Chapter 10 Chapter 10: Zhang Shuo, the Founder of the Kaiyuan Prosperous Age

The "prosperous age" that Chinese feudal literati have always dreamed of, the highest power combination is nothing more than 4 words: Mingjun Xianxiang.As the famous golden age of China's feudal society - prosperous Tang Dynasty, since its establishment, it has been the era of the combination of wise monarchs and virtuous people.Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Changsun Wuji in the founding period of the country; However, there is one person—Zhang said, who has been ignored intentionally or unintentionally in history. Speaking of this person today, although he is familiar, his evaluation in history is far inferior to that of Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji, Yao Chong, Song Jing, and Zhang Jiuling. One of the reasons is his bad luck.The golden period of his political career coincided with the end of Wu Zetian's reign, and then Tang Zhongzong and Tang Ruizong took turns to be in power. Finally, Li Longji, who had great achievements, was expected, but his reputation was overshadowed by a generation of virtuous ministers Yao Chong.What people like to talk about today is the personal grievances between him and Yao Chong. Compared with the famous figures before and after his death, it can really be said that "people are more angry than others".

But this minister with a relatively gloomy reputation is indeed an important figure in the history of the Tang Dynasty.We can say without exaggeration that his name should be written on Kaiyuan Shengshi's military medal. Zhang said that his courtesy name was Daoqi, and he was originally from Fanyang, Hebei. He was born in Yongji, Shanxi, and later moved his family to Luoyang.He was born in 667 A.D. during the reign of Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi of Tang Dynasty. Although he was also an official, his father's highest official position was only the county magistrate of Hongdong County, so he came from a poor family.

He is poor, but the education Zhang said has not fallen behind. He has studied hard since he was a child.His family is a petty bureaucrat, and he must be cautious in everything in the officialdom. It can be believed that he was clever and well-behaved in the officialdom later, and he was also very influenced by his family.When he was young, Zhang said that he was "precise in thinking and thinking". When he made friends with others, he often didn't say a word when others talked about it. After thinking carefully, he could hit the key point with a few words.Zhang said that he was a young man, and when he was 20 years old, Wu Zetian, who was the queen mother, personally took the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty. .Zhang said that he was well-behaved, and he said in passing: "The minister is in the second division." Seeing that Zhang said that he was so well-behaved and obedient, Wu Zetian was naturally happy.After entering an official position, although the official is not very big, but first to do the prince proofreading, and then the Zhongshu Sheren, both are good jobs with a bright future, and they have become the key training targets.

Zhang Shuo first came to prominence in 701 A.D., when he was ordered to participate in the compilation of the poem "Three Religious Pearls".This is a masterpiece of poetry written by 47 famous scholars at that time, and the chief editor is Zhang Yizhi, Wu Zetian's favorite man.Getting this job is both an opportunity and a trouble for Zhang Shuo.Apart from making Wu Zetian happy, Zhang Yizhi can only be described as an idiot.After being appointed as the editor-in-chief, I did nothing every day, so I gathered a group of literati to drink, have fun, talk, and everyone boasted to each other to pass the time. After a few years, there was no progress.Only Zhang said it was different. Every time he got together, he was silent, and then he recorded and sorted out the improvised poems created by everyone, and then copied them out.For two full years, Zhang Shuo worked as a copyist, but his hard work paid off. This collection of poems in the history of the Tang Dynasty was finally compiled, and more than half of it was sorted out word by word by Zhang Shuo.This down-to-earth young official also attracted everyone's attention. Even Zhang Yizhi himself admired it very much, and highly praised Zhang Shuo's labor to Wu Zetian.People who work don't suffer after all, Zhang said that he was promoted immediately, and he was first ordered to "examine meritorious service and raise affairs", that is, to be in charge of officials' inspections.At this time, Zhang said that with the appreciation of Wu Zetian and the support of the big tree Zhang Yizhi, a bright future seemed to be in sight.

