佛祖歷代通載 16.54

16.54

八月帝崩。年五十矣。帝性明叡。用法無私。恭謹節儉惠愛民物。從諫如流。天下稱為小太宗。每宰相奏事畢。忽恬然曰。可以間語。因問閭閻細事。或譚宮中游宴一刻許。復正容曰。卿等善為之。常恐卿輩負朕。後日難相見乃起入宮。令狐綯嘗謂人曰。吾十年秉政最承恩遇。然每於延英奏事。未嘗不汗霑衣也。

In the eighth month, the Emperor passed away at the age of fifty. The Emperor was brilliant and sagacious by nature, applied the laws without partiality, was reverent, cautious, frugal, and loved the people and all creatures; he followed admonitions like a flowing stream. The empire called him the 'Lesser Taizong.' Whenever the prime ministers finished reporting affairs, he would suddenly say with a calm demeanor: "We may now chat at leisure." He would then inquire into minor details of the common neighborhoods, or talk about palace banquets for a short quarter of an hour. Then, resuming a solemn countenance, he would say: "May you gentlemen do well in your duties. I always fear that you might fail me, making it difficult for us to face one another in days to come." He would then rise and enter the palace. Linghu Tao once said to others: "I held governance for ten years and received the greatest imperial favor. Yet whenever I reported affairs at the Yanying Hall, my clothes were invariably soaked with sweat."