Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: When did Li Linfu serve as chancellor of the Tang Dynasty?
Li Linfu (Chinese:李林甫; pinyin:Lǐ Línfǔ) (died January 3, 753[1]), nickname Genu (Chinese:哥奴), formally the Duke of Jin (Chinese:晉公), was an official of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor for 18 years (734–752), during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong—one of the longest terms of service for a chancellor in Tang history, and the longest during Xuanzong's reign.[2]
"This list includes the chancellors during the Zhou Dynasty of Wu Zetian, even though the propriety of considering it as part of the Tang Dynasty is disputed. The list does not include people who served as regional governors who were given the titles as honorific titles. The chancellors under the pretenders Li Yun and Li Yu, Prince of De are listed, but not the chancellors under the pretender Li Chenghong because, while Li Chenghong was described to have multiple chancellors, only two (Yu Kefeng (于可封) and Huo Huan (霍環)) was named in historical accounts, and Yu and Huo's actual titles were not given in those accounts."
Niu Xianke (牛仙客) (675 – September 2, 742), formally Duke Zhenjian of Bin (豳貞簡公), was a general and official of the Tang Dynasty. He served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. He took an unconventional path to the position of chancellor by starting as a low-level bureaucrat and gradually getting promoted, rather than going through the imperial examinations, and was known for being careful and obedient to fellow chancellor Li Linfu.
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), also commonly known as Emperor Ming of Tang or Illustrious August, personal name Li Longji, also known as Wu Longji () from 690 to 705, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 713 to 756 C.E. His reign of 43 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. In the early half of his reign he was a diligent and astute ruler. Ably assisted by capable chancellors like Yao Chong, Song Jing and Zhang Yue, he was credited with bringing Tang China to a pinnacle of culture and power. Emperor Xuanzong, however, was blamed for over-trusting Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong and An Lushan during his late reign, with Tang's golden age ending in the Anshi Rebellion.
Doulu Ge (豆盧革) (d. August 24, 927?) was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms state Later Tang (and, briefly, Later Tang's predecessor state Jin), serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Later Tang's first two emperors Li Cunxu and Li Siyuan. As a chancellor commissioned by Li Cunxu, he did not fit in with the officials trusted by Li Siyuan, and was eventually exiled and forced to commit suicide.
Meanwhile, at Li Linfu's encouragement, Emperor Xuanzong began to promote non-Han generals to command large border armies, believing Li Linfu's assertion that non-Han generals were more likely to be personally loyal to Emperor Xuanzong himself and would not have clan entanglements, even though Li Linfu's own personal motivation was to prevent Han officials from going through the border command route to become chancellors, thus threatening him. Such generals who rose in ranks included An Lushan, An Sishun, Geshu Han, and Gao Xianzhi. By 742, the main Tang forces were all concentrated on the border, at nine different military circuits and one special military district (Lingnan), as well as three special coast defense districts (Changle, Donglai, and Dongmou):
During the 44-year reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the Tang dynasty reached its height, a golden age with low economic inflation and a toned down lifestyle for the imperial court. Seen as a progressive and benevolent ruler, Xuanzong even abolished the death penalty in the year 747; all executions had to be approved beforehand by the emperor himself (these were relatively few, considering that there were only 24 executions in the year 730). Xuanzong bowed to the consensus of his ministers on policy decisions and made efforts to staff government ministries fairly with different political factions. His staunch Confucian chancellor Zhang Jiuling (673–740) worked to reduce deflation and increase the money supply by upholding the use of private coinage, while his aristocratic and technocratic successor Li Linfu (d. 753) favored government monopoly over the issuance of coinage. After 737 most of Xuanzong's confidence rested in his long-standing chancellor Li Linfu, who championed a more aggressive foreign policy employing non-Chinese generals. This policy ultimately created the conditions for a massive rebellion against Xuanzong.
Meanwhile, Consort Wu had designs to have Li Qing, whose name was by then changed to Li Mao (李瑁), named crown prince. She and the official Li Linfu entered into an alliance, where Li Linfu agreed to help her to have Li Mao created crown prince, while she recommended Li Linfu to be chancellor. Li Linfu became chancellor in 734, and thereafter began to lobby on Li Mao's behalf.
