The Substance of Government政體第二
貞觀初，太宗謂蕭瑀曰：「朕少好弓矢，自謂能盡其妙。近得良弓十數，以示弓工。乃曰：『皆非良材也。』朕問其故，工曰：『木心不正，則脈理皆邪，弓雖剛勁而遣箭不直，非良弓也。』朕始悟焉。朕以弧矢定四方，用弓多矣，而猶不得其理。況朕有天下之日淺，得為理之意，固未及於弓，弓猶失之，而況於理乎？」自是詔京官五品以上，更宿中書內省。每召見，皆賜坐與語，詢訪外事，務知百姓利害，政教得失焉。
In the first years of Zhenguan, Taizong said to Xiao Yu.
"I have loved the bow and arrow since I was young, and I thought I knew all their subtleties. Lately I got some ten or more good bows and showed them to a bowmaker, and he said, 'None of these is good timber.' I asked him the reason, and the workman said, 'If the heart of the wood is not straight, the grain runs crooked throughout, and though the bow be stiff and strong it will not send an arrow straight. It is not a good bow.' Only then did I understand.
"I settled the four quarters with bow and arrow, and I have used bows a great deal, and still I did not know their principle. How much more so when my days of holding the realm are shallow, and my grasp of the meaning of government does not reach even to my grasp of bows. If I went wrong about the bow itself, how much more about government?"
From then on he issued an order that officials of the capital of the fifth rank and above should lodge by turns in the Inner Secretariat. Whenever he summoned them he gave each a seat and talked with them, asking about matters outside, and took pains to learn what helped and what harmed the people, and what was right and wrong in government and teaching.
貞觀元年，太宗謂黃門侍郎王珪曰：「中書所出詔敕，頗有意見不同，或兼錯失而相正以否。元置中書、門下，本擬相防過誤。人之意見，每或不同，有所是非，本為公事。或有護己之短，忌聞其失，有是有非，銜以為怨。或有茍避私隙，相惜顏面，知非政事，遂即施行。難違一官之小情，頓為萬人之大弊。此實亡國之政，卿輩特須在意防也。隋日內外庶官，政以依違，而致禍亂，人多不能深思此理。當時皆謂禍不及身，面從背言，不以為患。後至大亂一起，家國俱喪，雖有脫身之人，縱不遭刑戮，皆辛苦僅免，甚為時論所貶黜。卿等特須滅私徇公，堅守直道，庶事相啟沃，勿上下雷同也。」
In the first year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to Wang Gui, Vice Director of the Chancellery.
"Among the edicts issued by the Secretariat there are quite a few where the intent differs, and sometimes errors are mixed in, and sometimes they are set right against one another and sometimes not. The Secretariat and the Chancellery were set up in the first place so that they would guard each other against fault. Men's views are always differing, and where there is a judging of right and wrong, that is properly public business.
"Yet some men shield their own shortcomings and hate to hear of their faults, and over a right and a wrong they harbor a grudge and make it a resentment. Others shabbily avoid private friction and spare each other's faces, and knowing a thing is wrong for government they carry it out all the same. Reluctant to cross the small feelings of one official, they suddenly make a great evil for ten thousand men. This is truly the government that ruins a state, and you gentlemen must take special care to guard against it.
"In the time of Sui the officials of every sort, within and without, followed government by shilly-shallying and so brought on disaster and disorder, and few men could think deeply about this principle. In those days they all said the disaster would not reach their own persons, and they agreed to a man's face and spoke otherwise behind his back, and did not make it a worry. Later, when the great disorder broke out once, house and state were lost together; and though there were men who got their own persons out, even those who did not meet punishment and slaughter all barely escaped with hardship, and were severely cut down and cast out by the judgment of the age.
"You gentlemen must above all put away what is private and follow what is public, hold firmly to the straight road, open and enrich one another in all affairs, and not let high and low echo one another with a single voice."
