In the history of the Tang Dynasty, there is a question that does not seem to be a problem, that is: who killed Yang Guifei?
Although the historical record seems to be unmistakable, it is obvious that the real culprit is extremely deeply hidden after breaking through the fog of history.
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In the historical narrative, half a year after the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, Tang Xuanzong Tianbao fifteen years (756) on the morning of June 13, under the pressure of The Constant Approaching Rebels at An Lushan, Tang Xuanzong fled from Chang'an; the next night, on June 14, the forbidden army guarding Tang Xuanzong mutinied at Ma Songpo (also known as Ma Songyi), and after killing Yang Guozhong, the forbidden general Chen Xuanli and others forced Tang Xuanzong to send Gao Lishi to hang Yang Guifei to death, and only after the death of Yang Guifei was found, the mutiny was put to rest.
But is it really that simple?
In fact, the person behind the instruction to kill Yang Guifei was not Chen Xuanli, nor was he a mutinous forbidden general, but someone else.
Regarding the truth of the change of Ma Songpo, sima Guang of the Northern Song Dynasty presided over the editing of the Zizhi Tongjian, which is a representative of the traditional version. The Zizhi Tongjian describes:
"To Ma Songyi, the generals of the [Forbidden Army] were hungry and angry. Chen Xuanli used Yang Guozhong to blame him, because the eunuch Li Fuguo of the Eastern Palace sued the crown prince (Li Heng), and the prince was undecided. ”
According to the Zizhi Tongjian, the leader of the Forbidden Army, Chen Xuanli, wanted to launch a mutiny at that time, first to win the support of the crown prince Li Heng, but Li Heng did not express his position; in this case, the Forbidden Army resolutely launched a mutiny, first killing Yang Guozhong, who had brought calamity to the country and the people, and then Chen Xuanli came forward again and forced Tang Xuanzong to kill Yang Guifei.
But history goes up, in fact, as for who is responsible for the murder of Yang Guozhong and Yang Guifei, the Old Book of Tang writes very clearly, and the real mastermind is the crown prince Li Heng.
The Old Book of Tang and the Biography of Yang Guifei records: "From Xing to Ma Song, the forbidden army general Chen Xuanli miqi prince (Li Heng) and The father and son of The (Yang) Guozhong. ”
In addition, it is also clearly written in the Old Book of Tang And the Biography of Wei Jiansu:
"The Longwu general Chen Xuanli (Yang Guozhong) was afraid of his rebellion, but conspired with the Feilong Ma family Li Huguo (i.e., the eunuch Li Fuguo) to conspire with the crown prince (Li Heng) and asked Guozhong to comfort the hearts of the soldiers. On that day, (Chen) Xuanli and other forbidden troops besieged (Tang Xuanzong) to the palace, and did their best to curse the Yang clan. ”
That is to say, the Zizhi Tongjian avoided the secret for li heng, the prince at that time and later Emperor Suzong of Tang, and blamed the charge of mutiny and rebellion to the forbidden army, thus allowing Li Heng to retain the positive image of conquest of An Lushan, and creating a tall and tall imperial character IP who rose up in times of crisis.
In Sima Guang's view, it is indecent to describe a heroic figure and say that he has plotted rebellion and threatened his father and emperor, and the hero should try to whitewash it as much as possible, which is relatively perfect.
But Sima Guang's helpless thing is that if you don't write, it doesn't mean that others don't write. Therefore, in the original history book "Old Book of Tang", which is closer to the time of the Ma Songpo Mutiny, the original truth closer to this mutiny is preserved:
Yang Guifei seemed to be the crown prince Li Heng planning a mutiny and forcing her to die.
▲ Stills: The death of Yang Guifei hides the history of palace fighting in the Tang Dynasty.
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But why did Prince Li Heng direct the killing of Yang Guozhong and Yang Guifei and others?
The real murderer pushed up, and the culprit was Li Longji, who was jealous of the cold Tang Xuanzong.
In other words, the Li Tang family has always had a tradition of coup d'état.
In Li Longji's view, his own great-grandfather Li Shimin launched the Xuanwumen Rebellion in 626 and forced Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, to abdicate; in 705, Li Xian launched a shenlong coup d'état to seize power from his mother Wu Zetian; in 707, the crown prince Li Chongjun launched another Jinglong coup in an attempt to seize power from Emperor Zhongzong of Tang.
And Li Longji himself also came to power through two coups. In 710, he first launched the Tanglong coup d'état against wei hou.com. In 712, he launched a coup d'état to kill the Taiping Princess clique, thus clearing the way for his eventual rise to power.
