Neichen was forced by the situation rather than voluntarily abdicated, and the second is to talk about Tang Xuanzong Li Longji.
Glory and shame in one, great and small in one furnace, majesty and weakness mixed together, wisdom and darkness in a lifetime, Tang Xuanzong Li Longji, both the founder of the Kaiyuan prosperous era, but also the initiator of the Anshi Rebellion, he created the great Tang Dynasty, but personally destroyed it.
He is a strange man, has his own wizard, he is the third son of Tang Ruizong, because of his ranking, the palace calls him Li Sanlang and calls himself A Qiao. A Qiao is Cao Cao's diminutive name. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao rose from an unknown person to the side, and finally dominated the Central Plains, no matter in terms of temperament, strategy, means, employment, governance, etc., he was superior to others, and his achievements were brilliant, and he could be called the master of chaos. Tang Xuanzong's self-proclaimed claim of A Qiao was not an accidental coincidence, but reflected that he wanted to emulate Cao Cao and become a generation of heroes. It is obviously impossible to create the same cause under the same name, but the enterprising spirit in it can be carried on in the same vein.
Li Longji's handwritten "Ode to the Wagtail" alone (partial)
The wonder of Tang Xuanzong is that he has become a monarch who looks down on the world from a side branch of the royal family.
The sky was full of haze when San Lang was a teenager, and as the son of Tang Ruizong and the grandson of Wu Zetian, he could only live under terrifying political pressure. Wu Zetian's ruthlessness and domineering made him suffer a lot. When Li Longji was crowned King of Linzi in the year that he was falsely accused and secretly killed in the palace, Li Longji did not even know where his mother's body was buried, and he was also imprisoned in the palace. After Wu Zetian's death, Li Xian succeeded to the throne, but the arrogant Princess Wei and Anle once again became a dark cloud hanging over Li Longji's head. The dirty things of Li Xian's family are known to the imperial court, but Li Longji, who is the king of Linzi, chose to watch coldly, after all, the tragic death of the crown prince Li Chongjun is the end of the bird. Li Longji and his father Li Dan lived cautiously and did not dare to have any slack. Such a life is undoubtedly painful, but there are losses and gains, and living under political pressure for a long time has cultivated Li Longji's decisive and tenacious character, and his political ability is far beyond that of others.
After Wu Zetian's death, Li Xian ascended the throne, but he was weak and incompetent, and Empress Wei and Princess Anle poisoned him to death, preparing to usurp the throne and become the second Wu Zetian. At this time, Li Longji, who had been quietly watching the change, finally took action, and he decided to preemptively launch a coup d'état with Princess Taiping, killing Wei and Princess Anle, and supporting his father Li Dan to ascend the throne, for Tang Ruizong. In fact, Li Long was basically not qualified to become a prince, and at first Li Dan also wanted to make his eldest son Li Chengji a prince, but Li Chengji deferred: "National security is the first to be long, and the country is in danger to meritorious first; King Ping has meritorious service to the country, and he is by no means above King Ping. "He who removes the calamity of the world shall enjoy the blessings of the world; Those who save the world from danger will be at peace with the world. Most of the ministers involved in the coup d'état supported making Li Longji crown prince, and Li Longji became crown prince.
Li Longji's rise to the center of the political stage is the result of his continuous struggle. He obtained the qualification of heir to the throne and became emperor for the merit of destroying the Webster clique; Then the Taiping Princess Group was cut off and the throne was consolidated. He emerged from a bloody court struggle and opened a new page in the history of the Tang Dynasty.
The wonder of Tang Xuanzong is that he created a prosperous era.
At the beginning of his rise to power, he began to be thrifty and abstained from extravagant manpower, worked hard to govern, innovated politics, and threw his whole body and mind into the great cause of promoting the great rule of the world.