貞觀二年，太宗問黃門侍郎王珪曰：「近代君臣治國，多劣於前古，何也？」對曰：「古之帝王為政，皆志尚清靜，以百姓之心為心。近代則唯損百姓以適其欲，所任用大臣，復非經術之士。漢家宰相，無不精通一經，朝廷若有疑事，皆引經決定，由是人識禮教，理致太平。近代重武輕儒，或參以法律，儒行既虧，淳風大壞。」太宗深然其言。自此百官中有學業優長、兼識政體者，多進其階品。累加遷擢焉。
In the second year of Zhenguan, Taizong asked Wang Gui, Vice Director of the Chancellery.
"Rulers and ministers of recent ages have governed the state worse than the men of old in many things. How is this?"
He answered.
"The emperors and kings of old, in their government, all held clarity and quiet high, and made the heart of the people their own heart. In recent ages they have only harmed the people to suit their own desires, and the great ministers they appointed were not men schooled in the classics. Among the chief ministers of Han there was not one who was not thoroughly versed in some one classic, and when there was a doubtful matter at court they all drew on the classics to decide it. By this men knew ritual and teaching, and government reached great peace. In recent ages they have weighed arms heavy and learning light, and have sometimes mixed in law and statute. The conduct of the scholar being already marred, the simple customs have greatly collapsed."
Taizong thought his words deeply right. From then on, among the officials of every sort, those outstanding in learning who also knew the body of government had their ranks raised often, and were promoted again and again.
貞觀三年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「中書、門下，機要之司。擢才而居，委任實重。詔敕如有不穩便，皆須執論。比來惟覺阿旨順情，唯唯茍過，遂無一言諫諍者，豈是道理？若惟署詔敕、行文書而已，人誰不堪？何煩簡擇，以相委付？自今詔敕疑有不穩便，必須執言，無得妄有畏懼，知而寢默。」
In the third year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance.
"The Secretariat and the Chancellery are the offices that hold what is secret and essential. Men of talent were chosen and seated there, and what is entrusted to them is truly weighty. If there is anything unsound in an edict, they must all take hold of it and argue it. Of late I see only flattering of my intent and going along with my feelings, saying yes and yes and shabbily letting things pass, until at last there is not one man who remonstrates and contends. How can this be right?
"If it is only a matter of signing edicts and sending on documents, who could not bear that? Why go to the trouble of picking and choosing men to entrust with one another? From now on, if there is any doubt that an edict is unsound, you must take hold of it and speak. Do not be recklessly afraid and keep silent when you know."
貞觀四年，太宗問蕭瑀曰：「隋文帝何如主也？」對曰：「克己復禮，勤勞思政，每一坐朝，或至日昃，五品已上，引坐論事，宿衛之士，傳飱而食，雖性非仁明，亦是勵精之主。」太宗曰：「公知其一，未知其二。此人性至察而心不明。夫心暗則照有不通，至察則多疑於物。又欺孤兒寡婦以得天下，恒恐群臣內懷不服，不肯信任百司，每事皆自決斷，雖則勞神苦形，未能盡合於理。朝臣既知其意，亦不敢直言。宰相以下，惟承順而已。朕意則不然，以天下之廣，四海之眾，千端萬緒，須合變通，皆委百司商量，宰相籌畫，於事穩便，方可奏行。豈得以一日萬機，獨斷一人之慮也。且日斷十事，五條不中，中者信善，其如不中者何？以日繼月，乃至累年，乖謬既多，不亡何待？豈如廣任賢良，高居深視，法令嚴肅，誰敢為非？」因令諸司，若詔敕頒下有未穩便者，必須執奏，不得順旨便即施行，務盡臣下之意。
In the fourth year of Zhenguan, Taizong asked Xiao Yu.
"What sort of ruler was Emperor Wen of Sui?"
He answered.
