Benevolence and Righteousness仁義第十三
貞觀元年，太宗曰：「朕看古來帝王以仁義為治者，國祚延長，任法御人者，雖救弊於一時，敗亡亦促。既見前王成事，足是元龜，今欲專以仁義誠信為治，望革近代之澆薄也。」黃門侍郎王珪對曰：「天下彫喪日久，陛下承其餘弊，弘道移風，萬代之福。但非賢不理，惟在得人。」太宗曰：「朕思賢之情，豈舍夢寐！」給事中杜正倫進曰：「世必有才，隨時所用，豈待夢傅說，逢呂尚，然後為治乎？」太宗深納其言。
In the first year of Zhenguan, Taizong said:
"As I see it, among the emperors and kings of old, those who governed by humaneness and right had the blessing of their states drawn out long, while those who handled men by law, though they saved the abuses of a single time, came the quicker to ruin and downfall. I have already seen what the former kings brought about, and that is enough to serve as the great tortoise shell. Now I wish to govern by humaneness and right and sincerity and good faith alone, in the hope of mending the thinness of these recent generations."
Wang Gui, vice director of the Chancellery, answered:
"The world has long been withered and lost, and Your Majesty, taking up the abuses it has left behind, broadens the Way and shifts the customs. This is the blessing of ten thousand generations. Only, without worthy men there is no good order, and so everything lies in getting the right men."
Taizong said:
"How should my longing for worthy men let go of me even in my dreams!"
Du Zhenglun, supervising secretary, came forward and said:
"The age is sure to have its talents, to be used as the time requires. Why wait to dream of Fu Yue, or to meet with Lü Shang, and only then have good order?"
Taizong took his words deeply to heart.
貞觀二年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「朕謂亂離之後，風俗難移，比觀百姓漸知廉恥，官民奉法，盜賊日稀，故知人無常俗，但政有治亂耳。是以為國之道，必須撫之以仁義，示之以威信，因人之心，去其苛刻，不作異端，自然安靜。公等宜共行斯事也！」
In the second year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"I used to think that after disorder and parting the customs would be hard to shift. Yet of late I see that the people are coming little by little to know shame, that officials and commoners uphold the law, and that robbers and thieves grow fewer by the day. From this I know that men have no fixed customs, and that it is only government that is orderly or disorderly.
"So the way of ruling a state must be to soothe men with humaneness and right and to show them majesty and good faith. Follow the hearts of men, take away what is harsh, and raise up no strange doctrines, and of itself the realm becomes quiet and at peace. You gentlemen should carry this work out together."
貞觀四年，房玄齡奏言：「今閱武庫甲仗，勝隋日遠矣。」太宗曰：「飭兵備寇雖是要事，然朕惟欲卿等存心理道，務盡忠貞，使百姓安樂，便是朕之甲仗。隋煬帝豈為甲仗不足，以至滅亡，正由仁義不修，而群下怨叛故也。宜識此心。」
In the fourth year of Zhenguan, Fang Xuanling reported:
"Looking over the armor and weapons in the arsenal, they are far beyond what there was in the days of Sui."
Taizong said:
"To put arms in order and be ready against brigands is indeed a matter of importance. Yet what I want is only that you gentlemen set your minds on the way of good order and strive to spend your loyalty and uprightness, so that the people may live in peace and gladness. That is my armor and my weapons. Was it for want of armor and weapons that Emperor Yang of Sui came to destruction? It was precisely because humaneness and right were not cultivated, and so all those below him resented him and turned against him. You should understand this mind of mine."
貞觀十三年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「林深則鳥棲，水廣則魚遊，仁義積則物自歸之。人皆知畏避災害，不知行仁義則災害不生。夫仁義之道，當思之在心，常令相繼，若斯須懈怠，去之已遠。猶如飲食資身，恒令腹飽，乃可存其性命。」王珪頓首曰：「陛下能知此言，天下幸甚！」
In the thirteenth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"When the forest is deep, birds roost in it; when the water is wide, fish swim in it; and when humaneness and right are heaped up, things come back of themselves. All men know enough to fear disaster and harm and to keep clear of it, but they do not know that if they practice humaneness and right, disaster and harm do not arise at all.
"The way of humaneness and right should be thought on and kept in the heart, and made to run on without a break. If one grows slack for even a moment, it has already gone far away. It is like drink and food that sustain the body: only by keeping the belly full can one keep life itself."
Wang Gui knocked his head on the ground and said:
"That Your Majesty knows these words is the great good fortune of the world."