Tang Taizong Li Shimin is an outstanding and wise emperor in China's thousands of years of feudal society. Because of his rule, the Tang Empire at that time became a prosperous and powerful country, and it was also quite famous in the world.

The key reason why Tang Taizong has such brilliant achievements is that he is good at admonishment.

At the beginning of Tang Taizong's accession to the throne, due to the war-torn society and the continuous floods, droughts, frosts, and locusts in various places from 627 to 629, the famine in the Guanzhong area was particularly serious.

Tang Taizong realized from his own experience in his career as a horse that the brutal exploitation of the people would eventually be overthrown by the great power of the people, so he could not but implement a policy of concessions to the people to strengthen his rule and protect the Li family forever.

To that end, it is necessary to form a unified and far-sighted political bloc. In order to have such a political group, it is necessary to change the situation in which the emperor's arbitrariness and arbitrariness "the courtiers know his intentions, but they dare not speak out, and the prime minister and the prime minister are only obedient." If "those who are loyal and upright do not speak, and those who are evil are advancing day by day", then the emperor "blinds his eyes and ears and does not know the gains and losses of current politics".

It is precisely because Tang Taizong can realize this that he has the courage to ask for advice and is good at accepting advice, and encourages the ministers to "every time the public sees things that are unfavorable to people, they must speak extremely and admonish", and he also said that "if people want to take care of themselves, they must be mirrored, and if the Lord wants to know how to govern, he must rely on loyal ministers."

Tang Taizong attached great importance to the ministers, and stipulated that the prime minister should enter the palace to discuss matters, and the officials could attend and participate in the meeting, and admonish at any time.

Tang Taizong was very appreciative of Wei Zheng's words, "If you listen to both, you will be clear, and if you listen partially, you will be dark".

Tang Taizong not only has his wishes but also his practical actions, not to tell empty words and lies, Wei Zheng, Zhang Xuansu and others have repeatedly admonished, and Tang Taizong has adopted them all.

Wei Zheng died, and Tang Taizong was very sorry and left a famous aphorism of "using copper as a mirror, you can be dressed properly, taking the ancient as a mirror, you can know the rise and fall, and taking people as a mirror, you can know the gains and losses".

It is precisely because Tang Taizong was able to accept advice, so he maintained a relatively sober mind, and adopted policies that adapted to the development of history to make the Tang Dynasty socially stable, developed production, economic prosperity, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.

But not all people are the same. Not necessarily in the case of feudal emperors alone.

Tang Taizong was good at admonishing him, but the king of Shang did something perverse with him.

The king of Shang Xin was cruel, tyrannical, domineering, and favored Daji, which made the common people complain and the country was crumbling. At that time, there were also loyal and upright people who gave him advice, but he refused to accept it, and even his own uncle Bigan gave him advice, but he was dug out of his heart.

Because the king refused to advise him so much, in the end, all the rebels left the country and broke their families, causing fire**.

We can get useful enlightenment from the historical facts of Tang Taizong's admonition and the refusal of the Shang king: accepting advice is beneficial, and refusing to admonish is a disaster.

In a broad and complex social background, a person's understanding of things is also different due to differences in class standpoints, life experiences, personality and hobbies, and knowledge and opinions, and after all, an individual's vision is limited, and it is impossible for all to recognize his own shortcomings and shortcomings.

Besides, what you think is right is actually wrong, and what you think is wrong is actually right, so people say that "the bystanders are clear, but the parties are confused."

Therefore, it is necessary for everyone to listen to the opinions of others with an open mind, and to "correct what is there and encourage what is not." Take this as a reference to seriously check whether one's words and deeds conform to the standard of truth, and persist in what is right, and correct what is wrong.

In this way, we can correct our mistakes, fill in our shortcomings, always keep our heads clear, behave in accordance with the norms, and move forward along the right path.

On the other hand, if you don't listen to opinions with an open mind, rest on your laurels, and avoid medical treatment, you will fall into a mud pit.

Aren't Tang Taizong and King Shang our positive and negative references?

And our party is our best example.

Since its birth in 1921, the Communist Party of China has often made criticisms and self-criticisms, and for decades, such as the rectification movement in 1942, the anti-rightist struggle in 1957, and the party rectification movement in 1985-1986, all of which have fully proved this point. It is precisely because the Communist Party of China is not afraid of criticism, is upright, bright-minded, and open-minded.

That's why she can achieve one great victory after another. She is getting bigger and bigger, brighter, and right, and she will always be invincible.

As builders of the 80s, we should draw useful enlightenment from the actions of the ancients and the behaviors of today, and understand the truth that accepting advice is beneficial and rejecting calamity.

We should also keep in mind the words of Tang Taizong: "With copper as a mirror, you can be dressed properly, with the ancient as a mirror, you can know the rise and fall, and with people as a mirror, you can see the gains and losses."

We must listen to the opinions of others with an open mind, remember Wei Zheng's words, "If you listen to both, you will be clear, and if you listen partially, you will be dark", and treat others and ourselves correctly.

Why do we want to do this? It is the need of the times, the needs of the people, and the needs of the cause.

At present, China is in the period of the construction of the four modernizations, is the period of great reform, our future is bright, the road is tortuous, and the task is arduous.

Over the past 100 years, China has been deeply affected by imperialist aggression and exploitation and oppression by feudalism.

Although there have been great changes in the restoration and construction in the 40 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, they are still far from meeting the requirements of the times.

China's science and technology have not yet stepped into the forefront of the times, the national economy is still relatively difficult, the people's living standards are not too high, and all walks of life still need to flourish.

The times have given us such a great and arduous mission, how can we meet the needs of the times?

This first requires us to improve ourselves, to be qualified builders of the 80s, and to strive for revolutionization, one of the most important of which is to carry out criticism and self-criticism, especially the criticism of others, which is to accept advice.

We have benefited a lot from the historical fact that Tang Taizong was good at accepting advice and making a difference.

The ancients were people of the past and figures of the feudal era, while we are the contemporaries and revolutionary fighters, so can't we catch up with the ancients?

Any outstanding figure in history is just "the ancestor of the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, slightly inferior to the coquettish, a generation of Tianjiao, Genghis Khan, who only knows how to bend the bow and shoot the eagle".

Therefore, it should be "all about the past, counting the romantic characters, and looking at the present".

(September 1986)