The twenty-fourth year of Tang Kaiyuan (736 AD) is a very ordinary year, the country and the people are safe, the four seas are peaceful, and the prosperity of Kaiyuan is at its peak.
That year, Emperor Xuanzong was 42 years old and had been on the throne for twenty-four years. It has been twenty-three years since the second year of Xiantian (713 AD) when Princess Taiping and her henchmen seized power. In the past 23 years, he has reused Yao Chong, Song Jing, Zhang Shuo, Zhang Jiuling and other virtuous ministers, opened up his voice, recruited talents, made great efforts, opened up sources and reduced expenditure, determined to reform, severely punished corruption, rapid economic development, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, with the territory of Gobe Prefecture in the east (now Tonghua, Jilin), west to Anxi Prefecture (Kazakhstan only), south to Luofu Prefecture (now Ha Jing, Vietnam), and north to Xuanque Prefecture (now Angara River Basin, Russia), with an area of 10.76 million square kilometers and a population of 80 million, the Tang Dynasty entered its heyday. It became the most powerful country at that time, and was known as the "Kaiyuan Prosperous Era" in history.
That year, Li Bai was 36 years old, and it had been two years since he came to Chang'an for the second time. The year before, he presented "The Great Hunting Fu" to Emperor Xuanzong, hoping to win appreciation, and met Princess Yuzhen through Weiwei Zhang Qing, and wrote a hymn to Princess Yuzhen. It was also in that year that he met He Zhizhang, who was a guest of the crown prince at the time, in Ziji Palace. He Zhizhang read Li Bai's "Shu Dao Difficult", and praised Li Bai very much, the two hit it off at first sight, and talked about the drink, who knew that He Zhizhang did not bring wine money that day, and did not hesitate to untie the golden turtle of the real official rank he was wearing, in exchange for wine and food, this is the origin of the famous allusion "Golden Turtle for Wine". Later, He Zhizhang recommended Li Bai in front of Emperor Xuanzong, and Xuanzong summoned Li Bai into the palace and appointed him as a Hanlin worshipper, and since then, Li Bai has become famous.
As Li Bai's little fan, although the 25-year-old Du Fu also experienced the failure of the imperial examination, he did not think it was resentful, and still had infinite hope for this thriving empire, and began a debauched and uninhibited roaming life. In the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan, he traveled to the area of Qi and Zhao, climbed Mount Tai in one breath, overlooked the mountains, looked at the green peak, layers of white clouds, fluttering birds, thousands of beautiful scenery, all kinds of pride, and wrote down the magnificent poem of "will be the top of the mountain, at a glance of the mountains", showing the ambition and courage of the young Du Fu who is not afraid of difficulties, dares to climb the top and looks down on everything. His ambitions are in line with that of this powerful empire.
That year, Zhang Jiuling was 59 years old. Zhang Jiuling was originally Emperor Xuanzong's confidant, twenty-four years ago in the first year of Xiantian (712 AD), the crown prince Li Longji, who was about to ascend the throne, personally asked Zhang Jiuling in the East Palace, Zhang Zuo made three treatises, won the prince's appreciation, awarded him as the left legacy, after Li ascended the throne, he has been by the emperor's side to assist the government. However, the so-called companion is like a companion, and after a long time, there is a gap between the two. It was also in that year that it was demoted to the history of Jingzhou because of the punishment of An Lushan's failure to defeat the Khitan, the worship of Niu Xianke as Shangshu, the worship of Li Linfu and the birthday of Emperor Xuanzong. On the way, he wrote the famous "Looking at the Moon and Huaiyuan", a sentence "The moon is born on the sea, and the end of the world is at this time." "It's unbearable, and it's a good time to sleep." can't help but sigh and sigh, creating things to make people.
"Recalling the heyday of the Kaiyuan Dynasty in the past, Xiaoyi still has thousands of rooms. The rice is fat and the corn is white, and the public and private warehouses are abundant. Du Fu's poem can be said to be the best description of the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty. The reason why such good results can be achieved is, of course, related to Emperor Xuanzong's governing philosophy and way of employing people. He followed the concept of governing the country of the former emperor Taizong, "the government of the restoration of Zhenguan", reused the virtuous ministers, and achieved good results. It can be said that Emperor Xuanzong at that time was still very enlightened, knew how to make good use of people, appointed, and opened up his ways, so he achieved great success.
However, all prosperous times will not last long if they do not rely on the rule of law but on the rule of man. The twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan was a huge turning point. Specifically, this turning point is that Emperor Xuanzong turned from bright to dark, and the Tang Empire turned from prosperity to decline. And this turning point happened in Emperor Xuanzong's "dismissal" and "worship of the prime minister".
The prime minister of the Tang Dynasty was actually not one person, but three or four people, that is, three or four prime ministers divided power and ruled together, and each prime minister's term of office was about three or four years, which not only ensured the vitality and fighting spirit of the ruling center, but also ensured that the emperor could choose different types of prime ministers according to the needs of governing in different periods, ensuring the absolute initiative of the imperial power, which can be said to be a good system design.
