The surname is composed of multiple characters of the compound surname historical figures, most of whom are ethnic minorities, such as: Tuoba, Wei Chi, Wan Qian and so on. Of course, the surname of the eldest grandson is no exception. However, during the Sui and Tang dynasties, when the ethnic policy was relatively open, the common people would not be estranged because of ethnic groups, and the imperial court would not be prejudiced against ethnic minorities. Therefore, the eldest grandson family had the opportunity to be active in the political arena of the Sui and Tang dynasties.
The surname of Changsun is a multi-ethnic, multi-source compound surname group in China, and the origin of the surname of Changsun has two theories: first, the surname of Changsun comes from Sha Moxiong, the eldest son of Tuoba Jue, the royal family of northern Wei, and after Tuoba Jue established the title of emperor of Northern Wei, Sha Moxiong gave his son Song the surname of Changsun, so Tuoba Song was the ancestor of the surname; second, before the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were long-lived grandson Shun, and most of them respected Changsun Shun as the ancestor of the surname.
Here, since the surname of the eldest grandson is mentioned, the eldest grandson Wuji is one of the characters that must be mentioned.
In addition to friends who like history, many modern people's understanding of the eldest son Wujie mostly stays at the level of "the first meritorious hero of LingYange", and few people know why Wen is not as good as Du Ruyi, and the eldest grandson Wujie of Wu is not as good as Wei Chi Jingde will be above the other twenty-three heroes. If you want to understand why Changsun Wuji became the first hero of the Tang Dynasty and became the eminent Zhao Guogong, you must start from the Xuanwumen Incident.
At that time, the contradictions between the Li brothers could not be repeated, and there was a possibility of eruption at any time. In order to balance the crown prince Li Jiancheng and his fourth brother Li Yuanji, Li Shimin planned to be strong first and usurp the throne. Of course, with Li Shimin's strength alone, it was certainly impossible to achieve things, so Li Shimin began to select assistants. Although Li Shimin has recruited talents over the years and has countless talents under his command, after all, launching a palace change is a major matter of life and death, and it is absolutely impossible to leak the wind.
Therefore, Li Shimin was extra careful in selecting helpers, and only selected a few of the most trusted cronies, and the eldest son Wuji was one of them.
Eldest Sun Wuji and Li Shimin were friends with Bu Yi, and were the first ministers to enter the Tiance Mansion to help Li Shimin fight the world, so he became the main planner of the Xuanwumen Mutiny.
On that bloody morning, Li Shimin sent people to guard the Xuanwu Gate, killed Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji on the way to the upper court, and took control of the Forbidden Palace, forcing his father to pass the throne to himself and sit on the dragon chair if he was willing. In helping Li Yuan unify Jiangshan, the eldest son Wuji was not the most meritorious under Li Shimin, but because he helped Li Shimin ascend to the throne, he became a veritable founding father.
The strength of the eldest grandson is that he is good at observing words and colors, and his style of acting is very smooth. In addition, the eldest grandson Wuji had a sincere loyalty to Li Shimin and had never had two hearts in many years of conquest.
Therefore, the eldest grandson was greatly appreciated by Li Shimin.
Moreover, the eldest grandson Wuji's younger sister was also made empress by Li Shimin. In the New Book of Tang, there is such a record: Tang Taizong once commented that The eldest son Wujie "responded to the agility, avoided suspicion, and sought from the ancients, and there was no comparison", so it can be seen that the strength of the eldest son Wuji lies in the knowledge of current affairs and knows how to make trade-offs, so he can walk idly on the cusp of the political field.
So, how much does Li Shimin trust his eldest grandson? The eldest grandson wujie could freely enter and leave Tang Taizong's palace without notice. It can be seen from this that Li Shimin is unguarded against the eldest grandson, and even the eldest grandson who has not considered the power will be unfavorable to himself.
However, the eldest grandson Wuji saw this trust very thoroughly, and he had drawn a line in his heart and never had the slightest trespass. The eldest grandson understood that his position was quite dangerous. He was already an extremely popular courtier, and he had the nepotism of the eldest grandson empress, and he had already violated the taboo of foreign relatives involved in politics.