But the trouble Zhang said started from this time. Because at this time, Zhang Yizhi and his brothers had become more and more outrageous, not to mention selling officials and nobles, even their family members were domineering, and no one in the local area dared to control them.But there are still hard bones, such as the prime minister Wei Yuanzhong, who once borrowed Zhang Yizhi's servant to break the law and punished his servant.This is not bad, Zhang Yizhi and his brothers immediately charged Wei Yuanzhong with rebellion, Wu Zetian also supported the two brothers, and let them put Wei Yuanzhong in prison.It can be said that people who rebel always have to be charged with crimes. Wei Yuanzhong's crime is that he secretly connected with the ministers, so that the ministers supported the crown prince to restore Li Tang.This was a serious crime of losing one's head during Wu Zetian's time. If it is a crime, you must have evidence, or at least witnesses. Zhang Yizhi wanted to break his head. Thinking of what he admired Zhang said, and this person is usually honest, it must be easy. frighten.Then do the ideological work that Zhang said—as long as you are willing to bear false testimony and frame Wei Yuanzhong for treason, the benefits in the future will be great, otherwise, Wei Yuanzhong's today is your tomorrow.

Zhang said it was a dilemma.Hearing what Zhang Yizhi said, he would definitely be ruined, and the spittle stars from the government and the public would drown him, why don't you listen?Even Wei Yuanzhong, a dignified prime minister, can't beat them, let alone himself, a small official with sesame seeds and mung beans.At the same time, many officials who were aggrieved by Wei Yuanzhong also came and encouraged Zhang Shuo to uphold justice.After weighing again and again, Zhang said that he was not "well-behaved" for the first time. Above the court, Zhang said that he told Wu Zetian confidently that it was the two brothers of the Zhang family who forced him to give false testimony, and that Wei Yuanzhong did not commit any treasonous acts.As soon as the words came out, everyone in the audience was shocked, and Zhang Yizhi, who was in a panic, framed Zhang and said that he was Wei Yuanzhong's accomplice.As a result, Wu Zetian, who wanted to save face for the two little male pets, instead called Zhang Yue a capricious villain, and exiled Lingnan with a piece of imperial edict.

Zhang Shuo's career as a Beijing official came to an end in this way, but he became famous because of it. This usually cautious official suddenly became a model among the officials.Before Zhang Shuo left Beijing, Song Jing and other ministers came to see him off regardless of danger, and Zhang Shuo's reputation of "loyalty and straightness" spread all over the world. Zhang said that he lived in Lingnan for two years. During this period, there were many changes in the capital. Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi launched a coup, forcing Wu Zetian to abdicate, and then Tang Zhongzong Li Xian was restored. Everyone naturally remembered Zhang Shuo, who was not afraid of rape. In 706 AD, Zhang said that he was reappointed and transferred to the Ministry of War as a member of the Ministry of War. This appointment was actually an appointment at a critical moment.

At this time, the restored Tang Dynasty suffered serious economic damage, and foreign enemies continued to invade, which can be described as internal and external troubles.Not long after Zhang Shuo returned to office, the rebellious Turkic forces harassed the border of the Tang Dynasty wantonly. Faced with the serious border defense situation, Zhang Shuo pointed out that the root cause was the destruction of the government military system. He proposed that the imperial court should fund and recruit strong men to join the army. Recruitment".The recruitment system has existed since the Zhenguan era, but large-scale recruitment began from then on.According to Zhang Shuo, the Tang Dynasty quickly repelled the Turkic invasion, and then Zhang Shuo transferred a member of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Wai Lang, to clean up the accumulated cases left over from the Wu Zhou Dynasty.He adhered to the principle of fairness, and did not make "one size fits all" decisions based on the positions and identities of officials.At this time, Zhang said that Shi Zai "runs around like flying and sleepless all night" every day, and is a workaholic who is devoted to his career.Not a year later, Zhang Shuo's mother passed away. At this time, the country was waiting for prosperity, and it was time to employ people. Tang Zhongzong was reluctant to let Zhang Shuo go home and observe his filial piety in order to get promoted to keep him, but Zhang Shuo insisted on resigning. go home.These few things have greatly increased Zhang Shuo's popularity in the ruling and opposition circles.As the popularity increased, the officials continued to be promoted. After the filial piety period expired, he was promoted to be the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and soon he was changed to the Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs to act as the minister of the Northern Wubingfu.He advocated a policy of appeasement to the Khitan in the north, which stabilized the situation in the northeast frontier that had been in turmoil since the Wu Zetian era.Soon he was changed to be the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. Faced with the tight financial situation of the country, Zhang said that he carefully calculated and saved a large amount of money from various expenditures of the Ministry of Industry. The river course of Jishui in Shandong, the floods in central China and the drought in Shandong were all alleviated. In the Tang Dynasty during that period, it can be said that wherever there was danger, there was Zhang Shuo.

