There was such an emperor in the Tang Dynasty, when he was in his 10s, he was seriously ill, his health was getting lower and lower, he usually did not like to talk to people, people once thought that he was a low-energy child, many princes ridiculed him for fun, his name was Li Chen, formerly known as Li Yi, was the 13th son of Tang Xianzong Li Chun, after Li Chun's death, the eunuch Ma Yuanzhen supported Li Yi to ascend the throne, and changed his name to Li Chen, when Ma Yuanzhen supported him to ascend to the throne, the reason why ma Yuanzhen supported him to ascend to the throne was that he felt that he was very cowardly and easy to control, let the emperor listen to him, but unexpectedly, after he took the throne, He changed his original disposition, put the country's governance in an orderly manner, and carried out great reforms, so that the country once developed to the state of ZTE, and the people called him Xiao Taizong.
Li Chen stills
After he came to power, he was very diligent in government, cared for the people, reduced taxes in many places, once suppressed the expansion of eunuch power, paid great attention to the reuse of talents, and also recovered a lot of occupied land, so that the people's lives gradually became rich, and the country that was already somewhat decayed became increasingly improved under his administration.
He was supported by the eunuch Ma Yuanzhen, and it is conceivable how much power the eunuch had at that time, and the eunuch Li Chen was also very vigilant about this, the emperor absolutely did not allow the eunuchs to participate in political affairs, so Li Chen was also very wary of Ma Yuanzhen's behavior in the future, but he did not restrain but was more arrogant, and a prime minister named Ma Zhi joined forces, And Ma Zhi even went so far as to win ma Yuanzhen over, because they were all surnamed Ma and thus confessed their ancestors to him, and also gave Ma Yuanzhen a gift from the emperor to ma Yuanzhen. This was completely out of the eye of the emperor, which angered Li Chen, but he also knew that it was not the time to move Ma Yuanzhen, so he killed the chicken to show the monkey and immediately seized Ma Zhi from his position as prime minister, thus also giving Ma Yuanzhen a vigilance. From this point of view, Li Chen is not the incompetent child that everyone thinks, he is smart and decisive, and he also has foresight, giving people a completely different impression.
Stills of Ma Yuanzhen
He also has a very strict side, compared with his previous weak state is completely two people, he can be soft and hard, usually treat the people around him very softly, but once he touches his bottom line, it is self-evident, there is a minister Zhu Hanzhen usually likes to joke, but also often make the emperor laugh, but once the joke was a little too much, inadvertently mentioned political affairs when laughing, which made Li Chen angry and embarrassed him on the spot. This man was later exiled by the emperor for corruption and bribery. We can see the two sides of Li Chen, and when it comes to state affairs, Li Chen is absolutely unambiguous. But it is precisely because of his strictness that many sages acted very carefully in order not to offend the emperor, preferring not to have merit or to speak to the emperor more, for fear of causing trouble to themselves if they accidentally said the wrong thing.
Li Shiming stills
But he also has a very tender and lovely side, he admires Li Shiming very much, regards himself as his idol, reads "The Rule of Zhenguan" every day, and also writes this book on the screen, every day he has to bow his hand to read, learn Li Shiming's way of governing, want to further manage the country better, whenever the minister sends a fold, he will wash his hands and burn incense before taking over the fold to see, in order to show sincerity, which is also a habit left by the ancients to purify the body and mind before doing things.
Because of his personality from childhood, so many people are willing to joke about him, regard him as a weak person, Wuzong Li Yan is a very arrogant person, he often forces him to speak at banquets, bullying him for fun, and also very disrespectful to him, because he has had such an experience since he was a child, so after he took the throne, he tended to protect the weak. Once he sent emissaries to the border area to read the edict, because the road was very far away, he stopped at the halfway station to rest, where it was very poor, and the station official brought him a large cake to eat, but because the cake was too rough, he actually beat up the stationer, And when Li Chen learned of it, he was very angry, and immediately sent him to guard the tomb.
Portrait of Li Chen
With a two-sided personality, he undoubtedly has many advantages in governing the country, not only protecting the weak but also suppressing the courtiers with bad intentions, he is never slack in the face of national problems, and under his diligent political management, the country has also developed well and reached the state of ZTE. In 859, Li Chen died of poisoning by taking elixirs at the age of 50.
Reference: Old Book of Tang