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in the 14th year of emperor xuanzong of tang dynasty's tianbao reign (755 ad), an lushan, who was also the governor of the three towns of fan yang, pinglu and hedong in the northern border of the tang dynasty, led 150,000 elite troops, claiming to have 200,000, to the south to attack the palace, which marked the beginning of the "anshi rebellion".

in less than a year, the rebels had devastated henan and hebei, and captured luoyang and chang'an. emperor xuanzong of tang had no choice but to flee westward with yang guifei and a group of ministers and soldiers. on the way, crown prince li heng, supported and instigated by his subordinates, went to lingwu to proclaim himself emperor, and became emperor suzong of tang. emperor xuanzong of tang, li longji, was honored as the emperor emeritus and entered shu to survive. the once glorious tang dynasty was now in turmoil and on the verge of collapse.

at this time, li longji had a meaningful conversation with his ministers and the imperial censor pei shiyan.

one day, li longji learned that emperor suzong li heng had appointed prime minister fang guan to lead troops to fight against the rebels in order to recapture chang'an. he shook his head and said to pei shiyan:

"this is not a talent for defeating the bandits. if yao yuanshong were still alive, the bandits would not have been destroyed." (new book of tang, biography of li linfu)

although li longji had long been addicted to alcohol and sex and no longer had the courage and bravery he had when he first ascended the throne, he still had the ability to judge people. the subsequent battle proved his judgment. fang guan was ignorant of military affairs and led the 40,000 troops that tang suzong had finally assembled to a complete defeat. fortunately, the famous general guo ziyi stepped in to take over the command and the army was not completely annihilated. from then on, guo ziyi became the main general of the tang army and took on the heavy responsibility of suppressing the rebellion.

the yao yuanchong mentioned by li longji is yao chong, a famous prime minister in the prosperous tang dynasty. according to historical records, yao chong was knowledgeable about government affairs and had outstanding talents. therefore, "he was prime minister for three times and concurrently served as the minister of war. he was able to memorize all the garrisons, soldiers, horses, and weapons along the border." (zizhi tongjian, tang ji 26) he also became the number one meritorious official who assisted emperor xuanzong li longji in creating the "kaiyuan prosperity".

when talking about the famous ministers and prime ministers he appointed during his administration, li longji opened up his mouth, as if he had returned to the prosperous days of vigor and splendor. after yao chong, he evaluated another prime minister, song jing. unlike yao chong, who was good at official administration and resolute, song jing was law-abiding, upright and incorruptible, and had a good reputation in the era of wu zetian and emperor xuanzong of tang. however, li longji did not think highly of song jing, saying that he "sold his integrity for fame." perhaps it was because song jing had contradicted him many times when he was prime minister before, and li longji was still brooding over it.

in this way, li longji evaluated more than ten people in succession untilli linfuat that time, li longji commented: this person is jealous of talented people and has no equal in the world.

at this time, pei shiyan, who had been silent, spoke up: "since your majesty knew it long ago, why did you let him be the prime minister for so long?"

pei shiyan was wrong. during the long reign of emperor xuanzong of tang, a total of 27 prime ministers were appointed. among them, yao chong, song jing, zhang jiuling and other famous prime ministers served for about three years. the notorious traitor yang guozhong, who was just executed by the imperial guards for mutiny, served as prime minister for less than four years. most of the others, including liu youqiu, wei zhigu, guo yuanzhen and others who helped li longji seize power in a coup, served for only about a year before being cleared out of the power center by li longji for various reasons.

there was only one exception among these people - li linfu. among the "high-ranking officials" who appeared in the power center like a revolving lantern, he served as prime minister for more than ten years.

pei shiyan made no effort to hide his disgust for li linfu in just one sentence. in his opinion, if this treacherous prime minister who was "sweet-mouthed but sharp-hearted" had not abused his power, formed cliques for personal gain, blocked the channels of communication, and controlled the government for nearly 20 years, there would never have been such a sudden and uncontrollable chaos. of course, if li longji had not favored and protected him in every way, li linfu would never have been able to disrupt the government and spread poison throughout the country - pei shiyan's dissatisfaction with li longji was also evident in his words.

this sentence undoubtedly touched li longji's heart. he, who had just been talking eloquently, could only "remain silent" at this moment.