"He overcame himself and returned to ritual, and thought diligently about government. Once he sat at court he would stay until the sun went down; he drew officials of the fifth rank and above to sit and discuss affairs, and the guards on night duty had their meals carried to them. Though his nature was not benevolent and clear, he was still a ruler who sharpened his spirit."
Taizong said.
"You know the one but not the other. This man's nature was to scrutinize too closely, and his heart was not clear. Now when the heart is dark there are things it shines upon and does not see through, and when it scrutinizes too closely it suspects many things. Moreover he cheated an orphan and a widow to get the realm, and so he always feared that his officials inwardly did not submit. He would not trust and entrust the many offices, and decided every matter himself. Though he wore out his spirit and tired his body, he could not make it all fit the right principle. The ministers of the court, knowing his mind, did not dare speak straight, and from the chief ministers down they did nothing but receive and comply.
"My own intent is not so. The realm is broad and the people within the four seas are many, with a thousand strands and ten thousand threads, and it must fit the changing of things. All of it is entrusted to the many offices to weigh, and the chief ministers plan it, and only when a matter is sound may it be memorialized and carried out. How can ten thousand affairs in a day be decided alone by the thought of one man?
"Besides, if ten matters are decided in a day and five of them miss the mark, the ones that hit are truly good, but what of the ones that miss? Day joined to month until the years pile up, and the errors are already many. What is there to wait for but ruin? How could that be as good as entrusting the worthy and the good widely, sitting high and looking deep, and making the laws and orders strict, so that who would dare do wrong?"
Thereupon he ordered the various offices that if an edict came down with anything unsound in it, they must take hold of it and memorialize, and not follow his intent and carry it out at once, so that the views of the ministers might be fully drawn out.
貞觀五年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「治國與養病無異也。病人覺愈，彌須將護，若有觸犯，必至殞命。治國亦然，天下稍安，尤須兢慎，若便驕逸，必至喪敗。今天下安危，系之於朕。故日慎一日，雖休勿休。然耳目股肱，寄於卿輩，既義均一體，宜協力同心，事有不安，可極言無隱。儻君臣相疑，不能脩盡肝膈，實為國之大害也。」
In the fifth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance.
"Governing a state is no different from nursing an illness. When a sick man feels himself mending, he must take all the more care, for if there is any violation he will surely lose his life. Governing a state is the same. When the realm has grown a little settled, one must be all the more watchful and careful, for if one turns proud and idle ruin is certain.
"Now the peace and the peril of the realm hang upon me. Therefore day after day I am careful, and even at ease I do not take my ease. But ears and eyes and arms and legs are entrusted to you gentlemen, and since our duty makes us one body, we should join our strength and share one heart. If there is anything unsound in a matter, speak it out to the end and hide nothing. If ruler and minister suspect one another and cannot open their inmost hearts, it is truly a great harm to the state."
貞觀六年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「看古之帝王，有興有衰，猶朝之有暮，皆為蔽其耳目，不知時政得失，忠正者不言，邪謅者日進，既不見過，所以至於滅亡。朕既在九重，不能盡見天下事，故布之卿等，以為朕之耳目。莫以天下無事，四海安寧，便不存意。可愛非君，可畏非民。天子者，有道則人推而為主，無道則人棄而不用，誠可畏也。」魏徵對曰：「自古失國之主，皆為居安忘危，處理忘亂，所以不能長久。今陛下富有四海，內外清晏，能留心治道，常臨深履薄，國家歷數，自然靈長。臣又聞古語云：『君，舟也；人，水也。水能載舟，亦能覆舟。』陛下以為可畏，誠如聖旨。」
In the sixth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance.
"Looking at the emperors and kings of old, there is rising and there is falling, as a morning has its evening. In every case their ears and eyes were covered, so that they did not know what was right and wrong in the government of the day; the loyal and upright did not speak, the crooked and flattering advanced day by day, and since they never saw their own faults they came to destruction.
