Lü Mengzheng (944 – 1011 AD), also spelled Shenggong, was a native of Luoyang, Henan. Prime Minister in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty. In the second year of the Taiping Revival (977 AD), Ding Ugly Branch Was born. After ascending to the throne three times, he was given the title of Duke of Xu and the Prince of Taishi.
Lü Mengzheng came from a bureaucratic family, his grandfather was a waiter, and his father was a high-ranking official. Although Lü Mengzheng came from a bureaucratic family, his father Lü Guitu and his mother Liu Shi were at odds, and when he was very young, his parents were separated, and he lived alone with his mother from an early age, and his life was also very embarrassing.
In 977, Lü Mengzheng and the first queen stepped into the career. Because of his aura of honor, Lü Mengzheng also had a smooth career, and soon became a governor and a deputy minister, and the imperial court also specially rewarded Lü Mengzheng with a residence inside the Lijing Gate. In the nearly thirty years of his eunuch career, Lü Mengzheng was appointed as the governor of Pingzhang three times, while before him, only the famous minister Zhao Pu had been appointed as prime minister three times. As early as when Lü Meng was being appointed deputy prime minister, the first time he heard someone in the crowd say, "This boy has even become the prime minister?" Lü Mengzheng acted as if he hadn't heard it, and someone after the next step said to Lü Mengzheng that he should check who said it. Lu Mengzheng did not let him check, he said, if I know who this person is, I will never forget him for the rest of my life, or I don't know! Let people feel what is the belly of the prime minister. Even Song Taizong sighed, "I am not as good as the amount of righteous qi." During his tenure, he often confronted the emperor, and once at a banquet, Song Taizong was quite comfortable with his achievements in governance, and in the face of the emperor's constantly breeding complacency, Lü Meng immediately said: "The subject saw that there were people hungry and cold for miles outside Kaifeng! I hope that His Majesty can see from the near and far, which is the blessing of the people. "Lü Mengzheng has been an official for decades, always honest and honest, and once a person paid a bribe to Lü Mengzheng, gave him an ancient mirror, and declared that this was a strange treasure, which could shine two hundred miles away. Lu Mengzheng laughed when he heard it, and he said that my face was the size of a washbasin, why should I be able to look in the mirror for two hundred miles? Lü Mengzheng is also very good at discovering talents, and the famous prime minister Fu Bi was also appreciated by Lü Mengzheng when he was a teenager, and Lü Mengzheng let his children be classmates with Fu Bi.
Ming-chung Images
In the second year of Jingde's reign, Lü Mengzheng requested his resignation to be approved by the imperial court, and when he left Tokyo to resign to the emperor, he still said to Emperor Zhenzong of Song, "I only wish His Majesty to think of the people." After returning to Luoyang, Lü Mengzheng lived a very happy old age, his mansion built a very beautiful garden, and he feasted and drank with relatives and friends all day, "descendants around the line, overlapping shouxiang, comfortable and comfortable." Later, Emperor Zhenzong passed through Luoyang twice, and both visited his home as a guest. Zhenzong also asked Lü Mengzheng, who among the sons is available? Lü Mengzheng replied that none of the ministers' sons were enough, but lü Yijian, the nephew of the chancellor, was a talent for the chancellor.
Lü Yijian was the son of Lü Mengzheng's brother Lü Mengheng of Dali Temple, and in the third year of Xianping (1000 AD), Lü Yijian entered the army and entered the career path, at first Lü Yijian was a local official for a long time, with outstanding political achievements, and was evaluated by Emperor Zhenzong as "having the heart to love the country and the people". In the last year of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, he was promoted to the rank of Longtuge Zhishi (龙图阁直學) and was promoted to Langzhong (郎中) of the Ministry of Punishment, and quanzhi (魏知) of Kaifeng Province. At that time, the emperor wrote Lü Yijian's name on the screen, and rumors in the government and the public were that Lü Yijian would be worshipped as a minister. In the first year of Qianxing (1022), Emperor Zhenzong died. The newly enthroned Emperor Renzong of Song was still in his infancy, and Empress Dowager Liu of Zhenzong was in charge of the imperial throne, and Lü Yijian was appointed as a scholar of Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi and Jixiandian University, and officially worshipped him. Empress Liu was self-conscious by nature, and she did not know Xi Guozheng, and the final decision of the imperial government was in her hands. Lü Yijian not only had to deal with complicated government affairs, but also had to deal with the relationship with the empress dowager. In small matters, try to take care of the face of the empress, but in major matters related to the national economy and people's livelihood, it is a matter of not giving in. For example, according to the ritual law, it was necessary to put the divine seat of Emperor Zhenzong of Song into the Taimiao Temple and hold a ceremony attached to the temple, and Empress Liu proposed to provide all the things that Zhenzong used when he was alive in the Taimiao Temple; at the same time, cover the Zhenzong divine throne with a silver cover. He also said that not doing so would be disrespectful to the True Sect. Lü Yijian said that the best remembrance of Zhenzong was to assist the young lord in governing the world well, and waste and extravagance were not what the former emperor had hoped, and finally stopped the empress dowager's practice.
Song Renzong's birth mother, Concubine Li Chen, never recognized Song Renzong during her lifetime, and when Princess Li Died, Empress Liu had originally planned to bury Concubine Li hastily. Later, when Lü Yijian heard about it, he quickly went to the empress dowager and told her, You can't treat Concubine Li Chen like this. Empress Liu was very surprised and said: "Does the chancellor also take care of things in the palace?" Lü Yijian replied, "If you want your Liu family to have wealth to enjoy in the future, don't treat Concubine Li Chen like this." Therefore, Empress Liu buried Concubine Li chen with the etiquette of empress. Later, when Empress Liu died, someone told Emperor Renzong who his birth mother was, and also told him that Empress Liu buried his mother as a palace maid. Emperor Renzong was very angry and ordered the opening of his mother's grave, and was very touched to find that her mother was buried with the etiquette of an empress.
