Text/Goofy
Chinese believe that wealth cannot last long, so there is a saying that "wealth is not more than three generations". There are too many such examples in ancient China. The protagonist of today's story, Grandpa is the founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, who is deeply trusted by Tang Taizong and is one of the twenty-four heroes of Lingyange, and his status is very prominent. However, in the grandchildren's generation, they actually raised an army against Wu Zetian's claim to the throne, and the soldiers were defeated and killed, and the family was almost killed. He is Xu Jingye, and his grandfather is Li Ji.
01. Li Ji, a hero of Lingyange
Speaking of Li Ji, let's start with his name. His original surname was Xu, his name was Xu Shiji, and his character Maogong was Maogong. So we see in the "Biography of Sui and Tang Heroes", of course, the heroes call him Xu Maogong. Later, he surrendered to Li Yuan, and Li Yuan appreciated him very much, not only giving him the rank of knight, but also giving him the surname Li, so he changed his name to Li Shijie. Later, Li Shimin was called emperor, and Li Shiji's name and Li Shimin's name had a "shi" character that overlapped, and it must be avoided. So the word "Shi" was removed, and the name Li Ji was born.
Among the founding heroes of the Tang Dynasty, Li Ji's reputation is relatively large. In his youth, he joined the Wagang Army led by Zhai Rang, and later supported Li Mi as the boss of the Wagang Army. Xu Maogong was a military division in the Wagang Army, and he was resourceful and one of the cores of the Wagang Army. Later, Li Mi was defeated by Wang Shichong, who chose to surrender to the newly established Tang Dynasty. Xu Shiji also led all the troops and horses of his headquarters to surrender to Li Yuan. After that, Li Ji, as Li Shimin's right and left arm, followed him to pacify the separatist forces of all sides, made great achievements, and was awarded the title of British Duke.
During the Zhenguan Dynasty, Li Ji participated in almost all of the Tang Dynasty's foreign troops. In the third year of Zhenguan, he participated in the battle against the Turks, and together with Li Jing, Zhang Gongjin and other famous generals, he defeated the troops of the Eastern Turk Jieli Khan in one fell swoop. After that, he was made the governor of the prefecture and kept the border for the Tang Dynasty for sixteen years, making the northwest border of the Tang Dynasty impregnable. Li Shimin therefore said to his attendants: "The Sui Emperor could not choose the wise and peaceful people, only knew how to build the Great Wall to guard against the Turks, and his understanding of the world was so confused. Now that Li Ji was appointed to garrison the prefecture, the Turks fled in fear of his prestige. Isn't the quiet side of the plug far better than building the Great Wall? "
From this we can see Li Ji's prestige, and at the same time, we can also see Li Shimin's thinking on border defense, which has a certain advanced nature in terms of people rather than in fortifications.
In the fifteenth year of Zhenguan, Li Ji led an army to break Xue Yantuo, and in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, Changsun Wuji tried the rebellion of the crown prince Li Chengqian and Hou Junji and others, and in the eighteenth year of Zhenguan led a large army to conquer Goguryeo.
These events were all major events in the late Zhenguan Dynasty, in which Li Ji was involved and stood on the same line as Li Shimin, which made him very favored and deeply valued. This was not easy in the era of feudal dynasties.
Li Ji's lifelong knowledge of advances and retreats, honor and disgrace, this kind of personality is very in line with the king's expectations of the chancellor, so Li Shimin believes in him. Before his death, he planned to leave Li Ji as an important political resource to his successor Li Zhi of Tang Gaozong. Therefore, he said to Li Zhi, "Li Ji is a very intelligent and outstanding person, and I am ready to let him assist you." However, you have no favor for Li Ji, and you are now ready to demote him to a foreign official. If he sets off immediately, it means that he has no dissenting intentions, and after his death, you should give him the office of servant, and he has received your favor and will do his best for you. If he hesitates and hesitates, delays time and refuses to get up, then you kill him. "
On the same day, Li Shimin issued an edict and demeaned Li Ji as the Assassin of Diezhou. Li Ji did not hesitate, and he did not have time to go home to say goodbye and went out of the city to take up his post. After Li Zhi ascended the throne, he recalled Li Ji to the imperial court, sealed Shangshu Zuo, and participated in the management of confidential affairs.
