Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, gave most people the first impression that he was an open-minded person. Admittedly, he is not humble. It just went in one ear and out the other, and after listening to the opinions of my liegeman, I still did what I originally wanted to do. Get a good reputation and enjoy it.

The ideal saint: an enlightened and trainable image is thus established.

The general public has always had the need to look up. So history, like real life, needs idols, especially emperors with idol temperament. Emperor Taizong seems to have been quite cooperative in this regard. Encouraged by Emperor Taizong's exhortation, the monarchs and ministers in Zhenguan once really formed the atmosphere of speaking out and admonishing ministers. Pei Ju, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was able to boldly remonstrate and fight for it in the Sui Dynasty. Sima Guang said: "Pei Ju was loyal to the Tang Dynasty because of the change of his nature;" If you hate it, your loyalty will become loyalty, and if you are willing to speak out, your loyalty will become loyalty. "

Go your own way: coachable listens with an open mind and does what you want. According to the second volume of Zhenguan Dignitary, in the fourth year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong ordered the repair of Luoyang Gonggan Yangdian to prepare for the inauguration tour. Zhang wrote a letter of protest. Although Emperor Taizong was very unhappy, he did not have an attack, but ordered "to stop all work immediately". He also took advantage of the topic and said, "It is better to admire a scholar than to be immune to it." However, it is recorded in Zi Jian (Volume 193) that the following year, just after the renovation of Jiucheng Palace, Emperor Taizong once again proposed to rebuild Luoyang Palace. This time, Dai Zhou, Minister of Civil Affairs, stood up against Cobb, who is still open-minded. He not only praised Dai Zhou for "serving the country faithfully and knowing everything", but also promoted him to an official position. However, after a while, Emperor Taizong could not help but order Dou Zhuo to repair Luoyang Palace. There are many scattered records in the history books about things like advice when most needed is least heeded, one step at a time and so on. Emperor Taizong, who is "open-minded and teachable", is just a "moral illusion" of the "inner sage and outer king" concocted by Confucian scholars and Emperor Taizong himself. Ministers tried their best to suppress Tang Taizong's selfish desires and put him into the correct track of "being a saint inside and a king outside", so they frequently remonstrated. Emperor Taizong, on the other hand, accepted almost every suggestion and gave little reward to those who made it, but there was little change in his actions: after giving it to members of parliament, he would still go hunting if he wanted to; Want to build a new house, or will you? But the coach's secret: formalism has shaped the image of a generation of sages. Looking back at the history of Zhenguan period, it is not difficult to find Li Shimin's strong performance traces. The talented emperor was so concerned about his image in the history books that he deliberately revised his every move. More than once, he tried to create a glorious image of his simple life and cherishing the people's strength by talking with his officials. During the twenty years of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong did accept too many admonitions, but acceptance is one thing and implementation is another, and most of them were not effectively implemented in the end. When he fully demonstrated his magnanimous demeanor in court, and when his tolerance for offending face was recorded by historians, he soon forgot the specific content of the advice. For Emperor Taizong, it is important to accept the proposal, not the content. It is worth noting that for Confucian intellectuals, especially civil servants, it is only important to be influenced by them, not to implement the content that is easily influenced by them, because all they need is a "representative of ordinary destiny." Therefore, in the political ideal of Confucianism, the whole meaning of Emperor Taizong is just a utopia of "inner saints and outer kings". As for the rule of Zhenguan, in addition to giving people enough "deification", there is only a perfect formalism.