Lee Long-ki
First, the birth is ordinary
On the fifth day of the first month of August in 685, Li Longji was born.
His father was Li Dan, the son of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian.
His mother was Li Dan's concubine Dou Shi.
Li Dan
Li Longji was Li Dan's third son, and he was also a Shu chu.
History records that he was intelligent, versatile, good-looking, heroic and courageous from an early age.
Second, my family's pilgrimage
When Li Longji was seven years old, he entered the palace with a team of well-armored guards to meet his grandmother Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian
Guarding the palace gate was the Great General of the Right Jin Wu Wei, Wu Yizong, who was The Nephew of Wu Zetian.
Emperor Wuyizong loudly rebuked Li Longji and ordered the forbidden army to disperse Li Longji's bodyguards.
Just when the guards were overwhelmed, Li Longji jumped out of his horse, took the horse whip and scolded At Wu Yizong, "My family's court, what is the matter with you?" How dare you disperse my guards? ”
Wu Yizong did not expect that the young Li Longji would be so domineering, and he was stunned in the same place, allowing Li Longji to enter the palace with his bodyguards.
Wu Yizong
Wu Zetian learned of this and was surprised by Li Longji's extraordinary courage, and not only did not blame him, but on the contrary, he became more and more fond of him.
Third, there are soldiers in the hands
When Li Longji was nine years old, his birth mother Dou Shi was framed, and Wu Zetian ordered people to remove him, and even the bones were not found after death.
A prince's concubine disappeared silently, which made Li Longji experience the horror and cruelty of power prematurely, and also made his character more calm and resolute.
Lee Long-ki
As Li Longji grew up, the political situation in Datang became more and more turbulent.
At the age of twenty-one, his grandmother Wu Zetian was ousted from power, and the Wuzhou Dynasty vanished overnight.
At the age of twenty-six, his uncle Li Xian, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, was poisoned by his wife Empress Wei and daughter Princess Anle.
Li Tang's world fell into the hands of Empress Wei's party.
Wu Zetian
Li Xian
A series of deaths and blood made Li Longji understand that if he wanted to win in the imperial court, a gladiatorial arena where he was deceitful and you were dead, he must have soldiers in his hands and be ready to launch a mutiny at all times.
4. Ten Thousand Horsemen Battalion
The Ten Thousand Horsemen Battalion, the Emperor's Guard Unit, was responsible for the Emperor's security.
Wang Maozhong is Li Longji's personal bodyguard.
Wang Maozhong
Before becoming Li Longji's personal bodyguard, he served in the Ten Thousand Horsemen Battalion and had close relations with many generals of the Ten Thousand HorseMen Battalion.
Li Longji gave Wang Maozhong a large amount of gold and silver jewelry and asked him to bribe the generals of the Wanqi battalion.
Chen Xuanli, Ge Fushun, Li Xianjian and other generals of the Wanqi Battalion were bribed one after another, but Li Longji's orders were obeyed.
Chen Xuanli
5. Zhong Shaojing
Zhong Shaojing, originally a small official, was promoted by Wu Zetian because of his good writing, entered Zhongshu Province, and became Wu Zetian's secretary.
With Wu Zetian ousted from power, Zhong Shaojing was demoted to the post of head of the back garden of the palace
Zhong Shaojing, who is nearly sixty years old, has always missed the glory of Wu Zetian's reign.
Zhong Shaojing calligraphy
Li Longji took the initiative to recruit Zhong Shaojing.
Because you can enter the palace through the back garden of the palace.
All the solicitations, all the preparations, were all about launching a mutiny.
Once the situation changed, Li Longji could transform into a sharp arrow and shoot at the heart of the Empire with a roar.
Lee Long-ki
6. Empress Wei
After Empress Wei and Princess Anle joined forces to poison Emperor Zhongzong of Tang and kill Li Xian, Empress Wei had the urge to become the second Wu Zetian.
Li Dan and Princess Taiping, who represented the power of Li Tang's clan, became the objects that she had to eradicate when she ascended the throne and became emperor.
Li Dan
Princess Taiping
As a result, Empress Wei, Princess Anle, the chancellor Wei Wen, Zhongshu Lingzong Chuke, and the military attendant Cui Riyong conspired to kill Li Dan and Princess Taiping.
7. Cui Riyi
Late one night, a monk named Purun knocked on the door of Li Longji's house.
Purun
Li Longji summoned Purun.
After some greetings, Purun informed Li Longji of the conspiracy of Empress Wei and Princess Anle.
Li Longji stared at Purun's eyes and asked word by word, "How did you know?" ”
Cui Riyi
Purun said: "The soldier attendant Cui Ri used Cui To say that Empress Wei and the prime minister's approach was unpopular, and it was expected that the conspiracy would not succeed, so Lord Cui did not want to give them a funeral, so he asked me to come and inform them." ”
After Li Longji was silent for a moment, he said, "Please tell Lord Cui that his words have been remembered by the king." ”
Lee Long-ki
VIII. Princess Taiping
Soon, Li Longji came to Princess Taiping's mansion and informed her of the plot of Empress Wei and Princess Anle.
