Chapter 11 Concubine Yang: Three thousand dotes on one body

Regarding the unethical love between Li Longji and Yang Yuhuan, almost all official official histories are evasive and vague.Whether it is the two "Books of Tang" or "Tongjian", when talking about who recommended Yang Yuhuan to Xuanzong, they always use "or play" and "or talk" instead of who it is.Only in the "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" written by Chen Hong in the middle Tang Dynasty, there is such a sentence recorded: "Zhao Gao Lishi secretly searched the outer palace, and got Hongnong Yang Xuanyan's daughter in Shoudi." So, is this record true?Was the person who recommended Yang Yuhuan to Xuanzong Gao Lishi?

First of all, after the death of Concubine Wu Hui, Tang Xuanzong fell into a very bad mental state, which is a fact recorded by all historical materials.Faced with this situation, what will the old slave Gao Lishi, who has always been good at sharing worries for his master, do?Obviously, he will do everything possible to help Xuanzong find a new lover to heal Xuanzong's emotional trauma.As far as Gao Lishi is concerned, this is called duty-bound and duty-bound. Secondly, Xuanzong is a person with rich and delicate feelings.As the emperor, he certainly has the right to anesthetize himself with excessive carnal desires, but as an amorous man, it is impossible for him to tolerate the long-term absence of the beautiful thing "love" in his life.Therefore, the longer he soaks in the wine pool and meat forest, the stronger his desire for true love will be.At this time, he will inevitably cast his eyes looking for true love from the high walls of the harem, and hunt for beauty pageants in a larger area.And who is the most suitable task for this beauty pageant?Of course it was his most trusted Gao Lishi.

Some people say that Gao Lishi's practice of recommending his daughter-in-law to his father-in-law is "court death", so we can't help but ask: who should do this, so that it is not considered court death?We know that Gao Lishi was the most caring person of Tang Xuanzong, and the exclamation "When a strong man becomes a strong man, I will sleep in peace" has become a famous saying through the ages.Throughout Li Longji's life, his trust in Gao Lishi has never changed; and throughout Gao Lishi's life, his loyalty to Li Longji has never wavered.It can be seen from this that if even Gao Lishi dare not "take this risk", there is really no other person in the world.Let me ask, would the civil and military officials of the outer court dare?Who among them knows Xuanzong better than Gao Lishi, and who has more right to intervene in Xuanzong's private life than Gao Lishi?The answer can only be two words: no.In addition, will the three thousand beauties in the harem come to pull this thread?Will they find someone who is a hundred times superior to them to monopolize the favor of the emperor?The answer is also two words: no.Then the remaining people, such as children, clan, relatives, etc., are even more impossible.Because they are relatives of Xuanzong after all, not to mention that they dare not do such a thing that offends human relations and taboos, even if they dare, Xuanzong himself will not be able to hold back his face.

Therefore, it is precisely because the practice of recommending his daughter-in-law to his father-in-law is a bit risky and taboo, and it is precisely because no one in the ruling and opposition parties, inside and outside the court dare to do it, that Gao Lishi had to come forward.In other words, his status and the role he played determined that he was the perfect candidate for this job.As for whether Gao Lishi is "courting death" by doing this, I think it is open to question.Because Hu Feng was very prosperous in the Tang Dynasty, although there were also the ethical constraints of the three cardinal guides and five constant principles, the defense of human relations was much more relaxed than other dynasties, and there were not so many moral barriers and ethical taboos. Gaozong Li Zhi made his concubine Wu Mei his queen, and then Xuanzong Li Longjin accepted his daughter-in-law as his concubine.In other words, all these unethical phenomena are due to the fashion of the times and are not worthy of fuss by future generations.Therefore, it would be an exaggeration to say that Gao Lishi recommended Yang Yuhuan to Xuanzong somewhat risky and taboo.

Perhaps what Gao Lishi did at that time was just to create an opportunity for Yang Yuhuan to come to Xuanzong's side, let them have a close contact, and let Yang Yuhuan better demonstrate her beauty and peerless talent.If Xuanzong can rekindle the flame of love, that would be the best; if he is not happy, then choose another one.For Gao Lishi, he was only responsible for recommending, and if he couldn't do it, he would replace it with another one. It was not that he wanted to dress up Yang Yuhuan as a fair lady who was "brought in a boudoir and unknown" to Xuanzong. Furthermore, as the daughter-in-law selected by Xuanzong himself, Xuanzong certainly knew Yang Yuhuan's appearance very well, and must have been deeply impressed by her beauty.However, at this time and at that time, he looked at Yang Yuhuan with the eyes of picking his daughter-in-law. No matter how beautiful his daughter-in-law is, his father-in-law can only hold the mentality of "seeing from a distance but not playing with it". Appreciation is nothing more than appreciation, it is impossible to have any unreasonable thoughts.But after the death of Concubine Wu Hui, the situation was quite different. When any woman appeared in front of him, Xuanzong's first concern could only be - can she become my lover?And definitely not—whose lover was she originally?As for how to subtly turn his son's lover into his own lover in the end, that's another question.

