In 713, the second year of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, the tang dynasty, which had frequent coups d'états, ushered in the fourth palace coup since the founding of the dynasty, "The First Heavenly Coup", the two sides of the confrontation were Tang Xuanzong Li Longji and his aunt Princess Taiping, according to the historical records, the ambitious Princess Taiping was the one who tried to launch the coup, but she did not continue the good fortune of the initiators of the previous three coups to win all the victories, was defeated by her nephew Li Longji, and was eventually captured and killed.
Later, many people commented that Princess Taiping wanted to be the second female emperor, but she was different from Wu Zetian, Wu Zetian's surname was Wu, and Princess Taiping's surname was Li, and this identity obviously limited her thinking and behavior, so the two coups she first participated in were her brothers Li Xian and Li Dan, of course, with Wu Zetian genes, she was eager for power, and was always unwilling to give up everything to live a pastoral life, which was also the origin of her final tragedy.
The first princess of all time, with great power, protégés all over the government and the public, and the crown prince Li Longji was subordinate to him
When Emperor Ruizong of Tang and Li Dan had just succeeded to the throne, Princess Taiping in the court was extremely powerful, and Princess Taiping, who had been constantly enthroned since the time of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, was then a Princess Taiping who was a Princess Taiping, a princess who could open a mansion and build a tooth alone and had armed guards, three of Princess Taiping's sons were crowned kings, and five of the seven prime ministers appointed by Tang Ruizong were all disciples of Princess Taiping, and their followers were all over the government and the public.
Princess Taiping was able to achieve such power because she was the only surviving daughter of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian, both emperors favored her, and after Wu Zetian, she participated in the second coup d'état and sided with the victors, successfully supporting Emperor Zhongzong of Tang and Li Dan of Tang Ruizong to the throne, especially in the "Tang Long Coup" jointly initiated with Li Longji to kill Wei, Princess Taiping also personally took the throne of Li Chongmao, the young emperor established by Empress Wei, and sent Li Dan to the throne:
When The Shao Emperor was still on the throne, Princess Taiping entered: "The heart of the world has returned to the King, this is not the throne!" ''So I mentioned it.''
However, after the "Tang Long Coup", Princess Taiping and another meritorious servant who supported Ruizong Li Longji had a deep contradiction, both of them were power freaks, one became the crown prince, the other fell in power, and inevitably became two opposing factions in the court, Li Longji wanted to consolidate his position as crown prince, and Princess Taiping was not willing to give up the power to guide the country, and the struggle between the two began and could not be reconciled:
Princess Taiping thought that the prince was young and meant quite easily; even though she was afraid of his heroism, she wanted to choose the weak and weak to establish it for a long time, and the number was a rumor, and the prince of Yun was not long, and he should not be established. ''Self-righteousness, make precepts both inside and outside, in order to rest in the floating discussion.'' Every time the princess looks for the prince,she will smell it, and the prince will often be the eyes and ears of the princess, and the prince will not feel at ease.
For Li Longji, he was fortunate to have the support of his father Li Dan, after Li Dan ascended the throne for the second time, he immediately faced the political struggle between his son Li Longji and his sister Princess Taiping, Li Dan could be called 'Rui' later, he must have been an extremely intelligent person, he could probably also judge the sinister situation, since the Time of Wu Zetian he had seen too many Li clan relatives killed, and the brothers and sisters of a mother were only him and Princess Taiping.
Tang Ruizong refused to reappear as a strong woman, and while jumping out of the circle, he gave Li Longji support in his name
Li Dan did not want to see Li Longji or Princess Taiping fight each other again, or did not want to personally stain the blood of his compatriots and siblings, and at first he had been playing Tai Chi between the two sides, and Princess Taiping asked for a change of prince, and he did not agree:
''Prince please give way to King Chengji of Song; not allowed''
Li Longji's side requested that Princess Taiping be relocated to live outside Chang'an, but he did not agree:
''There are no brothers, but the first sister of Taiping, how can you stay far away in the eastern capital!' Where the kings are''
。
But in the end, why did Li Dan choose his son? From an emotional point of view, he was unwilling to deal with Princess Taiping, and the main target of Princess Taiping was not Li Dan, Princess Taiping asked to replace the prince, although the replacement candidate was still Li Dan's son, but Li Dan, who had experienced the era of Wu Zetian and Wei Hou, could not bear the appearance of another strong woman, even if he knew that Princess Taiping's wish was not to be an emperor, and it was better for men to control power.
