The kings of China's feudal society tried their best to prolong their reign so that they would not fall for the imperial power. However, there are also some emperors, in order to show respect for their ancestors, will not reign longer than their fathers or grandfathers, such as the Qianlong Emperor.
The Qianlong Emperor found that he was about to reign longer than his grandfather, and in order to show respect, the Qianlong Emperor ceded the throne to his son. The Qianlong Emperor, who became the Emperor Taishang, ostensibly handed over the imperial power to his son Jiaqing, but in fact, the real power was still firmly in his hands.
However, there is an emperor in history, who can be said to be the shortest-reigning emperor in history. Because his ass was not yet hot, the throne passed to the prince. Although he himself had the ability to be a Ming Emperor, he gave up the imperial power in his hands. Who is he? Why?
1. Prince Li Recitation
The shortest-reigning emperor in history was named Li Xuan and was the eldest son of Emperor Dezong of Tang. Li Xuan was crown prince at an early age, and until he ascended the throne as emperor, he served as crown prince for a total of 26 years. Moreover, when Li Shu was the crown prince, he acted in a rather wise manner. After the death of Tang Dezong, many people were very optimistic about Li Xu, believing that he would govern the country quite well.
Li Xuan was not only deeply accomplished in literature, but also a loyal general. During the reign of Tang Dezong, there was a rebellion, Li Shu rushed to the front with a sword to resist the rebels, and he often came to fight in person, which not only inspired the hearts of the Tang army, but also made Tang Dezong escape from the Beijing division to save his life.
Although Li Xuan was made crown prince, he was very cautious, after all, there were too many princes in the past who did not succeed to the throne smoothly. Although Li Xuan was usually cautious and cautious, he was quite accomplished in the administration of the dynasty. Because of his insistence, Tang Dezong did not reuse Pei Yanling and others.
In several conversations with Tang Dezong, it can also be seen that Li Xuan's vision is quite extraordinary. However, the longer he sat in the prince's seat, the more depressed Li Shu became. After all, there are emperors and fathers watching above, and there are countless eyes at the bottom that are always staring at the bottom, eager to find the handle immediately, and the position of prince can be next to it.
Perhaps the invisible pressure caused problems with Li Xie's body, and in 804 AD, Li Xie had a language barrier, all caused by a stroke. Later, when Tang Dezong was seriously ill, Li Xuan was also sick and bedridden, unable to visit Tang Dezong. No one expected that just one year later, Tang Dezong would die. Although at this time, the crown prince Li Xuan was finally promoted to emperor, but at this time his body did not allow it.
Second, the prince is upgraded
Although Emperor Dezong of Tang died, the crown prince Li Xuan was finally promoted to emperor. However, at this time, Li Xuan's body did not allow him to take charge of the government, because of the sequelae of the stroke, Li Xuan's language function has not been restored. The politics of the Tang Dynasty were in turmoil, and Li Xuan's close ministers began to innovate. Moreover, the well-known ministers Liu Yuxi and Liu Zongyuan also participated in political innovation, but the innovation group faced an important problem.
Because Tang Shunzong Li Shu had been unable to speak, the most important problem facing the innovation group was that it could not get the emperor's approval above the court, and coupled with the fact that the innovation group touched the cake of others, the reform was frustrated everywhere. What surprised Wen Chen the most was that the eunuch clique united and not only controlled Tang Shunzong Li Shu, but also defeated Wen Chen one by one. In the end, Tang Shunzong also had to be controlled by eunuchs to abdicate the throne, and finally Tang Shunzong ceded the throne to his son Li Chun.
Third, quick Meditation
Before Tang Shunzong could sit on the throne, he was controlled by a group of eunuchs and ceded the throne to his son Li Chun. Soon after, Tang Shunzong fell ill and died. Li Xuan was the crown prince for 26 years, but he was only an emperor for a few months, which can be said to be the emperor with the shortest reign.
Li Shu, who had been waiting for more than twenty years, originally wanted to do a big job in the emperor's seat, but he did not expect that there was a problem with his body. The courtiers who originally followed Li Xuan in reform most wanted to innovate in three aspects, one was to concentrate power in the hands of the emperor, the other was to cut the domain, of course, the deep reason was to remove power, and the third was to prohibit the eunuch monopoly.
It is not easy to innovate in either direction alone. For example, in the issue of cutting the domain, since the Anshi Rebellion, the division of the domain led to the fall of imperial power. Moreover, eunuchs have been in charge of the army for a hundred years, and it is equally difficult to weaken the power of eunuchs. However, in Tang Shunzong's view, the most important thing to control was the eunuch issue.
Although dealing with the eunuch problem, he could not seize the military power and cut off his financial road. However, Tang Shunzong still started from the eunuch Cailu, although the cutting off of the financial road made the eunuchs in power very unhappy, but they did not resist. However, when Tang Shunzong continued to weaken the eunuchs' military power, the eunuch leader finally understood the emperor's intentions, which was not only to reduce the power of the eunuchs, but also to kill them all.
At this time, the eunuch leader refused to surrender his military power, and led several eunuchs directly to Tang Shunzong's palace, and this time Tang Shunzong was completely passive. If the reform group wanted to communicate with Tang Shunzong, all of them needed to pass on the eunuchs, and Tang Shunzong's language function at this time gradually deteriorated.
It was necessary to communicate with the ministers, but at this time, the eunuchs would have a comprehensive and specific grasp of the information between the emperor and the courtiers. In the face of a tense duel, the eunuchs finally resorted to a trick to completely shatter Tang Shunzong's dream of reform.
The chief eunuch led a group of eunuchs to Tang Shunzong's bed, skipped all the foreshadowing, and the eunuchs had a very simple and clear purpose, forcing Tang Shunzong to abdicate. The eunuch clique also clearly wrote down the conditions for abdication, and entrusted all the civil servants of the reform clique to the eunuchs. What about Tang Shunzong? Lying on his own bed, everything could only be manipulated by the eunuchs. Although he was honored as the Emperor Taishang, he was also just a decoration with no real power. Not long after, Tang Shunzong died.
summary:
During the reign of Emperor Dezong of Tang, he made his son Li Xuan crown prince. Unexpectedly, Li Xuan sat on the prince's seat for nearly thirty years, and when his father Tang Dezong was seriously ill, who thought that the crown prince Li Xuan was also sick. If it was an ordinary minor illness, I didn't expect Li Xuan to suffer a stroke. This is also very understandable, after all, from a young man in his twenties to an uncle, the age of Prince Li Xuan is really not small. Until Tang Dezong's death, the crown prince Li Xuan could not go to the hospital bed to see it once.
Tang Dezong had just died of illness, and Tang Shunzong succeeded to the throne. At this time, Tang Shunzong still had some political dreams, he wanted to reform the government, one was to hold the imperial power in his hands, the second was to consolidate the imperial power, and the third was to take back the military power in the hands of eunuchs. In particular, the last reform will have a major impact on Datang politics. However, Tang Shunzong failed, and was finally forced by the eunuchs to give way and became the emperor with the shortest reign.