Chapter 8 Xianzong: Don't challenge my bottom line

On the first day of the first lunar month of the new year, Emperor Xianzong Li Chun led civil and military officials to Xingqing Palace to pay homage to the Supreme Emperor Li Song for the new year, and at the same time presented the honorary title-Yinggan Shengshou. The young emperor looked benevolent and filial, and the atmosphere of the whole New Year's greetings was festive and peaceful.In particular, the title "Yinggan Shengshou" looks particularly auspicious, because it contains the meaning of wishing the Supreme Emperor "Shou and heaven". However, what is unexpected is that Li Song, who was only forty-five years old, not only did not live a long life, but passed away suddenly after just a dozen days.

There are signs that there are many doubts about Shunzong's death, and there are many speculations about it in later generations.Suspicious points are just suspicious points after all, and guesses can only be guesses.Although the action of Emperor Xianzong Li Chun to turn over the new page of history seems too swift and eager, but whether there is something hidden behind this action, we don't know today. On the second day of the first lunar month, Emperor Xianzong pardoned the world and changed the name to "Yuanhe". Standing on the majestic tower of the Daming Palace, at the beginning of the first year of Yuanhe (806 A.D.), 29-year-old Xianzong Li Chun gazed thoughtfully at this empire that had gone through many vicissitudes and hardships.The spring sunshine danced happily on his young forehead.Li Chun's thoughts involuntarily returned to more than twenty years ago.

It was also a spring, when Li Chun was only six years old and was held in the lap of Emperor Dezong.Dezong teased him and said, "Whose child are you, why are you sitting in my arms?" Li Chun looked at Dezong solemnly, and replied in a loud voice: "I am the third emperor." Dezong froze for a moment, then laughed loudly.As the eldest grandson of the emperor, Li Chun can indeed be called the "third emperor".So far, Li Chun still remembers his grandfather Dezong's expression of surprise and joy and his eyes full of expectation. Li Chun knew that his grandfather Dezong's gaze was telling him—since you are the third emperor, when you sit on the throne of the emperor one day, you have the responsibility and obligation to finish the unfinished things of the past emperors.

What is the unfinished business of the past emperors? Two words: cut the feudal clan. Ever since the Anshi Rebellion started the turbulent situation of the separatism of feudal towns, the Tang Empire irrevocably entered an era of great fission.Although the later generations and De Zong once had the ambition to rejuvenate, they had no power to return to heaven; Shun Zong's reign was only half a year, let alone accomplished anything.Therefore, when the swaying imperial carriage finally drove out of the chaotic and dull night of Zhenyuan, and finally ushered in the first sunshine at the beginning of the ninth century AD, the historical mission of Zhongxing Sheji fell on the newly enthroned constitution. On Zong Lichun.

At this time, the constitution of Xianzong was not yet established, it was a year of prosperity and youth, and Li Chun had always been extremely dissatisfied with the political chaos in the empire for decades, especially for the domineering behavior of the Sifang towns. Abhorred.In other words, Xianzong's aspirations and aspirations at this moment are exactly the same as when Dezong first came to the throne - he wanted to return the power of the feudal towns to the imperial court and reshape the authority of the central government. However, didn't Dezong embrace such an ideal back then, but ended up being bruised in the face of reality?Will today's Xianzong repeat such historical mistakes?

All civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty were worried about this.Many people don't believe that this young emperor can really settle those mighty feudal towns.To put it bluntly, how can you, Li Chun, be able to do things that the previous emperors could not do with all their efforts? As if to test Xianzong's ability and determination, he had just ascended the throne in August of the first year of Yongzhen. Xichuan Jiedu envoy Wei Gaoshi died of illness in the same month, and his confidant Liu Pi established himself as the heir apparent without the court's consent.This scene is exactly the same as that of Li Weiyue in Chengde back then, clearly showing contempt for the authority of the central government.Considering that he had just ascended the throne and had no clue about everything, Xianzong had no choice but to temporarily take comfort measures and appointed Liu Pi as the deputy envoy of Jiedu to act as the envoy of Jiedu.

