Li Heng, the third day of the ninth month of the second year of Jingyun of Tang Ruizong (711), was born in the East Palace of the crown prince Li Longji. His mother, Yang Guifei (under the Empress of the Tang Dynasty, there were noble concubines, noble concubines, noble people, etc. After her son ascended the throne, she was posthumously given the nickname "Empress Yuanxian"), who was born in the famous family of the Guanlong region - Hongnong Yang (the county is in present-day Lingbao, Henan, and the blood belongs to the royal family of the Sui Dynasty). Yang's great-grandfather, Yang Shida, served as the prime minister of the Sui Dynasty (Menxia Province Nayan), and Wu Zetian's biological mother was Yang Shida's daughter. Therefore, if the maternal bloodline is counted, Li Heng's mother Yang is a generation higher than his father Li Longji! Fortunately, this is in the Tang Dynasty, which has an open atmosphere, and it is not surprising that marriages between different generations are not surprising.

After Li Heng was born, he was not able to live with his biological mother Yang. Because, the Yang family was only the concubine of the crown prince (Li Longji at that time), and the crown princess (wife) was the Wang family (who later became Li Longji's empress). In the hierarchical court, the status of the crown princess was of course much higher than that of other concubines. However, at this time, the Wang family has not given birth, and the Yang family "does not dare to enjoy the joy of being a mother alone", and in order to have a better development future for his son, he reluctantly sent his son to Wang's knees. Fortunately, the Wang family took care of Li Heng in every way when he was a child, treated him like his own son, and enlightened and cultivated him in the early days.

He was originally called "Si Sheng", and later changed his name several times. There are as many as 5 "official names" (Li Sisheng, Li Jun, Li Yu, Li Shao, and Li Heng) that have been used successively, creating a record among ancient emperors. It was only in 744 that he was finally named "Li Heng". Since then, it has not changed, so it is customary to call him Li Heng. In other words, this prince, who has experienced ups and downs, finally had a stable name until he was 34 years old! Toss for the name of a prince. It's a one-of-a-kind! As the third son, Li Heng's mother's status is not high. Therefore, there are no good congenital conditions, and it is a great accident that he was later made the crown prince.

The first contender: Li Cong (also known as Li Sizhi, Li Tan)

His eldest brother Li Cong (?) - 752). The original name was Li Sizhi, and his biological mother was Concubine Liu Hua (Li Longji reformed the title of the harem during the Kaiyuan period, and set up 3 concubines: Concubine Hui, Concubine Li, and Concubine Hua). Since he has never entered his father's field of vision, the historical records of him are extremely brief, basically only his service history, and there are not many specific deeds. So little does we know about his abilities, conduct, etc. From the only historical data, we can infer that he was a modest person and had a good reputation. Probably due to a long absence from actual positions. So I didn't offend many people either. In 710, he was named the king of Xuchang by his grandfather Li Dan. In August 712, after his father ascended the throne, he was crowned King of Tan (tán). In 716, he was renamed King Qing and renamed Li Tan. In 733, he served as the Honorary Prince's Mentor (太子太子师) and changed his name to Li Cong. In 736, he was awarded the honorary leader of the state (Situ). Year 742. He is also the honorary chief executive of Taiyuan District (Taiyuan Mu). In May 752, Li Cong fell ill and died, and was posthumously named "Prince Jingde" by his father. After Li Heng ascended the throne, he posthumously named him "Emperor Fengtian".

Second contender: Li Ying (also known as Li Siqian, Li Hong)

Second brother Li Ying (706-737). Formerly known as Li Siqian, his biological mother was Concubine Zhao Lifei. Initially, his mother was more favored. Therefore, in his short 32-year life, the first half of his life seemed very smooth. September 710. He was named the king of Zhending. In August 712, he was crowned King Ying. The first month of the year 715. He was canonized as the crown prince. In 725, he changed his name to Li Hong (Li Longji was not too troublesome, and changed the names of his sons again and again, which was really boring). The sooner he is made a prince, the more he will become a thorn in the side of other concubines and brothers. There is always a time when a woman is old, and there is always a time when a concubine falls out of favor. When Li Ying's mother is increasingly estranged by Li Longji, his status in his father's heart will also deteriorate.

