In the autumn of the thirteenth year of Tianbao (754), one day, a strong wind suddenly passed over Southwest Lake in the south of Jiaxing City, and several high-pitched cranes pierced the tranquility of the sunset and resounded through the sky. I saw a huge white crane passing over the Southwest Lake, flying towards the colorful sunset. Looking back at the Huating Pavilion surrounded by flowers and trees, there used to be one white crane on each of the four eaves corners, but now there are only three left. Many people stopped to look up and commented: "The white crane on the eaves of Huating has become an immortal and turned into a real white crane."
As the cranes of Huating creaked, a baby boy came to the world holding a beautiful jade in his hand. He is the ninth child of Lu Kan, a prominent family in Jiangnan. Lu Kan had high hopes for this extraordinary son, named him Lu Zhi, and wrote a poem: "The Mid-Autumn Festival gathering of nine sons, in the bright moon of Jiahe; the Huating Pavilion is near the Mao River, and the feathers and cranes are flying into the sky. I cherish the suffering of the people and write a poem. Poems have made great contributions to the world; they are dedicated to the emperors Yao and Shun, and they are the breeze through the ages."
From the "Fang Miao Du Duan" in the reign of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty to the "Yao Chong" in the heyday of Emperor Xuanzong and Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty. "Song Jing", Zhang Jiuling, the last famous prime minister in the prosperous Kaiyuan era, the people of the country and the dawn of the Tang Dynasty were all looking forward to the emergence of such a virtuous prime minister.
It can be said that Lu Zhi was born in response to the times, and then stepped onto the stage of history step by step. At the age of 18, he was promoted to Jinshi. At the age of 19, he was admitted to the Bo Xue Hong Ci Department. At the age of 20, he was awarded the title of Zheng County Lieutenant of Huazhou. At the age of 25, he was awarded the title of Weinan County Lord Bo for his outstanding calligraphy judgment. At the age of 38, he became the prime minister. Lu Zhi cherished the common people, Fan Yanke was loyal to the emperor, reformed and governed, literary and military strategies, loyal to the public and the country, and honest for the people. Throughout my life, I have abided by "I will live up to the emperor, and I will live up to what I have learned."
The famous Chongqing writer Qin Yong's heart-breaking masterpiece "The Incorruptible Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty, Lu Zhi", with 350,000 words, is presented in a panoramic manner. It tells the glorious life of Lu Zhi, a famous minister through the ages. This book gives a detailed description of Lu Zhi's merits and deeds from his birth, education, and official career, especially after he became prime minister. It allows readers to see a full life of a virtuous man who strategized, fought bloody battles, cared about the common people, turned the tide before it fell, supported the building before it collapsed, and made great contributions to rebuilding the country.
A self-incriminating edict to save the Tang Dynasty from overthrowing the country
In the fourth year of Jianzhong (785), the "Jingyuan Mutiny" broke out in Chang'an. Zhu Si pretended to be emperor, "the waves in the sea were shaking, and the clouds were disturbing". Tang Dezong fled to Fengtian in a hurry. Lu Zhi's retinue and Jiaba moved to Fengtian, where they served as counselors and secretaries. The imperial edict was written at noon, and it was completed by Sahan, who was in charge of the "internal minister".
When people were frightened and the Tang Dynasty was about to collapse, Lu Zhi boldly suggested that Tang Dezong "take the blame for himself in order to move people's hearts, do not hesitate to change his ways, and express gratitude to the world." He drafted and promulgated the most famous "Crime" in history. "Ji Zhao".
One after another, fast horses whipped and relays were relayed from level to level, spreading Fengtian’s edict to the whole country. "Edict of Sin" was like a spring breeze in the first year of Xingyuan, which quickly blew across the north and south of the Yangtze River and into thousands of households. An imperial edict travels five hundred miles a day, like thousands of troops, frightening hundreds of thousands of rebels, and making all warriors in the world shed tears.
The key reasons why this "Edict of Sinful Oneself" can move people's hearts lies in five points: first, the emperor criticized himself and led his teachers to be frugal; second, he paid attention to the people's livelihood and exempted them from taxes and servitude; third, he maintained the unity of the country. The fourth is to have clear rewards and punishments, "forgive them with salt"; the fifth is to respect virtue and seek talents, and prepare gifts and invite them.
These five points are exactly what the common people, scholar-bureaucrats and most of the people in the world want. What everyone hopes for is the common people's common yearning for a better life. Therefore, positive public opinion suddenly turned towards the court. The public opinion war and united front launched by Lu Zhi achieved unprecedented success. The people of Chang'an City under Zhu Si's control were disorganized, the rebel soldiers were in panic, and countless soldiers fled the camp. It can be said that "a letter can defeat eight thousand enemies."