The bloody history of the entire family's coup d'état made Tang Xuanzong Li Longji naturally have a suspicion of his sons, especially the sons of the crown prince: they were worried that they would seize power and ascend to the throne.
And the death of Yang Guifei can be said to have been forced out by Tang Xuanzong's harsh suspicion of his sons.
In the twenty-fifth year of the New Century (737), Tang Xuanzong, who had been emperor for 26 years, first listened to rumors and killed his three sons: The Crown Prince Li Ying, the Prince of E, Li Yao the Prince of E, and Li Ju the Prince of Guang, and then he reappointed his third son Li Jue (later renamed Li Heng) the Prince of Zhongwang as crown prince.
The endless cases of coups in the family made Tang Xuanzong always uneasy about his sons. In order to suppress the power of the princelings, Li Longji's choice was: first to support the power of the powerful minister Li Linfu, and then to cultivate the foreign forces of the Yang Guifei family to balance and suppress the princelings.
Because in a family of emperors who constantly came to power by coups, Li Longji did not trust anyone, even if it was his own son.
▲ Stills: A character ignored by traditional narratives: Prince Li Heng.
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Psychological sin is a very cruel punishment.
"I suspect you want to seize power, I always feel like you want to kill me!" It was out of this psychological suspicion that Li Longji first killed three sons, and then created a crown prince Li Heng, so that although Gui was the prince of the Tang Empire, in the 18 years of his life as a prince from 28 to 46 years old (738-756), Li Heng was cautious and cautious, fearing that if he was not careful one day, he would be deposed or killed by his father Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.
The result of the struggle between the emperor and the prince was that someone had to sacrifice, and the court had to shed blood to sacrifice.
It was at this time that Yang Guifei and her family foolishly broke in.
In the twenty-eighth year of the new century (740), Yang Yuhuan, the 22-year-old daughter-in-law and princess of Li Mao of Shou, was forcibly plundered into the palace by the 56-year-old father-in-law, Li Longji of Tang Xuanzong, and collected three thousand favors in one.
For the next 17 years, Yang Yuhuan's three sisters, brother Yang Guozhong and other seven aunts and eight aunts have ascended to heaven and become rich and glorious.
This family has begun to run wild.
Previously, the chancellor Li Linfu had formed a bond with Li Heng because he tried to support Li Mao, the prince of Shou, as crown prince; in this regard, Li Linfu, during his control of the imperial government, with the support of Emperor Li Longji, suppressed everywhere, and even single-handedly constructed unjust cases in an attempt to kill Li Heng.
Yang Guozhong, an important political agent of the Yang Guifei family, also jumped up and down, first with Li Linfu, and then alone, and also tried to overthrow the crown prince Li Heng.
To this end, they first beat to death Du Youlin, an official of the Eastern Palace of Crown Prince Li Heng, and framed li heng to death; then, they also framed Hexi Jiedu, who was loyal to Crown Prince Li Heng, so that Wang Zhongsi and others tried to rebel and try to wipe out Li Heng and his subordinates.
But Tang Xuanzong, who was good at balancing power and political power, always flattened the political balance every time when it was about to tilt to a certain side.
Because in Li Longji's view, the princelings, foreign relatives and other clique forces all need to knock the mountain and shock the tiger, and what he, the emperor, needs is an imperial order under mutual political checks and balances.
▲ Stills: Tang Xuanzong, who is naturally mercurial, versatile, and suspicious.
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Although Tang Xuanzong was a popular breed, the appearance of Yang Yuhuan really overshadowed the countless harem beauties of the Tang Dynasty.
But this kind of murderous special favor, Yang Guifei and her family, are completely unaware.
The result of this pride and indulgence was that the entire Yang Guifei's foreign relative family was openly proud of the entire Li Tang imperial family.
The master was so strong that even the domestic slaves were rampant.
In the tenth year of Tianbao (751), the household slaves of the Yang Guozhong family, even in Chang'an City, openly brandished a whip and insulted Tang Xuanzong's daughter Princess Guangning, so that Princess Guangning was frightened and fell off the horse, and cheng Chang came forward to protect the princess, and was also whipped and reprimanded by the family slaves of the Yang Guozhong family; afterwards, Princess Guangning wept bitterly and complained to Tang Xuanzong, but did not expect that Tang Xuanzong only ordered the killing of this small family slave, but did not ask any questions about Yang Guozhong and others, and the horse Cheng Chang, who was the victim, was instead suspended and punished.
The power of the Yang Guifei family was so great that by this time, it was not only a matter of power leaning towards the opposition, but also bullying the entire Li Tang imperial family.
