Li Cheng (766–842), courtesy name Zi, was a native of Chengji, Longxi (present-day Qin'an County, Gansu). During the Tang Dynasty, he was the seventh grandson of Li Hu, the grandfather of Tang, and the son of Li Hu of Chuzhou.
Li Cheng was born in the clan branch, and was the fifth grandson of Li Yuan, the cousin of Emperor Gaozu of Tang and the fifth grandson of Li Shenfu the Prince of Xiangyi. In the twelfth year of Emperor Dezong of Tang 's reign ( 796 ) , Li Chengzhong was the first of the Chengzhong Clan ( ) , with the title of Emperor Yuan and the first. Soon after, he was admitted to the Erudite Hongci Branch (博学宏字科) and served as a staff member of the local embassy.
In April of the thirteenth year of Yuan He (818), he was changed to Rebbe Shilang. In June, he was appointed as the envoy of Ezhou Thorn History and Eyue Observation. After that, he entered the worship of the official Shilang, the male of Weiyuan County, and the three hundred households of Food Yi.
As soon as Li Cheng arrived in Ezhou of the Tang Dynasty at that time, he immediately went deep into the actual situation of the people in Ezhou at that time, and then, as an envoy of Eyue Jiedushi, like Emperor Muzong of Tang at that time, wrote a letter entitled "Please Yang Xinzheng Shuo", asking His Majesty to curb the power of eunuchs, cut some redundant officials and redundant personnel, be closer to Confucian subjects, reduce playing, and protect the sacred bow, in addition, Liu Yuxi, who was serving as a senior staff member in Ezhou at that time, also waited for a copy of the "Emperor's Map" to list the stories of the Chinese dynasty emperors and Ming Jun, and the content was complicated and simple. Add more storytelling and add exquisite illustrations, hoping that it will subtly change the mind and strive for excellence.
When MuZong saw this, he deeply felt his sincerity, and recently the eunuchs and close ministers in the palace had naturally forgotten their remarks that "Your Majesty, that Eyue Jiedushi is Li Tangzong's chamber, who has made great achievements in the rebellion twice, and has also asked the literati to be ministers who collude with foreign dynasties, and to voluntarily abolish His Majesty for the replacement of the state reserve, and the old matter of Xiqu Wodaiyi, Your Majesty can remember." At the same time, in the process of implementing the New Deal, Eyue Jiedushi made Li Chengjian also discuss that Tang Muzong should change his era name to "Mingliang" in the next year, taking the meaning of Junmingchen Liang, implying that the world was about to be chaotic and anti-rule.
At the same time as writing to the emperor again, Li Cheng also ordered the opening of military training places in all parts of Ezhou, taught the art of war, and continued to strengthen the strength of the army, while at the same time using himself to take advantage of the middle stream of the Yangtze River to train and rectify the water division. He also inspected Zhangtian in Jingnan, Shannan, and did it again, visiting the people's suffering, forbidding the right annexation of Hao, knocking and beating the local gentry by the way, killing several notorious people, bullying the people to deter the rest, and at the same time, on the pretext of rectifying the administration of officials, purging the team left by the former Jiedu envoy, a set of combined fists expanded the then Ezhou forces to southern Henan and maintained a high degree of control.
Some of the displaced people were also evacuated to Jingnan and Shannan to alleviate the pressure on the Hubei Province, and at the same time arranged for them to reclaim wasteland and resume their work and compile books. It alleviated the current situation of too many displaced people in Eyue, and at the same time, because of the continuous war and chaos in the northern region, the displaced people continued to choose to move south to protect themselves, which further accelerated the population and economic migration southward in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. Subsequently, it invested in the development of the products of Dongting Lake, and according to the Ezhou regulations, irrigated the construction of school houses, jingjie filial piety, and selected the children of Jingnan Junxiu to be employed. Establish a book of examinations and use them to rebuke officials. For example, a certain official is diligent and honest, and loves the people as the upper examination; a certain official is a political and reasonable lawsuit, and the people are not disturbed by the middle examination; a certain official is often incompetent, and corruption and fraud are the next examination, so as to praise the competent and depose the incompetent.
On this basis, he deposed local officials and reported to the imperial court to encourage the officials of the prefectures and counties below to govern the people with their hearts and maintain honesty and justice. After the promulgation of this law, the effect of implementing this law in Ezhou for half a year was good, and the rule of officials was relatively clear, supplemented by the indoctrination of literary style and customs, and achieved good results.
Subsequently, it was fully launched in Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi and other three places, and the effect will take several years to see. In the end, the Bicycle Dynasty submitted a special report to the court, donated 60,000 catties of grain to help the imperial court rebuild after the war, helped the people, and returned 20,000 yuan of the bounty for the reconstruction of the palace.
After that, he also rebuilt the ancient style of writing in Ezhou, especially like the emperor recommended poems and articles such as Bai Juyi, Liu Yuxi, and other senior staff members in the Ezhou Assassin History Mansion at that time, and also said that the rule of the ancient emperors would seek fame and philosophy, and empty stocks around to use sages.
Subsequently, he also promoted The Hangzhou Assassin Bai Juyi to have outstanding political achievements and a good time of learning, while Liu Yuxi was in Yue for several years, with the most vocal and fengkui having a good appearance.
Tang Muzong, who intended to make great efforts to govern, allowed Li Cheng's suggestion to be adopted instead, and immediately made him a lecturer. At this time, a number of people with different political views, such as Qiu Shiliang, could not be reused in the imperial court, and the eunuchs were also suppressed, and in addition to serving the emperor, they could not get the same abolition power as Wang Shoucheng, and the people of the world saw that Li Cheng's prestige was as good as the sun in the sky, and they were all regarded as the ministers of the Tang Dynasty, and the imperial court also had a special organization to praise him, asking His Majesty to lower his orders and make him the King of Chu and the Overseer of the State yunyun.
After four years of governance in Ezhou, the effect was very obvious, the combat effectiveness of the army increased, the peasant harvest reached 21,000 quintals per year, the annual expenditure of the government was strictly controlled at 19,000 yuan, the people's hearts rose, the influence in the imperial court rose, and Muzong's favorability towards it rose sharply.
Regarding the achievements of this reform, Han Yu, a generation of literary masters at that time, specially wrote an article entitled "Removing Officials from Que to Jiangzhou to Send Eyue Li Dafu" to praise this incident.
Due to his outstanding political achievements, Li Cheng was transferred back to the central government by Gao Sheng after serving in Ezhou for four years, and Bai Juyi, who had drafted an edict for him before leaving Ezhou, wrote a poem "Xingci Xiakou First Send Li Dafu". At this moment, also in time for Liu Zongyuan's death, Liu Yuxi wrote a "Foreign Text for the Sacrifice of Liu Yuan for Li Dafu of Ezhou", which is considered to be li cheng's expression of mourning to this loser in yongzhen's innovation, and the following year, Liu Yuxi also wrote "Ezhu Liu Bei Li Twenty-one Cousin Doctors".