Li Longji (Tang Xuanzong)

Tang Xuanzong Li Longji (September 8, 685 – May 3, 762) was born in Luoyang, the capital of the gods, in 685 AD and reigned from 712 to 756. The longest-reigning emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the third son of Tang Ruizong, and his mother Concubine Dou De. The temple name "Xuanzong", and because of its nickname is "Emperor Ming Xiao", it is also called Emperor Tang Ming. In order to avoid the name of Emperor Kangxi "Xuanye", the Qing Dynasty mostly called him Emperor Tang Ming, and also had the honorific title "Kaiyuan Shengwen Shenwu Emperor".

Born in Luoyang, the capital of the gods, he is wise and decisive, versatile, knows the rhythm of music, is good at calligraphy, and has a majestic and handsome appearance.

In the first year of Tang Long (710), in June Gengzi Rishen, Li Longji and Princess Taiping joined forces to launch the "Tang Long Coup" to kill Empress Wei. In 712, Li Danchan was located in Li Longji, and later gave the death of Princess Taiping, and obtained the supreme rule of the country. In the early stage, he paid attention to setting things right, appointing Yao Chong, Song Jing and other virtuous ministers, and making great efforts, his Kaiyuan prosperous era was the extremely prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, and he favored Yang Guifei in the later period of his reign, neglected the government, and favored the traitorous ministers Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong, etc., plus policy mistakes and reuse An Lushan and other foreign ethnic groups to try to stabilize the frontier of the Tang Dynasty, which led to the eight-year Anshi Rebellion, laying the groundwork for the decline of the Tang Dynasty. In 756, Li Heng ascended the throne and honored him as the emperor. He died of illness in 762 and was buried in Tailing.

Chinese name: Li Longji

Alias: Li Sanlang, Tang Minghuang

Nationality: Tang Dynasty

Nationality: Han nationality

Place of birth: Luoyang, the capital of the gods

Date of birth: September 8, 685 (Yi You).

Date of death: May 3, 762 (Renyin year).

Profession: Emperor, politician, musician

Faith: Taoism

Main achievements: to create a prosperous era of Kaiyuan

Representative works: "Tang Xuanzong Imperial Note on the Tao Te Ching", "Ni Dress and Feather Song"

Nickname: Emperor Ming Xiao, the Great Sage of the Dao

Temple number: Xuanzong

Reigned: 8 September 712 – 12 August 756

Age: 78 years old

Era name: Xiantian, Kaiyuan, Tianbao

Mausoleum: Tang Tailing

prince

Recalling the heyday of the Kaiyuan Dynasty in the past, Xiaoyi still hides thousands of rooms. The rice is fat and the corn is white, and the public and private warehouses are abundant. There are no jackals on the roads of Kyushu, and the sun rises far away. Qi Su Lu is in the car class, and the male ploughing and the female mulberry are not lost.

This poem was written by the great poet Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty (note: this poem is one of the first of the two poems of "Memories of the Past"), which describes the prosperous scene of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, with a large population and rich government and people. There is no excellent business travel, and there is plenty of food and clothing. Such a scene seems to us to be very common, but in ancient China it was indeed precious, so the great poet after the baptism of war. I still can't help but proudly express my infinite memories and fascination for the Tang Dynasty when recalling the past.

Although there are different opinions on Li Longji, the founder of the prosperous era of Kaiyuan, it is undeniable that his rise has risen to a peak at a rapid pace. After wandering for a long time, he finally fell from the peak, and the force and speed of the fall were unimaginable. Looking at his appearance in history, it seems that they are two completely different people, and this contrast is disorienting, so I think that when Li Longji is thinking back on this life, he should have a little bitterness in his remorse! But remorse is good. Bitter or not, he couldn't do anything after all, before dying, he returned to the Chang'an he was familiar with, the beautiful scenery of the Hibiscus Garden, the oath of the Palace of Eternal Life, and the beautiful shadow of the north of the Agarwood Pavilion had all disappeared, and he, a lonely old man. The former Supreme had to wait for the end of his life here and come slowly......

In the past, Li Longji was so high-spirited. It was the first year of Kaiyuan (713 AD), Li Longji had just defeated his aunt Princess Taiping and forced her to commit suicide at home, and the real power, the entire Tang Empire, was really in his hands. At his feet. At this time, he was like Zhou Lang who won the Battle of Chibi, and he really had a lupine scarf to talk and laugh, and he was forced to fly into ashes; But Li Longji was not complacent at this time, only he knew how difficult it was to get this qiē, he would never forget, his mother, one day by his grandmother, that is, the emperor of the Southern Zhou Dynasty at that time, called to the palace, and never came back, that year, he was nine years old, and he was sensible, he ran to ask his father, where did his mother go, but his father covered his mouth in horror and told him not to ask, and even your nickname was gone, he has never been able to forget his father's frightened eyes, from that day on, He knew that only by holding absolute power could he control his own destiny, and he began to change himself and no longer be as outspoken as he was when he was a child, because he knew that only in this way could he protect himself and his family. Grandmother undoubtedly likes him, but as long as someone affects her emperor's throne, she is ruthless, and she no longer needs to be reminded of this.

