Chapter 43 Birds are gone, good bows are hidden

In July of the second year of Xiantian (AD 713), Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty eradicated the Taiping Group with thunderous means, seized the highest power from the Supreme Emperor Li Dan, and became a veritable and arbitrary emperor of the Tang Dynasty.In November, Li Longji accepted the honorary title presented by his ministers, calling him "Kaiyuan Shenwu Emperor".On the first day of December, the imperial court pardoned the world and changed the Yuan to Kaiyuan. Since then, the history of the Tang Empire has opened a new page. However, Li Longji, who has a monopoly on power, cannot rest easy from now on.

Because he was an emperor who made his fortune by a coup d'etat, he naturally understood the power of a coup d'état better than anyone else, and he also understood the dangers of a coup d'état better than anyone else.To put it bluntly, since he can seize power from others through tactics and force, why can't others use the same means to seize power from him? What made Li Longji particularly uneasy was that the group of heroes who had helped him win power struggles were all experts in coup d'état.In other words, the more capable and sophisticated these coup heroes showed at the beginning, the greater the potential threat they pose to Li Longji now, and the deeper the worry and fear he feels...

Although after eradicating Taiping and securing the throne, Li Longji gave these heroes extremely generous rewards, whether it was official positions, titles, or rural mansions, gold, silver and silk, Li Longji was generous and generous, but the key issue The reason is that people's desires will expand.Who can guarantee that they can be satisfied with what they have already got, and they won't covet more, greedy for more? No matter what others think, anyway, Li Longji dare not take it lightly. Therefore, although the revolution has been successful, Li Longji still has to work hard to eliminate all factors that may threaten the imperial power.

The first hero who was "hidden by all the birds" by Li Longji was Guo Yuanzhen, Shangshu of the Ministry of War and the third rank of Tongzhongshu. Because he holds the military power in his hand, he bears the brunt of it. In the coup d'état on the third day of July, Guo Yuanzhen led the troops to "guard" (in fact, under house arrest) the Supreme Emperor's meritorious deeds. Afterwards, he was granted the title of Duke of Dai, gave food to 400 households in the city, and rewarded 1,000 pieces of silk and satin.This is of course a great honor.Almost everyone believed that Guo Yuanzhen, an extremely personable official with high merit and weight, would be honored and favored by Emperor Xuanzong for a lifetime, rich and honored forever, including Guo Yuanzhen himself.

However, he never expected that all of this was just passing by. After just three months, all the honors and favors of his life have been turned into a dream... On October 13th of this year, Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji held a grand military parade at the foot of Mount Li (southeast of Lintong County, Shaanxi today), with as many as 200,000 troops assembled.There was a strong wind on the plain, flags were flying, and the army array stretched for more than fifty miles.Li Longji was dressed in military uniform, and the imperial chariot came in person, accompanied by all civil and military officials.The scale of the entire military parade was unprecedented, and the scene was extremely spectacular.

As the prime minister and minister of the Ministry of War, Guo Yuanzhen is naturally the commander-in-chief of this grand military parade, and he is also the highest responsible person. After the military parade started, everyone was in high spirits, but the emperor who was riding a horse on the viewing platform kept frowning and his face was gloomy. No one noticed the emperor's face, and of course no one knew what he was thinking. In the middle of the military parade, the emperor Li Longji suddenly uttered an angry shout and ordered Guo Yuanzhen to be arrested immediately.All the accompanying officials were pale and stunned, not knowing which song the emperor sang.Before they came back to their senses, Guo Yuanzhen had already been tied up and brought under the banner of Shuai.Without further ado, Li Longji immediately ordered Guo Yuanzhen to be beheaded on the spot on the grounds that "the military appearance is not in order".

Faced with the sudden charge of beheading, Guo Yuanzhen was so terrified that he couldn't say a word.Like him, Liu Youqiu and Zhang Shuo, who were also heroes, were equally shocked.After the Xiantian coup, Liu Youqiu had entered the court as Zuo Pushe and Tong Zhongshu's third rank, and was granted the title of Duke Xu;At this moment, although they felt a little at a loss like everyone present, and couldn't figure out what the emperor's sudden change of face meant for a while, whether it was the prime minister who was the head of all officials, or the hero who had the same background as Guo Yuanzhen , both Liu and Zhang have no reason to remain silent on this.As soon as the emperor's words fell, Liu Youqiu and Zhang Shuo both knelt down in front of the emperor's horse, admonishing loudly: "Yuan Zhen has made great contributions to the community, so don't kill him!" (Volume 210)

