Successively the prime ministers of the three dynasties, but the capital has no real estate, the family lives in the suburbs, and they live in the temple! Successively the prime minister of the three dynasties, he took not greed as a treasure in his life, had no money to buy real estate, and lived in the temple himself! The Tang people called him "the prime minister who saved the time", and the chairman praised him as a "great politician".
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There is an old saying, "Three years of Qing prefect, 100,000 snowflakes of silver". The so-called "Qing Prefect" is a prefect who is clean and honest, which means a clean official in the minds of the people. "Three years of Qing prefect, 100,000 snowflake silver" says that even self-proclaimed Qing officials are actually squeezing the people's fat and people's ointment.
It is precisely because of this that when people talk about bureaucrats in the feudal era, the first word that comes out of their hearts is "greedy", which means "no business, no adultery, no official and no greed". In fact, no matter what era or class, people are good and bad, and for officials in the feudal era, they cannot be killed with a stick, because there are many good officials recognized in history, such as Song Zhibao Xiren and Ming Zhihai Gangfeng. What Lao Huang wants to introduce to you today is not the above two Qingtian who have a high reputation in the folk, but their predecessor, a Tang Dynasty prime minister- Yao Yuanzhi.
Yao Yuanzhi's real name was Yao Yuanchong, later changed his name to Yao Chong, a native of Jiaoshi (硖石, in present-day Shaanxi County, Henan Province) in the Tang Dynasty. Yao Chong, who served as chancellor in the three dynasties of Wu Zetian, Ruizong, and Xuanzong, was almost unmatched by anyone at the time, both in terms of political achievements and seniority. However, this senior prime minister; Even in the Kaiyuan period when the Tang Dynasty's national strength reached its peak and his personal official position reached the extreme, he still lived a very frugal life.
Because of his incorruptibility, he only took "dead wages", had no gray income, could not afford to buy a house in Chang'an City, and placed his family in a remote suburb, and for the convenience of the dynasty, he himself was placed in the Yiji Temple. The reason why Yao Chong is so frugal is because he has "taken not greed as his treasure" and "taken honesty and prudence as his teacher" throughout his life.
In the feudal era, most of the high-ranking officials who could be appointed as prime ministers had their own superiority, otherwise, the emperor would not trust the state affairs. The same is true of Yao Chong, in addition to being honest and frugal, he is also a leader with outstanding political achievements. Chairman Mao, who read a wide range of books, once had a very high evaluation of Yao Chong's political wisdom, for example, he left a cross annotation of "Yao Chong, a great statesman and materialist" in the New Book of Tang.
As the prime minister more than a thousand years ago, what kind of political wisdom and character did Yao Chong have that could win such high praise from the chairman?
1/ After the door
Yao Chong's ancestral home was Wukang County, Wuxing Commandery (present-day Deqing County, Huzhou, Zhejiang), and his father Yao Yi (姚懿), Sui, was not an edict for Kun County (崤县, in modern Shaanxi County, Henan). In the thirteenth year (617) of the Sui Dynasty Emperor's great cause, Sui Taiyuan stayed behind Li Yuan and decided to take the place of Sui. In July, he raised an army in Taiyuan and went south to capture Chang'an. In September, Li Shimin, the Governor of the Right Army, crossed the Yellow River, and after learning of Yao Yi's strength and talent, he sent people to fight for Yao Yi. At that time, Wang Shichong, who was entrenched in Luoyang, also sent people to win him over. The visionary Yao Yi, believing that Li Yuan was ambitious and very accomplished, decided to defect to the Tang Dynasty.
To this end, Yao Yi also persuaded the Shaanzhou guards: "Wang Shichong of Luoyang is not the true destiny of the Heavenly Son, the Mandate of Heaven is in Tang, we should obey the Mandate of Heaven and obey the hearts of the people!" Otherwise, Shaanzhou may not be able to escape the scourge of war! The Shaanzhou guards went around the trail with Yao Yi to pay homage to Li Yuan. When Yao Yi came to vote, Li Yuan was particularly pleased and rewarded them with documents and many gold and silver cloths. "In this way, the people of Shaanxi avoided a war.
Shi called him "a skilled bow horse and a lover of reading the history of the Scriptures." With great ambition and determination in doing things", after joining the Tang Dynasty, he was awarded the title of Lieutenant commander of the Horse Riding Capital and deputy commander of the Water and Land March. Later, he followed Li Shimin the Prince of Qin in attacking Wang Shichong and moved to the left Wei prince's mansion Right Lang General. Later, due to his support for the crown prince Li Jiancheng, he was dismissed from office.
