Background

Lu Sui was born in 776, during the reign of Emperor Daizong. His ancestors were originally from Yangping (陽平, in modern Hanzhong, Shanxi). His great-great-grandfather Lu Jie (路節) served on staff of Li Zhen the Prince of Yue (an elder brother of Emperor Daizong's great-great-grandfather Emperor Gaozong); his great-grandfather Lu Weishu (路惟恕) served as a prefectural prefect; and his grandfather Lu Junzhi (路俊之) served on the staff of a crown prince.

Lu Sui's father Lu Mi (路泌) was known for being learned and studious. When, during the revolt of the general Zhu Ci against Emperor Daizong's son Emperor Dezong, Emperor Dezong was forced to flee the capital Chang'an, first to Fengtian (奉天, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi) and then to Xingyuan (興元, in modern Hanzhong), Lu Mi followed the emperor in his flight, leaving his wife and children at Chang'an. During flight, he was also injured when stricken by an arrow. He eventually came to serve under the important imperial general Hun Jian and was much respected by Hun, and he participated in Hun's campaign against another rebel general, Li Huaiguang, as Hun's secretary. He was with Hun in 787 when Hun met with the Tufan prime minister Shang Jiezan (尚結贊) to sign a peace treaty — when Shang laid a trap for Hun, intending to capture Hun; Hun escape, but many of his staff members were captured or killed. Lu Mi was captured and taken to the Tufan capital Lhasa. It was said that in his years at Lhasa, Lu Mi became well-learned in Buddhism, and was much respected by Tufan's king, but was never allowed to return to Tang until his death.

When Lu Mi was captured, Lu Sui was just a child, and it was said that after he grew up and found out that his father had been captured by Tufan, he would often weep day and night, and whenever he sat, he would face the west (toward Tufan); he also did not eat meat to mourn his father's capture. Because his mother told him that his appearance resembled his father's, he would refuse to look at mirrors. In 803, when Tufan sent letters offering peace, Lu Sui made three petitions to Emperor Dezong, begging for peace — such that Emperor Dezong sent an imperial eunuch to explain to him that Emperor Dezong distrusted Tufan offers of peace and was waiting for further proof of Tufan's good faith. Such proof never came for several years, however, and no further peace talks were held at that point.

Early career

Eventually, Lu Sui passed the imperial examinations in the Mingjing (明經) class, and he was made a military advisor at Run Prefecture (潤州, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu), which was then controlled by the warlord Li Qi, the military governor of Zhenhai Circuit (鎮海, headquartered at Run Prefecture). Li Qi wanted to humiliate Lu, so he made Lu be in charge of the market, but Lu, unembarrassed, sat in the market while overseeing it. When Wei Xiaqing (韋夏卿) the defender of the eastern capital Luoyang heard about this, he was impressed with Lu and invited Lu to serve on his staff, which furthered Lu's reputation.

During Emperor Xianzongs reign

Meanwhile, by this point, Emperor Dezong's grandson Emperor Xianzong was emperor, and Tufan made periodic overtures of peace. Lu submitted five petitions to Emperor Xianzong arguing for peace and further also petitioned the chancellors; thereafter, the chancellors Pei Ji and Li Fan both spoke on his behalf as well. After peace was finally reached with Tufan, in 810, at the request of Emperor Xianzong, Tufan returned the caskets of Lu Mi and his colleague Zheng Shuju, as well as their tombstones and writings. Emperor Xianzong bestowed posthumous honors on Lu Mi and had him buried at state expense. Lu Sui observed a mourning period for his father, and after the mourning period was over, was made Zuo Bujue (左補闕), a low-level advisory official at the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng). Once, when the chancellor Li Jiang suggested that Emperor Xianzong listen more to advisory officials, Emperor Xianzong cited Lu and Wei Chuhou as two examples of advisory officials that he listened to. He was also made an editor of imperial history. He was subsequently made an imperial chronicler (起居郎, Qijulang), and then Sixun Yuanwailang (司勳員外郎), a low-level official at the ministry of civil service affairs (吏部, Libu), and continued to serve as an imperial history editor.

