Originally, the stories of the princesses of the early Tang Dynasty were almost told, and they suddenly wanted to write about another princess. Among the many princesses with different characteristics in the Tang Dynasty, she is really ordinary and lackluster, but she has made her name known to this day in a different way......
She is the twelfth daughter of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan - Huainan Princess Li Chengxia.
Although she is a princess, there is really nothing to brag about in this identity...... Because, Li Yuan's daughters are really too many, so many that he can't count them himself.
Li Chengxia's biological mother is unknown, and it can be seen from this that she must be the less favored one of Li Yuan's many concubines.
With such a background, even if she is a princess, she is actually just a "little transparent" in the palace. The number of times she can see her father is also only a handful.
However, Li Chengxia, who was young, was able to figure out such a truth: if you want to be valued, you must have your own value.
Soon, she spotted an opportunity!
Maybe everyone doesn't know that Li Yuan, as the founding emperor, is actually a pipa master! (It turns out that the Sui and Tang Dynasty chicken babies can also play chicken instruments!) ）
Li Chengxia is super happy! Her favorite thing is music! Since the emperor's father likes to play the pipa, let's learn the pipa!
At that time, Li Chengxia was only three or four years old, and the pipa was taller than a person, and her tender little hands couldn't press the strings at all...... (Here Big Mary herself must show up to say!) I learned the pipa for a few years when I was young and ignorant! It's too difficult 555555 pipa is really a giant pit in folk music! Finger pressing the string for too long can really hurt so much that I want to shi! So after work, my pipa pressed the bottom of the box and never touched it again...... ）
But look at Li Chengxia's determination! I really got on my knees!
She first used a small fan to imitate the pipa to learn plucking skills, and then asked the musician to help press the strings, and she was in charge of plucking! The main hit is never to give up!
Hard work pays off, of course, there is definitely an element of talent in this, after several years of hard practice, 7-year-old Li Chengxia has been able to play a lot of music~
She finally got her wish and got Li Yuan's attention: Eh? I still have such a talented girl? It's not my genes!
Li Yuan was very proud, and he began to let Li Chengxia show her talents at various royal banquets, and everyone's praise and compliments made Li Yuan pay more attention to this girl.
He even had Li Chengxia play the Kauzi Buddha song during the important ceremony of the Obon Festival (Zhongyuan Festival). This life seems to be glorious, but it is actually a super pit! Why? Performed on the 14th, and the score was given on the 13th!
But Li Chengxia is not afraid at all, she really learned complex new foreign tunes in one day, and played steadily in front of everyone! Received applause from the audience!
This girl is too competitive! Li Yuan's vanity was greatly satisfied! He not only generously rewarded Li Chengxia with her property, but also agreed to hire a famous teacher as a tutor for her~
Pipa not only helped Li Chengxia find her father's love, but also allowed her to meet the person she was destined to ......
It may be at a celebration or a banquet that the much-anticipated princess played her beloved lute, which amazed a young man in the audience who was just beginning to fall in love.
He is the son of the late Prime Minister Feng Deyi, Feng Yandao.
Feng Deyi is a very sleek person, but also an opportunist, and is deeply trusted by Li Shimin. Although he hiccuped, Feng Yandao relied on the connections left by his father, and he mixed quite well, and he was already a capable leader in the prince's mansion at a young age, so he could find himself a family that was more conducive to his career, and he couldn't marry a powerless princess like Li Chengxia.
Many people may retort that it is a princess!
It is necessary to give you a popular science about the welfare of princesses in the Tang Dynasty here:
At that time, the princess's salary came from their respective food fiefs, that is, a part of the country's land was allocated to them as fiefs, and the local taxes went directly into the princess's pocket. This kind of "food sealing system" has existed since the Zhou Dynasty, but it actually greatly affects the central fiscal revenue. So in the Tang Dynasty, the fictitious sealing system began: that is, to give you a false name, and then give you an imaginary number, saying that it is to divide your 3,000 households, but in fact, there are 300 households.
