Chapter 9 crown prince abolished

As an emperor, Li Longji is undoubtedly one of the few successful people in history, because he not only seized the throne of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty through personal struggle, but also created a glorious and prosperous age through unremitting efforts. "It doesn't seem too much to describe him with such exaggerated words as "majestic and magnificent".However, as a husband and a father, Li Longji's performance is really unflattering. In the twelfth year of Kaiyuan, he ruthlessly deposed his first wife, Empress Wang, who lived and died with him and shared weal and woe, causing her to die of depression later.After a lapse of thirteen years, he personally deposed the crown prince Li Ying as the crown prince, and at the same time deposed the princes of the king of Hubei Li Yao and the king of Guang Li Ju. die.

Although these decisions were made by Xuanzong himself, after all, no one wanted to see this scene. Sending a white-haired person to a black-haired person is one of the most tragic tragedies in life anyway. So, how did this scene happen?What is the reason that would cause a father to kill his three sons desperately? The reason is actually very simple - Concubine Wu Hui can't tolerate them. Prince Li Ying is Xuanzong's second son (it is said that the eldest son Li Cong was scratched by a wild animal when he was a child, so he missed the position of prince because of his disfigurement). Li Ying's biological mother is the singer Li Longji who fell in love with in Luzhou. Later, she was named Concubine Zhao Li.When Li Longji was the king of Linzi, there were three favorite concubines, besides Concubine Zhao Li, Huangfu Deyi and Liu Cairen.Huangfu Deyi gave birth to Xuanzong's fifth son, E Wang Li Yao, and Liu Cai gave birth to Guang Wang Li Ju, the eighth son.Since the three mothers were favored, the three sons were naturally loved by Xuanzong.

However, a few years later, when the glamorous and ambitious Concubine Wu Hui appeared beside Xuanzong, everything changed.Li Longji poured all his affections into Concubine Wu Hui and the eighteenth son, Li Hao, Prince of Shou. The favor of Concubine Zhao Li, Huangfu Deyi and Liu Cairen gradually declined, and Prince Li Ying, King E Li Yao and King Guang Li Ju also lost their favor. Lost the original fatherly love. The same anger, jealousy and sadness quickly flooded the hearts of these three young people. How could that goblin Concubine Wu Hui and her son be able to come from behind and win the royal father's exclusive favor?As the king of a country, how can the father be so partial, so merciless, and so ungrateful? !

It's not fair! In this way, the three young men who share the same illness and are full of vigor form a tragic trio, and they gather together from time to time to pour bitterness on each other and complain about others. Between people, negative emotions are the most contagious, just like the flu, as long as one has a runny nose, the person next to him will sneeze soon, and the sad combination of Prince Li Ying is the same, as long as one of them brows Slightly wrinkled, the other two must have sighed and sighed, and finally the three of them beat their chests and stamped their feet together, pointing at the sky and scolding the earth.

Prince Li Ying didn't know that all the "resentment" words of him and his two younger brothers had fallen into one person's ears verbatim. This person is the son-in-law Duwei Yang Hui (Princess Xianyi, the daughter of Concubine Wu Hui). Since Queen Wang was deposed, Concubine Wu Hui has targeted the Prince as her next target.She believed that as long as she grasped the handle of the prince and stabbed at the emperor, coupled with the support of Prime Minister Li Linfu, she would be able to bring down the prince. In order to grasp the prince's every move, Concubine Wu Hui entrusted the task of spying on the East Palace to her son-in-law Yang Hui.

It is a pity that the prince Li Ying is just another person who has no city and is emotional.His complaining and strange words of complaining, not only could not change his own situation, but could only push himself to a desperate situation, fulfilling Concubine Wu Hui's wish. In the winter of the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan, Yang Hui reported to Concubine Wu Hui the grievances, words and deeds of the tragic trio.Concubine Wu Hui immediately went into a rage, and ran to Xuanzong crying: "The prince secretly formed a party, trying to harm the concubine's mother and child, and even cursed the emperor with many ugly words..."

