回 Huí

Li Hui

Li Hui, courtesy name Zhaodu, was a sixth-generation descendant of Deliang, Prince of Xinxing. His original name was Chan, with the courtesy name Zhaohui; he changed it to avoid the taboo on Wuzong's name. In the Changqing period he passed the presented scholar examination, and also passed the decree examination for the Worthy and Good, Straightforward and Upright with distinction. He was invited to serve on the staffs of Yicheng and Huainan, rose by degrees to Investigating Censor, and was promoted step by step to Imperial Diarist. Li Deyu had long thought well of him. He was strong and capable, and there was nothing he failed to accomplish wherever he served. As Vice Director of the Bureau of Operations he took charge of the case files of the Ministry of Revenue. After four promotions he became Secretariat Drafter. Edit

In the Huichang period, he served as Vice Minister of Justice and concurrently Vice Censor-in-Chief. At that time the court was campaigning against Liu Zhen, and Wuzong feared that the garrisons north of the Yellow River would secretly league together to obstruct the campaign. Li Deyu recommended Hui to go, bearing the imperial insignia, to instruct He Hongjing and Wang Yuankui, telling them: "Zelu is close to the capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang. It is not like the three garrisons of Hebei, which the state has allowed to hand their lands down to their sons and grandsons for generations. Moreover, Zhen and his father have no merit and defy right and reason. His Majesty considers that the three prefectures of Xing, Ming and Ci border on Hebei, and that for military operations nothing is more convenient than Wei and Zhen. And the imperial army does not wish to march lightly east of the mountains. He asks you, sirs, to take the three prefectures and report to the Son of Heaven." The two generals obeyed. Further, Zhang Zhongwu was attacking the Uighurs with the troops of You Prefecture but was at odds with Liu Mian. When Hui arrived, he instructed them in the great principles of duty; Zhongwu's resentment melted away, and he at once joined the Taiyuan army in attacking Lu. Hui was again made envoy and went to oversee the fighting as far as Pudong. Wang Zai and Shi Xiong, their weapons cased, greeted him at the roadside, but Hui did not slacken his pace; he turned to his attendants and called the clerk on duty to demand from them a written deadline for defeating the rebels. Zai and the others were shaken and afraid, and pledged to take Lu within sixty days or die for it. Two days before the deadline, the rebels were put down. As Vice Minister of Revenue he was put in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue. Soon he was promoted to Vice Director of the Secretariat and Joint Manager of Affairs with the Secretariat-Chancellery. Edit

When Wuzong died, Hui served as Commissioner for the Imperial Mausoleum, and was promoted to Vice Director of the Chancellery and concurrently Minister of Revenue. He left the capital to be Military Commissioner of Jiannan West Circuit. Because he had been on good terms with Deyu, when the case of Wu Xiang was judged, Hui, who had been Vice Censor-in-Chief at the time, was held guilty of failing to expose the wrong, and was demoted to Surveillance Commissioner of Hunan. Soon after he was made Adviser to the Heir Apparent, at the Branch Office in the Eastern Capital. The Supervising Secretary sent the decree back, saying that Hui's punishment was too light, so he was demoted to Prefect of He Prefecture. He was transferred to Prefect of Fu Prefecture. After his death, in the ninth year of Dazhong, an edict restored him to the post of Surveillance Commissioner of Hunan and posthumously conferred on him the title of Minister of Justice. Edit