Author: Li Dakui
People familiar with the history of Tang know that Li Zhi of Tang Gaozong was the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and some said that his ability was generally very sacral, and some said that he was actually a generation of male lords, and there was also a dazzling light; some said that he had robbed his father's talents against the norms, and some said that he was loyal to love and did not care about the judgment of others...
Regardless of public opinion, an untrue fact: Li Zhi is the most cattle man in history. Looking at the five thousand years, who can compare? In addition to his own being emperor, his grandfather, father, wife and two sons were all real emperors, and his father Tang Taizong Li Shimin also created the "Rule of Zhenguan", and his wife Wu Zetian was the first and only empress in zheng history to ascend the throne as emperor, creating a brilliant Wuzhou tianxia, laying an indispensable foundation for Tang Xuanzong Li Long to create the "Kaiyuan Shengshi".
Let's talk about the most bullish man in history, to see if he is lucky or powerful? The author's point of view is: Li Zhi is not weak and cowardly and incompetent, in fact, he is also a generation of male lords, strength and luck are prepared, no less than Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Jing of Han, called "Gaozong" is indeed the same; but inferior to his father Taizong's wife, the Empress Of Heaven, is blocked by its light, and at the same time suffers from wind and dizziness, it is not so prominent, and even dwarfed.
First, li zhi, who was born at a high level, became emperor by providence
Li Zhi was born in 628 in the Eastern Palace Lidian of Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and this third son, who was born noble, was "young and intelligent, dignified and serene, generous and benevolent, and a harmonious brother", born to Emperor Taizong Li Shimin and Empress Changsun, and grew up with a golden key. At 3 o'clock, he was crowned king of Jin, and at the age of 5, he was given the title of "Governor of Hezhou", which was deeply favored.
But this does not mean that Li Zhi is the inevitable crown prince.
After all, he had his eldest brother Li Chengqian above him, and according to the "Chuanyuan Chuanchang", Li Chengqian was the crown prince who deserved the title, even if he was "Chuanxian", there were also his second sons Li Tai the Prince of Wei and Li Ke the Prince of Wu to fill the vacancies. Li Zhi was only the third son, the ninth among the brothers, and he could not be the turn, and under normal circumstances, he could only be the king.
Therefore, Li Zhi did not think about the dispute between the crown princes, he should do whatever he wanted, acting according to his own "benevolence and filial piety", and having a royal family was also prominent enough, and he did not have to think about other famous and indistinguishable things.
Therefore, Li Zhi's erti era lived a carefree and natural life.
When he was 9 years old, his mother, Empress Eldest Sun, passed away, and Li Zhi naturally expressed his sad feelings, reflecting pure filial piety, which deeply touched the nostalgic and affectionate Emperor Taizong, and soon granted Li Zhi the treatment of "Grand General of the Marquis of Right Wu".
In the eighteenth year of Zhenguan, when Emperor Taizong rebelled against Goguryeo and returned to Hezhou, he unexpectedly developed a major poisonous sore. Li Zhi learned that he personally used his mouth to poison his father with pus, and also helped his father's footsteps to walk and follow for many days, which made Emperor Taizong praise Li Zhi's benevolence and filial piety even more.
At this time, the crown prince Chengqian plotted rebellion, and Li Tai, the king of Wei, was again ambitious, openly telling Emperor Taizong that after succeeding to the throne, he would "kill his son and let his brother" and privately threaten Li Zhi not to act rashly with your princeling uncle Li Yuanchang to ask for ...
The male lord Li Shimin had no choice but to depose the eldest son and the second son of the concubine, and reconvene the important ministers to discuss the establishment of the reserve.
On the one hand, li was supported by his uncle Changsun Wujie; on the other hand, because of Li Zhi's benevolence and filial piety, he took root in Li Shimin's heart.
Li Zhi relied on "indisputable" and "benevolent filial piety", and with the support of his uncle, he was 15 years old in 643 and was made crown prince by his father Li Shimin.
Six years later, in 649 AD, his father Emperor Taizong died, and the 21-year-old Li Zhi took the throne, which was the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong of Tang.