Then Tang Zhongzong died young, and his younger brother Li Dan came to the throne, who was Tang Ruizong in history.Zhang Shuo, who was in Tang Ruizong's time, got another important opportunity in his life-to be the teacher of Prince Li Longji.At this time, it was actually a very important period for Li Longji, who later created the "Golden Age of Kaiyuan".Although Wu Zetian died at that time, Wu Zetian's daughter, Princess Taiping, always hoped to be the second Wu Zetian. Naturally, Li Longji was regarded as a thorn in the side, but Tang Ruizong, who was the emperor, had a deep affection for his sister Princess Taiping.In the battle between aunts and nephews, Li Longji, who was a nephew, was at a disadvantage at first, and Zhang said that because he supported Li Longji on the issue of establishing a prince, he also became a thorn in Princess Taiping's eyes.At this time, Princess Taiping's power is in the hands of the government and the public. Tang Ruizong first listens to her opinions on major national affairs, and most of the officials in the court are from her family. Shu Sheng Ping Zhang Shi's position, went to Li Longji's Prince's Mansion as an attendant, to avoid the sharp edge of Princess Taiping.At that time, Li Longji was young and energetic, and he liked to fight when things happened. Tang Ruizong was very dissatisfied. Zhang said to stop Li Longji from doing this, and persuaded Li Longji to be "gentle" to Princess Taiping.Soon after, Li Longji asked for the removal of Yao Chong, who had admonished Princess Taiping to enclose the land, according to Zhang's words, which won Tang Ruizong's favor.In the same year, a comet suddenly appeared in Chang'an City. The ancients regarded the comet as a "bad omen". Princess Taiping took the opportunity to spread rumors that Li Longji was about to seize power. Make the Eastern Palace supervise the country, and disasters will not happen."In a word, it caught the weakness of Tang Ruizong, who was superstitious since childhood. Tang Ruizong was very happy after hearing this, and praised Zhang and said, "I know myself too".He himself is a literati who doesn't like to seize power, so he naturally pushes the boat along.In the following year, Li Longji officially ascended the throne and changed to Kaiyuan. This is the famous Kaiyuan prosperity in history.

Zhang said that his performance at the critical moment stabilized Li Longji's position and ensured his success in ascending the throne, but the danger did not pass.Most of the ministers in the court were Princess Taiping's accomplices, and Zhang Shuo was also a thorn in Princess Taiping's side. Not long after Li Longji ascended the throne, Princess Taiping threatened Li Longji to demote Zhang Shuo to Luoyang. Zhang Shuo was very calm and gave Li Longji a gift before leaving. Holding the dagger, implying that Li Longji should strike first.But how difficult it is to strike first. At this time, among the 7 prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty, 5 were the confidantes of Princess Taiping, and Chang Yuankai, the general of Zuo Yulin who controlled the military power in Chang'an, was also a confidant of Princess Taiping. Although Li Longji was the emperor, he had no right no soldiers.However, Princess Taiping didn't stop. She conspired with Prime Minister Dou Huaizhen and others to take the opportunity to abolish Li Longji and become emperor.At the critical moment, Zhang said to offer advice, asking Li Longji to join forces with King Qi and King Xue of the Tang Dynasty clan to act together.In July Jiazi, Li Longji had a formal showdown. He first sent his general Wang Maozhong to lead 300 elites, first attacked Habayashi Guard by surprise, killed Chang Yuankai, Princess Taiping's best friend, and then imposed martial law in the court, and arrested Dou Huaizhen and other Princess Taiping on the spot The party feather, Princess Taiping, who was bullish before, suddenly became a polished commander.Princess Taiping was also "given to die at home" for this reason. So far, Li Longji, the 28-year-old young emperor, finally firmly secured the throne and began to manage the "Kaiyuan Prosperity" that could display his talents.

