□ Legal culture
□ Yin Xiaohu (Institute of Law, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)
After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty formed a situation in which the feudal towns were divided. The local governments controlled the military, finances, and judicial power of the localities, and the power of the imperial court was weakened day by day. After Tang Xianzong Li Chun ascended the throne, in order to change this situation, he began a war to curb the expansion of the power of the clan town. However, the local clan town brazenly confronted each other by force, and there was a sensational assassination of Wu Yuanheng, the current prime minister. This case prompted Tang Xianzong to make up his mind to completely solve some powerful forces, and eventually brought the murderers to justice, maintaining the authority of the central government and creating a situation of "Yuan and Center".
The direct cause of the assassination of Prime Minister Wu Yuanheng was the rebellion of Wu Yuanji in Huaixi. After Emperor Xianzong of Tang ascended the throne, he successively quelled the rebellion of Liu Pei, Xia Suiyin, Yang Huilin, and Zhenhai, and regained the qiang domain Wei Bo due to the submission of Tian Xing (later renamed Tian Hongzheng). Under such circumstances, some powerful clans, forced by the power of the imperial court, also expressed their willingness to submit. So Tang Xianzong aimed his next target at Huaixi, which had always rebelled against the imperial court.
In the ninth year of Yuan He (814), Wu Shaoyang fell ill and died of illness, and his son Wu Yuanji took charge of his own affairs in an attempt to continue to divide the side. The imperial court sent emissaries to pay homage to Wu Shaoyang, and Wu Yuanji not only refused to welcome the emissaries, but also sent soldiers to plunder everywhere, and even approached the eastern capital Luoyang. Under these circumstances, Tang Xianzong decided to send troops to pacify Huaixi. Wu Yuanji asked Wang Chengzong, the envoy of Chengde Jiedu, and Li Shidao, the envoy of Pinglu Ziqing Jiedu, for help. Based on their own interests, Wang Chengzong and Li Shidao demanded pardon for Wu Yuanji, but Tang Xianzong categorically refused. In order to counteract Wu Yuanji, Li Shidao sent assassins to burn the food and grass of the Tang army, and recruited the goons in Luoyang to kill people, set fires, and harass the localities; Wang Chengzong directly wrote a letter to slander Wu Yuanheng, the prime minister responsible for the use of troops against Huaixi. At this time, Li Shidao's staff suggested to him that assassins be sent to assassinate Wu Yuanheng: "The Son of Heaven is so determined to curse Cai, (Wu) Yuanheng praises it, please secretly assassinate him." When Yuan Heng died, he did not dare to master his plot and persuaded Tianzi to strike the army. Li Shidao thought it was reasonable and really sent out assassins.
In the early morning of June 3, 815, Wu Yuanheng went out to the court, and the assassins who were ambushed in the shadows shot arrows at him, and the retinue fled in fright, and the assassins took the opportunity to kill Wu Yuanheng and take his head. He then went to attack another warrior, Yushi Zhongpeidu. Fortunately, Peidu's hat was thick, so the assassin only cut his head. After the Assassins committed their attacks, they also left threatening notes in Jingo Province (Forbidden Army Yamen) and in Chang'an Province and county yamen: "Don't rush to arrest me, I will kill Ru first." ”
After the murder, public opinion was in an uproar. Xu Mengrong, a soldier's attendant, said to Tang Xianzong: "Since ancient times, there has not been a prime minister who has crossed the corner of the road and has not been able to steal it, and the humiliation of this imperial court is also!" Tang Xianzong was also extremely angry, and ordered an all-out search and arrest, and those who received thieves were rewarded with money and five products; those who dared to hide were punished by the clan. Therefore, a large-scale search was carried out in the capital Chang'an, "The Gongqing's family has a compound wall and a heavy bridge." ”
Because Chengde Jiedu made Wang Chengzong intercede on behalf of Wu Yuanji and also slandered and threatened Wu Yuanheng, he was very suspicious; it just so happened that his soldier Zhang Yan and others in the Chang'an mansion behaved abnormally, and the Shence general Wang Shi accused the imperial court that Wang Chengzong had sent Zhang Yan and others to assassinate Wu Yuanheng, so he arrested Zhang Yan and others and handed them over to Jing Zhaoyin and Yushi for interrogation. Under severe interrogation, Zhang Yan and others confessed to the crime of assassinating Wu Yuanheng. However, Prime Minister Zhang Hongjing believed that the facts of the case were doubtful and suggested further investigation. However, Tang Xianzong did not listen, ordered Zhang Yan and others to be executed, and ordered a crusade against Wang Chengzong. The Assassins sent by Li Shidao took the opportunity to escape.
