Liu Renluo was a veritable Tang Dynasty elder who was born in the first year of renshou (601) of the Sui Dynasty and became an official during the reign of Gao Zu Wude.
During the Zhenguan period, Liu Renluo was only a small Lieutenant of Chen Cang County, but he was bold and killed the Four Pins Folding Chong Du Lieutenant with a cane. This move made Emperor Taizong Li Shimin very angry, but Liu Renji's attitude was not profane, believing that the lieutenant of The Folding Chong Du rushed against him first, and although the county lieutenant was small, he was also an official of the imperial court, and anyone who violated it was a serious crime. Therefore, Li Shimin not only did not punish him, but also promoted him to county order. After that, Liu Ren rail rose step by step and entered the central government to serve as a subordinate to the matter.
(Wu Zetian stills)
During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, Liu Renluo offended the chancellor Li Yifu and was exiled, as a result of which Liu Renluo abandoned Wen Congwu and made a great contribution to pacify Baekje. Since then, he has served as prime minister for twenty years.
After Emperor Gaozong's death, Wu Zetian abolished Emperor Zhongzong's Li Xian, and the imperial system was exposed, when the empress's ambitions were exposed. At that time, Liu Renluo served as the western capital Chang'an, which was Li Tang's base camp and played a very important role. Such a veteran of the Four Dynasties who can enter the general, wen can come out, and hold great power, if he can support Wu Zetian, his influence will be huge. So what is Liu Renluo's attitude?
According to historical records, Wu Zetian has always taken good care of Liu Renji, and has also specially summoned his wife to greet him warmly as a sign of concern. Pei Yan, the chancellor of the orphans, was killed for opposing Wu Zetian, and instead of rescuing him, Liu Renluo denounced Jiang Sizong, the general sent by Wu Zetian to report the letter, saying that he had colluded with Pei Yan, which led to the killing of Jiang Sizong. Moreover, Li Jingye rebelled against Wu, and Liu Renluo did not respond to any move, always maintaining the stability of Chang'an and objectively supporting Wu Zetian's usurpation of power. Therefore, many people believe that Liu Renluo supports Wu Zetian.
However, if Liu Renji supported Wu Zetian, in the face of Wu Zetian's letter of condolence, he severely reprimanded Wu Zetian and used the example of Lü Hou's chaotic government to satirize her, and dared to do so at that time, risking losing his head.
This Tang Dynasty elder was difficult to discern, whether he supported or opposed Wu Zetian? Fortunately, the epitaph of his son Liu Jun was unearthed, so that the truth of the matter was revealed to the world.
According to the "Epitaph of Liu Jun", Liu Jun followed his father to pacify Baekje at the age of seventeen, and was killed by ku officials in the second year of the arch. The cause of his death is very clearly documented:
"The empress dowager's courtiers of the clan revere the ceremony of the hearer. Proposed as a reform, the desire to Zen usurpation. Harvest the hope of the land, the house of the first minister. Having done weifu, let the table be persuaded to advance. If the wind follows, the work should begin. Gong (Liu Jun) said: "Loyal subjects die, do not attach evil plots." After death, he did not dare to hear his life. It was played secretly, and the long stream of Lingnan, and finally Guangzhou. ”
At that time, Liu Renluo had died, and Wu Zetian wanted to persuade them to enter the prestigious minister's house. If Liu Jun complied, he was the founding father of the Great Zhou Dynasty. However, Liu Jun swore to die, so he was exiled and eventually killed by the cool officials. It can be seen that the Liu family was resolute in opposing Wu Zetian. In the face of Liu Renji's reprimand, the reason why Wu Zetian did not attack should be to try to win him over.
The epitaph also records that Liu Renji's wife was the Li clan of Longxi. After Liu Jun's death, Wu Zetian pardoned Li and Liu Jun's two sons and made them inherit the title of Duke of Lecheng Commandery by Liu Ren and make Yinmeng an official. But Li warned the two children: "We can inherit the title and be exempt from military service, because this is the title of the Tang Dynasty, but we must not be yin Meng as an official." Your fathers and ancestors are loyal to the country, and we are now ashamed of Zhou Su, if we become officials in the false dynasty, how to worship the ancestors! ”
(Liu Ren rail)
Lee's true nature is well aware of the great righteousness, and the scarf does not allow the eyebrows to be raised. Take a firm stand in the face of major issues of right and wrong. After the restoration of the Dragon and the ascension of Emperor Zhongzong to the throne, Li Shi took his two children to go to Dongdu and prepare to become officials, and relatives and neighbors laughed at their actions, thinking that they wanted to be officials and wanted to be crazy, but after a few days, both children did have official positions. It can be seen that the whole court understands the loyalty of the Liu family. The son said: "Three years without changing the way of the father, it can be described as filial piety." "The three generations of the Liu family father and son interpreted the true Tang Loyalists with actions.
In recognition of Liu Renji's loyalty, Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian posthumously honored him as a "Tai Wei". During the Tianbao period, Emperor Xuanzong ordered that Liu Renlu be worthy of the Gaozong Temple. This is a great honor for a courtier.
Shallow and ignorant, just right in the Fang family.
References: Zizhi Tongjian, Old Book of Tang.