Cui Youfu (崔祐甫) (721 – July 7, 780[1]), courtesy name Yisun (貽孫), was a Chinese politician.
[2] His father Cui Mian (崔沔) served as Huangmen Shilang (黃門侍郎), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng) and carried the title of Duke of Qinghe.
[3] At some point, Cui Youfu passed the imperial examinations, and he later served as the sheriff of Shou'an County (壽安, in modern Luoyang, Henan).
He later successively served an imperial archiver and a low-level official at the ministry of civil service affairs (吏部, Libu).
In 778, there was an incident when the general Zhu Ci submitted what he thought to be a sign of fortune—a mouse living peacefully with a cat and her kittens.
He immediately ordered that Chang be demoted to be the prefect of Chao Prefecture and recalled Cui to serve as Menxia Shilang (門下侍郎), the deputy head of the examination bureau, and further gave him the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), making him a chancellor de facto.
After Cui became chancellor, he quickly filled the offices with people he recommended, and within 200 days, he commissioned over 800 officials.
While he was praised for his quick reaction for this in the Old Book of Tang,[3] the author of the Zizhi Tongjian (the Song dynasty historian Sima Guang) criticized him for overreaction to Chang's own overreaction to Yuan and Wang, and further criticized him for overly relying on commissions of people that he knew—which he had defended as necessary for him to know their virtues and their abilities.
[5] Meanwhile, the military governor (jiedushi) Li Zhengji, who had ruled his Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong) as his own realm semi-independent from imperial rule, had wanted to placate Emperor Dezong by offering a large tribute in money.
Emperor Dezong considered accepting it, but was concerned that if he publicly did so, Li Zhengji might renege and use this incident to humiliate him.
[6] He was buried with great honors and was given the posthumous name Wenzhen (文貞, meaning "civil and honest").