In July of the third year of Tang Jingyun (712 AD), Li Dan, the Emperor Ruizong of Tang, suddenly issued an edict passing the throne to the crown prince Li Longji, making himself emperor taishang. The sixth emperor of the Tang Dynasty, who had only sat on the throne for three years, hastily gave up the emperor's throne.
The "Zizhi Tongjian" describes this scene very warmly and touchingly: when the crown prince Li Longji learned that the emperor planned to pass the throne to himself in advance, he hurried into the palace to meet him, knelt in front of his father and burst into tears, and said sincerely, "I only made a little merit, but I was therefore made the heir to the throne, when the prince was worried that he could not do well, how could he have the ability to be the emperor?" Please ask the Father Emperor to take back his life!" Ruizong Li Dan was even more affectionate, "The Tang Dynasty's Sheji and the ancestors' Jiangshan can be preserved and continued, and I can ascend to the throne again, all of which are your credit." I have now ceded the throne to you, what do you have to doubt? Li Longji fell to his knees and refused to be ordered. Li Dan continued to gently persuade, "You are a filial son, and my father understands in his heart, why do you have to stand in front of my coffin to inherit the throne?" Seeing that his father's heart had been decided, Crown Prince Li Longji left the palace with tears in his eyes. What a touching scene! Is this really the case? Tang Ruizong gave up the throne in advance, was he willing or unwilling?
The relationship between the emperor and the crown prince has always been delicate. One is the emperor, one is the future emperor, one is worried that if he is not dead, the heir will grab the seat in advance, and the other is worried about when the cooked duck will fly inexplicably. Tang Ruizong Li Dan and later Tang Xuanzong Li Longji, which made the relationship between the emperor and the crown prince more delicate. This throne was taken from others by the crown prince Li Longji in a coup d'état, and Emperor Li Dan was able to enjoy his success. According to the situation at that time, if Tang Ruizong Li Dan could be at ease to be the Taiping Tianzi who transitioned for several years, and then pass the throne to his son in peace and security, everyone would be very happy. However, would Tang Ruizong Li Dan, who had an indifferent heart and a weak personality, really think so?
In the first year of Jingyun (710 AD), the first major event after Emperor Ruizong of Tang ascended to the throne was to make the crown prince. Li Dan had five adult sons, and Li Longji ranked third. According to common sense, the position of crown prince was that of Li Chengqi, the eldest son of concubine. However, due to the special merits of the third son of the emperor, Li Longji, Li Dan hesitated on this issue. Li Chengqi, the prince of Song, who was the eldest son of a concubine, repeatedly resigned when faced with the position of prince, and for several days in a row he wept bitterly in front of Emperor Ruizong, insisting that he not be a prince. The Tanglong coup d'état heroes, represented by Liu Youqiu, also resolutely requested Li Longji, the Prince of Liping, to be crown prince. Under such circumstances, Li Dancai issued an edict appointing Li Longji as crown prince. From the decision-making process of the whole incident, it is very easy to find Li Dan's true intentions. From the bottom of his heart, he did not want Li Longji, who had strong ability and high prestige, to become the crown prince, but Li Chengqi repeatedly resigned, and Liu Youqiu and other meritorious representatives had a resolute attitude, and Li Dan could only do it as a last resort.
After Li Longji became the crown prince, his strength in the dprk would undoubtedly be further enhanced, and if Emperor Li Dan wanted to openly suppress it, the difficulty would increase a lot. In addition to li longji's status as a prince, he held the positions of palace supervisor and Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin, and was both the prime minister and the commander of the forbidden army. The palace guards of the Tang Dynasty at that time were the left and right Yulin army, of which the strongest fighting force and the closest guard to the emperor were the "Ten Thousand Horse Guards". Officers at all levels of this elite unit fought side by side with Li Longji in the "TangLong Coup" and forged a deep friendship. More importantly, after the successful coup d'état, all the cronies of Empress Wei of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang were beheaded and replaced by Li Longji's concubines, and this force was completely in the hands of Li Longji. In the Tang Dynasty, where military coups were frequent, whoever controlled the forbidden army had the ultimate right to speak.
Another thing that worried Li Dan even more was that a large number of pure ministers and detractors loyal to the Li Tang imperial family, such as Song Jing, Yao Chong, and others, all firmly supported Li Longji. These people do not belong to any faction, have no personal political plots, have strong ability and high prestige, and they are not just a few people, but a group, representing the popular will of the entire imperial court, the strength that Li Dan as the emperor must rely on, and the force that cannot be suppressed. Therefore, after Li Dan returned to God, he was already very clear in his heart that the position of Prince Li Longji could not be shaken, and what he had to do was to strive to maintain the balance of forces of all parties to ensure his own safety. Therefore, the major affairs of the military state in the imperial court must be discussed with the crown prince in advance, and Li Longji approved of it before deciding to implement it.