the central government is struggling, and the corrupt officials are in power

why did li longji have such a reaction when talking about li linfu? this has to start with li linfu's rise to power.

li linfu first hooked up with the new political upstart of emperor xuanzong of tang dynasty, yuwen rong, who was an expert in making money. the prime minister at that time was zhang shuo, who had rich experience and talents. he served as prime minister twice during the reign of emperor xuanzong and personally presided over the fengshan ceremony at mount tai, and was deeply trusted by emperor xuanzong. however, he was greedy for money and was domineering, making many enemies. in particular, he looked down on yuwen rong, who was dedicated to making money, and suppressed many of his suggestions. li linfu took the opportunity to collude with yuwen rong and cui yinfu, the governor of henan province, who was also suppressed by zhang shuo, to write a letter to emperor xuanzong of tang dynasty, impeaching zhang shuo for colluding with sorcerers and astrologers, accepting bribes, and committing corruption for personal gain. xuanzong then dismissed zhang shuo from his position as prime minister.

in this way, li linfu"conspirator"'s "personality" officially appeared on the political stage of the tang dynasty for the first time.

on the other hand, li linfu also used his skills to smooth the relationship with the harem. he befriended eunuchs and concubines, and through them he could keep abreast of xuanzong's thoughts and actions, "so his words and deeds were always in line with emperor xuanzong's wishes." (old book of tang, biography of li linfu) in the former dynasty and the harem, li linfu carefully wove a huge and complex network of relationships around emperor li longji, which also started his career as a powerful minister who monopolized the center and acted arbitrarily.

at this time, xuanzong favored consort wu huifei in the harem, but the crown prince was li ying, the son of consort zhao li, whom xuanzong had taken in when he was in the palace, not consort wu huifei's son. this gave li linfu an opportunity, and he immediately used his connections to express his loyalty to consort wu huifei: "i am willing to protect prince shou (li ying, the son of consort wu huifei)", and won consort wu huifei's favor. under consort wu huifei's "pillow talk", li linfu was appointed as the minister of the yellow gate, and the next year, he was appointed as the third rank of the secretariat. at this time, li linfu began to compete head-on with prime minister zhang jiuling.

zhang jiuling was the last wise prime minister of the prosperous tang dynasty. he dared to speak out and advise the emperor, repeatedly advising xuanzong to be prepared for danger in times of peace and rectify the government, and opposed the ambitious li linfu as prime minister. li linfu "despite his hatred, he still served him with all his heart" (zizhi tongjian, tang ji 30), and thus they became enemies. and the opportunity to "defeat" zhang jiuling soon arrived...

when xuanzong was the prince of linzi, concubine zhao lifei, huangfu deyi and liu cairen were all favored. concubine zhao lifei gave birth to the crown prince li ying, huangfu deyi gave birth to the prince of e li yao, and liu cairen gave birth to the prince of guang li ju. after xuanzong ascended the throne, he fell in love with concubine wu huifei, and concubine zhao lifei and others were left out. concubine wu huifei gave birth to the prince of shou li mao, who was favored more than other princes. the crown prince once met with li yao and li ju in the mansion, and they all felt resentful and complained because their mothers had fallen out of favor. yang hui, the son-in-law of the emperor, married princess xianyi, the daughter of concubine wu huifei. he often secretly inquired about the faults of the three princes and then told concubine wu huifei. concubine wu huifei cried and told xuanzong, "the crown prince is plotting to recruit his followers to murder us mother and son, and he curses the emperor." xuanzong was furious and wanted to depose the crown prince and the princes of e and guang.

zhang jiuling hurriedly stopped him, and cited many historical examples of monarchs who believed in slander and deposed and killed the crown prince, leading to disastrous consequences, and urged xuanzong not to depose the crown prince and shake the foundation of the country. although xuanzong had not made up his mind, he was very unhappy. after leaving the court, li linfu privately said to the eunuch who was valued by xuanzong: "this matter is the emperor's family affair, why discuss it with outsiders!" xuanzong was still hesitant, but the seeds of doubt had already been planted in his heart, and he completely lost his trust in zhang jiuling. li linfu struck while the iron was hot and stepped up his operations, and eventually replaced zhang jiuling's position as the chief prime minister, becoming the most powerful prime minister in xuanzong's reign.

