Elephant News, Chief Reporter of Oriental Today, Li Changyao
On the 14th of December, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held an important progress work meeting on the major project of "Archaeology in China", and reported three important archaeological achievements, including the Great Tomb of Jiangcun in Xi'an, Shanxi, the Zhengpingfang Site in Luoyang, Henan, and the Tuguhun Tomb in Wuwei, Gansu.
This news made Princess Taiping enter people's vision again. why? Because the ruins of Zhengpingfang in Luoyang were found suspected to be the residence of princess Taiping, the Confucius Temple and the Guozijian. Among them, the residence of princess Taiping, which is more arrogant than the Confucius Temple and the Guozijian, actually occupies half of the ruins of Zhengpingfang.
The national Confucius Temple and the Guozijian are added together to equalize with it. This is reminiscent of Han Yu's sentence "The princess wanted to occupy the spring, so she pressed Tai Xie to the city." ”
However, this mansion was not a matter for Princess Taiping, as the number one rich woman in the country at that time, she was quite rich, and she also had enough status and family background, liked to buy land and real estate, and did not need to be a "house slave" like us.
Becoming the "fang sister" of the most trenched in Datang seems to be a small obstacle.
Luoyang "mansion" covers an area of 200 acres, in a prime location
Among the princesses of the past, Princess Taiping was the more dazzling one. In nearly 20 film and television drama works, there are her figures, or protagonists, or supporting roles. In some cultural relics and archaeology, her figure is also indispensable, such as the excavation of the tomb of Shangguan Wan'er and Xue Shao, which have sent her to the hot search.
Excavations of the Luoyang Zhengpingfang site, which began in April last year, once again focused on Princess Taiping. Located at the junction of Zhao Village and Xigang Village in Anle Town, Luolong District, Luoyang City, this site is one of the important Lifang ruins in guochenglifang District of Luoyang City in the Tang Dynasty, and is also the location of the Tang Dynasty Confucius Temple, Guozijian, and Taiping Princess Residence (later changed to Anguo Female Taoist Temple) recorded in literature.
Zhengpingfang is 464.6 meters wide from east to west, 533.6 meters long from north to south, and the width of the walls is 1.3 meters to 1.4 meters. The square is divided into three parts by a "D" shaped road: the western half of the square, the southeast district and the northeast district.
According to archaeological findings, the western half of the site is separated from the southeast and northeast districts by a wall, which is a large mansion, the southern half of the mansion is speculated to be a garden area, and the northern part is a mansion area. The house is laid out on a central axis, with five large rammed earth platforms distributed from south to north.
Interestingly, this wall encloses the normal road of Lifang Road Cross Street West Street, the wall is also wider than the square wall, and the northern part of the wall also exceeds the square wall, encroaching on the road between the squares. According to the Lifang system in the Sui and Tang dynasties, it is absolutely not allowed to invade the streets and alleys, but if it can be so arrogant, the owner is certainly not ordinary. In addition, archaeologists found that its layout is basically the same as the scale and level of the gonghuangcheng district found by archaeology, and combined with the literature, it is speculated that it is the residence of the Taiping Princess.
In the southeast area of Zhengpingfang, where the house is located, a large courtyard group was also found, which is believed to be the Confucius Temple and Guozijian at that time.
The total area of these two state-level buildings is similar to the area of the "mansion" of the Taiping Princess. That is to say, only this "mansion" of Princess Taiping occupies half of the entire area of Lifang.
According to expert estimates, this "mansion" covers an area of about 200 acres of land, and is located in the supporting area of the imperial palace, less than 10 miles from the Ziwei Palace where Wu Zetian, the mother of the Taiping Princess, lived, echoing the Ying Tianmen City Tower that received the coming of the world, which can be described as a prime location in Luoyang City.
Instead of "living and dying", the villa spread from Chang'an to Zhongnan Mountain
From this "mansion", it is not difficult to see that the Princess Taiping is very particular about housing, with a large area, a royal palace hierarchy, and is not limited by the system. This also reflects the temperament of Princess Taiping as the most trenched "fang sister" of the Tang Dynasty.
Before the death of her mother Wu Zetian, Princess Taiping was still very afraid of her mother, she was more cautious in doing things, and she did not dare to make much movement in politics, and her only hobby was to buy real estate outside and decorate the mansion in a big way, becoming a veritable "house sister" of the Tang Dynasty.
