Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty

Li Longji

Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty

From September 8, 685 to May 3, 762, the third son of Li Dan, the grandson of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, the Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, is also known as Li Sanlang, the mother of Dou Defei. From the first year of Xianxian (712) to the 15th year of Tianbao (756). Because of an Shi rebellion, he abdicated as the supreme emperor. He was the longest emperor in the Tang Dynasty, and also the emperor in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Longji was born in Luoyang, the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty. He is wise, decisive and versatile. At the beginning, he was appointed king of Chu, and later he was renamed king of Linzi. In the first year of Tang Long (710), Li Longji and Princess Taiping jointly launched the "Tang Long coup" to kill the empress Wei group. In the first year of Xiantian (712), Li danchan was located in Li Longji, who ascended the throne and became emperor in Chang'an Taiji palace. After the death of Princess Taiping, the supreme power of the country was obtained. In the early period of Tang Xuanzong's reign, he paid attention to bringing order out of chaos, appointed Yao Chong, song Jing and other virtuous prime ministers, and made great efforts to govern the country, which created the flourishing age of Tang Dynasty Kaiyuan. He attached great importance to the jurisdiction over the border areas. Dazorong, who was granted sumukai, was named "Bohai Prefecture king", and the Bohai Dudu Fu and Heishui Dudu Fu were set up. Piroge, who was granted Nanzhao, was the king of Yunnan, and Guli Peiluo, who was granted Huihe, was named "Huairen Khan", which consolidated the unity of the multi-ethnic country. However, in the later period of his reign, he gradually neglected the government, trusted the treacherous officials Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong, and favored Yang Guifei. In addition, he made mistakes in policy and put an Lushan and other nationalities outside the Great Wall in order to stabilize the frontier of the Tang Dynasty. As a result, an Shi rebellion lasted for eight years, laying the groundwork for the decline of the Tang Dynasty. In 756, Prince Li Heng ascended the throne and respected him as the supreme emperor.

In the first year of Baoying (762), he died in the Dragon Hall of Chang'an. At the age of 78, he was buried in JinSu mountain, named tailing. The temple is called Xuanzong. Because of its posthumous title, it is the emperor of filial piety of Ming Dynasty. In order to avoid the name of Emperor Kangxi in Qing Dynasty, it is often called Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty. In addition, it is honored as emperor Shengwen Shenwu of Kaiyuan.

Life of the characters

Early experience

Li Longji was born in Luoyang, the eastern capital of China. When he was born, his father Li Dan was Emperor and his mother Dou was Princess De. At this time, it was an eventful time for the imperial palace of the Tang Dynasty. One year before he came into the world, his grandmother Wu Zetian and his prime minister Pei Yan abolished his uncle Tang Zhongzong as the king of Luling, and his father Li Dan, king of Yu, was appointed emperor as Ruizong. Ruizong was the leader of the Tang Dynasty. He was young and powerful, but he could only live in other halls and was not allowed to listen to politics. Wu Zetian, who was over 60 years old, was still in charge of military affairs. After suppressing Xu Jingye's rebellion in Yangzhou, Wu Zetian started the wind of informer, and many unjust jails occurred. Many opposition members of Tang clan and court officials were persecuted. History says that "since chuigong, the appointment of cruel officials first killed hundreds of Tang clan members, followed by hundreds of ministers, and their assassins and generals were countless.".

Ding Mao, the third year of Chui Gong (687), was crowned king of Chu as a prince During the reign of Yongchang (689), Wu Zetian ordered Li Longji to adopt Li Hong as his son. In 690, when Li Longji was five years old, his father Li Dan was deposed by his grandmother Wu Zetian and moved to the east palace.

At the beginning of the second year of Tianshu reign (691), Li Longji, a seven-year-old king of Chu, began to set up an official cabinet. In August of this year, because Pei bandit Gong, the supervisor of the Shang Dynasty, and fan Yunxian, the constant servant of the imperial family, privately visited Li Dan, the emperor's heir. When Wu Zetian knew about it, she killed them and strictly prohibited Li Dan from meeting the ministers. Li Longji's brothers and the three sons of Li Xian, the second uncle, entered the cabinet again. "They were all in seclusion for more than ten years.".

In the second year of longevity (693) after Empress Wu Zetian became emperor, Li Longji was demoted as king of Linzi. In this year, his mother, concubine Dou, was falsely accused by tuan'er, a servant girl of being "disgusted with Gu" and "cursed". After the second Dynasty of the first month, she was secretly killed in the palace together with concubine Liu, and she did not know where to bury her. In August of the same year, her father, Li Dan, was falsely accused of "conspiracy". Wu Zetian ordered cruel officials to come to Junchen for trial. Fortunately, an jinzang, a Taichang worker, had a caesarean section to "prove that the emperor's descendants were not rebellious" and thus avoided the disaster. According to historical data, another concubine of Li Dan, doulu's, and Li Longji's aunt Dou's, raised and cared for Li Longji who lost his mother during the Spring Festival.

Jinglong two years in April (708), and Luzhou do not drive. Li Longji was confined in the palace for seven years. In the second year of the holy calendar (699), when he was 14 years old, he came out of the cabinet again with his brothers. At this time, Wu Zetian was very old. After being admonished by the minister Di Renjie and others, she gave up the idea of establishing Wu Chengsi as the crown prince. Li Xian was taken back to Luoyang and was still established as the crown prince. The emperor's son was granted the title of prime minister. During the reign of Chang'an (701-704), Li Longji first served as youweilang general in Qinwei Prefecture, and then as shangnian Fengyu, who was in charge of the emperor's internal and external stables and horses. During this period, the court officials headed by Zhang Cambodian launched a dragon coup, killing Zhang Yi's brother, Wu Zetian's male pet, and forcing her to give way to Zhongzong. Li Longji witnessed the coup.

