Emperor Dezong had always been angry about deposing Lu Qi against his will, and a year later, Emperor Dezong tried to use Lu Qi again, but was forced to give up after a group of counselors led by Yuan Gao. Soon after, Lu Qi fell ill and died in the field.
But after many years, Emperor Dezong was still full of nostalgia for Lu Qi, and the history said:
"Dezong thought about it and asked for it."
Lu Qi's son Yuanfu was thus reused, first by the Chongwenguan School Scribe Lang from jiupin to the left of the eight pins, and then from the left division of the six pins, and his promotion can be described as rapid.
We can't help but ask, why is it that Lu Qi, who is unanimously called "treacherous and evil" by many officials, has won the trust of Emperor Dezong the most?
As mentioned earlier, the biggest feature of Lu Qi's appearance is obedience to The will of Emperor Dezong, which is what Xiao Fu called "Ah Shun's Will". But for Dezong, who has a rigid personality and is self-absorbed, Lu Qi is the most satisfactory of the prime ministers he has used since he took the throne.
Let's look at the conversation between Emperor Dezong and the chancellor Li Bi in the fourth year of Zhenyuan, in which Emperor Dezong made a comment on the chancellor he had chosen since he succeeded to the throne:
Since the ascension of the Emperor to the throne, shang calmly and secretly said:
"Lu Qi is loyal to Qing Qiangjie, and people are treacherous and evil, and they are unaware of it."
It is revealed from Dezong's words that, first, the former chancellor Yang Yan's demotion was due to Dezong's unbearable attitude towards no one in his sight; second, Dezong believed that the occurrence of the Jianzhong Rebellion had nothing to do with Lu Qi; Third, unlike Yang Yan's mausoleum, Lu Qi knew that his knowledge was insufficient, so he was cautious and cautious, and did not obey Dezong's words, so as to gain Dezong's favor; Fourth, in Emperor Dezong's mind, the only true prime ministers worth mentioning before Li Bi were Cui Youfu, Yang Yan, and Lu Qi, and their standard was to entrust political affairs.
As we all know, Dezong's trust and reuse of Lu Qi is often regarded as evidence of Dezong's fainting. However, the key to Lu Qi's greatest trust in Dezong was that he obeyed Dezong's orders, even to the point of obedience.
In fact, Emperor Dezong was 38 years old when he succeeded to the throne. We can imagine that Dezong was a rather conceited emperor, and all he needed was a prime minister who was completely obedient to him and able to faithfully carry out his will.
Although Emperor Dezong admired Yang Yan's extraordinary demeanor and literary talent, Yang Yan's seriousness and stubbornness made Emperor Dezong gradually tire of him, and in this case, the appearance of a soft and obedient Lu Qi naturally made Emperor Dezong feel like a fish in the water.
On the other hand, although Lu Qi was deeply favored by Emperor Dezong, he was always cautious and careful, always putting Emperor Dezong's will first, although he would inevitably have various problems such as exclusion of dissidents and nepotism, but he was born into nobility, honesty and self-preservation, and had no corruption and ills, which was also an important factor in his ability to attract Emperor Dezong.
The so-called dictatorship of Lu Qi, his real identity is only as a faithful implementer of Dezong's policies. This relationship between imperial power and xiang power did not begin with Lu Qi, but began with Li Linfu during the time of Emperor Xuanzong, as did Yuan Zai during the reign of Emperor Daizong.
However, there is a difference that Li Linfu has been in phase for 19 years, Yuan Zai also has 16 years, while Lu Qi has only a short period of 3 years. But this was almost entirely due to the consequences of the Jianzhong Rebellion, a severe political disaster that wiped out the prestige of Dezong and Lu Qi.
Under the threat of Li Huaiguang, who was backed by force, Emperor Dezong was forced to depose Lu Qi, but only a year later, in the first year of Zhenyuan, Dezong, who had just survived the crisis, wanted to use Lu Qi again. However, forces that had fought with Lu Qi and had different political interests with Lu Qi united to oppose Dezong's use of Lu Qi, and finally forced Dezong to make concessions. This was a far-reaching political event, and a major shift in the style of Dezong's later reign should be traced back to this point.