A dragon and tiger list can recruit the world's most talented people
In February of the eighth year of Zhenyuan (792), Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty An imperial edict was issued to order Lu Zhi, the minister of the Ministry of War, to serve as the imperial examiner for that year's imperial examination. Liang Su, a bachelor of the Imperial Academy, and Cui Yuanhan, a foreign minister of the Ministry of Rites, assisted in the examination.
Lu Zhi boldly reformed the scientific examination system, improved the scientific examination conditions, made the imperial examination more fair and just, and was more conducive to selecting truly outstanding talents.
After the examiners reviewed the papers day and night and reported to Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty for approval, a total of 23 people passed the imperial examination together. Among these Jinshi, Wang Ya, Li Jiang, and Cui Qun later became prime ministers. Geng Chengxuan was promoted to the Minister of Rites, Liu Zungu was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, Feng Suqian was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Xu Jitong was promoted to be a doctor in the Ministry of War... Ouyang Zhan, Han Yu, and Li Guan became a famous writer in the mid-Tang Dynasty and left a series of immortal poems and poems to later generations.
Lu Zhi used the Confucian thought of "gaining the crowd will gain the country; losing the crowd will lose the country" and the employment criteria of "seek talents, value talents, and everyone will use their knowledge" to recruit talents from all over the world and create China The first famous "Dragon and Tiger List" in history is exactly "the stars and shadows fall under the third level, and the peach and plum shadows spread all over the world."
"Getting scholars through the list" is so prosperous that people become famous. The famous "Dragon and Tiger List" created a meritocratic imperial examination environment for the literati in the Zhenyuan era. After Lu Zhi, the Dragon and Tiger List became another name for people promoted through the imperial examination, and literati all looked forward to the Zhenyuan era when "one was on the Dragon and Tiger List for the first time".
In the turbulent Mid-Tang Dynasty, who was "living high in the temple and worrying about his people, living far away in the rivers and lakes and worrying about his king"? Lu Zhi also!
Faced with the chaos of the feudal towns and the separatist rule, Lu Zhi learned from Jia Yi's "Public Security Policy", strengthened the political thought of centralizing imperial power, consolidated imperial power, cut off the evil and rebellion, and quelled the "Four Kings and Two Troubles" that swept over half of China. Emperor's Rebellion". In terms of military affairs, diplomacy, and personnel matters, he thought deeply and worked hard, and his blood was always flowing for the Tang Dynasty.
In the face of natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, Lu Zhi immediately provided relief to the victims and compensated the poor. He also drafted and promulgated disaster relief edicts, restored charity warehouses, adjusted prices, prepared for famine relief, and vigorously implemented his "Six Articles of Equalizing Taxes and Benefiting the People" throughout the country. His heart always held the suffering and happiness of the common people in the world.
However, Lu Zhi, who has a trace of a crane, even though he has a strong heart and a pure heart, finally fell into the historical dilemma of the abolition of discipline, in the ups and downs of the officialdom, and in the dangerous Ming Palace. In the midst of the storm, the feathers fell down in the greedy evil, the cranes roared in the river, and the clouds and cranes passed away.
"People of the past have gone away on the yellow crane." But in the thousands of years of Chinese civilization, they have left a profound footprint of a generation of virtuous and honest prime ministers.
His warning words of loyalty to the country, governance and peace of the country are clear and immortal, demonstrating the personality of a generation of sage prime ministers: "I will live up to the emperor, and I will live up to what I have learned." Power, shining with super noble, clear and transparent political wisdom. His integrity and ethics have become a model for generations of us to learn from.
Reading "Lu Zhi, the Honest Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty" by the famous writer Qin Yong, Lu Zhi's true patriotism and love for the people shine on the page, like bright rays of light that brighten our eyes when we look back at history.
Su Shi, one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, gave Lu Zhi high praise: "Lu Zhi, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, was a talented king's assistant and a scholar of the emperor. He discussed matters deeply and his words were inseparable from morality. He was as wise as Zifang's writing is excellent, his argumentation is like Jia Yi's, and his skill is not sparse. He uses it to detect the wrongs in the emperor's heart, and his ambition to connect the world. Dezong uses harshness as his ability, and Zhi admonishes him with loyalty; Dezong uses suspicion as his technique. , and Zhi persuaded him to push for sincerity; Dezong liked to use troops, but Zhi put them first; Dezong liked to gather wealth, but Zhi was anxious to disperse it. , sin oneself in order to win people's hearts, correct one's mistakes in order to comply with the law of heaven, eliminate villains in order to eliminate the troubles of the people, and cherish the name and tools in order to wait for merit. This kind of flow can be said to be the source of happiness that enters the mouth of the mouth, and the acupuncture of the body is blind. If Dezong makes full use of his words, Zhenguan can be restored.
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