Liu and Zhang said that Guo Yuanzhen "made great contributions to the country", not only referring to his important role in the congenital coup, but also referring to the illustrious contributions he made to the empire for many years in politics.As early as when Wu Zhao was in power, Guo Yuanzhen was already a well-known general in both the government and the public. He made many military exploits on the battlefield against the Turks and Tubo.In the Zhou Dynasty, Guo Yuanzhen served as the governor of Liangzhou. It is said in history that he was "good at caring for the emperor. He lived in Liangzhou for five years. Yixia admired him, ordered and prohibited, cattle and sheep were wild, and he did not pick up things on the road." ("Old Tang Book·Guo Yuanzhen Biography")

It is conceivable that such a military and political veteran with rich experience in all aspects is almost unlikely to make such a low-level mistake as "disorganized military appearance" on such an important occasion as "Lishan Lecture on Martial Arts".In the final analysis, the so-called "disorganized military capacity" is nothing more than an excuse for Li Longji to dismiss the heroes. Of course, Li Longji's purpose was to remove Guo Yuanzhen's military power, not to kill him, so when Prime Ministers Liu and Zhang came forward to intercede, Li Longji went down the slope and pardoned Guo Yuanzhen's capital crime, but cut off the death penalty. All his officials and nobles were exiled to Xinzhou (now Xinxing County, Guangdong).

Guo Yuanzhen lived a distinguished life and lived through four dynasties. Unexpectedly, the evening scene was so bleak. Hearing about it, everyone in the court and the public were moved with emotion. Guo Yuanzhen, who "relies on his meritorious service", is full of grievances and "unhappy with ambition".Two months later, the imperial court changed Yuan to Kaiyuan and amnesty the world. Guo Yuanzhen was pardoned and appointed Sima of Raozhou (now Boyang County, Jiangxi).But after this heavy blow, Guo Yuanzhen's mood and physical condition were not as good as before, so he fell ill and died before reaching Raozhou.