Liu Pi immediately trembled.He believed that it was absolutely impossible for this young emperor to be more capable than Dezong in the affairs of the vassal town, so he made an inch of progress. Road).This is not just a contempt for the authority of the central government, but a naked challenge to the bottom line of the imperial court. Xianzong quickly gave an answer-no. Liu Pi sneered.He felt that Li Chun's doing so was tantamount to repeating the mistakes of Dezong when he was young, so he didn't take the court seriously at all.In the first month of the first year of Yuanhe, Liu Pi brazenly sent troops to attack Dongchuan, besieging Dongchuan Jiedu envoy Li Kang in Zizhou (now Santai County, Sichuan).

Xianzong was angry. Could it be that the Anshi rebellion that lasted through the three dynasties of Xuan, Su, and Dai, and the rebellion of the feudal vassals that flooded the entire Dezong dynasty, will start to repeat itself from Liu Pi?Could it be that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty can only swallow his anger and be helpless in front of the domineering feudal town forever? The young Xianzong couldn't help but uttered exactly the same roar as Dezong back then—no!If such a feudal town is not cleaned up, the Li and Tang courts will always be synonymous with weakness and incompetence.

However, Li Chun was too aware of the consequences of Dezong saying no. If you use troops against Liu Pi today, will it cause the same evil results? Li Chun was really at a loss. And the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty were even more uncertain.They cited a lot of reasons, saying that the mountains and rivers in Shu are dangerous, the fortresses are strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack, etc., in a word: this battle cannot be fought. Li Chun was caught in a contradiction. At the critical moment, Prime Minister Du Huangshang stood up and said: This battle can not only be fought, but must be fought.

Du Huangshang's reason was: "After Dezong experienced the hardships of the year, he tolerated and compromised the feudal towns. Jiedu envoys have become lifelong. When they are alive, the central government never dares to send people to replace them. When someone dies, Only then did eunuchs be sent to seek the opinions of the generals, and the court dared to appoint those who were supported. However, many eunuchs accepted bribes from the generals for this reason, and tried their best to speak for them after returning to the court. All appointments are almost never at the will of the emperor. If your majesty wants to reorganize the court, you should use the law of the state to sanction the feudal towns, otherwise the world will not be able to govern."

