In 685 AD, Li Longji came to this world. But what the baby, who would become emperor in the future, saw when he opened his eyes was not the Li Tang Dynasty, but the Wu Zhou Dynasty.
When he was seven years old, he went to the court to worship. Faced with the Wu disciples yelling at his entourage, he scolded him sternly, "What are you doing in my court? How dare you force me?" Riding from? ". Instead of blaming him, his grandmother Wu Zetian looked at him differently and doted on him.
Later, Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi and others supported Zhongzong Li Xian and launched the "Shenlong Coup". Wu Zetian was forced to abdicate and died soon after.
However, Li Xian was cowardly by nature. After his restoration, he immediately made Weishi the queen and made Weishi's father the king. This was a sign of his loyalty to Weishi during his exile. A reward for life and death. He married Princess Anle, the daughter of Empress Wei, to Wu Chongxun, the son of Wu Sansi, named Shangguan Wan'er Zhaorong, and was responsible for drafting the emperor's Zhaoling. Power gradually fell into the hands of his wife, Empress Wei, and his daughter, Princess Anle.
The relationship between Empress Wei and her in-law Wu Sansi was very ambiguous. One morning after returning from court, Li Xian found Empress Wei and Wu Sansi disheveled gambling on the bed. As the emperor, he happily counted the chips for them. For a while, Princess Anle wrote the edict herself, covered the text with her hand and asked Zhongzong to seal it, but he sealed it without even looking at it.
Zhang Jianzhi and others saw that Empress Wei was ambitious and wanted to make the same mistake as Wu Zetian, so they urged Li Xian to get rid of Wu Sansi. However, Li Xian followed Empress Wei's arrangements and promoted Zhang Jianzhi and others secretly, canonized them as queens, and transferred them out of the capital. On the way, Zhang Jianzhi was killed by an assassin arranged by Wu Sansi.
Princess Anle encouraged Li Xian to depose the prince Li Chongjun, who was not born by Wei, and make her the crown princess herself. Li Chongjun and Zuo Yulin General Li Duozha led the Yulin army to take the lead and killed Wu Sansi and his son. However, when they entered the palace, due to the disparity in power, the two Li were captured by Wei Shi and Princess Anle who were on guard. kill.
The Websters and their daughters became more and more rampant, buying and selling positions and doing whatever they wanted. Li Xian let them go without stopping them.
In 710 AD, Li Xian died at the age of fifty-five.
The cause of Li Xian's death is controversial. "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" and "Tang Shu" record that he was poisoned to death by Empress Wei and Princess Anle. The reason was that Empress Wei's two lovers were worried that their affair with the empress would be exposed, and Empress Wei wanted to be the emperor. , Princess Anle wanted to be the crown princess, so a few people made a poisonous soup cake and poisoned Tang Zhongzong Li Xian to death. But now some people question this, because in fact Li Xian's role as the "big tree" for their mother and daughter is still there, and they have no practical need to poison him. Some scholars believe that Li Xian died of a family-inherited heart and brain. Vascular disease.
No matter how he died, Li Xian was dead anyway.
At this time, the biggest obstacles to Empress Wei's monopoly came from Wu Zetian's fourth son Li Dan and Li Dan's third son Li Longji. She wanted to kill them.
Before she could take action, Li Longji and his aunt Princess Taiping led thousands of Yulin troops into the palace and killed Empress Wei and her party.
So Tang Ruizong Li Dan succeeded to the throne, and Li Longji became the crown prince.
Li Dan is also a mediocre person, and the power is held by Princess Taiping.
Seeing her nephew becoming more and more heroic, Princess Taiping became a little uneasy, and she aimed her attack at Li Longji.
On July 3, 713 AD, Li Longji, who had succeeded to the throne, took the lead and killed dozens of Princess Taiping's followers, and all officials who relied on her were dismissed.
The turbulent situation finally calmed down, and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty changed the reign name to Kaiyuan.
Li Longji was wise, powerful and decisive. He never concealed his likes and dislikes and his publicity as a member of the royal family. Steady, accurate and ruthless shots allowed the 28-year-old to finally ascend to the position of Dabao.
There are only two periods in Chinese history that are called prosperous times: one is the "Kaiyuan Golden Age" in the Tang Xuanzong era, and the other is the "Kangxi-Qianlong Golden Age" in the Qing Dynasty. Others with better governance are called "Government", such as "Government of Zhenguan", etc.
During the prosperous Kaiyuan period, China's population was 56 million, more than three times that of the Zhenguan period. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, China's population was approximately 16 million.
