In the first year of Xiantian, Li Danchan was located in Li Longji, who ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor at the Taiji Palace in Chang’an. Let the history encyclopedia editor take you through the fog of history and return to the era of swords and shadows.
After Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, ascended to the throne, the Tang Dynasty entered a 29 year long period of “Great Reign”, during which society prospered and talented people emerged, known as the “prosperous era of Kaiyuan” in history.
In fact, when Li Longji first gained the throne, he had to solve the mess of Wu Zetian and the legacy of Empress Wei’s chaotic politics. The border areas were also constantly invaded by the enemy, and the problem of local land consolidation was serious, causing many people to be displaced. Faced with such a situation, Li Longji had to rely on Yao Chong, who had been demoted from the capital by him, to restore order.
Yao Chong, originally named Yao Yuanchong and later Yao Yuanzhi, changed his name to Yao Chong to avoid the taboo of Tang Xuanzong’s “Kaiyuan” reign title. Before being highly valued by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Yao Chong was already highly appreciated by Empress Wu Zetian. During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, Yao Chongguan was promoted to the third rank of the Imperial Secretariat and even became a prime minister during the reign of Emperor Ruizong of Tang.
Later, Yao Chong had a dispute with Princess Taiping, and under pressure, Li Longji had to impeach Yao Chong to Emperor Tang Ruizong and exile him from the capital. However, Yao Chong did not give up because of this, but instead worked harder and was praised by the people for his “clean governance” style of handling affairs.
A few years later, Li Longji launched a political campaign After undergoing changes in governance and gaining the throne, Li Longji discovered that the country was in chaos. In order to prove that he could become a good emperor, he couldn’t find a suitable prime minister for a long time.
After serving as emperor for three months, Li Longji went to Xinfeng for a military parade one day and suddenly thought of Yao Chong. He immediately sent someone to invite him to meet. At that time, Yao Chong was already an old man in his 60s. As soon as he saw Li Longji, he put forward 10 unique policies for governing the country.
After hearing this, Li Longji felt a sense of enlightenment and thought that Yao Chong’s suggestion was very practical. The next day, he appointed Yao Chong as prime minister. As soon as Yao Chong took office, he began to restrict the privileges of the imperial family and relatives, streamline the official positions of the court, select honest and capable people to serve, and usher the Tang Dynasty into the “prosperous era of Kaiyuan”.
In the fourth year of Kaiyuan, severe locust plagues occurred successively in Shandong, Henan, Hebei and other regions, resulting in severe food shortages. At that time, Buddhism was prevalent, and the people believed that natural disasters were the will of heaven. Adhering to the principle of not killing, civil and military officials were helpless and had to offer sacrifices to heaven, pray to gods and Buddha, and pray for the disaster to pass soon. However, Yao Chong knew that there was not much food left in the locust stricken areas. If this continued, he did not know how many people would starve to death, and the country could not withstand such a heavy blow. Therefore, he quoted scriptures and suggested that Li Longji order the killing of locusts.
As soon as this statement was made, it sparked discussions among civil and military officials. Most people believed that killing locusts should not be done, and Li Longji also made a choice between the people and fate. After further persuasion by Yao Chong, Li Longji decided to protect the people and ordered the killing of locusts. However, the ministers led by Huangmen Jian and Lu Huaishen still believe that killing too much will harm the harmony between heaven and earth, and will be punished by heaven in the future. But Yao Chong immediately refuted, “If we don’t kill locusts, there will be wasteland everywhere. The people of Henan will all starve to death. Isn’t this harmful to harmony? Currently, there is not much grain stored in Henan and Hebei provinces. If there is no harvest this year due to locust plagues, the people will have no food to eat and be displaced in the future, and the country will be in danger
Yao Chong issued the policy of pest control to local officials, which caused dissatisfaction among the governor of Bianzhou, Ni Ruoshui, and others, who claimed that only by cultivating virtue can natural disasters be eliminated. Therefore, Yao Chong wrote a letter to blame the other party, saying, “Cultivating virtue can cure disasters. Is the occurrence of disasters caused by the lack of virtue of local officials
Unable to refute Yao Chong, the courtiers from both the court and the public had no choice but to accept their fate and cooperate with the extermination operation. Due to Yao Chong’s consideration of national security and the lives of the people, despite opposition from many, he resolutely eradicated locusts, and finally the locust plagues in various places were quelled.
Although the locust plague lasted for several years, it did not cause a large-scale famine, and the people persevered by storing food. It is said that at that time, warehouses in various states and counties were filled with grain and cloth, and rice and cloth in Chang’an and Luoyang had fallen in price.
It is precisely because Yao Chong, who experienced three dynasties, had unique insights and extraordinary wisdom, coupled with Tang Xuanzong’s unconditional trust in Yao Chong, that the foundation of the “prosperous era of Kaiyuan” was laid.
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