Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, was a Ming Emperor, but also a ruthless emperor who killed his brother and seized the throne through the Xuanwumen Rebellion. But in the history of the Tang Dynasty, there was an emperor who was even more cruel than Li Shimin, who not only killed his brother, but also killed his father and emperor through murder. However, this emperor is not well-known in history, so who is this person?
The emperor who murdered his father was Tang Muzong Li Heng! Li Heng was the 12th emperor of the Tang Dynasty, his father was Tang Xianzong, his mother was Empress Guo of Yi'an, and his grandfather was Guo Huan, the protagonist of "Drunken Golden Branch". Li Heng was the third among his brothers and was a concubine, but Tang Xianzong did not want him to be crown prince. After Tang Xianzong ascended the throne, he only crowned Guo as a noble concubine, but did not make an empress.
The history books explain, "The emperor's court has many private loves, and after the houmen clan is prosperous, after worrying about the throne, it is not allowed to be lucky." This explanation is very far-fetched, because even if Guo is crowned as a noble concubine, she is also the highest status in the harem. Tang Xianzong deliberately did not crown the Guo clan, which was related to the fact that the Guo family's influence in the dynasty was too large at that time. Therefore, Tang Xianzong initially established Li Ning, the eldest son born to Ji Meiren, as the crown prince, but Li Ning died young, so the throne was empty again.
Who will be the new prince? At that time, two opinions were formed in the DPRK and China, one was that the second son Li Yun should be established in the order of order, and the other was that the third son, Li Heng, should be established. Li Yun's birth mother was from a humble background, and Li Heng was considered a concubine and a great-grandson of Guo Ziyi, who naturally received the support of most of the courtiers. In the end, Emperor Xianzong of Tang made Li Heng crown prince, but this controversy laid the groundwork for future court tragedies.
Although Li Heng became the crown prince, his position was not stable, and there were two main manifestations. First, Li Heng's mother was still not made empress. In the eighth year of Yuan He, "the courtiers asked Concubine Guo to be empress", but Tang Xianzong "entrusted it to be taboo when he was old, and he was not allowed"; second, the officials who supported Li Heng were demoted, and the officials who supported Li Yun were promoted, which occurred more than a year before Tang Xianzong's death.
In the twelfth and thirteenth years of Yuan He, Li Fengji and Wang Ya, who had served as crown princes' attendants, were removed from their posts as prime ministers. In the fourteenth year of Yuan He, Ling Huchu, who was closely related to the eunuch Tutu Chengcui, served as chancellor, and Tutu Chengcui was a staunch supporter of Li Yun. The situation at that time was very unfavorable to Li Heng, and it was Li Yun's party that was in charge of part of the forbidden army, so in this case, Li Heng and his henchmen counterattacked.
In the first month of the fifteenth year of Yuan He, Tang Xianzong died violently in the palace. At the same time, Li Yun, the eunuch Tutu Chengcui, and others were killed, and the prime minister, Hu Chu, Huang Fubi, and others, were removed from their posts and even directly demoted to Hainan Island. After Tang Muzong Li Heng ascended the throne, he did nothing, and he especially liked to play, "too much entertainment, too much travel", which led to the corruption of the government and the world once again fell into a situation of turmoil.
Tang Muzong's happy life did not last long, and in December of the second year of Changqing, he had an accident while playing polo and suddenly fell ill violently. More than a month later, Tang Muzong died in the palace at the age of 30. More than twenty years after Tang Muzong's death, his half-brother Li Chen took the throne, that is, Tang Xuanzong. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang announced the truth of his father's death, "On the eve of Emperor Xianzong's reign, Shang (Tang Xuanzong) was young, remembered his deeds, and chased after the coolness of Guangling (referring to Tang Muzong) Shangchen."
The "coolness of the Shangchen" is a historical allusion that refers to the fact that King Chu Mu (known as shangchen) killed his father, King Chu Cheng, and seized the throne. Tang Xuanzong's meaning was very clear, the third brother Li Heng was the mastermind of killing his father, and he issued an edict for this purpose, "Depose gongqing Chao Guangling and die on the day of incense", and at the same time, Empress Yi'an died violently.
References: 1. Old Book of Tang, 2. Zizhi Tongjian, 3. Dongguan Song
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