therefore, he paid attention everywhere, "dreaming of loyalty." On one occasion, he asked Feng Deyi to recommend talented people. After a long time, Feng Deyi failed to recommend anyone. Emperor Taizong asked Feng Deyi, and Feng replied: "I am not careless, but there are really no outstanding talents now." Taizong said: "A gentleman's employment is like using utensils, each taking his own advantages. In ancient times, people who could make the country achieve peace and prosperity were borrowing talents from other times? You should worry that you can't identify talents. How can you conclude that there are no talents in this world? "
Li Shimin's most trusted valiant soldier, Wei Chijingde, turned out to be a general under his enemy Liu Wuzhou. After Li Shimin defeated Liu Wuzhou, he surrendered to Li Shimin. Later, with one of the Sui generals who took off and landed in the Tang Dynasty, they conspired against the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin's Ministry arrested Wei Chijingde and prepared to kill him, so as not to leave future trouble. Seeing that Wei Chijingde was a talented person, Li Shimin released him, invited him to his own house, and had a long talk with him, saying, "When a gentleman is congenial, he will do his best to be loyal. Don't worry about these little things. I won't listen to rumors and doubt good people casually." Also gave a lot of gold and silver wealth. Wei Chijingde was very moved and remained loyal from then on. Li Jiancheng failed to buy him off with gold, and soon sent someone to assassinate him. He was not tempted, and always followed Li Shimin, and made great contributions to Li Shimin's ascension to the throne in the "Xuanwu Gate Change". ?
Wei Zheng was originally a courtier of Li Jiancheng, who was deeply involved in the struggle of the Lee brothers for the throne, and once advised Li Jiancheng to get rid of Li Shimin as soon as possible. After Li Shimin ascended the throne, regardless of former enmity, he was entrusted with the task of remonstrating with the doctor, who was responsible for giving advice to the court. Later, he became a secretary supervisor and participated in state affairs. ?
in 629 ad, Li Shimin issued a letter to hundreds of officials to discuss state affairs and make suggestions. The Chinese book will often give more than 2 suggestions, which are well written. Li Shimin knew that Chang He was a military commander who had never read a book, and he was surprised that he wrote such a level paper. I asked him, only to know that it was written by his friend Ma Zhou. Li Shimin sent someone to invite Ma Zhou. After talking, he learned that Ma Zhou was a poor scholar with a humble background. But Li Shimin found that he was a talented person in governing the country, regardless of his family background, and immediately appointed him as the supervisor of the empire. Later, he was promoted to the position of secretariat and presided over the state affairs. ?
Because of Li Shimin's liberal employment policy, a large number of generals and landlords with political talents gathered around it, forming a leading group composed of Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zhi, Wang Jue, Ma Zhou, Zhang Xuansu and Chu Suiliang. These people showed their abilities and did their best for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, which is one of the reasons for the emergence of "Zhenguan rule". ?
during the Zhenguan period, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, "listened to advice". Wei Zhi and others "speak frankly and dare to remonstrate", which has become a generation of political fashion. This is also the key factor for the success of Emperor Taizong's civil administration. Emperor Taizong compared the relationship between monarch and minister to the relationship between source and running water. He believes that "Jun, the source is also; Minister, the flow is also ","the source is clear, the water flows ","the flow that is sought from the source is turbid, but it cannot be obtained. " ("History as a Mirror" Volume 152 "Ji Tang" Taizong Zhenguan for two years) In order to maintain the "source", he asked his liegeman to remonstrate his mistakes, and he often encouraged his liegeman to speak out and remonstrate. Wei Zhi, Wang Jue, Liu Bo, Chu Suiliang and others were all famous remonstrators at that time, and the content of their remonstrance ranged from national politics to court trivia. Only in the early years of Zhenguan, Wei Zhi remonstrated more than 2 things, and put forward the famous conclusion that "listening to others is bright, but listening to others is dark". Because Emperor Taizong was able to remonstrate with coachable, the courtiers dared to remonstrate directly, which enabled some beneficial decree measures to be carried out, and also corrected the unfavorable decree measures and avoided many mistakes. ?
a series of political, economic and cultural policies and measures carried out by the ruling clique of Emperor Taizong during the Zhenguan period (627-649) played a role in easing and stabilizing the rapidly changing situation in the early Tang Dynasty. At that time, prisons were often empty. In 63 A.D. (the fourth year of Zhenguan), only 29 people were sentenced to death in the country. Even if people went out for a few months, they didn't have to lock the door. You don't have to bring your own food when you travel around, and you can get supplies on the road at any time. Years of bumper agricultural harvests have also made society more and more affluent.
The martial arts in Zhenguan period was also the most prosperous in the Tang Dynasty. During the Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong first sent troops to destroy the two khanates of East Turkistan and Xuetingtuo, accepted the obedience of Uighurs, and established some viceroy offices in the north and south of the desert. Then, he sent troops to break through Tuyuhun, wiped out the western Turkistan, and established the Anxi capital protection house in the western regions. So far, the unstable factors in the frontier have been eliminated and effective political rule has been established in the northwest. Emperor Taizong also implemented a more enlightened ethnic policy towards other ethnic minorities and handled the relations with other ethnic minorities better. In 646, Emperor Taizong also married Princess Wencheng to Zangpu Songzangambu in Tubo, thus consolidating the southwest frontier. At the same time began to recover Liaodong. These vigorous undertakings made Tang Taizong famous, and the leaders of ethnic minorities respected him as "Tiankhan".
In short, during the Zhenguan period, the Tang Dynasty turned the troubled times at the end of Sui Dynasty into feudal rule in a relatively short period of time, and the famous "Zhenguan rule" appeared in history, which became a model for later feudal rulers to follow. Emperor Taizong was also remembered as an outstanding and successful monarch and politician in the history of China.