"I am inside nine folds of palace and cannot see all the affairs of the realm, and so I spread you gentlemen abroad to be my ears and eyes. Let there be nothing about which you fail to keep your minds, saying the realm is without trouble and the four seas are at peace. Is it not the ruler who may be loved, and the people who may be feared? As for the Son of Heaven, if he has the Way men push him up and make him their lord, and if he is without the Way men cast him off and do not use him. Truly it is to be feared."
Wei Zheng answered.
"From of old, the rulers who lost their states all forgot peril while at peace and forgot disorder while things were in order, and so they could not last long. Now Your Majesty holds the four seas in plenty and within and without is clear and calm, and still you keep your mind on the Way of government and are always as one who faces a deep pool and treads on thin ice. The destiny of the state will of itself be holy and long.
"Your servant has also heard an old saying: 'The ruler is the boat; the people are the water. The water can carry the boat, and it can also overturn the boat.' That Your Majesty holds this to be fearful is truly as your sage intent says."
貞觀六年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「古人云：『危而不持，顛而不扶，焉用彼相？』君臣之義，得不盡忠匡救乎？朕嘗讀書，見桀殺關龍逄，漢誅黽錯，未嘗不廢書嘆息。公等但能正詞直諫，裨益政教，終不以犯顏忤旨，妄有誅責。朕比來臨朝斷決，亦有乖於律令者。公等以為小事，遂不執言。凡大事皆起於小事，小事不論，大事又將不可救，社稷傾危，莫不由此。隋主殘暴，身死匹夫之手，率土蒼生，罕聞嗟痛。公等為朕思隋氏滅亡之事，朕為公等思龍逄、晁錯之誅，君臣保全，豈不美哉！」
In the sixth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance.
"A man of old said, 'If he does not hold up what is in peril and does not steady what is falling, what use is that minister?' In the duty between ruler and minister, can one fail to give one's whole loyalty to setting things right and rescuing them? I once read in a book how Jie killed Guan Longfeng and how Han put Chao Cuo to death, and I never failed to lay the book down and sigh. If you gentlemen can only speak upright words and remonstrate straight, and be of benefit to government and teaching, I will never recklessly execute or reprove you for crossing my face and going against my intent.
"Of late, in what I have decided at court, there have been things at odds with the statutes. You gentlemen took them for small matters and in the end did not take hold of them and speak. Now great matters all arise from small ones, and if small matters are not discussed, great ones will become past saving, and the toppling and peril of the altars of state all come from this. The ruler of Sui was cruel and violent and died by the hand of a common man, yet among the people of all his land one rarely hears that any grieved or ached for him.
"Do you gentlemen think for my sake on the ruin of the house of Sui, and I for your sake will think on the putting to death of Longfeng and Chao Cuo; and if ruler and ministers keep one another whole, how could that not be fine?"
貞觀七年，太宗與秘書監魏徵從容論自古理政得失，因曰：「當今大亂之後，造次不可致化。」徵曰：「不然，凡人在危困，則憂死亡。憂死亡，則思化。思化，則易教。然則亂後易教，猶饑人易食也。」太宗曰：「善人為邦百年，然後勝殘去殺。大亂之後，將求致化，寧可造次而望乎？」徵曰：「此據常人，不在聖哲。若聖哲施化，上下同心，人應如響，不疾而速，期月而可，信不為難，三年成功，猶謂其晚。」太宗以為然。封德彜等對曰：「三代以後，人漸澆訛，故秦任法律，漢雜霸道，皆欲理而不能，豈能化而不欲？若信魏徵所說，恐敗亂國家。」徵曰：「五帝、三王，不易人而化。行帝道則帝，行王道則王，在於當時所理，化之而已。考之載籍，可得而知。昔黃帝與蚩尤七十餘戰，其亂甚矣，既勝之後，便致太平。九黎亂德，顓頊征之，既克之後，不失其化。桀為亂虐，而湯放之，在湯之代，即致太平。紂為無道，武王伐之，成王之代，亦致太平。若言人漸澆訛，不及純樸，至今應悉為鬼魅，寧可復得而教化耶？」德彜等無以難之，然咸以為不可。太宗每力行不倦，數年間，海內康寧，突厥破滅。因謂群臣曰：「貞觀初，人皆異論，云當今必不可行帝道、王道，惟魏徵勸我。既從其言，不過數載，遂得華夏安寧，遠戎賓服。突厥自古以來，常為中國勍敵，今酋長並帶刀宿衛，部落皆襲衣冠，使我遂至於此，皆魏徵之力也。」顧謂徵曰：「玉雖有美質，在於石間，不值良工琢磨，與瓦礫不別。若遇良工，即為萬代之寶。朕雖無美質，為公所切磋，勞公約朕以仁義，弘朕以道德，使朕功業至此，公亦足為良工爾。」
In the seventh year of Zhenguan, Taizong was quietly discussing with Wei Zheng, Director of the Palace Library, the right and wrong of government from of old, and said.
