Biography of Du Youlie
Du You (735-812), known as Junqing, was a native of Wannian County, Jingzhao Prefecture (now Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province). An outstanding politician and historian of the Tang Dynasty.
Zaisuke and Shijia
Du You was born in a prestigious family. His father, Du Wang, was a senior general of the Tang Army, and according to the regulations of the time, Du You entered the official career with his grace and served as a low-level magistrate.
Later, Du You went to visit Wei Yuanfu in Runzhou (now Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province). Wei Yuanfu treated him as the son of an old friend, and there was no special courtesy.
One day, Wei Yuanfu encountered a very difficult case and could not make a decision. It happened that Du You came to visit, and Wei Yuanfu tentatively asked him what to do. Without thinking, Du You put forward his own opinions and assisted Wei Yuanfu in concluding the case. Wei Yuanfu was greatly appreciative and immediately promoted Du You to the imperial court to take up the post of trial of prison and supervision of thieves. Du You did a very good job in this position, and his official position was gradually promoted.
Later, Prime Minister Yang Yan implemented the reform of the tax system in response to the accumulated shortcomings in the finance at that time. Yang Yan admired Du You's talent and transferred him to the imperial court to assist him. At that time, the imperial court was quelling the rebellion in Hebei, and Yang Yan handed over all the tasks of transporting military salaries to Du You, who did an excellent job of ensuring the supply of grain and grass on the front line and made an important contribution to the victory of the war.
Three years later, Yang Yan was falsely accused and persecuted to death, Du You was implicated and expelled from the court, and the tax reform implemented by Yang Yan during his lifetime also became a key target of attack by political opponents. Regardless of his own situation, Du You tried his best to defend Yang Yan and fully affirmed his tax reform.
After serving as a magistrate for a period of time, Du You served as a festival envoy in Lingnan (present-day Guangdong Province) and Huainan (present-day Jiangsu Province and Anhui Province) for a long time. In 803, at the age of sixty-nine, Du You was recalled to the imperial court and served as prime minister.
After Tang Shunzong ascended the throne, he supported the reforms of the minister Wang Shuwen and others, cracked down on the power of eunuchs, and eliminated political malpractices. However, Wang Shuwen did not have the prestige of a leader and the courage of a reformer, and his attitude was arrogant, and several prime ministers were very dissatisfied with him, coupled with political disagreements, and resigned one after another. Only Du You endured the humiliation and burden, refusing to get close to Wang Shuwen on the one hand, and on the other hand, he took the initiative to make concessions to the reformists, and worked hard to reconcile the relations between all parties and maintain political stability.
Wang Shuwen's new policy lasted only eight months before it failed, Tang Shunzong was forced to give the throne to his son Tang Xianzong, and reformist officials were dismissed. At that time, the political situation was turbulent and the people's livelihood was withering, and the Dangxiang ethnic group in the northwest took the opportunity to join forces with Tibet to invade the border. Some border generals coveted their military exploits and demanded to lead troops to attack regardless of the difficulties of the current situation.
Du You said to Xianzong: "Now that the enemy is strong, our border defense is weak, and there are no elite soldiers, we should not rashly use troops and waste money and food to cause defeat." Good players should be selected and defensively oriented. Xianzong gladly accepted.
Du You played a great role in government and military affairs, but his most important contribution was in historiography. Du You was diligent and studious by nature, often reading late at night, and regarded it as his mission to seek the art of enriching the country and reassuring the people, so he paid special attention to the rules and regulations of the past dynasties.
As early as the time of Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the historian Liu Zhi compiled a "Political Code" that recorded the code system. Du You believed that there were only 35 volumes of the "Political Codex", the entries were not rich enough, and the content was not complete enough, so he accumulated decades of efforts and changed the draft three times to compile a "General Codex".
The "General Dictionary" has as many as 200 volumes, totaling more than 1.9 million words, divided into nine categories, and subdivided into many subcategories, including the evolution of the system in the major fields of politics, economy, military, law, etiquette, local administration, etc., and the time span is from ancient times to the era in which Du You lived.
Du You entered the official career at the age of eighteen, went through six dynasties, and decades of official career made him familiar with the rules and regulations of this dynasty. For practical purposes, he followed the compilation standards of the past and the present, and recorded the Tang Dynasty system in particular detail, preserving a large number of first-hand materials, which became an important reference work for later scholars.
Du You's "General Dictionary" created a new style of history books, and it was the first general history political book in mainland China with a complete style. The "General Dictionary" was not only widely circulated at that time, but also had a far-reaching influence, and later historians followed the style of the "General Dictionary" to compile nine political books one after another, which was a grand view, and the "General Dictionary" was collectively called the "Ten Passages".
Mr. Qian Mu, a well-known historian, commented: "Du You's "General Dictionary" has opened up a new territory in Chinese history books, and there will be so-called three links, nine links, and ten links in the future. ”
In 812, Du You died of illness at the age of seventy-eight. Du You's grandson, Du Mu, was a famous poet in the late Tang Dynasty, and was as famous as another great poet, Li Shangyin, and was collectively known as "Little Li Du".
Biography of Pedo
Pei Du (765-839), a native of Wenxi County, Hedong Province (now Wenxi County, Shanxi Province). Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty and an outstanding politician.
