When the ancients praised emperors and generals, they often used a word: both civil and military, or both civil and military. In fact, this is just a compliment. In just a few decades, it is not easy to work intensively in one field, achieve something, and be ahead of the crowd, let alone "cross-border" development. For example, many emperors liked to be arty and write a few lines of poetry, but it was rare to see them write well. For example, Liu Bang's "Two and a Half Sentences", Zhao Kuangyin's "I'm about to come out but I haven't come out yet, Guang La Da", Zhu Yuanzhang's "The Chicken Crows and Pits," and other "famous poems through the ages" of the emperor, I am afraid that they are largely influenced by the status of the emperor. From the perspective of literature and art alone, it is not necessarily that brilliant.

However, it cannot be said that there are no real "educated people" among the emperors. Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, was an alternative among emperor poets. Several generations of Li Shimin's ancestors were high-ranking officials in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui Dynasty. The princes and princes were full of poems and rituals, and they received a good and systematic education since childhood. He himself was studious and tireless, and did not have the common bad habits of dandies who indulged in pleasure and lacked learning and skills. His cultural level and knowledge base could be regarded as the best among the emperors of the past dynasties.

Unlike the "improvisations" of Liu Bang, Zhu Yuanzhang, etc., Li Shimin's interest in poetry was consistent and lifelong. Whether during the founding war of the Tang Dynasty or after he ascended the throne, Li Shimin wrote many poems to express his aspirations in addition to military and state affairs. In "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty", *** retained nearly a hundred poems by Li Shimin. This number may seem small, but the Tang Dynasty has been more than 1,300 years ago, and a large number of Tang Dynasty poems have been lost and destroyed. Even many authentic Tang Dynasty poets have very few works left. The total number of poems written by Li Shimin in his lifetime can be determined. Definitely more than that.

Li Shimin's poems basically revolve around two core themes, one is the war career, and the other is the palace life. His early works are closely related to his military career, such as the line in "Returning to Shaanxi and Remembering" "The stars are divided and lifted, and the sun and feathers are flying in the sky. Thousands of horses are stationed in the fields, and the five camps are stationed in Linyuan. Mountaineering and military festivals, carrying water vertically "Magic Soldier" is a true portrayal of his battle to quell Liu Wu and Zhou in Hedong. "The wind and lightning arose in the Battlefield of Jing Po Xue Ju, and the battle was fought across the Yangtze River. The camp was shattered and stars sank, and the formations rolled up and the clouds split." Poets of all ages regard it as an excellent work of war-themed poetry.

After ascending the throne, Li Shimin continued to write poems. Most of his works during this period mainly described the daily life of the palace. Among the representative works are "Shou Sui": "The evening scene is in the Xianfang Palace, and the palace is gorgeous in the new year. The cold leaves the winter snow, and the warmth brings in the spring breeze. The steps are fragrant and plain, and the flowers are coiled and the candles are red. Happy new year to the old year, and send you a farewell "In the middle of the night." This poem vividly describes the custom of "staying up late" during the Chinese New Year in the Tang Dynasty. The writing style is exquisite and mature, and the words are gorgeous and meaningful. It makes people surprised that he, an iron-blooded emperor, has such a delicate and sensitive heart. .

However, although Li Shimin's poems are generally well-received in academic circles, they are not well-known among the people. This is mainly because his words and sentences are sophisticated and elegant, and at the same time he has the problem of being difficult to understand, which makes it difficult for ordinary people to understand. It is far less popular than the "vernacular" style of Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang, which is more popular. As a result, most of his poems were tepid, and only two lines of poems were spread all over the world and were widely known.

These two lines of poetry come from the poem "Giving Xiao Yu": "The strong wind knows the strong grass, and the rough and rough ground knows the honest minister. A brave man knows his righteousness, and a wise man must be benevolent." Xiao Yu was a founding hero of the Tang Dynasty and ranked ninth among the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion. Xiao Yu is full of talents, upright and famous for his outspokenness and courage to give advice. "Old Tang Book" records that Li Shimin once said: "This person cannot be lured with generous benefits, nor can he be feared by punishment. He is a true official of the country" and gave him this poem.

After this poem came out, it quickly became famous. The line "The strong wind knows the strong grass, the rough waves know the honest minister" has become a famous line that has been passed down through the ages and is still talked about by people today. However, these two poems are not his first.

The phrase "The strong wind knows the strong grass" was first seen in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty". Wang Ba, the founding hero of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was loyal to Liu Xiu and never left him through all the ups and downs. Liu Xiu said to him, "Work hard and the strong wind knows the strong grass." "Book of Sui" records that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty once gave a poem to his minister Yang Su: "The strong wind knows the strong grass, and the troubled times have honest ministers." As a result, Sui Yang's empire was destroyed and his family was destroyed. These two lines of poems are rarely known and almost no one knows them. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was a notoriously dim-witted and tyrannical king. In fact, in terms of literary talent, he was not inferior to Li Shimin. His "Drinking Horses in the Great Wall Grottoes" and "Ambition" both occupied a place in the literary history of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

However, Li Shimin did have some cleverness in changing these three words. The original poem "The strong wind knows the strong grass, and in the chaotic world there are honest ministers", which is too straightforward and shallow, and lacks the implicit meaning. Li Shimin changed the next sentence to "Bandang knows the sincere ministers", "Bandang" refers to "The Book of Songs" The two chapters "Ban" and "Dang" in "Ban Dang" describe the chaotic and turbulent situation in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, "Ban Dang" has also been used as a metaphor for the vicissitudes of the world by later generations. After adding this allusion, although the meaning of these two poems is similar to the original poem by Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, it becomes more vivid, expressive and thought-provoking.