As the most powerful unified dynasty in Chinese history, the Tang Dynasty not only had many Ming emperors, but also many famous faces. There are four representatives of the first echelon of famous figures in the Tang Dynasty, namely" Fang Du (Fang Xuanling, Du Ruyi) in the front, and Yao Song (姚崇, Song Jing) in the back" after that. However, some people wonder that Du Ruyi has only been the prime minister for less than three years, why is he still the famous minister of the first echelon of the Tang Dynasty?
Born in the fifth year of the reign of Emperor Sui (585), Du Ruyi became an important adviser to Li Shimin, the King of Qin, during the great chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and made significant contributions to the unification of the Tang Dynasty and the ascension of Emperor Taizong to the throne. After Emperor Taizong of Tang ascended the throne, he appointed Du Ruyi as the Shangshu of the Bingbu And made him the Duke of Cai. In the second year of Zhenguan (628), Emperor Taizong of Tang appointed Du Ruyi as the post of inspector and official Shangshu, officially becoming the chancellor of the Tang Dynasty.
In the fourth year of Zhenguan (6 May 630), Du Ruyi died of illness at the age of 46. That is to say, Du Ruyi only served as prime minister for less than three years at most. In contrast, Yao Chong's reign was prime minister for four years, Song Jing was prime minister for eight years, and Fang Xuanling was a record two years as prime minister. Du Ruyi, who had only been prime minister for less than three years, was on a par with the above three names in history.
Tang Taizong's Zhenguan period can be roughly divided into three stages: the first stage is the four years from the ascension to the throne to Zhenguan; the second stage from the fifth year of Zhenguan to the seventeenth year of Zhenguan; and the third stage from the eighteenth year of Zhenguan to the twenty-third year of Zhenguan. The first stage had the greatest impact on Zhenguan and the subsequent history, because Zhenguan's general line of governance and organizational construction were basically completed in the first stage.
The years when Du Ruyi became prime minister were the most critical first stage of Zhenguan's rule, and Du Ruyi was the second chancellor second only to Fang Xuanling. Many of the major state system reforms and policy formulation in the first phase of the reign of Zhenguan were responsible for Du Ruyi, such as streamlining officials, reforming the military system, implementing the equalization system, improving the prefectural army, and so on, and their positive impact continued until the Wu Zetian period.
Although Du Ruhan only served as chancellor for less than three years, he laid a very important foundation for the rule of Zhenguan, and his political legacy even benefited Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian. Because of this, later generations referred to Du Ruyi, Together with Fang Xuanling, Yao Chong, and Song Jing, "there was Fang Du before and Yao Song after that", which was the first echelon of the Tang Dynasty.