the misfortunes of crown prince li ying and prince e guang did not stop there. with the dismissal of zhang jiuling, wu huifei's party intensified their persecution. later, yang hui, the son-in-law of the emperor, reported that the three of them had joined forces with the crown princess's brother, xue xiu, to plot something bad. xuanzong summoned the prime minister to discuss the matter. li linfu replied, "this is your majesty's family affair. we, as ministers, should not get involved." after hearing this, xuanzong made up his mind to depose li ying, li yao, and li ju as commoners. soon, li ying, li yao, and li ju were executed at the post station east of the capital, and xue xiu was executed in lantian county - this is the very famous "three commoners" incident in the history of the tang dynasty.

this marked the establishment of li linfu's once unshakable political position in the reign of emperor xuanzong.

long-term prime minister, merits and demerits are difficult to judge

from the time when zhang jiuling was squeezed out to the time when li linfu died of illness in the eleventh year of tianbao (753), li linfu did achieve some political achievements in the nearly twenty years, which played a certain positive role in the stable operation of the tang dynasty and the continuation of the kaiyuan prosperity.

in terms of economy, li linfu made great efforts to ban private coinage and improve the inflation situation; he promulgated the "changxing zhifu" to unify and simplify the central budget; at the same time, he reformed household taxes and land taxes and cracked down on illegal tyrants. in terms of justice, he clarified the sentencing standards of the "dingzha gu", carefully reviewed death penalty sentences, and insisted on cautious killing and less killing. in july of the 25th year of kaiyuan (737), xu qiao, the shaoqing of dali, reported: "this year, 58 death sentences have been issued in the country. it is said that the dali prison has been too murderous and birds do not roost. now there are magpies nesting in the tree." all officials praised it for "almost leading to the punishment", which shows how effective it was. emperor xuanzong issued a special edict to commend li linfu for his political measures: "what's more, he knows everything, reforms common affairs, reduces complexity and takes the essentials, and is successful in everything he does." (sun ti: "the decree of conferring li linfu the duke of jin and niu xianke the duke of bin")

in the 10th year of kaiyuan (722), emperor xuanzong ordered the compilation of the six codes, which was an important official code of law during the heyday of the tang dynasty. zhang shuo was the first to preside over this matter, but it was too difficult and it was not completed for many years. later, zhang jiuling commissioned lu shanjing and li linfu commissioned yuan xian to revise it. it was not until the 26th year of kaiyuan (738) that it was presented to emperor xuanzong. scholars have found that li linfu added annotations that accounted for about two-thirds of the book, and also added the newly edited "ling" and "shi" in the 25th year of kaiyuan (737), which became an important document for later generations to study the laws and regulations of the tang dynasty.

the old book of tang gave a fair evaluation of li linfu's contribution, saying that he was "very cautious in everything, organized all affairs, improved the rules and regulations, and had a constant sense of justice in removing officials from both inside and outside the country." however, li linfu indulged xuanzong's extravagant enjoyment, harmed the country and the people, and excluded dissidents in order to consolidate his favor, which also left a bad record in history books.

for example, li linfu wanted to block xuanzong's eyes and ears and seize power, but he did something as famous as zhao gao's call a deer a horse in the qin dynasty. he called the censors and told them clearly:

"now that we have a wise monarch, the ministers are already too busy obeying the emperor, so why should we say anything more! haven't you seen those horses standing in front of the main hall as ceremonial guards? although they are fed with third-grade food, if they neigh or cry, they will be pulled down immediately. by then, it will be too late to regret."

this deterrence worked, and xuanzong's way of admonishing others was cut off. in this way, relying on the "information gap" of being second only to the emperor, li linfu played the emperor and the court officials around, and his reputation of "sweet words but sharp swords" spread like wildfire and became widely known. especially in the power struggle with crown prince li heng, he used his treacherous tricks to the extreme.

li linfu made friends with wu huifei and attempted to support her son, prince shou li mao, to ascend the throne. he also played a key role in the "three commoners" incident, which naturally offended the new crown prince li heng who was subsequently appointed by emperor xuanzong. li linfu knew that although he was currently in a high position and had great power, if emperor xuanzong died one day and the crown prince ascended the throne, his death would probably be imminent. therefore, he spared no effort to recruit his followers and collect evidence of crown prince li heng's treason, deliberately trying to overthrow the crown prince.

soon, he got his chance.