Second, the truth behind Li Zhi's "abolition of Wang Liwu"
Before his father Li Shimin died, he still cared for the crown prince Li Zhi, and especially entrusted the chancellors Sun Wuji and Chu Suiliang: "The prince has been filial piety since childhood, this is all you know, you must help him well." "
Li Zhi was called empress dowager, and he also had great respect for these talented and virtuous elders and courtiers. With their assistance, the Tang Dynasty was well organized and continued to improve.
Li Zhi enjoyed himself, taking advantage of his beautiful youth to display the romantic and stimulating love story score, especially "sincerely":
Because when he was still the crown prince, he fell in love with Wu Zetian, a talented man in the harem of Emperor Taizong, who was 4 years older, and secretly made a "mountain alliance sea oath". After Emperor Taizong's death, Wu Zetian, who had no heirs, had to go to Ganye Temple as a nun according to regulations.
According to the rules of filial piety, Li Zhi was required to go to the Ganye Temple to incense on the day of the death of his father, Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin. As a result, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian had the opportunity to exchange heartfelt secrets.
At that time, Concubine Xiao Shu was favored, and empress Wang, who was not liked by Li Zhi, thought of using Wu Zetian to suppress her, so she supported Li Zhi to take Wu Ze into the palace after the expiration of her filial piety.
Empress Wang's move just made Li Zhiwu Zetian's lovers very happy, and they eventually became dependents.
After Li Zhi happily received Wu Zetian back to the palace in 651 AD, he named her Erpin Zhaoyi the following year. At first, Wu Zetian bowed to Empress Wang and acted according to her will, and after suppressing Concubine Xiao Shu, he joined forces with Li to replace Empress Wang.
In 655, Li Zhi categorically "violated the orders of the former emperor", eliminated the interference of the elder faction such as Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang, and became the "deposed king Liwu". The Guanlong clique, represented by Changsun Wuji, was thus killed, and in 658, Chu Suiliang, who was degraded to Ai Prefecture (in present-day Vietnam), died of illness. In 659, the eldest grandson Wu Ji, who was exiled to Qianzhou (黔州, in present-day Wulong, Chongqing), was forced to commit suicide...
This hook punch made the asano stunned.
Where is Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi's imagination? After he succeeded to the throne, he had long hoped to be pro-government and did not want to be manipulated by others, but the power of his uncle Changsun Wuji was too large, so he had to turn to the weak harem, hoping to break the threat of the power of the Imperial Tang Clan by establishing a threat in the harem.
To this end, Li Zhi thought of his lover, Wu Zetian, who was extremely intelligent, and under the advice of Wu Zetian, Li Zhi's move really worked. It turned out that he Wu Zetian achieved a win-win situation, and the two also performed a blood-stained love story in the shadow of the sword and light sword.
Of course, Li Zhi should be sincere and sincere with Wu Zetian, although it is reasonable that he has attempts to rely on Wu Zetian to gain kingship. Just imagine, if Li Zhi did not love Wu Zetian, how could the scheming Wu Zetian give his full help, and how could he have the courage to go against his father and kill his uncle And Eldest Sun Wu and other elders
Third, the "rule of Yonghui" confirms Li Zhi's responsibility and harmony
When Li Zhi ascended the throne as empress, he actually made great achievements, and he achieved immortal political achievements in the sustained development of the great social economy, which is the "rule of Yonghui" recorded in history.
Politically, Li Zhi dared to decisively order: the Battle of Liaodong and the merits of various civil engineering" to alleviate the fierce class contradictions since the Sui and Tang dynasties. At the same time, it expanded diplomacy, allowing persians to build temples in Chang'an, and also sent troops to help Persian princes gain the throne in 667 AD, and established ties with the Sassanid kingdom. At the same time, the stipulation of "three days and one dynasty" established by Emperor Taizong was changed to "one day and one dynasty", sending a signal of diligent governance.
