In the Tang Dynasty, because the emperor's surname was Li, they recognized LaoZi as their ancestor. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Daoist priests such as Qihui and Wang Yuanzhi also strongly supported Li Yuan's father and son, especially Wang Yuanzhi, who assisted Li Shimin as empress dowager, and did not seek to be knighted, which made Li Shimin very respectful. Under the combination of these two situations, the status of Taoism in the Li Tang Dynasty can be imagined to be too high.
However, there was another reason why the Emperors of the Tang Dynasty revered The Taoists, that is, for the elixir of immortality. From Li Yuan and Li Shimin in the early Tang Dynasty to Li Tang and Li Chen in the late Tang Dynasty, their deaths were directly or indirectly related to Dan Yao. In fact, of the 24 emperors of the Tang Dynasty, 8 emperors died because of Dan Yao, accounting for one-third.
Which 8 emperors are they? Let's talk about the 5 emperors who died directly because of taking dan medicine.
The first: Tang Xianzong Li Chun
Li Chun was born in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, when the domain rose, and after he became emperor, he devoted himself to cutting the domain, and the results achieved were not bad. In addition, he worked hard to make the Tang Dynasty revive its vitality again, and the history is called "Yuan and Zhongxing". However, in the later period, he began to faint, and he pursued immortality even more.
In 819, after Li Chun took the dan medicine offered by the alchemist, Pei Phosphorus wrote to him: the medicine of the golden stone is originally fierce, and it is made of fire, and its poison is even worse. Fang Shi refined the Dan medicine, you can let them try to eat it for a year first, to see the effect, ah, why come up and test yourself?
Li Chun did not listen, but was furious and looked for an opportunity to demote Pei Phosphorus to a county order. Then he was told by Pei Phosphorus, after taking the Dan medicine, his temperament changed greatly, he was often angry, and he was angry with people, and finally he killed himself at the age of 43. (Gengzi, Emperor Collapse in zhonghe hall)
The second: Tang Muzong Li Heng
Li Heng is Li Chun's son, and it is reasonable to say that when his father died, he should remember a little longer, but he not only did not learn a lesson, but instead followed his father. After he fell ill, he did not listen to the doctor but believed in the alchemist's golden stone medicine. At that time, Zhang Gao was very worried and wrote to dissuade him, but Li Heng did not listen at all, and as a result, he also died because of taking Dan medicine, and he was only 30 years old when he died.
The 3rd: Tang Jingzong Li Zhan
Li Zhan was the son of Li Heng. This buddy is very interesting to say, do not love money, do not love power, do not love beauty and do not love Jiangshan, is to love to fight foxes at night. There were eunuchs in the harem who put green hats on him and he didn't care, and he thought of shooting the little fox with arrows.
In addition to shooting and hunting, he likes to take Dan medicine like his father and grandfather. I was delirious and didn't stop. Once, when he came back from hunting in the evening and took Dan Yao, he drank wine with the eunuch, and after Dan Yao took it, his body was hot, and his body was even hotter after drinking, so he went to change his clothes. Su Zuoming and other eunuchs originally wanted to rebel, so they blew out the lights and killed Li Zhan while it was dark.
The 4th: Tang Wuzong Li Yan
Li Yan was the younger brother of Li Zhan, and during his reign, he attacked the fanzhen and the campaign to destroy Buddhism internally, defeated the Uighurs externally, and strengthened the centralization of power, and the Tang Dynasty once again showed a prosperous situation, known in history as "Huichang Zhongxing".
However, the genes of the old Li family are really strong, and he knows that his father, grandfather, brother and other people have all died because of the elixir, and he still wants to eat it. After eating once, he could not speak for ten days, and then he died, at the age of 33.
The 5th: Tang Xuanzong Li Chen
The most regrettable thing is Li Chen. He became emperor at the age of 36, quite in the style of Li Shimin, not only rectifying the administration of officials, cracking down on eunuchs, rehabilitating the wronged, but also defeating Tubo, recovering Hehuang, stabilizing the north of Saibei and pacifying Annan, and also achieving great achievements in military affairs. In short, Li Chen was like the second Li Shimin, so until the fall of the Tang Dynasty, there were still people who missed him and called him "Little Taizong".
Later, he was so ill that he actually took the elixir and died of poisoning.
In addition to these five, Tang Taizong Li Shimin (who died after taking the indian alchemist's longevity medicine), Tang Xuanzong Li Longji and Tang Yizong Li Yizong also have information that they died directly or indirectly because of the elixir.