In June of the fourth year of the Tang Dynasty (710), Emperor Zhongzong of Tang died, and this unfortunate emperor finally came to the end of his life.
Tang Zhongzong was the seventh son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, and also the third son born to Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian, according to the normal order of succession, he had no chance to become emperor at all, and it was very likely that as a rich and noble king, he would live a red dust life.
However, with the deposed death of his eldest brother Li Zhong the Crown Prince, the early death of his eldest brother Li Hong, the second brother of Emperor Xiaojing, and the deposing of Li Xian the Crown Prince of Zhanghuai, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang was made crown prince in August of the second year of the Tang Dynasty (680), and succeeded to the throne after the death of Emperor Gaozong of Tang in December of the first year of the Tang Dynasty (683).
In February of the first year of the Tang Dynasty (684), Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, who had been on the throne for more than 50 days, was deposed as the King of Luling because he reused the Weihou family and tried to seize power from the empress dowager Wu Zetian, who was listening to the government of the Lin dynasty, and his younger brother Yu Wang and Yongzhou Mu Li Dan were proclaimed emperor, for Tang Ruizong, Wu Zetian controlled the imperial government, and 6 years later called Emperor Jianzhou.
In September of the first year of the Wuzhou Dynasty (698), Wu Zetian, under the advice of his courtiers, recalled Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, who had been exiled to Shendu, and restored him as crown prince, and Emperor Zhongzong of Tang chose to marry the Wu family and waited for the change of time.
In the first month of the first year of the Wuzhou Shenlong dynasty (705), Zhang Kamzhi, the Fengge attendant, And Li Duozuo, the general of the Right Yu Lin, and others took advantage of Wu Zetian's serious illness to launch a Shenlong coup and forced Wu Zetian to pass the throne to Emperor Zhongzong of Tang.
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang gave his meritorious younger brother Li Dan of Tang Ruizong and his sister Princess Taiping the title of Jinjue, and then used the Weihou family in a big way, while the Wu family also continued to retain, and several forces competed for power and profit, and the Tang Dynasty after the restoration was not peaceful.
According to the Tang Dynasty notebook novel collection "Youyang Miscellaneous Tricks", the day before Tang Zhongzong's death, he dreamed of a large bird soaring in the sky, and dozens of bats chasing after him, but suddenly fell to the ground.
Tang Zhongzong suddenly woke up, and in panic, he immediately sent someone to summon the famous monk Wan Hui into the palace, saying: "Everyone is the time of heaven." ”
In ancient times, "everyone" referred to the emperor, that is, Tang Zhongzong himself; "heaven" is easy to understand, that is, to die, which shows that Tang Zhongzong has realized that he has not many days to come.
After this strange dream and strange conversation, the next day, Tang Zhongzong died.
The record of "Youyang Miscellaneous Tricks" cannot be fully believed, but why did Tang Zhongzong dream of bats falling to the ground and think that he was going to die?
This is related to the simple concept of the ancient people, who believed that the bat was a symbol of blessing, and that the blessing was no longer a sign of great evil, which would naturally lead to such a major event as the death of Tang Zhongzong.
However, The death of Tang Zhongzong was not so simple, according to the Old Book of Tang and the Zizhi Tongjian, Tang Zhongzong was poisoned by Wei Hou, Princess Anle and others; the New Book of Tang does not explicitly say that he was poisoned, but also mentions that Wei Hou, Princess Anle and others rebelled, resulting in the death of Tang Zhongzong.
Was Tang Zhongzong really poisoned by his wife and daughter? The words in the history books are all records more than a hundred years after his death, or even hundreds of years later, let's take a look at what happened in the month after Tang Zhongzong's death.
After the death of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Wei Hou secretly did not mourn, controlled the government, and arranged Wei's sons and cronies in various key departments.
After Princess Taiping and Princess Zhaorong learned of Emperor Zhongzong's death, they drafted a will to make Li Chongmao the Prince of Wen crown prince, with Empress Wei as the governor and Tang Ruizong as a staff officer.
Princess Taiping and others naturally wanted to fight for power with Empress Wei, but Empress Wei's cronies excluded Li Dan, and the crown prince Li Chongmao, who was the emperor, was the emperor of Tang, and Wei Hou was the sole governor of government affairs.
On the surface, it seems that Wei Hou's forces have won a complete victory, but secretly, Tang Ruizong's third son Li Longji has traveled in many directions to prepare for a coup d'état with his aunt Princess Taiping and others.
Yulin Wan rode Guoyi Ge Fushun and others to follow Li Longji, and Li Longji did not inform Tang Ruizong, and secretly entered the palace behind his back to wait for change.
Ge Fushun rushed into the Yulin camp, beheaded Wei Xuan and many other Wei Hou's cronies, and shouted to the officers and soldiers: "Wei Hou killed the former emperor and sought danger to the society." Tonight, when the common curse is cursed, the horse whip and above are all cut off! Establish the king to secure the world. Dare to have two ends to help the rebels, sin and the three tribes! ”
Subsequently, Li Longji ordered the generals to search for Wei Hou, Princess Anle and others in the palace, and kill them all.
Although the Tang Emperor Li Chongmao saved his life, he was uneasy about his position, and was forced to give way to his uncle Tang Ruizong a few days later, and Li Longji was also made crown prince for his merits over his brother.
It can be said that before and after Tang Zhongzong's body, the government and politics were very complicated, and his death was naturally not so simple.
From Empress Wei, Princess Anle and others who were quickly defeated after Li Longji's army, it can be said that they were not ready to emulate Wu Zetian as empresses as described in later generations, on the contrary, if they were under the protection of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, they would have more time to prepare, and there was no risk.
Judging from the slogans shouted by Ge Fushun, the general who followed Li Longji's uprising in the history books, it is likely that the claim of Wei Hou and others poisoning Tang Zhongzong was just an agitation and used to justify the coup d'état.
In fact, from the perspective of age, the 55-year-old Tang Zhongzong was not a short life among the Emperors of the Tang Dynasty, similar to his father and brother, according to the disease history of the Li royal family and the bumpy encounters in his life, it is more reasonable to get sick and die.
Unfortunately, Tang Zhongzong had no way to control all this, just like he could not be autonomous before he died, and he was still generally floating away after death.