Chapter 24 Li Yuan: The Abandoned Supreme Emperor

After August of the ninth year of Wude, although Tang Gaozu Li Yuan still wore the title of "Supreme Emperor" on his head, this hat not only failed to bring him honor and glory, but only made him feel heavy and depressed. The ancients said: "The one who builds the Supreme is supreme. The emperor is more virtuous than the emperor, and wants to respect his father, so he is called the Supreme Emperor." But in Li Yuan's view, such definitions and explanations in history books are rather full of irony.From the day when Li Shimin ascended the throne, Li Yuan felt that he had become a living negative example.Every time Li Shimin promulgates a new policy, it is tantamount to a slap in the face——

On the day of the Xuanwumen Incident, Li Shimin couldn't wait to overthrow the religious policy that Li Yuan had just implemented, and let all Buddhist monks who had returned to the secular world return to the temple and Taoism; Each Chen Zhidao"; Immediately afterwards, he ordered the release of more than 3,000 Ye Ting court ladies... What does this series of political measures mean? This is obviously Li Shimin drawing a clear line with the old Wude government, and at the same time showing the world that there were many problems and mistakes during Li Yuan's administration, which must be exposed, criticized and corrected in time.

Isn't this slapping Li Yuan in the face? Faced with Li Shimin's slashing, Li Yuan could only endure it, even if he knocked out his teeth, he would swallow his blood.What Li Yuan didn't expect was that in the spring of the third year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin's "slapping action" suddenly escalated - he exiled Pei Ji, rehabilitated Liu Wenjing, and publicly criticized Wu De's old politics mercilessly.All these were more than just slaps, they were more like punches hitting Li Yuan's heart hard. "At the time of Wude, goods and bribes were carried out in public, and discipline and discipline were disordered..." (Volume 193)

"In the time of Wude, the government and the punishment were not right, and the officials were relaxed..." ("Old Tang Book Biography of Pei Ji") According to common sense, when the previous emperor was still alive, it was almost impossible to say such words from the mouth of the current emperor.However, Li Shimin still said them outrightly. Every word here is extremely powerful, enough to completely crush Li Yuan's originally depressed spirit. Li Yuan knew very well that not only did he not depose Li Jiancheng according to Li Shimin's wishes, but instead installed him as the prince, he also suppressed him vigorously, and even almost ended his political life.

Although it has been so long, Li Shimin never forgave him.At this moment, the reason why Li Shimin made a fuss about Pei Jida, vindicated Liu Wenjing, and blatantly smeared Wude politics into a black mess and belittled it to nothing, was out of a certain degree of revenge, and his main purpose was to put pressure on him, and Send him a strong hint—let him move out of Taiji Palace on his own initiative. It seems that I have no reason to stay in this Tai Chi Palace, which symbolizes power and dignity. Li Yuan thought helplessly and sadly, since he would be "invited" out sooner or later, he might as well be more sensible and leave on his own initiative, so as not to embarrass everyone.

In April of the third year of Zhenguan, shortly after Pei Ji's death, the Supreme Emperor Li Yuan finally "voluntarily" proposed to move from Taiji Palace to Hongyi Palace.The superficial reason for the relocation is as follows: "Gaozu thought Hongyi Palace had a beautiful view of mountains and forests, and it was elegant... so he moved to live there and changed its name to Da'an Palace." ("Tang Huiyao" Volume 30) As we all know, Hongyi Palace was Li Shimin’s Prince Qin’s mansion in those days. It is far inferior to Taiji Palace and even the East Palace in terms of architectural specifications, land area and garden scale. Unconvincing.Especially after so many things happened just now, Gaozu took the initiative to ask to move, which is probably not a coincidence.

But these are not important anymore, the important thing is - after this series of events, Li Shimin finally achieved his dream goal, and finally he can enter the Tai Chi Palace with a high-sounding and logical appearance. On the day when he left Taiji Palace, Li Yuan quietly looked back at this majestic and magnificent palace where he had lived for more than ten years, and a huge bitterness and sentimentality seized him instantly. He silently bid farewell to all this familiarity in his heart, and at the same time bid farewell to the glorious memory of the past. At that moment, Li Yuan felt like an abandoned person.