In this case, li heng, the crown prince who was suppressed by his father Tang Xuanzong's suspicions, could only swallow his anger at the Yang Guifei family; and in his thirties, Li Heng was already worried that his hair was all white—because under the frame of Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong and others, many of his cronies were killed or exiled, and he himself almost fell into prison several times.
At that time, the unpopular marginal position of the crown prince Li Heng could be clearly seen throughout the Tang Emperor at home and abroad, and An Lushan dared to openly flirt with Li Heng.
In the sixth year of Tianbao (747), An Lushan went to Chang'an City to meet Tang Xuanzong, and at that time, the crown prince Li Heng was also by his side, and the ceremonial officials urged him to give Li Heng a salute. Unexpectedly, An Lushan deliberately did not worship Li Heng, but said to Tang Xuanzong: "Xiao Chen, I am a Hu person, I don't know the etiquette of my dynasty, what kind of official is the prince?" ”
Tang Xuanzong smiled at this and said, "Prince, that is my future successor."
Unexpectedly, An Lushan said, "In my eyes, I only know that Your Majesty is alone, and I don't know that there is still a crown prince, such a person!" ”
Tang Xuanzong, who loved An Lushan, laughed at this.
The crown prince Li Heng had already fallen to the point of being openly humiliated by the Yang family and the power of the courtiers.
▲ Stills: As a representative of Yang Guifei's family, Yang Guozhong is tyrannical.
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In this case, it is the individual, who does not carry hatred?
What's more, he was still a crown prince.
An Lushan's public rebellion in 755 ushered in unprecedented upheavals in the Tang Empire.
Soon, An Lushan's rebels attacked Luoyang and approached Tongguan; in a hurry, Li Longji, who was over seventy years old and played with power all day, was after all a hero and old man, and he was also afraid, just like the later Song Huizong who was anxious to give way to Song Qinzong, he also proposed that he wanted the crown prince Li Heng to oversee the country and eventually give him the throne.
In this regard, Yang Guozhong, who had always bullied and insulted the crown prince Li Heng, was scared half to death. He immediately found Sister Yang Guifei and said, "Prince Su is evil and my family has been tyrannical for a long time, if once the world is won, my life and that of my sister will be in the twilight of Dan!" ”
Yang Guifei then personally went out on horseback, imitating the ancients, holding a piece of soil in her mouth, and resolutely requested Tang Xuanzong that he could not give the imperial throne "Nei Zen" to the crown prince - under the crying and crying of "Aifei" Yang Yuhuan, Tang Xuanzong's heart softened, and the emperor's addiction was always there, and in the end, he canceled this plan.
The scourge of Yang Guifei's killing was getting closer and closer.
On June 13, 756, when the rebels of An Lushan had already breached Tongguan, the panicked Tang Xuanzong finally fled with Yang Guifei's sisters and Yang Guozhong and others, as well as a few royal families such as crown prince Li Heng, under the escort of more than 3,000 forbidden troops.
Of the more than 3,000 forbidden troops, more than 2,000 were commanded by Crown Prince Li Heng and were in charge of the palace.
Li Heng, the crown prince who had been worried and fearful in Chang'an City and was full of grass and trees, suddenly, because of the cover behind the palace, suddenly grasped two-thirds of the military power to accompany the forbidden army; and Chen Xuanli, the leader of the forbidden army who was loyal to Tang Xuanzong, also hated the Yang Guozhong family who had brought calamity to the country and the people under the drastic changes in the country.
At that time, because the escape was too hasty, Tang Xuanzong's team of more than 3,000 people did not even bring enough food to eat, so on the second day of the escape, on June 14, 756, the fifteenth year of Tianbao (756), the soldiers were already tired and hungry, complaining, and the big guys were very angry one by one.
In this situation, Li Heng, the crown prince who had endured for more than ten years, finally broke out secretly.
When the army marched to Ma Songpo, at the behest of Li Heng, the already angry generals of the Forbidden Army took the lead in attacking, killing Yang Guozhong, dismembering him and dismembering him, and his head was picked up on the barrel of a gun.
Then, Chen Xuanli, the general of the Forbidden Army who had obtained the approval of the crown prince Li Heng, came forward to persecute Tang Xuanzong and hang Yang Guifei to death.
A curse planted by the Yang family itself finally ended with the overthrow of Yang Guifei and Yang Guozhong.
▲ Crown Prince Li Heng lost power and was even openly teased by An Lushan in the domain town.
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The most beautiful and rich woman in the Tang Empire was eventually killed.