The impact of this prosperous era on the world is unprecedented. You only need to look at the "Chinatowns" that still exist all over the world to know how powerful this cultural influence is.
After finally gaining imperial power, Li Longji urgently needed to form an elite team to help him govern this huge country.
The long-term palace coup weakened the power of the central government. At this time, the Tang Dynasty government was corrupt, with too many officials and decrees not flowing smoothly.
Li Longji has a very powerful skill, which is to know people and make good use of them. In the third year of Kaiyuan (715), he clearly declared: "If you don't get promoted indiscriminately, you will be worthy of your appointment. Only the name and the tools can be used, and you can't pretend to be a person. How can you be worthy of Liao Shang if you have a virtuous person on your left and a relative on your right?" In the early days of Kaiyuan, he used The several prime ministers were particularly powerful, and most of them became famous politicians.
At the beginning of his succession, he needed to bring order to the chaos, so he appointed Yao Chong, who was known in history as "a man who knew how to handle official affairs, and who was not sluggish in breaking off barriers". He was a famous "prime minister who saved the time" at the time; later he appointed Yao Chong. Jing, Zhang Jiazhen, Zhang Shuo, Zhang Jiuling and others served as prime ministers. They each had their own strengths and fulfilled their duties. Historians praise the prime ministers appointed by Xuanzong during the Kaiyuan period: Yao Chongtong, Song Jing Shangfa, Zhang Jiazhen Shangli, Zhang Shuo Shangwen, Li Yuanrong Shangjian, and Zhang Jiuling Shangzhi. They became a legend in the Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty was full of positive energy, and everyone tried their best to hope that the empire could quickly eliminate the negative effects caused by years of turmoil. At this time, Li Longji was very open-minded and able to listen to honest advice. One day when he was looking in the mirror, the eunuch next to him said: "Since Han Xiu became prime minister, your majesty has become much thinner than before. Why do you have to live without happiness? Why don't you dismiss him?" Xuanzong said: "Although I look thin, The world must be fat, and the prime minister is chosen for the sake of the country, how can it be for me? "
He rectified the government, restored admonishment officials, paid attention to the selection of county magistrates, and made rewards and punishments strict; he carried out military reform, rectified the army, Expanded the Tuntian District; he expanded the territory and recovered 13 states including Yingzhou that had fallen for 17 years; he restored the Anbei Protectorate and re-exercised control over the area north of the Great Wall; at this time, the Tang Empire recovered The town of Suiye (the birthplace of the poet Li Bai) was restored, the Silk Road was restored, and the prestige of the empire was re-established in the Western Regions.
Li Longji was a talented man. According to the "Old Book of Tang Dynasty", he was versatile, especially good at music and rhythm, and was good at Bafen calligraphy. He is one of the famous imperial calligraphers in Chinese history. His calligraphy was neat, clear, and beautiful; he had a major influence on the development of the music industry in the Tang Dynasty. He played the pipa himself and composed more than a hundred pieces of music such as "The Song of Colorful Feathers"; after he ascended the throne, he set up a The Jiaofang cultivated disciples of the "Royal Liyuan", which is why later generations called the theater troupe the Liyuan. China's opera industry developed rapidly during the Xuanzong era.
You may have been to Xi'an and seen Huaqing Pool. Do you feel a little disappointed in your heart? It feels like this! But did you know that at that time there was not even a toilet in the whole of Europe, but the Chinese emperor and his concubine were soaking in hot springs and listening to the band's high-level performance of "Neon Dress and Feather Dress". The huge gap in economic and cultural development resulted from this. It can be seen.
The poet Du Fu enthusiastically sang:
Recalling the heyday of Kaiyuan in the past,
There are still thousands of families in the small town.
The rice is dripping with fat and the chestnuts are white.
The public and private warehouses are both abundant.
There are no wolves on the roads of Kyushu,
There are no wolves on the road, and there is no sunrise on the road.
Qi Wan and Lu’s carriages are moving every day.
The men plowing the fields and the women cultivating the mulberry trees do not miss each other.
After creating the prosperous Kaiyuan era, Tang Xuanzong began to be satisfied. A quiet change is that he is less willing to listen to others.
In the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty went to Luoyang as usual to "save food" with a large group of people. The so-called food rescue actually means eating from large households, which in a more unpleasant way means "begging for food".
So what happened during this food rescue? How did Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty fall into Yang Yuhuan's gentle hometown?
Please read the next article "Li Longji and His Women".