Introduction: Wei Zheng was a famous remonstrator during the Taizong period of the Tang Dynasty. As a remonstrator, he always kept in mind his responsibilities. Whatever opinions he thought were correct, he would remonstrate directly to his face and stick to them. , never talk behind anyone’s back. Below is the story I brought about Wei Zheng’s blunt advice. I hope it will be helpful to you. The Story of Wei Zheng's Frank Remonstrance Part 1

Wei Zheng's father passed away when he was very young. His family was very poor, but he loved reading and mastered extensive knowledge. Later, he became a Taoist priest. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the peasant uprising was raging. He successively participated in the Li Miwa Gang Army and the Dou Jiande Uprising Army. After Li Jiancheng was killed, he was reused by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty because he spoke out and dared to remonstrate.

Tang Taizong often summoned Wei Zheng into the palace and asked him to provide some opinions. If Li Shimin did something wrong, Wei Zheng could criticize him face to face, which would even make Tang Taizong unable to step down for a while.

On one occasion, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, based on the suggestion of Feng Deyi, the official in charge of memorial documents, decided that all strong men over the age of 18 who had not served in the military should join the army. But Wei Zheng disagreed. Because according to the regulations at that time, the emperor's edict must be signed by the admonishment official before it can take effect.

Tang Taizong asked him: "What's the reason why you don't agree to do this?"

Wei Zheng replied: "As an admonishing official, I have the obligation to point out to your majesty that doing so violates the law." The policy of governing the country and bringing peace to the people. After the founding of our country, we established the rule that "men must serve as soldiers at the age of twenty and are exempted from joining the army at the age of sixty." How can we change it casually?"

Tang Taizong was very angry and shouted loudly. Accused: "You are too stubborn!"

Wei Zheng did not give in, and said seriously: "Your Majesty! If you let the river water go fishing, you can indeed catch a lot of fish, but next year there will be no fish; If you burn the forest for hunting, you will indeed catch a lot of prey, but next year there will be no wild animals. If all the able-bodied men over the age of 18 are to serve as soldiers, who will get the country’s tax and corvee in the future? ”

Tang Taizong suddenly came to his senses and withdrew his order.

Sometimes, Li Shimin would discuss some issues with Wei Zheng.

For example, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once asked Wei Zheng: "There have been so many emperors in history, why are some wise and some stupid?"

Wei Zheng replied: "You can listen more An emperor who has opinions from all sides is usually wiser; an emperor who insists on going his own way and only listens to one side's opinions will inevitably become foolish. This is how the idiom "listening to both sides leads to enlightenment, listening to one side leads to darkness".

Tang Taizong said approvingly: "What you said is so good!"

There was a minister named Zheng Renji. His daughter was beautiful and talented. The queen wanted to adopt her as Li Shimin. of concubines. After the canonization edict was written, someone said: "Isn't she already engaged?"

When Wei Zheng found out, he admonished Li Shimin: "Your Majesty lives in a pavilion. You should hope that the people have a house to live in; your Majesty should hope that the people have enough food when they eat delicacies from the mountains and seas; you should hope that the people will have satisfactory marriages when you look at the many concubines. Now, your Majesty has taken away the woman who was already engaged. Come here, how can this be in line with the wishes of other people's parents?" After hearing this, Emperor Taizong immediately canceled the canonization.

When Wei Zheng fell ill and died, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty withdrew from court for five days and personally climbed to the west tower of the imperial garden to look at the place where Wei Zheng died to express his condolences. He said sadly: "Use copper as a mirror, you can dress properly; use history as a mirror, you can know the reasons for the rise and fall of a country; use people as a mirror, you can understand whether your actions are correct. Now that Wei Zheng has passed away, I have lost one side. Mirror."

Wei Zheng's ability to play a role in the political arena of the early Tang Dynasty is indeed inseparable from Tang Taizong's demeanor of being happy when he heard about it and following his advice readily.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, there was another minister who could boldly give advice, Ma Zhou. Ma Zhou turned out to be a guest of Chang He, the general who guarded the Xuanwu Gate. In 631 AD (the fifth year of Zhenguan), Li Shimin ordered hundreds of officials to write a letter to discuss the gains and losses of the government.