During Emperor Xuanzong's reign, when Yuan Qianyao served as a chancellor, Li Linfu was a member of the staff of Emperor Xuanzong's crown prince Li Siqian.[5] Yuan had been recommended by Jiang Jiao at the start of his career and had had his grandnephew Yuan Guangcheng (元光乘) marry Jiang's sister. Because of these relations, Yuan's son Yuan Jie (源絜) relayed a plea from Li Linfu to be made Simen Langzhong (司門郎中), a low level official at the ministry of justice. Yuan Qianyao, however, did not view Li Linfu highly, and commented, using Li Linfu's nickname, "People who are to serve as Lang must have good talent and virtues. Genu is no Lang." Several days later, however, he had Li Linfu promoted among the ranks of Li Siqian's staff members. Li Linfu later served as Guozi Siye (國子司業), the deputy principal of the imperial university.
Despite Li's high status, little is firmly established about his career except for the time that he served as chancellor—as, unusual for a chancellor, he did not have a biography in either the "Old Book of Tang" or the "New Book of Tang". It is known that his clan was a prominent one, from what was one point Zhao Commandery (趙郡, roughly modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), that traced its ancestry all the way back to the great Warring States period Zhao general Li Mu. Li Youdao's ancestors later served as officials through Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Cao Wei, Jin Dynasty (265-420), Former Yan and/or Later Yan, Northern Wei, Northern Qi, Sui Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty. His father Li Shushen (李叔慎) served as a deputy minister during Tang.
After Li Linfu's death, Chen continued to serve as chancellor, along with Yang, but actual power was wielded by Yang. It was said that all important matters were decided at Yang's mansion, not at the office of the chancellors. Meanwhile, when Yang was able to successfully posthumously implicate Li Linfu in Li Xianzhong's rebellion, causing Li Linfu to be posthumously dishonored and his family to be exiled, Yang and Chen were created greater ducal titles—in Chen's case, the Duke of Xu—to award them for "discovering" Li Linfu's plot.
Li Ying (李瑛) (died 737), né Li Siqian (李嗣謙), known from 725 to 736 as Li Hong (李鴻), was a crown prince of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty during the reign of his father Emperor Xuanzong. He was later removed and forced to commit suicide due to the machinations of Emperor Xuanzong's favorite concubine Consort Wu and her ally, the chancellor Li Linfu.
In 726, the official Yuwen Rong became deputy chief imperial censor (御史中丞, Yushi Zhongcheng). Yuwen was friendly with Li Linfu, and therefore recommended Li Linfu to serve as a colleague; Li Linfu was thus made a deputy chief imperial censor as well, and later successively served as deputy ministers of justice (刑部侍郎, Xingbu Shilang) and civil service affairs (吏部侍郎, Libu Shilang). At that time, Emperor Xuanzong's favorite concubine Consort Wu dominated the palace, and her sons Li Mao (李瑁) the Prince of Shou and Li Qi (李琦) the Prince of Sheng were Emperor Xuanzong's favorite sons, diverting favor away from Li Siqian (whose name had been changed to Li Ying, by that point). Li Linfu was friendly with many important eunuchs, and through them informed Consort Wu that he was willing to support Li Mao to try to supplant Li Ying. Meanwhile, Li Linfu had also been having an affair with the wife of the chancellor Pei Guangting, who was a daughter of Wu Sansi, a deceased nephew of Emperor Xuanzong's grandmother Wu Zetian and a relative of Consort Wu. After Pei died in 733,[6][7] Lady Wu requested that the powerful eunuch Gao Lishi, who had served Wu Sansi at one point, to recommend Li Linfu to replace Pei. Gao did not dare to make the recommendation, but when Emperor Xuanzong was set to name Han Xiu chancellor, Gao leaked this information to Lady Wu first, who then told Li Linfu. Li Linfu submitted a petition endorsing Han, who became grateful. When Han subsequently had conflicts with fellow chancellor Xiao Song, he recommended Li Linfu to serve as chancellor, and Consort Wu was also speaking on Li Linfu's behalf. Emperor Xuanzong did not make him chancellor immediately, but made him Huangmen Shilang (黃門侍郎), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng) and favored him more.
