Yao Chong was an official in China, Zong Rui and Heaven. He served twice as prime minister and concurrently as minister of war. He participated in the Dragon Coup, but was later demoted as a secretariat because he refused to attach himself to Princess Taiping.
After Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ascended the throne, Yao Chong was appointed Minister of War, Minister of Peace, Secretariat Officer and Liang Guogong. He put forward ten things to say, that is, to implement the New Deal and help Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty to create a prosperous new century, and he was called the Prime Minister of Salvation.
Yao Chong reigned for three years, and Fang, Du Ruhui and Song Z were also called the four great sages of the Tang Dynasty. In 72 1 year (the ninth year of Kaiyuan), Yao Chong died of illness and was posthumously awarded the Yangzhou viceroy and literature.
Early experience Yao Chong was free and easy when he was young, paying attention to integrity and learning martial arts diligently to amuse himself by hunting. After the age of 20, he studied hard and entered the official career as a dutiful servant. He was awarded the position of treasurer of Zhou Pu and moved to the Summer Pavilion.
In 696 AD (Long live the first year), Li Rencheng, a loyal minister of Qidan, and Sun Wanrong made an insurrection and seized several states in Hebei. Military affairs were busy at that time.
Yao Chong handled it properly and methodically, which won the appreciation of Wu Zetian. He was promoted to assistant minister Xia Guan.
In 698 AD (the first year of the Gregorian calendar), Yao Chong was promoted to Pingzhang and became the Prime Minister together with Fengge and Luantai. Later, he was appointed assistant minister of Fengge and concurrently prime minister of Xiangwangfu.
In 704 (the fourth year of Chang 'an), Yao Chong asked to resign from his official position because his mother was old. Wu Zetian was dismissed from the post of prime minister, but retained the post of prime minister and asked him to support his mother. Soon, Wu Zetian asked Yao Chong to be Xia Guan Shangshu, and told Feng Ge Luan Tai's classmates. Yao Chong refused, saying, "Xia is in charge of military power, and I am the minister of Xiang." . It is not good for Wang Xiang to be a Xia Guan. Wu Zetian was deeply impressed, so he was appointed as the Spring Official Shangshu.
At that time, Toy Boy and Zhang Yizhi of Wu Zetian wanted to transfer ten monks from Chang 'an Dade Temple to Dingzhou to enrich the private temple, which aroused the appeal of the monks. Although Zhang Yizhi intervened many times, Yao Chong prevented it, so he offended Zhang Yizhi and was demoted to the four clean-ups, but he still retained the title of prime minister. In September, Yao Chong left Lingwu Town to serve as the marching manager and appeasement envoy of Lingwu Road, and recommended Zhang Jianzhi, assistant minister of Qiu Guan, as the prime minister.
In 705 (the first year of Shenlong), Zhang Jian, Huan and others staged a coup in Shenlong, claiming the throne and restoring the Tang Dynasty. Yao Chong just returned to Beijing at this time and was able to participate in the coup plot. Because of his work, he gave a real seal of 200 households to Hou of Jueliang County. Soon, Yao Chong was released as the secretariat of Bozhou, and later he was appointed as Songzhou, Changzhou, Yuezhou and Xuzhou.
In 7 10 (the first year of Jing Yun), Tang Ruizong succeeded to the throne. Yao Chong was recalled to North Korea, served as Minister of War, and was promoted to Secretary of War. Yao Chong and Song Z Qi Xin worked together to get rid of the bad politics in the Zhongzong period, appointed loyal ministers, banished evil spirits, made clear rewards and punishments, put an end to the wind of asking for help, and restored all statutes. Both the ruling and opposition parties believed that the country had a wind of chastity and the national emblem would last forever.
At that time, Princess Taiping interfered in state affairs and the king held military power, posing a threat to Crown Prince Li Longji. 7 1 1 year (the second year of Jing Yun), Yao Chong and Song Z performed a secret play, suggesting that Li Xian and Sui Wang Li Shouli should be regarded as secretariat, that Li Fan and Ye Li should be changed from general Yu Lin to officials of the East Palace, and that Princess Taiping should be moved to the East Capital. Princess Taiping was furious and accused Li Longji. Li Longji had no choice but to say that Yao Chong had alienated the imperial clan. Therefore, Yao Chong was demoted as the secretariat of China, and later served as the secretariat of Yangzhou, the provincial judge of Huainan and the secretariat of Tongzhou. His simple politics and law, clear management for officials, has been praised by the people.
Fuzheng kaiyuan 7 13 (the first year of kaiyuan), Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, launched a congenital coup, killed Princess Taiping's henchmen, and then went to Xinfeng (now northeast of Lintong, Shaanxi) to inspect the army. At that time, Yao Chong was making a secretariat in the same state, which was less than 300 miles away from Xinfeng. According to the regulations, he was going to see the coachman, and Tang Xuanzong also called Yao Chong to come over. After Yao Chong arrived, he discussed world affairs with Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, and Kan Kan talked tirelessly. Tang Xuanzong intends to appoint him as Prime Minister. Yao Chong went on to put forward ten political propositions:
Implement benevolent policies and abolish harsh laws.
Stop fighting and ask for no sideline.
Law enforcement is strict and fair.
Eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in politics.
Refuse to donate outside the lease.
Kinmen and their relatives may not serve as officials of Taiwan Province Province.
Courtesy to courtiers.
Open-minded and good at training.
