In the eyes of ordinary people, or in ordinary literary works, Li Linfu is a traitor, and the New Book of Tang also directly includes him in the "Biography of a Traitor", so is he just a simple "traitor"? If he was just a traitor, then why could he stay in the tang dynasty for 19 years? Was Tang Xuanzong blind?
(Li Linfu in film and television works)
Obviously, it is not so simple, to evaluate Li Linfu, we can start from the 3 idioms related to him:
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the first idiom: one eagle double rabbit</h1>
Born in 683 and died in 752, Li Linfu was a native of Chengji County, Longxi County (present-day Qin'an County, Gansu Province). He was the grandson of Li Hu V of the Tang Dynasty, the son of Li Sijie, who joined the army of Yangzhou. By the twenty-third year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, that is, in 735, the 52-year-old Li Linfu was worshipped as the Rebbe Shangshu, Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin, plus Yinqing Guanglu Dafu, according to the official system of the Tang Dynasty (as shown in the figure below the three provinces and six ministries), "Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin" is the prime minister, the three products are not important, the important thing is "Tongzhongshu Menxia", because only by adding this title can you participate in state decision-making, if there is no title, even if it is the "three provinces": Shangshu Ling, Zhongshu Ling, menxia Shizhong, it is not counted as the prime minister.
(Tang Dynasty Six-Part System)
At that time, there were also Pei Yaoqing (the person in charge of Menxia Province) and Zhang Jiuling (the person in charge of Zhongshu Province), that is to say, at this time, there were three prime ministers in the court at this time, and there were three people who served as prime ministers together, Li Linfu's official position was the lowest, and his main position was only Shangshu of one of the six ministries under the jurisdiction of Shangshu Province, and he should be responsible for the left servant of Shangshu Province, and the left servant was responsible for Shangshu Ling, and Shang Shu Ling was only one level with Pei and Zhang, but Li Linfu was "under the same Zhongshu Gate", the same as the prime minister, and the real power was in his hands.
Oh, a bit deformed.
(Fun-loving Tang Xuanzong)
Why? Tang Xuanzong liked it! How much do you like it? According to the New Book of Tang Dynasty, the Biography of Li Linfu, the Traitor:
At the beginning, the three prime ministers took the throne, the two of them bent over backwards, and Lin Fu was in the middle, Xuan Xiao did not let go, and Xi Jinjin came out of the eyebrows. When people whispered, "one eagle threatens two rabbits"
This is the origin of the idiom "one eagle and two rabbits", precisely because Li Linfu was deeply liked by Tang Xuanzong, so when the other two prime ministers were humble and courteous, Li Linfu's attitude was arrogant, like an eagle holding two rabbits at the same time. Later, a carved double rabbit developed into an idiom, referring to three people juxtaposed, one person is powerful and two people are held hostage.
Pei, Zhang, and Li were three prime ministers, and they should have sat on an equal footing, if it were not for Tang Xuanzong's excessive favor, would Li Linfu dare to do so?
Of course not.
To be able to please the emperor is a skill in itself. The reason for this is said to be that Li Linfu is good-looking and good at musical rhythm, but we can be sure that these are only superficial reasons, because Tang Xuanzong later even entrusted all state affairs to Li Linfu to deal with (see the TV series "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" based on this story), and he is obviously not only good-looking, but also good at music.
("The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" Li Linfu as the prototype of Lin Jiulang)
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the second idiom: Wild Sage</h1>
Speaking of this idiom, we have to mention Du Fu, Du Fu's fate is wrong, in fact, it is closely related to Li Linfu, and the period when Li Linfu was in power was the period when Du Fu Chang'an was taking the exam.
In 747, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, who indulged in eroticism, ordered the disciples of the world that anyone with a skill in literature and art could go to Chang'an to become an official, which was a good thing. Unfortunately, Li Linfu is a selection person.
Li Linfu's approach was very different: he suggested that the county magistrates should select the scholars, send the outstanding ones to the Beijing Division, and under the supervision of Yushi Zhongcheng, the Shangshu Province would conduct a re-examination, claiming that the ones who matched the name and the truth would be recommended to the emperor, which of course was very much in line with the emperor's intention (to please the emperor, Li Linfu was a really high person), and finally these scholars took the examination very seriously, and the content of the examination was also very rich, poetry, words, songs, fu...
But the result was unexpected: after several formal exams, no one passed!
Is there really no talent, of course not, Du Fu and the later poet Yuan Jie, are in the list of candidates this time, there is only one reason, the examination results are manipulated by Li Linfu, he is a vested interest, he needs to maintain his control of the status quo of the court, talent? Not required.
Interestingly, after the results of the examination came out, Li Linfu quickly congratulated Xuanzong and said: O saint, all the talents have served the society in the DPRK, and there are no more talents left by the people.
(Du Fu, who sells herbs during the Anshi Rebellion)
What was fatal was that Tang Xuanzong, who was already 63 years old, had completely ignored state affairs at this time, and he actually believed it! To say that Li Linfu is two years older than him, maybe there is only one reason, he believes In Li Linfu!
"Wild Sage" comes from this! Poor old Du could only "go to the door of the rich man and follow the fat horse dust" and continue to live his miserable life similar to begging, and later Du Fu's miserable life was almost related to Li Linfu's control of the government.
In fact, the term "wild and untouchable sage" was first not from Li Linfu, but from the "Shangshu Dayu Mo", which means that talented people are appointed, referring to the meritocracy of people and the full use of their talents. But this idiom, to Li Linfu here, used a satirical meaning, which is really famous, Li Linfu achieved this idiom.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the third idiom: the mouth honey belly sword</h1>
Li Linfu's reputation as a traitor was most likely obtained because of this factor.
