Text/Feng Xuanyi
In the history of the Tang Dynasty, the eleventh emperor, Shunzong Li Xuan, should have had a very low sense of existence, because he reigned for only half a year. However, he is often mentioned by posterity, and his sense of existence is stronger than that of his father Li Shi. This is mainly because during his reign he initiated a change of law, known in history as the "Yongzhen Reform".
Tang Shunzong is very special in the history of the Tang Dynasty, he was the crown prince for 25 years, the longest in the history of the Tang Dynasty, but his reign was very short, only 186 days, and he did not spend the New Year as an emperor. However, such a short imperial career actually served as the Taishang Emperor for five months, which is the only one in the history of the Tang Dynasty. The poor emperor, according to the Biography of the Demon Cat, was possessed by a demon cat that led to such a short life. Of course, this is the novelist's statement, not enough to believe. Before he could take the throne, he suffered a stroke and was nearly paralyzed and unable to speak. In ancient times, when medicine was relatively backward, it was not easy for him to complete the ascension to the throne alive.
01, 25 years of the road to the crown prince
Li Xuan was the eldest son of Emperor Dezong Li Shi, the mother of Empress Zhaode's Wang clan, who was born in the first month of the second year of the first century (January 761 AD). At the age of 19, he was crown prince and began a long road to crown prince.
Li Xuan is a very intelligent person, he is very easy to learn. Familiar with the Confucian classics, there are also knowledge of Buddhist texts. And can write a good hand, especially good at lily. His father, Emperor Dezong of Tang, would often give poems to ministers and emissaries, and every time he gave poems, he would give the written errands to The Crown Prince Li Shu because he wrote beautiful words.
When he was young, Li Xuan was still very healthy, and when he was 18 years old, he gave birth to his eldest son, Li Chun, who was later Tang Xianzong. In the fourth year of Jianzhong (783), the Tang Dynasty broke out another Jiedu mutiny, and Yao Lingyan led 5,000 soldiers to reinforce the rebellion of Xiangcheng, and a rebellion occurred on the way, known in history as the "Jingshi Rebellion". The rebels supported the deposed former lieutenant Zhu Zhu as his commander and captured Chang'an. Emperor Dezong of Tang fled to Fengtian (present-day Qianxian County, Shaanxi) with his concubines and crown princes, where he was surrounded by rebels, known in history as the "Difficulty of Fengtian". In the process of quelling the chaos, Li Shu, as the crown prince, was a pioneer and guarded the emperor's comfort after holding the sword hall. In the face of the rebels, he led the forbidden army to stubbornly resist, and the generals, inspired by his supervision, all bravely killed the enemy and ensured the safety of Dezong. In this rebellion, Li Xuan showed good courage and courage, and won the praise of hundreds of officials.
After the rebellion was put down, Li Xuan's position was consolidated. However, this rebellion also brought an unexpected result, that is, Tang Dezong began to reuse eunuchs again. This laid the groundwork for Li Xu's abdication in the future.
02, waste storage crisis
Every emperor on the throne is full of crises. Although Li Xuan's road to the prince is relatively smooth, it is not smooth sailing. In his career as crown prince, the biggest crisis was the case of the princess of Gaoguo, who was almost deposed.
Princess Gao guo was originally the daughter of Emperor Suzong, and was initially crowned Princess Yanguang. Married Pei Hui, the son of Yang Guifei's sister Lady Yuguo. In the fifteenth year of Tianbao (756), Pei Hui was killed during the Ma Songpo Rebellion. Princess Yanguang was thus widowed.
Most of the women in the Tang court were debauchery lords, and Princess Yanguang was also the same, "known as an adulterous name". Later, she married Xiao Sheng, the grandson of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and the son of Princess Xinchang, and after Emperor Dezong ascended the throne, she was renamed Princess Gaoguo. The daughter she and Xiao Sheng gave birth to was married to the crown prince Li Shu by the emperor and became a crown princess. After Xiao Sheng's death, princess Gao Guo became more and more arrogant, and was infected with Sima Li Wan of Pengzhou, Xiao Ding of Shuzhou, Ling Wei of Liyang County, and Li Fu of The Crown Prince Zhan Shi, and the name of fornication was known to both the government and the public.
After all, how many women in Datang are willing to keep lonely? Princess Gao Guo's problems were very serious, and she was very popular with witches, and through nepotism, in the name of adultery, she befriended the prince.
Princelings forming parties has been a big taboo in all dynasties and dynasties. The matter was denounced by the chancellor, and Emperor Dezong was very angry and deposed the prince. The chancellor, Li Bi, urged Emperor Dezong not to easily depose the crown prince, and he cited the lessons learned from the abolition of the crown prince since Zhenguan, and advised him not to be too hasty in his past. At this time, Li Xuan also took the initiative to request a divorce from Concubine Xiao and cleared the relationship in time. After careful consideration, Emperor Dezong dispelled the idea of abolishing the establishment.
