Chapter 41 "Fool Uncle Guang"'s Road to Emperor

Tang Xuanzong Li Chen was once regarded as a mentally handicapped person. In this world, almost everyone who knew him thought so. From the fifth year of Yuanhe (810 A.D.) when he was born to the sixth year of Huichang (846 A.D.) when he ascended the throne, for a full thirty-seven years, he was regarded as a fool. Li Chen is the thirteenth son of Li Chun of Xianzong, the younger brother of Li Heng of Mu Zong, and the uncle of the three emperors of Jing, Wen and Wu.How could such an honorable clan prince be treated as a fool for the entire first half of his life? Everything has to start from scratch.

Although Li Chen is the biological son of Emperor Xianzong, he is a concubine.His mother, Zheng Shi, was just a lowly court lady, and before entering the palace, she was the concubine of Li Qi, the governor of Zhenhai.To put it bluntly, she was a trophy obtained by Emperor Xianzong when he pacified Zhenhai.After entering the palace, she became a maid of Concubine Guo (Mu Zong's biological mother). Because of her youth and beauty, she was blessed by Xianzong, and soon gave birth to Guang Wang Li Yi, who is now Xuanzong Li Chen. Due to the humble status of his mother, after the birth of King Guang, he naturally did not enjoy the same honor and favor as other princes, and could only grow up alone in a corner where no one noticed.Therefore, Li Chen seemed lonely and dull since he was a child, and he often lived in groups with other princes all day long without saying a word.After growing up, this situation not only did not get better, but became more serious.People have speculated that this may have something to do with a shock he encountered during the reign of Mu Zong.

At that time, King Guang entered the palace to meet Empress Dowager Yi'an, Mu Zong's biological mother, and happened to bump into a palace servant to assassinate him. Although this sudden incident did not cause any casualties, King Guang has become more reticent since then.The royal family members of the Sixteen Houses then decided that this guy who was always dumbfounded must have been completely frightened this time. Since then, King Guang has become the object of people's teasing and teasing no matter the occasion.Once, Emperor Wenzong hosted a banquet for all the kings in the Sixteen Houses. During the banquet, everyone laughed and laughed, but King Guang was silent.Wen Zong made fun of him and said, "Who can make Uncle Guang speak, I will reward you very much!" The kings rushed forward and made fun of him in every possible way.But this Uncle Guang was always like a piece of wood, he didn't say a word, not even the corner of his mouth moved.Seeing this scene, Wen Zong couldn't help laughing so hard that everyone roared with laughter.

However, a young prince suddenly stopped smiling. He was the later Wuzong Li Zhen. Although the lively Li Chen was the one who was the most active in teasing the King of Light just now, but now he is staring at the expressionless King of Light, and a thought quickly flashed through his mind-a person can be at any time and at any time. The occasion is unmoved by all external objects, if not stupid, then unfathomable. Li Chen suddenly shuddered a little. He subconsciously felt that King Guang probably belonged to the latter. After Li Zhen ascended the throne, the chilling feeling was still lingering-is this "fool Uncle Guang" really a piece of wood as everyone thinks?

No.Wu Zong Li Yu felt more and more that there was something very likely hidden deep in King Guang's heart that no one knew about. If this is the case, then Li Zhen, as the son of heaven, cannot remain indifferent to this. Later, all kinds of "accidents" happened to King Guang frequently, either he fell from his horse while playing polo with the emperor, or he fell down suddenly while walking in the palace and his nose was bruised and his face was swollen. However, King Guang's life was very hard, and nothing major happened. On a snowy day, Wu Zong invited Zhu Wang and Guang Wang to travel with him.When he returned to the palace after drinking, it was already late at night, and Guang Wang, who was slightly drunk like everyone else, "accidentally" fell off his horse again and passed out in the ice and snow.

The heavy snow of goose feathers flying all over the sky soon covered him layer by layer. Li Chen and many others expected that this laggard would never come back. However, early the next morning, people saw the King of Light, a living King of Light, in the Sixteen Houses.Although he walked with a limp and his face was bruised and purple, this surprising fact was still presented to Li Chen—King Guang was not dead, and he seemed unable to die no matter what. Wu Zong Li Zhen was stunned for a long time, and finally made up his mind. He didn't want to painstakingly create any "accidents" anymore, he wanted to do it for real now.

On the following day, King Guang was suddenly kidnapped by four eunuchs, locked in Yongxiang, and thrown into the palace toilet a few days later.The eunuch Qiu Gongwu persuaded Wu Zong to kill the fool simply, and it would be over once and for all.Wu Zong immediately agreed. However, Wu Zong did not expect that Qiu Gongwu did not kill Li Chen, but fished him out of the palace toilet, then hid him in a cart filled with dung, and secretly transported him out of the palace... King Guang once again survived a catastrophe, and since then he has been exiled among the people and began a life of fleeing.Many later notes and folk legends stated that King Guang concealed his identity and trekked across mountains and rivers until he fled to Yanguan in Zhejiang Province (southwest of Haining City, Zhejiang Province today), where he became a monk in Anguo Temple with the legal name Qiongjun.More than two hundred years later, Su Shi, a great writer in the Northern Song Dynasty and a famous Buddhist layman, passed by here. Recalling this legendary life of Tang Xuanzong Li Chen, he left a poem with emotion in his heart: "I have made the world wait for the dust." , Floating flowers in the sky and dreaming of the body. How can it be that the dragon and the face are separated, and only the eyes of the sky should know heaven and man."

