Li Kui

Li Kui

Li Kui (711-784), who was named duanqing, was born in Chengji (now Qin'an County, Gansu Province) of Longxi, and was the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty. To Li xuandao, xuansun.

Shao Congmin is good at learning and writing. At the end of Kaiyuan Dynasty, he promoted Jinshi, supplemented Chen Liuwei, and worshipped Zhongshu Sheren. In the early years of the Qianyuan Dynasty, he was also the Minister of rites. He moved to Zhongshu, Tongping Zhangshi, Jixian hall chongwenguan, supervised the compilation of national history, and was granted the title of the founder of guzang county. He went to worship the son of the state to offer wine, the Minister of rites, and the left servant to shoot. He died in the first year of Xingyuan and died 74 years later. He was awarded to Sikong and his posthumous title was gong.

Life story

Li Kui, whose name is duanqing, was born in Chengji, Longxi, and lived in Zhengzhou, where he was the crown family. He is good at learning and writing. At the end of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, scholars were promoted to offer books to the imperial court, and the imperial edict was issued to examine the articles in the middle school. At the beginning of the Qianyuan period, he was also the Minister of rites. Premier tried to select scholars as the chief secretary, but he didn't test the truth. He only tightened his dike, searched for his writing strategies, and was ignorant of his intention of seeking talents. His article on Jinshi said: "great powers select scholars, but they must be talented. Here are the classics. Please check them freely." Within a few months, bel canto heard about it. Since then, it has been very gracious and has been widely used. At that time, there were many thieves in the capital, and there were people who killed in the ditch in the thoroughfare. Li Fuguo was arbitrary. Please choose 500 feather forest knights for inspection. Kui Shangshu said: "in the Western Han Dynasty, the northern and southern armies were used to photograph each other, so Zhou Bo entered the northern army because of the southern army, so Liu's family was established. In the imperial dynasty, the northern and southern yamen were set up to distinguish between civil and military affairs. Today, we are replacing Jin Wu with a forest of feathers. There is a sudden change. How can we control it? " So I gave up the request of Yu Lin.
Premier in the phase, the decision to offer for, although very discerning, sharp in the nature of fame and wealth, deeply debatable. Besides, his elder brother Kai had his own time name and stayed in redundant officials, so he did not introduce them. In the same column, Lu Chen, though his land was in suspense and his political affairs were on the right side of the premier, stopped his prime minister. Since his guests were celebrating for Jingnan, his voice was very beautiful. Fearing his re-entry, he secretly ordered him to go straight to the prison to seek his fault. Chen MISHU was a member of Shi Tongzheng, the premier of Laizhou, who was demoted from Chen. After the premier deposed the official, his elder brother Kai was given the title of minister wailang. In the years after that, Kui Liang moved to the governor of Shezhou. At the beginning, the premier was in power, and Miao Jinqing, the minister, recommended Yuanzai as an important official. The premier relied on the gate to see that the ground was cold. He was not willing to accept it. He called Jin Qing and said, "the scholar of dragon, Zhang and Fengzi can't be used. The son of the head and the eyes of the mouse is an official." I have a deep hatred. As a result of the premier's removal, he was appointed as the Secretary Supervisor of the imperial examination, and the Yangtze River and Huaihe River were cured. He had no salary, and his family was very poor. He was a widow with only one hundred people, and beggars ate for him. Pingji was sent to Zhuzhou in the 15th or 16th year, but when she was a little weak in herding, she immigrated again. Therefore, her migrators covered more than ten states. Yuan Zai punished him for his crimes, except for the prime minister and the governor of muzhou, and worshipped the son of the state to offer wine and the Minister of rites, which was abhorred by Lu Qi. When Dezong was in Shannan, he was appointed as an envoy of the fanhui League, adding zuobushe. He went to Fengzhou and died of illness. In April of the first year of Xingyuan, he was seventy-four years old.