Many people were implicated in this incident, including Princess Gao Guo being imprisoned, Concubine Xiao being killed, and Li Wan being killed for having sexual immorality with Tongzong and being killed with a staff for not knowing "avoiding the Emperor". All five sons of Princess Gao were exiled.
After this incident, Li Xuan was more cautious and cautious, always keeping his mouth shut about the affairs of the DPRK and never daring to act rashly. For the ministers at all levels of the imperial court, he adopted the attitude of "not leaving, if not leaving, if it is leaving".
03, many years of crown prince, a stroke is empty
For many years, Li Xuan had been cautious in order to get to the day when he could take the throne. Unexpectedly, in the twentieth year of Zhenyuan (804), Li Xuan suddenly suffered a stroke and could not speak. At this time, Dezong was already in his twilight years, and his health was deteriorating. The imperial doctor in the palace was helpless against the prince's illness, and more than half a year had passed, and Li Xuan still did not see any improvement. At the end of the year, Dezong also fell ill. In the 21st year of Zhenyuan (805), Emperor Dezong wanted the crown prince to attend, but the prince was unable to participate in the meeting. Father and son could not meet, and Dezong was extremely sad. On the twenty-third day of the first month, Emperor Dezong died, and the edict was passed on to the crown prince Li Shu. On the twenty-sixth day, Li Xuan officially took the throne.
In fact, Li Xuan was already terminally ill at this time, unable to act or speak. In August of that year, the eunuch Ju Wenzhen joined forces with the old chancellor to coerce Li Xuan into abdicating, and Zen was placed under the throne of Li Chun, the crown prince. Tang Shunzong actually reigned for only 186 days.
In the first month of 806, Tang Xianzong changed yuanhe to Yuanhe, and on the nineteenth day of the first month of this year, Emperor Taishang Li Xuan died at the age of 45.
04, Yongzhen innovation
Although Yongzhen is Shunzong's era name, in fact, Shunzong has never used this era name at all. When Emperor Shunzong ascended the throne, he used the era name of his father, Emperor Dezong, the twenty-first year of Zhenyuan (805), and according to the custom, the yuan began to be changed in the second year. He didn't wait to change the yuan, and then he zen. Emperor Xianzong, who ascended the throne, designated that year as the first year of Yongzhen Yuan.
The core figures of Yongzhen's innovation are Wang Shuwen and Wang Ling. Both of them were close courtiers when Li Xuan was crown prince. Wang Ling was a calligrapher who was chosen as the Prince's Attendant because he was good at calligraphy, and specialized in teaching Li Shu to learn calligraphy. Wang Shuwen was summoned to the Eastern Palace to accompany the prince to play Go because he was good at Go. The two of them were with the prince every day, and in between talking about calligraphy and Go, they would also discuss current politics and the shortcomings of the imperial court, and over time, they became Li Xuan's think tanks. Wang Shuwen and Wang Ling also had a group of followers around them, the most famous of whom were Liu Zongyuan and Liu Yuxi.
Although Li Xuan was indifferent to the government and politics outside, when he was with Wang Shuwen and other confidants, he was always concerned about the situation of the dynasty, and they formed a set of solutions for the many drawbacks of the Tang Dynasty at that time. After ascending the throne, he immediately issued an edict and implemented it.
Although Li Xuan could not speak when he ascended the throne, his mind was clear. After he ascended the throne, he used Wang Shuwen as a living quartersman, a scholar of Hanlin, and Wang Ling as a regular attendant of Zuo San, a bachelor of Hanlin, and the two of them could walk around the inner court at will. Liu Yuxi, Liu Zongyuan and others all had to be reused, and the change was soon spread.
Any change in the law will break the original pattern of interests and will destroy the vested interests of some people. This reform moved the interests of the eunuchs. Ju Wenzhen, a eunuch who had been favored during Emperor Dezong's time, joined forces with his old ministers to coerce Emperor Shunzong and seize power in the imperial court. He first demoted Wang Ling to Sima of Kaizhou and Wang Shuwen to The Position of Sihu of Yuzhou. The reformers then lost their main backbone. Ju Wenzhen also coerced Emperor Shunzong to abdicate, and Zen was located in Xianzong. After Emperor Xianzong ascended the throne, he also degraded Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi and other reformers, and the history called the "Two Kings and Eight Sima Incident". At this point, the Yongzhen innovation completely failed.
After Yongzhen, the eunuch dictatorship became more and more intense, and the eunuchs controlled the government and deposed the emperor more and more frequently.
Resources:
Chronology of the Dynasties of China
New Book of Tang, Old Book of Tang
Zhang Tiefu: "Tang Shunzong Was Killed"