Yao Chong, a famous courtier in the early Tang Dynasty, served as prime minister in the dynasties of Wu Zetian, Tang Zhongzong, and even Tang Xuanzong. He not only made remarkable achievements in politics, but also left many moving stories with sparks of wisdom for future generations during his political career.
First, why weep so sadly
In the first month of 705 AD, a mutiny occurred in the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and the Yulin army rushed into the Yingxian Palace where the empress Wu Zetian lived with lightning speed, and the soldiers fell with swords in their hands and killed the two male favorites zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong brothers whom Wu Zetian trusted. Then, the Yulin army surrounded Wu Zetian's palace, and under the leadership of the chancellor Zhang Kamzhi, several civilian generals entered the palace, carried out military advice, and forced the seriously ill empress to surrender power and let the crown prince Li Xian ascend the throne. In February, the tang dynasty's name was restored.
The main planner of the whole incident was zhang Kamzhi, the current prime minister. He led several important courtiers and secretly discussed at home: Empress Wu Zetian was over eighty years old, and she had recently become seriously ill, and I was afraid that she would soon die, and at present, only Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were accompanied by him. Erzhang was very ambitious and had gained the special trust of the Empress. Once the empress dies, Erzhang is likely to correct the will and seize the imperial power, and the future of the country will be unimaginable, and the old ministers will die without a place to bury. Instead of allowing Erzhang to bring calamity to the country, it was better to strike early, so he launched a military advisory and helped Li Xian to the throne.
After the success of the incident, the civilian and military generals involved in the incident were all happy and celebrated. Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian, was very grateful to the meritorious personnel, and some were promoted to officials, some were given the title of marquis, and various rewards were also given. But at this moment, a strange thing came out.
On a public occasion, Yao Chong, the Grand Master of lingwu Dao, who had the title of prime minister, lost his voice and wept bitterly, tears and tears, and looked very sad. He kept saying, "I have been serving Emperor Wu Zetian for a long time, and I suddenly left her, and my heartfelt feelings really can't be controlled!" The other day, I joined you in killing Erzhang, which is my due responsibility as a human subject, and I dare not say that I have any merit. Now sadness because of the farewell to the old king is also the feeling that a human subject should have. If I am guilty of this, I am willing. For Yao Chong's untimely performance, everyone was deeply disturbed and surprised. Several of his friends pulled him aside and said, "Is it time for you to cry today?" Are you not afraid of causing trouble because of this? But Yao Chong still refused to end it.
Yao Chong's abnormal behavior is indeed incomprehensible.
First of all, the mastermind of this incident, Zhang Kamzhi, was a close friend of his for many years, and Zhang Kamzhi's ability to become prime minister was the result of his strong recommendation to Wu Zetian. Yao Chong said: "Zhang Kam Zhi has a heavy strategy, can judge big things, and can be a face. But his majesty is old and please use it quickly. The Empress approved his recommendation, and only then did zhang Kam zhi be promoted by Qiu Guan Shilang;
Secondly, Yao Chong has been an active participant in this incident from beginning to end. At that time, Yao Chong's post was outside the country, and he returned to Luoyang after something happened, and Zhang Kamzhi and others were very happy to hear that he had returned, and there was another like-minded person. They find Yao at his door and work with him to plan a coup;
Third, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian, noticed Yao Chong's important role in the incident, so he immediately made him the Marquis of Liang County after ascending the throne.
Li Zhi was very annoyed by Yao Chong's crying, and on the same day he ordered him to be transferred out of the imperial court and demoted to Bozhou Assassin History.
However, the mystery was soon solved. Yao Chong, a veteran on the political stage, and his public crying are just a plan for him to get out of the way, and it is precisely the performance of his knowledge of current affairs. Yao Chong, with his profound insight, clearly saw that although the incident was very smooth and Wu Zetian had stepped down, the power struggle within the court caused by it was far from over. He was tired of this and did not want to fall into a deeper whirlpool, but he could not say it clearly, so he intentionally came to this hand. Transferred away from the imperial court in the middle of the heart.
Things did not go as Yao Chong expected, and after Li Xian became emperor, the power struggle and conspiracy within the court never stopped. The following year, Zhang Kamzhi, the great hero of the incident, was ostracized by Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi and lost his position, and the old man died of grievances and anger. However, Yao Chong, on the other hand, leisurely and smugly became his magistrate, and soon he was reused and re-ascended to the throne.
2. Hunting grounds
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Yao Chong continued to be reused. One year, when Emperor Xuanzong was out of beijing to make an inspection, Yao Chong, who was serving as an assassin in Tongzhou, was secretly summoned by Emperor Xuanzong, and he hurried to the emperor's residence. On that day, Xuanzong was hunting in the hunting ground with great interest, and when he saw Yao Chong's arrival, he refused to give up. He asked Yao Chong if he was interested in this tao, and Yao Chong replied frankly, he liked to hunt since he was a child, and he was almost fascinated in his youth, and often took pleasure in calling eagles and chasing beasts. In recent years, the government affairs have been busy, and even if I am older, I rarely have such opportunities, but I can still play to cope with it for a while. After Emperor Xuanzong heard this, he invited him to join him in the hunting procession and then talk about political affairs.