Guo Yuanzhen's relegation to death was a major political signal, marking that the curtain of Xuanzong's dismissal of heroes had suddenly opened. The heroes who were deposed immediately after Guo Yuanzhen were Liu Youqiu and Zhang Shuo who had interceded for him. It has to be said that the reason why Liu and Zhang stood up to intercede for Guo Yuanzhen was that the rabbit died and the fox was sad, and things hurt others.After Guo Yuanzhen was exiled, they inevitably felt the fear of death. Zhang said that he was the first to sense the danger coming. Just a few days after the Lishan military parade, Zhang Shuo learned through reliable channels that Xuanzong was going to recruit Yao Chong (who was pushed out of the court by Princess Taiping a few years ago and was the governor of Tongzhou at the time) into the court as his prime minister.Zhang said that he and Yao Chong had never been on good terms, so he panicked.The scene at Lishan had already made him startled, but now that he heard the news that his old opponent was about to return to the court, Zhang said it was even more difficult to sleep and eat, so he immediately acted and instructed the imperial historian Zhao Yanzhao to impeach Yao Chong. However, Xuanzong was unmoved. Zhang said that he was not reconciled, so he immediately went to Jiang Jiao, the prison supervisor with whom he had a close personal relationship, and thought of a way to get him to prevent Yao Chong from returning to the court.Jiang Jiao acted according to the plan, and found an opportunity to say to Xuanzong: "Hasn't Your Majesty always been troubled by not being able to find a suitable candidate for the Governor of Hedong? I have now helped Your Majesty find one." Xuanzong's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Who?" Jiang Jiao was secretly happy, and replied loudly: "The governor of Tongzhou, Yao Chong, is versatile in both literature and military affairs, and he is the best candidate for the governor of Hedong." Jiang Jiao originally thought that Zhang's plan was very clever, because in this way, he could prevent Yao Chong from entering the court without any trace, and at the same time show his loyalty to the emperor in front of the emperor, which really killed two birds with one stone. But Jiang Jiao made the wrong wishful thinking. Xuanzong was not so easy to fool. As soon as he finished speaking, Xuanzong sneered and said, "Is this what Zhang said? How dare you bully the emperor in person, and you deserve to die for your crime!" Jiang Jiao's face turned pale in a flash, and he hurriedly kowtowed to the ground, desperately apologizing. Zhang said that he never expected that his own tricks had been exhausted, and the result was that Yao Chong's return to the court was accelerated.Xuanzong then sent an envoy to recall Yao Chong, and worshiped him as the Minister of the Ministry of War and the third rank of Tongzhong Shumen, making up for Guo Yuanzhen's vacancy.Two months later, he was appointed as Zhongshu Ling (known as Ziwei Ling at the time), which was likely to completely replace Zhang Shuo. Seeing that he might be out at any time, Zhang said that he was in constant panic. When people are in a hurry, it is easy to make foolish moves. Zhang said that in a hurry, he made a very stupid move, even secretly running to the mansion of King Qi Li Fan to show his loyalty to him. What kind of problem is it that the prime minister of the current dynasty communicated secretly with the prince of the clan?To put it lightly, this is called disorderly conduct; to put it more seriously, this is called conspiracy to usurp!Especially for an abnormally enthroned emperor like Xuanzong Li Longji, ministers and princes flirting behind his back and hooking their shoulders together are the most frightening and angry behaviors for him, an absolutely unforgivable behavior! Every move Zhang said was watched by his old opponent Yao Chong. One day, Yao Chong was called into the palace, and when he walked into the hall, he pretended to be limping on purpose.Xuanzong asked him: "Is there a foot disease?" Yao Chong replied: "I have a heart disease, not a foot disease." (Volume 210) Xuanzong was very surprised and asked him what was going on.Yao Chong said unhurriedly: "King Qi is His Majesty's beloved younger brother, and Zhang Shuo is an important minister of the prime minister. A few days ago, Zhang Shuo actually paid homage to King Qi in private. I was worried that King Qi would be bewitched by him, so I was worried about it." What happened? Then there is nothing to say. At the end of December in the first year of Kaiyuan (AD 713), Xuanzong categorically dismissed Zhang Shuo from his position as minister and demoted him to be the governor of Xiangzhou (now Anyang City, Henan Province); on the same day, Liu Youqiu was also dismissed and demoted to Prince Shaobao. Liu Youqiu had always regarded himself very highly, and often claimed to be the number one hero who supported Xuanzong.He contributed the most to Tang Long's coup, but afterward he was only a member of Zhongshushe. Although he had the right to "inform the staff", he was at best a third-level prime minister.In the first year of Xiantian, in order to consolidate Li Longji's throne, he attempted a coup and was exiled. Later, he was almost killed by the Taiping Party.Now that Xuanzong is in charge, he finally returned to the imperial court from Lingnan, and became Shangshu Zuo Pushe as he wished, but he was demoted for no reason before his butt was hot.For this, Liu Youqiu was naturally indignant, so he could not help but "give resentment". With Liu Youqiu, there was Zhong Shaojing who stood aside early on.After Tang Long's coup, Zhong Shaojing only served as Zhongshu Ling for a few days before he was dismissed as Minister of the Household Department, and soon demoted as Governor of Shuzhou.After Xuanzong ascended the throne, he returned to the court and was reinstated as Minister of the Household Department, but was then relegated to Prince Zhan Shi, and sat on the bench like Liu Youqiu.Faced with such an encounter, Zhong Shaojing is of course full of complaints, so he and Liu Youqiu often lament the bad luck. The complaints of Liu and Zhong soon reached one person's ears. He is the new prime minister Yao Chong. Yao Chong knew very well that although he, like Liu Youqiu and the others, was Li Longji's confidant, but purely from the perspective of supporting Li Longji as emperor, the contribution of Liu Youqiu and others was far greater than his.Therefore, Yao Chong felt that if Liu Youqiu and others were not completely squeezed out of the court, his position as prime minister would not be firm, and it would be even more difficult to let go of his administration. For this reason, Yao Chong reported on Liu Youqiu and Zhong Shaojing without hesitation. In February of the second year of Kaiyuan (714 A.D.), Emperor Xuanzong ordered Yao Chong to file a case against Liu Youqiu and Zhong Shaojing for investigation and prepare for punishment.Liu and Zhong refused to accept it, and continued to defend themselves. In fact, whether it is Xuanzong or Yao Chong, their purpose is the