Wei Siqian
Wei Siqian, formal name Wei Renyue but went by the courtesy name of Siqian, formally Baron of Bochang, was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as chancellor during the first reign of Emperor Ruizong. His sons Wei Chengqing and Wei Sili later served as chancellors as well.
Background
Wei Siqian was born in 611, and it was known that his family was from Zheng Prefecture. At some point, he passed the imperial examination and thereafter was made the magistrate of Yingcheng County. After serving for more than a year, he was up for performance review to be considered for a higher position. The reviews, conducted by the ministry of civil service affairs, were initially not positive, as Wei was said to have allowed some of his official business to be delayed and was unfamiliar with old regulations. The minister of civil service affairs, Gao Jifu, however, commented, "Since I took over the ministry, I have only met this one man who is truly talented. How can I abandon his great virtues on account of small faults?" He promoted Wei to be a censor, and Wei became known after this selection. While serving as censor, he once commented, "If a censor leaves the capital, he would be amiss in his duties if he did not shake the mountains and shock the prefectures and counties."During Emperor Gaozong's reign
In 650, Wei Siqian accused the powerful chancellor Chu Suiliang of forcing a government interpreter to sell his land to Chu. Initially, the deputy chief judge of the supreme court, Zhang Ruice, ruled that Chu had broken no laws because he had paid compensation to the interpreter, but Wei pointed out to Emperor Gaozong that Chu had paid just the amount of compensation equal to government condemnation of the property, not fair market value, and Emperor Gaozong demoted Chu to the post of prefect of Tong Prefecture. However, Emperor Gaozong respected Chu and recalled him to be a chancellor again in 652, after which Wei could not be promoted and was at one point demoted to the post of magistrate of Qingshui County. Despite this, however, he commented:At one point, the official Huangfu Gongyi became the secretary general for Emperor Gaozong's son Li Xian the Prince of Pei, and he invited Wei to serve as Li Xian's treasurer. He stated to Wei, "You, sir, are not just a small fish in the pond, but I would like to ask you to serve for a few years to watch out for the foundation of this princely mansion." Eventually, he was promoted to be a secretary at the executive bureau of government.
Early in Emperor Gaozong's Yongchun era, Wei served as Shangshu Zuo Cheng, one of the two secretaries general of the executive bureau, and then as imperial censor. At that time, the general Tian Renhui had a dispute with Wei's subordinate Zhang Renyi and falsely accused Zhang of crimes. Emperor Gaozong personally interrogated Zhang, and Zhang, fearful of the emperor, was unable to respond coherently. Wei instead spoke:
Wei's subsequent defense of Zhang was eloquent, and Emperor Gaozong was impressed. While he served as censor, he would not bow to princes or dukes, and when some people pointed out that this might bring him trouble, he stated: "Eagles are not friends of all birds. Why should I bow to them to ingratiate them? Further, officials who serve as ears and eyes of the emperor should be independent of others."