During Emperor Muzongs reign

In 820, Emperor Xianzong died and was succeeded by his son Emperor Muzong. After Emperor Muzong's ascension, Lu Sui was promoted to be Sixun Langzhong (司勳郎中), a supervisory official at the ministry of civil service affairs, and both he and Wei Chuhou also became assistant imperial scholars at Hanlin Institute (翰林院). He was later made Jianyi Daifu (諫議大夫), a mid-level advisory official and continued to serve as assistant imperial scholar. As Emperor Muzong was commissioning the editing of the chronicles of Emperor Xianzong's reign, he again made Lu an editor as well.

During Emperor Jingzongs reign

Emperor Muzong died in 824 and was succeeded by his son Emperor Jingzong. Lu Sui was thereafter promoted to be Zhongshu Sheren (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng) and full imperial scholar (翰林學士, Hanlin Xueshi). When people sent congratulatory gifts of gold and silk, he responded, "How should I receive private wealth for a public matter?" and returned the gifts.

Around new year 827, Emperor Jingzong was assassinated by eunuchs and imperial guard officers who were resentful of his temper. The leading eunuch involved in the conspiracy, Liu Keming, thereafter had Lu draft a will on Emperor Jingzong's behalf entrusting the matters of state to Emperor Muzong's younger brother Li Wu the Prince of Jiàng, but soon, a group of powerful eunuchs, including the directors of palace communications Wang Shoucheng and Yang Chenghe and the commanders of the Shence Armies Wei Congjian and Liang Shouqian (梁守謙) counteracted against the conspirators and slaughtered them. In the aftermaths, Wang, after consulting with Wei Chuhou, had an edict issued in the name of Emperor Muzong's mother Grand Empress Dowager Guo naming Emperor Jingzong's younger brother Li Han (whose name was then changed to Li Ang) the Prince of Jiāng (note different tone than Li Wu) emperor (as Emperor Wenzong).

During Emperor Wenzongs reign

Lu Sui appeared to not be considered a conspirator in the assassination of Emperor Jingzong, for he suffered no reprisals in the aftermaths — and as Wei Chuhou, who was then chief imperial scholar, was named chancellor soon after Emperor Wenzong's ascension, Lu was named chief imperial scholar to succeed him. He was thereafter made the deputy minister of defense (兵部侍郎, Bingbu Shilang) but was also responsible for drafting edicts. After Wei died in 828, he was made the deputy head of the legislative bureau (中書侍郎, Zhongshu Shilang) and chancellor de facto with the designation of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi. He also became responsible for overseeing the editing of the imperial history.

While Lu was serving as the lead editor of the imperial history, he became involved in a controversy over the editing. Previously, when Han Yu had been responsible for editing the chronicles of the reign of Emperor Xianzong's father Emperor Shunzong, Han wrote about much of what was going on in the palace, and that led to resentment by eunuchs, who often told the emperors that the chronicles were untrue. After Lu submitted the chronicles of Emperor Xianzong's reign to Emperor Wenzong, Emperor Wenzong ordered him to modify the chronicles of Emperor Shunzong's reign, which led Lu to submit a softly-worded apology about the inaccuracies and yet defended the integrity of the officials involved, as well as their independence as historians. As a result, Emperor Wenzong issued a modified order that suggested that, to the extent that there were references to events in the palace during Emperor Dezong's and Emperor Shunzong's reigns that could not be corroborated that those references should be removed, but that the chronicles should otherwise remain untouched.

