What is the difference between a loyal minister and a good minister?

According to Wei Zhi Biography of Old Tang Dynasty, on one occasion, Emperor Taizong talked with Wei Zhi. Wei Zhi said to Emperor Taizong, "I hope your majesty will make me a good minister, not a loyal minister." Emperor Taizong was surprised and asked very seriously, "Is there any difference between a loyal minister and a good minister?" Wei Zhi said: "Good ministers are people like Hou Ji, Qi and so on; Loyal ministers refer to people like Longfeng and Bi Gan. A good minister gains a good reputation, a monarch gains a distinguished title, which will be passed down from generation to generation, and happiness and status are endless. Loyal ministers committed suicide one after another, causing the monarch to fall into deep sin, ruining the country and leaving a reputation as a loyal minister. In this case, the difference is too far! " Emperor Taizong was very much in favor of Wei Zhi's words and gave him 500 silks and satins. Wei Zhi may be the first person in the history of China to clearly point out the specific difference between loyal and good ministers, but he did see the essence of the problem and pointed out the difference to the point. In the traditional concept, loyal officials and good officials are often combined into one, and loyal officials and good officials often become another name for loyal officials. The reason is that due to the long-term influence of the so-called Confucian thought of "loyalty to the monarch and loyal ministers", loyal ministers in past dynasties are all models of high respect and good writing, and they are all heroes who will be remembered by history and will last forever. So they give people the impression that they are full of images and flawless. Influenced by this view, in people's feelings, loyal ministers are often confused with able ministers, and both seem to be loyal ministers. In fact, these two concepts are not the same: in terms of measurement standards, loyal ministers tend to focus on moral standards and are people who meet the requirements of "justice" in thought, concept and action, while good ministers tend to focus on ability and are people who can secure the country and govern the people; In terms of quantity, there are far more loyal ministers than good ministers, and good ministers are rare. This is because it is much easier to be a loyal minister than a good one. Many loyal ministers in history can be made by a few words of "frankly speaking", but good ministers will not succeed without general tempering. Therefore, loyal ministers are often tragic, and they often gain eternal fame at the expense of their lives; A good minister's ending is hard to come to a conclusion. He often uses his own efforts to gain the interests of the world. Analogously, loyal ministers often correspond to * ministers, and good ministers often correspond to mediocre ministers. Loyal ministers often bear a distinct brand of the times. Before Dong Zhongshu made a great plan for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to "oust a hundred schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone", the Confucian thought of "benevolence, loyalty, father, son, brother, brother, filial piety and daughter" did not become the official mainstream, nor did the loyal minister market. Especially in the pre-Qin era, with the political characteristics of the law of the jungle, talents also ushered in a golden age to show their own value. The pursuit of good ministers and the strategy of enriching the people and strengthening the country have become the primary tasks of monarchs of all countries. In this case, a large number of sages such as Guan Zhong, Shang Yang, Wu Qi, Le Yi and Fan Li appeared. In particular, Qin, which dominates the weather with its talent advantage, has many military commanders, but most of them are airborne soldiers from other countries. These people just use the platform of Qiang Qin to show their lives, and generally don't contact loyal subjects. In this era, only Qu Yuan of Chu can be called a loyal minister. The old gentleman is loyal to his country, but he didn't commit a crime. Therefore, with the help of the style of Chu Ci, he wrote many articles that did not meet his talent and simply jumped into the gurgling river. From then on, there was a loyal minister in the history of China, and correspondingly there was a bad king-the King of Chu. Qu Yuan's suicide left a kind of spiritual wealth to people (later generations) and could not change the fate of Chu's demise. This is probably why Kevin·Z would rather be a good minister than a loyal minister. In the Han Dynasty, due to the establishment of a unified empire and the influence of Confucianism, loyal ministers gradually stepped onto the political stage, which also catered to the political needs of emperors. In troubled times, we need good ministers to govern and manage the world, and we need loyal ministers to maintain it. But after all, water can carry a boat and overturn it. A competent minister can help the monarch conquer the world and win it. Therefore, after the emperor came to power, the first thing to consider was how to deal with these good ministers. The method of Emperor Gaozu and Ming Taizu was to kill them, while the