Emperor Wuzong of Tang Dynasty

Li Yan

Li Yan, Emperor Wuzong of Tang Dynasty

(July 2, 814 - April 22, 846), formerly known as

Li Zhen

He was born in Chengji (now Qin'an County, Gansu Province) in Longxi. The 15th emperor of the Tang Dynasty (from February 10, 840 to April 22, 846), the fifth son of Li Heng, Emperor Mu Zong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Zhan, Emperor Jing Zong of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Ang, Emperor Wen Zong of the Tang Dynasty, have a different mother and younger brother, whose mother is Wei, Queen Xuanyi.

Li Yan was appointed king of Ying in his early years. In 840, when Wenzong was seriously ill, eunuchs Qiu Shiliang and Yu Hongzhi ordered Li Chengmei to be deposed and Li Yan to be emperor's younger brother. After the death of Wenzong, Li Yan became emperor. During Li Yan's reign, he relied heavily on Prime Minister Li Deyu, clarified the administration of officials, developed economy, and was determined to get rid of the accumulated disadvantages. At the same time, they tried to weaken the power of eunuchs, vassals and monks. In the third year of Huichang (843), Zhu Dao was ordered to put down the rebellion of Liu Zhen in Zhaoyi. In the fifth year of Huichang (845), in view of the flood of temples, the central government ordered to demolish the Buddhist temples, confiscate the land of the temples, and expand the tax resources of the central government. On the other hand, he defeated Uighur. So that the Tang Dynasty once presented a situation of resurgence, known as "Huichang resurgence".

Li Yan, who had been taking the elixir of longevity for a long time, died in the Daming Palace in the sixth year of Huichang (846). He was only 33 years old. Posthumous title to Dao Zhao, Emperor Suxiao, temple name Wuzong, buried in duanling.

(source: Wang Qi of Ming Dynasty, Wanli engraved Sancai tuhui)

Life of the characters

Early experience

Li Zhen

Ch á N was born in the East Palace of Chang'an on June 12, the ninth year of Yuanhe, Emperor Xianzong of Tang Dynasty (July 2, 814). He is the fifth son of Li Heng, Emperor Mu Zong of Tang Dynasty. His mother is Wei Shi, Queen Xuanyi of Tang Dynasty. She is the younger brother of Li Ang, Emperor Wenzong of Tang Dynasty. In the first year of Changqing (821), he was granted the title of King Ying. During the Kaicheng period (836-840), Kaifu Yitong, the third division, and the Minister of the inspection department were added.

Wu Zong to Dao Zhao Su Xiao emperor taboo Yan, Mu Zong fifth son, mother said Xuanyi empress Wei. Yuanhe was born in Donggong on June 12, 1999. In March of the first year of Changqing, he was granted the title of King Ying. In Kaicheng, Kaifu Yi, together with the third division and the Minister of the Department of inspection, paid monthly salary according to the regulations of 100 officials.

After Wen Zong ascended the throne, he once wanted to establish Li Pu, the son of his elder brother and the king of Jin, as his heir. However, Li Pu died at the age of 5 in June of the second year of Taihe (828), and Wen Zong granted him the title of crown prince. In October of the sixth year of Taihe (832), he made his son, Li Yong, king of Lu, the prince. In August of the second year (833), he held a ceremony. Yang, the favorite concubine of Tang Wenzong, was dissatisfied with Li Yong, the crown prince, and had been seeking to abolish him. In view of the resistance of the court, he failed. In October of the third year of Kaicheng (838), Li Yong died suddenly, which brought the matter to an end.

The death of the crown prince made Wenzong very sad. He thought that he was in vain to be the son of heaven and could not save his son's life. In addition to giving his son the title of crown prince Zhuang Ke, he also sent his anger to the palace people around the crown prince. From then on, he became depressed and became ill. In October of the fourth year of Kaicheng (839), Wenzong did not agree with Yang Fei's proposal to establish his younger brother, Li Rong, king of an. Instead, he established Li Chengmei, king of Chen, the sixth son of Jingzong, as the crown prince. But before he had time to perform the ceremony, Wenzong fell ill and the dispute over the crown prince began.