(Note 2) Li Longji was smart and assertive when he was young. When he was seven years old, his father had just retired from the position of emperor and changed his name to Wudan, and his grandmother became the emperor. How dare you reprimand my knight guard like this! It made Wu Yizong look at this kid dumbfounded. After Wu Zetian learned about it, not only did he not blame Li Longji, but he liked this young grandson with high ambition and was deeply impressed.

But forbearance is not enough, although Li Longji's father is not the emperor, but he is still the emperor's heir, and the people of the martial family still do everything possible to frame him, so someone sued Wu Zetian that his emperor Wu Dan (Li Dan) conspired to restore the throne!

Wu Zetian was furious, Wu Dan is her son, the most beloved youngest son, and the most obedient son, the other sons, the eldest and the second were forced to death because of disobedience (note), the third Li Xian was imprisoned in Fangzhou, only the youngest son was by his side, he has always been very obedient, this time he wanted to return her, he must have been instigated by those who wanted to seek the restoration of the Tang Dynasty, this time I must kill and let these people die of this heart.

Wu Zetian thought like this, and decided to find the most famous cool official at that time to Junchen to investigate his imperial heir Wu Dan's left and right attendants, the news reached the palace, everyone felt that the end was coming, to Junchen means, they had heard too much, that was really begging for death, under his poison, death, may be a kind of happiness!

Lai Junchen was excited, this is a big case. Hundreds or even thousands of people will be implicated in the review, as for the evidence? As long as I come to Junchen and say yes, then there will definitely be, and everyone is afraid of punishment. Under the torture, even if someone admits that he killed his parents and brothers, he has to recruit him, so as soon as this case comes, it is a good opportunity for me to show my skills.

Lai Junchen brought the emperor's left and right attendants to the court for interrogation. Sure enough, the name of the first cool official of the Great Zhou Dynasty is not fake, and he doesn't use torture much, just seeing those torture tools, some people think that they are helping the emperor's heir contact foreign officials, and some people are contacting the army. If you say this, it will hurt the emperor's heir, and it will hurt you......"

When Lai Junchen saw that a little musician dared to disturb the trial, he shouted, "Little musician, dare to talk nonsense here and disturb the trial, come here, drag him down."

The subordinates saw that the boss had spoken. Hurriedly dragged the musician away, but at this time, the musician took out a short knife from his arms and shouted, "Since you don't believe my An Jinzang's words." I will be here today to prove the innocence of the emperor's heir," and after speaking, he picked up his saber and slashed at his stomach, and when he landed, the blood gushed like a spring, and his intestines were seen, and the people around him were shocked, and no one made any sound. At this time, I heard an old and majestic voice outside, saying. "Hurry up and carry him to the nearest palace, and immediately send the imperial doctor", it was Wu Zetian who arrived.

After being rescued by the imperial doctor, after passing out for a day and a night, An Jinzang woke up, sitting in front of his bed was the emperor of the dynasty, he was busy trying to get up, but he couldn't do it, Wu Zetian stopped, and asked, "An Jinzang, why are you doing this", An Jinzang's body was extremely weak, but he still reluctantly said, "Your Majesty, the emperor's heir is loyal, every day can be expressed, the attendants are afraid of punishment and self-accusation, if I don't confess my abdomen, not only will the emperor's heir suffer a catastrophe, but Your Majesty will inevitably have a heartfelt regret in the future, for Your Majesty, for the emperor's heir, I have to be like this" Wu Zetian heard this, and said with emotion, "I believe in my son, I can't compare to you," so he ordered not to be investigated, and Li Dan escaped the catastrophe because of this.

After Li Longji's family went through these tribulations, his personality changed somewhat. He was originally cheerful and lively, but he became a little deeper, although he still likes to be sensual and like to call friends, but at this time he has begun to learn the city, and he has learned that joy and anger are invisible.

