Text | Yang Ziqiang
"During the Tang Dezong period, there was a prime minister named Lu Zhen, who was strict with himself and refused any gifts. Emperor Dezong persuaded him that Aiqing was too incorruptible, and it was not good for others not to accept anything, such as horsewhips and boots, and it didn't matter if they were accepted. Lu Zhen replied that once the opening of bribery is opened, his appetite will definitely increase. After collecting whips and boots, you will start to collect Chinese clothes and furs, and when you collect Chinese clothes and clothes, you will start to collect money, and when you collect money, you will start to collect chariots and horses, and when you receive chariots and horses, you will start to collect gold and jade jewelry. Many of the leading cadres investigated and dealt with over the past few years have also had the experience of working hard for a long time and being strict with themselves, and making mistakes often begins with being careless and breaking rules in some small matters and details, and as a result, their appetite has become bigger and bigger. As the saying goes, "If you don't do it carefully, you will eventually accumulate great virtue." For the nine thousand mountains, the success fell short. ”
This is the speech of the international leaders when they collectively study, and the prime minister who was praised by the national leaders is Lu Zhen, a native of Jiaxing, who is an outstanding politician in the Tang Dynasty and is listed among the "top ten famous ministers" in history.
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Lu Zhen (754-805), a native of Jiaxing. Lu Zhen's birthplace, the old chronicles are not the same, or it is said that it is in the melon lane in the north of Jiaxing County, or it is said that it is in the Baohua Temple 200 steps southwest of the county, and it is also said that it is in Luzhuang in Fengxian Township, Jiaxing County. In the Middle Tang Dynasty, Jiaxing was a county under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, so the first to introduce Lu Zhen's life and the "Tang Dynasty Gift Department Shangshu Xuangong Lu Zhen (Hanyuan Collection) Preface" called "Wu County Su people", and the old and new "Tang Book" said that they were "Suzhou Jiaxing people", all of which were good, but a little general.
Gu Lu Zhu Zhang is one of the four famous families in the south of the Yangtze River, although Lu Zhen was born in a prestigious family, but to his father Lu Kan here, he is already in the middle of the family, only Lu Kan of Lixian County, Lu Zhen died when Lu Xiang was young, Lu Zhen was brought up by his mother, Lu Zhen was a jinshi in the sixth year of the Tang Dynasty (771), when he was 18 years old.
In the Tang Dynasty, there was a saying that "thirty old Ming Jing, fifty young Jinshi", because Jinshi mainly examines poetry and strategy, which requires insights and accumulation, and is considered young in the examination at the age of 50. Lu Zhen became a jinshi at the age of 18, which can be described as a young man's ambition, and then he should be erudite and famous, awarded the county lieutenant of Zheng County, Huazhou, and moved to the main book of Weinan County.
What allowed Lu Zhen to show his skills was during Tang Dezong's exile in Fengtian (now Qianxian County, Shaanxi). After the "Anshi Rebellion", the Tang Dynasty feudal towns were divided, "four fake kings, two usurped emperors, and two other Gu Zhanhuai, not all", and the world fell apart. In the second year of Tang Dezong's accession to the throne, the "Four Towns Rebellion" broke out, and in the process of quelling the rebellion, it triggered the "Jingyuan Change". The rebel general Zhu set himself up as emperor, and Tang Dezong fled from Chang'an in a hurry and ran to Fengtian.
As the saying goes, "the vicissitudes of the sea show the true character of a hero", at a time when the world is in turmoil and the national disaster is at hand, Lu Fei has shown outstanding political ability, and he has handled the summary of confidential information, the dispatch of the army, the emperor's edict, and the approval of the chapter, all of which he handled with ease. As a scholar of Hanlin, Lu Zan drafted hundreds of edicts in one day, and he was quick to think and achieve it with a wave, "If you don't think about it at the beginning, after it is completed, you can't bend things and take advantage of opportunities."
Tang Dezong therefore relied heavily on Lu Loan, and listened to Lu Zhen's opinions on major decisions, Lu Zhen was known as the "Inner Minister", and Dezong affectionately called him "Lu Jiu" (Lu Zi ranked ninth in the family). Once on the way to Liangzhou (now Hanzhong, Shaanxi) in the south, Lu Zhen accidentally got lost because of the high mountain and dangerous roads. Dezong was suddenly frightened, panicked, and even said with tears in his eyes that whoever could find Lu Zhen would be "rewarded with a thousand gold". A day later, Lu Zhen finally caught up, and Tang Dezong was relieved.
Lu Zhen is not known as a literary scholar, but he writes edicts, recitals, etc., and is good at integrating abundant feelings into well-thought-out analysis and discussion, and has the strengths of both prose and prose, which is very infectious. He is most famous for the "Edict of Guilt" drafted by Dai Dezong, "Fengtian Reform and Yuan Amnesty System".
In the face of the shaky state affairs and the scattered hearts of the people, Lu Zhen believed that in order to save the situation, it was necessary to "imitate the act of the king blaming himself and Emperor Wu regretting himself", and Dezong publicly admitted his mistakes to the world. It took great political courage and moral responsibility to make such a suggestion to the emperor, and Dezong had to agree to it.
In this article "Fengtian Reform of the Yuan Dynasty", Dezong frankly admitted that he grew up in the deep palace, did not know the difficulties of the people's livelihood, the labor of the soldiers, "the punishment of heaven is not understood from above, and people complain from the bottom and I don't know", "the crime is really given, and I will always be ashamed", "the edict of the guilty self" is sincere and sincere, and he is deeply condemned. When the front-line soldiers heard this, "although the warriors are fierce, they all wave their tears and inspire." Among the rebellious envoys of the four towns, three of them took the initiative to remove the king's name and apologize after seeing the edict. This has played a tremendous role in stabilizing the situation and cleaning up people's minds.