To sum up, apart from Gao Lishi, there can be no other person for this other kind of old man who is a matchmaker between father-in-law and daughter-in-law. In October of the twenty-eighth year of Kaiyuan (AD 740), under the careful arrangement of Gao Lishi, Yang Yuhuan went to the Hot Spring Palace (Huaqing Palace) in Lishan (now Lintong County, Shaanxi Province) to meet Xuanzong Li Longji.This year, Yang Yuhuan was twenty-two years old, and Li Longji was fifty-six years old. This kicked off a lingering love story that has been passed down through the ages. No one knew what kind of mood Yang Yuhuan was in at this moment.There may be a bit of stunned and apprehensive, as well as a bit of nostalgia for the past life, but at the same time, there must be a bit of hazy joy and hope for the future life.After all, to be favored by the emperor is the greatest blessing that ancient women can enjoy, and it is something that Liugong Fendai and Sanqian beauties dream of.Although Yang Yuhuan has not been married to the emperor's family for a long time, she has no concept of the harem struggle for position and favor, but she is a "wisdom-calculating" woman after all. What the mountain meets" means to her.

Just like changing from an ordinary folk woman to Concubine Shou Wang four years ago, what is before her now is an opportunity to completely change her destiny, even rarer and more precious than that opportunity at the beginning!Therefore, no matter how much astonishment and fear Yang Yuhuan has in her heart at this moment, and no matter how much affection she has for King Shou, she will hide them deeply in her heart, and then she will spare no effort to express to the most noble person in the world. Men, show off her peerless and soul-stirring femininity! So, in this Huaqing Palace, where the clouds are flourishing and the clouds are flourishing and the warmth is like spring, Li Longji, who is over half a century old, fell in love with Yang Yuhuan hopelessly, and fell in love with the daughter-in-law he had personally chosen.

) The flowers bloom in a moment, and the snow is chaotic in an instant. At that moment, Li Longji was dizzy from the impact of a long-lost passion. He never imagined that his tree of love, which had long withered, could bloom a new green with infinite vitality in this winter when everything was withered... There is no doubt that Xuanzong Li Longji had already made a major decision during the short ten-day meeting in Lishan——for the rest of his life, he would stay with Yang Yuhuan no matter what! However, Yang Yuhuan's current identity is still Princess Shou, her daughter-in-law, how can she be turned into her own woman in a grand manner?

It is definitely not possible to marry directly, you must think of a clever way. There will be a solution soon. Xuanzong had precedents to follow.Back then, before Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi accepted his concubine Wu Mei as his concubine, didn't Wu Mei also work as a nun in Ganye Temple for a period of time?Today, Xuanzong is vigorously advocating Taoism, so the best way is to let Yang Yuhuan "become a monk" as a Taoist priestess, first strip her of her identity as Princess Shou, and then secretly include her in his harem. On the second day of the first lunar month in the twenty-ninth year of Kaiyuan (AD 741), Xuanzong's mother, Empress Dowager Dou, died. In the name of pursuing blessings for her mother, Xuanzong issued an edict on the grounds that Yang Yuhuan "voluntarily" became a monk, announcing: " Concubine Yang of the Shou Princess, known as Duan Yi, was a concubine and vassal state. Although she was honored and honored, she was always in intensive cultivation. It was the anniversary of the Queen Mother's death, and she was always pregnant with her blessings. Therefore, I sincerely request that you should become a female Taoist priest." ("Quan Tang Wen" Volume 35 "Edict of Dushou Princess as a Female Taoist Priest")

In this way, Yang Yuhuan, wearing a Taoist robe and a yellow crown, left Shouwang Mansion, entered a Taoist temple specially set up for her by Xuanzong in Daming Palace, and became a female Taoist priest with the Taoist name "Taizhen". For nearly a year later, Yang Yuhuan stayed with Xuanzong in this covert identity.In November of the twenty-ninth year of Kaiyuan, Yang Yuhuan accompanied Xuanzong to climb Mount Li again and lived in Huaqing Palace for more than 20 days.When Xuanzong and his party returned to Chang'an, everyone suddenly discovered that "Yang Taizhen" had taken off his Taoist robe and yellow crown before he knew it, put on a gorgeous floor-length skirt, and put on the former golden hairpin and jade hairpin , and then lived in Xingqing Palace with Xuanzong.