By 736, Emperor Xuanzong was described as having been tired of important affairs of state and beginning to become wasteful and exuberant in his lifestyle. Zhang tried to curb his behavior but thus began to lose favor, while Li Linfu was gaining power due to his association with Consort Wu. Further, Zhang supported Li Hong (whose name had been changed to Li Ying by this point), while Li Linfu and Consort Wu supported her son Li Mao (李瑁) the Prince of Shou and tried to have Li Mao made crown prince. In 736, due to Li Linfu's machinations that made Emperor Xuanzong believed that Zhang and Pei Yaoqing were improperly engaging in factionalism, Zhang and Pei Yaoqing were removed and replaced by Niu Xianke, who closely followed Li Linfu's will, and thereafter, Li Linfu would dominate the imperial government almost to the end of Emperor Xuanzong's reign. Li Linfu did all he could to stay in power, and carried out many dirty tricks against actual or potential threats to his power. He also severely discouraged criticism, ending the relative freedom that officials had to make proposals to Emperor Xuanzong. This was often viewed by traditional historians as the turning point of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, which up to that point was considered a golden age in Chinese history, toward a path of degeneration. The Song dynasty historian Sima Guang, in his "Zizhi Tongjian", for example, commented:
Wei Shuo (韋說) (died August 24, 927?) was an official of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, and Tang's successor states Later Liang and Later Tang of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Later Tang's first two emperors Li Cunxu and Li Siyuan. As a chancellor commissioned by Li Cunxu, he did not fit in with the officials trusted by Li Siyuan, and was eventually exiled and forced to commit suicide.
An Lushan was of Sogdian and Göktürk origin, at least by adoption. He rose to military prominence by defending the northeastern Tang frontier from the Khitans and other threats. He was summoned to Chang'an, the Tang capital, several times and managed to gain favor with Chancellor Li Linfu and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. This allowed An Lushan to amass significant military power in northeast China. After the death of Li Linfu, his rivalry with General Geshu Han and Chancellor Yang Guozhong created military tensions within the empire. 
As Li Heng's ascension to be crown prince was against Li Linfu's wishes, and also because Wei Jian, who drew favor from Emperor Xuanzong due to his abilities to increase revenues for the imperial treasury, was becoming a rival to Li Linfu at court, Li Linfu looked for ways to incriminate both Wei and Li Heng. In 746, when the official Yang Shenjin (楊慎矜), at Li Linfu's instigation, reported to Emperor Xuanzong that, one night, Li Heng met Wei while both were sightseeing, and shortly after, Wei met a friend of his, the general Huangfu Weiming (皇甫惟明) at a Taoist temple, Li Linfu used these incidents to accuse Wei and Huangfu of secretly pledging allegiance to Li Heng and planning to remove Emperor Xuanzong to replace him with Li Heng. Wei and Huangfu were arrested and interrogated by Yang, Wang Hong (王鉷), and Ji Wen (吉溫), but Emperor Xuanzong, who did not want the case to further explode into a major incident although he believed Li Linfu's accusations, demoted Wei and Huangfu out of the capital and, for the time being, stopped the investigation. However, when Wei Jian's brothers Wei Lan (韋蘭) and Wei Zhi (韋芝) submitted a defense of their brother Wei Jian later in 746—and the defense cited words from Li Heng—Emperor Xuanzong was incensed. Li Heng, in fear, divorced Crown Princess Wei and asked for the Wei brothers to be punished. The Wei brothers, along with a number of their associates—including the former chancellor Li Shizhi, Wei Bin (韋斌), Wei Jian's nephew Li Quan (李琄) the Prince of Xue, Pei Kuan (裴寬), and Li Qiwu (李齊物), were all demoted. (In 747, at Li Linfu's instigation, the Wei brothers, Huangfu, and Li Shizhi were all forced to commit suicide.)
