Various coins of the Tang Dynasty

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Unlike the half-liang or five-zhu coins which were named after a certain kind of unit of weight，the Tang coins were allcarved with the inscription of”“tong-bao”or”yuan-bao”The earliest tong bao coins were minted in 621，and the inscription was written by celebrated caligrapher Ouyang Xun（557-641）.

Li shimin also strictly forbade draconian legal measures，stipulating that a case in which a death sentence was passed should be reviewed five times in the capital，and three times in all prefectures.In the year of 630 only 29 prisoners were executed nationwide.

As a sovereign，Li shimin had been most praised in history for readily accepting all good advice.He always encouraged court officials to point out his faults without mincing words so that he could keep sober-minded and clear-sighted at all times.

Wei zheng，whose courtesy name was Xuancheng，came from an impoverished family in Julu（the same-named county in present Hebei Province）.He was a famous statesman Wei Zheng was famous for voicing outspoken criticisms having no regard for the emperor’s face.

However，he had never been punished for that reason；on the contrary，he became Li Shimin’s most competent assistant.Wei passed away in 643.Lilamented his death and stated:”By using a mirror of bronze one may see to set right his clothes and hat；by using antiquity as a mirror，one may learn to foresee the rise and fall of empires.Now that Wei Zheng had died，I lost a mirror！”

Called changan in history，Xitan of shaanxi Province is a wel-known ancient capital.Many dynasties had set their capital here.

Actually Wei Zheng served as an aide to Crown Prince Li Jiancheng in the beginning，and had repeatedly advised his master to get rid of Li shimin as soon as possible.After the Incident at Xuanwu Gate，Li shimin who appreciated Wei’s unusual courage and insight very much discarded past enmity and put him in an important position.This example showed that Li had a great passion for men of worth and ability.He had once asked Chancellor Feng Deyi（568-627）to recommend some people of talent.After a long while Feng said he was unable to find any who deserved recommendation.Liwas annoyed by his report and rebutted:”It’s quite clear that you are not a good judge of talent.How dare you claim that there are no talented people at all in the world of today！”