huangfu weiming, the governor of longyou, grew up with the new crown prince li heng and had made great contributions to the frontier. when he presented his victory to the court, he was dissatisfied with li linfu's monopoly and privately persuaded xuanzong to dismiss li linfu. he was discovered by li linfu's spies in the palace. li linfu used his minions to follow huangfu weiming and found that on the night of the 15th day of the first lunar month, the crown prince went out to meet wei jian, the brother of the minister of punishment and crown princess wei. later, wei jian met huangfu weiming in the taoist room of jinglong temple in chang'an. li linfu took the opportunity to report that wei jian and huangfu weiming were secretly planning to make the crown prince emperor. wei jian and huangfu weiming were arrested and imprisoned. xuanzong also suspected that wei jian and huangfu weiming had conspired, but there was no conclusive evidence after trial. he issued an edict to blame wei jian for seeking an official position and having ambitions, and demoted him to jinyun taishou; huangfu weiming was demoted to bochuan taishou for sowing discord between the monarch and his ministers. afterwards, emperor xuanzong sent the imperial censor luo xishi to catch up with wei jian and kill him, and also killed huangfu weiming in qianzhong. if crown prince li heng had not severed his relationship with his wife wei out of fear, and if no misconduct had been found against the crown prince, and if emperor xuanzong was unwilling to launch another major case and depose the crown prince after the "three commoners" incident, li heng would probably have been killed.

afterwards, li linfu was unwilling to give up, and he concocted one conspiracy after another, intending to get rid of the prince as soon as possible. however, he finally gave up because he did not get the approval of xuanzong.

having done so many bad things, li linfu knew that he had committed many evil deeds. once, his son li xiu pointed at the servants and his father in the garden and said, "you have been in power for a long time, and you have many enemies all over the world. now that disaster has come, do you want to do this?" (zizhi tongjian, tang ji 31) li linfu's answer was also quite helpless: "it has come to this, what should i do?"

in the tang dynasty, before li linfu, the prime minister had only a few followers, and people did not need to avoid them when they walked on the street. however, li linfu knew that he had done many evil things and was worried that someone would assassinate him, so he "had more than a hundred cavalrymen as left and right wings, the jinwu stationed in the streets, and the vanguard was hundreds of steps away, and the officials fled." it is said that he also set up secret passages at home and changed rooms to sleep in one night, so that even his family did not know where he would sleep that night.

all good things must come to an end. no matter how long li linfu's monopoly lasted, it would eventually come to an end. in august of the fourth year of the tianbao reign (745), emperor xuanzong conferred the title of imperial concubine to yang yuhuan. yang yuhuan's cousin yang zhao (yang guozhong) also rose to prominence by relying on nepotism and was promoted to the position of supervisory censor. this man was good at observing people's words and expressions and assessing the situation. he first joined li linfu's camp and participated in many conspiracies as a henchman. at the same time, he was trusted by emperor xuanzong for his ability to amass wealth and was given the name yang guozhong. later, his desire for power expanded and he directly challenged li linfu.

li linfu was getting older and older, and he was increasingly unable to do what he wanted. li linfu's former cronies, such as the cruel officials ji wen and wang yu, also changed their minds and joined yang guozhong. yang guozhong also used jiannan and xichuan as external aid, and cultivated his cronies both inside and outside, forming a power network that was even larger than when li linfu was in power. after li linfu died of illness, yang guozhong liquidated li linfu on the charge that li linfu and the surrendered foreign general abusi had colluded to rebel. li linfu's descendants were dismissed from office and exiled to lingnan and qianzhong. li linfu himself was also dissected, "the pearls were taken out, the gold and purple were stripped off, and he was buried in a small coffin like a commoner" (zizhi tongjian, tang ji 32).

imperial power and ministerial power, two sides of the same coin

back to the story at the beginning of the article, why did li longji remain silent when pei shiyan questioned him about li linfu's long-term usurpation of the position of prime minister?

because he understood that li linfu was the person who knew his inner thoughts best, and was the projection of the great imperial power he controlled at the center of the empire. simply put, li linfu was a projection of the two sides of li longji.

