The Tang Dynasty can be described as a dynasty whose economy and culture reached its peak. The strength and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty cannot be separated from a good emperor, and at the same time, it is inseparable from a good courtier. "The Rule of Zhenguan", "The Rule of Yonghui", and "The Prosperous Era of Kaiyuan" were all created by the monarch and the sages, and they were indispensable. Similarly, if you encounter traitors, then the country will begin to decline.
Today, let us understand this rare adulterous minister in the Tang Dynasty- Li Linfu.
Early life
Li Linfu's birth is very prominent, he is the great-grandson of Tang Gaozu's cousin Changping Wang, is Li Tang's clan, according to the generation, Li Linfu is also Tang Xuanzong's uncle.
It is precisely because of this relationship that Li Linfu can be described as smooth sailing in the official field, starting with a thousand cattle and a straight head, and in the early years of the new century, he was promoted to prince Zhongyun. In 726, Li Linfu was recommended as a yushi zhongcheng (御史中丞), and subsequently served as a squire of the Punishment Department and a servant of the Bureaucracy.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty concentrated on inspecting officials in October every year to decide whether officials could remain in office, and the officials were specifically responsible for this matter. Li Linfu, as an official attendant, was fully responsible for this matter. Once, King Ning gave Li Linfu the names of ten people, hoping that he would take care of them. In order to show his selflessness, Li Linfu deliberately gave up one person openly and secretly took care of the other nine. In this way, other officials are not able to say anything.
In order to climb to a higher position, Li Linfu colluded with eunuchs and concubines, and he could know Tang Xuanzong's every move. In this way, Li Linfu can better do what he likes.
At that time, Concubine Wu was most favored by Emperor Xuanzong, but his son King Shou was not a prince. Li Linfu then asked the eunuch to tell Concubine Wu that he was willing to support King Shou. After Wu Huifei received Assurance from Li Linfu, she used her strength to promote Li Linfu to the position of Yellow Gate Attendant.
Served as Prime Minister
In 735, Li Linfu was worshipped as the Rebbe Shangshu, Tong zhongshu menxia Sanpin, and Jiayin Qingguanglu Dafu, together with Pei Yaoqing and Zhongshu Ling Zhang Jiuling, who served as prime ministers. After that, Li Linfu successively served as Hubu Shangshu and Bingbu Shangshu. At that time, the crown prince Li Ying, li yao the Prince of E, and Li Ju the Prince of Guang all complained about their mother's fall from favor, and were informed by Yang Huan, the duke of The Horse, that Concubine Wu Huifei was informed.
When Concubine Wu learned of this, she ran to Tang Xuanzong and cried. When Emperor Xuanzong heard this, he was furious and summoned several prime ministers to discuss the matter, wanting to depose his three sons. When Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling heard about it, he strongly discouraged it, saying that he did not dare to follow the edict and carry it out. Li Linfu, on the other hand, did not say a word at the imperial court, but after retiring from the court, he privately said to the eunuch: "This is a family affair of the Son of Heaven, why should I consult with outsiders." It can be seen from this that Li Linfu only wanted to please Tang Xuanzong and did not want to mix with Tang Xuanzong's family affairs, after all, accompanying the king was like accompanying the tiger.
In the twenty-fourth year of the new century (736), Tang Xuanzong wanted Shuofang Jiedu to make Niu Xianke and lead Shangshu. Zhang Jiuling, the chancellor, thought that Niu Xianke was not highly educated and was not a candidate to be the prime minister, so he tried to dissuade him, and Tang Xuanzong was very unhappy.
Li Linfu then said to Tang Xuanzong privately, "As long as you have talent, why should you be full of economics?" Why can't the Son of Heaven employ people? Tang Xuanzong was very satisfied after hearing this, and then dismissed Zhang Jiuling and Pei Yaoqing from their posts as prime ministers on the grounds of forming a party, and appointed Niu Xianke as prime minister. Li Linfu was awarded the title of Zhongshu Ling, Jixian Dian University Scholar, and Xiu Guoshi.
After the inspector Yushi Zhouzi heard about this, he wrote that Niu Xianke was not the talent of the prime minister, hoping that Tang Xuanzong would take back his life, but he was killed by Xuanzong's staff. At this time, Li Linfu again addressed Tang Xuanzong, saying that Zhou Ziyu was recommended by Zhang Jiuling, and subsequently, Zhang Jiuling degraded the history of Jingzhou. 、
In the 25th year of the new century (737), under the instigation of Li Linfu, Tang Xuanzong deposed the crown prince Li Ying, the prince Li Yao the Prince of E, and Li Ju the Prince of Guang as shuren at the same time, and exiled Li Ying's brother-in-law Xue Ru (薛 Rust), the duke of Madu ( 瀼瀼) to Yizhou. Soon, Tang Xuanzong gave the three people to death, and everyone at that time felt that they were wronged.
