The influence of the rule of Zhenguan

1. Lay the foundation of the country (its influence on the contemporary world)

During the Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong's various good policies made the officials clean, the society stable, the people well-fed and well-fed, and the economy developed rapidly, which enabled the country to revive and laid the foundation for the 274 years of the Tang Dynasty.

2. Establish a system (impact on future generations)

During the Zhenguan period, under the painstaking efforts of Emperor Taizong, various political systems of the Sui Dynasty were continued, such as the system of three provinces and six departments, the system of officers and men, the system of land equalization, the system of tenancy, the system of imperial examination and the system of constant liquidation, which were complete and had a far-reaching impact on later generations.

3. Inheritance of political style (influence on later generations)

Emperor Taizong was good at politics, choosing virtuous people and asking for honesty, and refraining from being a minister, which became a good political atmosphere. Politicians in past dynasties all praised the "Zhenguan political style" and imitated it.

4. Employ people on their merits (impact on contemporary times)

Emperor Taizong rebuilt the Genealogy, replacing the world with heroes and family status with imperial examinations, gradually changing the bad habit of attaching importance to family status since Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and aristocratic families took turns to take charge of politics, which opened up opportunities for ordinary people to be senior officials, eliminated the concept of the old society and eased social contradictions.

People-oriented thinking, open the way and open the mind that is easy to be trained; Reuse talents and appoint people on their merits is the criterion; Impatience and selflessness, and the tolerance of doing things according to law; It constitutes the basic characteristics of the rule of Zhenguan and becomes the best example of centralized governance in ancient times. Compared with the western countries at that time, the Tang Dynasty was at the forefront of the world in politics, economy and culture.

deficient

In the early Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan was in the rising stage of the empire, and the deficiency of Zhenguan's rule was mainly manifested in Emperor Taizong's own administration.

Since Wang Mang died in chaos, reforming the emperor according to Confucian classics has become the second ideal of Confucian intellectuals. Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty was the product of this ideal. This transformation and being transformed actually began after the Xuanwu Gate incident. After the incident, Emperor Taizong was eager to gain the recognition of public opinion, and naturally he hit it off with Confucian intellectuals with the ideal of "being sage inside and king outside". This combination has the characteristics of formalism and utilitarianism from the beginning.

During the Zhenguan period, in the long-term game of admonishing ministers, Emperor Taizong and his officials became more and more formal. 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 almost no reward to the person who made it, but there was almost no change in his actions: after giving advice to the minister, he would still go hunting if he wanted; Want to build a new house, or will you? Therefore, Tang Taizong's political reform activities eventually evolved into a simple remonstration and remonstration activity, which was completely formalistic.

In the eighth year of Zhenguan, Huang Fude, a small bureaucrat, took part in the remonstration and said, "Your Majesty used to build Luoyang Palace, which consumed people's strength; Excessive collection of land rent; Folk women like to comb high buns and learn from maids. " Emperor Taizong was furious when he heard this: "Is this Huangfu Deshen satisfied that the country does not requisition a labor force, does not collect a barrel of land rent, and then shaves all our maids?" As for him, he told his grandson that he wanted to find a chance to kill Wei Zhi, "Tian She Han", which was naturally more famous. It was also in this year that Wei Zhi was sensitive to the subtle psychological changes of Emperor Taizong. He said bluntly, "Your Majesty no longer likes to be outspoken. Although it is still reluctantly accepted, it has long lost its past openness. " It was also during this period that Wei Zhi began to "beg to be a loose official" repeatedly under the pretext of his "eye disease".

In the 13th year of Zhenguan (639), Kevin·Z wrote a paper systematically criticizing the decline of Zhenguan's rule. Later generations titled "Ten Years Gradually Stop at Diligence", which said: "Since the Qing Dynasty, I have been trying to be extravagant, forgetting modesty and frugality, and neglecting manpower." "Since the Qing Dynasty, I have been tired of hard work, especially the people in Guanzhong." It also revealed that Emperor Taizong said that "people are arrogant and easy to do nothing, and labor is easy to make." In terms of employing people, "in recent years, people use it because of likes and dislikes, or use it for charity, or destroy it because of one person; Either believe it for years, or stay away from it once you doubt it ... "

Wei Zhi is talking about the middle period of Zhenguan. After Wei Zhi, the voice of honesty became less and less. In the twenty-second year of Zhenguan (648), Xu Shushang criticized the current politics: "Since the Qing Dynasty, there have been armies of three seas in the east, and the battle of Kunqiu in the west, and people are tired, and ships and cars are tired of losing". The existence of these criticisms is an important reference for a comprehensive understanding of the Zhenguan era.