Li Ke, the King of Wu, was the son of Emperor Taizong of Tang and Concubine Yang, an excellent prince who, because of his ancestry to the imperial family of the previous dynasty, rubbed shoulders with the throne of the Tang Emperor. What's more, four years after Tang Taizong's death, because of the rebellion of Fang Yi'ai and Princess Gaoyang, the eldest son Wujie was accused of treason and killed Li Ke with the crime of rebellion. This prince, who was historically called "Yingguo-like me" by Tang Taizong, finally took a sad song as the final song of his life. So, did Li Ke, the King of Wu, really participate in this treason case?
The shallow chant of the millennium sang all the bittersweet and bittersweet and love-hate hatred of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Among the many princes and grandsons of the Tang Dynasty, there is no doubt that Li Ke, the King of Wu, was a very distressed prince. His life did not leave too many remarkable deeds in the history books, but in the sporadic historical records, future generations can still see the helpless life of a tragic prince. His life, from the moment he was born, was destined to end a tragic end. As the grandson of the Sui Emperor and the son of Emperor Taizong of Tang, the lineage of the Imperial Family not only did not make him rich and noble for a lifetime, but was deeply affected by it, and finally he was implicated in a conspiracy case, and died young, becoming the most tragic and sad prince in the annals of the three hundred years of the Tang Dynasty.
Looking through the history books, although there are not too many records of him, there is not a single word of contempt throughout the text, but more of a heartfelt praise for him. This is rare in Chinese history.
Li Ke the Prince of Wu was the third son of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, and his mother, Consort Yang, was the daughter of Emperor Sui. This prince, who had the blood of two generations of emperors, was deeply loved by Emperor Taizong. Emperor Taizong had high hopes for him. In the first month of the eleventh year of Zhenguan (637), Emperor Taizong changed Li Ke from the governor of Tanzhou to the governor of Anzhou (安州都督) (安州都督) (安州都督, in modern Anlu, Hubei). Before Li Ke went to office, Emperor Taizong wrote him a heartfelt letter in which Emperor Taizong told his son: "... Ruyi self-inspired, with the most new day, Fang Yuan's knees, and he is sad. If you want to leave ru treasures to play, you are afraid of being arrogant, so you admonish this word as a court reprimand. After leaving Chang'an, Li Ke did not understand his father's bitter heart. The freedom he suddenly gained made him begin to be debauched. In the days of Anju, in the midst of boredom, young and crazy, he fell madly in love with hunting. He went out hunting frequently, and on horseback, he wielded the equestrian skills that his father himself had taught him. On a hunting trip, he and his subordinates chased after their prey mercilessly, causing great losses to the crops of the people of Anzhou. He also works with his wet mother's son, Bossey (a way of gambling). This matter was given to Emperor Taizong by the chancellor, and Emperor Taizong was angry after he knew it, and how his son changed not long after he went out. Therefore, he immediately ordered Li Ke to be relieved of his official position, cut off three hundred households, and ordered him to return to Chang'an immediately.
The depth of love, the depth of responsibility, because of love for him, so there are higher requirements for him. Emperor Taizong's preference for him was undisguised. After Li Ke was dismissed from his post and returned to Beijing, Emperor Taizong also made a special conversation with Li Ke in a serious way: "The father loves his son, and the common feelings of people are not to be taught." If the Son is loyal and filial, he is good, and if he does not obey the temptation and forgets the law of etiquette, he will himself be tortured. Though the Father loves the Son, what will he do? ”
After returning to Chang'an, after this incident, Li Ke also had a better understanding of himself. He wasn't as clueless anymore. He knew how to be a corporal, and he knew what kind of courage he should have as the son of Emperor Taizong. Li Ke, who has slowly matured, finally knows how to improve himself. Not only was he as good at riding and shooting as his father, but he was always able to make his voice heard on some governing issues. Many times, when Emperor Taizong and the ministers discussed politics, the views he said always made the ministers nod their heads in acquiescence. At this time, my father, sitting on a high throne, always smiled slightly. The Old Book of Tang and the Biography of Emperor Taizong's Sons recorded Li as follows: "Sikong, Li Kemu, the governor of Anzhou, the king of Wu, and the daughter of the Sui Emperor. Ke also had a literary and martial talent, and Emperor Taizong often called him a kind of person. That is, the fame is very high, and it is very material..." The Zizhi Tongjian records the same as this, and comprehensively comments: "The sons of Emperor Taizong, King Ke of Wu and King Tai of Pu, all regarded themselves as the eldest grandsons with high eloquence, jealousy, alienation of fathers and sons, and jackals..."