He let go of Yao Chong, and used Yao Chong's governing talents and ideas to build a foundation for governing the world. He entrusted all day-to-day government affairs to Yao Chong and helped Yao Chong establish his authority. Yao Chong was a little shrunk at first, and did not dare to make his own decision on the appointment of minor officials such as Lang officials, and came to ask for instructions. He looked up at the top of the temple and did not say a word. After Yao Chong left, he explained to the eunuch Gao Lishi: "If you entrust Yao Chong to deal with the martial arts, the big things should naturally be discussed together, but if you appoint such a trivial matter as the appointment of a lang official, why bother you one by one!" When Colix brought this spirit to Yao Chong, Yao Chong understood his historical mission. He worked hard to correct the malpractice of selling official titles since the previous dynasty, cut redundant officials, and adjusted the organizational structure of the ranks of officials. One of the most powerful measures was the abolition of various unorthodox officials, such as oblique seals, external examinations, and school inspections. In this way, it saves money and reduces financial expenditure; The purity of the bureaucracy was safeguarded, and the normal system of selecting officials was restored; It has changed the bloated and inefficient situation of the institution, and made it possible for government agencies to operate flexibly. Cen Zhongmian commented on this: "If politics does not go on the track, it is already on the track, and if it does, it will be flooded and unusual, and it will not last long." The cover is accidentally broken, which is inevitable in any era, and the general circulation of capital cannot be broken by any era. In other words, breaking the rules in government affairs may sometimes achieve great results, and breaking the rules in ordinary affairs is bound to lead to undesirable consequences. In the feudal era, everyone had to advance through the steps, which was tantamount to rewarding the drill camp, Yao Chong's ten things on Emperor Xuanzong, one of which was to stop the oblique seal, waiting for the que, and other officials, so the early leaves of the new century were ruled because of this. (History of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Zhonghua Bookstore)
In the eyes of Tang Xuanzong, who has a strong people-based ideology, local officials are the union between the imperial court and the people, and the image of local officials and their achievements are related to the people's opposition to the imperial court. Therefore, he attached great importance to the selection and appointment of magistrates. Soon after he ascended the throne, he summoned the county commanders in the Jinghui region, telling them that they must not neglect the support of the people in times of famine. In the fourth year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty (716), when he was told that the selection was full of shady and that most of the county orders he had given were indiscriminate, he used these new county orders to thank him, and suddenly asked about their methods of governing the people. As a result, all but one of them were reassigned to other official posts, forty-five were left back to their hometowns to restudy, and the chief official officials Lu Congxing and Li Chaoyin resigned.
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ruled the world, and there was a blueprint, and this blueprint was Emperor Taizong of Tang's "Reign of Zhenguan". As a result, he vigorously imitated Emperor Taizong of Tang, and among the various imitations, the most prominent was that he humbly consulted. He listened to the criticism of Jia Zeng, the eldest son of the eldest son, and stayed away from the voice; He followed Song Jing's advice and did not appoint officials with private favors; He obeyed the advice of Ni Ruoshui, the assassin of Bianzhou, and stopped catching rare birds in Jiangnan; He obeyed the advice of Ruzhou Shi Weizhong, and no longer violated the etiquette system to build a tomb for his biological mother Dou Defei; He heeded Ichikayi's advice and lowered the ritual specifications for his daughter's marriage. And so on and so forth. It keeps him clear-headed and demands himself by the standards of a wise king. As a result, history said: "The wind of virginity has been revived."
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was well versed in the way of courtiers, and he constantly adjusted the personnel arrangements of the center at different historical stages according to different historical tasks. Yao Chong and Lu Huaishen created the framework of Dazhi for him; Song Jing and Su Po promoted the process of great rule for him; Zhang Jiazhen and Yuan Qianyao maintained the pattern of Dazhi for him; Zhang said that Yuan Qianyao added the content of Dazhi to him; Li Yuanxiao and Du Xian supported the façade of Dazhi for him; Xiao Song and Yuwen Rong wrote a new chapter of Dazhi for him; Pei Guangting and Zhang Jiuling injected the vitality of Dazhi into him. In the twenty-odd years before the beginning of the new century, the political program could not be said to be perfect, the government could not be said to be flawless, and the prime minister could not be said to be holy and virtuous; but generally speaking, construction was greater than destruction, achievements were greater than shortcomings, and rise was greater than falling. Thus, great construction, great achievements, and great ascension constitute great governance, an unprecedented great rule, a great rule of golden years, and a great rule that will forever go down in the annals of history. Dazhi was in the Kaiyuan period, so it was called "Kaiyuan Rule". The "rule of Kaiyuan" has more of the nature of a great rule than the "rule of zhenguan". Tang Xuanzong, who won the "rule of the new century", ranked among the great monarchs.