To ascend the throne

On the second day of the first month of the fifth year of Kaicheng (840), Liu Hongyi, a secret eunuch, and Li Jue, the Prime Minister of Wenzong, served as prince to supervise the state. However, Qiu Shiliang and Yu Hongzhi, the protection lieutenant of Shence army, are greedy for the support of the crown prince. They propose to re establish the crown prince on the ground that the crown prince is young and ill. Li Jue argued, but Qiu Shiliang and Yu Hongzhi, who were in charge of the Shence army, made Li Jue emperor's younger brother. On that night, Qiu Shiliang led his troops to welcome Li from the 16th residence to Shaoyang courtyard of Daming Palace, while all officials met Li in Sixian Hall of East Palace. On the 4th of the same month (February 10), Wenzong died, and Li Fei became the emperor in front of his coffin

Emperor Wuzong of Tang Dynasty

. On the fourteenth, he was enrolled in the main hall. He was twenty-seven years old. After Li Zhen ascended the throne, he named his mother Wei Shi as empress dowager Xuanyi. His birthday was designated as Qingyang day.

In April of the second year of Huichang (842), the officials were honored with the title of "benevolent sage, civil and military to God, great filial emperor". In the first month of the fifth year of Huichang (845), the officials were given the insignia of "benevolent sage, civil and military, heaven's success, God's virtue, Emperor's wisdom". On March 1, the sixth year of Huichang (March 31, 846), Li Zhen issued an imperial edict to change his name to

Li Yan

.

Huichang Zhongxing

Li Yan was superstitious in Taoism, and there were always a group of Taoists around him. He had more opportunities to observe the society than the prince who grew up in the deep palace. It's just like the folk who came from the music and dance troupe of emperor Wenzong, who often went to the banquets with their love of singing and dancing. But Li Yan didn't indulge in the amusement. In the process of self entertainment, he always kept a clear mind. Although Li Yan did not study as well as Wenzong, he was better able to know people well, and he seemed to have less scholar spirit and pedantry, and he was able to face the reality. Many times, he dared to admit his mistakes to zaiding. Especially, he trusted and valued Li Deyu, so that their monarchs and ministers could calmly deal with and tide over the difficulties when they were worried about internal and external troubles during the Huichang period.

At the beginning of Li Yan's accession to the throne, under the persuasion of Qiu Shiliang and others, he killed the potential political opponents of Wenzong, such as Yang Fei, Chen Wang Li Chengmei, and an Wang Li Rong. At the burial ceremony for Wenzong in August of the fifth year of Kaicheng (840), Qiu Shiliang killed the secret envoys Liu Hongyi and Xue Jizhen to remove the threat to Li Yan.

The prime ministers Li Jue and Yang Sifu were demoted to other places by the prime minister. Li Yan had ordered them to be executed, but at Li Deyu's strong request, they were pardoned. Li Yan used Li Deyu, but Qiu Shiliang was even more afraid. He claimed that "the prime minister wrote a letter of amnesty to reduce the grain and the grain of the forbidden army", and wanted to incite the forbidden army to expel Li Deyu. Li Yan sent an envoy to the forbidden army to say: "the amnesty is from me, and it has nothing to do with the prime minister. How dare you do that? " The imperial army was deterred and calmed down. Qiu Shiliang was confused and uneasy. In the third year of Huichang (843), he proposed to resign on the ground of old illness. Li Yan took advantage of the situation to remove Qiu Shiliang's military power. Qiu Shiliang died in his mansion soon after he resigned. In this way, Li Yan temporarily cut off the eunuch power in the palace and strengthened the imperial power.