In the struggle for the heir to the throne, Li Chengqian "snatched power" because he was preparing to murder Emperor Taizong, and Li Tai, the prince of Pu, also tried to seize the crown prince's throne. The brothers' secret struggle was finally revealed, one was deposed as a shuren, and the other was demoted to Yun County.
After the deposing of the crown prince Li Chengqian, Emperor Taizong hesitated repeatedly over the question of who to appoint as crown prince. Under the strong persuasion of the eldest son Wuji, Emperor Taizong chose his ninth son Li Zhi as crown prince. Later, Tang Taizong considered that Li Zhi was cowardly and feared that he would not be able to provoke the Tang Dynasty, and once again proposed to the eldest son Wuji that he wanted to make his third son Li Ke the Prince of Wu the Crown Prince. However, Emperor Taizong's proposal was fiercely opposed by the eldest son Wujie. Emperor Taizong even said to eldest son Wujie, somewhat angrily, "Are you opposing Li Ke because he is not your nephew?" And the eldest grandson Wuji did not have too many other rebuttal words, but repeatedly said: "The King of Jin is benevolent, the good lord of shouwen; the vice chancellor is the most important, how can it be counted and easy?" May Your Majesty ponder it. "Regarding the establishment of Li Ke as the crown prince, since then, it has never been mentioned again.
After Emperor Taizong's death, before his death, he entrusted the heavy responsibility of assisting Li Zhi to the eldest grandson Wu Ji and Chu Suiliang. With the full assistance of his uncle Changsun Wuji, Li Zhi, the King of Jin, successfully ascended to the emperor's throne, that is, Emperor Gaozong of Tang. Li Zhi did not have much outside heart for the other brothers of the royal family. However, his uncle, Eldest Sun Wuji, was not a fuel-saving lamp. At the beginning, the hardships he had paid to seize the world with Emperor Taizong at Xuanwu Gate made him very aware of the fate of losing power.
As a result, a killing of the royal family began to brew in the heart of the eldest grandson. As far as the eldest grandson was concerned, this weak nephew really needed his tough help. Before Emperor Taizong's death, he felt that he had a responsibility to protect the Tang Dynasty for this ignorant nephew. Among all those who might pose a threat to Li Zhi's rule, Princess Gaoyang and the like were dismissive by the eldest grandson. There was only one person who, whenever he thought about it, would toss and turn. This person was Li Ke, the King of Wu.
The opportunity finally came. At the end of the third year of Yonghui (652), Princess Gaoyang and Fang Yi'ai plotted to rebel, but this farce-like rebellion was exposed by Fang Yi'ai's brother Fang Yizhi. When the interrogation of Fang's will, the eldest grandson personally tried it. He repeatedly guided Fang's beloved. Finally, under the guidance of the eldest grandson Wujie, Fang Yi'ai wrote the testimony that Li Ke, the king of Wu, was also involved in the rebellion. When he got the testimony written by Fang Yi'ai, the nightmare that the eldest grandson had had for many years was finally coming to an end. Suddenly, he was a little overjoyed.
On the second day of the first month of February in the fourth year of Yonghui (653 CE), Li Ke was killed by Emperor Gaozong in Chang'an at the age of thirty-four. His only handle is to "live very closely" with his sister, Princess Gaoyang, Fang's beloved wife. How far-fetched is the reason for this destruction.
Of course, the eldest grandson could not accept that anyone posed a threat to the rule of his own nephew, even if such a threat was potential. Therefore, with only one reason, he and his sister were "too close", and Li Ke, the king of Wu, was condemned for his crime.