However, with the change of mentality and the expansion of selfish desires of another person, it is difficult for Li Dan to maintain this cautious situation. This person was Li Dan's sister Princess Taiping. Princess Taiping was the daughter of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian, who was calm and astute, had the power to change her strategy, and had a bit of Wu Zetian's style. At the two major junctures related to the future and destiny of the Li Tang royal family at the Shenlong coup d'état and the Tang Long coup, they both played an important role and also made great contributions to the Li Tang royal family. When Emperor Zhongzong of Tang succeeded to the throne, he crowned Princess Taiping as Princess Taiping of Zhenguo, and When Emperor Ruizong of Tang succeeded to the throne, Li Dan was even more fond of Princess Taiping, and often discussed military and state affairs with her, and many major decision-making matters of the imperial court had to consult her in advance.
At the same time, Princess Taiping made full use of the emperor's trust in herself, actively intervened in the affairs of the DPRK and China, and managed the dprk-China forces. What Princess Taiping wanted to do, Li Dan did not agree to, the appointment of officials below the prime minister was decided by her in one sentence, and there were countless people who were recommended by her and who held important positions. As a result, a huge force was formed in the dprk, and even more than half of the prime ministers in the dprk were taiping princesses.
What is even more serious is that Princess Taiping is no longer at ease with being a powerful princess, but actively seeks to take the position of prince of Li Longji in operation, and elects a weak and easy-to-control person to be crown prince, and in the future, she will inherit the throne, making it more convenient for her to monopolize the government and even covet the throne. As a result, the contradiction between Princess Taiping and Crown Prince Li Longji became increasingly acute and open, and had reached an irreconcilable point.
Li Dan was originally weak in character and did not have the courage and means to decide major matters. Therefore, he was deeply troubled by the contradiction between Li Longji and Princess Taiping. When he had just succeeded to the throne, he used his status as emperor to work hard to stabilize the situation in the imperial court and did his best to balance the power between the prince and the princess. Three years later, by the third year of Jingyun (712 AD), Li Dan felt more and more that this balance could not be maintained. Princess Taiping was his only living sister, and she made outstanding contributions to his ascension to the throne, and he really couldn't bear to be a killer. And the crown prince Li Longji, due to his outstanding contributions in the Tang Long coup and his own resourcefulness, his ruling team has been formed and powerful, and Li Dan has no ability to shake his position as prince. From the perspective of being responsible for the Li Tang royal family, Li Dan was convinced that the future of the Tang Empire must belong to his son Li Longji, and Li Longji must also have the ability to push the Jiangshan Sheji left by his ancestors to a new glory. Therefore, in the later period, ensuring the safety of Li Longji's position as crown prince also became Li Dan's political bottom line.
What worried Li Dan even more was that he was worried that when the contradiction between the prince and the princess Taiping could not be reconciled, one side would eventually solve the problem in the form of a military coup, and his own safety would be difficult to guarantee at that time. In the short period of more than ten years since the "Shenlong Coup", Datang has undergone three consecutive military coups, and Li Dan never wants to see the bloody killing between relatives happening again in front of his eyes.
In such a difficult and complicated psychological state, Tang Ruizong Li Dan chose to suddenly issue an edict on July 25, the third year of Jingyun (712 AD), passing the throne to the crown prince Li Longji in advance and abdicating himself as Emperor Taishang. However, in order to ensure the safety of himself and his sister Princess Taiping, the appointment of officials of the imperial court and all major prison-related administrative affairs were still decided by the Emperor Taishang. That is to say, the promotion of key and important people, as well as the matter of the life and death of the personnel, is still their own decision, although abdicated, but the core and most critical things are still firmly in their own hands.
Li Dan hoped that through his abdication, the Tang Empire would form a leadership group centered on his son Li Longji, and ensure his son's security and the future of the empire in a legal form. At the same time, I also hope to use my abdication to warn my sister Princess Taiping that she must give up on the road of interfering in politics and power, retreat to the second place to ensure her own safety, and like herself, be a rich and noble princess with a pure heart, and she will do her best to ensure the safety of her life.
However, Li Dan's good wishes were ultimately not realized because of Princess Taiping's refusal to accept it. On July 3, 713, Li Longji once again led the Forbidden Army to wipe out Princess Taiping's henchmen by means of iron blood, and then gave Princess Taiping a three-foot white aya. Princess Taiping, who had been in power for a while, was given the end of death! The Tang Empire has officially entered the era of Li Longji, the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and a prosperous world of great attention is about to begin.