Chang He was a military general who didn't understand politics and felt that he couldn't talk about anything, so he was very worried about this. Ma Zhou knew about it and immediately wrote more than 20 opinions on political gains and losses for him and asked him to deliver. After Li Shimin read it, he felt that everything hit the mark. He was surprised how Chang He, a martial artist, could become so politically savvy, so he came to interview him. Chang He was always honest, and he frankly told Li Shimin that the contents of the letter were all written by Ma Zhou. Li Shimin immediately summoned Ma Zhou and had a conversation. He admired him very much and soon appointed him as the supervisory censor.

Ma Zhou lived up to Li Shimin's expectations of him. He often gave advice and made some constructive suggestions to Li Shimin. He wanted Li Shimin to learn the lessons of the demise of the Sui Dynasty, understand the sufferings of the people, and care for the people; he wanted Li Shimin not to pamper his children too much, and there was no need to bestow gold and silver treasures every year, because luxury would only harm his children; he wanted Li Shimin to be people-oriented and truly To satisfy the people, we must select good officials with moral integrity and talent. Li Shimin listened carefully to these suggestions put forward by Ma Zhou and implemented them.

Wei Zheng, Ma Zhou and others also reminded Li Shimin that the late Sui Dynasty quickly perished due to excessive punishment and tyranny. Therefore, Li Shimin attached great importance to legislation to stabilize the people, and asked relevant departments to integrate the legislative and judicial experience of the previous dynasties and formulate the "Zhenguan Code", which matured and perfected the feudal ethics and legal concepts and laid the foundation for the later formulation of the "Tang Code". Story 2 of Wei Zheng's blunt remonstrance

After the Xuanwumen Incident, someone reported to Qin King Li Shimin that there was an official in the East Palace named Wei Zheng who had participated in the uprising of Li Mi and Dou Jiande. Li Mi and Dou Jiande failed. After that, Wei Zheng went to Chang'an and worked under Prince Jiancheng, and even persuaded Prince Jiancheng to kill the King of Qin.

After hearing this, King Qin immediately sent someone to find Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng met the King of Qin, and the King of Qin asked him with a straight face: "Why are you sowing discord among our brothers?"

When the ministers on the left and right heard the King of Qin's question, they thought it was to settle the matter. Wei Zheng's old accounts made everyone sweat for Wei Zheng. But Wei Zheng looked calm and replied calmly: "It's a pity that the prince didn't listen to me at that time. Otherwise, this kind of thing would not have happened."

After hearing this, King Qin felt that Wei Zheng He was straightforward and courageous. Instead of blaming Wei Zheng, he said kindly: "This is a thing of the past, so there is no need to mention it again."

After Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty came to the throne, he promoted Wei Zheng to the position of admonisher. Dafu (official name) also selected a group of people under Jiancheng and Yuanji as officials. It turned out that the officials of Prince Qin's Palace were not convinced, and murmured behind their backs: "We have been following the Emperor for many years. Now that the Emperor has granted official titles, people from the East Palace and Prince Qi's Palace have benefited first. What kind of rules is this?"

Prime Minister Fang Xuanling told Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty said with a smile: "The purpose of setting up officials in the imperial court is to govern the country. Talents should be selected. How can relationships be used as the criterion for selecting people? If the newcomers are talented and the old ones are not, they cannot be excluded." The new ones should be replaced by the old ones!"

After hearing this, everyone was speechless.

Tang Taizong did not forget old grudges, selected talents, and encouraged ministers to express their opinions face to face. With his encouragement, the ministers also dared to speak. Wei Zheng, in particular, thought very carefully about important court affairs and would speak out to Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty if he had any opinions. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty also trusted him very much and often called him into the inner palace to listen to his opinions.

On one occasion, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty asked Wei Zheng: "Why are some wise and others foolish in history?"

Wei Zheng said: "Listen more to each person. If you only listen to one side's opinions, you will be foolish (the classical saying is 'Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened; if you listen to one side, you will be dark')." He also cited Yao, Shun, Emperor Qin II, Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty, Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, etc. For example, he said: "If the ruler who governs the world can adopt the opinions of the people below, then the people's feelings will be able to reach the top, and his cronies will not be able to deceive them even if they want to.