In fact, the "excessive obedience" between King Wu and Gao Yang had nothing to do with politics. Among the many brothers and sisters of the royal family, Li Ke only truly loved his little sister. They admire each other's beauty, heroism and charm that others can't match, so they are heart-to-heart, and when they meet, they always have endless words. According to Ayuno Shi, when Li Ke and Princess Gaoyang were young, they had an unspeakable relationship. He and she admired each other's literary talents and appearances, but they were brother and sister, and the fact that they were connected by blood made it impossible for them to cross the two little guesses of their youth, and made them closer than other brothers and sisters from an early age. In fact, among the many sons and daughters of the royal family, it is beyond reproach which brother and sister are better. However, when fighting for the sake of consolidating power, those who do not have power are doomed to make sacrifices for power. Li Ke's life ended in a stunned way, and even later history books commented that his unjust death was "absolutely hopeless" for the world. If a person's death can be the hope of the world, and can make the people of the world feel sorry for it, then, his excellence, the people's hearts he has gained, we can't imagine!
As the son of Emperor Taizong and Concubine Yang, Li Ke was low-key from an early age. Because of his special life, his mother warned him not to be too public from an early age. I don't know how Li Ke knew his origins. Perhaps when he was young, he always wondered why his brothers had always sneered at him, and the ministers always looked at him with a cold and hostile look in their eyes. Then one day, when his mother thought that he was capable of bearing or had to bear the grievances of the previous generation, she withdrew all the leisurely palace lamps, so that his palace daughter, who was beside his mother, was ready to come to her son one by one, and temporarily felt a little warmth. The dim lights swayed two lonely shadows, and Concubine Yang spoke to her son. She spoke from Emperor Wen's great deeds in founding the country to Emperor Jue's tyranny and ruthlessness, and from the people's hearts of the soldiers in Jinyang to the blood of Xuanwumen. She elaborated on the root cause of all the unfair treatment of her son, that is, he had the blood of two generations of emperors flowing through his body. "It's already doomed and can't be changed." Concubine Yang let out a long sigh and finished her last sentence. Since her son remembered, she has been instilling a kind of thought in her son, don't be too sharp, don't show off her personality too much, don't pursue too much power and settle down, perhaps, so that you can retreat. After listening to the mother's narration, perhaps, Ke's eyes, already, were filled with tears. I don't know how I feel when I know all this. Perhaps, he would painfully ask God", "Why." Or maybe he would smile and squeeze his mother's hand and say softly to his mother, "I get it." Then came the long silence. He finally understood, from childhood to adulthood, why his brothers always felt a little strange when they looked at him. And the gaze of the ministers who had laid the ground with his father always made him feel like a needle in a haystack. The son was too good, and Princess Yang was deeply proud, but she also had deep concerns. The brutality of the power struggle at the court has never changed with the change of dynasties. She went from the Sui Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty and saw too many bloody facts. She even asked Emperor Taizong to send his son to the distant state of Wu in order to avoid disputes in the imperial court. As a mother, she was reluctant to fight for anything for her son, and that was the only thing she could do. As long as her son can live his life safely, she is willing to give up his company. No one knows how much mother and son miss each other after separation.
King Wu, who was so arrogant and arrogant, wanted to show his ability to govern the country so much, but only because of this immutable blood relationship, he could only carefully hide his wounds and spend the rest of his life in the tranquility of the water towns of Jiangnan.
However, no matter how much he does not compete with power, he still cannot get rid of the fate brought about by his life. He had always wanted to avoid getting caught up in the power vortex in Chang'an City, but in the end, he still couldn't get rid of the whims of fate.
When Li Ke was in the deep courtyard of Jiangnan, facing the forbidden army that suddenly broke in, how flustered and how calm was he? In fact, he knew that there would be such a day. Then, dressed in full clothes, he returned to Chang'an in awe to accept his trial for "false accusations."
His father had died a few years earlier, and together with his mother, who was a former princess, he could only be used as fish and meat to be slaughtered. No one can protect them anymore! Li Ke never had a hint of antipathy in his heart, and he even wanted to end his life in the water town of Jiangnan in the childish fun of "fish playing lotus leaf east, fish playing lotus leaf west". However, as the son of the emperor, and a very good son, a grandson of a former emperor, he could not control his fate!
In the end, he was unjustly re-seated in the rebellion case of Fang Yi'ai and Princess Gaoyang. In fact, without Princess Gaoyang, the eldest grandson Wujie would also clean up Li Ke, the King of Wu, because he was too outstanding, "heroic and talented", courageous and resolute, most like Li Shimin, who gathered the heroism of two generations of emperors. Of all the sons of Emperor Taizong, he also had the most imperial appearance.