In 829, at Lu's suggestion that it was inappropriate for chancellors to also oversee the finances of the state — citing past corrupt chancellors Yang Guozhong, Yuan Zai, and Huangfu Bo as examples — Lu's senior colleague Pei Du resigned his financial responsibilities to serve just as chancellor. In 830, Lu was made Menxia Shilang, the deputy head of the examination bureau, and was given the additional title of senior scholar at Chongwen Pavilion (崇文館). In 833, he was also made a senior advisor to Emperor Wenzong's son and crown prince Li Yong; it was also that year that submitted chronicles of Emperor Xianzong's and Muzong's reigns to Emperor Wenzong. In 834, he offered to resign due to illness, but the resignation was not accepted. In 834, when Emperor Wenzong's close associate Zheng Zhu accused the former chancellor Li Deyu of conspiring with Du Zhongyang (杜仲陽) the wet nurse of Emperor Wenzong's brother Li Cou the Prince of Zhang, Lu not only did not cosign the accusation but further tried to defend Li Deyu, thus drawing Zheng's ire. Later that year, he was therefore sent out of Chang'an to serve as the military governor of Zhenhai Circuit and the prefect of Run Prefecture, without an opportunity to even meet the emperor to bid farewell, although he retained the Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi title as an honorary title. He died on the way to Zhenhai, while riding on a ship on the Yangtze River, and was given posthumous honors and the posthumous name Zhen (貞, "untainted").

Notes and references

• Old Book of Tang, vol. 159.

• New Book of Tang, vol. 142.

• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 237, 243, 244, 245.

背景

路隨生于唐代宗大曆十一年（776年）。祖上陽平人氏。高祖路節為唐高宗兄越王李貞府東閣史祭酒。曾祖路惟恕，官至睦州刺史；祖父路俊之，官終太子通事舍人。

路隨父路泌以博識好學聞名，通《五經》，尤嗜好《詩》、《易》、《左氏春秋》。太尉朱泚反叛唐德宗，德宗被迫逃離長安，奔奉天，再奔興元，路泌隨駕流亡，妻兒留在長安。流亡期間，中箭負傷。後他效力行在都知兵馬使渾瑊，渾瑊很器重他，後來渾瑊任河中節度使，路泌也作為渾瑊的從事參與了其對另一叛將李懷光的討伐。貞元三年（787年），路泌陪渾瑊與吐蕃大相尚結贊締盟，尚結贊設伏劫盟，意圖俘虜渾瑊；渾瑊逃跑，幕僚大多被俘殺。路泌被俘並被帶到吐蕃首都拉薩。在拉薩期間，他通曉佛學，為吐蕃贊普所重待以賓禮，但至死未能獲准返回中原。

路泌被俘時，路隨還是孩童，長大後得知父親被吐蕃所俘，日夜哭泣，坐時面向西面吐蕃方向，為哀悼父親被俘而不吃肉，也不婚娶。母親告訴他，他長得像父親，他便終身不照鏡子。十九年（803年），吐蕃寫信求和，路隨給唐德宗上了三份表章請求答允求和，以至德宗派中使向他解釋，德宗不信任吐蕃求和，在等待吐蕃進一步示誠。但數年間，吐蕃未能証明誠意，當時也就沒有發生進一步的和談。

早期仕途

路隨舉明經，授潤州參軍事，為軍閥鎮海軍節度使李錡所制。李錡想羞辱路隨，讓路隨知市事，路隨怡然坐在市中監督事務。東都洛陽留守韋夏卿聞之，被路隨感動，邀他入東都幕府，路隨因此名聲更大了。

路隨曾任宣歙來石軍判官、試太常寺協律郎，不蓄養僕人、侍妾，以孝行被國子博士李翱稱讚比作曾子、閔子騫，並得其推薦。

唐憲宗年間

此時，唐憲宗在位，吐蕃不時提議求和。路隨五次上表憲宗請求修好，還上表給宰相，希望路泌生還；宰相裴垍和李藩都為他說話。和吐蕃最終議和後，五年（810年），應憲宗要求，吐蕃送還路泌及其同僚判官鄭叔矩的棺材、墓石和手書。憲宗追贈路泌絳州刺史，用公費安葬，累贈至太子太保。路隨為父服喪，以孝聞名，喪期滿後，任左補闕。一次宰相李絳建議憲宗多聽取諫官們的意見，憲宗舉了路隨和韋處厚的例子，說自己常聽他們的話。有識者從此敬服二人。路隨又被任為史館修撰，以耿直爽亮為人所稱。又歷任起居郎、司勛員外郎，仍兼史館修撰。