since the establishment of the li tang dynasty, the succession of power in the central government has been in turmoil. first, li shimin, as the second son, launched the xuanwu gate incident, killing his brother and forcing his father to abdicate, and became emperor taizong of tang. in his later years, taizong was trapped in the dispute between wei wang li tai and crown prince li chengqian, and had to depose both of them, and made the benevolent and weak jin wang li zhi the crown prince, who was emperor gaozong of tang. and meritorious officials such as hou junji and zhangsun wuji were also involved, divided into camps, and died or demoted, which greatly damaged the vitality of the court. before and after wu zetian ascended the throne, in order to clear the way for autocracy, she forced her two sons li hong and li xian to be killed one after another, and her other two sons li xian and li dan were demoted to distant states and trembling with fear. it was not until before wu zetian's death that zhang jianzhi and other ministers loyal to the li tang launched the "shenlong coup" to rebuild the tang dynasty, and li xian and li dan successively became emperors. the rest of the li tang royal family were also killed by wu zetian and a group of cruel officials under her command, with only one in ten left and rivers of blood flowing.

the li tang dynasty was re-established, but the disputes and infighting did not stop. empress wei and daughter princess anle of zhongzong li xian attempted to emulate wu zetian and claim the throne, and killed zhongzong (the cause of zhongzong li xian's death is still controversial). seeing that the li tang royal family was about to suffer another disaster, li longji, the son of prince li dan and prince of linzi, contacted the imperial guards and raised troops to start an uprising, launching the tanglong rebellion to kill empress wei's party, and welcomed his father prince li dan as emperor ruizong of tang, and he was also canonized as the crown prince. after ruizong ascended the throne, he was trapped in the power struggle between crown prince li longji and his sister princess taiping. in desperation, li longji forced him to abdicate by using the astrological warning as an excuse. li longji then launched another coup, eliminated princess taiping's party and forced them to commit suicide. only then did the rule of the tang dynasty temporarily stabilize.

it can be seen that from the establishment of the dynasty to the accession of li longji, for nearly a hundred years, coups and massacres followed the li tang dynasty like a shadow, and occurred periodically. the royal family, court officials, relatives, and imperial guards were faced with unpredictable power reshuffles at any time, and they struggled to survive in fear and power all the time. in the cruel competition of "winning means winning the imperial power, and losing means killing everyone", li longji became the ultimate winner, but blood, cruelty, and fear have been deeply engraved in li longji's mind, becoming a nightmare that he cannot escape in this life. and absolute control of power, not allowing anyone to interfere, has become the ultimate goal of all his policies.

xuanzong had only one principle for employing people, which was to achieve his own goals. in the first twenty years, xuanzong had no intention of serving as prime minister for a long time. even wise prime ministers such as yao chong, song jing, and zhang jiuling served for about three years. their fundamental purpose was to let themselves take the initiative. in the next twenty years, xuanzong gradually became lazy and extravagant, and did not want to worry too much about government affairs. therefore, li linfu, who was clever, careful, and good at catering to the emperor's wishes, was able to stay in the position of prime minister until his death; yang guozhong also held power until the mawei slope rebellion after the anshi rebellion. these were all manifestations of xuanzong's greed for power.

of the two, li linfu is the most typical. as a member of the royal family of the tang dynasty, li linfu was well versed in common affairs and had a shrewd mind. he was very suitable for mediating the complex relationship between the royal family of the tang dynasty and the court officials and generals, and served as a powerful tool for xuanzong to control the government and continue the prosperous era. after li linfu's death, he was blamed for a series of unjust cases that he had created on behalf of the imperial power. the label of "traitorous prime minister" also became his exclusive standard. li linfu finally played the role of xuanzong's "scapegoat".

in addition, li linfu was actually shrewd, capable, and experienced in human relations, which was quite similar to emperor xuanzong li longji when he was young. it can be said that li longji's bribery, secret planning, and thunderous strikes in the bloody coup d'état were two sides of the same coin, and they were similar in nature. in the depths of their souls, li longji and li linfu appreciated each other and were confidants of each other, so li linfu could accurately guess the nature of emperor xuanzong and deeply understood that what emperor xuanzong valued most was the supreme imperial power in his hands. the only direction of his administration was to maintain emperor xuanzong's absolute power as a monarch and maximize his own interests in the process.

unfortunately, emperor xuanzong li longji and prime minister li linfu eventually gave up the power they regarded as their lives and left the stage of history, leaving the tang dynasty, which survived the catastrophe, to drift away and slide into the abyss in the bitter wind and rain. behind them was a setting sun of the empire that was destined to set.