After Emperor Gaozong of Tang ascended the throne, he was appointed as the general of Zhongwu, the governor of Zhongchong, the governor of Changsha County, and the governor of Qianzhou (硖州, in present-day Yichang, Hubei), with considerable political achievements. In the early years of Long Shuo, he moved to the governor of Qianzhou (present-day Xichang, Sichuan) and led his troops to quell the rebellion of the barbarian chieftains of the Qiongbu tribe. Due to long-distance travel and military fatigue, 73-year-old Yao Yiyi fell ill. Long Shuo died of illness in December of the second year (662) at the governor's mansion in Yuezhou.
Yao Yi not only made meritorious contributions to governing the country, but also governed his family well. He first married Lady Zhang and Lady Li, and after the death of the second lady, he continued to marry Lady Liu and had eleven sons. Because of Yao Yiyan's teachings, he later became a pillar of the country. The most accomplished was the tenth son, Yao Chong.
When Yao Chong was young, he was free-spirited, paid attention to integrity, studied martial arts diligently, entertained himself by hunting, studied hard after the age of twenty, entered the career as the filial piety emperor (Li Hong) Banglang, and then wrote a chapter in the examination, and was awarded the title of Puzhou Sicang to join the army, and moved to Xia Guanlangzhong.
2/ Takeshi Wu Zhou
Yao Chong's Xia Guan Langzhong was a military official. The so-called Xia Guan is the familiar military department. In the ancient dynasty, there were six officials, namely tianguan Tsukazai, Diguan Situ, Chunguan Zongbo, Xiaguan Sima ( 夏官司馬), Qiuguan Sikou (秋官司寇), and Winter Official Sikong (六官 also known as Liuqing) in the Zhou Li (六官) (also known as Liuqing). After the Sui and Tang dynasties, its corresponding official titles were the six Shangshu of officials, households, ceremonies, soldiers, criminals, and workers.
Xia Guan is Bingbu Shangshu, and Xia Guan Langzhong is Bingbu Langzhong. From the Sui and Tang dynasties to the Qing Dynasty, each ministry set up Langzhong and was in charge of the affairs of each division, and was a high-ranking official under Shangshu and Shilang. Langzhong is quite the director of the current departments, for example, in the Qing Dynasty, there were divisions below the six departments, and the chief of the division was called Langzhong.
In the first year of Tianzhi (690), Wu Zetian was proclaimed emperor, changed the name of the country to Zhou, and set the capital Luoyang, called "Shendu", and established Wuzhou. In the first year of the Banzai Tongtian Dynasty (696), khitan Li Duzhong and Sun Wanrong rebelled and attacked several prefectures in Hebei. At that time, the military aircraft affairs were busy, Yao Chong handled it properly, orderly and rationally, and was deeply appreciated by Wu Zetian, and was promoted to Xia Guan Shilang (vice minister level).
In the first year of the Holy Calendar (698), Yao Chongsheng was promoted to Tongfengge Luantai Pingzhangshi, becoming the prime minister for the first time, and later changed to Fengge Shilang and concurrently serving as the chief historian of the Xiangwang Palace.
During this period, Yao Chong, because of his mother's old age, asked to resign from the government and return home to serve his elderly mother. Wu Zetian agreed to his request, but only removed him from the post of chancellor, and the post of Governor of the Xiang Dynasty remained. Shortly after Yao Chong's departure, Wu Zetian made him concurrently serve as the Xia official Shangshu (兵部尚書), with fengge luantai sanpin. Yao Chongshi resigned: "Xia Guan is in charge of military power, and the subject is a subordinate official of the Xiang King's Palace, and concurrently serving as a Xia official is not conducive to the Xiang King." Wu Zetian was deeply impressed, so he replaced him with the lesser responsibility of the Chunguan Shangshu (礼部尚書).
In the later years of Wu Zetian's life, Yao Chong, because he offended Emperor Wu's male favorite Zhang Yizhi, was demoted to the position of Sibu Siqing, but still retained the title of chancellor. Soon, Yao Chong' departure from the town of Lingwu (present-day Lingwu, Ningxia) served as the commander-in-chief of the Lingwu Dao March and the ambassador of appeasement. When Yao Chong left Beijing, he recommended Qiu Guan Shilang (陳官侍郎) Zhang Kamzhi as prime minister. Zhang Kam's appointment laid the groundwork for his subsequent "Shenlong Coup".