Xuanzong was furious, and immediately summoned the prime minister, preparing to abolish the prince and the three of them together. At that time, Zhang Jiuling was still in the phase. Of course, he did not allow the emperor to abolish the prince just by listening to a few slanders, so he resolutely remonstrated, saying: "Your Majesty has been on the throne for nearly 30 years. The prince and the kings have been in the deep palace and received the sacred teachings every day. All the people in the world are glad that your majesty has enjoyed a long life in the country and that your descendants are prosperous. Now that the three sons have grown up and have not heard of any serious mistakes, how could your majesty depose them all in a fit of rage based on unfounded words?! Moreover, the crown prince is the foundation of the world. Can't be easily shaken. In the past, Jin Xiangong listened to Li Ji's slander and killed Shen Sheng, and the three generations were in chaos; Prince, the Central Plains are in ruins; Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty adopted Dugu Empress’s words to abolish Yang Yong and establish Yang Guang, and finally lost the world. From this point of view, you must not be careless! Your Majesty must want to do this, and the ministers will never dare to obey the imperial edict!"

Isn't it just to dethrone a useless prince?Why bother to drop your bookbags with me, and still sip one by one, the world is in chaos and people are dying, I think you are making a fuss out of a molehill and making alarmist talk! Xuanzong's face was ashen, and he was silent. Although he disapproved of Zhang Jiuling's remonstrance, it is not a trivial matter to depose the prince. If Xuanzong really set aside the prime minister and insisted on going his own way, he couldn't make up his mind for a while. Just when Xuanzong was hesitating, Li Linfu cast his crucial vote. Of course, Li Linfu would never have a direct conflict with Zhang Jiuling.During the court discussion, he purposely didn't say a word, and waited until he came down to the palace, and then repeated his old trick, leaning into the ear of a nearby eunuch and whispering: "This is a matter of the emperor's family, why ask outsiders?"

Obviously, Li Linfu's words have the effect of killing three birds with one stone: 1. Concubine Wu Hui has contributed a lot to his worship, and he should repay him; Once Wang Limao was established as the crown prince, he, Li Linfu, made a contribution to making decisions. In the future, when Li Mao became the emperor, he, a great hero, would naturally be able to firmly hold the power of the government in his hands. Li Linfu thought that the emperor would take action as soon as he said this, and the crown prince Li Ying would obediently get out of the East Palace.But he never expected that at this critical moment, Concubine Wu Hui actually made a bad move and made the cooked duck fly.

As the saying goes, haste makes waste, and you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry.The reason why Concubine Wu Hui fell short in this matter was that she was too impatient. Just when Xuanzong was hesitant because of Zhang Jiuling's strong remonstrance, Concubine Wu Hui actually ordered a confidant eunuch to pass on a message to Zhang Jiuling, saying: "Where there is waste, there will be prosperity. The public will help it, and the prime minister can benefit." (Volume 214) The implication is that as long as you, Mr. Zhang, hold your hand high and Li Mao will succeed you in the future, you will have inexhaustible glory and wealth.

