Emperor Dezong of Tang's chancellor, Lu Zhen, was admitted to the Jinshi at the age of 18 and served as a lieutenant of Zheng County in Huazhou. One year, Lu Zhen went back to his hometown to visit his mother, and when he passed through Shouzhou, he politely went to see Shouzhou's assassin Zhang Yi. At that time, Zhang Yi was already famous all over the world, and he did not pay attention to this young junior, and only after he lived for three days did he receive him. However, as soon as they talked, they were greatly surprised, and they were impressed by Lu Zhen's academic insights and governing strategies, and immediately worshipped him as brothers. When Lu Yi left, Zhang Yi took out a million dollar gifts to give him, but Lu Yi said that he would not accept anything, Zhang Yi insisted repeatedly, and Lu Yi had to take a little tea from the pile of gifts.
It is not coincidental that Lu Zhen, who does not love money, met Tang Dezong, who especially loves money. After Emperor Dezong succeeded to the throne, he set up two large vaults in the imperial palace, where gold and silver treasures and various tributes were piled up, and he took pleasure in counting money every day, and only allowed to enter and not to leave. During the "Jingshi Revolution", when the rebels invaded Chang'an, dezong fled to Fengtian (present-day Qianxian County, Shaanxi), and he remembered his treasure and was heartbroken. Later, the siege of the rebels was lifted, and supplies and tributes to the imperial court were gradually transported from all over the country. Seeing these long-lost belongings, a smile appeared on Dezong's face again, and he asked people to store everything in the corridor houses on both sides of the palace, and then personally inscribed two plaques: Qionglin and Daying.
One day, when Lu Yan was inspecting the palace, he found these two warehouses and quickly went back to write a note: "The two names of the library, 'Qionglin' and 'Daying', were inscribed by Emperor Xuanzong for his library in those years. Kaiyuan's prosperous life was destroyed in one fell swoop, and it was defeated in this selfish thought that not only lost the hearts of the people, but also lost the hearts of the army. The soldiers of the present army were exhausted, and the groans of the wounded and sick were incessant, and His Majesty had secretly hidden the treasures and tributes in another warehouse. Emperor Dezong had no choice but to order someone to remove the two plates.
After returning to Chang'an, Emperor Dezong's desire once again swelled, so he secretly ordered the local officials to pay tribute, and made the amount of tribute an important condition for promotion. Some feudal towns and festivals make the wind and rudder, some monthly offerings, called "moon advances"; some daily worship, called "daily advances", all kinds of treasures and tributes roll in. At that time, the prime minister could not see his eyes, and specially asked Dezong to stop paying tribute, but when he saw Dezong's unhappy expression, he did not dare to say it. As a scholar of Hanlin University, Lu Zhen couldn't manage so much, and he persuaded Dezong in front of hundreds of officials, which made Dezong very embarrassed.
After Lu Yan became prime minister, local officials gave generous gifts one after another, intending to curry favor with him, but he refused. As a result, many people complained to Dezong that he was not close to people. Emperor Dezong also felt like a man's back to Elder Lu Yan staring at him to receive gifts, so he looked for an opportunity to enlighten him: "You are all good, but you are too honest and cautious for the officials, and your colleagues send you small gifts, what can you do if you accept them?" Lu Yan said, "I am the prime minister, and every word and deed has a guiding and exemplary effect on hundreds of officials, so how can I do the opposite?" If a person has greed, greed is like a trickle, it will rush through the ditch and flood into a disaster, is this a small matter? ”
During Lu Zhen's tenure, Hubu Shilang (胡部侍郎) and Judu Zhi Pei Yanling (判度支裴延逸) were highly favored for their devotion to Emperor Dezong. Lu Yan was righteous and insisted on writing many times to discuss Pei Yanling's crimes. Emperor Dezong did not listen, and degraded Lu Zhen one after another. After Tang Shunzong ascended the throne, he summoned Lu Zhen back, but the edict had not yet been delivered, and Lu Zhen had already passed away.