The Twenty-Four Heroes of Lingyange is a portrait of twenty-four heroes in the Lingyan Pavilion on February 28 (March 23) in the seventeenth year of the Tang Dynasty (643 AD) in order to commemorate the many heroes who fought together in the world. Among the twenty-four heroes of Ling Yan Pavilion, the first one was the eldest grandson Wujie. He lost his father at an early age and was raised by his uncle Gao Shilian. Intelligent and discerning, Ya has a martial strategy, and is a friend of Tang Taizong, and then marries in-laws.
Since then, Changsun Wuji not only became the founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, but also participated in the planning of the Xuanwumen Revolution and helped Li Shimin ascend the throne as emperor. During the Zhenguan period, during the dispute over the establishment of the chu, the eldest son Wuji supported his nephew Emperor Gaozong of Tang and became a chancellor. As a result, Emperor Gaozong of Tang could ascend to the throne, and the eldest grandson was naturally indispensable. So, the question is, the eldest son Wuji is the uncle of Tang Gaozong, and he helped him to become emperor, why did he end up being forced to commit suicide?
One
On the fourth gengshen day of the first month of the ninth year of Wu De (July 2, 626), Li Shimin led the eldest son Wuji, Wei Chigong, Hou Junji, Zhang Gongjin, Liu Shili, Gongsun Wuda, Dugu Yanyun, Du Junqiu, Zheng Rentai, Li Mengxian, and others to launch the Xuanwumen Rebellion, successfully killing the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the Qi prince Li Yuanji. After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he crowned his wife Changsun Shi as empress, and Changsun Wuji as the grand general of the Marquis of Zuowu. And this undoubtedly further consolidated the supreme position of the eldest son Wuji in the imperial court.
In the first year of Zhenguan (627), the eldest son Wuji was reappointed as the official Shangshu, and was made the first meritorious person and made the Duke of Qi. Later in the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, the eldest grandson Wu Ji supported his nephew Li Zhi in the battle for li chu. In the twenty-third year of Zhenguan (649), Tang Taizong died of illness at the Cuiwei Palace. In this regard, the eldest grandson Wuji first secretly mourned, and the crown prince Li Zhi, escorted by fei qi, returned to the capital first, followed by the chariots and horses of the emperor. After the crown prince successfully entered Chang'an City, he announced the emperor's death at the Taiji Palace and read out the will to ensure that Li Zhi could smoothly ascend the throne.
Two
However, after Emperor Gaozong of Tang ascended the throne, although the eldest son Wuji was highly valued at first, he was eventually forced to commit suicide, and the reasons for this were mainly divided into the following points. On the one hand, the eldest grandson did not know how to advance and retreat, and was unwilling to retreat when he was in power, which obviously made Tang Gaozong Li Zhi gradually dissatisfied. In ancient Chinese history, the relationship between emperors and courtiers was naturally very tense. For the powerful minister, knowing how to advance and retreat can obtain a good ending.
Because the eldest son Wuji was his own uncle, plus he had meritorious service in helping him ascend the throne, after Li Zhi ascended the throne, he naturally repaid Li with a peach, and the eldest grandson Wuji was promoted to the title of lieutenant and inspector of the zhongshu order, zhi shangshu and menxia second province. As we all know, the Tang Dynasty implemented a three-province and six-part system, and the Zhongshu Ling, who was appointed by the eldest son Wuji, was already in charge of Zhongshu Province, and through zhishang shu and menxia two provinces, he was in charge of both Shangshu province and Menxia province. Based on this, the three provinces were already controlled by Changsun Wuji alone, which undoubtedly threatened the throne of Emperor Gaozong of Tang.
Three
In the early days of The reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, the eldest grandson Wujie took power, thus ensuring the smooth transition of the Tang Dynasty's throne, which naturally made sense. However, in the context of Li Zhi sitting firmly on the throne, the eldest son Wu Ji still did not retreat in a rapids, obviously challenging the bottom line of the former, which also laid the groundwork for the outbreak of contradictions afterwards. Of course, Emperor Gaozong of Tang did not directly confront the eldest son Wujie, but used the incident of "deposing the empress" to test the reaction of the eldest son Wujie.
In the fifth year of Yonghui (654), Emperor Gaozong of Tang wanted to depose Empress Wang and make Wu Zhaoyi (Wu Zetian) empress. Although changsun Wuji did not explicitly oppose this, he supported Chu Suiliang to a certain extent, and Chu Suiliang was resolutely opposed to liwu Zetian as empress. On this basis, Emperor Gaozong of Tang still insisted on making Wu Zetian empress, and Wu Zetian refused to support him because his eldest grandson accepted the reward and held a grudge against him. To a certain extent, the bleak ending of the eldest son's unscrupulousness was mainly caused by Wu Zetian's hand.
Four
Finally, in the fourth year of Xianqing (659), Xu Jingzong instructed people to present a secret seal to Emperor Gaozong of Tang, saying that the inspector Yushi LiChao had colluded with the eldest son Wujie to plot a rebellion. When Li Zhi deposed the empress, Xu Jingzong fully supported the canonization of Wu Zetian as empress, so Wu Zetian was extremely grateful to Xu Jingzong, and he was introduced as a confidant and moved the Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites. That is to say, Xu Jingzong, who denounced the eldest son, was a confidant of Wu Zetian, or that this matter was directed by Wu Zetian behind his back. Taking advantage of this incident, Emperor Gaozong of Tang issued an edict to strip the eldest son of his official position and title and exile to Qianzhou. In July of the same year, Tang Gaozong sent people to force the eldest son to hang himself. After the death of the eldest grandson, the family property was confiscated and the relatives were exiled.
After changsun Wuji was forced to commit suicide, Emperor Gaozong of Tang was able to take power of the Tang Dynasty and sent troops to destroy Baekje (660) and Goguryeo (668), prompting the Tang Dynasty to reach its maximum stage. Of course, changsun Wuji was his own uncle after all, and he was able to ascend to the throne and also relied on him, so in the first year of the first century (674), Emperor Gaozong of Tang posthumously restored the eldest grandson Wujie and ordered his grandson Yuanyi to inherit the title of Duke of Zhao and bury him in Zhaoling.