In the ninth year of Li Yuan's martial arts in Tang Gaozu (AD 626), Li Shimin, king of Qin, initiated the change of Xuanwu Gate. He became a prince, inherited the throne, and changed his chastity in the second year (AD 627). Later, due to Wei Zhi's good governance, integrity and perseverance, he was promoted to be a doctor, and later served as one of the secretaries' supervisors. After waiting, he made special progress and was named Prince. In the twenty-third year of Emperor Taizong, Wei Zhi assisted him for seventeen years until his death. He told Tang Taizong Chen more than 200 stories, amounting to hundreds of thousands of words, and gave many good ideas for Tang Taizong's self-cultivation, governance and security, which was loved and respected by Tang Taizong.
Judging from Wei Zhi's peace policy, it runs through a "people-oriented" theme from beginning to end. The author calls it "Wei Gu's People-oriented Thought". The author thinks that "managing the ship and benefiting the people" is a high generalization and the best image expression of Wei Zhi's people-oriented thought. Through the book Zhenguan Politicians, Wei Zhi has repeatedly talked about the view that "the people are not on board". In the sixth year of Zhenguan, Wei Zhi said in response to a question from Emperor Taizong about politics: "Since ancient times, the Lord who lost his country has always been prepared for danger in times of peace and dealt with chaos, so it can't last long. Today, your majesty is rich in the world, clean inside and outside, able to pay attention to the rule of law, often living in a deep position, and has a long national history. I also heard an old saying: a boat is a boat for the people, and water can carry a boat and overturn it. Your majesty thinks it's awesome and sincere He used the old saying that "a boat is shipwrecked" to explain the relationship between the monarch and the people as it is with water. The monarch is the boat and the people are the water. Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it, which shows that people are afraid of the river. In the eleventh year of Zhenguan, Wei Zhi preached again in his memorial to Emperor Taizong: "There is not much resentment, but people are to be feared, and friendship is deep and cautious. ".It means that resentment lies not in size, but in the deviation of people's hearts. Water can carry a boat and overturn it, so we should attach great importance to it. Wei requisitioned this passage, and once again stipulated that Emperor Taizong should attach importance to the people's strength, be diligent and love the people, and not offend the people, so as not to repeat the mistakes of many monarchs in history who destroyed their society.
People-oriented, in short, people-oriented. The author believes that Wei Zhi's people-oriented thought is very rich in content, and its basic content can be summarized as four points: first, politically, people should be the foundation of the country and the business of emperors, and we should see the great power of the people; Second, economically, we will implement preferential policies for farmers, other working people and even small and medium-sized landlords, cherish private capital and let the people recuperate; Thirdly, we should be brave in training, observe people's feelings, listen to people's voices, and be sober when listening. Fourth, in the method of governing the country, it advocates doing nothing, that is, educating the people with etiquette and music morality, regardless of political punishment. Of these four points, the most fundamental is the first one, that is, people-oriented, which is the core content of Wei Zhi's people-oriented thought and plays a decisive role.
During the reign of Emperor Taizong, he kept in mind the historical lessons of the peasant uprising and destroyed the Sui Dynasty. With Wei Zhi's sincere advice and effective assistance, he carried out political, economic, military, cultural and other aspects of rectification and reform, and adopted many new administrative measures to govern the country, such as attaching importance to employing people and teaching them, paying light taxes, refraining from extravagance and saving expenses, and restraining the use of force to save the country. Therefore, the feudal politics in this period was relatively clear, the social economy recovered and developed rapidly, the social order was relatively stable, and the people could basically live and work in peace and contentment, making the Tang Empire the most powerful dynasty in all dynasties and one of the most prosperous and civilized feudal countries in the world at that time. So historians call this era "the rule of chastity". To some extent, the rule of Zhenguan can be said to be the product of practicing Wei Zhi's humanitarianism. The famous rule of Zhenguan is closely related not only to the name of Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, but also to the name of Wei Zhi, a famous minister.
Wei Zhi's people-oriented thought was born in the feudal era of China, and it is bound to be branded with history and class. It belongs to the ideology of the feudal ruling class and serves to maintain and consolidate the feudal rule of the Tang Dynasty. But it also reflects the voices and aspirations of ordinary people in many ways and to some extent. Wei Zhi's people-oriented thought and many measures to govern the country based on this thought. Objectively, it played the role of concessions to farmers, eased class contradictions and ethnic contradictions and contradictions within the feudal ruling group, promoted the development of productive forces and social progress, and played a progressive role in history. Wei Zhi deserves to be regarded as a visionary politician, outstanding thinker and political commentator in China feudal society.
Knowledge comes from practice. In the history of social development, the emergence of any new ideas and new viewpoints is the inevitable result of people's social practice at that time and inheriting the ideological achievements accumulated by predecessors through practice. Wei Zhi's people-oriented thought first came from the practice of peasant uprising at the end of Sui Dynasty. Wei Zhi was born in poverty and became a monk as a teenager. At the end of sui dynasty, he joined the tile peasant uprising army, and the tile army surrendered to the Tang dynasty after its failure. He is well aware of the sufferings of the people and deeply feels the incomparable strength of the people from the peasant uprising. He realized that if he offended the people, society would collapse and imperial industry would perish. After Yang Di Yang Guang ascended the throne, he was decadent and corrupt, extravagant and extravagant, extorting money, digging canals, building palaces, making three visits to Jiangdu and invading Korea, and the people were miserable and complaining. The peasants had no choice but to rise up and resist, and finally overthrew the brutal rule of the Sui Dynasty. Yang Di was forced to Jiangdu by the imperial general Yu Wenhuaji. These things, Wei Zhi is personally experienced. The fact that the Sui Dynasty perished left a deep impression on Wei Zhi, which convinced him that the old adage "You can sail a boat and water people" is an irrefutable truth. Therefore, in the process of his later assistance to Emperor Taizong, he often reminded Emperor Taizong not to forget the historical lessons of the demise of the Sui Dynasty and not to repeat the mistakes of Yang Di. It can be said that the practice of the peasant revolution at the end of Sui Dynasty is the most direct and main source of Wei Zhi's people-oriented thought.
In fact, the influence of Confucianism is also an important source of Wei Zhi's people-oriented thought. Confucius once said that "tyranny is fiercer than tiger", and he advocated that the government should be benevolent to the people. Mencius also put forward the political view that "the people are the most important, the society is the second, and the monarch is the light". He believes that people's hearts are bound up with national political security ("people are the most important"), and the monarch should put his own interests before this ("people are the least important"). In addition, Taoism has a certain influence on Wei Zhi. Wei Zhi's thought of "governing by doing nothing" is a reflection of Taoist thought.