Speaking of the prosperity of Kaiyuan, apart from Li Longji himself, later generations attribute the credit to Yao Chong, Song Jing and others.But in fact, Song Jing was far later than Yao Chong, while Zhang Shuo was an indispensable figure in the prosperity of Kaiyuan. After Li Longji was in power, Zhang Shuo was enabled. He first worshiped the order of Zhongshu, made Yan Guogong, and became Li Longji's important minister.Zhang Shuo, who had always been loyal and courageous before, became selfish at this time. Li Longji always wanted to recall Yao Chong, who had been degraded back then.Speaking of the discord between Zhang Shuo and Yao Chong, it is not so much a matter of political opinions as a matter of personality.Both Zhang Shuo and Yao Chong were successful in the imperial examination in 687 AD. At that time, Zhang Shuo ranked first and Yao Chong ranked third.After becoming an official, the two were both members of Zhongshushe, but Yao Chong was from a wealthy family, and the 21st grandson of Wu Xing Yao's family, so he always put on the spectrum of "children of aristocratic families", which was very embarrassing in front of Zhang Shuo, who was born in a poor family. Arrogant, coupled with his bold and unrestrained personality, often speaks out loud, Zhang said that he is introverted and loves to hold grudges, and the gap between the two is getting deeper and deeper.Later, when Zhang Shuo offended Wu Zetian because of Wei Yuanzhong, all civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty complained for Zhang Shuo, but Yao Chong, who was also at odds with Zhang Yizhi's brother, did not say a word, and the two became more hostile.After Tang Zhongzong was restored, Yao Chong became Minister of the Ministry of War, and Zhang Shuo, who was the Minister of the Ministry of War, became the superior and subordinate. They quarreled almost all day long, and finally had to be transferred away because of Zhang Shuo. However, Zhang said the method of obstruction was "insidious".He first deliberately praised Yao Chong's talent and recommended Yao Chong as the governor of Hedong, in fact, to prevent Yao Chong from coming back to fight for power with him.Of course Li Longji was not stupid, he rejected Zhang's proposal on the spot.Yao Chong returned smoothly, Zhang said that he was so angry that he was confused, and complained to Li Longji's elder brother, King Qi. It's black.As a result, Zhang said that he would harm himself instead of harming others, and he was relegated to Hebei as the governor of Hebei.Yao Chong didn't give up, and instigated Yu Shi to impeach Zhang Shuo. After catching up with Li Longji, he was angry, but Zhang Shuo hadn't arrived in Hebei yet, and another imperial decree came: he was demoted to Yuezhou. But Zhang said that he can go up and down. Although he has been demoted, his enthusiasm for work has not diminished at all. He has worked diligently in the local area, especially in Yuezhou to clear up farmland, develop production, and recruit southern minorities. He has made a lot of achievements. Six years later, in 718 A.D., the frontier defense of the Tang Dynasty was tight, and Li Longji thought of Zhang Shuo again, who was then appointed as the governor of Youzhou.At this time, the border defense situation in Youzhou was tense, and the nearby Khitan harassed constantly. In order to strengthen the border defense, Zhang Shuo proposed to recruit soldiers to garrison fields, that is, to recruit exiled farmers from the Central Plains to join the army, and to garrison fields to guard the border. Promoted nationwide.The policy of border farming was an important part of Tang Xuanzong's Kaiyuan prosperity. At this time, land annexation in the Tang Dynasty was intensifying, and border troops fled more and more. The implementation of the border farming policy not only solved the living problems of a large number of landless farmers, but also consolidated the frontier defense.At the same time, Zhang Shuo actively rectified the soldiers and horses in Youzhou, and adopted a policy of appeasement to the surrounding ethnic minorities. After long-term harassment of the Khitan Khan in Youzhou, Ketu finally returned to the Tang Dynasty with the efforts of Zhang Shuo.Since Wu Zetian's era, the Youzhou area has been in constant war, and the flames of war have gradually subsided since then. Because of his contribution in guarding Youzhou, Zhang Yue was promoted to the governor of Bingzhou. Not long after he took office, the Turkic tribes in the north of Bingzhou rebelled, and a war was about to break out.At the critical moment, Zhang said that he took only 20 