Power seized by coup

In the fourth year of Jinglong (710), Li Longji returned to Chang'an from Luzhou (now Changzhi, Shanxi Province). He secretly gathered talented and brave people to develop his influence in the emperor's Pro army. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, the valiant warriors of the official households and the Fankou were selected to wear tiger pattern clothes, cross leopard pattern, go hunting, and shoot animals in front of the horse, which is called Baiqi. Wu Zetian increased to a thousand riders, while Li Xianshi developed to a thousand riders. Li Longji attached great importance to Wanqi's role.

After the death of Empress Wu Zetian, Li Xian was weak and incompetent, and the power of the imperial government gradually fell to empress Wei and Princess Anle. Zhang cambzhi, the prime minister who had launched a coup to restore the Tang Dynasty, was demoted and expelled by them, and Li chongjun, the crown prince, was killed. Empress Wei imitated the practice of Empress Wu Zetian, and let her elder brother Wei Wen control the power. She did not stop her daughter Princess Anle's illegal selling of official positions and official titles, and connived at it. In the fourth year of Jinglong (710), Zhongzong finally died in the hands of empress Wei and Princess Anle, who conspired to poison him. Then empress Wei wanted to learn from her mother-in-law Wu Zetian and become the second queen. Instead of waiting for Empress Wei to start, Li Longji (Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty) and his aunt Princess Taiping, Xue Chongjian, the son of Princess Taiping, and Zhong Shaojing, the director of the court, have been quietly watching the changes of time, conspiring and planning to preempt. It was suggested that the coup maker should be reported to the prime minister in advance. Li Longji said with a clear mind: "I am trying to save the country, to save the monarch and father. If I succeed, the well-being will be attributed to the ancestral temple and the country. If I fail, I die of loyalty and filial piety, not implicating the prime minister. How can we report it to the prime minister! Now it is reported that if Xiang Wang agrees, he will be involved in a dangerous incident; if he does not, my scheme will fail. " So, he decided to take action immediately behind his back.

In the first year of the Tang Dynasty (710), Li Longji and others dressed in casual clothes and went to the residence of Zhong Shaojing. At this time, Zhong Shaojing repented and refused to participate in the coup. But under the firm persuasion of his wife Xu, Zhong Shaojing decided to take part in the coup. So he went to visit Li Longji. At night, Wan Qiguo Yi, Li Xianfu, Ge Fushun, Chen Xuanli and other officers came to ask Li Longji to issue an order. Finally, a coup was scheduled to be launched on the night of July 21. That night, Ge Fushun raided the Yulin camp and killed Wei Kua, Wei Bo and Gao Song, who were members of Wei's rear party. He rebelled against the Yulin army and entered Xuande gate. Li Xianfu also led his troops into baihuomen and joined Lingyan Pavilion in the third shift. Li Longji led his troops into the inner palace, and the warriors guarding the inner palace defected one after another. Empress Wei fled to the Feiqi camp and was beheaded. Zong Chuke, Princess Anle, Wu Yanxiu, Shangguan Waner and others were also killed one after another. They searched the whole city for the members of the Weishi group, and all the men who were taller than the horsewhip were executed, which is known by history“

Tang Long coup

”。 At this time, Li Longji reported the change of Tang long to his father, Li Dan. The prime minister held Li Longji in his arms and wept, "you have calmed down the calamities of the ancestral temple and the state, and the gods and the people depend on your strength." On the same day, Li Longji was renamed King Ping and concurrently served as the supervisor of the palace. He also served as the commander of Zhongshu, the third grade official of Zhongshu, and the commander of youwanqi. Li Longji and Princess Taiping forced Li chongmao to abdicate, and Ruizong Li Dan ascended the throne again. Ruizong and his ministers discussed the establishment of the crown prince. According to the eldest son succession system, Li Chengqi, the eldest son of the Song Dynasty, should be the crown prince, but Li Chengqi firmly said, "if the country is safe, then the eldest son will be the eldest son, and if the country is in danger, then he will be meritorious; if the King Ping is meritorious to the country, he will never be above the king Ping." Most of the heroes who participated in the elimination of Wei party also advocated Li Longji as the crown prince. Ruizong pushed the boat with the current, so he made Li Longji the prince.

New to Dabao

Princess Taiping often intervened in political affairs because of her meritorious support for Ruizong. She also felt that Li Longji, the crown prince, was clever and capable, which prevented her from participating in politics. She always wanted to change the crown prince. Of course, Li Longji did not want to be manipulated and wanted to get rid of Princess Taiping. When Ruizong was in trouble, he first listened to Princess Taiping's advice and then asked for the prince's advice. Later, more and more inclined to the prince. After Li Longji became the crown prince, the contradiction between Li Longji and Princess Taiping became more and more serious. In the first month of the second year of Jingyun (711), Princess Taiping stopped the prime minister's invitation to guangfan gate of xuanzheng hall, and openly advised the prime minister to be prince Yi. Song Jing's strict refusal failed to succeed. The contradiction and struggle between Princess Taiping and the crown prince became more and more intense, which made Ruizong uneasy. In February, he heard the warlock say, "there will be urgent soldiers entering the palace in five days." he felt the situation more serious, so he issued an imperial edict and ordered the crown prince to supervise the country. In the third year of Jingyun (712), Li Dan was afraid of going on like this. Li Tang was in chaos again, and regardless of Princess Taiping's opposition, he decided to relinquish the throne to Li Longji and change the Yuan Dynasty

congenital

. However, he still held the power of the imperial government: the power of appointment and removal of officials above the third grade and the power of military administration

Chinese PinYin : Tang Ming Huang