The emperor was the eldest son, and the people were in pain. According to the rules of etiquette, the eldest son was the natural successor of the emperor, and the emperor attached great importance to the education and cultivation of the eldest son. For the sake of double insurance, the emperor also attached great importance to the education and cultivation of his second son. Li Hong, the eldest son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, was deeply loved by his father, Li Zhi. Li Zhi even killed Li Zhong, the eldest son, for the sake of his eldest son Li Hong.
Li Xian was the second son of Li Zhi, and Li Zhi asked Li Xian to "change his color". The easy-to-understand saying is to respect and reuse virtuous talents and stay away from the temptation of sound and color dogs and horses. In order to cultivate Li Xian, Li Zhi summoned Wang Bo, the author of the "Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion", and asked Wang Bo to accompany Li Xian to study.
Li Hong and Li Xian grew up day by day, and Li Zhi's love for the two concubines grew day by day. Li Zhi had two daughters, born to Consort Xiao. Wu Zetian put the two concubines under house arrest in the palace and prevented them from marrying. Li Hong spoke for his two half-sisters, thus offending his mother. Li Hong was depressed after "losing love", depressed and dead, really dead.
Li Zhi stills, picture from the network, thanks to the original author.
Li Hong died, and Li Zhi was heartbroken. The eldest son who had been cultivated for 24 years was gone, and this incident made Li Zhi suffer a lot. If there is a vacancy in the position of prince, someone must fill it immediately, otherwise it will easily cause a battle for the Eastern Palace. Li Zhi immediately made a decision and let his second son Li Xian ascend to the throne of the crown prince.
Li Zhi had deep feelings for Li Hong, and he posthumously honored Li Hong as Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty. When the crown prince died, it was very common for his father to posthumously crown him as emperor, but it was really rare to posthumously seal the temple number. Although Li Zhi gave Li Hong the temple name "Yizong", although it was abolished by the Later Tang Dynasty Tianzi, it was enough to reflect Li Zhi's love for Li Hong's son. Li Zhi missed Li Hong day and night, and coupled with the fact that Li Zhi was already ill, he finally fell ill.
Li Zhi's illness was very serious, too heavy to draw an edict. The main job of the ancient emperors was to draw edicts. The minister submitted the matter to be done to the emperor, and the emperor felt that it was feasible to approve it, so he wrote a "敕" character, which is called a painting edict. The easy-to-understand parlance is the approval document. Except for the emperor, the documents approved by other ministers can only be "teaching". Only documents approved by the emperor can be called "edicts". Li was seriously ill, could not read the words on the documents, and could not even draw the edict, so he had to find a regent.
Xiao Shufei stills, picture from the network, thanks to the original author.
Li Zhi's intention was to let Empress Wu replace him as regent, which was strongly opposed by the prime ministers. The Zizhi Tongjian records that Hao Chujun, the chancellor of the Tang Dynasty, who was later added to the Lingyange, said bluntly to Li Zhi: "The world was fought down by Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong, and His Majesty only ate ready-made." His Majesty can only hand over sheji to the descendants of Li and has no right to hand over sheji to the regent of a person with a foreign surname. (The one under the heavens, the world of Gaozu and Emperor Taizong, and the world of non-His Majesty, should be carefully guarded by the temple of the Emperor and passed on to his descendants, and it is not appropriate to hold the country and people, so as to lose his family.) ）”
Hao Chujun's words are so ugly, but they are reasonable and legitimate. Tang Gaozong was intimidated by Hao Chujun, and instead of daring to get angry, he wanted to give Hao Chujun a smiley face. Since he could not give the society to a foreigner, he could only give it to his own son. At that time, the crown prince Li Xian was already 22 years old and could assume the responsibility of regency. At the insistence of Hao Chujun and other prime ministers, Li Xian finally gained the right to handle the government.
Li Xian gained power, and his mother Empress Wu was not pleased. Empress Wu was a power lover, and she was not soft on anyone who wanted to fight with her for power. Li Xian and Hao Chujun destroyed Wu Meiniang's low-hanging fruit, and Empress Wu began to find ways to attack them. Hao Chujun was a representative figure in the prime minister, and Empress Wu could not move him, so she moved his left arm and right arm to isolate him.
Wu Zetian stills, pictures from the network, thanks to the original author.
Empress Wu adopted a strategy of pulling and fighting against her own son Li Xian. Empress Wu used the team of "North Gate Scholars" to suppress Li Xian's people and horses, and gradually reduced Li Xian's living space. The "Beimen Bachelors" are the personal groups organized by Wu Zetian, similar to the eighteen bachelors when Li Shimin was the King of Qin. The "North Gate Bachelor" exploded in combat effectiveness, and soon beat Li Xian to the point where he could not fight back.
When Li Xian was overwhelmed, Wu Zetian sent someone to send Li Xian two books, "Shaoyang Zhengfan" and "Biography of Filial Piety", to Li Xian. Empress Wu's meaning was very clear: "Son, you must carefully read these two books and be a good child who listens to his mother." If you can't read these two books, don't blame your mother for hitting you. (This matter canonizes the New Book of Tang: "Later, he wrote the Shaoyang Zhengfan and the Biography of Filial Piety to Xian, and counted the books to let Le.) ”）
Wu Meiniang asked Li Xian to listen to her mother's words, and Li Xian's reaction was "more and more uneasy". Although Li Xian was afraid, he did not give up the fight at all. The meaning of right. Wu Meiniang saw that her own son could not understand the meaning of "Shaoyang Zhengfan" and "Biography of Filial Piety", so she decided to clean up Li Xian. Wu Meiniang sent people to search for hundreds of pairs of armor in the Eastern Palace, and then used the armor to make a big fuss, saying to Li Zhi: "Virtuous and rebellious, great righteousness and extermination of relatives, unforgivable." ”
During the Tang Dynasty, it was a great sin for private individuals to own armor. The "Yang Wengan Incident" in which Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng fought was caused by hundreds of pairs of armor. The evidence of Li Xian's crime of secretly hiding armor is conclusive, and Li Zhi loves his son and wants to keep his carefully cultivated second son. Empress Wu insisted on killing her relatives in righteousness, and Li Zhi had no choice but to choose between his wife and son. Li Zhi's last choice was to have a wife and not a son.
Li Zhi issued an edict deposing Li Xian's position as crown prince and demoting him to a commoner. Li Xian, a shuren, was exiled in the days that followed, which can be described as a hardship in life. After all, Li Zhi still has father-son affection for Li Xian, so he has been protecting Li Xian from dying. As soon as Li Zhi gasped, Wu Zetian couldn't wait to send someone to kill Li Xian.
Li Xian became crown prince at the age of 22 and was killed at the age of 34. After Li Xian's death, his mother Wu Zetian posthumously awarded him a princely title and held a high-end and high-grade funeral for him. Li Xian was buried, but there was no conclusive conclusion. When Li Dan was emperor, his mother Wu Zetian died. Li Dan posthumously honored his second brother as The Prince of Zhanghuai, and finally gave Li Xian a coffin.
This article was originally written by Wang Fuxing. Code words are not easy, please respect the original, unauthorized, reproduction is strictly prohibited. I have signed a contract with a rights protection company to entrust a rights protection company to protect my rights. Unauthorized reprinters, the rights protection company will defend the rights on behalf of the person.