There are no more Taoist temples and Buddhist temples.
Take the authority of the consorts of the Han Dynasty as a warning.
Tang Xuanzong accepted it gladly. The next day, Yao Chong was appointed as the Minister of War, awarded the doctrine of Zhongshu, sealed Liang Guogong, and was later promoted to Wei Zijie.
After worshipping the Prime Minister, Yao assisted in governing the country, got rid of the old and innovated, vigorously promoted social reform, and promoted the advantages and eliminated the disadvantages. He started with rectifying the system, eliminating redundant posts, selecting officials, suppressing imperial power, national interests and heroic forces, and paying attention to developing production, which laid a political and economic foundation for the prosperity of Kaiyuan.
In July16 (the fourth year of Kaiyuan), a locust plague occurred in Shandong. The people only know how to set up sacrifices to worship, and dare not kill locusts and let them gnaw at seedlings. Yao Chong said, "The Book of Songs says,' If you catch a thief, you will catch the king first and be burned.' "Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty once wrote a letter saying,' Obey the current political situation and advise the Governor of Nongsang. Find moths, cockroaches and thieves. "These are enough to prove that it is necessary to eliminate locusts. Locusts are afraid of people and easy to drive away. All fields have owners, so they will try to save their crops. Burn a fire at night, dig a hole beside it and bury it while burning, so that locusts can be eliminated. In ancient times, there were locusts that could not be eliminated just because they did not try their best. So he sent the empire as a locust catcher and urged all localities to eliminate locusts.
At that time, there was a heated discussion in North Korea that locusts were not suitable for killing, and Tang Xuanzong hesitated. Yao Chong advised: A scholar is inflexible and inflexible. The development of things often goes against the classics and conforms to the trend, and also goes against the trend and conforms to expediency. There was a plague of locusts in ancient times, but because they refused to kill locusts, there was a famine and the people killed each other. Now migratory locusts are everywhere, breeding repeatedly, and there is no food in Henan and Hebei. If there is no harvest, people will be displaced, which concerns national security. Even if it can't be completely eliminated, it's better to kill locusts than to stay and form a disaster! Tang Xuanzong was deeply impressed by this.
Although Tang Xuanzong was persuaded, officials still had doubts. Lu Huaishen, director of Huangmen Prison, said that locusts are natural disasters and it is impossible for human beings to eliminate them. Besides, killing too many insects is harmful. Yao Chong said that King Hui of Chu swallowed leeches to cure chronic diseases, and Sun Shuai was rewarded for killing snakes. Now the locusts can be driven away. If left unchecked, the food will be eaten up. What will people do then? If there is a disaster from heaven, I, Yao Chong, will bear it, and I will never put the blame on you. Lu Huaishen was speechless.
Local officials are still opposed to locust control. Ni Ruoshui, the governor of Bianzhou, said: Natural disasters can only be eliminated, but former Zhao and Liu Cong failed to control locusts, which is even more harmful. He refused the orders of the censor and the extermination of locusts. Yao Chong wrote to blame: Liu Cong usurped the throne, and his virtue was invincible. Your majesty, the sage is invincible. In ancient times, countries were heavily guarded and locusts were afraid to enter the country. If Xiu De can avoid the plague of locusts, is it immoral to have a plague of locusts? Ni Ruoshui couldn't resist, so he had to cooperate to kill locusts. With Yao Chong's insistence, the plague of locusts was minimized. Although the locust plague lasted for years, it did not cause widespread famine.
In his later years, Rong Chongju had no fixed place, lived in Wangji Temple, and was bedridden with malaria. Tang Xuanzong sent dozens of envoys to visit the sick every day. Every time he encountered serious military affairs, he ordered Huangmen prison source to ask for his advice. Later, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty adopted Gan Yuan Yao's suggestion, ordered Yao Chong to move into Sifang Pavilion, and allowed his family to take care of his illness. Yao Chong thought that Sifang Pavilion contained official documents, which was not the place where patients lived, and strongly declined. Tang Xuanzong said that the purpose of setting up the Sifang Pavilion is to serve officials. For the sake of the country, I arranged for you to live in it. If possible, I can't wait for you to live in the palace. Don't refuse!
Although Yao Chong is a clever man, he failed to teach his children well. His sons Yao Yi and Yao Yiguang made friends and took bribes, which was criticized by public opinion. Zhao Hui, a master calligrapher in China, accepted a bribe from the Hu people and was sentenced to death by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty for exposing this matter. Yao Chong also tried his best to rescue him. Xuanzong was very unhappy about this. When he pardoned the prisoners in Beijing, he specially indicated in the memorial that Zhao Hui was exiled to Lingnan. Yao Chong was so worried that he resigned several times and recommended Song Z, the governor of Guangzhou, to succeed him as prime minister. Soon, Yao Chong was dismissed as prime minister and appointed as the third division of Kaifu Instrument Company.
Although Yao Chong was deposed by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, he still valued him very much and let him go to court once every five days. Ask him for advice when you encounter major political affairs. In 720 (the eighth year of Kaiyuan), Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty named Yao Chong Prince of Shaobao, but he did not accept it because of illness.
72 1 year (the ninth year of kaiyuan), Yao Chong died at the age of 72, and was posthumously awarded the document of Yangzhou viceroy, posthumous title. In 729 (the 17th year of Kaiyuan), Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty posthumously awarded Yao Chong as the Prince of Taibao.