"Now, after a great disorder, transformation cannot be reached in haste."
Wei Zheng said.
"It is not so. When men are in peril and hardship they worry about dying. Worrying about dying, they think of being transformed. Thinking of being transformed, they are easy to teach. So it is that men are easy to teach after disorder, as a hungry man is easy to feed."
Taizong said.
"A good man governs a state a hundred years, and only then is cruelty overcome and killing done away with. After a great disorder, to seek to reach transformation, how can one hope for it in haste?"
Wei Zheng said.
"This was said of ordinary men, and does not hold for the sage and the wise. If a sage and wise man spreads his transforming teaching and high and low are of one heart, men answer like an echo, and without hurrying it is swift, and a single month will do. Truly it is not hard, and even to say the work is done in three years would be to call it late."
Taizong thought so. Feng Deyi and the others answered.
"Since the Three Dynasties men have grown steadily shallow and false. Therefore Qin left things to law and statute and Han mixed in the way of the hegemon. In both, they wished to govern and could not. How could they have been able to transform and yet not wish to? If you trust what Wei Zheng says, we fear it will spoil and disorder the state."
Wei Zheng said.
"The Five Emperors and the Three Kings did not change their people in order to transform them. Practice the way of the emperor and you become an emperor; practice the way of the king and you become a king. It lies in what is governed at the time, and it is a matter of transforming them, that is all. Look into the old records and it can be known. Long ago the Yellow Emperor fought more than seventy battles with Chiyou, and the disorder was extreme; yet once he had won he brought about great peace at once. The Nine Li threw virtue into disorder and Zhuanxu marched against them; and once he had overcome them he did not lose his transforming teaching. Jie was disorderly and cruel and Tang drove him out; and in Tang's own age great peace was reached. King Zhou of Shang was without the Way and King Wu struck him down; and in the age of King Cheng great peace was reached as well. If it is said that men grow steadily shallow and false and do not come up to the old simplicity, then by now they should all have become goblins. How could they be taught and transformed again?"
Deyi and the others had nothing with which to counter him, but they all held that it could not be done. Taizong pressed on with it and never wearied, and within a few years all within the seas was calm and the Tujue were broken. Thereupon he said to his assembled ministers.
"In the first years of Zhenguan men all spoke otherwise, saying that now the way of the emperor and the way of the king surely could not be practiced, and only Wei Zheng urged me on. Once I had followed his words, not many years passed before Huaxia was at peace and the far barbarians came as guests and submitted. The Tujue from of old have always been a stubborn enemy of the Middle Kingdom, and now their chieftains wear swords and stand guard at night, and their tribes have all taken up cap and robe. What has brought me to this is all the strength of Wei Zheng."
He looked round at Wei Zheng and said.