Third contender: Li Mao (also known as Li Qing)

Eighteenth brother Li Mao (?) —775), and his biological mother was Concubine Wu Hui. The young and beautiful Concubine Wu Hui was favored by Li Longji, and the status of the children she gave birth to for the emperor would naturally improve. Concubine Wu Hui gave birth to a total of 4 sons and 3 daughters for Li Longji: Li Yi, King of Xiamourning, Li Min, King of Huai, Princess Shangxian, King Li Mao, King of Sheng, Li Qi, Princess Xianyi, and Princess Taihua. With the consolidation of her position and the adulthood of her son, she began to deliberately win over important ministers in the court, and tried her best to make her son Li Mao (several children born to Concubine Wu Hui died young, so as the 18th son of the emperor, Li Mao, who is more prominent in appearance and ability, has become more and more noble) as the crown prince. When Li Mao was 7 years old, in the process of meeting her brother Yongwang Li Lan, her speech and demeanor were in line with etiquette, and her father on the side was very appreciative. In March 725, he was made King Shou. In 727, he became the titular military and political governor of the Chengdu region (the governor of Yizhou and the ambassador of Jiannan Jiedu). In 735, it was added the highest honor of civil officials (Kaifu Yi and Sansi).

The Ewang Li Yao (Li Longji's 5th son, biological mother Huangfu Deyi) and Guangwang Li Ju (Li Longji's 8th son, biological mother Liu Cairen), who are in a similar situation to Li Ying, are also feeling cold because of their mother's fall from grace. The common situation made them often complain and say things that were not very respectful to Concubine Wu Hui and her father. "The speaker has no intention, but the listener has the intention." "I'm not afraid of being stolen by thieves, I'm afraid of being remembered by thieves." These words were reported to the mother-in-law after being received by Yang Xun, the son-in-law of Concubine Wu Hui and the husband of Princess Xianyi. Concubine Wu Hui then reported these "undesirable trends" to Li Longji with salt and vinegar. Li Longji, who was furious, had the idea of changing the crown prince Li Ying at that time, but he gave up only under the resolute opposition of Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling.

But Concubine Wu Hui, who did not give up until she achieved her goal, still set a vicious trap to kill these people. In April 737, Concubine Wu Hui sent a false decree to summon the three brothers Li Ying, Li Yao, and Li Ju and Xue Ru (the eldest brother of the crown prince Li Ying) into the palace. He said that there were thieves in the palace, and told them to come to protect their father and emperor by dressing up neatly and carrying weapons. When these simple-minded four people entered the palace as agreed, Concubine Wu Hui urgently reported to Li Longji: "The three brothers of the prince have mutinied and have entered the palace. Li Longji, who has experienced many palace coups, was immediately rekindled with anger. He didn't have to think about it too much, so he immediately ordered the arrest of the four people. At the suggestion of Li Linfu. Li Ying, Li Yao, and Li Ju were all deposed as concubines, and Xue Ru was exiled. Then they were all given death. If you do too much injustice, you will kill yourself, Concubine Wu Hui is in the panic of worrying about the revenge of the unjust soul. also died in this year (after Li Heng ascended the throne, he rehabilitated Li Ying and restored his title of "crown prince", and stopped the sacrifice of Concubine Wu Hui, who was posthumously named "Empress Zhenshun" by his father). We don't understand, with Li Longji's wisdom, why didn't he conduct some slightly more detailed investigation into this incident before dealing with it? Just like that, I thoughtlessly killed 3 sons at once! Li Ying, who has been the crown prince for 22 years, why did she launch a "mutiny" with only a few people participating when her father's career was in full swing? This kind of scam that can be seen through at a glance can really fool the generation of male lord Li Longji? So. I'm afraid there are only two explanations: one is that he "would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let go of one" for such a thing as a palace coup; The second is that he doesn't want to investigate in detail at all, if that's the case, this father is too vicious! Because these three people died too unjustly, the people called them "Sanshu people", which was the "disaster of Sanshu" or "the disaster of Sanshu people" that had a great influence in the political history of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Heng was originally named the king of Shaanxi, and because of the queen Wang's upbringing, he received some special care, and he took many detours less than other brothers. The first month of 716. At the age of 6, Li Heng was awarded a series of honorary titles of military and political chief (Anxi Dadu Hu, pacification of the ambassadors of Hedong, Guannei, and Longyou). In fact, these places are all deputy stewards, and he is just "remote leader". You don't have to go to work (besides, what can a 6-year-old do). Since then, the Tang Dynasty began the practice of the kings receiving the envoys from afar. He has been more sensible since he was a child. As I get older, I am even more heroic. The history books say that he is "well-read and strong-remembered, and his writing is beautiful." It can be forgotten. "What's even more commendable is that he is also benevolent by nature. He had no great talent, nor did he have any sharp edge, and he never felt any threat (of course, these accounts are not necessarily entirely true, and there are some flattery to the emperor). In the early years of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, Li Heng was fortunate to study quietly in the palace under the guidance of He Zhizhang, Pan Su, Lu Xiang, Huang Fubin and other famous people, and his cultural knowledge and literacy improved rapidly. In 725, his adoptive mother, Empress Wang, died. In 727, Li Heng, a heroic 17-year-old boy and loyal king, lived in the "Ten Princes' Mansion" and was appointed to some honorary military and political positions (Shuofang Jiedu Ambassador, Shan Yu Dadu Protector). In 730, when Xi and Khitan invaded the border, Li Longji appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the field army on the Hebei side (marshal of the Hebei Provincial March), and sent eight generals led by the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Procuratorate (Yu Shi Dafu) to lead an army of 100,000 to attack. It took 2 years for Xi and Khitan to be defeated north of Fanyang, and Li Heng was promoted to Situ "because of merit".

