Li Linfu, a man with a sword in his mouth

Tang Emperor Xuanzong has been the Prince of Peace for more than 20 years and gradually grew proud and lazy mood. He thought the world is peaceful, the government had a prime minister, and the border has a general guard, why should I worry so much about state affairs? So, he pursued a life of pleasure.

Seeing this situation, the chancellor Zhang Jiuling was anxious and often advised Emperor Tang Xuanzong. The Tang Emperor respected Zhang Jiuling, but in the end, he could not listen to his advice.

There was a minister Li Linfu, a person who did not learn anything. He did not know how to do anything but learned the skill of flattery. He colluded with the eunuchs and concubines in the palace to spy on the movements of the palace. The first thing you need to do is to find out what Tang Xuanzong is saying and thinking in the palace. When Tang Emperor Xuanzong asked him to discuss something, he answered the question as if it was the same as what Tang Emperor Xuanzong was thinking. The Tang Emperor is very comfortable listening to it and think Li Linfu and competent, and obedient, much better than Zhang Jiuling.

The Tang emperor wanted to promote Li Linfu to the prime minister and discussed it with Zhang Jiuling. The first time I saw him, I saw that he was not the right person, so I said bluntly, "The position of the prime minister is a matter of national security. If your Majesty appoints Li Linfu as the prime minister, you are afraid that the country will suffer a disaster in the future."

These words reached Li Linfu, who hated Zhang Jiuling so much that he gnashed his teeth. Niu Xianke, the general of Shuofang (the capital of Ningxia Lingwu), was illiterate, but he was very good at managing money. The Tang Emperor wanted to promote Niu Xianke, but Zhang Jiuling did not agree. Li Linfu said in front of Emperor Xuanzong, "A person like Niu Xianke is the right person to be the prime minister; Zhang Jiuling is a nerd and does not know the big picture."Once again, Emperor Tang Xuanzong approached Zhang Jiuling to discuss the promotion of Niu Xianke. Zhang Jiuling still did not agree. Tang Xuanzong became angry and said sternly, "Do you have to decide everything?"

Tang Emperor Xuanzong found Zhang Jiuling more and more annoying, plus listened to Li Linfu's slander, finally took a reason to remove Zhang Jiuling's post and let Li Linfu become the prime minister.sent a medallion requesting to return to the capital to see a doctor. Li Linfu took the medal to Tang Emperor Xuanzong and said, "What a pity that Yan Lingzhi is now seriously ill and cannot do great things."

Emperor Tang Xuanzong sighed with regret and let it go.

There are many people like Yan Tingzhi who have been deceived. However, despite how cleverly Li Linfu dressed up, his schemes and tricks were finally discovered by the people. People say that Li Linfu is a person who has a sweet mouth but a hidden sword in his belly (the idiom "honey mouth and sword belly" comes from this).

Li Linfu served as prime minister for 19 years, talented and upright ministers were all rejected, and a group of manipulative villains were reappointed and promoted. It was during this period that the politics of the Tang Dynasty shifted from prosperity to decline, and the prosperity of the "Reign of Kaiyuan" disappeared, followed by the "Rebellion of Tianbao" (Tianbao was the late year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang).