Li Dan was the eighth son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, the fourth child of Wu Zetian, the half-brother of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, the father of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, and the sixth emperor of the Tang Dynasty. However, his imperial path was not so smooth, and even, it could be said that it had several twists and turns.
So, what's going on here?
In fact, it is related to his experience of "three concessions".
Before talking about Li Dan's "three concessions" to the throne, there is one thing that can be mentioned, that is, Li Dan believes in Taoism and once summoned Sima Chengzhen, a Taoist priest on Tiantai Mountain, to ask him for advice on yin and yang techniques. Sima Chengzhen said, "The so-called 'Tao' means that it is both damaged and damaged, so that nothing can be done. Li Dan asked again, "For personal cultivation, inaction is the highest realm, so what is the highest realm of governing the country?" Sima Chengzhen replied: "Governing the country and personal cultivation is a truth, as long as we conform to the natural development of all things in the world and eliminate selfish distractions, the country can tend to great governance." ”
Therefore, Li Dan's subsequent series of behaviors may also be more or less influenced by some Taoism.
Today, we will tell in detail the story of Tang Ruizong Li Dan's "three concessions" to the throne:
First, give way to the mother. In the first year of the reign of Emperor Wu Zetian, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang was deposed and Li Dan was made emperor. In this way, Li Dan, who was originally the King of Yu, became an emperor, that is, Emperor Ruizong of Tang. Although he inherited the throne, Li Dan did not control the power of the imperial government, and he could not only accept the courtiers of the ministers, but also could not live in the main hall. During this period, Wu Zetian forcibly participated in political activities as an empress.
In February of the same year, Wu Zetian changed his era name to Civilization and made Li Dan's concubine Liu Shi empress, and his eldest son was crown prince. Logically, as an emperor, Ruizong should be his job. In fact, these things are the result of Wu Zetian's dictatorship. After a while, the Yangzhou Mutiny and the Clan Rebellion broke out in the country. After that, Wu Zetian, while quelling the rebellion, pretended to return the government to Emperor Ruizong.
In the second year of the arch, Wu Zetian issued a holy decree to return power to Ruizong. In this regard, Ruizong knew very well in his heart that his mother's intention was only to show the people of the world, and there was no intention of returning it at all. Therefore, Ruizong accompanied her to act and resolutely did not accept Fengzhao.
Therefore, Wu Zetian had no choice but to obey the emperor's will, continue to bow to the government, and control the government. The following year, Wu Zetian enfeoffed several of Tang Ruizong's sons: Chengyi the Prince of Heng, Longji the King of Chu, Longfan the Prince of Wei, and Longye the Prince of Zhao. On the surface, Ruizong was extremely emperorly majestic, but in reality, Ruizong was just a stepping stone for Wu Zetian to embark on the highest point of politics. In the first year of Yongchang, Wu Zetian ordered the unified use of the weekly calendar throughout the country.
At the same time, Wu Zetian changed his name to Cao (曌) and changed his era name to Zaichu .jpg In order to avoid the empress dowager's name, Wu Zetian stipulated that all the edicts promulgated in the future should be called "book-making". At this time, Wu Zetian's political management had reached a new realm, and she had fully possessed the ability to change dynasties. Therefore, Wu Zetian mobilized his own forces and asked the officials to jointly petition for a change of dynasty.
In this regard, the Li clan and some Confucian courtiers firmly opposed it. But soon, these reactionaries were either killed or destroyed. Faced with this situation, Tang Ruizong had no choice but to follow the current to petition his mother to ascend to the throne and give him the surname of Wu. Although Ruizong's behavior was not voluntary, it gave Wu Zetian a good opportunity to step onto the political stage, and also enabled Ruizong to save himself in this political storm.
In the first year of the Heavenly Mandate, Wu Zetian accepted the suggestion of Emperor Ruizong and his ministers and changed Tang to Zhou.
At the same time, Emperor Ruizong abdicated, demoted him to imperial heir (that is, the alternate person for the throne), gave the surname Wu, and moved to the Eastern Palace, retaining the treatment of prince. However, although he changed from emperor to imperial heir, Li Dan's life was not peaceful. I don't know why, Wu Zetian's favorite and trusted concubine Wei Tuan'er fell in love with Li Dan and tried to have a relationship with him.
Tang Ruizong was very aware of the situation he was currently in, and in order not to attract anyone's attention, he firmly refused Wei Tuan'er's request. Later, Wei Tuan'er became angry and tried to frame Two of Emperor Ruizong's favorite concubines, Liu Shi and Dou Shi. Wei Tuan'er first managed to take away the two, then buried a wooden man of Wu Zetian in their palace, and finally, exposed the "crimes" of the two in front of Wu Zetian and slandered them for their private demagoguery.