The reason why she became a famous "fang sister" may have been stimulated by a minister. In 699, the chancellor Zong Chuke built a new mansion in Xuanfengfang in Luoyang, which was denounced for being too luxurious. How luxurious is Jong's mansion? Using Wenbai as a beam, using polished marble as a floor, walking on it in leather boots is easy to slip and fall, and the walls of the entire house are painted with agarwood powder mixed with glue. Even Princess Taiping was greatly moved after visiting: "Looking at where he sits, I am waiting for the virtual life and death!" ”
Perhaps unwilling to "live and die", buying real estate has become the biggest hobby of Princess Taiping. In Luoyang City, in addition to this "mansion", she also has a place, in Shangshanfang.
Shangshan Fang is located in the first street of Dingding gate east from south to north, the sixth square, north of the Luohe Tianjin Bridge, south of the Longmen Yique, the houses are connected, the scenery is unique.
Inside the square, there are not only official offices such as Taishijian, Chongxianguan, Zongzheng Temple, and The Inner Servant Bureau, but also the residences of Princess Anle, Wu Sansi, And king Qi. The "QiWang Mansion" mentioned in the "Year of the Li Gui in Jiangnan Feng" written by the great poet Du Fu is here.
The "Records of the Famous Gardens of Luoyang" written by Li Gefei, the father of the Northern Song Dynasty poet Li Qingzhao, describes 19 of the more famous gardens in Luoyang, including cong chun garden, which was built on the basis of the original Tang Dynasty Shangshanfang.
Princess Taiping built a mansion in Shangshanfang, which not only has good scenery, but also is a proper rich area, which meets the aesthetic requirements of its tallness.
In addition to Luoyang, Princess Taiping also had three or four residences in Chang'an.
After the death of her mother Wu Zetian, Princess Taiping lived in Chang'an for a long time. She has at least three residences in Chang'an, located in Xingdaofang, Xingningfang and Liquanfang.
In addition to these three houses, she also built a villa in Chang'an. The villa runs from Leyouyuan in the south of Wannian County to the foot of Zhongnan Mountain in the south of the county, stretching for forty or fifty miles, all of which are her personal property.
This villa is very famous in history. At least hundreds of poets have left their footprints here. It has also become a legend that will never fade.
More than a hundred years later, Han Yu, a great scholar in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, wrote a famous poem: "The princess wanted to occupy the spring, so she took Tai Xie to the city. I want to know how much is spent in front of me, until Nanshan does not belong to people. ”
The meaning of the poem is that Princess Taiping wants to take advantage of the spring light, and the ghosts cast by the pavilions she built even cover the emperor's palace. If you want to know how big her tianchan garden is, from Chang'an to Zhongnan Mountain, you can't find a place where someone else is.
Han Yu was a person who had seen the world, and when he saw Princess Taiping's villa, he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
"The father is the emperor, the mother is the queen, the husband is the prince, and the son is the king of the county", such a family background is not a problem to buy a house
To become the "fang sister" of the most trench in Datang, it is impossible to do without two brushes. Princess Taiping's "brush" is not only two. In terms of his family background alone, according to the Old Book of Tang, it is "for more than twenty years, there is a princess of Taiping in the world, the father is the emperor, the mother is the queen, the husband is the prince, the son is the king of the county, and the noble is incomparable." ”
In fact, she also had two older brothers and a nephew who were both emperors. The third brother Li Xian was the later Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, the fourth brother Li Dan was the later Emperor Ruizong of Tang, and the nephew Li Longji was the later Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.
As the youngest daughter of Wu Zetian, Princess Taiping "received special favors", "Yongchun has been in the former dynasty system, the prince has sealed eight hundred households, up to 1,000 households; the princess has descended to 300 households", but Princess Taiping is different, adding an additional 50 households; later, "Taiping Food Tangmu Zhiyi 1,200 households, the beginning of the Holy Calendar increased to 3,000 households"; and later, after participating in the political struggle and making meritorious contributions, it was added to 5,000 or even 10,000 households.
Princess Taiping looked "fruitful and generous", and Wu Zetian once said that "self-like", that is, like herself. This may be a two-fold meaning, that is, looking like yourself, personality and hobbies are also like yourself, such as "multi-power strategy", like to participate in politics, etc.