In July of the same year, Dali Shaoqing Xu Yu said: "Dali Temple Prison is too murderous, birds and finches dare not roost." At present, the Punishment Department has only 58 cases of death penalty a year, and there are black magpies building nests in prison. The courtiers all paid their respects and praised this for the good social order. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang believed that it was the merits of the chancellor, so he made Li Linfu the Duke of Jin.
In the twenty-sixth year of the New Century (738), Li Linfu was also the envoy of Longyou and Hexi Jiedu. At that time, Concubine Wu Huifei had died of illness, and the eastern palace was vacant. Li Linfu persuaded Emperor Xuanzong of Tang several times to make Li Mao the Prince of Lishou crown prince.
However, Emperor Xuanzong was interested in Li Jie, the Prince of Zhong, who believed that Li Ji was older, filial and courteous, and diligent and studious. In June of the same year, Li Jie was made crown prince and later renamed Li Heng.
In the first year of Tianbao (742), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang changed the official name. Li Linfu was changed to Right Minister and Shang Shu Left Servant, plus Guanglu Doctor, but was removed from the concurrent post of Jiedushi. In the sixth year of Tianbao (747), Li Linfu added the three divisions of Yi Tong to the fu and was given three hundred households. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was very fond of him, and whenever there were imperial delicacies and treasures from afar in the palace, he ordered eunuchs to come to his palace to reward him, so that the roads would look at each other. At that time, Li Linfu introduced Chen Xilie, who had a weak personality, as the prime minister. He handled government affairs at home, and all the officials gathered in front of the palace to wait for the summons. Although Chen Xilie sat in the government affairs hall, no one saw him, nor did he dare to participate in the opinion, but only signed the official document.
Exclude dissidents
Li Linfu, because he had no merit in the case of Li Hengli's crown prince, feared that he would be retaliated against by Li Heng in the future, so he wanted to shake the idea of the Eastern Palace. He targeted Li Heng's brother-in-law Wei Jian and lured Wei Jian into an important position, but ordered Yang Shenyun to spy on his mistakes.
On the fifteenth day of the first month of the fifth year of Tianbao (746), Li Heng went out to play in the palace and happened to meet Wei Jian, who secretly met Long Youjiedu to make Emperor Weiming. Yang Shenyun revealed to Emperor Xuanzong that Wei Jian, as an internal relative, should not befriended border generals.
Li Linfu took the opportunity to falsely accuse Wei Jian, saying that Wei Jian had colluded with Emperor Weiming and wanted to install the crown prince as emperor. Tang Xuanzong had originally seized power from the coup, and Li Linfu's words undoubtedly touched his anti-scales. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was furious and demoted Wei Jian and Emperor Fu Weiming to the post, and ordered Li Hengxiu to abandon the crown princess Wei Shi. Prime Minister Li Shizhi was worried and resigned, and was deposed as the crown prince Shaobao.
After this operation, Li Linfu greatly weakened the power of the Eastern Palace, but Li Linfu felt that this was not enough, as long as Li Heng did not step down for a day, when he took the throne, he would only be subjected to more violent retaliation.
In November of the same year, Li Linfu once again launched an unjust case against the crown prince Li Heng. At that time, Du Liangdi's father Du Youlin was at odds with his son-in-law Liu Ji. Liu Xun falsely accused Du Youlin of "falsely claiming to be a taunt, intersecting the Eastern Palace, and denouncing public opinion."
Li Linfu ordered The Jing Zhaoshi Cao Wang hao to be interrogated with Yang Guozhong. In the end, Du Youlin and Liu Ji were both killed by the staff, and Du Liangdi was deposed as a Shuren. In this incident, many local officials were also affected. Beihai Taishou Li Yong and Zichuan Taishou Pei Dunfu were killed by the staff, and Wei Jian and Emperor Fu Weiming were given death. Inspector Yushi Luoxi inspected the localities, killed and degraded officials on a large scale, and killed all the way from Qingzhou to Lingnan. The former chancellor Li Shizhi had degraded Yichun Taishou and committed suicide by poisoning himself in fear, while his son Li Shi was killed by Li Linfu in Henan Province. Wang Ju, the hero of the first-born coup, demoted him to Sima Jianghua, took poison but did not die, and then hanged himself. After this incident, the prince's power can be said to be very little, but this is not enough, because in addition to these people, there is a cruel person around the prince. He is Wang Zhongsi.