Neither the son nor his sister were fuel-saving lamps, and Li Dan retreated decisively, and when the warlocks instructed by Princess Taiping told Li Dan that the crown prince might want to replace you as emperor on the grounds of "comet out of the West", Li Dan, who was thought by Princess Taiping and her henchmen to be attached to the emperor's throne, directly passed the throne to Li Longji, and hid in the harem to become emperor Taishang, Princess Taiping misread Li Dan's desire for power, and the result was self-defeating.
Li Dan's abdication not only chose the son's side in the political dispute between his son and sister, but what is important is that he gave Li Longji the most formal title, all of which are emperors, and the change of prince that Princess Taiping has been asking for will be nameless, and she can ask for a change of prince, but always cannot ask for a change of emperor, then it is not a political dispute, but a rebellion. Although Tang Ruizong's abdication gave Princess Taiping a slap, it was not to give Princess Taiping a chance to give birth, the overall situation has been decided, as long as Princess Taiping is willing to compromise.
Princess Taiping refused to go to the wilderness, Li Longji preemptively moved, and the princess had no resistance
Li Longji ascended the throne, he was a righteous ascendant to the throne, but Princess Taiping still did not compromise and continued to control the court, which of course Li Longji could not stand, under the stalemate between the two sides, the supporters behind him were also constantly agitating and offering advice, wang Ju (a famous minister during the Tang Xuanzong period, because of his participation in the ''innate coup'' and 'special', and was later overthrown by Li Linfu)) came to the door and constantly instilled in Li Longji the truth that Princess Taiping should be killed and attacked first:
Ju Yue: "The Wei Shu people rebel, the people are disobedient, and the ears are easy to hear." Princess Taiping, the son of Empress Wu, was extremely fierce, and the ministers used it a lot, and they were worried about it. The prince sat down with the same bed and wept: "The Lord is in the same breath, but there is peace, and it is fearful of hurting the Lord's intentions, and it is not said that the suffering is deep, so why bother?" "The filial piety of the Son of Heaven is different from that of the Pifu, and it should be done by the Anzong Temple. Lord Gai, the sister of Emperor Zhao of Han, has been provided for since childhood, and is guilty of condemnation. For the sake of the world, do not care about the subsections! ''
Driven and introduced by Wang Ju, Zhang Shuo, Liu Youqiu, Guo Yuanzhen and other famous courtiers who agreed to take a tough attitude toward Princess Taiping successively gathered under Li Longji, at this time Li Longji did not lack people to give advice, nor did he lack fame, the only thing missing was the reason, The Taishang Emperor Li Dan certainly did not want to decide the final victory or defeat with blood, even if the two sides were in the same water and fire, Li Longji could not attack Princess Taiping for no reason, and the history books gave three reasons:
First: Princess Taiping, in accordance with the power of the emperor, uses power without permission, and has a gap with the upper, seven prime ministers, and five out of her door. A minister of culture and martial arts, too half attached.
Second: Conspired with Dou Huaizhen, Cen Xi, Xiao Zhizhong, Cui Xiang and the crown prince Shaobao Xue Ji, Yongzhou Governor Shi Xinxing Wang Jin, Zuo Yulin general Chang Yuankai, Zhi Right Yulin general Li Ci, Zuo Jinwu general Li Qin, Zhongshu Sheren Li You, Right Scattered Rider Chang Shi Jia Zhifu, Hongxu Qing Tang Xi and monk Hui Fan, and conspired with the Gongren Yuan clan to poison the red arrow powder. Jin, grandson of Deliang. Yuan Kai and Ci Shu traveled back and forth to the Lord, and conspired with each other.
Third: In the autumn, in July, Wei Zhigu told the princess that she wanted to rebel on the fourth day of the month, so Yuan Kai and Ci Yi Yulin soldiers burst into the Wude Hall, and Huai Zhen, Zhi Zhong, and Xi Equal raised troops in Nanya to respond.