method of Emperor Guangwu and Song Taizu was to give them money and silks. The methods may be different, but the purpose is basically the same. It is out of the need for long-term stability that after the founding emperors settled down from the mountains and rivers, they needed a loyal minister with no different ideas. Of course, this is a theoretical trend, but the actual emperor himself has a different taste. Because loyal ministers are loyal, but they are not easy to control. They clung to all kinds of so-called orthodoxy, and while demanding themselves strictly, they had higher expectations and requirements for the emperor. In their view, the emperor's every move should conform to the way of saints, and he should not run amok, let alone have secular desires. More importantly, many loyal ministers tend to rely on the balance of justice, often call a spade a spade, and even insult the emperor to show loyalty. For example, in the second year of the Apocalypse in the Ming Dynasty, the new scholar accused the Emperor of Apocalypse of not really shouldering the great responsibility of governing the country, and even said: "The emperor is not cool in the DPRK, and he is not diligent in politics. Crack a crack to play, bow down and stand up, the first one is like a puppet, there is no business ... "After this letter was handed over to Yan Quan, Wei Zhongxian deliberately left pressure, and the second time did not immediately play. However, when watching the puppet show of Emperor Apocalypse, he told the emperor in time that Wen Meng Zhen maliciously compared the emperor to a puppet and asked him to kill him. Of course, the emperor nodded in agreement, but after all the ministers tried to persuade him, he saved Meng Zhen, which only made the apocalypse emperor angry. That's why loyalists hate these loyalists, even though they risk their lives for the benefit of the emperor. Of course, although loyal ministers and good ministers are not the same, there is no inevitable boundary: loyal ministers may also have the ability to be good ministers, and good ministers may also have loyalty. There is generally no good difference between the two, but as far as the specific style of doing things is concerned, loyal ministers attach importance to the process of things and tend to be stubborn and reckless; Liang Chen, on the other hand, is a bit pragmatic, insisting on principles but often adding some flexibility. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang usurped the throne with the intention of exploiting virtuous people, hiding people's eyes and ears and whitewashing peace. At that time, there were two wise men highly valued by Wang Mang. One is Gong Sheng, a doctor of Guanglu when Emperor Ai of Han Dynasty, and the other is Xue Fang, a Qi person. Neither of them wants to levy, and the court wants to impose it. In desperation, Gong Sheng went on a hunger strike until he starved to death on 14. Xue Fang took a relatively relaxed approach, saying, "Yao and Shun have nests in the world. Today and tomorrow, the main force is Tang Yusheng, and I am willing to maintain a high moral integrity. Please be kind enough to resign for me. " Let people reply to the imperial edict and tell follwed what happened. Wang Mang was glad to hear him praise himself, but he also let him go. Both of them were considered virtuous at that time. Comparatively speaking, Gong Sheng paid a higher cost, which is also the cost and price of loyal subjects. Yue Fei was also a famous loyal minister in the Southern Song Dynasty. When he was appointed as China's military envoy and ambassador to Xingxi Road in Shanghai and engaged in field work in Shaoxing, Hubei Prison thought it was an opportunity to please the court etiquette, quietly confronted Chen Yongbing, and put forward a self-defense plan, so that Yue Fei ignored the court's orders, expanded his troops, accumulated wealth, made friends with dignitaries, and contacted party followers in an attempt to achieve great success. Yue Fei flew into a rage. He couldn't help but scold him severely, which made Wan Sixie leave angrily. Later, in order to avenge himself, Wan Sixie fell ill and helped Qin Gui persecute Yue Fei to death. This result, to a great extent, is intolerable by loyalty. In a small room, it is also because Yue Fei is honest and straightforward, and it is easy to offend people. When Wu Zetian became prime minister, Di Renjie was much more harmonious. In the first month of the first year of longevity (693), Di was arrested and imprisoned for being falsely accused of rebellion with Lai Junchen. At that time, there was a law: "If you ask a question, you will be punished." Lai Junchen forced Di Renjie to admit "rebellion", and Di Renjie was also very frank and immediately admitted: "It's true!" Lai Junchen got a satisfactory confession and put him in prison without strict preparation. Di Renjie returned to prison, secretly wrote down his grievances on the sheets, and appealed to Wu Zetian through his family, and finally rehabilitated his grievances and saved himself and the land of Li Datang. Yue Fei died, turning the Northern Expedition into a painting cake. Emperor Renjie saved himself and the Tang Dynasty, which is actually another difference between a loyal minister and a good minister.