translation

Li Kui, whose name is duanqing, was born in Chengji, Longxi, and settled down in Zhengzhou. When he was young, he was intelligent, studious and good at writing articles. At the end of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, the Jinshi who took the exam offered advice and suggestions to the emperor. The emperor ordered Zhongshu province to investigate his literary ability and appointed him as the right pick-up. In the early years of the Qianyuan Dynasty, he served concurrently as the Minister of rites. Li Kui believed that in the past, most of the departments in charge of scientific research did not examine their actual ability, but only raised their standards and asked for the books they had read, which was totally against the intention of seeking talents. He wrote in his essay: "as a big country, the purpose of selecting scholars is only to obtain real talents. When taking the examination, you can put the classics in front of your eyes and ask them to search for them at will." Therefore, a few months later, the good evaluation of him spread to the emperor's ears. Since then, he has been greatly favored by the emperor, so he was reused. At that time, thieves were rampant in the capital. Some of them killed people in the street and threw their bodies into the ditch. At this time, Li Fuguo was in power. He asked the emperor to select 500 paladins for inspection. Li Kui Shangshu said: "in the Western Han Dynasty, the southern army and the northern army were used to govern the capital. Therefore, Zhou Bo had the opportunity to enter the northern army from the southern army to kill the Lu family and stabilize the Liu family. The imperial court set up the South Yamen and the North yamen, which distinguished the civil and military officials for mutual reconnaissance and supervision. Now we are using the badminton army instead of the Jinwu guards to patrol the night. If something unusual happens suddenly, what will be used to control the situation? " So the emperor did not accept the request to patrol the night with the badminton army.
In the position of prime minister, Li Kui made a decision on major issues and put forward the idea of promoting advantages and eliminating disadvantages, and the promotion and retreat of officials. Although he was very erudite and eloquent, he was keen to pursue fame and gain by nature and was deeply criticized by people. And his brother, Li Kai, was famous at that time, but he stayed in the position of idle official. He didn't recommend it. Although the status and reputation of the Prime Minister Lu Chen in the same column are far different from that of Premier Li, his ability to deal with political affairs is higher than that of Premier Li. After being dismissed from office, LV Chen became a guest of Jingnan Festival and enjoyed a very good reputation. Fearing that he would be prime minister again, Premier Li secretly ordered the provincial authorities to go to the place where LV Chen belonged and fabricated LV Chen's fault. When LV Chen told the emperor his truth, the emperor demoted Premier Li to Laizhou as a member of the same rank. A few days after Premier Li dismissed from office, his elder brother, Li Kai, was transferred to the position of minister wailang. Later, a few years later, Premier Li passed the examination and was appointed governor of Shezhou. At the beginning, when Li Kui was in power, Miao Jinqing, the Minister of state, repeatedly recommended Yuanzai for an important position. However, Li Kui believed that Yuan Zai was born in a poor family, and he was despised in his heart. He said to Miao Jinqing, "the sages with outstanding demeanor will not be appointed, but the poor and poor people come to seek official positions." Yuan Zai has a deep hatred. When Yuanzai got on the stage and Li Kui was supposed to be transferred, he went to the imperial court and asked Li Kui to be the Secretary Supervisor to go to Jianghuai to recuperate. Premier Li had no salary, and his family was poor. More than a hundred people, old and young, lived on begging. Like duckweed, he wandered in many states and counties for fifteen or sixteen years. The local sheriff treated him lightly, so he moved to more than ten states. After Yuan Zai was killed for a crime, the imperial court appointed Li Kui as the governor of muzhou, and then went to Beijing to serve as the son of the state's sacrificial wine and Minister of rites, which was hated by the Prime Minister Lu Qi. When Emperor Dezong was lucky in Shannan, he ordered Premier Li to act as the special envoy of the alliance with foreign countries and seal Zuo pushe. When they completed their mission and returned to Fengzhou, Li Kui died of illness in April of the first year of Xingyuan at the age of 74.