With a reason, Wang Ju suggested
''Things are urgent, you must not fail to do it quickly! ''
So on the third day of July of the second year of Li Longji's ascension to the throne, he preemptively took action, and on the day before perhaps Princess Taiping was preparing to launch a coup d'état, Li Longji instructed his close subordinate Wang Maozhong to lead 300 forbidden troops to suddenly enter the palace on the pretext of taking the idle horses in the palace, and beheaded four people, including Chang Yuankai, a close confidant of Princess Taiping in the palace and Zhongshu Province, and Li Dan, the emperor of Taishang, who learned that Li Longji had already started to act, could only acquiesce, and the next day moved to the side hall of the palace, completely ignoring idle business.
Princess Taiping, who tried to launch a coup d'état, was almost incapacitated by Li Longji's attack, and her first reaction was to run quickly, Shi Zai:
''Princess Taiping fled into the mountain temple, came out in three days, and died at home''
。 The so-called coup d'état was easily counter-killed by Li Longji, the Taiping Princess henchmen were all killed, only one son Xue Chongjian was given the surname Li because he opposed her and Li Longji's struggle, and Li Longji also made a fortune and copied the money obtained by his family
''Harvested for years''
The coup d'état mainly launched by the Taiping Gong was quite suspicious, and it had long lost its foreshadowing
Princess Taiping, who looked imposing, turned out to be a paper tiger, and only a few of her cronies in the palace were eliminated and could only flee into the wilderness, and this result did not look like the two sides of the evenly matched struggle were in PK. In fact, this coup d'état also has quite suspicious points, if Princess Taiping wants to launch a coup to overthrow Li Longji, the most appropriate time should be when Li Dan just announced the abdication, not after Li Longji had succeeded to the throne for a year and his position and power were stable.
And why did princess Taiping, who was carefully preparing for the coup, fail without blocking a round? She has enough supporters and also has a special princess guard, the cronies in the palace are killed, not tried, Li Longji has no tangible evidence to prove that the Taiping Gong mainly plotted rebellion, at most it was an attempt, even if it is imitated by "Zheng Boke Duan Yu Yan", it also needs the Taiping Princess to act first, but the whole process seems to be the Emperor Li Longji launching, not the main coup d'état of the Taiping Gong.
What is recorded in the history books is that the chancellor Wei Zhigu informed Li Longji that the Taiping Gong mainly launched a coup d'état, and Wei Zhigu was a close subordinate official who followed Li Dan when he was still the King of Xiang, not a person in the camp of the Princess Taiping, but also a person who needed to be strictly guarded against on the side of the Princess Taiping, how did he know that the Taiping Duke mainly carried out a coup d'état? There is no record in the history books. This coup d'état is really not like a coup d'état, but the emperor deliberately killed his courtiers, what is the truth? It has long been submerged in the long river of history.
The death of Princess Taiping in 713 AD was actually the real end of an era, that is, the end of the feminist era that affected the politics of the Tang Dynasty for decades, before and after the three strong women of Wu Zetian, Wei Hou, and Princess Taiping, Li Longji completely closed the door to strong women to intervene in politics after the "Congenital Coup", and a few years before, during the "Tang Long Coup", he also killed three strong women wei hou, Princess Anle, and Shangguan Wan'er, and was regarded as a great hero of the Tang Dynasty's political return to its roots.
As for whether Princess Taiping really wanted to launch a coup d'état to overthrow Li Longji? Or did Li Longji use the name of a coup to eliminate political enemies? None of this matters, history has always been written by the victors, the strong woman Princess Taiping met the promising prince Li Longji, unless Li Dan immediately went to the countryside to enjoy the blessings after Li Dan ascended the throne, otherwise the battle of life and death will come sooner or later. After Princess Taiping, the strong women who appeared in various dynasties were all the kind who had sons as emperors, and the princess's dignity and power fell to the opposition, and Princess Taiping was the last, even if her name could not be determined in the history books, but who dared to say that she was not a Qingshi name?
References: Zizhi Tongjian, Old Book of Tang, New Book of Tang