Even, in order not to make Li Shimin jealous of himself, the eldest grandson took the initiative to ask for demotion and let Li Shimin put his heart into his stomach. Throughout the ages, how many ministers with high merit have been dissimilar because they were jealous of the emperor? The eldest grandson knew his reasoning well, so no matter how much his sister persuaded him and how Li Shimin kept him, he still insisted on asking for a demotion.
In the following twenty years, the eldest grandson was as loyal as ever, and took on the heavy responsibility of educating the prince.
However, although the eldest son Wuji was loyal to Li Shimin, he also had his own selfish intentions. On the issue of the crown prince, the eldest grandson did not hesitate to be late and took the initiative to intervene in the selection process of the crown prince.
Li Shimin had eight sons, of whom the crown prince, the king of Wei, and the king of Jin were all born to empress dowager. However, all three princes lacked the potential to become emperors. The crown prince Li Chengqian was content with pleasure, immersed in sounds and horses, and had no enterprising spirit; Li Tai, the king of Wei, was ambitious and had a vicious heart; Li Zhi, the king of Jin, had a cowardly personality and lacked assertiveness.
Later, the King of Wei competed with the crown prince for the position of crown prince, and the crown prince Li Chengqian was demoted to a commoner after his defeat. Li Shimin wanted to make Li Tai the crown prince, but the eldest grandson Wuji stood up and expressed a different opinion. Because the King of Wei was too ambitious, if he inherited the unification, it would inevitably be unfavorable to these old ministers, so the eldest son Wuji planned to make the King of Jin, who had no opinion, as the crown prince.
Even, in order to achieve his goal, the eldest son Wuji persuaded a group of old ministers to help, and everyone came to Li Shimin to say bad things about the King of Wei. The words of the eldest grandson were quite weighty, and Li Shimin respected the ideas of the old courtiers. However, there was another reason why Li Shimin would make Li Zhi the crown prince of the Eastern Palace: at this time, the power of the eldest son Wuji was too great, most of the old ministers were standing behind him, and Li Shimin was worried that if he made the prince who was not born to the empress as the crown prince, he would make the eldest son Wuji make a rebellion and the like.
After all, people's hearts are separated from their stomachs, and no matter how loyal the eldest grandson is, he will inevitably make mistakes on this issue.
From an objective point of view, in fact, among Li Shimin's sons, there are many princes who are more suitable for being emperors than Li Zhi, and Li Ke, the King of Wu, is one of them. Li Ke inherited all the advantages of his father, both literary and martial, and had a high support rate among the people. Compared with the cowardly Li Zhi, Li Ke is more suitable to become a superior. In the early years, Changsun Wuji also praised Li Ke: "Ke also has literary and martial talents, and his reputation is high", which shows that Li Ke's ability is recognized by the public.
However, judging from the record in the Old Book of Tang that "the eldest son Wujie not only assisted Emperor Gaozong, but was deeply jealous", at this time, the eldest son Wuji was no longer the loyal vassal who was bent on justice, but became a treacherous villain who protected his nephew. In order to clear the way to the throne for his nephew, the eldest grandson did everything he could. In the process of overthrowing Li Ke, the eldest son Wu Ji threw dirty water on Li Ke and killed the highly respected prince. In this way, all the civil and military officials have seen the trend, and Li Zhi's ascension to the throne has become a foregone conclusion.
Li Ke's words before his death were very intriguing: "The eldest grandson is unscrupulous in stealing authority and framing the good, and the ancestors have spirits, and they will let their clans perish." Indeed, a loyal old courtier actually took a crooked road in his later years and forced the good prince Li Ke to die. However, Li Ke's words before his death did foreshadow the sad end of the eldest grandson.
It can be said that these practices of the eldest grandson are really chilling.
Twenty-three years after Zhenguan, when Emperor Taizong of Tang died and Li Shimin was dying, he hoped that the eldest son Wuji would do his best to assist Li Zhi and appoint him as a minister of gu orders. The eldest grandson did as he wished, and successfully supported his nephew to ascend to the throne. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, the eldest son Wuji did not announce Li Shimin's death at the first time, but took Li Zhi back to the palace to preside over the overall situation, and made preparations for his nephew to ascend the throne.
