After the Tang Long coup, the relationship between Li Longji and Princess Taiping also changed from an ally to an enemy, but while paying attention to the two, many people ignored a key figure, that is, Princess Taiping's brother, Li Longji's good father Li Dan. In fact, this battle that seems to have only two people competing against each other, there are essentially three people, and this third person is Li Dan. Why did Li Dan get involved? In fact, it was because Li Dan always wanted to seek balance, unwilling to see the cannibalism between Li Tang's clans, unwilling to see the bloodshed brought about by the throne.
Li Dan
Therefore, Li Dan has always been controlling the forces of the two sides like crossing a single wooden bridge, on the one hand, if Li Longji's family is dominant, then he is likely to become the emperor like Li Yuan, on the other hand, if he condones Princess Taiping, then Wu Zetian's case is also vivid. Moreover, the development of the matter itself exceeded Li Dan's control, first of all, when he was crown prince, Li Longji did not have any chances, not only was he not the eldest son, but he was not yet a concubine. However, Li Longji was elected by a group of ministers and forcibly became the crown prince.
In this regard, the original eldest son, Li Chengqi, actually took the initiative to let out a handful of tears and a handful of snot, and said, "Shi Ping is the first to marry the long, and the national disaster is credited." It can be said that if Li Longji took advantage of the situation to seize the throne at this time, it would not be difficult, but Li Longji did not do so. Therefore, Li Dan knew that Li Longji's power was now beyond his control, and in order to be able to weigh it, Li Dan decided to secretly support Princess Taiping. However, the support here is limited, in any case, Li Longji will inherit the throne in the future better than his sister seizing power, so he only uses Taiping to suppress Li Longji.
Princess Taiping
So how did Li Dan do it? First of all, Princess Taiping actually has no real power, but is extravagant in life, and can be called the richest man in the capital. What Li Dan had to do was to give Taiping power, and the specific approach was that every time Li Dan heard the military affairs and government affairs reported by the prime minister, he had to ask Princess Taiping in advance whether she knew it or not, if it was said that Li Dan would personally invite Princess Taiping to come, in order to decide and implement it. If Princess Taiping really had something to do, then Li Dan would also ask the prime minister to go to Taiping's home to seek Princess Taiping's opinion.
Secondly, in addition to the officials at the level of the prime minister, all the officials under the rule could be handled by the Princess Taiping, and it was in this way that under the operation of the Princess Taiping, those oblique officials who had previously sold the official title appeared again and became the henchmen of the Princess Taiping. But this was not enough, Princess Taiping first co-opted the prime minister of the dprk, as long as she did not side with herself, she tried her best to drive away, and then simply intervened forcibly, asking Li Dan to promote her confidant to the position of prime minister, which also made five out of seven in the circle of prime ministers were Taiping's henchmen.
After Li Dan supported Princess Taiping, what was left was to deal with Li Longji and deliberately or unintentionally suppressed it. For example, Li Dan first changed the organization of the Ten Thousand Horsemen Battalion and sent the officials of the Ten Thousand Horsemen Battalion to become local officials. Subsequently, two left and right Yulin armies were formed. This undoubtedly weakened Li Longji's strength, and then Zhong Shaojing was Li Longji's assistant and one of the heroes of Tang Longji's coup, and Li Dan was deposed, and this was only five days. Subsequently, Cui Riyong was also deposed after being the prime minister for ten days, and Li Dan directly said that Cui Riyong was not a good thing.
As for another hardcore fan of Li Longji, Liu Youqiu, he was also deposed after being the prime minister for a year, which shows that Li Longji's strength is exploited one by one, and finally only the identity of the prince is left. Therefore, this is Li Dan's means, but Li Dan is still too soft-hearted, and Li Longji has also taken very appropriate measures, that is, constantly showing weakness. And this kind of scene Li Dan is déjà vu, remembering the days when he became the crown prince, so Li Dan thought that he was too much, so he began to delegate power to Li Longji.
However, Li Dan's elevation and suppression made Princess Taiping hallucinate, believing that Li Longji at this time was not enough to be an enemy, and even released news that Li Longji's position as crown prince was not justified, and Princess Taiping also wanted to win Li Chengqi over, so that dirty water was also given to Li Chengqi, and externally Li Chengqi was dissatisfied with the fact that the position of prince was taken away, and Princess Taiping was on the sidelines. However, Princess Taiping underestimated Li Dan and Li Chengqi, li Chengqi really did not intend to be the prince, and Li Dan was also very clear about this matter, so immediately the two of them knew who was the ghost. So Li Dante issued an edict, saying that Li Longji was the only prince, and he did not think of replacing the prince.
So why is Princess Taiping not a qualified conspirator? This is exactly the difference between Princess Taiping and her mother Wu Zetian, as a little sister-in-law, how could the emperor's sister provoke the relationship between father and son? The reason why Wu Zetian and Wei Hou were able to depose the prince at that time was because they were spoiled concubines and lovers, and Taiping was just a sister, and the difference between the clouds and mud in this, Taiping, did not understand it, and it was nothing more than a failure.