The more frustrated and courageous the ZTE is famous
Pei Du's family has been an official for generations, and his grandfather and father have been magistrates.
At the age of twenty-five, Pei Du was admitted to the Jinshi examination, and after passing the official examination, he served as a county lieutenant (similar to the director of the county public security bureau). Later, he was transferred to the imperial court as a supervisory official, but because of his criticism of the favored ministers, he offended Tang Dezong and was demoted to a magistrate, and he was not transferred back to the imperial court until Dezong's grandson Tang Xianzong ascended the throne.
At that time, the palace set up the carving workshop, the falcon workshop, the eagle workshop, the harrier workshop, and the dog workshop, collectively known as the "five squares". The officials who served in Wufang hung nets everywhere, in the name of catching birds and birds for the royal family, and extorted the people.
A county magistrate rejected their unreasonable demands, was falsely accused, and was thrown into prison by Tang Xianzong and sentenced to death. Prime Minister Wu Yuanheng admonished politely, but Xianzong refused to accept it.
Pei Du also went to the palace to defend the county commander, and Xianzong said angrily: "If you don't punish him severely, it means that Wufang is guilty." If Wufang is not guilty, he must be severely punished!" Xianzong was obviously partial to Wufang, and Pei Du could not directly accuse them of guilt, so he had to say euphemistically: "This county commander cherishes His Majesty's people and does not hesitate to offend Wufang, how can he be punished casually?" Xianzong repented after hearing this, and released the county order.
Since the "Anshi Rebellion", the feudal towns entrenched in Hebei, Shandong, and Huaixi (in the area of present-day Henan Province and Anhui Province) have gradually become larger, and they do not obey the orders of the imperial court.
In 814, the Huaixi warlord Wu Yuanji rebelled, and the imperial court sent troops to recruit them, and Wu Yuanheng and Pei Du were both staunch main battle factions. The Hebei warlord Wang Chengzong, the Shandong warlord Li Shidao and Wu Yuanji colluded with each other to ask the imperial court to stop the crusade against Wu Yuanji, but they were severely reprimanded by Wu Yuanheng, and the two hated Wu Yuanheng and Pei Du to the core.
One morning in 815, Li Shidao sent assassins to assassinate Wu Yuanheng and Pei Du on the way to the upper court.
This shocked the government and the opposition, and some officials asked Xianzong to remove Pei Du in order to calm the anger of the warlords. Xianzong said angrily: "Pei Du can save his life, this is the will of heaven. If he is deposed, he will fall into the treacherous scheme of traitors. Relying on Pei Du will be enough to defeat these three traitors!" immediately appointed Pei Du as prime minister to show his determination to put down the rebellion.
However, due to the use of non-human beings, the war against Wu Yuanji was lost one after another, and the voices of the DPRK and China requesting a call for a call for a call came one after another. Pei Du said to Tang Xianzong: "The traitor is a big problem for the imperial court, and if it is not eliminated in time, it will definitely cause a catastrophe." Moreover, Wang Chengzong and Li Shidao will definitely decide whether to rebel or submit according to the attitude of the imperial court towards Wu Yuanji. ”
Seeing that Pei Du's attitude was so resolute, Xianzong tried his best to dispel public opinion and decided to continue the crusade. Pei Du took the initiative to offer: "The minister is willing to go to the front line to supervise the battle in person." Xianzong asked with some hesitation: "Are you really willing to go to quell the rebellion for me?" Pei Du knelt down and wept and said: "The minister and this thief do not share the sky!" Before leaving, Pei Du said: "It is a shame for the courtiers to worry the monarch, and if the traitors are not eliminated for a day, the ministers will not dare to return to the court for a day." Xianzong was moved to tears.
After Pei Du arrived in Huaixi, he reused the famous general Li, and in just two months, he broke through the rebels' lair and captured Wu Yuanji alive.
After Huaixi was pacified, the warlords in various places were greatly shocked, the Hebei warlord Wang Chengzong hurriedly pleaded guilty to the imperial court, and the Shandong warlord Li Shidao was stubborn and was also defeated and executed by the imperial army.
With the joint efforts of Tang Xianzong, Pei Du, and Li Junchen, a crisis that might shake the foundation of the Tang Dynasty was finally passed safely, and the situation of nearly half a century of secession came to an end, and the Tang Dynasty had a situation of Zhongxing that had never been seen since the "Anshi Rebellion".
Pei Du's outstanding performance in the process of counterinsurgency won him great prestige, and even the envoys of the Tang Dynasty to the Western Regions would be asked: "How old is Pei Du now, how is his appearance, and has he been reused?"
Because Pei Du was upright and upright, he dared to stand up for the mistakes of the dynasty, and was framed by traitorous ministers and transferred to the area of present-day Shanxi Province to serve as a festival envoy.
After that, Pei Du also served as prime minister for a short time, but due to the chaotic political situation, frequent changes of emperors, and the exclusion of traitorous ministers, he could not give full play to his talents.
In his later years, Pei Du recuperated in Luoyang, the eastern capital, and sang and sang with the great poets Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi, which was passed down as a good story. In 839, Pei Du died of illness at the age of seventy-five.
This article is excerpted from "Twenty-four Histories Read Now, Language and History Are Progressing" - the eighth volume of "Old Tang Book", which is officially authorized to be published, welcome to continue to pay attention.