cavalrymen and entered the Turkic camp alone, and with a sincere attitude and eloquent eloquence, he persuaded the tribes to return to their submission.At the same time, Zhang said to actively rectify and merge the state border defense.In the second year, the Dangxiang tribe in the northwest rebelled and harassed the Lingzhou area continuously.Zhang Shuo personally led 10,000 cavalry to meet the enemy and smashed the Dangxiang tribe in Liangzhou, Gansu.After the victory in the first battle, Zhang said that he changed to a policy of appeasement and resettled the Dangxiang tribe in the Linzhou area.Zhang said that during his tenure as governor of Bingzhou, in just three years, the dilapidated Bingzhou defense took on a new look.Zhang said that when he was in office, he successively recruited and surrendered 600,000 nomadic tribes with the strategy of suppression and appeasement, and the entire northern defense line of the Tang Dynasty regained peace.At the same time, Zhang said to reform the original military system of the Tang Dynasty, implement lean troops and streamline administration, eliminate a large number of redundant soldiers, and rebuild an army with strong combat effectiveness.It was also from this time that the recruitment system gradually replaced the original Fubing system and became the main military system of the Tang Dynasty. In the initial stage of Kaiyuan's prosperity, Zhang Shuo, who had always been a civil servant, established Bian Gong by accident because of a struggle.His contribution is very important. In the first 10 years of Li Longji's reign, the defense capabilities of the Tang Dynasty were extremely low, especially in northern Hebei, Shanxi, and Gansu. Existing in name only, Zhang said that the large-scale recruitment of troops on the border, combined with suppression and appeasement, and streamlined administration, created a peaceful defense environment for the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise, it would be difficult to implement Li Longji’s political and economic reforms, and the military power of the Tang Dynasty would not Rejuvenate quickly. Because of Zhang Shuo's numerous achievements, in 723 AD, Zhang Shuo returned to his post as Zhongshu Ling. At this time, his old enemy Yao Chong had passed away. Zhang Shuo seemed to be in power, and the end of his officialdom began at this time. In the first 10 years of Kaiyuan, Zhang Shuo made a lot of contributions, and Li Longji's successful ascension to the throne, he made even more contributions.After making great achievements, Zhang said that he was a little carried away, and he was no longer as low-key as he was back then.Zhang, who returned to Zhongshuling, said that his personality became irritable, and he often scolded his colleagues on the spot. At the same time, economic problems became serious, and he often accepted bribes.Unfortunately, he happened to offend another person who couldn't be offended——Li Linfu. This well-known treacherous official during the Tianbao period was only a small official in the Kaiyuan period, and his strong point was his sweet talk and belly sword.Li Linfu found out one of Zhang's crimes - attracting warlocks.The matter was originally very simple, that is, Zhang said that this person was quite superstitious, and once he held a birthday party at home, he invited a warlock to do it for him, but when it came to Li Longji, the matter was not so simple. Princess Taiping used this method to murder him.How can this not make a murmur?In 724 A.D., Li Linfu formally appealed, and the officials who had enmity with Zhang Shuo agreed one after another. The public debate was raging, and Zhang Shuo was dismissed from the post of Zhongshu Ling and ordered him to major in national history.Three years later, Zhang Shuo was accused of corruption by Yu Wenrong again. This time, Zhang Shuo instigated his cronies to quarrel with Yu Wenrong, but he violated Li Longji's taboo because of "forming a party". As a result, Zhang Shuo was demoted again, and the national history was revised. If it fails, he will be forced to retire and go home directly.But Li Longji still thinks of Zhang Shuo's talent, and he often consults with him whenever there are major issues in the country.In 730 AD, 64-year-old Zhang Shuo died of illness at home. Li Longji was deeply saddened after hearing the news, and personally wrote an inscription to mourn him.This talented man with both civil and military skills bid farewell to his painstaking career.At this time, the Tang Dynasty had already swept away powerful enemies and cultivated moral government internally, reaching the peak of glory.