3/ Re-master center
In his later years, Wu Zetian indulged in pleasures, favored the brothers Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi, and his contact with the outside world decreased, and his control over the government also decreased. However, the Erzhang brothers gradually broke through the restrictions of male pets and interfered in the affairs of the government, and the intervention of male pets caused tension in the relationship between Wu Zetian's mother and son and the monarch and his subjects, and the Wuzhou regime was also plunged into turmoil and people's hearts were unstable.
In the first year of shenlong (705), Wu Zetian fell ill, and Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong served around, and outsiders were not allowed to enter. The DPRK Minister Zhang Kamzhi and five other people secretly plotted, and the plan to get rid of the two Zhangs was also quietly arranged. On the 22nd day of the first month of the first year of the Shenlong Dynasty (February 20, 705), the chancellor Zhang Kamzhi, Cui Xuanwei, Huan Yanfan and other ministers launched a mutiny at Luoyang ZiweiCheng, falsely claiming that Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were plotting rebellion, and leading the forbidden army to kill Erzhang. After Erzhang was killed, they immediately surrounded the Jixian Hall and forced Wu Zetian to abdicate. The next day, Wu Zetian appointed the crown prince Li Xian as the overseer of the state. On the third day, Zen Jean. On the fourth day, Li Xian was officially reinstated. On the fourth day of the first month of February (March 3), the restoration of the kingdom was Tang, and the Wuzhou imperial court ended.
Zhang Kamzhi and others launched the Shenlong coup, and Yao Chongcha returned to the capital at this time, where he was able to participate in the coup plot and was given the title of Marquis of Liang County for his merits, and sealed two hundred households. Soon, Yao Chong was released as the Assassin of Bozhou, and later successively served as Song Prefecture, Changzhou, Yue Prefecture, and Xuzhou Prefecture.
During Li Xian's reign, he restored the old system of the Tang Dynasty, waived rent, set up ten inspectors, set up a scholar of the Wenguan, defeated the Later Turks, and made the Tang Dynasty begin to control the southern desert for a long time again. Li Xian reigned twice, reigning for a total of five and a half years, and Jinglong died in June 710 in the fourth year (710) at the age of 55.
After Li Xian's collapse, Emperor Ruizong of Tang succeeded Li Dan. Yao Chong was recalled to the dynasty and served as the Military Shangshu and Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin, and then promoted to Zhongshu Ling, entered the center, and then ascended to the throne. Yao Chong, in cooperation with Song Jing, eliminated the maladministration of the Zhongzong period, appointed Zhongliang, deposed adulterers and evils, made clear rewards and punishments, and put an end to requests for trust, so that all laws and regulations were reorganized, and both the government and the public believed that the country had the style of chastity and eternal emblem.
After Emperor Ruizong of Tang was restored, Princess Taiping interfered with the government, and the kings held military power, posing a threat to the crown prince Li Longji. In the second year of Jingyun (711), Yao Chong, together with Song Jing, secretly played Emperor Ruizong, proposing to release Li Chengqi the Prince of Song and Li Shouli the Prince of Feng as assassins, to change li Longfan the Prince of Qi and Li Ye the Prince of Xue from general Yulin to subordinate officials of the Eastern Palace, and to have Princess Taiping move to Dongdu.
Princess Taiping was furious when she heard the news and accused Li Longji. Li Longji had no choice but to play the emperor and call Yao Chong's alienation of the clan. As a result, Yao Chong was demoted to the history of the Shenzhou Assassin, and later successively served as the Governor of Yangzhou, the Envoy of Huainan, and the Assassin of Tongzhou. Yao Chong, who was far away from the rivers and lakes, did not neglect political affairs, and because of his diligence and love for the people, he was praised by the people.
4/ Ten Strategies for Governing the Country
Li Longji's attack on Yao Chong, in fact, was a move to save the car to protect the marshal, and he was buying time to destroy the Taiping Party. In August of the first year of Yanhe (712), Emperor Ruizong of Tang passed the throne to the crown prince Li Longji and retired himself as Emperor Taishang. Li Longji ascended the throne for Xuanzong and changed his name to Yuan Xiantian.
In July of the second year of the first heaven (713), the ambitious princess Taiping plotted a coup d'état, and Li Longji preemptively summoned the left and right Yulin generals and the chancellor Dou Huaizhen and others, and led five hundred Yulin troops to criticize them. Princess Taiping saw that her henchmen had been killed and had to flee to the Nanshan Buddhist Temple, returning three days later. Emperor Taishang Li Dan came forward to ask Tang Xuanzong to forgive him for his death penalty, but Tang Xuanzong refused, and Princess Taiping was eventually given death in her home, and her husband Wu Youji's tomb was also bulldozed.