So far, Xuanzong's plan to sneak through Chen Cang has been accomplished.Although Yang Yuhuan's superficial identity is still a Taoist priestess, in the palace, everyone followed Xuanzong to call her "Lady", and Yang Yuhuan's status and treatment in the palace were no different than that of a queen. Yang Yuhuan has three older sisters, and it is said that "all of them are talented and beautiful", so after she was favored, the three older sisters also came to Chang'an, and they were all favored by Xuanzong, and they were named Mrs. Han, Mrs. Guo and Mrs. Qin respectively.The four sisters "shared their favor, entered and exited the palace, and became powerful all over the world". ("Old Tang Book Biography of Concubine Yang") In August of the fourth year of Tianbao (745 A.D.), Yang Yuhuan was finally officially registered as a noble concubine by Xuanzong after five years of being a "lady" with an improper name.Before that, Xuanzong had chosen another concubine surnamed Wei for King Shou.That is to say, from this moment on, Concubine Yang Gui has completely severed all ties with the past "Shou Wang Concubine", and her love with Xuanzong finally ended the underground state, and she appeared in front of the world in a grand manner. With the establishment of Concubine Yang's identity, the Yang family also flourished.His father, Yang Xuanyan, was posthumously awarded as Taiwei and Duke of Qi, and his mother was posthumously named Mrs. Liangguo; his uncle Yang Xuangui was appointed as Guangluqing, his elder brother Yang Yu was appointed as Hongluqing, and his cousin Yang Kai was appointed as a royal servant, and he married Princess Taihua, the daughter of Concubine Wuhui. It is very strange that Yang's family followed Concubine Yang to heaven, but her uncle, Yang Xuanzhen, who adopted her back then, fell into oblivion and seemed to be completely forgotten. Even if he died, he should be posthumously like Yang Xuanyan. How could he be completely forgotten? In fact, it's not that Yang Guifei is ungrateful, but that she has something to hide. To be precise, this is an unspeakable secret shared by her and Xuanzong. Because when Xuanzong made Yang Yuhuan the concubine of Shou, the imperial edict clearly stated "the eldest daughter of Cao Canjun Yang Xuanjian, a scholar in Erhe Henan Province", that is, Yang Yuhuan was regarded as Yang Xuanzhen's daughter.Now that Yang Yuhuan has become Xuanzong's noble concubine, her previous history as Shouwang concubine must be downplayed or even erased.Therefore, if Yang Xuanjuan still appeared in the list of Tweeting rewards, it would be tantamount to voluntarily admitting that Concubine Yang Gui was the Shouwang Concubine back then.Just ask, can Xuanzong do this? Of course not. Therefore, Yang Xuanzhen must be forgotten!In other words, Xuanzong must convince the world that the current concubine Yang Gui is just the daughter of Yang Xuanyan, and is not the same person as the "eldest daughter of Yang Xuanzhen" in the past. Even though this is just a way to cover up and deceive oneself and others, for Tang Xuanzong and Concubine Yang, such a fig leaf is indispensable; for the common people who do not know the inside story of the palace, it may also be an effective way to hide their eyes. From the year when Yang Yuhuan was made a noble concubine, the Yang family quickly became the most powerful and prominent family in the Tang Empire.The three wives of Han, Guo, and Qin, as well as the five families of Yang Yu and Yang Qi, "every time they have a request", all officials at all levels in the world regard it as an imperial decree, and they will do their best to handle it. There are bribes from all directions, and their doors are like a market."Zhu Yang also competed to build mansions in the capital, "The Jiadi hole is opened, pretending to be a palace, with chariots and servants, shining on the capital." Every time a house is built, it often costs tens of millions. The other house was more luxurious than our own, and the new house was pulled down and rebuilt immediately. "Civil work, day and night." Every winter, Xuanzong would take Concubine Yang to Huaqing Palace, and the eunuch Gao Lishi would lead the horse and whip for Concubine Yang, and the three wives of Han, Guo, Qin and the Yang clan would also accompany her.The Yang guards of honor are mighty, each family has a team, each team wears clothes of different colors, reflecting each other, like a hundred flowers blooming, making the mountains and rivers beautiful; However, jade hairpins, gold and silver ornaments were left all over the place, and they were everywhere... "Since the Kaiyuan period, no one has ever been richer than the Yang family!" ("Old Tang Book Biography of Concubine Yang") The fact that Concubine Yang was favored by one person and all families were expensive had a great impact on the patriarchal values ​​at that time, so that folk songs were sung one after another: "Don't be sad when you give birth to a daughter, don't like it when you give birth to a boy", "A man is not allowed to be a concubine and a daughter is a concubine." , You look at women as door lintels today." However, although Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty favored Concubine