Concubine Wu Hui's move was extremely stupid.She clearly knew that Zhang Jiuling was a tough character who couldn't be bribed, and she even sent someone to make a deal with him. As one can imagine, she could only shoot herself in the foot. Zhang Jiuling pointed at the eunuch's nose and cursed, and the next day he told the emperor exactly what Concubine Wu Hui said. When Xuanzong heard it, he felt very uncomfortable. Originally, he thought that the three brothers of the prince had joined forces to bully Concubine Wu Hui's mother and son, so of course he couldn't stand by and watch.But now it seems that it is Concubine Wu Hui who is suspected of playing tricks.What made Xuanzong especially displeased was that Concubine Wu Hui attempted to join forces with the prime ministers of foreign courts to overthrow the Eastern Palace. This is a typical woman intervening in politics, which greatly violated the taboo! Therefore, after such a toss by Concubine Wu Hui, Xuanzong refused to mention the matter of dethrone. Prince Li Ying escaped unharmed. Yet he has not learned any lessons from the crisis.In the days that followed, he and his two younger brothers stayed together every day, scolding Concubine Wu Hui or blaming the emperor, nothing new. Obviously, this is a prince with extremely low political sensitivity, and a prince who has no strategy at all.In such a perilous and extremely dangerous environment as the imperial court, under Concubine Wu Hui's deliberate and aggressive situation of seizing the heir apparent, such a prince who is not good at self-protection is doomed to die. Just a few days after the turmoil of dethronement, the situation at the top of the empire has undergone major changes: Zhang Jiuling, the umbrella of Prince Li Ying, was kicked out, and Li Linfu, the political ally of Concubine Wu Hui, became the chief prime minister. For a while, the sky over the East Palace was once again clouded. However, although Zhang Jiuling left the phase, he was still Shangshu Youcheng after all, and he still had a say in many matters of the court. As long as he was still in the court, the East Palace would not be so easily overthrown. But what is helpless is that Zhang Jiuling is no longer able to protect himself. Because Li Linfu didn't want to let him go. In order to completely eliminate the possibility of Zhang Jiuling's comeback, Li Linfu has been looking for opportunities and intends to expel him from the court. In April of the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan (737 AD), the opportunity finally came. Things went wrong with a supervisory censor named Zhou Ziliang.This person was recommended by Zhang Jiuling, and he has the same personality as him. He is arrogant and impatient. He does things directly and never pays attention to strategy.Zhou Ziliang impeached Niu Xianke because he couldn't understand a martial artist like Niu Xianke who was illiterate as prime minister, and in order to vent his anger for the boss Zhang Jiuling. It's a pity that his impeachment method is too clumsy and has no technical content at all. It stands to reason that to impeach Niu Xianke, the most accurate angle should be to say that his education level is too low, he has never served in the central government, and he lacks the experience and talent to control the overall situation, etc., but God knows where Zhou Ziliang made a mistake He didn't start from this place, but took a book of prophecy that he didn't know where to get, claiming that according to the book, Niu Xianke was not qualified to be a prime minister. At this time, Xuanzong was paying great attention to Niu Xianke, so how could he hear Zhou Ziliang's ulterior motives and inexplicable impeachment? Bleeding, fainting.After a while, Zhou Ziliang woke up leisurely. Xuanzong's lingering anger was still there, and he ordered people to drag him to the office of all officials, beat him violently again in public, and finally issued an edict-exile to Lingnan. Of course Zhou Ziliang, who had been beaten to death, could not make it to Lingnan, and died soon after he left Chang'an. Li Linfu seized the opportunity to chase after him, and told Xuanzong that Zhou Ziliang was recommended by Zhang Jiuling.The implication is that Zhang Jiuling is the mastermind behind the impeachment. Without saying a word, Xuanzong immediately demoted Zhang Jiuling to be the chief historian of Jingzhou (now Jiangling County, Hubei). As soon as Zhang Jiuling left the court, the end of Prince Li Ying and others would come. Concubine Wu Hui, already impatient, once again instructed her son-in-law Yang Hui to accuse the prince and the other three. In order to ensure the success of this attack, Concubine Wu Hui intensified her firepower. In addition to accusing the three of harboring grievances, she added a fatal one—claiming that the prince and the concubine's brother Xue Ruo secretly colluded in an attempt to launch a rebellion! This is undoubtedly a heinous crime. Since