The Tang Dynasty was one of the most powerful dynasties in China's history, and the "rule of Zhenguan" of Li Shimin, emperor Taizong of the early Tang Dynasty, was recited by later generations for thousands of years. Emperor Taizong was known as the "Heavenly Khan", and the Tang Dynasty was also revered by other countries as the "Heavenly Dynasty".
However, any dynasty has its rise and fall, and after a hundred years of strength, the Tang Dynasty began to go downhill. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, he indulged in beauty and abandoned the government, which eventually led to the anshi rebellion that lasted for several years.
Several emperors since Tang Xuanzong have also been like this, but in this declining dynasty, there is still a Ming Emperor, Tang Xuanzong. He recreated the brief glory of the Tang Dynasty at a time of decline, known in history as the "Rule of the Great Middle".
Li Chen' original name was Li Yi, and he was born in daming palace in the center of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty, and was the thirteenth prince of Tang Xianzong. His mother was originally a concubine of Li Kun, the envoy of Zhenhai Jiedu, but after Li Kun's plot failed, his mother was forced to enter the palace and became Empress Guo's maid. Later, after being fortunate by Tang Xianzong on a fortuitous day, li yi was born.
Although Li Yi's birth mother was only a small palace girl, she knew how difficult it was to live in the inner courtyard of the deep palace. As the biological mother of the emperor's thirteenth son, she did not use Li Yi for some benefits, but only hoped that Li Yi could survive peacefully in this palace where the crisis was hidden.
She knew that she could not give her son any help in her position, but on the contrary, she might be thrown into an endless hell if she was not careful. Under the influence of her mother, the talented and intelligent Li Yi recognized what kind of situation she was in at a very young age, and also understood the many dangers hidden around her.
As a child, Li Yi had no way to protect herself, so she naturally "pretended to be crazy and stupid" in an accident. Once, when a young Li Yi witnessed an assassination, he has become increasingly reticent and often smirked. So everyone thought he was scared silly and became the laughing stock of everyone in the palace.
From the perspective of outsiders, a palace girl who has given birth to a fool cannot enjoy the glory and wealth. But in the eyes of Li Yi's mother, this is a good thing, after all, when other princes eliminate dissidents, no one will shoot at a fool. His "stupidity" is the best protective umbrella for his life in the deep palace.
Pretending to be a "fool" all the time can save your life, but if you don't think about it, you may be really stupid in danger without knowing it. Therefore, in the time when no one paid attention, Li Yi worked hard to learn poetry and literature and Tang Taizong's governing policy. Although he has read a lot of poetry, he still chooses to "pretend to be stupid" and use Mingzhe to protect himself.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty changed power very quickly, and after Tang Xianzong, his brother usurped the throne to become Tang Muzong, and then experienced the era of Emperor Wenzong and Emperor Wuzong. But no matter whether Li Yi is an uncle or whatever, he is the laughing stock of everyone.
However, after Emperor Wuzong took the throne, he always felt that Li Yi was pretending to be stupid and wanted to end him. So he ordered the guards to kill him, but the guards could not bear to kill this "stupid" emperor, and secretly sent him to the temple and became a monk.
When he was young, Li Chen had a dream. He dreamed that he had become a dragon and flew into the blue sky. But his mother, in order to save his life, asked him not to tell anyone about this dream, until tang Wuzong died of illness, and his dream became a reality.
After Emperor Xuanzong, eunuchs took control of the court. During the reign of Emperor Wuzong, the power of the eunuch Ma Yuanjing swelled to the extreme, however, even if he held the power of "abolition", as a eunuch, he could not sit on the throne. At this time, he could only "blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes", and the "fool" GuangWang became the best candidate.
But the eunuchs were clever and mistaken, thinking that they could control the "mentally retarded" emperor, and no longer had to worry about the emperor getting out of control. But I didn't expect that in the Li family's rivers and rivers, there was another "Lord of ZTE".
When the eunuchs were still indulging in the illusion of power, Tang Xuanzong beat them all into the dungeon with vigorous means. In order to deter the eunuchs, he rehabilitated all the ministers who had been killed by the eunuchs during the Ganlu Incident. In the first month of his reign, he deposed the high-powered chancellor Li Deyu.
Li Deyu has been in a high position for many years, and his henchmen can be said to be numerous and have many protégés. Unexpectedly, Tang Xuanzong not only removed him from his official position, but also removed Li Deyu's party from the imperial court. Tang Xuanzong's thunderbolt tactics shocked even Li Deyu's political enemies, Niu Monks and Children.
After li deyu was deposed, Li Chen also intervened to solve the long-standing problem of party strife in the late Tang Dynasty. When he was considered a fool by everyone, he secretly sorted out all the officials of the imperial court, and he already had a conclusion in his mind.
He always believed that Bai Juyi had the talent to govern the country, and he very much hoped that Bai Juyi would become the prime minister. But the times were always imperfect, and Bai Juyi's premature death frustrated Xuanzong's wishes. This is not only the regret of Tang Xuanzong and Bai Juyi, but also the regret of history.
Tang Xuanzong attached great importance to the imperial examination, and he vigorously used the officials who were born in the imperial examination to put them in an important position in the imperial court, which was quite like the style of Tang Taizong Li Shimin. Moreover, Tang Xuanzong wrote the idol Tang Taizong's "Zhenguan Politician" on the screen and observed it every day.
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang also appointed Wei Zheng's descendant Wei Mo (魏匫), making Wei Mo the chancellor, which had surpassed the official position of his ancestor Wei Zheng. And Wei Mo did not disappoint Xuanzong, his gangzheng did not lose To Wei Zheng. Xuanzong's majesty was completely different from when he pretended to be stupid, and he was completely angry and arrogant, and the ministers often did not dare to directly advise him. But Wei Mo dared to go straight to the point and speak straight.
During Xuanzong's reign, he was very concerned about the people, and perhaps his years of monastic experience made him more aware of the people's feelings, and he also had a deep sense of belonging and responsibility to the people. He reduced many taxes so that the people could live a better life.
At the same time, in terms of war, Xuanzong did not show weakness to the outside world at all. From Tubo, he successively recovered the three prefectures of Qin, Yuan, and Anle in the Yellow River land on the Silk Road, as well as the passes of Shimen, Yizang, Muxia, Zhisheng, Liupan, Shixia, and Xiao, and became known as the "Seven Passes of The Three Prefectures". The only military victory of the Tang Dynasty against Tubo after the Anshi Rebellion!
Whether it is the people living and working in peace and contentment, the military is invincible, or the building of the legal system is complete, and the political parties in the court are indisputable, this is all the achievement of Li Chen's diligence and indifference. Therefore, history has a very high evaluation of him, believing that he is the same Ming Emperor as Tang Taizong, the "rule of Zhenguan" in the early Tang Dynasty. At that time, the Tang Dynasty under his rule was called "the rule of the Great Middle", and he himself was also revered as "Little Taizong".
Tang Xuanzong's life can be said to be a life full of drama. Born in the Imperial Family, he had to live in the inner courtyard of the deep palace like a thin ice, relying on "pretending to be crazy and selling stupid" to endure humiliation and steal his life. But years of patience have led to a wise king.
In the lonely years of the late Tang Dynasty, if it were not for the "rule of the great middle" brought by the wise and foolish Tang Xuanzong, and if he had not curbed the dictatorship of eunuchs, the late Tang Dynasty would have been in a state of daily ruin.