5 kilometers north of the Ding Mausoleum of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang in Fuping County, there is a Tianniu Mountain, which is the site of the tomb of Emperor Wenzong of Tang. From the air, the mountain is conical, but it is now in tatters.
Li Ang was the second son of Emperor Muzong of Tang and the biological younger brother of Emperor Jingzong Li Zhan. After Li Zhan was killed by the eunuch Liu Keming at the age of 18, they forged a will to welcome Li Wu, the son of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, into the palace as emperor. Two days later, the eunuchs Wang Shoucheng and Liang Shouqian commanded the Shen Ce army into the palace to kill Liu Keming and Li Wu the Prince of Dai, and proclaimed Li Ang emperor.
During The reign of Li Ang, he was not a good woman, diligent in listening to the government, practicing frugality, eliminating extravagance, devoting himself to the revival of the dynasty, and was quite diligent among the emperors in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. He once released 3,000 palace ladies from the palace to return to the people, and wore patched clothes.
One day, Li Ang summoned six scholars at the Ben Temple, and talking about the frugality of Emperor Wen of Han, Li Ang also wanted to show that he was very frugal and did not lose to Emperor Wen of Han, and raised his sleeve and said, "This dress has been washed three times." "There were a lot of people praising him right now. But the great calligrapher Liu Gongquan did not speak. Li Ang then left Liu Gongquan to inquire about the reason.
Liu Gongquan said: The great festival of kings lies in the use of virtuous people to govern the country and depose those who are traitorous and villainous. As for wearing washed clothes, it is only a small section, and it is insignificant.
Although Li Ang was diligent and earnest in governing the country, on the one hand, because he lacked the ability to govern the country, on the other hand, after more than 200 years of the Tang Dynasty, many things were already accumulated and could not be eliminated in the short term. For example, the eunuchs' participation in politics and the dispute between friends and parties, Li Ang could not solve it.
During Li Ang's reign, the courtiers were divided into two factions, Niu and Li, each with a friend party, attacking each other, known in history as the "Niu Li Peng Party Dispute". The Bull Party and the Lee Party were wrestling with each other, and you can imagine how bad the political environment was at that time.
More serious than the partisan dispute was the involvement of eunuchs in politics. When Leon was emperor, the power and even the emperor's life and death were all in the hands of eunuchs. Li Ang's biological father, Li Heng of Tang Muzong, and his elder brother Li Zhan, emperor Jingzong of Tang, both died in an unknown manner and had a lot to do with eunuchs. After Li Ang succeeded to the throne, he was determined to rely on his courtiers to get rid of the eunuchs.
In 829, the "Ganlu Rebellion" was defeated, and Li Ang's dependent courtiers were killed by the eunuch clique, and Li Ang has been placed under house arrest by eunuchs ever since. At this point, it was impossible for him to even pass on his own son. The eunuchs proclaimed his half-brother emperor, the later Emperor Wuzong of Tang.
Soon, the 31-year-old Li Ang died of depression and was buried in Zhangling. Zhangling is 15 kilometers north of Fuping, with the mountain as the mausoleum and the Lingshan Mountain as the Tianlu Mountain. Due to years of quarrying, the entire Lingshan mountain was greatly damaged.
Stone carvings are also less preserved, and in the early liberation survey, there were still a pair of stone pillars, a pair of wing horses, two pairs of stone horses and a stone man, which experienced the destruction of the 1960s, and only one stone pillar, stone horse and stone man remained.
Tang Wenzong's historical evaluation is good, but it cannot change the fate of the Tang Dynasty. Succeeding him as emperor was his half-brother Li Yan, known as Emperor Wuzong of Tang.