On the hunting ground, Yao Qi's heroism did not diminish that year, he wanted to be fast and fast, slow and slow, galloping freely, and his archery technique was also very skilled. Everywhere he satisfied Xuanzong and was constantly praised. After the boycott, Emperor Xuanzong solicited his opinion on major state affairs, and Yao Chong' response was like a stream, talking about it without a hint of tiredness. When Emperor Xuanzong saw that this old minister could write and fight, his spirit was uplifted, his thinking was clear, and he was overjoyed, and he couldn't help but say, "You should be my prime minister." After Yao Qi listened, he looked at ease and did not look flattered in the slightest. From experience, he realized that now was the best time to seek advice. The emperor was in a good mood and had a lot of good feelings for himself, and the possibility of adopting the opinion was the greatest. Yao Chong seized this opportunity and said, "I have ten opinions to consider to His Majesty, and if I can't do it, then I won't be able to be the prime minister." ”
With Emperor Xuanzong's consent, Yao Chong's thoughts, which had been in his mind for many years, were revealed. From reforming the administration of officials, rectifying the order of the officialdom to prevent foreign relatives from usurping power and the participation of eunuchs in politics, we have always talked about giving more benevolent government, trusting civilian and military generals, reducing taxes, and paying attention to open source and throttling expenditure. Although some of the opinion ministers had been consulted many times, and Xuanzong only took it as the wind in his ears, this time it had a miraculous effect, and Xuanzong not only listened carefully, but also kept nodding his head in agreement, and finally fully accepted these ten opinions. So the next day Yao Chong accepted the appointment of the prime minister.
Third, strange last wills
At the age of seventy-two, Yao Chongyi could not afford to be ill, and he knew that he would soon die. At the time of his death, Yao Chong, summoned his son to the sickbed and left behind such a last word: "I have a deep gap with Zhang. After I die, out of courtesy, he will definitely come to mourn. You can display the treasures and utensils that I have treasured in my life, and he loves cultural relics and antiques. If he doesn't even look at it, then you have to hurry up and prepare, and the catastrophe of annihilation will soon be imminent; if he takes a keen interest in these things, things will take a turn for the better. You seized the opportunity to push the boat along the water, gave him all these things, and asked him to write an inscription for me on the spot, and after getting the inscription he wrote, you immediately submitted it to the emperor for approval, and at the same time prepared the stele and quickly carved it. He was much more obtuse than I was, and it would take a few days to understand that he would regret it. If he sent someone to retrieve the inscription, he told him that the inscription had been reported to the emperor for approval, and showed him the carved stele. ”
It turned out that Zhang Shu and Yao Chong were two outstanding talents of the same era, both of whom were important ministers of the imperial court and a pair of political enemies with deep grievances. When Emperor Xuanzong of Tang intended to appoint Yao Chong, Zhang Shu, who was already in the position, out of jealousy, instructed others to impeach him, obstructing him in every way, but unfortunately did not succeed. After Yao Chong became chancellor, Zhang said that he panicked and wanted to go through the back door of one of Xuanzong's younger brothers, King Qi. Yao Chong seized on this incident to take revenge on Zhang Shu. He said to Xuanzong many times: "King Qi is His Majesty's beloved brother, Zhang said that he was an auxiliary minister, they often secretly drove away from home, and I was very worried that Zhang said that he would bring bad his Majesty's beloved brother." Emperor Xuanzong listened to Yao Chong's rumors and removed Zhang Shu from his post as chancellor and demoted him to xiangzhou assassin. In the future, although they maintained a certain relationship on the surface, the open struggle and secret struggle have never stopped.
Yao Chong's greatest fear before his death was that behind him, Zhang said that he would take revenge for himself and bring the disaster of killing his family. Tossing and turning on the sickbed, after several thoughts, I finally thought of this wonderful plan to eliminate disasters and avoid disasters. When Zhang said that he had not yet had time to think of retaliation, he wrote an inscription for himself, made a positive evaluation of his life, and covered the coffin, and he could not retaliate again.
After that, things developed exactly as Yao Chong's life had predicted. First of all, Zhang said that he became interested in the Yao family's cultural relics and treasures and accepted gifts. Then, he wrote an inscription for Yao Chong. After a few days, Zhang said that when he wanted to retrieve the inscription, it was already raw rice cooked and cooked, and the inscription had not only been approved by the emperor, but also carved on the stone stele. Later, when Zhang Shu learned that all this was an arrangement made by Yao Chong's last will, he was so angry that he could hardly speak. I had to admit that Yao Chong's old scheming was far above his own, and he said to others meaningfully: "Dead Yao Chongyu can calculate the living Zhang. ”