It is said that Shami Qiongjun later became a Yunshui monk who studied everywhere, and once traveled with Zen Master Huangbo, an eminent Zen monk.One day, they walked to Baizhang Mountain in Jiangxi.Zen Master Huangbo stared at a rushing waterfall on the cliff, and said in a loud voice: "Thousands of rocks and valleys are tireless. You can see the source from a distance." Shami Qiongjun looked at Huangbo with a smile. He knew that this wise old monk had already seen through his unique life experience and his hidden heart.Now, the old monk wants to know his next plan: whether to continue on this path of abandoning falsehood and returning to the truth to seek the Dharma, break through the four elements and five aggregates, leave the three realms and six realms, and finally attain the immortal Dharmakaya of wisdom and destiny. Or return to the hustle and bustle of the secular world, and be a king of the world who rejuvenates Li Tang, spreads the holy religion, and protects the emperor?

Shami Qiongjun finally put away his smile. Zen Master Huangbo saw a sharp ray of light shooting out from the eyes of novice Qiongjun, and at the same time he heard the answer—— "How can the stream be kept, the sea will eventually become the waves." In the spring of the sixth year of Huichang (846 A.D.), Emperor Wuzong Li Zhen was critically ill, and the government and the wild were panicked. At this delicate moment, King Guang returned to Chang'an. This ill-fated King Guang, who had escaped death and had been completely forgotten by the world, finally returned to Chang'an unexpectedly, surrounded by eunuch Qiu Gongwu and others.

In the late spring of this year, King of Light Li Yi suddenly became Emperor Taishu Li Chen. Everyone knows that once Li Chen dies, the emperor's uncle Li Chen will naturally become the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty.However, what makes people full of astonishment is that the emperor Li Zhen has five sons himself, and the Li Tang clan also has dozens of princes with sound intelligence. system?Could it be that people can only watch this fool Uncle Guang transform into a real dragon emperor in the Golden Luan Hall? This is too unreliable. At a turning point in the fate of the empire, it is really frustrating that the history guy actually made such a ridiculous joke with the subjects of the Tang Dynasty.

However, people in the ruling and opposition parties quickly came to their senses. Because they finally remembered—this idiot Uncle Guang was supported by eunuchs. What the eunuchs needed was a puppet—a wimp and an answering person who could be manipulated by them.That being the case, King Guang is of course the best candidate.May I ask, among Li Chen's five sons, among the many princes of Li Tang's clan, who else is more suitable to be a puppet than this idiot Uncle Guang? At the ceremony where Emperor Taishu Li Chen received civil and military officials, the eunuch Qiu Gongwu always had a smile on his face, a smile full of joy. Yes, he had reason to laugh like that. Because he knew several years ago that what he fished out of the stinking palace toilet was definitely not a waste, but a decisive political bargaining chip, a highly usable embryo of the Son of Heaven.Therefore, he was willing to take the risk of beheading to fish him out, willing to bet on tomorrow with his head. Let me ask, how many civil and military people in the Manchu Dynasty possessed such courage and courage? Since none of you have such foresight, and you dare not raise your head to bet on tomorrow, then at this moment, what right do you have to blame me and someone for smiling so blatantly, brilliantly, complacently and arrogantly? However, in the following days, when Li Chen started to take over military and state affairs as the crown prince, Qiu Gongwu's smile gradually froze on his face. Because, this fool who was supported by him suddenly changed, and he felt extremely strange. The previous self-closing and dull expression, empty and scattered eyes, and the state of cowardice and listlessness were all swept away.Instead, there is a majestic and confident face, a pair of wise and deep eyes, as well as calm and powerful speech and graceful manner. The enthroned crown prince is more like a mature emperor who has been under the imperial court for a long time. Qiu Gongwu was surprised at first, then confused, and finally shocked. Could it be that this is the true face of King Guang?Could it be that for the past thirty-seven years, he has been relying on foolishness and bearing humiliation, just for this moment today? It wasn't until this time that Qiu Gongwu suddenly realized that the reason why Wu Zong Li Zhen wanted to put this fool Uncle Guang to death again and again was because he had already seen through the true colors of King Guang. However, it is too late to understand now. Because it's done, raw rice has been made into cooked rice. The eunuch Qiu Gongwu could only make mistakes and resign himself to fate.He could only look helplessly and sadly at the canary he had carefully reared, which suddenly broke through the cage and flew straight into the blue sky, turning into a goshawk fighting the sky and watching the world... Looking at the reborn idiot Uncle Guang on the Golden Luan Hall, Manchu Wenwu was no less surprised than Qiu Gongwu. However, people did not feel sad and helpless, but felt sincerely grateful. Because they knew that in the past thirty-seven years, everyone had misunderstood the King of Light. Therefore, they believe that a person who has endured hardships and persevered, a person who has tasted all the sufferings of the world without falling into the sky, once he rules the world, will inevitably be a king who strives hard to govern and make a difference.