Li Yuanhong () (died 733), courtesy name Dagang (大綱), formally Baron Wenzhong of Qingshui (清水文忠男), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong.
Meanwhile, with Nanzhao repeatedly attacking Jiannan Circuit (劍南, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan), Li Linfu tried to defuse Yang's threat to him by requesting that Yang, who was also military governor of Jiannan, be sent to Jiannan to defend against Nanzhao attacks. Despite Yang's repeated pleas, Emperor Xuanzong sent him on his way, but promised to recall him soon to be chancellor. Meanwhile, Li Linfu was seriously ill by this point, and when a sorcerer indicated that if the emperor looked at him, he would be cured, Emperor Xuanzong considered visiting him. Ultimately, though, at the opposition of the imperial attendants, Emperor Xuanzong did not do so, but had Li Linfu brought out to the courtyard of his mansion and then ascended a tower to look toward Li Linfu. This had no beneficial effect on Li Linfu's illness, however. Meanwhile, once Yang reached Jiannan, Emperor Xuanzong recalled him. When Yang, after arriving back in the capital, went to visit Li Linfu, Li Linfu tried to ingratiate him and entrust his family to Yang. Li Linfu died around the new year 753.
By 736, however, fellow chancellor Li Linfu was beginning to gain favor at the expense of Pei and Zhang, who were friendly with each other. At that time, there were several incidents for which the blunt Zhang had offended either Emperor Xuanzong—who was described to have begun to tire of governance and started seeking luxuries in earnest—or Li Linfu, who was described to be ingratiating the emperor:Li Linfu thus made accusations to Emperor Xuanzong that Zhang and Pei were engaging in factionalism. Around the new year 737, Emperor Xuanzong removed Pei and Zhang from their chancellor posts, making them "Chengxiang" (丞相) -- the heads of the executive bureau (尚書省, "Shangshu Sheng") instead. Niu was made chancellor to replace them, serving with Li Linfu. This was often viewed by traditional historians as the turning point of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, which up to that point was considered a golden age in Chinese history, toward a path of degeneration. The Song Dynasty historian Sima Guang, in his "Zizhi Tongjian", for example, commented:
In 742, after the death of the chancellor Niu Xianke, Li Shizhi succeeded Niu as "Zuo Xiang" (左相) -- the head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, "Menxia Sheng") and a post considered one for a chancellor; he was also created the Duke of Qinghe. He served alongside Li Linfu, and they fought over control of government, although since Li Shizhi was not a deep thinker, Li Linfu was able to find ways to damage him. For example, on one occasion, Li Linfu told Li Shizhi that there were gold deposits at Mount Hua that could be mined—and Li Shizhi, as Li Linfu intended, then proposed to Emperor Xuanzong to mine the gold deposits. Li Linfu then pointed out that pursuant to Taoist principles, he believed that a mine at Mount Hua would damage Emperor Xuanzong's health, thus bringing imperial displeasure on Li Shizhi. In another incident, in 745, with Li Shizhi also serving as the minister of defense and Emperor Xuanzong's son-in-law Zhang Ji (張垍) serving as deputy minister and whom Li Linfu also disliked, Li Linfu had some 60 officials at the minister of defense accused of corruption, and then coerced confessions out of them by torture, intending to use this to discredit Li Shizhi and Zhang, although neither was punished. However, subsequently, Li Linfu was able to accuse several officials friendly with Li Linfu—Huangfu Weiming (皇甫惟明), Wei Jian (韋堅), Pei Kuan (裴寬), and Han Chaozong—and get them demoted or exiled. Li Shizhi, in fear, offered to resign the chancellor position, and in 746 was removed from his chancellor post, becoming an advisor to the new crown prince (Li Ying having been forced to commit suicide in 737) Li Heng. He wrote a poem in which he lamented that after he was removed, not even his family and friends were visiting him.