Li Yan appointed Li Deyu as his prime minister and made some reforms on the maladministration in the late Tang Dynasty. Believing in Taoism, Li Yan ordered to demolish the Buddhist temple and confiscate a large amount of temple land in the fifth year of Huichang (845). Because of the success of destroying Buddhism, the tax source of the Tang Dynasty government was expanded and the centralization of power was consolidated. This period of relatively stable period in the middle and late Tang Dynasty was called Huichang Zhongxing by historians.

He died of illness

Li Yan took the elixir of longevity for a long time. He was so sick that he couldn't speak. Finally, he died in Daming Palace on March 23, 846 (April 22, 846). He was only 33 years old. On the same day, Li Chen, the king of light, who was supported by Ma Yuanzhi, the lieutenant of the left Shence army, ascended the throne for Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. His concubine, Wang, hanged himself for sacrifice. After Taizong, Xianzong and muzong, Li Yan became another emperor who died of taking elixir. August, August, was posthumously named emperor Zhidao Zhao Suxiao, temple name Wuzong, buried in the duanling of Sanyuan County, Jingzhao Prefecture.

Political initiatives

Politics

During the reign of Li Yan, Li Deyu, the prime minister, was appointed. During the reign of Li Yan, the function of Zhongshu province played a better role, so the power of eunuch was weakened. In April of the second year of Huichang (842), Qiu Shiliang, the leader of the eunuch, saw that Li Yan was becoming more and more intimate with Li Deyu. He was very afraid, so he spread rumors, saying that "the prime minister should write a letter of amnesty to reduce the expenses of clothing, food and horse fodder of the forbidden army", in order to provoke the forbidden army to make trouble. After hearing the news, Li Deyu immediately told Li Yan about it. Li Yan sent messengers to the Shence army to announce the imperial edict: "pardon is my meaning, everything is my arrangement, nothing to do with the prime minister's business, how dare you?" The soldiers were awed and calm was restored. Qiu Shiliang was perplexed and uneasy.

After Qiu Shiliang's plot was exposed, he had to apologize to Li Yan in fear. After Qiu Shiliang's plot was defeated, Li Yan did not take advantage of the situation to take further action against him. Instead, he was promoted to a military officer to lead the left and right armies. He was promoted in name, but in fact he was deprived of control of the imperial army. Qiu Shiliang understood Li Yan's attitude towards him, knew that his situation was not good, and resigned because of his illness. Li Yan pushed the boat along with the current, agreed to his resignation, and changed him to an internal supervisor. The internal Chamberlain didn't do it for long. Based on the fact that the situation had gone and there was no hope of a comeback, Qiu Shiliang was forced to become an official. Shortly after his resignation, Qiu Shiliang died in his mansion. In the third year of Huichang (843), Li Yan sent people to inspect Qiu Shiliang's house on the ground of corruption and found thousands of weapons. Therefore, Li Yan issued an imperial edict to remove Qiu Shiliang's official rank, leaving his native place without his family.

In the first year of Huichang (841), Li Yan went to Jingyang County to hunt. Not long after that, Gao Shaoyi and Zheng Lang, the counsellors, dissuaded him in Zichen Hall: "Your Majesty has been hunting more and more frequently recently. You are too far away from the capital. You go out early and come back late. You have abandoned the government." Li Yan's face changed and he admitted his mistake. After Gao Shaoyi and others withdrew, Li Yan said to the prime ministers, "the original intention of the imperial court to set up admonishment officials is to let them speak frankly about the gains and losses of the imperial government. I would like to hear it often." Li Deyu and other prime ministers congratulated in unison. A few days later, Li yanzhuo promoted Shaoyi to the government, and Zheng Lang was the doctor of Zuo Jianyi.

After Li Yan succeeded to the throne, he carried out a series of political reforms. The most outstanding performance is that taking the severe punishment as the center, it severely punished the corruption, corruption and other ugly phenomena, and reduced the redundant officials in the fourth year of Huichang. In the fourth year of Huichang (844), Li Yan followed Li Deyu's advice and dismissed more than 2000 officials.

Li Yan's legislation

Chinese PinYin : Tang Wu Zong