After the "Three Disasters", the position of the crown prince became vacant, so the matter of re-canonizing the prince was put on the agenda again. In 738, Li Linfu again vigorously advocated the canonization of Li Mao, while Li Longji himself preferred the more mature and stable Li Heng (then called Li Yu). When he hesitated, Li Longji had no choice but to ask the loyal Colliers for advice. Of course, Gao Lishi figured out the emperor's thoughts, so he said to his liking: "Why do you work so hard, as long as you are older, who will dare to argue again!" After hearing this, Li Longji expressed his deep agreement. So on the third day of the sixth month of the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan (738), Li Heng was made the crown prince.

But from the moment he was thrust into the political forefront, Lee Hyung was surrounded by obvious political threats. The threat came first from Prime Minister Li Linfu, who was extremely dissatisfied with Li Heng because Prince Li Longjili did not take his advice. At the same time, he was afraid that Li Heng would retaliate against him in the future, so he tried every possible means to harm him. In the contest and struggle between Li Linfu and the crown prince, Li Longji's inner world is very worthy of deep thought. He hardly came forward to contain or stop Li Linfu's repeated attacks on the crown prince. This shows that he is also reluctant to see the prince's full-fledged wings and expand his power. For Li Heng, growing up in a peaceful and prosperous era and serving as the heir to an emperor with a great sense of accomplishment and self-confidence is hardly a blessing. Perhaps, in his heart, there will be a faint sorrow from time to time. However, the seven or eight years between Kaiyuan and Tianbao were the most stable period of his political life in the following years. At least until the end of 745, Li Heng spent a rare good time with the glory of the Tang Empire.

The year 746 was a year of many disasters and hardships for Li Heng. Since then, in his political career, the peace and tranquility of the past have been irretrievable. First, the "Wei Jian and Huangfu Weiming Incident" at the beginning of the year, and then the "Du Youlin Incident" at the end of the year, made his position precarious.

Wei Jian, Huangfu Weiming incident

On the night of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in 746, Li Heng traveled and met his eldest brother (the elder brother of the crown princess Wei) Wei Jian. Later, Wei Jian happened to be invited to meet with Li Heng's old friend Longyou and the military and political chief of Hexi (Longyou Jiedu envoy and Hexi Jiedu envoy) Huangfu Weiming at Jinglongguan in Chongrenfang, Chang'an. As a border general, Huangfu Weiming had just told the emperor that Li Linfu should be removed from his post not long ago, and he vigorously praised Wei Jian's talent. No book can be made without coincidence! The intervention of the emperor made the secret contest between the two sides suddenly an open secret. This matter was far-fetched by Li Linfu with ulterior motives, and the charge of "Wei Jian and Huangfu Weiming conspiring to support the succession of the crown prince" was secretly reported to Li Longji. Li Longji had also heard that the crown prince and Huangfu Weiming had a very close relationship, so he no longer investigated, and directly ordered Wei Jian and Huangfu Weiming to be arrested. Then Wei Jian was demoted to the magistrate of Jinyun County (Taishou, the seat of governance is in present-day Lishuixi, Zhejiang) for "seeking to become an official", and Huangfu Weiming was demoted to the magistrate of Banzhou County (Taishou, the seat of governance is in present-day Zunyi, Guizhou) for the crime of "dividing the monarch and ministers", and was raided, and then both of them were given to death. This incident was like a thunderclap on the ground, and it suddenly pushed the crown prince Li Heng into an unprecedented dangerous situation. Li Heng was extremely frightened when he saw this, and in order to escape from the involvement, he immediately wrote to defend himself, and asked his father to approve his divorce from Concubine Wei, and Concubine Wei also listened to his father's fate. Li Heng's prudence finally enabled him to get through this political crisis, but Concubine Wei, who had lived together for many years, had to cut her hair and become a nun from then on, and became a monk in the Buddhist temple in the palace. For this reason, Li Linfu was not willing to give up and made a big deal out of the case, so that dozens of "officials involved in the case" were demoted or exiled. We are amazed that the "accomplices" are not only guilty of different crimes, but also surprised by Li Heng's determination to marry his wife, and also surprised at the serious consequences caused by this small incident! (To be continued......)