Officials had already appeared at the time of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, and it was also recorded in Sima Qiande's "Five Emperors Benji" that some officials had to appear, but at this time the bureaucratic hierarchy had not yet begun to appear, and later the Establishment of the Qin Dynasty had the Three Dukes and Nine Secretaries system, and the highest position was the prime minister. However, after the end of the Qin Dynasty, the chancellor had lost his status and had become a vacant position, and the highest had to slowly become a prime minister, and each prime minister was the highest in the imperial court except for the emperor, which was already above ten thousand people.
So many officials want to be able to become prime ministers, but there are not many people who can really go to the prime minister, and even if they go to that position, they can be praised by others, just like the person we are talking about today, Lu Yan of the Tang Dynasty, he not only became the prime minister, but also made a great contribution, many people think that this is a high-ranking official, but also a rare incorruptible prime minister in history, Lu Zhen was born in Liyang County in 754, when the Lu family has always been a famous person, It was only after the decline of the Wei and Jin Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties that Lu Yan was also considered to have been born poor, but he loved to learn and was admitted to the Jinshi at the age of eighteen.
To know that Bai Juyi was 27 years old before he was admitted to the jinshi, so in such a comparison, Lu Yan is really very powerful, he became an official when he was admitted to the jinshi, starting from the smallest official, he made very good achievements, the people also gave him praise, and his reputation among the officials was getting bigger and bigger, just when Tang Dezong was the prince, he heard of Lu Zhen's name, and just after he ascended the throne, he summoned him to his side to be a Hanlin bachelor. Every time he wrote the Holy Will, he would first consult with Lu Zhen, although he had not yet become the prime minister at that time, but it was almost over.
But Lu Yan was indeed a talent, and the emperor also liked to listen to him, he also did a lot of things for the country, really serving the people, so his reputation has always been very good, and in 792 he became a Zhongshu Waiter, which is equivalent to being the prime minister. At the age of 18, he was the youngest official, and in just 19 years he became the prime minister, which was inseparable from his ability, and he also had a noble character, learning Confucianism from an early age, knowing the etiquette of the monarch, and also knowing what the subject should do and what not to do, never accepting money from others.
However, Lu Yan became the most unique person in the court, because during the Middle Tang Dynasty, everyone was more open in their thinking, and many things became a trend, but Lu Yan was embarrassed, he was too poor to receive anything, even the emperor could not look at it, and no one was willing to follow him, the emperor said: AiQing, you are more or less greedy for money, and you will not say anything about you. However, Lu Yan was still stubborn and unwilling to give up, continued to maintain his noble character, and gave advice to the emperor.
Later, he was at odds with the court, was relegated to a distant place, began to study medicine, and continued to benefit the local people, who could go to him without spending money, and he died in 805 at the age of 51.