唐穆宗年間

十五年（820年）正月，憲宗崩，子唐穆宗繼立。穆宗登基後，升路隨為司勛郎中。韋處厚入翰林院為侍講學士，知制誥韋表微與韋處厚商議增選學士，薦路隨，路隨也升為侍講學士。三月，穆宗召路隨和韋處厚在太液亭講《毛詩·關雎》《尚書·洪範》等篇，講完後都賜緋魚袋。長慶二年（822年）四月，韋處厚因穆宗年輕不好學，與路隨合《易》《書》《詩》《春秋》《禮》《孝經》《論語》撰《六經法言》二十卷進獻，獲賜錦彩二百匹、銀器二百，路隨得改諫議大夫，韋處厚改中書舍人，都賜金紫，仍兼侍講學士。閏十月，穆宗修《憲宗實錄》，以宰相杜元穎監修，再次用路隨、韋處厚充史職，與同僚趙暨、史館修撰宇文籍、韋表微、沈傳師、鄭澣等同修《憲宗實錄》。實錄沒修成時，穆宗允許路隨、韋處厚隔日入史館，平時仍然上朝參政。因路隨與韋處厚稱讚推薦，有文學和德行的江州司馬韋辭被提拔為戶部員外。

唐敬宗年間

四年（824年），穆宗崩，子唐敬宗繼立。路隨以朝議郎、守諫議大夫、充翰林學士、上輕車都尉、賜紫金魚袋被任為守中書舍人、翰林學士，勛賜如故。當有人送金帛致賀時，路隨回應：「我怎能因為公事獲取私財？」將禮物都退還了。

寶曆二年（826年）十二月，敬宗因脾氣為宦官和軍將所恨，遭弒。弒君陰謀的為首宦官劉克明要路隨以敬宗名義起草遺詔以穆宗弟絳王李悟權當軍國事，但很快，樞密使王守澄、楊承和、神策軍中尉魏從簡、梁守謙等當權宦官回擊作亂者並屠戮之。王守澄與韋處厚共議後，以穆宗母郭太皇太后名義擬詔以敬宗弟江王李涵（隨後改名李昂）為帝，即唐文宗。

唐文宗年間

事後路隨並未被處罰，可見未被視為弒殺敬宗的亂黨。時任承旨的韋處厚在文宗繼位後不久入相，路隨受命接替他為承旨。路隨後守兵部侍郎，仍知制誥、翰林學士。太和元年（827年）四月，文宗召路隨以下對于大液殿，各賜錦彩銀器。二年（828年）十一月韋處厚死後，十二月，路隨以中散大夫、守尚書兵部侍郎、知制誥、充翰林學士、上輕車都尉、賜紫金魚袋拜正議大夫、守中書侍郎，授同中書門下平章事，為實質宰相，勛賜如故，監修國史。