In the early years of Song Renzong's reign, with the careful assistance of Lü Yijian and other ministers, the politics were clear and the society was stable. The "History of Song" once said: "When Emperor Renzong first established, the empress dowager was in the dynasty for more than ten years, and the world was in a state of flux, and the power of Yi Jian was great." After Empress Liu's death, Emperor Renzong of Song began to pro-government. Lü Yijian also put forward eight specific suggestions to the emperor, and Emperor Renzong humbly accepted them. Later, the Khitan threatened to invade, some people proposed that it was better to move the capital to Luoyang, and Lü Yijian proposed to fight the enemy tit-for-tat rather than hide, and at his suggestion, the imperial court changed the name of the palace to Beijing, indicating that it would resolutely resist the Khitans. Later, the Khitan did not invade.
In 1043, Lü Yijian retired as a lieutenant and died of illness shortly after. Emperor Renzong heard the news of Lü Yijian's death and said, "Whoever has forgotten his life like Yijian? ”
Portrait of Lü Gong
Among Lü Yijian's sons, the most outstanding was the third son Lü Gongzhuo, Lü Gongzhuo was studious since childhood and was very valued by his father, and Lü Yijian praised Lü Gongzhuo as an assistant to the prince when he grew up. After entering the army and the first, he once served as the general judge of Yingzhou, and formed a deep friendship with Ouyang Xiu of Zhizhou during his tenure in Yingzhou. Later, as an official in the dynasty, Emperor Renzong was also very appreciative of Lü Gongzhuo.
Song Renzong was childless, so he adopted Zhao Shu, the son of his cousin Zhao Yunrang, as his own son, and later Zhao Shu took the throne, and he was Song Yingzong. After Song Yingzong ascended the throne, he raised the question of how to treat his biological father with courtesy. Lü Gongzhu put forward some different views on this, which were not adopted by Emperor Yingzong. Lü Gongshu criticized Yingzong in person: "Since His Majesty ascended the throne, the trend of receiving advice has not been manifested, but has repeatedly degraded the officials, and I do not know what kind of message Your Majesty wants to convey to the people of the world? ”
After Emperor Shenzong of Song ascended the throne, Lü Gongzhu also repeatedly advised Emperor Shenzong. During Wang Anshi's change of law, Lü Gongzhuo was arranged to serve outside Beijing because he raised some objections. Later, after returning to Beijing, Lü Gongzhu was also able to make reasonable suggestions to the emperor at any time. Although Song Shenzong did not necessarily adopt his opinion, Shenzong still attached great importance to Lü Gongzhuo. When Song Shenzong was made crown prince, he also said that people like Lü Gongzhu and Sima Guang should be the prince's masters.
Entrance to the Great Song Dynasty Xiangyuan Garden
After the death of Emperor Shenzong of Song, the newly enthroned Emperor Zhezong of Song was only ten years old, and Empress Gao came to the throne. Empress Gao asked Lü Gongzhuo how to govern the world, and Lü Gongzhu replied: "The original intention of the former emperor was also to reduce the burden on the people as the first priority. However, the people who later made suggestions to the former emperor turned the change of law into a tool to usurp the people, and those people rejected dissidents, so the longer the new law was introduced, the heavier the burden on the people. However, if some upright people can discuss in detail the world's chaos and disease, and work together, the country will not be difficult to govern. Soon after, Lü Gongzhuo made ten specific suggestions to the imperial court.
In the first year of Yuan You, Lü Gongzhuo was appointed as a chancellor. After Sima Guang's death in the same year, Lü Gongzhuo took on the heavy responsibilities of the imperial court alone. At that time, there was an advisor named Jia Yi who was going to be severely punished for offending the current chancellor when he wrote a letter and said something. Lü Gongzhuo, however, won a relatively light punishment for Jia Yi. Later, Lü Gongzhuo told his colleagues about this matter: "The right and wrong of the counselor's remarks are one thing, and the emperor is still very young, so we must protect the right of the counselor to speak, only in this way will the emperor not be seduced by various heresies in the future in the process of growing up." "During the Yuan You years, the forces opposing the change of law prevailed. Lü Gongshu originally had many objections to the new law, but at this time, he did not simply depose the new law, but advocated differentiated treatment.
Panorama of the Great Song Dynasty Xiangyuan Garden
In the third year of Yuan You, Lü Gongzhuo sincerely proposed to the imperial court to resign his position, and was later appointed as the important minister of Sikong and Pingzhang. In the entire Northern Song Dynasty, there were only four people who were important to the military state in Pingzhang as ministers, and Lü Yijian and Lü Gongzhuo occupied two seats. In February of the following year, Lü Gong died of illness, and Empress Gao was very sad, and said to the courtiers in the courtroom: "Sima Xianggong has died, and now Lü Xianggong has died again, which is really the misfortune of the country!" ”
However, five years after Lü Gongzhu's death, Zhang Huan and others came to power, and Lü Gongzhu, who had been dead for five years, was also deprived of all titles and titles. After that, until the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, with the fierce and complex political struggle of the imperial court, Lü Gongzhu's title has been constantly fluctuating.
After Lü Gong's death, the entire Lü clan had maintained prosperity for more than a hundred years. After entering the Southern Song Dynasty, there were also scholars like Lü Zuqian.