ancient times, most emperors would rather believe such accusations than non-existent ones. What's more, emperors like Li Longji who came to power through a coup d'état are particularly sensitive in this regard, and of course the reaction is particularly strong. After Xuanzong received the accusation, he did not investigate at all, but directly called the prime minister into the palace for discussion. This time, the person who decides the fate of the prince is no longer Zhang Jiuling who is dedicated to the public and the overall situation, but Li Linfu who is determined to overthrow the East Palace. Therefore, the prince is dead. Li Linfu only said one sentence to Xuanzong: "The family affairs of your Majesty are not suitable for ministers and others." (Volume 214) This is His Majesty's family business, and it is not for us courtiers to interfere. This is the brilliance of Li Linfu.On the surface, he abstained from voting and did not make up his mind for the emperor; but in fact, he helped the emperor make up his mind to depose the prince. On the second day Zhang Jiuling left Chang'an, that is, on April 21st in the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan, Xuanzong issued an edict to abolish Prince Li Ying, King E Li Yao and King Guang Li Ju as ordinary people, and exile Xue Ruo to Lingnan. . Before the prince and others recovered from the thunderbolt, the second edict came one after another. This is a death edict. The three brothers of the prince would never have imagined that their father would be so ruthless and ruthless! But it's useless to think about it now. The only thing they can do right now is to honestly stick their heads into the three-foot white silk. At most, they will turn their grief and anger into a heart-piercing roar at the moment of bidding farewell to the world—Concubine Wu Hui, we have become Li Gui will not let you go! The day after Li Ying, Li Yao, Li Ju, and Xue Ruo were bestowed to death, dozens of officials serving in the court from their mother's and wife's families were also relegated and exiled. After the news spread in Chang'an that the emperor's three sons were killed on the same day, the ruling and opposition parties were greatly shocked.A majestic prince of the empire, who has been the prince for more than 20 years, has never heard of any serious mistakes. How can he be abolished or killed? !There are also Li Yao and Li Ju, who are also said to be very talented princes, and now they are also murdered innocently together with the prince, which is really embarrassing. Concubine Wu Hui finally won. Everything that has been done with painstaking care and painstaking efforts for more than ten years has finally achieved a satisfactory result. Just like a ferocious lioness who always likes to take her cubs to inspect the new territory after killing her opponent, whenever Concubine Wu Hui and Shou Wang Li Mao pass by the gate of the East Palace together, she always greets them with a proud and excited tone. Li Mao said: "Look, this is your new home! Maybe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, you will walk in with your head held high and your chest held high under the envious eyes of all the princes, and you deserve to be the master of this place." !" However, Concubine Wu Hui will never wait for this "tomorrow". Because from the day when the prince's three brothers died unjustly, she would be haunted by the same nightmare every night.In the dream, the three brothers always stood upright in a row by her bed with their hair disheveled, and then stretched out three long sauce-purple tongues, which snaked across her face like snakes.She wanted to yell, but she couldn't yell out.She wanted to struggle, but she couldn't move her whole body... It wasn't until the three tongues wrapped tightly around her neck that she woke up with a sharp scream at the moment of suffocation. After waking up, Concubine Wu Hui subconsciously touched her cheeks and neck, as if she could still feel a cold and slippery feeling. Concubine Wu Hui was hopelessly suffering from neurasthenia.At first, he was only trapped by nightmares at night, and then he also had hallucinations of ghosts killing him in broad daylight.Concubine Wu Hui invited batch after batch of wizards, warlocks, monks, and Taoist priests to hold exorcism ceremonies one after another day and night, but all of this was of no avail, and the three evil spirits still lingered on her every night and day of my life.Concubine Wu Hui could even feel that their hostility and resentment not only permeated around her all the time, but also seeped into her skin, blood and bone marrow bit by bit.Concubine Wu Hui was apprehensive and fearful at first, then became hysterical, and finally collapsed in despair. On a certain night in the deep winter of Kaiyuan twenty-five years, that is, eight months after the three brothers of the prince were killed, Concubine Wu Hui uttered the last miserable scream in the