Li Longji, emperor Xuanzong of Tang, who had solved his worries, left Beijing to inspect the army in Xinfeng (in present-day northeast of Lintong, Shaanxi). At that time, Yao Chong was serving as an assassin in Tongzhou, less than three hundred miles away from Xinfeng, and Tang Xuanzong secretly summoned Yao Chong to come and ask Yao Chong. After Yao Chong's arrival in Xinfeng, he and Tang Xuanzong discussed the major events of the world, talked freely, tirelessly, and said every word to Xuanzong's heart.
To this end, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang intended to appoint him chancellor. Yao Chong, however, did not rush to agree, but took the opportunity to put forward ten propositions, if Xuanzong could agree to do so, he would be willing to go out of the mountain again, otherwise he would only disobey the order. The ten strategies for governing the country proposed by Yao Chong are:
(1) Since Empress Wu came to power, whether the rule of law in the world with severe punishment can be carried out in a benevolent manner;
(2) The Qinghai border is no longer the disaster of repeated disturbances, can you no longer covet side merit?
(3) Whether it is possible to impose strict sanctions on the wrongdoing of favored cronies;
(4) Whether eunuchs can be prevented from participating in politics;
(5) Whether it is possible not to receive gifts from the Minister and Secretary of State in addition to the rent;
(6) Whether it is possible not to appoint relatives to public office;
(7) Whether the Minister can be treated with a serious attitude and due courtesy;
(8) Whether ministers can be allowed to "criticize the scales and commit taboos";
(9) Whether the construction of Buddhist temples and Taoist temples can be prohibited;
(10) Whether it is possible to accept the lessons of Wang Mang and other chaotic worlds in the Han Dynasty and prohibit the monopoly of foreign relatives and internal favors.
Yao Chong's Ten Strategies for Governing the Country, although there are only a mere two hundred words, are all put forward in response to the political shortcomings he has experienced since Wu Zetian, Zhongzong, and Ruizong came to power. Tang Xuanzong adopted it all with the phrase "decay can do it". The next day, Yao Chong, was appointed as bingbu shangshu and tongzhongshu menxia sanpin, and was made the duke of Liangguo, and later promoted to Ziwei Ling, and the third time xiang. Yao Chong was entrusted with a heavy responsibility and great power, which also laid an important foundation for the "Kaiyuan Prosperous Era".
5/ Save the Prime Minister
After Yao worshipped Xiang, Zuo Li came to power, reformed the old and the new, vigorously promoted social reforms, and promoted the advantages and eliminated the disadvantages. Starting from the rectification system, he removed redundant posts, selected officials, suppressed the power of the emperor, state relatives, and meritorious officials, paid attention to the development of production, and laid a political foundation and economic foundation for the prosperous era of the New Century.
During the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, noble relatives competed to build Buddhist temples and abused monks and nuns. Many wealthy families also took the opportunity to cut their hair and become monks to avoid military service. After Yao Chong's reign, he said: "Buddha Tucheng and Kumarosh are known as high monks, and they cannot save the demise of Later Zhao and Later Qin. Emperor Shizong of Qi and Emperor Wu of Liang believed in Buddhism, but they were not spared from disasters. As long as His Majesty can make the people live and work in peace and contentment, he is a Buddha, and there is no need to shave the treacherous people and let them corrupt the Dharma! Tang Xuanzong adopted his suggestion and ordered officials to screen out monks and nuns from all over the country, and as many as 12,000 people were ordered to return the world for fraud.
Yao Chong once asked Qi Huan, a Member of the Ziwei House, "I am the Prime Minister, who can I compare with?" Can it be compared to Guan Zhong and Yan Bao? Qi Huan said, "Although the policy practiced by Guan Zhongyan infants cannot be passed on to future generations, it can always be maintained during their reign." The laws you make change at any time, and from that point of view, you don't seem to be able to match them. Yao Chong asked again, "Then what kind of prime minister am I?" Qi Huan said, "You are a time-saver." This means that Yao Chong is only the prime minister who saves the evils of the times. Yao Chongda was overjoyed, patted his leg and said, "The appearance of saving time is not easy to get." ”
6/ Materialists
Chairman Mao praised Yao Chong as a "materialist," which is what he really meant, that is, Yao Chong's war with locusts.
In the fourth year of the new century (716), a large-scale locust plague occurred in Shandong. Yao Chong advocated killing locusts and burning insect corpses. Local officials and people did not dare to hunt and kill locusts, but instead sacrificed to the heavens to pray for blessings and eliminate disasters, and even Tang Xuanzong was worried that killing locusts would violate the mandate of heaven.