In the Tang Dynasty, there were clear regulations on the princess's food seal: "There are 300 princesses, and the eldest princess adds 300 households, and there are up to 600 households." ”
Princess Huainan's food seal strictly abides by this rule: 300, more than a dime~
Even after Li Yuan's death, Li Chengxia was promoted to the "eldest princess", but Li Shimin did not give her a salary increase in accordance with the regulations...... This can't be blamed, there are too many sisters! I can't afford to raise it at all!
Therefore, whether the princess is favored or not, she can't look at the title and reward, the key is to see how many food seals there are. For example, Princess Taiping, the niece and granddaughter of Princess Huainan, people's food seals can rise to 3,000 households! That's really not bad money!
So, my personal guess (there is no real evidence ha!) This marriage should have been begged for by himself.
It's a guess, but it's not a guess. Look at the married life of this young couple: harmonious!
Feng Yandao is also a music lover, and Li Chengxia is like-minded, and he has a lot of fun playing music every day.
It is precisely because of this kind of "not seeking progress" that the two of them escaped! After Feng Yandao married the princess, he resigned from the official position of the prince's mansion and took Li Chengxia to other places to be a assassin.
So in the case of the rebellion of the crown prince Li Chengqian, the two of them passed by in such a thrilling way!
And Li Chengxia's good life is not just luck! Among Li Shimin's many younger sisters, she is the only one who has the best relationship with Li Zhi, who succeeded in the end~
may be because Li Zhi has been raised in the palace, and the unmarried Li Chengxia has become friends with this little nephew with her super high emotional intelligence:
Even if Li Chengxia has been married for many years, Li Zhi, who has become the emperor, still remembers this loving aunt who never finds trouble for herself. The two have kept in touch, and when they learned that their aunt was sick, Li Zhi also specially asked the queen (yes, it was the later Emperor Wu) to send her warmth:
Even when the baby daughter Princess Taiping got married, Li Zhi specially sent an official invitation to invite Li Chengxia from other places to return to Beijing to be the "mother" of the wedding, that is, the female elders who assisted the bride in grooming and dressing up (for the sake of Tujili, it must be the kind of marriage and harmony that has both children and daughters, and you have to be loyal to the emperor, these Li Chengxia have all these Li Chengxia!). ）
Not only invited, but also specially added: the road is far away, if you are not feeling well, you can rest, and it is no problem if you don't come. (Original text: "The little girl surrendered, so the report added, and with a courtesy, there must be a mother, to Gu Yi Qi, Shu Qu temporarily come, if the Huai Road is far away, that is, do not work.") ”）
With such a polite and thoughtful tone, who would have thought that it was from the emperor? It can be seen that Li Zhi respects this aunt from the bottom of his heart!
Of course, Princess Huainan couldn't be embarrassed, she immediately set off to return to Beijing and contributed a lot to Princess Taiping's wedding, which made Queen Wu very grateful!
Being able to stand out among the many princesses, and also being able to retreat in the complex and treacherous political waves, Li Chengxia has become one of the rare princesses in the Tang Dynasty with her talent and hard work.
Li Chengxia and Feng Yandao's happy marriage also lasted until her death at the age of 69.
After the death of his wife, Feng Yan was grief-stricken and personally wrote an epitaph for his beloved wife. In the inscription, he frantically praised his wife: from appearance, to talent, to wisdom, to character...... Well, we can all see it, you are the head of Princess Huainan's support group!
This is also why, today we can know the name Li Chengxia and understand the life of this princess. Because Feng Yandao's sincere confession was left forever:
The picture comes from the official WeChat account of the Shaanxi History Museum
Through this cold and warm inscription, we know that there was once such a princess, she was talented, kind and enthusiastic, and more importantly: she never gave up on herself, let alone the right to pursue happiness, and finally she also had the most ordinary happiness.