By this point, Li Linfu was said to be so powerful that officials needed his recommendations for promotion, and that those who were commissioned without such recommendations would soon fall prey to his false accusations. For example, in 743, when the official Yang Shenjin (楊慎矜) was set to be promoted to be deputy chief imperial censor, he did not dare to accept the position because Li Linfu did not recommend him, accepting the office only in 744 when he received a recommendation from Li Linfu. Also, Li Linfu, viewing the official Pei Kuan (裴寬) as a potential threat to be chancellor as well, induced the general Pei Dunfu (裴敦復) into accusing Pei Kuan of nepotism, and Pei Kuan was demoted. (Li Linfu, however, also viewed Pei Dunfu as a threat, and soon had him sent out of the capital.) Meanwhile, Emperor Xuanzong, who was very trusting of Li Linfu at this point, considered formally letting Li LInfu take over all matters of state. Gao spoke against it, pointing out then that no one would be able to control the chancellor. Emperor Xuanzong was displeased with Gao's response, but did not formally bestow Li Linfu with such authorities.
It is not known when Li Xi was born. His family claimed to be descended from the Warring States period State of Zhao general Li Mu and also claimed ancestry through a line of officials of Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, and Jin Dynasty (265-420). His grandfather Li Yong was briefly chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xianzong, but resigned soon after being named chancellor. Li Xi's father Li Shi (李拭) served as a chronicler of the emperor's acts and also served in several other important positions, including military governor ("Jiedushi") of two different circuits.
It is not known when Li Yuanhong was born. His family was originally from what would become Hua Prefecture (滑州, roughly modern Anyang, Henan), but by Li Yuanhong's time had moved to the Tang Dynasty capital Chang'an. The family claimed to be descended from the Han Dynasty general Li Ling, who had surrendered to Xiongnu after being surrounded. According to their claims, an ancestor of theirs and descendant of Li Ling eventually became a subject of Northern Wei and, as he met the Northern Wei emperor at Bing Hall (丙殿), was given the family name of Bing. Li Yuanhong's great-great-grandfather Bing Ming (丙明) served as a commandant during Sui Dynasty and was created the Duke of Longju. Li Yuanhong's great-grandfather Bing Can (丙粲) later became a subject of Tang Dynasty, as he was an acquaintance of Tang's founder Emperor Gaozu; Emperor Gaozu created him the Duke of Ying. In order to observe naming taboo for Emperor Gaozu's father Li Bing (李昺), Emperor Gaozu had the Bing family's name changed to Li. Li Yuanhong's grandfather Li Kuan (李寬) served as the minister of worship during the reign of Emperor Gaozu's grandson Emperor Gaozong, and carried the title of Duke of Longxi. Li Yuanhong's father Li Daoguang served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong's wife Wu Zetian.
In 752, Yang received an opportunity to have Li Linfu removed. That year, Wang Hong's brother Wang Han (王銲) had been implicated in a coup attempt at Chang'an, and although Emperor Xuanzong, at the plea of Li LInfu, initially took no action against Wang Hong and Wang Han, he expected Wang Hong to offer to be punished, but Wang Hong did not, drawing Emperor Xuanzong's anger. Li Linfu's fellow chancellor Chen Xilie and Yang then both accused Wang Hong of treason, and Wang Hong was forced to commit suicide, depriving Li Linfu of a major ally. Wang's post as mayor of Jingzhao Municipality (京兆府, encompassing Chang'an) went to Yang. Yang then had the captives from Wang Han's failed coup implicate Li Linfu, and also had Chen and Geshu Han implicate Li Linfu in the rebellion of the ethnically Tujue general Li Xianzhong (李獻忠). Li Linfu tried to defuse the threat by requesting that Yang be sent to Jiannan to personally oversee the Nanzhao campaign, and Emperor Xuanzong sent Yang to Jiannan, despite Yang's pleas and Consort Yang's pleas on his behalf. Emperor Xuanzong, however, promised to make him chancellor, and recalled him as soon as he reached Jiannan. When he returned to Chang'an, Li Linfu was gravely ill, and tried to ingratiate Yang by pointing out that Yang would be chancellor and entrusting his household to Yang. Upon Li Linfu's death, however, Yang induced Li Linfu's son-in-law Yang Qixuan (楊齊宣) into corroborating that Li Linfu was involved with Li Xianzhong. As a result, Li Linfu was posthumously stripped of honors and his family members were exiled.