Anecdotes and allusions

Premier Li Kui, who won the entrance examination, was mobilized in the capital. When he heard that Wang Sheng, a fortune teller in xuanpingfang, was good at drawing lots, he went to inquire about his future. Wang Sheng charges 500 Wen for every divination, but there are still a lot of people who go to divination. Every day, from Chenshi to Youshi, there are still some people who can't get the number and go for nothing. Li Kui took a piece of spun yarn as a gift and left early. After divining for him, Wang Sheng said, "you are asking about your article. What official position can you choose? I think you can get a county captain in Henan road. " Li Kui was conceited of his outstanding talent and should not be such a small official. He looked angry and wanted to leave. Wang Sheng said, "don't be unhappy. In a few months' time, you can still be a leftist. There is no limit to your future." Li Kui was still angry. Wang Sheng said, "if it's the same as what I said, I hope you can come." Sure enough, Li Kui failed in the examination and was sent to bianzhou to be Chen Liu's County captain. Only then did he know that Wang Sheng's words had been verified, and he rushed to Wang Sheng for advice. Wang Sheng took out the sealed letter from the case. It was about a dozen pieces of paper thick. He handed it to Premier Li and said, "when you worship Zuo, you can open the letter, otherwise there will be disaster." After receiving the letter, Premier Li rushed to Chen Liu. Because of Li Kui's talent and family background, Ni Ruobing stayed in the mansion to help. Just as the county government had something to ask for instructions from the imperial court, they wanted to find someone who had contacts with the imperial court. There was nothing more suitable than Premier Li, so they sent him. In the middle period of Emperor Xuanzong's reign of the Tang Dynasty, officials surnamed Li in all prefectures presented a letter to the emperor, and they all paid a visit to Zongzheng first. At that time, Li was the patriarch. At the same time, Li Kui paid a visit to Li Li. Li Ming had long heard that Premier Li was talented, so he asked him to draft three documents for the emperor, one by one. The emperor summoned Li and said, "the articles reported by the officials failed to catch up with you. I appreciate them very much." Li Wan kowtowed to Xie en and said, "these three articles were not written by me, but by my nephew Chen Liuwei and Premier Li." The emperor ordered Premier Li to be summoned. At that time, Premier Li was living in his aunt Lu's family in huaiyuanfang. When he heard that the emperor had summoned him, he did not dare to come out. Until he knew that the emperor was going to select and reuse him, he went to see the emperor. The emperor ordered his ministers to examine his poems. At that time, there were three topics in Chen Huangmen's poems, one was the ode to Zisi Shenglu capsule, the other was the answer to Tubo book, and the other was the White Peacock table offered by the Nanyue Dynasty. Li Kui finished it at noon. After sealing, he asked for instructions and said, "there are no omissions in the first two chapters, and there may be omissions and doubts in the second one. I want to write it in more detail. Then Li Kui allowed him to open the envelope, altered eight words, added two notes beside it, and reported it to the emperor. The next day was awarded the left pick-up. Ten days later, he opened Wang Sheng's letter to him and found that all the three test articles he had written were in it, and even the corrections and notes were exactly the same. He immediately drove to xuanpingfang to see Wang Sheng, but Wang Sheng had disappeared.

Character evaluation

Li Heng: Qing family, people and literature are all the best in the world. He believes in the imperial court.

personal works

There are three articles in quantangwen: Xie ciguang's house table, please stop selecting the knight in the feather forest to prepare for inspection, and Prince Gongyi's lament.

Family members

According to the records in the new book of the Tang Dynasty, Premier Li Kui was born in guzangfang, the Li family in Longxi, and was the descendant of Li Li, the king of Liangwu. Li Cheng, the great grandson of Li, was the governor of Xingyang in the Northern Wei Dynasty. He was granted the title of guzang Marquis and his descendants were named guzang Fang. Li xuandao, the fourth grandson of Li Cheng, was a Bachelor of the palace of King Qin in Tang Dynasty. Li xuandao

Chinese PinYin : Li Kui