The eldest grandson did everything he could to help Li Zhi sit in the dragon chair, but he didn't expect that his hot face was pasted with a cold ass. The eldest grandson thought that his behavior would be appreciated and respected by his nephew, but Li Zhi had his own ideas. Li Zhi was young and wanted to show his grand plans in the political arena, but the eldest son Wuji and other old ministers were undoubtedly the shackles of his father to restrain himself.
At this time, once a group of old ministers led by eldest sun Wuji raised objections in the court, Li Zhi would think that these old guys were relying on the old and selling the old, and in his heart, instead of being half grateful to them, he wanted to get rid of these old ministers as soon as possible.
When this matter was deposed by Empress Wang, the contradictions between the two sides finally intensified.
Li Zhi resolutely demanded that Empress Wang be deposed and replaced by Wu Meiniang, but the eldest son Wuji and other old ministers vigorously obstructed her in the court. Li Zhi gave the eldest son Wuji one last chance, and he took Wu Meiniang to visit his uncle in the Gonggong Mansion in person, hoping that the eldest son Wujie could compromise. However, the eldest grandson Wuji still posed as a dead pig who was not afraid of boiling water, and did not agree to Li Zhi's abolition of the empress.
At this time, the clear-eyed people in the dprk saw that Li Zhi had become intolerable.
When Li Zhi asked the old minister Li Ji for the opinion of deposing the empress, the old minister who was attached to the eldest grandson remained neutral and refused to take a stand on the grounds that "the emperor's family affairs should not be overlooked". Li Ji's attitude played an exemplary role for the old ministers, and for a time, the old ministers chose to stay out of the matter. Therefore, Li Zhi smoothly made Wu Meiniang an empress, and openly fought with the eldest grandson.
Offending the emperor, the eldest grandson naturally had no good fruit to eat.
According to the Old Book of Tang, "In the fourth year, Zhongshu ordered Xu Jingzong to send people to the throne, saying that the inspector Yushi Li Chao and Wujie were plotting against each other, and Emperor Jingzong and Shizhong Xinmao would bow to him. The eldest grandson was inexplicably involved in a treason case. Li Zhi was the emperor who had been single-handedly supported by himself, and the eldest grandson Wu Jie naturally could not rebel, and this conspiracy case must be the planting of stolen goods by people with hearts.
Although Li Zhi wanted to get rid of the eldest grandson, he could not harm his uncle with such a sensitive crime. Therefore, the culprit who planted the stolen eldest son Wujie was Wu Zetian, and she assigned Xu Jingzong to plant the stolen eldest son Wujie, and then, in front of Li Zhi, she advised the emperor to get rid of the eldest son Wujie as soon as possible with the allusion of Emperor Wen of Han's killing of his uncle.
Judging from Li Zhi's practice of sending the eldest son Wujie to Qianzhou without detailed investigation, Li Zhi had no intention of giving the eldest son wujie the opportunity to overturn the case. He immediately expelled the eldest son Wuji from the political core, and then sent Xu Jingzong to "track down", obviously giving Wu Meiniang and others time to fabricate charges for the eldest son Wujie.
The eldest grandson was inexplicably exiled, and when he figured out the ins and outs of the matter, the crime of treason had been confirmed, and there was no chance to exonerate himself. The eldest grandson never dreamed that his nephew, who had devoted himself to supporting himself, would one day force himself into a dead end. In despair, the eldest grandson committed suicide without hesitation, and died blindly.
As for whether the eldest grandson is "committing suicide in fear of sin", history has given us a clear answer. In the first year of the first century, Li Zhi rehabilitated his uncle, restored the honor and title of eldest grandson, and allowed his descendants to inherit the Duke of Zhao, and buried his grave in Zhaoling, located in Yongshoufang Village, Quzi Township, Yongshou County, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province.
In summing up the merits of the eldest son's life, we can say that he is loyal to Li Tang, and we can also say that he is a villain with excessive selfishness. It is a wrong practice to build coffins for the ancients based on good or bad alone, and moreover, the life of the eldest grandson is already so complicated, it is better not to comment on it.
Resources:
[New Book of Tang , Genealogy Table of Prime Ministers " Old Book of Tang , Volume 65 of Liechuan 15 , " New Book of Tang , Volume 15 of Liechuan 30 " ]