Tang Taizong nodded repeatedly and said, "How well you said it!" "

Another day, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty finished reading the collected works of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty and said to his ministers: "I think Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty is a man of profound knowledge. He also understands that Yao and Shun are good, but Jie and Zhou are not. Okay, why is it so ridiculous to do something? "

Wei Zheng said: "An emperor cannot rely solely on being smart and knowledgeable. He should also listen to the opinions of his ministers with an open mind. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty thought he was talented, was arrogant and confident, spoke the words of Yao and Shun, and did the things of Jie and Zhou. Later, he became confused and destroyed himself. After hearing this, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was deeply moved. He sighed and said, "Oh, the lessons of the past are our teachers!" "

Tang Taizong was happy to see that his rule had been consolidated. He felt that the ministers' advice to him was helpful, so he said to them: "Governing a country is like curing a disease. Although the disease is cured, it still needs to be cured." Take a good rest and don't relax. Now the Central Plains is stable and the four sides are under submission. Since ancient times, there have been few days like this. But I still have to be very cautious, lest I can't maintain it for a long time. So I need to listen more to your advice. "

Wei Zheng said: "It is so happy that your Majesty can think of critical days in a stable environment (the classical Chinese is "Be prepared for danger in times of peace"). "

From then on, Wei Zheng raised more and more opinions. When he saw something wrong with Taizong, he tried to confront him. Sometimes, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was not happy and his face became dark, but Wei Zheng still did the same If he continued talking, Tang Taizong would not be able to move down the stairs.

Once, when Wei Zheng was in court, he became red-faced after arguing with Tang Taizong. Losing his good reputation for accepting opinions, he had no choice but to hold back. After retiring from the court, he returned to the inner palace filled with anger, met his wife, Empress Changsun, and said angrily: "One day, I will kill him. Damn this country bumpkin! "

Empress Changsun rarely saw Taizong so angry and asked him: "I wonder which one your Majesty wants to kill? "

Tang Taizong said: "It's not that Wei Zheng! He always insults me in front of everyone, which I really can't stand! "

After hearing this, Empress Changsun returned to her inner room without saying a word, changed into a court dress, and bowed to Taizong.

Tang Taizong asked in surprise : "What are you doing? "

Empress Changsun said: "I heard that only a wise emperor has upright ministers. Now that Wei Zheng is so upright, it shows that your majesty is wise. How can I not congratulate your majesty! "

These words were like a basin of cool water, dousing Taizong's anger.

Later, instead of remembering Wei Zheng's hatred, he praised Wei Zheng and said: "People say Wei Zheng behaves rudely, but I think this is what makes him charming and cute! "

In 643 AD, Wei Zheng, who was outspoken and dared to remonstrate, died of illness. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was very sad. He said with tears: "A person who uses copper as a mirror can see whether his clothes and hats are well-dressed. Be upright; use history as a mirror to see the reasons for the rise and fall of a country; use people as a mirror to discover whether you are doing the right thing. Once Wei Zheng died, I lost a good mirror. ”

Because Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to talents, was able to accept the direct advice of ministers, was relatively open-minded in politics, and paid attention to reducing the labor of the people, and took some measures to develop production, the economy in the early Tang Dynasty prospered and the society The order was relatively stable, and this period was historically called the "Reign of Zhenguan" (Zhenguan was the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty). The story of Wei Zheng's outspoken remonstrance 3

Wei Zheng (580-643). , named Xuancheng. Han nationality, native of Julu County, Xingtai City, Hebei Province, also known as Jinzhou City, Hebei Province or Guantao City, Hebei Province. He was a politician in the Tang Dynasty and served as a doctor of admonishment and doctor Zuo Guanglu. Zheng Guogong was famous for his outspoken advice and was the most famous remonstrator in Chinese history.

In the middle and late Zhenguan period, the situation of the entire society gradually became better and better. Li Shimin gradually forgot about the difficulties at the beginning of his business and worked hard to manage. Wei Zheng, who had suffered a lot, saw this and became anxious.

Once, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty went to Luoyang and stayed at Xianren Palace (now Yiyang County, Henan Province) on the way. The large group of people settled down, and the maid served tea. When Taizong saw that the tea tray and tea cups were all old silverware that had been used here a few years ago, he felt very unhappy and ordered the steward to be called in and gave him a severe scolding. The manager thought to himself: In the early years of Zhenguan, Your Majesty was very thrifty. Why do you find it so annoying now? He didn't understand in his heart, but he had to admit his mistake and hurriedly ordered the imperial chef to add a few more seafoods to the emperor's dinner. In the evening, Taizong came to the dining table, glanced at it, and was very dissatisfied: "What's going on? The seafood is not so good, and the delicacies are so rare. Where has the manager gone? Quickly demote him to a commoner!" After that, He walked away.