It is a bad character, a set in front of the face, a set behind the back. To give an example: Li Shizhi also once worshipped the prime minister, and since they were all prime ministers, they naturally wanted to compete with Li Linfu for power, but Li Shizhi's personality was rough and he was obviously not an opponent, because Li Linfu had no bottom line at all in personality.
Once, Li Linfu said to Li Shizhi: "There are gold mines in Mount Hua, and mining can enrich the country, but the emperor does not know it yet." Therefore, when Li Shishang was in the dynasty, he informed Tang Xuanzong of the fact that there was a gold mine in Mount Hua and advocated mining a strong country.
Tang Xuanzong naturally wanted to ask Li Linfu for his opinion.
Li Linfu's answer was: "The minister already knew about this matter, but Mount Hua is His Majesty's honmei mountain, where the "wang qi" is located, and it is the "feng shui mountain" of the Tang Dynasty, so it is not suitable for excavation, so the minister has not mentioned it. Since then, Tang Xuanzong believed that Li Shizhi was not careful, and even directly said to Li Shizhi: "When you play things in the future, you must first consult with Li Linfu and do not advocate on your own." Since then, Li Shizhi has gradually been alienated and slowly faded out of the emperor's sight.
(Tang Xuanzong in his later years in film and television dramas)
There are many such things, so Sima Guang recorded in the "Zizhi Tongjian Tang Xuanzong Tianbao First Year":
Especially jealous of literary people, or yang and good, and yin and yin with sweet words. It is said that Li Linfu "has honey in his mouth and a sword in his belly."
"Sweet words and yin", how frightening, this is the origin of the idiom "mouth honey belly sword". There are many kinds of sayings about this word later, for example, in "Dream of the Red Chamber", Xing'er said that Feng Jie was "sweet-hearted and bitter, with two sides and three knives, a smile on the top, a trip under the feet, a fire in the open, and a knife in the dark" (the sixty-fifth time in "Dream of the Red Chamber"), and Li Linfu is in the same line, probably the person who gets power, loyal and honest, is not feasible.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > just a traitor? </h1>
Looking at the above three idioms, Li Linfu is almost a complete traitor, but is he just a traitor?
No, he was at least a "nonchalant" at the same time.
First of all, he had the ability to gain the favor of the emperor. He can not only perceive and conform to the emperor's will, but also do everything decently, reasonably and legally. This is actually quite difficult, because sometimes the emperor's opinion is not necessarily institutionally agreed, but he can find the perfect balance in it.
(Something to do with the law)
Secondly, he was an expert in the system, during his reign, in fact, his energy was mainly used for system construction, and he and a group of jurists sorted out and revised the various codes of the Tang government, resulting in the "Kaiyuan Xinge" and "Tang Six Classics", and he had great respect for the law, even to the point of obsession. He was a shrewd and capable administrator, and he was even more concerned than the emperor himself with the efficient and efficient functioning of the state apparatus. In contrast, his exclusion of dissidents and the elimination of the path of talent advancement are probably only a means to ensure that he can truly realize his administrative ideals.
Moreover, the "traitors" should be unjustly imprisoned, no.
In 737 (the twenty-fifth year of the new century), the third year of Li Linfu's reign as chancellor, the Criminal Investigation Department tried cases with Li Linfu's revised new law, and there were only 58 death row inmates in the country, because the number of criminal cases decreased, and crows actually built bird nests outside the prison (Old Book of Tang and Criminal Law).
Or it can be said that the peace at the end of the "Kaiyuan Prosperous Era" was indispensable to Li Linfu.
(Part of Ren Xining's "Kaiyuan Shengshi")
Moreover, it was precisely because Li Linfu was in power alone that the Tang government had no party strife during this period, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the market economy prospered, according to the Zizhi Tongjian, until 749 (Tianbao Eight Years):
In February, Peng Shen introduced the Hundred Officials to look at Zuozang and gave the gift of a poor hand. It was the county of Shizhou that was rich, and the warehouses were full of millet, moving tens of thousands. ...... The treasure is full of things, ancient and modern, so the commander of the group of ministers is ,...... The country is rich in abundance, so it regards the gold as dung soil, and rewards the house of your favorites, with no limit.
The national treasury is abundant, "ancient and modern, rare", Tang Xuanzong led hundreds of officials to personally visit, and the excitement can be imagined.
Of course, some people can say that this is the credit of Yao Chong, Song Jing, or the credit of Zhang Shu and Zhang Jiuling, and Li Linfu just caught up with the inertia of the high-speed development train. So, let's think about it, is it just a coincidence that the heyday of datang coincided with the period when Li Linfu was in power?
In the nineteenth year, Li Linfu, who has carried out system construction and political reform, is by no means just the word "traitor" that can be said.
Tang Xuanzong, his eyes were not blind, he was very good at using people.
(Ma Songpo in the Anshi Rebellion)
Of course, Li Linfu must also take some responsibility for the decline of the Tang Dynasty, although An Lushan himself was very afraid of Li Linfu, but only two years after Li Linfu's death (755), the "Anshi Rebellion" that made the Tang Dynasty turn from prosperity to decline broke out, you know, it was Li Linfu (the Hu people would not fight with him) who made Hu generals like An Lushan take the leadership position of Fanzhen, and in the "Anshi Rebellion", Tang Xuanzong lost more than just a Yang Yuhuan.
(Some of the pictures are quoted from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author)