After launching this ma songpo rebellion, the next day, on the fifteenth day of the sixth lunar month of tianbao (756), Li Heng led more than 2,000 forbidden troops, separated from Tang Xuanzong, and divided his troops to command the rebellion in the north; while Tang Xuanzong, who only cared about fleeing for his life and completely lost the heroism of that year, fled into Sichuan with more than 1,300 remnants of the forbidden army.
More than twenty days later, on July 13, Li Heng, who had arrived in Lingwu from the north, with the support of his subordinates, was the emperor on his own in Lingwu, and at this time, Tang Xuanzong was still in the dark, and he did not expect that this son, whom he had always looked down upon, had announced that he had taken the throne on his own.
This year, the father Li Longji was 72 years old, and the son Li Heng was 46 years old.
It was not until nearly a month after his son "became emperor", on August 12, that Li Longji learned in Chengdu that he had become the "Emperor Taishang", and in the case of national crisis, the old and dazed Li Longji had no choice but to say against his will: "Wu'er should be obedient to heaven, and I should not worry about it!" ”
However, Li Longji still did not forget to let people send a message to his son Li Heng, saying that the major affairs of the military state should still be "known to Li Longji."
But will Li Heng, the son who soared and ascended the throne as emperor in the midst of sudden changes in the storm, still listen to his father's words?
After more than ten years of repression, after nine deaths, how can the supreme authority of the empire finally be taken from Lao Tzu??
After taking refuge in Sichuan for more than a year, Emperor Suzong of Tang went to De'er zai (757) in October, and Li Longji, who had no choice but to become emperor of Taishang, finally decided to return to Beijing after learning that Chang'an City had been restored and stabilized.
On the way back, Li Longji's accompanying escort was disarmed by his son Tang Suzong, and he sent troops to hold the "escort" hostage throughout the journey. When passing by Ma Songpo, Li Longji wanted to give Yang Guifei a new burial, but he did not expect that Li Yun, a waiter in the ceremonial department, immediately objected, saying, "When the generals of the Forbidden Army killed Yang Guozhong and Yang Guifei, Your Majesty if you reburied Yang Guifei, I am afraid that the soldiers involved in the rebellion will be suspicious and the situation will get out of control." ”
Of course, Li Yu did not point out that the mastermind behind the killing of Yang Guifei: the current emperor Li Heng, was still monitoring his father Li Longji from a distance.
In desperation, Tang Xuanzong had no choice but to cancel the decision to publicly change the funeral for Yang Guifei and instead send someone to secretly relocate the sacrifice. After digging up the grave, the eunuch in charge of the reburial found that Yang Guifei's body had decayed, but a sachet left behind was still intact. So the eunuchs brought the sachets back to Li Longji from the coffin, and Li Longji, who saw the people thinking of things, burst into tears, so he ordered the painter to paint a portrait of Yang Guifei and hang it in the palace every day.
An emperor who plays with power eventually lifts a stone and drops it on his own feet, killing his beloved woman.
After returning to Chang'an City, Li Longji was put under house arrest by his son Li Heng. Li Heng's eunuch Li Fuguo, on one occasion, even took 500 cavalry and openly threatened the Emperor Taishang with a knife, frightening Li Longji to almost fall off his horse. In this regard, Li Longji privately said to his confidant eunuch Gao Lishi: "Wu'er (Li Heng) is confused by (Li) Fuguo, and must not end filial piety!" ”
▲ The change of Ma Songpo, the real planner has been hidden for many years.
In the bleak trepidation of being put under house arrest in his old age, this once wise and divine warrior who shaped the "Kaiyuan Prosperous Era" could only often look at the portrait of Yang Guifei in his Taiji Palace, where he was under house arrest, and quietly stared.
He may never have reflected that he loved a woman, but in the end, consciously or unconsciously, he became the real culprit in killing that woman.
In the fourth year of his return to Chang'an, in 762, Li Longji (685-762), the Emperor Taishang, who was mourning and despairing in his thoughts and pains, finally died in what the Taoists called "breaking the valley": a hunger strike without eating five grains, and in that year, he was 78 years old; in the same year, his son Li Heng (711-762), who had always been jealous and eventually broke out in anger, also fell ill and died in the difficult state affairs.
A year after the father and son died, in 763, the Anshi Rebellion was put down.
The Tang Empire thus entered the track of decline.
And who was the person who really killed Yang Guifei? Was it Crown Prince Li Heng, or Tang Xuanzong himself? Or is it that Yang Guifei is self-inflicted?
The king's woman was clearly longing for an answer.