The next day, Wei Zheng knew the whole story and came to Taizong's inner palace. At this time, Wei Zheng was already a favored minister of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. It was easier to get in and out, and he felt much more comfortable talking to Emperor Taizong. After describing the etiquette of the emperor and his ministers, Wei Zheng turned to the topic: "Your Majesty, I heard that the emperor lost his temper because the steward did not serve him well. I thought this was a bad sign."

Tang Taizong was puzzled: " Our country in the Tang Dynasty is well-off, so what’s the point of spending a few extra cents? Besides, I’m the king of a country!”

Wei Zheng felt deeply that Tang Taizong was “confused by the authorities”, so he decided to give him some guidance: "Your Majesty, just because you are the king of a country, as soon as you start and follow the example, the whole society will form a trend of extravagance, which will be bad."

"My dear, please don't The words are so serious. I am the only king, who dares to follow my example?"

Wei Zheng became more and more aware of the seriousness of the problem. He thought: The emperor often talks about the lessons of the Sui Dynasty, why not? How to use this to warn the emperor?

"Your Majesty, when Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was on tour, every place he visited was punished for not offering food or for not offering good tributes. Such unrestricted pursuit of enjoyment resulted in the common people being unable to afford it. As a result, people's minds changed and their country was lost. How could the emperor imitate Emperor Sui Yang?"

Tang Taizong was really shocked by this move: "Am I imitating Emperor Sui Yang?"

"Yes, Your Majesty! If you are satisfied with the supply of Xianren Palace, you will be very satisfied. But if Emperor Yang comes, even if the supply is 10,000 times richer and more exquisite, it will be difficult to fill him. "

Tang Taizong was shocked and moved when he heard this: "Ai Qing, no one else can say such a thing except you!"

In feudalism! In that era, the emperor had supreme power and proclaimed himself the "True Dragon Emperor". Legend has it that there were reverse scales under the dragon's throat. Anyone who touched it would be killed. Therefore, criticizing the emperor was called "violating the dragon scale", which was very dangerous. For the long-term stability of the country and the peace and contentment of the people, Wei Zheng was not afraid of "offending the dragon's scales", was outspoken, courageous in admonishing, and pointed out Taizong's faults. How much courage must he have! As a wise king, sometimes he could not help but get angry at Wei Zheng for disregarding the face of the "Emperor" and "exposing his shortcomings" in front of his face. Once, Wei Zheng embarrassed Tang Taizong again in the court. After retiring from the court, Taizong said harshly: "Every time Wei Zheng goes to court, he disgraces me. Sooner or later, I will kill him!" Of course, Tang Taizong did not kill Wei Zheng in the end. After thinking about it, he trusted Wei Zheng even more. Led by the ministers represented by Wei Zheng, the unprecedented situation in which Zhenguan ministers competed to remonstrate with each other was an important factor in the formation of the Zhenguan rule.

Wei Zheng also received special attention from Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. He was promoted to the second rank and was named Zheng Guogong.

In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (643), Wei Zheng was seriously ill. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty continued to send people to deliver medicine and food, and sent special personnel to Wei Zheng's home to take care of him and report his condition at any time. Taizong also visited Wei Zheng's home twice. The second time, Taizong also brought the prince and Princess Hengyang. Wei Zheng reluctantly paid homage to Taizong. Taizong comforted Wei Zheng sadly, told him to take good care of his illness, and asked him with tears what he wanted. Wei Zheng strengthened his illness and said: "I don't worry about other trivial matters, I only worry about the rise and fall of the country." As Taizong's minister, Wei Zheng really dedicated himself to death!

The next day, Wei Zheng died suddenly at the age of 64.

Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was extremely grieved. He went out of court for five days to express his condolences and ordered him to be buried with a first-class official. He also painted a portrait of Wei Zheng in Lingyan Pavilion and often went there to express his condolences and compose poems as a mark of remembrance.

Taizong once said in front of the statue of Wei Zheng: "I use copper as a mirror to correct my clothes; I use history as a mirror to know the rise and fall; I use people as a mirror to understand gains and losses. Today Wei Zheng passed away, and I lost "It's a mirror!" Tang Taizong regarded Wei Zheng as a mirror to understand his own gains and losses. This is not only a vivid summary of their relationship between monarch and minister, but also a fair evaluation of Wei Zheng.