The Hongyi Palace located outside Miyagi is the last shelter for a lonely old man who has lost everything. After moving into Da'an Palace (Hongyi Palace), Li Yuan lived here for another six years until his death in May of the ninth year of Zhenguan (AD 635).Rather than saying that Li Yuan spent the last six years in a palace with beautiful mountains and forests, it is better to say that he spent the last desolate years of his life in an environment that was almost isolated from the outside world. As we said before, the conditions of Da'an Palace are completely different from those of Taiji Palace.Regarding this point, we can get evidence from a memorial made by Ma Zhou, the supervisory censor at that time.In the first month of the sixth year of Zhenguan (AD 632), Ma Zhou said: "My minister Fu Jian Da'an Palace is located in the west of the palace city. The house is still in the city, and the residence of Da'an and Zhizun is even outside the city. Although the Taishang Emperor has a good heart and aspirations to be pure and thrifty, His Majesty has violated the order of kindness and cherished human resources. I am willing to build battlements and build gate towers, so as to be prominent and to be called the hope of all directions, and then the great filial piety will be manifested to the world." ("Old Tang Book·Ma Zhou Biography")

Ma Zhou believed that the Da'an Palace was too remote because it was located outside the palace city, and its size was extremely humble, which was not commensurate with the supreme status of the Supreme Emperor. Whether it was in the eyes of the barbarians or the common people, it seemed a little bit of a shame.Therefore, Ma Zhou proposed to repair and expand, and it must be tall and prominent, so as to meet the wishes of the people of the world, and at the same time reflect the emperor's filial piety to the Supreme Emperor. Ma Zhou was actually implying that Li Shimin—as far as the current situation is concerned, His Majesty really lacks in filial piety, and the only way to make up for it is to quickly upgrade the specifications of Da'an Palace and renovate it to be more spectacular, so as to avoid gossip from the world.

Obviously, Ma Zhou's remonstrance touched a sensitive issue that was taboo by everyone at that time. After reading the memorial, Li Shimin neither blamed Ma Zhou nor adopted his suggestion, but just laughed it off, without any intention of expanding the Da'an Palace. That's the end of the matter. In addition to the unsatisfactory living environment, Li Yuan's life in Da'an Palace also has a great regret, that is - lack of freedom of movement. In the past, Li Yuan was an emperor who couldn't sit still.During the reign of Wude, although the government affairs were busy in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the unification war was not yet over, Li Yuan often traveled around non-stop in the name of patrolling, hunting, and summer vacation. He went to Huashan (now Huayin County, Shaanxi) in the east and Jizhou in the west. (now Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province) and Yizhou (now Yijun County, Shaanxi Province) in the north, enjoying the supreme power and freedom granted to him by the imperial power.