02, Li Jingye, who is in a different place
One person was promoted to heaven, and Li Ji became a high official in the imperial court, with a prominent position, and his family naturally rose with it. Among his descendants, the more famous is Li Jingye, who is the grandson of Li Ji. It was this grandson who destroyed the glorious foundation created by Li Ji.
Li Ji had two sons, the eldest son named Li Zhen, who died at a young age. Li Zhen had two sons, the eldest son, Li Jingye, who was knighted after Li Ji's death and was the second generation of British dukes.
Li Jingye was good at riding and shooting since childhood, had intelligence, and served as an assassin in Meizhou. It is said that during his first assassination history, local thieves rose up. Li Jingye's new arrival, those thieves are all waiting in a strict line, ready to give the new assassin Shi a dismount. As a result, Li Jingye was not in a hurry to requisition and suppress, but did not rush to deal with other affairs. After the thieves relaxed their vigilance, Li Jingye went to the thief's village with two retinues, and when he arrived, he went directly to the thief camp, and the thieves were very surprised, and Li Jingye announced in public: "The state knows that you have been victimized by corrupt officials, and if you have no other crimes, you can go back to the field, and the last person to leave is really a thief." Then he subdued several of the leaders and sent them back to their places of origin dozens of times. Since then, the state has quickly calmed down.
After Li Ji heard about this incident, he was also happy and worried about his boldness, saying: "I have never done such a risky thing, and it must be this child who will corrupt our family in the future." "
In the later period of Emperor Zhongzong's reign, Empress Wu came to power. Li Jingye opposed the post-Wu dictatorship. When Wu Hou came to power, he naturally had to get rid of some disobedient people, especially those members of the clan. Just at this time, Li Jingye hit the head of the gun, and Wuhou took him and ordered him to be demoted to Sima of Liuzhou, while his brother Li Jingyou was directly dismissed. At the same time, luo bin wang, Du Qiuren and others were also belittled.
Li Ji sees people accurately, and Li Jingye likes to take risks. This spirit of adventure can sometimes bring merit, and sometimes it may bring about the disaster of killing. The resentful Li Jingye decided to take another risk and plotted with his younger brothers Li Jingyou, Luo Binwang and others to raise an army. If this time it happens, he will directly control the Tang Dynasty. These degraded officials, who were disparaged, were eager to move, and raised an army in Yangzhou under the banner of restoring the throne of Luling And supporting Li Tangjiangshan.
After Li Jingye raised an army, Wu Zetian ordered an all-out encirclement and suppression. Soon, Li Jingye's army was defeated by the Tang army. Both Li Jingye and his brother were captured and both beheaded. At this time, Li Ji had already died. However, Wu Zetian did not remember his "old feelings" as a founding hero, and ordered that Li Ji and Li Zhen be stripped of their official positions and knighthoods, and their original surnames restored. This was not angry, she also ordered the excavation of Li Ji's grave, the cutting of coffins, and the wilderness of violent corpses. This is the greatest punishment for a deceased person.
03. How quickly does it rise and fall?
The Xu family was originally a rich man, "a family with many servants and thousands of bells", but there were no official eunuchs in their ancestors. Li Ji was the first high-ranking official in the family and the founding hero of a dynasty. It can really be said that the Guangzong Yaozu. Li Ji's prominence was bought by him with his political wisdom and military talents, and he worked hard step by step. Li Jingye's defeat of the entire family was the result of his lack of political vision, his lack of understanding of judging the hour and the situation, and his desire for profit, and in the end, he not only lost his reputation, but also affected the entire family. The foundation created by his grandfather was destroyed in his hands, and the rise and fall of a family was really sad and lamentable.
People often say that if you are poor, you can think of change, if you change, you can be rich, you can keep it, and you can keep it for a long time. But how many families can do this?