For Li Longji's visit, Princess Taiping was very surprised.
Princess Taiping
In her opinion, the person who visited her palace should be Li Dan, the prince of Xiang, or Li Dan's eldest son Li Chengji, and should never be Li Longji, the third son of Li Danshu.
However, Li Longji's maturity and steadiness, courage and boldness made her eyes shine.
This heroic nephew, Li Longji, is indeed much better than Li Dan and Li Chengqi.
There is a charm in his body, which is convincing, and people can rest assured that they can join forces with him to conspire with him.
Lee Long-ki
Princess Taiping decided to join forces with Li Longji to launch a mutiny, destroy Empress Wei and Princess Anle, and defend Li Tang's world.
9. Eliminate evil and do everything possible
On the night of June 20, 710 AD, Li Longji led the Ten Thousand Horsemen Battalion through the back garden of the palace and entered the palace.
They first killed Empress Wei's brother Wei Xuan, nephew Wei Bo, and nephew Gao Song, controlling the forbidden army, and then led an army to kill Empress Wei and Princess Anle.
Empress Wei
Princess Anle
Liu Youqiu, a close confidant, thought that the matter had been decided, so he asked Li Longji: "Do you open the palace door and support King Xiang to ascend the throne as emperor tonight?" ”
Li Longji looked at Liu Youqiu with great dissatisfaction and said slowly, "Eliminate evil and do everything!" ”
Liu Youqiu's heart was full of the joy of successful mutiny and completion, while Li Longji was surprisingly calm, and his heart was worried that hidden dangers had not been eliminated.
Liu Youqiu
So the killings continued, from the early hours of the morning until dawn.
In the palace, all the palace people associated with Empress Wei and Princess Anle were killed.
10. Utterly destroy it
At dawn on June 21, when the bright red morning glow painted the sky, Li Longji stepped on the blood and corpses everywhere and opened the palace door to greet his father.
When Li Dan saw Li Longji, he immediately embraced him with tears in his eyes and choked up: "Saving the Tang Dynasty Jizong Temple from the place of peril is all your credit!" ”
Lee Long-ki
At the same time, the Ten Thousand Horsemen Battalion left the palace and the soldiers split into two ways.
Along the way, he killed the officials who were attached to Empress Wei.
Kill Empress Wei's family all the way.
The chancellor Wei Wen, Zhongshu LingZong Chuke, Shi Zhongji Chu Ne, and Si Nongqing Zhao Luwen were successively killed.
The Wei clan south of Chang'an City was slaughtered, and even the infants were not spared.
The Du clan and the Wei clan lived next to each other, and were also implicated and killed.
Ten Thousand Horse Battalion
The killing lasted for a day and a night, and Empress Wei's party was completely destroyed.
11. Brazenness
At dawn the next day, the imperial court issued an edict granting amnesty to the world, declaring that "only the head of the evil is condemned, and the rest of the party does not ask."
Edict
After this mutiny, the people of Datang heard Li Longji's name for the first time.
While the Tang officials were surprised by Li Longji's fierceness and determination, they were even more shocked by Li Longji's brazenness.
Obviously, empress Wei's party was killed, and she also issued an edict stating that the world "only condemns the evil head, and the rest of the party does not ask" to show benevolence and righteousness.
This is a fierce and thick-skinned character!
Lee Long-ki
12. The Prince of The Council
In the early morning of June 24, Li Dan, the King of Xiang, ascended the throne at the Taiji Hall, and Li Dan was Tang Ruizong.
Tang Ruizong Li Dan
After the courtiers made a pilgrimage, they agreed to appoint a crown prince.
Li Dan's eldest son, Li Chengqi, was undoubtedly the best candidate for the crown prince.
However, to the surprise of the Wenwu Hundred Officials, Li Chengqi actually knelt down and kept prostrating his head to Tang Ruizong Li Dan in tears, while saying loudly: "Chen Ning would not dare to live above Li Longji when he dies!" ”
Li Chengqi
All the civil and military officials were stunned.
Obviously, he was the prince of the Tang Dynasty, what a glorious thing, how could he scare Li Chengqi into such a way? Resolute enough to force death?
13. What everyone expects
And when they knew something else, all of them fell silent.
Li Dan also did not want to become emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
Last night, it was Li Longji who tried to persuade Li Danfang to agree to become emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
Lee Long-ki
A prince who can force the emperor's father and the eldest brother of the crown prince to this step, throughout the history of the Tang Dynasty, in addition to Li Longji, there is only the Tang Taizong Li Shimin, who has been the emperor of the ages and created the rule of Zhenguan.
On June 27, Li Longji, who was highly regarded by all, was officially made crown prince.
Tang Taizong Li Shimin
Since then, a prince who has been out of the country has pushed his father to the emperor's throne through a mutiny, completing his goal of becoming a prince.
Resources:
Zizhi Tongjian
Old Book of Tang. Xuanzong Benji
New Book of Tang. Biography of Wang Maozhong
Old Book of Tang. The Biography of princess Taiping