"Though jade has a fine substance, while it lies among the stones, if it does not meet a good craftsman to cut and polish it, it is no different from a tile shard. If it meets a good craftsman it becomes a treasure for ten thousand generations. Though I have no fine substance, I have been cut and polished by you; and you have labored to bind me with benevolence and right and to broaden me with the Way and virtue, and have brought my work to this. You too are enough to be called a good craftsman."
貞觀八年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「隋時百姓縱有財物，豈得保此？自朕有天下已來，存心撫養，無有所科差，人人皆得營生，守其資財，即朕所賜。向使朕科喚不已，雖數資賞賜，亦不如不得。」魏徵對曰：「堯、舜在上，百姓亦云『耕田而食，鑿井而飲』，含哺鼓腹，而云『帝何力』於其間矣。今陛下如此含養，百姓可謂日用而不知。」又奏稱：「晉文公出田，逐獸於碭，入大澤，迷不知所出。其中有漁者，文公謂曰：『我，若君也，道將安出？我且厚賜若』漁者曰：『臣願有獻。』文公曰：『出澤而受之。』於是送出澤。文公曰：『今子之所欲教寡人者，何也？願受之。』漁者曰：『鴻鵠保河海，厭而徙之小澤，則有矰丸之憂。黿鼉保深淵，厭而出之淺渚，必有釣射之憂。今君逐獸碭，入至此，何行之太遠也？』文公曰：『善哉！』謂從者記漁者名。漁者曰：『君何以名？為君尊天事地，敬社稷，保四國，慈愛萬民，薄賦斂，輕租稅，臣亦與焉。君不尊天，不事地，不敬社稷，不固四海，外失禮於諸侯，內逆民心，一國流亡，漁者雖有厚賜，不得保也。』遂辭不受。」太宗曰：「卿言是也。」
In the eighth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance.
"In the time of Sui, even if the people had goods, how could they keep them? Since I have held the realm I have set my heart on soothing and nurturing them, and there is no levying at will, so that every man makes his own living and keeps his own property. This is what I have given them. Had I not stopped levying and summoning, then though I gave out rewards again and again it would still have been better for them not to receive."
Wei Zheng answered.
"When Yao and Shun were above, the people too said, 'We plow the fields and eat, we dig wells and drink,' and with food in their mouths they drummed their bellies and said, 'What strength has the emperor spent in this?' Now that Your Majesty nurtures them so, it may be said that the people use it daily and do not know it."
He also submitted.
"Duke Wen of Jin went out hunting, and chasing a beast at Dang he entered a great marsh and lost his way and did not know where to come out. There was a fisherman there, and Duke Wen said to him, 'I am your lord. Which way leads out? I will reward you richly.' The fisherman said, 'Your servant would offer something.' Duke Wen said, 'Come out of the marsh and I will receive it.' Thereupon he sent him out of the marsh, and Duke Wen said, 'Now what is it you wish to teach me? I would receive it.'
"The fisherman said, 'The great goose and the swan keep themselves safe in the rivers and the sea; if they weary of it and move to a small marsh, they meet the trouble of the stringed arrow and the pellet. The soft-shelled turtle and the alligator keep themselves safe in deep pools; if they weary of it and come out to the shallow shore, they will surely meet the trouble of the hook and the bow. Now my lord has chased a beast at Dang and come in as far as this. Is your going not too far?'
"Duke Wen said, 'Well said,' and had his follower write down the fisherman's name. The fisherman said, 'Why does my lord ask my name? If my lord honors Heaven and serves Earth, reveres the altars of state, keeps safe the states of the four quarters, loves the ten thousand people, makes the levies thin and the taxes light, then your servant too is within it. If my lord does not honor Heaven, does not serve Earth, does not revere the altars of state, does not make the four seas firm, and without loses ritual toward the feudal lords and within goes against the hearts of the people, then the whole state will scatter and flee, and though a fisherman had received a rich gift he could not keep it.' And in the end he declined and did not receive it."
Taizong said.
"What you say is right."