Yang more than any other woman in the world, the huge harem is after all a large garden full of beauty, and Xuanzong would sometimes have a good impression of some of the more outstanding concubines .Although Concubine Yang Guifei is well-educated, elegant and intelligent, she is a woman after all, and women are born jealous animals, so it is inevitable that they will overturn the jealous jar.Relying on the deep favor of the emperor, Concubine Yang Gui was very energetic when she drank jealousy, "often because of jealousy and flattery, she invaded with words (Xuanzong)". (Tang Zhengzheng's "Kaitian Chuanxinji") According to historical records, Xuanzong was so angry with Long Yan that he sent Concubine Yang out of the palace twice. The first time was the year after Concubine Yang was canonized, Xuanzong ordered Gao Lishi to send her back to her brother Yang Zhen's house, which was equivalent to sending her back to her natal family.But as soon as he drove her away in the morning, Xuanzong regretted it in the afternoon, but because of the face of the emperor, he didn't want to bring her back, so he found an excuse to lose his temper, "furious and whipped around".The shrewd Gao Lishi knew what the emperor was thinking, so he "please welcome the noble concubine back to the court".Xuanzong quickly got off the donkey and ordered Gao Lishi to take Concubine Yang back to the palace that night.After Concubine Yang returned to the palace, she "fell on the ground to apologize", and Xuanzong of course "consoled with joy", so the two reconciled, and "they are more and more prosperous". ("Old Tang Book Biography of Concubine Yang") The second time was in the ninth year of Tianbao (750 A.D.), when Concubine Yang Gui was driven back to her natal family by Xuanzong again because of jealousy.In order to please Concubine Yang, Ji Wen, a famous cruel official at that time, entered the palace to give a performance, and deliberately said: "Women are short-sighted and rebellious, but the concubine has been kind to her for a long time. Even if she is to be punished, she should be punished in the palace." How can you bear to let her be humiliated?" Hearing this, Xuanzong immediately ordered the eunuchs to give imperial concubine imperial meals.Concubine Yang wept and said to the palace envoy: "A concubine who disobeys the holy face deserves ten thousand deaths. Apart from the clothes, everything is bestowed by the holy grace, and nothing can be left behind. However, the hair and skin belong to the parents..." ("Old Tang Book·Yang "Biography of the Imperial Concubine") broke down in tears before the words fell, and immediately cut off a strand of beautiful hair, and asked the palace envoy to bring it back.When Xuanzong saw the broken hair, he was shocked and pitiful, and hurriedly ordered Gao Lishi to bring Concubine Yang back. Although Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty is an emperor, and he is already in his sixties at this time, he can be the father of Concubine Yang in terms of age, but when he and Concubine Yang are intoxicated in love together, he is still the same as any couple in the world. Little couples are no different, fighting at the head of the bed and fighting at the end of the bed, and the more noisy the relationship, the better the relationship, and the more quarreling, the deeper the love. In other words, such small fights are purely an indispensable add-on to the love game, not only harmless, but also enough to make both parties cherish this "year-old" love even more. In the end, it is still "three thousand beauties in the harem, and three thousand dotes on one body". (Bai Juyi) During the Tianbao period, there were 700 brocade and embroidery craftsmen in the palace who specialized in weaving clothes for Concubine Yang, and hundreds of craftsmen who carved and melted various metal objects for her.In addition, officials from Yangzhou, Yizhou, and Lingnan also competed to pay tribute to all kinds of rare treasures and "exotic clothes and secret games", so as to win the favor of the emperor and imperial concubines, and successively increased officials and promoted them to prominent positions. Concubine Yang Guifei was born in Sichuan and liked to eat lychees. Xuanzong ordered someone to transport them from Lingnan. However, after arriving in Chang'an, the meat is still delicious.Du Mu's famous song "Passing the Huaqing Palace" is about flying a thousand miles to send lychees: Since ancient times, there have been countless poems describing Concubine Yang Guifei, but the most vivid and artistically appealing poems are Li Bai's "Qing Ping Diao Ci". Not long after Yang Yuhuan entered the palace as a "lady", Li Bai also came to Chang'an in high spirits under the call of Xuanzong. This time coincided with the first year of Tianbao, and it was the moment when a heyday had just begun. It is on this prosperous stage where the world is embroidered, singing and dancing is peaceful, the incomparable talent Li Taibai, the eternal emperor Tang Xuanzong, and the peerless beauty Yang Yuhuan, these three characters who have never met in a thousand years, will jointly perform a wonderful show for the world under the same spotlight. Tell the story of the ages...