"Save the Prime Minister of the Times", well deserved, it is precisely because of this that Lu Fei's recital article is known as "the useful words of the world", "in ancient and modern political gains and losses, all of them are deeply clear, and there are enough tortoises for all generations", Sima Guang quoted Lu Zhen's recitals as many as 39 articles in the "Zizhi Tongjian", the number is so many, it is unique in the "Zizhi Tongjian", it can be seen that Sima Guang highly respects Lu Zan's recital.
Lu Zhen is honest and honest, and has been praised for more than 1,000 years. When he was young, he was the county lieutenant of Zhengxian County, Huazhou, when he went home to visit his mother, he passed through Shouzhou, visited Zhang Yi, the assassin of Shouzhou, Zhang Anchor saw that he was young, he didn't care at first, and after a conversation, he was impressed by this young man, and the two became oblivious friends, when he parted, Zhang Yi sent millions of money, and said, "I wish Mrs. Beitai a day's brain", Lu Fei insisted on not accepting it, and finally "only received a string of new tea", in order to express his gratitude, it was a good story for a while.
More than 200 years later, Su Shi, who admired Lu Zhen very much, wrote a letter of thanks after resigning from a friend's gift: Since returning to the north, the deceased has resigned, and he has received a bag of tea to pay respects. ("Six Songs with Liu Sheyu") said that he was learning from Lu Zan.
In the third year of Tang Zhenyuan (787), Lu Zhen's mother died, and Lu Zhen returned to his hometown to guard the system. When you go to Luoyang, the eastern capital, stop at Fengle Temple in Songshan Mountain. At this time, Lu Zan was Tang Dezong's most powerful assistant, and the local officials thought that the opportunity to flatter the horse had come, so they came to the door with a memorial ceremony. Lu Zhen didn't give face at all, and said: "The death of my mother is my private matter, you are not related to me, you are just friends of the eunuchs, I will never accept your generous memorial gift, please take it back." ”
Because he usually has no savings, the daily expenses of the land expenses are also stretched, and in the end, he barely survived the three-year period of worrying with the support of his friend Wei Gao.
Lu Zhen's incorruptibility reached the point where his colleagues did not understand or even disgusted, and in the end, even Dezong couldn't stand it, and said to him in private: "Qing Qing is too cautious, and all gifts are refused, I am afraid that things will not work, such as whipping, and it doesn't hurt to accept it." Lu Zhen insisted that "the prison is in charge of bribery, and the surplus is advantageous", and "the whip boots are endless, and the gold and jade must be reached". This is where the stories cited by the country's leaders come from.
What's even more admirable is that Lu Fei not only has high standards and strict requirements for himself, but also does not pretend to the emperor, opposes when he should oppose it, and criticizes when he criticizes, which is difficult to do in feudal society.
When Tang Dezong went to Fengtian, someone offered melons and fruits on the way, and Dezong, who was thirsty and hungry and embarrassed, was very grateful, he had no money and nothing at this time, and all he could get was an official position, so he whimsically wanted to give the melon and fruit giver an official. Lu Zhen said: "The title is the public weapon of the world, how can it be so casual?"
Dezong said: "It's just a false name, why take it seriously? Besides, I have also discussed it with the prime minister," which means that you don't even give this face?
However, Lu Zhen insisted on refusing to draft an edict for the sealing of officials, and taught Dezong a logical "syllogism": If you enter the melon and fruit, you can be crowned official, and the front-line soldiers who sacrifice their lives and forget their lives are just officials, so the sacrifice of melons and fruits is not equivalent to sacrificing their lives for the country, and their lives are not equal to melons and fruits? Who will come to give you your life? Dezong was embarrassed to say something, so he had no choice but to give up.
It was also in Mukden that when local officials heard that the emperor was in trouble, they sent food, clothing, gold and silver to show their loyalty. But Dezong saw that the money was open, so he asked people to find two big houses and pile them up, and hung two plaques of "Qionglin" and "Daying" at the door, indicating that this is the inner treasury, that is, the "small treasury" used by the emperor himself.
But Lu Fei quit, and he immediately wrote a recital of "Fengtian Asks to Strike Qionglin Daying Erku", urging Dezong to close the small treasury and give Dezong "the platform": "If the husband and the country do things, those who take the public as their heart, people will be happy to follow it, and those who take private service as their heart, people will rebel against it." Speaking of this, Dezong also knew the stakes, so he had to take down the "Qionglin" and "Daying" brands in a gloomy manner.
Not only money, but even a false name, Lu Zhen did not give it to the emperor easily. In the first year of Jianzhong (780), some ministers proposed to give Dezong a "Holy Spirit Wenwu Emperor" honorific title, the Tang Dynasty emperor liked to add the honorific title, the so-called "Lord arrogant ministers, so he thought it was a story", it was also a regular action, and Tang Dezong's "Holy Spirit Wenwu Emperor" six-character honorific title, compared with his great-grandfather Tang Mozong "Wenwu Great Sage Daguangxiao Emperor", the number of words is small, the degree is light, and it can be regarded as modest.
Someone patted the sycophants, and Dezong was also very happy, and he wanted to accept it. Lu Zhen was very disappointed, and his head was a basin of cold water, saying that the peaceful years of adding the honorific title still made people feel ostentatious, and now the world is in a mess, how can he be embarrassed to praise himself? Dezong must be uncomfortable in his heart, but the truth is here with Lu Zhen, and he has no choice but to do it.
Lu Zhen famously said: "I live up to the Son of Heaven, I live up to what I have learned, and I don't care about others." "This is the backbone of a generation of famous faces.
[From Jiaxing Literary and Historical Memory.Jiaxing Volume]
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