same, they just want to expel Liu Youqiu and others from the court, and they don't want the situation to expand.Therefore, when Liu and Zhong tried their best to argue and the matter reached an impasse, Yao Chong stood up just right to smooth things over.He and the other two new prime ministers, Lu Huaishen and Xue Na, jointly signed to Xuanzong, saying: "Youqiu and others are all heroes. They have been idle for a while, and they are slightly depressed. Human feelings are natural. The merits are great, and the honor is also deep. Once you are imprisoned, Be careful and listen." (Volume 211) The meaning of these words is: Liu Youqiu and others are all heroes, and they are suddenly transferred to idle positions, and they will inevitably feel depressed. This is human nature.He has made great contributions and received great honor and favor. Once he is arrested and imprisoned, it may disturb the public opinion of the ruling and opposition parties. The implication of Yao Chong's words is to imply that Xuanzong will accept it as soon as he sees it, and it is not appropriate to make things too extreme. Xuanzong understood it, and immediately demoted Liu Youqiu to be the governor of Muzhou (now Jiande City, Zhejiang Province), cut off 600 of his 700 households, and demoted Zhong Shaojing to be the governor of Guozhou (now Nanchong City, Sichuan Province). Soon, with Yao Chong's active cooperation, Xuanzong also demoted Wang Ju, Wei Zhigu, Cui Riyong and others from the court. So far, the coup heroes who assisted Li Longji to rule the world in the past have basically been demoted. This is called the end of the birds and the hiding of the good bow. This is the rule of the game in the political arena, and it has been the same since ancient times.What's more, in order to completely change the situation of frequent coups and weak imperial power since the Shenlong Revolution, Li Longji can only do this. "New Tang Book" stated: "The strategy of seclusion, the fruit of Shaojing, the wisdom of daily use, and the debate of ju, are all sufficient to relieve difficulties. Talent, if you don’t use it, you will be dissatisfied, and you can’t be equal with the common governance! Yao Chong advises not to use the hero, it’s appropriate.” This phrase “can’t be equal with the common governance” explained the whole story of Xuanzong’s dismissal of the hero. From a historical point of view, this scene of "the bird is all hidden, the rabbit is dead and the dog is cooking" is almost a compulsory lesson for every powerful emperor in order to consolidate the imperial power and create a great cause.Especially for an emperor like Li Longji, who was born as a non-eldest son and came to power through a coup d'etat, this was an imperative move for him at the beginning of his pro-government. As the third son of Ruizong's concubine, his relatively humble background has always been a heart problem for Li Longji.Therefore, if he wants to secure the throne, he must deal with the heroes at the same time - and then deal with the clan. At that time, the clan princes who could pose a potential threat to Li Longji were his four brothers and a cousin (Bin Wang Li Shouli).At the beginning, Li Longji's main approach to the five kings was gentleness, "specializing in clothing, food, sensuality and entertainment, and not letting them serve as officials", letting them be happy princes in the rich and gentle township. Whenever he was not in government affairs, Li Longji always accompanied the five kings to have fun together. They did not respect each other as monarchs and ministers, but traveled around with family gifts. Sometimes they went to the countryside to hunt and hunt together, and sometimes they called them into the palace. They feast together, cockfight, play chess, recite poems, compose poems, and play musical instruments. When they are full of wine and food, and after the music and music are over, they will use a special "long pillow and big quilt" to "sleep with brothers".It is said that if the kings were slightly ill by accident, Li Longji would "never eat all day and sleep all night" for it.Once King Xue and Li Ye fell ill, Li Longji even boiled medicine for him, so that his beard was accidentally burned by fire. He was frightened and rushed to the fire. Pity!" As a result, the ruling and opposition parties praised the emperor Li Longji as "very friendly and loving, which is beyond the reach of modern emperors". (Volume 211) After the emotional win over, Li Longji took preventive measures in the system.In June and July of the second year of Kaiyuan, at the suggestion of Prime Minister Yao Chong and others, Xuanzong sent all five brothers to the local governors to serve as governors. Handled by Liao Zuo.Around the eighth year of Kaiyuan, Xuanzong's imperial power had been quite consolidated, and the five kings were allowed to return to Chang'an one after another, and they were awarded honorary titles such as Sikong and Situ, and at the same time they were strictly prohibited from "associating with officials". In this way, under Xuanzong's emotional comfort and institutional constraints, these princes have learned to behave with their tails tucked up, and they have always behaved in a humble, humble and cautious manner for the rest of their lives, making it impossible for some ambitious people to use them to plot. start.Some lucky people want to act rashly, but in the end they can only blame themselves and lead to disaster.For example, in the eighth year of Kaiyuan, several courtiers got very close to Qi Wang Li Fan and Xue Wang Li Ye, trying to do some small tricks behind Xuanzong's back, but in the end they were relegated and exiled without exception. Afterwards, Li Fan and Li Ye were panicked and took the initiative to plead guilty to Xuanzong. Li Longji also comforted them and said: "Our brothers are very close, and they are all those who follow the power and rely on each other. I will not blame my brothers." Finally, In order to show his true feelings for his brother, Li Longji even swore: "If I have the intention to doubt my brother, let me be destroyed by heaven and earth!" In this way, Li Longji skillfully settled the meritorious officials and the clan with his brilliant skills, eliminated all potential threats and worries, and firmly held his imperial scepter. It is undeniable that Li Longji's approach to dealing with the issue of heroes and clans has a strong color of conspiracy.However, compared with those emperors in history who eliminated heroes and killed brothers in order to consolidate imperial power, Li Longji's methods were relatively mild.At best, he has achieved "flying birds are exhausted, good bows are hidden", but he has not developed to the point of "cunning rabbits die, lackeys cook". In other words, Li Longji still showed a certain degree of humanity.To use a classic line: "Politics without human touch is short-lived." The reason why Tang Xuanzong Li Longji was able to sit on the emperor's seat for 45 years, and created a rare peace and prosperity in Chinese history. One of the main reasons may lie in his human touch and in the gentleness of his governing methods.