貞觀九年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「往昔初平京師，宮中美女珍玩，無院不滿。煬帝意猶不足，征求無已，兼東西征討，窮兵黷武，百姓不堪，遂致亡滅。此皆朕所目見。故夙夜孜孜，惟欲清凈，使天下無事。遂得徭役不興，年穀豐稔，百姓安樂。夫治國猶如栽樹，本根不搖，則枝葉茂榮。君能清凈，百姓何得不安樂乎？」
In the ninth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance.
"In days past, when the capital was first settled, there was no courtyard in the palace that was not filled with beautiful women and precious playthings. Even so the intent of Emperor Yang was still not satisfied, and he never ceased to demand and to seek; and along with this he campaigned east and west, exhausting his troops and making wanton use of arms, until the people could not bear it and he came at last to destruction. All this I saw with my own eyes.
"Therefore night and day I have striven, wishing only for clarity and quiet, so that the realm should be without trouble. At last the labor levies do not rise, the grain ripens well year by year, and the people are at ease and glad. Now governing a state is like planting a tree: if the root does not shake, the branches and leaves flourish. If the ruler can be clear and quiet, how can the people fail to be at ease and glad?"
貞觀十六年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「或君亂於上，臣理於下；或臣亂於下，君治於上。二者茍逢，何者為甚？」特進魏徵對曰：「君心治，則照見下非。誅一勸百，誰敢不畏威盡力？若昏暴於上，忠諫不從，雖百里奚、伍子胥之在虞、吳，不救其禍，敗亡亦繼。」太宗曰：「必如此，齊文宣昏暴，楊遵彥以正道扶之得治，何也？」徵曰：「遵彥彌縫暴主，救理蒼生，才得免亂，亦甚危苦。與人主嚴明，臣下畏法，直言正諫，皆見信用，不可同年而語也。」
In the sixteenth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance.
"Sometimes the ruler is in disorder above while the ministers govern below; sometimes the ministers are in disorder below while the ruler governs above. If one met with these two, which is the worse?"
Wei Zheng, the Specially Advanced, answered.
"When the ruler's heart is in order, it shines upon the wrongs of those below. Execute one and a hundred are exhorted, and who would dare not fear his authority and give his full strength? But if he is dark and cruel above and does not follow loyal remonstrance, then though Baili Xi and Wu Zixu were in Yu and in Wu, they could not save them from disaster, and collapse and ruin followed all the same."
Taizong said.
"If it must be so, how was it that Emperor Wenxuan of Qi was dark and cruel, and yet Yang Zunyan upheld him with the straight Way and got order?"
Wei Zheng said.
"Zunyan patched the gaps of a cruel ruler and rescued the people, and only just got them clear of disorder, and it was terribly perilous and hard. It cannot be spoken of in the same breath with a ruler who is stern and clear, ministers who fear the law, and straight words and upright remonstrance all trusted and used."
貞觀十九年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「朕觀古來帝王，驕矜而取敗者，不可勝數。不能遠述古昔，至如晉武平吳、隋文伐陳已後，心逾驕奢，自矜諸己，臣下不復敢言，政道因茲弛紊。朕自平定突厥、破高麗已後，兼並鐵勒，席卷沙漠以為州縣，夷狄遠服，聲教益廣。朕恐懷驕矜，恒自抑折，日旰而食，坐以待晨。每思臣下有讜言直諫，可以施於政教者，當拭目以師友待之。如此，庶幾於時康道泰爾。」
In the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance.
"Looking at the emperors and kings from of old, those who grew proud and came to ruin cannot all be counted. Without telling over the distant past, from the time Emperor Wu of Jin settled Wu and Emperor Wen of Sui struck Chen, their hearts grew ever prouder and more extravagant and they boasted of themselves, so that their ministers no longer dared speak, and the Way of government slackened and fell into confusion because of it.
