The "Anshi Rebellion" that broke out in the later years of Tang Xuanzong directly became a turning point in the Tang Dynasty's transition from prosperity to decline, and it was difficult to see the peak of the former dynasty of all nations. However, even with the decline of national strength and the Tang Dynasty, which experienced great turmoil, it still has tenacious vitality and continues to exist for more than one hundred and fifty years. This situation arose, relying on the many Ming Emperors who appeared in the late Tang Dynasty, and there was a person who had a very great merit in this, he was the eighth emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yu of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Yu was born at the height of the "Kaiyuan Dynasty", he was the eldest son of Li Heng of Tang Suzong, and as the grandson of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, he had a special position among more than a hundred brothers. Because of his eagerness to learn, he was deeply loved by Tang Xuanzong from an early age. From birth to his youth, li Yu has been living a life of pampering and pampering, however, this did not allow him to indulge in pleasure, but grew into a knowledgeable prince.
When the "Anshi Rebellion" broke out, Li Yu was 28 years old. He and his younger brother Li Kui (李倓), the Prince of Jianning, strongly advocated that his father Li Heng go to Lingwu instead of following Emperor Xuanzong of Tang into Shu. As a result, Li Heng went north, mastered the Shuofang army with extremely strong combat strength, and finally quelled the chaos in one fell swoop, established his prestige with this feat, and successfully ascended the throne as emperor, making the faint tang Xuanzong become the emperor. In the process of his father's ascension to the throne, Li Yu's support can be said to be indispensable. However, it was precisely because he played an important role and showed his talents on the road to Li Heng's ascension to the throne that Li Yu almost led to the disaster of killing himself.
After Li Heng ascended the throne, the favored concubine Zhang Liangti became empress. Many of the concubines of the Tang Dynasty were not fuel-saving lamps, and Zhang Liangti was also such a person, after becoming empress, he and the eunuch Li Fuguo fell in cahoots with each other, and the power fell to the opposition. Li Yu, the King of Guangping, and Li Qian, the King of Jianning, because of their talent, became a thorn in the eyes of Zhang Liangti and others. In the end, Li Qian, the king of Jianning, was killed by Zhang Liangti because of his fierceness. At the moment of crisis, Li Yu was meticulous and careful everywhere, so that he was not caught, and at the age of 31, he was also crowned as the crown prince.
A year later, Li Heng died, and the 32-year-old Li Yu foiled Zhang Liangti's plot and successfully ascended the throne. However, Li Yu, who had not easily become emperor, did not sit on the throne steadily, and the eunuch Li Fuguo, with the merit of support, restrained him everywhere. Li Yu once again gave full play to his advantage of being good at concealment, honoring Li Fuguo as "Shang Father" and stabilizing him. In private, Li Yu took advantage of Li Fuguo's conflict with another eunuch, Cheng Yuanzhen, to elevate his power and eventually sent someone to assassinate Li Fuguo.
After Li Fuguo's death, Cheng Yuanzhen became another stumbling block for Li Yu. Later, taking advantage of the Tubo army's capture of Chang'an and Cheng Yuanzhen's deployment to collapse, Li Yu successfully killed this eunuch. After a series of struggles after taking the throne, Li Yu finally sat firmly on the throne, and the decisiveness and forbearance he showed in the process made people see the shadow of Tang Xuanzong's youth. And Li Yu, who held real power, began his own path of mingjun.
During his reign, in addition to killing and exiled many eunuchs, Li Yu also reused the famous general Guo Ziyi to repel Tubo, after which he put down the rebellion of the rebel general GuGu Huai'en and stabilized the situation in the Tang Dynasty. In terms of political measures, Li Yu was very pragmatic, he appointed Yang Xuan as his prime minister, reformed the transportation of water, salt prices and grain prices, devoted himself to the development of production, so that the Tang Dynasty, which had experienced many years of war and chaos, was rejuvenated, it can be said that the Tang Dynasty was able to rule again for more than a century after the Anshi Rebellion, and Li Yu was a very key figure in it. Ouyang Xiu commented on Li Yu as "calming the chaos and keeping the success, and the lord of gai is also the master of the medium material!" "It's very appropriate.
Unfortunately, when Li Yu was 52 years old, he died of illness and reigned for only 17 years, and many political measures have not yet had time to be completely implemented. This emperor can be said to be one of the most underrated emperors in the history of the Tang Dynasty, and the later Tang Wuzong and Tang Xianzong were both more famous than him, but in terms of governing ability, these two were not more intelligent than Li Yu. In any case, Li Yu laid the foundation for the Tang Dynasty to stabilize again, so that his descendants could repair the Tang Dynasty and persist for more than 140 years before finally perishing.