三年（829年）十二月，路隨建議宰相不宜兼判度支類事務，引用腐敗宰相楊國忠、元載和皇甫鎛的例子，路隨的上級同僚宰相裴度辭去度支，僅任宰相。路隨奉命繼續修撰《憲宗實錄》，採用韋處厚記錄的史料，再與史官蘇景裔等廣加拜訪研究，歷時約一年，于四年（830年）三月經光順門進獻《憲宗實錄》四十卷及目錄一卷，並上表，得優詔，與史官司封郎中蘇景胤、起居舍人陳夷行、頓田員外郎李漢、右拾遺蔣系獲賜錦繡銀器有差。期間，路隨等議論了實錄不載永貞元年（805年）九月去世的河陽三城節度使元韶事跡之事，認為元韶沒有出色的功績，理應如此。因先前韓愈監修《順宗實錄》時，寫了很多宮禁之事，令宦官憎恨，他們常對皇帝說記錄不實，衛尉卿周居巢、諫議大夫王彥威、給事中李固言、史官蘇景胤也都上言請求修正。文宗命路隨修改順宗實錄，路隨上表就實錄不實之處婉言致歉，但為涉事官員的正直及其作為史官的獨立立場辯護。文宗因而修改了命令，建議，德宗、憲宗年間宮禁之事不可確証者皆刪除，其餘不改。同年，路隨轉門下侍郎，加崇文館大學士。五年（831年）正月，同僚宰相宋申錫被誣與皇弟漳王李湊謀反，路隨與宋申錫和其他宰相李宗閔、牛僧孺奉召入延英殿，宋申錫得知不被召見後自知獲罪而退，路隨等得知宋申錫謀反事後驚愕地互相看著。宋申錫、李湊都被貶。二月，路隨去紫宸殿奏事，到龍墀，摔倒了，命宦官攙扶。七年（833年），兼任文宗子太子李永的太師；同年向文宗獻上憲宗、穆宗實錄。十月，舉開元十七年張說、源乾曜以唐玄宗生日為千秋節的先例，建議文宗將生日定為慶成節，獲准。八年（834年），路隨告病辭職，不許。六月，與同僚宰相王涯奏請依舊制讀時令。九月，冊拜太子太師，太子在明門見他。九年（835年）三月，文宗近臣鄭注及尚書左丞王璠、戶部侍郎李漢彈劾前宰相鎮海軍節度使李德裕與李湊傅母杜仲陽勾結，文宗在蓬萊殿召宰相王涯、李固言、路隨及王璠、李漢、鄭注，路隨不但不認可，還試圖為李德裕辯護，說李德裕所為不至如此，如果屬實，那麼自己也應該有罪。議論稍息，他卻因而為鄭注所忌恨，李德裕被貶袁州長史，路隨也不在奏章署名，因而在四月被罷相，遣出長安，拜檢校尚書右僕射，任鎮海軍節度使、潤州刺史、浙江西道觀察等使，儘管保有同中書門下平章事作為榮銜，卻連面聖道別的機會也沒有。七月，路隨在赴任鎮海途中，在長江中流的船上去世。冊贈太保，謚貞。

路隨有學行，大度，作為諫官能直言，在內廷能匡助，不參與李宗閔、李德裕朋黨之爭，也不參與李訓、鄭注的奸謀，可謂得君子中庸之道。

路隨赴任鎮海軍時，徵辟鳳翔司馬李敬彞，路隨死後，李敬彞客居江淮，因此未能隨鳳翔節度使鄭注參與太和九年末的甘露之變，免于一死。

唐武宗會昌二年（842年）十一月，敕令州府搜尋收迴路隨所修《憲宗實錄》。

宋真宗年間，孫奭判國子監，曾寫路隨、韋處厚傳給國子監說書賈昌朝說：「君當以經術進，如二公。」

作品

• 《平淮西記》一卷

• 《憲宗實錄》四十卷

• 《穆宗實錄》二十卷，蘇景胤、王彥威、楊漢公、蘇滌、裴休撰，路隨監修

• 《六經法言》二十卷

評價

• 《舊唐書》

　• 史臣曰：衛次公、鄭絪、韋處厚、崔群、路隨等，皆以文學飾身，致位崇極。兼之忠讜，垂名簡書，茲實有足多也。

　• 贊曰：衛、鄭、韋、路，兼之博陵。文學政事，為時所稱。

• 《新唐書》贊曰：隋輔政十年，歷牛、李、訓、注用事，無所迎將，善保位哉！

家庭

妻

• 孔氏，正議大夫尚書左丞孔戣長女

注釋及參考文獻