The wonder of Tang Xuanzong is that he changed from a Ming Jun to a Dimming Jun.
"There is no beginning, there is no end", this is the most authentic ancient admonition to describe the monarch with a tiger and a tail, with a beginning and no end. It is most appropriate to apply this ancient admonition to Tang Xuanzong's body.
During the New Year period, although Li Longji used his excellent political skills to strive for governance, compared with Li Shimin, who was diligent in counseling, he already had a lot of "arrogance" lurking, and he was often unhappy with the rebellion of his subordinates, and often degraded his virtuous courtiers. Compared with Tang Taizong, who often warned himself with "guarding the difficulties and being cautious as always", learned the lessons of Sui's death, and advocated that "a king is like a boat, the people are like water, and water can carry a boat and can overturn a boat", political ethics is really inferior. Or it can be said that his front and back are faint, or inevitable.
The reason for this change from Ming to faintness was that Tang Xuanzong felt a great physical and mental exhaustion after a long period of hard work on governance, and in addition to exhaustion, he became indescribably bored with the never-ending political affairs. In addition, the great success of the "Reign of the Kaiyuan" and the scene of Guotai and Min'an also intoxicated him, and with the support of the Taoist concept of quiet and inaction, he believed that he had enough reasons to hide in the deep palace to completely relax and enjoy the joys of life. However, someone still had to be in charge of government affairs, so he handed over this important post that he had previously shouldered himself to the prime minister.
There were two prime ministers at the time, one was Zhang Jiuling, who had a strong Confucian concept, this person was a direct minister who did not know how to turn, no matter what he did not see well, he had to advise, and kept counseling, which made Tang Xuanzong very annoying; One is Li Linfu, who has the concept of legalism, this person is good at handling all kinds of complex political affairs, and also has the ability to make hundreds of officials obey orders, and he does things, which is very reassuring to Tang Xuanzong. Shi Zhang Jiuling and Li Linfu often fought because of their different political views and different sects, fighting openly and secretly. In the end, Tang Xuanzong kicked Zhang Jiuling away out of his own needs and entrusted all political affairs to Li Linfu.
After Li Linfu took power alone, in order to enable Tang Xuanzong to sit back and relax in the deep palace, and also to completely control the imperial government, he first blocked the way of speech.
He summoned all the counselors to give a lecture and said, "Now that the Lord is on top, the ministers are afraid that it will be too late to obey, how can there be too many words!" Do the princes see the guard of honor? I ate three pints, but I was repelled after a slightest sound, and it is useless to regret it!"
The counsellors were calmed down and did not dare to speak up. Only one disobeyed, but was immediately demoted. Since then, Li Linfu has been able to do whatever he wants, and Tang Xuanzong, who hid in the deep palace, could no longer hear the sound outside.
In order to maintain his own independent political authority, Li Linfu put forward the idea of using ethnic minority people as wing generals under the pretext of preventing local military governors from entering the center of the people. Because of Li Linfu's statement, it was immediately accepted by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. After the implementation of this plan, An Lushan, who was appointed as the envoy of Fan Yang Jiedu, took advantage of the preferential treatment policy given by the central government to quickly expand the power of his group and raise a Hu-Han mixed force with strong combat capabilities.
In the political situation controlled by Li Linnan, talent has been excluded, dissent has been excluded, and harsh criminal laws have replaced Qingming politics. Although the scene of elevation brought by the Great Rule still shrouded the entire empire, its quality has changed, and the pomp and circumstance remains, but it has deteriorated. Towards the world.
When Emperor Xuanzong of Tang turned from Ming to dusk, it was the stage when the Great Tang Empire turned from prosperity to decline.