Princess Taiping often went to her grandmother's House of the Yang clan when she was young. At that time, his cousin Helan Minzhi also often went, but this cousin had an affair with his grandmother, and later may have raped the 8-year-old Princess Taiping. Wu Zetian could tolerate Helan Minzhi's adultery with his mother, but he could not tolerate him raping his favorite little daughter, so she got rid of Helan Minzhi.
When Princess Taiping reached the age of fourteen or fifteen, she once danced in front of her parents (Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian) in the costume of a military attaché. Her parents smiled and asked her, "You can't be a military attaché, why do you want to do this?" She replied, "Is it okay to give it to a donkey?" ”
Emperor Gaozong of Tang saw through his daughter's heart and promised her to Xue Shao. The Xue family is also a powerful and prestigious family, Xue Shao's father is also a donkey, and his mother is a princess of Chengyang, but Wu Zetian is very dissatisfied with this marriage, because the wife of Xue Shao's brothers is not a nobleman, "How can my daughter make the woman with Tian She a concubine!" "But because Tubo came to ask for peace and kisses at that time, and asked for Princess Taiping by name, he had no choice but to find someone to marry."
Later, Xue Shao was falsely accused of participating in the actions of King Langyue against Wu Zetian, "a hundred rods, starving to death in prison". Xue Shao and the princess were still quite affectionate, but his execution may be related to Wu Zetian's dissatisfaction with his brother at that time, and another reason is that Wu Zetian wanted to change "Tang" to Zhou, and she needed her daughter to find a son-in-law of the Wu family to achieve a political marriage.
When picking the son-in-law of the Wu family, Wu Zetian initially favored his nephew Wu Chengsi, but this nephew was ill and did not marry, so he chose his nephew Wu Youji. Wu Youji had a wife, and Wu Zetian secretly had his wife killed.
In July of the first year of the first year of Zaichu, Princess Taiping married Wu Youji. Two months later, Wu Zetian was proclaimed emperor, and the fourteen people of the Wu clan were crowned kings, and Wu Youji was made the king of Qiancheng County. He lived with Princess Taiping for 22 years, giving birth to two sons and a daughter.
The eminence of the parents, brothers and nephews is not to say, the two husbands are rich, and the Princess Taiping has become a "house sister", not bad for the protection of power.
"Seven prime ministers, five out of their doors", play politics to establish their own position
Princess Taiping was able to become a "fang sister", not only by the superiority of her family lineage, but also by her extraordinary political talents. She was a person who made great contributions to the maintenance of the Li Tang Dynasty. In wu Zetian's later years, she participated in a coup d'état to establish Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, ensuring the return of the Wuzhou regime to the Li Tang regime, and also participated in the elimination of Empress Wei who was trying to change dynasties, ensuring that the Three Hundred Years of the Tang Dynasty passed on the torch.
As early as the reign of Wu Zetian, Princess Taiping was eager to move, often "wanting to discuss", but Wu Zetian did not allow her to openly enter politics. In the late wu zetian period, xue huaiyi, who wanted to get rid of the male pet who caused her a lot of trouble, once let Princess Taiping help, let her find dozens of "bold women" to guard against him, and later Princess Taiping's nursing mother, Lady Zhang, found someone to tie him up and kill him.
The first political struggle in which Princess Taiping participated was when Zhang Kamzhi and others raised troops to kill Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong' brothers. Erzhang, favored by Wu Zetian, killed Wang Ye and killed the lord of the county, and also threw Princess Taiping's lover Gao Jian into prison. Zhang Kamzhi and others joined forces with the right-hand lin wei general to kill Erzhang and forced Wu Zetian to take the position of Emperor Zhongzong and change "Zhou" to "Tang".
The second political struggle in which Princess Taiping participated was when Li Longji raised an army to kill Empress Wei. After Princess Taiping's third brother Emperor Zhongzong of Tang succeeded to the throne, Empress Wei wanted to emulate Wu Zetian and continuously expand her power. She and her daughter poisoned Emperor Zhongzong of Tang and supported a young emperor. At this time, Princess Taiping came to the fore and established her own political power. She joined forces with her fourth brother Xiang Wang and Li Longji, the son of Xiang Wang, to kill Empress Wei and her daughter Princess Anle, making Xiang Wang emperor, that is, Tang Ruizong.
