Background
Niu Xianke was born in 675, during the reign of . He was from Jing Prefecture . His family traced its ancestry to the Han Dynasty military official Niu Han , whose descendants later settled in the region that became Jing Prefecture, and clearly was not prominent in political circles, as, unlike most other chancellors of the time, there were no records of any other ancestors of his serving as officials. All that were recorded about his great-grandfather Niu Tong , grandfather Niu Hui , and father Niu Yi were their names.
Niu Xianke himself initially served as a minor bureaucrat at his home county of Chungu , and he was respected by the county magistrate Fu Wenjing . Fu later became in charge of farming/military outposts in the Longyou region, and he engaged Niu to be part of the endeavor. For Niu's contributions in military matters, he was eventually promoted to be the military advisor to the prefect of Tao Prefecture .
During Emperor Xuanzong's reign
Early in the ''Kaiyuan'' era of Emperor Gaozong's grandson , the general Wang Junchuo served as the military governor of Hexi Circuit . Niu Xianke and Song Zhen served as his assistants and were his close associates. In 727, when Wang and Song were killed in an ambush by the Huige tribal leader Yaoluoge Hushu , Niu escaped death. Subsequently, when Emperor Xuanzong made the general Xiao Song the military governor of Hexi to replace Wang, Niu and Pei Kuan served under Xiao. Xiao entrusted much responsibility to Niu, and Niu was said to be honest and hard-working, and he began to impress the prominent people of the region despite his humble origins. After Xiao became in 728, at Xiao's recommendation, Niu was made the secretary general of Liang Prefecture and acting military governor of Hexi. Xiao continued to recommend him, and eventually, Niu was made the military governor. While serving as military govenror, Niu was frugal and saved a large amount of surplus for the governmental treasury, and also had good armor and weapons made.
In 736, Niu replaced Emperor Xuanzong's second cousin Li Hui the Prince of Xin'an as the military govenror of Shuofang Circuit , and the official Cui Xiyi replaced Niu as the military governor of Hexi. Once Cui arrived at Hexi, he was impressed with the amount of treasury surplus as well as the supply of armor and weapons, and he reported this to Emperor Xuanzong. Emperor Xuanzong sent the official Zhang Lizhen to verify this, and once the claim was verified, was exceedingly pleased. He wanted to promote Niu to be the minister of defense and wanted to create him a title -- both actions opposed by the chancellor Zhang Jiuling, on the basis that Niu, not learned, was unsuitable to be a minister of a major ministry, and that being honest and frugal were part of his responsibility, not something that should be awarded with a title. This drew Emperor Xuanzong's displeasure, and another chancellor, Li Linfu, seeing this, advocated for Niu's creation as a duke. Emperor Xuanzong agreed and created Niu the Duke of Longxi. Later that year, when Zhang offended Emperor Xuanzong further, Emperor Xuanzong removed him and his friend and fellow chancellor Pei Yaoqing. He made Niu the minister of public works and gave him the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Sanpin'' , making him a chancellor ''de facto'', to serve alongside Li Linfu, while still letting him keep the military governorship of Shuofang. As chancellor, it was said that Niu was careful and frugal, and did not dare to make any key decisions, deferring all of them to Li Linfu.
In 737, the imperial censor Zhou Ziliang submitted an indictment against Niu, arguing that he did not have qualifications to be chancellor, and further cited a prophecy that indicated that a person named Niu would harm the empire. Emperor Xuanzong, in anger, had Zhou caned and then exiled, and Zhou died on the way. Later that year, the deputy chief judge of the supreme court, Xu Jiao submitted a flattering report to Emperor Xuanzong, pointing out that capital punishment had become almost unnecessary due to the peacefulness of his reign. Emperor Xuanzong was pleased, and credited the chancellors. He thus created Li LInfu the Duke of Jin and Niu the Duke of Bin. It was also around this time that a revision of the laws, led by Li Linfu, Niu, and the officials in charge of the justice system, was completed.
In 738, Niu was made ''Shizhong'' -- the head of the examination bureau of government and a post considered one for a chancellor; he was also made the deputy military governor of Hedong Circuit , but remained at the capital Chang'an to serve as chancellor. He was further given the additional post as the minister of defense in 739 and was responsible for selecting military officers, just as Li Linfu was made the minister of civil service affairs and was responsible for selecting officials. In 740, he was stripped of his commands of Shuofang and Hedong, but remained chancellor.
In 742, Niu was gravely ill. His former assistant while at Shuofang, Yao Hong , a grandson of the deceased chancellor Yao Chong, had been favored by him due to Yao Hong's dabbling in supernatural matters and claim to know how to avoid misfortune, and he had recommended Yao to serve as imperial censor. Now that he was ill, he asked Yao to pray for him -- and Yao did so but forced Niu to recommend Yao's uncle Yao Yi and the official Lu Huan to replace Niu himself as chancellor. Yao Hong went as far as writing out the petition and forcing Niu to sign, but Niu was so ill that he was unable to sign properly. Niu died in fall 742, and after his death, his wife, when imperial messengers came to mourn him, showed the imperial messengers the petition to accuse Yao Hong of extortion. In anger, Emperor Xuanzong forced Yao Hong to commit suicide and demoted Yao Yi and Lu. He awarded Niu posthumous honors.
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