If he was the concubine of Empress Changsun, no one could shake his position as heir, but unfortunately, his mother was the daughter of the Sui Emperor, and even if he could become the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty as a concubine, the founding heroes of the Tang Dynasty did not want to see that the Jiangshan they had so hard to lay down would be inherited by a prince with the blood of the Sui Emperor. If he were as mediocre as Emperor Taizong's other sons, perhaps he could die a good death and be content with Yanyu Jiangnan as his first King of Wu. However, "what the emperor and his relatives hope for, what China and foreign countries want", fame is like him, excellent as him, it is also destined that he will take the song of sorrow as the final song of his life.
Perhaps, as a son of an emperor, as a grandson of a former emperor, dying to him is a relief. From then on, he could no longer be contradictory, no longer suffering from the suffering of his own life.
In the face of Li Ke's tragic life, posterity can only sigh and regret, and helplessly break his heart for his life because of his fall.
In fact, Li Ke's sadness is not that he has two generations of imperial blood, it is just an excuse to give up his choice. The root cause lies in the decades of corruption and stubbornness of the feudal dynasty, obeying feudal etiquette and establishing a prince in order to establish a prince, which is also a political balance. Although at that time, it may have been a wise choice to establish Li Ke or not to establish Li Ke, it was the biggest regret in history. Unfortunately, there is only one throne, but there is a group of brothers, and he is only a son-in-law.
Unfortunately, history cannot be repeated, and future generations can only use the "Death of the Tang Dynasty" to feel Li Ge's retreat and unjust death!
As for her sister Princess Gaoyang, no matter how she acted recklessly and how frustrated she was, Li Ke, the King of Wu, did not deliberately alienate her. When the court pronounced his guilt, he knew best that such a tragedy was doomed from his birth. He didn't have any complaints, they were all children who were favored by Emperor Taizong, and they couldn't get rid of the fate brought about by their own lives. Before King Wu was about to be executed, he issued his curse: "There is a spirit in the society, and there is no taboo and the clan is destroyed!" I wonder if there was a hint of palpitations when the eldest grandson heard this curse?
In the sixth year of Yonghui (655), Emperor Gaozong of Tang disregarded the death of his ministers, deposed Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu, and made Wu Zetian empress. In the Lihou Incident, Changsun Wuji resolutely opposed Emperor Gaozong's establishment of Wu Zetian as empress. In the fourth year of Xianqing (659), at the behest of Wu Zetian, Xu Jingzong took great pains to weave the eldest son Wujie into a case of friends and viciously framed him. Li Zhi, the nephew of the eldest son Wuji, who had done his best to assist, was first surprised and disbelieving, then sad and suspicious, and he ordered Xu Jingzong to review it again. Then, in the face of Xu Jingzongzu's confession about the eldest son's unscrupulous rebellion before he left the house, he wept: "Uncle Ruoguoer, you will never bear to kill him, the world will be said to be a degenerate, and the future generations will be called a degenerate!" Emperor Gaozong stripped changsun of his official position and fiefdom and exiled to Qianzhou, but allowed him to provide food and drink according to yipin officials, which was considered to be a care for his uncle and a reward for his struggle for the throne for himself. The eldest son and clan were all linked, exiled, or killed. Three months later, Emperor Gaozong ordered Xu Jingzong and others to review the case, and Xu Jingzong sent people to Qianzhou (黔州, in modern Guizhou) to force his eldest son Wuji to commit suicide.
The repetition of history is so strikingly similar. Under the trap of Wu Zetian, the eldest grandson family embarked on the same path of bleakness. This is the cyclical rate of history, and in the long years of feudal society, the law of "its rise and fall is also unexpected". Sadly, the future generations of emperors and grandsons have never been able to remember the experiences and lessons written by their predecessors. After King Wu died, heavy snow fell in the cold sky, and then, the snow like goose feathers covered everything!
History is such a logic, becoming a king and losing is a curse. Things change stars, and Qingshi will leave a mark. Li Kesheng was not in time, and his bloodline and strange life were doomed to have no fate with the emperor's throne.
I have to admit that history is like a beautiful jade hidden in a boulder, no one knows if it is broken, but everything has long been doomed, and you can't hide from it, and you can't fight for it.
He was willing to receive all this, because reincarnation was already predestined.