Du Huangshang finally said: "Liu Pi is just a stupid and arrogant scholar, subduing him is as easy as stooping to pick grass. As long as you send a brave and resourceful general, you will be able to capture Liu Pi alive." For this reason, Du Huangshang recommended a general named Gao Chongwen to Xianzong. At the same time, Du Huangshang also put forward a crucial suggestion-don't set up eunuchs to supervise the army in the expedition. In the history of this dynasty, the lessons of blood caused by eunuchs leading the army or supervising the army are profound enough, but they are often ignored by the emperors. Fortunately, Xianzong did not ignore this time, but fully adopted Du Huangshang's suggestion. On the 23rd day of the first lunar month of the first year of Yuanhe, Emperor Xianzong ordered Generals Gao Chongwen and Li Yuanyi of the Shence Army, together with Yan Li, the Jiedu envoy of Shannan Xidao, to immediately send troops to attack Liu Pi. The battle to eradicate the domineering feudal town began. As soon as the imperial army set off from Chang'an, disturbing news came from the front-Liu Pi had captured Zizhou and captured Dongchuan Jiedu envoy Li Kang alive. This news undoubtedly strengthened the determination of the Xianzong court to cut down the vassal. At the end of the first month, Gao Chongwen's Department passed through Xiegu (now Taibai County, Shaanxi), Li Yuanyi's Department passed through Luogu (now southwest of Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi), and the soldiers pointed directly at Zizhou.At the beginning of February, Yan Li led his troops to conquer Jianzhou (now Jiange County, Sichuan Province) and beheaded Wen Dezhao, the governor appointed by Liu Pi. At the beginning of March, Gao Chongwen led his troops to Zizhou.The guard appointed by Liu Pi was timid and fled from the city.Gao Chongwen conquered Zizhou without a fight.Liu Pi began to feel frightened, and immediately sent Li Kang to Gao Chongwen's military camp, hoping that the court would pardon his crimes.However, Gao Chongwen chopped off Li Kang on the spot on the charge of "defeating the army", which meant that Liu Pi gave up his heart. A few days later, Emperor Xianzong also deprived Liu Pi of all his titles. Xianzong is using actions to tell Liu Pi - I will never tolerate anyone who dares to despise the authority of the central government and challenge the bottom line of the court! Not long after the campaign against Liu Pi by Gao Chongwen and others started, another feudal town also had problems. This feudal town is under the jurisdiction of Xia Sui (government office Xiazhou, now north of Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province), and its Jiedushi is the idiot Han Quanyi who suffered repeated defeats when he crusaded against Wu Shaocheng. Although Dezong let go of this idiot at the time, it does not mean that Han Quanyi has no worries since then. Because not every emperor is as easy-talking as Dezong. Not long after Xianzong came to the throne, he called Han Quanyi into the court, removed him from the post of Jiedu envoy, and gave him the idle post of Prince Shaobao.Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this was a signal that Han Quanyi was ready to be dealt with. Of course Han Quanyi also knew, so before entering the court, he handed over Xia Sui's military power to his nephew Yang Huilin, and ordered him to stay behind as an agent, planning to control Xia Sui remotely so that he could use this bargaining chip to bargain with the court.However, Xianzong simply ignored the bargaining chip in his hand.Not long after, Xianzong issued an edict categorically ordering Han Quanyi to resign from his post, and appointed General You Xiaowei Li Yan to go to Xia Sui to succeed him as Jiedu envoy.Yang Huilin panicked all of a sudden. In March of the first year of Yuanhe, under the instruction of Han Quanyi, Yang Huilin organized the army to prepare for war and refused to accept Li Yan's appointment. On the other hand, she went to the imperial court, claiming that Xia Sui's officers and men forcibly supported him as Jiedushi. Obviously, this is another test put before Xianzong after Liu Pi. If there is a fight, the imperial court will have to fight on both the north and south fronts at the same time, which is likely to drag the empire into the quagmire of an all-out war again; if there is no fight, the self-confidence cultivated with great difficulty in dealing with Liu Pi will collapse. what to do? After a brief weighing, Li Chun gritted his teeth for the last time: Hit! Fortunately, just after the imperial court's attack on Yang Huilin's forward army, Zhang Chengjin, Xia Sui's envoy, assassinated Yang Huilin and sent her head to the capital on March 17. Once Yang Huilin died, Han Quanyi was completely out of business, so he had to obediently pack up and go home. A rebellion was thus nipped in the bud. While the imperial court pacified Xia Sui, Gao Chong's Ministry of Culture was also advancing steadily into the depths of Xichuan. Liu Bi ordered the army to build eight camps in the area of ​​Lutouguan and Wanshengdui (today's north of Deyang City, Sichuan Province), and sent heavy troops to defend them in an attempt to stop the advance of the officers and soldiers.At the beginning of June, the Gao Chong Ministry of Culture began to launch a fierce attack on Wanshengdui, and soon achieved an impressive record of eight wins and eight victories, successfully conquered Wanshengdui, and