At this time, Lü Yuanbing, who was in charge of hearing the Luoyang riot case, made a major discovery, and the criminal confessed that the assassin was sent by Li Shidao. Lü Yuanyi immediately reported to Tang Xianzong, saying: "Recently, the town of Fanzhen has not been a subject, and there are people who can tolerate loans. As for (Li) Shi Dao's plot to slaughter the capital city and burn the palace, the rebellion is especially severe, and it must not be cursed. However, Tang Xianzong had already sent troops to recruit Wang Chengzong, and he did not want to make any more trouble, so he had no time to deal with Li Shidao.
Wu Yuanheng was stabbed and Pei Du was injured, causing panic in the psychology of the imperial court officials. It was suggested that Pei Du be deposed and that Wang Chengzong and Li Shidao be appeased. Tang Xianzong was furious and said, "If you dismiss (Pei) as an official, it is a treacherous plot, and the imperial court has no restoration of discipline." I use one person, enough to break two thieves. He also appointed Pei Du as chancellor to preside over the war against Huaixi, and Pei Du also believed: "Huaixi, the disease of the heart, has to be eliminated." And the imperial court has already discussed it, and those who are in the town of Lianghe Domain will regard this as superior and inferior, and cannot be stopped. ”
However, the war against Wu Yuanji was fought for nearly three years, with victories and defeats, and the progress was not great, so some ministers suggested a truce. However, Tang Xianzong disagreed, insisted on carrying the war through to the end, and appointed Li Yu as Tang Deng Jiedushi's envoy to participate in the war against Wu Yuanji. At the same time, Pei Du was also appointed as the prime minister to supervise the huaixi front. In the winter of the twelfth year of Yuan He (817), Li Yu led an army to raid Cai Prefecture on the snowy night, and Wu Yuanji was caught off guard, defeated and captured, and escorted to Chang'an to be beheaded.
Huaixi was pacified, which greatly shocked Wang Chengzong and Li Shidao. Although the previous crusade against Wang Chengzong was not smooth, after Wu Yuanji was captured, Wang Chengzong asked Wei Bojie to make Tian Hongzheng plead with the imperial court, expressing his willingness to submit to the imperial court, "lose taxes, please officials", and Tang Xianzong also agreed to it. At first, Li Shidao also expressed his willingness to submit, but later repented. Therefore, Tang Xianzong launched another war against Li Shidao in the thirteenth year of Yuan He (818). As a result, under the siege of the army, Li Shidao's subordinate Liu Wu killed him and surrendered to the imperial court.
During the search for Li Shidao's documents, rewards were found for the assassin Wang Shiyuan, who assassinated Wu Yuanheng, and the officials of Tongguan and other places who were bribed to let Wang Shiyuan go. Tian Hongzheng handed over Wang Shiyuan, including 16 people suspected of assassinating Wu Yuanheng, to the imperial court for interrogation by Jingzhaofu and Yushitai. During the interrogation, it was learned that both Wang Chengzong and Li Shidao had sent assassins, but Zhang Yan and others sent by Wang Chengzong arrived first and killed Wu Yuanheng; and when Wang Shiyuan and the others arrived, Wu Yuanheng was dead, so they lied that they had killed Wu Yuanheng and went back to ask Li Shidao for merit. In view of the fact that several feudal towns had been pacified, Tang Xianzong did not want to investigate further, and ordered Wang Shiyuan and others to be executed, ending the case.
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