When Emperor Dezong was preparing to use Lu Qi again, the fiercest opponents included Yuan Gaohe and Shu Que, Chen Jing, Zhao Shu, Pei Yi, Yuwen Xuan, Lu Jingliang, Zhang Xian, and others, as well as the chancellor Li Mian's crown prince Wei Lun, the secretary of the Taifu Prefecture, Zhang Xiangong, and Li Bi, the general of the Imperial Household, who also expressed their support for Yuan Gao and others through various direct or indirect means. In the midst of the accusations, Lu Qi became a public enemy of the imperial court.
It is worth noting that the community of advisors played a major role in this opposition. In the Tang Dynasty, the counselors were a very special group, including picking up the remains and filling in the gaps, giving things to the middle, consulting doctors, and scattering horses and constant attendants. Theoretically, the role of this group was to stop the abuse of power by bureaucrats and even emperors due to the high concentration of power.
It can be seen from this that this was a political action between several political groups at different levels to cooperate with each other and jointly block Lu Qi, and they were actually able to force the emperor to give in, indicating that the strength of the anti-Lu Qi forces had reached the point where Emperor Dezong had to avoid three points.
Of course, not everyone has had conflicts and contradictions with Lu Qi, and not all of them have been directly excluded and suppressed by Lu Qi, but in the three years that Lu Qi was in power, especially in the one and a half years of his so-called dictatorship, because he actively consolidated his position and squeezed out officials who disagreed with him in politics, he formed a certain degree of monopoly on political resources. Because Lu Qi monopolized the government, he deprived many people of their political rights and interests, thus becoming a public enemy in their eyes.
It is not difficult to imagine that if Emperor Dezong's plan to revive Lu Qi is implemented, Lu Qi's political enemies will once again face that kind of repressive political repression, which is obviously the last thing they want to see.
Thus, in the face of the public enemy Lu Qi, these people whose political positions may not be consistent are united. Under the joint efforts of the chancellor, the chancellor, the counselor, and other forces, Emperor Dezong finally gave in, and Lu Qi was given the title of Lizhou (澧州) and died soon after.
Dezong's initial change of course at the beginning of his rise to power shows that he is very different from Daizong. This difference is due to both the development of the real situation and the psychological confrontation caused by the long-term tension between father and son. It is undeniable that the father-son relationship between dai and de had an important impact on the politics of Emperor Dezong in the early years of Emperor Dezong, and the new emperor was anxious to get rid of the influence of the former courtiers, resulting in disturbances in the central political situation.
After the short-term reign of the transitional figure Cui Youfu, Yuan Zai's successor Yang Yan returned to the political center with the support of Emperor Dezong, and the struggle between him and Liu Yan became the main cause of political instability in the early years of Jianzhong. Although Yang Yan, with the support of Emperor Dezong, won victory over Liu Yan, he himself was defeated shortly afterwards and became a victim of political struggle.
Lu Qi bore the name of a traitor in the main history, and his 3 years in power were completely denied. In fact, although Lu Qi served as prime minister for nearly 3 years, even during the so-called Lu Qi dictatorship, his identity was only that of a faithful implementer of Dezong's policies. Lu Qi's main task in Xiang was to carry out Dezong's basic national policy of leveling the town, and because he faithfully carried out Dezong's policies, he gained the trust of Dezong.
However, the outbreak of the Jingshi Rebellion led to the exile of Emperor Dezong, and Lu Qi, as the ruling chancellor, was recognized as having the primary responsibility, so he was deposed. Old Shi Duo believed that Lu Qi should be responsible for Yang Yan's death and Li Huaiguang's rebellion, but in fact, Dezong's suspicion was the root cause of Yang Yan's death and Li Huaiguang's rebellion, and Lu Qi was only the executor of Dezong's will.
The controversy surrounding the use of Lu Qi in the first year of the Zhen Dynasty was initiated by Yuan Gaoren, who had a grudge with Lu Qi, who united with other political forces in the DPRK and China to jointly prevent the reuse of the public enemy Lu Qi, with the purpose of preventing Lu Qi, who was deeply trusted by Emperor Dezong, from once again seizing power and monopolizing the government. Essentially, it's a typical power struggle.
Leaders always love to use the ones that are satisfactory, but often the ones who are willing to go along with the heart will become the target of the public, and the one who can really achieve the middle way is to be superior