Who does Emperor Xuanzong want to depose? Of course, it was Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling. The reason why Zhang Jiuling was worshiped is related to Zhang Shuo's strong recommendation. Zhang said that he had the same surname as Zhang Jiuling, and they were ranked as clan brothers. When Xuanzong Taishan sealed Zen, Zhang Shuo co-ordinated, Zhang Jiuling made specific arrangements, and the two cooperated seamlessly, which made Zhang Shuo appreciate Zhang Jiuling very much. Later, Zhang Shuo was in charge of the Xianji Academy, let Zhang Jiuling serve as a bachelor, and often gave advice to Xuanzong, so that he could further gain experience. Zhang said that before he died, he recommended Zhang Jiuling to be the prime minister, and Emperor Xuanzong agreed, and sometimes, Zhang Jiuling completely stepped into the forefront.
Zhang Jiuling has an upright personality, upright, during the worship of the prime minister, he often gave advice to Xuanzong, and at the beginning, the two cooperated very well, and Emperor Xuanzong could listen to it, but after a long time, the two gave birth to a gap. There are these three specific things that make Xuanzong very dissatisfied with Zhang Jiuling.
The first is about the abolition of the crown prince. Emperor Xuanzong loved Concubine Wu Hui very much, and always wanted to make Concubine Wu Hui's son the crown prince, and abolished the then crown prince Li Ying. The abolition of the crown prince in the Tang Dynasty was a major event, not a family affair of the emperor, and it must be supported by the ministers of the imperial court, especially the prime minister. So Concubine Wu Hui secretly sent someone to lobby Zhang Jiuling, but Zhang Jiuling didn't accept this at all, not only scolded the lobbyist, but also told Emperor Xuanzong, which completely offended Concubine Wu Hui.
Second, on the issue of An Lushan's punishment, there is a big difference with Xuanzong. In the twenty-first year of Kaiyuan (733 AD), Zhang Shoulian, the then envoy of Fanyang Jiedu, arrested and escorted him to the capital because of the failure of the deputy general An Lushan to crusade against Xi and Khitan, and asked for the execution of the death penalty in accordance with the imperial court regulations, and Emperor Xuanzong could not bear to kill him and wanted to pardon. Zhang Jiuling argued on the basis of reason, saying that An Lushan's wolf ambition was opposite, and he killed him according to his crime, and Duan would never suffer in the future. Xuanzong didn't listen and let An Lushan return to the domain, which led to the later Anshi Rebellion.
The third is about the appointment of cattle cyclamen. It should be said that when Niu Cyclamen served in the local government, his political achievements were still very outstanding, and this person was "diligent and tireless, and received with integrity", which everyone liked very much. In particular, when the envoy of Hexi Jiedu was in office, he made great efforts, "the warehouse accumulated a lot of money, and the equipment was sharp." He left his successor with a rich family fortune. The successor Cui Xiyi played this matter to Emperor Xuanzong, Xuanzong didn't believe it, let people check, it was true, Xuanzong was very excited, this is a talent, immediately called the prime minister Zhang Jiuling, and wanted to promote Niu Xianke to the six books, who knew that Zhang Jiuling disagreed, thinking that Niu Xianke was not worthy. Another prime minister, Li Linfu, made up for it and whispered to Xuanzong: "Cyclamen, the prime minister is also talented, how can there be a Shangshu!" Nine-year-old scholars, not up to the general. With this sentence, Tang Xuanzong, who couldn't bear it, dismissed Zhang Jiuling's prime minister with a holy decree. And the cow cyclamen soared into the sky, and was directly appointed by Tang Xuanzong as the third product of the Ministry of Industry and the same Zhongshu, and knew the affairs of the door. It turned out later that Niu Xianke was okay as a foreign minister, and it was really not the prime minister's material. Since then, Li Linfu has no competitors and is powerful.
These three things not only made Zhang Jiuling quit the prime minister, but also made Emperor Xuanzong tired of the division of power and term of office of the prime minister, and later simply let Li Linfu serve as the prime minister. And Xuanzong also had peace of mind, he was in the forbidden, and he was lustful every day, and later there was such a ridiculous thing as marrying his daughter-in-law Yang Yuhuan.
During Li Bai's tenure to serve Hanlin, he had a gap with Li Linfu, he couldn't get used to Li Linfu's honey-bellied sword, and wrote a poem satirizing "waving the purple mud edict and offering Qingyunji." Slandering the hearts of the British lords, and scaring the ministers. "As a result, they were ostracized. And Du Fu also because of Li Linfu's "wild and virtuous", he spent ten years in Chang'an and achieved nothing. It can be said that the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan was a watershed in the decline of the Tang Dynasty from its peak, and it was also a watershed in China's history from its peak.
The wind rises at the end of the green ping, and the waves become between the waves. History has no ifs, and cannot repeat itself.