During the three years of Tang Ruizong's reign, Princess Taiping was most deeply involved in politics. She cultivated personal influence on a large scale and tried to emulate her mother Wu Zetian in interfering in politics, but without success. During this period, she strongly advocated the abolition of the crown prince Li Longji, but Li Longji preemptively attacked and had to flee to the mountain temple, "three days is out, give death in the first place."
Although Princess Taiping was given death, her political talents were not hidden. Her employment vision was much better than that of her brothers Tang Zhongzong and Tang Ruizong, comparable to her own mother Wu Zetian. She likes to fight for righteousness and money, and often receives helpers, so there are many people who follow her. During the reign of Emperor Ruizong of Tang, "seven prime ministers, five out of his door".
One of the prime ministers was named Xiao Zhizhong, who was killed by Li Longji as the sworn enemy of Princess Taiping. But more than 10 years after the killing, Li Longji still remembered him. Once, a mid-level official named Yuan Qianyao met with Li Longji. After the meeting, he was quickly reused by Li Longji, and was promoted to hubu shilang, and soon promoted to prime minister.
The ministers did not understand, and later Li Longji said the reason for using him: he spoke like Xiao Zhizhong. And lamented that Xiao was with the wrong person, otherwise he would also be a virtuous person.
In the eyes of political enemies, he is also a personal talent, which can also be seen that Princess Taiping has a set of people.
Is the country's number one rich woman, building a house is not bad money
How rich is Princess Taiping? Just look at how rich she is to see how rich she is. One of her "good friends" is "Hu Monk Huifan", who is "rich in wealth and treasure, good deeds and powerful people". Hui Fan initially followed Empress Wei. Empress Wei believed in witches and monks, and Hui Fan frequently entered and left the court and became a political high counselor for Empress Wei. Later, Empress Wei was suppressed by Princess Taiping, but Hui fan did not stop the flag, he first committed adultery with Princess Taiping's mother, and then regained the trust of Princess Taiping through the relationship between her mother.
"The princess is private with her, plays as the lord of the Holy Good Temple, adds three products, is crowned as a duke, and the goods flow in the river and the sword." It was not until Princess Taiping died that when the henchmen were raided, they found that Hui fan's property was second only to Princess Taiping. If Princess Taiping is the richest woman in the country, then he is the richest man in the country.
Compared with the frugality of her mother Wu Zetian, Princess Taiping was very luxurious. For most of his life, Wu Zetian was known for being frugal. Her most famous thing was to save cloth, wearing only a skirt with seven pleats. But unfortunately, Princess Taiping did not inherit her fine style.
When Princess Taiping did not have much strength, she had already "worshipped the mansion", that is, a mansion that advocated luxurious decoration. After gaining power, they even wantonly purchased land and property. According to the Old Book of Tang, "The (Princess Taiping) is full of pastoral gardens in Jindian, and the city is easy to make utensils, and Wu, Shu, and Lingnan are supplied, which belong to the road." Qi Shu Treasure Tent, Music Public Opinion, the same as the palace. The attendant Phi Luoqi, often hundreds of people, the head of the concubine, will be a thousand. Out-of-state for dogs and horses to play with good taste, undisciplined. ”
In this passage, Princess Taiping's field property was too large, and all the good land around Chang'an City was occupied by her. Her daily necessities, from the silk of Jiangnan to the splendid embroidery of Sichuan to the rare fruits of Lingnan, are delivered to her in an endless stream. The specifications of eating, wearing and playing are equivalent to those of the emperor. There were hundreds of high-ranking maids supported, and the ordinary ones were thousands.
Being able to hold up such a big scene is still related to the thickness of her family. The actual seal of her "food" has reached 10,000 households. In the early Tang Dynasty system, the food seal was to enjoy the taxes paid by the households. Princess Taiping's household "food" is calculated according to the large household, one household has seven dings. If she had given two silks, she would have received 140,000 silks a year, while at that time the state's annual income was more than one million horses, and the small number was only seven or eight hundred thousand horses, so that the income of Princess Taigong was equivalent to more than ten to twenty percent of the state's income. Her wanton expropriation has actually become a major danger to the country.
When raiding the family property, it was found that the Taiping Princess "accumulated wealth and treasures in the imperial palace, herded sheep and horses, and collected them endlessly for several years." Among them, "the governor's loan cannot be exhausted in three years." It is not difficult to see that the Princess Taiping relied on her power to operate agriculture, animal husbandry, industry and commerce on a large scale, and lent usury on a large scale, accumulating huge assets and wealth.