In the third year of Shenlong (707 AD), Li Longji was sent to Luzhou (today's Changzhi City, Shanxi) as a farewell, when he was 23 years old. At that time, people thought that Chang'an was a first-class city, and the release was like a downgrade of status, not to mention, Li Longji was originally a fourth-grade official in the capital, and he went to Luzhou to be a fifth-grade official, and he was naturally even more unhappy when he was demoted by one level, so before leaving, Li Longji and a group of friends in his capital drank bitterly for a few days, and then went on the road sullenly.

Li Longji has a good attitude to adapt to the new life in Luzhou. But he found that it was not what he imagined, in fact, it was much better than he imagined. First of all, he has received great attention here, although he was also a prince in Chang'an City in the past, but there are many kings and grandsons in Chang'an City, he can only be regarded as one of the stars, but in this small Luzhou, he can be regarded as the only and brightest star. Even his boss, Luzhou Thorn History, was polite to him, and he didn't dare to have a boss's shelf; Secondly, when he was in Chang'an, although everyone was friendly with him on the surface, in fact, in the early days, because the martial artists wanted to take the position of Li Dan's heir, they often resorted to some slanderous moves, and Li Longji's family has been living in fear. Later, Zhang Cambodia and others finally launched a mutiny and supported Zhongzong Li Xian to the throne, and because Empress Wei/Wu Sansi and others rejected the prime minister Li Dan, many people in the court did not dare to get too close to his family, so as not to be implicated "when something happens", so Li Longji was full of depression when he was in Chang'an, and now when he arrives in Luzhou, it is like a bird out of the cage, the sea and the sky, and it is not too fast!

In Luzhou, Li Longji once again showed his nature of liking to make friends and being hospitable. He often invited his friends to the backyard of his residence in Luzhou to drink and chat. Luzhou is not far from Taiyuan, the land of Li Yuan/Li Shimin's Longxing, and Li Long is most interested in talking about the deeds of Taizong Li Shimin, and sometimes he will sing the great wind song of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, generously after drinking. "The wind is blowing and the clouds are flying, Weijia is returning to his hometown in the sea, and the warriors are guarding the Quartet!". There are many people of insight in the local heroes of Luzhou who think that Li Longji is extraordinary, and at that time, when Wei was in power, often when Zhongzong was listening to the government in the court, Empress Wei actually intervened behind the curtain, everyone wanted to know what Li Longji thought about this, and they didn't want Li Longji to just smile slightly, and often changed the topic and avoided answering.

On the surface, Li Longji was reluctant to talk about current affairs, but in fact he knew everything about the affairs of the imperial court, and he had many friends in Beijing, although many of them were only middle- and lower-level officials, but these people were well-informed and could report the affairs of the imperial court to him at any time. They all think that Li Longji is just diving now, and he will definitely fly for nine days in the future, and he has such a charm. In Luzhou, Li Longji was not idle, in view of the previous example of An Jinzang, Li Longji was determined to cultivate a soldier in Luzhou who could faithfully repay his death in the future, so he also paid special attention to whether there was such a talent on weekdays. Coincidentally, he found two, and these two really lived up to his hopes, and they became the backbone of Li Longji's battle with political enemies in the future. Speaking of the origin of these two people is also quite peculiar, one of them is a Goguryeo (Tang Dynasty Goguryeo on both sides of the Yalu River, Changbai Mountain and other places, the famous general Gao Xianzhi is also a Goguryeo), called Wang Maozhong, his father was a minor official in the Tang Dynasty, and later had an accident, the family property was confiscated by the government, and Wang Maozhong also became a slave of the government, and he was exiled to Luzhou Yamen. Wang Maozhong was born smart and clever, and he was good at observing faces, and he had been in many places, so he knew a lot about the customs and customs of various places. In addition, Wang Maozhong's father was originally a military attaché, so he was a martial artist since elementary school, brave and good at riding and shooting. Li Longji chatted with this young man a few times in the yamen, and he liked him very much, so he ransomed him out of the yamen and became his entourage, and he was by his side when he went in and out. Another named Li Yide, who was also someone else's slave, Li Long took a fancy to his martial arts, ransomed him, and took him with him, just like that, Li Longji established a small team in Luzhou and had his own people.

Li Longji stayed in Luzhou for three years, in addition to making friends with heroes, he also knew beauties, he met a girl surnamed Zhao, who was born as a singing and dancing girl, he put her in his good friend, the then county magistrate Zhang's house, and gave birth to a child (that is, the later prince Li Ying), it can be said that Li Longji's small life in Luzhou is very nourishing, which makes him almost a little happy. But the comfortable days were always short-lived, because the emperor ordered the prince who held a local official position outside to return to the palace, so Li Longji, the king of Linzi, returned to Chang'an with his team (including Wang Mao Zhong and Li Yide). (To be continued.) )