Image from the web
Exile is actually a technical job. In a general sense, the exiled are people who do not sin to death, and the rulers exile them to remote places to let them fend for themselves.
In the long history of our country, there are several very famous places of exile, such as the Sui and Tang Dynasties' Fangling and Qianzhong; the Song Dynasty's Cangzhou, Shamen Island and Hainan; the Qing Dynasty's Ningguta and Xinjiang. Among them, especially Fangling's exile specifications are the highest, basically all of them are imperial generals, in other words, only the emperors are eligible to be exiled to Fangling, what is the secret of this?
The feudal society advocated that "the prince breaks the law and the common people are guilty of the same crime", we just listen to it, and we should not be true. Even if you take this sentence to demand equality before the law, they will use the phrase "no doctor" to confront you. Especially in the Song Dynasty, in the family temple of the Zhao Emperor stood a stone stele engraved with the words "No Killing Scholars, Doctors and Those Who Write Words", as well as a number of "Danshu Iron Coupons" like Chai Jin, a number of family and noble systems, and the unfortunate people were still so small, even if they could struggle for their lives to reach the place of exile safely, they would also be hit by the inexplicable hundred killing sticks.
Speaking of which, the imperial generals who could be exiled to Fangling were not criminals, and the most trivial matters in the criminal matters allowed them to be punished and demoted, and if they participated in the rebellion, they would have been killed long ago and would not enjoy the treatment of being exiled. There is only one possibility, and this group of people should be the losers in the political struggle, in other words, a group of high-ranking political prisoners.
Why, then, did the ruling class choose Fangling as a place of exile for these emperors and generals?
This matter is more complicated to say, let me talk about it slowly.
Fangling, before the Western Zhou Dynasty, was known as the House State, and it is said that Emperor Yao's son Danzhu Shunshun came here and was sealed there as the House State. In fact, the so-called Danzhu abdication and Yu Shun were made up by The Confucians, the essence of which was that Danzhu was defeated by Yu Shun when he was fighting for the right to inherit and exiled to Fangling. Otherwise, who wouldn't want to stay in the good place of Pingyang (Yaodu Pingyang) in Shanxi and run to Fangling?
Di Yao's son was not called Danzhu, but Zhu, because Fangling was close to Danshui, so he called Zhu Danzhu. In this way, the house country was established by Danzhu and stood the test of history, and Danju became the first emperor and general to be exiled to Fangling. As for why Fangling got such a name, it is because the place is named after "thousands of miles, mountains and forests, its solid and high tombs, and if there are houses". Having chosen such a place, it is not so easy for the exiled to run out, as long as it is to control a few main roads out of the mountain.
Although the Fangling area is relatively backward compared with the Central Plains, it also has geographical advantages, that is, it is relatively close to the capitals of the Qin and Han Dynasties, Chang'an and Luoyang, which is convenient for nearby control. This is because, after all, these people are the losers of the political struggle, not criminal offenders, and although these people have failed, there are still many supporters and sympathizers in the DPRK. Since you can't kill them all, you must put them under your own eyes and watch them.
From the perspective of the geographical situation, although Fangling is located in a mountainous area and is easily blocked by the outside world, if you look at it from another perspective, Fangling also has its advantages. Fangling can go east to Xiangyang, then north to Luoyang, west along the Han River to Hanzhong, and then to Chang'an. The distance between these two routes from Chang'an and Luoyang was more than 800 miles, which was most suitable for the Sui and Tang Dynasties (Zhou) who had established their states in Chang'an and Luoyang. This is also the reason why the Sui and Tang dynasties were exiled to Fangling with the most emperors.
In addition, if the exile land is selected in places that have just been developed in Hainan, the Emperor of Heaven is far away and it is easy to get out of control. The Fangling area is close to the Han River, the land is fertile, and it is exiled here, and life is worry-free. Compared with the miasma-ridden and snake-worm penal colonies in the south, this is also a preferential treatment of the rulers to the losers in political struggles. After all, they were not ordinary people, and as victors, they also hoped that these people could live well, especially during the period of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian, Li Zhong, Li Xian, and others who were exiled to Fangling were their sons.
Portrait of Tang Gaozong Picture from the Internet
In addition to Danzhu, the second famous figure in history to be exiled to Fangling was King Qian of Zhao. In 228 AD, the State of Zhao fell, and King Qian of Zhao was exiled to Fangling. Many sources say that during the reign of the Qin Dynasty, Concubine Yi's disciples and Lü Buwei were also exiled to Fangling. This statement is not rigorous. According to the "Records of History", these people were exiled to Shudi. The Shu land referred to in the "Records of History" should include the Yizhou Department of the Han Dynasty, and its scope includes the Fangling under the jurisdiction of the Hanzhong County of the Yizhou Department, and does not specifically refer to the Fangling, which is different from the Zhao Wangqian's explicit expulsion to Fangling.
Yang Yong, the prince of the Sui Dynasty, was also believed to have once exiled Fang Ling. However, this is a false statement. After Yang Yong was deposed, he did not exile Fangling, but was imprisoned in Chang'an. This is also recorded in the Book of Sui. After Yang Yong was deposed, he thought that he had been wronged, and repeatedly asked to see Emperor Wen of Sui, asking for a grievance in person, and after failing, he even climbed up a tree and shouted loudly in the hope that Emperor Wen of Sui could hear it. It can be seen from this that Yang Yong did not exile Fang Ling. Later generations believe that Yang Yong was exiled to Fangling be misled by the Sui Emperor's posthumous record of Yang Yong as the King of Fangling.
The most famous of the exiles was probably Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian, who was the first person in history to be exiled and then turned over after being salted. Li Xian, after fourteen years of exile, returned to the imperial court as emperor, which can be described as an outlier. This is also the product of the balance of Wu and Li that Wu Zetian wanted to complete in the later stage.
Wu Zetian's logic is to hope that the Li clan and the Wu clan will rule the world together, but the contradictions between the two families can never be reconciled, and in desperation, Wu Zetian has no choice but to choose the relatively gentle and weak Li Xian as the heir, hoping that Li Xian will be able to be merciful when he arrives and protect the Wu clan. Otherwise, the former emperors who lost in political battles basically had no way to live, and it would not be easy for Li Xian to be his prince in Fangling, let alone be restored.
Wu Zetian statue Picture from the internet