repeated nightmare, and never woke up again. After all, she still did not see the day when her son Li Mao entered the East Palace. But even if she hadn't died, she would never have seen that day. Because the person who succeeded the prince in the end was not Shouwang Li Mao, but someone else. Since the death of Prince Li Ying, Li Linfu urged Xuanzong more than once to make Li Mao the prince, but Xuanzong still couldn't make up his mind. There are two reasons why Xuanzong was hesitant: First, although Li Ying died, according to the principle of establishing a successor, the person who succeeded the East Palace should be the third son, the loyal king, Li Yu, not the eighteenth son. Second, Xuanzong abolished and killed his three sons in a day of anger, and when he calmed down afterwards, he would naturally feel sad and regretful, so although he loves Li Mao the most, he still has some emotional ties that are hard to get rid of.Coupled with the death of Concubine Wu Hui, Xuanzong's love for Li Mao also weakened, so it was even more difficult to choose between the two candidates for the crown prince, Li Yu and Li Mao. In June of the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan (AD 738), the reserve position had been vacant for more than a year, and the candidate for the new crown prince was still undecided. As an old emperor in his fifties, Xuanzong's troubles and depressions can be imagined , I often feel so worried that I can't sleep well, and I can't eat well. Gao Lishi, who has always been careful and sensitive, and good at sharing the emperor's worries, naturally saw all this in his eyes. One day, Gao Lishi carefully asked the emperor why he was depressed when there was no one around. Xuanzong glanced at him lazily and said, "You are an old servant of my family, can't you guess what I'm thinking?" Gao Lishi said: "Is it because the crown prince has not been decided?" Xuanzong nodded weakly. Gao Lishi took a long look at the emperor, and said unhurriedly: "Everyone (the emperor's nickname) why bother to waste the Sacred Heart so much, but stand up for a long time, who dares to fight again?!" (Volume 214) Why does the emperor have to think so hard, as long as he is established according to his age, who dares to fight again? ! This is really called a word to wake up the dreamer.Xuanzong suddenly became enlightened, nodded frequently and said, "You say so! You say so!" In the few words between the master and the servant who seemed to be chatting, the protracted dispute over the reserve position finally came to an end, and the new crown prince of the Tang Empire was born. On the third day of June of this year, the 28-year-old loyal king Li Yu (later Suzong Li Heng) unexpectedly stood out and officially entered the East Palace. Of course, Li Linfu was greatly astonished by this result. Because his wishful thinking was completely in vain. Looking at the vigorous new prince Li Yu at the canonization ceremony, Li Linfu felt an unprecedented fear in his heart. Everyone in the government and the opposition knows that Li Linfu has always been the staunchest supporter of the longevity king Li Mao in this battle for the heir apparent. Now that Li Yu suddenly won, what does this mean? This not only means that Li Linfu's efforts over the years have been wiped out overnight, but also means that he and the new prince have formed a deep rift because of this dispute over the position. The prince is the future emperor, and it is certainly not a good thing to have a grudge against the future emperor. But things have come to this, what else can Li Linfu do? Time cannot be turned back, mistakes have already been made.In this matter, Li Linfu, a veteran official who has never done any loss-making business, has to admit that this is the most uneconomical political transaction he has ever made since his debut. If Li Linfu changed his family from now on and joined the prince, would he be able to start all over again? It's not impossible, it's just that it's very difficult, and it's very likely to get twice the result with half the effort, and it's thankless.Because it is not so easy to write off old accounts in history. Even if the crown prince accepts him on the surface, the two parties are likely to be hypocritical and perfunctory.In other words, no matter what he does, it will be difficult for the prince to believe in his loyalty, and it will be difficult for him to really gain the trust of the prince. That being the case, Li Linfu could only go to the dark one way. He must use all means to get rid of this new prince, and he must not be allowed to become emperor smoothly! Of course, in Li Linfu's view at this time, the immediate priority is not how to overthrow the East Palace, but how to consolidate and expand his power.Once his political energy is strong enough to fully control the government, Li Linfu will not hesitate to attack the prince Li Yu. Li Linfu believes that this day will not be too far away.