Behind Li Linfu, the one who controlled the imperial government was the uncle Yang Guozhong. Relying on Yang Guifei's nepotism, he became the prime minister on a steady footing. He was a scoundrel in the market, did not learn or skill, had no shame or scruples at all, and once he gained power, he commanded hundreds of officials and unabashedly engaged in malpractice. He is insatiable and keeps up a mountain of money, and whoever does not bribe him cannot do anything.
Due to political corruption, the local officials of the Tang court faction in Yunnan had serious conflicts with Nanzhao. In order to resist oppression, Nanzhao contacted Tubo and defeated the Yunnan officials and troops one by one. Yang Guozhong, who did not understand military affairs at all, miscalculated the comparison of the strength of the two sides, and sent two large armies to conquest and suppress, but both of them incurred a crushing defeat that almost the entire army was destroyed. After this war, the Tang Dynasty suffered greatly from its vitality and lost its former strong position in foreign affairs.
An Lushan, who had a heavy army, was very able to please Tang Xuanzong, and thus became the number one favored minister in the world. Yang Guozhong competed with An Lushan for favor, and the two sides were at odds with each other. Yang Guozhong repeatedly said that An Lushan wanted to rebel, An Lushan was cornered, and saw that the Tang Dynasty was empty, so he pulled up the anti-flag. His troops were invincible and took Luoyang and Chang'an one after another.
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang fled to Bashu, and he fled all the way, losing all the way, first losing his beloved Yang Guifei, then losing the throne and fleeing to Chengdu, leaving only a hat of Emperor Taishang, who was better than nothing.
From the great prosperous era to the great defeat, Tang Xuanzong fell from the peak into the abyss.
An Anshi Rebellion, which could not be recovered, nailed Tang Xuanzong to the pillar of shame of the comatose monarch.
After that, Tang Xuanzong's era had passed, and after the Anshi Rebellion ended, he lived in Xingqing Palace and did not ask about political affairs. At first, Li Longji's life in Xingqing Palace was leisurely, and he was surrounded by the loyal Gao Lux and Chen Xuanli, as well as his own sister Princess Yuzhen and the old palace maids. However, the eunuch Li Fuguo was at odds with Gao Lishi and others, and he said to Emperor Suzong of Tang: "Go to the imperial residence Xingqing Palace, communicate with outsiders in Japan, Chen Xuanli Gao Lux is not conducive to His Majesty." Today, the officers and men of the Sixth Army are all uneasy, and the ministers are incomprehensible, and they dare not ignore it. Soon after, Li Fuguo surrounded Emperor Xuanzong of Tang with hundreds of swordsmen and axemen, but thanks to Colix, Li Longji moved safely to the Ganlu Hall. However, the absurd Li Fuguo, who committed pretentious acts, was not punished by Tang Suzong, but Gao Lishi, Chen Xuanli and others were exiled, Princess Yuzhen was forced to move out, and only Tang Xuanzong and hundreds of eunuchs personally selected by Emperor Suzong were left in the Ganlu Hall.
In the first year of Baoying (762), Li Longji died at the age of 78. This emperor who was killed from the sea of blood, this Ming Jun who created the beginning of the prosperous era, this initiator of the Anshi Rebellion, finally completed his life. Someone once said that if Li Longji did not live long, he must be a famous Ming monarch in history, but unfortunately history has no if, Li Longji did not die early, he witnessed the Anshi Rebellion, witnessed the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline, and he personally destroyed the prosperous era that he created with difficulty.
Say a few more words. Some people attribute the cause of the Anshi Rebellion to women, if Li Longji did not favor Yang Yuhuan, would he have avoided the Anshi Rebellion? The answer is no. Because there is no Yang Yuhuan, there may be Wang Yuhuan, Li Yuhuan, Zhang Yuhuan, Liu Yuhuan... An Lushan does not jump out, may be dangerous Lushan, Quanlushan will jump out, key figures in key positions often determine or affect the direction of history, the responsibility for the decline or demise of the empire, should not be held by women.
Yang Yuhuan statue