Yao Chong and Song Jing were famous figures of the Tang Dynasty and the heroes who created the kaiyuan dynasty. Together with Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi, the two of them are collectively known as the "Four Great Sages of the Tang Dynasty". They are recognized as role models for prime ministers and ministers in the feudal era.
The two of them are different from Fang Moudu, not at the same time, but one after the other. In October of the first year of the new century, Yao worshiped the phase, and the fourth year of the new century leap december resigned, and the period of office was three years and three months. After Song Jing took over, he resigned in the first month of the eighth year of the new century, and served for three years and one month.
In the feudal era, there was no limit on the term of office of the prime minister, and Fang Xuanling, who had been the prime minister for twenty-two years, died in office; after them, Li Linfu served as the prime minister for nineteen years. And Yao Chongsong Jing was so wise, why were they deposed after not serving for more than four years?
There are ostensibly different reasons:
Yao Chong's two sons were unscrupulous officials, greedy for money and goods, and abused power for personal gain; second, Yao Chong's subordinate, Zhao Qi, accepted bribes from hu and was sentenced to death by Emperor Xuanzong.
(Yao Chong)
Song Jing also because of two things: First, at that time, evil money (fake money) was rampant, Song Jing was impatient, and sent people to confiscate a lot, which caused public indignation; second, Song Jing was jealous and hateful, hated criminals who insisted on appealing, and as a result, good people with grievances also had no way to file grievances, and as a result, they were arranged into satirical sketches and performed in front of Xuanzong.
Careful readers will find that Yao Chong's and Song Jing's reasons for being deposed seem to be somewhat reluctant. Yao Chong's son's misconduct has a long history, and Emperor Xuanzong has long known that if the emperor wants to use Yao Chong, as long as his son does not rebel, nothing can be pardoned. Besides, Zhao Zhi, a sesame official from the Seven Pins, committed a direct conviction from the emperor? This is clearly a knock on the mountain and a shock to the tiger. Yao Chong, who had been an official for a long time, was good at scheming, was shrewd, and understood the emperor's thoughts, so he took the initiative to resign.
The mistakes made by Song Jing were only excessive in their working methods, and their motives were not bad, so the emperor's removal of Song Jing was by no means just these two things. Therefore, there must be other reasons for the two to be deposed.
(Song Jing)
Combined with the political situation at that time, the real reasons for the two of them to be deposed were actually two:
First, before Emperor Xuanzong, there were often five or six or even a dozen prime ministers at the same time, and Taizong and Wu Zetian were afraid of the dictatorship of the prime ministers, so they set up multiple prime ministers who could balance each other. Although this will not be exclusive, the requirements for the emperor himself are very high, because as soon as there are many people in charge, it is easy to prevaricate and do not care about things. Fortunately, Taizong and Wu Zetian were both political strongmen and could control these prime ministers. Zhongzong and Ruizong could not.
After Emperor Xuanzong ascended to the throne, the situation he encountered was different from before, requiring drastic reforms and bad governments, and needed thunderous means, and once a number of prime ministers prevaricated, it was very unfavorable to the political situation. Therefore, Emperor Xuanzong adopted a full-time system of prime ministers, and at the same time there were only two prime ministers, namely Zhongshu Ling and Menxia Shizhong, one was the same and one was the same, and it could only be the main post.
Yao Chong's deputy was named Lu Huaishen, who was very virtuous, and as the prime minister, he lived in a house that could not cover the wind and rain, hung a broken curtain, and invited people to eat only two plates of beans. Emperor Xuanzong said to him, "I use you mainly to soothe the laymen, and as for the major events in the world, there is Yao Chong." Therefore, in government affairs, Lu Huaishen obeyed Yao Chong's orders, and was known as "accompanied by food prime minister".
(Xuanzong stills)
Song Jing's deputy, Su Yong, was also a scribe with high morals, whose ability to manage the government was far inferior to Song Jing's, so he was also willing to be a green leaf and bowed down to Song Jing.
In this way, the prime minister said one thing and the other, and the efficiency of the imperial court was greatly improved than in the past, which played a positive role in the drastic reform and maladministration. However, although the work efficiency is high, if the power of the prime minister has always been so large, in the long run, it will form its own authority, thus threatening the imperial power. Therefore, Emperor Xuanzong could only adopt the method of dictatorship and not long-term appointment, and was removed in time after the prime minister's wings were just full.
Second, Yao Chong's administrative program was the "Ten Things to Say" proposed to Xuanzong at the beginning of his term of office, which mainly had three contents: first, to maintain imperial power; second, to reform the rule of officials; and third, to improve people's livelihood. Its focus is to end the chaos in the zhongzong and Ruizong periods and open a new era, the essence of which is to "correct the chaos".
Yao Chong, who is good at adapting to changes, can propose different solutions according to different things, and uses conspiracies and conspiracies at the same time, and the means are very flexible. This way of governing is very applicable in the special period after the congenital coup d'état and in the historical turning point of Datang.
However, when the chaos has been corrected and the situation has stabilized, Yao Chong's flexible means seem inappropriate. Therefore, Yao Chong's dismissal is that he has completed his historical mission.
Song Jing followed Xiao Zhicao in his administrative program and completely inherited the spirit of "ten things to say". But his personality is very different from Yao Chong's, known for his integrity, and his old-fashioned breathlessness. After the situation has stabilized, such an old-fashioned person is needed to promote the ethos of moral supremacy. Therefore, Song Jing duly stepped onto the stage of history.
Through the efforts of Yao Chong and Song Jing, by the time of the eighth year of the new century, Datang had formed a prosperous and prosperous situation. Although Song Jing is morally noble, he is too rigid, and the whole society is simple and more than sufficient and lacks vitality, and lacks a prosperous atmosphere.
According to Song Jing's successor, Zhang Jing, the kind of advocate of whitewashing taiping in the literary world and strongly advocating the sealing of Zen Taishan, Xuanzong needed to create a prosperous world at this time. Therefore, Song Jing also completed his historical mission.
Although Yao Chong and Song Jing were deposed, they had no problem with Xuanzong, and after retirement, they were treated preferentially, and both were given the title of "Kaifu Yi Tongsan Division" by Xuanzong, a high-ranking official, and met for five days and continued to exert their residual heat. The cooperation between Xuanzong and Yao Chong, Song Jing, can really be described as "Junming Chenxian".
Text: Bearfish laughs to themselves
Shallow and clumsy, just right in the Fang family.
References: New Book of Tang, Old Book of Tang, Zizhi Tongjian.