"Since I settled the Tujue and crushed Goguryeo, I have annexed the Tiele and rolled up the desert into commanderies and counties; the barbarians submit from afar, and voice and teaching reach ever wider. I fear I may harbor pride, and so I always press myself down and break it, eating only when the day is late and sitting up to wait for dawn.
"Whenever I think that among my ministers there are upright words and straight remonstrances fit to be applied to government and teaching, I mean to wipe my eyes and treat such men as teachers and friends. If it is like this, the age will be near to calm and the Way to peace."
太宗自即位之始，霜旱為災，米穀踴貴，突厥侵擾，州縣騷然。帝志在憂人，銳精為政，崇尚節儉，大布恩德。是時，自京師及河東、河南、隴右，饑饉尤甚，一匹絹才得一斗米。百姓雖東西逐食，未嘗嗟怨，莫不自安。至貞觀三年，關中豐熟，咸自歸鄉，竟無一人逃散，其得人心如此。加以從諫如流，雅好儒術，孜孜求士，務在擇官，改革舊弊，興復制度，每因一事，觸類為善。初，息隱、海陵之黨，同謀害太宗者數百千人，事寧，後引居左右近侍，心術豁然，不有疑阻。時論以為能斷決大事，得帝王之體。深惡官吏貪濁，有枉法受財者，必無赦免。在京流外有犯贓者，皆遣執奏，隨其所犯，寘以重法。由是官吏多自清謹。制馭王公、妃主之家，大姓豪猾之伍，皆畏威屏跡，無敢侵欺細人。商旅野次，無復盜賊，囹圄常空，馬牛布野，外戶不閉。又頻致豐稔，米斗三四錢，行旅自京師至於嶺表，自山東至於滄海，皆不賫糧，取給於路。入山東村落，行客經過者，必厚加供待，或發時有贈遺。此皆古昔未有也。
From the very start, when Taizong ascended the throne, frost and drought brought calamity, the price of rice and grain shot up, the Tujue raided and harassed, and the commanderies and counties were in a stir. The emperor's intent lay in caring for the people. He sharpened his spirit for government, held thrift and frugality high, and spread grace and virtue widely.
At that time hunger was worst in the capital and in Hedong, Henan and Longyou, and a single bolt of silk bought barely a peck of rice. Though the people went east and west after food, they never sighed or resented, and there was not one who was not at ease of himself. By the third year of Zhenguan Guanzhong had a rich harvest and they all went home of their own accord, and in the end not one man had fled and scattered. So well did he win the hearts of men.
Besides this he followed remonstrance as water flows, was quite fond of the learning of the scholars, sought men of worth diligently and took pains in choosing officials, reformed the old evils and raised up the institutions again; and each time he met with one matter he reached to its like and made that good too.
At first, of the party of Xiyin and Hailing, those who had plotted together to harm Taizong numbered hundreds and thousands; and when the affair was settled he drew them in to attend close at his side, and his heart was wide open and held no suspicion or barrier. The judgment of the age was that he could decide great matters and had the body of an emperor.
He deeply hated greed and foulness in officials, and if a man bent the law and took money he was never pardoned. If officials of the capital outside the nine ranks committed bribery, he had them all seized and reported, and placed them under the heavy law according to what they had done. By this the officials were for the most part clean and careful of themselves.
He curbed the households of the princes and dukes and of the consorts and princesses, and the cunning and powerful of the great clans, so that they all feared his authority and drew in their tracks, and none dared encroach upon or cheat the small people. Merchants lodged in the open and there were no more robbers; the prisons stood empty; horses and cattle spread over the fields, and outer gates were not shut.
Again there were rich harvests one after another, and a peck of rice cost three or four coins. Travelers from the capital as far as Lingnan, and from Shandong as far as Canghai, all carried no provisions and were supplied along the road. When they came into the villages of Shandong, the traveler passing through was always richly entertained, and sometimes given gifts when he set out. All this had never been in the old days.