However, ever since he became the Supreme Emperor, especially after moving into Da'an Palace, Li Yuan didn't even have such a chance once. This kind of life is very different from those free and easy days in the past. During the six years of living in Da'an Palace, Li Yuan almost never went out except for occasional attendance at a few important palace banquets. It's not that he doesn't want to come out, but that he has no chance at all. Because Li Shimin didn't give him a chance. Of course, all this was seen by Ma Zhou, who was loyal and dared to advise. Soon, Li Shimin planned to go to Jiucheng Palace (now Linyou County, Shaanxi Province) to escape the summer heat. After Ma Zhou heard about it, he immediately delivered a memorial, saying: "The minister also Fujian Mingzhi, and I wish to celebrate the ninth day of February 2. Chenggong. My minister said that the Supreme Emperor is already old, and His Majesty should watch meals day and night and live in the morning and evening. Fortunately, the palace is more than three hundred miles away from Beijing...it is impossible to arrive at night. The Supreme Emperor is in love or thoughts, and wants to see His Majesty immediately. , where are you going to go? Let’s drive here, originally to avoid the summer heat, but the emperor still stays in the hot place, and your majesty chases the cool place by himself, warming the way of cleanliness, and the ministers are not safe!" ("Old Tang Book·Ma Zhou Biography" ) If the wording of the previous memorial was more tactful, then this time Ma Zhou's tone was much sharper.He made it clear that he was criticizing the emperor—first of all, the Supreme Emperor is very old (he was sixty-seven years old), and His Majesty should visit him every day to eat and drink, but now you actually went to the palace three hundred miles away to escape the summer heat, in case What if the emperor misses you?Secondly, it is not wrong that you want to escape the summer heat, but you left the old man in the hot Da'an Palace and ran to Jiucheng Palace to cool off by yourself, this is your fault!The so-called "Way of Gentleness" is to keep the elderly warm in winter and cool in summer, but you have left these filial piety behind, and I feel uneasy for you in private! Although Ma Zhou's advice and criticism became sharper each time, Li Shimin's attitude was neither to blame nor to accept. He still left Li Yuan in Da'an Palace and went to Jiucheng Palace alone in March of this year. After that, in May of the seventh year of Zhenguan (AD 633) and March of the eighth year of Zhenguan (AD 634), Li Shimin went to Jiucheng Palace twice to escape the summer heat, but he never brought Li Yuan with him.It was not until July of the eighth year of Zhenguan that Li Shimin "repeatedly invited the emperor to escape the summer heat in Jiucheng Palace". Does this mean that Li Shimin has finally figured it out and is ready to adopt Ma Zhou's suggestion and implement the "way of gentleness" to Gao Zu? No, the real reason is—Gaozu Li Yuan was ill, and he was seriously ill. He was suffering from "wind disease", which is a stroke. Therefore, no matter how kindly Li Shimin invited him, and no matter how much Li Yuan wanted to go out for a walk, he couldn't move anymore. Of course, Li Shimin was well aware of Gao Zu's condition.That being the case, how much sincerity does Li Shimin have in this move?Knowing that Gao Zu was already bedridden, he repeatedly showed his hospitality to the old man. Why did he go when Li Yuan was still in good health a few years ago? In October of the eighth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin issued an edict to start the construction of the Daming Palace. On the surface, he said that he wanted to "think that the emperor was a place to clear up the summer heat." Sure enough, as soon as the Daming Palace was erected, Li Yuan's condition became more and more serious. In May of the ninth year of Zhenguan (AD 635), Li Yuan, who had been ill for half a year, finally passed away in the Chuigong Hall of Da'an Palace at the age of seventy.The founding king of the once supreme Tang Empire, this lonely and depressed old man who suffered great changes in his later years and fell into a desolate situation, finally finished his life full of joys and sorrows, and bid farewell to this world that made him love and hurt.The officials were given the posthumous title of Emperor Taiwu, and the temple title of Gaozu; in October of the same year, Gaozu was buried in Xianling. After the death of the great ancestor Li Yuan, Li Shimin did not show his due yearning. In fact, it is not difficult for people to find that as early as in the battle for the heir apparent in the later period of Wude, as the bowl of water in Li Yuan's hand gradually tilted towards the prince, Li Shimin's respect and warmth for his father Li Yuan became increasingly thinner, and the relationship between the two sides was on the verge of cracked edges.When Li Shimin had to use conspiracy and violence to seize the supreme power from Li Yuan, the precarious father-son relationship became even worse-if not completely gone, at least it was in vain. In the face of power struggles, family affection is pale and fragile, and the so-called "father's kindness and son's filial piety" will eventually become insignificant. This is the killing of family affection by politics. After the Xuanwumen Incident, the reason why the two sides were able to maintain a superficial harmony was actually to maintain the stability of the overall situation and ensure the fundamental interests of the Li and Tang royal families. In short, it is a political imperative.Therefore, during the Zhenguan period, the father-son relationship between Li Yuan and Li Shimin was purely superficial, with no real feelings at all. That being the case, how can Li Shimin miss the dead Gaozu? What really broke Li Shimin's heart was not the death of Gaozu, but the death of another person just a year later. This person is Empress Changsun. In June of the tenth year of Zhenguan (AD 636), Empress Changsun died of illness and was buried in Zhaoling in November.Li Shimin was very sad, "I couldn't stop thinking about it", so he "made a layered view in the garden to look at Zhaoling" (Volume 194).That is to say, a watchtower was built in the royal garden of Miyagi, and it is often looked at here to comfort the feelings of nostalgia. One day, Li Shimin took Wei Zheng to the observation tower together, and asked Wei Zheng to look at Zhaoling with him.Wei Zheng said: "My eyes are dazzled, I can't see." Li Shimin felt very strange, so he pointed it out to him again. Wei Zheng suddenly said, "Oh, I thought your majesty was looking at the dedicated tomb of Gaozu; if it was Zhaoling, then I would have seen it a long time ago." Li Shimin was startled, and then realized that Wei Zheng was taking the opportunity to remonstrate! To put it bluntly, Wei Zheng just turned a corner and scolded him——you only think about your wife, but forget about your dead father, how are you at ease? Li Shimin was so embarrassed that he had to order people to tear down the watchtower with tears in his eyes. Regardless of Zhaoling or Xianling, I just don't look at any of them, right? On the one hand, this incident certainly shows the deep love between Li Shimin and Empress Changsun, but at the same time, it also strongly proves the weak love between Li Shimin and Li Yuan. It was not until many years after Li Yuan's death, when Li Shimin faced his sons' struggle for succession, and was once again caught in a difficult situation in the conflict between politics and family affection, that he suddenly understood Gaozu's difficulties during the Wude period, and reflected on his life. What I did in Gaozu's later years, and I feel ashamed and remorseful towards Gaozu from the bottom of my heart. As we mentioned earlier, in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (AD 643), after Li Shimin accidentally read an ancient article discussing filial piety, he said to his courtiers very sadly: "The most painful thing about human feelings is mourning." My dear... (I) have done a lot of negligence, but I know that I blame myself, so there is no time to regret it!" (Volume 6) This is clearly a true and poignant confession. I just don't know if this kind of belated confession can comfort the spirit of Gaozu Li Yuan.