then surrounded Lutouguan. So far, the battle against Liu Pi has entered the final stage.From June to September of this year, Gao Chongwen and Yan Li lived in Deyang, Hanzhou (now Guanghan City, Sichuan), Mianzhou (now Mianyang City, Sichuan), Xuanwu (now Zhongjiang County, Sichuan), Shenquan (now Anxian County, Sichuan) South) repeatedly defeated the Xichuan army.Seeing that the general situation is over, the Lutou Pass guards who had been resisting had no choice but to open the castle and surrender to Gao Chongwen. Subsequently, Gao Chongwen drove straight in and captured Chengdu on September 21.Liu Pi fled to the west, intending to defect to Tubo, but was caught up by pursuers in Yangguantian (northwest of Pengzhou City, Sichuan today), attempted suicide and was arrested immediately. On October 7, Emperor Xianzong appointed Gao Chongwen as Xichuan Jiedu envoy, and two days later Yan Li was appointed as Dongchuan Jiedu envoy. On October 29th, Liu Pi was escorted to Chang'an, where Emperor Xianzong ordered Liu Pi to be beheaded along with all his clan members and party members. The Xichuan rebellion was declared to have been put down. There is no doubt that this is a far-reaching victory.Since the Anshi Rebellion, in the protracted contest between Li Tang Central Committee and Sifang Fanzhen, the imperial court seems to have won such a beautiful victory for the first time, and it is also the first time that Emperor Xianzong Li Chun took the throne, and its significance is even more significant. Through the two victories of Xia Sui and Xichuan, Emperor Xianzong Li Chun sent an extremely strong message to all the vassals in the world with the posture of a strong emperor-you can have a certain degree of freedom, but please don't have to look at Shu, let alone Don't try to push my boundaries. The vassals were terrified, and they took the initiative to ask to enter the court (actually, to enter the court as a hostage) to show that they had no intention of rebellion.In September of the second year of Yuanhe (A.D. 807), Li Qi, the governor of Zhenhai (Runzhou, now Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province), had to follow suit. towards.Emperor Xianzong immediately approved, and sent eunuchs to Zhenhai to comfort him, actually urging Li Qi to go to Beijing. Li Qi was just putting on a show, but he didn't expect the court to take it seriously, so he refused to leave for a long time and repeatedly delayed his departure.Wang Dan and the eunuchs from the court urged him repeatedly, but Li Qi was upset, so he simply went to the doctor and said that he was ill, and he would wait until the end of the year to recover before entering the court.Xianzong asked the prime ministers for their opinions on this matter. Wu Yuanheng, who was the prime minister at the time, said: "Your Majesty has just ascended the throne. Li Qi will enter the court if he says he will enter the court, and he will not enter the court if he says he will not enter the court. The decision is in his hands. Command the world?" Xianzong felt that Wu Yuanheng's ideas coincided with his own, so he issued an edict to recruit Li Qi into the court. Li Qi panicked.Entering the court at this moment is tantamount to going to die, but not entering the court is to resist the decree, what should I do? Li Qi made up his mind - reversed! One day at the end of September, the soldiers under Li Qi's tent suddenly mutinied and shouted loudly: "Wang Dan is what, dare to take charge of military affairs without authorization!" chunks to eat.General Zhao Qi stepped forward to stop him, but was also killed and eaten by the rebels.The rebellious soldiers then put their knives on the neck of the imperial eunuch, yelling and threatening to kill him.At this juncture, Li Qi appeared in time with a surprised expression, stopped the rebellion and saved the eunuch's life.Of course the eunuch knew that all of this was directed by Li Qi, and it was performed for him and the court. In early October, Emperor Xianzong put further pressure on Li Qi and ordered him to enter the court as Zuo Servant, and at the same time ordered Li Yuanyuan, a doctor of imperial history, to take over as Zhenhai Jiedu envoy.Li Qi immediately went to the shuffle and said: "The army mutinied and killed Liu Hou and a general." The subtext is that the situation in Zhenhai is chaotic at the moment, and no one can control it except me, Li Qi. Xianzong didn't like him, and immediately deprived him of all his official titles. At the same time, he ordered Huainan (now Jiangsu), Eyue (now Hubei), Xuanshe (now Anhui), and Jiangxi (now Jiangxi). , Zhedong (now Zhejiang) five soldiers and horses will attack Li Qi. Coincidentally, just like the last time against Yang Huilin, Li Qi's backyard caught fire before the battle started.His nephew Pei Xingli joined forces with Zhenhai military envoy Zhang Ziliang and others to betray Li Qi. In November, Li Qi and his son were escorted to Chang'an, where they were executed together. As soon as the young Xianzong Li Chun came to power, he dealt with three rebellious feudal towns with thunderous means. This really made the subjects loyal to Li Tang feel elated, and it really made some domineering feudal towns feel uneasy. However, Xianzong, who won the first battle, was not overly optimistic. Because he knew that the real opponent hadn't played yet. The gang of tough characters who made Daizong and Dezong the two generations of emperors burnt out - haven't played yet.