Militarily, in 657, Yu Sent Su Dingfang, Cheng Zhijie, and other generals to destroy the Western Turks; in 660 AD, Baekje was destroyed; in 668, he sent Generals such as Li Ji and Jiang Rengui to destroy Goguryeo, achieving a series of brilliant military achievements. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, the Tang Dynasty was at its largest (it lasted for 32 years): it stretched from the Korean Peninsula in the east to the Caspian Sea in the west, lake Baikal in the north, and Hengshan in Vietnam in the south.
Culturally, the imperial examination system was rebuilt, and in the third year of Yonghui (652), he compiled the law "Tang Law Shuyi". In terms of personnel, he knew people and was good at his duties, and he proposed Wei Siqian, who was attacked by The Prime Minister Chu Suiliang, and Du Zhenglun, who was snubbed by the former emperor, and also cleaned up the case of the rebellion of the imperial family such as Princess Gaoyang's liaison with Fang Yi'ai.
In terms of people's livelihood, Li Zhi is particularly concerned. Set up Changping Warehouse to solve the problem of grain shortage in the early years of Yonghui The 649 Hedong earthquake, that is, the next edict exempted its land tax for three years... Through several years of development, the country's population has also increased by 3.8 million households, showing a thriving scene. The history of the past contains that "the people are determined, and there is a legacy of chastity".
Fourth, Li Zhi's unexpected wind vertigo brought about by the historical light
Unfortunately, 12 years after Li Zhi claimed to be emperor, he began to suffer from vertigo at the age of 32, often dizzy, and his health deteriorated, and after the talented Wu Zetian proposed the "Twelve Things to Advise", he agreed and acquiesced to participate in politics.
Later, li saw that empress Wu Zetian was ambitious after presiding over the political situation, and also had plans to depose Empress Wu Zetian, but at this time, his dizziness was getting worse and he could no longer see, so he had to let the Shang Gaoyi who drafted the edict "top the cylinder" calm down.
By 664, the 36-year-old Li Zhi had more difficulty in running state affairs, and government affairs gradually fell into the hands of Wu Zetian. Wu Ze honored him as "Emperor" and called himself "Queen of Heaven", which was the temporary generation of the "Second Saint" of the Gaozong Dynasty.
This is clearly recorded in the edict of the Tang Dynasty in 674: Emperor Zun is the emperor, the empress is the queen of heaven, and the emperor is the queen of heaven.
However, at that time, Wu Zetian was still in the "background". By 683, Li Zhi's dizziness was even worse, so he issued an edict ordering the crown prince Li Xian to act as the state's administrator, appointing Pei Yan and other important ministers as Tongping Zhangshi to assist in the imperial government to restrain the dictatorship of Wu Zetian.
After the implementation of the transfer of power, Li Zhi, who had been emperor for 34 years, died of illness and was buried in Qianling soon after, with the title of "Emperor of Heaven".
What Li Zhi did not expect was that in the second year after his death, Wu Zetian deposed his son Li Xianzong of Tang as the King of Luling and replaced him with another son, Li Dan, as emperor, called Tang Ruizong; in the seventh year after his death, the 67-year-old Wu Zetian demoted Li Dan to the position of imperial heir, and from "backstage" to "front desk" to ascend the throne as emperor, and established the Zhou Dynasty.
Fortunately, this big week, the world is safe and the social economy is developing steadily. At the age of 82 in 705 AD, wu ze was still in his son Li Xian of Tangzhong because the chancellor Zhang Kamzhi launched a "Shenlong coup" to force the palace.
As a result, Datang restored the world of Li Tang. In 710, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang died of Li Xian, Li Dan died of illness two years after his restoration, and his son Li Longji succeeded to the throne in 712, which was Tang Xuanzong, and The Tang Dynasty entered the famous "Kaiyuan" period.
History is so mysterious that it extends forward in the process of loss and recovery, gain and loss. Objectively, in terms of history, Li Zhi can be described as the most cattle man in history, he has been the emperor for 34 years, his grandfather, father, wife and son are all down-to-earth emperors, up and down five thousand years of Chinese history, this one!
Author: Li Dakui, male, Han ethnicity, post-70s, Bachelor of Law, Guizhou Meitan people, literature lovers.
Tips: If you like this article, please comment and forward.