Liu Renlu has always been a figure with a great deal of pattern from the time of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, and Wu Zetian, and he is also a figure who died in that era of torrential turmoil.
In the autumn of 640, Emperor Taizong of Tang prepared to leave Chang'an City in the east and hunt in Tongzhou. At that time, the autumn harvest was approaching, and in order to avoid damaging the crops of the masses, Liu Renluo wrote a letter to dissuade Li Shimin from abandoning this leisure activity. Li Shimin was a figure who could listen to persuasion, and he felt that Liu Renluo's words were very reasonable, not only did he not go hunting, but he also wrote a letter praising Liu Renluo: "Although your official position is very low, you can devote yourself to the country, and I like to listen to what you say." ”
Indeed, as Li Shimin judged, Liu Renluo walked in the history of the Tang Dynasty with a righteous spirit.
As the saying goes, the tree is bigger. During Emperor Gaozong's reign, Liu Renji was repeatedly framed. During Emperor Gaozong's time, Li Yifu was deeply trusted, but this guy was very narrow-minded. He found that Emperor Gaozong was showing signs of using Liu Renluo, so he thought of a way to cut off this seedling. In 660 (the fifth year of Xianqing), Li Zhi sent an army to attack Baekje, and Liu Renji was responsible for supervising shipping. At that time, the wind was fierce, the tsunami was continuous, and Li Yifu forced it out to sea, resulting in heavy losses in the fleet and countless casualties. When such a major military operation was unexpected, Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi was very angry, and he strictly ordered the investigation. This incident provided Li Yifu with an opportunity to clean up Liu Renluo, and he took advantage of the convenience of being close to Emperor Gaozong to blame Liu Renluo. Li Zhi had enough brains, and he knew Li Yifu's little nine nines well, and did not cure Liu Renlu of the death penalty.
As the old saying goes, if you don't die, you will be blessed. Liu Renji's fate has since slowly improved. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, Liu Renji's official route map was clear and unambiguous. In the first year of Qianfeng, he was promoted to Right Minister and concurrently served as the Inspector's Crown Prince Zuo Zhonghu; in the first year of the General Chapter, he served as xiongjin Dao's pacification ambassador to assist the famous Li Ji in attacking Goguryeo; in the first year of Xianheng, he was appointed as the Assassin of Longzhou; in the third year of Xianheng, Emperor Gaozong transferred him from a local official to the imperial court prince Zuo Shuzi, and promoted him to Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin and supervised the revision of the history of the country; in the fourth year of Xianheng, Emperor Gaozong again pressed the burden of revising the history of the country; in the sixth year of Xianheng, he once again entered the dynasty as a servant of Shangshu Zuo, a guest of the prince under the Tongzhongshu Menxia, and supervised the revision of the history of the country. He still presides over government affairs.
During this period, Liu Renji's post changed like a marquee, serving in many positions in the imperial court and localities, becoming a hot figure in the Era of Emperor Gaozong.
There is no trust without loyalty. Li Zhi found that Liu Ren was reliable, capable of performing, and accomplishing things. In 682 (the first year of Yongchun), Li Zhi took Wu Zetian on a tour of the eastern capital Luoyang, leaving the crown prince Li Xian in Chang'an City to handle the imperial government, and at the same time ordering Liu Renlu and Pei Yan and Xue Yuanchao to assist the crown prince in supervising the state; in early 683, the crown prince Li Xian was summoned to Luoyang by Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi, and Liu Renlu assisted the emperor's grandson Li Chongzhao to stay in Beijing.
In December 683 (the first year of the Hongdao Dynasty), Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi completed his life course. The throne of Datang was turned upside down, and Empress Dowager Wu Zetian gradually stepped into the foreground of Datang.
For Liu Renluo's performance, Wu Zetian saw it in his eyes and remembered it in his heart.
At this time, something happened that made Wu Zetian very uncomfortable. After Li Xian arrived in Dongdu, Pei Yan, who was also assisted by Liu Ren, also went to Luoyang, and Xue Yuanchao saw Wu Zetian's thoughts, feared that he would be in trouble in the future, and insisted on retirement on the grounds that he was ill, and Wu Zetian agreed to his request very sharply.
Chang'an City continued to be guarded by the emperor's grandson Li Chongzhao, and Wu Zetian continued to arrange for Liu Renji to assist Li Chongzhao as his deputy. In order to make Liu Renlu play a better role, Wu Zetian awarded Liu Renlu as a special jin and a shangshu zuo servant, and his position was only under the three dukes of Xiang Xiang, Tai Wei, and Yu Shi Dafu.
In other words, Wu Zetian controlled the world in the eastern capital Luoyang, and basically gave Liu Renluo the affairs in Chang'an City.
At the same time, Wu Zetian wrote a handwritten letter to Liu Renji. This handwritten letter surprised Liu Renji.
"In the past, the Han Dynasty entrusted Xiao He with the Guanzhong Affairs Commission, and now the Duke of Entrustment is still the same." Good fellow, it turned out that Wu Zetian told him that I would entrust you to handle the affairs of the capital Chang'an for me, just like Liu Bang in the Western Han Dynasty entrusted Xiao He to be responsible for the major affairs of Guanzhong.
This was a signal from Wu Zetian to himself that he wanted to become emperor. Liu Renluo was terrified.
That year, Liu Renji was already 83 years old, and his only way was to leave his post by calling him sick. He wrote to Wu Hou and his own desire to resign, and stated his views on the chaotic government of the Western Han Dynasty.
Similarly, without trust there is no loyalty. In Liu Renji's view, although Wu Zetian's actions deviated from the track, he insisted that he must be loyal to his duties for one day in his post.
In the face of Liu Renji's request, Wu Zetian thought about it and felt that only he could stabilize the affairs of Chang'an. Therefore, Wu Zetian arranged for his nephew Wu Chengsi to come to Chang'an and make a special trip to comfort Liu Renji.
Wu Chengsi was really clever, conveying The self-reproach of Empress Wu after seeing Liu Renluo's request, and then praising Liu Renluo's loyalty and integrity in the name of Wu Zetian, proposing that Liu Renluo should focus on Kuang Zheng's state affairs and continue to play the role of a model for hundreds of officials.
Since the empress dowager trusted herself so much, how could she ruin a lifetime of good reputation? Liu Renlu dutifully and conscientiously stabilized Chang'an City, providing a solid guarantee for Wu Zetian's dynastic regime.
In 685, at the age of 84, Liu Renlu died, and Wu Zetian deposed the dynasty for three days, and ordered that the civil and military officials in Chang'an City must go to Liu Renlu's home to mourn.