Locusts are an agricultural pest, the ancients did not dare to hunt and kill, but also to worship, what is the reason?
Originally, since the Han Dynasty, under the influence of Dong Zhongshu's "heavenly induction", people believed that there were locust gods in the heavens. The locust plague occurs because humans have done something wrong, and the locust god punishes mankind. If the locusts are killed at this time, it will anger the locust gods and lead to more severe punishments. Therefore, whenever a locust plague occurs, the emperor will take the initiative to issue an "edict for his own sins", admit the mistakes of governance, and ask the locust god for forgiveness; the people will set up altars, burn incense and pray, hoping that the locust god will bless the people and pray that the locusts will stay away from the crops.
Yao Chongke did not believe in this evil, and he wanted to go against the heavens and kill the locusts that harmed the country. In order to persuade Emperor Xuanzong, Yao Chong, citing the locust plague in Wei that did not dare to extinguish, led to the exhaustion of grass and trees, famine in the wilderness, and even the phenomenon of cannibalism, allowing locusts to be a scourge, and the consequences were unimaginable. He advised Emperor Xuanzong that xiu despondency is not to resign himself to disasters, but to take the initiative to provide disaster relief, and that if he sacrifices human life in order to protect locusts and incurs the danger of the country, he is truly disobeying the Mandate of Heaven.
Lu Huaishen, the superintendent of the Yellow Gate, believed that natural disasters could not be subdued by human beings, and Yao Chong loudly refuted: "It is a good deed to kill locusts and save the people, and if disasters are brought down from heaven, it will all be borne by Yao Chong, and I will never prevaricate to others." ”
Yao Chong's strong determination to ask for the people's lives finally impressed Tang Xuanzong, who accepted his suggestion and sent Yushi as a locust hunting envoy to various places to supervise the killing of locusts. At Yao Chong's insistence, Shandong and other places began to hunt locusts on a large scale, minimizing the losses caused by the locust plague.
7/ Life and death mourning
Yao Chong,D., who had no home in the capital, lived in the suburbs and lived in the Temple of Yiji. Later, Yao Chong, bedridden due to malaria, could not go to the court council, Tang Xuanzong sent dozens of emissaries every day, to visit the sick, and whenever there was a serious matter in the military state, he ordered people to seek his opinion. Later, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ordered Yao Chong to move into the Sifang Pavilion and allowed his family members to serve him.
Yao Chong, believing that the Sifang Pavilion contained official documents and was not the place where the patients lived, vigorously pushed back. Tang Xuanzong said, "The purpose of setting up the Sifang Pavilion is to serve the officials, and the reason for you to live in is for the sake of the country." If possible, you will not be able to let you live in the palace, and you should not resign! ”
Although Yao Chong is a generation of sages, he has no way to teach his son. His sons Yao Yi and Yao Yi made friends with guests and solicited power and bribes, which was criticized by public opinion. The main book of Zhongshu, Zhao Zhi, accepted bribes from Hu Ren, and because the matter was revealed, he was condemned to death by Tang Xuanzong, and Yao Chong also tried his best to rescue him. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was very displeased with this, and when pardoning the prisoners of crime in the capital, he deliberately noted in the edict that Zhao Yi would be exiled to Lingnan. Yao Chong, worried about this, resigned several times and recommended Song Jing, the governor of Guangzhou, to succeed him as prime minister. Yao and Song were both people who played a major role in the "rule of Kaiyuan".
After Yao Chong was deposed from his post as chancellor, he was reappointed as the Kaifu Yi Tongsan Division. Although Emperor Xuanzong of Tang deposed Yao Chong, he still had great respect for him, allowing him to go to court once every five days, and he was also specifically consulted for advice on major political affairs. In the eighth year of the new century (720), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang made Yao Chong the Crown Prince Shaobao, but he did not accept it due to illness.
In the ninth year of the new century (721), Yao Chong's illness died at the age of seventy-two, and he was posthumously given the title of Governor of Yangzhou. In the seventeenth year of the new century (729), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang posthumously awarded Yao Chong the title of Crown Prince Taibao.
Throughout Yao Chong's life, he successively served as the prime minister of the three dynasties of Wu Zetian, Tang Ruizong, and Tang Xuanzong, and also served as the Shangshu of the Bingbu, making outstanding contributions to the formation of the "Kaiyuan Prosperous Era". Sima Guang of the Song Dynasty referred to him in the Zizhi Tongjian as one of the four great sages of the Tang Dynasty (the other three being Fang Xuanling, Du Ruyi, and Song Jing).
(Image from the Internet)