Therefore, one day in the second year of their longevity, after Liu and Dou met Wu Zetian as usual, they lost their whereabouts, and no one knew where they went. In this regard, Tang Ruizong did not dare to ask his mother about the whereabouts of the two, and could only pretend that nothing had happened. Later, some ministers reported that Emperor Ruizong's concubine Pang Shi was ill-intentioned, so that Pang Shi was imprisoned and almost lost his life.
Fortunately, Yushi Xu had the merit to help Pang Shi exonerate, not only clearing her grievances, but also allowing her to regain her freedom. However, Xu Yougong was charged with being an accomplice to the party because of this incident and was almost executed.
2. Give way to the Imperial Brother. In the first year of the Holy Calendar, Wu Zetian took Zhongzong, who had been demoted to the title of King of Luling, back to the capital. Seeing this, Tang Ruizong believed that her mother did this because she was likely to change her brother to emperor. Therefore, in order to avoid competing with his brother for imperial power, Emperor Ruizong lied several times that he was ill and unwilling to go to the early dynasty, and asked to give way to Emperor Zhongzong of Tang.
Ruizong's voluntary concession not only enabled Wu Zetian to re-establish Zhongzong, but also avoided the outbreak of conflicts between the brothers. In this way, Emperor Ruizong changed from imperial heir to Xiang Wang, and Emperor Zhongzong successfully returned to the position of crown prince. In the first year of shenlong, Zhang Kamzhi and others planned a coup d'état. They not only killed zhang changzong and Zhang Yizhi' two brothers, but also threatened Wu Zetian to step down and establish Emperor Zhongzong as emperor. Under the pressure of the situation, Wu Zetian had no choice but to abdicate.
In this way, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang was restored. Soon after, Emperor Zhongzong made Emperor Ruizong the Prince of Anguoxiang and made him involved in state affairs as prime minister. A month later, Tang Ruizong wrote to resign as a lieutenant and a suffragan. At first, Emperor Zhongzong refused his request, but because Emperor Ruizong resolutely asked for his resignation, Emperor Zhongzong had to agree to this. In order to compensate Ruizong, Emperor Zhongzong made Ruizong the emperor's brother-in-law, but Ruizong still refused the title.
Because Tang Ruizong was extremely humble, Tang Zhongzong trusted him very much. Later, although Ruizong was suspected and suspected several times, he was at peace.
Third, give way to the son. In the fourth year of Jinglong, Empress Wei conspired with Princess Anle to poison Emperor Zhongzong and install Li Chongmao as the new emperor. At first, the ministers agreed that Empress Wei would bow down to the government as empress dowager, with Emperor Ruizong, who was then the Prince of Anguo, assisting him. However, Empress Wei wanted to control the power herself like Wu Zetian. Therefore, she proposed that there was no need for The King's Auxiliary Government, thus depriving Emperor Ruizong of the power to assist the Government.
Although Wei Hou and the others were pressing forward step by step, Ruizong still humbly backed down. Later, because Wei Hou's approach was too excessive, it caused a lot of dissatisfaction in the DPRK. In June of the same year, Li Longji and Princess Taiping led troops into the palace, not only killing Wei Hou, but also eliminating Wei Shi and his henchmen. After the success of the coup, the ministers wrote one after another: "After several tribulations in the country, it should appoint an elderly and respected person as emperor." ”
Therefore, Li Chongmao issued an edict to give way to Ruizong, but Ruizong did everything to resign. Finally, under the persuasion of everyone, Ruizong finally agreed to this matter. Therefore, in the first year of Tang Long, Emperor Ruizong replaced Li Chongmao as The Prince of An Guoxiang and re-sat on the throne. The following month, Emperor Ruizong made Li Longji crown prince and changed his era name to Jingyun. In the first year of Yanhe, Emperor Ruizong issued an edict to Li Longji and proclaimed himself Emperor Taishang. Four years later, Ruizong died of a serious illness.
Throughout Ruizong's life, it can be said that it is full of legends, a total of eight years of reign (684-690 years, 710-712 years), the real two years of power, especially his three abdications to the throne and two ascensions to the throne.
Although he gave way to his mother for the sake of the situation, gave way to his brother for other reasons, and gave way to his son was a helpless move, but who in history can give way to the throne several times like him, but without the slightest nostalgia for power? It is no wonder that Sima Guang would evaluate him in this way: "Xiang Wangzhai is kind and humble, so after experiencing the two dynasties of Empress Wu and Empress Wei, he can still protect himself, which is really rare." ”
Resources:
[Zizhi Tongjian Tang Ji, Old Book of Tang, Ruizong Benji, New Book of Tang, Volume IV, Benji IV]