Wang Zhongsi was raised in the palace since childhood, and had a deep friendship with the crown prince Li Heng, and later served as the envoy of the Four Towns Festival, controlling Hexi, Longyou, Hedong, shuofang, and threatening the frontier, with heavy troops. Li Linfu was worried that he would enter the court and threaten his position, and he was very jealous of him.
In the sixth year of Tianbao (747), the general Dong Yanguang was defeated in attacking Shibao City, and Wang Zhongsi was frustrated with the military plan, and Tang Xuanzong was very unhappy after hearing this. Li Linfu took this opportunity to instruct Jiyang not to drive Wei Lin to falsely accuse Wang Zhongsi, saying that he wanted to support the army and honor the crown prince. Although Emperor Xuanzong of Tang explicitly stated that he did not believe him, he still stripped Wang Zhongsi of his military power, recalled him to the imperial court, and demoted him to hanyang taishou.
However, although Li Linfu repeatedly went to prison and wanted to break up the relationship between Xuanzong and the crown prince, Li Hengren was cautious and had the protection of Zhang Yao and Gao Lishi, and his treacherous plot ultimately failed, and Li Heng still sat firmly on the throne of the crown prince.
Later, Li Linfu became suspicious of Yang Shen, who was gaining power. In order to play a counterbalance to Yang Shenwei, he introduced Wang Hao as a yushi zhongcheng and regarded him as a confidant. Wang Yisu was despised by Yang Shenwei and held a grudge against him. Therefore, he created rumors at the instigation of Li Linfu, saying that Yang Shenyun was the grandson of the Sui Emperor, colluding with warlocks, secretly hiding the book, and plotting to restore the Sui Dynasty.
When Tang Xuanzong heard this, he was furious and sent Yang Shenyun to prison and ordered the Three Divisions to be tried. Li Linfu continued to frame him for stealing, and ordered the attendant in the palace, Yushi Lu Xuan, to hide the book, saying that it was found in Yang Shenwei's home. In the end, Yang Shenwei was exterminated by the clan. In the eighth year of Tianbao (749), The Xianning Taishou Zhao Fengzhang exposed more than 20 charges against Li Linfu. As a result, before the guilt was filed, Li Linfu already knew about it, and ordered Yu Shitai to arrest him and kill him for the crime of demonization.
In the tenth year of Tianbao (751), Li Linfu also served as the protector of The Great Capital of Anxi, the envoy of Shuofang Jiedushi, and the deputy capital of Shan Yu. In the eleventh year of Tianbao (752), Li Linfu, in view of the precedent of Zhang Jiazhen, Wang Hui, Zhang Shuo and other courtiers entering the phase during the Kaiyuan period, wanted to eliminate the root cause of the entry and exit of the general into the phase, in order to consolidate his own power. He asked shuofang jiedushi to resign his post, recommended An Sishun to succeed him, and played: "Wenchen is a general, timid in battle, it is better to use the Han people and the Fan people." The Han people are brave and good at war, while the Han have no party support in the DPRK. Tang Xuanzong adopted his advice. Li Linfu reused the generals, making Gao Xianzhi, Ge Shuhan and other ethnic minority generals a general on their own, but it also allowed An Lushan to control Hebei for a long time, laying hidden dangers for the outbreak of the An Shi Rebellion in the future.
Death and death
On January 3, 753, Li Linfu died of illness, and was returned to Chang'an by the guardian spirits of the sons, and was buried at the residence of Pingkangfang. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang posthumously made him a taiwei (太尉) and the governor of Yangzhou,( and gave him the Ban Sword Warrior and the Western Garden Secret Weapon. Soon, Yang Guozhong paid homage to him.
In the twelfth year of Tianbao (753), Yang Guozhong conspired with An Lushan to falsely accuse Li Linfu of being father and son with the rebel general Abussi, and conspiring to rebel. An Lushan also sent the descendants of the Abs tribe to testify in Korea. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ordered a trial. Li Linfu's son-in-law Yang Qixuan, fearing that he was implicated, echoed Yang Guozhong and came forward to confirm it. At that time, Li Linfu had not yet been buried, and he was stripped of his official title and confiscated his family property. The sons were expelled from their names and exiled to Lingnan and Qianzhong, while more than fifty people in the pro-party were demoted. Tang Xuanzong also ordered people to split Li Linfu's coffin, dig out the beads contained in it, peel off the golden and purple imperial dress, and use a small coffin to bury it with the ceremony of a commoner.
All his life, Li Linfu was obsessed with the struggle for power and blindly eradicated dissidents, but he did not expect that after his death, he would also be liquidated by others.